SpecialAttack.net Map Developer Cooperation Program

[[SpA]Lim-Dul]

Hello there!
I'm the public relations guy of the Special Attack gaming community.

We have recently started a map and mod developer cooperation program which some of you might be interested in.

More information can be obtained on our "Development" page but I will describe it in full detail here.

We have seven Team Fortress 2 servers:

- four with default maps and some custom ones you can buy with our patented SpA-points system (points you earn through gameplay or donations)
- two with arena maps (launched recently)
- a custom map server (launched recently as well)

If you want to submit your project for public testing - and I know some developers have trouble finding popular servers to host their maps - you can either register on our forums and post a thread about it (preferred method) or contact me or Spikespiegel directly (you'll have to register anyway since we're secretive about our mails).

After you have done that we will evaluate the project as to its current and potential awesomeness and if it passes we will put it into the (dynamic) map cycle of our MAIN servers, that is, the oldest and most popular ones, for a total of 4 days - for 2 days the map will appear twice per cycle (if there are enough players) and once for another 2 days. It will also potentially stay longer in the map cycle of our Custom Map Server since that's where we keep the best maps.

We will put in-game ads encouraging players to leave feedback about the map being tested in the proper sub-forum (we got a section for that). We thought about using the map rate plugin, which runs on the Custom Map Server by the way, but after a recent "Custom Map Weekend" event we realized that ratings made with all-too-hasty key-presses during such a short period of time are almost useless and tell you nothing - even a single post with constructive comments is worth more than a hundred ratings combined.

Now, the fun part - our servers with their IP addresses. Currently most of them are located in the Netherlands, EU, but we have (had) one server in the United States as well - it's just undergoing a hosting-change and might not be back too soon.

SpecialAttack #1 [TF2 - All maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.17.60.96:27025 (26 slots in the Netherlands, EU)
SpecialAttack #2 [TF2 - All maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.17.60.96:27035 (26 slots in the Netherlands, EU)
SpecialAttack #3 [TF2 - All maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.17.60.102:27015 (30 slots in the Netherlands, EU)
SpecialAttack #4 [TF2 - Arena maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.17.239.149:27015 (18 slots in the Netherlands, EU, no sit-out)
SpecialAttack #6 [TF2 - All maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.234.146.58:27015 (26 slots in the UK, EU)
SpecialAttack #7 [TF2 - Arena maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.234.146.56:27015 (18 slots in the UK, EU)

Of course there's also our Custom Map Server #5:

SpecialAttack #5 [TF2 - Standard+Custom maps] SpecialAttack.net: 85.17.239.149:27025 (24 slots in the Netherlands, EU)

The map-cycle for this server currently looks like this:



We are looking forward to hearing from you soon!

 

[Zipok]

That sounds neat, I'm gonna post my map there for evaluation once some more balancing has been done.
Good to hear there are things like this that support custom mappers, as getting some playtest time is (based on my experiences) usually the hardest part of the map balancing / tweaking before getting the final version completed

*.. goes to make an account to the forum right now*