@Zandor, I definitely agree about maps. I think part of the problem is that the maps are too big and there are too many routes. Although this is realistic, it's not ideal for the Source engine if we're trying to make the maps as detailed and interactive as possible.
@The Ghost, I completely agree with your point about the gameplay not having evolved much since the beginning. I feel like the mod has definitely improved since I stopped working on it a few years ago, but the gameplay is virtually the same. Your point makes me want to talk about my gametype idea...
The gametype is called Tug of War, and what I'd like to do is make it the only gametype in the mod. It is essentially, in my opinion, a combination of the current gametypes into one super gametype that would be interchangable among each map. The way it works is as follows: 1 objective, 10 minutes, unlimited instant reinforcements on both teams. When a map is first loaded, the objective is neutral and both teams must attack it (like Firefight or Battle). If a team captures the objective, they win the round. If no one captures the objective, the team with more kills wins the round. After the round is won, a new round is loaded where the winning team from the round before is now defending the objective against an enemy counter-attack (like Push). If the defending team successfully fights off the counter-attack, they win the map. If the counter-attackers successfully regain the objective, a new round on the same map is loaded and they're now defending it. It can essentially go back and forth, but once your team wins two rounds in a row you've won the map.
Now here's the new gameplay element I want to add that I think will really make this gametype even more interesting: Armories. The Armory, Black Market, Weapons Cache, or whatever we decide to call it, would be the new means of arming yourself when you spawn. Instead of choosing your class like you do now, you simply choose between Light, Medium and Heavy outfits, which determines your armor, speed and magazine capacity. Players will start with pistols and approach these Armories to find more advanced weaponry. Weapons would be physical objects that lay on the ground in stacks or on racks that the player can point at and "use" to pick up. There is only a limited quantity of each weapon, and certain weapons can only be taken if you've reached a certain criteria (such as getting x number of kills). So for example, if we add some cool weapons with attachments to the mod (like M4 Scoped or something), we can make only a few of them available and make them only available to those who have gotten say 5 kills in the round so far.
The Armories would ideally be nearby your spawn so you don't have to go out of the way to arm yourself, and should also contain explosives, which would be something to start integrating into the game. C4, improvised explosives, types of rocket launchers, etc, can be taken from the Armory and used to destroy the enemy's Armory. If you plant C4 on an enemy's Armory and blow it up, the weapons within it are destroyed within the large explosion. What results is that your enemy can no longer arm themselves, thus crippling their offensive and giving your team a better chance of winning. If a grenade is thrown at the armory, the weapons may disperse slightly making them more annoying to find, but would still be usable.
So what this does, is incorporate both attack-attack and attack-defend style gameplay into a single gametype that is consistent from map to map, and incorporates both the elements of front-line warfare and behind-enemy-lines sabotage. Focusing on 1 objective instead of many objectives will allow us to focus on smaller maps with more detail and interactivity, meaning that part of the process will be to recycle the current maps into new maps that bear striking resemblance to the classic ones. For example, the School in Ramadi or the Mosque in Baghdad could both be their own maps instead of just part of a larger map.
The people that made our current maps were some of the most experienced and talented mappers in the custom Source modding community at the time. However, the task that lay before us does not even need such experience. What we do need are a few motivated people with Hammer experience to help us "break down" our current maps into smaller ones focused on single objectives.
So The Ghost, as you can see, there's a lot of need for audio in this plan, as there is a need for level designers. I think the mod needs to take 3D sound to the next level if its gonna be able to make this gametype as awesome as it could be. So please be in touch, and anyone else who is interested in helping please don't hesitate to say something.
(*Note* None of these ideas have been officially agreed upon, it's just what I'm bringing to the table)
Thanks
Jerem
So here's what he's looking for.
