Your Favorite Map?

The Wiggin

L2: Junior Member
Aug 9, 2011
50
2
Hey Guys,

Once again sorry if im posting this in the wrong place, feel free to redirect me. Im currently completing my year 12 research project on Hammer and was wondering what your favorite map was and specifically which sections of that map make it awesome?

Thanks for any help, its greatly appreciated.
 
Mar 23, 2010
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1,696
badlands/badwater. this whole area and mid are just fun and open. i particularly like badwater's opening with the hill and it's last point. both use sightlines extremely well, areas are a lot of fun and every class excels.

both maps are just really good everywhere.
 
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Penguin

Clinically Diagnosed with Small Mapper's Syndrome
aa
May 21, 2009
2,039
1,484
On the gameplay part, maps that i really like are harvest and some community construction themed arena map that i dont recall the name of. Those 2 maps are simple and straightforward and still manages to have a lot of variation into in it

On the aesthetics, i love 2fort, furnacecreek and especially Zigonite.

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark; Hardhat?
 
Jan 20, 2010
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pl_upward is my favorite. I just love the shape of it and how routes weave through the track. It just seems very creatively built and fun to play on.

I also have a soft spot for yukon. I dunno, I just find the whole map a ton of fun to play.
 

Da_Man

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 23, 2009
173
39
Nucleus. The point is interesting, and round arena's aren't typically seen in TF2 because of the massive pain in the ass it is to make them in hammer. And the giant spinny thingy works so well as a generic spinny thing of DOOM in custom maps.
 

Penguin

Clinically Diagnosed with Small Mapper's Syndrome
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May 21, 2009
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Steel, Badwater, Upward.
 

Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
Yukon, gravelpit, granary.

All of these maps have areas that are extremely conducive to great fights. Yukon's mid, each of gpit's points, granary's mid, and occasionally granary's last are all fun.

Each of these areas have open spaces, good amounts of cover, and very original layouts with good height variation. Most importantly, though, the flow on each of these points is perfect. Each route gives enough cover to allow attackers to flank if they see an opening, but the point itself is on high ground, which gives red incentive to fight on it.

If you want to see an example of a bad area, look at fastlane's 2nd point. There isn't enough cover for most of the routes, so players don't even get a chance to fight in the area. Once attackers actually do get through, defenders don't have anywhere to defend from, and they're forced to retreat almost instantly. So the entire thing is just a grind for both teams, with nothing but spam going on until somebody can push forward.
 
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The Wiggin

L2: Junior Member
Aug 9, 2011
50
2
Hey Guys so i was thinking about making a KotH map with alot of the features listed above, i also love the maps and sections listed (obviously i wouldn't overcrowd ect...) but what do u guys think about KotH maps any preferences on layouts shapes ect...?
 

Tarry H Sruman

Large Orphanage Proprietor
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Jul 31, 2011
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1,021
My personal favorite KOTH map is Nucleus. I like the circular layout because it allows for a long series of linear rooms without creating monstrous sightlines and does a good job of keeping all of the action "wrapped around" the point. No matter where you are in Nucleus, you're always pretty close to the point.
 

English Mobster

L6: Sharp Member
Jul 10, 2011
355
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Arena: Well. The map is nice in that it has something for everyone, except perhaps Sniper (although he manages to make do with what little he has). Pyro is another class that this map manages to balance out some; the availability of water makes it so being set on fire isn't so much a case of certain death like it is on other arena maps.

A/D : Steel is a contender due to its sheer uniqueness, but I'm afraid this one goes to Gorge. Dustbowl is another contender, yet every round seems to play out the same due to there being ONE totally awesome location for everything in each "area", so there's ALWAYS something in that one location. Every now and again, somebody on Dustbowl surprises me with a unique Sentry spot or whatnot, but for the most part every round feels the same. What I really like about Dustbowl is that forward base BLU gets on stage 3 right near the last point. It's not a forward spawn, but it's an area that BLU can control easily and launch coordinated attacks from, something not seen in some other maps.
Gorge's appeal is that there is slightly more variance between rounds. While it is true that there are some sections that play out the same, for the most part, there are many "Good" locations for things rather than having one "Awesome" location. This creates some variance from game to game (good considering Gorge is a one-stage map), keeping players on their toes.

CTF: Do I have to? There aren't any good CTF maps due to the nature of the gamemode, only okay ones. 2fort is okay except for the complete dominance of Sentries over the Intel (if the sightline was just a LITTLE bit larger to allow for picking a Sentry off at range, it would be okay), but personally I prefer Turbine. Turbine's issue is that it suffers from tunnel syndrome; it's simply too enclosed and doesn't offer enough vertical movement. If it were more open, it would be a lot better, although unless the Intelligence was also open, the tunnel syndrome would just move there. However, if it were open, it would lose the ability for surprise ninja Scouts that can drop from the ceiling, grab the intel, and run, so to fix that would be to break it in another way.

