Minas

[wslysnps]

Alright!

> Press here for latest forum post!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3230427672

Greatest adventure ever, arguably LOTR! Coolest location, Minas Tirith, no doubt. So thats pretty much the inspiration.
Very rough blockout is on steam. Here's the latest radar radar:

Here's a couple of screenshots from June 16th:

WSLY

Edited July 24, 2024 by wslysnps

[Human Doctor]

Layout doesn't look like Minas Tirith. Maybe start over.

[wslysnps]

Screenshots from first playable block out. Obviously still very rough, so this is just to get the a number of things right, like timings, feel of areas, lineups and sight lines.
Hopefully i can get it tested very soon, so i can begin to refine the layout and scrapping/updating stuff that doesn't work.

 

A Site:

 

B Site:

 

Middle:

 

B long:

 

Overview from T side:

 

Overview from CT side:

 

Edited April 24, 2024 by wslysnps

[wslysnps]

Hi everybody!

Little update on the map.

I'm still in a very iterative "fail-fast" phase of the blockout. Since the first playtest i've been doing a lot of changes to see  how i can make the map feel simple to play, while still being complex enough to where it's not just going to be a rush map.

Here's a couple of change logs:

Update: 29 Apr @ 4:20pm
-Widened middle
-Reworked B layout
-Added path from middle to drop on B
-Added cave entrance to B from CT spawn
-Made entrance to catwalk in mid from T side easier
-Closed of gate from right side of mid T side giving T's only one angle into mid
-Added cover in mid T side for better early round mid gameplay
-Reworked underpass connector to B long path
-Lowered B long catwalk for better angle into B
-Fixed a lot of bad stone work around the map
-Added a better staircase to A from T spawn + leading lines for better navigation
-Made first arch on CT main A less penetrable. Now needs AWP

Update: 1 May @ 5:20pm
-Added underpass rotate from A to B. Might be way too fast
-Added pergola for more cover on A
-Added wall on arch in CT spawn to deny long sightline to mid
-Added cover in mid CT side
-Lowered roof on connector from mid to A, to allow T's to hug the left wall to sneak into A
-Clipped doors in mid to drop
-Resized box in T side mid for better cover

/////

I'm still in a place where I'm working out how many options the CT's need to feel like they still have some sort of control mid-late round. I need to rework B even more to get it to a point where it doesn't feel cluttered, but also isn't too two dimensional. It's a hard balance to strike

I also need to really nail every single sight line on the map. There are a couple of bad ones right now that i need to fix somehow without breaking the timings on the map.

Sometimes i take a break from creating gameplay, to just create some details to sell the environment and the theme. As these touches are being added, the map seems to be coming together. Sometimes a lane or area that looks very barren and too big in the very early gray box, can actually end up feeling too small or too cluttered when you start to add details. I've found that adding just a little bit of details and set dressing while blocking out actually helps me figuring out the size of the space better than just keeping it entirely in simple shapes.

 

 

See you soon!

[wslysnps]

HI GUYS!

This is just a little update. I wanted to let you guys know how i kind of updated B site.

It used to be this dark cramped thing, and it didn't really feel good to me. I tried a couple of different solutions, while keeping it sort of cave like but i just couldn't nail the vibe i was going for.

Before:

 

So i decided to open it up and make the entrance area a lot bigger. This felt like a breath of fresh air for the whole site and somehow now it just plays way better. Maybe its just the honeymoon phase, but i like it a lot more.

After:

[MrTrane18]

Soon enough this map will be filled to a point. Where the picture on the screen will come to life it self.
Maybe with a showcase video help, we will be able to look back at how it was at the start. 
Best of luck with the map! 

Edited May 7, 2024 by MrTrane18

[wslysnps]

Finally got over my fear of setting up Radgen.

T spawn still needs some love as its very basic right now, so i think i'll make that area feel a bit more coherent with the theme in the coming days.

[wslysnps]

Wew!

So, with the map going on Faceit later today I thought I'd share some changelogs and some images from the progress on the map.

