De_Shanty

[Fuzyhead]

Hello there,
I would like to present you map for counter-Strike: Source, de_Shanty.

De_Shanty takes place at a slum somewhere in South Africa.
The Terrorists have to plant a bomb at least one of two market places within the dirty and confusing city.
The Counterterrorists must do their best to secure the slum area and prevent the terrorists from planting the bomb

De_Shanty is a small to medium sized de_ map with 2 bomb spots and a fresh setting.

Download it here...

...or here!

The video only shows some scenes I recorded today, to see the whole map download it at:

I Really Would like to hear what you are thinking about that map.

Sincerely,
Mathis aka. Fuzyhead

[Ark11]

Had a quick walk around it, played a few rounds with bots. I liked it. Aesthetically it was good. But the cubemaps were missing for me so I had to rebuild them.

Pros:
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Original Setting
- Fun

Cons:
- Missing Cubemaps
- Wierd screen overlay

[Fuzyhead]

Thanks for the feedback
I updated the post and uploaded a new version with the fixed cubemaps and a packed .bsp so you don't have to insert every single file by yourself.

[DonPunch]

Looks like MW2

[Text_Fish]

Just played 30 rounds with a bunch of bots.

First off I'd like to congratulate you on absolutely nailing the theme Fuzyhead. A lot of the HL2 assets really lend themselves to a shanty setting but this is the first time I've seen them used so well for that purpose.

The gameplay was really fun once I'd figured the map out, but I think a lot of potential players might be turned off by the first ten minutes. Thanks to the small size of the map you can quite obliviously walk in to your own death within seconds of a round, which will infuriate some players and unfortunately taint their opinion of the map forever in some cases.

The bombsites could do with a bit more obvious delineation. Perhaps you could mark each corner of the site with a prop that doesn't occur anywhere else to subconciously guide the player, and also provide a touch of storytelling -- afterall, there's nothing in either bombsite to indicate why a bunch of terrorists would choose that particular area over anywhere else in the slum to launch their attack. If they're market places as you say, maybe there should be some stalls selling bananas or something.

There are a couple of places where bots get stuck, to an extent that it has an almost game-breaking effect. Obviously we all hope that the map will be played more by real players than by bots, but there are a fair few servers out there that use bots to fill empty slots so it's still important to polish the nav mesh. Screenshots:



The staircase in shot 1 will often cause an entire team of bots to just sit there vibrating until an enemy shows up. In shot 2, that wooden wall confuses bots on both sides. On a couple of occasions I managed to pick off most of the CT team when they got stuck here.

Once I learned the map it was really fun and I hope some servers I play on will get it in their rotation, but if you're planning on releasing a CS:GO version I would advise tweaking directional signage (maybe reduce the detail levels around signs so that they don't get 'lost' and also make sure to use the same decal set throughout to reinforce that visual key), making more of the bombsites and fixing the nav mesh.

[Sathor]

I have played a few rounds against bots and walked around the map without bots. I second Text_Fish's review in every point. Some things I want to mention:

1. Performance:
The map, although it is small and only small areas are visible at once, does not run very well. Did you optimise it? I did not test with mat_wireframe on, but somehow I was getting rather low FPS, even alone (50-90), while a Valve standard map will run with over 200. Of course your map is rather detailed, but the performance is quite bad in my opinion. With a few bots added it was almost unplayable.

2. Visuals
It needs some more contrast. A few harsh lights would be nice, because all your nice detailing is washed out into a grey mess. It looks too much like MW2
I suggest you add some spotlights. Some lights to guide the player would be nice, too. For example some kind of lightbulb at the stairs and at the ladders. Otherwise players new to the map might be turned off quickly.
Also, I think you used env_lightglow on your lights? It looks strange, to wide. Perhaps a sprite would serve the purpose better?
For better orientation, you should also use more obvious signs to the bombsites. The map is quite a labyrinth. Without looking at the minimap the whole time I once ran back to my T-Spawn without even noticing it.
As you use a shanty theme, I think bright yellow spraypaint (for A, for example) and bright pink spraypaint (for B,f or example) as hints would serve the purpose very well.

Otherwise, the map is looking great. You made great use of the props and textures.

3. Gameplay
As Text_Fish mentioned, the bots tend to get stuck. Otherwise I guess it is balanced nice enough. When I let the bots play against each other sometimes CTs won, sometimes the Ts won. Good enough.

I really like it, but I think it has much more potential

[Fuzyhead]

First of all, thanks for all those comments and criticism so far

Thanks to the small size of the map you can quite obliviously walk in to your own death within seconds of a round

For true, that's still a little problem. The maps layout is a small and modified version of dust2, so there might be some areas that are to open. I might have to add some more cover.

The bombsites could do with a bit more obvious delineation.

Hehe, indeed

There are a couple of places where bots get stuck, to an extent that it has an almost game-breaking effect.

Hm, didn't thought that's such a problem, most bots continued walking after some secs. when I played. I really have to get more attention on that.

Once I learned the map it was really fun and I hope some servers I play on will get it in their rotation

Yeah, that would be real cool.

but if you're planning on releasing a CS:GO version

Hm never thought of that, might be a good idea. But I think I won't have enough time when CS:GO will be released...

The map, although it is small and only small areas are visible at once, does not run very well. Did you optimise it?

Yeah, I only made some optimizations. I'm not the best with it and have to improve my skills with optimization.

As you use a shanty theme, I think bright yellow spraypaint (for A, for example) and bright pink spraypaint (for B,f or example) as hints would serve the purpose very well.

Hm, good Idea. I'll defiantly think about this.


I would really like to hear more of that

[Captain Terror]

This looks amazing downloading! =)

[SM Sith Lord]

I hate the shanty theme, but you appear to have pulled it off very well. Love the over pass and the environment looks extremely encompassing.