Its even worse on some specific maps (names of which I unfortunately dont remember), where the round ends instantly if VIP dies. Imagine losing the round in 10s after it starts because your VIP is a retard that runs into sniper sightline
Sometimes unreleased content is unreleased for a good reason
Its even worse on some specific maps (names of which I unfortunately dont remember), where the round ends instantly if VIP dies. Imagine losing the round in 10s after it starts because your VIP is a retard that runs into sniper sightline
Sometimes unreleased content is unreleased for a good reason
I illustrated this very issue with the mode (by being vip and dying) and got a brief server ban for griefing. An entire team's progress and enjoyment should not hinge upon the skill of a single player.
Their excuse is that a bad player can be vip and make your team lose and that's ok because a bad player wouldn't push the cart. There's something about tf2 players and TF2C players especially that allow for the most retarded kind of doublethink and false equivalence to flourish
I like community servers with custom weapons in TF2C. A lot of interesting fun ideas. It's a very convenient way of doing it, instead of ancient SourceMod popups, it's properly integrated into the Loadout UI.
Exploring the VIP mode and the scrapped weapons is a fun curiosity. 4 teams mode is debatable but whatever. But adding brand new weapons doesn't make scene to me when they have proper support for custom weapons anyway. Next thing you know, they'll add hats into the mod.
Remember when TF2 item servers went down last year? TF2C should've just been that.
This sounds neat but some of these ideas just don't work like the VIP mode; which the entire user base of tf2c will sneed if you imply it's bad. (Imagine a player is the payload cart and if they die time gets removed from the clock)
It's for that reason I wouldn't consider it a "core" gamemode - not like Payload or Attack/Defend which are very curated experiences, but more like Payload Race or Special Delivery which are a bit more 'out there'. It's a novelty, but I think little novelties are what make TF2 great.
One of the funniest things about the SDK stuff is allowing your TF2 items to be "used in other games" where having a hat in the proper game means you can also use it in, say, TF2C. You know... like what all those NFT dullards pushed for years. Yeah, funny how that worked out.
I always thought "wouldn't it be cool if Soldier had a rocket launcher that added like a mortar" before realising "oh, right, Demoman exists".
Like, I'm sure you can make the idea work without having it step on Demoman's toes, but I'm not the person to ask.
Despite what people here believe, I don't think all my idea are good.
TL;DR: The SDK release is likely the arrangement teased by the TF2 Classic team over 3.5 years ago.
The TF2Classic team announced on their twitter on September 10th of 2021 that they would be ceasing distribution of the mod due to "an arrangement with Valve".
"In short, their response stated that, while the Software Service Agreement allowed for modding to a certain extent, it both does not apply to the leaked code, and forbids the use of reverse-engineering. As such, they asked us to "stop distributing reverse engineered or leaked code, including anything compiled using that code or otherwise derived from it."
Valve apparently offered some sort of compromise where the mod would be allowed on Steam, which would require work from both parties:
"They asked us if we were interested in releasing our projects in the form of a mod on Steam, which would have required work from both parties.
We sent them a response confirming that we would suspend downloads, alongside stating that we were very much interested in a Steam release, along with a few questions."
6 months after this correspondence, the TF2C team announced that Valve had completely ghosted them. In those 6 months, they had no received a single email. They proceeded to announce that they would be resuming downloads.
Fast forward over 2 years later to February 21st of 2024, and a prominent TF2 mapper was given a tour of Valve. He was given an interview with Eric Smith. The mapper posted a rough set of notes from his interview with Eric Smith on the Knockout Forums.
Note: Unfortunately, the Knockout Forum website is written in such a way that breaks scrapers, so the WayBack Machine won't work. Here are the raw notes, copy/pasted straight from the forum. The OP seems to have deleted them at some point and overwrote them with a less detailed rundown of his tour. Fortunately, they were preserved some troon replying to his initial comment.
