Team Fortress 2...is alive! Ships with Ep2 also with Portals.

[SyntaxN]

http://www.shacknews.com/
Sounds weird, Nolf style in TF2 :o

TEAM FORTRESS 2. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? Hey, they're still making it! It's got a totally exaggerated, crazy art style now. Looks a little like Spy vs. Spy or No One Lives Forever, kind of a '60s spy feel. It's going to be the included multiplayer mode in Episode 2! Class-based, etc. You know the drill. Great news for shooter fans

First screenshot:

http://www.resourcecode.de/stuff/Team_Fortress_2_Group_Photo.jpg

[Daveman]

Maybe it'll be interesting-looking enough to make me play it for more than five minutes. I mean, the original could've been fun but it was just so ugly.

[Mongorian]

My problem with the original Team fortress is hardly anyone plays it right. I'm curious to see how this pans out; considering how much people wanted this game, such a radical change better pay off in a good way.

[Orochi Avlis]

Episode 2 will also include an experimental game called Portal which is a bit more puzzle oriented. Similar to the portal tech seen in Prey but of course a bit more advanced
Interesting.
HL 2 could benefit from this.

[Little Conqueror]

Finally.

Justification for a $20 price tag on episodic content.

[Mountain Man]

Finally.

Justification for a $20 price tag on episodic content.
You mean an outstanding single-player gaming experience isn't justification enough?

[avatar_58]

I read that too, it definately makes ep2 worth its price. Problem is - I didn't much care for TFC to begin with so unless they've come up with something better I won't be playing it much.

[sindex]

So when did they come up with this portal technology; thats the thing I want to know about. It does feel kind of like a cheap move doesn’t it (especially on valve’s part).

"Using a demo called "Portal," Newell showed off a special gun used to create portals similar to those used in Prey. A player could create a portal nearby, for instance, and then a second portal on the other side of a chasm; walking through the first would transport him safely out the second." -ign

[Petruchio]

from what I've heard, Valve picked up an independent team who've been working on a portal puzzle game:http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/.
now they're just putting the concept of the game on source and releasing it.

[avatar_58]

Awfully convenient it coming out after Prey's popularity don't you think? ;) I think whatever fun can be had with portals could be easily done via mods and levels in prey though.

However it says 'puzzle' game so I assume its not just some ripoff and might actually be fun.

[Daveman]

Weren't portals like that used in Unreal Tournament at one point? :confused:

Anyway, this will have no effect on me, I'm going to be getting Episode 2 because the setting looks awesome and new. I imagine Episode 1 will have dropped in price by then, but until then twenty bucks for a game with the same setting as the last eighth of HL2 isn't worth it for me.

[0marTheZealot]

sweetest news ever.

[Daveman]

Seems you'll be able to teleport objects as well as people with the portal gun. There should be lots of cool possibilities to combine the portal gun and the gravity gun. :)

[Denz]

Unfortunatly, their game with portals (aside TF2) don't apeal me.

http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/screenshots/

[Thriller]

Episode 2 will also include an experimental game called Portal which is a bit more puzzle oriented. Similar to the portal tech seen in Prey but of course a bit more advanced.Ehh.. how? :o

[Denz]

Bigger portals maybe... :censored:

[Talos]

Unfortunatly, their game with portals (aside TF2) don't apeal me.

http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/screenshots/

This is obviously not the game Valve was talking about - don't you think ;)

[Denz]

Yes i guessed this. :o

[SyntaxN]

There is a "portal gun" in Valve´s portal game, sounds like this portal weapon we saw in the Prey E3 1998 demo :rolleyes:

[Orochi Avlis]

Unfortunatly, their game with portals (aside TF2) don't apeal me.

http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/screenshots/
They said it was a little project. So I think we shouldn't expect a huge blockbuster game.

EDIT: I think that's another game.
Portal is suppose to take place in the HL universe.

Taken from Gamespy:
A new graphical enhancement called "soft particle systems" will also make a debut with HL2: Episode 2.
Cool.
Can't wait to see it in action.

[Mountain Man]

Crazy, man. According to the Gamespot.com article, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 will include Episode 2 (obviously), the single-player action/puzzle FPS known as Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Are they still planning on charging only $20 for this?

[ADM]

First Prey and now TF2? Haha. Nice. DNF here we come :D

[Orochi Avlis]

First Prey and now TF2? Haha. Nice. DNF here we come :D
Holy crap, there is a pattern.
You forgot Sin BTW.

2006 looks like the year of revival of past (and awesome) franchises.

[ADM]

Oops yeah totally forgot about Sin.

[Dogy]

2006 looks like the year of revival of past (and awesome) franchises.

Hmm....

Joe! What do you have to say on this? :D

[SyntaxN]

First Prey and now TF2? Haha. Nice. DNF here we come :D
DNF is the last game left on the (for the public) *not gonna happen* game list :dopefish:
@Portal, looks like Valve watched the old Prey demos from 1998 too much, they´ll also add a portal weapon to this game.

[Travis]

Portal gun, gravity gun, blah blah.
Everything has a gun now, doesn't it..

[Aegeri]

Episode 2 will also include an experimental game called Portal which is a bit more puzzle oriented. Similar to the portal tech seen in Prey but of course a bit more advanced

In America when valve steals idea it's 'making it more advanced', but in Soviet Russia when ID steals an idea [coughgravityguncough] it's being a rip off.

I see how this works now!

[Kristian Joensen]

This is the most unexpected news in a very long time. Maybe "Portal" is the top secret project ?

[Aegeri]

Maybe it'll be interesting-looking enough to make me play it for more than five minutes. I mean, the original could've been fun but it was just so ugly.
It had great gameplay though. The only problem was, that to see the best of TFC you needed to have two teams who all knew how to play and were good at the game. If you didn't, then it just wasn't playing the same game really because it was nowhere near as intense.

Hopefully Valve will have made the game somewhat more accessible. I do wonder how team fortress forever are feeling at the moment. Everyone had assumed that TF2 was pretty much vapourware.

[Duoae]

The portal gun does seem like a rip-off of Prey ideas and the tech demo of The Room... But then again i don't really mind as long as they don't go claiming they had it all along etc etc.... :)

[sindex]

In America when valve steals idea it's 'making it more advanced', but in Soviet Russia when ID steals an idea [coughgravityguncough] it's being a rip off.

I see how this works now!

In a way it could have been a different gun all together, especially for the idea that this will be the last chapter in Half Life series (after episode three of course); come on, a bit more originality here. They could have come up with a time manipulation gun or better yet temporal mind manipulation gun. They could have added a device to the gravity gun, giving you the ability to fly. It simply happens because they run out of ideas, I doubt it.

[Opus131]

In America when valve steals idea it's 'making it more advanced', but in Soviet Russia when ID steals an idea [coughgravityguncough] it's being a rip off.

I see how this works now!

Yes, and in America when Valve creates something [coughgravityguncough] it's a ''gimnick'' whereas in Soviet Russia everything done by ID is nothing short of GROUNDBRAKING...

[Tang Lung]

Meanwhile!

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/718/718522p1.html

EDIT: From what I can see from those screens, they seem to be ripping off the Peter Moloneux portal game, rather than Prey..though most likely both. Oh sorry, I meant 're-imagining'. Forgot it was Valve there for a second.

[Aegeri]

Yes, and in America when Valve creates something [coughgravityguncough] it's a ''gimnick'' whereas in Soviet Russua everything done by ID is nothing short of GROUNDBRAKING...
TOUCHEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Opus131]

TOUCHEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Explain to me why it's perfectly fine for others to 'borrow' but when Valve do it they suddenly become dishonest pricks.

[SyntaxN]

This is the most unexpected news in a very long time. Maybe "Portal" is the top secret project ?
It´s a game that´s different, and they announced that they want to do something like that.

[Opus131]

From what I can see from those screens

Screens? Where are they?

[Gatinater]

My problem with the original Team fortress is hardly anyone plays it right. I'm curious to see how this pans out; considering how much people wanted this game, such a radical change better pay off in a good way.

