Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Team Fortress 2 : Wish List

It's been a while since I've actually written anything down. I've been inspired, however, by the recent Engineer update for Valves comical first-person shooter, Team Fortress 2. That, coupled with the Polycount class package contest, has gotten me thinking about potential alternate weapons / items for the nine malicious mercenaries.

Engineer : Now that the "final" class update is out, the Engineer is open for alterations to his shotgun, pistol, wrench, and buildings. With the 'shield' provided by the Engineers new Wrangler, I would like to see something in a stationary, buildable bunker. Whether it's a 'force field projector' or a giant slab of sheet metal, it should be twice the width of a sentry, to allow two people (the Engineer and one other) to use it as cover. This would replace the sentry as a defensive structure (that attacks for the Engineer) with a wall as an offensive structure (that protects players as they advance). It would, of course, need to be upgradable. Something starting around "chest" height (duck and cover!) that eventually provides full body cover (and has the potential of being shot through by friendlies). I'm thinking it would reduced damage from explosions, and recieve more damage from melee attacks...

Demoman : Sticky bombs are a nice trap, but most of them are laid about carelessly and forgotten, or fired as a primary shot and set off before they have a chance to stick. So why not develope some smart proximity mines? Reduce the ammo capacity, give them a sensory range, increase the ammount of time it takes them to prime, and maybe, just -maybe-, remove the friendly fire safety. This way, Demomen can set and forget (hopefully warning their team in advance of their location before they are primed), and the explosives will do their own Spy checking without the player having to remember where they left their bombs.

Heavy : Brass Knuckles. It can't get more simple then that. The Killing Gloves of Boxing already have a lowered fire rate, so it's hard to think of a draw back to wrapping your knuckles in cold iron. At the very least, it would increase damage. Though the Heavy may think it cowardly to punch itty-bitty men with anything more then his already massive ham hooks, I think he'd warm up to the idea if they were plated with a simple word or phrase (perhaps "SAND" and "VICH". Or, for the cartoony three fingers, "YOU DIE").

Medic : There are many out there afraid of needles. Frankly, I don't blame them. Especially when the Medic has a gun that fires them rapidly at a high velocity. An even more intimidating and dreadful thought is a German physician charging at you with an oversized syringe*. Replacing the Medics bonesaw, this giant injector could be used to extract health from enemies it hits, and inject it back into allies at a much faster rate then the Medi-gun. It could have a filling gauge much like the Soldiers Buff Banner, with a taunt kill filling half the gauge. While administering the healthy dosage, however, both the Medic and the patient would be momentarily immobilized.

Spy : It's hard to think of an adequate replacement for the Spys' backstabbing butterfly knife. Personally, I can't think of anything better suited then a straight razor* (like the barbers used to use, back in "The Day"). Now, stabbing someone in the back with a straight razor would prove to be difficult, if nigh implausable. So what if we gave the Spy a penchant for front slashing? Instead of 6x damage on a backstab, the straight razor would cause a critical hit and "bleeding damage" when striking from the front. I think this would make players less reliant on bumping into Spies in order to identify them.

That's all that really comes to mind for the time being. Perhaps I'll be hit with another epiphany at a later date. Here's to hoping Valve catches wind of some of my suggestions. In the mean time, I'd like to hear back on just how "perfect" or "game breaking" these ideas come across as.

*I realize that there are already skins made for these entries in the Polycount contest. I'm just not satisfied with the description of what these weapons can do.

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