Andre Valera
GRASSETTO
"Grassetto" is a 2v2 Bomb Defusal map for Counter Strike: Global Offensive's Wingman game mode. My primary goal of this project was to design a map that provides players with opportunities to utilize every essential game mechanic within a limited space. I carefully accounted for timing between spawns and initial encounters balancing rotation times between each path. My secondary goal with this project was to get more comfortable with a 3D software package.
DEVELOPMENT TIME-LAPSE
Development of this project took place between May and September of 2020. During the blockout phase I focused on timings between encounters for each main path, balanced sight lines for snipers, and created tight spaces for close quarter combat.
Once the blockout was established I began greyboxing proxy buildings and focused on creating a believable atmosphere. The theme of the map was loosely based on paintings and photographs surrounding Lake Como, Italy. Assets from Inferno (official CS:GO map) supported the final art pass.
One of the biggest gameplay mechanics in CS:GO is player utility, throughout development I periodically tested throwing and bouncing utility at and over structures to create natural ways for players to delay pushes, separate their opponents or cause damage before engaging in a fire fight.
UNIQUE ASSETS
The goal was to keep it simple and consistent with the existing library. This was the first project diving directly into a 3D package to create props for CS:GO and it was an excellent learning experience. I created several archways and updated existing crates to fit the theme.
I edited crates from Mirage (official CS:GO map), replacing brush geo with meshes, increased the width and height of the metal pallets underneath the crates, added additional border geo to reduce openings conflicting with the collision mesh, and extended the straps underneath the metal pallets. I remapped the crate texture of the original to match the crates throughout Grassetto.
I created low poly archways to accent the surrounding structures while maintaining a collision mesh that supported player utility mechanics.
CONCLUSION
This was a great opportunity to create and polish a new Wingman map for CS:GO within a development time of 5 months. I got more comfortable with working between a 3D package and a level editor. Would like to revisit the skybox portion of the map adding in mountains and additional depth into the surrounding buildings.
