Plant CTF Ya or Nay?

I like to believe that there was a reason Valve developed Control Point mechanics.

Actually, you can give it a delay on capture by making a trigger with a team filter that sets off a timer, which after x seconds enables the capture point. When there's noone of the attacking team is on the point anymore, it gets disabled again and the timer reset. Make a screen message to the defenders that there's someone on the point, and maybe play a warning sound.

Yeah it also triggers when someone that's not the flag carrier gets on the spot of course, but I don't think that's a big prob, since it still means the other team holds the capture zone for a certain amount of time to enable it for capture.

As im making a PTF.. im Bias =)

My first map I was going to attempt (and gave up on for non-technical reasons) was going to be a single flag version of this, so yeah, if you make the map properly, I think it's a fine idea.

I'm biased too, I'm using the rctf on my map.

I think a level designer has to be aware of the gameflow for rctf. Or plf as you put it. The game mode isn't broken, i just have yet to see a map that fully catered for the possibilities with rctf.

TFC had a map called epicentre that was rctf and worked very well because defence area's looked in on the layout, and the CTF point lay behind an obstacle (an apc) so it wasn't possible to run directly onto the point like i've seen in most custom TF2 maps. The map consisted of only 2 routes as well, so gameplay was focused and the flag was more likely to be intercepted.

Spawn points lay between the flag and no mans land in much the same way it does in CTF allowing the team to assault quickly or back trail and defend. Teams had X amount of time (determined by the server, but it also had a defualt limit) to set up a defence/attack the opposing team before they can get a defence up, before the flag was available inside their spawn.

The fact that the flag was inside the spawn area was a very important hint to the game mode and meant that someone was sure to pick it up. A player designing for rctf should take into consideration the lack of a need for an escape but also not allow for an inpenitrable defence.

My vote: neither.
How well a game mode works is entirely up to the designer's ability to implement it well.

If a game mode is bi-directional the symmetry makes the game mode itself inherently "balanced" and any imbalance is purely out of the designers shortfalls.
If a game mode is asymmetric (within reason), then it has a higher chance of being inherently imbalanced, though it's still largely up to the designer to make it work.

It is wrong to outright dismiss any reasonable game mode in it's entirety.

I imagine a lot of people might have thought a mobile indestructible dispenser for one team attached to an objective would be bad... yet we've gained payload, and it works.

Also biased as my map is RCTF. I think RCTF is great, but it has problems. The suicide rushes and the "Where do I go" people do throw off the gameday and map in general

Voting no for now, as all of the maps of this gametype I've seen so far have featured the attacking team suicide rushing forward until they get the flag onto the point. It feels less like a team game and more like a zerg fest.

I have enjoyed "Reverse CTF"'s incarnation in Team Fortress Classic maps. I think the biggest problem has always been how an ubercharged Demoman or a really lucky Scout can pretty much rush by all the enemy's defensive measures and just cap in one second - something that they cannot perform in standard CTF as it's a round trip.

Whether it's in a CTF layout or a CP layout, I say go for it - just be sure to give defenders a fighting chance against the cappers.

I have my fingers crossed that Valve will introduce an alternate-CTF mode. I'm creating an invade map with 1 flag in the middle of the map, so I'm biased. I think it has a lot of potential since it doesn't require as much "grind" as Payload and is more dynamic.

I agree with Snark, the fun-ness of a map is entirely on the mapper, not the game type. A well placed chokepoint that isn't super-impossible to push through (with the right team makeup) can provide some reprieve for the defenders.

Very interesting points made here. CTF requiring a round-trip versus PTF's single push is the big difference here.

Perhaps a variation where the flag is at a different location in the enemy base? The attacking team would have to push through the first defenses to get the flag, then run it either through or around the enemy base and past a second set of defenses to score.
Of course, that might make it too hard to capture unless the map was cleverly designed. Hm.

What if the flag were placed behind the area where you cap it? That way the map would give an "attacker's advantage" once you get ahold of the flag as you already (more or less) reached your destination whilst still effectively having to push past defenders in the same way you would with a normal CTF map.