I'm not sure if anybody else has had this issue, but I've noticed lately that I seem to be having problems downloading custom maps while TF2 is loading.
Case in point, yesterday I tried to join a server that ran ctf_mach4, and when it went to download the map (straight .bsp file) it hung at 0%.
After a few minutes of non-activity, I went back to the server listing and saw that the server definitely was still active and playing that map, so it wasn't a case of the server changing.
Any thoughts? I've also had this happen before, but never thought to document it. I'm sure I can download it offline and just stick it in my steam directory, but I was curious if anybody else has had this problem.
Best Answer
Some servers run cvars (or plugins) which disable clients from downloading content. Not everyone is willing to deal with the bandwidth needed to constantly feed maps to new players. This seems to be the case, yet somehow it did not disconnect you with any useful notification.
It's typically faster to just get the map from a site like:
GameBanana: http://www.gamebanana.com/maps/games/297 TF2Maps.net: http://tf2maps.net/
However servers can be configured to provide you with speeds as fast as from a website, but it takes dedication on the case of the administrator for that to happen. Not everyone knows how to do it too.