Team Fortress 2 still alive :o

[user]

there goes a large amount of possible community

That's the one bad thing I can see. The player community can be split 3 ways now, between TF2, FF, and TFC (for those who refuse to move on).

[KungFuSquirrel]

That's the risk you take making a mod designed as a followup or remake to an installment that may or may not get a sequel. Trust me, I know how that goes.

This new style is the proverbial hotness personified in digital form.

[FrieChamp]

Thinking about it - it`s cool as TF:Source but as TF2? Looks like a dramatic change in concept to me, I think this just proves that the original TF2 as we saw it, is now officially dead. I hope it won`t be just a source port with a cartoony art style but something that will do it justice.

[Pericolos0]

a bigger version:

http://www.planethalflife.com/images/sc ... 714_01.jpg

[Thrik]

The original TF2 as we saw it was basically BF2 though, right Frie?

I'm personally glad they're (presumably) evolving what TF is known for: arcadey, crazy, team based fun. Perhaps a modern combat game with roles, voice communications and a commander would have been groundbreaking in 1999 (basically all TF2 had going for it), but now it's been done a million times.

And if you look at the information on Wikipedia about what TF2 was meant to be up until the last few days, you'll see that it practically reads like you'd expect the design document for BF2 to read. It's taken so long that the original goal has become redundant. And we've got BF2142 and Quake Wars coming soon which will further expand the serious role based military theme.

I guess the depths of time have clouded a lot of people's vision of how there really wasn't much to be excited about concerning TF2 until just now.

[Mazy]

fckn ace!

[Zeta]

shit, I LOVED no on lives forever... i honestly hope it feels something like that.

[JynxDaddy]

This looks great Hopefully Fortress will become popular again, Fortress Forev.. :wink:

[Thrik]

I just realised something.

He lives!

[FrieChamp]

The original TF2 as we saw it was basically BF2 though, right Frie?

I'm personally glad they're (presumably) evolving what TF is known for: arcadey, crazy, team based fun. Perhaps a modern combat game with roles, voice communications and a commander would have been groundbreaking in 1999 (basically all TF2 had going for it), but now it's been done a million times.

And if you look at the information on Wikipedia about what TF2 was meant to be up until the last few days, you'll see that it practically reads like you'd expect the design document for BF2 to read. It's taken so long that the original goal has become redundant. And we've got BF2142 and Quake Wars coming soon which will further expand the serious role based military theme.

I guess the depths of time have clouded a lot of people's vision of how there really wasn't much to be excited about concerning TF2 until just now.

I don`t think anyone believed that "if" TF2 will come out one day, it`s gonna be the game Valve showed in 1999, technology and gameplay wise. But there has always been the slim chance that Valve works on something seriously groundbreakingly awesome behind closed doors over the years. Anyway maybe it`s not too late and the TF2 they actually work on is THAT cool game, just different from what we`ve seen before, it just doesn`t seem to evolve into a big franchise but more a small project "that comes with hl2 - episode2 for PCs".

BF2 and other games most probably influenced Valve`s way of thinking about TF2, obviously the market changed during this 7 years period- I give you that

[Defrag]

well, they;re kind of being fucked over here. they made ff assuming that tf2 would never come out, and if it ever did, would be radically different from tfc. out of nowhere valve pulls tf2 out of their ass and its tfc with a different graphics style. there goes a large amount of possible community and diminishing the value of their hard work.

We're not fucked in the slightest. We have always known there was a possibility of Valve making TFC:S or TF2 reverting back to a traditional TF gameplay style. We made FF because valve has never stated they would fill the missing TF gap, so we decided to do it ourselves.

We've been reading between the lines for some time and it's been pretty hard not to notice the numerous valve visit reports from random people that were posted up on community sites, where they stated they had seen "well" amongst other maps in progress. Obviously they were just that, rumours, but other stuff has gone on that basically confirmed that such a thing was in the pipeline. The other rumour going around is that Valve basically pushed the boat out big time with TF2 but realised it wasn't working, so they scrapped most of the work and went back to traditional TF. Considering the dev cycle is now 7 years or so(ish?) it's pretty fair to say they have been likely superseded by numerous other games (battlefield series etc) in the area they were trying to occupy. I personally see this as something as a cop out. If they were confident in the game satisfying the hype and the long dev cycle, it would be fully priced and marketed as a separate game; instead, it looks like it's basically TFC:S with a new art direction and is priced reflecting this fact. I could definitely be wrong, but it's hard to tell for sure.

Although the art direction of TF2 is now radically different to pretty much everything out there, I would be surprised if the gameplay and abilities are a major departure from traditional TF. I think it looks great, but I'm having a hard time seeing myself playing it right now I guess. I'll buy it and play it, but the jury is still out on this. It looks like The Incredibles: Fortress or something.

Since they're making something that is much more akin to traditional TF I think it's fair to say we're competing for a similar market, but a market that is big enough to satisfy both games/mods. Valve have major clout and we cannot compete with them in terms of exposure or quality throughout, and I highly doubt they will give us any marketing themselves, but like I said on hl2.net, valve own the rights to TF and could've just shut us down so we can't be negative about this. Given the disparity between art direction and styles and the fact that FF will be free, I think we have a healthy change of making the mod popular. If valve had come out with a CS:S style port (i.e. same art direction, same style, same everything but saucified) then we'd be in a majorly grouchy mood at the moment. Instead, this has just confirmed what we already suspect. Believe me, we're not upset over this. The only reason I'm personally disappointed is because I expected so much more than TFC:S with pixar-style graphics considering the seven year dev cycle. Valve might just being coy with their creation and I don't doubt they'll have invented some cool new game modes and abilities, but I can't see it being hugely different from TFC:S other than the art side of things.

[user]

Considering the dev cycle is now 7 years or so(ish?) it's pretty fair to say they have been likely superseded by numerous other games (battlefield series etc) in the area they were trying to occupy. I personally see this as something as a cop out.

7 years? It's not like they were making a game engine or a sequel to some best selling game within that time period... no, those kind of things should never take priority, that's just silly.

[SnipaMasta]

7 years? It's not like they were making a game engine or a sequel to some best selling game within that time period... no, those kind of things should never take priority, that's just silly.

Actually, most of the engine was already built. There's a reason the Half Life 1 engine is collectively called "Gold Source". Also, Thief 3 took about 3 years to make, and that turned out to be an awesome game. I would say the same about Deus Ex: Invisible War, developed alongside but that was a crap sequel to the best selling game (I think it was?) of 2000.

[Defrag]

Considering the dev cycle is now 7 years or so(ish?) it's pretty fair to say they have been likely superseded by numerous other games (battlefield series etc) in the area they were trying to occupy. I personally see this as something as a cop out.

7 years? It's not like they were making a game engine or a sequel to some best selling game within that time period... no, those kind of things should never take priority, that's just silly.

Whatever, man. My point is simply that what TF2 was going to be has now been and gone and the current version of TF2 looks to be a throwback to traditional TF... after 7 years I think I have justification to be disappointed. I don't really care if Valve have released awesome games in the interim, they have the financing and manpower to work in several projects at once so I don't see that as justification for the direction TF2 has taken. I'm not going to say much more or criticise what I can't yet play or see, but the fact that it is being bundled as part of episode 2 speaks for itself. It'll probably be awesome, but I'm thinking not seven-years-in-the-making-with-far-reaching-and-revolutionary-concepts awesome.

[FrieChamp]

So Defrag, what will be different about Fortress Forever apart from it being free?