Possible Minor Changes to Corion1Round1

In the last post, I hinted at some minor changes that might be going into Corion1Round1 after some feedback and playtesting on Alpha 3C. Since I don't have my camera available to take a picture of my hastily scribbled notes, I'm actually going to type them out and reword them so they make sense.

• Control Point A:
  • Re-examine the area with the Sniper in mind.Many of the current potential sniper locations can only cover an extremely limited amount of space. Some of the locations force the sniper to get too close to the front lines.
• The Upper Tunnel from A->B:
  • Make the room larger with potential sentry locations for a forward defense or for teleporters.
  • Add defensive position above the exit from the tunnel in the cave containing Control Point B (similar to the location above the tunnels in Dustbowl Round 2 on the way to the second control point).
  • Add extra ammo in the area to promote sentry building.
• The Big [Gray Gravel] Building:
  • Upgrade health and ammo on the lower level so the area sees more use.
  • Downgrade the ammo on the upper level for the same reason.
  • Possibly rework the three windows into two larger ones.
  • Add an extra sniper window in the small room on the way to the CP facing the upper tunnel from A->B (directly opposite).
  • Remove some supports from under B so a sentry in the three-window area could cover that pathway more effectively.
• Control Point B:
  • Increase the cap time for Control Point B by 1 second (possibly more) to prevent quick caps right after A is taken.
  • Rework the ramps inside the building containing B.
• Sniper Window Near B:
  • Add an extra path for RED to take to that room. It's not seeing as much use as it should be.
  • Make it a little easier to jump back into the room with the Control Point.
  • Possibly add an exit for RED near this location, but more vulnerable than the existing one-way door.
• RED Spawn:
  • I had intended to rework the red spawn at some point, but wasn't sure how and didn't think it would effect the gameplay much. This will probably happen in a future version.
  • Currently players seem to be taking the long way to A rather than the shortcut, so I'll be adding more hints.

Another thing I'll be looking into is possible ways to prevent BLU from running right past A to set up a forward base at B.

Corion1Round1 Alpha 3C Is Out!

Download it here.

You can comment on the map here on this post, at TF2Maps.net, or on the Control Point Podcast forums.

The most noticeable change in C from B (shown in the screenshots in the previous post) is the addition of another ramp to Control Point B. I may upload screenshots of this addition in the future.

The game play in this version is vastly improved over previous versions, which proved extraordinarily difficult for the attackers. Changes to Round1 of Corion1 from this point out will be minor, though not necessarily few.

It's not official, but I probably will NOT be releasing another Alpha of Round1 until I'm finished with the other two rounds and have the full map completely sewn together.

Screenshots of Alpha3B

I've uploaded screenshots of Alpha3B of my Team Fortress 2 map, as promised.

I still have a tiny bit more work that I could do on the map, and since today is a free weekend and still facing the wrath of the new pyro patch for Team Fortress 2 I'll be delaying the actual release of Alpha 3b. Playtesting it on a server where 50% of the people are Pyros wouldn't be a very accurate sample of the gameplay on this map.

So I'll be waiting until tomorrow or possibly even next weekend to actually release and playtest the next public alpha.

Work Continues

Work continues on the first round of my tentatively titled Team Fortress 2 map, Corion1.

The second alpha of this map (screenshots here) was playtested by two of my favorite Team Fortress 2 Communities, TF2Maps.net (Team Fortress 2 Mapping Community) and Control Point (Team Fortress 2 Podcast). The respective feedback and observation threads are here and here.

The overall gameplay of the round was vastly improved over the first alpha, but it still needed a lot of work. The primary problem with Alpha 2 is that the second control point is too difficult for the attackers to take.

I've reworked the routes between control points A and B in the third alpha of the map, but have noticed a different problem. Right now it takes the attackers about 24 to 29 seconds to reach control point B from their spawn, which is about 6-8 seconds higher than cp_dustbowl, cp_gravelpit, and pl_goldrush. I'm working on cutting down the size of these routes to make the map play better, and will hopefully have a third alpha available this weekend for playtesting.

Over the weekend I will be uploading some screenshots of the significant changes I've made to the level, regardless of whether or not a third alpha is available.

First!

Hello, everyone!

Welcome to my Map Design Blog.

This is the place I plan to chronicle my forays into video game map design, piece by piece.
I'll be uploading screenshots and information as I update, playtest, and release my maps here for everyone to see. Be sure to comment on what you see and provide feedback, as it is the most important part of map design!

I'll also be making occasional posts about map design theory and any relevant and interesting articles I find on the internet.

Currently I'm working on maps for Team Fortress 2, but this blog will not be restricted to TF2-related content.

This space is rather empty now, but look forward to the future for regular updates!