Octane's Gauntlet:
Released: August 14, 2019 (The Iron Crown Event)
Theme: I designed Octane's Town Takeover to be a Gauntlet, inspired by the Pilot Gauntlet in the opening mission of Titanfall 2, as it ties into Octane's background. As a thrill-seeking daredevil, I wanted to capture that this environment.
Gameplay: The Gauntlet track surrounds a lower, no man's land area and wraps around the area. Ramps with jump-pads are scattered along the track for some aggressive pushes and quick escapes. As the giant ring of fire was the initial inspiration for this area, I wanted that to be the center of attention. This was further emphasized by placing a high-tier loot item in the ring of fire.
The main design was having players fight across the middle from opposite sides of the Gauntlet and use the Jump-Pads to make aggressive pushes and flanks to each other. This design worked really well for our Solos limited time mode that shipped with this map update. The flow worked well for squads/players to feel as if they had their own section of the area to loot before being engaged. The openness of the area allowed easy to read fights and predictable player movement, while the jumppads threw in a little spice to the formula, creating a unique gameplay experience for players while in this area.
Each vantage point (the 2 buildings and Winner's Podium) were meant to be main drop areas for players to land at. From there, they could rotate around the track to get out of sticky situations or continue looting. From the 2 buildings, players could quickly loot the interiors then rush to the Giant Ramps and jump across to the other building via jump pads, going through the ring of fire.
The ring of fire had really good loot in it, encouraging players to rush there to get whatever high-tier loot was available.
Below are some final and blockout images from Octane's Town Takeover: