Shadowspawn
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2002
- Messages
- 1,870
I'm stuck using a satellite link, does the beta have LAN capability?
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Official Team Fortress 2 Thread
- Thread starter Spare-Flair
- Start date
No, there's no way around it. I was in the same boat as you and I bit the bullet. There's been no confirmation from valve about alternative packages, but DougV did say on teh steam forums that "HL2 and ep1 are free in the orange box" which leads a lot of people to believe taht there won't be an option for an alternative without HL2 and ep1.
On topic, the game is fun as hell. I played for a few hours today and it was straight out of the good ol' days. I'm curious to try it out with my buddy who ALWAYS goes heavy. I used to back him up as a medic in TFC, but now that partnership is even more powerful. I like the ubercharge ability. It makes breaking stalemates a lot easier on 2fort.
I only have two real complaints. One is that 2fort is the only ctf map on release. I always preferred the ctf gameplay to the point capture, but that's secondary since 2fort is so damned fun. The other is defenses against spies. They seem very difficult to detect so I've taken to just blasting people to try and figure out if they're actually teammates. That obviously poses a problem if friendly fire is enabled. I guess we'll see how it plays out, but right now spies seem a little OP to me.
I would enjoy the game quite a bit more if I could change the FOV. I keep on getting headaches from the horrible default one.
It would also make it feel like it would be playing faster which it also needs.
I think I will start a server with sv_cheats = 1 so I can change the FOV, and see how it works out.
It would also make it feel like it would be playing faster which it also needs.
I think I will start a server with sv_cheats = 1 so I can change the FOV, and see how it works out.
[RCKY] Thor
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2001
- Messages
- 2,133
Don't think it's worth complaining about map selection of a beta.
Some people seem to forget that's what this is.
Some people seem to forget that's what this is.
is anyone else having problems with the game hanging, locking up and random bsod's? am i the only one?guess i will delete all local content and reinstall... already updated all my drivers.
Same here... I'm running Vista 64. Game occasionally locks up with looping sound.
Sometimes I can play 5 minutes, sometimes 15... but sooner or later it hangs.
I noticed this seemed small, I wonder if thats a widescreen thing or what? usualy the source engine does widescreen correctly, or maybe its just small to begin with.
BLUEFISH44
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2006
- Messages
- 1,474
Same here, running vista 64. Not sure what to do about it.
Even with the cell shadingness, I was surprised that this would run well on my machine...
amd 64 3000+ ruunning stock with 2 gigs value and x800 xtpe....but it runs about 40 fps on 1680x1050, with other settings pretty high....pretty solid optimization for a beta...
Yeah it is like the good old days...this shit is just plain fun...a great mix of competiveness with the achievements but also silliness that reminds me of what the core of true gaming is...let's play because it's fun...
Worth the wait.
amd 64 3000+ ruunning stock with 2 gigs value and x800 xtpe....but it runs about 40 fps on 1680x1050, with other settings pretty high....pretty solid optimization for a beta...
Yeah it is like the good old days...this shit is just plain fun...a great mix of competiveness with the achievements but also silliness that reminds me of what the core of true gaming is...let's play because it's fun...
Worth the wait.
zmjone2992
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2007
- Messages
- 1,033
running vista x64 and I can't even get the thing to start. hl2.exe has stopped working. Verifying the game cache files right now. It plays the valve music when it should show the logo, but no visuals, I am peeved for sure.
The logo doesn't show for me either (though I hear the music), but I still make it to the main menu.
Gorankar
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2000
- Messages
- 11,107
I'm liking it.. Had a hell of a time finding a server that was not already at capacity, with low enough pings though..
I had a few great moments as a spy. Disguised a medic, heavy weapon guys always want you to follow them. So basically they call medic, turn their back to you and start walking expecting you to follow close and team up with them.... well then you stab them in the back Or you disguise yourself as a heavy weapon guy to begin with... no one ever expects that huge guy is really a spy.
But I agree, the spy does seem a little over powered and like someone previously mentioned, you end up shooting your own teammates to see if they're really a spy. I know I got shot a ton of times while in disguise, someone would run by, shoot you with a shotgun and just keep walking along. As long as you take the shot, don't attack back and carry on like everything is normal they just leave you alone half the time anyway.
