Getting Your Map to a Competitive Audience
Introduction
After having a chat with one of the staff members at TF2Maps, it’s been brought to my attention mappers who are interested in getting their maps playtested (or at least try and get feedback from a competitive player) in a competitive environment are not aware of where they can go.
While this post/guide doesn’t necessarily guarantee your map will be playtested you can expect your map to be seen by the competitive communities. The guide will cover things from a very basic level like where you can post to get your map to the right players and also what kind of feedback you can expect from competitive players.
Having these kind of topics are also advantageous because it means you get feedback quickly and be able to discuss and respond to players as they make feedback - and, of course, players will be aware of updates to your map if you look after these topics well and keep players informed (It’s also a good idea to update the OP with the latest changelog and screenshots!).
Great! So where can I go?
Firstly you can go to the individual league forums where most will have a mapping section (ETF2L and UGC for example) along with community forums such as Team Fortress TV.
- European Team Fortress 2 League [ETF2L] (European Players - League plays HL/6v6/2v2)
- United Gaming Clans [UGC] (European, North American, South American and Oceanic players (mostly NA) - League plays HL/6v6/4v4)
- Team Fortress TV [TFTV] (European, North American, South American, Oceanic and Asian players (Mostly NA) - community not a league, so feel free to post what you want)
There are many other forums to post on and this list will be updated in due course. People are free to suggest other forums.
What should I provide with my post?
What you’d post normally on TF2Maps would suffice: Map name, game mode, download link and some screenshots. Bear in mind, and as much as players wouldn’t like this being said, most will be lazy and just make feedback based on any screenshots you post (“this looks good” to “gonna try this later” are some of the commonly used phrases) - you can’t make players download your map but you can make screenshots look inviting - A map is like food, “the first bite is with the eye” - so keep this in mind when posting.
As you update your map, it’s always a good idea to post the latest version and then update the OP with said post to avoid confusion: as a map gains popularity and your topic grows in pages it’ll be in your best interest to make sure all up to date information is on the OP so there’s a “one stop place” for players new to the map to get all the information they need.
What kind of feedback can I expect?
Feedback varies from player to player. You should keep in mind, some will have never opened Hammer in their lives and will not understand the limitations of the program. Some players will give input as basic as “looks good” to maybe STV demos from mixes they’ve played on the map. Some players will only go as far as giving feedback based on the screenshots although this has already been discussed before. A good idea as well maybe to interact with players about their feedback on your map - a competitive player’s view on TF2 and how the maps should be may differ from yours but that doesn’t mean to say they’re right because of the type of game they play. Some opinions will be from what players know from other maps because that’s what they like and know works.
Just remember, in the end, it’s your map and if a player wants you to change something that you feel “makes” the map or is quite important then you should retain it.
FAQs
Not 100% sure if people will have any questions, although any that are made I'll leave a response in the OP.
----
I hope this rather brief guide has been somewhat useful for players looking to get into competitive mapping, leagues are always on the look out for potentially good maps to add to their map pool and most competitive players, when presented with a map they like, are quite an enthusiastic bunch to see your map getting developed.
Introduction
After having a chat with one of the staff members at TF2Maps, it’s been brought to my attention mappers who are interested in getting their maps playtested (or at least try and get feedback from a competitive player) in a competitive environment are not aware of where they can go.
While this post/guide doesn’t necessarily guarantee your map will be playtested you can expect your map to be seen by the competitive communities. The guide will cover things from a very basic level like where you can post to get your map to the right players and also what kind of feedback you can expect from competitive players.
Having these kind of topics are also advantageous because it means you get feedback quickly and be able to discuss and respond to players as they make feedback - and, of course, players will be aware of updates to your map if you look after these topics well and keep players informed (It’s also a good idea to update the OP with the latest changelog and screenshots!).
Great! So where can I go?
Firstly you can go to the individual league forums where most will have a mapping section (ETF2L and UGC for example) along with community forums such as Team Fortress TV.
- European Team Fortress 2 League [ETF2L] (European Players - League plays HL/6v6/2v2)
- United Gaming Clans [UGC] (European, North American, South American and Oceanic players (mostly NA) - League plays HL/6v6/4v4)
- Team Fortress TV [TFTV] (European, North American, South American, Oceanic and Asian players (Mostly NA) - community not a league, so feel free to post what you want)
There are many other forums to post on and this list will be updated in due course. People are free to suggest other forums.
What should I provide with my post?
What you’d post normally on TF2Maps would suffice: Map name, game mode, download link and some screenshots. Bear in mind, and as much as players wouldn’t like this being said, most will be lazy and just make feedback based on any screenshots you post (“this looks good” to “gonna try this later” are some of the commonly used phrases) - you can’t make players download your map but you can make screenshots look inviting - A map is like food, “the first bite is with the eye” - so keep this in mind when posting.
As you update your map, it’s always a good idea to post the latest version and then update the OP with said post to avoid confusion: as a map gains popularity and your topic grows in pages it’ll be in your best interest to make sure all up to date information is on the OP so there’s a “one stop place” for players new to the map to get all the information they need.
What kind of feedback can I expect?
Feedback varies from player to player. You should keep in mind, some will have never opened Hammer in their lives and will not understand the limitations of the program. Some players will give input as basic as “looks good” to maybe STV demos from mixes they’ve played on the map. Some players will only go as far as giving feedback based on the screenshots although this has already been discussed before. A good idea as well maybe to interact with players about their feedback on your map - a competitive player’s view on TF2 and how the maps should be may differ from yours but that doesn’t mean to say they’re right because of the type of game they play. Some opinions will be from what players know from other maps because that’s what they like and know works.
Just remember, in the end, it’s your map and if a player wants you to change something that you feel “makes” the map or is quite important then you should retain it.
FAQs
Not 100% sure if people will have any questions, although any that are made I'll leave a response in the OP.
----
I hope this rather brief guide has been somewhat useful for players looking to get into competitive mapping, leagues are always on the look out for potentially good maps to add to their map pool and most competitive players, when presented with a map they like, are quite an enthusiastic bunch to see your map getting developed.