Blackmesa v2t3 feedback

Shutter

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Jul 5, 2008
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271
This is mostly for Dragonhill, but I figured I'd make a thread in case anyone else had something (I'm taking your 2am "Yeah sure, post a thread" comment as permission Dragon :D). Before I complain about anything though, I want to say thanks for all the work you put into bringing us the map Dragon, it's grown on me tremendously.

Spawn Doors: The only "bug" bug I've found is that it's possible to jam the lower door to the spawn room closed from the inside (at least for the red spawn, I assume it works on blue as well). We had it happen the other night at the beginning of the round as everyone was pushing at the door waiting for the end of the setup, someone was kneeling and managed to get themselves jammed between the frame around the glass and the floor.. Which had us jump-crouching to get through the upper half until whoever it was moved.

Spawn Hallway (the short hall between spawn and the "main" hallway): Not a "bug" bug, but I don't think it's working that well. The width means people exiting spawn end up doing a lot of bunnyhopping to get over the inevitable teleporters. Also, it feels very easy to spawn camp (and due to the difficulty reaching the final cap points, it's seems to be a pretty popular way to buy attackers time) because the wider main hall gives attackers a lot of mobility to avoid fire and still have good effect on people in or coming out of the hall. Defenders trying to exit don't have good visibility on where attackers are, and can't get at them without exposing themselves (e.g. an attacking demo can hit people in the hall, while a defending demo can't retaliate because of angles/length of the hallways).

I don't want to say attackers shouldn't be able to bottle up defenders away from points, but I think there's a fun difference between "I can't get to a point" and "I can't leave spawn". Not sure if a wider hall, or no hall, or multiple spawn exits could fix that without making it too hard for attackers.

Suction Pipes: Maybe it's just me, but it feels hard to tell the pipes to C/L apart. I've been playing the map pretty regularly and the rest of the routes/ductwork are familiar, but I still try to jump up the wrong one about once a night. Any chance you could slap a label on them somewhere obvious from the middle of the room (assuming there isn't one already and I'm just blind)?

Overall: It felt originally like the map stalemates a lot, and I had thought that was due a lot to A capping to quickly. But the more I play it the more I think that initial feeling is due to the map not having the same "frontline" as other maps where you can set up an attack or a defense. There's so many mobility options that it's often easier to defend points like C or L by recapping A, which I love now that I know the map, but I think can be rough for new folks, as B/K are very easy to defend (either directly or by retaking C/L) if the attackers aren't using the ductwork and/or some offensive teleporters/sentries. Dunno if that's a complaint or a compliment, as the thing that seems to cause stalemates in some games, makes for really exciting games when people are really working the map.
 
First, I'd like to say thanks and awesome job to Dragonhill for providing one of the most fun and interesting maps in TF2 and putting a lot of hard work and dedication into it. Many of the changes in the map also further enhanced the gameplay and created lots of alternative scenarios and increased the fun factor a lot.

The path above A created a nice ambush point and sentry spot and alternative method of getting to A if there's SG's watching the lift or stairs. The spawn being moved so it isn't in direct conflict with a team going to B/K was a nice change.

The structure above the section between B-L and C-K where the lift is is now more accessible. I loved the idea of being able to ride up there by using the bar above the lift when the point was captured. And I love it even more now that it's more easily accessible due to vent connection because teams capping L and C at opportune times were a rare case to be exploited well enough.

The flank vent entrance into vents above C and L are also much appreciated. It provides an alternative to the once almost dominating spot making the area almost uncappable sometimes. One MAJOR improvement was the spawn time reduction. The long 15-20 second respawns killed me and seeing that reduced was great.

One thing I noticed though was that pyros CAN flame through the floors of the B and K stairs. Created a problem for me while I was spying and a pyro was running around shooting the floor of the stairs and eventually I appeared to have burst into flames. Also IMO, the spawn needs more exit routes. As of now, it is far too easy for 1 or 2 people to camp the 1 bottleneck exit while the rest of the team pushes through and caps B or K. And engies stacking teleporter entrances down the bottleneck hurt the team a lot.
 
