- Jul 30, 2021
- 638
- 361
Compulsive random post is go, I'm just gonna blab about a few things.
Topic No. 1: VIP
So, VIP's getting kind of big. We've got maps like Breakout, Chutes, Escalation, Milk's couple of maps... probably some others that I don't remember off of the head 'cause I'm lame or something. I've never really made it a secret that I don't think VIP is a mode that needs exploring (particularly when being marketed for official TF2), although I'm not opposed to it just, existing. I think right now what the mode struggles with the most is giving some justification for the VIP being literally anywhere. Breakout probably succeeds the most with this, as the title suggests that BLU is trying to break the VIP out from a prison. I really like that premise, and I think more maps should really try to take advantage of this in the future. I don't think the mode is being helped by the pretty clear "directionless" state it's seemingly in at the moment, flipflopping between what I've heard described as Mobster vs. Civilian gameplay. Personally speaking, I just really wish the mode were more ironed out before being given a public release, as this would've made it a lot more clear to mappers where to take their maps.
Topic No. 2: Vscript Mode Releases
This this an unintentional immediate topic switch on what I was going to say, but this is just something that I've felt for a while. I think Vscript is making people release their custom gamemodes too early. I've seen it with VSH, VIP, Gungame, and each time I just groan because I know that no matter what, there's going to be multiple maps that use a completely defunct or just buggy version of the gamemode left behind when their mappers switch to a different project or go "Man this is not worth it" or something. I probably feel this a bit more than the rest of the community, considering what I do is basically just remember all of the maps, but it's still probably really annoying to normal-ass players who would go like "Why does XYZ play different? :/" between a v5 and a v6 or something. I just really wish Vscript modes got more concrete releases, or like... were finished on release? Is that too much to ask? Idk, I'm not a vscript developer nor a direct map developer but it'd sure be nice as a player.
Topic No. 3: Gun Game
Gungame is weird. I like it, but like... I don't? It's a very strenuous gamemode, if that makes sense. Draining, that's the word I want. Very draining gamemode, at least for me. I'm just not really built to be SUPREME ULTIMATE DM LORD 227 (this is a reference), and it's made playing imps pretty annoying in the last couple of months. The maps are weird, too. I think Marine and Razorpoint are the absolute peak of the gamemode, and it's kind of funny because they're like, the complete opposite in terms of level design philosophy? "Smol rooms vs. huge room" is a funny dichotomy. Any feedback I have about the mode feels like complete soup ngl, I see both angles of an argument but can only pick one in the heat of a moment.
Topic No. 4: TF2c Edition Failure & Retirement Talk
I release the TF2c Edition of my Custom Maps Spreadsheet about two weeks ago now and I'm sad to say but I think nobody's going actually take up the reigns of the project. I advertised it in both the TF2c Discord and the TF2Maps discord, and got what was essentially a DIY response from TF2c and a " " response from TF2Maps. It's not that I didn't expect it, but it was kinda disheartening. Not even that it was the TF2c edition that was probably doomed to be a "one and done" kind of thing, but it really showed me that I'm completely alone in what I do, working on my spreadsheets. I've been on-and-off considering retiring from the project and riding off into the sunset just being a normie chick for the better part of a year now, but I've not actually committed to it because, y'know, the sheet is still MY responsibility. I've always told myself that I was the only person capable of keeping to the kind of project that the map collection is, but I was hoping I would've been proven wrong. Honestly, I still do hope I'm wrong, that there are people able to work on a single sheet for.... fuck, 6 years now.
I have a strong people that people will tell me that "I don't have to do this," but they don't really understand that people genuinely use my resources to help themselves, and that makes me partially responsible for helping them do the best they can. It just feels like a lot of pressure. Sometimes the dam holds, sometimes it cracks, and sometimes it bursts. I'm not really sure how long I'll keep working on the sheet. I'll just try and keep improving it in the meantime.
