de_elevation [WIP]

[jd40]

Hello!

 

@JimWood and I have been working on a map for the contest. It's set in the favelas of Colombia.

The layout will feature cable car stations, a lot of mixing of interior and exterior spaces and a lot of verticality.

Here's a moodboard showing what we're going for art wise:

Here's a slightly outdated radar overview. Jim will follow with a newer one and some playtests very soon!

 

Workshop page

Edited August 4 by jd40
Added workshop link

[csWaldo]

Always thought this theme was overdue for another map. Hope we get to see more soon  

[Darivan]

I don't know why this year mappers of fame hall are all exploring to blur the existence of traditional mid.It's a interesting fact and I cannot wait to see more.

[JimWood]

Here's a quick look at the bombsites, as they are right now.

 

CTs spawn on A site, where the primary goal for Ts is to destroy the main cable car station.

It contains a sneaky underneath route which CTs need to watch out for, and the possibility of planting the bomb with a long sightline and holding it from afar.

 

Fancy trying your chances at B site? Here, you'll be looking to destroy the main support that allows the cable cars to travel over the depths of the favelas.

CTs are given two routes to the bombsite, with one being a raised balcony.

Ts are also given two routes to the bombsite, however one of those routes has a connection to mid, which will need to be held if you don't want to be backstabbed by rushing CTs.

And here's the radar:

Edited June 22 by JimWood

[JimWood]

Here's the radar for the first playtest!

[jd40]

Hello folks!

 

Here's a summary of changes we made following the last playtest:

A site:

The path leading to the site is now split in two with a death pit in between seperating them. We are very curious to see how that plays and it will be one of the things we focus on during the playtest.

A long was simplified with the extra rooms in the back removed. It now leads to a spiral staircase leading to the site.

The back angle at A under was moved to the side so it is a bit easier to push that path as well.

Spoiler

 

Mid:

Moved T side pathing leading to mid. You now approach mid from the left side, getting rid of the awkward angle into mid connector. Angles were also reworked a little so they are now more individual and you are never forced into peeking multiple angles at once.

Spoiler

 

B site:

Added extra room at T main approach for Ts to have somewhere to retreat to after plant.

Added an extra cubby at the new T approach so Ts have another defensive hiding spot.

Pathing to heaven now requires jumping. Makes it harder to push defenders in the back and increases the timings.

Spoiler

 

[jd40]

I'm here with another update.

From the level design side we are keeping busy, we had a Mapcore playtest last week and implemented some changes based on that. Today we entered the FACEIT hubs and there were 3 games already! We are now pushing some layout changes and quality of life fixes to make those games run a bit smoother.

 

As a bonus, the ticket machines now make a sound and flash red when players pass. The sound can be avoided by jumping over. It is mainly here to replace the old mechanic we had to slow people down at B heaven. (double jump at staircase)

 

On the art side I've been working on a favela kit and making various props. The map will be about 60% modern cable car infrastructure and 40% favela. The biggest challenge with the cable cars will be all the support pillars and mechanical parts, while with the favelas it's just the amount of detail needed compared to clean concrete walls.  For now I'm making some materials and props but will move to creating a building kit soon.

 

[jd40]

And here's the new radar:

[Daggerman]

This is looking fantastic

[JimWood]

Here's the link to the workshop submission!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262775891

[jd40]

We had our map on FACEIT last week and we got some useful data from that. We had 9 games total, 6 of them played on the latest iteration of the layout.

The stats turned out a bit too CT sided for comfort especially since this is a new map and CT metas are not established yet, meaning the map would likely be even more CT sided with teams who understand the map. 

 

Our focus with the latest update was to make the map more comfortable for Ts. The map is already a bit unusual in the way that each bombsite has only 1 dedicated entry. Similarly to overpass it's key for Ts to take mid to get access to the other entries and cut off CT rotations. So the focus was on making middle more T friendly.

From the demos death heatmap from rebze's report tool I found that there was a big T death hotspot at top mid. So we reworked that area a bit mainly giving more room and allowing different playstyles. The old setup was very choky and players in the demos were often frustrated bumping into eachother. The new one has more room so Ts can either hang back and hold the angle with an awp or push up with a rifle unseen.

 

 

Radar:

Edited August 4 by jd40
Updated radar

[IsoNovio]

Love the idea of bombing a gondola terminal.

Just that there is a trap on A main.

 

[jd40]

With the map going on rotation at FACEIT, here's the latest changes:

 

The focus this time was mostly on "space design", converting the blockout shapes to actual buildings, adding all the city architecture, the various alleys leading out of the map etc. Some of these additions did lead to layout changes which we feel are for the better.

 

Radar:

[JimWood]

After some games have been played on the Mapcore Faceit Hubs, we've pushed an update containing some improvements from feedback gathered.

 

This change opens up Mid to A a lot, with a lot of nice angles being produced from the new wider path, along with some other smaller changes.

Looking forward to seeing how the changes play!

 

Radar: