2 Flags per side in CTF

Chaopsychochick

L4: Comfortable Member
Jun 16, 2009
189
91
So, now that the contest is winding down I am starting to look forward for what to do for my next project, and I think that I want to do a regular CTF to be able to do something that is much smaller and simpler.

However, I have a big personal issue with many of the existing ctf maps in that with some good sentry placement, the maps tend to just become swirling maelstroms of suck! It just turns into a grindfest with very little for the actual objective being accomplished. What I think is the main cause of this is the fact that since the flag is fairly deep into the base on a very linear path, so there are plenty of sentry spots and places that need to be broken through in order to get the flag. So, it tends to go as a back and forth until someone breaks through, and until that happens it tends to be less than fun (At least for me).

So my thought on this to break it up was to within the base have two flags on opposite sides from each other. When one of the flags is picked up, the other one disappears until the first one is returned.

Now, my biggest issue with this is the fact that having 2 flags per side doesn't really work on the HUD, given that there is only one arrow. I want to make this sort of game type, but I am wondering what the best means to implement this would be. My current thoughts are:

2 Flags: Like I mentioned above, just stick with the two flags idea, have two flags and one capture area per side. I don't know how feasible it would be, but it might be possible to put in a community request to valve for the ctf hud to be able to support multiple flags.

1 Flag, 2 CPs: Basically, another idea I had was have one flag at one of the two possible pick up points, and at each of them have a CP. The CP is captured within one second, and as soon as it is capture the intelligence is moved from one location to the other. That way the offensive team can effective request the flag and then run with it. The problem I see with this is that it is something very non-standard for a ctf, and I imagine people would not entirely understand what to do before playing several times.

Moving Flag: My third and last idea is to have the flag be moving between the two points, like on a cart or something. My main issue with this is the fact that it gives the defense the single target to set up defense on. In my personal view it sort of defeats a good bit of the point of having 2 flags, though I still think it is better than the single stationary flag. (Though I guess it would be alright if I had it moving fairly quickly, as it would be hard to constantly run with it to defend it)

So, I am curious what peoples thoughts and comments are on this? Would this be feasible? Are there any methods to implement this that I am missing? And what method should I use for this?
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
aa
Sep 8, 2008
1,264
816
If both flags are a base i dont see any issue on the default hud showing just 1 flag. It will show its at home. if one is taken however make the hud show that flag and as the other one is hidden the hud wont have to bother about that one. So you still track 1 flag. It might swap the flag location but thats at least not as confusing as some sort of CP system as workarround.

But i dont realy think it will fix the CTF gamemode. Simply because ctf allways is a bit stalematish (A/D excluded ofc). if its not then the map is the couse and generaly too easy especialy with unbalanced teams. It wont be fun for the losing team then as they will then be unable to defend it at all. However, 2fort is one of the examples of bad flag placement. Its just too deep in the base forcing 4+ lines of defence to be broken. In turbine its more like 2. A CTF map should be quite basic and small or will never work. Using 2 flags does improve it a bit but without a fully working hud i dont see any improvement.
 

Mr.M

L1: Registered
Sep 1, 2009
22
0
I like the idea of a moving flag, but I interpreted the name very differently than you.

It could work like gold rush but backwards. The team can have their flag on a cart and move it father and farther backwards into their base, changing their tactics and strategies. Just like gold rush, the cart would begin to run reverse after a certain amount of time.(I'd say a small time before the cart begins to move towards the enemy would make things interesting). Maybe there could be different tracks teams could choose to move the flag along.

Aw man this fits the theme of my map perfectly, I'm just not good enough to know how to make it actually work :( .
 
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