Header image by @Suna, featuring Jam entries by @Erk, @Rev, @Chuck_TF, Sparcdoctor, Spektral, Phe, @Mess About, @CrowDough, and @VAEI
After significant delay working on the new site, among other things, it's finally time... for the 2021 Winter Jam Showcase! Since this was our biggest Jam ever in terms of donations, we decided this would also be our biggest showcase ever as well with 127 entries!
The Numbers
This year we received 345 valid entries, slightly more than the 298 entries last year. Additionally, we managed to raise $10,155.82 in donations from 1122 different donors, shattering our previous records! This year the money went to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a hospital that specializes in researching and providing treatment for catastrophic diseases in children. Once more I'm immensely proud of our the community who has come together to raise money for such an awesome cause.
Here's a breakdown of the valid entries this time around!
Code:
Maps 118
Items 6
SFMs 77
Videos 6
Models 11
Artworks 76
Cosmetics 5
Music 5
Warpaints 8
Unusuals/Particles 6
Others 27Once more, the quality of entries has gone up too, since last year we showcased 33.9% of submissions and this year we're showing off 36.8%!
Acknowledgements
Before we really begin, we need to get the special thanks out of the way! Huge thank you to @Suna for stepping up to organize the Jam this year, as well as co-hosting the official TF2Maps.net Twitch Stream of the event with @nesman. Live coverage of the Jam like this was new for us, and I can't thank them enough for taking the plunge and hosting such a cool stream. If you'd like to watch the Jam coverage, you can find full VODs of the show in this playlist!
Special thanks to everyone that helped sort the entries and donations: @toopliss, @Mâché, @Xbmann, @Suna, @Erk, @14bit, and @nesman. The showcase wouldn't exist without you!
One more big thank you to the rest of the staff, server mods, and gold stars that were not listed as well for keeping things running while I was off making two maps while managing my own stream and co-hosting the offical stream at the same time all at the same time. Without you all I'd not be able to handle such a packed schedule! And as tradition, special thanks to @Crash and @Fruity Snacks for creating the Jam concept in the first place.
And I know it's a bit cheesy but I'd like to thank you, the reader, as well. Without you and the rest of the community, this Jam wouldn't exist. I'm constantly amazed to be a part of this community, and look forward to seeing your creativity on display again and again.
Now, on to the showcase!
Artwork
Artwork is up first this year, starting with Team Fortress quad colored graphic design by @Suberb Anthro (seen above)!
For some Smissmas cheer, check out Soldier dressed as a mall santa in Mall Santa from @VAEI, @Veliass's Merry Smissma 2021! render in Blender, or a Merry Little Pyro from @miles94!And speaking of Pyro, there's a lot of art of them this year! Don't miss out on pyro! from @mcnaldos (shown left), have a Snow day with Pyro and @CrowDough, or check out how excited he is in Mr. Monochromatic Mann from @Fat
@Bonk Nickeltoon has returned once more with LEGO versions of weapons, this time with LEGO Sniper Weapons: The Classic and Bushwacka!
We got some neat pixel art this time, notably @Gustavocoste's Payload Pixel Art and @heyimtava's super neat TF2Pixel mercs. And speaking of art that contains the whole team, check out @ThatMisterFoxx's incredible Poker Night, shown below!
If you're looking for MvM-related art, check out @Squidward... no wait's 72 Hour Jam Entry which incorporates lots of facets of the game into one image, @Tommy the Rabbit's Admiring a Trophy, or @StarStrider's Time to pitch in and MANN UP! propaganda poster.Speaking of posters, check out @Mess About's TF2 WINTER JAM typography.
Soldier had a few good works focused on him, so be sure you don't miss Mug Mann from @Shiver or the wacky and wonderful its between you and... him by @amasterfuljuice (seen right)!
Heavy got a moment in the spotlight with Heavy Weapons Guy by @Bakevv, and Spy got their moment as well in @redemer19's Spy Sketches.
And for a fun team up/crossover, check out the super cute Scout Heroes from @MOUNTAIN (hun), which imagines Scout, Pyro, and Soldier as a team in Sonic Heros! Neat!
Speaking of crossovers, be sure to check out Warhammer Fantasy Meets Team Fortress 2 - Dwarven Engineer by @r2d2upgrade.And speaking of engineer, take a look at him have a meltdown over his sentry in Nope Engie Nope by @Oji or share in his excitement over finding an unusual in @Vitreous Glassy's Engineer finds an unusual!
Up next is art featuring Demoman, and we got some really great pieces of them this time around. Be sure to check out the really impressive stained-glass-inspired Demoknight, King of Melee from @Borning Moner, and don't miss the excellent To Slay the Beast (shown left) by @Neavlof. This small version doesn't do it justice, be sure to click though and check in out in its full resolution!
