de_neutron

[Single]

EDIT 19 May 2015: Spoilered out the original post, go to for latest updates.
 

EDIT: Go to to see the updates from February 2015. What follows is the OP, from December 2014.
  
I was hoping to have something more substantial before I posted this here, but I figured I needed a thread for people to post feedback on from the play test on Sunday/Monday. Understand that there is a long way to go before I consider this map complete.

The map I'm currently working on is called Neutron, and is a defuse map for CS:GO. The GSG9 are in to stop the Balkans from blowing up the research reactor (site A), or the supercomputer/server room (site B), of a German research facility.

From the play test, I'm primarily looking for advice on the layout of the map, the angles etc, though feedback on the aesthetics would also be greatly appreciated. The play test is for 21:00 CET this Sunday 21st December. I'm not sure I'll be able to wake up early enough to join the playtest, plus my ping will be huge from Australia, so it would be great if you could leave any feedback in this thread. As a bit of a help, I've put together an album of nades and boosts, to help everyone get the most out of the play test: http://imgur.com/a/tjOK6

Now, screenshots! I've worked a little bit more on the map since I submitted it for play testing, so these screenshots could be very slightly different from what you play.

Bombsite A:




Bombsite B:



Lobby (near T spawn):



Mid:




Layout:




Branding Concept:
Note that I am not a native speaker of German, I've had to use Google translate. It's supposed to say 'Hidden Forest Research Reactor', where 'Hidden Forest' is a proper noun, like 'English Channel' or 'Amazon River'. If this is not translated correctly, please let me know, and I will very happily fix it.



There are more screenshots than I included in this post, the rest can be found in this album here: http://imgur.com/a/YrGjg

Thanks everyone!

Edited May 19, 2015 by Single

[El_Exodus]

According to your branding concept:

 

"Versteckt Wald" is wrong. We would say "Versteckter Wald". But to be honest, this just sounds odd^^ In english it sounds nice, but in german not really. I'd rather call it "Black Forest Research Reactor". That would make sense, because we have a region in Germany which is called "Black Forest". So "Forschungsreaktor Schwarzwald" would be way more real.

In my university, however, is a research reactor. But they call it "Forschungs-Neutronenquelle" instead. I think both terms are correct, so you could just choose which one you want. If you have more questions regarding german words etc, you could just add me on Steam if you want.

[Vaya]

how much of this is custom textures? It looks great (if a bit empty and clean just now)

[The Horse Strangler]

Yeah I think your textures are coming in a little too flat. Also looking at the layout, there seems, or at least feels like there are some unneeded locations to wander around in.

[Nakroma]

Gonna post what Lajron mentioned in chat: Middle has way too many entrances. With the vents its I think 7. That are too many corners / spots to check.

[Single]

 [cut] If you have more questions regarding german words etc, you could just add me on Steam if you want.

 

It appears I really messed up the translations then. Friend request inbound.

 

 

how much of this is custom textures? It looks great (if a bit empty and clean just now)

Yeah I think your textures are coming in a little too flat. [cut]

 

The majority of the textures in those screenshots are custom, or modified versions of Valves textures. MrTwoVideoCards, are there any textures in particular that you think need the most improvement?

 

 

[cut] Also looking at the layout, there seems, or at least feels like there are some unneeded locations to wander around in.

Gonna post what Lajron mentioned in chat: Middle has way too many entrances. With the vents its I think 7. That are too many corners / spots to check.

 

I was a bit afraid that the map had too many areas and routes, thank you both for confirming my fears. Do either of you think there are any paths of areas that can be removed completely? If not, I'm sure I'll come up with something to simplify the map.

 

Thanks to all of your for your honesty and feedback, it's greatly appreciated.

[Deathy]

"Forschungsreaktor Geheimwald" would be acceptable in the sense of hidden forest as a project name for the reactor. It could also be a local forest somewhere. Using real location names in games, especially related to Germany is not a good idea tbh.

 

Layout wise it looks pretty good with a 'little' advantage on the CT side, as they can cut all paths to B for the Ts.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Deathy

[Nakroma]

Geheimwald sound still really bad in german. just use Schwarzwald

[esspho]

I agree with Deathy. How about a fictional name like 'Waldheim'?

