Map Idea Looking For Input

[Stormcaller3801]

The other day someone asked for ideas on how to make maps. I came up with a methodology that I made up on the spot. But it sounded good. So I figured I'd give it a try. Step one is to find a shape, or pattern, for the flow of the map. And then go from there. So here's what I have so far.



Grey is open areas, orange is rock, red and blue are appropriately-themed buildings. I haven't picked a game type, and I've yet to decide on much else for this thing. It's a 13x13 grid (more or less) with each block being roughly 256 units on a side. That puts it at a little over 8 seconds for a Scout to run the diameter, or about 42 seconds for a Heavy with a spinning Minigun. I'm thinking spawn areas would be at the top and bottom of the map, off the play area, and I'll put some tunnels through the rock as well as leave plenty of entrances and exits on the buildings to let people run through those, as well as the main paths. I'll probably also put a ceiling over some areas, around 768 high or so. Just for variety.

I'm looking for any thoughts people have, but particularly ones related to if you think this would be an interesting map layout to play on, what game type you think it'd be best for, and any ideas for quirks to add to the place.

[Kyle]

Jeez, you actually plan your maps before you start building? That's crazy!

Honestly though, I've made a few maps in the past, and I've never actually done any diagrams of them beforehand. To preface, none of them have been overly successful, so don't take this too seriously. That being said, I think the best way is to find one particular gameplay aspect that you'd like your map to focus on, then find some sort of inspiring theme which fits it, or vice versa.

The reason I don't bother with diagrams is that you end up searching for a map theme afterwards, and usually once you pick a theme you'll end up making a lot of changes to your initial concept to match the theme better. I really can't tell you if your diagram will turn out to be a good map. It is, after all, just some boxes and circles. Nor could I tell you if it's something worth trying out - there's numerous ways you could build and style this, both good and bad.

[Stormcaller3801]

Well the general theme I was cooking up involved an odd mix of traditional and Egyptian map elements. I figured It could be interesting to set up some ruins on the left and right, inside a cavern complex, and then have everything else look fairly standard red rock & sand-ish. There'd be a temple in the outer walls on the left and right, with a doorway inside that acts as a teleporter to the other doorway, meaning you shouldn't have to run more than a quarter of the circumference to get to the main areas, unless you're trying to get from one starting area to the other, which would probably need some fix.

An alternative, smaller version would look like this:



Reducing a lot of the buildings and shrinking the diameter down to 2308, or short enough that theoretically a Spy could cloak and cross the map before becoming visible again, and do that in under eight seconds.

Adding some walkways and stairs to the paths down the center would cut up Sniper sight lines, and along with the teleporters it wouldn't be overly difficult to get anywhere.

[Draco18s]

[Kyle]

[Stormcaller3801]

[Draco18s]

[Stormcaller3801]

Try posting it over at TF2Maps.net. I'd imagine they would be happy to get it in for playtesting one week, as well as provide any advice they can think of.

[Angry_Squirrel]