tf2
Latest
Team Fortress 2's Spy murders Sniper, both receive updates
We thought Valve had straight up flipped their melon (whatever that means) when they started announcing the upcoming changes to Team Fortress 2's hawk-eyed class, the Sniper. A bow and arrow? Okay, fine -- but a shield that prevents you from getting backstabbed? Why not just allow them to turn on God Mode? However, our worries were assuaged by the latest revelation for the Sniper update, in which said Sniper gets Julius Caesar'd by a Spy -- the proud recipient of yet another TF2 update.The betrayal-prone class will be getting two new tools in the update -- the Cloak and Dagger Spy Watch, which allows you to stay camouflaged indefinitely (as long as you're standing completely still) and the Dead Ringer Spy Watch, which instantly cloaks you for eight seconds when you get hit, dropping a fake corpse in your stead. Oh, we're going to do terrible, terrible things with that.
Hi-Rez Studios executive producer Todd Harris on Global Agenda's gameplay tiers
One of the new breed of sci-fi MMOs that crosses a first person shooter with an MMO is Global Agenda from Hi-Rez Studios. For those fans of class-based FPS games like Team Fortress 2, Hi-Rez Studios has emphasized that TF2 has been a major influence on Global Agenda's development. While the game's release date hasn't been announced yet, Hi-Rez has been fairly active in terms of promoting Global Agenda. Hi-Rez Studios executive producer Todd Harris has written a dev blog for MMORPG.com titled "A Minute To Learn, A Lifetime To Master", a motto which is very much the spirit behind Global Agenda's game design. Harris breaks down the major tiers of Global Agenda's gameplay as: Action/shooter mechanics and reflexes; RPG/build; Team tactics and cooperation - per mission instance; and Domination strategy and coordination - per alliance vs. alliance campaign. Harris goes into detail in each of these facets of the game, and explains how these tiers have played out with the roughly 1000 Global Agenda alpha testers. For more on the game design decisions Hi-Rez Studios has made with Global Agenda, see "A Minute To Learn, A Lifetime to Master" at MMORPG.com.
TF2 Sniper update adds touch of Ted Nugent, available later this week
Valve just sent a press release our way confirming that the upcoming Sniper update for Team Fortress 2 will be a bit less, uh ... upcoming. The update will be available to download through Steam sometime later this week, as Valve could not provide us with a definite date of release for the new goods. So, what is there to look forward to?Well, the Sniper is going to go all Ted Nugent with a new bow and arrow, apparently, as you can see in the image above all of this text. The weapon is called The Huntsman longbow, and it will allow our fan of the long range an opportunity to pin those bothersome bobbers and weavers against the wall. Hey, Scout, think you're going to zig-zag all over the place? Well, not when you've been bowed to the wall.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Valve jokingly tips hat to MMOs in latest Team Fortress 2 update
Team Fortress 2 from Valve is one of the more MMO-like first person shooters running. It's only played online, is class-based, has achievement unlocks which open up new gear possibilities, and after the last update there's a backpack with room for 50 items and mention (read: unconfirmed) of tradeable items. In some ways, TF2 is an FPS for MMO lovers -- or just those who use way too many acronyms. The comparisons between Team Fortress 2 and MMOs aren't lost on some of the more inventive TF2 players out there like goldenhearted who's made Garry's Mod mockups of a fictional "Team Fortress 2 RPG". Valve also got in on the fun in a slightly sneaky way in the latest game update. Steam users found this programmer's tip of the hat to MMOs in the game code:
Global Agenda influences include City of Heroes and Team Fortress 2
Global Agenda is an upcoming 'spy-fi' shooter MMO that's garnering a fair amount of attention as it gets closer to release. It's the brainchild of Erez Goren, an entrepreneur who channeled his successes in the IT industry (including Point of Sale systems with game-like interfaces) into his own dream project, becoming its founder, CEO, and lead designer. Global Agenda will be the first game to be released by Hi-Rez Studios.The title is a blend of sci-fi shooter and MMO where player actions can impact the game's world. Goren tells PC Gamer's Evan Lahti: "We were inspired by the fluid, action combat feel of [Tribes and TF2], but wanted even greater diversity of classes and devices and set our game within a persistent world of player-driven conflict where the results of combat matches really affects the world."
