Team Fortress 2 War Room

Aaaaaand it's official

2007-09-28T09:01:00.000-04:00

I don't care anymore. I ran out. All out of care. I don't know if it's been 50/50 work and personal stuff, or more one than the other. Either way, although I did a decent job before the last 4 weeks of SEOing this blog (by my standards) and having good content, I just don't really wanna do it anymore. I'm not even really excited about TF2. It's like someone is spiking me with Zoloft or something.

Anyway, for those few fanatics who still swing by to see if I have any info, I suggest www.totaltf2.com . They seem to be quite up on things over there, in as far as content, forums and regular updates. I'll be very curious to see if they can compete with whatever is considered the "official" forums for this game, which back in the day, used to be planetfortress.

So since it is unlikely I'll be updating this again anytime soon, let me say farewell, and I'll see you in 2fort.

News on The Medic

2007-07-31T12:17:00.000-04:00

One of my sources, a fine and diligent fan of Team Fortress 2 news has confirmed some troubling news. The Medic class in Team Fortress 2 will not have any weapons that spread infection. This is a historical first for this class, and as a huge fan of the class (as should be obvious from my handle) I am very disappointed. The medic will have the health gun (as depicted in many videos, and this screenshot), the bonesaw melee weapon, and a syringe launcher that acts as an uzi strength machine gun, but with no infectious properties. This may be prone to change of course, but as of now, with the loss of grenades and infection, the medic has been severly nerfed as a combat class.

More info in the coming days. Please check back often.

Instant Teamplay Revisited

2007-07-25T11:08:00.000-04:00

I just thought I'd further encapsulate my previous article with the following example. Imagine you're playing Battlefield (or Call of Duty, or America's Army, or whatever big FPS you normally play. Except Counter-Strike, - I must admit that the biggest and baddest of them all, at least according to gamespy's numbers - is one that I've never been able to get into. Maybe this example doesn't apply well to them.), and within minutes of joining the public server, instead of the normal immaturity in chat, you realize that people are actually using team message to declare what they are doing. Everyone is doing it. This makes you want to help them out, and since you've got a pretty good idea of what everyone is doing, you can make an informed decision on how to best help the team, even without asking anyone.

That is what I miss in online gaming. That is what all the Battlefield public servers are still missing, despite the developers best efforts. And if the problem isn't exclusive to Conquest style maps, then we should be seeing a return to that level of intrinsic cooperation with Team Fortress 2. That's probably the best I can paraphrase it. Anyway, I felt this was missing from my previous article, but I didn't want to just edit it, as I wasn't sure how many of you would catch it.

Alas, I have more content. First off, I want to hype the new add-on to Sid Meier's Civilzation IV, Beyond The Sword. I feel it's an important product for all of PC Gaming. It appears to be (and I'm paraphrasing Gamespy reviewers here) the biggest expansion for any game... ever. Depending on how you look at it, it is two to five times more content than the original and previous add-ons. And some of that content are public user mods that were streamlined, bug-tested and then packaged with the add-on. Only good things ever seem to happen when PC game companies go the extra mile, and really support their mod community by acting as their peers and not their superiors. Counter-Strike and Team Fortress are other examples of this, as is Red Orchestra, I believe.

So it is noted, that I have my game to tide me over under October 9th. It's fair to assume that since most people who find this are FPS fans first, that they won't find a slow paced game like Civ IV up their alley. Well sorry then, the best thing I got for you is Team Fortress Classic, and you probably have given that a try before now. I'm currently also playing The Godfather to keep my aim sharp, but again, I wouldn't recommend that for everyone. Decent AI though, and great weapons and weapon interface.

It is coming down to crunch time for The Team Fortress War Room. I am keenly aware that even though this site was designed for Firefox, it looks atrocious on IE, and that is unacceptable. I hate CSS with a passion, I really do. Just really tough for me to sift through it, find the right places for things, and learn the proper methods to do exactly what I want to do with it. Hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll hammer that out though, along with finally hooking up with some social bookmarking sites. If anyone can link me to a simple tutorial for that (social bookmarking, not CSS), it would save me time, and I'd really appreciate that.

I also plan to review other sites like mine, other bigger Team Fortress resource sites. Feel free to leave your links in comments. Well, as long as they are relevant. Otherwise, they'll just get deleted, and I'll have to set the blog to send comments to me first for approval.

Team Play First - First on Team Fortress

2007-07-23T12:50:00.001-04:00

If memory serves me correctly, Team Play First was a movement created during the waning years of Team Fortress Classic, and then carried over to (and popularized by) the Battlefield Series. TPF was exactly what it sounded like; an organization dedicated to gamers who felt that team success was more enjoyable than individual success. In Battlefield (and I suppose when the majority of the first waves of TFC gamers left for greener pastures), the emphasis on cooperation public servers is basically nil. Back in the hey day of Team Fortress and Weapons Factory, things were quite the opposite, and I think a large part of it was due to the difference between TF CTF (Team Fortress: Capture the Flag), and Conquest Mode.

If I haven't covered it before, Weapons Factory was Team Fortress for Quake 2. Team Fortress originated with Quake 1. It was being designed for Quake 2, when Valve signed up the Team Fortress Developers, with the intent to eventually make TF for Half-life (TFC). In their absence, other developers made a basically identical version for Quake 2. Weapons Factory was this game, and was comparable to TFC. I believe if it weren't for Valve's unparalleled dedication to their fan mods, Team Fortress Classic would never have taken back its fanbase from Weapons Factory.

