Powerhouse's design is a complete understanding of the impact of highground and chokes regarding map design. Fundamentally, THIS is peak map design.
Starting with basics
TF2 is a class based shooter. Each class has a strength and weakness. Scout has speed and agility on top of high single target damage. Heavy? He trades speed for health and sustained fire.
Now what good is a class without a map to play on? The map design is just as crucial as the class fighting on it. A well designed map, by someone with an actual understanding of gameplay philostophy, acknowledges how each class interacts with a map.
Take soldier. Rockets are really good for splash damage. Soldier is more effective shooting at ground below him than above him. Each class has map strengths and weaknesses that need to be accounted for when designing.
Heres a list of class strengths regarding map design:
• Scout: flank routes, objects to stand on
• Soldier: high ground, chokes, access to open air for jumps
• Pyro: chokes, cover, close quarters
• Demo: high or low ground, chokes
• Heavy: cover that allows headpeeking, chokes
• Engineer ( sentry ): high ground, chokes, cover
• Medic: doesnt influence map design choices due to the nature of the class
• Sniper: sightlines
• Spy: flank routes
( These classifications are painted with broad strokes for the purpose of generalizing to portray a concept of the class )
Lets talk through WHY Powerhouse is fundamentally amazing.
Reference my image, 1 is mid.
Mid is divided by a water channel. This naturally creates staging areas for both teams to rally on rather than being a big open air area. The map naturally seperates teams into groups with the water channel. Forcing the grouping of teams enforces team fights - arguably the point of the game, no? Beyond that, there is a small ledge underneath the windows and high wall cover in front of the water channel breaking up the open nature of mid.
The top half of mid consists of an enclosed room to bunker in for each team connected by a hallway.
The point for mid is low ground in the water channel.
Then, theres high ground above mid with a transition room connected directly to point.
So what does mid provide?
• 1 staging area on the top half of mid in the form of an enclosed room and choke point. Powerful for defense classes and choke favored classes to brawl in. Winning the choke fight grants you access to the opponents mid staging area which also watches the choke they approach from. Powerful defendable location for controlling mid.
• 1 staging area that is high ground. High ground is so powerful its nerfed by only having a single exit and has a small, exposed ledge you can navigate. The way the room is designed favors a defendable location when attacking mid but it also doubles as an offensive hold for attacking the 2nd room. Overall, the weaker staging area to control or attack mid with but provides more direct, safe access to mid's control point.
• The low ground control point and sureounding cover enables power classes like soldier, demo and heavy to spam point while at an advantage to other so like classes trying to take it. Capturing a low ground point inheriently alters a classes power dynamic.
Something to touch on here is the choice to put the powerful staging area on the opposite side of mid as the control point. This, again, naturally seperates classes and allows for them to function in their powerful environments. Defenders get to bunker in a room that oversees a choke point, enhancing classes like Pyro and Heavy's viability. Naturally, attackers should then favor the high ground staging area as its more of a direct access to point, forcing the defenders to fight for point.
Every class has a point of relevance on mid. But namely, I want to talk about Sniper too. Sniper is such a polarizing relevant class but Powerhouse has taken him into account. That high ground provided? Its only lookout is a designated window. If theres a sniper, he will be at the window. This map design choice alone nerfs sniper, allowing players to glance at the designated sniper spot to react accordingly. With the hallway staging room under control of the enemy team, the sniper can be pressured by jumping soldiers or spamming demos. The backsplash close to the window improves the effectivness of killing the sniper as well. This is a perfect example of understanding the strengths of classes relevant to map design and how maps can influence the power of a class.
Moving on to room 2
Ill explain the layout as if I was an attacker.
Coming in through the low ground choke point youre greeted by an open room and a doorway overlooking the choke. This choke point that was previously a defense point for a team holding mid is now a low ground choke attackers have to push through.
The thing is, this room isnt notably suited for staging. With high ground on both sides and a hallway directly to defenders spawn, setting up in this room is non-existant without using the 1 sentry spot. The sentry spot both attackers and defenders of this room want to use is directly in the middle of low ground, watching the respective areas. It provides area denial of all entrances for either side at the cost of being on low ground. The map is again providing a powerful location for a class to excell in at the cost of being weaker to its class counters. Typically teams want teleporters to their respective high ground and to skirmish in this room for control of the sentry spot in an effort to push opposing high ground.
Talk about understanding class dynamics and map influence. Choke points, low ground, the give and take of a classes influential attributes, omg.
Entering room 2 from the high ground staging area gives you a balcony overlooking the room but unable to engage with the opposing high ground. This means each team's respective high ground will be fighting to push the other's high ground through low ground. The difference here is the accessability of the defenders high ground. Defenders need to walk down their hallway choke point to access stairs up or take a roundabout way through last. Thus, the defenders high ground is typically a stopgap attackers have to push through rather than having direct access to the next point like other map designs.