Topic No. 5: April Fools 2024
It was pretty good. I wasn't expecting to be featured in a map (crab_cave_v1), that's for sure lol. There were some really cool entries this year, as well as some, um... I hesitate to say lazy but maybe just uninteresting entries as well. It was really cool seeing what was essentially a crossover event from Redsun.tf for TF2Maps this year, with Wega Challenge, Slider Gangs, and Vehkon2 all coming from primarily Redsun mappers. Seeing Slider Gangs again made me quite happy, as I had previously added the non-squad version to the sheet about a year(???) ago. Wega Challenge on the other hand genuinely jumpscares me (yeah yeah, laugh it up) cause' I'm a scaredy-cat lol. There was also some really cool vscript stuff this year! I said this in the discord, but I really, really loved @Le Codex's Quantum League mode. It feels like a great way to adapt deathmatch into its own fun kind of thing. Would love to see more maps with that mode in the future! And of course, again, Crabmod getting a vscript unironically made me laugh so hard that my face started to hurt. @Mikroscopic's John Gutter map was also really cool, as I've never played Pizza Tower before. I do think it should remain a one-off or maybe get a singleplayer version for gasp 3D Pizza Tower??? The moment of the Peppino Heavies just didn't feel smooth enough for a multiplayer environment, in my opinion. Y'all have no idea how ecstatic I was that Mega Man 6 actually got accepted into the list btw, I ADORE that map. It's such a creative adaptation of a retro theme and it's super replayable with all its different layouts it can use! I think the level transitions got cut from the rc1 build of the map which makes me sad but it's okay, the music is still there. I'm also glad PLR Upward got accepted, I really hope it made zythe happy cause' it was a lot of fun to play. Seeing Badcoastbarnward come back also made me smile. I was kinda disappointed that Liminal ended up getting nearly universally-skipped because of the mapper behind it (blah blah I hold the opinion of looking past the author sue me blah blah), but I get it. I didn't play as much of the gameday as I would've liked to, but I think a 7/10 would be a good spot for this one. Lol maybe I'll do a ranking of them someday.
Okay I talked for so long that I actually need to get ready for work in six minutes so uh, that's it for now. Would love to see some discussion from this but you guys have free will, so... yeah. Lol. Hope y'all have a good day/night/evening/morning//afternoon/dusk/dawn
Topic No. 1: VIP
So, VIP's getting kind of big. We've got maps like Breakout, Chutes, Escalation, Milk's couple of maps... probably some others that I don't remember off of the head 'cause I'm lame or something. I've never really made it a secret that I don't think VIP is a mode that needs exploring (particularly when being marketed for official TF2), although I'm not opposed to it just, existing. I think right now what the mode struggles with the most is giving some justification for the VIP being literally anywhere. Breakout probably succeeds the most with this, as the title suggests that BLU is trying to break the VIP out from a prison. I really like that premise, and I think more maps should really try to take advantage of this in the future. I don't think the mode is being helped by the pretty clear "directionless" state it's seemingly in at the moment, flipflopping between what I've heard described as Mobster vs. Civilian gameplay. Personally speaking, I just really wish the mode were more ironed out before being given a public release, as this would've made it a lot more clear to mappers where to take their maps.
Topic No. 2: Vscript Mode Releases
This this an unintentional immediate topic switch on what I was going to say, but this is just something that I've felt for a while. I think Vscript is making people release their custom gamemodes too early. I've seen it with VSH, VIP, Gungame, and each time I just groan because I know that no matter what, there's going to be multiple maps that use a completely defunct or just buggy version of the gamemode left behind when their mappers switch to a different project or go "Man this is not worth it" or something. I probably feel this a bit more than the rest of the community, considering what I do is basically just remember all of the maps, but it's still probably really annoying to normal-ass players who would go like "Why does XYZ play different? :/" between a v5 and a v6 or something. I just really wish Vscript modes got more concrete releases, or like... were finished on release? Is that too much to ask? Idk, I'm not a vscript developer nor a direct map developer but it'd sure be nice as a player.
