3 hours of random custom map server finding...

[DJive]

And all i can say is i want to cry.., seriously.

Avg rating was a 3.2 out of 10.

Heres the list i came up with. This isn't a gameplay test although each server was pretty active. More of a quality check.

*Note i did not play any of the more popular maps. These include ctf_turbine_v3, cp_warpath, cp_orange_x, ctf_stronghold_b5

But scary enough, more servers were running these...
Anyways, on to my night. If these maps belong to ANYONE here this isn't against you. post a comment and we can see how we can improve =)

------
cp_basement_v3 - a 2 minute map, gave it a 2 because they knew how to setup a CP. Lighting to dark and colored, thin hallways, no detail, typical "box-n-prop" map 2/10

surf_underground_v2 - surf need i say more 1/10

Surf_bigramps_v2 - surf need i say more 1/10

cp_dangerwillrobinson_beta - interesting idea, ill give it that, no detail, or any other option then straight.. but it was original at least. 4/10

Mario_Kart - only a 4 for creativity/custom textures. no balance, lame art you are forced to look at. 4/10

Surf_clover_b3 - for a surfmap i was impressed at the brush work, however its still a surfmap. 2/10

cp_mountcosters_v5 - at first join they had a spectator cam!, i was excited to get in. Doors not touching, brushes overlaping and going through to each other urgh. BUT the layout looked good at least 4/10

cft_dirtywork_b4 - not bad. Not a map i would play, to many balancing issues, but skybox was nice, displacements seemed realistic, hdr wasnt off either. 5/10

cp_2Skysraper_b2 - *Removed Comment* Did not know this was one of our members. I do feel however this map is extremely open and void. It could do very well 1/4th its current size.

cft_royal_b2 - interesting! card game/mini. not to bad, more effort could have been made, but awesome use of custom textures. 6/10

surf_abhorrence_v2 - worst ive seen yet 0/10

cp_vertigo_beta2 - I was impressed. Very creative skyscraper. great use of props, very nice 3d skybox, a bunch of neat passageways. it made you feel like you were in a skyscraper. 8/10

surf_4ways_b1 - blah. at least this person had TF2 textures. 1/10

surf_amplitude_apex - HL2 textures, no actually brush work.. surf map am i surprised?.. nope. 1/10

fy_poolparty_v2 - urgh, just.. urgh.. It was my-first-room but with water. 1/10

ricklers_engineer_jump_a2 - Engineer only map...I dunno, i couldnt understand it, dev textures anyway. 2/10

cft_battlecreek - Halo Map!!.. ya not as cool as it sounds. i love pitch dark blue and red. 2/10

cp_switchback_b4 - Desent looking map, felt that whom ever made it paid more attention to outside the map then inside the map and relied on props a bit to much. 7/10

cp_bestinclass_v1c - cleaver, VERY cleaver, infact.. i give this a 8/10 just for being that freakin cool/undone before. not the best lookgin make, just creative.

snipe_opposed_beta1 - some use of curves and elevators.. 3/10

ctf_skyhigh - yay ANOTHER jump map. 2/10

balls_soccer - interesting hit a soccerball. 3/10

murderball_b2 - tooo dark, no env_cube. 3/10

duel_duel1Alt_v14 - 1/10. wow.. just.. wow...wow..

cp_four_trees - wicked first map, cute though. 3/10

ctf_yaaargh - cool idea. spawnroom is simple camped, red logos for both blue and red teams.. 4/10
----

I gave up on surf maps, i didnt want them to lower my score anymore.

 

[DrHaphazard]

Well i don't think it is any secret that about 90% of customs are subpar. I mean making a:

1) Good looking
2) Non-confusing
3) Well optimized
4) Well balanced
5) Well lit

...map is not easy. A lot of things have to go right. Many of these maps are also created by people who have never mapped before, and as such their creations should be considered experimentation. I am a firm believer that most maps are filtered out by the player base when they are determined to be unfun.

Of course the playerbase's definition of fun does not equal mine most of hte time =P

 

[YM]

I am a firm believer that most maps are filtered out by the player base when they are determined to be unfun.

Of course the playerbase's definition of fun does not equal mine most of hte time =P

Oh so true, lame maps get filtered out but unfortunatly there are a lot of people that like jump maps among other types.

