TF2/Making an Arena map

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January 2024

This gametype is included in A Boojum Snark's Team Fortress 2 Gametype Library

The complete entity setup for this gametype is included in "A Boojum Snark's Team Fortress 2 Gametype Library," a downloadable VMF that includes all official Team Fortress 2 gametypes. The entities can easily be transferred from the VMF to your own custom map without the hassle of having to build it yourself or debugging it.

"A Boojum Snark's Team Fortress 2 Gametype Library" can be downloaded here: TF2Maps.net

Arena is a gamemode for Team Fortress 2 that came along with the Heavy Update. In this gamemode, you don't respawn until your team wins or loses. The goal is to kill everyone on the enemy team or capture the center control point of the map. The control point is locked for 60 seconds in Valve's Arena maps, and cannot be captured until it's unlocked.

This article will tell you how to set up the Arena gamemode for your map.

Arena Gamemode Entities

First, we'll need an entity to check when a team captures the center control point.

• team_control_point_master

Property Name	Value
Name	master_control_point

• tf_logic_arena

This entity will be used to send an output when a round starts and when the control point is enabled. Specify the amount of seconds you want before it's activated here. 60 is the default setting.

Property Name	Value
CapEnableDelay	60

Now add the following outputs to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnCapEnabled	cap_flag	ShowModel	<none>	0.00	No
	OnArenaRoundStart	relay_round_start	Trigger	<none>	0.00	No
	OnCapEnabled	relay_cap_enable	Trigger	<none>	0.00	No

The first output displays the model for the control point when it has been enabled. The other two triggers the relays for the round start and control point activation.

• logic_relay

This will be used for outputs when the round starts.

Property Name	Value
Name	relay_round_start

• logic_relay

This will be used for outputs when the control point is enabled.

Property Name	Value
Name	relay_cap_enable

That's about it for the basic gamemode.

Control point setup

Now we'll set up the center control point entities.

• prop_dynamic

This is the base model for the control point. It will be configured to change skin when a team captures it.

Property Name	Value
World Model	models/props_gameplay/cap_point_base.mdl
Name	prop_cap_1

• team_control_point

This is the control point.

Property Name	Value
Name	cap_flag
Print Name	#Arena_cap
Index	3
BLUE model bodygroup	0

• Check the "Start with model hidden" flag. This is because it will be displayed when the control point is enabled

• trigger_capture_area

This is the trigger area, that will let the teams capture it after it's enabled. You can modify these values to suit your map.

Property Name	Value
Name	cap_trigger
Control point	cap_flag
Number of RED players to cap	3
Number of BLUE players to cap	3
Time to cap (sec)	4

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnCapTeam1	prop_cap_1	Skin	1	0.00	No
	OnCapTeam2	prop_cap_1	Skin	2	0.00	No

That's it! It should be working now. Don't forget to add a spawnroom if you want to try it out. You might want to add a relay_round_start to trigger the spawndoors to open.

Now, if you load your map, you will notice the server will keep you in the spawn area as it waits for more players to join. To fix this, open up the console and type sv_cheats 1;bot. This will add a bot to the server and let you playtest the map. You haven't made the bot do anything though. They will just stand in spawn and do nothing

See also

• Team Fortress 2 Level Creation