I have worked in a new look for the main atrium.
Major changes include the new wood look, and adding a small bit of cover around the boardroom table. I don’t want to add too much and I will also be adding furniture and potentially a few small walls down in the atrium, so this may change again. Also I made the sculpture have a bright texture for now, because it was vanishing and muddying up the player’s view. Ultimately I’ll have a real model in it’s place, probably something with a bright shiny bronze or copper patina.
I have also reworked the elevator shaft, changing the location of the access hatch, and adding a short vent that leads down to the janitor’s closet. This will allow a choice of entering the atrium directly from the elevator, or from the janitor’s closet adjacent to it. The elevator shaft alone was a very direct route, but too easy to camp. CT’s were sitting ducks if they all decided to go that way.
The player pops out in the janitor’s closet via a drop down. It will take more playtesting to see if I need to add a way back up through this vent. My gut says yes.
The final area that needs a lot of work is this upper tier. It is currently impossible for the player or bots to reach, however I mean for it to become a difficult to reach sniper’s nest. Both teams will have quick access to the landing, but it will require jumping and careful footwork. This will possibly balance the eagle-eye view that it will give the players that reach it.
Not too much longer and the map will be at a Alpha stage and I’ll start thinking about releasing it. So far throwing bots at it has come up with a fairly even split, but I have a few major choices to make before finalizing the nav mesh.
- To make or not to make the north windows opaque in order to spread players out further before the first conflict?
- Cover and new flow on the roof, atrium, and a few empty rooms
- Finalize the look and feel.
