TF2 Environment and Game-mode Categorization

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hutty

aa
Mar 30, 2014
537
444
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A while ago in the SteamGroup chat, we were having a discussion about themes, and it came to light that half of the maps in tf2 are listed as "alpine", and there was a large disagreement on what exactly alpine is.

So I have decided to break down the official tf2 maps and categorize them by theme.

This page is broken down into 2 sections at the moment. Theme definitions, and a list of gamemodes (sorted by how valve manages it's servers) and an analysis of what themes are overused in what areas (payload+desert comes to mind).

Link to data (google sheets)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lC5OGbQiP9gNgyGKKnnO9SN2VbJZDr4ZPYIkXewQs00/edit?usp=sharing

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List of Themes
The themes are breifly described in the document, but I shall restate them with greater detail here.

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Farm

koth_harvest, pl_barnblitz
The farm environment usually contains copious amounts of wood buildings and farm structures. Common motifs include, large slanted roofs, hay, milk jugs, grain-sacks, cows, yellow grass, and other low tech farm tools.
Sometimes combined with Industrial1 or Industrial2.


4QroCvw.png
SpyTech

cp_junction, koth_nucleus, ctf_turbine
The super secret theme of super secret stuff. Most maps have a little bit of spytech in them here and there. Spytech is almost always underground or indoors. Common motifs include round doors, rockets, computers, more computers, big computer screens, maps, desks, tapes, waxed tile floors, decorative gravel with lights in it (why ... idk), and even more computers.
Almost always combined with Industrial3

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SpyTech2

rd_asteroid
The moonbase theme. Its all white walls with moon computers. What do you expect.
(also see Spaceturf for the non spytech parts of rd_asteroid)

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Industrial1

cp_foundry, cp_well, plr_pipeline
Industrial 1 is the basic industrial theme. Common motifs include, trains, shipping containers, large equipment, smokestacks, plenty of bricks and cement, more trains.

9WZ64UU.png
Industrial2

cp_gorge, tc_hydro, cp_process
Industrial 2 is a cleaner version of industrial 1. Typically it includes white tile floors, lab equipment, brighter and cleaner white concrete walls, and rockets. The skyboxes for industrial 2 are usually devoid of smokestacks or pollution. Industrial 2 can also be seen as a dirtier version of spytech. This theme is commonly combined with Alpine 1.

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Industrial3

cp_gravelpit, cp_badlands, pl_badwater
Industrial 3 is a dirtier version of Industrial 1. It usually includes run down concrete or wood buildings. Things are dirty, barren, and seemingly unused.

aCZWXNk.png
Desert 1

cp_dustbowl, cp_gullywash
TF2 has so many kinds of deserts that I had to make it 5 sub themes. This is for dustbowl desert. Dry yellowish rocks sometimes combined with yellow grass. Often includes mining motifs as well as caves and tunnels.

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Desert 2

tc_hydro, cp_powerhouse
This is the cleaner desert that hydro takes place in. The rocks and ground have a redish -purpleish color to them.

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Desert 3

cp_badlands, pl_badwater, cp_fastlane
This is the badlands desert. By far the most popular kind. It includes alot more terrain variation (hills, dunes, hoodoos, spires) as well as having very orangeish ground and rocks. Usually combined with Industrial 3.

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Desert 4

cp_egypt, koth_lakeside
This is the Egyptian desert. It contains way more yellow and almost always has Egyptian styled ruins as main structures.

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Desert 5

pl_upward
Similar to other deserts, except the rocks have a low saturation tan color. And there is usually more gravel.

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Alpine 1

arena_lumberyard, cp_gorge
This is every comp player's favorite environment. It is bright, clear, and has bright yellow-green grass everywhere. Usually includes wood buildings, logging themed stuff, pine trees, a giant fucking mountain, and grey rocks. The other 3 alpine themes are pretty much the same except vegetation color.

iALYaWO.png
Alpine 2

arena_sawmill, pl_thundermountain
A damper version of Alpine 1, the grass and mud are a darker color, and there usually are more water featers and/or a rainy atmosphere and skybox.

