STAGE ONE
The Maps inception
I started out collecting images that I found interesting and that evoked feelings such as compactness, sterile, and emptiness and that also contained cooler colors. After collecting enough images I sat down and created a first draft of what the map could look like from a top-down perspective on paper. This included drawing spawn positions, sites, corridors, and all the relevant information I needed to get started in the engine.
STAGE TWO
Blockout
Once in the engine, I did the first block out of the map using dev textures and blocky geometry. This step ensured the play area was not too big or too small. Simotuaniously as I'm blocking out the map I tweak the top-down draft to better fit the theme and to better resemble what is happening in the engine and vice versa. My workflow during a blockout is usually systematically focusing on one area to make sure it functions well before moving on to another room.
After creating the block out and playtesting it. I went ahead and added textures to the world to see if my theme matched the map I had created and it did with a little tweaking.
SITE A
The site features two balconies on the elevated ground for both teams and a pair of stairs to enter the first floor.
Once left the stairs CT will be exposed except for a few half boxes this was to ensure CT has to take a risk in order to approach the site
T will be presented with two smaller rooms that will divide their movement into three paths this was to ensure T has multiple approaches to the site.
STAGE THREE
Prop placements
After updating the top-down draft as well as creating a blackout with added textures I now have a base for my map. From here on I begin adding in props, vegetation, and navmesh, and finalizing the cube map. I progressively playtest while adding in props to get a feeling of whether the props fit the environment or not. This step took a bit longer compared to other maps created. Playtesters experienced difficulties in certain areas. This made me create alternative routes to the main site to enable variety in approaches when attacking.