Really cool wip-shots by the way.

[Single]

So I've looked at the demo that was recorded from the playtest the other day. A huge thankyou to everyone who contributed, and left feedback, it was terribly useful. It seems there were some fairly common complaints about the map:

• The map is confusing, with lots of paths and corners to check.
• The window at mid is OP.
• There some discussion about the vents over B, some thought they were OP, others not.
• A site is too confusing, and needs more places to hold as CT.
• There is a lot of glass to be broken.
• Fnuggi is OP.

I've taken a lot of the advice onboard, and have made great lengths to simplify the layout of the map:

• I've removed completely the window, and the lower path from mid-to-B. Next to the CT-stairs, there is now another set of stairs going down, which leads to old mid-to-B path.
• Vents have been removed entirely, and the mid entrance to vents has been simplified. To compensate, I'm working on making B site a bit bigger overall, to give more places to hide as T and as CT.
• A site room has been redesigned, with the back corner behind the spool being dragged back to form an irregular hexagon. This should solve the problem of there being nowhere to hold as CT, and to act as a point of reference for understanding the layout of A site.
• Redesigned tunnels, so that T's get a bit of breathing space before being seen by CTs.
• Redesigned the checkerboard room, so that its further back, and T's can hold a bit before committing to site.
• Doubled the thickness of all the concrete walls, to slow down those wallbangs.
• Moved the double doors back down to under the red and yellow cafe area, to make it harder for CTs to push there.
• The library has been removed entirely.

I still have more to go though, my current to do list includes:

• Improving the visual cues, to make navigating the map easier (arrows, stripes etc)
• Rethinking lots of the glass, I now agree that there was quite a lot.
• Making it possible to solo-boost (with a difficult jump) to heaven on A site.
• Making Fnuggi less OP (ideas for this one?)

 

Using real location names in games, especially related to Germany is not a good idea tbh.

Geheimwald sound still really bad in german. just use Schwarzwald

I agree with Deathy. How about a fictional name like 'Waldheim'?

 

I'm quite torn about what to name it now. I partly agree with Deathly and esspho, that using real world locations is unwise. But, Valves very own de_nuke has a big 'Harz' sign on it. I'll think about it some more, and decide what to do a bit later.

[Squad]

• Making Fnuggi less OP (ideas for this one?)

 

Send on VACation? Works every time

 

On a more serious note, this looks like an interesting map. Is there a download available somewhere? Didn't came accross a link in this thread.

 

Btw, what's wrong with de_neutron?

Edited December 24, 2014 by Squad

[Single]

On a more serious note, this looks like an interesting map. Is there a download available somewhere? Didn't came accross a link in this thread.

 

I put up a version on dropbox for the playtest, here. This is not the most recent version, and does not have all recent changes (see my previous post in this thread). When I feel confident enough, I'll put another download for playtesting, and I'll post a link to it in this thread.

 

Btw, what's wrong with de_neutron?

 

Sorry, I was not specific enough earlier. I'm happy with the name of the map to be de_neutron, what I'm unsure about is to what name the facility within the map. The original name was supposed to 'Hidden Forest Research Reactor' translated into German, but I screwed that right up.

[Squad]

Thanks for the download link, I will check it out

 

Do you have a set region in mind for the level? I mean, does it have to be Germany, or could it maybe be all around the world?

[Single]

There is no strong reason it has to be set in Germany. The GSG-9 are an underused CT team, and de_overpass put in a few German-language props and signs I could use.

[Vaya]

How about korea/asia? 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=aff-maxthon-maxthon4&hs=kA4&affdom=maxthon.com&channel=t26&tbm=isch&imgil=17X9l1V7jUDzGM%253A%253BPvNOti2tqzf33M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.iter.org%25252Fnewsline%25252F109%25252F1518&source=iu&pf=m&fir=17X9l1V7jUDzGM%253A%252CPvNOti2tqzf33M%252C_&usg=__Lw55Q-WwWvzcx8115hRDo8OVGGw%3D&biw=1368&bih=597&ved=0CEUQyjc&ei=0X2aVMiZNsrvUJejgKAL&q=nuclear%20power%20plant%20korea

it's in the news just now and I think the reactor shapes are intresting...