The Year In Review: 2015

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
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1,815
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Presenting: The 2015 TF2Maps.net Year In Review!

This year was amazing for TF2Maps, the mapping community, and TF2 as a whole. We, as a site, have never done this sort of thing before - but it figures after such major events as the introduction of a Map Workshop, and the inclusion of many custom maps from our community, it was time to finally put one together.

So, here's a taste at the best our community had to offer this year.

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Starting the year off strong, the 2015 72hr Winter Special premiered on Jan 23rd, and resulted in a multitude of incredible startup maps, such as pl_tanker by @iiboharz and plr_bien by @Bakscratch.

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Meet Your Makers II was published early in the year, consisting of interviews of many top-tier TF2 contributors - including one of our own, @Fr0Z3nR. Keep a lookout for this year's one!

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The annual April Fools Gameday was held on (you guessed it) April 1st, and featured a heap of silly fun maps. Don't forget to participate in this year's event, held as a contest by none other than @Crash!

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Our very own Crash was interviewed (loosely) on Kritzkast! Check it out here.

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Outlining the middle of the year was the incredible 2015 Summer 72hr Mapping Contest, which boasted the largest pool of entries ever (67!). Voting took almost 2 months to complete, and the contest resulted in excellent maps like cp_overgrown by Crash, and cp_snowlodge by @phi. However, Bakscratch took the contest with the wonderfully made koth_pughead.

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cp_glassworks, a beautiful 5cp map made by Crash, completed rc6a on June 7th. It was featured in places like UGC HL and Issue 271 of the US PC Gamer magazine.

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pl_rust, made by Fr0Z3nR, had its final version released on June 20th.

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The Gun Mettle update was a pioneering and unexpected update to TF2 that resulted in one of the biggest custom map booms in recent history. Alongside the update was the addition of three excellent maps made by our community:

pl_borneo by @heyo,
koth_suijin by @Freyja,
cp_snowplow by Fr0Z3nR and @YM.

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On September 24, the Dynamic Control Point contest was launched. It ended on February 2nd, and voting is currently under way.

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On August 29, TF2Maps launched its new site look, curated by @Geit. Importing of old map and texture downloads was fronted by users such as @killohurtz and Phi.

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The Insomnia 55 LAN was the biggest TF2 competitive tournament to date, sporting a £10,000 prizepool, one of the largest ever for TF2. Phi's map, cp_sunshine, had the privilege of being a part of the tournament's map rotation, showing up in many games, including the Grand Finals.

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The Invasion Update dropped in TF2 on October 8th, hosting three maps made by our community:

arena_byre by @Idolon,
pd_watergate by @Egan and Bakscratch,
koth_probed by Crash.

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Shortly after the Invasion update came the third major TF2 update this year to contain custom maps from TF2M: Scream Fortress 7. Alongside the update came:

koth_moonshine_event by @heyyou and Crash,
cp_sunshine_event by Phi,
pl_millstone_event by @ics,
cp_gorge_event by @puxorb.

Additionally, around the same time, the Workshop Of Horrors premiered, showcasing many community maps including quite a few of those mentioned above.

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pl_corrode_rc2 by @Leminnes was released on November 18th. The map's been in development for over 5 years, and finally has been brought to a state of near-completion.

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cp_sunshine_rc9 by Phi was released on November 30th, marking the last major update of the map. It is being played by competitive leagues around the globe.

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The last major update to TF2 in 2015, Tough Break, landed as a sort of "smissmas" replacement update and included four (4!) maps from our community, old and new. In them included:

cp_vanguard by @fubarFX,
pl_snowycoast by @EArkham,
koth_highpass by @Psy and @Bloodhound,
ctf_landfall by @Dr. Spud, @Nineaxis, and @Shmitz.


Lastly, the Workshop Wonderland rounded out the year with an excellent pool of community maps.

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We've had a massively successful year here at TF2Maps, and we hope that 2016 will be even better. There's tons expected this year in terms of mapping - the next (secret) major contest, the next 72hr jam, the detail contest; plus the results of the Dynamic CP contest, the impending addition of matchmaking, and much more.

