Capri Valley, formerly known as Gridlock and Capri Field, is a Frontline map in Centaura. It is the third map in the Southern Corvus War.
Lore
In 1910, Cetus began to lose ground. While their army was well-equipped, the shortage of manpower became glaringly evident, given that the majority of their military personnel served in the navy. Stranded without naval support on land, the Cetans were compelled to adopt a defensive strategy characterized by trench lines and bunkers. Given their limited manpower, launching offensives was out of the question. By 1910, the war had reached a painful stalemate. The period spanning from late 1910 to 1911 witnessed the most significant casualties and bloodshed of the Southern Corvus War.
Gameplay
| Map of Capri Valley | |
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Spawning on the exact opposite sides of the map, both Cetan and Corvun forces are tasked with capturing all trenches from the enemy team, from one team's spawn all the way to the other team's spawn. Capturing a trench to allow friendly spawning will not work unless ALL enemy players have been cleared out from said trench. One player cannot capture a trench alone, there must be two or more players in the trench in order to contest the trench. If a trench is contested, neither team will be able to spawn there. Artillery bombardments are very frequent on this map, occurring roughly every two minutes.
Artillery on this map functions as a creeping barrage. The artillery will target the No Man's Land between the winning and losing team's frontline trenches, and slowly creep towards the winning team's trench, stopping at the very front of the trench. This bombardment is useful for launching attacks, especially if on the losing team.
If Trench C is being contested, artillery will creep towards the current frontline trench of the team that last occupied it. (For example: If Corvus last occupied Trench C, artillery will creep towards Trench B.) Otherwise, artillery will always creep towards the winning team when a trench is contested.
Trench systems were built as they were proven to be the best defenses that could be cheaply set up. These trenches doubled as anti-vehicle ditches, being dug wide - it also gave troops more space as opposed to the cramped trench designs of the early-war period. However, the wider trenches made them more vulnerable to artillery shells landing inside them, so jagged trench line patterns were used to mitigate those risks. Trench A and E are connected to Trench B and D respectively via communication trenches, while Trench C is located in the middle of the map and is not connected to any trench.
The flamethrower saw more use during this period as they were extremely efficient at clearing out trenches and other fortifications. Most casualties of the Southern Corvus War occurred from late 1910 to 1911 in the trench phases.
Gallery
| Battle of Capri Valley | |
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 Corvus Spawn in Trenches.  Cetus Spawn Trenches.  Trench A Spawn.  Trench B Spawn.  1/3 of Trench C spawns (Note the craters in the center of the trenches).  Trench D spawn.  Trench E spawn.
 Back area of Trench A.  View of the Corvun machine gunner peering into No Man's Land.  Top-down view of Trench A.  Close up of a Corvus pillbox gunner.  Cetan Motar crew in a crater close to Trench A.  Ground view of Trench A.  View of trench line connecting Trench A to B from Trench A.
 Back area of Trench B.  Corvun Soldiers inside the trench line connecting trench A to B.  Sky view of Trench B.  Trench B after being bombarded.  Artillery Bombardment of field infront of Trench B.  Cetan Soldiers holding position near Trench B.  Ground view of Trench B.
 Area infront of Trench C.  Top-Down view of Trench C.  Cetan Soldier firing a Motar infront of Trench C.  Ground View of Trench C.  View from Trench C facing Trench B.  View from Trench C facing Trench D.
 Top-down of Trench D.png  Field infront of Trench D close Trench C.png  Ground View of Trench D.
 Back area of Trench E.  View of the Cetan machine gunner peering into No Man's Land.  Top-down of Trench E.  Close up of the Trench E Cetan machinegun pillbox.  Front Area of Trench E.  Ground view of Trench E.  View of trench line connecting Trench E to D from Trench E. Screenshots Captured Ingame
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Strategy
- If you are in no man's land and artillery starts raining down, either retreat back to your trench or (if you're close enough), get to the enemy trench. This does not guarantee that you won't die, as Artillery is unpredictable.
- If you're a flame trooper late in the round, you really have to think about your strategy before exiting your trench as once you are spotted on the field, every gun will be aiming right at you.
- Cover is your best friend; do not just stay up.
- Spread out, as mortars will aim for places with the most people.
- You can use the artillery smoke as cover, but it may pose a huge risk as artillery may strike the same place again.
- Man your trenches, as usually there are little to no troops in the trenches because everyone is in no man's land. This results in most cases, a single enemy trooper entering a trench and capturing it because there are no troops in that trench to guard it.
- While an Artillery bombardment is ongoing and is creeping towards your trench, stay back as artillery will shell the front of the trench.
- Snipers are a huge nuisance when traversing no man's land, so keep your head on a swivel and maintain awareness.
- Usually, there are snipers guarding the left and right flanks. Therefore, wait for the artillery to bombard and then charge in a large group when the smoke is still dissipating.
- Mind the flanks! Enemies can sneak through the flanks without you realizing.
Trivia
- Capri Valley was the first and only map of the game when it was under the name “GRIDLOCK”. However, after decisions to overhaul the game and change it to “CENTAURA”, the map’s name was changed, and multiple changes were made to the map itself, too, including better artillery patterns (creeping barrage), addition of flamethrowers, officers, an operational map with lore, and more.
- An Airship can be seen at the background by looking at the sky over the Corvun side of the map.
- It's possible that this airship provides Corvun artillery with coordinates of the battlefield for artillery strikes, thus it might explain why the artillery barrages always seem to target areas where combat is actively happening.
- Capri Valley used to take place in 1911. However, with the addition of Kelson Village that takes place in 1911, Capri Valley's year was changed to 1910.
- Capri Valley has undergone three remastered iterations, each one mostly affecting the portrayal of the trenches and environmental changes to enhance realism.
- When ClassicMasterNoob first developed Centaura, the atmosphere of Blackton, Coastal Battery Q and Capri Valley was inspired by survival zombie game Those Who Remain by Peak Development Studios, most notably maps like Prison and Ranch.
- The Cetan machine gunner still uses the old helmet design when the game was still called "GRIDLOCK”.
- A match on Capri Valley can last very long, usually around 30-45 minutes. Some matches can go even longer than that.
- Because of the infinite spawns and no limit to the time of Capri Valley, it may get overhauled in order to prevent it from lasting so long that servers could last hours if not days of just this map and to make it easier for players to get the Cetan Theater Veteran badge.