Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper
Hello! I've decided to make this thread to suggest if my map vsh_project_powerup_a16 could get playtested on your VSH servers, along with a few map edits of existing maps which are the following:

  • vsh_toys_b2_skial_v2
  • vsh_manncohq_v14_skial_v1
  • vsh_spaaaaaace_v1_s3_skial_v1
  • vsh_castle_siege_b11_skial_v1
  • vsh_weaponsdepot_lz_b2_skial_v1

The changes made to these maps are quality of life changes, such as more health and ammo pack scattered around the map, map exploit fixes and more! I've suffixed skial_v[number] to the map names as I don't know what naming conventions you use for edited maps made for the community, let me know if this is wrong.

More information can be viewed in the changlog spoiler.
Let me know what you think, if you agree or disagree to these changes, I made them based what I thought needed changing.

vsh_toys_b2_skial_v2
  • Added more health and ammo around the map
  • Trails attached the bosses to make it easier to spot the boss in a crowd(up to 4 trails are supported in case multi-bosses ever become a thing in VSH)
  • Medics gain 6 seconds of faster ubercharge rate at round start to help mitigate the lost time charging ubercharge when the time is counting down to start the round
  • Stages change everytime Hale wins a round
  • Active capture point unlocks automatically after 2 minutes left on the clock.
  • Teams can't switch teams to prevent issues with the map logic
  • Active stage control point opens automatically after 2 minutes
  • Mission briefing shows a description of the VSH gamemode

vsh_manncohq_v14_skial_v1
  • Added more health and ammo around the map
  • Nerfed the func_nobuild on some buildings where engineers could benefit building on without the spots being too powerful
  • Trails attached the bosses to make it easier to spot the boss in a crowd(up to 4 trails are supported in case multi-bosses ever become a thing in VSH)
  • Medics gain 6 seconds of faster ubercharge rate at round start to help mitigate the lost time charging ubercharge when the time is counting down to start the round
  • Made a non solid roof vent prop solid
  • Mission briefing shows a description of the VSH gamemode

vsh_spaaaaaace_v1_s3_skial_v1
  • Added more health and ammo around the map
  • Trails attached the bosses to make it easier to spot the boss in a crowd(up to 4 trails are supported in case multi-bosses ever become a thing in VSH)
  • Medics gain 6 seconds of faster ubercharge rate at round start to help mitigate the lost time charging ubercharge when the time is counting down to start the round
  • Falling off the map as RED does not result in death anymore, you'll be teleported back onto the map
  • Made some spots with high potential of griefing for engineers unable to have buildings built on them
  • Fixed Hale being able to get out of the playing area near his spawn, he'll be teleported onto the map
  • Preemptively made some rocks outside the playing area not solid to players to avoid potiential exploits
  • Clipping has been improved all around the map
  • Capping the point time slightly extended from 4s to 10s
  • Broken gravity feature fixed, hit the red core to activate lowered gravity for 30 seconds, cooldown is 90 seconds, audio cues for when gravity turns on or off
  • Mission briefing shows a description of the VSH gamemode


vsh_castle_siege_b11_skial_v1

  • Added more health and ammo around the map
  • Trails attached the bosses to make it easier to spot the boss in a crowd(up to 4 trails are supported in case multi-bosses ever become a thing in VSH)
  • Medics gain 6 seconds of faster ubercharge rate at round start to help mitigate the lost time charging ubercharge when the time is counting down to start the round
  • Mission briefing shows a description of the VSH gamemode

vsh_weaponsdepot_lz_b2_skial_v1
  • Added more health and ammo around the map
  • Trails attached the bosses to make it easier to spot the boss in a crowd(up to 4 trails are supported in case multi-bosses ever become a thing in VSH)
  • Medics gain 6 seconds of faster ubercharge rate at round start to help mitigate the lost time charging ubercharge when the time is counting down to start the round
  • Fixed the doors closing automatically even if a player is within the required distance to open them
  • Boss AFK killer has been improved, it kills faster and is more precise
  • Mission briefing shows a description of the VSH gamemode
ZrIK0Wp.jpg
jLJSe5h.jpg

hnaB4Xb.jpg
Click this to download the map edits

One more thing, I have 2 config files for the maps: vsh_toys_b2_skial_v2 and vsh_project_powerup_a16
These config files are to be placed at tf/cfg on the server, which execute only when the mentioned maps are loaded to be played on. The configs contain these commands and will take into effect upon execution:
Code:
tf_bot_quota 3 expert
tf_bot_quota_mode fill
These are commands you are instructed to setup when installing VSH on your server which can be seen here https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=244209 but the way it differs from the configs is that tf_bot_quota is set to 2.

The config commands do the following, fills the server with 3 bots when a player has joined an empty server and the bots get kicked out as players join teams and when there's 3 players on server, all the bots will be kicked out.
It functions the same when a server is dropping in it's population, bots will fill in when there's below 3 players on the server.