That's the way is with all team games other than team deathmatch. I liked playing as a medic so I could inject the opposition with AIDs and cancer or posion or whatever it was.

The Spy was cool. Just hide out as an enemy corpse in your own base and shank the bad guys when they come by.

[Little Conqueror]

You mean an outstanding single-player gaming experience isn't justification enough?

One that lasts three hours? No, quite frankly. It isn't.

[Opus131]

One that lasts three hours? No, quite frankly. It isn't.

Yet you'd pay 50$ for one that lasts 8 hours?

[Little Conqueror]

Yet you'd pay 50$ for one that lasts 8 hours?

So long as it has a fun and exciting multiplayer mode or any semblance of replay value.

[Orochi Avlis]

Explain to me why it's perfectly fine for others to 'borrow' but when Valve do it they suddenly become dishonest pricks.
I find that interesting too.

[Gatinater]

Or you could just wait a few months until it goes down to $20, irregardless.

[Opus131]

So long as it has a fun and exciting multiplayer mode or any semblance of replay value.

You mean as long as they shit can the same average DM mode to give the illution the game has some sort of replay value?

[Little Conqueror]

Better than adding nothing to the gameplay experience except a bunch of ridiculously easy "physics puzzles" and an advancement to the story that anybody saw coming.

Modability. Rewarding secret areas. Easter eggs. Alternate paths. Alternate ways of overcoming obstacles. Exploration. This is "replay value," not "three hours of shooting balls into sockets, pushing cars into antlion holes, and running back and forth in the same courtyard five times moving civilians."

All I'm saying is that TF2 has given me a reason to by Ep 2 instead of playing it at a friend's house.

[Opus131]

Better than adding nothing to the gameplay experience except a bunch of ridiculously easy "physics puzzles" and an advancement to the story that anybody saw coming.


Really? Do you honestly prefer insipid death match modes to what Valve brought to the table with Half Life 2?

Sucks to be you man...


Modability. Rewarding secret areas. Easter eggs. Alternate paths. Alternate ways of overcoming obstacles. Exploration. This is "replay value," not "three hours of shooting balls into sockets, pushing cars into antlion holes, and running back and forth in the same courtyard five times moving civilians."

How do you figure Half Life 2 was designed around it's inherent replay value?

Seemingly, nothing a company does to make their game interesting and fun to play in the first place will ever impress you unless it serves as a mean to extended replay value.

If that's your criteria for playing games, i don't understand why you even bother...

[ShadeEX]

TF2 with portals hmm ahh well prey wansn't the first to have portals..

Serious sam FE had portals.. altho you could not go back and forth like in prey

but you can still go 360 around the portal in SS:FE and se whats on the other side..

[Mongorian]

irregardless.

Not a word. Think about it. If it was a word, we wouldn't need the word regardless.

If DNF comes out this year, along with Prey, Sin, and Team Fortress 2, we would only have Stalker's beleaguered release to amuse ourselves with. :p

[Mountain Man]

In America when valve steals idea it's 'making it more advanced', but in Soviet Russia when ID steals an idea [coughgravityguncough] it's being a rip off.

I see how this works now!
Yeah, but how many companies have ripped off Valve's ideas over the years? :D

[Mountain Man]

One that lasts three hours? No, quite frankly. It isn't.
Well, some of us aren't obsessed with speed runs. ;)

[Gatinater]

Not a word. Think about it. If it was a word, we wouldn't need the word regardless. Actually it is a word in the American dictionary. It means the exact same thing as regardless.

You're right though it's a improperly formed word. It's an old literary expresive as far as I know. Ir can't really be used to benefit the word in anyway.

It's a habitual misuse.

[sindex]

I was perfectly fine with Valve before they made this hypocritical jump from originality to taking other peoples ideas. Yes I’m ticked off at the other developers that do this as well. When ID shot out the expansion ROE for Doom 3 I did not get it because of that gravity gun they added. Does anyone recall what happened when one Disaster film did well at the movies, they started to spawn others like “Armageddon” and “Volcano”? I just hope this does not happen with the FPS genre, because that’s what I have seen so far with this industry (grasping at straws for originality). My mistake it already has happened and will be leading to other non original content, from some of the top developers in the industry.

[Mountain Man]

Um, sindex, I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. Valve isn't marketing Portal as some exciting, new, original, blockbuster game, it's just a free novelty that they're throwing in with the purchase of Episode 2.

[sindex]

Um, sindex, I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. Valve isn't marketing Portal as some exciting, new, original, blockbuster game, it's just a free novelty that they're throwing in with the purchase of Episode 2.

You don't really believe they could have gone with something different then the portal gun (considering that Prey had just come out). I have a dead on feeling its being tacked onto Episode 2 as a whole new gameplay feature.

“Valve wasn't clear on just where the portal gun will be used, though it looks to be part of the arsenal in Episode Two -- and certainly a good candidate for multiplayer. We'll be back with more as soon as we get more details.” –IGN

Which means yet again; that another top of the line developers have gone to the dark side (the EA path). Maybe I’m exaggerating this way over proportion, but come on a portal gun. I stand on my statements unless Valve proves me wrong.

[Tang Lung]

The influences that Half Life brought to the world of FPS games were long, boring intro sequences and incredibly intrusive and dull forced storyline segments. Im only thankfull it didn't manage to popularise having main characters who are completely devoid of personality (hell, at least the quake and doom guy made sounds when they jumped).

EDIT: Actually, Half Life did popularise mods, so I have to give it that. Although most of those mods are world war 2/counter terrorism multiplayer mods that have been made by people with a gun fetish.

[0marTheZealot]

My only concern is that HL2 Ep2 is going to be consolified :( so that it can run on the 360 and PS3.

[0marTheZealot]

One that lasts three hours? No, quite frankly. It isn't.


The entire money vs time ratio argument. Here we go again.

First off, most FPS games today take 6-8 hours to beat, and those are full-price. Prey took under 6 hours for me and a large number of people. Q4 was around 9 hours. Long games are pretty much a thing of the past. Episode 1 took me 4 hours, but also only cost 20 bucks. Prey cost me 50. Strictly speaking, Ep1 was more bang for my buck.

Secondly, runtime in movies nor number of pages in a book have any revelance to value in those media. Why should length of a game matter so much to you. Do you go for the movie that's 3 hours long or 90 minute movie? The 600 page book or the 350? Of course you don't look at length, you judge the media by it's content.

[SyntaxN]

My only concern is that HL2 Ep2 is going to be consolified :( so that it can run on the 360 and PS3.
I don´t expect this from Valve, HL2 worked well on the XBox. Maybe the tech will be a little bit more nextgen, on the 360&PS3 they can ignore the fact that most of the users will never use the highest details setting.

[Little Conqueror]

The entire money vs time ratio argument...

I can get 30+ hours enjoyment from a game that has decent, unique multiplayer. Episode 1 contributed nothing to the original HL2 except advancing the story in a simple way. Had Episode 1 included extras, even additional multiplayer maps or Half-Life Tetris or SOMETHING, it would have been more worthwhile than a short, one-time playthrough of a bunch of repetitive levels. I like Half-Life 2 - I don't think it's the best game ever, nor is it even close, but Episode 1 was a waste of money for me. I got enjoyment out of it for the first five minutes - when Dog threw that van, I thought I was in for something awesome - and then it all went downhill.

Honestly, you people sound like rabid fanboys with the way you're criticizing me for not sucking up anything Valve releases with a straw and necessarily liking it. I've already said that with the addition of TF2, Episode 2 will be a worthwhile buy compared to Episode 1, which I found a very poor addition to the series.

And yes, "time is money" is the old saying. Games like Oblivion can take hundreds of hours of your time. Games that are moddable - like Half-Life 2 - create more replayability and more enjoyment.

I'm willing to bet that all of the "DM is boring" people have never played games on a private server with friends. I'm not a multiplayer junkie, but if it's there and it has something interesting - be it developer or user created - then it's worthwhile to me. Far more worthwhile than Episode 1's repeat after repeat of ridiculously easy puzzle after ridiculously easy puzzle.

