Here we go again!

Ferdinand 'cityy' List
Mode: Duel
ferdinand.list@googlemail.com
http://cityy.explicits.de

Was just gonna wish good luck and lots of fun to everyone. I wont get to work on my level before tuesday as it looks right now.

Turned out I had some time to work on the level today. I got my base roughly blocked out.

Almost done with getting my initial layout going, I'm rather slow at the moment.

Nice job with those textures you've been making, should turn out beautifully, good luck!

The textures are excellent as usual from you, but I can't help but think that it looks too similar to a lot of your maps, with that "urban" feel and all to it. But perhaps you can pull off something very different with it if done right. In the last competition, you added fluorescent lighting fixtures to your usual aesthetic which brought in some flavor to your style. Look for inspiration on how to vary different design styles, and see how you could apply that to your map. Keep that in mind, and I'm sure you'll do fantastic just like last year. Good luck man.

Thanks guys, I have something defenitely unique planned for the map; I hope I will have enough time to propperly pull it off.

Alpha 3: Download (9mb)

Looking for gameplay feedback only atm; especially on the mid area.

Edit: Updated, fixed missing textures.

I took a quick gander at it. Layout seems great so far (with some room for improvement, see below), it's open yet the actual map size is small-ish which is always interesting gameplay-wise. Haven't played with bots yet but I do have some suggestions for improving the flow / layout / gameplay. For some reason the screenshot command for Q3 doesn't save my screens in a screenshots folder like it should, even after creating it - and print screen won't work in-game at all, but thankfully they do work in windowed mode.

- First of all, I think the Quad Damage should either be removed or replaced with a different item such as a medkit or Regeneration. Having a quad in the base screams for unbalance, even if it's at a height disadvantage. Defenders can pretty much rape anyone trying to come in once it spawns, which is why you almost never see it directly in the base of a competitive CTF map, and even most casual ones. (Japanese Castles is an exception, but it's far away enough from the flag bases and switches with regen anyway)


Hopefully this one sounds clear. I noticed a tiny "peephole" next to the 5+ bubbles, and personally I think it'd be nice to remove the walls on both sides of it and just make it a small bridge. That way players can just drop down from the 5+ health bubbles onto the floor below. Alternatively, you could just open the gap in the picture so players can pass through it and shoot through it better.


This water, imho, is pointless gameplay-wise. No one is going to want to take this route as there is no incentive to go into the water, and in the screenshot there is that one entrance in the side beyond the YA, which has no water at all - thus, everyone will take that path instead since it is obviously safer and faster. Either remove the water or move the YA into the water to give players a reason to risk being heard. (Of course, raise the water level in the process if you do the latter)


To improve connectivity, I'd add a jump pad where the arrow is pointing, so players have yet another route to take to the flag, where the LG is. It allows for a high vantage point when attacking, and while it may seem advantageous at first, the noise of the jump pad will alert attackers, so in actual gameplay it'd balance itself out, and yet allow for more possibilities in offensive strategies.


This isn't strictly important or 100% needed, but if a player wants to quickly get to RL and they're on the lower walkway, another jump pad where the arrow points would be a handy addition without breaking balance IMO.

Besides these negative points, I love some of the ideas. The slick floor next to quad is neat, for instance. Also, with the obvious exception of the quad, the item placement seems good. Being an open map the rail being right in the middle is justified, and will see heavy competition. Defenders may attempt to break up fights there with the GL above. Nades may also be good for spamming the slick area. It seems to have a lot of tactical potential. Keep up the good work man.

looks neat!

i don't really think that placing quad damage close to base it that bad, it could actually work out just fine, look at Japanese Castles for example. gets pretty balanced anyway since both teams gets a powerup each anyway.
But in this case it feels like if you manage to steal opponents PU you rather benefit more from a regen (since you can easily rocket jump to the flag) than a quad which just feels a bit weird to me. maybe random regen/haste instead would be a better choice?



bumped my head to this ceiling


rly like how mid is open but youre still able to run past it really fast! keep it up! <3

I like it. I feel like the flag rooms could be tightened up a bit in terms of size. All of the good higher-ground defensive points feel too far from the flag.

A jump pad from the bottom up to the flag rooms. Getting to the top feels like it takes a little too long, especially on a fast paced ctf map.

Looks great so far!

center room and bases are looking great, cityy. i hope you continue to work on the connecting hallways because they are by far the most bland part of the map. maybe try to break them up a bit. i agree with what was said about the water. also thought 50+ above the mega was a little strange.

really excited to see how it turns out!
-pat

Looking Good Sir!

Heyo guys, just wanted to thank you for all the feedback; I'm currently reviewing the suggestions and starting to detail. I'll see if I can get a beta up soon.

Finally had time out my busy wall realigning schedule to look at (and constructively criticise) the competition!

First up, the slippy slidey floor should be extended out so you can start the crouch before you reach the wall for a smoother ride.

Secondly the shotgun in that risky position in mid is pointless imo, I doubt anyone will go there to fetch it since there's a much safer spawn in base - replace it with something desirable like a medkit, or put rails in these positions and have a central quad with regen/haste in the bases (as suggested earlier).

Also I agree with what was said earlier about the water and the pokey hole which you can't drop down through.

Looking nice though