As always Sput, the first thing that strikes me is it looks terrific.
- obviously its sparse and some textures are misaligned, but the textures themselves and the lighting is great.
I find it very hard to get general architecture and lighting to look subtle and 'right' ...damn you
(so much so, my next map is currently heading in completely the other direction
).
I like the general layout and size of the map, there appear to be a number of ways to go, and similarly the terrorists have a number of viewpoints to monitor.
The slight separation of hostages should lead to choices from both sides; and when thinned down a team may well have to defend or try to rescue only one group. But they're still close enough to make the overall area defendable as a whole by a reasonable number of organised Ts (that's another lesson I've learned
).
FWIW, a couple of ideas/suggestions from a quick run-about:
- An alternative way in to the hostages sounds good, although there are already quite a few entry points for the Ts to cover, so the alternative may be best as a 'high risk' possibility (e.g. exiting a vent, coming in through the ceiling, or maybe dropping onto a balcony outside one of the windows, although the latter would probably involve more structural change).
- Maybe vary the lighting a little more down the corridors, etc, so some areas offer more shadow to aid stealth. Maybe have one of the corridors looking like its's closed for cleaning/maintenance - complete with puddles on the floor and mal/non-functioning lighting.
- Although it may go against the subtlety of the design, making the various areas of the map easily identifiable would greatly aid gameplay. e.g. "I'm at the front-desk/computer-room/store-room/conference-room" - maybe use office-style door-plaques or signs.
I feel this often helps, rather than trying to describe "the corridor on the left-side" (the left side often being objective).
I'm sure you've considered most of this and the map's obviously incomplete, so just some suggestions based on first impressions.
Hope they're of some use.
Look forward to the next version