CP Evergreen

Video: http://youtu.be/pfAv_LSUxLc?hd=1 (OLD! Video is of the beta 3 release)

People will probably find several design concepts that are similar to cp_badlands. And you'd be right, a few ideas from that map have been reused for the evergreen layout, but the arenas and flow should be a completely new experience.

I've taken a lot of care to make sure that walktimes between points, and from various spawnrooms aren't excessively long. Assuming you use the shortest route, the times are equal to that of any popular 5cp.

[waxpax]

Cool, Scorpio mentioned you were working on a 5cp and I've been waiting to see the end result. I'll probably try to pug this Friday or Saturday.

[Ravidge]

I wouldn't call it "end result" just yet! Expect it to be unpolished and basic, that said I greatly appreciate the eagerness to test it. I hope it's fun.

For now, the part I'm most unsure about is the whole middle section.

This is useless feedback because it's aesthetic and about something you said existed as a visual placeholder (on an early alpha, no less), but the mid being some mix of the elevator-beneath-the-point and a wooden bridge thing really really bugs me.

I didn't have a problem with mid when I played it though.

[Bloodhound]

Looks great, i really like the height differences.
And the midpoint is a bridge, so nothing can go wrong.
But those circular arches don´t really fit tf2, i think. :/

EDIT: And btw. contact me if you need an exploit check.

[Kiddnils]

This map plays very well. It is amazing for scouts but the last point is often too easy for the attackers. Also Evergreen was the name of the school, which visited Valve

[possiblylethal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiddnils

This map plays very well. It is amazing for scouts but the last point is often too easy for the attackers.

I was excited to see this on today's gameday and I had a similar experience but that the last point was too easy for the defenders. Perhaps a sign of a good map? Interested to see this one progress as I had a great time with badla...er, evergreen.

I liked Cap B the minute i saw it in the screenshots and i liked it in game as well. The rails along Cap C were great for a variety of classes to make use of which was nice.

[YM]

I love that one of the captures is supported by ropes, but the way you've attached the ropes to the floor looks super-flimsy, and the ropes themselves look pretty poor.

Comment out the cables line in the TF FGD and have a browse through the existing rope materials, alternatively make them brushes with a rope texture on them and give them a little slack in the middle. (or a displacement tube would work just as well, perhaps better even)

Then it'd look really cool.

The final option is to model it.

[grazr]

Ah, so this was the map we played yesterday.

Wide staircases seems to be a Ravidge signature, i remember them being common in your CTF contest map too. I can't say i'm a fan as they feel cumbersome to fight at and unnecasserily consume space, but that's just me.

A couple things i would say is that the map is kinda a bunch of pseudo corridors and whilst it's not entirely detrimental to combat because there is enough space to fight, it does make it difficult to navigate when you're surrounded by walls/large buildings with a limited FoV. In many CP maps doors open in to large arenas where you can immediately see where you're entering from, where you need to exit/progress too and where the objective is (along with the likely position of defenders). This wasn't totally true playing this map as CP's were hidden behind complex geometry like catwalks, minor walls or other solid obstacles like medium sized props or solid structures.

Also, often the number of arrow signs present was just as confusing as if there were a lack of them. Place arrow overlays above or beside doorways and less of them on walls as they didn't help too much as is. Doing so will help players understand the orientation of the map, which way is forwards and backwards amongst all the corridors. I spent a lot of time looping around buildings or walking the wrong way.

Last was a massive pain in the arse to assault as attackers basically had to complete a small gauntlet of obstacles whilst being shot at by snipers, rockets and grenades from a balcony next to the defenders spawn. The doors also didn't help. Getting to the final CP needs to be a lot more fluid and the CP a lot more obvious as the focus is on the significant threat from the defenders spawn ledge and not the CP behind the train. Most of the time players took up cover on one side of the train flatbed, shooting back up at the continually spawning defenders, whether they noticed the CP or not wasn't clear but at the end of the day it took a long time before anyone successfully jumped onto it and captured it.

[Ravidge]

I don't think last is hard to push as of right now. The point has never stalemated and it usually gets capped quickly (or the defenders win the fight and retake second).
That single round you played in was the longest I've ever seen last held, and that was only 4½ minutes.

I had a hard time to put down arrows in this map, I even forgot to the first couple of versions.
Arrows to me are useless, as it's not how I would navigate a map beyond the first 1-2 rounds, memorizing one part of a map at a time takes about 10-15 minutes in total (even less if the map is symmetrical). Sure they might be useful those first rounds, but usually a teammate will guide better than a arrow. On a completely new and unplayed map I accept the fact that being "lost" for awhile is part of the deal.

I think to map is very cluttered visually. And that is something I would like to fix.

Next release should be in a couple of days, depending on how fast I can work out some of the fixes I want to make.