The classes do seem very well balanced overall, I see every class being used. One thing I like about fortress forever was how the spy was more visible while moving. This caused you to try and move quick when the enemy was turned, then quickly stop and hide. Perhaps tf2 should do something similar, and make the spy slightly visible while cloaked and running. Right now I just cloak, and run past their entire team in 2fort.
Another point, I wish the soldier could launch himself higher with the rockets.
Great game, I notice very little lag online, and.... I'm off to play again.
Or you disguise yourself as a heavy weapon guy to begin with... no one ever expects that huge guy is really a spy.But I agree, the spy does seem a little over powered and like someone previously mentioned, you end up shooting your own teammates to see if they're really a spy. I know I got shot a ton of times while in disguise, someone would run by, shoot you with a shotgun and just keep walking along. As long as you take the shot, don't attack back and carry on like everything is normal they just leave you alone half the time anyway.
The classes do seem very well balanced overall, I see every class being used. One thing I like about fortress forever was how the spy was more visible while moving. This caused you to try and move quick when the enemy was turned, then quickly stop and hide. Perhaps tf2 should do something similar, and make the spy slightly visible while cloaked and running. Right now I just cloak, and run past their entire team in 2fort.
Another point, I wish the soldier could launch himself higher with the rockets.
Great game, I notice very little lag online, and.... I'm off to play again.
Works fine for me on Vista x64.
legendz411
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2006
- Messages
- 3,534
Meh... I guess I'll just have to play it. I don't like the setting, 2fort was always more of 2 random castles to me. Also, WTF is up with the briefcases and WHY is the capture point in the basement. Doesn't that completely destroy the point of snipers on the battlements?
No luck for me on Vista 64 bit here either.
I can play for 15 seconds to 3 minutes but never any longer than that, game locks and have to end process to get out of it.
I have sent bug reports to Valve.
My system is rock soid in everything else.
Abit AB9-Pro - prob need to upgrade that its only about 9 months old or so
Intel Q6600 Quad Core stock speed with Rosewill RCX-Z5
8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
XF-I Xtreme Music (nice Vista64 drivers Creative - mic works for spit now)
Sapphire Radeon 2900XT 512MB
Coolermaster Cosmos 1000
I am sure there will be some fix for this, but i have tried a few things already such as:
setting desktop to Vista Basic
Turning off Superfetch
still need to try:
Lowering my RAM to 2GB to test
Setting Processor Affinity to just 1 core instead os all 4
Removing my XF-I because creative cant seem to write a good set of Vista64 drivers yet (might be a problem)
Just loading Vista32 to see if that will fix it
looks like it could be fun as hell.
Ag
I can play for 15 seconds to 3 minutes but never any longer than that, game locks and have to end process to get out of it.
I have sent bug reports to Valve.
My system is rock soid in everything else.
Abit AB9-Pro - prob need to upgrade that its only about 9 months old or so
Intel Q6600 Quad Core stock speed with Rosewill RCX-Z5
8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
XF-I Xtreme Music (nice Vista64 drivers Creative - mic works for spit now)
Sapphire Radeon 2900XT 512MB
Coolermaster Cosmos 1000
I am sure there will be some fix for this, but i have tried a few things already such as:
setting desktop to Vista Basic
Turning off Superfetch
still need to try:
Lowering my RAM to 2GB to test
Setting Processor Affinity to just 1 core instead os all 4
Removing my XF-I because creative cant seem to write a good set of Vista64 drivers yet (might be a problem)
Just loading Vista32 to see if that will fix it
looks like it could be fun as hell.
Ag
I wish. Not me.
I have Vists 64 bit, 4 gb Crucial Memory, Quad Core q6600 with a mild OC at 2.7 Ghz.
I have all of these same problems as listed above. I never have been kicked from the server. I just come back in the game.
I get an error message that my Nvidia graphics drivers have stopped working. Then they work again.
I really enjoy the game. I wish it would stop freezing on me.
[H]ardforum has a group on steam community its called Hardforum PM Northbridge to get in.......
I just hope TF2 runs well on my system...every other steam game does...
BLUEFISH44
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2006
- Messages
- 1,474
For me sometimes the game just resumes like nothing happend, only once have i had to restart the game.
Same VGA error from windows aswell.
PoweredBySoy
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
- Messages
- 2,243
I don't think the class itself is overpowered, I think it's just more the fact that it's the first day, and people don't know how to react to the spies yet. People are still learning. Once the game starts to mature and people refine their tactics, my guess is the Spy won't seem nearly as powerful. Although, given Valves extreme knack for balance and polish, it will always be a fun and viable class to play.
