By John Walker on October 28th, 2010 at 2:55 am.
Grab your Jarate bottles, it’s about to get all Halloweeny. In the second, and thus now annual, All Hallows Eve update for Team Fortress 2, the game has added its first ever NPC boss monster. He’s the Horseless Headless Horsemann (indeed, a long lost member of the Mann family), and only appears in a new spooky map, Mann Manor. He’s randomly generated, and DOESN’T HAVE A HEAD… OR A HORSE. Cripes!
Mann Manor is a spooky “attack/defend map littered with exploding pumpkins”, created by Art Pass Contest winners, Tim Johnson and Alex Kreeger. It’s clearly going to be an interesting inclusion, what with that old dead Mr Mann causing trouble in a way TF2 hasn’t seen before.
There’s more in the update. There’s new “ghostchievements” (they’re not even trying with that one), along with last year’s “scarechievements” (at least that almost sounds similar). There’s a random drop in the Mann Manor map, the Haunted Halloween Gift. And there are of course more items in the Mann Co. Store, as well as a new “gift wrapping feature”. There’s also a second map from the other winners of the same compo, Mountain Lab.
This is all rather splendidly summed up on a very funny (I mean scary) page, here. The spooksome goings on last from tonight until the 8th November, where seasonal items will creepily vanish from the store (but continue to be wearable by those who’ve bought them).
28/10/2010 at 02:57 TCM says:
In before people complain TF2′s becoming an MMORPG.
28/10/2010 at 03:59 Narcotics says:
LOL I thought the exact same thing TCM, MMORPG TF2 GOGO!
28/10/2010 at 09:28 Freemon says:
It’s not an Mumorpuger. It’s a war themed hat simulator.
28/10/2010 at 11:44 qx says:
Which totally invalidates any such complaints yo!!
28/10/2010 at 03:07 Frank says:
Hidden page on clicking “Silas” (on the gravestone).
28/10/2010 at 06:37 MrEvilGuy says:
INTERESTING
The missing man in the middle of that picture means something. I’ll spend all night figuring out what it means!
28/10/2010 at 10:41 falco says:
what gravestone ? i cant find it i think … in the map or in this picture or what ?
28/10/2010 at 03:16 Jetsetlemming says:
I don’t like Mann Manor. It’s a whole lot more fun playing Blu than Red, Red’s spawn point is annoyingly oversized and takes a good 15 seconds to walk out of every spawn, and when you’re new to the map (It just came out after all) it takes much longer as there are a lot of looping side hallways that just come back around to the central point or exits. I spent like five minutes between my first death and seeing an enemy again.
But even playing as Blu, the second point is a massive spam zone. Very poor cover around the actual point itself, while Red spawn gets a very WELL defended overlook to it, while Blu poors in from a chokepoint perpendicular to Red’s area. It makes it hard for Red to keep Blu off the point but nearly impossible for Blu to survive once they reach it. If blood decals didn’t fade away that entire corner of the map from wall to wall and up to the ceiling would be coated in red by the end of the map. Even if Blu manages to take that the final CP is even more easily defended unless Blu is good enough to muscle in and spawncamp Red.
28/10/2010 at 10:51 Spyder says:
I agree – I hate the Mann Manor already for all the same reasons. How could such a flawed design win a competition?
28/10/2010 at 12:18 Delusibeta says:
@Spyder: Largely because Valve designed said layout. All the mappers had to do was decorate it. Ditto Mountain Lab. It’s Harvest/Harvest_Event again folks.
28/10/2010 at 20:03 yojin says:
Hey, you can stand on the roof of the second point and spam down (makes it easier to defend). Also there are sniper positions from the door and a few windows of the actual manor that cover the point as well. There’s also a one way door that will drop red from the manor to right behind the first point that’s great for spys and setting up ambushes.
It’s a complex map that’s only been out for a few days. If you want simple go fire up well or granary. People are going to hate on this map for the same reason they hate on yukon. It’s not a straight line and following the giant arrows is hard.
