Welcome back to the showcase! The 2020 Jam wrapped up recently, so now it's time to show off some of the best content you've all made. Last year we showcased 100 of the best entries, but this year we're one-upping ourselves. Get ready, since this year we're showing off 101 of the best of the best! That's right, one more than last year!
The Numbers
This year we received 298 entries, slightly less than the 387 entries last year. But don't worry, since we've managed to raise over $5,000 (and counting!) through donations as of writing this post, from over 500 different donors! This year the money has gone to Direct Relief's COVID-19 Response fund. I'm proud of our entire community who's come together once again to raise money for an awesome cause.
Of the 298 entries,101 were maps, 36 were items or models, and 133 were drawings, SFM renders, or other works of visual art. We also got 6 videos, 5 entries of music, and three warpaints. Quality seems to have gone up again as well, as last year we showcased 100 entries (25.8% of the 387), but this time we're showcasing 101 (33.9%)!
Acknowledgements
Before we begin, it's time for the special thanks bit! Thanks to @Void for setting up the Jam, @Startacker! for handling the announcement, and @Idolon for creating and organizing the spreadsheet of entries we use to sort entries.
Thanks to everyone that helped sort the entries this year: @Idolon, @Startacker!, @iiboharz, @toopliss, @Flipy, and @Erk. The showcase would be a nightmare to organize without your help!
I'd also like to personally thank the rest of staff, the server mods, and our silver stars as well for keeping things running while I was off streaming for the Jam once again. And as always, shout outs to @Crash and @Fr0Z3nR for creating the Jam concept in the first place.
As a final thank you, I'd like to thank—well—you! Without you and the rest of the community there would be no jam. I'm honored to be a part of such an incredible community, and I can't wait to see the kinds of things you'll all do after this.
Now, on to the showcase!
Artwork
We'll start this year's showcase off with the artwork this time, and we've got some fantastic stuff. First up is Untitled Valve Game by ZeBadmedic, seen above!
Medic also makes a cameo in Friend Forever by minarosario, a fantastic illustration of Soldier and Demo's friendship!
Speaking of Soldier, be sure to check out the quiet serenity of Winter Flower Soldier by shhheep, or the delightfully goofy Furry friends by thatsheepagain, featuring Soldier showing off his raccoon pals!
Taking a brief break from the playable classes, be sure to check out the ColaCarnage2's Which side will you join? for a look at the Administrator. We also got a Voxel Cow from Lo-fi Longcat, if you're more of the bovine persuasion.
Below you'll see the (quite detailed) Sentry Pokémon Cards from r2d2upgrade, a really neat reimagining of the Sentry Gun as a Pokémon!
Demoman got some creative artwork this year, so be sure to check out The Chump's cute Fall Guys crossover with What makes ME a good Fall Guy? Who knew Demoman could be so cute as a jellybean? We also got the Spy/Demo dream team in Kings of Hearts from vrkian. Look out sentries and players alike, the kings are here!
Speaking of spy, don't miss the beautifully rendered (if a bit macabre) Voodoo spy by Брух?! His eyes (or lack thereof) stare into my soul. And don't miss Spy's starring role in Suit under the Nightfall from MastahDizzy, a wonderful high-bit piece that makes great use of perspective.
Moving on to a different support class, don't miss Sniper in Ethan8bit's Sniper Portrait (Hatless). Very nice work, love the take on his hairstyle!
We'll take one more break from the classes and take a look at some other artwork based on some maps! Check out Mega Typhlosion's rendering of an empty 2fort in Labor Day for the Merc's, or the incredible Badwater Map Artwork from sinnamon and Redbirb, shown below!
Also check out the stunningly cute sitting pretty from Caskett, featuring their Pyro loadout. I cannot stress how cute this is, please check it out!
Also, be sure you've got your disguises on tight for your Spycheck from Extra Ram. We love the details on the hat, really nice touch!
Just a few more bits of art! Below you'll find the all-class celebration of a Victory Drink by Cat64! I love the choices of drink for each class, and the decision to give Pyro a hot chocolate with a really fancy topping of whipped cream and sprinkles is a stroke of genius.
And finally, one of my favorite entries this time around, the Medic Melted Wax Portait by Snedic! Very cool idea and process, check out this video they made to show off the creation process:
Cosmetics
Let's take a look at the cosmetics the order the classes appear on the class select screen! Why? Because we've got one for each class this time around!*
*nobody made any Demoman-only cosmetics this year, so Pyro will be filling in as the role of Demolitions expert for this section
Next, we've got The Clutch Cymbal for Soldier, from Mark_Unread. Very groovy!
For Pyro, we've got the flaming hot Fiery Fashion from Strno8! We got no cosmetics for Demoman that I could find this year, so please take this second Pyro cosmetic, Frog Champ by Barno, instead. Thank you for understanding.