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Alpine 3

cp_yukon, pl_frontier
A drier version of Alpine 1, usually has brownish pineneedles all over the ground. Sometimes mixed with desert 5.

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Alpine 4

koth_viaduct, cp_coldfront
A snowy version of Alpine 1. All the grass is covered but there are still pinetrees and a giant snowy mountain.

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Urban 1

koth_kong
It seems that every city map in TF2 has its own theme to it, so there are 4 diffrent urban themes.
Urban 1 is the hongkong-esc. It contains tall buildings, lots of pipes and tiles, hastily translated chinese signs (there is a blue sign on blu side that says "red hotel")

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Urban 2

mvm_mannhatten
This theme is a Manhattan esc city (no shit), it includes skyscrapers and older brick apartment buildings.

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Urban 3

mvm_rottenburg, cp_degrootkeep
The medieval theme, almost always combined with alpine 1, it includes buildings and details that fit in with a traditional Europe style.

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Urban 4

koth_suijin
The classical japan theme. Includes tiled roofs, traditional japanese buildings, pink trees, bullet proof paper walls, the works.

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Spaceturf

rd_asteroid
Includes white/grey rocks with craters and little rocks floating around. Goes very well with Spytech2.

ptmGsye.png
Jungle

pl_borneo
Large deciduous trees with lush flowers and ground plants.

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Data Analysis
So, lets take a look at the current quickplay catigories and figure out what themes should be pursued and avoided.

Attack/Defense
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cp_gorge
iALYaWO.png
4QroCvw.png
cp_mountainlab
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cp_gravelpit
4QroCvw.png
cp_junction
aCZWXNk.png
9WZ64UU.png
cp_dustbowl
bMpxQZF.png
cp_egypt

Attack Defense is actually a terrible first example due to the large variety of themes used.
Themes good for new AD maps Farm, Urban(1/2), and Industrial 2.
Themes to avoid for new AD maps. Spytech, Industrial1, and desert 4.

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BEEP BOOP

So, before I go on further, I need your other opinions on this topic. I'm pretty sure many will dissagree with my theme choices, and I would very much like to hear your opinions.

Are any map's miss themed? (is gravel pit dersert 5? )
Are there any themes missing (does mountainlab have enough swampieness to count as a theme?)
Are there any themes that need to be merged?
Any mistakes (I noticed I had egypt set as a 5cp map in the spreadsheet while setting this up)


Also some parts of the sheet (namely the time of day for some maps) isn't fully set up yet, i'll get to that when I have time to.


Do note the purpose of this sheet is to provide insight on what theme a new map could follow. It is not meant to enforce that as a rule, it is merely a guideline. This also isn't meant to discourage the creation of new themes.

Also note that the theme icons aren't final. If this thread gains traction, i'll make some higher quality ones and then poke the mods so see if they could become forum emotes.


tl:dr :: alpine desert industrial WOO THEEMES
 
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Vel0city

func_fish
aa
Dec 6, 2014
1,947
1,589
"Alpine 1: Yellow-Green grass, pine trees, logs, comp players."

Nice one there.

OT: It bothers me how many maps are in clear weather. We have the effects and the skyboxes to match, why not make things rainy a bit more (besides fps issues to which I say get a graphics config).
 

hutty

aa
Mar 30, 2014
537
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Dreary weather makes people dreary, its pretty simple. I'm actually a little worried that we won't see any new gravel pits or nightfalls with the steam workshop, because they simply wont get upvoted due to looking depressing.
 

Zed

Certified Most Crunk™
aa
Aug 7, 2014
1,241
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I'd say Standin is more Alpine 3 than Alpine 2, given that it uses the same textures as Yukon.