 

Update: 13 May @ 3:55pm

-Reworked T's entrance into B long to let them get to it a second ealier. This would allow T's to contest B long before CT smoke it off.
-Reworked B site to make it less cluttered.
-Reworked T's connector into A.
-Added squeeky door to T's connector into A.
-Reworked CT's A connector room to feel less claustrophobic.
-Added another very small route into A from T main. Hopefully not too OP.
-Added windows to CT main on A.
-Moved T spawn half a second closer to the action.
-Misc small changes.

 

Update: 16 May @ 12:58pm

-Added connector from A to top mid. Might be OP.
-Added AudioBlockers throughout the map. Might be too many.
-Moved wall in middle to make catwalk safer for T pushes.
-Added tile to make it possible to climb the catwalk from behind the tree.
-Added a couple of walls to the catwalk.
-Added walkway to drop in B

 

Post playtest

Update: 17 May @ 11:29am

-Moved buildings outside A T side to prevent weird long angle.
-Clipped off buildings in T side Door room on A.
-Raised door in CT side mid to prevent weird angle onto catwalk.
-raised door on cubby on T side entrance to A to prevent boost looking over door.
-Lowered floor on T side mid to make the ramp into lower connecter less steep, making it better to fight around.
-Moved tree in mid to other side.
-Added hole in CT side wall looking into ramp.
-Added bench for CT to get easier access to catwalk in mid.
-Made drop connector into B wider.
-Clipped windows in CT main on A.
-Removed headpeek rocks on catwalk in mid.
-Clipped half wall on B.
-Moved T spawns back by half a second to allow CT's to setup properly. Might revert.
-Added cover in lower to let CT's hold it easier.
-Added cover on A to let you get out of ladder room without Ts being able to hold retakes from that entrance all the way from T main on A.
-Made T's boost into mid wider. This way its not a deep nook, and CT's can't easily spot over it.
-Lots of extra clipping.
-Lots of love.

Off to faceit.

Lots of changes been made. In some cases I'm still sticking with my initial design. I really haven't touched the underpass connector much as i do believe that it can work.

Here's a couple of images of the changes that are the most substantial:

 

-T short got a door to make it easier for CT to hold the underpass connector

 

-Mid got lowered a bit on CT side to make the angle fighting from underpass to T side mid less awkward due to the steep ramp. I also moved the tree because it was creating too much clutter on the catwalk. And i made a hole in the wall that CT's can use to fight through. Might be a bit silly, but i kind of like it.

 

-T's got this second entrance to A which comes out right next to the other one. Its very narrow and a bit claustrophobic, but that is on purpose.

[wslysnps]

Hey!!

So! I've been going over the matches played on Minas during it's stay on the Mapcore Faceit Hub. It looked like it generally played well. There were areas that needed improvements though. I felt like a was a bit too cramped. When it was being rushed, and the smokes were landing, the site just became really small and not very elegant. While opening up A, i also removed the second entrance, because it played in a way i found to be messy and again, not very elegant.

I've also scrapped the long cave route into B from CT site and in general cleaned up CT spawn. Right now it's pretty barren, but i feel like it will play better this way. With this change, I've created a new entrance into B from CT spawn that comes out closer to the other CT spawn entrance. Hopefully this will make the site play a lot better.

Last but not least, I've moved B and B long a bit further away from mid, sort of squeezing the map. This is pretty subtle, but i do feel like it will make the underpass, and the map as a whole, play better.

Here's some photos and a before/after radar:

(A tad bit bigger A site)

 

(Cleaner CT spawn)

 

(New cave entrance to B)

 

(New cave entrance from B site)

 

(Beforeafter radar)

 

That's all for me this time around. If anybody has any feedback, don't hesitate to dm me or just reply to this thread. cu.

[wslysnps]

HEJSA!

I decided to remake B long yet again. The old interior tunnel just felt too crammed and restrictive to play. It didn't facilitate enough variety in gameplay, so i've opened it up. Testing it tomorrow 6/6 over at MapINK

Edited June 5, 2024 by wslysnps

[wslysnps]

Good evening!

