De_Downhill
Introduction
I thought that I would try my hand at creating a multiplayer map, so I looked into which established multiplayer games have the most involved and expressive map creation tools. I chose Counter-strike global offensive (CSGO), this is due to its excellent mapping tools and its exceptionally good documentation on how to use said tools.
Layout phase
When I was creating the layout I made sure to focus on the timing/flow, both being incredibly important in counter-strike, I needed to make sure that Counter-Terrorists (CT's) arrive at the points they are defending (bombsites) first. This will give the CT's time to set up before the Terrorists (T's) arrive. It is also important to have routes between both bombsites letting players rotate back and forth between them.
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To set the map apart from the rest of the maps in CSGO, I wanted to make a map with a lot of verticality and have the T's descend from the highest point of the map to the bombsites downhill, with the CT's climbing the hill to defend.
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I wanted the routes between bombsites to be risky, so I decided to add a large middle lane (Mid) connecting both bombsites and both teams spawns. This would make Mid an incredibly exposed and deadly route with the bonus of being easily the fastest route to traverse.
Recreating the layout in CSGO
Once I had created the layout in CSGO I immediately started testing with bots to see what routes they prioritize, with this knowledge I ended up extending some routes and shortening others. Shortly after that, I started to populate the map with cover and chokepoints, all the while keeping a close eye on the timing between player spawns and bombsites.
Small Playtests + Results
I performed multiple playtests with as many people as I could get my hands on, I took their feedback and paid close attention to trends in how they played.
With each playtest I refind the map a little. Bombsite A saw a lot of drastic changes to its layout moving cover and entrances and changing elevation.
Bombsite B was fairly well received and only underwent some minor changes like moving entrances and adding some additional cover.
Mid was completely overhauled, I added a great deal of cover to break up the gigantic sightlines, keeping that element of risk but avoiding matches from devolving into every player feeling required to bring a sniper as a primary weapon.
Large Playtests + Results
I gathered 10 experienced members of the counterstrike community and conducted some playtests.
During this playtest, I was made aware of a lot of issues with the layout and its overall concept; in response, I did some major restructuring.
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The following were the main issues that I had to tackle:
Bunny hopping
Players could bunnyhop from T's spawn down to bombsites A or B and arrive well before the CT's. To fix this Issue I added some obstructions to the route that lead from T's spawn to A and B to stop bunny hopping players.
Too many routes
Most players were overwhelmed by the number of paths leading form from CT's spawn to bombsites A and B, some of the routes in question were scarcely used in the large playtest. To fix this issue I decided to restructure CT's spawn and remove the offending routes.
Conclusion
Choosing to create a map that is set on a large slope probably wasn't one of my finest ideas, due to that slope it was quite a struggle to keep the bomb sites fair and balanced. However, after adding the most recent changes, I believe I'm leaving this map in a good state! Despite its issues, It's relatively balanced, and it stands out from the base games roster of maps due to its verticality, so overall I would say it turned out really well for a first attempt!
If you want to try this map for yourself, it can be obtained by clicking the download map button, that will take you to the Steam workshop page and then you need to click the subscribe button!