DeGroot Keep
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| “ | How did the menly men of Team Fortress appear at a tenth century battlement? Simple. The Soldier angered a magician
— Medieval Mode Publicity Blurb
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| DeGroot Keep | |
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| 300px | |
| Basic Information | |
| Variants: | Sandcastle |
| Developer(s): | {{{map-developer}}} |
| Map Photos | |
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| Map Overview | |
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Degroot Keep is a map for the new Medieval Mode that was released during the Australian Christmas event with the December 17, 2010 update. It is currently the only map for this gameplay mode.
The map is relatively small capture and defend stage where the RED team must defend three control points from the BLU team.
During the start of the round, the BLU team must capture Points A and B which located on the ground level at the flanks of the castle and the RED team must defend these by either either leaping down from the walls (and take damage) or to fire projectiles from above as the castle gate will be closed and neither team will be able to pass through it.
Once Points A and B have been captured, the castle gate will rise and allow access to Point C which is located at the end of the castle courtyard. If Point C is not captured within a certain amount of time, the castle gate will close and Points A and B will be reset and need to be recaptured once more.
Players can shoot projectiles through the grills of the castle gate or arrow slits in the towers and braziers are located by the player bases which can be used to set Huntsman arrows on fire to deal more damage.
Bugs
- Players are able to go through the barrels on the shelves above the BLU spawn.
- Players can be killed by the Gate opening as well as it closing if they stand next to it.
- The main gate in the BLU fort can become stuck and not open when the round begins.
Trivia
- While playing on the map, all text chat by players is modified by a parser to appear like Ye Old English.
- The map is named after the Demoman's family as his real name is Tavish Degroot.
- DeGroot or de Groot is a common surname of Dutch origin meaning "the big" or "the great".
- According to the official Australian Christmas event page, the map is supposed to be set during the 10th century but a number of anachronisms can be seen:
- The family portrait of the Degroot family that appears inside the castle is actually a portrait of the Demoman and his mother and father as seen in a WAR! Update blog post. This is strange since the map takes place several hundred years before the Demoman is even born.
- When entering the keep, a computer terminal can be seen hidden behind a wooden door to the left. Likewise, there is a second terminal partially hidden by a door in RED's spawn.
- On certain events, like win/lose or final point access, bag pipes play in the background.
- The bagpipe music is a re-use of the Template:W anthem used when a round is won by the British team.
Gallery
- Degrootkeep battlements.jpg
Battlements of the castle.
- Degrootkeep courtyard.jpg
Courtyard of the castle.
- Degrootkeep battlefield.jpg
The battlefield that lays between the castle and fort.
- Degrootkeep point A.jpg
Point A.
- Degrootkeep point B.jpg
Point B.
- Degrootkeep bluespawn.jpg
The fort that serves as BLU's base.
- Degrootkeep redspawn.jpg
The interior of the castle that serves as RED's spawn.
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