What maps come with TF 1.5, and what do I have to do in them?
The install package for Team Fortress 1.5 includes 8 maps.
Here's a quick rundown on the maps, their objectives, and their scoring
systems. If you want more information, click on the map names for an overview
of the map, some tips and strategy from the makers, and suggested class roles.
Two Fortresses - Capture The Flag.
Two fortresses,
separated by a small bridge. Break through the enemy defenses and steal their
Flag from the basement. Bring it back to the Capture Point in your battlements
to score. Watch out for enemies coming through the underwater entrances.
Suggested Number of
Players: 4 to 24.
Canalzone 2 - Territorial Control.
Two Teams vie for
control of a group of buildings divided up by canals. Capture strategic points
on the map, and hold them to score points. Use the light, fast classes like the
Scout to capture points, and back them up with heavier classes to hold the
points once captured.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 32.
The Well - Capture The Flag.
2 large fortresses
separated by a large no-mans-lan, where Snipers reign supreme. This map uses
the same scoring system as 2fort, but it's bigger and caters to larger teams.
Use Demomen
to destroy the underwater grates and open more entrances into the enemy base.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 32.
The Rock - Capture The Flag Variant.
Set in two opposing
prison-like bases, Rock plays similar to a Capture The Flag map, but with
slightly altered rules. Teams break into the enemy Warden's office, steal the
keycard within, and carry it across to the enemy Gas Chamber, where they use
the keycard to release the Gas and kill the entire enemy team.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 32.
Hunted - Assassination / Escort.
The most heavily
teamwork-oriented map in TF 1.5, this map has 3 teams who each have strong
roles. The first is The Hunted, a single player with no weapons or armor, whose
only objective is to make it to the waiting truck at the end of the map. The
Second Team consists of Bodyguards, whose only objective is to ensure The
Hunted player makes it to his objective. The Third Team is the group of
Assassins, and their objective is to simply kill The Hunted.
Suggested Number of
Players: 4 to 24.
|
|
There is a limit of 5 players on the Assassin team, and Assassins may only choose the Sniper class. The Bodyguard team has no player limit, but Bodyguards may only choose the Soldier, Heavy Weapons Guy, and Medic classes. |
Badlands - Capture the Flag.
Two bases seperated by
ragged cliffs and canyons. There are multiple entrances to each base, but only
one way into the ememy flag room. Base defense is especially difficult with
light enemies fighting their way through the canyons, with the heavy classes
fighting across the bridge.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 24.
Dustbowl - Attack and Defend.
The objective of the
attackers in this map is to carry their flag to the enemy headquarters. Dustbowl
is played in three stages, the goal of the offense in each stage is to take the
flag to the enemy command point to capture that area of the map. Once that is
completed, all players will respawn and play in the next stage. If the offense
captures all three command points, they win and the map changes. If the defense
can hold them off for 25 minutes they win.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 24.
Crossover 2 - Capture the Flag.
Similar to Two
Fortresses, there are two bases seperated by a bridge and a water entrance. The
flag room is spherical with two escape routes, which leads into a heavily
defended respawn area. Setting up defenses before a light class can get
into your flag area is a key to this map.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 24.
Warpath - Sequential Territorial
Control.
A long, winding road
connects the bases of two teams. To win a round, your team must capture all
five command points in sequential order. Walk over a command point to
capture it for your team. Once it has been captured, a panel covers the point
for 15 seconds, briefly preventing the other team from re-capturing it. Work as
a team to take enemy command points, and prevent them from breaking through the
front line to capture your points.
Suggested Number of
Players: 8 to 24.
Epicenter - Capture the Flag.
Simultaneous capture the Flag, as each
team tries to take their flag from their spawnroom to their APC at the other end of the map. Balance defense
against the other team with aggressiveness to cap your own flag.
Suggested Number of
Players: 10 to 14.
Two Fortresses (2fort)
Objective:
Assault the enemy Base, and steal the enemy Flag from their basement. Bring it back to the Capture Point in your battlements to capture it. Defend your Flag to prevent the enemy from stealing it.
Scoring:
10 points per Flag Capture.
Notes:
If a player carrying a Flag is killed, the Flag will fall to the ground. It will remain there for 60 seconds and then return to its starting position. If it's your Flag, you need to defend it, wherever it is. Don't let the enemy touch it, because they'll pick it up, and even if you kill them the 60 second time starts all over again.
Defend the right places.
The best place to mount
a strong Defense in this map is the Ramp Room. A group of several Soldiers,
Demomen, or Heavy Weapons Guys can very effectively hold down this room, as
there's a Resupply Room just a few steps away. This room is also a great place
to put sentries.
Have multiple lines of Defense.
It's always a good idea
to have someone on guard duty at your Flag, just in case the defenders upstairs
let the enemy slip through. It can be slow duty, but keeping the enemy away
from your Flag is critical if your Team wants to win. Engineers or Soldiers are
good choices for this job. Heavy Weapons Guys are powerful, but too slow to
chase down anyone trying to escape with the Flag.
Use a roving Defense if you have to.
If you're short on
manpower and can't spare enough people to guard both the Ramp Room and the
Flag, your best bet is to focus your defenses on the Ramp Room. If anyone slips
past you and heads down to the Flag, you can often catch them part of the way
down the spiral to the basement, as they're headed back up with the Flag. The
hallways of the spiral are pretty narrow, so a Soldier should be able to stop
anyone trying to escape that way. Demomen also work well here, but if you miss
with your pipebomb trap, you'll have a hard time catching a fleeing Scout.
Use Snipers as the first line of
Defense.
The natural place for
Snipers to be on this map is the battlements at the front of your Base. Of
course, the enemy battlements will be crawling with Snipers of their own.
Snipers should remember that if all they're doing is shooting other Snipers,
they're really not doing their Team much good. It's important to try and kill
as many attackers as you can as they cross the bridge. Snipers tired of the
battlement duels can do fairly well by helping with Defense in the Ramp Room.
Don't put yourself at the top of the ramps - you'll do much better at the
bottom of the ramps, looking down the approaching corridors.
Use fast classes to get the Flag.
Use Scouts, or other
fast classes like the Medic, to get the enemy Flag out of their Base. As with
all maps, you will do much better if you work well with your Team. A lone Scout
is much less likely to succeed at capturing the flag than one that goes in as
part of an assault Team.
Communicate!
Communicate with your
Team, always. As you attack the enemy Base, let your Team know where the enemy
has set up effective defenses. If you get killed by a sentry gun, tell your
teammates where it is so someone can take it out. If you die while trying to
escape with the Flag, don't just take it upon yourself to retrieve it, tell
your teammates where you dropped it.
Canalzone 2
Objective:
Capture and hold as much territory as you can by placing Flags on the Command Points throughout the map.
Scoring:
1
point for every 30 seconds you hold a Command Point.
25 bonus points for gaining control of all 5
Command Points.
Notes:
Capturing a Command point is done by taking a Flag from your Command Center and placing it on a Command Point. You can see which Team holds a Command Point by the Flag and colored light around the Point. If the enemy holds a Command Point, you need to recapture it with a Flag. Players move at half-speed while carrying a Flag.
Use fast classes to take Command
Points.
Flag Carriers move at
half-speed, so they're incredibly vulnerable. A Heavy Weapons Guy or Soldier
can waste precious time carrying a Flag to a Command Point, so leave it to the Scouts.
Use the heavier classes to escort the slow moving Scouts, and to hold the
Points once they're captured.
Defend your Command Points.
Once you take a Command
Point, it's vital that you defend it. You get 1 point for every 30 seconds that
you hold a CP, so if the enemy snatches it right back from you, you've wasted
time and effort. Most all Command Points can be effectively defended from
inside their building, but as a general principle, it's best to stop the enemy
Flag Carriers as far from their target Command Points as possible. Command
Point 3, for example, is more effectively held by dominating the pathways
leading to it than by fighting within the CP itself.
Use the right classes in the right
places.
