After his success with the well received port of the hugely popular Counter-Strike map, de_cpl_mill, mapper Adam “DNvCross” Wushensky has released his next big contribution to Source: de_villa. Based on a fairly unknown 2v2 1.6 map known as de_sg_vineyard, Wushensky and his co-mapper,Bryan “Rogueverve” Legrand, have created a completely redesigned map engineered specifically for league play. Working off Legrand’s layout, the map took only five days to go from nothing to full premonition. None-the-less, with its beautiful looks and unique competitive style, Villa is turning heads. After a very positive reception from the community, the Cyberathlete Amateur League has announced that the map will be played in the second week of preseason for all Counter-Strike: Source leagues.

GotFrag discussed the new map and possible future projects with Villa’s co-creator, Adam “DNvCross” Wushensky.

What motivated you to make this map and why did you choose as inspiration a 2v2 1.6 map?

Rogueverve had been holding onto the original RMF (map source file) for the 1.6 version for quite some time, and had recently expressed an interest in finishing it. There were a lot of problems with framerates in the 1.6 engine, so he came to me with the map and a layout plan for a 5v5 version of it. I saw a lot of potential in the map and his ideas for an updated layout.

How do you feel your experience with de_cpl_mill helped you with this project?

Mapping CPL_Mill gave me a good feeling of what balance the competitive community wants struck between visuals and game-play in a map. In both Mill and Villa, there are no physics objects that affect player movement and a limited number of corners in which players can hide. The maps are more open and less convoluted with objects.

How did you strike this balance between looks and performance?

In Villa, choke points and other high-action areas are kept to lower detail levels, allowing the Source engine to concentrate more on the movements of the players. In close-quarters interior areas, the level of detail can easily be stepped up due to the lesser amounts of action. Also, model and brushwork optimizations played a big part in keeping the map FPS friendly.

Compared to other mainstream maps in play today, what makes Villa unique?

Villa is a very close-quarters map with quick rotations, making it easy for a team to exercise a multitude of strategies. Additionally, the spammable walls near each bombsite and the speed at which teams reach each site make for very interesting game-play differences.

CAL recently released its Season 5 map cycle which does not currently include Villa, although they have indicated that the underdevelopment remake of Strike may replace Cobble for Week 6 play. Due to the growing number of maps available to Source, do you expect Villa to replace a map on the cycle and which map do you think should go?

I don't expect Villa to replace a map in the upcoming Season 5 of CAL, as their admins have hinted that it most likely will not. However, if it were to replace a map in the cycle, I would most like to see it take de_nuke's spot due to Nuke's one-sidedness and high graphical strain. I have high expectations for Villa in future seasons. Also, CEVO and TWL are currently considering the map for their leagues.

Care to shed any light on future projects you have planned?

I'm currently looking into rebuilding the map de_comrade_3rdroute for source, and possibly something to do with Strike (de_cpl_strike).

Are you not satisfied with the current Strike remake?

While Kanadian (Ryan “Canadian” Crossley) has been putting a lot of work into his version of Strike, I feel that it is not up to the level of professionalism that is required for a professional league.

Thanks for your time. Do you have any final comments / shoutouts?

My pleasure. Bryan (Rogueverve) and I would like to thank teams Forbidden and strafeRight for helping test the map, and all those who supported the map in CAL 's decision.

The map can be found here.

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