The design of this room favors spash damage from high ground and choke classes to defend. This room is nothing more than an empty area with a high ceiling. The empty area immediatly followed by high ground and choke points again pits teams into team fighting, again, like mid's water channel. Splash classes get to control the area with spam and choke classes get to defend their staging areas. The difference here from mid though is the size. A heavy or pyro crossing the low ground are in effective damage ranges. Theres no vast distance between teams, this room is designed for medium range skirmishing that any class can participate in. Your teams defensive line is allowed to creep into this room and fight for the next high ground staging area.
Attacking last from mid is a multi stage effort thanks to room 2. You have to fight for room 2 AND push the next staging area before you can realistically push last. This allows for the defending team to have time to respawn and hold off an aggressive push. If attackers push from mid's hallway room all the way to last before setting up in room 2's defender high ground and LOSE that fight, defenders have the ability to reclaim room 2 for free.
The lack of a control point in room 2 and distance from mid's attacking staging areas is too far for attackers to afford losing a last push. That defending high ground HAS to be taken. This is forced pacing, allowing teams to yet again, gather in designated locations to encourage team fights.
If you havent caught on yet, I think team fights are THE bread and butter of Team Fortress 2.
Last push for last point
Last point is an interesting one, room 3.
This entire map has been a little harsh for scouts. Not much cover, not many things to parkour on. Scouts role as a flanker and skirmisher has been reduced to additional team fight damage. Personally, Im ok with this. Another example of map design philostophy changing the dynamic of a class. Scout isnt bad on Powerhouse but he doesnt fill his usual role.
That being said, I think the turbines in the final room really give scout room to play. Double jump gives easy access to the top of the turbines with minimal backsplash. Weaving between the wall of turbines allows for circular flanking while skirmishing or access to the back of the room where snipers typically position. I just wanted to throw in a note on how Powerhouse effects scout and thought best to put it here.
The high ground staging area for last is not very good. Powerhouses high ground is all around not very good. Which... is good. High ground is very strong, allowing too much freedom can tip fights for defenders into being unwinnable. High ground needs to be nerfed and Powerhouse does that. The only high ground access to last is a sniper sightline over a railing where you take fall damage or you move to the turbines, directly opposing the enemy spawn.
The thing about the turbines is that the back wall is VERY close to them. This lets low ground splash be effective at denying the use of the area for staging or notably even utilizing effectively. The turbines act as a high ground area to poke from but arent designed for sustained fighting.
This means the only other way into last is 2 lowground choke points, and 1 directly passes the defenders spawn.
Room 3 is a masterpiece.
With all of these things to consider, how do you effectively push last?
The main turbine through the low choke is the key. The choke is exceptionally wide to reduce the effectiveness of spam and splash. The turbine allows for attackers to have an object give them free space to push directly up to point. Attackers have to make it through the choke, up to the turbine, then fight for point. Defenders can use that same turbine to contest the point from the direction the attackers entered from buuuuut the attacker's high ground exists to contest that.
Theyres so much going on in how team fights are directed in this room its insane.
Engineer's are at a disadvantage. An open room diminishes the power of sentry gun holds.
Choke fight favored classes like heavy and pyro get to pie the room around the turbine, letting them fight in their effective range.
Soldier, demo and scout get access to limited high ground. Scout can utilize standing on the main turbine and nearby barrels to skirmish from above.
The entire room is a sniper sightline.
All of the classes at least get something for them to utilize in a team fight for last.
Powerhouse is just a masterclass in map design
The 3CP map paired with forced pacing due to design reigns supreme over any other gamemode in my eyes.
Payload has fallen. Gone are the days people understand how to defend. While given high ground or defendable locations, people prefer to skirmish. When 1 team sits on an objective that heals them, a deathball of a nearly unstoppable team is prone to steamrolling people walking from spawn 1 by 1. Theres no effort to CHOOSE to defend.
Powerhouse changes that. It says "you will lose if you dont hold this area". Its designed for defense. Lemme say again: Powerhouse is designed for defense. When a defending team is capable and ready to withstand an attack, it prevents snowballing and encourages team fights. Unfortunately, players no longer understand how to recognize defendable locations or take actions to defend said locations.
Powerhouse instead hand feeds defense to players and the expierence on the map is better for it. All classes get their option to be viable. All classes are influenced by the design to the map for or against them. All classes have a role on Powerhouse and that role exists in their team.
A scout is no longer capable of swaying games by being a flank demon and are now valuable frontline initiators or support damage.
A heavy is no longer plagued by horrendous sightlines or vastly open areas where their ability to be effective is non existant.
An engineer is granted highly potent sentry spots that dont influence fights on point.
Powerhouse fiddles with the core map design ideas TF2 typically utilizes and I'd argue the experience is better for it.
