de_Taisha

[AlphaOwl]

It's been a long week, but I can now feel satisfied with version A4 which is out today.

Following a playtest on the Mapcore Discord last week, it was quick to point out obvious flaws with the map's design, such as the positioning and angles of Mid, rotates through A main, and the size of B site and B main. I ended up taking most of the suggestions regarding both A and B, and opted for a complete overhaul of middle.

Middle:

A lot of the "mid holding" in the old version occurred in CT middle, especially with the power of the pool spot above. However this gave too much control of mid to the Ts, which doubled with the angles and positioning of the FNAF-like gameplay. So I decided to scrap the old version and to push the fight forward on a better common ground. 

The middle engagement is a lot more typical of a mid layout. It's much easier to hold with utility and there's vital cover to hold from. The pool has been moved a room back so that the position still remains vital, but Ts can get there much faster compared to the previous version. 

CT middle has been divided up into two lane-like areas. The main CT middle is an open street that connects to the new B connector, which is located within the side house near B site. Mid House, an enclosed long room with a slight angling, has the entrance of A connector. Should CTs get pushed back, they'll have enough cover to retreat, though sacrificing their positioning at a cost.

B Main/B Site:

Old B site's compact size and large bombsite obstacle were some of the major issues regarding the location, as well as positioning within B main and CT routing into B site. I decided to redo the bombsite, opening up more space and providing less cover for Ts to clear, whilst still making it easy enough to control for CTs.

The CT route to B site has been simplified to a single wide road that peeks into B long. There is also a back-site entrance that's more open and faster to get into site from compared to the previous version. B site has been redone to feature a gazebo-like design, providing walls to take cover from a CT push and the memorial stones from last version now serving as a site monument and obstacle. Routing to B site has also been slightly changed. The entrances into site have been pushed back towards the CTs, so it's easier for them to get in position and potentially rush. The route from B long has been pushed forward to not make such OP angles, and prevents util dumping from overpowering a T push on both ends. B short also has a more open area to the side that serves as cover from util and can work well in a retake situation. 

With the Ts now taking longer to take B site, I have expanded B main to be a more open space with a few corners to lurk behind in the event of a rush or to setup smokes. The connector to middle has also been repositioned as to not give a direct visual from B main into middle anymore.

And just to reiterate, the old house next to B site is now a playable position that acts as a connector to middle.

A Main/A Site:

A site was the most well received part of the map during the playtest, so many of the core aspects of the bombsite remain, outside of some tedious angles and whatnot. Some of the changes featured or related are to provide a better gameplay flow.

The amount of windows has been simplified down to 2, and the water on the bombsite has now been drained. The initial window room entrance next to CT has been moved into CT main, as to make retaking site easier and for less angles to clear. A box has also been added next to the softwall by the grass. 

The upper route to A main has been removed to simplify routing. The A main stairway room has also been widened, with lower A main entrance being much shorter to provide faster rotating oppurtunities. The hallway to pool now has less rooms so it should feel less like a maze now. I have also added a route into T middle from upper A main, to make rotates faster through the area.

I have also redesigned A connector so that CTs have more space to hold if they're pushed back or gives Ts a space to setup an A site take. There are two wood walls separating A connector and A site, and A connector and middle. Wallbanging is heavily encouraged for suppressive control.

Minor Fixes.

Along with the main features listed, I've made some slight modifications within other areas of the map. CT Spawn has been redesigned and is now moved up closer, whereas T spawn has been readjusted to be at the center of the Torii gate (like the initial unreleased version of the map) to slow down timings and engagements. I have also modified the positioning of the boxes in the little hut by T spawn. The outside of B main and B site has been redesigned as well, now featuring more Torii gates and a pond instead of a river. 

Please leave any feedback or suggestions with the latest version of the map, and I'd like to thank the people at the Mapcore playtest as well as a few of my friends for helping to give advice as to make the map better. I'm going to get this version of the map playtested again, but A5 should hopefully hone more in on more aesthetic design choices and minor gameplay fixes without anything too major. Thank you!

Edited May 2, 2024 by AlphaOwl

[chr1sty]

Looks awesome!

[AlphaOwl]

A5 Update! Taisha's expected to appear on Week 2 on the Mapcore hub, so I figured I'd work on version A5, especially after my previous playtest on the MapINK discord server. The playtest went well, but there were some things that needed to be ironed out, as well as going over the map with a few of my friends. A5 is my attempt to remedy some of the issues whilst providing new opportunities but not entirely revamping the map as much as A4 did. It also provides a general color palate for what the map should look like later down the line.

