What is Team Fortress 2? It is a team-based first-person shooter that offers nine distinct classes to play as. Rather than simple deathmatch, TF2 requires players to work together to achieve objectives such as point control or objective theft. Work together, or fail.
Unlike many shooters, TF2 streamlines the process, making it very easy for new players to learn the ropes yet remain compelling to the hardened veterans. The game also features a very stylized look that sets it apart from the competition. If the movies
The Incredibles and
Austin Powers had a violently awesome lovechild, it'd be Team Fortress 2.
So read on, and join in on the fun, and make sure to whine about critical hits!
How to obtain Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 has two purchasing options. First is the Orange Box package for $39.99. That includes new puzzle game Portal and the complete Half-Life 2 Saga released so far (if you already have HL2 and Episode 1, you can give them away! Use
this thread for that). If you are just itching for Team Fortress 2, the game is available alone on Steam for
$19.99. [strike]Also rumor has it that EA will be splitting up the Orange Box for retail at some point in the future.[/strike] The "Black Box" package, originally slated to contain HL2:EP2, TF2, and Portal, has been canned from retail release. Buyers of new ATI/AMD GPUs may get this as a pack-in bonus, however, so shop around if you're planning to upgrade!
PC or Console?
TF2 comes in chocolate PC flavor or mint Console (X-Box 360/PS3). Which version is better? I’ll personally say PC, but there’s no clear cut choice. If you prefer analog-stick controls, don’t want to have to deal with crashes or hardware issues and prefer the online services of Microsoft/Sony…the console might be for you.
But the PC has customization. You won’t get the plethora of custom maps on a console nor can you use custom models. Furthermore, the vast majority of PA plays on PC. Plus the PC version actually gets updates.
Regardless of your choice, this is a PC thread. Use
this thread to satiate your sick desire to play an TF2 on a console.
Penny Arcade ServersJob's server
66.55.142.242:27015
Donatejonxp's server
tf2.finalmeasure.com
DonatePMAvers's server (custom maps)
208.167.246.56:27015
Download pack for custom maps
(Unzip to Steam\steamapps\<your account>\team fortress 2\tf\maps)
DonatePenny Arcade & Cake Army TF2 -
Demitri's Chicago Server
8.12.20.52:27015
Map List
tc_hydro
cp_well
cp_granary
cp_dustbowl
cp_gravelpit
ctf_2fort
YAAARGH
MARIO_KART
cyberpunk
ctf_badlands_classic_b3e
cp_corporation_b1
cp_desertfortress
ctf_mach4
cp_broma_b1
cp_redstone_b1
cp_science
cp_junction
Donate
Job and jonxp’s servers are (mostly) straight-forward games using official Valve maps. The House of Non-Conformity sticks with custom maps. The Cake Army / Penny Arcade joint server has some interesting characters as well as a mix of both stock and a bunch of close-to-valve-quality customs. But each server offers hours of glee.
All of the PA servers listed here are laid back and not going to harass you for sucking (well, maybe a little).
You might hear about “scrims†in this thread, which is where our PA folk play in competitive games. If you are interested in that sort of thing, just speak up and one of our competitive players will help you out. So remember,
don't be a dick!Password for all PA servers: wangMeet the Team
Team Fortress 2 has nine classes are grouped into three categories.
THEY ARE MOSTLY FOR GIVING NEW PLAYERS A HINT AT WHAT EACH CLASS DOES AND HAVE NO IMPACT ON BALANCE AND SUCH.
When in doubt,
TF2 Wiki is here with more specifics, including damage stats for all weapons.
Defense
Meet the Heavy
Role: Suppressive fire, meat shield.
Weapons: Chain gun, Shotgun, Ham-like Fists
Hit Points: 300
Speed: 77% (27% when minigun is revving up)
Special: Can right click to start up his gun. This allows for instant firing without slowdown. His speed dramatically decreases when firing or revving the minigun.
Meet the Engineer
Role: Base Defense, Transportation
Weapons: Shotgun, Pistol, Wrench
Hit Points: 125
Speed: 100%
Special: Can construct a variety of machines, including sentries guns and ammo/health dispensers. Can upgrade sentries and repair machines with the wrench. Has a teleporter which can allow for instant travel across the map.
Meet the Demoman
Role: Objective Defense, Group Clearing, Building Destruction
Weapons: Grenade Launcher, Sticky Bomb Launcher, Beer Bottle
Hit Points: 175
Speed: 93%
Special: Sticky bombs are remote bombs that can be detonated at any time with alternate fire. Can detonate a sticky bomb at his feet to launch in the air.
