Trading Post

Luigi Thirty

L2: Junior Member
Jul 31, 2008
65
19
Trade Post

This is the Trading Post, a museum-style trading map.

It was originally created for my trading server, but since people who have played it have said that it's better and less messy than the other trading maps they've seen, I'm releasing it publicly too. This public version has the server-specific advertisements removed.

This map no longer requires the use of a plugin that restricts everyone to the same team, strips weapons, or otherwise punishes players for killing each other. Simply disable autobalance (mp_autoteambalance 0) to let everyone join the blue team.
 
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Luigi Thirty

L2: Junior Member
Jul 31, 2008
65
19
I noticed a few minor problems that I didn't catch before release (items sticking out of the display cases, you can get stuck in a few spots) so I'm pushing out an a10 release later today.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
The curved walls are a great touch. I am glad you added them.

The class display cases would look better (I think) if they had a separate background than just the wall -- usually trophy cases are a closed box, not an open box, if that makes sense.

I'd second whoever said to get an actual tile texture instead of using the dev textures, too.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
It was inevitable... and i called it.

It might be beneficial to seperate the teams to prevent griefing but then that'd probably half the efficiency of trading.

In which case you probably don't need to mirror the map so that RED and BLU both have a "market", but just have one large one where people can congrugate. TF2 servers can only reasonably hold 24-32 players, so you want them to stick together as that's a lot less people than a forum.

edit: It might also be beneficial to have "got" and "need" booths, possibly opposite each other so these people can meet naturally. That way people walking into the "market" can see if anyone has something or is giving something of interest ,without people needing to spam the talk/voice chat with questions.
 
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Feb 14, 2008
1,051
931
It's pretty functional for what you'd normally expect to be an achievement_idle style map. I think it could be refined a bit though. One of the key aspects of such a map, I'd say was the ability to examine hats in 3d. So you could label the hats, weapons, etc. on pedestals. It's not currently the most visually attractive thing ever.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
In which case you probably don't need to mirror the map so that RED and BLU both have a "market", but just have one large one where people can congrugate. TF2 servers can only reasonably hold 24-32 players, so you want them to stick together as that's a lot less people than a forum.
It's not mirrored. Hats and weapons are red and blue, or blue and red or something. I dunno.
 

Luigi Thirty

L2: Junior Member
Jul 31, 2008
65
19
edit: It might also be beneficial to have "got" and "need" booths, possibly opposite each other so these people can meet naturally. That way people walking into the "market" can see if anyone has something or is giving something of interest ,without people needing to spam the talk/voice chat with questions.

Tried that in an earlier version, nobody used them.

It might be beneficial to seperate the teams to prevent griefing but then that'd probably half the efficiency of trading.

That's why I said in the description that it needs a plugin that either restricts teams or stops people from griefing each other. I've submitted such a plugin to the Sourcemod forum but it hasn't been approved yet.

It's not mirrored. Hats and weapons are red and blue, or blue and red or something. I dunno.

Weapons are red (they kill people), hats are blue (they don't).
 
Aug 10, 2009
1,240
399
This is the layout I suggest:
ex.png

The thick red and blue lines indicate spawns, the two black lines going down the middle mark a showcase made of glass, where each item sits with a name tag and sorted by class. The grey area is an upper level for additional space, and the black arrows on grey represent a ramp going up to the higher level.

Why this layout? I felt like the one you chose is nice aesthetically, but it seems a bit big and over complicated for trading. This allows a player to easily see what another is talking about through the glass case in the middle, with minimal walking distance. Hell, you could even add lights that light up when player wants to trade (shoot something to activate like walkway).
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Weapons are red (they kill people), hats are blue (they don't).

Players arn't gonna understand that though. RED and BLU are affiliated with the teams. You're better off using neutral, which not only emphasises the nuetral ground of trading vs gameplay, but it's not exactly like you are lacking access to any nuetral content. There's plenty.
 

Attsy

L3: Member
Jan 31, 2010
110
29
I've been connecting to this map frequently and I have to say:
A) The sections for the classes are pretty useless. Noone is going to stand there when they can spam the chat.
B) I love the idea, its a very quick and easy way to get what I need/unload my unwanted items
C) I wish more people would use it. I hate how several of my favorite servers have a large number of players posting their trades every single time they respawn. Its kinda distracting.
D) I think there should be something to pass time. Most of the time your offer will get no bites and you just have to wait for people to disconnect/connect.

Overall, great idea, fantastic server you have, some useless features.
 

Luigi Thirty

L2: Junior Member
Jul 31, 2008
65
19
I've been connecting to this map frequently and I have to say:
A) The sections for the classes are pretty useless. Noone is going to stand there when they can spam the chat.

I noticed this and now it seems that they're more for atmosphere and immersion and to show off the hats/weapons. I don't want to completely change the layout since people tell me it looks great.

D) I think there should be something to pass time. Most of the time your offer will get no bites and you just have to wait for people to disconnect/connect.

This is what I'm working on now. I added a shooting range since that was a popular request and I'm planning to add some other diversions to pass the time.
 
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Luigi Thirty

L2: Junior Member
Jul 31, 2008
65
19
Updated to a13. You no longer need any plugins to make the map work properly! The only configuration you have to do is disable autobalance.
 
Mar 23, 2010
1,872
1,696
this is the only trading map i'll join. mildly entertaining unlike plaza and the god awful stockmarket.