SpawnPoint

Anyone who has gamed with me for any amount of time knows that after a while, I get tired of the same old maps. CS 1.6 had a great variety of maps (more than 20) and yet, no one would play anything but dust2. Eventually this made me tired of the same old game over and over and over, and hence I started playing NS again. Somehow this got me into KcK (Kustom Karnage) who was all about the custom maps. With hundreds of maps to play, it was great having something new everytime I played. 

Then TF2 came out and well, NS kinda got pushed to the side for a while. TF2 is a great game. Unfortunately, it requires teamwork and so few people actually know how to work with a team. Regardless, a few months after beta, I'm sitting here getting tired of playing the same old maps all the time. The only maps I really enjoy are dustbowl and hydro. I cringe everytime we get stuck playing those maps over and over though. 

So I have a solution to this problem. Custom maps! Pretty much any gamer has heard of fpsbanana (formerly csbanana) and has been to their site to try out all their fun custom stuff. I mostly stick to the maps because I have no desire for my game to look all squirrely. So I've gone through the 90+ maps on fpsbanana and picked out the cream of the crop just for you. Here they are in no particular order:

cp_castle
This is the ONLY map I've found that has a "dustbowl" type feel. As a red player, you start out with just one point to cover. At first this can seem kinda lacking, but it can be tough to keep just one point. Once the BLU team captures the point, you'll start the round over with two points (one locked) to control. If BLU manages to capture both, you'll move to the last area with again, two control points (one locked). On the plus side, this makes the map a lot of fun and definitely a change of pace. I think most TF2 players enjoy the dustbowl type style of play and unfortunately, the map is going to wear on us. Castle has some larger areas (long canyon type areas similar to the last area in dustbowl) but overall, the map is well thought out.  At a whopping 36mb, those of you who run servers may want to steer clear as this map will gobble up your bandwidth in a hurry.

cp_labor_b2
If you've played custom maps for TF2, you've probably played the original of this map - labor_beta. The original isn't much different than this version minus the solid objects that you can shoot through and the extremely long timer for the middle cap point. This map has a "well" minus the water type feel to it.  The areas are fairly close, there are forward spawn points and the mapper kept things fairly close. The map is still 22mb but at least you won't be sniped from half way across the map.

cp_wolf
There are mixed reviews on this map, but I've played enough TF2 and enough custom maps to know when something is good and when it's not. This map may not have all the pretty stuff everywhere, but the layout is very good. It's a "gravelpit" type map with plenty of access to the points. The one downfall this map may have is that since A is practically at the BLU spawnpoint, the BLU team typically fails to rush to B and thus will likely lose the match. B is by far the harder to cap point and for whatever reason, new teams have a hard time figuring out that if they rush to B, they'll be able to capture it before the engineers get several sentries up and going. At just 6mb, this map is perfect for most servers.

ctf_dock
I hesitate at adding this map simply because it's a water map. Most people don't care for water and water maps tend to be less friendly to pyros. BUT, this map does have a well thought out layout and the water is only hindering if you decide to take the water way to the intel room. The mapper put a lot of time and work into making both sides as fair as possible. Intel isn't hard to defend and it's not impossible to get in and grab the intel and make a mad dash for your base. As far as maps go, this map definitely was well planned and at just under 4mb, it's worth adding to your server.

ctf_jinxed_b3
If any one map on this list were to be considered my personal favorite, this would be it. This map is not only well thought out, it requires team work and keeps the game very fast paced. The map itself is somewhat small but it meets the purposes of the map seeing as how this isn't your grandma's ctf map. There's only one intel and it's located in the middle of the map. It's neutral until someone grabs it. Once someone has gained control of the intel, they follow their team color arrows (if you're BLU, you follow the BLU arrows) to a capture point which is in the enemy base. Now this provides some very fast paced action and definitely requires some teamwork. The only downfall this map has is that people often don't understand that to capture they must take it to the enemy base and thus they often return it to your own where they manage to die and make an easy cap for the other team. Again, I HIGHLY recommend this map for everyone! Unfortunately, the recent updates to the map have pushed it's size to 25mb.

ctf_mach2
This map is likely one of the most popular custom CTF maps available. With a 2fort type feel and a fair layout, the map has become quite popular - two bases face each other with an island in the middle surrounded by sewer waters. There's no area in the map that's not accessable by any class. Teams that are aggressive will likely control the map and return captures over and over.  At 11mb the map is perfect for an additional CTF map for any servers rotation.

ctf_turbine_v3
Although a simple map, this map makes a good addition to the CTF maps. It has two bases with an open area in the middle which has plenty of obstacles to keep it from being too much of a sniper haven. With a vent and two hallway  that leads to the intel room, it makes for a fast paced capture the flag map. At 15mb, it definitely pushes the acceptable map size limit, but it's worth the bandwidth.

