DE_BRUTAL

[text_fish]

Just figured I'd start a WIP thread for a new map (old name, but didn't fit the last project which became de_secret and then died a death).

The setting in my head at the moment is a somewhat run-down city filled with looming gray Brutalist architecture and flashes of colour provided by graffiti which I've been doodling by hand on paper with sharpies for a while. Just gotta figure out the best way to  make the scanned images look graffiti-ish, but I've got plenty of time to do that whilst I refine the layout, hopefully with the help of YOU. Aaanyway, here's an overview, followed by some boring graybox screens.

T-spawn is down in a subway so a lot of that dark gray corridor is a steep slope which will someday be decorated with (immobile) escalators.

Spoiler

A site:


Long A from T side:

B site:

Mid from CT side:

Mid from T side:

A WIP Quake 1 map that has nothing to do with this thread, but gray boxes are so boring to look at right?:

 

I'll pop it up on the workshop tomorrow and book in a play-test ASAP. Thanks for looking!

[text_fish]

On 11/2/2016 at 7:32 PM, text_fish said:

I'll pop it up on the workshop tomorrow and book in a play-test ASAP.

Aaaand just 28 days later I've got it on the workshop. How's that for speedy! Here 'tis.

The layout's been through a number of changes and refinements over the last month, so the most recent overview looks like this:

[text_fish]

Mapcore playtest confirmed for tonight if anybody's interested in shooting me. 

[Radu]

You know what would be cool? If you added this secondary path from t spawn. It would stop ts from bumping into one another through that main tunnel and improve flow. You could build it as some maintenance area so it can fit with your theme.

[text_fish]

Thanks Radu, I'll play around with that idea! 

[text_fish]

I've made a pretty major change to the T->B route today, as well as playing with bits of cover here and there, and as a temporary solution to Radu's point about T spawn being a bit narrow I've widened that passage. It'll probably end up looking something like this.

Here's the new B route, hastily shoehorned in to the old overview for the purpose of tonight's playtest:

 

For a while I've hummed and hah'd over the T's approach to B. In the original layout they just had one route coming off lower mid, the aim being that they would have to charge through with multiple smokes and whatnot but I fear this would render the  B half of the map too undesireable. After I put in a new connector from upper mid straight in to B site the old route became even more redundant, so my thinking with the new route is that it's still bit of a risk for T's to rush, but one well placed smoke or well timed flash should get them through and then any CT watching mid will need to rotate.   Could be good for decoys too.

[text_fish]

So the playtest is over, and as usual despite everyone being very nice and constructive I feel like I've just come out of a prostate exam.  But that's my issue! I got some really good feedback and my priorities for the next iteration of the layout are clearly to make the main T-A route a bit less of a cluster-fuck and simplify mid.  I've got a few ideas how to do both, but any other suggestions are gratefully recieved!

Many thanks to everyone who played.

 

Oh and for the people who wanted to know more about the theme, this is the Pinterest board I'm putting together which goes some way to illustrating the direction I'm planning to take.

Edited December 1, 2016 by text_fish

[Squeebo]

Here's a few small changes in scale to consider, I hope it's clear enough. The image on the left has re-scaled sections and the the right image is the original for comparison reference.

The map was fun and has potential and the theme could definitely work well with the layout. The middle of the map felt a little confusing to me, rather unnecessarily in some ways, I very often felt I was going to be shot in the back as it has entrances on different levels and players moving over top of and under each other. I don't know what exactly I would change to improve that but I would consider making it flow a little better between the different levels, with additional ways up and down. Just a thought. I might also consider adding additional cover in some areas in middle.

Definitely consider adding some additional cover on Long A, but be careful not to add too much.

I enjoyed the close quarters of bombsite B and also the many wall-bang opportunities the thin wooden shelves provide. My concern with the site is how to make it work visually, it might be hard to keep it interesting in such a small space, and if you haven't worked out a clear theme for the site I would give it some thought. Old nondescript warehouses usually aren't the most interesting locations, but they can still work if done right.

Hope the feedback helps a little and I look forward to seeing how this map will progress, best of luck with the next version.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Squeebo

[text_fish]

Thanks Squeebo that's really helpful, I'll definitely implement a lot of those scale ideas! 

[text_fish]

Here's v03 of the layout.

As you can see, I've split the T's route to long-A in two, with the right-most path coming out on slightly higher ground to give them more options. I've narrowed the middle of the long-A path with some scaffolding, which restricts the sightline from CT-Spawn considerably, and I've implemented most of @Squeebo's scale suggestions as well.

Mid has been simplified a lot, so now the catwalks only go around the edge, and T-cat is separate. I wanted to keep some of the cover that the old layout provided so I've put a big old pillar in the middle which nerfs some of CT's sightlines and hopefully provides T's with a few more choices.

I've barely touched B and the top half of the layout, save for removing a piece of lazily placed cover in the bombsite and cleaning up the slightly messy sightlines on T's uppermost approach by replacing most of the wire fence with a wall. I know some people didn't like the head-peaking in this area on the last playtest, but I think with some refinement it could prove a fun/challenging encounter for both teams.

I'll book in another test soon.

[Vaya]

probably a bit late now but this was my tweak for the lower half of the map:

 

 

- bombsite in the corner was pretty awkward. I've moved it out a bit to make it more traditional area that can be played around with more options for cover

- Angle the T side entry to make it fairer on both. Kick out the wall a bit  so people can't hug the wall the full distance up

- reduce the length of the path the runs adjacent to A.

[text_fish]

Thanks Vaya! I like this, I'll probably play around with that in the next build:

42 minutes ago, Vaya said:

- bombsite in the corner was pretty awkward. I've moved it out a bit to make it more traditional area that can be played around with more options for cover

[text_fish]

So I'm experimenting with something a bit different now. I've introduced a new path from mid to bombsite A but it''s got a door that can only be opened from the mid-side. My hope is that it'll make the gameplay feel a bit more dynamic, especially in a retake/rotate situation. The jury is still out, but it's fun to experiment with. At the moment the main tripping point is that bots find it very confusing. They often walk to the locked side of the door, realise they can't get through and then start to reroute, except when it really matters (i.e. the bomb's been planted at B whilst they were guarding A) in which case they run at the locked door and hump it. Anybody have any ideas how to resolve this problem? At the moment, I have a trigger_once to open the door from the inside, though ideally I would like the player to have to "use" the door for consistency.

Anyway, here's  the latest overview:

 

I'm also starting to create the graffiti which I hope to use to inject a lot of colour in to the visuals. There's a WIP below, I'd be very grateful for suggestions as to how I can make it look like actual graffiti.  At the moment I'm just using various spraypaint-like brushes in Photoshop to layer colours, then adding a few paint dribbles and light splattering around the edges. The concrete in the background is just for reference, the final graffiti will be a decal (possibly split up to fit around architectural details).

[Vaya]

that is one angry flammable teddybear

[catfood]

Looks like Europe can't BEAR it anymore