They're essential for taking out those well placed sentry guns.
I have a dual boot setup XP-64 and Vista-32. I didn't have any problems in Vista 32bit yesterday. Of course I only played for an hour.
Neo
No.
64bit works fine, played for 5 straight hours yesterday and only had 1 bug when pressing tab crashed the game (worked fine after that), It's a beta, people will have issues, it's nothing specific to a 64bit OS
I was having troubles running this in Vista as well. Make sure you have the latest Nvidia drivers (if applicable, new ones just came out) and that you set the hl2.exe executable in /steam/steamapps/[name]/teamfortress2/ to "run as administrator" and "run in windows xp sp2 compatibility mode" under right click->properties->compatibility. There may be an easier way, but this fixed it for me and I was having the same problems.
This is the entire purpose of a spy - to make people paranoid. I haven't gotten killed more by a spy than I have by any other class. It's just that you notice the spy deaths so much more because they come out of nowhere.
One thing that annoys me but at the same time, I love its cinematic quality, is the zooming in of the person who killed you...First off, it looks cool as shit and has the "gnah gnah got ya!" quality about it, but at the same time, gives away the position of the killer...this sucks for me because of I am a sniper but does make me reposition which could reduce camping and make me more mobile...the problem is some chokepoints have only one hiding spot for a sniper
Another concern is, WHY WOULD I WANT TO SAVE MOMENTS OF DEATH? hey look a spy humilated me, I want to save that and put it on my refrigerator...I love the pause and you see some cool shots this way but can I get some victory shots as well?
I would like to see them implement a "scrapbook" or "Glorious moments" menu in the main menu where you can review those screenshots...
Another feature EASILY implemented...put a "Tour" menu where you can watch the "Meet the x class" videos...those videos are funny as hell, my favorite is probably the Heavy..."They can't outsmart me...well, maybe" ...
Another concern is, WHY WOULD I WANT TO SAVE MOMENTS OF DEATH? hey look a spy humilated me, I want to save that and put it on my refrigerator...I love the pause and you see some cool shots this way but can I get some victory shots as well?
I would like to see them implement a "scrapbook" or "Glorious moments" menu in the main menu where you can review those screenshots...
Another feature EASILY implemented...put a "Tour" menu where you can watch the "Meet the x class" videos...those videos are funny as hell, my favorite is probably the Heavy..."They can't outsmart me...well, maybe" ...
PoweredBySoy
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
- Messages
- 2,243
I wrote a little class guide for a few of my friends that are looking to get into TF2. Thought I would post it here in case some of you find it useful. And since I've only been playing a day, everythings not guaranteed to be 100% correct. So please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
And if you're going to quote me, for the love of god don't quote the whole thing. =P Here you go:
First and foremost - read this article. Gives all the basics.
Demoman - There's not a whole lot special about him, but for some reason I find myself playing this class a lot. If I'm staring at the character screen wondering what I should play this round - I'm often drawn to the Demoman. He's quite versatile really, and he's the only class with grenades. Great at defense with his sticky bombs, and his nade launcher works well in all occasions. His biggest weakness is the low ammo and really slow reload times. If he's caught off-guard with low ammo, he can be in real trouble - as he really doesn't have a backup weapon. He can dish out the spam, but not for very long. If you find yourself shooting one nade, reloading one nade, shooting one nade, reloading....etc... It's best just to back off and get fully reload all 4. Be ready to pull out that jug of whisky at any time though. In general, melee weapons in this game work really well, unlike most mp games. I also read that he can use his sticky bombs to launch himself while jumping - like a rocket jump. Never tried it though.
Switch to the secondary weapons to launch sticky bombs. You can only have ~6 out at any one time. Once the sticky bombs are planted, all you have to do is right-click at any time to detonate them - no matter which weapon you currently have equipped. So plant some stickies, switch back to nade launcher to continue fighting, and then once a guy runs over your stickies, right-click and BLAMO!
