CS:GO EMPIRE

[Bodd Jonar]

Ok I'm gonna be pretty harsh here, I just played a playtest and after figuring out the layout (which took several rounds, it is seriously confusing) I understand some balance issues. 

 

• I really like (love) the basic layout, the big pathways that lead to the bombsites, I like how T's can go right or left to get to B, and mid to get to A, you got a really good layout there. The problem is with the vents. Lets say I have a teammate that holds left side and makes sure T don't go down B, when he dies the T still have to run down those stairs and all the way to B. So if the Ct's have a player by the vents in mid, helping out on A, he can instantly drop down and hide in B, and the T's cant do anything to stop this. Imagine pros playing this against other pros, it would be a 15-0 map. 
• Everything is under roofs, you can't do any smoke takes, against a good CT team there are no options but to go into aim duels. This is the maps hardest problem to solve. Imagine inferno with roofs covering the bombsites, gl on taking B. B is under roof and that is Ok, because directly at B is not where CT's will hold, they will hold left and right side,so being able to smoke CT's off there is the most important thing, and being able to smoke almost anywhere on A really. 
• You don't get punished for dying as CT. If my friend die on A and I hold left side, I can rotate to A in 3-4 seconds. This can be a good thing tho, just wanted to point that out.  
• Heaven on A just seems ridiculously OP, why can you walk out all the way on it? That is just like Nuke A site = hell to take
• Remove the vents, and give the CT team a stairway down to B from the spawn, this way people have to play as a team and can't instantly rotate down to B. The vents just feel cheap. The stairway could lead down to the backwall of were T's plant. If I am to A it means that I commit myself to that bombsite, I shouldn't be able to rotate to B in 2 seconds, it really removes skill and the ability to use the map to your advantage. 
• Why is there no sign at A, on our first round, we pushed middle to get to A and I was shocked when my teammate planted the bomb in front of me, I thought we were still in middle. The only thing telling me that it was a bombsite was the vague lines on the ground, spray a big A on that floor. 

As I said, the basic layout is fucking golden, but the vents ruins any chance to balance. The map also looks beautiful, and I love the name, when we voted for a map, almost everyone that hadn't played any of the maps wanted to play empire, it just give that kind of respect, it represents something powerful, and now it is your job to make it that, gl!

Edited September 5, 2015 by Bodd Jonar

[FMPONE]

We played this today and personally, I had a lot of fun. I would consider the feedback you got from testers, but I enjoyed the layout.

I think you need to examine your theme. It's called "Empire" -- why? What does that mean? What does it symbolize? Where does this map take place?

Think about it. Work on it. Get some custom art in there ASAP.

I also think you need to NAIL down player navigation and signage. I think it's a bit confusing to even tell where the bombsites are.

Consider that you need a) to improve your theme-ing and b) to improve signage, I think there's an opportunity there to use custom textures or models to accomplish both.

Is "EMPIRE" the name of a company? Maybe a defunct manufacturer? If so what do they manufacture? Why is there a high-tech lab underneath the map?

I think the lab theme should be revisited and become like a laundromat area. I think you should put some washing machine type props in there and some clothing, or something like that. These are the types of questions you must ask yourself.

[kinggambit]

Not as qualified to make any remarks on the environment art, but from our playtest and my experience going through the map, the only changes I could suggest while respecting the layout is to make the routes into B a bit more conspicious.

i.e. A vent almost blended in with the wall. Maybe a light source or a border?:

The actual engagements and chokes that defend B routes are fine IMO, but it was a bit hard to intuitively know B was beneath the hidden stairwell:

These things are probably forgiveable since it's just a matter of players learning the layout but it'll definitely make it a bit less confusing.

Good luck!

[Serialmapper]

Congratulations! your map has greatly improved since the last year (gamebanana cevo contest).

Good luck!

[Vaya]

The map has a lot of thin walls that mid lead to unintentional wallbang spots. a lot of cover on the outside (left hand area from tside) was like this (green)

was pretty brutal for CTs cutting in behind too terrorists trying to set up too (this didn't happen in the 5vs5 we had a couple weeks ago) I can only see this getting worse as more people learn the map. I suggest looking at nuke again for a way to circumvent this- the terrorists have the elevated room area near their spawn as a strong place to hold. While I'm not saying you copy this verbatim you can probably  do something to strengthen the Ts control of the highlighted area (red)

 

Edited September 5, 2015 by Vaya

[FMPONE]

Feedback album 

http://imgur.com/D8xYEuP,qPGPcuD,nanJWy2,acH57Zl,Pg6bp7q,SOca7Jf,aMP6PMB,3JBc5Uk#0

[Andre Valera]

Finallllllyyy getting a break from work, so there's a long list of things that need to be fixed and I'll keep everyone updated for the next few days as I continue to adjust the level based on feedback. Thanks again for the support!

[Andre Valera]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=509649992

https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/3lrul0/nuke_inspired_empire_september_20th_update_feed/

Septermber 25th Update Notes

Gameplay Updates
-Created small openings  for grenades through the windows overlooking A site

Upcoming update
-Based on feedback provided by Mapcore/Reddit fine tune the Map for an official release

Edited September 26, 2015 by Andre Valera

[OrnateBaboon]

Really like the map!

Took some images for feedback.

Agree with kinggambit - the route to B from here is a little easy to miss. The decal and light definitely helps make players more aware that the route exists, but the door itself is somewhat tucked away. Maybe make the door taller and wider so it can be seen as soon as you enter from here?

Also possible for new players to miss the vent on the right when coming from this door.

Even when looking to the right.

Maybe move the vent portion off the wall, like in de_nuke.

When entering A site from here, the route on the right is a little hidden by the crate.

Means that new players might also miss the vent that leads to B.

Maybe make these breakable for smokes?

Smoking through the broken windows I find quite difficult because the gaps are really narrow. Maybe make the broken bits a little wider?

Some of the corridors might be difficult to describe in callouts. These ones could benefit from having something that uniquely defines the areas so that when the bomb drops it is really easy for new players to describe the location.

[Vaya]

Played this map on cevo last night which was pretty cool!

 

one minor thing that fucked me up one round- this change in brush height catches nades. @FMPONE had a similar issues with trims on cache if I recall correctly?

[Andre Valera]

 

 

I was thinking about having the vents in this room instead of the CT Main room. Might be in the next update.

[Andre Valera]

There's no way of moving this to 3D? even merging it with CSGO Empire thread!?

Trying to consolidate the amount of space my threads are taking up'

I could also just start an Empire 2018 thread and link to both the 2014 and 2015 threads

[FMPONE]

2 hours ago, Andre Valera said:

There's no way of moving this to 3D? even merging it with CSGO Empire thread!?

Trying to consolidate the amount of space my threads are taking up'

I could also just start an Empire 2018 thread and link to both the 2014 and 2015 threads

Done!

[Andre Valera]

Thank you!

[RA7]

But where is the DL? All links go nowhere.... :-(

Found it..

 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=576411037

 

I guess...

 

Edited October 31, 2017 by RA7