Topic No. 3: Gun Game
Gungame is weird. I like it, but like... I don't? It's a very strenuous gamemode, if that makes sense. Draining, that's the word I want. Very draining gamemode, at least for me. I'm just not really built to be SUPREME ULTIMATE DM LORD 227 (this is a reference), and it's made playing imps pretty annoying in the last couple of months. The maps are weird, too. I think Marine and Razorpoint are the absolute peak of the gamemode, and it's kind of funny because they're like, the complete opposite in terms of level design philosophy? "Smol rooms vs. huge room" is a funny dichotomy. Any feedback I have about the mode feels like complete soup ngl, I see both angles of an argument but can only pick one in the heat of a moment.
Topic No. 4: TF2c Edition Failure & Retirement Talk
I release the TF2c Edition of my Custom Maps Spreadsheet about two weeks ago now and I'm sad to say but I think nobody's going actually take up the reigns of the project. I advertised it in both the TF2c Discord and the TF2Maps discord, and got what was essentially a DIY response from TF2c and a " " response from TF2Maps. It's not that I didn't expect it, but it was kinda disheartening. Not even that it was the TF2c edition that was probably doomed to be a "one and done" kind of thing, but it really showed me that I'm completely alone in what I do, working on my spreadsheets. I've been on-and-off considering retiring from the project and riding off into the sunset just being a normie chick for the better part of a year now, but I've not actually committed to it because, y'know, the sheet is still MY responsibility. I've always told myself that I was the only person capable of keeping to the kind of project that the map collection is, but I was hoping I would've been proven wrong. Honestly, I still do hope I'm wrong, that there are people able to work on a single sheet for.... fuck, 6 years now.
I have a strong people that people will tell me that "I don't have to do this," but they don't really understand that people genuinely use my resources to help themselves, and that makes me partially responsible for helping them do the best they can. It just feels like a lot of pressure. Sometimes the dam holds, sometimes it cracks, and sometimes it bursts. I'm not really sure how long I'll keep working on the sheet. I'll just try and keep improving it in the meantime.
Topic No. 5: April Fools 2024
It was pretty good. I wasn't expecting to be featured in a map (crab_cave_v1), that's for sure lol. There were some really cool entries this year, as well as some, um... I hesitate to say lazy but maybe just uninteresting entries as well. It was really cool seeing what was essentially a crossover event from Redsun.tf for TF2Maps this year, with Wega Challenge, Slider Gangs, and Vehkon2 all coming from primarily Redsun mappers. Seeing Slider Gangs again made me quite happy, as I had previously added the non-squad version to the sheet about a year(???) ago. Wega Challenge on the other hand genuinely jumpscares me (yeah yeah, laugh it up) cause' I'm a scaredy-cat lol. There was also some really cool vscript stuff this year! I said this in the discord, but I really, really loved @Le Codex's Quantum League mode. It feels like a great way to adapt deathmatch into its own fun kind of thing. Would love to see more maps with that mode in the future! And of course, again, Crabmod getting a vscript unironically made me laugh so hard that my face started to hurt. @Mikroscopic's John Gutter map was also really cool, as I've never played Pizza Tower before. I do think it should remain a one-off or maybe get a singleplayer version for gasp 3D Pizza Tower??? The moment of the Peppino Heavies just didn't feel smooth enough for a multiplayer environment, in my opinion. Y'all have no idea how ecstatic I was that Mega Man 6 actually got accepted into the list btw, I ADORE that map. It's such a creative adaptation of a retro theme and it's super replayable with all its different layouts it can use! I think the level transitions got cut from the rc1 build of the map which makes me sad but it's okay, the music is still there. I'm also glad PLR Upward got accepted, I really hope it made zythe happy cause' it was a lot of fun to play. Seeing Badcoastbarnward come back also made me smile. I was kinda disappointed that Liminal ended up getting nearly universally-skipped because of the mapper behind it (blah blah I hold the opinion of looking past the author sue me blah blah), but I get it. I didn't play as much of the gameday as I would've liked to, but I think a 7/10 would be a good spot for this one. Lol maybe I'll do a ranking of them someday.
Okay I talked for so long that I actually need to get ready for work in six minutes so uh, that's it for now. Would love to see some discussion from this but you guys have free will, so... yeah. Lol. Hope y'all have a good day/night/evening/morning//afternoon/dusk/dawn
