By John Walker on August 14th, 2009 at 12:37 am.
The TF2 Classless Update is now live. A rather pleasant surprise bunch of new bits and bobs appeared out of nowhere, and three days in seems ready to be rolled out. So now new hats, the new King Of The Hill game mode, and a bundle of new maps are yours to enjoy. In fact, there’s a ton of new tweaks and content to be found within.
EDIT: All the hats in a splendid pickyture too.
Tonight a new incarnation of Sawmill is announced as the third official CTF map. Which is my favourite mode, so GOOD. It joins the brand new King Of The Hill map koth_Viaduct (along with reworked ye olde maps koth_Nucleus and koth_Sawmill) in the new bundle. There’s also new community maps CP_Yukon and Arena_Offblast. And there’s much more to pour over, including perhaps most notably a 10 second team-wide critboost for capturing the flag. Check out the full long list here. Then immediately tell the internet of your rage about the reloading changes or similar.
Now go get some hats.
EDIT: Courtesy of our friends at PCG, all the hats!
14/08/2009 at 00:41 abhishek says:
Let me be the first to say: Thank God they included alpine maps for normal (non arena) play.
14/08/2009 at 00:49 Dante says:
Wow, a quick turnaround time on a Valve project, who knew?
King of the Hill mode sounds fun too, I’ll see you all online tomorrow!
14/08/2009 at 00:57 Da'Jobat says:
hurrrr now the furious battle against my connection as it downloads. also, what is up with the sandman becoming unable to stun uber-charged players? This is a worrying development.
14/08/2009 at 00:58 Mad Doc MacRae says:
The changes for the FAN and Sandman have me scratching my head – don’t know what to make of them.
I like the mild nerf on sapping teleporters, I might be go engineer again someday lol.
14/08/2009 at 00:58 Alex says:
Major changes the the scout’s weapons. The Force-a-Nature’s knockback doesn’t kill your momentum when hitting you from across the map any more, the Sandman’s stun effect has had a bunch of tweaks and confers a health cut instead of losing the double jump.
The pistol’s firing rate has been changed to avoid exploits and had its reload behaviour tweaked. It (and other clip based weapons) can have their reload animations interrupted at any point now if you need to start shooting again.
14/08/2009 at 00:59 Mr Popov says:
ENgineers wrenching a teleport repairs and removes sappers from both ends is a welcome change
14/08/2009 at 01:01 Joerdgs says:
Oh goddamnit, the update conflicts with the widely used SourceMod plugin. Now I can’t start my 3 TF2 servers until the SM team fixes it.
14/08/2009 at 01:06 Fullbleed says:
Great but I just can’t help but feel sad at the removal of the Heavy civilian. :( I would be so happy if valve purposely included civilian glitches again.
14/08/2009 at 01:08 Buxton says:
@Joerdgs – damn. Thanks for mentioning it though, now I know I’m not going crazy in failing to get mine to start up again after eagerly updating it.
I could always take back up my SM config files and remove it for a bit, as I’ll need to reinstall it again once they release the updated version anyway.
14/08/2009 at 01:25 JZ says:
Yay more phat loot. It’s becoming more and more like World of TF2 every day, not that I disapprove entirely.
14/08/2009 at 01:29 The_B says:
Anyone waiting for the RPS Community server to be updated by the way – we’re waiting on Multiplay to update the server for us.
14/08/2009 at 01:41 Davie says:
I like this update! It suggests that there will be future content even after they’ve finished all the class packs. All the new stuff looks great, although I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet.
Some of the gameplay changes seem a little unnecessary though. I noticed they fixed the rate of fire on the pistol, and I hope it isn’t especially slow, because it’s not very accurate and it was a big help for engineers to deal with enemies firing at their sentry from outside its range. If it’s slow and inaccurate, it won’t be nearly as useful.