A single skilled
Demoman can often hold Command Points 2 or 4, but ideally defenders should work
in Teams. Demomen
or Heavy
Weapons Guys are good choices for Point Defense, with support
from a Medic,
Engineer,
or Pyro
often helping a great deal. It's best to diversify, so avoid defending with a
teammate of the same class, to avoid both defenders having the same
vulnerabilities.
Intercept the enemy Flag Carriers.
If you've got the
manpower, have several people devoted entirely to intercepting enemy Flag
Carriers. The Spy
is the ultimate class for this purpose, being able to lie in wait outside the
enemy base for Flag Carriers, either disguised as an enemy or lying on the
ground pretending to be dead. If the enemy is extremely cautious, which is
rare, then it's best to use some heavier classes to do this. Snipers
and Soldiers
work well at, especially when working together. The Soldier
engages the Flag Carrier and escorts, leaving the Sniper
free to pick off targets without being attacked. However, if manpower is short
and you're working alone, use the Soldier. Be careful that you don't
get too distracted fighting just any enemy you see, because a Flag Carrier
might be slipping past while you're caught up in the fight.
Destroy the enemy Command Center if
you're losing badly.
If a Demoman
destroys the enemy Command Center with a detpack, the enemy loses control of
any Command Points they've captured. This is an extremely hard thing to do,
because the doors into the enemy Command Center won't open for you, but it may
be your only hope if you're being severely beaten. It can be done slightly more
easily by sneaking a disguised Spy into the enemy Command Center
first, where he can use the computer console inside to open the door for the Demoman.
The Well
Objective:
Assault the enemy Base, and steal the enemy Flag from their tower. Bring it back to the Capture Point in the base of your tower to capture it. Defend your Flag to prevent the enemy from stealing it.
Scoring:
10 points per Flag Capture.
Notes:
If a player carrying a Flag is killed, the Flag will fall to the ground. It will remain there for 60 seconds, and then return to its starting position. If it's your Flag, you need to defend it, wherever it is. Don't let the enemy touch it, because they'll pick it up, and even if you kill them the 60 second time starts all over again.
Defend the right places.
The two major choke
points in this map are the hallways just inside the front doors of the Bases,
the Ramp Room just around the corner (collectively, the lobby), and the
walkways around the Flag Room itself. It's important to always have someone on
guard duty near the Flag, as once an enemy takes your Flag, they can likely
escape through the underwater route without ever passing through the defenders
in the lobby/Ramp Room. Soldiers, Demomen,
and Heavy
Weapons Guys make for effective Defense almost anywhere, but Soldiers
are particularly useful near the Flag Room, as they can easily knock
approaching enemies off of the elevators leading to the Flag. As a last line of
Defense, it's often a good idea to set up a sentry gun in the Flag Room itself.
An invading Scout
won't be able to deal with a sentry gun without heavier support.
Make new entrances into the enemy
Base.
The underwater paths
into each Team's Tower Room don't start open. You need a Demoman
from your Team to blow open the blocking grates with a detpack. Once that's
done, assaulting the enemy Flag Room can become much easier. You'll still be
extremely vulnerable taking the elevators up to the Flag Room, so be careful.
The advantage you get taking this route is that you get to bypass any defense
in the lobby of the enemy Base.
The Rock
Objective:
Assault the enemy Base, and steal the Keycard from their Warden's Office. Take it across to the other side of the enemy Base, where you can gain access to their Gas Chamber and release the Nerve Gas. Defend your Keycard to prevent the enemy from using it to release the Nerve Gas in your Base.
Scoring:
15 points each time your team releases the Gas.
Notes:
If a player carrying the Keycard is killed, the Keycard will fall to the ground. It will remain there for 60 seconds, and then return to its starting position. If it's your Keycard, you need to defend it, wherever it is. Don't let the enemy touch it, because they'll pick it up, and even if you kill them the 60 second time starts all over again.
When the Nerve Gas is
released, you have 10 seconds before the Gas will kill you. To survive, you
need to either get a hazard suit (located behind the appropriately marked
doors) or get underwater.
Survive the Nerve Gas.