Any changes made by the configs will be written over by the server config as the map specific configs execute after the server config when the server changes to another map as long you have those commands in your server config with the settings you want them to have for the other maps.

This is to keep interference with map logic and gameplay on these maps to a minimum, the maps work fine without them but it's always nice to take precautions to ensure everything goes smooth. Right now, 2 bots to fill in isn't enough, this situation can happen with only 2 bots filling in:
l5qHncx.jpg
the game is stuck like this forever until one player decides to switch to the empty team to get things started.
And since there's a player already in a team, the second bot is kicked and won't fill the empty team because the quota is set to 2.
A player stuck with the game like this may not realize that they should switch to the empty team for the game to start.
Setting tf_bot_quota to 3 will ensure there will always be someone on either team whether it's a player or a bot and this will no longer happen.

Click here to download the configs

Now onto the subject of my own creation for the VSH gamemode, vsh_project_powerup_a16, the name is currently a placeholder and the map is in it's alpha stages, I feel I've done all the testing I could have done on my own and with friends and now I feel it's ready for playtesting on a populated server. This map is designed for the VSH gamemode so keep that in mind if you decide to use it for Freak Fortress 2.

This map includes some features which I think people might like, and these are as follows:
  • Custom voice lines for all classes (Battlecry, Cheers, Jeers, Positive, Negative, Spy!)
  • Custom death screams, including ubercharge drops
  • Custom taunt music for the following taunts: Kazotsky Kick, The Didgeridrongo and The Bad Pipes
  • Special abilities granted to each class to mix up the gameplay
  • Easter eggs and more

Here are some pictures of the map itself:
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NC0JTHo.jpg

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sitvbTK.jpg

NrVVcfq.jpg

XDGdoPY.jpg

4YdVPsU.jpg

D3CdG58.jpg

dr8cqON.jpg

HtDL9zf.jpg
Click here to download the map

There's also the matter of the addition of Baby's Face Blaster, it was ported over from Freak Fortress 2 as this thread leads me to believe https://www.skial.com/threads/addition-of-baby-face-blaster-in-vsh.71572/
The OP of the thread believed it to be balanced to which I disagree, BFB as of now outshines all the other scatterguns with weapon attributes like these:
kDPy3bS.jpg

Why would you ever need to use the stock scattergun or any other primary when you have a weapon that deals more damage and lets you hit the speed cap in one meatshot? In the hands of a decent scout, you can basically take out huge chunks of Hale's health all on your own, his damage capabilities rival, hell I would even say outperforms the damage classes, why would you bother to hunt heads for increased speed and health to increase your capability to deal damage more reliably as a demo(knight) knowing the risks that comes with it when you can just equip the BFB and throw in some crit-a-cola usage and you got a way to deal great damage with minimal risk because the speed boost lets you escape hale's range with not many ways for Hale to do anything about it without a well timed rage.

Most of the downsides of this weapon are negligible at best, the health reduction doesn't do much as the damage sources in this gamemode for RED are either Hale, fall damage or map hazards, fall damage can be completely negated with Scout's double jump and Hale deals 202 in damage everytime except for Easter Bunny which deals 195.
Weapon spread increase doesn't really take into effect until you are gravely injured which you will rarely be given the aforementioned.

So given the problems this weapon has, I'd like to suggest a new build for this weapon shown below
37MqFto.png
  • Scout's movement speed has been slowed down to 369 Hammer Units per second from 400, which puts him at the speed of a demoknight with 4 heads.
  • Clip size is at 4 before you need to reload
  • Meatshots deal 89 and crticial meatshots deal 153
  • Boost reduced by a quarter of the boost bar on double jumps

Let me know what you think of these changes for the weapon.
The aim was to make this weapon more of a side grade.

And lastly, introducing fixed spread to the VSH servers for weapons that fire multiple pellets at once, e.g shotguns.

3TcfdQ7.jpg

Jb9duKy.jpg

Valve added a configurable variable (tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 0/1)with the Meet Your Match update for competitive that can be enabled for fixed spread, set the variable to 1 for it to take into effect immediately. I believe this can be a good addition as shotguns get more reliable in terms of dealing damage and not being at the mercy of random number generation.

And we have reached the end of this post, thanks for taking your time reading these suggestions.
Let me know what you think of all this. Again, thanks.

Special thanks to @Khed for all his help and being the best guinea pig.
 

Luke

Legendary Skial King
Contributor
I'm not sure why you have a problem with the suggestions being put in one thread, I've tried to structure everything in a easy to read manner and I felt making multiple threads for each suggestion is wasteful and besides as I see it there's no guidelines saying that you should separate suggestions into their own threads.

For some reason I never noticed the notification for this reply, however:
It's not that I've got a problem with suggestions being put into one thread, it just doesn't really work.
Take a look at the suggestions section and the titles, "Already Done", "Declined", "Approved", "Need Help".
Once a thread is done with, it is marked with a tag that shows what was done with the suggestion.
What if we wanted to approve one part of your suggestion, but decline another?
 

