Mann vs. Machine

This is a sub-page of Development:Team Fortress 2/Source Developer Asset Repository Leaks/Maps.

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Search through the maps that are in the current release and document any differences or oddities.

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Summary#

mvm_2bridges_artpass#

An early version of the map Decoy. Aside from minor detail differences, the most notable differences from the final version include a lack of painted and wooden "Mann Co." signs that are used to make the map look like a decoy base, showing that this version predates the map's eventual namesake concept.

Regarding visual differences from the final version of Decoy, the map lacks many props that would be added later, such as barrels, crates, and the aforementioned decoy signs. Many buildings sport different logos and signage overall compared to their final version as well, such as the "CACTUS VALLEY" sign instead reading "RIO GRANDE". The map also makes use of early bomb path indicators, consisting of flickering holograms of the bomb hovering above animated arrow signs. Despite being almost exactly the same in layout as Decoy, there are still a number of obvious changes as well. The spawn rooms are smaller and more basic with early upgrade stations that take the form of lined up computer models and a single medieval sconce on the wall, the hatch is using the frame of the glass door pits seen in most Payload maps, the small cubby near the front of the map to the right of the robot dropdown is absent with a stack of crates and a barrel in front of it, there is an extra window that was removed which overlooked the splitting path from the rightmost building, and the rocky cliff on the left side of the map is replaced with an unfinished wooden structure. This unfinished structure is actually the final remains of the map's old medieval theming seen in other early versions of Decoy, being the gutted remains of a castle-like building.

mvm_2bridges_artpass possesses a few sound entities relating to the cut "knight boss" that try to play an absent "knight_spawn.wav" file. Entities such as these that reference the cut boss appear in various older medieval era MvM maps and the maps that evolved from them.

Something to note is that features like the Payload tracks leading to the hatch, the hatch itself using placeholder assets from other modes, upgrade stations using placeholder models, and the map having a prior medieval theme are all ideas that repeat across many other maps on this page. Expect to see these things repeated a lot going forward.

mvm_2bridges_b#

An even earlier version of the map mvm_2bridges_artpass, with the medieval theme mentioned above. The map is mostly made up of stone architecture and muddy, grassy dirt for ground textures. While aesthetically very different from the desert theming that came later on, the layout is nearly identical to its final release as Decoy.

Some designs and ideas seen in mvm_2bridges_artpass can be found here as well, such as the extra window on the right side building, the early spawn rooms and upgrade stations, the hatch using the Payload pit design with tracks leading to it, a large crate under the collapsed stairs in the right of the pit, and of course, the large wooden structure on the left of the map being present here in its original castle-like state with four flags atop it. The map also has the "knight_spawn" sound entities, as well as the early bomb path indicators, albeit without the holographic bomb hovering over it.

Also notable is that there is a robot Heavy in the skybox, which cycles through animations. It's possible that this could have been a placeholder for the carrier tank seen in MvM maps, as it's seen in a relatively similar position, though it's unclear what purpose it may have had besides this. This same robot Heavy appears in the map mvm_anim.

mvm_2bridges_tank_location#

An empty map with only a bomb hatch and tank model aligned with it. Besides sharing a name with the "2bridges" maps, it seems to have no greater relation or purpose.

mvm_2hatch#

An experimental scrapped desert map with a completely original layout and, as the name would suggest, 2 hatches instead of 1. Despite having a decent amount of detailing done, the map is still littered with dev textures and unfinished geometry, and even lacks a proper skybox.

The hatch on the left is labeled "A" and the one on the right is labeled "B", or otherwise "cp1" and "cp2" respectively. It seems that, to accommodate having two separate hatch locations to defend, humans would have had up to three different spawn rooms: one spawn behind each hatch and one at the midway point between them. However, the spawns by each hatch are walled off and the spawn points inside them seem to all be disabled with no way to enable them normally in-game. This suggests that the hatch-sided spawn rooms may have either been disabled to test the central spawn room concept and never got re-enabled before the map was shelved, or that they were already planned to be cut and simply hadn't been removed yet. It's unclear if all three were somehow intended to be used simultaneously at any point, or if the central spawn even existed at the same time as the others.

As for the titular hatches themselves, it seems that they were set to be enabled one at a time, the active hatch selected at random on start of a match/wave. Once a hatch was selected, a ten second countdown would be displayed with the announcer beginning to count down once it hit five, followed then by the selected hatch gaining a billowing blue smoke effect alongside an arrow appearing on the hud to denote which hatch was active. The steam whistles on each building would also blow steam and play a whistle noise when their respective hatch became active.

Worth noting is that, while the map has reference models for tanks used to size pathways appropriately and a spawn area for them near the front of the map, there is no path entities for them to follow, meaning that work on tank pathing for the map had likely not fully begun. There are also visgroups present showing unused ideas for the map, namely a smaller stair-less version of the hut at the very front right side of the map named "_old_hut_frontlines" and a small hut overlooking hatch B named "_old_sentry_hut". Additionally, the building directly in front of hatch A has a sealed off room inside of it.

mvm_anim#

An early version of Coal Town, made in a medieval style. Much of the map consists of cobblestone architecture instead of the abandoned desert town visuals seen in the final version. The map lacks much of the main lore-related detailing seen in the final version as well, like portraits, signage and other such props. However, it also sports the Payload tracks, Payload hatch, early path indicators, and early upgrade stations like other early MvM maps,

Most of what would go on to become Coal Town's geometry is already present. The corridor that leads to the robot spawn appears much shorter in this version and lacks the buildings lining the sides of it that are normally used for high ground advantage, and the second death pit normally found on the left path is absent. Along with small changes like slightly different geometry of various rooms (or towers) and absence of certain ammo boxes/medkits, the medkit and ammo box found outside the map in the final version of Coal Town can be seen here in their original positions, now properly in-bounds. The most distinctive visual in this map is the robot Heavy found in the map's skybox, standing where the carrier tank normally is. Given its presence in mvm_2bridges_b, it likely serves a similar purpose here of being a placeholder for the carrier tank. It may have also been used in some kind of animation test, owing to the map's name mvm_anim.