CP: Coldfront. It's an odd choice (Badlands comes close), but the only thing I don't like about it is how fast the last is to cap. If it were a second or two longer, it would be bearable, but essentially nobody has a chance to really defend it. It doesn't create a lot of white-knuckles moments where you just BARELY stop a cap; once somebody has touched the cap, it's game over. Otherwise, though, the map is solid, has lots of flanks and there are opportunities for every class to function.
Freight is another contender for this crown and actually rectifies the issue I have with Coldfront. However, even though the last points are great and awesome, Mid just... isn't fun. Mid doesn't seem to have a dynamic combat element about it. Every class functions the same at mid, and the water isn't really... useful. If Freight had arena_well instead of its current mid, it would easily take the top spot. But the mid is such a central area for "fun", and for mid to be the least fun on the entire map isn't good, since most of the fighting will be for mid. Coldfront's indefensible final cap is only a minor fighting area that, while important, isn't fought for NEARLY as much as mid. While I understand the reasoning behind the quickness of the cap times and the fact that Badlands is the same, I don't agree with it and think that turtling can be dealt with in other ways, or that the final CP can be handled like an A/D map, which Freight does nicely, IMO.

KOTH: Nucleus. The reasons for this are many and said already.

PL: Like so many, Badwater. Badwater has a great opening in that it gives RED a lot of high ground at the very beginning, but are forced to rely upon and defend teleporters if they want to keep it due to the distance from their spawn. Badwater is also great because of the lulls between frenzied bouts of combat. Many maps make the cart the center of a never-ending spam brigade, while Badwater encourages people to control the map, area by area. While many people don't like this whole "Control an area and then move the cart up" strategy, it works for this map and encourages most of the map to be combat-ready, even if most of the focus is on the actual points themselves. That's the reason why I prefer PL to A/D; A/D has a very specific focus on a very narrow area and creates a lot of "dead space" between points (The maps that I don't see this on are Gravel Pit and Gorge, Gorge I mentioned, but I didn't choose Gravel Pit because of how badly it splits up the teams), while in PL, every bit of the map will have SOME form of combat going on around it at one point or another, even if it's just a minor skirmish (like on Badwater's tunnel).

PLR: Pipeline. I haven't played much Nightfall (if at all), and I can't stand Hightower. Nothing really unique about Pipeline that stands out, other than its theme. The only thing I don't really like about Pipeline is stage 3, which I can't stand, much like Hightower. Being as Hightower and Pipeline stage 3 are somewhat similar, I think there is a lesson there on what not to do.

I think that's every official gamemode except TC (which wasn't chosen due to there only being one TC map), but correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
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The best maps are Gorge and Upward

Nah... no that wasnt it... I dont think its finnished, we alpha and beta tested it and it was tons of fun :D

The only thing describeable is that a crane is holding some planks floating over the point

vanguard
 
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Mar 23, 2010
1,872
1,696
The best maps are Gorge and Upward

my favorite*

and mobster i feel inclined to say freight's last sucks, it's water is pretty gosh darn sneaky and useful, and it's mid is really the only fun area. making badlands' last take longer to cap would ruin it. it's easy to turtle, but quick to cap and hard to push out of without getting backcapped. a last stand, what last's should be. don't get how making it cap longer would make it more intense than it already is. I think freight's last would be better if it capped a lot faster.
 
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YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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My brain does this retarded thing where it will chose to read two lines of text as one, or perhaps two lines as two lines, but mix up the words between the two lines.

So anyway, as I read it, my favourite friggin map is Hoodoo, cause let's be honest, it's the best map ever in any game, no one has ever made anything even remotely as good.
 

gamemaster1996

L13: Stunning Member
Sep 30, 2009
1,064
134
Viaduct.

Whilst being a really fun map it also uses sightlines well and flows in so many different ways.
 

3Dnj

Ducks
aa
Dec 21, 2008
288
638
My brain does this retarded thing where it will chose to read two lines of text as one, or perhaps two lines as two lines, but mix up the words between the two lines.

So anyway, as I read it, my favourite friggin map is Hoodoo, cause let's be honest, it's the best map ever in any game, no one has ever made anything even remotely as good.

Ho, you !

I love Upyard for his shape, 2fort and viaduct for the look, badlands and granary for the gameplay. Granary last point, with balanced teams, the only way for ATK to capture the point is to run with all your teammates screaming Banzai ! :D











And I like Koth, Ctf and Junction.
 
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Gerbil

aa
Feb 6, 2009
573
846
My favorite map is dropdown because it's the cooliest.

But really, my favorite maps are the following:

PL: Upward - great visual style and layout.
KOTH: Nucleus - same reason as everyone else.
Arena: For serious this time, dropdown - personal bias.
CP: Either Badlands or Granary - both awesomely balanced maps.
CTF: HAARP - Since it's a great map and regular ctf is bad.
TC: Hydro - lol