de_ampitheatre (rename pending)

[drpenguin]

Original post"

The premise of the map was to have a large central arena with multiple paths linking between different areas all going through the middle allowing quick transitions but riskier as could be spotted/killed if the other team is monitoring mid while allowing safer paths around the edge of the map. 

Theme for the map is likely going to play off having some Roman ruins around the map next to an old castle with an ampitheatre as the centrepoint of the map. I am planning on turning Bombsite B into some form of archaeology site with Roman pillars present. While A will be located in part of the old castle. This map is going to take me a long time to get going due to being fairly new to mapping and not the best at modelling/working things through. I probably will make plenty of basic mistakes but I want to try and finish this slowly over time. 

 

UPDATE (2nd June)

Have changed this map quite significantly since previous update. The centre ampitheatre area was not working at all during playtesting (was just too big and open - had to make a decision to keep it but I think the gameplay suffered too much for it). This made me completely rethink the map and theme so decided to change it quite extensively. Current theme is now based on a medieval castle with a festival/fair going on in the grounds. 

Bombsite A is down around multiple marques/tents around with stalls that are selling things - still very basic blocking just to give an idea of what is going on. Bombsite B is an inner courtyard that T's get to after running through what I am currently calling the "armory" - it will have items on display that are inside bulletproof glass. 

 

 

Map overview - basic structure of the map has changed slightly but lots of changes present on sites/connectors. 

Next two images are two perspectives of bombsite A

Bombsite B

Armory - between T spawn and Bombsite B

Mid from CT spawn

 

 

 

Steam workshop link: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=454229568

*New workshop link as I accidentally deleted the previous version on the workshop - working minimap included

Edited June 3, 2015 by drpenguin

[pjw0]

As far as I can tell, there are two accepted spellings for amphitheatre, but neither of them is the title of this map.

 

You can change the bombsite letters on the radar by moving the site you want to be B to world, then tying it to a bomb target again. The first bomb target entity shows on radar as A, and the last as B.

 

It seems like both the spawns could be moved forward into the map, so that there aren't buyzone-boxes dangling off both ends.

 

Most of the stairways and ramps seem to be taller than necessary. Or, the vertical variation between different areas is more than it needs to be, and that forces these stairways and ramps to be tall. Some of the ramps (not detailed as stairs) are very steep, especially the two by the platform in front of B (radar A), but others also. Large vertical variation can slow down movement, because players have to use longer stairs/ramps to move up and may avoid dropping down in some places because of fall damage.

 

There aren't many walls where you can see both sides of the wall, but the few you have seem too thin.

 

For areas like the spiral stairs on the B (radar A) side and the amphitheatre, it may help your brushwork to split the stairs up into separate runs with landings, instead of trying to have the whole length of stairs shaped like a single run. The doorway out from the middle of the spiral stairs is very narrow, this is presumably related to the absence of a landing here.

 

Some of the hallways, especially on the T side, are very long and narrow. Being in a narrow space is risky, because you can't move to avoid things, and there will not be much room to use the doorway as cover, so narrower hallways should usually also be shorter.

 

It seems like the distance between the amphitheatre and CT spawn, and between the bombsites and T spawn, could all be shortened.

[Muffin]

Lol. I thought to myself man this looks like de_obelisk, I ran around it yesterday but now I realize this IS de_obelisk but with a semi-new theme

[drpenguin]

Thanks for the feedback about the walls and verticality - have rejigged those aspects of the map and fixed up the labels for the bombsites. 

I am also in the process of opening up T side of the map so the spaces aren't as narrow and as narrow corridors to allow for more movement but keeping a few of the connectors more narrow. 

 

In regards to the doorway out for the middle of the spiral stairs - at the moment I intended it to be quite small (just narrow enough for a single player to pass through) rather than a larger exit as it can be used to more quickly get around the map, especially as you can jump to that doorway going upwards to shave off time when rotating. 

 

My biggest concern at the moment is that rotations after planting might take a tad too long, especially trying to retake Bombsite B (the one left from T spawn) if you are at Bombsite A, but I think further playtesting will be required to trial this. 

 

Going to keep working on it for a bit longer before I update the Workshop with all the changes.

Edited April 26, 2015 by drpenguin

[drpenguin]

Have updated the workshop link in the first picture with the latest version of the map - still doing a lot of work just trying to sort out the layout of this map after playing it a lot and iterating on different areas of the map. I have condensed the overall size of the map to reduce dead space but this in turn tends to mean that contact at the main choke points tends to happens quite early on in a round. 

 

[drpenguin]

Completely updated original post with images and new workshop link (accidently deleted the old one) - have completely changed the map from previous versions and gotten rid of the ampitheatre (so will need to come up with a new name). There are still some areas of poor brushing that I am aware of - still changing layout so want to get it fairly settled before fixing up certain areas. 

I have started just applying some basic textures from previous maps to areas of the map to get a bit of an idea about what is going on. The theme I am planning to go for is a medieval castle with a fair going on in the grounds on the right side of the map.