And runner-ups:

gas_kaboom_beta2
This map is definitely a fun style map. Teams must capture the intel in the opponents base and then take it a capture point in the base which then releases deadly gas into the opponents base killing anyone who is not in a safe zone. This map is not ideal for normal rotation, but a fun every now and then type map.

cp_overflow_b3
This map would have been included in a must have except the spawnpoints are screwed up on one side. Until the mapper corrects this problem, it's fun to play every now and then but definitely not a regular bases since one team has an advantage over the other.

cp_rats_alpha2
Like the gas map, this map is definitely a fun style map and not really ideal for normal rotation. Identical to some CSS rats maps, this map is fun for every now and then play and for something new.

ctf_rugby
This map is great if you know how to play rugby. There is one neutral intel in the middle of the map which one team gains control of simply by nabbing the intel. Once the intel is dropped, there is a period of time before it becomes neutral again. Thus the opposing team is unable to grab the intel and must wait for it to become neutral. Although the mapper has put a lot of time and effort into removing the sniper haven that this map is, unfortunately, there are still spots where snipers can camp out and cause havoc for your team.

ctf_splat_b3
This map is absolutely amazing. It not only looks great, but the game play is amazing. Unfortunately, the map is "freakin' huge" and thus not realistic for normal game play. For servers with unlimited bandwidth for fast download, they may very well enjoy this map and thus it has found it's way to this list. At 36mb, there's no real reason for the map to be this large. 

And that is all! I hope those of you who are running TF2 servers find this information to be useful.

There's an update to ventrilo!!! Apparently all the whining and crying convinced the fine developers over at ventrilo to release a patch. 

Here's the info:

Obviously some people have had a few problems with the 3.0 upgrade. But nothing that couldn't be overcome with a few changes in configuration files and an understand of how to tweak the default guest account.

With that said we have built a fairly good list of things that people would like to see changed. I'll list them here.

1) Clients will not display the (GUEST) tag by default. There will be a menu option called View -> Guests similar to View -> Rank if you want it on by default. Simple thing to add.

2) Given the Dup IP complaints the User Editor will default all "New" accounts created to "No Limit". The default guest account setting requires a server tweak, but the licensees have been given a quick way to get around that in the mean time. Or, have your server admin login and adjust the setting of the guest account live. Then issue a "Kick all guests". Problem solved.

3) MOTD for guest account will have option to display only if it changes like the normal motd.

4) An oversight in the user editor not displaying a horz scroll bar for REALLY long names was found. I'll see if I can get that fixed as well since it shouldn't be a problem.

I do want to point out as I explained to DragonST that with the guest account tag removed all these are still subject to the guest account rights. But the default settings (minus the Dup IP) provides them with the same basic rights they had on 2.3 as a non-Server Admin. The only thing changed is the offending tag and nothing else. As stated makes them the same thing as a normal 2.3 client.

If I have missed anything then please let me know and I'll update this post. But do it quick as I will start the work Thursday morning.

With any luck I should have an updated Windows 3.0.1 client no later then Friday. Maybe earlier. And a Mac 3.0.1. to follow a day or two later depending on how fast the windows client updates go.

Like most gamers, you probably have used Ventrilo at least at some point in time (assuming you don't use it everyday and rarely disconnect like me). So you'll be excited to hear that tonight there will be an official new release of Ventrilo! FINALLY!

Here is the pre-release announcement from ventrilo.com:

No, I'm most certainly not parting ways with my Orange Box - get your own!!!!

Actually, several of those "Black Friday" sites out there are announcing that Orange Box will be on sale the day after Thanksgiving (at least that day - no idea if this includes other days or not) for $25!!! That's a super sweet deal considering Orange Box is normally $50. I'm hearing BioShock is on sale for $25 that day as well. Looks like Black Friday just might be heaven for us gamers.