CTF 2Fort Revamp B3 uploaded to Steam Workshop
After coming across another stolen/plagiarized copy, I decided to try uploading the map to the new (comparatively) Steam Workshop: CTF 2Fort Revamp
Dealing with the Source SDK again, I imagine this is a bit like Chell felt at the start of Portal 2: You realize a whole bunch of time passed, and all the nice humming machinery you remember is in disrepair while a few new weird mechanics exist.
This also marks an attempt to overcome a sort of writer's block that uses the excuse of "it's not good enough to share yet", which usually ends up with all of my creative-energy going into pun-filled Reddit comments. We'll see.
2fort_revamp is more popular than I thought… when you count the renamed ripoff.
Someone accused me of making minor changes to a map called ctf_2fort_freak today. OK, it was a while ago, but I only noticed I had youtube messages to moderate today.
Turns out the folks at The Gamers Playground have two "2fort Freak" servers. The only problem? It's a direct copy of ctf_2fort_revamp_b1, which I released on FPSBanana back in July 2009. It's even got the spots where you can fly around and see my name. I should emphasize that it's entirely possible the folks running the server don't know it, and that instead some unscrupulous player presented a renamed file to them.
Hey, that's MY map...
So I'm feeling a bit conflicted. Somewhat pissed, and somewhat happy that people like the ideas behind ctf_2fort_revamp more than the statistics would suggest.
CTF_2fort_Revamp_b3 released
The Beta-3 release of ctf_2fort_revamp is out. For anyone asking: "WTF is that?" it's an "improved" version of CTF_2fort designed to be less stalemate-prone... To make it a bit more fun to capture the flag than to simply defend it.
You can download it from FpsBanana GameBanana. Edit: If that doesn't work, grab the local copy.
The main changes from Beta-2 are...
The many faces of ramps
One of the big features of 2Fort Revamp is to change how people treat the central water pool, so I thought I'd detail some of my design decisions (and past attempts) to alter it.
Normally, it's a route to be avoided because it's inconvenient. If you fall in, you often must go through a long extremely-predictable path into the enemy base. A path that's much further than just crossing the bridge. Not only that, but if the enemy puts up stiff resistance, your only choice is to backtrack through an equally-long path through your own base to end up where you started. It's handy to avoid the snipers, but in many ways it is too inconvenient.
By making it easier to backtrack from the sewers, I believe it would make people more likely to use them. Why? Because you don't commit as much by going and taking a look. Here are some of the variations I've tried over time...
Resuming ctf_2fort_revamp_b3
A while back I decided that I wanted to learn how to make new maps in Source engine, specifically for TF2. Since it was my first exposure to map-making I decided to pick a learning-project where I could work incrementally. One of the stock maps for TF2, ctf_2fort is both loved and hated, although both sides will often agree it has something to do with how prone it is to non-tense stalemates.
More below the fold.