Engineer - Engineers make sentry guns, ammo/health dispensers, and teleporters. To make these things he needs "metal", which you basically just acquire from anything that also gives you ammo. You start out with enough metal to make one item, after which you need to collect more. To build something, hit '4' to bring up the build menu. Then hit the corresponding number of what you want to build. A little icon will appear on the ground showing where you want to place it. Once you start building something, you can beat it with your melee weapon (wrench) to make it go faster. This is also how you upgrade your sentry guns - given that you have enough "metal" in your inventory. Beating with the wrench also repairs your items if they take damage. A good strategy is to go to a high traffic choke point or whatever and drop a Dispenser first, as it will give you a steady supply of "metal". Then drop your Sentry next to the Dispenser. That way the Dispenser will automatically heal it if the sentry gets hit. If you can, try and put the Sentry in front of the Dispenser to shield it. Works really well. Once that is done, go make your Teleporters!
There's two kinds of teleporters to build - an "in" and a "out". First build the "in" near where your team spawns. Next go near the frontlines of the battle - preferably somewhere hidden - and build the "out". Then your team can teleport quickly to the most contested areas of the map after respawning.
If you ever see an enemy teleporter laying on the ground - kill it!! They look like swirling discs on the ground of the appropriate teams color.
Heavy - This class is for supreme damage and suppressive fire. They have the most health of any class, and move in two speeds - slow and really slow. The move slow while just running around, and they move really slow any time the barrel of your minigun is spinning. Like most miniguns in games, they don't start shooting the instant you hit the button. It takes about a second for the barrel to spin up - and then the bullets start flying. If you right-click, it pre-spins the barrel for you, but doesn't shoot. This way you're ready to fire but not wasting ammo. But again, you'll be moving very slow. Always pre-spin the barrel if you're expecting enemies.
Does a good deal of damage even at range. It's a very tough class, and generally if you see one coming you run the other way. Be sure to notice his face while he shoots. The longer he fires his minigun, the bigger his grin gets. Until finally he starts bellowing out this maniacal laughter as he spews his lead wall of death. It's hilarious.
Medic - After a day of playing, I'm pretty convinced that the Medic is one of the most important classes on the field. His primary weapon is a syringe launcher which is so-so. It's kind of weak, and the "bullets" have an arc to them. So it's also somewhat awkward to aim. It's better than nothing though I guess. His secondary weapon is what the Medic is all about though. It's a 'heal gun' that shoots a stream of health at any friendly player you aim it at. Hold down the button to keep the stream going - even if the player is at full health. The stream has a fairly decent range. I don't know, maybe 20 feet. It also bends a bit around corners. So if you can, stay out of line of sight of the bad guys while keeping the stream on your buddy. If there are bad guys in the immediate area, try to hide behind your meat shield. But keep healing him! If he's any good, he'll protect you.
You'll notice the Medic has a gauge called "uber heal". As long as you're healing a friendly character, this gauge will slowly fill up. After about a minute or so of constant streaming, it will be full. If it's full, at any time you can right-click to initiate a 10 second invulnerabilty for both you and the person you're healing. This whole game mechanic is genius, and often a necessity - especially when the enemy has built up a strong defense. Pop this uber heal at just the right time, and let your damage dealing buddy destroy as much as he can in those 10 seconds. Sentrys, snipers, anything... kill it all. Hopefully the rest of your team will follow on that momentum.
If you die, your uber heal gauge is reset.
Always pair up with a class that does some serious damage. Preferrably a Heavy. But Soldiers, Demos and Pyros work too. Don't worry about the other guys, and only heal them if they're asking for it.
Pyro - My favorite class!! Pyro is a unique class, and kind of hard to use. Their main weapon is the flame thrower. But the problem is the range is really short. Probably even shorter than you would think. It could almost be considered a slightly extended melee attack. But the biggest advantage is that it's a constant stream of damage that you don't have to reload. So if you get the drop on multiple bad guys, you can just run in and start doing an insane amount of damage. Just be sure to keep moving - stay right on top of the bad guys. It'll make you harder to hit, and will also allow your flame thrower to connect. But heres the trick - the flame thrower doesn't really kill them outright. It sets them on fire which then continues to tick off their health. What I'm not sure of is that once an enemy is set ablaze, does continuing to flame him actually do more damage?? It's something I need to test out. It may keep resetting the 'tick timer' if you keep the flame on him, but I'm not sure if it continues to do any more direct damage. I've chased plenty of bad guys down while keeping the flame directly on them for 3 or 4 seconds - and even though they're on fire, they don't seem to die very fast.