Middle:

I pushed back the middle house and removed the wall between A connector and the house. This should provide a more open space and to break away from the less corridory type vibe of the map. The wall dividing A con to A site has been changed to a solid and moved so that it provides new peeking opportunities for players to take the site from. T middle also sees the removal of the staircase to A main, since many people found the boost convenient enough as well as the changed timings into A main now.

A Main:

The use of space in Lobby felt too divided between each part, so Lobby has been redesigned to have a more expansive and open space, and provides Ts a little bit of a faster timing out into A main. A main has also been revamped, providing more window space to throw grenades from (similar to a Sunroom-like area on Cache) and generally more space to play and peek from to enter into A site. Upper A main has also been reduced to a single room that connects directly into Pool.

A Site:

A site has undergone some improvements to make holding better and to give space to break away from the claustrophobic nature of the map. Back of A has been pushed back, and the bomb plant zone has been changed slightly. The short tree planter has been raised and extended to provide more cover onto site, and the fountain has been redone as to provide both cover and more sensible peeking angles to hold. There is also now a wooden wall in front of the small grass plot, providing cover from A con so that defenders don't feel so open. The boxes have also been slightly moved to reduce smaller angles. Back of A has also been extended further to provide somewhat of better angles for retaking through that area, though it allows players to peek further into that area from both CT and B site.

B Main:

B main has been expanded further to provide more space and to prevent CTs from taking definitive control of the area. The left side of the B main building has now been opened up, providing Ts a long angle into site and limited cover to hold from, but forcing CTs to play smarter peeks. The area has been widened as to prevent smokes from definitively preventing further T aggression.

B Site:

There were still many spatial concerns for B site, as well as some unfair angles holding crucial positions of the map. I decided to push the walls outwards into Banana, giving more space to play into the site. The back wall of B site has been opened up to encourage playing around the site's cover, and some walls have been turned into stone as to give more cover too. The corner of B site has been rounded out better to force defenders into closer angles, and there is now a box to boost from at the back of site. The Broken Wall (originally CT stairs) is now the main route into site, refocusing control of that area instead of top of Banana. The CT ramp has been changed to directly parallel with CT main of A site, so be careful when peeking.

 

That should be all for the patchnotes, and hopefully I can get this version up in preparation for the Mapcore FACEIT hub. Please get a chance to check it out! It should be available from May 17-May 23 in all of the hubs. I'll leave this post with some extra screenshots of further visual developments!

Edited May 14, 2024 by AlphaOwl
Added radar

[AlphaOwl]

Semi major update to Taisha! With essentially a day left before the Mapcore hub reveal, I figured I could push one more update to this version, which includes more cover, visual redesign of A lobby (which I had left empty in the last update), and MANY fixes regarding unfair boost spots across the map.

• Raised walls by T mid stairs
• Redesigned crate cover in B main

Spoiler

• Planter added to B long

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• Back walls of B site raised

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• Crate corner right next to B short entrance has been remade into non-campy corner

Spoiler

• A lobby redesigned, providing new cover to hide behind

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• Short wall added to A main and some cover

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• Planter added in between A main and back of A site
• Both planters on A site lowered

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• CT main of A widened and divider walls added to prevent unfair angle peeking into CT

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• Windows added to side of Mid house for grenades

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• Added wooden wall on top of outer B walls
• Escalator glass in A lobby made smaller
• You can now drown in B main

New Radar:

Edited May 16, 2024 by AlphaOwl
Replaced quote blocks for spoiler blocks

[AlphaOwl]

A6 Update! I've enjoyed playing the map with everyone on the FACEIT Mapcore Hub, and it's great to hear the feedback from everyone. I just had a playtest today as well so I figured I could address some of those issues along with some of the grievances I noticed from the sessions on the hub. This update puts a little more emphasis on the mid engagement, and is subject to change. There are also some adjustments to cover on both A and B, and B short and A connector being rerouted are probably the most substantial edits along with the mid changes.

• Map brightness increased
• CT Jacuzzi remodeled and redone (better flow and not blocked when leaving spawn)

• CT Mid box moved to the other side of top mid

• B site platform increased
• Added half wall for more comfortable bomb plants
• Cover cleaned up on B site

• B short rerouted; CT entrance removed, stairs pushed back towards back of B site along with planter

• B connector new wall added and stairs slightly redone (better peeking angle)

• Fortune building (T mid building) wall slightly decreased (testing)
• Mid entrance into bath expanded, more direct fight with house engagement (testing)
• Cart moved up and new crate added for more cover

• Pool height decreased, along with upper A

• Mid Bath wall raised to prevent peeking (testing)
• Quick entrance into A site changed into boosted window position

• Slight cover redadjustments on A site

• Windows on back A simplified to a single wall of windows

• Back of A angle into CT blocked off by maze of dividers

At the moment I don't want to change too much to what people expect of the map just yet, but I do want to see what people's thoughts would be in making Middle "more traditional". But I'll make sure to keep the map updated and to address feedback! 

