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"Its like a D-Day map, except modern, and ******* terrifying." -Playtester
De_Cover was my first map (worthy of being) released. Inspired by three buildings I momentarily saw as I whizzed by on a train, I figured the layout to be a fantastic foundation for an open, 'set-piece' battlefield.
De_Cover is a simple map to play. In its basic form, the map is just four buildings surrounding a battlefield with a bombsite in the middle. The gameplay dynamics are what set it apart: players are given spawn-specific roles through placement and pre-planned weapons. As such, players might spawn as snipers, counter snipers, in a ground assault team, as building skirmishers, window machinegunners, etc. I have laid out the design details in the following sections.
| Page 1 |
| Download & Install |
| Map Overview |
| Gameplay |
| Spawn Points |
| Page 2 |
| Modular Construction |
| Bots and NavMesh |
| Dev History |
| Page 3 |
| Optimization and Performance |
| Future Releases |
| Final Word |
The basic concept of Cover is part sniperwar, part Omaha Beach-like attack and defend. Set in the game of Counter-Strike, the Terrorist team are the attackers, and the Counter-Terrorist team are the defenders. The map comprises the four sides of a square around a middle battleground: three sides are nearly identical 6-Storey buildings, and the fourth side is a makeshift Fort. The CTs own the buildings, and the Ts own the Fort. The middle battleground contains the bombsite and abundant Cover.
The Ts must push forward towards the bombsite using cover, smoke grenades, counter-sniper fire and teamwork, as they are bombarded by sniper and machinegun fire from hundreds of windows, as well as a CT ground assault team.
With a fully edited CSBot navmesh and support for up to 64 players, De_Cover is the site of a single, specific, detailed battleground that offers multiple gameplay experiences in one chaotic combat scenario.
The objective for the Terrorists is to plant the bomb, and the CTs want to prevent this. This can be done with a T rush, especially when smoke grenades are used for cover. The distance to the bombsite is only about 50 feet from the T spawn.
Should the Ts manage to plant the bomb, the CTs are put in a rather compromising position. The wide-openness of the middle area turns T vulnerability into CT vulnerability once the bomb is planted, as they must now defuse it.
Although the Spawns are explained in detail in the next section, simply put, the majority of Ts spawn in the Fort with mostly rifles, and the majority of the CTs spawn in the buildings with machineguns and snipers. There are a few additional spawns that furthur 'mix up' the formula, such as a few T counter-snipers in the buildings, some T building skirmishers spawning on the rooftops, and two teams of CTs who spawn on the ground, hidden behind the buildings, to engage in the ground battle.
When these are all mixed together, it creates a huge, epic battlezone.
As it all comes together, a fantastic effect is created. Given the vast amount of sniping options - over 150 windows alone, along with 24 total, seperate sniper spawns - and the near assurance that a sniper's field of view will be hampered by at least one piece of cover, the end result is a feeling of anarchy that one would normally not expect from a game environment. De_Cover offers much more 'realistic' sniping than is usually found in games. A sniper may be forced to shoot through branches or leaves, or relocate because he can't get a good enough shot at the fort, or even have the spotlight blinding him.
When pitted against a smart Terrorist team, CT window snipers and machinegunners may have their positions called out over the microphones. This can become quite obvious, as a sudden barrage of bullets pepper's the player's windows. When caught in such a scenario, most players decide to relocate, much like a true sniper would. And given so many options, the players get a huge sense of freedom.
In the final version of Cover, I added in the sniper-perch on top of the Fort to really balance out the sniper war. This perch offers few but extremely tight-angled views, letting the T snipers provide great cover, especially if given the locations of enemy snipers. But, on the other hand, enemy snipers focused on these small openings are almost assured a headshot should they see any movement.
The few T counter-snipers in the buildings also create an anarchic environment for the CTs, as the CT snipers never know exactly where they may be shot from - just like the Ts.
As mentioned before, the weapons are given per spawn location, and there are no buyzones. There is basic equipment that everyone gets: every player receives full armor, a knife, and a Deagle pistol with full ammo. While they also get the main weapon that comes with their spawn location, the Deagle backup ensures that even the Scout snipers have significant Close-Quarters Battle (CQB) potential. As such, even the Terrorist building skirmishers need to be wary of their supposedly weak sniper prey.
I also made sure that no one spawned within sight of the enemy. I always despised this in the lower-grade (or at least early version) AWP/sniper maps. This ensures that everyone gets at least a few seconds of calm before the storm.
To the right is an image that shows some of the building spawn points for the left building. Note that the majority of the building spawn points are for the CTs. Numbers: 10/32 Cts spawn in the buildings with Para's (100-round magazine machineguns) on mostly the upper floors; 12/32 Cts spawn throughout the buildings with Scout Snipers; 6/32 Ts spawn on the roofs with Galils (large 35-round magazine Rifles) as building skirmishers; and 4/32 Ts spawn in the two outside buildings with Scout snipers for counter-sniping.
To the left is an image that shows the spawn points of majority of the T team, in the Fort, and down to the right is an image of the CT Ground Assault Team. These CTs spawn in two groups of 5 (10/32 total spawns), between and behind the buildings, to conduct the ground assault on the Ts trying to plant the bomb. In the fort there are a total of 22/32 Terrorist spawns: 10 spawns with Rifles (Galils or AKs), 4 spawns with machineguns, 6 spawns with Scout Snipers, and 2 spawns with Autosnipers. 
The Fort has was built to offer rather good cover on the bottom floor, including a very dark middle area. The Fort also has an upper Sniper's Nest with fantastic sniping ports.
There may be a lot of spawns to consider if you want to look into the specifics of Cover's design. But frankly, it is rare for this map to be played with full 32 vs 32 teams. The most it has been playtested at is 20 vs 20 (all bots and also all real people). Despite the lack of full teams, the roles are generally all still fulfilled, and a large degree of randomness and uncertainty is given to both the spawning locations and the exact enemy locations.
Next Page: Modular Construction,
Bots & NavMesh, and Dev History