TF2M Annual Major Contest # 3

eerieone said:

but isn´t the ctf hud kinda obsolety, when only one intel is being used?
because the way i see it, it is more of a portable payload than a capture the flag

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No way! the ctf HUD has a big arrow on it that at all times tells:
-Defenders where the incoming intel is coming from so they can go blow the runner to smithereens
-Attackers where the dropped intel is so they can go grab it before it returns to base and keep pushing
-The one carrying the intel where to go.

With just the normal CP HUD you lose all of those and gain absolutely nothing since the capture is instantaneous.

EDIT: new rules? D: gotta re-read the whole lot now, can't you highlight what's changed in a different colour like boojum does with gameday threads?

Thanks for the clarifications, ID!

I like the way this contest is coming together. The 2 modes are both excellent choices, and will benefit the game

i´ve started working on a gametype very similar to this 2 weeks ago (funny heh?)

but i made a twist to it, because as i see it, just capping the intel would be too easy and would make it barely defendable for red.
my setup was/is a mixup of cp and ctf,
blu could win by just capping the point, but the points take ages to cap, unless blu delivers the intel to a point behind the cp, which heavily reduces the CP´s capturetime, therefore red has the choice between defending the intel-capturezone or the control point. i found this modification to be more interesting and less linear than just insta-capping the intel.

now my question to the mods, would it be possible to make a twist like that and still enter the competition?

Immortal-D said:

I have updated the op to (hopefully) address some of your concerns. Check the bottom of the rules section.

Click to expand...

No update on if multiple entries are allowed

I'm in.

Riverside ain't a bust, though.

I'm excited to see some new plr maps. So far there are things I do and do not like about pipeline. I'm glad it has a different prefix though.

TF2Newbs.com is happy to run playtests. We have payload server to test plr and we have custom server to test the ctf maps. With our large steam groups, we can easily get full (24) servers when a playtest is announced. (i do like to pretest the maps since we've had maps crash the server before). I'm fine with testing several in a row too. Our community is happy to give feedback and to download the maps during playtest.

PM me for the PLR maps and Jigen http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197978981965 for the ctf maps to get a playtest time.

or just post a new thread on tf2newbs.com requesting a playtest.

DL4D will do some late-night tests on Saturdays and Sundays as well. We just use the US Server.

Added that tf2maps.net poster (removed the URL and ID wanted me to add the hammer logo onto it, but it was already there...)

How come we can't do carrier slowdown?

Because valve removed it.

Oh, well that explains it

i took a glance through the ctf prefab and their was one thing I didn't really like...I see this as more of a tribute to the original dustbowl as opposed to a way to expand ctf...
and on that note, on the original dustbowl the flag did not advance with the team, ie when the blue team capped the 1st point the flag did not change its spawn location. So the team would have to carry the flag from their spawn to both caps.
Im wondering why it was changed?

Because A) youme has never played dustbowl and no one felt like telling him exactly how it worked and B) it isnt a recreation of dustbowl, more of a twist on A/D cp.

MrAlBobo said:

on the original dustbowl the flag did not advance with the team, ie when the blue team capped the 1st point the flag did not change its spawn location. So the team would have to carry the flag from their spawn to both caps.
Im wondering why it was changed?

Click to expand...

Funny you say that, know why? TFC Dustbowl only had one cap per stage. The two caps thing was something they added to TF2 when they converted it to control points. So your entire statement is irrelevant

heh I didn't know that either, youme just explained how it worked to me, not really the reasons behind it all.
what with handing ctf_slate over to me which was his testbed for this new mode, I kinda know it inside out too

Although he simplified the prefab version a little..

Dang, I really, really want to make a map for this contest, but I just won't have time. Oh well, it's my last summer before college, I should savor it.

A Boojum Snark said:

Funny you say that, know why? TFC Dustbowl only had one cap per stage. The two caps thing was something they added to TF2 when they converted it to control points. So your entire statement is irrelevant

Click to expand...

really now? well sue me if i can't recall perfectly a game I played during lunch at school

and if thats the case then ill just rephrase the question <_<
Why are there multiple capture points per stage in this one?
And more so, why are we required to have 2 capture points per round?

I think the idea behind 2+ was that for a single stage a split second cap time can be kinda jarring if its the only one, if you have two you know that once the first cap is gone (even if you didnt notice until the announcer says it) you then have garenteed time to get your arse in gear and defend the next point properly, then if its the last point that is capped without you realising it you already knew you should have been defending harder, if its only one point its always "oops.. oh, next stage :/"

EDIT: also it keeps continueity with tf2 as we know it and it's been proven to be fun.

Becuase if there was only 1 cp to defend, red would just turtle right out of the gate. There would absolutely no reason for them to venture out of sight of the only cap (presumably by there spawn too)

I was planning on entering the contest before I read the rules, but now I just don't know.

Here are my thoughts...

First, the "new" gametype to me personally doesn't sound very interesting or fun. Basically making an instant capping CP map that relies on a single person making the cap rather than a team effort seems like it would have some pretty big problems with the inherent gameplay.

Second, pipleline has so far been incredibly spammy and unfun for me. This may just be because of the map itself and not the game type, which would mean an infusion of different plr maps would be great. If I do enter the contest, it'd be with a plr map, but I'm still unsure if the gametype can be as fun as pl, cp, or ctf.

Third, the judging criteria seems fairly counterproductive in my opinion. A map should be judged on 2 main things, fun (gameplay) and aesthetics - with fun being weighted significantly more IMO. Now, you can break that down however you'd like and fun would incorporate balance and gameflow and aesthetics would incorporate detailing and style, but the "fun factor" isn't really represented in the criteria. Seems like a person should be able to go say map A is better than map B, but with the current criteria, B may easily end up with more points even if everybody thinks A is a much better map.

I suspect people will look at the points they give in each category and then artificially "fudge" them to make sure map B ends up with less points than map A, but at that point, the categories are purely an obstacle that people would be ignoring anyway. A person shouldn't have to think about exactly how a map is better in whatever categories, they should be able to just say they like one better than another for whatever reasons they choose.

Again, this is obviously all just my opinion and clearly many are already excited about the contest which is great. I do hope I'm completely wrong about the game modes and am looking forward to seeing what everybody comes up with.