Jinn

Jinn
Basic Information
Map type	Payload
File name	pl_jinn
Release date	April 28, 2023 (Fight or Flight)
Developer(s)	Chris "Another Bad Pun" Williams  Eric "14bit" Crawford  Sean "Boomsta" Troehler  Freyja Rexy Custard1 Exactol fubarFX
Link(s)	Steam Workshop TF2Maps
Map info
Environment	Desert Ruins
Setting	Daylight

Oh, no! RED team is siphoning floodwater out of an ancient Egyptian burial site and using it as rocket fuel! Push a bomb-cart off a cliff onto their water pump so the honored dead and priceless artifacts are swept away into the river and lost forever, like nature intended.

Jinn promotional blurb

Jinn is an official Payload map with spacious surrounding areas flanking a cramped track. It is set in a desert oasis area surrounding an excavated tomb, with large indoor areas combined with tunnels and scaffolding, leading to the destruction of a missile looming over the horizon.

Jinn was added to Team Fortress 2 Classic on April 28, 2023, in the Fight or Flight update. It was created by TF2 Classic developers  Chris "Another Bad Pun" Williams and then-contributor  Eric "14bit" Crawford, alongside  Sean "Boomsta" Troehler,  Freyja and others. It was uploaded to the Steam Workshop on April 19, 2023.

Locations

Overview

Spawn

BLU's spacious spawn has three exit leading out of it. On the left is a cramped side route guarded by a rock, away from the track. In the middle is a direct exit to the payload's starting position and the rest of the tracks. On the right is a wide-open beach area with some deep water to the side, with an additional elevated flank for an assault on the door. There are resupply cabinet next to the exits, which make it faster to touch them rather than respawning in the room.

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  BLU initial spawn

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  BLU left spawn exit

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  BLU right spawn exit

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  BLU middle spawn exit

Spawn Exterior

The exterior features a bit of elevation, with enough space to make it difficult to set up a defensible Sentry nest. The elevated areas are easy to get onto, and easy to get shot off from. The track goes into a door that slowly crawls down once the payload reaches it. To the left are entrances to two tunnel side flanks, which all spit out into the tomb's interior.

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  Point A exterior

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  Point A flank

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  RED initial spawn

Point A

The first point is in a wide interior area with an increased emphasis on elevation. Scaffolding provides ample opportunity for mobile defense, but it is again difficult to maintain a Sentry position. Once Point A is captured, RED's spawn is pushed back. The open torches in here can be used to light Huntsman arrows.

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  Point A interior

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  Point A interior flank

Point B connector

The connector to Point B is a twisty track that goes through a tight doorway that is difficult to push through. There are two other routes through - an underground route that is usually a death trap, and a spacious side route that takes longer to navigate, but is easier to attack. Sniper spots abound in this area, abusing the tight corners and difficult elevation to get shots from unexpected angles. The lack of escape routes or health packs means that RED finds this area highly committal, and difficult to maintain control of for long.

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  Point B connector

Point B

Once the payload reaches the second door, it will need to be pushed onto the point itself, which is an area with wide open flanks that terminate in a cramped, linear tunnel. Multiple flank routes open at the same time as the track door, although none of them are as amenable to pushing the cart as following the track. This giant sightline means that Sniper can guard the cart without issue, and classes can defend the tight chokepoint with ease. The left flank has shallow water and a rock with health and ammo, leading to the walls in front of Point B. The right flank leads to the finale at Point C. Once Point B is captured, BLU's spawn is pushed forward.

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  Point B flank to finale

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  Point B middle

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  Point B flank to track

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  BLU forward spawn

Point B Battlements

At Point B, there is also an elevated battlements area, which BLU finds easy to set up a Sentry base at. This also leads to the finale at Point C and to the RED spawn generally. There is also a drop-down to the watery rock, where the shallow water prevents fall damage.

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  Point B battlements

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  Point B battlements flank

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  Point B dropdown

Point C

Point C is in front of, below, and behind RED spawn. It features the most exaggerated verticality, and is the most defensible position for RED by far. The ease of RED attacking BLU from above, and the ability to set up multiple quality Sentry spots right in front of their base, makes it a difficult task for an uncoordinated team to assault. The long track also contributes to this, requiring multiple separate pushes to get the cart all the way to the end.

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  Point C middle

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  Point C finale

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  RED back spawn

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  RED back spawn battlements

Finale

Once the payload is finally pushed all the way to the edge of the track, it will fall down onto a conveniently-placed siphoning pipe, which will find itself inconveniently exploded into dozens of pieces. As a logical consequence of this action, the RED missile will topple over, and will itself explode into a massive fireball over the horizon. As you can guess, this means BLU wins the round.

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  The cart reaches the tipping point

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  The cart explodes

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  The cart causes untold amounts of property damage

The Secret

True to its theming, Jinn features a secret buried treasure, activated through mystical means. The secret requires the cooperation of both teams to activate, involving five players, and the assistance of at least one Soldier, Demoman, or Jump Pad.