So the Pyro is all about fast movement and hit and run tactics. Get the drop on a few bad guys, flame the living shit out of them, and then run away. Or, get the drop on a guy, flame him, and then immediately fast-switch to shotgun and finish him off. If at any time someone starts running away from you (and they will), always switch to shotgun. Don't continue to chase them with the flame thrower if it's not connecting. The bad guy will just kite you along until you're dead.
The Pyro has slightly faster movement speed than most classes, but still don't allow yourself to be kited.
Scout - A pretty fun role to play. They move almost twice as fast as any other class. They're mainly all about capping control points or flag running. Their main weapon is a sawed off shotgun which does pretty good damage close up. If you find yourself in close with a bad guy, circle strafe them and keep shooting. You're a very hard target to hit. They also have a baseball bat which is awesome for knocking someone in the back of the head.
It's a pretty straight forward class. Very fast. They cap control points twice as fast as anybody else. And... very fast.
Oh! They also have a double-jump which further allows you to navigate the map with blinding speed. Just hit the jump button while in midair to double-jump. Furthermore, you can change directions while while double-jumping. It's pretty much hax.
I've seen some really good Scout players already in this game, and they can be lethal and annoying.
A scouts biggest nemesis is probably the Engineers sentry gun. A scout can pretty much outrun any other class, as well as most their bullets. But rounding a corner into the sights of a sentry gun is lethal. The Scout doesn't really have anything to deal with sentry guns either.
Sniper - Pretty straight forward. You have a gun with a scope, and you can zoom in and kill people with it. I really thought I would like the Sniper more, but I find him kind of boring. Most maps are set up with Sniper spots in mind.... but those spots are always kind of passive and not much fun. I guess I just prefer to charge headfirst into the action (Pyro!!!!). Also note that due to the fast-paced nature of this game, and the characters, sniping is actually pretty hard.
When you're zoomed in, you'll notice a little charge meter in your sights. The more this is charged, the more damage your shot will do. This is to encourage you to be zoomed in. And it doesn't take long to fully charge.. just a few seconds. But be aware that at full charge, your scope sights will now display a visible laser point to where you're aiming. This doesn't really give away your position, but it will make it obvious to anyone you're trying to ambush that theres a sniper pointing right there. And the laser color corresponds to which team you're on - red or blue. So if you're on the red team and you see a blue laser dot near you - look out.
Soldier - The staple class of the battlefield. His main weapon is a rocket launcher. He has a lot of health, but moves a little on the slow side. When firing the rocket launcher at a close ranged target, but sure to aim at the enemies feet to take advantage of the splash damage. If you aim directly at the target and miss (which you probably will with slow moving rockets), they will then fly harmlessly off into the background.
I find the soldier has the common problem of shooting a lot faster than he can reload. So be careful to not run out of rockets in the middle of a fight. Again, if you find yourself shooting one rocket, loading one rocket, shooting one rocket.... either back off to recoupe and fully reload, or switch to the shotgun and finish the guy off. The shotgun itself is a worthy weapon at close range, so don't hesitate to pull it out.
If you're not firing your rocket launcher, you need to be reloading the damn thing! Don't ever be walking around with anything less than 4 rockets. "R", "R", "R"..... keep hitting it. Same goes for the Demoman.
The Soldier can also rocket jump. To do this, quickly aim at the ground - and then shoot a rocket at your own feet and jump at the same time. The splash damage will propel you into the air, allowing you to jump to high ledges, etc... Most maps have special spots with rocket jumps in mind, allowing the Soldier to flank enemy defenses and stuff. But keep in mind you'll lose about 20% health doing this move. Always keep an eye out for health packs after performing it.
Spy - Ugh. The Spy. Easily one of the more complex characters to play, as well as the most annoying for the enemy. I haven't played much of them yet, so I don't know a whole lot of tactics. Just know the Spy can right-click to go partially invisible for a short period of time. They can also, at any time, disguise themselves as a character of the enemy.
Whether disguised or cloaked, they can knife any character in the back for an instant kill. You'll also have the satisfaction of knowing that the other player is screaming "FUCK!" in front of his computer at that very instant.
If a spy attacks at all, their cloak and/or disguise is broken and the enemy will see them in their true form - an enemy spy.
