Remaster: Sandtrap HD 2019

[3lf]

Just as the title says. Remaster of the infamous sandtrap by GoldBond. My main focus was to give the map a fresh modern look.

Click here to download(GDrive)

[jitspoe]

Definitely an improvement, and it's going in a good direction, but I have a few suggestions:

1) I've always wanted a second path that crossed through the middle so it's not just a single path chokepoint.  Maybe something like a figure 8 would be cool (red path).  Could also make the path connect to the area under the bunkers (blue).  Could possibly be DSM paths so 1v1 it just has the single path.
2) Terrain is improved, but the walls are still boxy.  Would be good to make them look more organic.
3) Colored wood plank textures in windows are not aligned (side note: I really need to make some non-plank colored wood textures).
4) Should raise the sky so you don't hit your head on it in the middle.  That was always awkward in the original.  Would be nice to improve it.
5) Flag is too easy to defend in the original sandtrap, and this doesn't change that.  Might be good to add another path around the side (yellow) if you want to keep the center chokepoint.  There's really a number of ways you could go with this.  Crossing path in the middle could just be a slight side route that connects under the forts, or even closer to the middle, like right behind the boxes.  Could also have all the paths I sketched converge into a major alternative path.
6) Sand in the red base has a section that dosen't phong shade properly (circled), but that might just be a bug in arghrad that you can't do anything about.
7) Your map name/message is cut off.  I think it's limited to 64 characters.

[3lf]

I think I'll go with this layout for the dsm: Under the bunker to high over the 'X'. For 1v1 the layout will be the classic one

[jitspoe]

Hmm, that still doesn't address the issue that it's basically impossible to get the flag with 1 person defending, since there's only 1 approach angle.  That was kind of the key problem with most of those old maps.  1 path into the base meant the last person alive could back up and almost guarantee that no grabs happen.  Grabs only happen when somebody screws up or there are inexperienced players playing.

The other challenge with that proposed layout change is that it will make a long sightline from the exit to the base all the way to the bunker, unless it's a curvy path or has some serious vis blockers.

Also, from playing this during the Social Saturday event, we noticed that one section on the left side of the middle hill has a slope too steep to walk on.

[3lf]

The mid hill has been redone. Removed a lot of faces, yet tried to maintain that natural look. Except to find more of those steep sections, even though I tried to fix them all. "Curvy path"(blue) looks actually more like here in the picture, so there are vis blockers. Haven't made a RC version yet, so can't say anything about performance. I was also thinking about making a slow path behind the flag, as you suggested(red). The path would be crucial for 2v1 situations when last player is camping at flag, yet is not fast enough to op the main route.

[jitspoe]

Give it a go (though, I don't know why, but I still really want to see the middle have a tunnel crossing it -- just seems like it was made for it).

[JeongWa]

Good looking remaster once again.

Perhaps you should innovate and add some cover / glass shields in bases because it is fully open once you've passed the crates.

As for the red & blue paths you've mentioned, i think it would be a decent improvements for the map, hopefully you can share your progress about it.

[3lf]

Some progression made. Not looking that great because it's missing shadows (and the lights that cast them). The last pic is the look I'd like to achieve, but jeez that thing is hard to mimic

[3lf]

I am having hard time to find interest and time to work on sandtrap and crates HD remakes, so I am releasing the map files here for anyone to hop in and continue the work. When/If you continue my work, I don't mind if you exclude my name from the map message, but please keep GoldBonds name there as he is the original author.

Beta file is the last one I released, alpha file is the last one i was working on.

These were made with TrenchBroom, so expect some anomalies if opened with a different editor. If you want to try TrenchBroom, contact me on discord or try to setup the editor with the files from here: GDrive