Jimmy is studying 5CP Maps!

[Jimmy]

Ok, Im studying 5cp maps to better my own when I get round to doing it. Ill post my intro + my study on granary just now, and post coldfront, badlands and Yukon later!


To start this off, I'm gonna go ahead and say this: I'm relatively new to mapping. Take everything you read in here with a pinch of salt. Some of this will be wrong, no doubt. I've decided, since bedrock turned out so well, to stick with tf2 mapping for now. I really want to design a 5cp map, and have some Ideas floating around my head. I thought it would be relatively simple, until I realized how complicated it will be to get the right balance between all the different aspects of tf2, and try and please both the comp and pub scenes.

I'm gonna start this by looking at 5cp maps in general. For this I'm gonna borrow a pic from Ravidge, showing how when you boil it down to the basic layout, 5cp maps come in two different varieties, Linear and S – shaped:



These are your typical S – Shaped 5cp maps. In this study I'm gonna look at Badlands and Yukon, since I like both of them and they play well.



These are your typical Linear 5cp maps. For this study I'm gonna look at Granary, and also Coldfront. Despite not being on that picture, It fits the linear
style, and It plays better than Fastlane, and I've decided to do one community and one official map for each type anyway .

Linear 5CP
Granary

I for one love granary. I have taken some purty screenshots to help aid me in this guide. To start lets look at the mid, as the mid is arguably the most important point in any 5cp map. The fight over mid can decide who wins and who loses. If a team loses the first fight at mid, they lose morale and the match can follow.

Granary's mid is interesting. The point itself is raised slightly, with cover for the flanking routes also acting as a height advantage for attacking mid, which any class can access.



Sorry for crap quality in advance. One thing that surprises me is that there is only 3 entrances to mid, and mid itself is really quite small, with what seems a lack of flanking routes, but it is really the complete opposite. Its all to do with those crates. Jumping from the raised entrance to mid onto the crates, pyros and spies can ambush players coming out of the main entrance to mid, and from up there soldiers can cover the point, and to a certain extent, the side routes. Due to the height differences and small size of the mid, and the entrances to mid being at either side of the point, combat is channelled to the point pretty much every time. This makes the straightforward flanking routes with the medium ammo surprisingly useful. The raised point stops people from
taking too much fall damage when jumping from the crates, and the space between the crates is an excellent ambush sentry spot. It seems that simply providing good height advantages for all classes with some cover makes mid play well. To recap:

Granary – Mid

Key points:

Small
Height advantage around the point
Combat channelled by height advantage

Now to look at something that varies a lot in even 5cp maps of the same style:
Yards. Some maps have them, others don't. We will look at what the yard does, and the advantages/disadvantages of it.



In the above pic we can see Blu's yard. Its split down the middle by the crate, with either side offering different attacking routes. The yard is here to act as a second battlefield for the team who lose mid. If they are losing badly and down a few men, they can retreat and start to hold off here. There is ammo to help with the building of sentries on one side, and a small area that can be used as a height advantage by soldiers ect. In the far left of the picture. This is can be used to cover one of the entrances to the yard and half of the yard itself. The Yard is good as it helps channel combat to a specific open area, rather than through corridors or narrow pathways, as seen in maps like Yukon. It can however, cause the map to stalemate a bit, due to the lack of entrances for the attackers, with only 2 on either side of the yard.

Granary – Yard

Open, some cover
slight Height advantage for defenders
can cause map to stalemate due to lack of entrances for attackers

[Jimmy]

Granary's Second point itself is a great point in my opinion, and seems to show some recurring themes for Granary's design: Height advantage for everyone. Not just the defenders, not just certain classes.




The Second cap on granary usually plays well, due to those stairs right there. Those stairs are not in view of the cap or any usual sentry spot, easy to access for the attacking team, and it isn't the defenders main entrance to the higher ground. This means a demoman can shoot stickies around the corner at the top of the stairs, destroy any sentries there, and clear the point. The same can happen with the defending team, but due to the access to that higher ledge stalemates at this point are pretty uncommon. The cap itself also helps stop stalemates. There are two entrances for the attacking team which are out of sight of the defending team entrances, and any sentry spots, with a handy medium health pack and ammo there to help with assaulting the enemy team and any sentries through the doorway where the cap is situated.

Granary - 2nd CP

Access to height advantage for both teams
entrances for attackers out of sight of any sentry spot/ defenders

I'm not a big fan of granary's last point, It seems very anti-climactic with no big spytech base, just some rockets which don't explode or anything! At least badlands ends in a spytech base.



The CP itself is very open, with a long narrow catwalk leading to the point, useful for attackers. Sentry camping Is pretty much nullified by the open nature of this point, with both exits from spawn being far enough to stop any spawn camping. There is one sentry spot which is useful, but a demo can spam nades over and annihilate any sentries. Attackers have a slight height advantage and a variety of routes to attack from, and there is cover beside the main route into the area around the point, to try and reduce snipers locking it down and helping the attackers. Combat is very hectic and centres around the point. Not the best of final points, though a good defence is needed due to the quick cap time.

