Counter-Strike 2 - Grail
Grail is a 5v5 bomb defusal map for Counter-Strike 2 that takes place in a stylised fantasy mini golf course. The map is still in ongoing development as part of the Big Adventure Mapping Contest organized by Mapcore and FACEIT: https://www.mapcore.org/topic/29533-cs2-big-adventure-mapping-contest/
My responsibilities on the map include designing part of the layout together with Bartlomiej Guzek, playtesting, creating new assets in the editor, set dressing, designing and taking the background area to current quality, working together with Florian Wagner to create the squid tentacles and signs on the map, the fake sky in the throne room, vegetation set dressing and lighting. The project is a massive collaboration effort between the three of us, where we often go over each other's work in order to improve it based on internal and outside feedback.
Steam Workshop link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246527710
https://www.artstation.com/lizardmaps
https://www.artstation.com/florian_wagner
Early on the brainstorming session for the map, we decided to go for a layout that has the castle lined up with the town, entrance and parking lot in order to create a strong leading landmark.
The castle is visible to some degree from all exterior areas of the map. You can also see in this example some of the vegetation dressing I placed.
In this shot you can see some of the gameplay area + background area that I was responsible for. The tentacles were blocked out in the editor using splines that we adjusted before exporting them to Florian Wagner to have them finalised.
One of the attack/defense areas in the map, A site, where I was responsible for designing and establishing the composition. I wanted to have the castle tower above this area clearly with the lighthouse acting as a strong local landmark.
After we started to experiment with the splines in the editor, one idea that came up was creating the cover for A site out of tentacles. This was an incredibly fun task and was well received by players.
One of the areas in between A and B sites on the map that I was responsible for designing and bringing to this quality.
The idea was to have one of the golf courses go through the dungeon, by a weapons room before it ends up on A site where the tentacles are. That way, there's a suggested narrative that the hero is preparing for the battle against the attacking monster.
The B site of the map is located inside a circular throne room. This part of the map was designed by Bartlomiej Guzek. I was responsible for painting the rotating dome above it, the golf course area and working on the composition for the treasure.
The entrance area to the castle, where the first golf course starts.
In this shot you can see more of the vegetation placing I was responsible for.
Another example of vegetation dressing I did.
The middle lane of the map was something I felt strongly about since the greybox. I initially did a blockout of this area that was later revised by Bartlomiej Guzek. Towards the end, I was responsible for working with Florian Wagner to place signage.
One of the maintenance/behind the scenes area in the map.
The spawn area for the attacking team which serves as the entrance to the golf course. I was responsible for blocking out this area and later designing the signange with Florian Wagner.
Taking a right from the spawn of the attacking team, players are led to A site by an cliffside route. I was responsible for blocking this out and set dressing the natural area.
Another shot of the background area that I was responsible for.
The houses you see are a prefab that I blocked and set dressed in the editor.