Coldfront

Coldfront (CP)
by Eric "Icarus" Wong
Email: ericgfwong@hotmail.com

Intro Movie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKx0ALJ-8-c
Fly-Through (RC2) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFLrZ7OmcfE
Development Timelapse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQuywKfjLI

Control Points
Prepare for a Cold War
The five control points promise to switch hands fast and often in this straightforward map, designed with both competitive and public gameplay in mind (It's possible!). The varied but focused access points to every area will make sure turtling teams will not go unpunished.

Coldfront was originally two separate entries into TF2Maps.NET's CP Detailing Contest. My two entries won 1st and 3rd places, and they, coincidentally, became the 1st and 3rd CPs of my 5CP map, Coldfront. The two entries were planned to be parts of a 5CP map from the very beginning, so stitching them together was fairly easy.

I've had the blizzard theme planned from the start, and it's original name was CP_Stormfront. It was changed because it conflicted with an existing arena map that was named Storm Front, so a friend suggested I use Coldfront. A perfect name considering all the details I would add later on.

I like to try something new in every map I make, so I wanted a recognizable gameplay theme, similar to an aesthetic theme. Thus, I intentionally designed Coldfront with characteristics of "flat" and "basic" in mind, and instead allowed the focus on good team and class balance to create an interesting space to fight in. You could probably say I wanted to make the "Final Destination" of TF2.

My Goal: Create a truly unique 5CP experience that both public and competitive environments can enjoy. I playtested and iterated 26 versions for hours and hours with the TF2Maps.NET community and other external testing. The testing I did on 6v6 pugs really helped me to shape Coldfront up for ESEA's 6th season, which it was included in. ESEA was a competitive feedback gold mine, especially from Justin and Oplaid from BlightGaming.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Flame for all his support and feedback. He was the perfect person to bounce ideas off of, and he really helped me get exposure in the competitive world.

Special Thanks:
Selentic - Models
YM - Models
Void - Posters
Flame
BloodSire
A Boojum Snark
Kankle
2Barrels
Snacks
tf2maps.net
#tf2.pug.na

[nik.]

Wow!

I love your second screenshot - middle point I presume?
The detail looks so beautiful! The beams and decaying building work perfectly.

[Jonah]

So you changed the name after all?
Enjoyed it alot, last point was a bit annoying because of the sentry-friendliness but I guess the short captime makes up for it.

[TerabyteST]

Awesome use of your contest points

[Sharc]

Looks lovely.

[Martham112]

I'm actually really looking forward to playing this map. The final points slightly remind me of badlands in a good way and the middle cap looks very interesting. I've not played a map with a similar centre capture zone like that.

I don't know how the second points will play, but from the screenshot, it looks a bit bland to me.

[H-land]

I was going to write a detailed post on how to improve the playability of the map, what was wrong, what was right, and how you might fix the worse parts of the map. As it happens, though, I realized that I'm not sure WHAT, exactly, you want to happen on a 5 CP map. I really should know, since I'm designing one, but I don't, so I'll just say what I do know:
-The first, fifth and third points were hard to capture.
-I felt very vulnerable attacking the last point as a medic, or even going down to heal people. More vulnerable than I usually feel as medic, I should say.
-I had fun.

[grazr]

I was waiting for this to become an actual map. Didn't expect you to combine the final point there though.

Can't wait to get the chance to play it.

[SlayerBlitz]

I loved all the points, especially the middle point, but the 2nd/4th point fell really bland and easy to capture. It just didn't go with the other points at all and its not just because it isn't detailed. It feels like you really put a lot into the 1st/5th and middle points but just looked at the 2nd/4th as a unnecessary delay.

I think you should raise the platform the the right of the point (the one closest to the ground) and raise it up like a balcony and put the medkit under it, and the ammokit above on the balcony. You should also take off the ramp closest to the spawn so that its easier for the attacking team to use while the other area across the point is easier for the defending team to reach. The raised area near the point you have now seems really unprotected. You need to add some waist high walls or metal barriers. Also a purely aesthetic idea I had for this point is to put a large window on the ceiling over the control point.

Also around the middle point it be nice if you put some indication where the medkits and such spawn.

Also slopes are for noobs who dont know how to make stairs.

[infectedfury]

a very nice looking map. keep up the good work