Ive played the map only 3 times, its a great map... though I get lost a lot lol
 
I like to think of BlackMesa as my new DB_Heights. :D DragonHill already said a second spawn exit is in the works after finishing his new map. Personally, I think the single spawn is okay right now, but the arguments for it to be a little wider are valid. Maybe even alcoves or something as you exit for tele's to be put into. I think there tends to be more traffic in front of spawn in general than before.

Although I like being able to rush and stop the opposition from capturing the first point, I kinda wonder if there shouldn't be some kind of gate to the left of spawn until L and C are captured. I've seen a lot more scattering of players at the beginning of a match than with Beta - seeing a couple of teams getting steamrolled because they never found their way to the initial cp.

Oh, could you remove the rocks in the sludge, or at least the ability to build on them...

Overall though, I'm thoroughly enjoying it and all the pubs I've talked to have been VERY impressed.
 
I never played the original blackmesa because I found it way too confusing, but my friend got me to try it again and I really love it now :) It's one of my most played eGO TF2 maps.
 
thanx guys,

the suggestions have confirmed things i wanted to change for the next "test" version. The spawn area will have 3 exits instead of the current 1. I may yank out the ability to build in the hallway. The left exit will have vent access to upper deck in B/K and dump you onto the now defunct balcony. The right exit will take you up to the "secret" room that most guys r/j to. The elevator shaft rooms will get an additional platform above the others that will have a vent access to the upper decks in b/k so attackers have another way in from above.

generally ill also be putting in more kewl looking things AND more signs. I do want to rebuild the sucktion vents so they look better AND are obvious where they go.

Some of the original eGO that luved the old blackmesa no longer like this flow. I may revisit the original, fix the few items that plagued it and release it as blackmesa "classic". or i release the new one as blackmesa classic.... i fear i may get into a naming war...

~D
 
I loved the old black mesa, and at first I wasn't sure about the new one. I can say with 100% certainty that I love the new version more than the old. I can't wait for this version to be completed. Dragon, you rock!
 
I am a huge fan of this map, it is so much fun to play on. But my only thought was the spawn points, but now that you are having three exits then that issue is non existent. I love the map, and keep it coming.. It just seems to get better and better.
 
I really liked the original as well - but this one is so much more balanced, and the matches I've seen go back and forth across all cp's - making it quality in my book.
 
The only thing i really dislike about the new blackmesa is the tunnel from spawn to main hallway. There can be to many teleporters place there, which makes it annoying to try leaving. Other than that, it is the best map i have ever played on, no doubt.
Dragonhill keep up the GREAT work!
 
I know that the teleporters are in the way, but i sure wouldn't want them in the middle of the hall way where any random pyro can run up to them and destroy them, at least in that hallway they are protected for the random person that doesn't want to risk a heavy right there to meet him in the face.
 
The new version definitely has a very different flow from the old one (and from most TF2 maps). I think it requires a much more mobile and decentralized team than a lot of maps call for. You can't just steamroll through points with an assault team and get engies to hold at chokepoints like most maps, and I think throws a lot of people who haven't gotten used to the map. Not to say it's better or worse, but it does take some time to get your head around it and start working the map.
 
I like it a lot. 3 spawn points would certainly mix it up a bit. Good work!
 
FEAR the power of the Mesa....

I totally do.

I for one love the fluidity of the map; Up until a week ago I'd been playing on my 360 as my old PC couldn't run TF2 - but the new one can, and it's a riot playing all these community maps. I like the balance and the multitude of routes.

I agree with things people have given as critique: specifically the limitations of the spawn hallway and the identity of the suction vents.

Given that you're addressing these, I think the next version of this should be really interesting to play on! Thanks for the effort!
 
I love this map as much as i love turbine! It's GREAT for spys and pyros, but still decent for demos, engis, and evey other class. Though medics suffer a bit because of all the routes, theres lots of healthpacks ariound, so it's all good. If we can just spread this map around the Tf2 community, this might just become the new community to official map.

P.S. Can you change the respawn time to a bit longer? 2 Seconds is a little low, eh?
 
Ive played the map only 3 times, its a great map... though I get lost a lot lol

Yeah, I got lost a couple times.. use to playing the normal Blackmesa... considering the new blackmesa is backwards to the old one I get lost also. :confused:
 
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