Here's a radar comparison of the current changes.

Edited May 19, 2024 by AlphaOwl

[MrTrane18]

My G! Looks amazing! Needs another showcase video to keep track if you ask me! 
Best of luck on the future updates! 

[AlphaOwl]

Minor update for Taisha. I figured I could bust out a few minor changes to fix a few gameplay flow things, that (hopefully) shouldn't change the map too much.

• Removed the small side spot of B main and added some cover to camp behind. Makes the position and angling a lot simpler to hold B site and helps reaffirm T control of B main.

• Boom box reverted closer to original position with (easy) skill jump to get back on. The addition of the box hopefully shouldn't cause an unfair angle.
• Broke part of the wall between B side hall and B site to make grenade lineups easier. This is primarily when chucking grenades from B connector.

• Added open skylights in A lobby to throw grenades from
• Widened A main along the window to throw more lineups.
  • The overhang roof has been reduced so that grenades are less limited.

• Grass wall (A site) has been extended to provide less of an unfair angle onto people running out of A main. 
  • Grass has been properly clipped (goodbye strange floor light).

• CT Spawn now has boxes and ramps to sneak down from. Provides more effective lurking opportunities through the area.

• Clipped off trees on A site (thanks FrshNL and slatysh!)

[MrTrane18]

I am trying to keep up with the  showcase videos! This the second one for the map. Hope it boosts some motivation to you!

[AlphaOwl]

A7 Update! I figure I separate this version from A6 even though I would say the feedback came in the same batch, but I wanted to ease in some of the changes so that hopefully the map feels better. This update focuses on engagements and timings to each site, as well as trying to provide a better gameplay flow. This update also features a redesign of the Torii Gates across the map, which is much closer to what I envision them to look like.

B Site

During playtests and from feedback from the Mapcore Faceit Hub, people felt that despite the size changes, B site still felt cramped. So I decided to push back the outer walls this time to give the site more air to breathe. I also felt that it was thus appropriate to make the Torii Gate entrance larger as well, though hopefully this ages well enough with the newly released Incin changes. There have been some other cover arrangements on site as well, such as the crates being enlarged and pushed back and a pedestal block providing cover from CT for retake. B connector stairs has also been enlarged, reducing the size of the fence inside.

A Lobby

People had trouble rotating from A main to any other part of the map outside of mid, and vice versa. I decided to bring the entrance closer and to make upper A more accessible to get to mid faster, which meant redesigning A lobby once again. Hopefully going towards A shouldn't feel so distant to rotate to now.

Middle

Though I considered harder reworks for middle, I thought it was best to leave it relatively the same with a few minor adjustments. The middle engagement timing should be closer to how it was in the previous version, since people enjoyed how much more contentious it was to fight for it. I leveled out upper middle for a more consistent gameplay flow, but new ramps lead up towards the entrances of buildings. I also added a barrel that allows self boosting onto the Pan cart at lower middle, which might be more efficient instead of having to go around the crate to get up.

Image Comparison Slider between A6 and A7

As the playtesting window for Taisha is closing soon, I would like to thank everyone on the feedback and suggestions to make the map better. I'm happy to see the reception that the map got, and I hope that later down the line there are more opportunities to test the map on the hub. I'll most likely be focusing on further greyboxing and designing buildings around the map to complete the aesthetic and to provide a further glimpse into how I think the map will look like.  

Edited May 24, 2024 by AlphaOwl
Added image slider

[AlphaOwl]

Just thought I'd give a quick update to say that @Axesh will be working with me on this map, primarily on level/environment art! He did suggest a possibility for a redesign of the Gate entrance into B, and I figured we might as well give it a shot to see if it possibly plays better, so hopefully it will keep you intrigued for the next update of the map! I'll also be looking to refine the design of A lobby a bit as well as additional detailing across the map.

[AlphaOwl]

Thought I'd showcase some of the stuff that I've been working on in terms of detailing and redesigning. 

This is a look at the redesigned gate entrance to B site:

Along with A lobby:

And A main:

I'm heading out to Dallas later this week so I won't have time to work on Taisha until after (though I'm excited to attend the event!).

