Some details of the 72 hours:
The original plan (different colours are different levels). I was pushed for time and had about a day to design the map, up until 8pm when I began work. I wanted to include some diagonal geometry, and make a CTF map that was focused on the pursuit of the flag carrier.
I started out with the idea that sentries should not be too powerful near the point, and created an area that had an advantage against sentries. Then, this area needed a disadvantage. The map evolved from that.
Created the diagonal building from the top left of the plan first. Immediately jumped in and compiled to check for scale. Can't afford to waste time in the contest so fail early rather than late, and don't waste time.
The map had a lot of displacements in the flag area, so I used blocks to draft out their general shape - this helped with scale and placing other buildings.
I increased the size of the building to hide my sloppy displacements.
Took an overhead pic of the map in Hammer and drafted out how the mid would fit together in Paint. It looked open and boring, and I wasted a lot of time changing it.
Decided on this as my final mid in the end - still not happy with it, but I'm going to continue with this map.
Some lessons learnt:
- Start planning now, if you haven't already. Nothing worse than stagnating halfway through.
- Fail as early as possible.
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Give yourself an hour of grace at the end! Don't let the last minutes be an unpleasant panic. There will ALWAYS be a leak, and you will ALWAYS forget the filters on a door.Or maybe that's just me
- There's always something to do - if you're stuck for layout ideas work on lighting or optimisation. Don't underestimate how long this stuff takes.
I hope this helps someone.
bermuda_72
