Operation Canteen Crasher

Operation Canteen Crasher was a hybrid community Mann vs Machine contest-campaign event organized and hosted by Potato's Custom MvM Servers that was announced on April 9, 2018 and concluded on September 23, 2019.

The Contest

The first part of the event was a contest that began on April 9, 2018, with guaranteed support until December 9, 2018. Before August 15, 2018, players could create maps, items, and MvM missions, and submit them to the judges for review. If the submission received enough votes from the judges, the submission was added to the campaign. New submissions were no longer accepted after August 15th; however, re-submissions of existing entries was allowed past the August 15th deadline. Medal points were credited to the authors of accepted submissions. Players could also earn up to 20 points for participating in gameday testing. There was no limit on the amount of submissions one could create for the event; however, pop files for missions were restricted to two per map, one intermediate mission and one advanced mission for each mission maker. On December 20, the contest came to an end. A total of 69 missions had been accepted (with 68 making it into the Campaign).

On September 4th, it was announced that the contest would be re-opened for submissions of Halloween-themed maps, missions, and items. These submissions followed the same judgement guidelines as non-Halloween submissions.

The Campaign

The second part of the event was the campaign, which launched in public beta on August 22nd, 2018. Just like with the contest, players could earn medal points, awarded as contract stars in the campaign, up to a maximum of 600 stars, for completing missions and contracts. Any points earned in the contest were added to stars earned in the campaign for total points towards the badges. The Medals tab of the campaign server tracked stars awarded.

Unlike Operation Titanium Tank, Operation Canteen Crasher offered both advanced and intermediate missions, instead of only advanced difficulty missions. This allowed players who struggle with advanced missions to still have fun and experience the campaign.

For April Fools' Day, the campaign was suspended so the Potato's Custom MvM Servers could run the Operation Memes vs Machines tour, initially for one week. After a week's extension of the popular Memes tour, the Operation Canteen Crasher campaign was resumed on April 16.

Contracts

Selected and managed though the Potato.tf contract server, the campaign also featured contracts for all nine classes, as well as an all-class section and a team section. The class contracts ranged from beginner to advanced in difficulty, with extra contracts based around specific weapons or actions. The all-class contracts contained broader objectives that could be completed by any class, such as collecting credits or destroying tanks. The team contracts acknowledged the collective and cooperative efforts of the team (like, destroying giant robots) and some required the whole team's cooperation to be completed, such as completing a mission with everyone being a Medic, completing an advanced mission with no failures and under 30 minutes of wave time or completing a mission with only default quality weapons. (Decorated, Unusual, Vintage, Reskins, Community, Self-made, Festives, Collector's, Killstreak variants of default weapons did not count; cosmetics were accepted and did not hinder the contract's progress.)

The Potato.tf contract server is somewhat more flexible than either the contracts drawer or Contracker systems. A player could have one class or one all-class contract activated at a time by selecting any contract to "view" and, while viewing, clicking on "Activate". Team contracts were automatically "activated" for the player by the contract server, and any team contract completed by the team immediately awarded its stars to all players. Progress on the active contract was tracked during a wave, but the player's progress during that wave was made permanent only if the player played the whole wave and the team won the wave, exceptions being contracts that required the player or team to play the entire mission under a set condition (e.g., everyone playing Medic for a whole mission).

To check your contract's progress while in a game, players could type the command !contract in chat or contract on console. One could also check the list of valid and failed team contracts with !teamcontract or !teamcontract_failed (sm_teamcontract or sm_teamcontract_failed in console)

Upon completion, the player was awarded up to three stars for a Basic class contract, up to four stars for an Advanced class contract, and up to five stars for an Expert class contract. Players received 1, 2, or 3 contract stars for completing the first 100 contract points on a contract and one ​additional ​contract star for​ each bonus objective completed.

Approved Maps and Missions

This table shows the missions and maps that were in rotation in the Canteen Crasher campaign. Each mission awarded the player a set amount of stars upon completion, with more difficult missions awarding more stars.

Intermediate Missions

Map	Mission	Waves	Creators
Casino City	Poker Pummel	7	BigfootBeto
Coastrock	Coral Crusher	6	Chipbeam
	Offcoast Invasion		HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp
Condemned	Thriller Terror	5
Doppler	Shortwave	6	Blade x64
Hideout	Intermediate		Mikroscopic
Isolation	Turbulence Tumult		mc & Remilia Scarlet
Metro	Steel Skyline		Sir Metaladon
Outlands	Backwood Blockade	7	Tindall Berry
Oxidize	Snowy Slaughter	6	Asd417
Powerplant	Generator Gambit		theAgamer11
Quetzal	Oaxaca Offense		Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
	Sunset Sacrilege		Sergeant Crwhips
Radar	Recruits Recognition	7	pluz
Snowpine	Alpine Assault		Gian
Steep	Cliffside Clashing		HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp
Trainyard	Driving Training	6	mc & Remilia Scarlet
Underground	Mining Machines	7	Sir Metaladon
Waterfront	Short Circuit		HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp
Waterlogged	Flu Fight	6	Sergeant Crwhips

