B8d
-Minor aestethic fixes
-Added some optimisation
-Fixed collisions in 2 caves to block 2 hiding spots

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0qef3qk38y0av3b/koth_sandstone_pro_b8d.bsp.bz2?dl=0

So, after by brief-hiatus to go work on koth_backwoods/nikori I'm back to work on sandstone.

I'm probably going to implement the feedback I currently have from b4nny and then some more, so what would you all like to see as well be changed?

The download link isn't working for me

Same

Update coming today tommorow, sorry for broken link, but it'll be fixed

B11 IS OUT
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0zwxci8xypvbdo/koth_sandstone_pro_b11.bsp.bz2?dl=0
Changes include:

Some lighting muck-a-round, I really wanna hear thoughts on it. Here's an example

Turned this wall into a one way window!

http://i.imgur.com/ItHNDXZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cwZAIhJ.jpg

Closed this room off and moved health kit

http://i.imgur.com/kcPzZNM.jpg

Some technical work: Before After

There are also other changes including the rock at mid being rotated.Fade distances are a lot more apparent so do tell me your opinions.

If you guys could all notice the following and tell me your thoughts that'd make b12 much easier:
-Optimisation
-Lighting
-Movement
-Fade Distances (Are they distracting?, etc)

And of course gameplay!

Big thanks to b4nny for the advice, and Jackylegs for the motivation, and the folks over at tf2maps as usual. This map has been through a crazy year.

B12 is here

Includes:

-Bug fixes
-Removed ladders as they were confusing to new players

Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/83x89jsl2vijnn6/koth_sandstone_pro_b12.bsp.bz2?dl=0

I am just curious, what was the motivation for the one way window. I think it's an interesting mechanic, but the window on the black side just seems kind of weird. I don't know if players will necessarily understand what it is.

Ehheehehhee

Basically, the attacking team needs to see the point, but it'd be overpowered if the defenders had a clear view right to the spawn, this solved it. Glassworks implemented these windows as well so I decided to do the same.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q5tz7g6b91d76wo/koth_sandstone_pro_b13.bsp.bz2?dl=0

Fixed more bugs, enjoy B13

Oh and I did some small art updates

B14
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8fwfrprelywj2a5/koth_sandstone_pro_b14.bsp.bz2?dl=0

-Minor seem fixes.

Also, Sandstone is now featured in the 3days cup at maincall.tf: http://maincall.tf/around-the-world-in-3-days-cup-powered-by-tf2pickup-net/

The map will be updated as much as possible to get it ready for it

-Removed balcony
-Other fixes
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zay1yyv1ql8dspk/koth_sandstone_pro_b15.bsp.bz2?dl=0

Edit: Taking this down, map has broken clipping

b18
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nyr0reew0tf9mye/koth_sandstone_pro_b18.bsp.bz2?dl=0
-Minor aesthethic updates
-Major gameplay changes, mostly making house built for rotations and height variance on mid.

This version will be featured in http://maincall.tf/ so be sure to keep your eye on it!

Not a sarcastic question, but does this map actually get played?

This hasn't gotten much attention, but, the map maker is working really hard on this map trying to perfect it for playtesting yet not much have come, it has been played a few times on TF2Pickup.net but not much feedback came out of it.

Will be played in the following Maincall.tf cup tonight and the next few days, the map maker is stoked since his map finally gets some playtesting.

My team and another one agreed to playtest it, and even just 30 minutes of actual playtesting can help the maker change so many things to improve it.

Other than that, no, it hasn't gotten played, like many maps out there.

Im either going to scrim it or pug it, i'll try and gather as much info as I can for feedback when I do!

This is really unfortunate to hear. I remember playing it in a HL lobby a few days ago and everyone was very pleasantly surprised. Most of the folks in the lobby said they preferred it over other kothlander maps.

Where was it played? I'd love to have a chat with some of the players + Admins

I played it yesterday in maincall.tf cup and it was pretty good, sniper sights were so op though because you can hide under some shit and you cant get jumped from anywhere because it just covers you and you can see everywhere from there, but in overall it was pretty good.

B19 Is OUT, contains many bug fixes, slight optimization and the caves have had their aesthetics overhauled so go to the first post and give it a download!

So, for those that played the EVL Gaming Winter Battle Royale, what did you think?
Your contributions will help with the map being updated!

The Story of Sandstone.

The first screenshot of sandstone posted to a bunch of strangers on the internet was a CP hologram on some dev textures. No one really knew what it'd become and neither did I at that point, but all I knew was I was determined to make my 2nd tf2 map a ton better. Looking at it I was proud of a map that would be called that weekend during a playtest as “a clusterfuck” and “a map that needs ton of work” but regardless, with a spring in my step and a smile on my face, I packed it nicely and uploaded it to the tf2maps server.

This process happened every week for over 25 weeks.

Sandstone was something that took ages to shape, mould, and with hundreds of corners cut I finally released what I thought was the longest part of koth_sandstone's creation. The pub version.

So, what was next? Obviously a _pro version despite having no clue what I was doing. So, I posted on teamfortress.tv and asked for advice, and boy did I get some amazing tips for a comp version. Rollouts! Lighting! Paths! Rotations all of this was new and exciting to learn just by mapping for this community. I got my first comp play by some cool cat called umbiquitous or something and that spread me further!

It was a long time until I finally met who would be the biggest contributor to sandstone_pro, jackylegs.

We would chat at night/morning (thanks to timezones) of where to go next with this map, fixing bugs, a LOT of holes, and discussing previous matches of how the map should be changed. After a while of this, we managed to get it played on pickups a bit some playtests here and there and even in the latest EVL Winter Battle Royal in the preliminary rounds, the most played map of the day!

So, this is the short-version of the story of Sandstone, a map that took a while to peak just a bit, but enough.

But I don't want it to end here, I'll be releasing all the assets of the map in a ZIP file, VMF's prefabs, models, everything you need to be the next maker of Sandstone, and a bunch of 4v4 demos to give you some inspiration on what to change next! The rest of the details will be posted tomorrow along with what is possibly the final version of Sandstone released by me.

So, do you want to be the next chapter?

Posted the final version in the main post!

Now here are the assets for you to edit as you please:

http://forums.tf2maps.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=6035

This includes: Models/Materials used, VMF files of all pro versions and some regular versions, all instances, Other assets used, and best of all a bunch of DEM files for you to know what to do next.

READ THE README AS WELL

These are the restrictions:
-You may NOT re-release or modify any of the models/textures under your own name whatsoever, unless you get the permission of the individual author.
-The Sandbowl, Shrine, and TNT Wiring is allowed to be modified however, with original credit given to "fantasmos".
-You may NOT take absolute credit for the map, you can only take credit for changes you have made.
-You may NOT re-release it under the name Sandstone, you must rename it (e.g sandstorm, sandtrap)
-You must name the map a derivative of sandstone in your map thread's main post
If you are unsure of anything, msg me on steam, my username is "fantasmos" and same for tf2maps.net

Good luck to whoever decides to be the next maker!

Koth Sandstone pro is now on the steam map workshop!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=454263715&result=1