Learn the locations of
all of the hazard suits. When the Nerve Gas is released, you've got precious
little time to get to safety. Also remember that there's only one hazard suit
per door, so if you see someone just ahead of you about to grab the suit, change
course quickly and try to find another.
Defend the right places.
The best place to mount
a strong general defense is in the courtyard of your Base. Demomen
laying pipebomb traps and Engineer's sentry guns are very
effective in this area. More specific defensive positions include the front
door of your Base, your Warden's Office (where your Gas Chamber key is located)
and the Cell Blocks at the other end of the Base (in case someone manages to
grab the key and make their way across the courtyard again).
Attack in groups.
The enemy Base can be
very difficult to attack unless you work closely with your Team. Try to always
assault the enemy Base in twos or threes. A lone Scout has precious little chance of
fighting his way across the whole enemy Base by himself. A Scout
is much more likely to succeed if he's got two or three teammates running
alongside him distracting the defenders.
Make new entrances into the enemy
Base.
You can open up
alternate entrances to both bases by using the underwater tunnels branching off
from the center of the map. Use a Demoman to lay a detpack and destroy
the rubble blocking the tunnels, then a second one at the slope in the tunnel
to blow a hole into the opposing team's courtyard. Note that you can seal a
breached tunnel by setting a second detpack on the rubble. You can also use the
underground route to move through the enemy shower room and attack the enemy
Defence from behind.
Take the Keycard to the ENEMY Gas
Chamber.
Bringing the Keycard to
your own Gas Chambers won't do anything. You have to take it to the enemy Gas
Chambers.
Hunted
Objective:
The
Hunted: Make it to the white truck waiting for you behind the doors at the edge
of the Helipad.
The
Bodyguards: Prevent the Assassins from killing The Hunted before he gets to the
truck.
The
Assassins: Kill The Hunted.
Scoring:
The
Hunted: 50 points each time he makes it to the truck.
The
Bodyguards: 50 points each time The Hunted makes it to the truck.
The
Assassins: 25 points each time The Hunted is killed.
Notes:
There is a limit of 5 players on the Assassin team, and Assassins may only choose the Sniper class.
Bodyguard team has no
player limit, but Bodyguards may only choose the Soldier, Heavy
Weapons Guy, and Medic classes.
Whenever The Hunted
is killed or makes it to the truck, every player in the game is respawned back
at their starting positions.
The truck is parked
behind the doors at the edge of the Helipad. The doors can be opened by
pressing a button in either of the towers next to the doors. The doors don't
stay open for long, so The Hunted needs to move fast.
Bodyguards: Stay with The Hunted.
It's vitally
important for the Bodyguards to stick with The Hunted. Without vigilant
Bodyguards, the Hunted is easily killed. If you see a sniper dot sweeping in on
The Hunted, never hesitate to throw yourself in front of the bullet. All that
matters is that the Hunted escapes the level. If you die in the process, it's
all just part of the job.
Bodyguards: Make sure you've got at
least one Medic.
Medics are a crucial
part of the bodyguard Team. Without a Medic running along with the Hunted,
healing him at every opportunity, chances of escape can be pretty grim. If
you're playing a medic, you'd do best to stick very close to your charge. Never
lose track of where he is.
Bodyguards: Know where The Hunted is
at all times.
If you lose track of
your charge, look for text messages appearing every few seconds in the upper left
hand corner of your screen. As the Hunted moves around the map, you will
receive updates on his location.
Assassins: Know where The Hunted is
at all times.
Make sure you communicate
with the other Assassins so you know when the target is approaching your hiding
place. If he slips past you, head quickly for the field at the end of the level
and try to cut him off just before he escapes. Try and spread yourselves out so
that there are Assassins all over the map.
Assassins: Hide.
As an Assassin, it's
wiser to sneak around and avoid the bodyguards unless they're directly
protecting your target. If you start fighting bodyguards too enthusiastically,
you not only give away your position, your target might slip right past you in
the confusion. Remember that the only target that matters is the Hunted.
