Why all Melee Unlocks should be Balanced like the Demoman’s

SPUF enjoys arguing about TF2’s balance. A lot. One of the most common issues to sprout up involves TF2 melee weapons. It’s no secret the vast majority of stock melees are underpowered, except those with utility like knife and wrench. If their only job is to deal damage, then they’re gonna suck because every class has a plethora of primary or secondary weapons that deal more damage at longer ranges more effectively. So when most competetive TF2 players agree that the bottle is the best Demoman melee weapon, this may seem unusual. How can it really be the best choice… [Continue Reading]

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My favorite TF2 unused content

As the devs of a seven year-old game, the Team Fortress 2 team has had a long time to come up with ideas for our beloved shooter. Obviously not all of them can make the final cut, but a good amount of them have been added in unfinished and relatively inaccessible states. Luckily the community has its ways of discovering this unused content, and here are some I feel a slight pang when I think of because they probably will never see the light of day. 1. “That Dispenser is a Spy!” Valve is routinely adding new addconds to TF2.… [Continue Reading]

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Playing the Team Fortress Classic Medic

In general, you can take what you’ve learned from playing Team Fortress 2 and translate it to Team Fortress Classic. They are the same 9 classes after all, and they have mostly the same loadouts, just with more shotguns. Some things will throw you for curveballs (I wrote a pretty extensive guide here) but in general you can guess what each class is about. Except one. TF2 will not prepare you in any way to start playing the TFC Combat Medic. Especially if you’ve played the TF2 Medic. Playing the combat medic like this will instantly label you as a… [Continue Reading]

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Fortress Forever has been greenlit!

The Team Fortress 2 that preceded Team Fortress 2 is finally available on Steam via Greenlight! Fortress Forever is one of the largest fan-made Team Fortress games out there, designed to appeal both to fans of Team Fortress Classic and Team Fortress 2. It’s fast-paced, frantic shooting and (best of all in my opinon) everybody talks like they’re a pirate! Definitely go give it a shot!

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SPUF Goes to Hawaii

Recently I learned, to my astonishment, that the other people on SPUF actually consist of more than usernames and bodiless personalities. On October 7th my newlywed wife and I departed on a honeymoon cruise to Hawaii, and on the 16th visited the district of Kona. There, I met up with SPUF’s spy master and Stormy Storm Team Captain-rocker Captain Blades! The Captain gave us a private tour of the island, which was awesome because we hadn’t the forethought to sign up for any of the guided tours. We couldn’t visit any of the national parks because the American Government was… [Continue Reading]

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Surviving Scream Fortress 2013 as a Demoman

Tired of dying to mini-sentries on Helltower? Tired of not getting an epic spell from the Witching Hour because you didn’t survive the run up the incredibly-lethal disappearing bridge? Tired of finding yourself with absolutely no options while pyros, skeletons, and monoculi bear down on you? Well, too bad. It’s all gonna keep happening. But you can have it happen to you significantly less by switching to Demoman!

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Some things to do as a Ghost

One of the major downsides to real life is that once you die, there’s not much to do. Luckily TF2 doesn’t have this problem, at least if you’re playing Helltower and are currently in Hell. Here are three fun things to occupy the time while you wait for the next round to start. 1. Keep enemy snipers company The optimal strategy as a sniper in Hell is to stand at spawn and shoot people heading for Skull Island. It must get lonely, being so far away from the action, so go over and say hi! Make sure to get a… [Continue Reading]

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The Crusader’s Crossbow is now the least viable Medic primary

After a mere 48 hours of giving us the perfect Crusader’s Crossbow, Valve followed up by nerfing it’s damage by 33%. As someone who has spent hundreds of hours perfecting my skill with this weapon, and considers it my favorite weapon in TF2, let me say that the weapon is now useless. Let me rehash the same reasons I enjoyed the previous crossbow and show how none of them apply any more.

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Five Things I Miss From Team Fortress Classic

I loved Team Fortress Classic. While I won’t argue it was more balanced than TF2, or even better then TF2, since I consider the two so different as to be incomparable, I loved it for what it was. It was Team Fortress boiled down to its core: Two teams of dudes shooting each other and working together to fill their teammate’s inherent weaknesses. No cartoony graphics, no multinational band of misfits, just nails and bullets and grenades. And there are some things I really miss from it, things that make me turn the game on and play on bot-choked 2fort/dustbowl… [Continue Reading]

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