Castaway.tf

As there are a few gamemodes which use control points, this will be a guide on creating specific points.

Logic

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... ture_Point

Design theory

There are a few important notes for control points which make them well balanced.

• Control points should be well lit. As main objectives, it is most crucial here than anywhere else to make sure players can see the objective as well as see enemy players. If it's too dark, it might be hard to tell what team an enemy is.

• Control points should have from 2-3 ways to enter them per team. A well balanced control point has at least two entrances if in an enclosed space, or three entrances if in the middle of a large room. Some examples of two entry control points are the A point on Gravelpit, the A point on Steel, and many of the points on Dustbowl. Some examples of three entry way control points are the B point on Gravelpit, the C point on Steel, and almost every control point on King of the Hill.

• Control point cap time should be proportional to how long it takes for a defending team to walk to it. This rule applies to all gamemodes that utilize control points, a control point closer to the attacking team's spawn should have a longer capture time to give defenders time to walk to it, while a control point closer to the defender's spawn should give attackers less time to walk and make it easier for defenders to capture.

Logic

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... f_the_Hill

Design theory

• Spawns should have between 2 and 3 exits. While this applies to most gamemodes, nearly every king of the hill map has at minimum two spawn doors, usually one on the front and another on the side. This prevents spawn camping, as King of the Hill can tend to allow players to push towards the enemy spawn and keep them locked in. Examples of two door maps include Viaduct, Lakeside, Lazarus and Harvest, while three door maps include King, Badlands, Sawmill, Lazarus, and Nucleus.

• Control points should have 3 ways to enter them per team. Essentially every king of the hill map follows this rule. Viaduct has two sloped entrances and one entrance at the concrete, Harvest has two entrances on the side with one up top, Suijin has one main entrance, the bridge, and the top down entrance, Lazarus has the main walk way, the stairs, and the drop down, Sawmill has the large door, side door, and above door, you get the idea. Generally speaking, 1-2 entrances should be advantageous ones, while 1-2 entrances should be disadvantageous or flank routes. For instance on Viaduct, both of the sloped paths to the point have a height disadvantage, which is why players are more likely to push from the higher ground. But the existence of flank routes is important to point balance, for instance on Harvest without the top entrance to the point, it would be a nightmare to try and access it as it would be an enclosed space, the top entrance keeps anyone camping inside in check. Similarly on Viaduct, the existence of the two sloped paths to the point prevents players from camping on the upper level concrete unchecked.

• The team who owns the point should have a longer respawn time. Usually this does not need to be very much, but a team who owns a control point is entrenched when defending it, meaning it is easier for them to control the point than it is for the other team to attack it. To level the playing field, the defenders should have a slightly longer respawn time to give the attackers more room to siege any existing defenses.

Logic

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... al_Systems

Design theory

• The flag room should have at least three entrances into it. This prevents players from too easily locking down a flag room with a sentry, to give attackers some inherent weak points to exploit. An example of a well designed flag room is the Turbine room, which actually has four entrances, though the staircase is the least used due to being directly next to the team spawn. If a sentry or team is watching 3/4 of any of the entrances, they can be surprised or harassed from the remaining one. Doublecross also has three entrances, two main doors and an upper entrance. The upper entrance allows attacking any sentries from above, while both of the side entrances prevent a sentry at the upper entrance from having too much control. Having more than 3-4 or less than 2 will shift the defense too much in one team's favor. On 2fort for example the flag room only has two entrances which makes it trivial for a single engineer to lock down the entire room, as per the stereotype. Sawmill also only has two entrances which makes it tough for players to attack, though in the case of sawmill it is more easily designed to corner peek any sentries, in contrast with 2fort. While no main rotation maps use more than four entrances, having 5 or more entrances to the flag room would make defending it extremely challenging for players.

• The map should contain a middle area where all players have to converge to cross to the enemy base. Forcing interaction between players keeps the map more lively, and prevents players from just taking the flag easily through flank routes where they are unlikely to even interact with other players. In 2fort, all players have to cross the bridge and sewer area and are thus guaranteed to interact, and guaranteed to be able to intercept the flag carrier as they try to leave the enemy base. Doublecross has a flank route underneath the main bridge, but it can easily be seen and attacked from the main bridge to prevent players from completely bypassing it. Landfall has more side routes but all players have to meet at the main tree. Turbine has no flank routes in the main area, all players have to cross it to get to the enemy base.

Logic

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... al_Control

Design theory

TC is the hardest map type to design. You need to design what is in effect 8 different miniature maps that all fit together