Granary – Last CP

Variety of attacking routes, cover for main entrances
open, but with enough cover to stop it being too open
1 or 2 key defending spots which can be countered
quick cap time

[Icarus]

It's finally here!

[Prestige]

post badlands next!

+1 for informative post (and seinfeld reference).

[HeaH]

Awesome! Very nice read. 5cps seems like the most complex gamemode in the game

When are you gonna do the next ones?

Also, thanked both posts

[umbratile]

I was thinking about making a new 5CP map (maaaybe) so this is encouraging and useful. You get two thanks!

[StickZer0]

Really useful Jimmy! Can't wait for more maps to be done, it shows that linear 5cp as opposed to S shaped isn't ALL that bad

[Jimmy]

thankls for the feedback, will be doing badlands over the next few days

[Jimmy]

S – Shaped 5CP

Badlands

Badlands is, undoubtedly, the 5cp map that is played most in pubs and comp play. Why its played so much, and what makes it play so well, I shall look at. Though mainly Ill just point out that there is a set of fans behind the last point you can jump into and hide in. Just sayin'.

Lets start by looking at badlands mid. It is very contrasting to granary's its very large and open. The lack of good sniper cover however stops it being dominated by them, and the multiple height levels allow scouts and spies to sneak around and flank them also.



Once again, sorry for crap quality and squint camera view. In this pic You can see the main thing that, in my opinion, makes it play so well: flanking. I touched on flanking when discussing granary's mid, but it doesn't play as much of a part in granary as it does here. The cap itself is quite exposed, with cover on two sides, which can also be used as a slight height advantage. A small balcony overlooks the point, perfect for sniping or a sentry. This in itself would be a nightmare-ish point in itself, but the area around the cap itself makes it play great. The main entrance to mid is perpendicular to the point, out of view of the enemies entrance. The area under the point is quite open with a lack of health, but you can quickly bypass any sentries or snipers on the balcony, go through the small shack at the side and take down the sentry through the doorway, or from underneath. The lower valley plays a key role in this map.

Badlands – Mid
* Obvious sniper/sentry spots which can be flanked
* Main Entrance Perpendicular to point
* Linear top path with height advantage + cap
* open lower path to flank with, or to reach the point with

Now, at this point in my last study I talked about yards, and their advantages and disadvantages. Badlands takes a different approach to this, with a more open area than granary, with a key chokepoint.



Ill discuss this half of the area just now, and the second half later. The secondary entrance to mid also serves as a funnel for the attacking team, with many players taking this path out into the open area surrounding the second cap. Defenders have a small area of height advantage, which can be countered by a demoman/soldier coming through the building in the middle of this pseudo-yard. I say pseudo because It isn't a yard in the same way that granary's yard is. It serves the same purpose, but is different. It is more of a chokepoint than a yard, with a secondary path with which to flank, which is joined to this chokepoint and the mid by the buildings seperating them.



Bad pic I know, just wanting to show something. This is a flanking route more than a yard. It provides a simple path for both teams to bypass the second point almost entirely, and attack the enemy from the rear. Yes that is meant to sound funny. Well, at least it sounds funny to me. This also highlights what makes Badlands so different from other 5cp maps, even other S-shaped maps like Yukon. That is, the huge emphasis on flanking.

Badlands – Yard chokepointy bit thingy

Funnels players to attack through a chokepoint
Provides an alternate path for both teams to flank
gives defenders a slight height advantage over a largely open area


Ok, now on to Badlands 2nd point. This will be a bit shorter than what I wrote on granary's 2nd, as this ties in a lot with the “yard” before the point.



The point itself is best accessed by a high mobility class such as soldier, though can be accessed by every class. Once on the point, the player has cover, some health, and a huge height advantage over the surrounding area. The defenders however, have a battlement overlooking the point only slightly lower than it, allowing them to pick of enemies with ease. This can easily be countered by, guess what? Flanking. The attacking team can easily make their way up to this battlement and give the defending team a face full of Jarate/ boolets / bottles of scrumpy.

Badlands - 2nd Point
Point itself offers cover and height advantage
attacking is easier for high mobility classes
defenders can hold point easily, but can also be flanked easily

Ok, badlands last in a point I bow down too. It just works so well. I will try my best to explain why this is.



Shit pic I know, but the low roof is limiting for these pics. Attackers have 3 seperate entrances to the point, and defenders have 2 mirrored sentry spots. These can be countered or completely bypassed sometimes. The cap time is extremely quick, meaning a good defense is encouraged. It is hard to just spam on the point, as one of the attacking entrances means you can easily be sniped off it , and inst enclosed nature means a sentry can't be built behind it effectively. The use of height here means that the attackers can take out the enemies and then cap the point without worrying about them respawning. There is also a great flanking route which can be used by a scout or spy to bypass the sentry/s and quickly cap before the defending team has time to attack.

Badlands – Last CP
Height advantage can be used by defenders and countered easily
quick cap time encourages defending
sentries can be flanked for quick caps
enclosed cap means spam is reduced

Thanks for reading!

[Ninjilla]

I demand a bump and more 5Cp study!