Stan's Lounge Private Server Thread

Cool video of cp_no_mercy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6riS...

I think I played no_mercy and it really sucked, it might be a good L4D map but not for TF2.

I liked most of the maps enough to give them another try. No Mercy seemed a bit convoluted but perhaps it is better after a few play throughs.

I need to adjust the timers on some of them as they ended prematurely.

No more Ashford, it hasn't a single redeeming characteristic.

Was that the plain zig-zaggy 5 point payload one? I heard a lot of people whining complaining about it, but it didn't seem too horrible, even if it was a bit plain. And too big. (Note to map makers: bigger is not better in maps, please resist the urge to make us play in something the size of Arizona. Open spaces are great when used sparingly, but the key concept is sparingly. Thanks!) I think the original blitz by Blue put a lot of Red off on the map but when we switched, Blue showed that it can be successfully defended. I think that if people play it some more, they might like it more.

Observatory, for me, was the opposite: nice to look at but a bit of a mess as far as layout goes, there's too much going on there.

Ashford doesn't have a lot going for it. It plays ok, and is pretty open with a lot of routes, but it is just so damn generic. Nothing inherently wrong with it, but there are much better maps out there.

No Mercy was briefly entertaining, not one I would want to play a lot though.

Acegikmo[/url]]

icsx wrote:

Are you aware that cp_glacier_rc has an issue that causes fire and other effects to be "broken" in the next map after it? Only thing how to fix them back to normal is restart the game. I am wondering if its fixed in this newer version?

Yeah. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it but to wait until Valve has fixed this bug. I believe it happens on all custom maps using custom particle effects.

So we have our culprit. Anyone else in favor of dropping glacier until that gets fixed?

Dimmerswitch wrote:

Acegikmo[/url]]

icsx wrote:

Are you aware that cp_glacier_rc has an issue that causes fire and other effects to be "broken" in the next map after it? Only thing how to fix them back to normal is restart the game. I am wondering if its fixed in this newer version?

Yeah. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it but to wait until Valve has fixed this bug. I believe it happens on all custom maps using custom particle effects.

So we have our culprit. Anyone else in favor of dropping glacier until that gets fixed?

That would be excellent. I left a little early last night because I couldn't really see anything once it caught fire.

Nightmare wrote:

Let the group admins do it. Actually makes group admin useful for more than spamming Steam notices :)

Yeah I'm cool with that. We have a ton of admins that are on frequently so I think that will work.

Then the next thing is how to we deal with people wanting to join?

Tannhauser wrote:

No more Ashford, it hasn't a single redeeming characteristic.

That map will always have a special place in my heart because it is where i got KK'd and Ubered as a spy on the other team.

TempestBlayze wrote:
Nightmare wrote:

Let the group admins do it. Actually makes group admin useful for more than spamming Steam notices :)

Yeah I'm cool with that. We have a ton of admins that are on frequently so I think that will work.

Then the next thing is how to we deal with people wanting to join?

They must joing the steam TF2 group. I think we just do a similar invite for the group to what is done with the regular steam group. As an added bonus I don't have to manage users. Just send the password on to one of the admins.

If Ashford was less plain, it might be an okay map; we Blues had an advantage, because Red had no idea yet where to defend. Without any really good guns, there was nothing to disrupt our single long cart push; we just kept accumulating on the cart while Reds got evaporated in 2s and 3s. I think if they'd broken us up once after we really got underway, the outcome might have been much different. It would have given their engies a little more time to explore and set up. We were just the 'big blob on the cart' offense, nothing special.

After going through the map, we had a slightly better idea of what was going on, so we had better luck on defense. If the initial roles had been swapped, it might easily have gone the other way.

Honestly, though, the map's just so visually dull and boring that whatever its relative merits, unless it gets spiced up a bit, I'm more interested in experimenting with other levels.

I still want to try full teams on Aerospace. We keep trying, but the gods of random chance are not cooperating.

Nightmare wrote:

Was that the plain zig-zaggy 5 point payload one? I heard a lot of people whining complaining about it, but it didn't seem too horrible, even if it was a bit plain. And too big. (Note to map makers: bigger is not better in maps, please resist the urge to make us play in something the size of Arizona. Open spaces are great when used sparingly, but the key concept is sparingly. Thanks!) I think the original blitz by Blue put a lot of Red off on the map but when we switched, Blue showed that it can be successfully defended. I think that if people play it some more, they might like it more.

Observatory, for me, was the opposite: nice to look at but a bit of a mess as far as layout goes, there's too much going on there.

Red only defended that map on the last point which is pretty much a rip-off of Badwater's last point, except with a worse access for the offense. Once you guys were set up it was hard. We didnt roll as hard as the first round but we didn't stop for too long in any one spot besides the last point. It's just a mediocre map.

I haven't been on the private server to play the new maps, but I would also add to the sentiment that we should not try to add too many new maps at once. At least for me it takes 4 or 5 rounds to really get the layout and the flow. We might be doing some maps a disservice by making summary judgments from one or two playthroughs.