Support
Role: Healing, Stalemate Breaker
Weapons: Healing Gun, Needle Gun, Bonesaw
Hit Points: 150
Speed: 107%
Special: Healing gun can heal a teammates health, and even boost it up to 150%. If the medic heals long enough, a special "Ãœbercharge" becomes available that makes the Medic and the person being healed invincible for 10 seconds. Flag carriers cannot be made invulnerable, and invulnerable players can neither pick up the flag nor cap a point. The medic also has a passive regeneration effect, allowing them to heal up over time.
Role: Infiltration, Assassination
Weapons: Knife, Pistol, Electro-Sapper, Spy Kit
Hit Points: 125
Speed: 100%
Special: Can disguise self as a member of the either team and as any class (even a Spy). Can cloak in 10 seconds intervals. When using the knife, if done from behind, is an instant kill. In addition to being undetected by sentries while disguised, has an electro-sapper that shuts down and eventually destroys enemy machines unless an engineer puts it back online by smacking it with a wrench. While disguised, the spy does not show signs of taking damage from enemies, but they can still be killed.
Meet the Sniper
Role: Head-shotting
Weapons: Sniper Rifle, Submachine Gun, Kukri
Hit Points: 125
Speed: 100%
Special: Shots get more powerful the longer you stay zoomed in. Headshots do triple damage.
Offense
Meet the Scout
Role: Flag Carrier, Point Capper, Distraction, Bonking
Weapons: Shotgun, Pistol, Steel Bat
Hit Points: 125
Speed: 133%
Special: Counts as two people when taking control points. Can double jump and is the fastest class in the game.
Meet the Soldier
Role: Basic Attack Class
Weapons: Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Shovel
Hit Points: 200
Speed: 80%
Special: Can "Rocket Jump" by aiming rocket launcher at feet. Rockets do splash damage.
Soldier Guide
Role: Close Quarters Combat, Ambushing, Building Destruction, Spy Detection
Weapons: Flamethrower, Shotgun, Fire Axe
Hit Points: 175
Speed: 100%
Special: Can set people on fire, which obstructs their vision and deals damage to them over time. Since TF2 has no friendly fire, enemy spies will be revealed by the flames. Only medkits, the medic's medigun, dispensers or water can put the fire out. With the latest update the Pyro has gained the "Compression Blast" secondary fire on the Flamethrower, which allows the bouncing back of rockets, grenades, and sticky mines, at the cost of 25 fuel per shot. The reflecting Pyro will get credit for any kills made by ordinace reflected mid-air. Pyro flames now also do full damage no matter what range.
Features
Look on the Bright Side: If your "round" is a personal best (most damage inflicted, kills made, time alive), the game will let you know when you die.
Capture the Moment: Kodak invites you take a screen of your murderer.
Taunts!: You can do a variety of animations. They depend on your class and current weapon. The Medic, for example, will play his Bonesaw like a violin. You temporarily leave first-person view when this is done, and you can’t cancel it. So use it only when feeling especially confident. The Pyro's secondary-weapon taunt is now an
instant kill if it connects, and you also get an achievement for this.
Critical Hits: Some shots do more damage. These shots, when fired, will make a crackling noise and a satisfying “CRITICAL HIT†will be above your target (if they land). If you are racking up kills, your crit rate will temporarily increase to around 20% or so. Note that some weapons have higher crit chances. Backstabs with the Spy’s knife are always crits. The Medic’s Bonesaw tends to have a higher-than-normal crit rate.
Recent Updates!Unlockable Weapons: The Medic and Pyro classes each have three new weapons that can be unlocked by obtaining a certain number of class-specific achievements.
Medic unlockables:
Blutsauger
The Blutsauger is a replacement for the Medic's Needlegun. It is unlocked after completing 10 Medic-specific achievements. This new weapon no longer has the ability to score critical hits against an opponent, instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits -- making it especially useful as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.
Kritzkrieg
The Kritzkrieg is an alternative to the Medic's default medigun. It is unlocked after completing 15 Medic-specific achievements. This new medigun uses its Ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give its recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance, allowing an insightful medic and medic-buddy to rip through the opposition when used strategically.
Ubersaw
The Ubersaw replaces the Medic's default bonesaw with a bloodstained monster. It is unlocked after completing 20 Medic-specific achievements. Each successful swipe of the Ubersaw will restore 25% of your UberCharge meter. The trade-off? The Ubersaw swings 20% slower than its more tamer cousin, taking away some of it's killing power.