Things to look out for:
If you see one of your teammates acting kind of weird - like running away from the action towards your spawn or something. He may be a Spy. Don't be afraid to shoot!! Remember, there's no team damage in TF2, so just start laying rounds into them. If he truly is a teammate, no harm done. One thing to remember though is that if you do shoot, there really isn't an indicator if you're doing damage or not. So if you do just a couple test shots - it may not be enough to determine if they're actually a spy or not. Luckily Spies don't have much health, so they die quickly.
If you EVER see a spy character morphing into another class (it's a very unique animation) - it's an enemy spy. SHOOT HIM! You will never see a spy from your own team morphing. You always see your own spies as their true class. If your own teams' spy is in disguise, he'll still look like a spy to you, but he'll be wearing a cardboard cutout mask of whichever class he's pretending to be (hilarious).
If you're ever running along and your character gets stuck on something. Like maybe you hit an invisible wall or ran into some shitty game physics or something - well, it's a cloaked spy. Start jumping up and down and shooting wildly into the air. You will never see your own teams' spies cloaked. If your own teams' spy is cloaked, he'll just look kind of transparent to you, but still perfectly visible. A cloaked enemy spy kind of has a "predator" effect going on, so they're not totally invisible. Very hard to spot though.
One of the Spys most important roles is to disable sentry guns. They're able to walk right up to them (while disguised) and plant an electronic sapper device which will destroy the gun. If the enemy has setup a nasty sentry gun in a choke point that your team can't get by, it's the job of the Spy to take it out.
And if you're going to quote me, for the love of god don't quote the whole thing. =P Here you go:
First and foremost - read this article. Gives all the basics.
Demoman - There's not a whole lot special about him, but for some reason I find myself playing this class a lot. If I'm staring at the character screen wondering what I should play this round - I'm often drawn to the Demoman. He's quite versatile really, and he's the only class with grenades. Great at defense with his sticky bombs, and his nade launcher works well in all occasions. His biggest weakness is the low ammo and really slow reload times. If he's caught off-guard with low ammo, he can be in real trouble - as he really doesn't have a backup weapon. He can dish out the spam, but not for very long. If you find yourself shooting one nade, reloading one nade, shooting one nade, reloading....etc... It's best just to back off and get fully reload all 4. Be ready to pull out that jug of whisky at any time though. In general, melee weapons in this game work really well, unlike most mp games. I also read that he can use his sticky bombs to launch himself while jumping - like a rocket jump. Never tried it though.
Switch to the secondary weapons to launch sticky bombs. You can only have ~6 out at any one time. Once the sticky bombs are planted, all you have to do is right-click at any time to detonate them - no matter which weapon you currently have equipped. So plant some stickies, switch back to nade launcher to continue fighting, and then once a guy runs over your stickies, right-click and BLAMO!
Engineer - Engineers make sentry guns, ammo/health dispensers, and teleporters. To make these things he needs "metal", which you basically just acquire from anything that also gives you ammo. You start out with enough metal to make one item, after which you need to collect more. To build something, hit '4' to bring up the build menu. Then hit the corresponding number of what you want to build. A little icon will appear on the ground showing where you want to place it. Once you start building something, you can beat it with your melee weapon (wrench) to make it go faster. This is also how you upgrade your sentry guns - given that you have enough "metal" in your inventory. Beating with the wrench also repairs your items if they take damage. A good strategy is to go to a high traffic choke point or whatever and drop a Dispenser first, as it will give you a steady supply of "metal". Then drop your Sentry next to the Dispenser. That way the Dispenser will automatically heal it if the sentry gets hit. If you can, try and put the Sentry in front of the Dispenser to shield it. Works really well. Once that is done, go make your Teleporters!
There's two kinds of teleporters to build - an "in" and a "out". First build the "in" near where your team spawns. Next go near the frontlines of the battle - preferably somewhere hidden - and build the "out". Then your team can teleport quickly to the most contested areas of the map after respawning.
If you ever see an enemy teleporter laying on the ground - kill it!! They look like swirling discs on the ground of the appropriate teams color.
Heavy - This class is for supreme damage and suppressive fire. They have the most health of any class, and move in two speeds - slow and really slow. The move slow while just running around, and they move really slow any time the barrel of your minigun is spinning. Like most miniguns in games, they don't start shooting the instant you hit the button. It takes about a second for the barrel to spin up - and then the bullets start flying. If you right-click, it pre-spins the barrel for you, but doesn't shoot. This way you're ready to fire but not wasting ammo. But again, you'll be moving very slow. Always pre-spin the barrel if you're expecting enemies.