Also, I noticed they removed the Sandman’s ability to stun ubercharged players. This was one of its most useful features in my opinion, and it seemed fair–it was the only way to directly counter an ubercharge. I was never one of those OMG TEH SANMAN IS OP people. So this kind of bugs me. But it’s not too big of a deal. I can’t wait to play the update.
14/08/2009 at 01:52 A-Scale says:
So all that secret content was for naught? No soldier update? No Engineer update? WHY!
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=936160&page=37
14/08/2009 at 02:08 MeestaNob! says:
Great update! Sandman not stunning ubers is gonna be controversial, as will Blutsauger healing effect not revealing cloaked/disguised spies.
Soldier is next, Engy Vs Demo will be last, mark my words.
14/08/2009 at 02:08 An Innocuous Coin says:
I hope I get a hat!
14/08/2009 at 02:13 Mike says:
When you lose… oh god. When you lose. So good. This game really does still make me smile, despite everything.
Hats still seem as unattainable as before though.
14/08/2009 at 02:19 J9 says:
I like (almost) all the changes from the descriptions, have to try them out in game yet and the new CTF and CP maps seem worth a try but this patch overall seems really buggy at the moment. I had a lot of servers getting odd errors on trying to join (not the normal patched vs not patched error) as well as a lot of random disconnects from servers and random bouts of lag when I did get into servers. Hopefully they’ll spot patch some of these more annoying issues. Overall I like the patch though.
14/08/2009 at 02:21 An Innocuous Coin says:
@Davie
Ahahahaha…I wouldn’t worry about pistols being slow. ;)
14/08/2009 at 02:30 Hybrid says:
I played a couple rounds of koth_Viaduct. It’s a great new map for an awesome mode.
14/08/2009 at 02:32 Da'Jobat says:
Loving KOTH, great gamemode and map. Did anyone else notice the new slot in the character bit? there is a misc slot as well as a head slot.
14/08/2009 at 02:55 DarkNoghri says:
@Joerdgs
Which SM plugin?
14/08/2009 at 03:01 amesace says:
like others, i’m not sure that the sandman being unable to stun ubered players is such a good thing
14/08/2009 at 03:03 TCM says:
Secret content led to Medal Gained.
I have no idea what it is or does, since I can’t get on TF2, but…Well, I have a medal, doc.
14/08/2009 at 03:09 Casimir's Blake says:
“Pistol now fires at a fixed rate, not based on the speed at which you press the firing button.”
Either a much-needed “nerf”, or a bloody annoying one. I think I’m leaning towards the latter… still, more TF2 is always good.
14/08/2009 at 03:38 coupsan says:
Pistol is useless now. :/
14/08/2009 at 03:54 Nimic says:
That pistol thing caught my eye as well. I’m a fairly quick clicker, and since I play (or used to play) lots of Engineer, the pistol has been fairly important, to say the least.
I haven’t played TF2 for a few months now, maybe it’s time to have another go at it (which will inevitably be followed by another break, followed by another go, etc, etc). How’s that hat thing worked out, anyway? Last time I played it had really just begun.
14/08/2009 at 03:54 PleasingFungus says:
Opposite of a nerf! The pistol is so much easier to use now.
Also: Hooray for updates, hooray for free new content! Was playing a ton on Viaduct, it’s great fun. Hooray! (Now to get some of those new hats… or, hm, perhaps any hats.)
(Got the Ubersaw as a random-drop earlier today; never got it through the Medic achievements. On the one hand: yes for Ubersaw! On the other hand… even if I earn it ‘legitimately’ later, it’ll be useless to me.)
(Hmmm.)
14/08/2009 at 04:10 Nakki says:
Why oh why did they nerf the sandman. This is sad.
14/08/2009 at 04:19 Josh Miller says:
How are you supposed to get “The Big Hurt” Achievement now if you can’t stun Ubercharged players?
