Image featuring work by Mikroscopic, Majora, and Hutty.
Two weeks ago we set out on another Jam, and two weeks ago we proved what this community was capable of once more. We also learned that 72 hours can very easily become 73 if technical difficulties have any say in the matter! But hey, it wouldn't be a Jam without a couple acts of God thrown in, right?
When all is said and done, the final entry count stands tall at
742, our highest submission count yet! That's over 50 more than the Jam last Winter! And in addition to all those submissions, as of this posting, we raised
$5,800 AUD for Redkite in our first Charity Drive alongside a Jam! Together we can always come together to kick ass and break records every six months, and I couldn't be prouder of our community.
Acknowledgements
Before I take some time to shine a light on these entries, lets first take some time to thank those behind the scenes. While I became somewhat of a figurehead this time for the Jam, I want it be made explicitly clear that this was entirely a group effort to keep running.
@killohurtz stepped up to the plate once more to keep everything steady, likely even doing more work than I did on the management side of things, and the Jam just wouldn't be what it is without her pulling the strings! Next up, another round of applause for
@iiboharz and
@fuzzymellow in handling promotional material for the Jam with the banner we all know and love, with Fuzzy also working with
@Sexy Robot to create the new Charitable Heart medal that we introduced this Jam. And of course, thanks are in order to
@Crash and
@Fr0Z3nR for creating the Jam concept way back when - wouldn't be here without them! In addition to them, thanks to
@Freyja,
@Idolon,
@Berry, and
@LeSwordfish for going through and organizing the entry list as well as setting up the showcase, as well as
@Geit for handling the record-setting number of medals and making sure they ended up in the right hands.
I'd also like to extend thanks to Redkite for partnering with us this summer, and allowing us to run the charity drive alongside everything - it's been a great drive, and I look forward to running more in the future! Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank you - yes,
you - for making this all possible. Without this amazing community, there is no Jam, and I'm so honored to be a part of this amazing assortment of talented individuals. Keep it up, guys!
First off, lets take a look at some of bits of fine art submitted this time around. Starting with Py-Bun's mesmerising
No Mercy [above], we then can check out MADGOTHICGIRL's
Birbs - because hey, we can all appreciate a good set of birbs, right? While Wooflesnow captured the adorable, lovable
Huggable Pyro, leFicae set out to show a summery look at a familiar family in
Summer Days.
To the right, we have Loth's
Mercenaries, a fantastic homage to the art of Metal Gear Solid V. Inquiry's
A Good Day in Pyroland brought bright and cute colors to the table with a nod to our Redkite partner. Fan of the support classes? Then Shou's
Support classes will strike your fancy - and while you're eyeballing some good good support boys, why not take a look at JeannP's
Summer Medic, General G. Wolf's
Mr.Paladin?
Coming up with a voxel-perfect entry is Lo-fi Longcat's
3 Voxelised Weapons, featuring the Headtaker, Prinny Machete, and Shooting Star in a more classic style. Following that is Mr. Snowman's aptly named
A drawing of a Heavy on Badwater. Straight to the point! Then of course, if you're like the rest of us, I'm sure you can relate to Corvalho's
Waiting for the update like... it has been two Jams without one, after all!
Looking for more traditional art? Take a gander at the dry pastel work of Hayde's
Soldier, the watercolor pencil craftsmanship of Saga's
Miss Pauling, and the tattoo-flash watercolor painting of weapon XD's
Tattoo Saxton!
To wrap up the Artwork and Animation section, we have r2d2upgrade's
BONUS DUCKS! Animation to the left, because you can never have too many duck tokens. Ironhawk brought
Mmpnn frphha herrpha! to the table, capturing a colorful dynamic between Pyro and Spy, and then Priest of Pasta wraps up the section with
Seventy-Two Hour Art, reminding us why we're all here.
Starting the next collection of showcased works is Ixy and Duckdog's
Mercs Crossing the Delaware, pictured above, serving as a faithful recreation to the painting of the [almost] same name. Following that is Papyesh's moody and menacing
Target to kill, and The Siphon's vengeful tale of revenge in
The Final Sandvich. G.W., DemoN K!ng, and Dr4cki showed us a sinfully stylish Spy in
Made Mann, while Columbidae gave us a hint of the abstract with
Long Shadow.
To the left, TheSpyCrap gave us a gory taste of Christmas in August with
Christmas Comes Early this Year. Fish Duck captured crisp lighting in a militarized jungle shot of
Fat Rambo, Mr.JC brought the beatdown with
Midnight Mugging, and Sr. Oso gave a warm thanks to Crash in
Inspiration.
Continuing on through the seemingly endless supplies of incredible content, we're met with The Plastic Guy's well-lit homage in
Fortress Rhapsody, followed by CareBear's warm and atmospheric
Master at Work. Arcrenul showed us a true Demoman in
This, this is a Demoman!, Hovii captured the Scout in their element in
Escape, then SirGaspALot set him on fire and left him under careful supervision in
Firefighter Pyro.
