So Cactus Canyon...

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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I was a little surprised that it's been a year and a half since it was updated https://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/45xfzx/a_reminder_that_cactus_canyon_hasnt_been_updated/

It really doesn't feel like that long but wow.

Anyway, I just want to say:
You know how Valve have taken reskins of their maps and put them into halloween and campaigns?
Well, it occurs to me, that if someone wanted an easy in for a future campaign, a stonking good artpass of Cactus Canyon wouldn't be a bad way to do it. The map is already popular and the workshop would eat it up.

And by stonking good I mean that. Put effort into it, reach out to modelers if you're not up to modeling things yourself. Look into some physical simulation of the train crash at the end, find some unique detail element to really set the map apart from other desert maps. Go all out.

It's already pretty fun to play, so you wouldn't need to change the layout much, just launch into an artpass. But of course, if you wanted to fix up things (like the shocking blue spawns) you totally could!
 

Yrr

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Sep 20, 2015
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We were talking about this in chat just now and some people said they were mostly put off by the way we don't know what Valve intend to do. It'd be somewhat disheartening to start one and have Valve bring out their own in the middle of it.

Obviously we shouldn't be doing it purely as a way to get into a campaign but I'm sure anyone in that situation would still feel a little let down.


If we could get Valve's go-ahead that this was totally a thing we could do, like another Artpass Contest tho that'd be cool as hell.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Weeeellll that's all well and good, except turning it into a contest just scales up the chance for anyone working on it to have their work wasted.
I mean, look what happened to the previous artpass stuff. So many amazing efforts just fallen by the wayside because only one (or two) were ever going to win.

It makes much more sense for a single person to tackle the project than for everyone to dogpile onto it.

One person taking it on and Valve releasing theirs in the meantime = one person disheartened
Contest = LIKE EVERYONE except one person disheartened

A proper artpass can go relatively quickly, chances of Valve producing a final version of it in the next ~two months are very low.
 

Hipster_Duck

L2: Junior Member
Dec 20, 2015
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Anyway Valve are (hopefully) busy with competitive matchmaking, so the chances of them adding maps right now I'd say is quite slim.
 

Yrr

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Oh that's true, I guess there's no real "ideal" way to go about it

I think the big thing with it is that, yes it would be a great learning experience and if you really went all out it'd be a great portfolio piece too, but the effort could be better spent on a map of your own or someone else's that you know isn't gonna have the chance of someone else beating you to it.

I think that might be a personal qualm tho and if anyone wants to try that'd be really cool
 

fubarFX

The "raw" in "nodraw"
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Jun 1, 2009
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If people want me to setup a project so that people can collaborate on finishing the map, hit me up. We can chop up the map and assign parts.
It would be much like what was done for
-pd_snowville (3-5 contributors) https://github.com/maxdup/sawmill
-cp_hadal (2 contributors) https://github.com/maxdup/hadal

A team artpass would probably be the best way to go about it, just my opinion tho
 
Nov 2, 2010
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I'd happily do it but if Valve just went and finished it themselves afterwards it would be a real slap in the face.

But what hell. If anyone else is doing this then I'll join in.
 

Yrr

An Actual Deer
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We can chop up the map and assign parts.

...

A team artpass would probably be the best way to go about it, just my opinion tho
That sounds like an easy way to get a disjointed artpass that doesn't come together as a cohesive whole idea. :T
 

fubarFX

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That sounds like an easy way to get a disjointed artpass that doesn't come together as a cohesive whole idea. :T
that's up to team management and making sure everyone is on the same page. But really I'm not talking about having only one person who can touch a part of the map, that would be a dumb way to go about it. Naturally people would collaborate the best they have to offer to each parts of the map (detailing, lighting, optimization etc). It's more about having someone be responsible for a given part of the map rather than having someone work segmented from others.
 

Yrr

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i think itd just be nice to have word from them on if they expect to put out an artpass any time soon so that people who do want to try it dont feel wary about it
 

FerJox22

L1: Registered
Jul 7, 2014
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This is my daily reminder that I asked about CC and Asteroid at Valve, in person, and (as I understand it) both maps are not dead, and are not forgotten.

I REALLY hope so. I've been wanting to make a space-themed map for a long time. The only thing stopping me from doing so is the lack of blue-colored textures and models available in TF2 (I don't want to use 3rd-party stuff, sorry) since they've only art-passed RED base. Can't go beyond layout for now.
 

Zed

Certified Most Crunk™
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Aug 7, 2014
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I honestly don't think Cactus Canyon is in a state where it's ready for an artpass.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
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Nov 14, 2009
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I'd happily do it but if Valve just went and finished it themselves afterwards it would be a real slap in the face.
Not really. Their version would be non-Halloween-themed, so it would be like any other map that has both vanilla and Halloween versions (particularly the 2010 pair). This isn't supposed to be the only finished version. However, if they end up making major changes to the layout, there could be issues with updating the community version to match. If it's something as simple as putting in a new third stage — which they really do need to do; I've said before why two-stage maps are bad — then there's no problem; just go back and artpass that stage in the same style.
 
Dec 28, 2014
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GIven what Fr0z3nr was told by Valve I believe that Cactus Canyon and Asteroid will tie into something that isn't read to ship yet, maybe Spy ve Engie or one of the comics.
 

Vel0city

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Dec 6, 2014
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This is my daily reminder that I asked about CC and Asteroid at Valve, in person, and (as I understand it) both maps are not dead, and are not forgotten.
Heh, the lack of updates to both of the maps in over a year makes people think otherwise. With good reason. Like many things in TF2, it gets released and it's then forgotten almost instantly.
 
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Jul 6, 2015
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This is my daily reminder that I asked about CC and Asteroid at Valve, in person, and (as I understand it) both maps are not dead, and are not forgotten.
If they dont release any information, 99% of the community that hasnt read THIS EXACT FORUM POST, doesnt know what valve is up to, because they cant go to valve HQ and speak with the TF2 team directly.