Map Designer For A TF2 Raid

[Rizz]

I've never had much sucess with request threads really, so here it goes. :blushing:

Introduction
I and three other friends are very capable of level design in the source engine, we all play Team Fortress 2 as well. I'm a proficient modeler, albeit I've never modeled for Team Fortress 2 and have no idea how to import my models into the game.

This is somewhat of a big request, so here it goes.
I have an aspiration to make an MMORPG style raid for Team Fortress 2. The goal is to have 32 players or less on one team, and no one on the other.

Raid Theme
I and the team wish to keep this project as TF2 styled as possible, that being said we're considering either a "Mann Co. Weapon Factory" or "The Administrators Office".
Because of existing sound effects of the announcer, we're leaning towards The Administrators Office.

Bosses
I'm sure a lot of you guys who do level design have seen that achievement idle golden wrench map where you fight a boss, we'd like to do something like that but better. I could make the models for the boss and overall map models.
In terms of specific bosses, none have come to mind.
*We need a person who could come up with the idea of the boss, and his attack pattern*

Map Design
I and the two others on this team want to make this map balanced for all the newer weapons and possible future weapons that may come into existence. The "Amputator" for one would definitely change the outcome of a raid because of the taunt heal. This is but an example.

Design Ideas
A few design ideas for the map that a map designer would utilize (or come up with his own ideas).
While fighting a raid boss, spikes come out of the floor which either slowly kill the team or instantly kill them. Something would signal the team to prepare for this.
A bolder roles over everyone, but can be blocked if something is initiated.
Once the raid party is ready and in the boss room, a person initiates the boss battle by some means of activation. All doors in the room lock, the boss battle commences. If you die, you respawn at a respawn pad and wait for the team to either win or lose the fight. If everyone loses, the boss resets.


We would need a person who'd be willing to come up with the layout of this raid dungeon, and possibly a concept artist.

 

[YM]

First question: Do you conclusively know what level of boss AI is possible within TF2 before you start hitting mod territory? What your suggesting sounds fun but wholly unfeasible on a practical level.

Second: I have never heard of this achievement map you speak of, could you link to a video?

 

[Harribo]

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xXjkgvxE0

 

[Jeremy]

First question: Do you conclusively know what level of boss AI is possible within TF2 before you start hitting mod territory?

Maybe with a lot of practice and a lot of entities you can create one out of brush entities - or create a dynamic prop with inputs or outputs. But yes, it would take a lot of effort.

 

[Omena]

Boss skill suggestions:

• Have the boss do some flame breath every now and then so the pyros get a job to extinguish everyone.

• Make the boss do class calls. The boss periodically calls out a class, and during that time they can only use one type of a weapon, like a melee weapon. The class call would last untill the boss calls another class.

• Every now and then someone must stand on a platform and take up a high damage hit that would kill anyone. To survive this ability, the team must have an übercharge ready at all times, so when the call comes, they can get a player up on that platform, get invulnerable, take the hit and continue the fight.
  The catch is, if no one is on the platform to receive the hit, the boss hits the whole raid and ..well they would die.

• Have bot spies going around sapping engineer buildings and backstabbing random people with Eternal Reward, so pyros have to keep spychecking.

• Have the boss spawn objects that are vulnerable only to a certain type of damage. An object that can only be destroyed using bullets, one that can only be destroyed by exploding it (explosions, blast damage), one object that can only be burnt down and one that can only be destroyed by melee.
  When the boss spawns the object, the boss becomes invulnerable, so players will have to destroy the object before continuing to down the boss.

• Have the boss spawn some special adds that can only be killed while under a special effect. Such as, an add can only be killed if it's stunned (a scout has to stun the add with a ball) or an add can only be killed while under the effect of jarate or when ignited.

Yes, I have played several MMOs
Let me know if you need moar ideas or something.. I've also been a part of a HL2:EP2 mod as a story writer and dialogue writer and I've done a bit of mapping too.

 

[Rizz]

I never thought this would be easy, neither did the other two guys who're working on this with me did either.
Omena, if you want to draw up a map layout and some detailed stuff for this raid, I'd highly consider using it.
If anyone does, I'll consider it.

 

[ardysqrrl]

don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like you're basically asking someone to make a map for you. What are you bringing to this other than making models (which is mostly pointless since bosses would have to be built out of brushes)

 

[Moose]

don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like you're basically asking someone to make a map for you. What are you bringing to this other than making models (which is mostly pointless since bosses would have to be built out of brushes)

you could parent the models to the brushes :u

 

[Boylee]

don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like you're basically asking someone to make a map for you. What are you bringing to this other than making models (which is mostly pointless since bosses would have to be built out of brushes)

Why would the boss have to be made out of brushes? The Horseless Headless Horsemann is a model, not brushwork...

 

[YM]

Why would the boss have to be made out of brushes? The Horseless Headless Horsemann is a model, not brushwork...

Yes but we have no control over bot AI like that so we'd have to make stuff using hammer entities and brushes and/or custom models.

I think the best course of action is to go to somewhere like sourceop and ask the plugin coders there what they could do with an AI bot boss. You'll get further than you will with us.

Once you've got some boss fully functioning, then come back here and look for mappers.

 

[Corvatile]

I'd suggest having sentries built onto it as something for spies to do. You could also make it shoot projectiles- there's a tutorial on here somewhere on rocket spawners.

 

[Rizz]

i'm very interested in that. I knew about the sentries, but not the rockets.
A few ideas I'm interested in but not sure how to implement are:
Projectiles that do one of the following effects.
-Burn
-Bleed
-Stun (Sandman)
-Scare (Ghost)
-Knockback (Natasha)


Are any of these possible?

 

[Seba]

AFAIK the first and last (burn, knockback) would be pretty easy to do, but I'm not even sure if the others are possible.

 

[ardysqrrl]

trigger_stun ;3

sourcemod burn is basically the same thing as bleed, but getting it to stop when you receive healing would require a bit of a workaround

 

[Egan]

I know this a bit late, but I have created something a bit similar. I tried to make one of those defend maps, what you're making sounds more like 'Shadow of the Colossus'.
Here is the first one I made.
I'm still working on the second one, but here's the thread on it if you want to see it.

Not sure if this is what you had in mind though.