Getting back to the original topic, Throughout my long history with Weapons Factory, any player with more than a few weeks of experience would immediately be compelled to cooperate with the team leaders, to ensure team success. It was simply an unwritten law. You could play whatever class you wanted, but you could tell what the team needed simply by observing the score, and the flag status messages. Experienced player's would immediately type "I'm on O" or "I'm on D", depending on whether they felt the team needed more offense or defense. Whether their assessment was correct wasn't always certain. But this simple communication meant that everyone knew what the majority of their team was doing, and they could base their decisions on this. And this was in the days before Teamspeak and Ventrillo. Everyone just typed quickly and briefly, that's all.

I deeply enjoyed my years of BattleField and Desert Combat experience. But despite the great features added to Battlefield emphasizing troop commands, enemy spotting, and calling for support, I'd have to say that all of the Battlefield titles (on your average public server) pale in comparison to the nature of spontaneous cooperation and teamplay that Team Fortress fosters. Maybe it's because of the larger map area, or the nature of conquest, or the tremendous advantage of vehicles, or the addition of individual awards and medals. But other than in clan scrimmages and matches, evidence of a fully unified and coordinated team is extremely rare. I had high hopes that Team Fortress 2 would bring a return of this style of play, independently of any player base that formed due to being fed up of solitary-styled play in a team game. It is, after all, named "Team Fortress 2" But since Valve seems to be embracing conquest ticks over flag caps for TF2, that hope is hanging by a tenuous thread.

Shacknews Review, and Cloverfield too.

2007-07-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

Hey all. This review of Team Fortress 2 is so utterly wonderful, I feel I've done it a disservice by not working hard enough to find it and link it here. Since I'm an honest type guy, I'll admit that it might not be new to all of you. But still, it is quite good. About 2 pages long and all of it easy to read, and informative.

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=386&page=1

My favorite part of it is where they confirm that the vast majority of the Team Fortress Classic (TFC) team was retained for the full development process of Team Fortress 2. That may not sound like a big deal, but believe me, it's a fantastic sign that this product will live up to the hype. It might even be worth the wait. :)

I'll expound more on that in a few days, but for now, let me get totally off topic. Some of you might have seen an awesome trailer if you saw Transformers or Live Free or Die Hard in theaters this summer. A trailer that starts out as a party, shot on a hand held camera, and then turns into an exploding New York City, complete with chaos, screaming, explosions, roaring... and finally the head of the Statue of Liberty rolling down the street.

I've been keeping busy by researching it, and keeping the wikipedia article spic and span. Also, I've been a guest columnist at http://projectcloverfield.com , so if you like my writing style, (or good movies) you might wanna give it a try.

Much more as we near the release date.

Team Fortress 2 Release Date : Oct 9th!!!

2007-06-21T20:23:00.001-04:00

Thank you so much ://lanothon.blogspot.com/ !!!!!

The Orange Box, including Half-Life Episode 2 (standalone), Portal, and (drum roll.....) Team Fortress 2 will be in stores October 9th. October friggin 9th!!!

It's only been six years or so, since it was first pushed back. I'm only a little excited. I can only speak sarcastically right now... a little.

I know I'm setting myself up here, but I believe that they are going to stick to this one. First off, they have been showing more and more of it in the trailers. Second, this is probably one of those projects that they just wanna get done with - not because they have any clue how popular it's going to be, or because it's sheer superior quality demands for it to reach the outside world
. It's gotta come out soon because Valve is probably sick of dealing with it all the time. I bet at least half of their staff doesn't remember a time when Team Fortress wasn't in development. It just became that project that hung around, no matter how much or how little work was put into it. It just wouldn't die, and it just wouldn't leave the house. Reminds me of a cousin of mine.

Another reason is probably the targeted involvement of Xbox 360. That has become a serious task in development. Now, since consoles - especially new consoles still trying to make those big signature titles that will define the system - make more money than PC titles, there is more financial incentive for Valve to make a bigger impact in the world of consoles, and in that (and only that) way, this is great timing for TF2.

This is me shouting from the rooftops. Team Fortress 2 - October 9th!! Portal - October 9th!! Half-Life:Episode 2 - October 9th!!

Oh, almost forgot - http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2-orange-box/796824p1.html

Meet The Heavy

2007-06-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

If they can put this much dedication and polish on the entire game, in the actual playing experience, then this game will be scary good.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zfts_meet-the-heavy-team-fortress-2

Still, trailers usually aren't a fair representation of actual play, so I'll remain skeptical till it comes out, this September or October.

Team Fortress Two: It may actually happen.

2007-06-07T11:54:00.000-04:00

Ok. After an "extended commercial break", we are back.

I won't get into what's been going on with myself or Team Fortress 2 coverage over this hiatus, because I've got alot to cover, and because it's really not all that interesting. But basically, like I said in one of the earlier August articles, Valve keeps pushing back their release date. And when you consider how much I've already written about a game that has been at least three months from release date for the span of six years... well, running out of material is a very real concern.

Compounded with gamespy's less-than-stellar coverage, not only has it been tough to keep motivated, it's also been tough to keep well informed.

Anyway, I've found new sources now, and those sources indicate that unless there is a major developmental setback, we really will see Team Fortress Two, Portal, and Half-Life: Episode Two on shelves in September or October.

On to actual Team Fortress Content. Today we'll be taking a look at this interview piece from the good folks at IGN. I think it gives a great deal of specifics about what the TF2 experience will truly be like. In fact, they devs seem to favor the word "experience" quite a bit.

Robin Walker: Let's start by talking about why do classes at all, because everything follows from that. A class should be an experience in a bottle. An engineer should be an experience, a soldier should be an experience, and those things should be different, so there's no point of having two classes where the experience of playing them is the same, or at least is negligible in terms of the difference. When we think of different experiences we're thinking about things like player decision making, when you're in some situation as a class, the ones you make as that class should be different than if you were a different class, and certainly the factors you care about should change and so on. So to us classes are about bottling up various experiences. The reason various classes changed are mostly because we were unhappy with the experience itself like in the case of the scout, where we were fundamentally unhappy with it [in TFC], we thought it was substandard. It basically involved you not having fun in combat and having to run away from things all the time.