 

[MangyCarface]

That concept map, bestoftheclass or whatever, has some really interesting ideas in it. Kind of gimmicky in the end though. Dirtwork I played on HL2DM:CTF and it was fun on there, but the graphical style and simple labyrinth-like layout don't adapt well to the rocket/sticky/double jumping of tf2. Still amazed at how many surf maps you suffered through in such a short time...

 

[bazola]

Did you get a chance to actually play murderball? I only got the chance once and while I agree that the artwork wasn't great, I had a lot of fun playing the map.

It is a one flag map, flag in the middle, both teams need to take it deep inside their base. I would think that if you got the chance to play you would have mentioned this


Anyway I only wanted to say something because it seems like very few servers are running murderball as it is.

 

[Apex_]

I've been working with DeathZone on the Best In Class map providing my server for testing. He's recently updated to v2 which includes proper lighting and stylistic changes to some challenges to fit TF2 where applicable. We've been hounding him about preventing cross-class use, so soldiers can't complete the engineer challenge for example, and he's managed some clever workarounds for Valve's lack of class filtering.

All in all, a sad list indeed. I'm happy to say that aside from ctf_royal, ctf_yaaargh (aka ctf_vikings, the author had some weird naming issues when it came out), and bestinclass I haven't played any of those junkers.

I've got a bunch of custom CTF maps on my server (Apex-games.net if you'd like to stop by, but be warned it's friendly fire enabled!) that people seem to like. For general play a lot of them would be terrible, like Bridgetoofar or Facing which are insanely sniper-centric, but I use per-map class limits and respawn times to try and make the maps as playable as possible.

ctf_fishy is pretty good, and Waxx's second map ctf_subway is an interesting map as well.

 

[Sean of the Dead]

Oh so true, lame maps get filtered out but unfortunatly there are a lot of people that like jump maps among other types.

i still like jump maps, but i agree with u that surf maps dont belong on TF2

 

[Shmitz]

I personally don't care much for cp_bestinclass. Most of the challenges involve mundane repetitive tasks without much variation, with the penalty for mistakes (generally death) being a little too severe in most cases. As a result, the pace is way way slower than what TF2 should be. It's an interesting diversion late at night when a server is dying, but not at prime time when I'm looking for action. Really, when I want to play a puzzle or skill test game, I'll play Portal or Audiosurf.

Also, it's been my experience that once someone finds the meme-hut, everyone spends all their time there instead of trying to win.

 

[ChickenHunter]

Also, it's been my experience that once someone finds the meme-hut, everyone spends all their time there instead of trying to win.

But i like the medic haus hmy:

 

[DJive]

Did you get a chance to actually play murderball? I only got the chance once and while I agree that the artwork wasn't great, I had a lot of fun playing the map.

Most my rating is NOT based on gameplay. that being said the server i joined did have some people playing. it was 3v3. just seemed it was pickup...cap... pickup...cap. Seemed to go so darn fast i didn't see the point, the pickup and cap were right next to each other *little bit exaggerated*

i still like jump maps, but i agree with u that surf maps dont belong on TF2

See i dunno. I may like surf maps more if the effort was put into them. That aside I wasn't a big fan of the jump maps, mostly because all those damn servers had a respawn timer. so it was *blow up, wait 20 seconds, blow up* i got a bit annoyed. Providing there were on an instant respawn I'm sure it would be a bit mroe fun, not my cup of tea though.

I personally don't care much for cp_bestinclass. Most of the challenges involve mundane repetitive tasks without much variation, with the penalty for mistakes (generally death) being a little too severe in most cases. As a result, the pace is way way slower than what TF2 should be. It's an interesting diversion late at night when a server is dying, but not at prime time when I'm looking for action. Really, when I want to play a puzzle or skill test game, I'll play Portal or Audiosurf.

I only liked it because it was the first idea I've seen like that. it wasn't mapped well at all, MANY brush errors, but I've never seen a "training course" type map, so i rated that one on purely creativity. If rated on a "quality" i'd drop it to a 3 or 4..

 

[Earl]

cft_royal_b2 - interesting! card game/mini. not to bad, more effort could have been made, but awesome use of custom textures. 6/10

I know the guy who made this! I'll forward your critique to him. Glad you think its one of the better ones, but then again, that's not saying much.