I’m going to be real with you. I can’t keep my dirty hands off Hammer. That “definitive edition” title? It means nothing. I’ll always keep adding to the map. I’m addicted to it, I can’t stop it. This is a cry for help. Please, someone, anyone. Source has claimed me and it won’t let go.
Major Map Update #3. Three major map updates, that’s pretty crazy. Anyway. This one isn’t as major as the others, but I still consider it major given the changes it makes. Speaking of which, let’s jump right into them and delve into the details.
Distribution Block Numbers
Distribution Blocks now have numbers outside them to help you differentiate them from one another, without the need to physically describe them. This may not be of much use to seasoned players, but new arrivals were getting confused when people told them “DB13”, so we decided to do something about it. Now you can’t get confused! Well, you can, but… you can just look at… eh… forget it. It’s just a decal, man.
Warning: Death Ahead
While our veteran players are very well aware that entering the Terminal Restriction Zone 1 (colloquially known as The Mall) means certain death if you are spotted by a Civil Protection Officer or a Scanner, our newer players are not aware of this, and with a partially hidden warning sign and no warnings in the underground areas, the only way for them to learn this was to hear it OOCly and metagame, through word of mouth, or… well, learning the hard way. This was not acceptable to us, so we’ve taken several steps to mitigate the issue:
The surface warning sign is now more visible with a little cagelight above it to attract attention. As for the underground areas, some kind soul down there was generous enough to warn the sewer dwellers of the dangers of the surface through the use of graffiti. In addition, those in the TRZ may now notice a faint, ambient announcent playing from time to time, reminding them that they’re not supposed to be there.
Condemned Zone 2 additions
While we’re in the area, let’s go over the additions to Condemned Zone 2. Remember the two fake doors that everyone has tried to open at least once? Well, now you can open them! And even better, they don’t lead into the v̵̦̇̈́o̷̩̤͌ị̶̋́̕d̴̬̀! They instead have small interiors, available for anyone to make use of. One of them is a small room, and the other is… well, a slightly larger small room, with a large garage door. It was probably a small storage bay back in the day, or something. Who knows. Hey, if anything, it serves the dual purpose of bringing more attention to the warning sign mentioned earlier!
Taking Precautions
Following the entire warehouse blowing up this month, the Civil Workers’ Union figured it’s about time to take some steps in preventing that from happening so easily. Thus, a new, fenced-off area has been designated above Warehouse 2 where they will store things too dangerous to be kept next to the entire district’s stock. …such as explosive gas.
The Warehouse lives!
Speaking of Warehouses; after several weeks of constant work by the city’s working-class, the warehouse has been finally repaired and brought back to its former glory. Along with the repairs, they have decided to finally move the cargo lift off to the side. Way too many people walked into the warehouse after opening the door without checking if the lift in front of the doors is actually there or not, and… well, let’s just say the CMU probably got tired of fixing broken bones. Surely that must’ve violated a lot of pre-occupation safety laws. Well, no more!
9 + 10
It’s the Twenty-First year of our Union with our Benefactors… When will this tyranny end? Who knows. Hey, at least we have up-to-date calendars reminding us of how long we’ve been doing this for. And, the district can finally drink alcohol! Wait- we’re not in America. Eh, drink it anyway. Might numb the pain.
APC Accessibility
This might sound crazy, but hear me out: What if, right, the APCs could access the central area of the map instead of just around it and above it. Proposterous, I know! Well, now they can. With a little slimming of the sidewalks and a small tweak to the collision bounds of the APC itself, it is now possible to drive on them! Granted, it does ride the curb on turns, but… well, the thing is huge, what did you expect? How do they get on them, you may ask? Well…
Dead-end be gone!
Remember this little area? It was a dead end with a Combine Smart Barrier (nerd term for Combine Wall) blocking the way, and debris everywhere. Well, the engineer core has come in and cleaned the place up. Now, it’s a gate to a tunnel which leads to the main APC bay inside Stabilization Jurisdiction 5, linking it to all other roads. Now, Civil Protection can access all main road areas with the APC. How fun!
Re-blocked Alley
I’m about to talk about visibility stuff as if I’m some CS2 dev making competitive map changes. Well, not really, but that’s what it feels like. Anyway! Remember how this area was completely closed off in the original version of the map? I originally opened it up because, well, why wouldn’t I? It was a potential alleyway just begging to be created. And so I did. Now, years later, I realize that that may not be the best way to go. By re-blocking it, we are introducing more privacy into that area which was meant to be a sort of hub for not-so-legal activities anyway. Not that easy to do crime when people can see you from the other end of the street, is it?
Fear not, though – you can still access that area through a small tunnel created underneath it, which also links up with the alleyway on the left, and also serves to reinforce the aesthetic of City 8.
Never enough alleyways
Remember Distribution Block 14? GONE! Well, not really. It was made into a little stand. A worthy sacrifice for what we got out of it in return – a brand new alleyway. Yippie!
This alley goes around Distribution Block 15, connects with the Stabilization Jurisdiction 5 tunnel, and ends right outside Warehouse 3. While not a necessary change, I believe it is an improvement either way. If for nothing else, it at least contributes towards the aesthetic of the map. (I love alleyways)
Scanner Box
Before, scanners sort of just… phased through this wall to get from the main city to the mall street. Well, their black magic license has expired, and they’ve been forced to create a physical entry into that sector to fly through. Lame, I know.
In Memoriam of The Outlands
As much as it pains me to say, the outlands had to go; now replaced by an endless (not really) tunnel. They were nice to have for the occasional event, but the occasional event was way too occasional to make it worth keeping such a huge chunk of a map around, eating away at Source limits & server resources. Fear not, though. We are cooking up some ideas to make up for this unfortunate departure.
I’m telling you now. I have plans that I cannot share with you right now, because the haters will sabotage me. I have plans that I cannot share with you right now, because the haters will sabotage me. I have plans that I will not share right now, because the haters will sabotage me, but I got some stuff in the works.
Conclusion
The conclusion is that I cannot keep my autistic ass away from Hammer to not keep updating this 11-year-old map. Apart from that, a lot of exciting things are in the works. The server is doing good, and we’re growing and improving steadily.
Also, we recently made an Anonymous Feedback Form where you can, well, watch movies, duh. Jokes aside, your feedback and suggestions are invaluable to us, so we encourage you to use this form to communicate with us. It helps immensely.
See you in the next one!