IGN: Isn't that essentially what the scout still does?

Robin Walker: No, now the scout is effective in combat. No a good scout player kills the crap out of people. A scout, these days, if you retreat from combat, you're going to collect health and go back into it. In the TFC days, the scout was, you will lose to every other class in all cases in combat, and we didn't think that was a good experience. The scout today will chew up medics and pyros and soldiers. But it's not as simple as that, right, like a scout fighting a pyro in an open space is going to win almost every time but a scout fighting a pyro in a really enclosed space is probably going to lose every time. We want those kinds of different factors pushing on the combat, it shouldn't be too binary. So, that was one of the reasons why classes changed.

I have mixed feelings about both the statements made, and the apparent rebirth of the Scout. It is true that the scout, in TFC especially, but in older TFs also, didn't survive a heads up confrontation with anyone. Maybe some of the weaker classes, if he catches them by surprise. But the scout (before) was not made or used for combat. That did not make the class useless. That did not keep talented scouts from earning top points in a match. The speed, conc grenades, and nailgun/sub machien gun (for taking out sentries around corners with peek-a-boo tactics) makes him the best flag carrier. Sure, he can't beat a fair defense alone, but just like a pesky forward in hockey, if he stays mobile, and keeps probing, eventually something will shake loose, and he'll be able to score. I would say, apart from the Spy, a supremely talented player using scout can make a bigger difference than any other class.

At least, in game modes where there is flag carrying. Which brings us to the next interesting tidbit of the article.

IGN: And this control point system is only on this map?

Doug Lombardi: With the emerging points and randomly generated stuff, yeah. Actually it's sort of magically appearing at the end [of development], so everyone's jumping on to make sure it makes the first release.

Charlie Brown: It's the one we've been working on, it's the one with the most risk, it's the one we were having the most fun with, and I'd imagine you'd see a lot more of this in the future. It definitely was, unfortunately, one of the later experiments and thus [pause] 2Fort still has the flag mechanic, the other three all [maps to be played by IGN] are controlled by this control point mechanic, but they all behave in different ways, some are a little bit different on top of this mechanic.

The control point system, from the sounds of things is a slight variation on Battlefield's Conquest Mode. There are control points that have to be secure by proximity. You find the flag, you stand by it for a while, it starts giving you points, and you have to defend. Maybe on some maps, the server randomly turns off all but two CPs, and shuffles which ones are active periodically (Hydro Mode). Maybe it doesn't.

Now, I'm a BF vet myself, and I'll try to reserve the in-depth look at game modes for another article. I'm all for TF2 including Conquest Mode. The problem (potentially a big problem for me, and my friends who plan on getting into this) is that each map has only one game mode (A side note: There is interesting, well-thought out justification for this on the first page of the article. And after giving it some thought, I totally disagree with their justification. But that's for another article). And that upon release, only 2fort, the most famous map from TF (and possibly all team based FPS's not counting counterstrike) is the only map that has capture the flag rules. Several are going to be Conquest, and then there are a few push maps too.

5-8 maps. Only one is traditional CTF. Yeah.... that's bull$#!+ . Abandoning CTF for Conquest is like The Rolling Stones putting out a new album where they try to emulate Creed or Nickelback. Might make sense financially because it is what is popular now. But the product is going to be utter crap, disappointing and forgettable. In the immortal words of Han Solo (who's franchise also happened make a similar mistake with Battlefront)... "I have a bad feeling about this".

So to summarize, it seems even though there hasn't been much word before this, or any video of it, Team Fortress Two is going to incorporate alot more Conquest style play than CTF. Maps and classes will be changed accordingly, and because they are limiting each map to one game mode, the user ultimately has alot less options when sorting through available servers. While I don't mean to be too harsh before I play it for myself (and absolutely nothing is gonna stop me from buying this one), I can't help but prepare for disappointment. The Valve devs went to great lengths explaining how they emphasized different experiences for each class. Yet they seem to be abandoning this notion when it comes to game mode.

Wrapping up tidbits from this interview. Medic seems to getting the nerf. Although apparently he has a syringe gun, I can't find anything anywhere about it's damage, or contagion. Everyone is raving about his medi-gun, which gives his healing powers a substantial range, can be locked on for usage around corners (like the beam/chain gun in Unreal 2k4), and with a long enough contact lock, can provide invulnerability for both the medic, and his recipient. Apparently we can prepare to see endless waves of glowing, invulnerable medics and heavy weapons guys. I can't criticize it until I see it for myself, but it sounds like once it gets popular, it's all anyone will be doing.

Also, only the demoman has grenades of any kind. He also seems to have a "sticky-bomb", a la Saving Private Ryan (the greasy sock that blew off the tire treads towards the movie's end). Pyro got ganked up, apparently the flamethrower does crazy damage, but only within 3-6 feet of the pyro, and you keep burning until dead, or doused in water.

I'll try to get all the videos released in the last 4-6 months here soon - although a quick search of youtube will probably find them all.

Team Fortress Gameplay Trailer

2006-08-25T13:55:00.001-04:00

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_3357_en.html

Love what I see, but the timing sucks. It's like your girlfriend buying sexy lingerie while you're overseas on business. Such a tease.

Ok, maybe the analogy doesn't hold water, since I'm not really too concerned that Team Fortress 2 is lying to me, and really using all it's wonderfulness on another player behind my back. But still... the timing sucks.

Jeez, I need to start dating again.

Team Fortress Launch DELAYED!!

