The 2017 Winter 72hr TF2 Jam - The Showcase!

LeSwordfish

semi-trained quasi-professional
aa
Aug 8, 2010
4,102
6,597
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Image thanks to Exactol, Void, and Not Your Sagittarius

Another jam is over! This time we didn't set fire to any of the servers, lose any data, or, say, create a ten-year hitbox bug: it was almost relaxing! What we did do was make a staggering amount of stuff for Team Fortress 2. The final count of entries was 686, with nearly as many people taking part! That includes 230 SFM creations, 196 artworks, 146 maps, 34 models, 14 videos, twelve fanfictions, two games, two plushes, and a poem.

Remember right back at the start when I said that last time i was secretly expecting less entries than before? Yeah, I was doing that again, and once again you guys proved me stunningly wrong. You're making me look like an idiot, and it's awesome.​

Acknowledgements

Before I get into the showcase proper, I want to thank everyone who's helped out throughout the jam. Firstly @killohurtz, my assistant, was completely invaluable, doing at least as much work as me for far less credit. Secondly I want to thank @iiboharz and @fuzzymellow for creating that awesome banner image we used in the thread, and @Crash and @Fr0Z3nR for creating the jam concept in the first place. Next up is @phi @Egan @Berry @Muddy @hutty @zahndah and @TyeZenneth for helping me sort through all the entries and pick out the showcase ones, and of course @Geit who not only kept everything running, but also developed a nifty system for sending out the medals. (If you haven't got yours though, you should still blame me.) And last of all, you guys! I've said this before but these events are absolutely a pleasure to run, and that's because everyone is always so enthusiastic to take part.

The Main Event

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The "Winter" in the title seems to have been taken to heart, because we had a wide variety of snow-themed entries this time. Medli20's put together a fantastic pack of art, including that snowy sniper image above, and that picture to the left is from Icebox, the latest map by stream supreme 14bit. Dayal has made a great first post to the site with Snowfall, a MVM map that i'm hoping to be able to try out soon, and Not Your Sagittarius has posted a great sketch of the Heavy enjoying a sandvich on Coldfront.


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The other big theme was, less appropriately, the jungle. With Valve putting out feelers (see what i did there) for Jungle content, there's been a surge in both jungle maps (pictured: Exactol's Detail Entry, but also check out Discover, by Midlou) and custom content suitable for a trek through the amazon: Fuzzy has furnished us with some fantastic Jungle Map Textures, Exactol's Butterfly particle effects can be seen in the image and Vipes has made a Jungle skin for the minigun.

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I'm always stunned by the creativity that goes into jam entries, and this year didn't disappoint. I'm staggered by DonutVikingChap's ASCII TF2 Game - a playable multiplayer game in 72 hours! (We're going to see if we can host some servers for it.) Not to be outdone, The_Evil_Pickle has decided to put us all out of a job with a program to randomly generate arena maps, and Void created Minotaur (pictured), an a-maze-ing map as a proof of concept for a game he plans to make. (Concept thoroughly proved, I say.) I'm also a big fan of Rodense, a new gamemode (with giant robots) from newcomer Flipy

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There's some great physical art out there in the real world too. Snedic has made a fantastic Medic portrait out of found objects and scrap (this may be my favourite entry of all), and Quack 2's Plush Engineer is absolutely adorable. Jam veteran and obvious renaissance man Ixy has cooked Shortbread Bombs for us (recipe included), while still finding time to produce Wild Blu Yonder, a glorious slapstick ode to Ragdoll physics. There were several great 3D printed objects, but i'd be particularly remiss if I didn't point you at Scampi, who's made blueprints to print several iconic TF2 props, including the cutout cow, MVM bomb, and *merasmus voice* bonus ducks.

There's always some impressive music, too, and this year was no exception. Our favourites were Strobo Sandvich, The March Of The Mercenaries, and "Please Give Us Our UGC Medals", which sounds to me like what Ed Sheeran would have sung if he'd got 8th place in Iron a few seasons ago.


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Next up is Pâtisserie en Pointé, a gorgeous, clever SFM artwork by Uberchain, kichiArt, and Logan McCloud. That clipping I've used above doesn't at all do it justice: you should absolutely click through to see the full thing. (Like, for real. My mouth is still watering.) That's far from the only great SFM work though: there was far too many to show everything for, but some of the best are Majora's Administrator (to the right), MissAlicia's poster (her first attempt at SFM!) and the Green Isn't Creative triptych by Dr Maxxis. Two videos that stood out were On The Frontline by Micnax, and Miss Pauling Annoys Everyone by dribbleondo, though I want to emphasise specially for the SFMers: there was so much good stuff, we couldn't possibly show it all.

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Gadget has once again come through with the excellent Texas Walker, as one of a wide range of great cosmetics. I particularly love the Skateboarder's Camcorder as a really neat hat, although it's impossibly not to also be enticed by the De-Construction Worker by NeoDement and Square, and the Big F**kin' Chainsaw by Sexy Robot. Fans of rigorous design documentation - and who among us isn't - should also check out the Modestly Hot Cosmetic Set by Dr Aibaleet, who's not only made a great skirt but stepped through the design and construction process in a way that even an idiot like me can find fascinating.

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As with SFM there was far too much great art to show off all of it. To the left is "Losing Patience, Losing Patients" by Koflof, and to the right is "Roles" by JeannP, two of my personal favourites, but you should also check out all of leFicae's works, Fab Heavy by corrupted_vor, and Jimi Jam Boy by Big Figgington. Below is the gorgeous Glixel Abandoned Upward by Py-Bun - check out that link for a timelapse creation video.





