You may be aware of this site, but since youre a first time mapper perhaps not:

http://www.tf2maps.net/

If you havent already i would register on their forums post haste (sp?). I used to hang around their all the time before I determined I was the worst mapper in existence.

Theres plenty of good mappers there that can help you with virtually any problem you can think of, and some you havent thought of. The cp reflection problem, if I recall correctly, is fairly simple to fix and youll be able to find someone there to help you on it. A quick search of the forums will almost certainly yield the answer.

Theres also lots of tutorials, most of which it looks like you don't need, but its always fun to see what crazy shit people have come up with.

Also whenever I have a chance i like to recommend:

http://www.student.ru.nl/rvanhoorn/optimization.php?chapter=intro

...which is an awesome site all about optimizing your map, which will be absolutely crucial in an open style map like you have.

Anyways, I still would love to test your map out, ill keep checking the servers, but i have a list of like 10 maps id love to test which never show up. Oh well.

If all else fails on this map, by all means keep mapping! It looks like you got some natural talent.

Thank you for the kind and constructive words, guys. First: Does anyone know how to fix the reflection map error (if thats what it is) on the spawn points? This is indeed my first attempt at level design and there's a lot i dont know still. I'll try and find a tutorial in the meantime.

I know what you mean about the open space issue DrHap, which is why i need to playtest it so badly. I was assuming i'd have to add a lot of view obstructions in key areas, but i dont know yet. I intentionally left most many areas accessible to rocketjumping/demo's so that there would be no comfortable area for snipers, but i'm sure theres a lot of kinks to work out.

My theory on the flow of battle here would be something like: The vast open space of the middle and the threat from above everywhere would cause Blue to push strong from within the 2 warehouse buildings, forcing red to try and constantly keep blue from controlling one. Once blue controls an interior/cp it would be very easy to start to move along the rooftops (especially with some engineers' help). This is all just theory of course, i havnt tried it yet.

Also, I like your idea about adding 2 more points or so within the buildings to make the need to control/defend the buildings more obvious and direct. Perhaps the roof would be locked until you capture the respective indoor point, however red could recapture the indoor causing the roof to lock again. (that sounds pretty fun) This would require a lot of change, and i want to test it first.

Also, i spent a lot of time considering the idea of blocking/changing the available routes based on blue's progress, however i decided that i should just keep it simple as possible for now. No one likes overly complicated levels when they first test them. If people seem to like this level perhaps i'll make a 2nd version where various bridges/connections between buildings could be broken, and with 2 more points perhaps.

I really appreciate the comments/ideas and if you have any more i'd love to hear them.

-jarmustard

ps: jarmustard is also my steam account name if you want to friend me there and tell me something directly.

This map is ludicrous awesome-looking. However, I can't get it uploaded to my favourite server because you don't have the blue spawns blocked off. Please fix this!

Well it is only a beta Defur, but I do agree that mustard will probably want to fix that before b2.

I gotta say that I like a lot about this map. The idea is pretty interesting, as the name implies, focusing on moving vertically instead of horizontally. I also absolutely LOVE the room at the end of BLU's tunnel (the one outta the spawn) with all the bombs and the feet sticking out.

Aesthetically I think the map is pretty good. It looks interesting, not more of the same old same old in terms of architecture, even though the textures are the same.

My only small quibble on looks is that the roofs should be a different texture than the red brick, and probably you should have at least a small ledge on each building, so the edge of the building isnt simply a drop.

On to the more major things though:

Sadly its hard to comment really without playtesting, and playtests on custom maps are a rare commodity, but I am concerned that the whole map may be too wide open.

This leads to a couple problems, not least of which is sniper syndrome, but also I think that TF2 is fundamentally a close quarters fighting game. Sure you got rockets and grenade launchers, but how effective really are rockets from long distance, how effective are sentries in wide open spaces, or HWGs.

Also while I think the buildings are really well done, one has to wonder how much fighting will really take place in them. All the cps are up on the roof and it seems like its easy enough to get up there. What’s the incentive to use the interesting buildings?

Perhaps one or two of the CPs should be located inside buildings. Perhaps have one cp at street level, one in the middle of a building, and then one on the roof? Or perhaps you can have one special CP inside a building that gives some special bonus, cuts off routes like in cp_steel.

Well I would love to test this map with actual players, and anything I say is mere speculation until then. Once again I wish valve provided mappers with a way to limit classes (no more than 2 snipers on a 24 man server for this map.) Speaking of which, this map might be well suited to 32 man, given its size and the abundance of rooms. If anyone is playing this on their server I'd love to know.

While I have concerns about the map, I have to say it looks like jarmustard is a impressive mapper, especially since this is his first submitted map. I definetly hope it plays well.

Umm just saying before I download, well you could clearly see the reflectionerrror on point B in the last screenie. :P