2006-08-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

Someone cue the scene where Darth Vader cries "NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

From PC.gamespy.com

Doug Lombardi himself has confirmed that the Valve trinity of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 is being delayed until early 2007. ....Lombardi says the reason for the new date is due to Valve being "overly aggressive" on the original schedule.

Word on the street is February. Team Fortress 2 delayed till February. My heart is a puddle of melted bloody goo.

Well, at least it won't cost as much as Half-Life 2. That was also confirmed. Then again, you never know.

Why Me?

2006-08-22T14:06:00.000-04:00

Expect things to slow down a bit here. I know, I know, It's not like I had a rabid fanbase on the edge of their seat here. But I'm having serious computer problems, and even though I can do a bit of writing at work, that is also the only opportunity to research my compy problem.

Still, I am determined to make this little chunk of webspace the authority on all new, rumors, strategies, and ladder news for Team Fortress 2. Not that I'm being a little keyword whore or anything. Because I'm not.

*wanders off, whistling*

HULKED UP DEBBIE REYNOLDS !

(It's an x-entertainment thing).

The Original Team Fortress Theme Song

2006-08-18T20:07:00.000-04:00

A little fraggin' music, maestro. :)

Apparently, the first Team Fortress had an operetic theme song.

From http://miknight.blogspot.com/2005/12/team-fortress-theme-song.html

It was from a collection of songs known as the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. The theme song is number 5: I Primo Vere - Ecce gratum. Apparently Primo Vere means "In Springtime" or "the first Spring". Ecce gratum roughly means "behold, the pleasant (Spring)". If you're interested you can view the lyrics (with translation -- I know my Latin is pretty rusty).

It was great to be able to finally hear the song in something of greater quality than the woefully encoded wave file included in the TF package. The song brings back a lot of memories and I've blogged the details here in the hope other people will be able to find the song and experience the same thing.

I didn't get it to work, but I'm sure some hunting with Amazon or Google could find an easier version to work with. Since I didn't really get enough time with good ole' Team Fortress for Quake, I doubt I would remember it. It was Weapons Factory that got me hooked. Maybe recalling my WeapFact days would make an interesting post one day.

Thanks to Mike and Mike's Blog.

Part 2 of the TF Class Revue!

2006-08-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

This time, it's personal.

Well, not really.

See previous post to make sense of this.

+-----------Â§-----------+

1.5 Medic

My alltime favorite class. Not just because one hit kills (sorta... after a while... if they don't get healed... which happens less and less as players get smarter), and not just because you are the definition of an intuitive support class, but because of the balance. If you go offense, you're the second best flagcapper, thanks to conks, footspeed, and healing. If you go defense, you can heal allies, doom attackers to a quick death, and uncover spies. Even in midfield, infection can make a big difference, since it's unlike a player will get healed behind enemy lines. There is simply nothing bad about this class other than some days, you're all points, and other days - squat. But like I said, it's got the word "Team" in the title, and a good medic has loads of ways to show this.

This is why I feel he should be the last class to be nerfed. Soldier, Engie, and Medic should be the backbone of a team, especially if it is so easy to scout-proof a base.

1.6 HWGuy

Heavy Weapons Guy is like a Soldier. Only slower, tougher, and no splash damage. It's a tradeoff that favors the Soldier as a better, more fun class. But as long as it doesn't involve rocket jumping, the HWguy can do everything the Soldier can do. Just slower. And two things a Soldier can't do is guard a small hallway to 100% effectiveness (damage AND forceback from HWGuy's bullet stream) or inflict as much short term damage as the ole' MIRV grenade. In fact, I'm willing to best that the most damage that can be done by one class at one time would be a HW throwing a MIRV WHILE chopping them down with the minigun. Even another HW can't last long in that. So he's got that going for 'im.

1.7 Pyro

Pyro was the class that appealed to me first, since he was like a Soldier, only a little weaker, more of a nuisance, and because fire rules (cue Beavis saying "FIRE!! FIRE!! Heh heh"). I found out that he was a too little "Soldier", too much nuisance. Other thanspiess and scouts, Pyro is the weakest fighter in a confrontation. Unlike those two, it seems Pyro was designed specifically for battle.

Still, that doesn't make him unusable. A good pyro can work the midfield and defense fairly well. The fire eats away at enemies over time, more like a mild acid than napalm. If a persistent pyro really wants to take one or two players out of the opposing players offensive scheme, that offense will find themselves having to take extreme measures trying to free themselves of the pest that brings them to about one-third of their armor and health before they even get to the flag defense.

1.8 Spy

The thinking man's class. The spy is the best deceptive class in any first person shooter I've ever seen. Invisibility? I've never seen it done well enough graphically to be worth it. Smoke Screen? Splash Damage makes it all but pointless. The spy can mimic the other team. A good spy knows the illusion only starts with looking like the enemy. The master spy is the one who can act like it. A good spy, more than a good scout, can break a game (and enemy defense) wide open. Having both working together is a key to a truly elite offense. Very tough to learn the intricacies of the subterfuge though. Probably the only class I would say that I haven't been able to use effectively against stiff competition.

1.9 Engineer

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, even though he isn't my favorite class, The Engineer is the class that truly separates Team Fortress from any other team based shooter. He gives the game a unique identity and provides a mechanic that is simply not found in any other game. The game is called Fortress in practically all versions of it, and it's because of the Sentry Gun. What is a Fort if not a building with capable, static defenses? Not unbeatable ones, of course, but one that take either surgical expertise, or multiplayer coordination to overcome.

Besides the Sentry, the 'Geer is a master support class, is useful on offense or defense, has arguably the most devastating grenade in the game, and everything he builds (in some games he can build teleporters in addition to a dispenser and the sentry. Oh, did I mention that this game ships with PORTAL, a game all about TELEPORTATION!!!) can detonate remotely, with at least the power of a rocket.