Edited May 29, 2024 by AlphaOwl

[AlphaOwl]

Official Version 8 Update! It's been a week and a half since I last posted, but after getting a couple more playtests and some creative suggestions to take the map to the next step, I've been working hard to rework some questionable areas of the map for a better feel of gameplay. The main focus areas were CT Spawn and B main, which have been redone and expanded upon to provide a better gameplay feel whilst not sacrificing too much of the aesthetic and previous feel of the map. A main also saw some changes, though mostly in the aesthetics department for how the map should look in the future. 

CT Spawn (Major Revamp)

A major flaw with the design of the previous CT Spawn was its simplicity in being a straight and single direct path to each site. Another issue was that the CT area was too involved in map gameplay (despite my intentions for it to not serve any significance. Though similar to a map like Cache, it made rotating over for retakes unsafe did not feel secure, and holding long positions deep into CT to hold upper Mid made it a challenge. Thus I reworked the area to provide safer opportunities and more security in taking and retaking parts of map control. The positioning of CT Spawn itself has changed, with two different routes leading into CT side of A, and better peeking angles into B. The long angle from Broken Wall into CT of A no longer exists, now blocked off by a wall. Upper middle has now changed, with the original CT pool entrance being pushed up and made part of Mid House to shorten the distance of the angle and to make rotating easy between both positions. The routing allows players to continue taking risky angles while providing safer options to rotate through. 

B Main (New Addition)

Initially suggested by my partnering environment artist @Axesh, B main sees late development and a major addition to the flow of the site now. The angle allows Ts to get faster up towards site, and serves as some good post plant positioning. This is aided by the small wrap-around in the area, to catch unsuspecting players offguard. Water area now serves more as a safer passage into B main and to take cover from the B short fight.

B Site (Revamp)

B site saw a revamp after the entrance of B main has changed, so I rebalanced the site to fit the new angles appropriately. There are less pillars now that impede in gameplay peeking, and the few holding positions force CTs and defending Ts to strategically pick certain gunfights or to fight for assertive control of areas like B short and B main. 

B Connector (Minor Revision)

B connector saw some small development with the recent changes towards B site. Most notably, The stairs have been widened and the entrance from upper mid now pushed back. Though not depicted, B connector's entrance into B site has also been pushed back and the little windows have been made taller to provide better grenade options.

A Main/A Lobby (Visual Update)

A lobby underwent another redesign yet again, but I think I'm fairly happy with this iteration. A main has also been visually developed to find a style that's suitable with the map, as well as providing opportunities for hurling utility over.

A Site (Minor Revision)

Since A main is now slightly deeper to the side now, there is now a suitable post plant position to hold bomb from main. The cubby area to the side is also deeper than before. The wood wall was shortened in the back to lessen the unfair angle on top of the bin boost, and the boost itself has been lowered.

Overview of changes

I'm going to get some more playtests scheduled to make sure to finalize these areas of the map, but for the most part I'm happy with the map. Hopefully we can show you some visual updates soon!

 

Edited June 11, 2024 by AlphaOwl

[AlphaOwl]

Another small update, but I've also brought @ethurs on the project! He's also going to be working on environment art for the map and has been cooking up on bombsite B. @Axeshhas been working on bombsite A on the other hand, and hopefully we can showcase some of their progress in the next update!

[MrTrane18]

Hey guys! I see you have made amazing changes to the map.
I wish to give you, the 3rd Showcase video with an extra Instagram showcase. I could not fit everything in the video. Haha. 
My bad! 

Best of luck in the future updates of the map! 
Do not forget about the naming of your .vmap file if it is on MapCore hubs. Heads up.
Stay safe and stay mapping!

[AlphaOwl]

Sorry for the radio silence. We've all been working on detailing the map and I've been perfecting the layout to hammer out its flaws. I'm aiming for us to coordinate our work to be on a version of the map sometime in July, but for now I can share some screenshots of the map.

CT Spawn (Major change):

CT Spawn now has timings with taking map control of specific key areas that I intended for, as well as providing opportunities for safe rotates in post plants. 

B Connector and Lower Mid (Rework):

B connector has been simplified significantly and its routing to mid has also been changed too. There is now more significance as a quick rotate to middle from B site, but less power to being able to hold the position. The exit into B no longer can see into B main, forcing CTs to take a more aggressive position into B short for more control. There is also a raised platform in lower middle, which takes up previously useless map space and provides CT a better position to hold pool from. 

A Main Stairs (New): 

This new route into A main provides faster rotating opportunities from A main to upper A, and defines A main as a T controlled part of the map. 

Detailing work (done by me):

A Site progress (done by @Axesh) :

B site progress (done by @ethurs) :

Edited June 30, 2024 by AlphaOwl
Reformatted since image links went broke