What Use Are Friendly Disguises?

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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How to Fail Official Valve Spy Training

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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My Favorite TFC Glitches

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]

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TF2 vs. TFC: Who would win?

A long time ago I made a thread just for funsies, Who would win in a fight; the TF2 team or the TFC (Team Fortress Classic) team? After fifteen pages and several necros, the consensus appears to be: probably TFC, but both teams have a lot of pros and cons on their side of the table. So, without further ado, I’m going to look at each of the nine classes from TFC and TF2 and compare which outclasses his counterpart. There are obviously a myriad of other factors like grenades, random crits, unlocks, and bunnyhopping that would have to be… [Continue Reading]

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The Classic Spy

He’s last in every class lineup, so it’s only fair to save the Team Fortress Classic spy for my final class breakdown article. The Classic Spy has a huge arsenal of toys and tricks available to him. Interestingly, he fills almost the same role as our spy but the tools at his disposal are almost completely different. The first thing you’ll notice is some serious firepower that our spy could only dream of. Super shotgun, hand grenades, nailgun…when push comes to shove I’ve seen a cornered spy simply shoot his way out of pretty hairy situations. 1) You can throw… [Continue Reading]

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Spy Melees and You!

This message will self destruct in 3… 2… 1…  Nah, just kidding. Instead, I’m here to discuss the various shivs you can drive between the shoulder blades of your hapless foes as TF2’s conniving, dashingly handsome rogue, The Spy. Sorry to step on the toes of Chevap666, but I haven’t seen one of these in a while, and figured “hey, there isn’t one for The Spy yet!”   The Butterfly Knife (And it’s Reskins: The Saxxy, The Black Rose, and the Sharp Dresser): The most magnanimous and recognizable of the Spy’s melees is also his default, and is a wonderfully serviceable weapon.… [Continue Reading]

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Evolution of the Spy

Let’s face it; TF2 is very old in video game terms, especially for a multiplayer FPS. It’s been going strong for almost seven years now, even though in the last two years Valve has been winding down on updates and general attention-giving to it in favor of DOTA 2, their new moneymaker, as well as their own console and probably some super-secret projects with their names written in indecipherable coding which just translates to “HL3”. In these seven years, TF2 has gained a fanbase and with that, people have learned things about the game and its classes, and how to… [Continue Reading]

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Second. Worst. Spy. Ever.

Unlike most people who write articles here, I’m very much a one trick pony. I play Medic well, I play Soldier at a mediocre level and that’s pretty much it. Occasionally, I’ll grab a flamethrower or maybe a gunslinger if I’m feeling depressed. So when I’m forced to play a non-Medic, non-Soldier class, I flail like a lunatic. And after Sniper, who I have gone on about way too often, I flail most as Spy. But why? First off, a hint of honesty. I’m normally good at being stealthy and stuff. I sneak my way though Portal, avoiding turrets like… [Continue Reading]

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A Model Modeler

Chemical Alia has a long history with Team Fortress 2; one of the original winners of the Polycount Contest with her Saharan Spy set, she’s also well-known for her female TF2 models and Dota 2 item submissions. She took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to us! 1. How did you first get into 3D modeling? Have you considered modeling professionally? I come from a fine art background, and I didn’t learn to model until after I graduated from college.  After that, I went to grad school to learn how to model art for video games. I’ve… [Continue Reading]

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