Double Shutdown CTF Map: flagtrap

[o_d3pth charge]

I have been working on a map for about a month now, and figured it was time to post something about it before the name is taken. Many of you have probably heard me spamming moronic questions in #fortressforever about Hammer, and it was most likely for this map. This is my first map ever, for any game (other than Command and Conquer: Red Alert), and so far it is coming along very nicely. I spent a lot of time considering gameplay before designing it, and feel that I have eliminated most, if not all, of the problems with contemporary CTF maps through my innovative design of the map layout.

What is Double Shutdown you ask? Well, I don't recall any other maps I've played as having it, so hopefully it is a new style that I have created! Basically the bases will have two switches: one for offense and one for defense. This all came due to my desire to combine the best aspects of Shutdown2, Schtop, and Openfire, while maintaining my own complete originality.

The flagroom consists of a small area accessable through two long corridors, as well as one tunnel that runs beneath the flag room, connected by a ladder. Normally, the corridors are inaccessable due to locked barriers blocking both teams from entering them. The tunnel is the only way to get the flag, unless the offense hits the offensive switch. When the switch is hit, the barriers open, allowing the offense much easier (and quicker) access to the flag room, via the corridors. However, at this point, the tunnel's ladder access is in turn blocked off, rendering the corridors the only means of access.

The defense also has a switch that can only be activated once the offensive switch has been hit. This switch does two things; it closes the front entrance and lasers activate where the barriers once were. These lasers are lethal to both teams, so if the flag carrier is still in the flagroom or corridors when the defense hits the switch, he is effectively trapped in there and must toss the flag out to a teammate on the other side of the laser. If the defense manages to kill the flag carrier before he can get the flag out of the corridors, then the offense is back to square one and must wait for the switches to be reset, as there is no way to get back into the corridor until the lasers turn off (which are timed to deactivate after 31 seconds, while the doors close after 30 seconds).

In addition to the front door entrance (which is closed during the defensive shutdown), there is a water entrance and a detonatable entrance. Both entrances will meet under water near the mid-map area. As for the midmap, I am designing it to discourage offense-vs.-offense, by creating a slope on either side of the midmap that ends in a high cliff, so that without a conc, one must use one side of the midmap only for getting to the enemy base or vice-versa.

Each base will have two sniper nests which are being designed to provide a real use for defenses as opposed to providing simple sniper-vs.-sniper wars. I am still in the planning stages in regards to how the sniper decks will also integrate into the bases' innards, but for now I have the map layed out so that neither bases' sniper decks can see the other's decks at all. Snipers will be free instead to focus entirely on eliminating offensive units, as they were designed.

There will be two 2fort-style respawn rooms in each base, on opposite sides of the base, and the map will be medium-sized, perfect for 5-vs.-5 up to 7-vs.7 league play.

Like Shutdown2 and Openfire, there will be the ability to activate lasers, but the roles will be reversed. Instead of the offense attempting to deactivate lasers that are usually active, the defense will be scrambling to activate lasers to trap the offense in a relatively cramped area. Like Schtop, the offense will have a switch that opens the doors to the flagroom, but unlike Schtop, the defense will not be able to get into the barricaded area except for the 30 seconds that the doors are open for the offense.

In my opinion, this was a large flaw in Schtop, because the ability for the defense to set up in the flagroom made the combination of timed access and getting by the defense that has the luxury of not being attacked whilst setting up very difficult for anyone but the most expert players. This is not to say that I am trying to make my map a no-challenge cap-a-thon, in fact it will be quite the contrary, but I think it will demand more from the defense at the same time to be effective. In Schtop, two engineers and a demoman in the flagroom made it just about impossible to cap, except by sheer luck or horrendously poor choices by the defense.

I am VERY open to suggestions, so please leave your thoughts on my design. I will post screenshots very soon, but they will be to show the layout only, not to showcase the map, as the texturing is nowhere near completion, and I haven't even begun the lighting.

Note: Please check out my map on Snarkpit for more frequent, journalistic updates. I will use this thread solely for collecting comments and posting media updates.