28/10/2010 at 03:19 Gritz says:
This game is basically a parody of itself now.
28/10/2010 at 04:21 DevilSShadoW says:
isn’t that what it always was?
28/10/2010 at 08:38 jon_hill987 says:
No, it used to be a parody of other games.
It used to be funny.
I think Valve should read this: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Uncyclopedia:How_To_Be_Funny_And_Not_Just_Stupid
28/10/2010 at 16:08 DrGonzo says:
Someone’s grumpy. I thought it was most definitely a spoof of itself. Or at least the first Team Fortress and all the Counter-Strikes and Modern Warfare’s. The fact that it seems to piss so many people off shows it works in my opinion.
28/10/2010 at 16:13 DrGonzo says:
I just bothered to click on that link. It’s really quite unfunny itself and wrong. And it falls flat on it’s first rule, ‘If something is coherent, and closer to the truth, it is funnier than pure nonsense.’ No! Often the funniest things make no sense and are impossible to explain why it is they are funny.
28/10/2010 at 03:32 dignitas says:
in before someone else from fake TCM tag says bad things about tf2 still getting attention
28/10/2010 at 03:50 TCM says:
Wait, fake tag?
In any case, I am mocking the people who claim TF2 is becoming an MMO. Not TF2 itself, it’s quite delicious.
28/10/2010 at 03:48 Moonracer says:
I still need to give this game a try. I liked multiplayer shooters a lot more when I couldn’t hear people talk. It makes it hard to want to identify as a gamer.
28/10/2010 at 04:52 P7uen says:
Couldn’t agree more old chum, and despite the actual words you hear, it really ruins the audioscape (for want of a better word) of the games.
28/10/2010 at 08:49 Rinox says:
You mean other people (like, the players) or the characters (their domination/killstreak/whatever lines)?
Cause you can mute the entire server in a matter of seconds in TF2. Or individual players if you feel like that.
29/10/2010 at 22:52 JimRyanor says:
Just turn disable voice (or possibly also turn voice receive all the way down) in the option menu and you’re set for life.
28/10/2010 at 03:53 Max says:
I hope Mann Mansion isn’t as bad as Jetsetlemming makes it out to be. I think that a large portion of the previous Halloween special’s success was due to harvest being a superb koth map, and thus not getting old during the entire weekend.
28/10/2010 at 07:51 bobdisgea says:
its worse than what he made it out to be.
28/10/2010 at 14:24 BobJustBob says:
It’s a great map. You’re seriously going to listen to someone who admits he gets lost?
“Oh no this new map sucks because I don’t have it memorized yet. Let’s go back to 2fort!”
28/10/2010 at 04:07 Scott says:
Remember that one time Valve promised a new game mode, something for the poor neglected medic, new training maps, balancing, and more?
But wait, we have hats! And only $9.99!
28/10/2010 at 08:57 Rinox says:
Yes, after years of free updates this is an OUTRAGE!! Jeez.
28/10/2010 at 09:07 subedii says:
I do indeed remember.Not just once, but several several times did they promise such things.
Also, they delivered them. In fact far more than they ever promised, and in fact, more still than anyone was ever expecting from a 3 year old game, for free.
In short:
KHEEP CRYING BABY!
28/10/2010 at 09:17 Psychopomp says:
…the medic just got an ubersaw that lets him keep some uber after death
28/10/2010 at 04:07 Beach says:
Weird, I -just- uninstalled TF2 due to me getting bored of the same old same old.
Reading that gift drop almost made me redownload the entire 5gigs…
Hopefully you don’t have to pay to open it.
28/10/2010 at 04:12 Olivaw says:
How can you NOT love what’s happening to TF2 right now?
Shit is really starting to get nuts, and people are MAD about it? Fuck that shit, bring on the noise! I want all the different kinds of stupid nonsense you got, Valve!
28/10/2010 at 12:31 Delusibeta says:
If you excuse the console reference, it seems that there is Competitive Super Smash Bros Syndrome developing with certain sections of the TF2 community. (Look up Stop Having Fun Guys on TVTropes if you don’t know what I mean.)
