Custom F.E.A.R Lorcona Cards

A few custom cards I made in 2024 based on the game F.E.A.R for Lorcona. I remember them being fun but a bit over-costed maybe.

Last Flag - Beta Feedback

I've been playing the beta for Last Flag; a PVP, MOBA-esce, third person shooter, with the main gamemode being CTF where players hide the flag at the start of the round. I think the overall concept is interesting, but the gameplay feels bad.

Currently the biggest issue is combat and movement feeling very stiff. This gameplay clip presents a lot of the issues I'm having.

In the clip I'm fighting a player 1v1, the enemy is able to instantly strafe left and right making his movement so unpredictable that tracking him is very difficult. Players having less control while in the air would make it feel way better.

Another issue is shown towards the end of the clip, I try to jump up onto a ramp and end up falling because I hit the corner of the upper platform. I technically completely missed the jump, but I missed it by such a small margin that it feels bad. Theres a disconnect here between player action and expectation. Having players be able to mantle ledges fixes edge cases like this and makes the game feel more fluid.

Deadlock is a pretty good example of really fluid and satisfying movement, and while I think a lot of it is a bit too vertical for something like Last Flag, there are aspects that could be taken that'd make the game feel more fun.

Also, this is super subjective, but I hate Last Flag being set in a wacky violent gameshow. It gives some justification for there being an announcer commentating game actions, but the idea is just so overdone. It feels very 2015 and I really think it's a trend that needs to die off.

Oldwood

 Here's a few screens from a CTF map I did last year for Christmas. The artpass was done super-fast so I didn't really save any in dev screenshots, might come back and polish it up some more later this year.

Workshop Link if you want to check it out.

Classic+ High Elves

 If they add a neutral high elf faction to Classic+ they need to look like this.

TF2 2025 Summer Map Predictions

 

These are my predictions for maps to most likely get into the TF2 Summer update.

Here are the links to the individual Workshop pages.

Oilchange

Citadel

Naphtha

Blastforge

Idol

Cargo

Lowtide

 This is a layout and remake of my other map Karnak that I started earlier this year, been spending the past week artpassing it. I've been referencing a lot of older Valve maps for the artpass, mainly Granary and Well, I wanted it to have a classic feel.

As a remake of Karnak it's actually a completely new map, I remade the base layout from scratch and added routes/geo that I wanted to do in the original. 

Here's some screenshots of the current version. Download links will be at the bottom of post.

Thats it, you can download it from the Steam Workshop or TF2Maps.

Ye Olde Conteste

Recently I helped judge some maps in a Team Fortress 2 Medieval Mode mapping contest, a byproduct of this being that I was exposed to hours of TF2 melee only gameplay. As a result of this exposure, it helped me to better identify which type of layout/gamemode combination does and doesn't work for this style of play. This post is mainly going to highlight maps from the contest that I thought did well at accommodating the medieval handicap.

Fopdoodle / Pithaul

I'm pairing these maps together because they both use a game element introduced in Scream Fortress 2024 with the map Freaky Fair, that being a MOBA-esce style shop system allowing players to buy upgrades for their weapons and stats.

The main issue with medieval mode is that strips most of the complexity from the game, melee as a system in TF2 is not a focus and forcing all classes to only melee equalizes them in a way that is very unfun. The shop system that these maps introduce add enough depth that is otherwise absent.

Between the two I enjoy Fopdoodle more, it rebalances the money gain amount in a way which allows becoming OP to happen faster. It also introduces some custom upgrades that enable some classes. Pithaul is fun but it's also arena, doesn't give you as much time to feel strong.

Drunkard

I think asymmetrical modes in general work well with medieval, and A/D CTF is a very interesting mode. It creates VIP-like gameplay that deviates enough from standard A/D to make for pretty interesting gameplay. 

The layout features some pretty tight chokes which I think enables it to play well. Medieval tends to cater to a more mosh pit style of gameplay, so players funneling into these chokes create a natural defense. It feels good as an attacker to manage to push through and cap, and it feels chaotic as a defender trying to push out of the base, it's fun.

The flag also acts a pretty eloquent barrier to how many players can actively capture the objective. Without engineer's area of denial, a normal attack/defense map would get ran through pretty quickly by players just managing to sneak through. 