Sniper getting next TF2 class update, still working on 360 update
All of the monkeyshines which occurred this past April Fools' Day weren't completely without newsworthiness. For instance, Valve's April 1 update revealing the Sniper's newest (and fakest) armament -- weaponized jars of urine -- was a hint that the Sniper class would be the next Team Fortress 2 class to get the update treatment. In fact, Valve promises it will be the biggest update thus far, with new maps and gameplay tweaks. In addition, a second update, due to arrive before the Sniper pack, will add "some new content for all classes." Probably no jars of urine, though.Also, if you're a member of the incensed mob of players of the (mostly) non-updated TF2 for the 360, the latest Valve update includes word that the developer is still working to bring new content to the console. So please, put down that torch and pitchfork. You'll put someone's eye out.
Team Fortress 2 meets World of Warcraft
Yo dawg, we heard you like Arenas, so we put an Arena in your Arena! Behold, WoW's Circle of Blood Arena map, transformed into a Team Fortress 2 map. Sure, it might not have the subtlety of Dustbowl or Well, but as a reproduction, it looks terrific. They even got the starting areas working right. And look at that sky!You can download this map for TF2 and a very similar one for Counter-Strike: Source over at the creator's blog. I doubt it'll jump to the top of any major playlists any time soon, but if your usual group of TF2 friends also have spent some time in the Arenas, they'll probably get a kick out of it.
Alert to all Jerks: Valve to rate Team Fortress 2 servers
After racking their brains and kicking around a few of different proposals, Valve has figured out how to rate servers automatically in the back end of Steam for Team Fortress 2. Valve's Robin Walker detailed how the system will work and help players in search of a decent game (Read: Not achievement farming): New servers begin with a score of 0, each time a player connects it loses 15 points but gains 1 point per player for each minute they remain inside (with a 45 point max per user). "In short," Walker writes, "servers that have lots of players joining & leaving rapidly will score badly." The rating will ensure players are walking into honest assessments of a server's quality -- sometimes server hosts write false descriptions to entice people to join. Well, with the new system those jerks can keep their phony servers because the first order of business on Valve's end is to completely "delist" them. The server breakdown (pictured above) shows last week's server statistics, ignoring all password-protected servers as well as servers had fewer than 200 connections per day. Walker also notes that Valve will continue to improve their ability to measure these types of server problems. [Via Big Download]
TF2 Scout's new shotgun: The Force-a-Nature
Valve has officially revealed the second new Scout weapon included in the upcoming Team Fortress 2 update. Called the Force-a-Nature, the double-barreled shotgun packs a wallop so big it will knock back any enemy it hits, even the Heavies. If fired in the air, it will also knock back the Scout himself, essentially giving him a third jump.Don't get too worked up though, like most other unlockable weapons in the game, the gun comes with a caveat. The Force-a-Nature only has two shots -- makes sense, given it's a double-barreled shotgun and all -- and it reloads slowly.Additionally, Valve has posted a poll asking players to choose which Scout update item should be released first: The Bonk energy drink, the Sandman bat or the Force-a-Nature? Cast your vote here. You'd better do it quickly because the update is expected to drop sometime today![Via Big Download]
The spirit of WoW in Resistance 2's co-op gameplay
Much has been said on the influence of World of Warcraft on the MMO industry, but comparisons between other games and WoW don't end with massively multiplayer online games. The multiplayer cooperative mode of Resistance 2, a Playstation 3 exclusive from Insomniac Games, bears some similarities in its design to the ubiquitous Blizzard fantasy title in terms of class interdependencies. Insomniac Games co-op lead designer for Resistance 2, Jake Biegel, recently gave an interview with Christian Nutt from Gamasutra on the development of multiplayer cooperative gameplay, and the games that influenced its creation. Of course, the class-based Team Fortress 2 was cited as an influence, but Insomniac Games also looked to World of Warcraft for further inspiration. "We looked at experiences like Team Fortress 2, in which there are dependencies on classes, and games like World of Warcraft, in which there are large amounts of people working in tandem, creating this kind of epic synergy to overcome these encounters that wouldn't be overcomeable as an individual," Biegel says. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Valve blames 'bandwidth' for lack of PS3 support
"We don't have the bandwidth." That's the explanation Valve co-founder Gabe Newell offered up when poked by 1UP for answers regarding the company's lack of PlayStation 3 support. Put another way: "We don't have PlayStation developers," marketing director Doug Lombardi explained. While hardly a new revelation, Valve's dilemma continues to prevent the company from creating in-house PS3 content.In the short term, this means -- for the last time -- no Left 4 Dead on PS3, and also, no Team Fortress 2 updates. But...? Uh-uh. "They're not doing ongoing development on The Orange Box for the PS3." They, of course, is EA, developer of the PS3 version of The Orange Box. To file a complaint, please contact the office of your local EA representative. Oprima el dos para continuar en español.