Playing off of trends both new and old is hamburger crisis'
The Lime Dimension, bringing powerful color contrasts to the table is Majora with
BLU Bots, and descending from the skies is NewClarion with
Frontiers of War. Eager for a little SFM animation? Look no further than Ronald_D_D's
For Heavy the bell tolls, embedded below.
Vecc gave us a glimpse of a warm, welcoming vista in
When The Summer Ends, johanstefan02 gave life to Crash's grizzled mug in their
Tf2 Sniper Valve Portrait of UEAKCrash, and Rummy reminded us all just how old we are [in a good way] with
10 Years - Generic Looking Up Shot because it's been 10 years.
As seen to the right is AnneSQF's delightfully old school
Horror Flick, followed by Fames' rendition of the same duo in
No Thanks. BloodwingTitan sends bullets and Scouts flying in
Battle on Badlands, while Timo sends Scout on a pleasant trip in
Casual Vacation.
To wrap things up, Chevy W. gladly points a menacingly lit gun in our faces with
A Spy in the Dark, Rev leaves us pleasantly satisfied with
One For The Road, and NyanZak makes sure to end this section on a high note with a heart-warming tribute in the two-part
RedKite & Park.
It wouldn't be a TF2Maps Jam without a few TF2 maps, now would it? Starting off this section right is
Exquisite Corpse [above], a map made by vanSulli, Idolon, and abp. Seba died for this blind collaboration nightmare, and surely they did not die in vain. MegapiemanPHD spiced up KOTH with randomized points in
Graffiti, you'll find that you
just can't get enough in ObserverT's
Central Computing, and Benoist3012 introduced us all to the Team Domination gamemode in
Quartier.
Pictured in part to the left, Fuzzymellow brought forth over 170 new textures as part of an upcoming urban expansion in
Fuzzy's TF2 Urban Texture Pack! And speaking of urban locale, you'll
flip out over Mikroscopic's
Aziz, and while you're at it - why not look at a photograph of Bakscratch and Nicky's
Nickelbak?
Moving forward, take a moment to harmonize yourself in ProfHappycat's
Fengshui, soak up the sun in Pigzit's lush
Araguaia, and reach for the stars in Faux Rhinoceros'
Ares. Got all that? Good, because there's more where that came from.
Feast your eyes to the right on 14Bit's blossoming
Shinden, check out the promising
Launch by Urban, the delightful dockyard of Ibex's
Midnight, and Corvatile's
detail entry, as well as Yrr's
detail spawn!
To wrap up this section, Exactol has come out swinging with the
Wormholes Revamped and
Money Explosion particles, Gadget's provided the ever-useful
Railroad Tracks, Populus and Square did some heavy lifting with the
Cable Car props, and Diva Dan transcended time and space to bring us OOFs on
Sword fight on the heights.
Now to get into all the unique submissions that don't necessarily fit into any of the other categories - there's a lot of neat things to get through here! Up above, we have Kikouille Master's pinchingly difficult
Spycrebs, and that's not the only game submitted this jam - you can also check out Hutty's twinstick roguelite
Cart Crawlers, and Cole Slaw's delightful
TF2Maps.net Unofficial Visual Novel.
To the right, you can appreciate zandergb and their digitally-constructed
Buildin' a sentry (with digital Lego), and while we're on the topic of building things, you can move that gear up with Scampi's
3d-Printable Toolbox, or check out the 3D-printed handiwork of Yotts and their
Working beep boy.
Mr Sir csgokingdom plans to collect some souls with their clay-sculpted
Soul Gargoyle, Gigazelle takes the Engineer out west with
The Western Front, and Birblee dazzles with their
Sniper Crossplay Make Up.
Need a drink? As long as you're of age, Ixy's got you covered with
The Bonktini, pictured to the left. Equally appetizing, but not as edible, is Scrap Lord's
Cardboard Sandvich. Light up the night with Snedic's homemade
Medic Candle, or don your Heavy with Lord_Ruchary's
The disturbing turbant.
As we start to come down from all of this, take some time to settle and listen to some of the music made for this summer's Jam. Aquadango hits hard with their
Rocket Jump Waltz Metal Cover, SafeHax transcribed audio in
the MEDIC! song, and Not-so-Hipster jammed out with
TF2 Theme Bass Guitar Cover. Zoarkenz got unusual with
Charity Heart, Admiral Bread Crumbs got poetic with
Heavy Appreciation Poem, and SourceNick got jumpy with
a tf2 jump movie.
... and that's it!
Now What?
Well, that wraps up the showcase of this summer's Jam! There's so many great entries this year, and I'd highly suggest strolling through
the Download category to take a look at even more incredible submissions.
Those that have participated should have their Participant Medals in TF2, but if you don't, feel free to
hit me up in PM. Any and all donors to the Redkite charity drive should have their medals too as we're now putting the medal cut-off in place.
We're all looking forward to what we can do next as a community, and I'm sure there's plenty in store for all of us! As far as Jams go, we hope to see you all and then some next Winter!
To play us off right, here's one last entry for the road. From The Scurvy Orange, here's
Good Grief.