Joust

Compared to the other maps in the contest Joust is standard, it's simply a medieval arena map. I really enjoyed the pathing through the map, the underground route leading to the other base was fun to contest and felt pretty good when used effectively

I think one of reasons I enjoyed this map more Jarl, another standard arena map, is the lack of height in it's layout. I feel like medieval plays badly with varying height, it's just not fun to be able to see someone standing on a tall ledge and have no way to actually fight them. Also, Medics and Snipers can abuse height and be generally pretty annoying.

Tour

Tour does a lot of heavy lifting with its implementation of CTF. I think CTF works well in a medieval context but there's a lot of minor adjustments it needs to actually have it play well. The main issue is Scouts and Demos can steal and capture the flag reliably due to their movement options. The control points in Tour completely fix this issue, forcing players to capture it first lets nerfs Scouts and allows other classes to defend effectively.

From Alpha to Artpass

 Here's a few gifs I made showcasing the layout and artpass progression of my TF2 map Fortezza.

You can find the map on the Steam Workshop, and TF2Maps.net

Steam Workshop

TF2M

Outside of Blue spawn, leading into Point A.

Point A defensive building with gates leading to B

Street behind A point that Blue must push through to attack B Point.

Point B defensive building and Red Spawn.

Fortezza Artpass Completed

Over the last few weeks I've been working on the artpass for Fortezza. Today I finally have it in a state that feels overall finished, minus a few minor details maybe. I plan to release it on the Workshop sometimes within the next few days.

Here are some screenshots of the current version.

Fortezza Artpass WIP

Decided to try and get this map art passed for Winter 2024. Got some pretty nice texture assets from a Italian pack KrazyZark is working on.

Working on the map bit by bit and this is, so far, the most complete. Still a lot of work to do.

Fortezza

Forgot to post for a bit. Here is a map I've been working on this past year. It's super inspired by Avanti and Dustbowl. Currently testing it with a vscript VIP mode, but I'm open to converting it back to normal A/D.

Graveshift

 Introducing Graveshift! A medieval CTF map for TF2!  

Story: Two opposing mausoleums have been set up as listening posts, recording all the comings and goings from the other team's graveyard. Break in, steal the intel, and find out what exactly they've discovered...

I started the layout for this map last year for a Halloween mapping contest. During that contest I got the layout pretty final but didn't have enough time to actually artpass the whole thing in time for the Halloween update deadline. Sat on it for a year and started working on it again earlier this month, got it finished in time this time.

Here's a few screens. 

Still have a little bit of polishing to do for parts of it, but I'm pretty happy with where I have it now. 

Here's a link to the workshop page if you want to check it out.

TF2 100 Player Layout Idea

 

Quick lil sketch idea, layout would have 3 main mid areas leading all leading into a final cap zone. Game mode would be DoD style 5cp, all the points start unlocked and teams have to control them all to win.

Karesansui WiP a6a

- Redesigned spawn area to enable better player flow to other routes.

- Changed routes into mid to hopefully help players rotate

- Changed some height near point so movement onto cap area feels more gradual.

- Managed some sightlines.

- Added a few detail props.

The main issue of the previous version was player routing. Players coming from spawn tended to only use one route to mid, leaving pressure off of half the map and making defending a bit easier than it should be. The was happening due to the old spawn being angled in a way that encouraged players to use the route that was closest to them. The fix was pretty simple, I repositioned spawn so that all routes equally far from it.

The other changes to the map aren't as big, mostly just minor changes around mid to hopefully make it play a little less awkwardly.

View from new spawn

Karesansui WiP a5

 Been working on this Koth map for TF2. Main issue with the layout so far is that mid plays very defensively for the enemy team. I think I might have gotten it into a state where it might not be so hard to attack, waiting to see how it playtests.

If mid plays well I'm going to focus more on some of the routes into it. The spawn area feels super underdeveloped right now, just flat with limited options for defending from forward holds.

I really like the overall layout though; I have a bunch of little hills and caves and I like how they interlock into mid. Kinda want to enable more scout movement too, I had a cool double jump to high ground route but I think I may have unintentionally removed it in this version.

Here are the current screens.