Xbox 360 TF2 getting yummy sandvich by year's end
The much ballyhooed Team Fortress 2 Heavy Update that Valve released this past Tuesday will be heading to the Xbox 360 by year's end, according to Gamespot. At last, you can start cracking your knuckles and bone up on your sandvich eating skillz. Just watching those videos made us want to start playing TF2 again. We know, you're saying, "What?! Why'd you put it down in the first place?"New maps, new weapons, and new achievements? What's not to love? Anything that can extend the wonderment of TF2 is just fine by us. Now get cracking on a massive Portal update, already. The XBLA title is only going to keep us sated for so long.
Team Fortress 2 updates on 360 this year (for a price) [update]
Update: It seems GameSpot has pulled this story, though as of this update the story headline is still displayed on GameSpot's 360 page. For what it's worth, Kotaku is reporting the same thing, so we're not sure exactly why GameSpot's article has been pulled. See our original post below. Gamers with the Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 have had kind of a rough time. First we see the PC version get Medic updates and achievements, then the Pyro gets the same treatment, and now our good friend the Heavy is getting his own update (not to mention the Sandvich). We 360 gamers have sat idly by as PC gamers get to romp about with new weapons and there's a even a new map on the way. It's time to cheer up fanboys, because Valve has confirmed to GameSpot that all of the TF2 content released thus far should be hitting the Xbox 360 before the end of the year.And now be sad again, because it looks like it's going to cost you. In an interview with VideoGaming247, Valve boss Gabe Newell spoke about the updates saying, "On the consoles, they want us to charge money for them, because that's in their model, and our model is very much more to grow the community by giving out free updates." Boy, we like the sound of Valve's model much better. From the sound of things, it's soundling like Microsoft wants Valve to charge for their content even if Valve doesn't want to (now that sounds familiar).
Team Fortress 2: Meet The Sandvich
Meet Team Fortress 2's "Edible Device" and shotgun replacement, the Sandvich. Valve really missed a good opportunity for a bad pun here by not calling it "Meat the Sandvich," but hey, it's still pretty damned funny. What's next in the series of loony videos? Meet the Bullet? Seriously though, we'd watch them all. Heck, just throw a TF2 cartoon on the air as part of Adult Swim and we'd be glued to our sets.[Thanks Giroro, Alistair and Vandell]
Team Fortress 2 bulks up with whopping Heavy update August 19
The perpetually patched Team Fortress 2 is about to get its "largest update ever" (dare we say heaviest?) next week on August 19. In the lead-up, Valve is releasing new information and screenshots about the patch each day, as well as a "special installment to the 'Meet the Team' series of video shorts," according to the press release. The community map cp_steel was revealed on the first day.Besides new weapons and achievements for the Heavy class, the next update will include new multiplayer maps and a "brand new gameplay mode," possibly related to the new type of environment we heard about earlier this month. As with the other updates, Valve is offering a free Team Fortress 2 weekend starting August 22 at 2pm ET.
