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Team Fortress 2

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Team Fortress 2
File:Team Fortress 2 Group Photo.jpg
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Publisher(s)Worldwide Valve Corporation (Steam)
Designer(s)Robin Walker, John Cook
Composer(s)
EngineSource engine
Platform(s)PC, Xbox 360, PS3
ReleaseQ3 2007 (in conjunction with Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Portal)[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is the long-anticipated sequel to the original Team Fortress mod for Quake being developed by Valve Corporation. It is a multiplayer team-based first-person shooter with strategy elements. The game has been through various concepts and designs: in 1999 the game appeared to be deviating from the original Team Fortress by heading toward a more realistic and militaristic style of gameplay, and the design metamorphosed further over the game's seven-year development. The final rendition of Team Fortress 2 currently appears to bear more resemblance to the original Team Fortress design, and sports a distinctive, cartoonish visual style. The lack of information or apparent progress for six years of the game's supposed development caused it to be labelled as vaporware, and it was regularly featured in the top five of Wired News' annual vaporware list among other ignominies.

As of May 17, 2007, three trailers for Team Fortress 2 have been released and are widely available on various gaming-related websites and Steam.

Release

During the July 2006 Electronic Arts press conference, Valve revealed that Team Fortress 2 would ship as the multiplayer component of Half-Life 2: Episode Two. A conference trailer demonstrated the game's new graphical style featuring all of the original Team Fortress classes, points towards a more light-hearted and whimsical visual style as opposed to the dark, somewhat more traditional military simulation that had originally been shown. Gabe Newell, the managing director of Valve, has said their goal is to create "the best looking and best-playing class-based multiplayer game. As of yet there has been no release date given to the public."[2][3] A self-imposed tentative release date of September-ish has been mentioned by Valve however.[4]

Gameplay

File:Hwguy tf2.jpg
In-game action with the Heavy on the 2fort bridge

Just like its predecessor, Team Fortress 2 players will be able to choose to play as one of nine archetypal classes,[2] each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Some class abilities have changed from the original Team Fortress, however the basic elements of each class has remained; the heavy class has a slow walking speed but is heavily armored, the scout class moves quickly but is lightly armored, and so on. Only the capture the flag and control point matches game modes will be available at launch.[5] There are also several features to enhance gameplay:

  • a freeze-cam will show a player how they died,[6][7]
  • persistent stats tell you how you are improving[6]
  • ability to spectate a game[8]
  • there are critical hit shots chosen based on momentum (think scoreboard/stats not movement), which on rockets and grenades show as a visible white sparkle. It is important to note this means the shot is critical, not the hit, so you could miss your critical hit if you miss the shot.[9]
  • spawn rooms feature an equipment closet to restock ammo and items while standing in front of it (no bags as in previous versions)[10]
  • each class has different health amounts which determine their survivability (it is not simply a percentage)[10]
  • You can pickup enemy weapons, engineers also get building materials (may be like bags in older versions)[11]


Graphics

Team Fortress 2 will not opt for the realistic graphical approaches taken by the official Valve games Day of Defeat and Counter-Strike. Rather, it will use a more stylized, cartoon-like approach. The effect is achieved using a special Valve in-house rendering and lighting technique making extensive use of Phong shading.[12][7] The game will debut the Source engine's new dynamic lighting, shadowing and soft particle technologies, among many other unannounced features, alongside Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Classes

Nine playable classes have been confirmed[2], all returning from the original Team Fortress, with the possibility of new classes being introduced after the initial release.[13] Classes are grouped into 3 categories to help new players but can be played in any role; Offense, defense, and support.[6] One difference between Team Fortress 2 and the original is that each class is more unique, abilities have been added, changed and removed from each class to make each class a completely different playing experience.[6] The most prominent of these changes is the removal of conc jumping[14] and grenades (primary and secondary, with the exception of the demoman).[14]

[15]

Maps

The game will ship with 6 maps[5] with more being added as time goes on.[14][5] It is worth noting that 2Fort is the only Capture the Flag map initially available. There may be a multiplayer commentary system that would help you learn a map.[8] Maps will likely be 24 players on the PC and 16 on consoles.[4] Control Point Match maps will also feature a timer after which you enter sudden death, where no respawns are allowed to ensure the are no stalemates between 2 particular points.[16]

History

Origins

File:Tf2box.jpg
A box art design for the 'old' Team Fortress 2.

