Making TF2 Display a Random Map on Startup

[NotPigeon]

I've been trying to figure out how to make TF2 display a random map as the menu background, and I want to see if anybody else can help. I know about map_background, but that can't randomize.

Okay, here's the gist of it:

In Team Fortress 2 Content.gcf, there is a file under tf/scripts titled "ChapterBackgrounds.txt." This file controls the background that shows up when you start TF2. [url=http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Menu_Background_Map]Here's the relevant article on the Valve Developer Community.[/url]

Here's the file itself:

"chapters"
{
	1	"title_red"
	2	"title_red"
	3	"title_blue"
	4	"title_blue"
}
"BackgroundMaps"
{
	1	"background01"
	2	"background01"
	3	"background01"
	4	"background01"
}

In theory, I should simply be able to replace the "title_red"s and "title_blue"s with map names. However, this results in the initial loading screen being replaced with the map loading screen (background01.vtf in materials/console) and the menu background becoming the purple-checkerboard of missing textures. Presumably, this is because the game expects a .vtf instead of a map, but I don't know how to change this. The VDC suggests that this has something to do with the valve.rc file in tf/cfg, but this doesn't seem to be the case; TF2's valve.rc is effectively identical to Portal's (which uses a map background). The only difference is that TF2 has "sv_unlockedchapters 99" at the end, which makes the backgrounds randomize.

I also tried copying a map and renaming it title_blue and title_red. It didn't work.

EDIT: I just took a look at the valve.rc for CSS (which doesn't use a map background). It doesn't have the startupmenu command that the VDC mentions, but that's it.

I'm pretty much out of leads at this point. Any ideas?

[!xHDMicrobe]

damn, I would really like this. Hope you get it to work.

[Banana-man]

you could just run the "map_backround" command in the autoexec

[NotPigeon]

I don't normally like doing this, but the timing of the original post was kind of poor, so... bump.

[Murk]

Isn't there a random chance command? Maybe you could use that in autoexec along with map_background to make it random

[NotPigeon]

[QUOTE=Murkrow;16979323]Isn't there a random chance command? Maybe you could use that in autoexec along with map_background to make it random[/QUOTE]

I did a search on the VDC, and I'm pretty sure there's no such command.

[placeboing]

I'd like this too!

[Wootman]

[url]http://www.fpsbanana.com/guis/15378[/url]

[NotPigeon]

[QUOTE=Wootman;16983417][url]http://www.fpsbanana.com/guis/15378[/url][/QUOTE]

Already took a look at that. It just adds a map_background command to valve.rc and a customized version of Dustbowl's last point. Perfect if you only want one background, but it doesn't help here.