14/08/2009 at 04:34 Sputnik says:
i agree with Josh Miller, there was an achievement for stunning uber’d players…
this really sucks, i love playing the scout: fast, with good firepower, i didn’t mind the lack of double jump with sandman, and now i got -30 HP! damn you Valve!
14/08/2009 at 04:39 bloodypalace says:
@ Josh Miller
You have to stun kritz’d medics now!
14/08/2009 at 04:42 sigma83 says:
I wasn’t aware stunned targets took 50% less damage, although it makes so much sense now.
I’m actually a little wonder-some about the teleport sap thing. I thought it was a good thing to have spies be able to reduce flow to the front lines in that way, although now that they can take teleporters it’s not such a big deal I guess.
14/08/2009 at 04:47 sigma83 says:
Re: The Sandman, I actually think it’s a great weapon. It requires skill to use, it has an obvious disadvantage, and it gives the scout some team utility a la Jarate.
I love Bonk! for the same reason. I use it to spot sentries and report their positions, and also to tank sentries for fellow demomen.
14/08/2009 at 04:49 Alex says:
I didn’t notice the chatter about the medals because I was in-game, but I sure would like a poster of the art they used on that page.
14/08/2009 at 05:02 Oak says:
I’m really happy with how this one turned out. The scout nerfs were more than welcome, Sawmill is getting some much-deserved attention, Viaduct is gorgeous, and the new critboost effect is neat.
I’m curious to see whether King of the Hill will be as divisive as arena, since it’s different enough from the “proper” game modes and utterly batty into the bargain.
14/08/2009 at 05:02 sigma83 says:
What was the medal _for_?
14/08/2009 at 06:00 coupsan says:
For people who were observant I guess. I got one of the medals only because my friend found the link or something.
14/08/2009 at 06:38 Concept says:
Yeah overall a good update, couple of nagging things though. I think a 30 health decrease for the scout is pretty harsh, but I love having double jump back, makes you really think about going head on with a heavy etc. Soldiers are even more deadly now.
CTF Sawmill is awesome, one of my favourite CTF maps now, intel room is nice and closed for a good defense. Plus 10 second kritz allows for a good sneak capture as soon as you’ve scored. The Kritz affect is good, although I miss the glowing jar of piss. Sandman updates are cool (right click to throw ball).
I’m disappointed that that was all though, I was expecting more. Oh well, I guess the soldier update will be soon.
14/08/2009 at 06:43 Howard says:
Looks like a good update all round. The Scout Nerf was definitely needed as Sandman was far too OP.
Only thing I can’t say I am totally behind is the Engie update. Being able to de-sap both ends of a tele seems a little too…easy I guess. I dunno, will see how it plays later today
14/08/2009 at 06:53 Alex says:
I don’t think being able to remotely kill the sapper is as overpowered at it seems. The engie can’t kill the spy who’s doing the sapping, and any attempt to keep on killing the sappers will take him away from his sentry.
14/08/2009 at 06:54 Mad Doc MacRae says:
It does sound like it may be too powerful, but the current state there’s nothing you can do to stop spies at all who are sapping your teleporter at the entrance. That kind of goes against Vavle’s design theory for TF2, that there should always be something you could’ve done differently to have thwarted the enemy. And spies can still be annoying by doing it at inopportune times or spamming it.
14/08/2009 at 07:26 Hyudra says:
I saw the sapper change as more of a buff. You can spam-sap while you’re at the entrance, and you’ll eventually destroy both entrance and exit, resetting the teleporters to level 1 for your trouble.
Sure, you’re at risk while you’re sapping it, but so’s he while he’s struggling to keep it mended.
14/08/2009 at 07:54 Carvell says:
# Sappers attached to a teleporter automatically place another Sapper on the other end of the teleporter, if it exists.
# Engineers wrenching a teleporter will repair the other end as well, and remove Sappers from both if they exist.
best thing about the entire patch!
