ParanoidDrone

Huh, that actually looks pretty cool. Also the "Pyro Conscience" is an angel/devil pair of stuffed Pyros that sit on his shoulders. And it's ADORABLE.

Ugh, more themed crates? I hate those things. I already have an unpronounceable mirror and the physician mask, so maybe I'll try and pick up a stethoscope eventually. Pyro flamenco hat sounds hilarious. What's that "Engineer Blueprints" in the list of items? Valve's gone on record saying that new buildings are a pain in the ass to balance, but I can't imagine how blueprints would fit as a cosmetic. Also another item set for Demoman, wonderful. *eyeroll* At least it's not Demoknight or Soldier again. Actually when you put it that way, all he's got in the non-Demoknight department is the Scottish Resistance, Loch n Load, and Caber... EDIT: In completely unrelated news, I've entered Launchpad A8 into a gameday at TF2Maps.net scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday the 27, at 2PM Pacific time. (That's 5 PM Eastern.) Rather, that's when the event as a whole will start -- no word on when Launchpad specifically will show up. (Or if it will at all, but I got first dibs on the "post here if you want in" thread so I think I'm good there.) So feel free to show up if you feel like giving feedback. Feedback's always nice.

For my part, I had been experiencing connection issues with TF2 in general, then the internet went out at my place for a couple of days, then when it came back everything was hunky dory. Perhaps the tubes are clogged?

According to the TF2 Wiki there are several undocumented weapon changes in the Beta now. Such as the Enforcer's downside being increased to 1 extra second taken to cloak, instead of 0.5. Which still means diddly to the Dead Ringer. Ugh.

Also have you updated Launchpad on the server yet? Do I need to keep asking every time I make a new version?

Launchpad's now at version A8. Unfortunately schoolwork's coming in fast, so I don't know when I'd be able to organize that small event where some of us nitpick the map without combat to distract us.

Dammit Valve fix your shit. This is getting silly. Isn't that one of the holy commandments of mapmaking anyway? "Thou shalt put func_respawnroomvisualizers over all entrances to a spawn room."

Something I've been curious about: Suppose a server has the built in vote system enabled as you described, activating when the server map time has 2 minutes left, but the round ends with anywhere between 5 and 2 minutes left. (In other words, the map's supposed to change but the next map hasn't been decided.) What happens?

On Gold Rush? The only one I can think of that he'd care about is over point 3A, and I don't think that one was touched. (Note it's to prevent blind Demo spam.) No idea what they're talking about on Upward though. EDIT: Herp derp I'm an idiot. Is that the "main gate" they were talking about?

If TVTropes is to be believed, having 9 completely distinct, viable classes is practically unheard of in the genre. It should go without saying that if they're all so unique then they should all play pretty differently. But if such unique classes are a novelty rather than the norm, new players may not cotton on to this fact and get frustrated as a result, in addition to neglecting the class's primary focus. (Medics not healing, etc.) The emphasis on teamwork also creates a different paradigm than what other games may focus on. Your typical FPS, or so the stereotype goes, is mostly concerned with killstreaks. (Modern Warfare actually rewards you for them.) In TF2 killstreaks don't mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things unless you're in Arena mode. In short, I think TF2 defies enough of the typical genre conventions to create a sufficiently alien experience for players used to the status quo. In a more meta sense, TF2 has been out for nearly 4 years now. Every class has received a major update dedicated to them and has alternative items out the wazoo that aren't immediately available to a new player, some of which don't even have unique stats. (I saw someone asking what the Iron Curtain did the other day.) In addition, there are 8 different game modes with their own idiosyncrasies. The ingame tutorials, while good at teaching the basics, are inherently incapable of teaching you how to play the metagame. The Mann Co. Store lets you get any item you want for real money, but that's not a viable option for everyone, for obvious reasons. I was somewhat fortunate in that I had been watching friends play TF2 for a while before I decided to join, but if you're coming in completely fresh it's a pretty severe case of information overload.

You, too? 10youtoos...that sounds like a punchline.

Apparently the tauntkill code is strictly Valve-sided, so any new taunts are forced to be damageless. To do otherwise would trigger VAC. From what I understand, this isn't a simple animation switch, but rather a full fledged mod, hence the issue.

At Bark's suggestion, I'm like to try and coordinate a night sometime in the near future where some of us can get together and nitpick Launchpad to hell and back without the distractions of actual combat happening at the same time. Would anyone be interested?

Not sure if want.

Pretty much this. The maximum is what, 10 pages?

I tried that, but something derped and whatever I actually got was unopenable. I'll try again later probably.

So the little test we had was amusing, but for some reason my computer was taking forever to download the next map so I decided to cancel after waiting for about 15 minutes. A fun diversion, but I can't see myself playing it too rigorously.

Whooo~ Launchpad has a Stage 3 now! TF2Maps.net Thread

All I really remember is that it was a BITCH getting both teams to play at a given time. I hate dealing with logistics.

The ETF2L Highlander participation medals have arrived. I believe they're handing them out on an individual basis, so it may take a while before everyone gets theirs, but mine's in my backpack as I type this. They're also Genuine quality.

Haarp's been updated to final. Link.

Got Sandviches on the mind, do we? (Thanks.)

Powerlord, when you get a chance can you update the server's version of Launchpad?

Crap, I just noticed in a screenshot of my map that one of the rocks around 1A up and vanished. Easy fix but I feel silly for not catching it. OH WELL.

I think I've broken some sort of personal record by continuing to work on Launchpad this long. I've switched back to an _a# versioning system since I updated it on TF2maps.net as well and I left off at _a5. Dropbox Link TF2Maps Link TF2Maps Thread BZ2 File (Even though Powerlord all but said not to bother.) Changelong from _stage2c: -Redesigned RED's spawn in Stage 1 to allow easier battlements access. -Redesigned the layout of Point 2A so that BLU can simply walk onto it -Removed some extraneous areas from the first half of Stage 2 -Simplified the path RED has to take to get outside from spawn in Stage 2 -Removed half of the large building in Stage 2 and removed all one-way drops from the other half -Slight redistribution of health and ammo pickups in Stage 2 -Extended the capture time of all points from 6 seconds to 8 Special thanks to Sombrero for running through it for several hours and showing me a bunch of problem areas. Got several good ideas from that session.