Reverse MvM Beginners Guide

Reverse MvM refers to a combination of custom keyvalues that flips the teams and win conditions. Instead of defending against hordes of robots, players are spawned on the blue team and must fight their way to the hatch and deliver the bomb. Designing missions around this concept can be very complex and requires heavy usage of Point Templates. It is highly recommended that you have a basic understanding of hammer and map logic beforehand.

An example popfile for Rottenburg can be found here

Getting Started

Because many maps were not designed for this mode, it is recommended that you go through your map of choice and remove unwanted map entities, cover up holes in bot spawn with prop_dynamic, and generally prepare your map beforehand. For the bulk of custom logic, a logic_auto in combination with AddOutputs is recommended, as it will instantly trigger when a new wave loads. For example, if your mission gives the blue team infinite ammo, it wouldn't hurt to remove redundant ammo packs from the map like so

logic_auto 
{
     "origin" "0 0 0" 
     "targetname" "mainrelay"
     "OnMapSpawn" "item_ammopack*,Kill,,0,-1"
}

Many maps do not have gates or doors blocking the blue spawn area and will require you to add your own blockades. This can be as simple as placing a prop in front of the spawn and killing it when the wave starts, or as complex as creating a moving gate using func_tracktrain. For our example, we'll be using a func_forcefield, an invisible wall which can be disabled and enabled when wave start/end relays trigger using some basic AddOutputs

PointTemplates [$SIGSEGV]
{
	corelogic
	{
		NoFixup 1
		logic_auto 
		{
			"origin" "0 0 0" 
			"targetname" "mainrelay"
			"OnMapSpawn" "item_ammopack*,Kill,,0,-1"
				 
			"OnMapSpawn" "wave_start_relay*,AddOutput,OnTrigger spawnbarrier:Disable:0:-1,0,-1"
			"OnMapSpawn" "wave_finished_relay*,AddOutput,OnTrigger spawnbarrier:Enable:0:-1,0,-1"
		}
	}
	forcefield
	{  
		NoFixup 1
		func_forcefield
		{
			"disablereceiveshadows" "0"
			"origin" "2724.365479 -2303.941650 -143.139458" //rottenburg spawn
			"angles" "0 90 0"
			"renderamt" "255"
			"rendercolor" "255 255 255"
			"renderfx" "0"
			"rendermode" "10"
			"TeamNum" "2"
			"targetname" "spawnbarrier"
			"mins" "-300 -300 -300"
			"maxs" "300 300 300"
			"StartDisabled" "0"
		}
	}
}

* is a wildcard that can be used to reference multiple entities with the same prefix. It is only limited to prefixes (*_start_relay* would not work)

For more complex maps with a lot of entities, it may be beneficial to strip away unnecessary decorative elements of the map to avoid hitting the edict limit. move_rope and keyframe_rope for example can be safely removed if necessary.

Lose Condition

In order to fail the wave when players lose, you will need to add your own game_round_win entity like so:

PointTemplates [$SIGSEGV]
{
	LoseRelay 
	{
		NoFixup 1
		game_round_win //ignore this
		{
			"origin" "0 0 0"
			"TeamNum" "2"
			"targetname" "bots_win_red"
			"switch_teams" "0"
			"force_map_reset" "1"
			"classname" "game_round_win"
		}
		logic_relay //trigger this
		{
			"origin" "0 0 0"
			"targetname" "redwin_relay"
			"OnTrigger" "bots_win_red,RoundWin,,0,-1"
		}	
	}
}

It's up to you to decide how you want players to lose. Timers, VIP Escort, and Tanks are popular ways to do so.

Upgrade Station

Upgrade stations will need to be placed in blue spawns. Do your best to strategically place these in areas that don't interfere with spawn points, as well as cover up holes in the map.

		station
		{
			NoFixup 1
			func_upgradestation //upgrade station entity
			{
				"mins" "-105 -100 0" 
				"maxs" "105 100 242"
				"solid" "0"
			}
			prop_dynamic //blu upgrade station model, can be found on potato servers
			{
				"targetname" "upgradestation"
				"angles" "0 0 0"
				"DisableBoneFollowers" "0"
				"disablereceiveshadows" "0"
				"disableshadows" "1"
				"ExplodeDamage" "0"
				"ExplodeRadius" "0"
				"fademaxdist" "0"
				"fademindist" "-1"
				"fadescale" "1"
				"MaxAnimTime" "10"
				"maxdxlevel" "0"
				"MinAnimTime" "5"
				"mindxlevel" "0"
				"model" "models\props_mvm\mvm_upgrade_blu.mdl"
				"modelscale" "1"
				"PerformanceMode" "0"
				"pressuredelay" "0"
				"RandomAnimation" "0"
				"renderamt" "255"
				"renderfx" "0"
				"rendermode" "0"
				"SetBodyGroup" "0"
				"skin" "0"
				"solid" "0"
				"spawnflags" "0"
				"origin" "0 0 0"
			}
			prop_dynamic //invisible collision prop 
			{
				
				"targetname" "shopcollision"
				"angles" "0 -90 0"
				"DisableBoneFollowers" "1"
				"disablereceiveshadows" "1"
				"model" "models/props_vehicles/train_flatcar_container.mdl"
				"disableshadows" "1"
				"ExplodeDamage" "0"
				"ExplodeRadius" "0"
				"fademaxdist" "0"
				"fademindist" "-1"
				"fadescale" "1"
				"MaxAnimTime" "10"
				"maxdxlevel" "0"
				"MinAnimTime" "5"
				"mindxlevel" "0"
				"modelscale" "1"
				"PerformanceMode" "0"
				"pressuredelay" "0"
				"RandomAnimation" "0"
				"renderamt" "0"
				"renderfx" "0"
				"rendermode" "10"
				"SetBodyGroup" "0"
				"skin" "0"
				"CollisionGroup" "5"
				"solid" "6"
				"spawnflags" "0"
				"StartDisabled" "0"
				"origin" "0 0 0"	
			}		
		}

Pacing

The pacing of your waves is the most integral part of making a fun reverse mission. The best way to accomplish this is to have well placed bot spawns that move further and further towards the hatch, combined with sub-waves that give players adequate time to move forward. Think of each sub-wave and custom spawn you create as a checkpoint that players need to pass before moving to the next location, rather than players defending against endless hordes of robots.