14/08/2009 at 08:31 DarkNoghri says:
@Hyudra
You can only spam-sap the entrance if the respawning team is full of idiots. Wait, maybe that would work.
It might be easier to sap it once, then attempt a telefrag-and-sap on the nest.
14/08/2009 at 09:37 jon_hill987 says:
Apart from the hats (which I still hate*) this looks like a very worthwhile update. Looking at the change log it is clear that they have listened to a lot of the suggestions made by the TF2 community so well done Valve!
*I’m guessing I should be able to disable all the alternate headgear with a simple client side mod… Any ideas as to how (so I can still join a sv_pure 1 server)?
14/08/2009 at 09:38 Psychopomp says:
I’m willing to bet we get Day 4 tomorrow…
14/08/2009 at 09:50 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
I’m really pleased to see Valve adopt cp_yukon, another great map from the mappers at TF2Maps.net.
Not had a chance to play the update yet, but Yukon is a really fun 5-cp map.
14/08/2009 at 10:12 GibletHead2000 says:
I really like the sound of KotH… Enough I think to finally reinstall the game (it’s been off my HDD for about 3 months.)
The only problem is… What game to delete from my annoyingly-full disk… hmm…
14/08/2009 at 10:45 Dante says:
RIP my beloved Sandman.
Pyro juggling is now the only real counter to ubers, a shame as it’s far harder to pull off.
I didn’t even care for the double jump loss too, well I’ll just have to hope losing health matters not, as the scout is feeble enough anyway.
14/08/2009 at 10:46 Dante says:
The sad thing is that before the Sandman and Force I couldn’t abide the scout, they made him fun and useful and I actually enjoyed playing him, I hope they aren’t too depowered.
14/08/2009 at 10:48 Stuk says:
A very nice update. But my conspiradar is picking up a sneak soldier update today…
Damn, the TF2 team are amazing.
14/08/2009 at 11:06 Metal_Circus says:
HATS!!!!!!!!!!!!
14/08/2009 at 11:28 Lack_26 says:
That heavy hat, not the уша́нка (can’t remember the English name), is that a reference to firefly by any chance?
14/08/2009 at 11:29 Jon says:
Is that Jaynes hat from Firefly for the heavy?
14/08/2009 at 11:30 Jon says:
Damn! Beaten to it while I was typing.
14/08/2009 at 11:31 Howard says:
Ushanka is the English word. And I think it must be Firefly reference nice!
14/08/2009 at 11:32 Jacques says:
Just had a quick gander on a koth map with my engie, pistol change is very good, and the koth mode itself is fun.
14/08/2009 at 12:17 dAniel says:
Fun times on Turbine:
Standing with 6 critting players in front of the enemy spawn
14/08/2009 at 12:42 Malagate says:
That beard appears to have a camera in it…
…<3 hmmmmm, want…
14/08/2009 at 12:42 Guy says:
Camera beard.
CAMERA BEARD.
I LOVE YOU VALVE
14/08/2009 at 12:57 MrBejeebus says:
I WANT HAT
14/08/2009 at 13:01 Psychopomp says:
http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Tough_guy%27s_tuque
14/08/2009 at 13:03 Starky says:
Ushanka? Hmm, I think everyone in the world just calls it “the Russian bear hat”
14/08/2009 at 13:15 Howard says:
I’ve never called it that in my life but still..
Back to the actual game, I’ve just played KotH for a while. Jesus its bad. The maps look gorgeous but I just don’t see the fun in a tiny map like that. Its just a spawn kill fest
14/08/2009 at 14:07 Flappybat says:
Wasn’t the medal only available at some ridiculous time in the morning? Cheers Valve.
14/08/2009 at 14:23 Concept says:
I’m not sure about the medals, they’re rather confusing.
My FPS also has seemed to dropped dramatically… especially on KoTH.
14/08/2009 at 14:38 Idle Threats & Bad Poetry says:
There’s a soldier update coming! It isn’t certain, but I’d bet my bottom dollar on it! There’s talk about this on the official forums as well.