There are five ankhs on the map carved into the map geometry. When a player is close enough to one, it will glow yellow. Once all five are activated at the same time, the entrance to the buried treasure is revealed. The stone heads on the shelves will have their eyes glow to mark the server's progress.

The first ankh is found in BLU's first spawn, carved into a brick. The second ankh is outside BLU's spawn, on a pillar before the interior portion of Point A. The third is in the left flank in the tunnels leading into the interior of Point A, next to the health and ammo. The fourth is next to the entrance itself, on the elevated area before the Point B doors, next to the crate shelving. And the fifth is in RED's back spawn, the one at Point C, next to the glass doors.

Once the entrance is revealed, next to the fourth ankh, players do not have to stand next to any ankhs anymore. There will also be a second entrance inside BLU's forward spawn - however, only BLU team can enter into their own spawn. Inside will be an elaborate tunnel system, featuring multiple loops, one-way drops, death pits, and a red herring alcove. However, getting to the buried treasure is actually quite easy. Starting from the main entrance, go right on the first fork, drop down the ladder area, then go left into the pit. You will drop into darkness and appear at the entrance to the treasure room.

Standing in front of the treasure room door, it will slowly creep downwards, before finally coming to a halt. Inside is a horrible revelation: the buried treasure has been stolen, leaving behind a pedestal surrounded by worthless mountains of gold. All that's left of the buried treasure is a single, solitary, "ankhor".

Exiting the treasure room will cause the player to be ejected into their team's spawn room - the forward spawn for BLU team, and the back spawn for RED team. There is also a minor easter egg in the RED spawn: the push cart contains a chess board with extremely poorly-modeled pieces. This is a reference to prior versions of Jinn, which contained a similar chessboard floor texture in RED spawn. Even though it still does, and is even larger now.

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  The first ankh in BLU initial spawn

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  The second ankh on the Point A exterior pillar

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  The third ankh in the Point A tunnels

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  The fourth ankh before Point B battlements, next to the entrance

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  The fifth ankh in RED back spawn

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  The heads next to the entrance, which glow to mark progress

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  The entrance revealed. The crates must be destroyed

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  The entrance from BLU forward spawn

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  One of many enjoyable tunnels

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  A dead-end alcove

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  The dropdown next to the pit which leads to the treasure

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  The door to the buried treasure

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  The treasure room in all its glory

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  The treasure is revealed to be... an anchor

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  How about a nice game of 14-bit chess?

Tutorial video

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A Secret within The Secret

We might be disappointed in what we've initially discovered, but at least Soldier will put it to good use.

In the 2.1.4 update, the anchor now includes a note that reads "MINE!" and has the Soldier's signature, hinting at an upcoming weapon.

Achievements

Achievement		Description
	Archaeology	Discover the buried treasure in Jinn.

Update history

2.1.0

• Added pl_jinn (abp, 14bit)

2.1.2

• Adjusted scaffolding at A to allow for Jump pad shortcuts
• Increased RED's initial respawn wave time by up to 3 seconds
• Increased max round time from 10 minutes to 11 minutes
• Adjusted the position of some ammo and health packs around the last point
• All modular pipe props (and the potted plant!) now have skins for all teams
• Fixed lighting issues with some props
• Brightened lighting on A Point
• Removed some unused props

2.1.4

• Updated pl_jinn (14bit, abp):
  • Reworked the track's path and surrounding geometry near the final point
  • Reduced the number of crouch-jumps required to navigate final
  • Reduced Red's spawn time at final to 9 seconds (down from 10)
  • Added dynamic team-colored lights to the Payload checkpoints (as seen on Lakeside)
  • Added parallax-corrected cubemaps
  • Fixed the finale kill trigger not disabling properly
  • Miscellaneous ammo and health pack adjustments
  • Miscellaneous lighting and visual fixes
  • Miscellaneous clipping adjustments
  • Reduced map file size

Trivia

• Despite the promotional blurb for Jinn having the tagline "a pyramid scheme," the playable area has nothing to do with pyramids. There are only five on the map, barely visible in the background. This extends to the achievement icon for "Archaeology", in which the treasure is depicted as being buried deep within a pyramid, which does not represent the map layout whatsoever.
• The hieroglyphs scattered around the map do not represent any natural language, and contain such anachronisms as bowler hats, speeding trains, and a disproportionate amount of birds.
• According to Jinn's TF2Maps page, it was originally named "Josh". This was thankfully changed after a mere five months. As a reference to this mishap, a Joshua tree outside of BLU spawn was added, despite them not growing in Egypt.
• Despite the map having multiple signs saying "no swimming", as well as a "gatorglades" airboat, the water is perfectly safe and is free of deadly alligators. Despite this despisement, previous versions of the map (when it was still named "Josh") did have crocodiles ready to chomp unwitting swimmers. Also, deserts don't have alligators. They have crocodiles.

Videos

Behind the scenes

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