KinCryos

TF2 Admin
Contributor
Mapper
What if we wanted to approve one part of your suggestion, but decline another?
seeing how the topic title uses the word "and", use machine logic and assume each part is joined by AND, and treat everything like a Boolean. if any of the sub-Booleans is False, the whole statement is False. that way, if any one thing is Declined, the thread is technically Declined.

or you can think of this thread as a Payload map with 4 checkpoints, and simply ask if BLU won that round
 
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Sakiko

Moderator
Contributor
Remove the trail if hale wants ot make it easier to get killed he can use his AP for the trail command.

Other then exploit fixing not sure why all the maps need a change. Also making caps 10s just means anyone trying to cap to win on red is pretty much dead as hale just run punch and return to his hiding spot, which i find makes tactical sense get hale far away cap it before he returns.
 

Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper
What if we wanted to approve one part of your suggestion, but decline another?

I get what you mean and I didn't think of that when making the thread, I was concerned with spamming up the suggestions sub-forum with multiple threads with suggestions which I could've put in one thread. Well, it's too late for that now, I can't edit the OP anymore.

Remove the trail if hale wants ot make it easier to get killed he can use his AP for the trail command.

I'm getting the feeling so far that no-one likes the trails, haha.
Alright, I'll compile versions without the trails.

Other then exploit fixing not sure why all the maps need a change. Also making caps 10s just means anyone trying to cap to win on red is pretty much dead as hale just run punch and return to his hiding spot, which i find makes tactical sense get hale far away cap it before he returns.

From the way you worded this makes me assume you think all map cap times have been changed, this only applies to vsh_spaaaaace. I felt it capped way too fast so I changed it to something more reasonable, I believe it's a good change, gives Hale some time to react if a sneaky scout/spy tries to cap the point while Hale's busy fighting and vice versa. Other maps have similar cap times.
 
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Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper
The original post download links have been updated with new versions without trails.
 

Percilius

Totally Ordinary Human
Contributor
FF2 Balancer
I like this except for the trails., It gives a very unfair advantage to the RED team.

Also sure BFB scouts can rack up damage, but there's a reason for that, they can run from hale easily.

I think BFB should stay banned because the only reason people used to choose it was to hold up the round.
But the BFB is the only way a scout does shit loads of damage. Having one weapon which does good damage is not bad. It's a change in gameplay for the scout rather than the usual force a nature being used.
 

bonkboy273

Mildly Menacing Medic
But the BFB is the only way a scout does shit loads of damage. Having one weapon which does good damage is not bad. It's a change in gameplay for the scout rather than the usual force a nature being used.
I explained earlier how each weapon has its pros and cons, not all scouts use FaN by default. Please don't use the stereotype as a basis for your judgement. All of scout's weapons deal good damage, it's just that the majority of scouts do not know how to utilize them properly.

Don't balance a class around new players, it just causes more problems then solving them.
 

Percilius

Totally Ordinary Human
Contributor
FF2 Balancer
I explained earlier how each weapon has its pros and cons, not all scouts use FaN by default. Please don't use the stereotype as a basis for your judgement. All of scout's weapons deal good damage, it's just that the majority of scouts do not know how to utilize them properly.

Don't balance a class around new players, it just causes more problems then solving them.
So do you want the weapon removed or do you want to see a nerf on it and what kind of nerf are you talking about if you want the weapon to be nerfed.
In my opinion if you are wanting to nerf it removing the 25% more damage stat on the weapon in my thought would be the right way to go.
 

bonkboy273

Mildly Menacing Medic
If you read the OP of the thread you would see the nerfed version of it. That's what I want to see from it.
 

Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper
Updated vsh_spaaaaace_v1_fix_s3_skial_v2 to fix missing content which wasn't picked up by the content packer I use.
 

Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper
Decided to update project_powerup, mostly fixing incorrect textures I might have missed, added custom music for the conga taunt and doors at spawn leading you to the roof make open and close when used. I'll keep working on it until there's a response saying if the map is accepted or not.
 

Luke

Legendary Skial King
Contributor
I already did it for Kazotsky Kick, Didgeridrongo and The Bad pipes and I found some neat ones for Conga so I added them.
Is this a problem?

Yes... you're trying to do too much.
I'm completely lost as to what you're suggesting at this point.
 

Fragancia

Sufficiently Lethal Scout
Contributor
Mapper

Updated project_powerup_a17 to add an info_target entity named hale_no_music to get the VSH plugin to not play it's looping music for the bosses CBS and HHH junior.

This is to avoid the map music and plugin music playing together and potentially annoying players.
I forgot to add this, sorry.
 

Cream Tea

Epic Skial Regular
Legendary Mapper
Oh really? I'm sorry!
I thought I made it pretty clear?


I'm doing too much? I'm not sure I follow what you mean by that?

He means don't make an all-in-one thread. If you have a fix for a map then make a thread for that map with the fix. If you want to change the gameplay make a thread to change gameplay. Etc... It gets confusing as to what you're trying to achieve.