Hidden visgroups reveal an interesting old concept for the map that never made it to release in any capacity. The aptly-named visgroup "capture point stuff" holds logic and props for a control point that would have been placed within the right-most tower that connects to the central building via a bridge on the right path, along with a large gate that blocks off the lower passage of the right path. Based on the way the control point is set up, robots would have been able to capture this control point and open the gates blocking the main pathway below. However, it seems humans could also recapture this point, closing the gate and blocking the path again. The idea of a control point that can be captured by robots to open gates and make defense harder wouldn't become a reality in an official MvM map until the map Mannhattan released in 2013, albeit without the ability for humans to recapture them.

mvm_aspawn#

A simple test map. Shaped like an arrow and made up of basic dev textures, the map may have been used to test something related to spawn mechanics based on its name. Despite not having a visible form, the bomb hatch location is still present at the tip of the arrow.

mvm_base_interior#

A scrapped map with a visual style heavily reminiscent of the Payload map Thunder Mountain. Instead of a bomb hatch, mvm_base_interior uses a control point with a capture zone. The map also features a long cart track leading up to the control point.

This map has many interesting things to note. First, it seems as though players were meant to play as BLU team instead of RED like regular MvM maps, indicated by humans using BLU spawn room logic and entities, while robots use RED's. Second, the map contains a hidden visgroup named "boss stuff". Enabling this visgroup reveals entities for a scrapped boss utilizing the cut knight model. However, unlike other maps calling for this entity, this map utilizes a unique experimental variant that seems to work more like the final game mode's tanks. When spawned, the knight model is loaded atop a moving cart with a trigger_hurt brush on its front that follows a set of tracks and also has a dispenser attached to it (set to be hidden on spawning). The boss will move forward along the laid out cart tracks, causing humans to lose if the boss makes it up to the control point. The third and final note of worth is the other hidden visgroups containing scattered bits of geometry from Thunder Mountain. This geometry seems to be from an earlier point of Thunder Mountain's development, as a visgroup called "tower" houses an early version of the final tower from stage 3 with metal grates for ramps and lacking connectivity for the bridges seen in the final map.

mvm_basic#

mvm_bigrock#

Hidden visgroups reveal old concepts for the level:

mvm_cliffs_outer#

mvm_cloak#

mvm_coaltown#

This map exists in the current release of the game. Differences are likely to be minimal or non-existent.

mvm_coaltown_engineer#

To do: I compile this but the lighting seems broken?

Coaltown, but seemingly with engineer bot support.

mvm_deathpit_2pits#

mvm_deathpit_multibomb#

mvm_deathpit_sniper_mission#

mvm_decoy#

This map exists in the current release of the game. Differences are likely to be minimal or non-existent.

mvm_decoy_event#

A version of the map using the Halloween upgrade station and nighttime skybox used in mvm_coaltown_event.

mvm_droptest#

A modification of mvm_example, likely used for testing how the AI reacts to walking off of different surfaces / inclines.

mvm_example#

mvm_fallback#

mvm_fallback_gates#

mvm_forest#

mvm_forest_chop#

mvm_forest_simple#

mvm_ghost_town#

This map exists in the current release of the game. Differences are likely to be minimal or non-existent.

mvm_mannhattan#

This map exists in the current release of the game. Differences are likely to be minimal or non-existent.

mvm_mannworks#

Hidden visgroups reveal old concepts for the level:

mvm_mannworks_event#

A version of the map using the Halloween upgrade station and nighttime skybox used in mvm_coaltown_event.

mvm_mining_tower#

mvm_oil_derrick#

To do: This map doesn't like to compile as it has no outer box.

mvm_pipe#

Pipeline stage C as an MvM map.

mvm_pipe2#

Pipeline stage C as an MvM map.

mvm_rottenburg#

This map exists in the current release of the game. Differences are likely to be minimal or non-existent.

mvm_rottenburg_artstuff#

mvm_rottenburg_artstuff2#

mvm_rottenburg_arttest#

mvm_rottenburg_arttest2#

mvm_rottenburg_lighting#

mvm_rottenburg_temp#

mvm_spamfest#

mvm_sploosh#

A version of MvM with a "tf_logic_tower_defense". The map has multiple (3) gates that prevent bots from progressing. These gates (walls) are breakable by the bots with 8000hp, and can be rebuilt with and upgraded with 2000hp at a time. Tanks break through them.

mvm_sploosh_5man#

The same as mvm_sploosh but with 5 players instead of the usual 6.

mvm_stronghold#

mvm_sup#

mvm_surprise#

An early-in-development MvM map that has robots teleport in at specific points scattered randomly throughout the map, out of "drills". Surprisingly, while the model for the drill is missing, most of the particles intended for the map exist in modern TF2.

mvm_trains#

A desert-themed map. The center area has very little cover, with most of it being hidden in a disabled visgroup. A few early/alternate sections of the map, mostly different designs of the bomb pit area, exist in disabled visgroups as well.

mvm_turbo#

A medieval-themed map that spirals inwards. RED has two spawn rooms, each one on opposite sides of the map.

mvm_warehouse#