If you care about wins more than points, you owe it to yourself to learn how to play as, and against, the Engineer.

That's our show! Thanks for watching!

Class Based Wonders... and a crappy chart

2006-08-17T13:17:00.000-04:00

What up Intarweb?

Today, I'll be writing a little about the various classes in Team Fortress. Just enough to get your/my/someone's appetite whetted, since I could write an essay about each one of these classes.

Here are the classes of Team Fortress.

1.1 Scout
1.2 Sniper
1.3 Soldier
1.4 Demoman
1.5 Medic
1.6 HWGuy
1.7 Pyro
1.8 Spy
1.9 Engineer

Actually, there is not enough time to write a summary. Here is a chart. I rated them from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

OFFENSE: How much this class helps the offense/is designed for offense.

DEFENSE: Read above. See the word "Offense"? Strike that, reverse it. Thank you.

MAX FIREPOWER: How much damage they can cause in a short second-or-two burst.

LEARNING CURVE: How difficult it is too learn. 5 means "easy to pickup/own with", 1 means difficult.

Here's where I justify my ratings like I'm a rap star on MTV trying to defend my ranking of Missy Elliot's "I Can't Stand The Rain" as the second best Hip-Hop song of all time. Yes, a bunch of respected rappers really did this on one of those shows. First was Run-DMC & Aerosmiths, so at least they got that right.

Where was I?

1.1 Scout

Yes, with his footspeed and conks, he is the expert's choice for offense, if offense is sorely lacking. But the fact that he depends on his team for destroying even simple obstacles, and that one scout rarely turns the tide of the map, I didn't give him the 5 in 'O' that many players would probably argue for. If they read this blog. If only. :(

1.2 Sniper

I think I did this one justice. Enough footspeed and nades to make a decent grab at the flag. Enough "campiness" to make a decent substitute sentry gun in a pinch. Can't argue with his firepower, it's a fact. Let me just say that this is my least favorite class. But I respect it. If only more snipers wouldn't get so hung up on sniper wars. The word "Team" IS in the game, after all.

1.3 Soldier

The most popular class for good reason. Devastating AND versatile weapon. Good armor. No Learning Curve. If you've played a/an FPS before, you know how to use this guy to his (mostly) full potential. Can't say anything about this class that one game playing with it won't confirm. If any class is to be the powerhouse, it seems fitting that it should be this one. The four rocket reload really does keep the class form getting totally overpowered.

1.4 Demoman

From all my years playing, I know that Demoman isn't one of the popular classes. What I don't know is why. Maybe he's underrated? Maybe he's just got a tougher learning curve? Maybe cuz he's a spam cannon, and newbies figure it'll be more fun trying something else first? Maybe it's because he's not as sexy as Soldier. Yeah, that's right. I bolded sexy. And right next to soldier. How many gay men you think will pass over this blog in their googling?

Whatever the reason is, a good Demoman can be an AWESOME defender. But only as flag support. I've never been able to really grind down a defense by attacking with him, but I'm not really sure why that is.

Here is what I do know. With all the time and energy devoted to advanced play of Engie, Soldier, Spy and Scout... I have no clue why the twinks out there haven't found a borderline exploitative way to abuse the enemy with the detpack, considering its huge radius, and instakill damage. I just don't get it. Demoman is as enigmatic to me as allowing Paris Hilton to put out a record. I mean, come on. Isn't the market full of bad blonde singers for preteen girls already? Maybe in comparison to Hilton, they're trying to make some of those girls sound good? Totally baffling.

PART 2!! This time, it's personal.

Backchecking

2006-08-16T19:30:00.000-04:00

I just finished this graphic, and I'm so pleased with it, I decided to write an article specifically so I could use it.

Anyway, if you didn't read the previous article, Chalkboard articles are where I go over strategies I found useful in Team Fortress (Classic), along with other team based first person shooters, such as Battlefield 2 (and vietnam), Unreal Tournament, and other Quake Mods.

A mini disclaimer is in order here. I am not a World Class gamer. I'm pretty good, I can rock alot of public servers. But compared to harden clan-only veterans, I'm a benchwarmer.

Still, even a minor league athlete may have some pearls of wisdom, especially for a general audience. I invite any and all to add to my lessons, or dispute them. I won't get bent out of shape or anything... as long as you keep a respectful tone, of course.

This article focuses on Backchecking.

Backchecking is a hockey term (and maybe soccer, but I didn't play enough of that to learn the right term). It's a great choice for a first lesson in advanced team warfare, because it applies to so many situations, and because it can put even the worst player in a position to come up huge for his team.

Consider the direction that CTF (capture the flag) teams go in relation to hockey teams. Both teams are trying to push the puck towards the other teams goal. Both teams have to dedicate some men to this effort, but not too many to leave their own end unprotected. This is the basis of offense and defensive balance.

Attackers are used to heading into the heart of the enemy. Because of this, they are expecting to engage their opponent head on (in a very vague sense, like when you look at the map from a bird's eye view). Attackers do not expect to suffer an attack coming from their own defenders, whom they leave behind. Backchecking is resistance from behind the target. It is effective because attackers are rarely flanked, so they often will take an enormous amount of damage before they stop thinking two dimensionally. Even if they do catch on, it is very difficult for an attack to maintain any sense of timing or coordination when it is constantly being harassed from awkward angles, even before it gets to enemy chokepoints.

In case I am still painting a foggy picture about how effective this can be, picture this: You are leading a small squad of soldiers to raid a castle. You're halfway up the walls of the fort, when you start taking fire from the moat you had crossed over rather easily before. You're out of position, and you have to regroup. Provided you can get yourself out of that situation, your assault will be shorthanded to say the least.