[Denz]

TF2 with portals hmm ahh well prey wansn't the first to have portals..

Serious sam FE had portals.. altho you could not go back and forth like in prey

but you can still go 360 around the portal in SS:FE and se whats on the other side..


Shadow Warrior has portals. You can fire trough them. And you can go back and forth, not like prey, but it's like a teleporter. But still, it's Shadow Warrior, old game.

[SyntaxN]

http://www.resourcecode.de/stuff/Team_Fortress_2_Group_Photo.jpg

uhm...yeah whatever :o

[Orochi Avlis]

That's awesome.

Gives it a unique look.

[avatar_58]

Seemingly, nothing a company does to make their game interesting and fun to play in the first place will ever impress you unless it serves as a mean to extended replay value.

Thats rich coming from you oh elitist one. ;) Some of us do happen to prefer deathmatch to team games, and I don't understand why you are being defensive when someone states that they probably won't like TF2. It doesn't matter either way, its free isn't it?

I like that artwork, very nice. Reminds me of a Timesplitters type of style.

[XPM]

OMg teh r0x0rz! pwomg teh gamez gut gunz?!??!11 copycat!

Seriously thou...Kinda cool and portals would fit in the half life universe...actually id just find it natural...The G-man uses portals...Prey uses portals...why shouldnt gordon? :p

[avatar_58]

Actually portals is a puzzle game seperate from half-life.

[Paroxysm]

You don't really believe they could have gone with something different then the portal gun (considering that Prey had just come out). I have a dead on feeling its being tacked onto Episode 2 as a whole new gameplay feature.

Portal is small puzzle game being included in episode 2. It's an update of the game Narbacular Drop whos team valve hired a while ago. You can download it at their old website http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/

[Paroxysm]

Oh and side note the designs of TF2 are excellent. If only I liked online games... oh well. Beats the shit out of the realism trend.

[jimbob]

Oh and side note the designs of TF2 are excellent. If only I liked online games... oh well. Beats the shit out of the realism trend.
agreed, it comes with episode 2 anyway so i`m bound to give it a try :)

[0marTheZealot]

I don´t expect this from Valve, HL2 worked well on the XBox. Maybe the tech will be a little bit more nextgen, on the 360&PS3 they can ignore the fact that most of the users will never use the highest details setting.


I hope yer right!

[Gryph]

Holy shit that TF2 style artwork is awesome.

[Opus131]

and I don't understand why you are being defensive when someone states that they probably won't like TF2.

That's not it.

The argument raised by Little Conquerer was about episodic content and the lack of a multiplayer mode, which in his view justifies the price due the extended replay value. Thus, Episode II is now worth considering, while Episode I wasn't.

The argument it's a flawed one, of course. For one, death match (which is what you get for the most part) doesn't garatee any extension to the life of the game. The lives of many of those multiplayer modes is often a short one and from a certain perspective it becomes a question of redundancy. Why play something that is obviously nothing more then an after thought when you can cut your teeth with a real multiplayer game?

I personally berely even touched the multiplayer in Fear. It wasn't the reason why i bought the game and simply wasn't interested in it.

Also, it doesn't make sense to expect each episode to be released with a new multiplayer component like you would with a full game. From a logical stand point, only one out of three episodes should have a MP mode, so in that sense Valve is full on track.

Of course, the point of those episodes it's the single player. That alone should justify the price, everything else it's an added bonus...

[avatar_58]

In that case I'm sorry, I misread your comments. :) Just remember some people want deathmatch modes for games because thats how they get their moneys worth. I don't care either way and TF2 is just a bonus.

[Needle]

I like how that TF2 image looks. I already can hear legions of people complain about it. That's a nice bonus.

[Opus131]

I can get 30+ hours enjoyment from a game that has decent, unique multiplayer.

And if you wanted, you could dump 5000 hours on a MMORPG, what's your point?

The fact is the time you spent playing the single player portion of the game is far more valuable then your 30+ hours of multiplayer gaming, or your 500 hours of griding in WoW.

In the end, how much time you spend playing a game it's irrilevant, really, it's the entertaining value you get that matters...

[wieder]

I'm almost as much of a Team Fortress fanboy as I am a Duke fanboy... and that shot has me so excited. I'm so glad to see them sticking to the fun factor of Team Fortress instead of going down the military sim route. The characters in Team Fortress were over the top and it seems like they have grabbed that ball and ran with it. I'm stoked for an FPS multiplayer experience that has a more light hearted feel to it.

And the style of all those classes is spot on.

I spent most of my nights from 1997-1999 playing Team Fortress for 2-10 hours :D. TFC didn't feel right... but this has me excited about the game again.

GIMME!!@()*#*()@#$

[Mountain Man]

Maybe I’m exaggerating this way over proportion...
Yes, I think you are.

[sindex]

Yes, I think you are.

We will just have to see about that won't we? I do like that look for TF2, it does look very NOLF'ish with Cell Shading mixed in (I love cartoon violence; I’m a sucker for it).

[ADM]

It does look interesting at least. I do really like the style, very Incredibles like.

[Kalki]

The characters in Team Fortress were over the top and it seems like they have grabbed that ball and ran with it. I'm stoked for an FPS multiplayer experience that has a more light hearted feel to it.

And the style of all those classes is spot on.Agreed. And here I was thinking there was no place for TF2 in a market which has a realistic-looking Quake Wars to look forward to. It really is true to the original style, with a twist. Great character design. Reminds me of Evil Genius.

I'm almost as much of a Team Fortress fanboy as I am a Duke fanboy
Haha, TF2's been shown and we still haven't heard a peep from Duke. I expect you to report to the DNF forums for firefighting duty when the trolls/disappointed fanboys start pointing that out. A nice, long wieder counterpost would help put everybody to sleep. :p ;)

[Daveman]

Crazy, man. According to the Gamespot.com article, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 will include Episode 2 (obviously), the single-player action/puzzle FPS known as Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Are they still planning on charging only $20 for this?
:rolleyes:
You amaze even me sometimes.

[avatar_58]

Haha, TF2's been shown and we still haven't heard a peep from Duke. I expect you to report to the DNF forums for firefighting duty when the trolls/disappointed fanboys start pointing that out. A nice, long wieder counterpost would help put everybody to sleep. :p ;)

Actually I giggled a little at that too. Think about it - most of the long term games are coming out such as Prey, HL2, TF2.....and Duke is still hush hush. :o

[Tang Lung]

Crazy, man. According to the Gamespot.com article, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 will include Episode 2 (obviously), the single-player action/puzzle FPS known as Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Are they still planning on charging only $20 for this?

Hehe, sounds like one of those infommercials on Teleshopping, ''but wait!! if you order now you also get a free multiplayer game called TF2!'' ''but wait bob, surely theu arnet still charging only 20 dollars for this, I mean this must be worth over 800 dollars right??'' ''that's wrong susan...go back into your cage''.

[0marTheZealot]

TF2 looks tits.

[Wild Falkon]

The team that's working on this Portal game for Valve are graduates of DigiPen, and their initial demo got a lot of press at the GDC this past year. They're incredibly intelligent people who have a great sense of creating fun gameplay.

Valve doesn't hire everyone that has a decent idea, much less fresh graduates. These people have something special, and Valve did the smart thing by hiring them.

[Denz]

Haha, TF2's been shown and we still haven't heard a peep from Duke. I expect you to report to the DNF forums for firefighting duty when the trolls/disappointed fanboys start pointing that out. A nice, long wieder counterpost would help put everybody to sleep. :p ;)



Yeah, Wieder will say "I'VE SEEN IT YOU DON'T"


:o

[Wild Falkon]

...what?

[Aegeri]

TF2 looks tits.
I hope the cell-shading scares off the CS kiddies.

IT ISN'T REALISTIC ENOUGH, I CAN'T PLAY THAT SO I'LL GO BACK TO SHOOTING MY AWP WHILE I'M IN MID AIR AND BUNNY HOPPING JUST LIKE REAL POLICE AND TERRORISTS DO!!!111

[Altered Reality]

Ew. It looks like a fux0ring cartoon.

