A late look at pass_pinewood

I have had a hell of a time finding a decent game of PASS Time recently. There’s currently a bug that allows a single player to crash a Pass Time server, and Valve’s tardiness at fixing this bug is causing the playerbase for this game mode to wither and die. The few times I’ve succeeded, the map either changed immediately to pass_warehouse or somehow was already on pass_warehouse despite what the server browser would have you believe.

Come on, do players just not like pinewood or something?
Come on, do players just not like pinewood or something?

It is genuinely possible that people just can’t wrap their head around pinewood, because it’s a more advanced map for sure. It takes some effort to navigate, unlike Warehouse which is relatively arena-like and practically funnels you in one of two directions. There are also a lot fewer jump pads and speed boost spawns, but the few that remain are very tactfully placed. The rainy alpine theme also leaves patches of shallow water for accurate players who want to negate fall damage after being boosted.

spawn tele
Might be a bug, but there’s a tiny spot in spawn where you can place a teleporter.

The scoring system had been advanced somewhat. Now there are three different locations where either team can score, but each one can only be scored on once. This lessens the effects of sentry goalies because the spot needed to defend is ever-changing.

The water tower in particular is a fun challenge to score in. Also notice it makes a great sniper perch.
The water tower in particular is a fun challenge to score in. Also notice it makes a great sniper perch.

My main complaint is that nothing has been done to lessen the fact that Scouts and Engineers are the hands-down kings of this game mode. Somehow it’s even worse here than on Warehouse. I saw a few Demoknights and Pyros on pinewood but no other class dared show its face for the (admittedly only a few) rounds I played. With the map organically nerfing Engineer, Scouts are ever-present and something really needs to be done. Problem is, I don’t have any ideas on what that could be.

It's very easy to rack up huge killing sprees as scout while also scoring and snipe-stealing the jack with Wrap Assassin baubles.
It’s very easy to rack up huge killing sprees as scout while also scoring and snipe-stealing the jack with baseballs. No reason not to play him.

To be honest, if scout were just banned from PASS Time or limited to one per team, the game mode would be pretty decently balanced. But putting that aside and talking about Pinewood on its own, it’s a damn fun map. I think I prefer it over Warehouse, and the development advances are encouraging because it shows the devs are getting creative and aren’t afraid to try new things.

Only played a bit of Sticky Jumper demo, but you can stand on these bridges in the skybox, which was amazing for ambushes.
Only played a bit of Sticky Jumper demo, but you can stand on these bridges in the skybox, which was amazing for ambushes.

aabicus

I write articles! I also make games, release videos, voice act and lots of other cool things.

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