Get to Heaven

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Get_to_Heaven_Everything_Everything.jpg

hasnt valve known about these projects for actual months, to the point where they were playing the mods in their studio

Really solid work here Spleep, liking what you've got so far.
The map in general does feel quite cramped especially the areas just before the point, I think if some of the routes were made longer and also wider it would feel a lot nicer. A few more displacements in the areas with a lot of height variance will hopefully smooth out the gameplay areas.

For example this area could do with a connecting displacement where my crosshair is:

https://puu.sh/IavJM/7dfceace5b.jpg

Think this area is a little cramped, it's giving me this area from clearcut vibes. I think it works a lot better on clearcut however because of the length. There are also a couple cases where the staircases are quite steep.

https://puu.sh/IavFJ/6a1e82d567.jpg

This article is a pretty good resource on staircases. 1:1 stairs are ok but generally only want them sparingly, 1:2 is more preferable.

Keep it up, keen to see what else you put out. Really promising so far.

B19a - Gameplay Refinements

We back, just wanted to say a quick thank you to RGL and all the players for playtesting the map. I got a lot of great feedback from new faces :).

p.s. I'm probably going to forget a decent chunk of stuff. Again.

Screens
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Gameplay Changes:
• Blocked off sightline on last from right side spawn (defender persp)
• Raised floor on last
• New window in Quake Room to prevent stalemates, should make sacing and aggressing easier.
• Re-added the flank on middle.

Also fixed up a bunch of issues both gameplay-related and graphics-related.

B19 - Preparations for RGL cup based on recent feedback

First want thank everyone for the excellent feedback I've received over the past month or so. The survey I put out into the ozfortress community really helped to give me an idea of how people saw the map. Which up until now I wasn't really sure.
Quite a few gameplay adjustments have been made and FPS has been improved.

There likely won't be a new version until after the RGL cup. So make sure you get your feedback in before then, however, if there is anything game-breaking I'll do my best to get it fixed.

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Gameplay Changes:
• Middle has been redesigned slightly. Moved the ramp you walk up to mid further back so you get height earlier. Added boxes on the point for more cover to push up. The rock on the cliff has been removed.
• The flanks on the mid have been cut in half, stopping the enemy from getting into your flank. People didn't like these but I still wanted that staircase up to give attackers some height.
• Doorway in Quake Room that leads towards window room has been removed. Wanted to focus the fight a bit more and differentiate it from other maps.
• Last has been squished in slightly, this should help defenders force meds if they push in from the right side (defenders pov).
• Choke has been reduced in size. There are now some steel beams above choke so soldiers cannot jump to the moon (earth?) and get to the back of second. (Im not sure about this change because people liked it was easy to sac but tbh it was kind of OP)
• The ramps in and around choke were quite steep so I raised the floor a bit, you hopefully will feel like less of a dwarf in those areas now.
• Ledge just outside choke (second side) has been lowered.
• Health packs in window room, lobby, and second have been adjusted. (just the small ones)
• Moved some props around that offered cover.

FPS and Optimization:
• Lowered the amount that gets rendered on second when standing mid and vise versa.
• Asteroids in the skybox no longer cast shadows (this improved FPS with the 3d skybox on a decent amount for me)

huh, I haven't seen that issue with the map before, it's possible there is another map that uses those same pipes but has them slightly different? Do you know if it happens with all maps or one in particular? It's unlikely ill be able to fix it for B19, because I need to have it out in time for the rgl cup, but ill be able to fix for b19a/b20 whatever comes first

I've closed up the skybox a bit between second and middle so fps should be better in that case

mat_bumpmap 1 will fix that many graphics cfgs do that, not an issue with the map.

Not really sure how you can be having missing texture issues. The map was just ran in an ozfortress cup and didn't get any complaints. I did however get a few complaints about FPS (however not as drastic as 144 on a solo server). The FPS issues will hopefully be fixed in B19 which will likely be out later today.

Are there any areas in particular where your fps drops especially low?

Who is going to run these pugs? Who will want to scrim those maps? It's hard enough getting players to scrim new maps in the current season, let alone getting them to pug/scrim the maps in the season after. The argument of; "just playtest in scrims and pugs" is so naive.

None, but I have asked for testing. This cup is not what I personally imagined the testing to look like.

Appreciate but the map is still a wip and will not be better for competition than maps that are already established.

However, that's not necessarily what people are upset about. Based off what I've read in this thread (remember I don't follow the RGL scene) Players have not been given ANY time to even look at these maps. While mannbase is slightly more established, mist, workflow and craneway are all maps that I doubt most people have even heard of. This is especially bad when the RGL regular season starts the day after.

Recently ozfortress ran a 2 day cup forcing players to run mannbase. Our regular season is still a while away so it meant players had time to digest the map. If RGL really wanst to be testing VERY WIP maps for the regular season they would atleast do this.

Mappers don't want their maps placed blindly into leagues, it's a bad choice for the development of the map and for the competition for the league. By all means place new maps in league, but this is not the way to do it.
I have one more point which is more a vent than anything.
I think that mappers have been getting a bad wrap because of decisions like these from leagues. Remember it's not the mapper that placed their map into the league. It's the league that did.

Sorry for messy formatting etc at work on mobile.

Edit: I'd like to make it clear I am very grateful for this testing. Having leagues notice hardwork is a massive reward for mappers.

wtf no

dude ikr

B18 - Many Refinements
Been fiddling with the map over the past few weeks. I'm back to work and uni is picking up soon so expect slower updates.

*cough* if anyone is a modeler/texturer dm me *cough*

Screens
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Gameplay Changes:
• Removed window shutter
• Extended some platforms that use stairs.
• Right door out of spawn room on last has been made smaller.
• Lobby door way into second has been adjusted

General Changes:
• Improved prop fade.
• Improved nodraw.
• Removed phantom entities.
• Weird texture issues.

Lighting improvements:
• Worklights installed in choke to make brighter.
• Dropdown is brighter.
• Lobby had lightning improved.
• Improved lighting on some props.
• Many other areas I cant remember

Detailing:
• Last is more underground.
• Last spawn and second forward spawn has been detailed.
• Perch on second has been made brighter to make more obvious.
• Hazard lines in doorways
• Quake room plants swapped for pipes.
• Dropdown has a pipe
• Above last has a walkway and tanks.
• Ropes above choke and second.
• Quake Room is now underground.
• Window Room is now underground and has a second level.
• Improved structures on mid to be a bit more realistic.
• Weird structures on mid have been made a lil more pretty.

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B18a - Fixed middle cap

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B18c - Few refinements

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Updated stairs to look nicer.
Few graphical problems.

I will no longer be working on this project. The download has been taken down. It is likely someone else on the Refresh team will continue the development.

GO HERE INSTEAD

DOWNLOAD

The map has been uploaded to serveme.tf and can be selected as "koth_warmtic_f1" when renting a server.

Current version: koth_warmtic_f1
Latest update: 3/02/2021

INTRODUCTION

"Refresh:" is a series aimed at making maps more suitable for 6v6 and other gamemodes. We took the opportunity to use our experience to fix the issues with map geometry as well as minor aesthetic and performance improvements. We humbly invite you to try out these changes and offer your feedback, so that together we are able to increase the quality of the competitive map pool.

SUMMARY

Warmtic has been around a while in Highlander but we noticed it was getting quite low reviews from players in ETF2L's last poll. Most changes you'll see here aim to only improve gameplay, not change. All perch spots have been kept in, besides those above the spawn doors.

CHANGES

The full photo album can be found here

WANT TO HELP?

We are currently looking for skilled mappers to join our group! We have projects currently in the works that we would love to share with you. We are proud and happy about the work we do and the impact it has on the game as we grow with it. Please add R0boprod or HOI if you'd like to work with us!

SHOUT-OUTS:

Jackylegs, Roboprod, Harris0n and everyone else on the Refresh Team for taking me on and helping get this map cleaned up.
Hanz for creating Arctic and Popcorp for pushing the map further and creating Warmtic <3

B17a
Cheers for the feedback on b17, I've fixed up a few issues pointed out by Adnurak and others :)

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B17b - moonlabmountain maintoun lab moonbase mannbase is maountain lab
Wanted to do a lil bit of detailing above lobby.
Few optimizations in terms of prop fade and what gets rendered on the map.
(also new 2d skybox)

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(there are probably more changes but I cant remember them)
Middle:
• New rock you can use to get onto new rock this rock is above another rock. rock.

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B17c - Phantom displacement removed

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