28/10/2010 at 04:17 Fumarole says:
TF2 keeps getting weirder and weirder.
28/10/2010 at 07:26 dominic says:
thats wat make it unique and fun
28/10/2010 at 04:19 Last_to_go_mad says:
Just wondering, is anybody else not getting any progress on Candy Coroner and Attack O Lantern? I’m definitely doing what is required, but it doesn’t say that I’ve made progress on them. I was wondering if anybody else is having trouble with that.
28/10/2010 at 17:04 PleasingFungus says:
Pretty sure I filled the requirements for Costume Contest (the only one I didn’t get last year), but that didn’t trigger, either…
…my suspicion is that last year’s achievements are glitched.
28/10/2010 at 04:20 Miko says:
He has a head! It’s a pumpkin. Why isn’t he called the Horseless Headmann?
28/10/2010 at 04:33 Boris says:
Lol. Valve clearly needs to hire you. :)
28/10/2010 at 07:11 Qazi says:
That is the joke.. :P
When you get the Horseless Headless Horsemann’s Head hat its tagline reads, “He had one all along…”
28/10/2010 at 04:22 Chucrute says:
Must… Resist… Micro… Transactions…
28/10/2010 at 04:33 wererogue says:
Argh, I love TF2, but this Manly Man Man crap is getting really, really, really tired – ever since I read that article by ChemicalAlia and tried out her models, the game just screams “my creative director is too insecure to make any content for women.” The whole MannCo thing makes it ten times worse, even though I think it’s a pretty good business decision to sell content that way.
28/10/2010 at 04:42 Grape Flavor says:
FEMINISM, everybody!
Not understanding the concept of “humor” since 196X!
28/10/2010 at 05:11 DJ Phantoon says:
Hello, what am this game set in the 1960s. Feminism not an issue for caveman. Caveman moved on but not addressing issue, because caveman moved on. Not pretending issue not exist, issue just not exist in game.
28/10/2010 at 06:42 MrEvilGuy says:
ONLINE FORUMS, everybody!
Not understanding the concept of “feminism” since before Grape Flavor was born!
28/10/2010 at 08:00 Thants says:
wererogue: Too insecure to make any content for women? Who says that this isn’t content for women, as well as men? Who are you to tell all women what content is intended for them?
28/10/2010 at 08:09 Grape Flavor says:
@ Thants
lol, yeah. I would argue that wererogue is too insecure about gender issues to enjoy a ridiculous, facetious video game just because it has male character models, and a backstory involving a ridiculous, parodically masculine character.
I think the fact that no one craps up internet forums on Perfect Dark or Metroid forums shouting “ARGH! DAMN YOU NINTENDO! WHY ARE YOUR DESIGNERS TOO INSECURE TO MAKE ANY CONTENT FOR MEN?!?!, is extremely telling.
28/10/2010 at 08:14 Grape Flavor says:
@MrEvilGuy
“ONLINE FORUMS: Not understanding the concept of “feminism” since before Grape Flavor was born!”
What online forums? Cork bulletin boards, maybe you meant? Mailing lists? Printed newsletters?
Your sarcastic reply attempt is fail.
28/10/2010 at 08:15 DJ Phantoon says:
Well.
The new Metroid game was pretty sexist. So that’s not a good example, yo.
28/10/2010 at 08:24 Grape Flavor says:
@DJ Phantoon
Nitpicking much? I’d rather you addressed the larger analogy than feebly try to change the subject by bringing up what, the worst game in an 11 game series?
28/10/2010 at 08:40 Lilliput King says:
Thants: Because women only want women in games, just like men only want men. Simple common sense.
28/10/2010 at 09:23 Casimir's Blake says:
@Liliput
Male Tomb Raider fans would disagree.
