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'Kong King' Map Details, Secrets, & Lore - TF2
By Psycho
This guide will take a deep look at the KOTH map 'Kong King'... showcasing some cool details, unveiling secrets, and explaining lore.
   
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Kong King
Kong King is a King of the Hill map that was released on August 10, 2012. It was TF2's very first city-themed map.

The map is based on the game Sleeping Dogs, which takes place in Hong Kong. Although Sleeping Dogs was released on August 14th of 2012, four days after the TF2 map Kong King was released... the trailer for Sleeping Dogs came out two months prior to that, in June of 2012 - so Kong King was based on the trailer.

The name 'Kong King' is a triple entendre... It is referencing the city Hong Kong, it's referencing the map's gamemode - King of the Hill, Kong King, and it is also alluding to the movie King Kong.
The City
The map is set during night-time. It is illuminated by numerous neon signs plastered around the city. Most of the tall buildings are apartment complexes, which is very accurate to the real life city of Hong Kong. (There are roughly 856,000 rental apartments/houses in Hong Kong.)

Hong Kong Apartments:


Kong King Apartments:

(Notice the air conditioners in the windows.)

The map is very detailed. There are boxes and other litter scattered about, there are some small outcroppings attached to buildings that you can jump on to, there's a bunch of shops... the middle of the map is a park, with multiple benches and plants. In the center of the park is the control point, which is underneath a resting stand. There are also lots of backstreets and alleyways throughout the city, which make playing on the map feel more interesting. For example, if you're being chased by an enemy you can cut through alleys and try to lose them.

A view of the city:


Another view of the city:


As you can see in the above image, there are tons of Chinese signs around the city too, which we will get into in the following section...
The Signs
Some of the signs use Simplified Chinese lettering, others use Traditional Chinese; in Hong Kong they mainly use Traditional Chinese.

This sign translates to "Builders League United", which is what BLU stands for...

(建设者联盟联合)

This sign translates to "Reliable Excavation Demolition", which is what RED stands for...

(可靠的開挖破坏)

This sign translates to "Dog's House"... (It is probably a dog shelter.)

(狗的家)

This sign translates to "Hotel"...

(酒店)

This sign translates to "Old Antique Dealer"... (It is an antique shop.)

(老古董商)

This is another sign that translates to "Old Antique Dealer"...

(老古董商)

This sign translates to "Blue Pharmacy"...


This sign translates to "Red Pharmacy"...

(紅色藥房)

This sign translates to "Chinese Noodle House"... (It is on BLU's side of the map.)

(中国面馆)

This sign also translates to "Chinese Noodle House"... (It is on RED's side of the map.)

(中国面馆)

This sign translates to "Liquor Store"... (You can see some liquor bottles inside.)

(酒精酒品店)

This sign translates to "Optician"... (An optician is an eye doctor.)

(配镜)

This sign translates to "Blue Infrastructure"...

(藍色基建)

This sign translates to "Fresh Fish Market"...

(新鮮的魚店)

This sign translates to "Chinese Traditional Restaurant"...

(傳統的餐廳)

This sign translates to "Bookshop"... (If you couldn't tell.)

(書店)

This sign translates to "Red Hotel"...

(红旅馆)

This sign translates to "At Night"... (It is likely a convenience store.)


This sign translates to "Coyote Gray"... (It is a bar.)

(郊狼灰色)

This sign translates to "Civil Engineering Industrial Company"... (It is likely a factory.)

(土木工程產業公司)

There are also a few more signs that can be found around the city, such as:
  • A sign that translates to "Fish and Chips" (油炸魚排加炒薯條)
  • A sign that translates to "Bar" (酒吧)
  • A few signs that translate to "Underground Railway" (地鐵)
The last sign mentioned above, the "Underground Railway", is a reference to Hong Kong's major public transport network known as the "Mass Transit Railway" (MTR) (港鐵), which cost around 11 billion to construct.
The Box
Right outside of BLU & RED's spawn rooms, there is this box:



At a glance you wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary; it's just a box with some numbers and letters on it... however, if you take a closer look at the numbers and few letters, you will notice that it actually has a meaning. It reads: "4D.OCT01.004" - October (OCT) 1st (01), 2004 (004); it is a date.

But what is the significance of this particular date, if any? Well... October 1st is the National Day of the People's Republic of China. (中华人民共和国国庆节)
Closing Note
Thanks for checking out my guide! I hope you found it interesting. :D

I learned a lot while putting this together. I think Kong King is a very aesthetically pleasing map. Also, a lot of maps are created by a team of people, but this one was made by only one man (Valentin "3Dnj" Levillain), which I think is really impressive... especially considering how much detail is in the map.

Major credits go to the official TF2 Wiki, which is where most of the information & images in this guide were sourced from.