Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I’m dragged out of the joy of having a pet which I’ve trained to summon other pets in Torchlight by the B who informs me there’s been a stealth Halloween Team Fortress 2 update. Which is a fairly urgent thing to post anyway, made more so by news of a two-hour sale of TF2 for 2.49 (either dollars, euros or pounds). I stress, for two hours, which ends at 2pm PST. So imagine Valve returning from lunch to press a big red bargain-destroying button. Really, while I suspect most RPSites will have it already, at that price you may consider buying ‘em for friends for Christmas or something. Oh – the Halloween patch. Includes seasonal achievements, a new map and explosive pumpkins. No, really.

Oh yes. If you’re really in the mood for rushing, the first 10,319 people to go here get a free hat. Rush.

But it ain’t nothing without a postcard. This is quite the thing. It seems some people sent off the Spy vs Sniper coupon from a while back. They received Saxton Hale postcards in the mail. There appear to be five in existence, at least so far. A couple are in this thread. Three more are on this chap’s Flickr account. Also, for your convienience, here’s three smaller-resolution versions of the latter three below…
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Mr McRussell pointed Prop Hunt at me yesterday, and thinks it’s in agreeably spirit of the mother game. I have to concur. One team spawns as a variety of bits of scenery. The other spawn as pyros. The latter hunt the former. Hilarity ensues. I found the Steam Thread including a list of handy servers playing it courtesy of Shacknews. And you’ll find videos of barrels running desperately around below…
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The above letter’s been posted on the TF2 blog. It’s an order form for an “Item Retrieving, Cannon-Appended Canine Unit”. Discuss.

I’ve been out of the TF2 scene for a few months now, as all that focus on achievement-whoring and increasingly technical play turned me off the game somewhat – paranoia I couldn’t keep up with The Kids as much as anything else. However, the combination of a masterful marketing effort and the promise of new toys that didn’t require incredi-skill or soulless grinding to attain lured me back in today. Clearly, I’ve had a great time – the current free weekend means there’s a palpable excitement on the servers, and some of the community maps that have sprung up during my time in the wilderness are pretty spectacular. (There’s one with biplanes in the sky and an underground ice cave which was particularly gorgeous). The new weapon unlock system though – not so keen, and you may have caught some folk venting in our other TF2 threads.

Top bit of info to know before your bonce explodes in rage, however – I bounced a quick mail to Valve’s very own Saxton Hale, TF2 lead-guy Robin Walker, who reckons there’s some sort of bug in the system that’s meaning people aren’t getting unlocks even after hours of play. “Not at all how it’s tuned,” apparently. Which is, I think, the first time I’ve been relieved to hear a game has a bug – it means the problem will get fixed. Read on for my thoughts on the change and word on how it’s supposed to work from the goodly Mister Walker.
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The Hivemind keeps muttering to itself “let’s not give each of the TF2 sniper/spy updates its own post, but instead do a round-up of the lot once it’s all been revealed.” No other game gets this kind of treatment from us, after all. Annoyingly, Valve seem to have read our cynical minds, and have ensured that each and every info-drip is too significant or rampantly hilarious to ignore.

Like today’s Jarate reveal, turning a former April Fool’s gag into foul-smelling reality. Perhaps the Sniper being able to throw a tub of wee that temporarily increases the amount of damage his enemies take isn’t all that big a deal in the grand scheme of gaming, bar the initial hilarity/disgust of the concept. But the accompanying comic – oh, now that’s something that deserves a dozen posts all of its own.
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It’s here! It’s very funny! It’s absurdly violent! It’s like Poirot with more splattered brains! It’s one of the most incredibly-animated things I’ve ever seen! It even includes ‘your mum’ gags! It’s been unofficially leaked in low res! It’s… Meet The Spy!

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I don’t believe we’ve yet posted about the most recent Team Fortress 2 patch. Y’know, the one with the mysterious 50-item backpack and new slot for head items. SECRETS!

The reaction to this strong hint of future collectables seemed to be half “ooh!” and half “uh-oh”, but until now there hasn’t been much word on exactly what these new toys would be for. Hints are trickling in…
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Baseball pre-season begins. And the Scout Update goes live. After the vote to see in which order the unlocks should be added, the order is announced. It’s Force-A-Nature first, then The Sandman, then finally the Bonk Energy Drink. You can read all the details of all the updates with this handy link.

Valve have also announced 50% off the price of TF2 until Friday (and presumably 320% more dosh for Valve). That makes it £7 in the UK, 10€ in Europe, and $10 in the US. We don’t know if there will be a free TF2 weekend this weekend, as has previously happened with updates, but have contacted Valve to find out. So let us know your experiences of the new Scout below.

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As spoilerised last week, the last Scout weapon upgrade has been officially announced by Valve, the Force-A-Nature. “Anything this baby hits better PACK A LUNCH, ’cause it’s going for a ride!” It’s a double-barrelled shotgun with a kickback so powerful it can rocket-jump.

It seems that if you’re in the air when you fire this monstrous shotgun, the recoil will propel you upward. Bouncy Scouts just got bouncier. It’s going to have a hefty impact on any it hits, balanced out by taking a big long time to reload.