Months in the making, I’m happy to announce the release of my competitive version of CS:GO’s train, named de_train_ve.

Download on Steam Workshop:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=171336276

Update (August 21, 2013  @ 1:05:00 AM EST):

• Fixed glitch causing the radar not to properly track player movement
• Fixed missing strap on missile box in the inner bombsite

Over the past year, it’s been such a pleasure to watch my first CS:GO map, de_nuke_ve take off. The best leagues and tournaments in the world were quick to switch to the map for competitive play and not long after, Valve took what I built and implemented the changes into the live game.

I hope that the changes I’ve made to de_train will have a similar impact on both the competitive and casual CS:GO communities. As always, I welcome any league or tournament to feature this map in competition.

I want to thank the community for the overwhelming amount of support I’ve received and hope that you find as much enjoyment in the new competitive de_train_ve as I do.

Why I Created de_train_ve

Of the official maps, de_train is one of the least played maps in both competitive and casual play. Similar to de_nuke, changes to de_train in CS:GO greatly changed and limited the amount of different playstyles available compared to previous versions of Counter-Strike.

Similar to my changes to de_nuke and the layout of de_cache, the primary driver behind changes to de_train was simplicity. Hopefully by modifying angles, opening up the layout, repositioning trains, removing clutter and gaps from props, de_train_ve will be a more balanced and enjoyable map for competitive play.

Changelog

Map-Wide

• Ladders have been added to the backs of all trains, rather than the sides
• Height of trains has been reduced
• All cracks found between train wheels have been eliminated
• All trains modified to allow player to crouch and move underneath trains
• Reduced size of elevated flooring in “A” and “B” bombsites to allow player to move underneath trains
• Subtle lightning has been added underneath all trains to improve visibility and decrease the chance of player models being able to hide in shadows
• T spawn points moved slightly forward
• Adjusted CT spawn points to have more variety
• Hanging light fixtures no longer block player movement

“A” Bombsite

• Moved the bomb train from the middle of the yard to the CT-side of “5 lane”. This allows playstyles on the map to be more similar to those in previous versions of Counter-Strike while providing terrorists with slightly easier access to the bombsite.
• Added an electrical box between 4 and 5 lane. New box provides cover from CT-mid (“Z”) for T’s planting the bomb
• Simplified layout of “T-Tower” and also increased the depth of the tower’s platform
• Simplified layout of “CT-Tower” and also decreased the depth of the tower’s platform
• Added a long rectangular missle box on top of the bomb train
• Moved short ladders located on the middles of the bombtrain to the ends of each side
• Modified bomb train so player can jump onto bomb train from any angle, instead of just the ends and via ladders
• Increased height of T-middle entrance to “A” bombsite to allow for more nade options and increased visibility
• Under “T-tower”, removed beams that restricted player movement
• Added white paint to the end of CT-alley so player model no longer blends in to the wall
• Added white paint to the end of lower CT-spawn, behind the hump, so player model no longer blends in to the wall
• Added white board to CT-mid (“Z”), so player model no longer blends in to the wall

“B” Bombsite

• Added additional train model to “2 lane” on the CT-side
• Added additional train model (generally referred to as flatbed) to the “1” lane on the T-side
• Added a long rectangular missle box on top of the bomb train
• Moved short ladders located on the middles of the bombtrain to the ends of each side
• Modified bomb train so player can jump onto bomb train from any angle, instead of just the ends and via ladders
• Player can now stand on top of tall ladder, found on the upper side of the “B” bombsite

Other

• Created more space in the ladder room. Modified the angles to allow for more flexibility when excecuting strategies
• The cubby on the T-side of alley has been blocked off
• Widened portions of the alley, allowing for different gameplay opportunities for both CT and T players
• Added two spammable boxes to replace the sandbangs. New boxes are flush to the wall to eliminate unnecessary gaps between objects and the wall
• Replaced both water tank props in brown hall with two eletrical units. Player can now more safely use props for cover rather
• Added aesthetic detailing and props to T-spawn
• Added aesthetic detailing and props to white halls
• Removed short wall that blocked player movement in T-middle
• Blocked out cubby in T-middle
• In T-Spawn, heading towards alley, pushed green dumpster up against the wall
• In T-Spawn, heading towards alley, blocked out visibility through the fence when in the dumpster room
• Player can now jump on several small existing power boxes located on walls
• Removed ledge above CT-spawn stairs
• Added pipes by CT-spawn stairs to prevent player from hiding behind the wall
• In CT-mid (“Z”), player can now stand on existing elevated platform

Bug Fixes and Optimization Improvements

• Removed fog
• Eliminated clipping issues when shooting bullets near ladders and train edges
• Eliminated clipping from new electrical box
• Clipped all staircases so player moves smoothly along the stairs
• Railings in the T-Tower, CT-Tower and along the upper “B” bombsite ramp no longer block bullets or nades
• Changed the windows in the white halls to be translucent rather than reflective
• Fixed bug where player could stand on invisible ledges found along the backwall between upper and lower entrance to “B” bombsite
• Fixed bug where player could get boosted onto a pipe in “6 lane”
• Fixed bug in alley ceiling where nades were previously blocked despite the space being open to the sky
• Cleaned up brushwork in Hammer World Editor
• Cleaned up compiling errors in Hammer World Editor
• Applied the nodraw texture to brushwork that is not visible to players
• Minor FPS optimizations

Eliminated Elements

• Removed extraneous bathroom path in the white halls
• Removed awning from “T-Tower”
• Removed AC unit prop from “T-Tower”
• Removed AC unit props from “CT-Tower”
• Removed barrels surronding bomb train
• Removed biohazard tanks from “A” bomb train
• Removed biohazard tanks from “B” bomb train
• Removed yellow headshot-level garbage cans from “A” bombsite
• Removed pole previously positioned in the middle of the CT-side exit of alley
• Removed sandbags from alley
• Removed water tank prop from alley
• Removed sandbags from CT-side of “6 lane”
• Removed green dumpster from “B” bombsite
• Removed cart from “B” bombsite
• Removed both water tank props from the brown hall to the “B” bombsite
• Removed railing by the lower “hump”, found on the “B” bombsite side of CT-mid (“Z”)
• Removed green dumpster from CT-mid (“Z”)
• Removed green dumpster from outside of ladder room, in the outside yard
• Removed wooden pallets from outside of ladder room, in the outside yard
• Removed boostable fence and simplified the area on the T-side of alley
• Removed small extraneous stairs blocking line of sight at T-side upper ramp
• Removed support beams on the upper ramp that restricted player movement and line of sight
• Removed support beams on the lower ramp that restricted player movement and line of sight
• Removed large ceiling pipe in CT-mid (“Z”) that previously blocked player movement and nades
• Removed intermediate roof leading up to CT-Tower
• Removed horizontal beams in the brown halls