Team Fortress 2: PASS Time

RED and BLU face off in an epic battle to score more goals than their opponents. Coordinated passing, aerial shots, interceptions, team-based formations and plays, defensive lines and the like make for strategically chaotic play.

Overview

Game Info

Name: Nuclear Winter
Developer: Escalation Studios
Role: Level Designer
Type: FPS, Multiplayer
Engine: Source
Released: August 18, 2015

Features

  • A new way to play in TF2
  • New rewards
  • Team-based gameplay
  • 3 new maps
  • More secrets to discover​​

Design

High Concept

Design a fun new sports-like game mode involving high-flying, team-based action with a ball.

Summary

PASS Time is a game mode we developed alongside Bad Robot for the game TF2.

A JACK ball spawns in the center of the map, and both teams try to take the ball to the defender's base and score in one of three different goals. Pass, steal, and jump your way to victory.

Design Goals

  • Work with Bad Robot to design the feel of the mode.
  • ​Create as many maps as possible in the time allotted. 
  • ​Try to force players to work together as much as possible.
  • Design the map in ways to get players flying quickly through the air as much as possible.

Responsibilities

  • ​​Helped design the game mode and features.​
  • In charge of the creation of 3 levels from sketch to completion. 
  • Create secret rooms in the levels.
  • Help design and then create teasers and secrets for the TF2 character Merasmus that will eventually reward players that figure it out.

Challenges

The biggest challenge for us while developing this mode was how to get players to work together more. To try to combat this, we made it so that players with the ball can't use their own weapon. Making them feel more vulnerable and needing to rely on their team to help them get to the goal. We also introduced a ton of new HUD elements, like teammate icons, goal distance bars, and a flashing JACK icon on teammates when they were in pass range/view to reinforce the need for teamwork.

A lot of our playtests also ended up just being scouts and engineers, where scouts would solo-run the ball to the goal and engineers with a level three turret would just massacre them - ending in stalemates. At one point we even discussed removing engineers completely, but that was quickly thrown out. In the end we just hoped that the players familiar with the game would understand how to combat this. 

Another challenge for us was that we were developing this game mode for an outside company. We would get direction, work on the game, then meet with them in a week and continue that process ad infimum - which was fine - but became a bit of a sore spot later on when a lot of our suggestions were tossed out. In my initial map, I added a jump pad to quickly get to the top of the warehouse. This then became something they wanted throughout all other maps (same with the speed boosts) - something I initially disagreed with. Maps that were already designed then needed to get jump pads added in wherever they could be. A similar thing happened with the goals. Bonus goals were the final thing added into all of the maps and it was incredibly difficult to find spaces that would obstruct most of the flow of the level and were big enough to allow players to use a jump pad to get up to a high goal space.

One of the most notable issues for PASS Time was during the beta, when players discovered an engineer item could destroy the JACK. Well, during our development process we didn't actually have access to the item server for TF2, so we could only test with base class kits. Beta was the first time we started seeing the game played with these other items. It was both hilarious and terrifying just how much they changed the game mode.

Brickyard

Design

This was the first map created for PASS time. Built in a warehouse district, this map has huge sightlines; allowing for massive jumps and passes.

This was the beta map, and therefore the introduction players had to the new game mode. It was a rather simple design and very open, making it easier to learn quickly.

The constant reworks of the game mode and goals during our development process meant this map went through the most changes.

Timber Town

Design

The second map created, this map takes place in a forest/mountain region. This was my favorite map to work on. I loved the art-style and working with displacements.

Fun-fact about this map, it was originally called "Pinewood", but Bad Robot worked with a studio under the same name and didn't want us to use that name.

District

Design

The last of the three maps developed for this mode, this was honestly the most difficult one to make. The art-style of the map meant much more detail was required as well. 

Fun-fact: This map could not be physically made longer, it reached the extent of the buildable space in Hammer. It also reached the maximum brush count, making me have to bring down the number of detail brushes.

The more complicated layout meant that players getting lost was a constant problem. Red/Blue markings on the buildings and arrows were used extensively throughout the map to help combat this. The layout of the goal zones was the most difficult part for this map for me because of the new requirements to have a goal that you must use a jump-pad to reach.

​This map also has the only environmental hazards of the three maps, the trains in the subways.