14/08/2009 at 14:54 Lack_26 says:
Yeah, the medal came out and went out while I was asleep. This is blatant, er… racism? on behalf of Valve.
14/08/2009 at 15:02 T. Slothrop says:
As a Pyro, the fact one of the new hats is one of his gloves makes me most happy, oh Gabe! I forgive you for Episode Three’s silence.
14/08/2009 at 15:03 Chemix says:
Janes Hat, YES FRAK YES!
14/08/2009 at 15:05 Rabbitsoup says:
the update is pure win best bit is the round lost animations where you run about in 3rd person flailing your arms. The sandman changes are welcome by most (even some of its users) as is the FAN nerf, although the fan is now UP to the scattergun without its magic knockback, not really a huge issue.
only bad thing (other than the whole inspect item thing and set up for WOTF2) is the 10 second kritz wft, why? thsi will ruin turbine.
KOTH is pure win, really like the fact that they have a whole bunch of arena maps to coonvert and the fact that it always ends up in the announcer going “overtime….overtime,overtime..overtime”
14/08/2009 at 15:41 Jayt says:
I doubt I’ll ever get a hat drop. Can Valve reward skill not luck?
14/08/2009 at 16:01 j says:
As someone that plays medic, the inability to spot a spy with a Blutsauger is crap. Spys are already overpowered and now medics cant spy check as easily, its all on pyro.
14/08/2009 at 16:04 Jacques says:
Concept, I’m also getting a lot of slowdown on the koth maps. Whacking all my graphical settings to the minimum hasn’t made a difference.
14/08/2009 at 16:05 PaulMorel says:
Now, if anyone other than those who run the fake idle program could get a hat, it would be swell.
14/08/2009 at 16:32 RC-1290'Dreadnought' says:
My impressions:
“OVERTIME!”
thumb-sucking scout!
“How did you just find 6 items?”
14/08/2009 at 16:35 Skinlo says:
Could someone explain the overtime thing to me ?
14/08/2009 at 17:26 Polysynchronicity says:
When one team is at 0:00 and the point is being capped/decapped (I don’t remember which) the announcer will scream “OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME! OVERTIME!”…
…you get the picture.
14/08/2009 at 17:32 Neut says:
Overtime!
14/08/2009 at 19:49 Wisq says:
Maybe now that there are a bunch of hats, they can try actually giving them out to people.
You know, us people who actually play the game a moderate amount and don’t use fake idle servers.
14/08/2009 at 20:04 coupsan says:
@Polysynchronicity
This is a beautiful thing and should never be removed.
15/08/2009 at 00:04 DK says:
It’s a bloody Jayne-hat for the Heavy! That’s the best thing about this update.
15/08/2009 at 00:04 Oak says:
As a Pyro, the fact one of the new hats is one of his gloves makes me most happy
I haven’t seen it in action, but I’m pretty sure this was meant to make the the pyro look like a chicken when combined with his loss animation.
15/08/2009 at 02:46 Mad Doc MacRae says:
@Oak – he won’t look anything like a penguin though.
I need the pyro-as-chicken hat and the Jayne hat.
15/08/2009 at 11:32 the_dancing_spy says:
The camera beard is something of beauty.
I wish they’d do something to imrpove the overall atmosphere of the game.. a thread I reade had some good ideas… like the signs flashing like they did in spy video.
Also, soldier update is definitely next. After all those blogs ‘written’ by the Soldier, this is a cert
15/08/2009 at 17:32 Mad Doc MacRae says:
The only real negative I can think of is on pipeline, where they made it so that if a team wins both earlier rounds, their cart starts halfway up the final ramp. It makes the most interesting part of the map horribly unbalanced in favor of what’s probably a better team, and also cuts even shorter the most interesting part of the map. Normally you don’t get a lot of time to play on it anyway, now you get zero time.