Engineer got some neat stuff this year, notably The One-Man (seen left), a fantastic robot head from Extra Ram that takes inspiration from Optimus Prime!
Medic got a matching hat and cloak with the Afterdeath Healer set by SanekOgon, containing the The Sounds of Progress Hat and the Afterdeath Coat. Be sure to check them out!
For you bird-lovers out there, Sniper's owl head got a wintry remix with the Snowy Sir Shootsalot from PjWrox!
And finally, we've got the slightly terrifying Cloaked Calamity from Big Bob and Tabby, a super villain mask for Spy. Why's he a super villain now? No idea!
But do you know what's even scarier? The fact that we've got one more cosmetic! That's right, flee in terror at the all-class spook-fest that is NeoDement's Zepheniah's Shroud, shown below!
Warpaints/Unusual Effects
We got quite a few Unusual Effects this year! Be sure to check out Haunted Embers by Sandwhip, or the nifty Sands of Time from Boba, shown below:
Taking a quick break to look at some Warpaints, we've got the jovial Circus Covered from Gadget, and the wonderful Kemuri War Paint, a second entry from Dan Greene but this time as a collaboration with Cicada88, shown right.
Finally, we've got one last unusual we'd like to show off, the incredible Jimi-Jammed, a second entry from Boba but this time with collaborator Phe. It features the designs of all three medals we've used over the years, very cool!
Items, Models, and Props
Let's move on to the items, weapons, models, props, and textures! There's some impressive stuff here this time around, so we'll start with the full-body class replacements.
For weapons we've got the Whole Mann's Pork Bun from heinous, and the Jimi Jam Lemon Jam for the Jam from Dan Greene and Ummu. Dan Greene is now the first person to be featured not once, not twice, but three times in the same showcase! Congratulations!
We're also a big fan of The Striking Resemblance, a baseball bat and ball in the form of a bowling pin and bowling ball for Scout from John I want a divorce and U WOK M8!
To round out this section, we've got some impressive map props. Be sure to check out the incredible van UAZ 2721 from Krazy, the neat Car map prop from Overlord Lettuce (based on the same car that was used for the ECTO-1 in Ghostbusters), and the impressive model and texture pack Diner Models from FGD5 and Mattie, shown below.
SFM Artwork and Animation
Staying in the 3D space, let's take a look at some artwork made with SFM! Just below is Merasmus's Glory Days from
Majora, a fantastic look at how cool Merasmus was before he got old and soldier ruined his life.We've got a few defense-focused pieces this time, notably Rappy 'n' Demo Defend from Vulgar Jack-Priest, and The Last Stand from FarLegends.
Oh, and to help you all stay safe out there, niprip's here to remind you to Wear Your Masks Dummkopfs! Times are tough right now in the world, so don't be like Scout and show a little kindness by wearing a mask when out and around others.
On your left you'll see one of our escape-themed entries this year, Retreat by Chicken Burger. Also be sure to check out the car-powered escape in Chase for the intel by Oshunter!
While you were mapping for 72hr, Soldier studied the blade in Rev's incredible Beware The Blade. Looking sharp!
And to round out our still images, we've got the imposing The Venture of Menn by siomo, seen below. Maybe if you're quite and move slowly it won't see you?
But what if you want your SFM artwork to be moving? Maybe also have sound? Well, fear not, since we got a few animated entries this year as well!
First I'd like to highlight the impressive Something Borrowed, a fantastic little short from Dribbleondo - Au Yeah that I'm hoping will continue to see work beyond the Jam.
We also got the self-aware Werstname struggles with the existential hatred for his own creation from Hamsy!, about short about a creator that suddenly realizes the existence of the Jam only four hours before the deadline and rushes to make an animated short. It was made in under four hours.
Finally, Ronald_D_D is back for their sixth jam in a row with The Soldier calls 911, which had be laughing out loud the first time I watched it! Well done!
Music
We got a few remixes and covers this year. First is the TF2 Theme Noir Jazz Remix from albo3, a neat twist on the main theme. Hurricane Pootis also treated us with a Drunken Pipe Bomb Bass Cover; be sure to check that out as well!
First up, Badger_'s back with another group of TF2-inspired original tracks with the Genuine Anger - Vintage Killstreak EP, the cover which you can see on the right!
If you're looking for something a bit funkier, check out Mikroscopic's Funk Fortress! I love the use of Sniper's Saxophone taunt on the third track, great stuff.
We'll round out this section with Bog Wizard's TF2 Theme metal cover, the band for which former Staff member UEAKCrash is the drummer!
Maps
For our penultimate category, it's time for the maps! We got some really wild entries this year, so let's get started.
We got some promising maps from mappers new new to our community for this jam as well; head up to Mann Co.'s new mars base with arena_mars by KSP_1.2.2.exe, or take a trip to the farm with cp_wheatvalley_72hrs by pogviuemper!
