TF2 Map Analysis Part 1: Why do so many people play 2fort?
I was playing a TF2 pub the other day and since the new (by new I mean a year and a half old) casual mode implementation, I've experienced joining a Badwater server, only for the match to immediately end and everyone voting to switch the map to 2fort pretty often. Obviously, I leave the server, because 2fort is a bad map, but it got me thinking, why exactly is 2fort a bad map? Why do people still play 2fort when it sucks wieners? What makes other disliked maps like cp_standin and tc_hydro so disliked? What makes very well liked maps like pl_upward and koth_viaduct so beloved? Why do I keep formatting my paragraphs this way? Well in this multi-part series we'll find out.
This is a chart of all the maps in the casual map pool and their percentage of play out of all the casual games from March 2017, and is a good enough sample size for us to do some analysis on. I'd like to preface this by saying that I've tried mapping before, and it is really freaking hard. I have massive respect for anyone who can make even a moderately playable TF2 map, even something like cp_orange, because the amount of crap you have to deal with in the Hammer editor is pretty ridiculous. So looking at this pie chart (which regrettably includes Mann vs. Machine maps, but little can be done about that), we can see that by a huge margin the most played map is ctf_2fort, one of the most iconic and quintessential maps that has been a part of the game since release and is probably the first location most people think of when they recall TF2. But if I just said 2fort is one of the worst maps in the game, why is it the most played by a massive margin, having a higher playrate than the lowest played 65 maps combined. Well, 2fort is a really bad map. It is, in fact, a posterchild for bad maps and can be used as a bible for what not to do when making a map. But that doesn't stop it from being fun. 2fort being so bad contributes to its playrate if anything, as its charm, silliness, and layout that is a relic of a bygone era of TF2 makes it many veterans' favorites. And its iconic status and sheer amount of people playing it at any given time makes it the go to map for new players. So if you like 2fort, it's ok. So do I, in small doses. That, however, does not excuse its several cardinal sins as a map, and we'll be using it as a comparison point for common problems in map design.
Before we get into that though, it's worth mentioning game modes, as they go hand in hand with map design and often dictate a lot of the design decisions of a map. ctf_landfall, for instance would be a very different King of the Hill map than a Capture the Flag map. TF2 has 5 main game modes, Capture the Flag, Attack and Defend, Payload, King of the Hill, and Control Points, with several miscellaneous other modes such as Payload Race and Medieval Mode. Here is a pie chart with the playrates of each game mode available in casual:
As we can see, Capture the Flag and Payload are about even in the most played game modes with everything else lagging pretty far behind. Not counting MvM (because I don't play enough MvM to have a valid opinion on what makes a good MvM map), about 60% of all casual mode matches occur on Payload or Capture the Flag maps. Going back to the map chart, this makes sense as the two most played maps in the game are both Capture the Flag, 2fort and Turbine. Of the next 7 most played maps, 5 are Payload. In my opinion, Payload is the ideal game mode for 12 vs 12 player pub servers, as they are generally the largest in size and the layout forces and rewards team coordination. I'd say King of the Hill is a close second, as the game mode makes the common strategy of turtling with Heavies and Engineers much less effective as the ever looming clock pushes constant action. Attack and Defend, Control Points, and Capture the Flag often suffer from difficult to push last points that make the game an endless stalemate, which is why most of my pub TF2 generally occurs on Payload and King of the Hill. It is worth noting that Control Points is an excellent push and pull game mode in a 6v6 setting with class limits, which makes it much more difficult (though not impossible) to park the bus on last.
Okay, get to the point. The most popular maps and gamemodes are about a 50/50 split between good maps and bad but popular maps. This is completely qualitative but in my experience the average player quality on well designed maps is much higher than 2fort and Turbine because more experienced players will know the more well designed maps and game modes will deliver a more consistently enjoyable time, whereas newer players may not know this. So what makes 2fort a bad map? Well I'm lazy as hell so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Sorry.
This is a chart of all the maps in the casual map pool and their percentage of play out of all the casual games from March 2017, and is a good enough sample size for us to do some analysis on. I'd like to preface this by saying that I've tried mapping before, and it is really freaking hard. I have massive respect for anyone who can make even a moderately playable TF2 map, even something like cp_orange, because the amount of crap you have to deal with in the Hammer editor is pretty ridiculous. So looking at this pie chart (which regrettably includes Mann vs. Machine maps, but little can be done about that), we can see that by a huge margin the most played map is ctf_2fort, one of the most iconic and quintessential maps that has been a part of the game since release and is probably the first location most people think of when they recall TF2. But if I just said 2fort is one of the worst maps in the game, why is it the most played by a massive margin, having a higher playrate than the lowest played 65 maps combined. Well, 2fort is a really bad map. It is, in fact, a posterchild for bad maps and can be used as a bible for what not to do when making a map. But that doesn't stop it from being fun. 2fort being so bad contributes to its playrate if anything, as its charm, silliness, and layout that is a relic of a bygone era of TF2 makes it many veterans' favorites. And its iconic status and sheer amount of people playing it at any given time makes it the go to map for new players. So if you like 2fort, it's ok. So do I, in small doses. That, however, does not excuse its several cardinal sins as a map, and we'll be using it as a comparison point for common problems in map design.
Before we get into that though, it's worth mentioning game modes, as they go hand in hand with map design and often dictate a lot of the design decisions of a map. ctf_landfall, for instance would be a very different King of the Hill map than a Capture the Flag map. TF2 has 5 main game modes, Capture the Flag, Attack and Defend, Payload, King of the Hill, and Control Points, with several miscellaneous other modes such as Payload Race and Medieval Mode. Here is a pie chart with the playrates of each game mode available in casual:
As we can see, Capture the Flag and Payload are about even in the most played game modes with everything else lagging pretty far behind. Not counting MvM (because I don't play enough MvM to have a valid opinion on what makes a good MvM map), about 60% of all casual mode matches occur on Payload or Capture the Flag maps. Going back to the map chart, this makes sense as the two most played maps in the game are both Capture the Flag, 2fort and Turbine. Of the next 7 most played maps, 5 are Payload. In my opinion, Payload is the ideal game mode for 12 vs 12 player pub servers, as they are generally the largest in size and the layout forces and rewards team coordination. I'd say King of the Hill is a close second, as the game mode makes the common strategy of turtling with Heavies and Engineers much less effective as the ever looming clock pushes constant action. Attack and Defend, Control Points, and Capture the Flag often suffer from difficult to push last points that make the game an endless stalemate, which is why most of my pub TF2 generally occurs on Payload and King of the Hill. It is worth noting that Control Points is an excellent push and pull game mode in a 6v6 setting with class limits, which makes it much more difficult (though not impossible) to park the bus on last.Okay, get to the point. The most popular maps and gamemodes are about a 50/50 split between good maps and bad but popular maps. This is completely qualitative but in my experience the average player quality on well designed maps is much higher than 2fort and Turbine because more experienced players will know the more well designed maps and game modes will deliver a more consistently enjoyable time, whereas newer players may not know this. So what makes 2fort a bad map? Well I'm lazy as hell so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Sorry.
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