Originally planned as a free mod for Quake II, development on Team Fortress 2 switched to the GoldSrc/Half-Life engine in 1998 after the development team (Team Fortress Software, consisting of Robin Walker and John Cook) were first contracted and finally outright employed by Valve Corporation,[17] then merely Valve Software. At the point of Team Fortress Software's acquisition production moved up a notch and the game was promoted to a standalone, retail product;[17] to tide fans over (since, as well as time issues, much of TF's player base had purchased Half-Life solely in anticipation of TF2's free release), work began on a simple port of the game which was released in 1999 as the free Team Fortress Classic.[18] Notably, TFC was built entirely within the publicly available Half-Life SDK as an example to the community and industry of its flexibility.[19]

Walker and Cook had been heavily influenced by their three-month contractual stint at Valve, and now they were working full-time on their design, which was undergoing rapid metamorphosis. TF2 was to be a modern war game, with a command hierarchy including a commander with a bird's-eye view of the battlefield, parachute drops over enemy territory, networked voice communication and numerous other innovations that planted the game, quite literally, years ahead of its time.[20]

E3 1999

The new design was revealed to the public at the 1999 E3,[citation needed] where it earned several awards including Best Online Game and Best Action Game.[21] By this time TF2 had gained a new subtitle, Brotherhood of Arms, and the results of Walker and Cook working at Valve were becoming clear. Several new and at the time unprecedented technologies on show: Parametric animation seamlessly blended animations for smoother, more life-like movement,[22] and Intel's Multi-resolution mesh[22] technology dynamically reduced the detail of on-screen elements as they became more distant to improve performance[22] (a technique today known as Level of Detail). No date was given at the expo.

In mid-2000, Valve announced that development of TF2 had been delayed for a second time.[23] They put the news down to development switching to an in-house, proprietary engine that is today known as the Source engine. It was at around this time that all news ran dry and TF2 entered its notorious six-year radio silence, which was to last until July 13 2006 (see 'Release' section). During that time both Walker and Cook worked on various other Valve projects—Walker was project lead on Half-Life 2: Episode One and Cook became a Steam developer, among other tasks—raising doubts that Team Fortress 2 was really the active project that would be repeatedly described.

File:Tf2old soldier.jpg
A 1999 promotional screenshot, demonstrating TF2's then gritty and modern-day art.

The final design

The next significant public development occurred in the run up to Half-Life 2's 2004 release: Valve's Director of Marketing Doug Lombardi claimed both that TF2 was still in development and that information concerning it would come after HL2's release.[citation needed] This did not happen; nor was any news released in a timely manner after Lombardi's similar claim during an early interview regarding Half-Life 2: Episode One, then known as Half-Life 2: Aftermath.[citation needed] Near the time of Episode One's release Valve's Gabe Newell again claimed that news on Team Fortress 2 would be forthcoming[citation needed]—and this time it was. Team Fortress 2 was re-unveiled a month later at the July 2006 EA Summer Showcase event.[2]

Walker revealed in March 2007 that Valve had quietly built "probably three to four different games" before settling on their final design.[24] Due to the game's lengthy development cycle it is often mentioned alongside Duke Nukem Forever, another long-anticipated game that has seen many years of protracted development and engine changes.

The 'old' Team Fortress 2 is quite possibly the only game to have spawned a thriving sub-genre without ever being released itself.

