Team Fortress 2

[Jack Brickman]

Oh yeah, and if you want to get some free weapons quick for the game, download the Steam Achievement Manager.

http://gib.me/sam/

Basically, if you enable certain achievements, you'll get the first set of new weapons for each class that were released. I've used this on my two alt accounts to get those weapons right away since otherwise you're either relying on random drops or the kindness of friends and/or strangers to get those weapons. I'll edit this in a few with the achievements needed to unlock the weapons.

Of course, you can also try to get the achievements the legit way like a lot of us did back when the original weapon update was released, but it might take a while and, given how much has been added to the game since then, it's really better to just get whatever additional weapons you can as soon as you can. There are a million other achievements you can focus on getting legitimately should you be so inclined.

Here's the list:
Medic Milestone 1
Medic Milestone 2
Medic Milestone 3
Pyro Milestone 1-3
Heavy Milestone 1-3
Scout Milestone 1-3
Sniper Milestone 1-3
Spy Milestone 1-3
Soldier Milestone 1-3
Demoman Milestone 1-3
Engineer Milestone 1-3

 

[Stark]

Yeah I'll be sure to look into this. I'm sure I'll have a chance to get on a bit later.

 

[TyGuy]

Source 2 will be using the new vulkan api. Which appears to be open gl's answer to dx 12 and mantle. I'm hearing that both cs go and tf2 will be ported to source 2. Tf2 actually stands to benefit because you will be flying along at over 200 fps, but if there is a lot of shit going on in a 32 player server on certain maps you will get a pretty jarring drop to 50 ish fps. Source is a bit long in the tooth and I believe only has support for two threads in dx 9.

https://www.khronos.org/vulkan

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

I think i bought a 35 cent weapon in the TF2 shop to get sponsor status or w/e its called..worth it for the increase in drops and whatever other perks you get

 

[Jack Brickman]

I think i bought a 35 cent weapon in the TF2 shop to get sponsor status or w/e its called..worth it for the increase in drops and whatever other perks you get

You should get the Gunmetal Campaign ticket. It's pretty fun. You get two contracts a week to complete and you get weapons for completing them. They also stack, so if you join now you'll get the same amount of contracts as someone who joined on day one like I did. You won't get them all at once, but after completing one you'll get another one within an hour or so until you're all caught up. The contracts are all pretty easy, but still kind of fun and a change of pace. They occasionally force me to play classes I don't play often and, thus, aren't great at (like Pyro).

It's also fun when I get a Sniper contract and can complete it in like three minutes.

Here are some of the weapons I've gotten from the campaign:

The Mayor

Citizen Pain

Night Terror

The Backwoods Boomstick

Carpet Bomber

Lightning Rod

 

[SixPACK]

How good was "michelle obama's right nutsack" in that 3rd picture?

 

[Jack Brickman]

Since I know some of you guys are just getting into TF2, I thought I'd make you a list of the maps to focus on since there are so fucking many. Obviously everyone will have their personal opinions, but some TF2 maps are just kind of shitty while others are pretty universally loved. I'm taking a pub game sort of view on these maps rather than a competitive one, since I doubt any of you guys are planning on jumping into 6v6 comp play any time soon, and those maps have a totally different set of requirements than 24-person pubs. I'm also only listing official maps here so you guys don't have to download anything (although TF2 will auto-download maps that you don't have so long as the server has that feature enabled).

First off, each map starts with a couple of letters followed by an underscore that indicates what type of map it is.
CP = Push or Attack/Defend Maps, both of which involve capturing control points (in the former, both teams are trying to capture all points).
PL = Payload, where one team tries to push a cart to the end and the other tries to stop them.
PLR = Payload Race, where each team has a cart and is trying to push it to the other side of the map simultaneously.
KOTH = King of the Hill.
CTF = Capture the flag, or the intelligence briefcase in TF2.
ARENA = Basically just deathmatch. I don't think anyone really plays this mode. I haven't played an arena map in years.
SD = Special Delivery. There's only one map (and a Halloween re-skin) of this mode and it sucks.
RD = Robot Destruction. Both teams try to destroy robots wandering around in the other team's base.
MVM = Mann Vs. Machine. Basically horde mode. This is a separate game mode, so you can't just join these maps in the server browser.

Best Maps:
cp_dustbowl
cp_gravelpit
pl_badwater
pl_goldrush
ctf_turbine
cp_badlands
cp_granary
cp_well
ctf_well
plr_pipeline
plr_hightower
cp_fastlane
cp_freight
cp_steel
cp_gullywash

Okay Maps:
koth_viaduct
ctf_doublecross
cp_5gorge
cp_coldfront
cp_gorge
pl_barnblitz
pl_thundermountain
pl_upward
plr_nightfall_final
koth_nucleus
pl_frontier
cp_degrootkeep (this is a melee-only map...dumb but fun)

Shitty Maps:
ctf_2fort
sd_doomsday
cp_egypt_final
cp_junction_final
tc_hydro
pl_hoodoo_final

There are also a couple of new maps from the update a few weeks ago that I haven't really gotten to play much yet:
cp_powerhouse
cp_snowplow
koth_suijin

Anyway...just avoid the shitty maps as much as possible and try to give all the others a shot. You can filter for certain maps when you do a search, which is a good way to try some new ones since there are so many maps available and the average person probably wouldn't know to find them all. You can also use the in-game interface to find Valve servers running certain game types, but the problem is that they include every map of that game type, and all the rotations have some shitty maps in them. Of course, you can vote on the next map, but sometimes getting a majority of random players in a server to agree on swapping to a good map next, even if the next map in the rotation (they go alphabetically) is garbage, is impossible.