28/10/2010 at 09:27 Saiko Kila says:
If they made “rape move” I’d be interested…
28/10/2010 at 11:08 Grandstone says:
@wererogue
I always thought the point of all the Manly Man Man MAAAAAAAN stuff to mock that kind of excessive machismo. Do you think it’s more nuanced than that?
Of course, it’s silly that these circular non-arguments explode over the mere expression of a vaguely feminist thought.
28/10/2010 at 16:49 MrEvilGuy says:
@Grape Flavor
What?
Either this is some UK joke I don’t get, or you took my post too literally.
My point, is that you, and many others, don’t understand the concept of feminism, and that this is quite apparent on online forums in general.
And I don’t accept any objection about being able to understand it and joke about it. To me, that is extremely unlikely, and trolling to the max.
28/10/2010 at 17:43 dysphemism says:
@Grandstone
You struck the nail within its designated strike zone. Feminism in games is more multifaceted than a directive to include female characters, though that surely factors into it, just as feminism in the larger scope can address gender roles of both men and women. Mann Co is a camp portrayal; it’s a funny send-up of specific aspects of male gender norms. I don’t think there’s anything particularly anti-feminist about it, unless you’re missing the satire.
That said, “feminism” isn’t a dirty word, and it isn’t an outdated concept.
29/10/2010 at 04:13 Sir Derpicus says:
I see the RPS crowd is still good at discussion about the important things in life.
Every single one of you could’ve been playing a game instead of talking about special people with vaginas, you know that?
…Who am I kidding, let’s talk about deep frying next.
29/10/2010 at 04:21 Grape Flavor says:
@MrEvilGuy
For one, I’m not from the UK, that’s apparent by the way I spell “flavor”.
I know it’s a hard concept for many to understand that people might disagree with you AND not be uninformed at the same time. I understand the concept of “feminism” very well, thank you. It’s quite an interest of mine, actually. And I’m perfectly free to mock it and/or despise it as I please.
Of course, it’s entirely possible, even likely, that we have entirely different concepts of what the word “feminism” implies. In fact I am an equity feminist myself, but the bulk of feminism in the Western world today is the OTHER sort of feminism, and so I usually refer to it in short as simply “feminism”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_and_gender_feminism
29/10/2010 at 04:30 Grape Flavor says:
@Sir Derpicus
Frankly I had hoped the feminist lot would have followed Mr. Gillen out in a mass exodus from RPS and we could be done with this crap. But alas, the asinine political posturing over silly innocuous videogames continues unabated.
28/10/2010 at 04:49 A-Scale says:
Can anyone confirm whether the Scottish Resistance bombs being visible through walls is new? Or at least that they look different?
28/10/2010 at 09:16 Qazi says:
@ A-Scale -
It isn’t new new. However they “Fixed glows not drawing correctly when using antialiasing on some computers.” this update.
28/10/2010 at 17:35 A-Scale says:
I’m so happy! My GTX 260 hasn’t displayed it up till this point. It makes the ScoRes useful, and with the glowing carts its like cheating! The whole game is changed!
28/10/2010 at 05:34 Mandla says:
Dear Valve,
When you first announced TF2, I was overjoyed. When I took a 2 year sabbatical from gaming, and returned home, and found TF2 still being played by a bunch of people, my joy was greater.
When I look at the support and upkeep that TF2 is still getting from valve and from the community, my joy is without parallel.
28/10/2010 at 05:48 DerShcraa says:
OT:
I guess I’m one of the first victims of Steam DRM.
About a month ago i decided to delete my Google account (GMail, Youtube etc.).
After realizing that my Steam account is tied to my non existant Gmail account I tried to re-open it, which is not possible.
For one month i have been trying to get Steam support to verify my new E-Mail Acct., but all they have done is CHANGE my password and never send me a mail with my new one.
+30 games gone. Go figure.
28/10/2010 at 08:07 mbp says:
Bet they sent the email to you old gmail account!
By the way you can change the email address in the account settings once you log into Steam. Once you get a working password you can sort this easily.
28/10/2010 at 10:37 sneetch says:
Jinkies, medic! What a groovy update!