To backcheck effectively, look for areas where you are isolated, where you can see a path into your own base your back is covered, yet the backs of enemies appear frequently. Simply follow the enemy into your base, and fire at will.

It is good to find one or two reliable spots per map to do this from, but at the same time, when enemies start coming into your line of sight, blasting away at you, you know it may be time to find a new spot.

Some people may find this to be camping. While it is a fine line, I believe if you're consistantly finding a new spot, and not setting up camp in just one or two, you're doing a good job monkeywrenching the enemy offense.

During your team's flag touch, midfield backcheckers are also in prime postion to defend their flag carriers, or pick it up after it's brought out from the teeth of the defensive configuration (IE: away from sentries & heavyWeps).

Like I said before, a very basic strategy, and not one that is likely to catapult a player into the top of the points standings for the round. Nor does it gain a player a better understanding of the more vital and intricate workings of offense and defense. It will, however, allow the unskilled players to contribute to the team effort.

Coming Soon: Uber-Categories

2006-08-15T13:27:00.000-04:00

Ok, kiddies, we're gonna have a little format change in regards to this blog.

Yes, it's still going to be your leading resource for all news, rumors, strategies, tragedies, comedies, hype, gripe, gonads and strife... regarding Team Fortress, Team Fortress 2, and to a lesser degree... previous Team Fortress releases.

But now, since I'm trying to keep this as my main writing focus, and it's not like there is breaking news daily on this game right now, AND since I said I would be mixing things up, writing about other topic, but trying to tie them into Team Fortress... I will also be writing about more things than just Team Fortress here in, from now on. In fact, there will be articles that have little or nothing to do with Team Fortress. It's likely that I'll have as many articles with no trace of TF content as I do articles centered totally around TF.

But I don't want to lose my fanbase (all two of you) either. There should be a way for you readers to know, prior to committing to reading, whether this is a TF or non-TF article. So here's how I will do this.

TOPIC BANNER GRAPHICS!!

There will be several categories of blog entries. They are as follows.

BIG TF NEWS! This is what we're leading with. This is the stuff we want the search engines and directories to know us for. We also want to know why we are referring to ourselves in plural form. There's only one of us, and it's me.
TF Tidbit. This will be a minor development in the Team Fortress scene. Maybe hints, quotes, reports. That sort of thing. Nothing earth-shattering, that is for the previous category.
TF Comparison. This is a fun little segment for me, because since I am incurably obsessed with Team Fortress, I see it in many other activities that I consider fun. So I want to share the resemblences with the world, both to educate newbies, and to amuse veterans.
TF Chalkboard. This is a strategy topic. Whether it is an in-depth look at advanced play, like conc-jumping, or a more abstract concept, like how to measure a good balance of offense and defense on a new map. These will not be as frequent, but when they come around they will be quite long, and of a high quality. Much like myself in bed. :)
Wrestling. Really off-topic stuff. But it's one of my other major active interests, and occasionally, I just need to vent about it. It may interest some to read how a fairly intelligent man who knows it is all scripted (and writes 4000 as easy as he combs his hair), views wrestling. I said "some people". I know it will probably not be for "most".
Sports. Kinda the same as above, only less subjected to ridicule.
Academia. Sometimes I just have a good point, and I wanna make the world a little better by sharing it. These are the least likely pieces to make you "ROFLGASM".
Random Zaniness. These are the most likely to make you ROFLGASM. Just miscellaneous silliness. Maximus. Omnibus. I-missed-da-bus.
Random Awesomeness. These are very similar to the last two categories. Sometimes I just realize or discover something so friggin cool, I just have to share it, or talk about it.
Internet Gold. This is just like the last one, only if it can be linked to on the net, or transcribed, it will be done in this category, and with this tag/banner.

Right. That's what these categories all mean. Every post will soon have a banner like this, so you know if you wanna read it or now. And of course, I'll be adding a category column to that sidebar over on the left.

I'm sure in the next few days, I'll get all those banners done, and have a link to show them all off.

Hey! I bet not everyone picked up on this!

2006-08-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

I didn't actually read the previous post's italicized text - it automatically came with the video. But when I went over it, I realized something. Check this out...

...Players choose from a range of unique character classes such as medic, spy, sniper, or engineer and must work together to complete a variety of tactical objectives.

Variety of tactical objectives? Well at the least, that is the developers hinting to us that Team Fortress 2 will have many of the victory conditions or rulesets that made Team Fortress Classic (and to a lesser degree, all the previous Team Fortresses) so awesome.

Previous Rule Sets included....

2.1 Capture the Flag
2.2 Territorial control
2.3 Attack and Defend
2.4 Hunted-style
2.5 Shutdown CTF
2.6 Skill maps
2.7 Team Deathmatch maps
2.8 Sniper War maps
2.9 Sports War maps

(thank you wikipedia)

OR... it could mean maps with more detailed and planned out phases... ala UT's Assault or Onslaught games. That would be... incredible.

Team Fortress 2 Steam Trailer

2006-08-12T19:04:00.000-04:00

Team Fortress 2, an all-new version of the title that spawned team based multiplayer action games, features the most advanced graphics of any Source-based game released to date. Players choose from a range of unique character classes such as medic, spy, sniper, or engineer and must work together to complete a variety of tactical objectives.

I can hardly wait! Anyways, in addition to other Team Fortress 2 related content, I plan to add a quick look into my efforts to upgrade my compy so that I may run/conquer/pwn Team Fortress 2 once it is released.

Oh, as a quick addendum, I've been talking to a few people online - not exactly authorities, but they know a thing or two about Valve and their release schedule tendencies. So I'm just throwing it out there, but there is a rumor that Episode Two, Portal, and *dun-dun-dun* Team Fortress Two will be in stores as early as the first week of November. Again, take it with a grain of salt. Deep breaths, Yooka. Deep breaths.