I can't see how anyone sees a glimmer of quality in Ashford, it the most amateurish map we've ever had on the server. Not only did the author have no idea about the right size for TF2 game-play, and made the map far too big, but his great idea for a map was a long corridor. There is hardly any thought given to creating areas for interesting fighting, it is just a haphazard jumble. There are far too few alternative paths, and where they exist, they are awkward to get to. A perfect example is getting to the battlements from the second Blu spawn. Either you have to run a significant distance backwards, or run forward into an area that is pretty likely to be heavily covered by Red. Just look at how little thought was given to good access to alternate paths or those paths themselves, which is what a Payload map thrives on, and you can easily see why this map sucks.

Circlejerk might not be that great, but at least it has an interesting enough idea behind it that I'm willing to play it now and again. Ashford doesn't even have that. It's badly designed, bland, ugly, derivative in areas, and without a single characteristic that sparks the least interest. How Evilhomer even decided on this map I can't begin to guess. I'm not too thrilled with either No Mercy or Gydan, but they both deserve further playing. Ashford's complete lack of quality is stronger than that though.

Hell, we have good Payload maps like Cashworks and Swiftwater, and we've decided against mediocre maps like Halfacre in the past. Why on god's green earth does anyone want to settle with a simply bad map now.

Oh, Rebel, I wanted to ask: what do you think of Ashford?

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

I really don't care if it stays or goes, just wanted to point out that calling a mediocre map sh*tty because it is plain is a bit of a stretch. I do agree that the layout is not inspired, your point about it being one long corridor is absolutely correct, and also agree we have killed other maps in the past for similar reasons.

Still, I had fun on it last night. That's my only criteria for maps.

Ashford was okay. I can take it or leave it. I grabbed maps that either had lots of comments, favorites, or were rated somewhat highly on fpsbanana. I've never played it before. I do think a lot of maps require a few play throughs to make a sound judgement on them. Not sure ashford does since it is pretty straight forward. I think Circlejerk does. I remember hating desert fortress and now I really like it. It is also a fairly straight forward map.

Personally, I'm tired of the current payload maps we have. We do a LOT of payload and while not the best map, Ashford was at least something new.

I'd like to give PL_Waste a shot since it's a little different as both teams push the same cart. It is based on CP_Waste. Just from going through it on the server alone, though, I think it's going to be way too big.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

I'd like to give PL_Waste a shot since it's a little different as both teams push the same cart. It is based on CP_Waste. Just from going through it on the server alone, though, I think it's going to be way too big.

It's Tug of War (at least the RTS map variants).

EvilHomer3k wrote:

They must joing the steam TF2 group. I think we just do a similar invite for the group to what is done with the regular steam group. As an added bonus I don't have to manage users. Just send the password on to one of the admins.

Wait. So there's a GWJ TF2 group that is separate from the main GWJ group?

Radical Ans wrote:
EvilHomer3k wrote:

They must joing the steam TF2 group. I think we just do a similar invite for the group to what is done with the regular steam group. As an added bonus I don't have to manage users. Just send the password on to one of the admins.

Wait. So there's a GWJ TF2 group that is separate from the main GWJ group?

Check my sig!

I think we should add this mod.
http://forums.alliedmods.net/showthr...

Speaking of mods, I wish the Taunt Fortress Mod worked again on the private server. You can select it on the admin voting menu, but nothing happens.

Thanks Mex. I've been away a while and now that I'm getting a shiny new PC I intend on playing a lot more TF2.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

I grabbed maps that either had lots of comments, favorites, or were rated somewhat highly on fpsbanana. I've never played it before.

Now I'm even more confused. Ashford has no comments or favorites, and has only been downloaded 70 times from FPSBanana. And I'd bet that at least half of those downloads were by us.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

Personally, I'm tired of the current payload maps we have. We do a LOT of payload and while not the best map, Ashford was at least something new.

Okay, well I quick search of FPSBanana comes up with Repository and Haywood which look interesting (can't test them out until I get home). TF2Maps.net is another good resource, though they have less finished maps typically. In general though, I'd be weary of this attitude, as the TF2 mapping community puts out such a tiny amount of quality maps. We pretty much have the best of the Payload maps put out all ready on the server.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

I think we should add this mod.
http://forums.alliedmods.net/showthr...

Suicide & teleport for almost instant uber?

Personally, I don't understand why King of the Hill is so well liked. It's boring, and basically turns TF2 into a deathmatch round. Any other map that has control points is all about getting somewhere, and zones of play change every few minutes, especially in something like Granary or Well. It's like half a Hydro match.

Mike, you're like Francis in L4D. You hate everything.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

I think we should add this mod.
http://forums.alliedmods.net/showthr...

The only maps I'd even be curious to try this on are CTF maps other than Aerospace. It would completely unbalance the game everywhere else.
It is an effective turtling counter, but we only have turtling issues on CTF maps. Can you imagine what a roll Steel would turn into with something like this? Ugh.

Personally, I don't understand why TempestBlayze is so well-liked. He shoots people. In the head. A lot. And complains about other forum members hating things.