If you're looking for Control Points, head to the moon with HolySnickerPuffs' 3CP Auclair 72, or contend with 4CP back on earth with Maple Falls by Lacry.
If those have too many Control points for you, check out the 2020 72hr remake of a 2016 Summer 72hr remake of a 2016 Winter 72hr map in the form of Wilson's Backalley 2020 (shown left), or the impressive geometry of wyrnee by DrSquishy and toopliss, both of which only have two points! That's a much more reasonable number.
One of the running themes through the maps this year was unique and uncommon gamemodes. Let's start with some of the less-common stock modes, then move into some of the crazier things!
Test your airblasting skills in training mode with tr_airblast by Gamecube762, or head to Caribbean by basilhs333 for some Medieval Mode action, shown below.
We also managed to score two new PASS Time maps this time around, with the skatepark-inspired pass_aerosol by Obamid, or the surprisingly compact, experimental, pass-meter powered doors of pass_shungite by catfish!
We've also got a few catapult-powered twists on more common modes; become a human pebble skipping across a lake in koth_skipping from Whomobile, or load yourself into a massive railgun to deposit points in Solaire's pd_conflux_72!
For something a bit more grounded, we managed to get not only one, but two new Territorial Control maps this year! Hike the trails of a national park in 14bit's sprawling National (shown below), or check out the madness of KoTC in Douglas by Blade x64, an impressive combination of Territorial Control and King of the Hill.
For more twists on KotH, check out the asymmetrical oddity of lovelytoo by ibex (seen left), or the fascinating Archaism by Alpherio, a mini-steetype/koth hybrid with only three points!
There's still more maps with twists on existing modes, too! We've got Yrr's Departure, an Arena CTF map with the flags on trains than move through the map, and Asd417's pl_shipelev72, where the whole map is a train! Er, well, it's a boat, but it acts like a train. For a different take on Domination, check out dom_pigzit72hr2020 by Pigzit, who livestreamed for over 24 hours straight near the end of the Jam!
Not quite a map, but if you're interested in more wild and crazy gamemodes check out BigfootBeto's How TF2 Party was Made for an incredible look into what it took to build a fully functional version of Mario Party inside of a TF2 map!
Finally, we've got two really cool maps with really unique modes: Trust, a 2 Player MvM map with control points (called Guardian mode) from Startacker, and a recreation of the Secure the Objective mode from Rainbow 6 Seige in Emil_Rusboi's map Siege Ohio shown below!
Games and Crafts
Finally, let's take a look at everything else I couldn't fit into the other categories!
On the right is Red Shadow Maggots from returning jammers Brogrammist, Just 10, nekon, and Uya, a parody of Raid Shadow Legends! Very nice. Also be sure to check out POOT, a horror game where you play as a spy being chased by Heavy through a maze by Pretzol. The Windows version is broken at the moment, but I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I played.
Finally, we've got the TF2 card game by eighntes, which seems to have some really neat ideas in it!
In the realm of physical things, 燃える氷BurningIce27 flexed their carpentry skills and made a light-up Wooden control point replica (shown right) which is really, really neat!
We also got two LEGO submissions this year. First, quake in fear at the LEGO Bombinomicon! from Bonk Nickeltoon, then quake in fear a second time with zandergb's Beware! LEGO MONOCULUS! is lurking about..., which is a LEGO version of Monoculus that is—unsurprisingly and terrifyingly—lurking about! Spooky!
And finally, have you ever dreamed of having a demoman that hangs out on your desktop and helped with routine computer tasks? For years we've tried and failed to live out this fantasy, but now thanks to the dream team of Eshap, Ixy, Mitchy, and Lawdee we can finally experience it for ourselves with The Demoman Ukagaka (Desktop Buddy)!
What's next?
Want to see the rest? Check out all 298 entries by heading over to the 72hr Jam Entries section of the download category! Donations to the Jam are still open until October 10th, so if you want to grab a neat medal while donating to a neat cause you can donate here!
Participation and donation medals have already gone out. If you haven't gotten a medal and feel you should have, please contact a Staff member though our Discord or via DM's here on the forums and we'll look into what happened. Those that have already contacted us will have their medals sent out in the next wave soon.
For all the mappers in the audience, if the Jam didn't satisfy your speedmapping itch Microcontests will resume in October. You can follow along over on the Microcontest Megathread for announcements about those!
This Jam has been a wild one, and everyone here at TF2maps.net is looking forwards to what's next. Oh, and for those that have been counting again, you'll have noticed there was only 100 of the promised 101 entries in the showcase so far. During the jam we unknowingly hit a special milestone, so we saved that entry for here. Turns out santumerino's entry Little Less Gun was the10,000th download on the site! See you next jam everyone!
![[GIB] Kapwiing](https://sjc1.vultrobjects.com/tf2maps-forum-attachments/data/avatars/m/33/33837.jpg?1592907127){kind=avatar}