I love the bottom picture, pure Scooby-Doo!
With guns!
28/10/2010 at 10:40 sneetch says:
Woah, mis-clicked an mis-replied, nothing to do with Steam/Gmail woes.
I did have a similar issue with a cancelled account but I logged into Steam and updated my email details which you can’t do anymore as they’ve changed your password so I know, I know, that information is about as much use as a chocolate teapot to you, DerShcraa.
28/10/2010 at 11:39 jalf says:
One of the first?
Hardly. And you won’t be the last either.
It sure would be nice if Steam actually provided some kind of customer service. But that’s not likely to happen any time soon. I expect it to happen shortly after GFWL becomes usable… Which… could be a while.
28/10/2010 at 12:23 AlexW says:
DerSchraa, you’re not a ‘victim’ of Steam’s user account protection systems by deleting your own e-mail account without switching Steam over, just like you’re not a victim of gun crime if you shoot yourself in the mouth with a flare gun. You should have changed it before you deleted the old account. However, Valve will probably be gracious enough to complete the move over if you contact their customer support and demonstrate proof of identity (probably with credit card statements to prove that you own the card that bought the games on the account, or something like that).
28/10/2010 at 13:04 noobnob says:
Yeah, as long as you prove that you’re the owner of your account, you shouldn’t have any problems. A screenshot of your transactions on Steam should do the trick. When I did that, customer support changed my email in a matter of minutes. On a weekend. Makes me wonder if Steam support is as bad as people claim or people just refuse to read the KB articles in the support page.
28/10/2010 at 13:16 jalf says:
Man, you guys are almost as helpful as Steam support.
Did you see what he wrote?
Sounds to me like he *has already* contacted Steam support. Sounds like they weren’t “gracious” enough to fix the problem.
28/10/2010 at 05:55 Polysynchronicity says:
TF2-related info:
The Horseless Horsemann only spawns on Manor when there are a few people playing (lowest I saw it happen was 12)
Presents randomly spawn on Manor, again when the server has enough people on it
Being the first person to grab the present when it spawns will get you an achievement and a random paper mask with one of the 9 classes on it. Grab multiple presents to get multiple masks.
To get the Saxton Hale mask and achievement, combine 1 of each class mask together at once.
Being one of the last people to hit the Horsemann before he dies will get you an achievement and his head to wear as a hat
Doing the same with a MELEE weapon will get you the above _and_ a second achievement _and_ Unusual Haunted Metal.
You can craft a haunted axe (same stats as the Eyelander) with Unusual Haunted Metal + 2 Refined Metal + a Scotsman’s Skullcutter
28/10/2010 at 07:08 Qazi says:
@Polysynchronicity –
Also SUF is reporting 4 Refined Metal + 1 Unusual Metal = 1 Random (New) Halloween Themed Hat.
Which I assume is the Spine Chilling Skull or Voodoo Juju. It seems we can only get one Ususual Haunted Metal each as its tied to the Gored! achievement. Be careful in deciding what to do with your Haunted Metal. :/
28/10/2010 at 10:51 Rinox says:
This no doubt means that metal prices will go UP UP UP!
Let’s see if I can trade some hats for refined metals. *grin*
28/10/2010 at 14:34 subedii says:
Given how hard people work for them, economists really ought to look into the hat based economy model.
28/10/2010 at 07:47 pupsikaso says:
Does anyone like this map? It just doesn’t feels so… different from what Valve would make.
28/10/2010 at 09:09 Caleb Lesher says:
Well, it wasn’t made by anyone at Valve, so . . .
28/10/2010 at 10:38 Man Raised By Puffins says:
The community did the art pass, but the base map is Valve designed. Or at least I think that’s how the Artpass contest worked.
28/10/2010 at 07:50 Lipwig says:
The picture for this article looks really good on the current advertisement background end post.
28/10/2010 at 12:03 subedii says:
Huh. So it does.
It’s a shame it’s not related to PC games in any way.