And finally, we've got a bit of map artwork. First, be sure to check out hydro from @scarfie for some TC memories, then check out this fantastic bit of map concept art to show off to round out the Artwork section: @Chickenman456's homage to Kaiju films, pl_walkingbread Concept Art!
Cosmetics
Up next are cosmetics and weapons! First of those; hats!Check out The E Major (shown right) for Medic by @Interplanetary Goat, Wurlmon, and/or Chickenman, then be sure to take a look at @Suggo's very first hat, the Meal Mishap for Heavy!
For some high-tech tactial googles, be sure to set your sights on the [72 HOUR JAM] Accelerated Training Peers for spy, created by @Awan™, The Weekly Sofa, MisterCalle, and Hotrod.
And finally if you're looking for an all-class hat, check out The Punched Portrait from @MstaPink, shown below:
For non-hat cosmetics, feast your eyes on the Techie's Tassels (shown left), a brilliant bit of Engineer clothing by @Big Bob and Tabby.This year, we got very few weapon submissions, so we thought we'd round out this section by highlighting a few.
First, check out the Minecraft-Styled Classic by @DudeTheNinja, a Minecraft-styled re-imagining of the Classic sniper rifle for Sniper! Allegedly, the model was made in such a way that it's usable both in TF2 and Vanilla Minecraft. Neat!
And finally, we've got the Expiration date death clock misc and invis watch by @Pinewabble, which works as either a functional Invisi Watch weapon for Spy, or as an all-class cosmetic. Great work!
Audio/Video
Tired of looking at still images? It's time to check out the audio and video entries this year, starting with Demoman TF2 by @Blankoy:
For our other video entry in the showcase, we've decided to show off the only SFM animation we got this year; Good Night. (No Music) by @NotSamG, which was their first ever SFM animation! Great work!
For music this year, we've picked out three tracks for you all!Up first is scout gaming by @Sarexicus, a song built from various in-game voice lines and sound effects (album cover shown right).
Next, we've got a neat Rocket Jump Waltz (Cover) using SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive sound fonts, transcribed by ear by @Goya Hayate. Neat!
Finally, to round out the audio/video section, we've got Get Fighting! (Song) by @Mikroscopic, a really funky remix of the competitive mode theme.
Props and TF2 Assets
We got some really neat new props and other TF2 Assets for use in TF2 maps this year! Up first, check out @Bakscratch's Floopy Disk set (shown below), then be sure to check out this Coffee Cup from @viscaedis for another useful small prop.
For some medium-sized props, check out @G-Gnome505's Invasion Human Commando Bust!, @Berke's Microphone Stand, or @twilhelm123's I just wanna grill (which is a grill). Finally for a large prop, check out the incredible TF2 p30 Stepvan (shown left) from @KrazyZark, one of the nicest vehicles I've seen in the TF2 style. Super cool!If you're looking for a reskin of a character (which isn't quite a prop), make sure you take a peek at the JimiJam-Branded Scout by @EveriK. Neat!
Up next, we've got a few signs and overlays. If you're looking to make a map set in a chemical factory, look no further than the DDT Misc. Decal Pack from @Smurfin USA. Or, if you're looking for more meta signage for you map, check out the Meta Mapmaking Signage pack from @SaltyPapi.
Up next, particles! For map, not unusuals; those are later. Up first is @catfish's super cool Dust Devil Particle, which comes in both regular-sized and skybox versions (shown in the video below).
If you need something a bit more flexible, be sure to check out Yrr's General Purpose Particles, a pack of 17 useful particles from sparks, to wind, and more from @Yrr!
To round out our particles section, we've got two entries from @Exactol: be sure to check out both their Fireplace particles
and Vent particles!
And finally, have you ever wanted to have NPCs running around in your maps like in this video below? If so, check out the [GUIDE] generic_actor (NPC) entity guide by @SpookyToad!
Warpaints and Unusuals
Above you'll find the extremely festive and also somewhat jam-themed Warpaint: Jimi Smissmas! by @Chuck_TF, Sparcdoctor, Spektral and Phe! It's always fun to see people find ways to use the Jimi Jam logo in things, and this is no exception.
If you're looking for something a bit more purple, be sure to check out @Flexecutioner's very first and very purple warpaint Tempered Steel, or the aptly named Purple Nightmare by @Radar.In the unusuals department, we also got some fantastic entries, and one of them was also very purple! Check out Hylic (Unusual Effect) by @roga4 and Venterok for that.
On the right you'll find the super cool Fantastical Fireworks to help ring in the new year (which has already passed us by a few months, whoops!) by @Bonk Nickeltoon and @Boba.
Also be sure not to miss the Enchanted Weave effect from @Glebotron and Caesar Roll; it's very neat as well!
