About ctf_2freak
This is a halloween themed modification of ctf_2fort for Team Fortress 2
Gamemode
Map Changes
While Two Freak is based on the valve map 2Fort,
several additional spaces were added.
Some of these spaces were added to facilitate the additional flag capture points, while others
were added to update the older layout of the map to the newer state of the game. Aswell as adding
additional spaces, all of the spawn rooms were updated to fix the problems with camping. In total the
map got 40% more playable area, and every spawn room got 2+ entrances / exits
Because each side of 2fort only has 1 objective area, and 5flag requires 5 points, additional areas needed to be
added. One of the back 2 capture areas uses the existing intelligence room, while the other is placed in the entrance
to the morgue. The morgue is a custom area themed after a morgue featuring a wall of cadavar storage and 2 autopsy
tables. On the side with the cadavar storage there is a small nitch connecting the vent system to the morgue.
This vent leads down from the new building in the barnyard / graveyard. There is also a connection to the back spawn.
The entrance area of the morgue is an ambulance bay, with an ambulance blocking the garage door. Connecting the
ambulance bay to the rest of the basement, a new room was added under the main staircase. Normally this room
is acessed by a doorway added to the left of the stairs, or by a doorway in the server hall. This area can also be
acessed by dropping down from the stairs (taking a small amount of damage). Classes with mobility can make a tight
jump back up to the stairs.
The graveyard is an extension to what way already un-offically called the barnyard. This was an outside
connection area near the main spawnroom, that connected the 2 floors of the main fort. It is a recessed pit with
walkways on 3 sides at the upper floor level, and 2 stair cases connection the floors. There is an entrance to the
basement on the back side of the walkways. A stair case was cut into the wall without an upper ramp, and a fence was
removed allowing access to the previously inaccessble area of the map. On red side a garage type building was moved
to next to the stair case building, and on blue side the existing building was modified. The 2 new buildings contain
the forward left capture point, and the connection to the morgue vent area. The main spawn also connects to the
courtyard.
The last point that needed major modifications to add is found in the sewers. The main intellegence room
already had a massive inaccessable area designed to look like a control center. This point adds a alcove looking into
that room, and connects it to the rest of the sewer network. A pump / filter room was added in parrallel to the
normal sewer staircase room, and was connected by the back of the sewer stairs, and a new sewer tunnel. This tunnel
forces the player to go fully under water, and is much easier to traverse heading out of the base than traveling in.
The upper platform of the pump area connects to the slightly modified and underutilized lower floor of the forts.
The last 3 points are integrated with the existing map geometry, but that doesn't mean the modifications are done.
The forward points are placed at the base of the battlement towers, requiring less mobile classes to flank through the
fort and past both spawns. To make up for this a drop down was added on the right side of the battlements. While
traveling down this path is quick, going back up requires precise jumps, putting attackers without the aid of mobility
invisibility or stealth at a severe disadvantage. The middle point that is only active at the start of the game
is placed in the center of the bridge. The area surrounding the bridge was widened substantially, as it is the most
traversed part of the map. An extra exit was added to each for in the form of a garage door. The final changes made
to the non spawn parts of the map improving the visibility of the spiral staircase to the basement, connecting the
upper and lower floors of the fort with a staircase, and adding staircases out of the main river.
By default 2Fort has 3 rooms with the properties of a spawn room (ability to change class without
dying, and access to a resupply cabinet), but only 2 have the game logic allowing players to spawn there.
The existing spawn rooms are also notoriously easy to camp. This is because the main spawn room has only one
exit / entrance connecting to a major choke point, while the other has an exit / entrance right next to the
central area, forcing players to cross the most contested open areas of the map to get anywhere important.
The secondary spawn room does have another exit, but this is a drop into tight corridors. This leads to the common
situation of dropping right into a group of enemies with no way to escape.
Every spawn had changes to make it less camp-able, and more freeing to the players. On top of this, the basement
spawn room now fills the role of the back spawn in the 5 flag gamemode, becoming active when the back flag points
are contestable. The back spawn keeps its main exit to the base of the stairs, and now has a back exits leading to
the far end of the morgue area. The main spawn was only slightly adjusted. First off, the one way door between the
room with the spawn points, and the actual spawn room was changed to a 2 way door. No modern maps use this format,
so this change seems reasonable. An additional exit was added behind a sliding bookshelf leading to a small shed
in the new barnyard area. Finally, the secondary spawn was massively overhauled. Like the main spawn, the oneway door
was updated to a 2 way door. The spawn points were also move to the other side of the door, as the back room is
now connected to the sewers control point area by a staircase. The other 2 exits have modifications slightly outside
the room that I covered earlier.
Theming / Lore
The 2 teams in TF2 are hired mercenaries fighting over land left to 2 brothers, Redmann and Blutarch by their late
father. However, the combat outlived the 2 brothers who were killed by a 3rd long lost sibiling. In the Scream
Fortress map plr_hightower_event you escort the souls of the brothers to the afterlife in their final sibling squable.
2 Freak follows up this squable with the mercenaries once again working for the 2 late brothers in one final crazy
attempt to win the rights to the land left by their father. Their last hope is the Bequestanomicon, a crazy legal
process invented by the insane (and possible lead poisoned) Jane Doe aka. The soldier. The technique is based on
re-animating the deceased to have them legally change their will post-humously, using a spell invented by the
Soldier former room-mate (Merasmus the Wizard). Only 5
copies of the process were printed before Jane Doe was disbarred. The brothers are now fighting to be in possession
of these copies, which were scatter through their bases in TueFort. Who ever collects more will be able to win the
gravel war once an for all. (Assuming any court accepts them as valid).
Before the fighting started, both bases were getting ready to host a haunted house night at the forts. After all
they had an abundance of coffins, cadavers and magical artifacts. Just before the haunted house opened, Redmann and
Blutarch were able to contact the mercenaries and get them to fight once more. Upon the ritual stating 2 giant
pentagrams formed in the now purple sky, and a green vortex opened, connecting the after life to the real world.
Obviously this is all part of the legal process.
On top of the balanced changes and theming, the map also has a few eastereggs. Listing them would ruin the fun,
but they include a scout stuck in a trap inspired by the Saw movies, eyes watching you from the dark, and different
weapons left over from long finished fights.
About Development
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