[X-Vector]

Yeah, how dare they alter reality like that!

[jimbob]

i really dont get what all this complaining is all about, wel, atleast i`ll be giving it a try and i might like it, if not so what.

[Aegeri]

Yeah, how dare they alter reality like that!
If I wanted to, I could float above the room in a bubble if I felt like it and you would believe me. I can defy reality and do whatever I want! And all because I say I can.

[Hudson]

I'm skipping through all the "ripoff" posts here..

I think the art style is awesome, it seperates it from the battlefield-clones we have seen over the years and will hopefully bring back the fun the original gave us with Quake.

As far as using portals go, well bullet-time has been "borrowed" a thousand times over, not to mention literally hundreds of other things, so I could really care less.. as long as it's cool, bring it on.

[Mountain Man]

:rolleyes:
You amaze even me sometimes.
:confused:

I was asking a legitimate question. Is Valve still planning to charge only $20, or are they planning to jack the price up to account for the additional content?

[Jblade]

Another thumbs up for the style change - as it's already been said, there's enough realistic team-based FPS games and mods out there so I'm glad Valve decided to try something different.

[wieder]

Agreed. And here I was thinking there was no place for TF2 in a market which has a realistic-looking Quake Wars to look forward to. It really is true to the original style, with a twist. Great character design. Reminds me of Evil Genius.

Yup... I haven't been this excited about an FPS since 1997! :love:

BTW, in case you haven't seen it in a while... the original Quake 1 Team Fortress promo video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8286692699492141258).

Haha, TF2's been shown and we still haven't heard a peep from Duke. I expect you to report to the DNF forums for firefighting duty when the trolls/disappointed fanboys start pointing that out. A nice, long wieder counterpost would help put everybody to sleep. :p ;)

Ehhhh... I did chuckle out loud when I thought about the whole Prey, TF2, DNF situation right now. ;)

I've been a hardcore 3DR cheerleader since before Duke 3D came out (over 10 years now?). Time to start focusing my energy towards wherever I wind up next and cheerleading that along. :cool: Especially since I can't be 100% positive about what I'd have to say anymore due to not having that direct connection, and I don't do those long counterposts unless I feel exceptionally certain about all the facts I'm including in them.

[avatar_58]

T'would be a sad day when you don't believe in duke. :(

[Paroxysm]

Ew. It looks like a fux0ring cartoon.
how perceptive of you.

[wieder]

T'would be a sad day when you don't believe in duke. :(

It's not a matter of not believing in Duke. I know how badass the game is and there isn't much of a chance of him being replaced as my favorite FPS character/universe judging by the FPS games the rest of the industry keeps making.

But it takes quite a lot of time and energy to properly counterpost the way I like to do these past few years, and clearly that should go towards whatever I'm personally involved in. Especially since I don't have the direct interaction with it and thus can't be virtually certain that what I'd be saying is true.

[0marTheZealot]

I'm skipping through all the "ripoff" posts here..

I think the art style is awesome, it seperates it from the battlefield-clones we have seen over the years and will hopefully bring back the fun the original gave us with Quake.


Yea, I know, there's literally a thousand ****ing games that look realistic. Hell, I play CS till my dick falls off and I'm loving how this game is looking. Games don't have to be 100% realistic looking to be fun. And fun is what TF2 looks like.

[Mountain Man]

Personally, I like TF2's art direction.

[Mongorian]

Yeah. Just looking at that still gets me excited about the game. Too many games go for a bland, realistic approach. Frankly I'm sick of it.

[Paroxysm]

Makes me want someone to mod it so it plays 2d like a bastard son of soldat and smash bros :P

[Gibaholic]

In America when valve steals idea it's 'making it more advanced', but in Soviet Russia when ID steals an idea [coughgravityguncough] it's being a rip off.

I see how this works now!


Wasn't it Nerve software instead of ID?

[Kalki]

Yup... I haven't been this excited about an FPS since 1997! :love:

BTW, in case you haven't seen it in a while... the original Quake 1 Team Fortress promo video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8286692699492141258).
Thanks for that! It's gorier(funny) than I remember it but that video rounds the style discussion off quite nicely! :)

I've been a hardcore 3DR cheerleader since before Duke 3D came out (over 10 years now?). Time to start focusing my energy towards wherever I wind up next and cheerleading that along. :cool:

Understandable. Yet, don't be a complete stranger around here. I'm sure you can express the love for the Duke games whenever they make their presence felt.

Especially since I can't be 100% positive about what I'd have to say anymore due to not having that direct connection, and I don't do those long counterposts unless I feel exceptionally certain about all the facts I'm including in them.
You're on this side of the fence now. "The Facts" don't stop some of us fans from being positive about that game. :p

[Steve]

I hope the cell-shading scares off the CS kiddies.

IT ISN'T REALISTIC ENOUGH, I CAN'T PLAY THAT SO I'LL GO BACK TO SHOOTING MY AWP WHILE I'M IN MID AIR AND BUNNY HOPPING JUST LIKE REAL POLICE AND TERRORISTS DO!!!111
Haha :D

Personally, I like TF2's art direction.
I agree. It looks really cool and FUN :)

[cheeseboy]

Looks good. I've always been a TFC fan (Its still my most played online game, even now I play it more than others). There was never any doubt that I'd be getting episode 2 when its out, this announcement just sweetens the deal.

[Orochi Avlis]

Apparently more footage of Episode 2, TF2 and Portal will be released this week.

[Damien_Azreal]

Yep.... can't wait. :D I love the art style in TF2, I've never been interested in it at all. Hell, I didn't really like TF but the art style has totaly gotten my attention.

Why can't they do a single player game with that style.

[Destroyer]

Maybe it'll be interesting-looking enough to make me play it for more than five minutes. I mean, the original could've been fun but it was just so ugly.
ugly smugly that was a great game. play that at a lan.

[Zegraphoob]

Why can't they do a single player game with that style.

XIII?

[Damien_Azreal]

Well, XIII hada very cool style to it. But it seemed realistic but comic like. TF2 has a very outlandish cartoony style, very much overdone and such.

[Ajaxx]

I like this new look for TF2.

It kinda reminds me of when Worms 2 first came out and it was sporting a cartoonier, cutesier look than its predecessor....but still looked so cool and fun.

I hope it's still bloody, though.
One of my greatest joys in TF Classic was seeing how scorched and bloody the level looks after a particularly gruesome match.

Anybody know if they're bringing back the soccer gametype? :D

[SyntaxN]

Portal video: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6154227&pid=934385

[jimbob]

heh, looks pretty fun :)

[Berntsen]

Wow... would have loved to use that weapon in HL2! :D

[avatar_58]

Portal video: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6154227&pid=934385

They even have gravity flipping? :doh:

You know what? If I were Human Head I would just make my own portal gun and add a few new modes to Prey to cut this thing down in two seconds.

Still - I think this looks to be an interesting game. Portals have HUGE potential in 3d shooters.

[Jokke_r]

Prey's portals just got served

[Orochi Avlis]

You can see the DOF and motion blur in action in the Portal video. :D

[Berntsen]

They even have gravity flipping? :doh:

What do you mean? It looked to me like the player in a hurry placed an entry portal in the floor and the exit portal on a wall or something, and because everything went so quickly it seemed like he switched gravity.

[Orochi Avlis]

Speaking of which, how funny was it to see that sentry gun bob in and out of two portals?

[Jokke_r]

pretty funny

[avatar_58]

Prey's portals just got served

I haven't seen any stationary portals yet, like the kind you see inside boxes and archways, you know the ones without the borders that look like they are part of the map?

[Jokke_r]

i don't see why they wouldn't be possible, the tech is there, just remove the borders and vóila.

[Jokke_r]

I don't think These Portal Portals are any more advanced really than Prey's portals really, i'd say they have equal capabilities, they are just used to a much much bigger extent in "portal".

EDIT: sorry double post :(

[SyntaxN]

Nah Valve´s technology isn´t more advanced for this, get the Portalwrench and the results will be technically the same. But Valve seems to use those Portals more creative than HH/3dr did with Prey.

