MVM Map Concept Drive

[Katsu! :3]

Hi. I love Mann vs. Machine, and I'm sure some people here do too. I think it'd be cool if we all came up with some ideas on some new MVM maps. Anyone is free to come up with ideas (even new gamemodes if you really think it'll fit the concept of MVM and PVE in general); There ain't really no deadline to this so like, go wild n' shit. Even if you don't like MVM, you're welcome to come up with ideas. Literally zero limits on what you can come up with as long as it's MVM.

 

[Katsu! :3]

Gamemode: Engineer Fortress
Something that I think would be interesting would be a retooling of already-existing gamemodes, like Payload or Attack / Defense. One thing I think current MVM doesn't really do is have a more attacking-oriented, objective playstyle to it. It's something that I think turns people away from the mode more than it should, so I think a fun way to introduce that to MVM would be to have linear Engineer Fortress maps that kinda fulfill that role.

Think of it like multistage maps, where players run through one particular part of the map on a timer (like some reverse missions do from Potato) and then have a new area to explore. The goal would probably be Control Points or something, since I think the slower pace of Payload would make the mode generally just not as exciting as moving at your own pace would allow. I think too that there'd be a unique challenge in trying to kill the engineers as fast as possible, since most classes can sentry bust on their own but against a whole army is a different story.

 

[Katsu! :3]

Map: MVM Webhook
Something I think is in a bit of a blind spot in terms of pure mapping is that there's not really anything that goes into the actual digital world that robots being an opponent would imply? Like yeah there's mission names and whatnot that play off computing but that in my opinion really only scratches the surface. I kind of want something deeper than that, something that really feels like it'd only make sense in Mann vs. Machine while not really being tied down to that 1960s/1970s vibe that regular TF2 wants to go for.

Enter this god-forsaken movie. I really, really like the energy that Ralph Breaks the Internet had in terms of its environmental design; There's just so much going on but it doesn't really overstimulate me because it's set across a backing of generally monotone colours, and unironically I think that would be a perfect new environment for MVM to travel to. (Minus the annoying brand deals and stuff) Imagine getting shot out from the busy underbelly of the city only to see the peaks of neon-esque skyscrapers will billboards all around, that'd be so cool! Or- or like Mute City from Mario Kart 8. Something incredibly futuristic would be a really cool and standout addition to the current lineup of maps I see in MVM.

Like come on you cannot tell me something like this would be uncool.

 

[The Rat MMan]

Oh this is a fun little thread
Map: MVM Beach Brawl
The idea here is that the mercs are fighting near and around a torn up boardwalk beach with various closed down locales and a few buildings in place. The mercs will have to gun down incoming robots that coming from a special sea based rig that's spawning the bots. Bots would have some seaweed and debris on them as they arise from the oceanic depths! From which you will have to defend and avoid having this small city crumble! The map would otherwise have the look of some elements of at the time Miami Beach (possibly with more pizazz and in a dusk or nighttime setting!!!)

 

[The Rat MMan]

Map: MVM Tierdrops
You're taking it sky-high in this fight! The bots are being deployed up above a large set of skyscrapers set above the clouds! As they are being deployed from above by a flying carrier. Mercs will have to defend the final Mann-co owned skyscraper from being bombed into kingdom come! From how this map can be laid out! There will be catwalks and hazards across these tall buildings that you and/or the bots may find and advantage on! (The only visual I can serve here is the final level from twisted metal black!)

 

[Fillmore]

I'm going to throw my own hat in the ring for this thread.

When thinking on how to do a layout for MvM maps, a lot of times you can use valve maps or existing community maps for some reference material on how to build your layouts best. MvM plays like A/D CTF with one team being full of bots, so the most unique thing you'd have to account for is having pathways big enough for Giant Robots and Tanks to move through without causing any major issues.

Gatebots are their own thing but from Mannhattan and its Gatebot-ilk, they play as a side dish to the main course that is the regular MvM gameplay: Augment the existing mode with a bit of extra.