Thanks again to Google Video. Hope they can turn a profit sometime soon with how well their stock has been doin.

So when is this thing going to be out already?

2006-08-11T12:33:00.000-04:00

If you have found this blog, you probably are web-saavy enough to know how game release dates work. In case you don't, here's the rundown.

Game Companies want the game to come out by a certain date. The more concrete that date is, the better off they end up looking. However, the Game Marketing and Finance departments are constantly telling them to release the games as soon as they can, because they have paid the developers and testers for months and months, and have seen no return of invenstment.

And the Developers are at ends with Finance, because they know that the more time they spend adding new content, and removing bugs, the better the product will be. So they want basically want more time, and marketing wants less time.

So in this power struggle, every project can have wildly different release dates, and depending on who is winning the struggle determines how bankable the announced release date is, or how likely it is to get pushed back. All the while, places like Gamespot and Amazon blatently lie about it, to get pre-orders.

So when is this thing going to be out already?

Right now, no one knows. It is a total crapshoot. Gamespy has said "Late 2006" That could mean between Mid-October to December. uGo.com has said Fall 2006. They are usually not in the loop, so they are probably just trying to drum up hype, or really don't care about the details, since they cover so many things, on such a superficial level anyway.

My bet is January, and I wouldn't even rule out February. Always assume that the release will be towards the latest, farthest away edge of the announce range, and with companies renown for missing deadlines... add a few more months. I can't tell you how painful the anticipation was for The Matrix Online (another class based game that almost tempts me into writing a comparison piece for this blog... but not quite).

Anyway, keep checking back, and I swear, the very day one of the big sites knows, I will have it here also.

TF2: It's NOT Brotherhood of Arms

2006-08-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

So about six years ago, after Team Fortress Classic was released, Valve said the next big thing in their Team Fortress line would be Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. It isn't hard to find screenshots of this project right now. Since there is only the one screener of Team Fortress 2 - which is the one that looks like rejects for the Incredibles - all other screenshots of Team Fortress 2 are of the scrapped Brotherhood of Arms project. (By the way, as soon as newer "real" TF2 screeners become available, I would expect these BoA ones to go the way of the dodo).

Clearly, they decided to go another way with the animation - this is obvious and overstated. While I am sure that both had the hallmarks of TF2, I'm glad they didn't go with the Battlefield/Wolfenstein theme. Maybe they are going just a little too silly for everyone's taste right now with the caricature-like exaggeration. But I think it would have been worse tog et any more serious, any more true-to-life military than TFC. Even that was sort of skirting with being less than fantastic - and I mean that in the sense of "not related to fantasy"

IMHO, the best genre for TF is Sci-Fi. Only in a futuristic setting do EMPs come across as less than cheesy. Only in the future could there be an item that heals major damage instantly upon usage.

All in all, it's about walking that fine line between the fun of suspending disbelief, and seeming real enough to take seriously, and feeling the action enough to be jolted and moved by it. We'll see if they can pull it off this November or December.

Old Relics from a era gone by

2006-08-03T17:04:00.000-04:00

Hey, just a thought.

If anyone has any old Team Fortress web pages, images or (and especially) animated gifs, I might be very interested in acquiring them for this blog. The older and cheesy the better, that stuff is hilarious. :)

Be it Team Fortress 1, TFC, Weapons Factory (HIGHLY underrated) or whatever.

Oook. Be back on with some premium content a bit later.

For Shame, planetfortress.com

2006-08-03T02:27:00.000-04:00

4 Shame indeed.

Part of the reason I feel so strongly about creating a site/blog to sing the praises and incite the crazes of Team Fortress is that I feel there is a very substantial niche out there, who is not only chomping at the bit for more info on this undoubtedly great follow-up game... but also due to the fact that gamespy isn't really giving it that much press.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that there really isn't alot of detail on this bad boy. I fully realize that they can't exactly do much more than they have done in regards to putting TF2 on gamespy.com. But what I am talking about is their sub-site system, of having "planet" sites for each genre or gameline (I guess making gamespy the sun on this system?)

Along with planetquake.com and planetbattlefield.com, gamespy has had http://planetfortress.com for almost as long as they've had planetquake. Seriously, it's an old, old game, the original Team Fortress. You just wait until I'm desperate enough to give up the ole' screeners from Team Fortress based off of Quake 1. That'll be some pixelly bloggin, I assure you. And the word "pixelly" isn't too many other places on the internet, that too I am fairly certain of (Ok, not at all, but I talk a good game).

Anyways, my point is that they have a perfectly good domain, and they, more than any other site out there, has ties to both the original game, and through that the original fanbase.

So why am I peeved at gamespy? Because they aren't, and will not be doing anything major with this site. Right now, the only new hype about TF2 is the trailer, and about three lines leading it to it.

WTF?!

On the forums, one of the admins revealed that the gamespy bosses feel that since Team Fortress' future lies entirely with Half-Life, that all TF coverage will be from within the planethalflife subsite.

While this idea has some merits, I feel it forces the Team Fortress community from developing it's own separate identity. Mods like Counter Strike and Team Fortress surpass the games that they are based off of - in the eyes of many gamers, anyway. And just like parents eventually wish for their offspring to venture out and develop their own identities and lives, so too should Valve push for Team Fortress to grow like Counter-Strike did - enough to make a real name for itself apart from the games it is packaged with - much like Counter-Strike has, with its console version.

Also shipping with Team Fortress

2006-08-01T01:12:00.000-04:00

This is a trailer of Portal, a neat little bonus game that will come free with the additional singleplayer campaign for Half-Life 2, and of course... Team Fortress.