Badlands
Objective:
Steal the enemy flag from their fan room and take it back into your spawn room to capture it. Defend your flag to prevent the enemy from stealing it.
Scoring:
10 points per flag capture.
Notes:
If a player carrying a Flag is killed, the Flag will fall to the ground. It will remain there for 60 seconds and then return to its starting position. If it's your Flag, you need to defend it, wherever it is. Don't let the enemy touch it, because they'll pick it up, and even if you kill them the 60 second time starts all over again.
Defend not just the flag room, but the route out of the flag room.
The route out of the flag room is different
than the one going in. If you defend only the entrance to the flag room, anyone that slips through
your first line of defenses will be home free for a cap.
Use more than sentry guns for defense
A Soldier or Demoman is an excellent choice for defending the flag room. Take up position
at the top of the flag chamber and be alert. Placing pipe-bombs on the floor of the flag chamber
is a good idea. Also, anyone taking the flag has to climb up a ladder to the exit tunnel, an excellent
opportunity for a Soldier's rockets.
Defend your sniper towers.
The sniper towers are more than just a good
vantage point. They're an alternate route into the base. Watch for enemies on the ledges mid-way
up the canyon walls.
Try to control the route through the canyons.
There are two routes through the
center of the map between bases: the bridge, and the twisting canyon below it. While much
of the fighting takes place on the bridge, the canyon route can become overlooked, letting
enemies slip through. Snipers in the canyon can be very effective, and a roving Soldier can be uesful. Avoid using sentry guns in the canyons, though. They don't last
long with all of the potential angles they can be hit from.
When attacking the enemy base, take advantage of different routes.
There are three ways into the enemy base (and your own):
through the two main gates, by way of the sniper towers, and through the lower access tunnel which leads
under the flag chamber. If the enemy's defense seems too strong in one place, try a different route.
Try to clear the escape route before taking the flag.
Sentry guns set up to block the escape route are
more easily taken out when first entering the base than when you're trying to leave with the flag. If possible,
coordinate with your teammates so that someone kills the sentries just before you grab the flag.
Crossover 2
Objective:
Take the enemy flag from their circular, basement flag room and bring it back to your battlements to capture it.
Scoring:
10 points per capture
Notes:
Flag carriers drop the flag when they die. Dropped flags return to their base after 60 seconds
Getting the flag is relatively simple.
The enemy flag is quite
easy to get at, since you have to drop down into their base into a hard to
defend area. Once taking the flag, remember that there are two ways up through and
out of their base.
Defend the bridge.
Extend defense out to
the bridge area and try to set up sentries or lay pipe bombs there. That will
encourage their defense to fall back, and make lots of trouble for their
attackers.
Demomen are your friends.
A Demoman can blow a
hole in the enemy’s rock wall to provide an alternative entrance to their yard.
This entrance is excellent for slipping past their yard defense and down into
their basement area.
Take the high road.
If the basement area
isn’t too heavily defended, it’s always beneficial to take the escalator route
up, since that emerges in a higher position in the room which the defense can
easily secure.
Sentry suprises.
Set up sentry guns on
the flag platform behind the flag itself, as the flag will obscure sight of the
gun and act as an excellent surprise to would-be attackers.
Dustbowl
Objective:
Blue must ultimately take its flag to red’s Headquarters, but along the way, it must first capture two command points. Red must defend its command points to slow attackers, then hold it’s HQ to win the round. Rounds last 25 minutes.
Scoring:
Blue
scores 30 points for capturing each command point (1 and 2)
Blue scores 50 points for capturing red’s
Headquarters to win the map
Red scores 5 points per minute
Notes:
The
Blue flag carriers moves at 75% of his normal speed
When each command point is captured, the game moves onto the next stage of the map
Watch the balance.
Pay attention to the
scores in the map as they can give you an indication of how balanced the game
is. If both scores are fairly even after a command point is captured, the game
is even, if one has a greater score than the other, the team with the lower
score is running out of time!
Defend with grenades.
Defense has access to
grenades when waiting for the gates to open in the stage intermissions. Stock
up well and try to hold the area that has grenades, otherwise, attackers will
start using them on you!
