cp_follower - 5-CP Alpine

[vilepickle]

You may be interested in my new map entitled cp_follower.  Regardless if your server uses custom maps widely or not, this map is meant to be similar to Valve's 5-CP maps, particularly Badlands and Granary, so it may be worth a shot.

It is currently in beta, and I am posting on several forums, so I may not be able to get back around to all my stops when I update the map.  I am thus making a general post about the map in hopes that you may be able to get the latest version from here.  I'd appreciate any feedback you can provide on the map.

Download/Screenshots (updated immediately on new releases):
http://www.vilepickle.com/map/screens/tf2_cp_follower/

Thanks!

[CaffeinePowered]

We actually already tested this out on Tuesday, didn't have the usual 12v12 as our download server got swamped. You managed to change the file from b2 to b3 on FPS banana like a day after I put b2 up on our server  :


Pros:
- I like that there are more "levels" that players can go over/under on this as opposed to granary
- Good looking and well optimized
- Good improvements on some of the choke points I dislike on granary/badlands, especially the last and middle points

Cons:
- Parts of the map look like you spliced them straight out of the decompiles of the valve maps
- Still places too much emphasis on scouts imo
- Difficult to push back as you get pushed into the last or next to last point

Suggested Improvements:
- Capture time tweaks to give slower classes a little more time to get to the point
- Start from a forward spawn instead of the very back, this would move the teams closer together and allowing scouts less time to quick cap in the begining
- Architecture/Geometry changes - Not sure what you could do in this department to make it look less like a re-hash, I think the alpine textures and props are only half of the equation. Func_detail trim brushes both in hallways and on building exteriors might help alleviate this or changing up one of the routes between the points.

Overall I think its a solid map that might make its way onto our rotation

[vilepickle]

Thanks for the feedback.  I can assure you I definitely did not take anything straight from a decompiled .vmf.

B3 has a lot of changes that set it apart from B2, which is much more similar to Badlands/Granary.

I'm not sure that trim is a good solution.  I've used a lot of trim on my other maps and I usually get ripped for it by the other mappers who don't use trim   I think the map looking very similar to the stock levels is a good thing... it actually means I accomplished my goal, hehe.

I'm still working to see if pushing back from CP2 and 1 can be made easier somehow.  I hope I made a few changes in B3 that help this.

[vilepickle]

Some early dev shots to prove my innocence

http://vilepickle.com/map/follower_dev/

[Wedge]

Nobody is saying you took parts from a Valve map, the layout is just really really similar.  Like to the point I actually thought I was on Granary at certain times.  I've always hated the midpoint of Granary though, so replacing that with something like Badlands is fine with me.  It does feel a bit too open though (and thus overly Scout friendly).

[JoKeRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR]

I ran through it a bit. Couple too many small connecting hallways, but I may just think that because I don't thoroughly know the map.

Nothing to complain about til I play some 6v6 on it.

[vilepickle]

Oh I agree, I definitely took some of the better parts of the Granary/BL layout.  I'm just saying I didn't rip them directly from the files itself

[CaffeinePowered]

Oh I know you wouldn't rip them directly, it just *looks* like they were taken straight out of the valve maps  :

We'll give it another test run next Tuesday if you want to join in

[Dave]

does he fuck hes only here to plug his shit.

[vilepickle]

does he fuck hes only here to plug his shit.

You have no idea how difficult it is to get custom maps played in TF2.  It's pretty depressing how few people even try them these days.  Of course I want to plug, that's why I'm only making 1 thread instead of more in the future

[CaffeinePowered]

[quote author=Dave link=topic=2484.msg71210#msg71210 date=1236871202]
does he fuck hes only here to plug his shit.

You have no idea how difficult it is to get custom maps played in TF2.  It's pretty depressing how few people even try them these days.  Of course I want to plug, that's why I'm only making 1 thread instead of more in the future
[/quote]

To be honest, I gotta agree with Vile on this one, you've been in the server plenty of times Dave where people will just instantly disconnect when a custom comes up. And having made a few maps, its exceedingly difficult to get them face time with players, and especially after all the work that went into pl_norad to see it not get face time on many servers can be a bit disheartening, especially when you can put hundreds of hours into something. How many hours do you think went into something like tc_meridian or ctf_aerospace, too bad that both are well over a hundred megs unzipped

The best you can do is plug it on sites and hope that the people come when its being played in servers, and from there hope it gets enough exposure for valve to pick it up and release it as a community map, which unfortunately they've been pretty bad at picking them. Steel, Watchtower, Turbine, and Junction were good choices, but Egypt and Fastlane were horrible choices. And theres plenty of excellent maps like Labor, Swift, Mach4, Science2, and Meridian, that may never get picked.

Irregardless, it would be nice if you threw us a bone  :  (#brbuninstalling on gamesurge, hint hint  )

I don't know of any mapper who wouldn't want feedback while a play test is ongoing 

[Dave]

he only pops in when he has a new map.

we havent seen you since that _dom map.

[WTF Joel]

he only pops in when he has a new map.

we havent seen you since that _dom map.

why make it such a big deal? o.o

[Radio Raheem]

to be fair 90% of customs are complete shit and arent worth the download. the ones that are good tend to be very rare.

with that said this will be good and since hes getting input from gotfrag i expect to be playing this in leagues next season.

[x]

to be fair 90% of customs are complete shit and arent worth the download. the ones that are good tend to be very rare.

This. I do feel for VilePickle, being one of the few reliable mappers, but I don't blame people for not wanting to wade through shit for the odd gem.

[vilepickle]

but I don't blame people for not wanting to wade through shit for the odd gem.

Agreed as well.  That's part of the reason it's hard to get decent ones played.

That, and there's so many servers that are huge but refuse to play any custom map... my choices at plugging are quite limited.  <3

[Dave]

[quote author=Arnie's Right Bicep link=topic=2484.msg71233#msg71233 date=1236878851]
but I don't blame people for not wanting to wade through shit for the odd gem.

Agreed as well.  That's part of the reason it's hard to get decent ones played.

That, and there's so many servers that are huge but refuse to play any custom map... my choices at plugging are quite limited.  <3
[/quote]

i went rorschach on your ass.

forums.multiplay.co.uk/members/19941-vilepickle.html
www.focusedgaming.com/members/vilepickle
forums.borgamers.com/member.php?u=314
deadworkers.com/community/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=240
www.theoutsiderscss.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1151
www.topnotchclan.com/forums/member.php?u=75
www.gamerzneeds.net/forums/members/vilepickle.html
forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=390
forums.voogru.com/members/vilepickle.html
forums.fortresspickup.net/member.php?u=822
tawts.com/members/Vilepickle.aspx
vsfgamers.org/forum/member.php?u=1397
forums.yinyarr.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=162
www.teamwarfare.com/forums/showthread.asp?forumid=543&threadid=416351
www.3-pg.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1262
www.tf2boards.com/index.php?action=profile;u=23;sa=showPosts
thepurge.net/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=715

then i stopped, i realised you actualy like your maps this much your willing to do all this.

thats a lot of effort.

respect.

[Radio Raheem]

twats.com? i dont think thats map related man

[vilepickle]

Looks like it's tawts, though twats is interesting too.  I don't even remember registering there, lol

There's a lot more than that though.  Most forums are leftover from old maps and I'm looking for fresh places again.

[Dave]

yeah theres like 6 more actualy relevant pages