Bug revealed in shared VIPR logic, and further customization

During the month of June CompTF2C executed the HAMMER MONTH, playtesting a series of custom maps competitively over 3 weekends, as previously covered. During vipr_chopper_b2 (by Damon) in Week 1, it was realized that mp_stalemate_enable 0 does not work properly, with the control points being broken after a Sudden Death round that was bypassed (the way competitive TF2 is played at least since the first ETF2L config in 2008). VIPR and vipr_drizzle creator 14bit, and Damon dug deep into this issue and found out that while the official VIPR maps did not suffer from it, the custom-made vipr_chopper did, because of the shared VIPR logic prefab on tf2maps.net. 14bit then updated the shared prefab with the one we have in our official TF2C installations, and informed the TF2C Mapping Community accordingly. Damon, on the other hand, compiled vipr_chopper_b2pro for CompTF2C, that includes this correct prefab, as well as the customization we will describe below.

In competitive we defined mp_timelimit 30 and mp_match_end_at_timelimit 1 for VIPR, to prevent an infinitely long match and an infinitely long last round, as done for 5CP, which also adds additional time to the round with every point capture–technically making it a necessity, although conceptually we do recognize that VIPR is designed with a “simultaneous A/D CP” or PLR in mind, and not 5CP.
VIPR maps so far are designed with setup times which is a non-issue for public gameplay where mp_match_end_at_timelimit is 0. In our pick-up games, when the map time remaining was only a little more than 60 seconds, the setup timer of 60 seconds made the last round basically irrelevant. These 1-2 minute long last rounds are the history-making ones in the legacy of competitive TF2, with the losing team playing a very aggressive mid, going all-in. The long setup timer also makes all the midfights (the rawest action in competitive) an über exchange situation (both teams cautiously holding on to their 100% charges). Damon was so kind to also remove the setup timer in the pro version of his map according to our feedback.

As creation of a “pro” version for every VIPR map would not be a sustainable solution, we looked for creative ways to achieve that. We turned our heads to the Stripper: Source plugin following Damon’s advice; and with technical support from its guru in the TF2 Classic universe, Dynamilk (host of the Bangerz.TF Engineer Fortress server, connected via bangerz.tf:27018), we installed and tested the right version. Apparently we were not the first ones, as competitive TF2 people wanted to achieve the same thing 17 years ago for the setup timer of cp_well and every other map that would otherwise need a “pro” version. We quickly implemented the solution to our official cfg/plugin/vscript pack, and gave the required guidance in our tech manual. At the end of the day, CompTF2C keeps clearing the obstacles to make a viable competitive TF2 Classic.