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Nearly done, and there's still so much to show! How could I miss out McBro and BigB's guide to Unusual Unboxing, or BigfootBeto's Mario Maker remake of Upward. What about the Australian Prop Pack (verified as correct by Verified Australian Freyja)? Or this beautiful Sworcery-esque Eyelander Pixel Art by r2d2upgrade?

Finally, some maps. iiboharz has been experimenting enough to show off the Watch_Dogs inspired Datacore Subtheme, and ibex has really put the clipping tool through it's paces in the creation of koth_lovely. Necro wowed us on the staff with cp_freeflow, and Frosty Scales has produced the gloriously cyberpunk BWCell.


What's Next? And Medals

Whew, all done. Even if you weren't included, you should still feel proud - for one thing, the shortlist for the showcase included nearly a third of the entries, suggesting that there was generally a great level of quality. Our twitter account will be posting highlights for a little while - follow us there for more!

Medals have now gone out: you should find them in your steam inventory. If you think you're owed a medal and you haven't received one, PM me by the 25th February with a link to whatever you made. (The 25th is a hard deadline: if you haven't got to me by then, it's too late.)

So what's next? Well, firstly, i'd like as many as possible of you to fill in This Survey please: so we know what you enjoyed about the event and what you didn't. After that, stick around. We'll be having our regular April Fools gamedays in six weeks, which is always a treat - both for mappers, who get to really test the limits of what Hammer can do, and for players, who get to be hurled against those limits in the form of screaming, rabbit-sized ragdolls. (In particular, stick around if you're a mapper - check the link in my signature for information on how to get your map tested.)

After that we'll have another one of our major mapping contests, and of course in summer we'll be doing all of this again. Tell your friends how much fun you had this time, because I have a challenge for all of you: I want to see one thousand entries to the summer jam. That's a lot - would be a bigger increase than this time - but i'm sure we can rise to the challenge.

I always like to finish off with one of my favourite images. This time, and last but very much not least, it's The Team Photo, a high-school themed SFM by Czarpos.

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Isn't that great?​
 
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Crash

func_nerd
aa
Mar 1, 2010
3,315
5,499
Great work everyone! Big shoutout to @LeSwordfish for heading up the whole thing, getting us organized behind the scenes, and building the showcase!

Congrats to everyone who made something during the event!
 

PevWolf

Un-Notable Member
Sep 20, 2015
120
86
Congratulations to everyone who was showcased! It was a spectacular event this year, and I enjoyed participating with you all!
 

Infomaniac

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 29, 2015
374
207
Great work everyone! Big shoutout to @LeSwordfish for heading up the whole thing, getting us organized behind the scenes, and building the showcase!

Congrats to everyone who made something during the event!
Atleast I tried. This was a great event and I hope to participate next time!
 
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DJ Sylveon

L3: Member
Nov 9, 2015
103
21
For being so last second ( in my case) I am happy with this Jam! Not only did I like what I made but I really REALLY enjoyed what other people made this time around too! This was also the first jam where I was in a voice chat through most of it. Could have done without the screaming every hour on the hour. Overall I am hyped for the next jam and had a hard time figuring out what I liked most! Also LeSwordfish, enjoy your Player of the Week hat!
 

nickybakes

You should've played Rumbleverse
aa
Jul 28, 2015
911
1,739
This was lots of fun, and I look forward to the future, in both the new creations to come from new events and in what the maps created for this event can turn into! Thank you @LeSwordfish , @killohurtz , and everyone who volunteered and took their time to make this all possible. I would've loved to help with sorting the entries, but I wasn't in the steam chat at the time, so I didn't see you asking.

I gained over 15 followers on Twitch, and over 150 views on it, which I'd say is pretty cool. Thank you all for that.

Also:
Necro wowed us on the staff with cp_freeflow
This map doesn't have a link to it?
 

Moonfixer

L5: Dapper Member
Aug 23, 2014
229
81
Yeah this was a great event. I'm glad to have been a part of it!
 

Flipy

I like foxes
aa
Jul 20, 2016
170
1,019
Great to see all of the content, Ill be sure to come around next time and help us reach that 1000 submissions! Now to go and make rodense as best as I can
 

Ixy

L2: Junior Member
Jan 29, 2016
75
67
As always, big ups to everyone who entered, and especially to the TF2maps.net team who organized and ran the jam. Your unconditional welcoming of the creative TF2 community (and patience with it when you're answering the 400th "Can I enter SFMs?" question) is much appreciated. For 686 entries and a super smooth, well-functioning Jam, you all deserve a hearty pat on the back!

Eagerly awaiting the Summer Jam . . . .
 

Dayal

L3: Member
Feb 8, 2017
123
293
Oh hey, thanks for showcasing my map. The event was quite fun, although way too stressful, for me atleast. Not sure if I'm going to participate in the next jam, maybe I will, maybe I won't. But if I do, I certainly won't be making a completly textured and functional MvM map. Because I was literally no-lifing 50 hours straight.
 

Moth

L2: Junior Member
Jul 3, 2016
82
247
Congrats to everyone who participated! It was super fun to work so much for 3 days again! Can't wait for next time, i have so many ideas
 

ethosaur

L4: Comfortable Member
Sep 18, 2010
178
51
Thanks for another fun event! :cookie:
Looking forward to the next ones to come.