Does a good deal of damage even at range. It's a very tough class, and generally if you see one coming you run the other way. Be sure to notice his face while he shoots. The longer he fires his minigun, the bigger his grin gets. Until finally he starts bellowing out this maniacal laughter as he spews his lead wall of death. It's hilarious.
Medic - After a day of playing, I'm pretty convinced that the Medic is one of the most important classes on the field. His primary weapon is a syringe launcher which is so-so. It's kind of weak, and the "bullets" have an arc to them. So it's also somewhat awkward to aim. It's better than nothing though I guess. His secondary weapon is what the Medic is all about though. It's a 'heal gun' that shoots a stream of health at any friendly player you aim it at. Hold down the button to keep the stream going - even if the player is at full health. The stream has a fairly decent range. I don't know, maybe 20 feet. It also bends a bit around corners. So if you can, stay out of line of sight of the bad guys while keeping the stream on your buddy. If there are bad guys in the immediate area, try to hide behind your meat shield. But keep healing him! If he's any good, he'll protect you.
You'll notice the Medic has a gauge called "uber heal". As long as you're healing a friendly character, this gauge will slowly fill up. After about a minute or so of constant streaming, it will be full. If it's full, at any time you can right-click to initiate a 10 second invulnerabilty for both you and the person you're healing. This whole game mechanic is genius, and often a necessity - especially when the enemy has built up a strong defense. Pop this uber heal at just the right time, and let your damage dealing buddy destroy as much as he can in those 10 seconds. Sentrys, snipers, anything... kill it all. Hopefully the rest of your team will follow on that momentum.
If you die, your uber heal gauge is reset.
Always pair up with a class that does some serious damage. Preferrably a Heavy. But Soldiers, Demos and Pyros work too. Don't worry about the other guys, and only heal them if they're asking for it.
Pyro - My favorite class!! Pyro is a unique class, and kind of hard to use. Their main weapon is the flame thrower. But the problem is the range is really short. Probably even shorter than you would think. It could almost be considered a slightly extended melee attack. But the biggest advantage is that it's a constant stream of damage that you don't have to reload. So if you get the drop on multiple bad guys, you can just run in and start doing an insane amount of damage. Just be sure to keep moving - stay right on top of the bad guys. It'll make you harder to hit, and will also allow your flame thrower to connect. But heres the trick - the flame thrower doesn't really kill them outright. It sets them on fire which then continues to tick off their health. What I'm not sure of is that once an enemy is set ablaze, does continuing to flame him actually do more damage?? It's something I need to test out. It may keep resetting the 'tick timer' if you keep the flame on him, but I'm not sure if it continues to do any more direct damage. I've chased plenty of bad guys down while keeping the flame directly on them for 3 or 4 seconds - and even though they're on fire, they don't seem to die very fast.
So the Pyro is all about fast movement and hit and run tactics. Get the drop on a few bad guys, flame the living shit out of them, and then run away. Or, get the drop on a guy, flame him, and then immediately fast-switch to shotgun and finish him off. If at any time someone starts running away from you (and they will), always switch to shotgun. Don't continue to chase them with the flame thrower if it's not connecting. The bad guy will just kite you along until you're dead.
The Pyro has slightly faster movement speed than most classes, but still don't allow yourself to be kited.
Scout - A pretty fun role to play. They move almost twice as fast as any other class. They're mainly all about capping control points or flag running. Their main weapon is a sawed off shotgun which does pretty good damage close up. If you find yourself in close with a bad guy, circle strafe them and keep shooting. You're a very hard target to hit. They also have a baseball bat which is awesome for knocking someone in the back of the head.
It's a pretty straight forward class. Very fast. They cap control points twice as fast as anybody else. And... very fast.
Oh! They also have a double-jump which further allows you to navigate the map with blinding speed. Just hit the jump button while in midair to double-jump. Furthermore, you can change directions while while double-jumping. It's pretty much hax.
I've seen some really good Scout players already in this game, and they can be lethal and annoying.
A scouts biggest nemesis is probably the Engineers sentry gun. A scout can pretty much outrun any other class, as well as most their bullets. But rounding a corner into the sights of a sentry gun is lethal. The Scout doesn't really have anything to deal with sentry guns either.