Next TF2 update may feature 'new type of environment'
Yes, we're still playing Valve's classy, cartoonish shooter, Team Fortress 2. We'll continue to do so for as long as the game keeps receiving updates -- and there's at least one more on the way. Posting on the official Team Fortress 2 blog, Valve's Jakob Jungels has suggested that our multiplayer mileu may be due for a makeover. "One of the things we're looking at for the next update is the creation of a new type of environment for our levels to be built in," he wrote. "We're pretty happy with the way our environments have turned out so far, but as we create more and more maps with these achievement packs, we want our level designers to have more to work with in terms of giving their settings a unique look."Jungels notes that before making it into the game, each potential environment has to satisfy a list of requirements. Does it allow for new gameplay? Does it support existing gameplay types? Is it completely awesome? We anxiously await a chorus of yeses.
E308: A glimpse into The Agency's guilds and classes
In our recent talk with Matt Wilson at E3, we were given a lot of really illuminating information about classes and guilds in the upcoming SOE title, The Agency. It would seem that the Agency crew is doing a very good job of listening to many of the frustrations of MMOG players, while taking the time to study popular games like Team Fortress 2. If you've been wondering about the different classes and abilities, as well as social structure in this upcoming MMOFPS, then you'll be interested to hear what's in the works.Massively: What are the classes or archetypal roles in The Agency?Matt Wilson: Our four primary classes are basically Combat, which is the ability to have weapons and have high defenses. Stealth, which is more of a high-DPS, sniper rifles and other things that you take into battle, [Undercover] Stealth which is very important, which is sneaking around and distractions. And finally, there's the Support classes like your Medics and Field Techs. Field Techs are about defense, turrets, other cool things like that. Medics are more about supporting the team, being able to support med stations while you're out in the field, heals, that kind of thing. Those are the general archetypes. Then we have specialties that fall out of those, allowing players to specialize further in each class.
E308: PvP in The Agency
One of the many things people have been looking for in an MMOFPS environment is the ability to engage in some hardcore PvP. Shooter fans seem to absolutely love the thrill of fragging others straight off the map. While we weren't able to nail down all of the specifics from our talk with Matt Wilson, Executive Director of Development from SOE Seattle, we did manage to wrangle a few juicy tidbits from him. Some of the answers we got regarding the things they are considering for The Agency may prove to be welcome news to FPS PvP devotees.Massively: Is The Agency going to be open to a PvP type of environment?In the example we see in the video, the only thing you can do is actually blow up the bombs and kill yourself, that kind of thing. In PvP we'll have to flag friendly fire on or off -- if you want to shoot your team, you can. If you don't, you won't. In PvE, we're really focused on friendly fire being off most of the time because of players joining ad-hoc groups. We don't want to make the game a griefer's paradise.
Heavy is next in line for Team Fortress 2 update
First the Medic, then Pyro, and now Mr. Heavy. Valve has announced that the Heavy class is next in line for Team Fortress 2 class updates (i.e. new weapons and achievements). Additionally, Valve said it will "open up the process a little" in talking about how the update is designed. The goal of the update is to "make the Heavy more viable when he has no Medic to pair with" but in a manner that does not significantly change the Heavy's role in the game. We're interested to see how those ideas and constrants translate to new firepower.[Thanks, Andrew R!]
Rumor: Team Fortress 2 Spy update details leaked
Reader Ian G. recently submitted an image to us that he accidentally discovered using a StumbleUpon toolbar, which appears to be an early draft of an upcoming update for Team Fortress 2's most innocuous of classes, the Spy. The origins of said image are unknown -- perhaps it's a leak from Valve's vault? A convincing photoshop from a dedicated fan? Perhaps Ian is in possession of a magical StumbleUpon toolbar, capable of stumbling into the future?While it certainly looks convincing, we're leaning towards "convincing photoshop" -- especially considering most of the text is copied and Elmer's school glued from Valve's official Pyro update. As credible as the new weapons (such as the silenced PPK and the Garrote) and achievements (Joykill: Backstab a laughing enemy) look, we doubt the legitimacy of these supposed details about our masked, nicotine-infused friend.Update: Given the final line of the copyright information at the bottom of the page, which reads "Hoax by Ka anin :P!", we're ready to go ahead and file this one under B, for bunko.