[Geir]

Did everyone forget that Diablo had portals?

Portals is a good game, underlying or tieing Prey. The concept and the portals are nice, but I like the fact that the portal gun has it's own gravity gun. I also like the new look of the team fortress 2 screenshot and portal game.

[avatar_58]

Did everyone forget that Diablo had portals?


You're kidding right?

[Jokke_r]

here's a couple of screengrabs in 720p (well i downsampled them :P) of some pretty cool concepts:
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7892/bscap029hm4.th.jpg (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bscap029hm4.jpg)

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1290/bscap030zw0.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bscap030zw0.jpg)

Prey didn't do this afaik, using your own gravitational or any kinetic force to like shoot out of the portal. Like jump down a cliff into a portal, and then shoot out of another portal with the kinetic energy you gained by the fall. Sweet. Also by frame by frame analysis these source portals don't have seamless transition, there's a small jerk when the player passes trough like he's teleported, as the player model itself never passes the event horizon, it's cut off at the part which goes through and when it's through completely it reappears on the otherside, the animations are seamless though.

[Berntsen]

I just noticed at the very beginning of the Portal video, there is a typo: "Aperture Labratories", missing an "O". :p

Just made me giggle a little...

[Zegraphoob]

This is what Prey should have been, Portal-wise. Not that Prey should have had a Portal Gun, but things like the flying Jokke_r explained.

[Talos]

Wow that video was awesome - It really takes portals a step further

[SyntaxN]

Honestly, imo this was the needed step for Prey to be the uber pwnage game in terms of puzzles. Also for the reviewers, from reading reviews I always have the feeling that they considered it to be very good but there was just something missing to put it on the same level as HL2 for example. I´m also amazed by Valve´s timing, Prey is out for some days and suddenly they show a game that uses it´s main feature on crack :dopefish:
Just...wow for the moment :mryuck:

[Mongorian]

Prey's portals just got served

I can't help but agree that this looks like a much more effective and interesting use of portals.

[MAT]

While I was watching the Portals video I thought nothing else but this was the future of gaming. Applauds to Valve.

[0marTheZealot]

aslkja

that video was the sickest thing I've ever seen. Awesome video!

[avatar_58]

Or it could end up being beaten to death like bullet time ;)

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Anyone know if you have to have episode one installed to make use of TF2 and Portal?

[0marTheZealot]

I haven't seen any stationary portals yet, like the kind you see inside boxes and archways, you know the ones without the borders that look like they are part of the map?


because that's called a door buddy :)

Those kinds of portals in Prey are nothing but doors with fancy level geometry.

[Damien_Azreal]

Anyone know if you have to have episode one installed to make use of TF2 and Portal?

Portal will ship with Episode Two.

And after watching the video, it looks kindof meh to me. The gameplay and such is very original and interesting... but it just looks boring in a way. Who knows, maybe this is just to early of a video to really tell.

[Aegeri]

Portal looks very awesome and definitely isn't just a cheap rip off. It's a really interesting looking puzzle game and I know I'm going to have oodles of fun for this.

Forget Episode 2, I'm paying $20 for Portal!

[Decker]

Was this already mentioned?

HL2: EP2 - Trailer #2 (http://www.gamershell.com/download_14676.shtml)

Also, feel free to repost this in the "official" EP2 thread if there is one. Couldn't find it at a glance.
[edit]: *sigh* Apparently it's the same clip, just referred to differently.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Was this already mentioned?

HL2: EP2 - Trailer #2 (http://www.gamershell.com/download_14676.shtml)

Also, feel free to repost this in the "official" EP2 thread if there is one. Couldn't find it at a glance.
[edit]: *sigh* Apparently it's the same clip, just referred to differently.

It is, but yours is much high quality.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Portal will ship with Episode Two.

And after watching the video, it looks kindof meh to me. The gameplay and such is very original and interesting... but it just looks boring in a way. Who knows, maybe this is just to early of a video to really tell.
That didnt answer my question.

[avatar_58]

because that's called a door buddy :)

Those kinds of portals in Prey are nothing but doors with fancy level geometry.

Not really, you can pull off some amazing things with those kinds of portals. In one section they have a door way that leads out to the crashed airplane and yet you are inside of a small corridor.

[Gryph]

That didnt answer my question.
Ep. 1 didn't require HL2 so I don't think Ep. 2, Portal, or TF2 will require Ep. 1. There hasn't been any official word on it but on the back of box for Ep. 1 they mentioned not requiring HL2 so I guess it's one of the features of episodic content.

[Zegraphoob]

Portal will ship with Episode Two.

And after watching the video, it looks kindof meh to me. The gameplay and such is very original and interesting... but it just looks boring in a way. Who knows, maybe this is just to early of a video to really tell.

You are probably turned off by the fact it does not have a setting.
I think it is a good thing for this game, a setting would only get in the way for complex puzzles.

[Aegeri]

I don't think you require previous episodes for future ones to run. I may be wrong on that though.

You are probably turned off by the fact it does not have a setting.
I think it is a good thing for this game, a setting would only get in the way for complex puzzles.

Actually it looks like it has the whole 'crazy science experiment' thing to it.

[Damien_Azreal]

You could be right Zegraphoob, the square white room looks very dull and boring. No matter what items you throw into it it's still a white room.

Hopefully the full Portal game will have more to it.

Since it's shipping with Ep 2 I'll get it, but it'll be played after Ep 2. ;)

[avatar_58]

Well it is a puzzle game, they don't really need much more explanation than that. I think of it as a sort of Paganitzu 3D, only instead of crystals and rocks you need to use gravity and portals.

[Rifter]

It is cool how they are taking the portal concept, and making a puzzle game out of it. I think it IS different than Prey. Goes to show how Portals are the "next big thing" in FPS games. :-)

[Damien_Azreal]

As long as portal's dont' become overused it'll be cool. A new gameplay mechanic is cool is used sparingly... but once it's overused it becomes annoying as hell.

[Xerxes]

They even have gravity flipping? :doh:
Half-life had it...

[Paroxysm]

They've done some cool work since narbacular drop :)

[Daveman]

Wow that looks amazing. If Valve used the portal gun in Episode 2 it would be absolutely awesome. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll get Episode 2 when it comes out. Maybe I'll come around and get the first one, too. :D

[Gryph]

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. A. Shpd. Adrian Shepard.

Conspiracy?

[Orochi Avlis]

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. A. Shpd. Adrian Shepard.

Conspiracy?
Could it be him in the orange jumpsuit?
Or is it a reference to the portal gun from Opposing Forces?

[torso boy]

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. A. Shpd. Adrian Shepard.

Conspiracy?
Don't let the fanboys hear you say that.

By the way, Portal is by some of the creators of Narbacular Drop: An indie game based on these same portal concepts, except without the neat experimental theme. http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html (Unfortunately, their site has been killed by the amount of people excited about portal, so you can't get the game from there now.)

[Damien_Azreal]

Would make sense... we never found out what really happened to Shepard.

[Addicted Gamer]

'Temporal Paradox' happened with Adrian. ;)
and i'm sure G-Man brings him back in EP2 or 3. :)

[Damien_Azreal]

Well, I know that's what happened at the end of Opposing Force. But we never found out what the G-Man actualy had planned for him.

Would be perfect for the G-man to bring back Adrian to try and "reclaim" Gordon. Me and Orochi were discussing this earlier.

[Addicted Gamer]

or what would Gordon/Adrian say meeting with each other? :o

quote from steam forums:

"I'm thinking, what would it be like if the Gman did get Sheperd to go after Gordon again. Imagine the confrontation! Imagine what the each might say!

Gordon:*Glares intently

Sheperd:*Glares intently

Oh yeah, that would be some awesome dialog right there."

;)

[Orochi Avlis]

Gordon:*Glares intently

Sheperd:*Glares intently

/cues western music

But it makes sense. Shephard caught G-Man's attention, but not his employers. And seeing how he didn't want to waste his potential, kept him stasis. Now would be a good time to bring him out.