Sniper - Pretty straight forward. You have a gun with a scope, and you can zoom in and kill people with it. I really thought I would like the Sniper more, but I find him kind of boring. Most maps are set up with Sniper spots in mind.... but those spots are always kind of passive and not much fun. I guess I just prefer to charge headfirst into the action (Pyro!!!!). Also note that due to the fast-paced nature of this game, and the characters, sniping is actually pretty hard.
When you're zoomed in, you'll notice a little charge meter in your sights. The more this is charged, the more damage your shot will do. This is to encourage you to be zoomed in. And it doesn't take long to fully charge.. just a few seconds. But be aware that at full charge, your scope sights will now display a visible laser point to where you're aiming. This doesn't really give away your position, but it will make it obvious to anyone you're trying to ambush that theres a sniper pointing right there. And the laser color corresponds to which team you're on - red or blue. So if you're on the red team and you see a blue laser dot near you - look out.
Soldier - The staple class of the battlefield. His main weapon is a rocket launcher. He has a lot of health, but moves a little on the slow side. When firing the rocket launcher at a close ranged target, but sure to aim at the enemies feet to take advantage of the splash damage. If you aim directly at the target and miss (which you probably will with slow moving rockets), they will then fly harmlessly off into the background.
I find the soldier has the common problem of shooting a lot faster than he can reload. So be careful to not run out of rockets in the middle of a fight. Again, if you find yourself shooting one rocket, loading one rocket, shooting one rocket.... either back off to recoupe and fully reload, or switch to the shotgun and finish the guy off. The shotgun itself is a worthy weapon at close range, so don't hesitate to pull it out.
If you're not firing your rocket launcher, you need to be reloading the damn thing! Don't ever be walking around with anything less than 4 rockets. "R", "R", "R"..... keep hitting it. Same goes for the Demoman.
The Soldier can also rocket jump. To do this, quickly aim at the ground - and then shoot a rocket at your own feet and jump at the same time. The splash damage will propel you into the air, allowing you to jump to high ledges, etc... Most maps have special spots with rocket jumps in mind, allowing the Soldier to flank enemy defenses and stuff. But keep in mind you'll lose about 20% health doing this move. Always keep an eye out for health packs after performing it.
Spy - Ugh. The Spy. Easily one of the more complex characters to play, as well as the most annoying for the enemy. I haven't played much of them yet, so I don't know a whole lot of tactics. Just know the Spy can right-click to go partially invisible for a short period of time. They can also, at any time, disguise themselves as a character of the enemy.
Whether disguised or cloaked, they can knife any character in the back for an instant kill. You'll also have the satisfaction of knowing that the other player is screaming "FUCK!" in front of his computer at that very instant.
If a spy attacks at all, their cloak and/or disguise is broken and the enemy will see them in their true form - an enemy spy.
Things to look out for:
If you see one of your teammates acting kind of weird - like running away from the action towards your spawn or something. He may be a Spy. Don't be afraid to shoot!! Remember, there's no team damage in TF2, so just start laying rounds into them. If he truly is a teammate, no harm done. One thing to remember though is that if you do shoot, there really isn't an indicator if you're doing damage or not. So if you do just a couple test shots - it may not be enough to determine if they're actually a spy or not. Luckily Spies don't have much health, so they die quickly.
If you EVER see a spy character morphing into another class (it's a very unique animation) - it's an enemy spy. SHOOT HIM! You will never see a spy from your own team morphing. You always see your own spies as their true class. If your own teams' spy is in disguise, he'll still look like a spy to you, but he'll be wearing a cardboard cutout mask of whichever class he's pretending to be (hilarious).
If you're ever running along and your character gets stuck on something. Like maybe you hit an invisible wall or ran into some shitty game physics or something - well, it's a cloaked spy. Start jumping up and down and shooting wildly into the air. You will never see your own teams' spies cloaked. If your own teams' spy is cloaked, he'll just look kind of transparent to you, but still perfectly visible. A cloaked enemy spy kind of has a "predator" effect going on, so they're not totally invisible. Very hard to spot though.
One of the Spys most important roles is to disable sentry guns. They're able to walk right up to them (while disguised) and plant an electronic sapper device which will destroy the gun. If the enemy has setup a nasty sentry gun in a choke point that your team can't get by, it's the job of the Spy to take it out.
MrMetal_53
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
- Messages
- 1,197
Thanks for the guide! I'm still on the fence about whether or not to pre-order it now to get into the beta, but I am leaning towards just going for it.
qft! great for tf n00bs