The Heatmap Plugin - What it is and how you can help

Fruity Snacks

Creator of blackholes & memes. Destroyer of forums
aa
Sep 5, 2010
6,394
5,571
Notice
This is the old thread for Instantmuffin's attempt at Heatmaps, the new thread, for Geit's attempt, is here: http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=22956

---

Hey guys! Going to use the Front Desk for something that isn't a complaint!

So, as you've heard on KritzKast last night (or maybe in steam chat), InstantMuffin, the guy behind Prophunt TNG has offered to make a heatmap plugin for us (and the rest of the TF2 Mapping community, wherever they are!) to use. Both our servers right now have the plugin recording kill data.

Whats a heatmap?
A heatmap, simply, is a map recording the density of events in an area. If you want a good example of a professional heatmap tool, you can check out Valve's that they used for CSGO on de_train.

How's this going to work?
Well, right now both servers have a plugin on them that is recording the location of all kills on a map, then saving to a special file, much like a demo is recorded and saved on our server. What we can do then is pull those log files off the server and put them into a program that Muffin is also developing. With this program, you'll input an overview image of your map and the log file.. It will convert the data into points and overlay it on the over-view image. Something like this:

*This is not a representation of the final product. This is merely an example of what is going on as of right now*
cliffhanger_heatmap.jpg

rustmap2.jpg


HOLY CRAP BALLS BATMAN, HOW CAN I HELP!?

Calm down. There's two ways you can help. First off, we need 1 map with a LOT playtime. The data above? It's not enough for the development. We need a map with a LOT of data. That only means one thing: MARATHON TEST. Thats right guys, it's time for another one of our epic Marathon Tests. But which map? I don't know. You can nominate a map that you think should be marathon'd and we'll put up a vote.

There's another way you can help out! The wonderful thing about this heatmap plugin is that it can record more than just deaths. It can record just. about. anything. Headshots? Yup. Buildings built? Yup. Kills with fish? Probaby. What we need to do is put together a list of things that we would find useful when developing a map (besides deaths) so that the feasability of recording it can be investigated.

So, if you're going to post, two things: Post what map you think deserves a marathon test and what things you think are useful for being recorded on a heatmap. Also, if you could post a date that you might like it (In the next 2 weeks, please) that would be aweeeesome.

I've put InstantMuffins steam profile above, if you want to reach out to him yourself, go right ahead. He's a nice guy and doesn't bite (okay, if you're a muffin, he will). Any questions, you can put it in this thread or ask me or InstantMuffin.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

TMP

Ancient Pyro Main
aa
Aug 11, 2008
947
560
OH boy, I loved doing those 6 hour playtests on Petrol!

If the marathon test is after the 2nd I nominate highnoon b2 very selfishly.

(IN all seriousness, make sure that when you nominate a map that it has a lot of variety! These marathon playtests are seriously taxing on you once they get pretty far in, and it's best that you try to stay as long as possible because numbers WILL die down later on! It's hard to keep people just coming in!)
 

RubbishyUser

L7: Fancy Member
Feb 17, 2013
414
488
InstantMuffin, make a post so we can all thank the crap out of you. I don't actually know what to suggest for the marathon test - I think literally everyone is going to want to have their map played. It has to be something that is still in development, yet is far enough in that people wouldn't be sick of it after so long. Would Payload or A/D of some kind be a good idea, for sentry tracking? That's the only thing I can suggest.

Will this heatmap be available with the Feedback section? Would it be possible to transfer the information into the game, in the same way feedback can be visible in your own map? WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME?
 

Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,316
5,499
Trainsawlaser.

But seriously, I'd love to have Glassworks tested like this. It's pretty much finalized gameplay-wise, so a good long test would be a ton of help.

Besides the obvious, I'd love to see Building placement (super important), player movement traces (I'm thinking a ton of little lines, it'd be useful to see how often certain paths are used). Deaths by specific weapons would be nice too. Being able to, say, filter out long range weapons or just see flame thrower kills or melee or something. It'd help us understand the data and reduce the chance for false readings of it. As in, bunch of deaths in one area is thought to be where a lot of people are going to fight, but it's really a brutal sniper sightline to there.

Oh, speaking of, a specific sniper sightline filter would be really cool. See where they are when they are getting rifle kills with a line to who they are shooting.

Man, I can't wait for this.
 

henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,075
515
A filter for the active round is needed. As well as for the active flag when in CSF mode. And a filter to stop logging during humiliation.

As for data to show, how about playload cart heatmaps? See where the cart is usually stuck.

Another thing that could be tracked is pickup popularity. Including resupply lockers.

Something that could be tricky is clipping detection. Mark spots that people bump into.

Another tricky thing could be framerates. Areas with poor framerates can be tricky to find sometimes.
 
Last edited:

Blade x64

Logical insanity
aa
Sep 3, 2009
239
633
The most important features I would say would be to track where people are killed and where people are killing. From there would be a division of classes, so you can easily tell where powerful sniper, sentry, demo, heavy, etc spots are. Popular locations for buildings would be cool too. A difficult problem to tackle is the different heights of kills, for when there are multiple floors of a map.

Expanding on LeSwordfish, I'd suggest a traffic heatmap. It basically just tells what locations players are using to either stay or move.

As for map nominations, I suggest Pier which I'm currently working on for competitive play.
 

littleedge

L1111: Clipping Guru
aa
Mar 2, 2009
986
605
We could always just do Petrol for old time's sake...

In terms of Heatmap stuff:
  • Building placement
    • It would be great to know if people only build in one or two locations on the entire map.
  • Sniper locations and their target's location
    • Sightlines!
  • Team-specific/Class-specific deaths and their murderer's location and class.
    • Class-specific is mostly related to the next feature, but team-specific deaths would be extra helpful: Where is RED able to keep BLU from getting past? Etc.
  • Health Kit/Ammo Pack pickups
    • This seems like the most likely possible feature that solves the following questions, though if it's possible to do it in some other fashion, that would be great:
      • Which health/ammo aren't being used very often (meaning which don't need to be there)?
      • Where do many classes die that could potentially be improved with the addition of a health kit or ammo pack?
      • Is everyone dying right around a health kit? Should it be upped to a size larger? Is everyone being killed only steps from the health kit? Should it be knocked down a size?
  • The places where classes run out of ammo.
    • This, alongside the previous feature, could help find places that need ammo placement.
 

MegapiemanPHD

Doctorate in Deliciousness
aa
Mar 31, 2012
1,937
1,280
Instead of just having dots saying that someone was killed in a place, maybe some way to show which class killed which class where as to help identify player pathing. Such as where do spy's tend to go to get behind people, sniper sight lines, areas where heavy's dominate, and so on.
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
It's already been suggested but I'd particuarly like sentry placement and sentry kills, I'm not sure which'd be more useful between heating the sentry that gets kills, or the location of the kill.

I'd like to know what effective sentry spots are, and what spots are being used but not effective. Building destruction would also be useful, to see what sentry spots are often used but rarely destroyed, or vice versa.