Here's to a great 2015, and a great start to 2016 as well; may the rest of the year shine just as bright!​
 
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Shogun

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 31, 2014
260
220
Wow, hard to believe this all happened in just 1 year. Here's to another exciting year for TF2 and the TF2Maps community!
 

nickybakes

You should've played Rumbleverse
aa
Jul 28, 2015
911
1,739
Hopefully I and everyone else can come together and help make 2016 even more memorible :D
 

Fantaboi

Gone and one day forgotten
aa
Mar 11, 2013
892
1,050
Reallly good write up and formatting, nice, short, sweet and to the point, put the entirety of a year perfectly in perspective
 
Dec 28, 2014
330
307
2015 was such a great year for the TF2 mapping community. Not only were there great events and contents but Valve supported community map makers in a way they haven't in years by adding so many maps to the game. If you had told me at the end of 2014 that Valve was going to add more then a dozen community maps to TF2 after not getting any in 2014 and only a few in 2013 I would of never believed you.

I'm looking forward this year. I can't wait to see what maps Valve adds in campaigns this year, I'm looking to seeing what people come up with for the spawn room contest and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next major contest is.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
It's been a surreal year for sure. Started with EoTL in full swing, then Gun Mettle happened, I moved, got a Vive dev kit, quit my job, now I'm working on making a VR launch title. Crazy huh?

For 2016, VR will launch, TF2 will get matchmaking, there'll probably be another one, if not two campaigns. Fair to say TF2 has never been more alive?
 

Viemärirotta

sniffer
aa
Feb 5, 2016
1,013
590
It's been a surreal year for sure. Started with EoTL in full swing, then Gun Mettle happened, I moved, got a Vive dev kit, quit my job, now I'm working on making a VR launch title. Crazy huh?

For 2016, VR will launch, TF2 will get matchmaking, there'll probably be another one, if not two campaigns. Fair to say TF2 has never been more alive?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM
 

Jethro

MUSty Complainer
Nov 2, 2009
287
281
Maybe this year I'll contribute in a cooler way than just hosting some imps sometimes. :engiemeh:
 

radarhead

Basically? Kind of a Huge Mess
aa
Mar 6, 2013
1,045
625
Maybe I'll release the first alpha map of that 5cp/3cp I'm working on. Or the arena map. Or the vtf map. Or maybe I'll revisit my incomplete collab dyn cp map. Maybe I'll release something fun for April fools.

Or maybe I'll continue being a bum and do nothing.

Hopefully the first thing
 

Kube

Not the correct way to make lasagna
aa
Aug 31, 2014
1,342
1,849
Maybe this year I'll contribute in a cooler way than just hosting some imps sometimes. :engiemeh:

Maybe this year I'll sort out my internet promises and actually host an imp? Can't make any promises, but I'm hopin'. :dogbread:
 
Dec 28, 2014
330
307
For 2016, VR will launch, TF2 will get matchmaking, there'll probably be another one, if not two campaigns. Fair to say TF2 has never been more alive?

Yeah it really does feel like Valve is actually trying with TF2. I was a pretty vocal critic of how Valve handled TF2 in 2013 and 2014 (posting on Facepunch, Reddit and occasionally sending the TF2 team polite emails letting them know how I felt), it really felt like they just didn't give a shit and were coasting along doing as little as possible to make as much money as possible.

2015 feels like a complete turn around, they are actually adding maps again, they are really trying with weapon re-balances (unlike a lot of the re balances in 13 and 14 which felt fairly mediocre efforts and some which were so overpowered or underpowered I questioned if they even play tested the game). The TF2 team seems to also be embracing the community more and more, with things like the Invasion update and having members of the TF2 team post on Reddit.

At the end of 2014 I was pretty down on the future of TF2. Right now I feel more optimistic about the future of TF2 then I have in a long time.

I'm guessing a combination of things lit a fire under their ass (my guess the negative reaction to EotL, along with Overwatch and needing to do a better job if they wanted people to take comp matchmaking seriously) but I hope they keep it up.
 

heyyou

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 19, 2009
191
121
Awesome write-up. Thanks for the time put into this.

Really looking forward to see more maps on here get picked up this year. So many great ones to chose from!
 

Pixenal

L1: Registered
Mar 16, 2016
32
16
2015 was indeed a very big year for TF2, and 2016's set to be even bigger *cough* matchmaking *cough*

Hopefully we'll see some community made maps put into the matchmaking rotation ;)