EDIT: From Wikipedia:
It is also suggested that Shephard saw something the other witnesses did not, namely the Race X aliens, which could explain why he was put into stasis while other witnesses were not.

[Gryph]

Team Fortress 2 vid: http://www.valvesoftware.com/ep2/teaser/tf2_teaser01_720p.wmv

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaF638MBSAE

[Lethe]

Team Fortress 2 vid: http://www.valvesoftware.com/ep2/teaser/tf2_teaser01_720p.wmv

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaF638MBSAE

Man, the game looks fantastic. I would never say that this is Source engine. I hope the gameplay is fantastic as well...

[Opus131]

Somehow i doubt the game it's going to look that good on most machines, but the animations are just sick...

[cheeseboy]

That looks fan-bloody-tastic. They got the look of the medic in particular just right.

[Mountain Man]

Is that video in-engine, cause it looks prerendered. If it's prerendered then shame on Valve, but if it's in-engine then :eek: !

That said, they've certainly done a good job of capturing the Pixar/Incredibles style. The music was also reminiscient of The Incredibles.

And now for a little blast from the past, anybody else remember these early official shots of Team Fortress 2 when it was being developed on the Half-Life 1 engine? Like the old Virginia Slims ads used to say, "You've come a long way, baby!"

[Lethe]

Is that video in-engine, cause it looks prerendered. If it's prerendered then shame on Valve, but if it's in-engine then :eek: !

That said, they've certainly done a good job of capturing the Pixar/Incredibles style. The music was also reminiscient of The Incredibles.

I think that prerendered look comes form heavy use of depth of field and motion blur which they added recently in Source engine. I think that it is very possible for final game to look like this, but I doubt about animations...which are probably totally scripted...

[Dogy]

Heavy or Soldier class for me :D

The Sniper is a cowboy though..... bad attempt to be funny?

[Orochi Avlis]

The Sniper is a cowboy though..... bad attempt to be funny?
Lone wolf motif.

Pyro and Heavy for me.

[Dogy]

The Spy looks like some kind of terrorist, but in a suit.

Still, it looks like a lot of thought was put into these characters.

[Orochi Avlis]

The heavy's chaingun muzzle flash looks funny. But hot damn, you'll know when he is firing.
And notice how the soldier class looks alot like the DoD soldiers.:D

[wieder]

That looks like 2fort that they are all moving around in too. Yay!

[Dogy]

And notice how the soldier class looks alot like the DoD soldiers.:D

http://img304.imageshack.us/img304/535/e1jb9.th.jpg (http://img304.imageshack.us/my.php?image=e1jb9.jpg)

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/8006/tf2soldierke1.th.jpg (http://img400.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tf2soldierke1.jpg)


Hmm....

[Orochi Avlis]

They even have the same shovel.

[Mountain Man]

And notice how the soldier class looks alot like the DoD soldiers.:D
You mean notice how the solider class in DoD and TF2 are modeled after actual soldiers?

[Tang Lung]

It looks a hell of a lot more interesting than if it were CS:S style looking, that's for sure!

[SyntaxN]

heh that´s nice. Notice the selfshadows when the Pyro uses the flamethrower ;)
I still want to see a Combine vs. Human TF2 anyway.

[0marTheZealot]

Team Fortress 2 vid: http://www.valvesoftware.com/ep2/teaser/tf2_teaser01_720p.wmv

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaF638MBSAE

askljfa

I absolutely love the artstyle for TF2.

[0marTheZealot]

I think that prerendered look comes form heavy use of depth of field and motion blur which they added recently in Source engine. I think that it is very possible for final game to look like this, but I doubt about animations...which are probably totally scripted...

I think it's the actual source engine, just touched up with post processing effects, like that DoD:S trailer. The animations are probably all real. Alyx in EP1 moved much like the TF2 trailer does. They are probably fluid and sweet looking, but many of those animations were specifically made for that trailer. I can't imagine a soldier hitting his head when the alarm goes off in a real game hehehehehehe

[Orochi Avlis]

I think it's the actual source engine, just touched up with post processing effects, like that DoD:S trailer.
Those post-processing effects actually run real time in-game in that trailer. I'm talking about DoD:S, I'll reserve judgement of TF2 until I see actual gameplay.

[Mountain Man]

I know the Source engine can do real-time blur. It was used most prominently in Episode 1's reactor core sequence. Also Day of Defeat: Source uses a film grain and desaturation shader when the player is in spectator mode. So I don't doubt it is fully capable of producing in real-time the kind of effects seen in the Team Fortress 2 trailer.

[Orochi Avlis]

And there's the FoD seen in the Portal trailer.

[Lethe]

I can't imagine a soldier hitting his head when the alarm goes off in a real game hehehehehehe

Hehe, that would be hillarious. Is there any official word on pricing the new episode? I mean, if they make Portal and TF2 decent games it sounds completely unreal to have 3 great games in one package for just 20$.

[Mountain Man]

Hehe, that would be hillarious. Is there any official word on pricing the new episode? I mean, if they make Portal and TF2 decent games it sounds completely unreal to have 3 great games in one package for just 20$.
Careful. I asked the same question earlier and was all but accused of being a fanboy. :D

But I agree, that would be a crazy deal to get that much gaming goodness for 20 gold. Then again, such generosity on Valve's part is not unprecedented. Buying the Half-Life 2 Silver package from Steam at the time of Half-Life 2's release got you Half-Life 2, Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Half-Life: Source, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Valve's complete back catalog of games for $60.

[avatar_58]

Their complete back catalogue is attainable by getting a used Blue Shift for less than $5.00.....and CS:S comes with every version of HL, so really thats not a deal at all.

Anyway - that TF2 video was great, love the artstyle. It looks like it carries over into the level design too! :D Something tells me valve will be selling most of these to people who want TF2 and Portal rather than Ep2. I was a little worried if Ep2 was going to worth it, but now I don't even care since the price is more than justified this time around.

[Gryph]

That link is dead, here is a new one: http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/9099/Team+Fortress+2+Teaser/

When I saw the sniper I though of an Australian hunter for some reason. I'll be playing as a Medic as I do in all team based games. :D

[Beelze]

I tend to favor realism, but I really like the art style in TF2. For what it's worth, in these days of constant graphical advancements, it's sort of timeless. I never got into TFC, but TF2 has me interested. Must be the slick "packaging". I'd probably try out the supportive classes first, like the Medic and the Engineer.

[FireFly]

"Actually, everything in that trailer is in-game. There's some extra screenspace effects on it (depth of field & motion blur), but apart from that it's all just recorded in the game. So yep, that's what the models look like, and that's what 2fort looks like now.

Almost all of the animations are game anims used while playing (scout run, hwguy firing, etc). The exception is the Spy. We don't have a disguise effect we're happy with yet, so we whipped up that animation to give new players an understanding of what the Spy class is about.

We still haven't decided how we'll use screenspace effects. It's more of a design issue than anything else."

http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=12522663

[Lethe]

Careful. I asked the same question earlier and was all but accused of being a fanboy. :D

Damn, I should kept my mouth shut :censored:


But I agree, that would be a crazy deal to get that much gaming goodness for 20 gold. Then again, such generosity on Valve's part is not unprecedented. Buying the Half-Life 2 Silver package from Steam at the time of Half-Life 2's release got you Half-Life 2, Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Half-Life: Source, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Valve's complete back catalog of games for $60.

Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed ;)

[Aegeri]

I wonder if they'll still have concussion jumping among other things? Looking really good though.

Funny though, because for the $20 dollars for Episode 2 I'm certain to be paying now, I'm almost 100% sure I'm not interested at all in Episode 2. Portal and TF2 FTW.

[Daveman]

I really hope the cartoon-style graphics and textures translate to better and smoother performance for those of us who want textures and models set to High but can't always get it. :D

[Aegeri]

I really hope the cartoon-style graphics and textures translate to better and smoother performance for those of us who want textures and models set to High but can't always get it. :D

Yeah.