Pyro unlockables:
Flare Gun
The [strike]Tampon[/strike] Flare Gun replaces the shotgun as the secondary weapon. It is unlocked after completing 10 Pyro-specific achievements. This gives burn-happy pyros a chance to do what they've wanted for months - set people on fire from across the room, control point, or map. Excellent for annoying enemy snipers, but using this will leave you mostly defenseless if you're in or near the water.
Backburner
The Backburner replaces the Flamethrower as the Pyro's primary weapon. It is unlocked after completing 15 Pyro-specific achievements. The Backburner lacks the fancy new Compression Blast ability of the original Flamethrower, but more than makes up for it with the brutal combination of a 100% crit rate when attacking the back of an enemy, and a bonus of +50hp to the user. If you're a backstabbing enthusiast who isn't playing Spy, this is your gun.
Axtinguisher
Just as shiny, but wrapped in barbed wire, the Axtinguisher replaces the default Fire Axe. It is unlocked after completing 20 Pyro-specific achievements. The Axtinguisher compliments the Pyro's tendency to set fire to things by guaranteeing critical hits on any enemy that is on fire. As a tradeoff, it does half damage against enemies who aren't burning.
New Gametype: Payload!
Gold Rush is an escort style map in which the BLU team will have to accompany a mining cart laden with a large bomb as it rolls over hostile terrain. The RED team's job is to prevent the cart from progressing to the check points of the map. The cart stops when any member of the opposing team gets in range. This idea is based off the ever popular "Hunted" map, but without the human input for the cart (although that mode is also in talks of being added to the game). The map has 3 stages, with the final stage rewarding a successful assault by asploding the entire map into giblets.
Other Fun StuffDownload to see detailed TF2 statsTeam Fortress 2 Merchandise!Penny-Arcade's TF2 ShirtOfficial TF2 Statistics
Note that this is the kind of shit that will get you banned from our servers.
TF2 GriefingPart 2
Note that this is the kind of shit that will get you banned from our servers.
Screenshots!
You can find them in Program Files\Steam\steamapps\<account name>\team fortress 2\tf\screenshots .
Type
bind f5 jpeg into your console to take screenshots as .jpg instead of .tga. Use
Paint.NET to convert .tga files to another format.
If screenshots aren't enough, theres always
Random Engy's guide to capturing HD movies for TF2
Finding good screenshots is like a game of its own!
To recap: I'm making 100 of them.
When they come in I will be sending one off to each person who has donated to my server as of an e-mail I sent this weekend. After that I will be handing them out to you guys at PAX. Then the remainder I will try to find some cool way to give out, but most likely will be on a first-come first-serve basis via e-mail.
Pyro Balance Patch Released July 1st
Team Fortress 2 Update Released
July 1, 2008, 2:00 pm - Jason Ruymen - Product Update
Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Team Fortress 2
* Fixed backburner's flame critical hits not being recalculated after collision. This meant that it would check if the target was looking away once and after that the flame could score a critical hit again even if the orientation changed
* Added back some damage falloff to the Pyro's flamethrower. Not nearly as extreme as it was before the Pyro class pack
* Fixed bug that caused Demomen to take a small amount of extra damage from their own grenades and fly farther using them
* Fixed spy getting stuck in players after removing his disguise
* Fixed spy stabbing and being able to go invisible instantly
* Fixed spy disguised as enemy medic being able to spam voice commands
* Fixed buffed health not decaying properly after being healed by a dispenser
* Selectable menus can now be operated with number keys even if they are not bound to slot1, slot2, etc.
* Removed the remaining speed adjustments for carrying intelligence (a couple of game modes still reduced your maxspeed)
* Fixed a buildable item placement bug where the object would not rotate after the user tried to place in an invalid location
The next class to be tweaked will be the Heavy
Posts
A foreword: to me, 75% of sniping is reflex, speed and accuracy. In my opinion, you cannot learn these things. Some people say you can. What you can learn is spatial awareness and mind games, and these are of great benefit. There are a couple of other tricks and so on, but they are general, and easier illustrated in context by the following method.
1:
9:
Page Break!
Flippy's Guide to Sniping CP_Well
It's all about the lateral assault, dood.
1:
To digress a second for a general tip: showing your dot is a psychological consideration. 99% of the time I recommend hiding it. You want surprise on your side. Good places to hide dots include posts, angled floors, brightly lit surfaces, the sides of circular objects, etc. Only show your dot if you know it's going to cause people to bottle it, and if that's the effect you want to acheive. On the last point of badlands I once pinned down three players behind the cap because I was making myself an obvious threat. When our team moved in to cap, they didn't have the time to react.
