pl_angkor
About this project
PL_Angkor is a 3 stages payload map (goldrush like) with some CP in stage 2 and 3 to allow the cart to continue moving on its path.After BLU's plane crashed in the cambodian jungle, they encountered RED team wandering around a khmer temple, so they quickly decided to just blow up everything ...
They'll need to bring their explosive-filled cart from their plane, to the temple entrance up to the top of the temple and drop it into the sacrifice pit !
Release date: December 2015
Game: Team Fortress 2
Engine: Source Engine
Showcase Video
My role
This was a personal solo project, creating a level for the Payload mode of Team Fortress 2, a game I enjoy and spent countless hours playing.This level is set in Angkor, the cambodian archeological wonder and its typical temple ruins lost in the forest.
I created the original layout, its slightly custom game mode and all the custom art assets needed to create this unique theme.
More info about my work
I started working on this level in 2008 in my free time, with the intention to create something fun to play on public servers and set in a unique theme I adored and which was new to Team Fortress 2.I went for the game mode I enjoyed the most, Payload, trying to add a unique touch by adding some control points on the cart path in order to create opportunities for cool moments during the rounds.
The first alpha version of the level was released in 2010 in order to gather some first feedbacks from a few online communities like CanardPC and TF2Maps.
Not having so much time to work on this, I iterated on the layout based on the playtests feedbacks while starting to detail the visuals for this. Although I still used some generic assets from TF2, I had to create quite a lot of new content to fit the theme, going from the iconic trees and their roots, statues and other elements for the temples ruins, to a crashed airplane and many other models and textures.
The first beta version, containing all 3 stages in a detailled version, was released in 2011 and then I continued from time to time to tweak it, sometimes reworking a few sections to further improve it.
I continued this work, also optimizing the level and fixing all sorts of exploits and bugs which were reported until releasing the final version in 2015.
In term of progression in the map, the first stage is focused on the jungle part with BLU team spawning in the crashed airplane while RED team defends the entrance of the temples. The area is a bit more open than the next ones and has more natural elements.
The second stage is in the middle of the temples and has the first control point on the cart path requiring to lower a platform in order to open a gate, needed so that the cart can continue progress. It still features quite a lot of Angkor iconic trees and their roots.
Last stage requires BLU to push the cart up to the final pit where it will explode. It has another control point allowing to lift the cart up to the final part, and also has a few slopes where the cart will recede unless BLU can push it to the top of the slope.
Here is a link to the level on Steam workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=454686689
Here is a video I did to showcase the level (beta version) based on one of the playtest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poQW_6jE1yo
Screenshots