Spies can help you with sentry guns.
Spies are a very
important part of offense in Dustbowl. Defenders will always set up sentry guns
and spies can knock these out easily to make way for your team mates.
Sniper skeet shoot.
In the final section,
assaulting Red Team’s Headquarters, attacking Snipers can be incredibly
powerful since defenders spawn with no extra armor.
Fall back to your strongest defense point.
When defending, if you
feel your team is being pushed back from the opening section, fall back to the
command point area and set up inner defense. That way you’ll lose your grip on
the first area, but have a strong force holding the command point area.
Warpath
Objective:
Capture all five command points in the map in sequential
order. Move onto a capture point to capture.
A red or blue flag appears at the point for the team that captured it.
Blue team captures the points in order -- 1,2,3,4,5.
Red team captures the points in reverse order -- 5,4,3,2,1.
Scoring:
30 points for capturing all the command points.
Notes:
Once a point has been captured, a panel covers the point
for 15 seconds.
While the panel is in place, the enemy team cannot re-capture the point.
The tunnel under the bridge requires a Demoman's detpack to clear.
Once it's been cleared, another detpack explosion can re-seal it.
Use teamwork to capture points.
Group with teammates to
attack in unison, push back the enemy, and capture a point. You can use
strength in numbers to push the enemy back. Keep in mind that you only have to
touch the command point pad to capture it for your team.
Keep what you capture.
Once you capture a
command point, make sure to be prepared for the enemy counter-attack as they
try to get the point back.
Make sure to set up adequate defenses. Have Engineers build sentry guns to hold
onto the point.
Use Spies to infiltrate the
defenses.
Spies
can be very useful to capture points behind the enemy lines. Use the deception
capabilities of the Spy to get to command points that are heavily defended.
Capture the command points and take out any enemy sentry guns. Watch out though
-- the spy disguise is removed when you capture a point.
Make a new route to capture points.
A Demoman
can use his detpack to remove the debris in the tunnels beneath the bridge.
This allows your team an alternate route into enemy territory. The defense will
have a harder time defending their position.
Keep a tight defensive line.
The game can change
very quickly if your team does not have an adequate defense. If an enemy Scout
is able to slip by, they can quickly capture all the command points. Make sure
to stop them from doing this.
Also watch out for enemy Spies trying to impersonate your
teammates! If you get a message saying "The enemy is inside your
base", chances are good that an enemy spy may be near your final command
point.
Epicenter
Objective:
Take your team's flag from your spawnroom to your APC at the other end of the map. The enemy is trying to do the same. The round resets when one team scores.
Scoring:
10 points per
flag capture.
Notes:
The cage holding your flag opens 45 seconds after the beginning of each round. This is to prevent scouts from scoring before an adequate defense can be set up. If a player carrying the Flag is killed, the Flag will fall to the ground. It will remain there for 30 seconds and then return to it's starting position. If it's your Flag, you need to defend it, wherever it is. Don't let the enemy touch it, because they'll pick it up, and even if you kill them the 30 second time starts all over again.
Make sure the APC is defended immediately at the start of each round.
The enemy APC is near your base (follow
signs for the "Capture Point" colored to match the opposing team). This is where the enemy needs to take
their flag to score. Always make sure you have a capable defense before venturing out further.
Have several layers of defense.
If you concentrate all of your defenses at the APC,
it's easier for the enmy to slip through and score. Sentry guns at the APC should be backed up by other
classes further down the street. Defend the street outside of your base. Defend the ruined building. If you
can spare the manpower, a forward defense is invaluable.
Use spies or snipers to clear away enemy sentries.
Sentries built near the APC can be vulnerable
to Snipers in the two main buildings.
Also, the area around the APC is relatively easy to infiltrate as a Spy
, so use them to clear sentries from the path of the flag runner.
Control the upper routes through the map.
In addition to controlling the street through the center of the map,
it's important to keep control of the three story building nearest your base. Keep at least one
Soldier on duty upstairs.
This prevents Snipers and
such from overlooking the APC area and crippling your defense.