Information leaks

When the Half-Life 2 source tree was leaked in late 2003 three TF2 models were included, along with direct references to the game in the stolen source code. They consisted of an alien, Combine-like grunt; and a very cartoony and out-of-proportion soldier. Many interpret the code as making references to the Seven Hour War, an integral part of the Half-Life story. However, the two leaked player models did not look combine or human, and TF2 was most likely going to have an "alien battleground" basis. Valve dismissed these ideas as "ungrounded" and "merely speculating".[citation needed]

While Valve were very successful in keeping the game under wraps during its protracted development, when the full Source SDK was released the Half-Life 2 source code it provided contained many references to the game.[25] Some merely confirmed what was already believed, but others provided completely new information, such as the presence of NPCs in multiplayer matches, the game taking place in the Half-Life 2 universe, fixed plasma gun and missile launcher emplacements, and more.

This information is now known to be outdated and is extremely unlikely to have any bearing on the final game.

See also

References

  1. ^ Smalley, Tim (2007-02-07). "HL2: Episode Two coming in the Autumn". Bit-tech. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  2. ^ a b c d Ocampo, Jason (2006-07-13). "The Return of Team Fortress 2 and Other Surprises". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
  3. ^ Bokitch, Chris (2006-07-14). "Valve Reveals New Details On Episode Two". Valve press release. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
  4. ^ a b Onyett, Charles (2007-04-10). "Team Fortress 2 Interview". ign.com. p. 2. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  5. ^ a b c Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-27). "The Team Fortress 2 Interview: The Evolution". gameinformer.com. p. 3. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  6. ^ a b c d Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-27). "The Team Fortress 2 Interview: The Evolution". gameinformer.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  7. ^ a b Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-28). "Team Fortress 2 Hands-On Preview". gameinformer.com. p. 3. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  8. ^ a b Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-27). "The Team Fortress 2 Interview: The Evolution". gameinformer.com. p. 4. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  9. ^ Onyett, Charles (2007-04-13). "Team Fortress 2 Hands-On". ign.com. p. 3. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  10. ^ a b Onyett, Charles (2007-04-13). "Team Fortress 2 Hands-On". ign.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ign 2007-04-13 p2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Roper, Chris (2006-07-14). "Team Fortress 2 Teaser Impressions". IGN.com. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
  13. ^ "1UP Show: Inside Valve Software". 1up.com. 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  14. ^ a b c Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-27). "The Team Fortress 2 Interview: The Evolution". gameinformer.com. p. 2. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  15. ^ Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-28). "Team Fortress 2 Hands-On Preview". gameinformer.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  16. ^ Onyett, Charles (2007-04-10). "Team Fortress 2 Interview". ign.com. p. 4. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  17. ^ a b Dunkin, Alan (1998-06-01). "Team Fortress Full Speed Ahead". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  18. ^ "Team Fortress Classic [overview]". Planet Half-Life. unknown date. Retrieved 2006-12-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "About Team Fortress Classic". PlanetFortress. unknown date. Retrieved 2006-12-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Dawson, Ed (2000-11-11). "Team Fortress 2 Q&A". GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  21. ^ "Past Winners". gamecriticsawards.com. unknown date. Retrieved 2006-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ a b c "TF2: Technology". PlanetFortress. unknown date. Retrieved 2007-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ Park, Andrew Seyoon (2000-06-21). "New Engine for Team Fortress 2". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
  24. ^ Berghammer, Billy (2007-03-26). "The History Of Team Fortress 2". Game Informer. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  25. ^ "TF2 snippets". Steam User Forums. 2005-10-08. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
Official
Team Fortress 2 official site (currently redirects to Half-Life 2: Episode Two's official website)
Valve Software
Community
PlanetFortress: The only remaining fansite for Team Fortress 2. Not maintained, but still available
TeamFortressTwo.com: An up and coming fansite for Team Fortress 2.
Media
Trailer 1 - Steam
Trailer 2 - Steam
Meet the Heavy - Steam

Template:Team Fortress series

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