Dem Choppas
This article is a shoutout to my favorite TF2 Mod; dem choppas. Who wants a plinky submachinegun when they can have the most famous assault rifle in world history?
There are all sorts of reasons to use dem choppas.
Reason 1: They’re dem choppas. There’s no other real reason. I mean, they’re choppas. I’ve wanted to write an article about dem choppas for a while now but I couldn’t think of anything meaningful to say. But now, we’re like three days behind on articles and I need something to write for yesterday but I don’t want to publish a real article since it’s just filling a void so I wrote this article on choppas.
Reason 2: Only real fans of the original SMG get one. Because they shelled out for Australium SMGs. You KNOW they love their SMG if they’re dropping 30 bucks on a reskin. I wanted one myself cause it’s a golden machine gun which is awesome in its own special way, but I waited like over a year for the price to drop and it never did and then I spent my money on Tomb Raider 2013 instead and ultimately I think it was a better purchase. I don’t even play Sniper anyway, I just like seeing dem choppas used by teammates or enemies.
The AK-47 has a long and rich history of being in video games. Oftentimes its role is the high-damage low-accuracy rifle that often suffers from poor handling and firing speed, which doesn’t fit the TF2 SMG at all but I guess it’s the closest thing we’ve got. I adore the AK-47 in Left 4 Dead 2 because it’s practically a hybrid shotgun/rifle so I guess that’s why I hold a soft spot for this gun in all my games. Is this enough for a full-length article yet?
No? So let’s go into how I installed this thing. It’s actually the only mod I have in my entire TF2 so I don’t know hide nor hair on installing things, but luckily somebody had me covered. I downloaded this thing, found the file, and like, it somehow just worked it out for me. Wish I could go into more detail but I’m an English major.
This mod has a timeline almost as long and rich as TF2 itself. Originally created by DanielAwesomo back in 2010, he even gave it a backstory: “The story is….. The sniper stole the heavy’s new supply of weapons from Mann .co. Yeah I’m original…… There isn’t really a story to it. Just a skin.” Easily as good as some Valve item descriptions. This AK-47 had custom models and custom animations, but since Valve blocked custom animations during the Pyromania update the original stopped working. The one I linked to at the top uses default animations and was fixed by Bl8demast3r, bless his heart. He even transferred over the two styles; you can have your choppa with either steel or Bakelite (wooden) magazine, and can set spent shells to come flying out of the weapon if you like.
The best part is that somehow the AK-47 skin’s proportions fit the TF2 atmosphere. It doesn’t look out of place among the other weapons, probably because the designers used strong contrasting brown-and-gray colors with only the necessary pieces visible. It’s stylized, like the rest of the universe.
Relive TFC by equipping your Sniper with a real assault rifle!