Figured i'd just share a little bit of what's going on with CT spawn. I still need to playtest these changes, but what i did was to kind of simplify what was going on with top mid and ct spawn in general. To me it felt like if you, as a t, got top mid control it would just take way too long to get onto any site with that part of the map under control.

Likewise, CT's just didnt have the freedom of mobility to counter the T's if they got control of the underpass rotations. And i turned the B site statue into a gazebo, so that CT's can hold site from their entrance. Hopefully this change will help out both teams and make the level way more fun. Here are the changelist, and some photos/videos.

-Remade CT spawn
-Remade CT A main entrance
-Reworked CT's route to mid
-Remade center of B bomsite to be a gazebo instead of a statue
-Reworked ladder to make it come out in dark A instead of next to CT main
-Remade CT's B main entrance

 

// BEFORE

 

// AFTER

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2024 by wslysnps

[wslysnps]

I think i am at a point now, where i really like how the map plays, and i am confident in my design enough to start finishing up the grey box and move onto the the first art stages. I will post some pure ref boards in the following week to sort of flesh out what I've been seeing behind the gray facades. 
I still have a couple of playtests before the deadline, so hopefully everything is perfect and i can hopefully carry on into phase 2. Fingers crossed.

 

Anyways, here's a couple of pictures of the map as it is right now:

B site:

 

B main:

 

CT spawn:

 

Top mid CT:

 

Sunroom (squeeky):

 

A dark:

 

A site:

 

Mid:

 

Mid:

[wslysnps]

Mornin'!

So, I've been gathering some references for the map. Seeing that it is hard to find references from the actual Minas Tirith somehow, i have been forced to look for references from the next best thing. The French mountain town of Rocamadour. A beautiful place, that i will have to visit irl some day. For now though, I've been admiring it on Google, and collected enough images to feel like i have a good representation of how the map is going to look.. Sort of! And now you're probably going to say, but wsly, why didnt you gather references from Mont Saint Michel. idno, ok. I just like the look of Rocamadour better..

 

 

 

 

 

 

As i continue to refine the layout, i will also be doing some art tests over the following month just to figure out a workflow for these materials and assets.

 

Bye.

Edited June 24, 2024 by wslysnps

[wslysnps]

Hi!

So! Going into the final month of the graybox phase, im really excited to finally be at a point where I'm happy with more or less everything on the map. I've tweaked B bombsite to play more interestingly, while still maintaining a rather simple layout. I made some slight elevation changes and reintroduced the tunnels, but instead of coming from CT spawn, it now connects out into B long.

 

Mid have also received some slight changes to allow for more variation in how it plays. I've removed the stone so its no longer possible to solo boost up onto the wall on catwalk. I've also removed the window looking into ramp (with a heavy heart). In addition to these bigger changes, I've made some smaller changes to crate and barrel heights in CT side of mid, to let them peek over smokes and in general allow a better hold of mid if T's utilize early round utility.

 

Finally, I decided to redo A main. It felt too much as an appendix out to the side. I've brought it in close to the squeeky area in the hopes that A main will now play closer to how A lobby on Nuke plays, where its a setup room that is actively being contested but is easy enough for T's to hold that CT's wont push it every round.

 

Hopefully it's only small tweaks from now and i wont have to make major changes.

 

Later.

[wslysnps]

HI!

This will be my last update before the judging. I am very happy with where the level is at right now. It can feel like the map is too complicated and there is too much going on at first glance, but i do think that this will work in favor of the map in the long run. What i mean by that is that i think there's a lot of room for experimenting with strats and metas, which should give the level some longevity. 

 

Here's a couple of the last changes i pushed:

-Barred up window in mid. Can still be shot through, but not climbable
-Made wall in mid a straight line instead of two 90 degree turns
-Reworked CTs entrance to mid to conform to the window into ramp
-Added new entrance into B long from T side
-Closed off cave on B site

 

Here's the last match played on the map before the judging begins:
 

Best of luck to you all. See you in the second phase, hopefully!