Portal rocks. YouTube rocks. Valve rocks. I'm such a little fan boy right now. Nighty-night.

The Basics

2006-07-31T20:31:00.000-04:00

While I don't have a ton of free time right now, it would be a good idea to get the basics out of the way for people unfamiliar with Team Fortress. Why people would stumble across this page (which is still under heavy construction, and has not been "marketed" around my forums and regular sites yet) is beyond me. But hey, I have to do something to keep this new project of mine feeling sexy to me, so let us make with the consistent content creation. Mmkay?

Wikipedia's article on Team Fortress is excellent - as usual. A great starting point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_Classic

Since the main Team Fortress article did not have a list of classes or rule variations, this is the one I advise people to read first.

If you are too lazy to read that, or what a little synopsis first, here goes. First off, the main format is like Capture the Flag. In fact, it is pretty much as old as Internet based Capture the Flag - it was the first major project to liven up the old CTF formula.

Two teams of players try to take the opponent flag while maintaining their own. For gamers today, this concept is ubiquitous (except in Battlefield, but my bone to pick with them is too large an affair for this entry). What else is different about it?

CLASSES.

I cannot do justice to the wikipedia entry, in this area, but suffice to day, class based play is really what gives TF a wealth of depth that CTF does not have. The specialization, and intricate differences between the types of weapons, items, armor levels, and other miscellaneous abilities makes a simple game more complex, more interesting, more strategic, and more fun. If CTF is soccer (or Association/World Football), then Team Fortress is like American Football. You have your linemen, who are totally built for one role in the team, and your quarterbacks, and your receivers. All these different sizes, speeds, and toughness make for a gaming experience where you can focus on particular facets of the teamplay if you wish, or f you don't, there are classes that are pretty good at everything, but great at nothing.

In the coming weeks, I will certainly cover all areas of all classes. But while the class system is the foundation of Team Fortress, it isn't the only thing. The cool variations of grenades, the charging bases sniper system, the variations of victory conditions and flag behavior, and the team oriented online community where all things I miss greatly from Team Fortress that no other first-person shooter I've ever played has surpassed.

This is what this blog is all about

2006-07-30T01:39:00.000-04:00

This essay is the absolute epitome of what this blog is going to be all about. Well, comedically anyway. I also have useful stuff too.

From gamespy.com

PlanetFargo: Fortress Fanatic

By Dave 'Fargo' Kosak | July 21, 2006

-----------

For many of us, TeamFortess for QuakeWorld was the class-based team game that we cut our chops on. The year was 1997, and I would snipe from the upper deck of the 2Fort4 map until my eyes bled. In fact, I would go so far as to say:

If you were shot in the head anytime between December of 1996 and March 1998, I was probably on the other end of the rifle.
Sorry.

Recently there was a lot of hubbub about the new Team Fortress 2 trailer that was unveiled last week. The word "ZOMG" was used. Indiscriminately.

Now, there are some who might have expressed disappointment that the new look and feel of TF would be exaggerated and cartoony, instead of the serious hardcore simulation look of Valve's abandoned TF2 Project. I am not among them.

Look guys: TeamFortress was never a serious game. In the original Quake version, snipers could cause a man to explode in a shower of entrails with a single charged-up bullet. And of course I've already examined how ridiculous capturing the flag is as a military tactic. Then there's the Medic, who would walk around giving people mysterious tropical diseases. More importantly, said Medic would heal you by hitting you with an axe. Let's think about THAT for a second:

Man: Doctor, I have a cold.
Medic [Sharpening enormous double-headed axe]: I'm afraid it'll have to come off.
Man: It'll have to -- what? Wait, WHAT will have to come off?
Medic [Spitting on axe blade]: All of it.

And how about that Spy? My favorite part of the Spy in the original TeamFortress was that he would walk around wearing a tuxedo that, judging by the player model, he was clearly wearing over a suit of reinforced heavy plate powered armor. This would be totally smooth in practice:

[The Spy waddles up with his arms hanging out from his sides and his elbows locked at a 45-degree angle.]

Spy: Bartender, give me a martini. Shaken, not stirred.

[The Bartender does so. The Spy, however, cannot lift his arms high enough to reach the bar.]

Spy: Just pour it in my mouth.

[An immensely hot blonde walks up in a sequined evening gown.]

Blonde: Hello, sailor. What's your name?

[The Spy turns to her, his torso whirring with the sound of metal grinding on metal. He knocks his martini onto the floor.]

Spy: The name's Bond, Jim Bond.

Blonde: You're ... spurting ... on my leg.

Spy: That's just hydraulic fluid.

Blonde: Oh.

Spy: ... For now.

So I, for one, am thrilled at the corny new look and feel of Team Fortress 2. Flinging Scouts across the map with a concussion grenade won't just look plausible - it'll be damn well encouraged. So will shooting them in the head.... Although I doubt they'll explode into chunky bits that resemble watermelon anymore.

Ok. Here is the deal with this page.

2006-07-22T12:18:00.000-04:00

Eventually, I'm am going to try to use this blog as a resource. I will scour the net, trying to find as much info on Team Fortress 2 - The HalfLife 2 game for your PC - and make this blog an invaluble resource to the gaming community.

The problem is that I need to learn some CSS, and until we're ready to launch, this page is under HEAVY construction. I mean heavy. Lots of experimenting. You're probably noticing how disgusting this page is now.

Do NOT assume that's how it's going to remain. Visit back sometime. See if I got anything good. You won't regret it.Capt. Jack Sparrow and WWE Champ John Cena VS Blade and Paris Hilton. Tkae that search engines.

This is the ultimate test post

2006-07-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

of ultimate destiny. :)

TOASTY!