Advanced Missions

Map	Mission	Waves	Creators
Area 52	Extraterrestrial Epidemic	1	Jakapoa
	Interstellar Intervention	6	theAgamer11
	Tech Mechs		Sir Metaladon
	Unusual Onslaught	5	UltimentM
Barren	Dusty Dilemma	7	theAgamer11
	Robotic Landscape	8	mc & Remilia Scarlet
Calico	Scabby Subordination	7	Robo-Poot
Casino City	Cashgrab Chaos	6	BigfootBeto
Coastrock	Coastal Calamity	4	Jakapoa
Condemned	Unholy Undead	5	HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp
Dockyard	Systematic Swarm	7	HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp & Jakapoa
Doppler	Force Restart	6	Blade x64
Downtown	Downgrading System		Clickin
	Robocentralization	7	mc & Remilia Scarlet
Giza	Pyramid Peril	6	Sntr
Hideout	Advanced	5	Mikroscopic
Isolation	Icecold Insurgency	6	Crinitus
	Mannstorm		mc & Remilia Scarlet
Metro	Evil Eye	4	Nuke
Outlands	Midnight Mutiny	7	Tindall Berry
Oxidize	Frosted Furnace		Clickin
Quetzal	Tlacopan Tenacity		Sntr
Radar	Rocky Ravage		pluz
Sequoia	Arboreal Assault	6	theAgamer11
	Doubletrouble	7	Sergeant Crwhips
	Fiber-Ops		Dayal
	Uproot Upgrade		UltimentM
Shiverpeak	Coldfront Coalition		Sntr
	Ice Breaker		Sntr & The One of Wonders
	Smissmas Slay	6	Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Snowpine	Permafrost Panic		Gian
Spacepost	Regolith Rampage		Tindall Berry
	Symphony of Space Machines	7	CLickin
Steep	Mountainous Malware	6	Jakapoa
Teien	Onsen Onslaught		Dayal
Trainyard	Railroad Ravage	4	mc & Remilia Scarlet
Underground	Mineral Masher	5	Seelpit
	Subterranean Skirmish	7	Robo-Poot
	Ultra Uplink		Hell-met
Waterfront	Whirly Wallop
Waterlogged	Cold Shoulder	6	Sergeant Crwhips
Yucatan	Fallout Frenzy		Jakapoa
	Ruins Rumble	3	HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp

Nightmare Missions

Map	Mission	Waves	Creators
Downtown	One Down	1	Tindall Berry
Giza	Wrath of the Pharaoh	6	HeRp-A-dErP-a-NErp
Oxidize	Corroding Cadavers	1	theAgamer11
Skullcove	Hell Overdrive		Delta🍁
Spacepost	Dead Space		Crinitus

Rewards

During the event, six unlockable medals of different tiers were up for grabs. These medals were automatically granted once the player reached the medal points/contract stars threshold required for them. Unlike leveling campaign tokens, these medals are separate items, so it was possible to own all six medals once; however, the Platinum Crit Canteen Medal was only obtainable by contest participants who had "something featured in the campaign event (map, mission, item)."

These medals were contributed to the Steam Workshop by Colteh, Rev, Swordstone, Wave, Nuke, Kratos, Benoist3012, Pelipoika, sigsegv, Hyperion, Hydrogen, sedisocks, Sntr, NeoDement, Star Bright, and interrobang.

Genuine Canteen Crasher Rust Starter 2018 Level 1 Community Medal As a reward for showing up, we present to you something we found in our tool shed! Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )	Genuine Canteen Crasher Iron Recall 2018 Level 1 Community Medal Press this button to return to base and get free tetanus or a deadly power surge! Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )	Genuine Canteen Crasher Bronze Ammo 2018 Level 1 Community Medal Now here's a question for the ages: How do you use something encased in bronze? Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )
Genuine Canteen Crasher Silver Building 2018 Level 1 Community Medal This wrench box has a timer and rumble feature for the best Sentry Buster experience! Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )	Genuine Canteen Crasher Gold Uber 2018 Level 1 Community Medal When the going gets tough, call for immortality from your nearest retailer! Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )	Genuine Canteen Crasher Platinum Crit 2018 Level 1 Community Medal You've proven yourself to excel at instantaneous problem-solving! Great work, merc! Awarded to participants of Potato's MvM Server's hybrid MvM contest! ( Not Tradable or Marketable )

Medal Points system

Medal Points could be gained from creating a map, mission, item or gameday testing.