Personally, I think this is a good reaction from Valve to the reaction that HL ep1 got in general. Few players seemed to have finished HLep1 [according to Valves own statistics] and generally the amount of bitching on the Steam forums about the length has been dramatic. I think Valve might have the right idea by throwing in one-two wierd experimental/different MP/SP type games with each episode. It means that you can still make a 5 hour 'episode' in a reasonable time frame and still give it a good value to gamers by including various other wierd games/MP modes.

I do hope this trend continues.

[Steve]

Wow. Is that in game? **** that looks like fun!

[Aegeri]

Wow. Is that in game? **** that looks like fun!
Yes, with the exception of some of the video editing effects like the motion blur and stuff, all of the character animations are in game. Note that the Spy hasn't been finished yet and they aren't sure what to do with him just yet, so his animations/etc are not finished just now. Everything else is as it appears in game.

[Daveman]

I really hope we get the music from the teaser in the background of the main menu in the final game. :D

Also, if there are any voice commands (I don't believe there were any in the original), I hope all the player classes have really awesome over-the-top voices. :D

[Jokke_r]

Yes, with the exception of some of the video editing effects like the motion blur and stuff, all of the character animations are in game. Note that the Spy hasn't been finished yet and they aren't sure what to do with him just yet, so his animations/etc are not finished just now. Everything else is as it appears in game.


Actually the motion blur and depth of field are "In Engine" meaning that it's realtime in that video, but it might not be used in the game while playing normally, therefore not how it would look "in game".

[Boo Boo Juice]

I am so ridiculously excited for the game. I just hope it still has rocket-jumping, conc-jumping and all that stuff. I also want the original grenade count! I didn't like how the medic got 4 frags and 3 conc grenades. That bugged the crap out of me when they changed it.

[FireFly]

Personally, I think this is a good reaction from Valve to the reaction that HL ep1 got in general. Few players seemed to have finished HLep1 [according to Valves own statistics]
In case you didn't know, 50% of people made it to the last level, but only 23% were recorded as reaching the credits, so the final stat isn't conclusive.

[Aegeri]

In case you didn't know, 50% of people made it to the last level, but only 23% were recorded as reaching the credits, so the final stat isn't conclusive.

However, it's worth noting that the final strider battle is particularly difficult the first time [where do I go oh lols?!] and if a large number of players [over 50%] have given up well before then it's quite possible more than a few have given up during that. At the moment, I'm not convinced of the various apologist type excuses that have come out, as the poor figures must 'obviously' mean steam was broken (the other popular alternative explanation), didn't play to the credits etc etc. I find it rather ridiculous that a full 27% of players would not watch the final cutscene and go to the credit sequence before exiting. Not sitting through the credits I can agree with, that would be believable but just killing the strider and then going "oh lols game over time to quit kthxbye"? I don't believe that one bit.

Actually, the final recorded finishers stat is now 34%, up from 23% when it first came out. The various excuses are just damage control however, in reality some of Valves gameplay decisions concerning Ep1 have clearly not paid off particularly well. Take a look at the biggest drops in player numbers:

The zombine infested elevator battle (75-67%, a drop of nearly 10%!), the beginning of the dark level which has a 5% drop in player completion and of course after the first level, either people just checking it out or whatever reason [7%, but we can probably discount that]. I think that Ep1 shot itself in the foot with the dark area, the AI bot babysitting and the final battle, which although I found incredibly fun [best part of Ep1 by a long shot] would be terribly confusing for many.

I can understand the excuses that have come from Valve for damage control purposes [to restate], but even giving them that for a paltry 52% of players to have completed a game [i]four hours or so in length is REALLY quite disturbing.

Edit: Curse you! You've just got me interested in what exactly some of the large death spikes correspond to. I remember nothing particularly difficult in Urban flight that would warrant the gigantic leap in deaths seen there [16.02 deaths on hard! WOAH]. BRB. This warrants further investigation.

Ok, in order they are:

The Zombine elevator defence (It's pretty infamous really by this point)

The antlion boss in the courtyard

Gunship battle in the hospital

Trainyard and strider battle respectively for the final two levels, which makes sense.

[Orochi Avlis]

Yes, with the exception of some of the video editing effects like the motion blur and stuff, all of the character animations are in game.
We just talked about that a few posts above.

[Mountain Man]

Yes, with the exception of some of the video editing effects like the motion blur and stuff, all of the character animations are in game.
I'm pretty sure the motion blur is in-engine as well, though it probably won't be in the final game for various reasons.

[ADM]

Is that video in-engine, cause it looks prerendered. If it's prerendered then shame on Valve, but if it's in-engine then :eek: !

That said, they've certainly done a good job of capturing the Pixar/Incredibles style. The music was also reminiscient of The Incredibles.

And now for a little blast from the past, anybody else remember these early official shots of Team Fortress 2 when it was being developed on the Half-Life 1 engine? Like the old Virginia Slims ads used to say, "You've come a long way, baby!"
Haha yeah I remember they were boasting that each model was so detail you could read text on their backs and see veins on their arms! ZOMG! :p

[avatar_58]

Old TF2 trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXf7NBudV6w&search=team%20fortress%202)

:D

[Komb.at]

Looking good, who would have thought that :)

I allways was the engineer kind of guy, i loved my little sentry gun. What killed TFC for me was when the scripting got out of hand. I had medics conc-jump in ultra-perfect timing into our sniper nest on two-fort, while only touching the ground once. Since there was no skill involved whatsever, and the jump scripts were not even the worst part, i retired from TFC.

[SyntaxN]

I'm pretty sure the motion blur is in-engine as well, though it probably won't be in the final game for various reasons.
I seriously hope Valve won´t go the way of other game studios and shows exciting tech stuff that will never make it into the final game. Besides that, I consider motion blur and DoF to be just additional technologies that can be turned on and off without changing the gameplay that much.

[Zegraphoob]

I seriously hope Valve won´t go the way of other game studios and shows exciting stuff that will never make it into the final game.

Valve already did that. Remember E3 2003?

[SyntaxN]

Valve already did that. Remember E3 2003?
Sorry, I was late...yeah they showed gameplay and scenes that sadly never made it in HL2. I meant technology only :)

[Mountain Man]

Old TF2 trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXf7NBudV6w&search=team%20fortress%202)

:D
That actually looks pretty good considering when it was released. The animations in particular are very good.

[Little Conqueror]

I want to see some gamplay info. Is this just TFC in the Source engine with a cartoony, 60's/70's style and drastically improved graphical effects? Or is there a fundamental gameplay difference?

[avatar_58]

I want to see some gamplay info. Is this just TFC in the Source engine with a cartoony, 60's/70's style and drastically improved graphical effects? Or is there a fundamental gameplay difference?

Thats what I want to know, because I wasn't a big fan of the original. However its free with ep2 so I'm not complaining.

[Dogy]

Judging from the HL1 -> Source changes that Valve has made to CS and DoD, I think TF2 will be fast-paced and be more fun than the original, and the shotguns will do a lot more damage. I mean, I keep blasting a Heavy in the face with my Super Shotgun as a Soldier, but his chaingun will just tear me up in a few rounds. WTF is that?

[SyntaxN]

GC TF2 video: http://club.idg.hu/gamestar/gc/movie/day1/team_fortress_2.wmv

GC Portal video: http://club.idg.hu/gamestar/gc/movie/day1/portal.wmv

[Mongorian]

Holy crap, those were awesome videos.

[avatar_58]

GC TF2 video: http://club.idg.hu/gamestar/gc/movie/day1/team_fortress_2.wmv


Wow.....If I wasn't hyped for it already that video did it for me. :D The visual style is amazing, and the gameplay looks really polished. Nice wilhelm scream too.....:cool:

[Boo Boo Juice]

GC TF2 video: http://club.idg.hu/gamestar/gc/movie/day1/team_fortress_2.wmv

GC Portal video: http://club.idg.hu/gamestar/gc/movie/day1/portal.wmv

dddaaaaammmmmnnnnnn

I am sooooo excited for this...