28/10/2010 at 13:44 Rick says:
@subedii
It will be, if Schafer decides its been successful enough to bring to PC.
28/10/2010 at 10:53 Davie says:
RED and BLU called a ceasefire, everyone went Demoman, and we lobbed a couple of hundred stickies onto the final control point, detonating them simultaneously when the Horsemann appeared. It was the best.
28/10/2010 at 10:53 The Hammer says:
Ooooh, a reason to go back to TF2, if only for the weekend! Is the haunted house lavished with detail? It doesn’t sound like it’s up to the standards as the rest of the game’s levels, but it’s a free, seasonal slice of new stuff, isn’t it?
28/10/2010 at 11:29 Drexer says:
To all of you silly people saying bad things about the Manor map layout…
It’s the same freaking layout as the artpass map.
If you want to complain about the layout complain to Valve, but all the maps were built over the same basic layout. I personally have some problems with the aspect of the map, but those are aesthetic decisions not layout decisions.
Silly people that only half-read the contest rules.
28/10/2010 at 12:44 airtekh says:
Every time I get even slightly jaded with a TF2 update, Valve release another one, and I resume playing with renewed enthusiasm. It’s an endless cycle, and it’s got to the point where I’m neglecting my backlog of other games with alarming regularity.
It’s highly appropriate that this is a Halloween update, as with its release, I fear my very soul has been sucked into the game proper, and will stay there for all eternity (or at least until TF3 is released).
Curse you Valve. Curse you and your brilliant, brilliant game.
28/10/2010 at 13:21 pimorte says:
A hint: Always make sure someone else is fighting it first. If you shoot it when it doesn’t have a target it will lock on to you and chase you until you die or hit someone with weap3.
28/10/2010 at 13:28 Pijama says:
NPC boss monster?
Oh. Dear. Odin.
No. Just no.
28/10/2010 at 14:03 Monchberter says:
TAAAAAAAANNNKK!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, my mistake!
28/10/2010 at 14:05 panther says:
It killed me but hey, I got the achievement :D
28/10/2010 at 15:21 Arthur Barnhouse says:
I wish Valve would understand and respect the fact that I would like to have a life outside my apartment, and updates only playable on holidays force me to become a shut-in.
28/10/2010 at 15:36 Henk says:
You do know this lasts 11 days, during which you can play with the entire update?
28/10/2010 at 16:53 Arthur Barnhouse says:
I was mostly joking.
28/10/2010 at 15:45 Delusibeta says:
Bonus, non-Halloween related stuff includes an update to Coldfront and the inclusion of the Swamp Theme assets for mappers, a severe Rocket Jumper nerf, a Sticky Jumper for the Demoman, and “fixing Sandvich charge meter” which I presume removes the “eating sandvich using T doesn’t drain the meter” bug.
28/10/2010 at 17:20 Gr1mbum says:
Well its cool but not that big of a deal most servers have mods and admins that do this on a daily basis.
28/10/2010 at 17:35 EthZee says:
…
I WANT MEET THE PYRO
I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN, YOU FIENDS
(Still, this update looks excellent. BUT STILL ANGRY SHOUTY CAPS)
28/10/2010 at 18:30 Collic says:
Valve really know how to make an event interesting. The chaos caused by the boss running around is glorious.
28/10/2010 at 19:00 Arthur Barnhouse says:
I think you mean Ghoul-ious!
28/10/2010 at 22:10 mousearmy says:
Gore-ious?
28/10/2010 at 18:54 SuperZero says:
The Horseless Headless Horsemann is actually a demoman using the eyelander with 1-hit kill abilities plus more health per person.
:(
28/10/2010 at 18:55 SuperZero says:
Of course, it is still extremely fun to do, and it also looks very good
28/10/2010 at 20:57 Aoanla says:
*sigh*
29/10/2010 at 08:59 Cross says:
I want the ingame message when the Horsemann spawns to be “The Horseless Headless Horsemann has appeared, nothing to lose your head over, right?”