Counter-Strike map Insertion 2
Insertion 2 is a map I built for Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Every single asset on the map is custom made. There is not a single stock CSGO asset used. That’s over 400 props and 500 textures. Development took 4 years since it was a hobby project that I worked on in my spare time. I am thankfully very happy with the result.
The map is a bit unconventional compared to other CS maps. I have designed it with a very open layout and a new spawning system where in the beginning of each round the attacking CT team gets to choose between four “Insertion points” that are located in the corners of the map. The defending T team is located in the middle, where they are holding the Hostages.
Insertion 2 was featured in CSGO during Operation Riptide for six months in Competetive matchmaking, Casual matches, Deathmatch and also some Custom Co-op missions that Valve authored. Where it was played by hundreds of thousands of CSGO players.
The design of Insertion
The overall design for both Insertion and Insertion2 aimed to make the attack/defend style gameplay in Counter-Strikes Hostage mode more unpredictable and in my opinion much more fun.
To achive that I designed it so that the attackers (CTs) can come from any angle, and therefor the defending team (Ts) can't just sit and wait in any one perfect spot. The defending team also doesn't have to just sit, they can charge out, in any direction.
So the open layout is key, but it also needed the spawn-selection feature. Because with no spawn selection CTs would only have been able to rush from one direction.
Defenders would have been able to figure out where the CTs could be based on timings (if they are taking long they might be going for a long flank, etc).
Now they can rush from any direction. Or go slow and steady. They can split up and attack from two sides, from 4 sides, or all together from one side. Spawn selection introduces a lot of different tactics to use.
Level design principles
One key level design principle I followed for interior places was that always have more than one entrance. This was to further make sure that there would be no one perfect spot for defenders. Specifically, if a room had only one door, I made sure it had a window as well. Additionally, I made sure hostages always spawn in separate buildings (CTs only need to rescue one hostage to win the round).
Another principle is to make the world as realistic as possible. For one, I think it makes it much more fun to play if it feels real, like role playing. But I also believe that the more it resembles a real place, the more players can intuitively understand where they should/are able to go.
Making a sequel
The layout in the first insertion was very open. It was just a few buildings in the middle surrounded by forest and fields basically. There was some terrain elevation and some rocks but that was about it.
So for Insertion2 I wanted to fix that by having bigger sightline blockers while also solving the problem of communicating enemy positions with more themed areas.
I also wanted more distinct routes. Both from the spawns moving toward center, but also from center moving toward the hostage rescue zone. These are not perfect but since it is multiplayer, and the players will run through the areas multiple times as opposed to just once, it wasn’t a crucial design requirement
Guiding the player
Making the world feel real had a high priority but within that frame work I tried to guide players as best I could, without taking away from the authenticity.
For the CT team spawns my goal was to guide them toward the center so that they could get within view distance of one of the main buildings where the hostage is located.
Insertion point A: Forest
This spawn has the clearest theme and name for callouts. Visual guidance is a bit obstructed by the tree line. But It has a somewhat clear main route along the dirt path, that leads you toward the center and you should see one of the main center buildings pretty quickly.
Insertion Point B: Train
This spawn was the most difficult to come up with a theme/name for. The defining feature is that its close to the train tracks. So "Train" it is!
Visual guidance here is great though. You are presented with two pretty clear routes. Main route forward or secondary route to the right onto the tracks.
Following the main route you see one of the main buildings emerge in the fog pretty quickly.
Insertion Point C: Dentist
This spawn has a theme that is easy to remember for callouts. But not really obvious as to why it is called as such.
Visual guidance is decent here. It’s a bit too open and the road just disappears into the fog. But if you walk down the road you eventually see that the road curves to the right, toward the center and with a main building in view.
Insertion Point D: Houses
This spawn has good visual guidance. Or rather you are basically unable to go anywhere else but forward. The theme is also easy to remember for callouts.
Routes to hostage rescue zone
There are basically 5 routes from center toward hostage rescue, the three lanes in the middle plus the two spawn routes on the far edges of the map.
I tried to frame/theme these routes as much as possible, mainly for visual guidance but also for callout purposes.
Improvements and changes after release
When the map was released it was featured on FaceIt servers where I could both play and watch matches through their matchmaking software. Later when the map was featured in the game I played it a lot, constantly thinking about how to improve the map.
Hostage Rescue Zone changes
At release the hostage rescue zone was much smaller. But that sort of went against my design principle about not having a perfect camping spot. So I redesigned the whole area to make it bigger.
Guarding such a big zone as the last survivor on T side can be super tense. And there is a lot of room for mind games from both teams.
Supermarket Entrances
At release the supermarket was very difficult for CTs to enter. One of the entrances to the back rooms was a window that you first had to break open which made a noise. Then you had to crawl through at slow speed while also needing to cover 180 degrees inside. Obviously this was the worst entrance possible. So it got replaced with a door at the end of the hallway instead.
Another change was the loading bay door, which also to be easier for CTs to enter. This was a fun level design challenge. I considered every possible variation for the doors, which to open and which to close, if they should open outward or inward and at what angle.
I ended up with a solution where CTs are able to check the right side first without exposing themselves to an attack from the left. With the big door opened outward to protect from flanking attacks from the outside.
Art direction
The theme for Insertion2 is dull, mundane Swedish suburb. I took inspiration from several places close to where I live, sort of mixing and matching the different pieces to make up a new place. Most of the buildings are very closely modeled after real ones. But simplified and adapted to fit the needs of the map.
I once read that maps with nice weather is simply more liked than others. And I think that is very true. So while I also really like a more moody dusk/night lighting artistically, I decided to go with a day time lighting with as nice weather as possible. Since I still needed the fog for gameplay and performance reasons, it couldn’t exactly be a clear blue sky. So I made an overcast sky where the sun pokes through just a little bit.
However, I still made 3 extra versions of the map with those moody lighting setups. Dusk, Dawn and Night. And here are some pictures from those maps:
One detail that I am particularly proud of is that in the shadow side of buildings etc. there is more snow due to it being colder in the shade. And in places that get more sun there are spring flowers popping up and no snow at all. It just makes sense and I love that kind of stuff.
I'm also very proud of having built a whole fully stocked supermarket for the map. Could just as well been some sort of warehouse but I have been wanting to make a supermarket basically ever since Half-Life 2 came out and I started making maps. It wasn't always the plan for this map to have a supermarket, but I realized mid development that I actually have the skills to pull it off by now
Here is the texture atlas for all the groceries in the Supermarket. There are around 500 individual types of groceries on it. So depending on how you want to count I guess the prop count for the map is closer to a thousand.
