An easy way for Valve to crank out new maps

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Repurpose old ones! Sounds obvious, but this has been a mainstay of Team Fortress from the beginning. I’ve already mentioned that 3 popular (and one rarely-played) TF2 maps were originally maps in Team Fortress Classic, ported over due to their popularity. TF2 itself is quite fond of self-plagiarism, with there being no less than three versions of Gorge (four if you count Itemtest), Badlands, and many many maps with two different versions. These reskins come for a number of reasons. Sometimes Valve wants to showcase a new game mode and so they release some brand new maps along with a… [Continue Reading]

Cosmetic Items, and why I love them

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If there is anything Team Fortress 2 is known for, aside from it’s wacky cartoony graphics and colorful cast of characters, it’s Hats. The amount of cosmetic items in this game is somewhat ridiculous: It’s easily in the hundreds, maybe soon approaching thousands, which is why hats are a common subject of jokes when it comes to TF2. And a lot of people have gotten sick of hats as of late: It seems every even slightly major update includes dozens of hats, but only like 3 new weapons and maybe 1 or 2 new maps. Where do I stand in… [Continue Reading]

Medic’s first ever official non-sub 4v4 match

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Actually, technically it’s my second, but the other team forfeited in the first week. So Friday the 6th of February was the date. My first ever match. Part of me was nervous. Everyone said I’d be fine. I was fine. Perfectly fine. The map was koth_stallone. It’s a map set outside a hotel complex near a beach, where the mercenaries fight over a cafe area. Both teams start in the kitchens and work their way out to the sheltered, roofed control point. There are tables and chairs and umbrellas all over the place. And a swimming pool! Unfortunately, reflective textures… [Continue Reading]

Syringes

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You remember all those times where I would whine and bitch and moan that I have really awful aim? Remember how I said that I am legitimately bad at TF2 and video games in general? Would you forgive me if I said I may have been lying slightly? Of course you would, you love me. There ARE things I am good at in TF2, but the issue I have is that most of the things I am good at aren’t particularly useful in normal gameplay. The main thing? Syringe gun aim. In the last few weeks, I have had some AMAZING… [Continue Reading]

Prof. NiceHeart’s Guide to SMG Sniper

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Prof. NiceHeart was a short-lived SPUFer who got himself banned when someone realized he was an alt of Dr. EvilBrain, a prominent user who got himself banned for creating the shortest-lived itsurblog in history following the messy closure of the original. NiceHeart’s other claim to fame was being SPUF’s resident SMG-maining Sniper, and recently he set some time aside to advise others on how to improve at this oft-maligned subclass. One final note: At the time this interview was done, the Cleaner’s Carbine had these stats.  Welcome! Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m Professor NiceHeart and I main Sniper for pubstomping,… [Continue Reading]

How to make the Jumper weapons not useless

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The Rocket Jumper and the Sticky Jumper. Two weapons originally meant for training, twisted and re-purposed into something terrifying. No sane person uses these weapons seriously, unless they just want to gimp themselves. Fewer people still actually use these for any sort of training or practice, since it’s generally better to train with a real explosive weapon. There’s even better options available for Soldier, in the form of the Gunboats. Actually, to be fair, most of the hatred ends up going towards the Rocket Jumper, since, with the Sticky Jumper, you still have a perfectly usable grenade launcher to kill… [Continue Reading]

Design a weapon for TF2! (part two!)

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I asked this question before, but there were only three staff members then. No reusing weapon concepts, you three! ———————————— John Caveson: A modified 1903 Springfield rifle for Soldier that’s a replacement for the shotty and basically a sniper rifle that can only no-scope. It would probably do around a 40-50 damage pershot. It will give Soldier better long-range capabilities while sacrificing the meatshoting and spread capabilities of the shotgun for close range protection. aabicus: You know what I’ve always wanted to see? A Medigun that kept the invulnerability Uber and tampered with the other stats instead. Just because the Kritzkrieg… [Continue Reading]

Why Smissmas 2014 was disappointing(to me)

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I think End of the Line unified the Team Fortress 2 community somewhat: It is almost universally accepted as one of the worst updates in TF2 history. But to me, personally, 2014 brought another, much more disappointing update. And no, it’s not Scream Fortress: It’s actually Smissmas. Why? Well, let’s put it this way: I had exactly zero expectations for End of the Line. Following the statements form McVee saying we’d be lucky if we got 3 weapons, and that they were testing one(which was released during Love & War), and remembering how Robotic Boogaloo went, I thought End of… [Continue Reading]

2 Kill 2 Mockingbirds

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Harper Lee is publishing a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird! You know, that book you read in high school along with stuff from Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and a bunch of other dead writers? The fact that the author is still alive is as much a surprise as the announcement that she’s publishing her second book ever. Go Set a Watchmen has something of a legacy to live up to, what with its prequel winning every literary prize known to mankind, and earning its author numerous honorary degrees, the National Medal of Arts and a Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to… [Continue Reading]

Characters and Conga

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Not long ago, I created a thread on SPUF. Normally, my threads are a bit of fun, and this thread was no exception. All I did was tell everyone to leave their main loadout in the thread, and I’d make a giant conga picture out of it. This article sets out to reveal that giant picture (although since I used it as the featured image, that’s kinda moot, but here you see it in all its glory). But before I do that, I want to have a little talk. Being the editor of a blog means I can do that… [Continue Reading]