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Team Fortress 2 - From Old To New
As the Beta period for the incredibly fun Team Fortress 2 winds down, the website Rock, Paper, Shotgun offers up several pieces on the title. If you played the original TF and want to know how things have changed, they've got an in-depth series of posts on the nine classes. If you're more interested in the evolution of TF2 as a concept, the first of a two-part interview with game designers Robin Walker and Charlie Brown highlights the long road between there and here: "The arc of TF2 is something that's probably familiar to a lot of amateur developers or designers. When we got here the first thing we built was overly complex, very hard core, almost impenetrable to anyone who wasn't familiar with FPSs in general. And as we found as we played it, wasn't more fun because of it. I think one of the things we've learned as designers over the time we've been here is to better preserve our ideas while still making them more understandable ... If I looked back at various designs in the different versions of TF2, then I think that's the thing that moved the most. We were always doing interesting classes, interesting weapons, but I think the thing we succeeded at the most, that we were failing at the most, was that nugget of acceptability relative to depth." As for the best class, I tend to agree with Jerry.
A day without grenade spamming is like a day without sunshine.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
I sort of had my doubts when I saw they were releasing TF2, but I'm slowly warming to the current concept.
Back in 1997 when TF came out gameplay on the internet was very campy (literally) and very platform rocket jumping-esque. The original TF was a gem on Quakeworld because it provided more than just death match but rather a team cooperation game with different classes.
Eventually, I went on to other games like Tribes, Counter Strike, and DoD and when I saw that the game was going back to its roots I had doubts that gameplay would work anymore since for a while they seemed to be taking a whole new direction with a more realistic atmosphere like counterstrike.
But then I saw their art direction and rather than focusing on realism like counter strike, they made it look more cartoonish and platform jumpy which basically how things were back in 97 (Quake, Turok, and Tomb Raider were all out then).
Of course it could be just nostalgia.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
The Incredibles Deathmatch.
Everything about the art direction in the game reminds me of that movie... and I love it.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
Actually, in several interviews, they've clearly stated their reasons for removing nades. Most notable among them was the fact that it blurred the class lines, and that didn't fit in with their ideoligy. The other most notable reason was for the nade spamming, they felt it was a counterproductive mechanic and so removed it. From the way they talk about the 'nades being gone i'd put money on them not comming back, but i can't say it's a garuntee one way or the other.
He whom you called four-eyes yesterday, you call Sir tomorrow.
or is it too soon?
Nerf scout shotgun or give them the sniper machine gun instead.. 2 shots from a scout's gun should kill a 175hp demo or 200 hp soldier.. i've seen 3-4 scouts rush a CP and kill everyone and cap the round.
demo nades are a little under powered when laying ont he ground and exploding (direct hits are right, and stickys are fine).
uber could last a little longer.
overall tho you can tell a lot of balance was worked on prior to beta...
Watch the Developer's Commentary on TF2. It's really interesting, and they mention they took inspiration from a 50's artist, which I forget the name of, but clearly the Incredibles ripped him off too.
the commentary explains the map situation pretty clearly. But the basic idea was this: Valve is great and awesome and all, so they focused on a core group of maps that everyone in their team wanted for TF2 that they could make *great*. Being very open to modding, the community would build the mapset up. If you compare TF2's maplist to TFC's you'll find TF2's maps are more in rotation than any of the basic maps in TFC(except for 2forts). Hell, granary, and well are some of my new favorites. Also, don't hit on 2fort too much, they changed it a bit, and it's nice seeing a familiar face in the list.