Finally for unusuals, we've got one of the most unique unusual effects I've seen: the entirety of the somewhat-well-known Bad Apple!! video running as an unusual effect inside of TF2. You can find a video of Bad Apple!! but it's an unusual effect in Team Fortress 2. by @Ronald_D_D below. Wild!
SFM Artwork
Above you'll find Pyro Facing The Iron Giant by @Rev, but if you want more cool solo-focused posters focusing on the other classes, check out Scout Skateboarding by @yonkk, or Scout standing (in a cool way) by @Slamm, or Scout sleeping in The Cozy Season (72HR) by @KlutzyKakes. Hm, I guess that was just all Scout posters.
Oh well, here's another poster of Scout on the right: Snowboarder Pursuit by @Dribbleondo - Au Yeah!For more snowy-related posters, don't miss The Snowball effect by @PootisGodAnimations, a neat homage to End of the Line but with Heavy stopping a snowball instead of a train, or two different snowy scenes with Heavy and Sniper in @Yuki's 72hr Jam entry.
And if you're looking for a cozy wintery scene without any snow in it, be sure to also check out A BLU Christmas by @1AsianPanda, a very cute scene with Medic, Engineer, Pyro and Spy.
Speaking of spy, he's teamed up with Demoman in an incredible poster for the Spytech Chronicles by @pivotman319, which you can see on the left. Absolutely stunning!For another movie-like poster (but this time featuring Engineer), don't miss Hold On Right There Partner.... by @demoknight tf2 2.
Engineer also appears alongside Soldier in SFM|Preparations by @boop, so check that out too!
Almost finally, check out Sniper in Camping by @Knight_Nightly.
And actually finally for SFM posters, below you'll find the scout's impending demise in @str1k's Everyone knows this. Better luck next time, Scout!
Maps
Now for the moment some of you have been waiting for, the maps!
First up, some KotH maps! Above you'll find a timelapse of the making of koth_coalyard by @ethosaur. Be sure to check the thread for the other two parts of the timelapse!
To the right you'll see @BadassCook's KOTH Westcliff, their second entry this year after some neat spy artwork. For another map that is two words smashed together, check out @Kard1naJI's [KOTH] SnowGround, the mapper's first map!Don't miss the @Freyja's high-flying KotH above the clouds, Cloudtopped, a reimagining of her 2015 Jam map, Cloudtop.
If you want trains in your KotH map, check out @MC_Labs15's MCLJam. Or, if you want impressive displacement rockwork in your KotH map, check out @norfolk's stunning norfolk3.
And finally, if you want a CTF/KotH hybrid check out ctf_foods21map72hr by @Food!
Up next, we've got some really neat Attack/Defense maps for you. Don't miss the super cool giant robots in @*Turns into crocodile*'s Farala, the rocket base in @Squaggies' Andean, or the unique red-recap mechanics in @Custard1's Woodford. Finally, check out the Gravelpit-inspired action on GoldWrapper by @Rhamkin (shown below)!
If you want to both capture a point and then push a cart in the same map we got some hybrid CP/PL maps this year! Check out @DrSquishy and @toopliss's La Brea, a hybrid spiritual sucessor to one of their old maps, tarpit, or @Maid's hybrid pl_maid72hr2021.If you'd rather just push a cart and not have to deal with capture points, we've got a few non-hybrid payload maps too! Be sure not to miss @Emil_Rusboi's Deeprock, which features a drill as a cart. Very cool!
Finally for Payload, don't miss Pit from @Sonoma (shown left), a total re-artpass of the infamous minecraft-themed pl_minepit. Check out the thread for some comparison shots, it's very cool.
Now Payload Race, on the other hand, still has a few maps for us to cover!Up first (and on your right) you'll see @SuperLuxDeluxe's super neat PLR map Unicorn.
For more PLR action, don't miss plr_trident from @MrOakridge, or plr_stackman_72w2021 by @Stack Man.
And finally for PLR, don't forget about Plr_renaissance (72h) from @Commingle, which requires teams to escort trams down city streets in place of standard carts. Super creative!
Let's take a bit of a break from standard game modes and show off some of the really wild stuff! Up first is the absolutily incredible, fully playable, [[ Spamton NEO boss fight ]] by @Box Of Paper. Check out the timelapse of it being made below, it's quite impressive!
If you're looking to outrun some zombies in the snow, check out ZE Avalanche Peak by @nutwoomy and eltra. If you'd rather have your snow zombie-free, take a look at kc_summit by @cheese_in_my_soup for a pretty nifty Kill Confirmed map (shown left).If you're interested in playing dodgeball, @Xbmann has you covered with their TFDB map Branded.
If you'd rather play some CS:GO instead, try out Cornucopia from @TheFluffycart, an all-sniper CrikyStrike Defusal map.
For some more class-specific maps, don't miss the wildly fun, all-spy Stabfest from @Buic, or head over to @speedyll's first ever map jump_practice_a2 for some jump practice on soldier.