Other than those two, it's a pretty free ballgame. And since Vscript now exists, I even dare to say that there's a lot more room to do something special compared to the times when Teien parenting Sentry Guns to a Tank or Calico adding Vaccinator effects to Tanks were seen as groundbreaking technical achievements.
You don't even have to do something groundbreaking or shoot for the moon, really. Just think of a good concept for a map and run with it until your legs give out. There's Ratman throwing a few ideas as well but I guess I could throw in a couple to make this less of a ramble:

• MvM map on a setting not yet explored for the mode: See Casino City doing mid-game gambling. Swap the bomb to a Payload and let RED push back the bomb as well (think the last stage on Cactus Canyon / Banana Bay)
• Introduce level-specific mechanics: Dockyard and Sequoia using Tanks as Gatebots, Scallops with its powerups to help you play around the mostly vertical map. Hell, even those Guardian maps from years(?) ago and how they tried to cater to the 2man gameplay.
• Maps with multiple fronts: This one is arguably tricky to do and only ones I can name that have tried are Damm and Helix
• Have the Bomb perform something extra: When the Bomb reaches a certain point or the hatch, have the layout change to mix things up for the defending RED Team (or have extra spawns open when the bomb reaches a certain point?)
• Use Gatebots as the main players instead: This gets more theoretical but the hatch is like a reactor and the Gatebots have to reach the end of the map to capture it. Bots cap reactor, kaboom.

 

[nesman]

Interesting ideas in this thread. Has anyone tried a payload MvM before? Either the bots are pushing the cart or Red is pushing the cart to destroy the robots base. I guess you could attribute stop that tank to being similar.

 

[Katsu! :3]

Interesting ideas in this thread. Has anyone tried a payload MvM before? Either the bots are pushing the cart or Red is pushing the cart to destroy the robots base. I guess you could attribute stop that tank to being similar.

Oo, I do have good news for you actually. This is Canyonpush, an MVM map where the bots push a payload cart rather(?) than bringing a bomb to the end of the map. https://tf2maps.net/downloads/canyonpush.4213/
It was from Mappers vs. Machines, and imo was one of the more technically impressive maps of the whole thing. It hasn't really gotten any attention after it tho cause it never got finished
I suppose if you counted it, some of the missions from rewired rampage has the bots (aka the players in this scenario) pushing a bomb to the end of the map, so it's a bit of a spiritual successor in that way. It's a neat concept.

 

[Yaki]

I've had a fascination with a Gargoyles & Gravel / DnD-style MvM. Players would fight skeletons and various fantasy/mythical monsters in a stage-based campaign. For developers, there is a lot of creative freedom, but would be very content heavy (i.e. You'd need to build a world, items, monsters, scripts, coding, etc).

The biggest difficulty is it might not very replayable since the content is baked into the map, so getting other creative eyes set on making their own campaign would be (technically) difficult. (You'd probably can only go as far as something like Mutations for L4D, I'd assume?)

I tried with my own map before VScript, mvm_berserker. People have tried to make content for it, but I haven't asked why it never fruited anything. I assume it was too complicated (due to multiple spawnpoints for bots for different rooms, various Hammer-logic spaghetti...) or simply buggy.

Overall, this would be a big technical undertaking to make it replayable, requiring a lot of time, planning, and dedication.

 

[Fillmore]

Interesting ideas in this thread. Has anyone tried a payload MvM before? Either the bots are pushing the cart or Red is pushing the cart to destroy the robots base. I guess you could attribute stop that tank to being similar.

It's been tried by Canyonpusn and Commune respectively, Canyonpush making RED push the cart and Commune having bots push it.
The other issue that Canyonpush brought out alongside some technical difficulties was that MvM's repetition gets a lot more noticeable when you're the one doing the attacking. (Something that Rewired Rampage ran into during its run around the tracks)
The idea is still definitely doable, Encounter would later do it in the best way to date (imo)

So honestly I think letting RED also push the cart back might make the Payload MvM more interesting to play around with.

 

[Katsu! :3]

Map: GD Torchlight
Something weird happened today which made me think about different kinds of light, and you know one light that always has stood out to me since I was a child? The darn vancouver olympic torch (or, well, cauldron. I call it a torch because COME ON IT'S A TORCH). So anywho, I looked it up on google images and I was met with this beautiful reference material:

Now, look, you cannot feasibly tell me this would make for an amazing setpiece for a bombsite or something. In think something like this would be great for a guardian mode finale, and while I do think you'd need to move its physical location to a more gameplay-friendly area of Vancouver, this in it of itself could probably serve as a good half of the map and would be a great new kind of art direction for the game. Maybe it could be like a double-decker MVM map where there's like a parking garage underneath the torch area itself that you can jump down into from the fountain :0