Eric Smith Q&A
2024 Summer update is planned (I don't remember how commital it was, but he did seem intent on it as likely to happen)
Not as big as 2023 (smaller like other holiday updates)
-Eric Mentioned there's lots of things they'd like to do, as in a "would be cool" but not in a "definitely will happen" sort of way
Mentioned 7th comic (please do not take this as "will definitely happen" but more of "we're aware fans really want this"
Mentioned other "white whale" type stuff
How Valve Picks maps
They look for maps that are fun and interesting
They look at maps in all time periods, not just the most recent
They do internal playtests with level designers and artists to get opinions
New ideas are appreciated
Various things
64 bit update mostly spearheaded by Joshie
The update is mostly for maitenance and forward thinking, not the start of anything big
Vscript requests are read and even considered for implementation
Valve has noticed hybrid gamemodes and do share a bit of interest in supporting making them work
Eric Personal Q&A
Eric's favorite class is the pyro
He likes supporting engineers and roasting spies
He finds it very therapudic to burn things
Eric's other work involves all sorts of things
He does communication for TF2
He does programming work on TF2
He's done a bit of work on Steam Deck, Specifically ratings
Coordinates with game devs on supporting it
??? ask Eric more
Eric worked on the Payload code in TF2
Eric really likes VR and how it immerses you into the game worlds
Eric did work on Half Life Alyx
??? ask Eric more
Eric's semi aware of his celebrity status
He sees himself as mostly a coordinator with the community doing most of the work
Eric does read all his emails and tries to get back with people as much as he can
If he didn't reply to a genuine email it's likely because he didn't see it. Valve's email filter can be aggressive.
Impressions (things not specifically mentioned but vibes I got. All conjecture in this section
Eric is really enthusiastic about TF2 and what the community has done
Eric's very aware of all the "lost" TF2 media such as the comics
Nothing big big for TF2 seems planned, mostly maintenance and holiday sized updates
Work on TF2 seems to be on a "as needed" basis with people coming and going rather than any active development
Eric seems pretty smart with handling cameras
Open Fortress and TF2 Classic
Eric was extremely adamant that they hadn't forgotten "the arrangement" and are actively working on it (Even saying he worked on it yesterday (2/20/24))
Eric mentioned "this year" (but doesn't want to be held to that!)
Eric specified that they were working on "finishing it" rather than it being mid development
The arrangement seems to be just more than TF2C and OF but rather a way in general for those sorts of things to exist
Covid Sidetracked "the arrangement"
I have no clue about what the nature of "the arrangement" is
From the notes:
"Open Fortress and TF2 Classic
Eric was extremely adamant that they hadn't forgotten "the arrangement" and are actively working on it (Even saying he worked on it yesterday (2/20/24))
Eric mentioned "this year" (but doesn't want to be held to that!)
Eric specified that they were working on "finishing it" rather than it being mid development
The arrangement seems to be just more than TF2C and OF but rather a way in general for those sorts of things to exist
Covid Sidetracked "the arrangement"
I have no clue about what the nature of "the arrangement" is"
Digging through the timeline, it would appear that this saga had been going on for 3.5 years. From the date Valve demanded TF2C from being taken down, to the date the SDK was actually released. Holy hell. I couldn't find any sources whether or not Valve responded to the TF2C Team at any point between the SDK release and Fall of 2021. Regardless, Valve Time is undefeated.
Digging through the timeline, it would appear that this saga had been going on for 3.5 years. From the date Valve demanded TF2C from being taken down, to the date the SDK was actually released. Holy hell. I couldn't find any sources whether or not Valve responded to the TF2C Team at any point between the SDK release and Fall of 2021. Regardless, Valve Time is undefeated.
Its appears that Eric had been working on this SDK release all the way back in 2020; possibly earlier. (I don't know how Covid could "sidetrack" something in 2021.)
Another conspiracy that is possible since you can have entire inventories carrying over is the tranny Jannies and youtubers making their own updated version of the game complete with gamewide server blacklists and mandatory ai chat detection that bans you for gamerwords for hours, then attempting to funnel the remaining playerbase into their heavy guarded gated hugbox.
In non-SDK related happenings, the update that coincided with it added Steam Networking to TF2, i.e. a checkbox to enable SDR (think Hamachi but by Valve, this is what's powering Kiwi Fortress). The setting is on by default, so if you mindlessly click through Create Server from the main menu of your game, your session can now be found through the Community Browser. Have fun joining random people's tr_walkways and itemtests, genuinely fun stuff. The default name is "$username's Server". Lots of them have sv_cheats on even.
If you want something more interesting, look for cp_towdar. It's a jet black map with a push force and a damage field made for idle bots. Quick check on Teamwork.TF's browser. The bots are stuck in spec so maybe it's broken? The map is clearly intended to farm drops because you only get them when you die. Some of the accounts there have been alive since 2013.
Trade bots are also visible, though some of them are smarter and set the maxplayer count to 1.
