aabicus – Page 56 – The Daily SPUF

Some Under-loved Weapons Which Shine on rd_asteroid

July 14, 2014June 1, 2017 aabicus 0 Comments demoman, game mode, loadout, maps, medic, moonbase, pyro, scout, sniper, weapon

When I first played rd_asteroid, my eventual thoughts were…meh. It’s decent, but before I really understood the map and the game mode it was confusing to the point of frustration. And once I’d played it long enough that it was no longer confusing, its many flaws just seemed to hamper my ability to enjoy myself. A whole lot of classes seem underpowered on this map and several design choices (especially the plethora of overly-good sentry spots) only make it worse. But the more I played, the more I slowly realized that a number of my problems were due to my… [Continue Reading]

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What Use Are Friendly Disguises?

July 13, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments 6v6, analysis, Highlander, spy, strategy

That above question has bugged me for years. Why would you disguise as something that does nothing but inspire the enemy to shoot you? I knew there must be a reason to it, else Valve wouldn’t have added it, but serious thought only produced “trigger Dead Ringer while looking like something else, so they don’t keep spychecking after that.” Which is a decent use (and clearly intended by Valve, as the fallen corpse will remain that of a non-spy enemy) but were there any more? Turns out that, after speaking to some spy friends of mine, the answer is yes.… [Continue Reading]

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TF2 Mods: The Next Generation

July 7, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments game mode, interview

InstantMuffin recently made a buzz over on SPUF by finding evidence that an upcoming TF2 game mode may be called “Robot Destruction”. He’s also a prolific modder whose most recent claim to fame is Prop Hunt: The Next Generation, a remake of one of the most popular TF2 mods out there. Today, he took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his past work, his current happenings, and what the future may bring. 1. How did you first get into modding? I basically started writing SourceMod plugins around 2010. I usually develop desktop applications. I… [Continue Reading]

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Life is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff

July 4, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments cosmetics, economy, loadout, mourning, trading

I’ve gotten some pretty funny comments about my Loadout cosmetics (or lack thereof) since my Loadout article went live. Some were wondering how I could justify spending $55 on in-game cosmetics, since unlike in TF2 I couldn’t possibly have prior backpack wealth to rely on. Am I one of those rich senator’s sons who can frivolously drop wads of cash like spy does in his newest taunt? Well, actually I sold almost my entire TF2 backpack to afford that birthday suit in Loadout, and I’m still selling most of what remains. So now I get to be nude in two different… [Continue Reading]

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Loadout Uncovered

July 2, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments balance, comparison, loadout

Sometimes I get annoyed at how nobody in TF2 is a blanket generalist who has something to do in any situation. Sometimes I don’t want to rely on my teammates for crap, I just want to go be a versatile tanky health-regenerating speedster who laughs at the term “competitive weakness”. Once upon a time, I would then go play Team Fortress Classic and their combat Medic. Nowadays, I’m finding that Loadout has been scratching that itch for me instead. Loadout has done a great job of carving its own little niche out of the cartoony multiplayer FPS genre. (That really… [Continue Reading]

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How to Fail Official Valve Spy Training

June 29, 2014 aabicus 2 Comments Filler, fun, glitches, melee, recap, spy

Have you tried out TF2’s training mode? It was added back in June 2010 as a way to familiarize new players with the Soldier, Demoman, Spy, and Engineer. Even if you vaguely remember doing them back in your TF2 career, you should check them out again, because at some point in history my progress was reset. And good thing too, because I quickly learned that I needed spy training. He’s by far my worst class, I can usually average .05 kills per life after hours of playing him. I tried to sap a stickybomb once. Even lone buildings are a threat. … [Continue Reading]

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Meet the Director

June 27, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments fun, interview, SFM

With the recent 15-minute TF2 short finally released, Source Filmmaker has been on the forefront of many SPUFers’ minds. SPUF’s preeminent videomaker, Nethero has been a longtime mainstay in the SFM community. He has a popular Youtube channel showcasing his high-quality Source Filmmaker videos, and as we learned in this interview, he’s got a lot more happening in his life than that. 1. How did you first get into video game film-making? Not gonna lie, it was when I saw Practical Problems by James McVee. That video made animating looks so easy, simply for the fact that it looked just like a… [Continue Reading]

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For Those New to SPUF (NSFW)

June 25, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments advice, Filler, guide, history, SPUF

Like all bodies of humanity, SPUF has developed its quirks, in-jokes, and commonly-referenced events. New users on SPUF might not recognize these, so this quick guide is designed to give them a stepping stone to understanding the insanity a little better. lodsofemone – Referencing some British comedian, stands for “loads of money”. Usually pointed at Valve either after they’ve made a particularly unsubtle money grab, or the hypothetical situation would result in such. “Soldier Update Confirmed” – Poking fun at Valve’s tendency to give soldier way more weapons than anyone else, even on updates named after other classes, anytime the… [Continue Reading]

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Theories on TF2’s Crazier bits

June 23, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments SPUF, theory

Respawn. That (and the fact that you can have up to 32 of the same merc on the field at once) is the major question that gets most debated by those nutters who care about canon and storyline and those sorts of ridiculous things. You know the type. They’re all over SPUF. “Why is the RED Scout talking about saving Smissmas in the new comic when it was BLU Scout who killed Nicholas Crowder in A Smissmas Tale?” they may ask. Or “Why does the Engineer Update state that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John ‘Tower of Hats’ Booth when the WAR!… [Continue Reading]

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My Favorite TFC Glitches

June 21, 2014 aabicus 0 Comments Filler, glitches, history, scout, spy, TFC

Recently I talked about the infinite hand grenade exploit in Team Fortress Classic. Well I thought I could take some time to go over some other awesome bugs that you can toy around with. Some are useful, some are fun, and some are simply bizarre. And no, bunnyhopping is not eligible for this list. Not opening that can of worms. 1) Caltrop-jumping. Thanks to the physics engine, you can jump with a significant supply of caltrops in the same place, as this video shows: This particular mobility tool is unusable any more, due to changes in the programming nature of the… [Continue Reading]