Team Fortress 2/Basic Map Construction
Team Fortress 2 levels call for a unique set of map elements, including an intricate system of goal entities that are used to create several different game types. This article attempts to demystify these components, outlining the requirements of each map style.
Common Elements
Every Team Fortress 2 level shares a few things in common.
Respawn Areas
Players in TF2 typically respawn in one of their team's designated respawn areas. These are usually large rooms that are somewhat removed from the main combat zones.
See the How to Create Respawn Areas and Creating a Spawnroom articles for more information.
Team-Specific Doors & Barriers
These entities keep members of one team from entering certain areas or moving in certain directions. They are almost always used around Respawn Areas to keep opponents from spawn camping. They can also be used on attack/defend maps to keep defenders from moving too far forward in certain areas. The grate in the upper left approach on the first segment of cp_dustbowl is an example of this.
See the How to Create Team-Specific Barriers and How to Create Team-Specific Doors articles for more information.
Resupply Areas
Resupply Areas heal and re-arm players when they approach, and take the form of resupply lockers on all the official maps. They are usually placed in or near Respawn Areas.
See the How to Create Resupply Areas article for more information.
Health & Ammo
Health and Ammo pickups are carefully placed on most maps to increase the strategic importance of remote locations, entice players to use less traveled pathways, or provide support for engineers away from Resupply Areas.
See the Team Fortress 2 Entities Category for more information.
Goal Systems
In addition to the common elements, Team Fortress 2 maps have one of a variety of goal systems.
Capture the Flag
This is the goal system used in the ubiquitous 2fort map, and is denoted with the map prefix ctf_. One team must pick up the other team's flag and deliver it to their own capture zone. It is the simplest goal system to set up.
A CTF goal system consists of only two item_teamflags and two func_capturezone brush-based entities.
See How to Setup Capture the Flag for more information.
Symmetrical Control Points
The most straightforward of several Control Point goal systems, this is used on Granary and Well, and is denoted with the map prefix cp_. Teams start on either end of a symmetrical series of Control Points, and must take control of all the Control Points to score.
A Symmetrical Control Point goal system consists of multiple Control Points, each made out of a trigger_capture_area and a team_control_point. A single team_control_point_master determines some of the game logic, including the layout of the control point icons on the HUD.
See Creating a Capture Point for more information.
Multiple Stage Control Points
This is the goal system used on cp_dustbowl, and is also denoted with the map prefix cp_. This is an Attack/Defend goal system, in which one team defends a series of Control Points while the other team tries to take them.