EDIT: Also how is Nightfall "noonish"
 
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tyler

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Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Desert 1 and Desert 5 seem the same to me. The only difference is that Upward is less saturated, which makes it feel abandoned (bleached by sun).
 

hutty

aa
Mar 30, 2014
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@ZeNewDragon Your right, I updated Standin's listing to match.
@tyler Desert 1 has dried grass scattered around, Desert 5 is literally a pile of rocks, while they may be similar, I would still categorize them differently based on color alone.
@Davekillerish i had to read your post 5 times before understanding it due to lack of commas. I'm assuming you meant "barn blitzs, swamp, and ruins of spytech."

pl_barnblitz is on the spread sheet, it's themes are Alpine 4 and Farm
Swamp im on the edge about, cause its only map that uses it is mountain lab, and it barely uses it.
What official map has a ruins of spytech theme (unless your talking about areas with wet spytech equptment, like sawmill's intel, side rooms in mountainlab). I don't think that those areas are really major enough to constitute a new theme.
 

henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,076
513
I'm not sure, but isn't urban 1 normally called soho? I have no idea what it means, but that's what I think it is called.
 

hutty

aa
Mar 30, 2014
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444
The assets for koth_king are listed under props_soho in the files. I'm calling it Urban 1 to group it in with the other urban themes.

(although that leads to the question of whether or not suijin is "urban" enough)
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
I'd argue Suijin is more derivative of the alpine environment than an urban one. There's nothing city-like about it.
 
Jul 6, 2015
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@ZeNewDragon Your right, I updated Standin's listing to match.
@tyler Desert 1 has dried grass scattered around, Desert 5 is literally a pile of rocks, while they may be similar, I would still categorize them differently based on color alone.
@Davekillerish i had to read your post 5 times before understanding it due to lack of commas. I'm assuming you meant "barn blitzs, swamp, and ruins of spytech."

pl_barnblitz is on the spread sheet, it's themes are Alpine 4 and Farm
Swamp im on the edge about, cause its only map that uses it is mountain lab, and it barely uses it.
What official map has a ruins of spytech theme (unless your talking about areas with wet spytech equptment, like sawmill's intel, side rooms in mountainlab). I don't think that those areas are really major enough to constitute a new theme.
I was on mobile when I typed it, and I also didnt render the image until AFTER i posted it. Though, I would argue that even though its not used as often, its still a viabale build theme because there is an entire content back for it.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
I'm not sure, but isn't urban 1 normally called soho? I have no idea what it means, but that's what I think it is called.
Soho is a district in Hong Kong (named after the one in London); if you do a Google image search for it, you'll see that it's very similar to Kong King, with its long staircases and covered, elevated walkways.
 

Jivvi

L1: Registered
Jun 28, 2015
22
31
What official map has a ruins of spytech theme (unless your talking about areas with wet spytech equptment, like sawmill's intel, side rooms in mountainlab). I don't think that those areas are really major enough to constitute a new theme.
Hightower, Lakeside and Nightfall use traces of ruined spytech areas, then like you said there's also a little bit in Sawmill and Mountainlab. It might be prominent enough to mention, but it wouldn't qualify as a defining theme even if you were assigning tertiary or quaternary themes.
 

about drew

L1: Registered
Aug 3, 2015
47
14
I love this thread. Thank you.

I would suggest that instead of numbering the themes, you could use an adjective for people to remember the different themes without having to cross-reference the (awesome) spreadsheet you made (i.e. for the 5 desert types: 1 - Dry Plains Desert, 2 - Red Desert, 3 - Desert Badlands, 4 - Egyptian Desert, 5 - Rocky Desert)
 
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henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,076
513
Or how about "Desert ruins"?
 

MrHatlf

engineer main, majoring in exploiting
Feb 6, 2013
79
40
Dreary weather makes people dreary, its pretty simple. I'm actually a little worried that we won't see any new gravel pits or nightfalls with the steam workshop, because they simply wont get upvoted due to looking depressing.
The thing with those dreary maps is that no one has seemed to go out of those "boundaries" of the whole map being dark. Buildings/interior should have warm lighting which tends to make players stay near those areas. Open/outdoors areas wouldn't have much warm lighting due to it not being a building.

I wonder if it would be possible to use this technique in order to make a less "desirable" path and not spamming signs everywhere.

10000000 hours in GIMP later, I present this crude proof of concept.

sgLDPHP.png


You can choose either Path 1, outdoors gloomy like Sawmill, or Path 2, wooden buildings with warm lighting, to get from Point A to Point B.

With the goal of only walking to Point B, which path would you choose?
 
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