[Daveman]

The baseball bat is awesome. :D

[MAT]

and rocket jumping! :D

[JackpotDen]

"as part of a previously mentioned protocol, when this experiment is over, you will be ... missed"

[Kalki]

Great videos. Both had humorous bits and I'd recommend Ep. 2 to any gamer!

[Orochi Avlis]

The syncronized rocket jumping, classic. :D
They didn't show the pyro. :(

[Denz]

Hey what is the game at the end of the portal video?

[Mountain Man]

Both those look amazing, and reports indicate that Episode 2 seems to be shaping up very nicely as well (though I refuse to watch any Ep2 videos for fear of spoilers).

[Kalki]

Both those look amazing, and reports indicate that Episode 2 seems to be shaping up very nicely as well (though I refuse to watch any Ep2 videos for fear of spoilers).
Valve Announces Delays (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2-episode-two/728011p1.html)

[avatar_58]

Valve Announces Delays (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2-episode-two/728011p1.html)

We already know, plus it might be more expensive.

[Tang Lung]

That TF2 video was really cool. It looks exactly the same style as Evil Genius.

[avatar_58]

High Resolution TF2 Trailer (just the GC one in better quality)

http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/9369/Team+Fortress+2+Trailer

[Marty]

this game looks too good for me to play :(

[ZuljinRaynor]

They are changing the price dammit. Give me a copy of EP2 without the crap, Valve.

[avatar_58]

They are changing the price dammit. Give me a copy of EP2 without the crap, Valve.

I'm not going to lynch them until I hear the final price. It sucks yes, but for all we know its a mere $5.00 extra for the whole package.

[0marTheZealot]

They are changing the price dammit. Give me a copy of EP2 without the crap, Valve.

There are most definitely going to be different packages available on Steam. Ep2 alone, Ep2 with Portal, Ep2 with TF2, Ep2 with TF2/Portal. Not doing so would be incredibly stupid.

[Little Conqueror]

I'd just get TF2 if I could. I hope Valve does that.

[Damien_Azreal]

I'm going for Ep 2 no matter what, gettting Portal as a bonus would be cool... but if they want to charge extra (as apposed to their original statement of it being a free bonus) I'll just get Ep 2.

[seregrail7]

There's a brand new teaser out, it shows off the facial animation really well.
Get it here! (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46953)

[Hudson]

Holy necro post batman!

I was just going to quote Kalki about bringing us breaking information from last August! :o

[Little Conqueror]

Great video! I love it.

Too bad it'll most likely be delayed until 2009.

[Danule]

Great video! I love it.

Too bad it'll most likely be delayed until 2009.

aww dont be so pessimistic :P

[Steve]

That HWG video is ******* funny :D

I love the direction they've taken with the game.

"who touched my gun?!" :D

[Echo Black]

Any oldschool TF players here? I remember setting up/participating in pugs for Quake 1 TF on several IRC channels, those were the days. :) When you had "mock" binds ready for spamming whenever a cool/humiliating kill happened. In times that lacked TeamSpeak, all in-game comm was made via hotkeys and binds as well, haha. You usually didn't have much time to type long sentences anyways.

I've also played a quite decent bit of TFC, and although it is much slower than the original TF, it still got most of the TF feel going for it. However, my all time favorite rendition of the mod is definitely the RTCW one - perfect, airtight balance.

TF2 looks aesthetically fresh and I'll play it no doubts, but from what I've read about it, there are a few changes that I'm not very sure if I welcome, as a long-time fan of anything Fortress:

1) The removal of Grenades - That whole "it made all classes feel the same" tidbit they released was totall bollocks, and anyone that has played any TF game knows that. If you're a medic, you're still a medic, 90% of your play will be as a support player, unless you try to cap the flag. The grenades are there to allow you to stand a chance against the heavier classes (Ironically, the Heavy itself would have sucked major ass in TF weren't for his MIRV and regular grenades), pineapples allowed even the most defensive/support-oriented classes to become a threat if played well. It's not like spamming them is effective, you only get a couple, and to actually prime them and throw them just right in order to deal good damage against a Soldier that's making you bounce around with rockets took tremendous skill.

Not to mention the awesome tricks you could do with them. Rocketjump into midair, downwards, primed grenade throw for an extra airtime push helping you land at your battlements and cap that flag you snagged as a full health Soldier? Yeah, that's Team Fortress alright! :hhg:

2) The Pyro's Flamethrower becoming much shorter in range but pretty much instakill - This is not what the Pyro was ever about...All other classes remain more or less true to the originals, I don't get why they decided to change it. The Pyro sucked for killing, but he's not really an offensive class. In QWTF I've seen amazing Pyros playing matches even, and even though they were rarely leading any scoreboards, they surely helped lots with weakening the enemies and disorientating them with the incredibly annoying burn status - To the point some players ran away from/avoided them, not wanting to engage any pesky Pyros. How cool was that?

In fact, it was mostly underused because there was a "legal" command that removed the burn sprites when you caught on fire, and these were needed for the disorientating effect. The game engine was also admittedly easy to exploit, and several clients allowed for 100% visibility (ZQuake was frequently used by cheaters).

3) No concs - No conc skill maps in TF2? This is really sad. The TFC pub server I played the most had a skill map each 3 "serious" ones, and there's a sort of a beauty to watching an entire team messing around with the advanced movement in the game, the newbies trying to imitate the veterans and gibbing themselves...Good times. :( It's not like conc jumping was ever a game-breaking mechanic, as devs used them all the time during closed tests. If they really found it disruptive, they would have culled it on the spot. The TF manual even hints at trick jumps with explosives (thank god rocketjumping is still possible in TF2).


I was expecting TF2 to add to the series, not to remove things, slap the general formula into a new shiny engine, then twist what's left a bit and call it a new title, with a big fat "2" by its side. I'm sure I'll like TF2, it looks like great fun from what I've seen of it, but small details like these make me wish Fortress Forever would get a larger fan following when it releases. Not gonna happen, though. :D

[Detharin]

1) The removal of Grenades - That whole "it made all classes feel the same" tidbit they released was totall bollocks, and anyone that has played any TF game knows that. If you're a medic, you're still a medic, 90% of your play will be as a support player, unless you try to cap the flag. The grenades are there to allow you to stand a chance against the heavier classes (Ironically, the Heavy itself would have sucked major ass in TF weren't for his MIRV and regular grenades), pineapples allowed even the most defensive/support-oriented classes to become a threat if played well. It's not like spamming them is effective, you only get a couple, and to actually prime them and throw them just right in order to deal good damage against a Soldier that's making you bounce around with rockets took tremendous skill.



2) The Pyro's Flamethrower becoming much shorter in range but pretty much instakill - This is not what the Pyro was ever about...All other classes remain more or less true to the originals, I don't get why they decided to change it. The Pyro sucked for killing, but he's not really an offensive class. In QWTF I've seen amazing Pyros playing matches even, and even though they were rarely leading any scoreboards, they surely helped lots with weakening the enemies and disorientating them with the incredibly annoying burn status - To the point some players ran away from/avoided them, not wanting to engage any pesky Pyros. How cool was that?

In fact, it was mostly underused because there was a "legal" command that removed the burn sprites when you caught on fire, and these were needed for the disorientating effect. The game engine was also admittedly easy to exploit, and several clients allowed for 100% visibility (ZQuake was frequently used by cheaters).


I used to lead scoreboards as a pyro in the old days. Circle strafing heavy weapon guys to death, torching scouts, picking up spys in the base. If i had any doubt, just give them a quick burst of flame. If they light on fire, burn them some more :)

I understand the removal of grenades, i was a complete bastard with those. Get into the enemy base on two fort. Drop my Napalm grenades right on their spawn door, toss in regular grenades when they open the door so that when they back up they explode. Always saving one grenade for low health and just charging someone, grenade primed, flamethrowing spewing how napalm death and then BAM grenade goes off and you deny them the kill.

Pyros were a very underappreciated class. We werent the fastest, but faster than most. Didnt have the most armor, but were by no means easy to kill. The class just excelled at circle strafing and burning your enemies to death. Im really hoping they can capture that in TF2