At five seconds until the gates open, move around at full scope to cover the opposite gate, shown in the second picture. Be on your guard for jumpers, especially in those last seconds. If pipes and stickies start raining down, just retreat. Same if you hear a pyro coming your way. Just run. You will lose 60% of the time and it's an awfully long respawn wait at the start of this map. The third screen shows a favourite alternate route of mine, which is to jump into the water via the canal outside or the well entrance, and to swim into the little room at the end. So often you're simply just not noticed. I have no idea why.
ON ATTACK:
Another general tip: as mentioned earlier, edging slowly around the side of an object at full zoom is a risably bad idea if you're going to be countersniping. The enemy sniper will see your dot 'wrap around' the edge of the surface, and will be prepped for you. Additionally, it's actually harder to snap to an area at full zoom. Strafe out noscoped, scope and shoot in one motion, and immediately move back into cover.
ON DEFENSE
Well is all about attacking from the side. Almost always. The low flatbeds (just outside either side of centre point) can be quite useful for short-range combat, as if you crouch and play silly buggers with the pursuer you can get a fair few chances to headshot before they realise they should probably just jump over and shovel your face in. Remember spies use the waterways and be prepared to get stabbed a fair amount if you're causing trouble. Remember to cover the left exit from their building, as that's the side spawn is on and 90% of players will, when given the choice, run in a straight line.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
And update the 'unlockables' section, ya bum.
edit: woo!
Tofu wrote: Here be Littleboots, destroyer of threads and master of drunkposting.
Now you've entered womanhood... wait.
Tofu wrote: Here be Littleboots, destroyer of threads and master of drunkposting.
Yay!
Speaking of which, I love the axtinguisher. It's really not the best way to kill people (if you're that close you can probably be safer off killing people with the backburner anyways), but it's so satisfying, and makes short work of heavies.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Tycho gets death from some kind of new spy
So happy together.
Buddha hates what he's become, and stabs himself.
Is it not the most glorious thing ever?
The most glorious thing was that I didn't realize I had 21 achievements. I never got the alert for the kirtzcrieg, and all I had to do was the death cam taunt.
BAT BAT BAT
Asi
If only
wang.
Tis in the OP below the servers: wang
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
Shit. That's the only type of people we've got.
I thought about titling it [QQ ON] and making it a comment about how crit flames are a great way to get achievements.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
They really need to stop cloaking a fraction of a second after they're in full view of me, and do it a second beforehand. It's amusing when I cause a corpse to appear out of nowhere.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
My favorite is when I didn't even know they were there. Like, I'm spy checking someone who I thought left the area by aiming at their head but when I pull the trigger a corpse just pops up outta no where. It's fantastic.
Or when you try to sneak past a sniper cloaked as he aims for somebody else, but you step in front of his gun right when he fires.
Flipper got a headshot on me this way. :x
Also, in response to Jesuits and his teleporter advice, I often get on the teleporter and watch the respawn area for people who need it more than me. But often what happens is right when I see a heavy and try to step off, I get teleported. Perhaps I'll try watching the scoreboard for who's respawning. Great advice!
Edit: Also, seems like spies not having that teleporter glowing effect is an excellent reason for why spies should take teleporters. That's one more person without glowing rings to give away your teleporter's position.
Also, blu dot.
You're crazy. I'm practically never a medic because I don't have the patience for it.
Also, the quote button should remain active on locked threads, dammit.
The challenge as being spy among the flames was fun for a little bit, but it got painful. Also, I want to practice force pushing projectiles. I want to make soldiers cry. But I'm gonna be crying for quite awhile until then.
Get on a pub and laugh your ass off. Soldiers will stand still and fire rockets at you. Dodge, dodge, hey there's a crit rocket REFLECTED.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Yeah, it died down rather quickly thanks to Valve lowering the bar for getting the weapons. I'm really glad they did, as now most people have either gotten the 3rd milestone, or are extremely close. Now all is right again with the universe. I still fear the heavy update though.
I think it actually has died down.
LOLOL PYRO FARM TOMORROW
Volley-Scout at dawn?
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
The worst is going from mike to no mike. Pressing down V and shouting, only to realize nobody heard you. Damn! That spy just killed our medic and heavy.
Yeah, it was definitely the way to go, and then Valve go ahead and sort out the medic achievements too.
Also a crazy vaguely-foreign-sounding androgynous guy/girl was hitting on me in a pub. I am burning my headphones as we speak. Mics aren't all they're cracked up to be.