plr_silverpeak

[hydrage]

Hi,

I've just released a new map called plr_silverpeak_a1.  It's the first alpha, but it's a fully functional map complete with exploding bombsites.  The textures and detail-work are not yet finished, but the gameplay is ready to go.

It's a single-stage payload race, but in order to reduce stalemates, I've added a "Center Point" which serves as a tie-breaker if time runs out.  I'm hoping you guys could playtest this concept to see if it works out well or not.


You can download the map from TF2Maps.net:
  http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=2711



Please let me know any feedback you might have!
Thanks!

[CaffeinePowered]

Looks nice and we'll throw it up on Tuesday, but i must say though, I have yet to play a PLR map that has 'worked'

[hydrage]

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence!  ;D

If you're referring to the typical PLR stalemate frequency, I've hopefully addressed that issue with the "center point" concept.  Let me know how it works out, because it may need some tweaking.  Stalemates should be rare with this map.

[SAVAGE-0]

I liked it... quite fun.

Only thing I have to say is that it has quite a learning curve... The spawn zone/bases are quite the elaborate design.  Finding your way around that place is like a corn field maze.  I'm never wuite sure which door I'm going to end up coming out. 

That being said it does make it easier to attck from different angles, but this not be necessary.  I do think that with full knowledge (memorized) of the layout, it would be very easy to attack/defend, but even after playing it through 2x (both lasted about 15-25 minutes)  I still only knew one path really well.

we never lasted the full time to see the center CP point come down... which is also kind of odd considering we played for like 20 minutes both stuck on the last point.  maybe shorten the time added per point and make it a bit faster, so if there is a stand off it isnt quite so long  - running all the way to the last point only to be killed by a sentry starts getting old after 5 or 6 times.

idk, just my 2 cents... I don't know much about map making, so I can't say for sure if anything would make it better or worse.

overall fun map.. just very wide/lots of paths. so bumping into people, even with 20 people isn't overly common

[CaffeinePowered]

The Good:
- In two rounds we did not come close to stalemating
- Lots of different angles of attack, no enormous choke point or unflankable sentry
- Overall good optimization and fun, nice placement of health/ammo
- While no sentry spot dominates, there are lots of good placement spots

The Bad:
- Hard to navigate, even toward the end of our test it was hard to establish which spawn exits to use and how to easily get to places, though all the paths seem to be there.
- Time is extremely long, I'd look to limiting it a bit more to not only make use of the center point, but to put more pressure on players
- Lack of action in some areas, might play better in a 32 man setting as opposed to a 24 player server though

Improvement Suggestions:
- Tweak around the respawn timers, it might help cycle more people back into the fight more quickly
- Mark spawn exits, Id suggest raising and lowering signs or some kind of other flashing signs to tell players which doors to take to defend/attack the cart

[hydrage]

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm glad to hear it wasn't hopelessly bad!


I'll shorten the round timer for the next release.  In a1, the round starts off at 10 minutes and adds 5 min whenever the losing team captures a checkpoint (potential total time of 25 min).  For a2, I think I'll have the round start at 6 min, and add 3 min when the losing team captures (potential total of 15 min).

I'll also work to simplify the bases right outside of spawn.  Several others have said the bases were a little confusing too.  I will probably move each team's "second" spawnroom a lot further forward, to reduce travel time to your cart and the enemy bombsite (and incidentally lengthen the travel time back to your own bombsite, to make defending it not quite so easy).

[hydrage]

The next version is ready.

I've shortened the round-timer, and some various pathways are a little bit more simplified.
I moved the forward spawnrooms much further forward to almost the middle of the map, so that travel time is reduced.  Also, I've added a couple of those flashing arrow signs to indicate which direction the bombcarts currently are.

The biggest change by far is an "auto-rolling" feature which enables the carts to move by themselves.  This should make the gameplay progress a lot faster.

More Info & Download:  http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=2850