If crazy logic is what interests you, we've got two absolutely insane logic setups for you. First is @Skylark's Campaign Gamemode Prefab, quite possibly the most complicated game mode ever designed in TF2. Seriously, check it out, my descriptions can't possibly do it justice. Second, @BigfootBeto has started working on a second fully-working rendition of Mario Party in TF2, TF2 Party 2 Pre-Alpha, for you to check out as well (shown below).
Finally for non-standard maps, we've actually got one from an entirely different game, Portal 2! Check out @Spleep's [72H] Test DU5780W1 (Portal 2), an adaptation of Dustbowl into a test chamber in Portal 2.
Back to standard maps, and we'll start off with a couple of modes that only got one map each. Check out our one MvM map, @Ismaciodismorphus's 72Victora (which is also medieval mode!), and our one PD map, @Mercia's Monstrum!
This year, as a donation incentive for passing $6,500, Staff Member @14bit was forced to make two entire maps during the 72 hours: the London-themed rd_14bit_72 featuring active train lines running through the reactor core rooms (shown below), and the extremely compact, yukon-themed arena_14bit_72. Impressive!
Speaking of Arena maps, we got some neat ones as well. @SnickerPuffs made a cool Arena/CTF hybrid called Autogyro for you to check out, and we got two 1v1 arena maps: arena_trainbridge_a1 by @TechnicMatt and arena_72alex by @Alex.bsp (which might actually be a KotH map now?).
How about some multistage maps? We got at least three this year!Don't miss @DoctorDoomtrain64's creative multistage KotH Weather Report, where the weather changes every round to open and block different routes. Very cool!
For some fast-paced mulistage Arena action, look no further than @Le Codex's Codex 72 2021, a Best-of-5 rapid-fire burst of Arena fun.
And finally, don't miss out on the impressive Overload (seen right) by @Alpheri and @zythe_, a full 3-stage payload map featuring tesla coils, explosions, and a train smashing through a gate to change the layout mid-stage! Absolutely incredible.
And to round out the maps section, we've got some detail scenes for you! Below you'll find @pont's pont 72hr2021, one of the most convincing underground bases I've seen. Stunning!
On the left you'll find @HMK-3's Sewell Recreation, a recreation of a photo of the Sewell mining town in Chile. Be sure to check the thread to see the comparison shot with the original photo, it's very close!For a bit of interaction with your detail scene, check out the Interactble 3D City Poster by @Will Alfred, a neat little window into a scene, almost like you're looking at a 3D photograph.
And finally, If you're looking for a place to cozy up in the cold, we've got two cozy cabin scenes for you! Explore the inside of a cabin in Cabin Fever by @xmas, or explore all around one in the snow in @Erk's Cabin (shown below).
Games, Crafts, Models, and Everything Else!
And finally, to round out the showcase, everything else!
Have you ever wanted to interview the Scout? Now you can in Meet the Director Visual Novel: Scout Edition (shown above), a full-fledged visual novel featuring three different endings, created by @Eshap, Amadeus, Mitchy, and Lawdee. Incredible stuff!
Up next, a few TF2-inspired stand-alone 3D models! Check out the super cool low-poly recreation of The Powerjack, The Pixel-Jack by @Deroplat, the cute BrickHeadz-style Lego Soldier by @zandergb, and the incredibly detailed Saxton Hale Statue @Barno, available in both normal and Australium variants (shown right)!If you like your models a bit more physical, we had some of those too! I'd like to highlight @Backslay's really cute Clay Sculpts for 72h Jam for that.
I also highly recommend giving @Fault in Maps' journey to recreate the The TF2 Train, HO Scale in real life; it's quite a cool process to follow along, and the end result is super neat.
For more crafty entries, check out @lilongwe's cute Paper Class Tokens, or try your luck with @sour dani's unbox.tf - DigiCase, a physical unboxing simulator/Discord bot!
Ever wanted to make yourself a festive shovel? Now you can with this handy Festivizing a shovel IRL guide from @Clay / Tsutsu, shown below.
And to finish off this section, here's The Deer from Sunshine by @Startacker! and Atrophy (shown below)!
What's next?
Want more? Be sure to check out all 345 entries by heading over to the 72hr Jam Entries section of the download category!
Participation and donation medals have already been sent out; if you did not get one and should have, we are very sorry but the deadline for claiming those was in February, as stated in the original Jam post.
Thanks for helping make this the most successful Jam yet! Everyone here at TF2M is already looking towards what's next. We've got a packed year ahead: be sure to stick around for the infamous April Fools Gameday, this year's Major/Minor contests, and Season 3 of Microcontests, our 24hr mapping challenges!
And to wrap things up, here's one last entry: On your way to... by @santumerino, who also capped off last year's Jam Showcase by complete coincidence! See you all next time!
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