billiards_b5

Big Lou

L3: Member
Mar 17, 2008
120
27
billiards_b5

Billiards Beta 5

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This is the fifth public beta of Billiards, the new sports map for Team Fortress 2! It's a new twist on team ball-oriented game play. This is an actual game of billiards. Each team must shoot, hit, or blast their color's balls into the pockets before the other team does the same. Don't fall into the pockets! Also, be cautious of the 8-ball... it looks a bit menacing...

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NEW In Beta 5!
Change Log:

- Sniper rifle now actually removed for good.
- Graphical alterations of the glass in the light fixture. Now looks better.
- Dynamic visual scoring system. A chalkboard shows the score live.
- Added observational camera pointing at the scoring chalkboard.
- Skybox changed to daytime.
- Text alert when 8-Ball is respawned in the middle.


*Beta 4 was for internal testing only. No public release has been made available.


Beta 3 Change Log:

- Sudden death kills scoring entities to avoid a team win during sudden death.
- Spawn rooms entities have been added to allow for instant class switching.
- Spawn room glass separation fixed to prevent pipe bombs from passing under.
- Missing texture on beer poster has been added.
- Glass floor of spawn room is destroyed for the losing team at the end of each round.
- Textures of light fixture are self illuminated and lights have been added inside.
- Glass texture of spawn room floors now visible from table top.
- Light props inside light fixture have been changed.
- Observational cameras have been added for team spectate and death. (Including a view of the ball scoring room)


Beta 2 Change Log:

- 3D Skybox added (A game room in a house).
- Billiard balls are now heavier and are easier to direct.
- Custom textures added now make the entire map prettier.
- Spawn rooms added above the map (Inside the billiard light fixture).
- Health packs added behind all pockets.
- Ammo boxes added throughout the table surface.
- Spawn times raised to 3 seconds.
- Written instructions added at beginning of rounds.
- Win cap added so map doesn't go on forever (10 wins max).

Future Changes:

- Replace light fixture with custom prop model to speed up the map. (Thanks to Fade)
- Close gaps found in border of table.

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I would like to thank a few people for without whom this map would never happen.

Thanks to Hsnopi for helping me turn this into a generic CP map into an actual billiard game!
Thanks to Fishy for help with troubleshooting PakRat!
Thanks to Bud Doug Lee for getting me in the right direction for the scoring mechanism!
Thanks to Milky for helping me get started in mapping!
Thanks to EVERYONE who has helped test, give suggestions, and critique the map from
TeamFortress2Fort.com and elsewhere!
 

R3dRuM

L6: Sharp Member
Feb 13, 2008
303
19
Well... Now that you got rid of the sniper rifle, it just became a boring map. That was my fun and you ruined it. Oh well :(
 

Big Lou

L3: Member
Mar 17, 2008
120
27
Your fun? The people who turned it into a snipe-fest ruined the fun for everybody. The sniper rifle was the number one complaint of previous versions. In fact, many people would regularly quit simply because of the sniper.

By removing the rifle, I've greatly balanced the gameplay and made it much more enjoyable. This isn't a map to pad stats.
 

drp

aa
Oct 25, 2007
2,273
2,628
i think the removal of the sniper class helps the map. now you can focus on objectives instead of having snipers vs snipers. good job :)
 

flam5

L1: Registered
Mar 29, 2008
31
0
it'd be great if you could just remove the scope for snipers!

Anyways, on the server I played in I noticed that if jetpacks are on, the opposite team can fly into the other area's spawn. May want to put a respawn room visualizer/blocker (whatever it is called) there even if it doesn't have the "no entry" overlay.
 

flam5

L1: Registered
Mar 29, 2008
31
0
haha, yea, the server I'm a regular at pretty much was/is a Natural Selection community, among many other games.

f2.necrophix.com:27015 is the server address. The jetpacks aren't always on, just when the night is coming to a close or the server isn't really playing a serious match and a mod is around to turn them on.
 
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Paria

L5: Dapper Member
Dec 12, 2007
202
31
i didnt actually think the snipers posed that much of a problem apart from the ones that were too scared to even drop out of the spawn :) - the main problem i saw in game day is that the map and gameplay are so suited to a scout it almost makes picking anything else worthless.

I dont really know how you could overcome that though with a totally open large flat area,
 

trainRiderJ

L5: Dapper Member
Mar 14, 2008
203
31
i didnt actually think the snipers posed that much of a problem apart from the ones that were too scared to even drop out of the spawn :) - the main problem i saw in game day is that the map and gameplay are so suited to a scout it almost makes picking anything else worthless.

I dont really know how you could overcome that though with a totally open large flat area,

The sniper's SMG is arguably the best weapon for guiding the balls. It's powerful enough to move the balls with ease, and at the same time it's accurate enough that you can precisely nudge a ball into a pocket from across the map.
 

Big Lou

L3: Member
Mar 17, 2008
120
27
I have to agree. Plus it has quite a bit of ammo per clip so you can successfully guide a few balls into pockets without reload.
 

flam5

L1: Registered
Mar 29, 2008
31
0
I disagree (and agree with Paria). I think the Scout is best suited because you get speed, power to move the balls quickly with the scatter gun and for precision to move the balls, the handgun is great.

Love playing the map, though!