CTF Asylum1

you ever get bored at work and draw a map

yeah thats what happened here

This is "Asylum1," a tentative name for a map I don't want to give an actual name to yet. Why? Just in case the map sucks, and I've gone and wasted a perfectly good name on it. (see also: ctf_rumble).

If I only finish one more serious map, it'll be a good CTF map that doesn't end in turtlemania. There are of course many ideas I've got sketched down, and this is the one I was most satisfied with.

As such, everything is mostly untextured and is a giant mess in general. It's really just an absolute bare minimum blocking-out that I want to see if it'll work or not.

So... screens then.



The middle ground. Note the gaping chasm.



of course there's paths going up and down



so i got a little carried away detailing the intel room.



The Head Honcho of course gets a quick-escape chair, which players can use to infiltrate the intel room as well. Actual quick-escape motion not included.



That leads into this junction, where players can escape with the intel into the "caves" (or at least they will be caves), and into the chasm. Sadly, it's a one-way ticket (bar rocketjumpers)



players can storm the intel room head on, or take a detour around the top floor and drop into the escape tunnel. This too is a one-way ticket for aerodynamically stunted classes.

So that's about all the effort I'm putting into this one for now. Lets see if she works.

[Jeremy]

Oh my god you actually made a normal map.

First screenshot looks kinda open and sightliney

[Deodorant]

I'm a terrible person to take mapping advice from, but...

Those outdoor parts look pretty terrible to play in. Extremely open. Absurd height differences. An unprotected catwalk over a giant chasm, just begging for Pyros, Snipers and explosive spam to ruin the day of anyone crossing it. Mile-long but really thin ramps that look annoying to scale and would leave one a sitting duck to Soldiers and Snipers.

However, that detailing is wonderful. Slightly prop-heavy perhaps, but stylish and atmospheric. And that escape chair is a brilliantly TF2-ish detail.

Wasn't there some thread a while ago about leaving unfinished map projects up for grabs? I think you should consider artpassing some good alpha.

[The Asylum]

So gameday came and went, and Asylum1 was played. Thinking of shortening the mid, shallowing the chasm, and pushing the first floor spawnroom further back, or moving it elsewhere. Also connecting the escape tunnel with the caves completely so it can go both ways.

I think it's still salvageable, but barely.

[Ravidge]

I'll be honest with you (and this is going to be a little harsh), it felt like one of those snipers-only kind of maps/severs.
I didn't really check out the base layout since I found a sightline that shot from my spawnroom INTO the enemy spawn (no doors) just as I spawned for the first time, later I found windows to shoot from. And then I moved out to shoot from the yard.

At one point I had to cap the intel, and I got really lost. There was no signs, I had to follow the compass, and it pointed me into our own spawnroom (since the capture point was actually on a different level). And obviously I didn't know that was our spawnroom, since it had no doors, again.

The map is just not designed with the 9 classes in mind. When I look the the mid/bridge area, I just can't see any kind of gameplay other than snipers. And even then the sniping is very static and predictable as it's flat with essentially no surprise routes, or cover.

You say it's salvageable but I barely agree, depending on how cleanly you've made your brushwork.
If everything is nice and neat, then it's going to be easier to make significant changes, and perhaps you could salvage the map... who knows.
However, if it was me making this map however, I'd start over but before doing that, I'd carefully study what kind of size "rooms" are optimal for combat for various classes, add subtle height advantages (just a 64 unit ledge will do, it has a real impact if players who know how to position themselves take advantage of it).
Study how narrow, wide and long a corridor should be. What makes a choke good? How long does it take to get around the map as the slower classes?
What kind of height is too high, what is normal, and do you want to force fall damage on every single drop?

It just felt very basic, but it was a base that I didn't see much potential with. Can I guess that you released prematurely? It just doesn't have enough content or thought put in for a proper a1 test.

I hope you take this criticism well, I don't mean to discourage you, rather I want you to look at what you have and think about what makes a good tf2 map actually play well and fun for all classes. There is no shame in analyzing good maps (based on popularity I guess?) to figure stuff out, or draw inspiration from.

[The Asylum]

I'll be honest too; I built this map in the worst way imaginable. First I just built an Intel room, and then built a map around it. What little of it that was planned out was done in about half an hour on my lunch break at work. It looked good in my head and on paper, but it definetely failed the field test.

So yeah. Good thing I didn't waste a real name on this mess then.



PS: It takes a lot to discourage me- I maintain Melee Fort after all.