 

[batdan]

Since I know some of you guys are just getting into TF2, I thought I'd make you a list of the maps to focus on since there are so fucking many. Obviously everyone will have their personal opinions, but some TF2 maps are just kind of shitty while others are pretty universally loved. I'm taking a pub game sort of view on these maps rather than a competitive one, since I doubt any of you guys are planning on jumping into 6v6 comp play any time soon, and those maps have a totally different set of requirements than 24-person pubs. I'm also only listing official maps here so you guys don't have to download anything (although TF2 will auto-download maps that you don't have so long as the server has that feature enabled).

First off, each map starts with a couple of letters followed by an underscore that indicates what type of map it is.
CP = Push or Attack/Defend Maps, both of which involve capturing control points (in the former, both teams are trying to capture all points).
PL = Payload, where one team tries to push a cart to the end and the other tries to stop them.
PLR = Payload Race, where each team has a cart and is trying to push it to the other side of the map simultaneously.
KOTH = King of the Hill.
CTF = Capture the flag, or the intelligence briefcase in TF2.
ARENA = Basically just deathmatch. I don't think anyone really plays this mode. I haven't played an arena map in years.
SD = Special Delivery. There's only one map (and a Halloween re-skin) of this mode and it sucks.
RD = Robot Destruction. Both teams try to destroy robots wandering around in the other team's base.
MVM = Mann Vs. Machine. Basically horde mode. This is a separate game mode, so you can't just join these maps in the server browser.

Best Maps:
cp_dustbowl
cp_gravelpit
pl_badwater
pl_goldrush
ctf_turbine
cp_badlands
cp_granary
cp_well
ctf_well
plr_pipeline
plr_hightower
cp_fastlane
cp_freight
cp_steel
cp_gullywash

Okay Maps:
koth_viaduct
ctf_doublecross
cp_5gorge
cp_coldfront
cp_gorge
pl_barnblitz
pl_thundermountain
pl_upward
plr_nightfall_final
koth_nucleus
pl_frontier
cp_degrootkeep (this is a melee-only map...dumb but fun)

Shitty Maps:
ctf_2fort
sd_doomsday
cp_egypt_final
cp_junction_final
tc_hydro
pl_hoodoo_final

There are also a couple of new maps from the update a few weeks ago that I haven't really gotten to play much yet:
cp_powerhouse
cp_snowplow
koth_suijin

Anyway...just avoid the shitty maps as much as possible and try to give all the others a shot. You can filter for certain maps when you do a search, which is a good way to try some new ones since there are so many maps available and the average person probably wouldn't know to find them all. You can also use the in-game interface to find Valve servers running certain game types, but the problem is that they include every map of that game type, and all the rotations have some shitty maps in them. Of course, you can vote on the next map, but sometimes getting a majority of random players in a server to agree on swapping to a good map next, even if the next map in the rotation (they go alphabetically) is garbage, is impossible.

Arena has a decent following if I remember right. If you get bored, give the arena 2fort scene a shot, there's so many play styles that work under a arena structure. Limited hp packs encourages you to stick by your team or medic when making a push on an enemy base. It involves playing smart and choosing your fights carefully, or else thinking about what you did wrong in spectate lol.

2fort, Egypt, and doomsday are really fun for goofing around with a couple buddies. The choke points in 2fort are such a cluster fuck at times, it helps not to get emotionally involved. I've made that mistake before haha.

This game is a complete blast. I'm deeply satisfied with the time I've put into pubbing, meeting new people, and lobbying every once in awhile. It's almost a timeless game to me.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Arena has a decent following if I remember right. If you get bored, give the arena 2fort scene a shot, there's so many play styles that work under a arena structure. Limited hp packs encourages you to stick by your team or medic when making a push on an enemy base. It involves playing smart and choosing your fights carefully, or else thinking about what you did wrong in spectate lol.

2fort, Egypt, and doomsday are really fun for goofing around with a couple buddies. The choke points in 2fort are such a cluster fuck at times, it helps not to get emotionally involved. I've made that mistake before haha.

This game is a complete blast. I'm deeply satisfied with the time I've put into pubbing, meeting new people, and lobbying every once in awhile. It's almost a timeless game to me.

I just feel like there are so many better maps than 2Fort. Hell, if you want a choke point heavy map that's also CTF, just play Turbine. It's much more fun. Well CTF has grown on me a lot too. I wouldn't want to play it with a bunch of good players because it'd be too easy to just lock down your base, but it's fun in pubs.

Are we Steam friends? If not, you should add me.

 

[Jack Brickman]

So apparently Valve partnered with Bad Robot (JJ Abrams' production company) to release a new beta game mode for TF2.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I haven't checked it out yet but I will tonight and will post impressions.

 

[Jack Brickman]

http://www.teamfortress.com/gargoyles_and_gravel/

 

[Brandname]

Wish they didn't convert every server during these events. Sometimes I just want to get on and still play Badlands or Process.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Wish they didn't convert every server during these events. Sometimes I just want to get on and still play Badlands or Process.

They don't convert every server.

 

[Brandname]

They don't convert every server.

The only Valve servers showing up in my browser were the event servers.

 

[Jack Brickman]

The only Valve servers showing up in my browser were the event servers.

Valve servers are notoriously glitchy in the server browser. Sometimes nothing pops up for me, then a minute later when I search again twenty Valve servers pop up. The problem is especially prevalent with Virginia servers.

Also, are we steam friends? If not, we should be. I play TF2 all the time.