Objective	Property	Points	Comments
Map submission	All maps	+350	A map entry must have a functioning bsp file with a proper nav file, 2 pop files, and any needed bot icons for full credit
Item submission	New Items Pre-existing	+150 +40	Items created during the contest will receive 150 points. Items created before the contest will earn 40 points.
Mission submission	Advanced Intermediate	+75 +60	These are missions that have passed judging that has been made for approved pre-existing community MvM maps.
Gameday testing	Advanced Intermeidate	+2 +1	Play or watch every wave in a mission during beta testing and leave helpful feedback for participants (max 30 points)

Alternatively, another way to gain points is by playing during the Canteen Crasher campaign phase. The point system is shown below here:

Contest Objective	Difficulty	Points	Comments
Completed contract	—	+1-5	Turn in a finished MvM contract on wave complete; contracts are automatically turned in on wave end. The star value depends on the contract and the amount of completed bonuses.
Completed team contract	—	+1-5	Turn in a finished MvM team contract on wave complete; team contracts are automatically turned in on wave end.
Completed mission	Advanced Intermediate	+4 +2	Complete every wave in a mission in full. Completing an advanced difficulty mission grants 4 points, and an intermediate mission grants 2 points. (Same completion logic as the Titanium Tank Tour.)
Gameday testing	Advanced Intermediate	+2 +1	Play or watch every wave in a mission during beta testing and leave helpful feedback (max 30 points)

For map submissions, Canteen Crasher gives partial credit consolation medal points to maps that do not pass the judging based on how many passing votes the map earns by the deadline. The map entry must have a functional bsp file, nav file, and 2 pop files to be eligible for a partial credit, or it will receive no credit.

Votes	Points	Medal
2	+100	Silver
1	+50	Bronze
0	+20	Iron

Below is the list of rewards and points required for them.

Medal distribution

There were six different medals that could be obtained by playing the Canteen Crasher community campaign event, or participating in the Canteen Crasher contest.

Image	Name	Description
	Canteen Crasher Rust Starter Medal 2018	A rusted replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM, without any buffs stored in it. It is awarded to players who successfully obtain 1 medal point.
	Canteen Crasher Iron Recall Medal 2018	An iron-forged replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM with the "Return to Base" buff stored in it. It is awarded to players who successfully obtain 30 medal points.
	Canteen Crasher Bronze Ammo Medal 2018	A bronze replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM with the "Refill Clips and Ammo" buff stored in it. It is awarded to players who successfully obtain 75 medal points.
	Canteen Crasher Silver Building Medal 2018	A silver replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM with the "Upgrade Buildings" buff stored in it. It is awarded to players who successfully obtain 150 medal points.
	Canteen Crasher Gold Uber Medal 2018	A golden replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM with the "Übercharge" buff stored in it. It is awarded to players who successfully obtain 225 medal points.
	Canteen Crasher Platinum Crit Medal 2018 †	A platinum replica of the Power Up Canteen from MvM with the "Critical Hit Boost" buff stored in it. It is awarded to content creators who successfully obtain 300 medal points, with at least 40 points from accepted content submissions during the contest phase.
Notes	† Only obtainable to contest participants.

Trivia

• Originally, the Platinum Crit Canteen Medal was to be awarded to contest participants who had received 200 medal points or more during the contest phase; however, due to issues with the contest, possible acquisition of the item was extended to any contest participant who had their map, mission, or item submissions accepted into the campaign, after receiving 200 medal points or more within the overall campaign.
  • Medal point thresholds for all medals were later increased, including a 300 point requirement for the Platinum Crit Canteen Medal; however, medal point values for accepted content were also increased at that time. As such, players that had crossed the previous threshold to earn a Platinum Crit Canteen Medal were not required to do anything else.

• Originally, Mannstorm and Turbulence Tumult (Tumult had yet to pass judging at the time) were made for the Maelstrom map. The map was removed from Canteen Crasher due to bugs that could not be fixed, as the author had long since dropped support.
  • Both of these missions are now in the map Isolation.

• Hillside, a medieval MvM map, was once in the campaign. It had an Advanced Invasion mission named Outdated Processing. Tanks on the map would explode upon capturing the gate, but this could not be fixed as the had author dropped support for the map. It was removed on the November 28 Patch, as players were able to earn over a hundred stars in a short time grinding team contracts. However, this mission returned in Operation Madness vs Machines.

Update history

March 28, 2018 Patch (Blue Moon Pack)

• Added the Canteen Crasher community medals

September 26, 2022 Patch

• Fixed missing variables in the Canteen Crasher tournament medals. This does not affect previous versions of those medals.

External links

• First announcement
• Canteen Crasher contest guide
• Contest Participants: Get back to work!
• A big apology to CC contest participants
• Out of beta!
• Canteen Crasher out of beta blog post
• Canteen Crasher website