New Contraptions
It has been silent lately. Everyone has disappeared suddenly.
<..reloading> <…cover me as I heal..> <..guys I’m not feeling so hot..>
As an engineer, I’d like to build things that make life easier. That includes making MY life easier, too. So I decided to take this off time and come up with some designs that will make my life easier.
Everyone likes teleporters. But our current understanding of quantum mechanics does not allow more than one person per teleporter at a time. This results in a demand for teleporters that can not be supplied and folks end up queuing to ride my teleporter – if queuing means pushing each other off the teleporter until the prickiest of them gets to beam away. Hell, I need to get to my stuff faster usually and I get pushed off MY OWN TELEPORTER by some unkind scout.
To address this problem I prepared the following little flyer to be posted next to teleporters.
You don’t always solve problems with mechanics and hydraulics, sometimes all it takes to make things right is a little sign.
Not this time.
I developed an “eject” feature into the teleporters. With the push of a button on my PDA the next scout who pushes me off my tele beams somewhere far far away.
Before : Happy face.
After : Sad, scared face. This ain’t Times Square my boy.
Obviously there is some room for improvement. As it is, the process is manual, I need to catch someone cheating the queue and push “the button”. When I have the time I intend to adjust the teleporter to use the alternate destination whenever it detects scout’s tiny brainwaves.
Alright, that’s all the time we have this week, folks. Next week we examine yet another exciting idea :
Non-stick Sentry (c). Begone sappers and sticky bombs. Comes with a wooden wrench so you don’t scratch your precious sentry and make short work of spies and demomen for years to come!
Stumble it!
madlep responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 8:32 am #
I always let George Bush go first.
Someone has to go in to find the WMDs.
Zorgulon responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 8:40 am #
Medics shouldn’t really have teleport priority along with Heavies and Soldiers. They’re the second fastest class in the game, and more travelling means more charge before entering the thick of things.
Other than that, great post. It sure would come in handy to be able to send teleport-stealing Scouts to City 17, or better yet, the Xen borderworld.
Beam me up, Scotty!
Lolz responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 8:44 am #
Need more posts here. Posts are credit to team… Now i wish boomercharged.net would just die
n00bie51 responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 8:48 am #
I think that Scouts should definitely be allowed on the teleporters when the trek to the frontline is considerable and there aren’t any Heavies or Soldiers who’d need it.
gameprey responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 9:02 am #
I definitely agree with letting medics and heavies go first, but soldiers should be able to rocket jump real quick to the front (depending on the map, of course).
Perhaps pyro can be switched with sol, as pyro is a good get-there-now-and-do-damage class (to be fair, so is soldier, I guess).
Also, spies should be as low as snipers on the list.
Askeptykal responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 9:13 am #
Spies should be as low as Scouts on the teleporter list, since they’ll get their team color’s trail under them if they take it. Dead giveaway. End of story.
Jakka responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 9:17 am #
Never really saw a problem with Scouts…sure, stealing a ride in front of a Heavy is just freakin’ douchebaggery but if there’s nobody around to see you do it, go for it.It’s not like the tele won’t recharge by the time somebody else spawns.
Seems like the real problem is with asshole Scouts who steal.
@Askeptykal responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 9:22 am #
They patched that, spies don’t leave teleporter trails when disguised or cloaked anymore.
Unless you’re talking about the 360/ps3 ;p
Askeptykal responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 9:30 am #
…I hate being stuck with the 360 version >_<;;;
Abidemi responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 10:02 am #
I think the scout would do all right in Half-Life 2. The weapon selection leaves something to be desired, but his speed makes up for it.
Plus, just imagine the double-jump map exploits…
SAC responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 10:22 am #
Actually, I’m still playing more TF2 than Left 4 Dead. :O Why, you ask? Because nothing beats TF2. May be hard on you ubercharged guys, I dunno, but my regular server stays fresh with people. And not just noobs either (qualifier: to the server, I mean, not noobs to the game). Plenty there.
@Zorgulon:
But medic is credit to team! When medic get there fast, medic save me from burning to death!
@gameprey:
Soldier is 20% slower than pyro! Pyro is little man!
As an add on to the @’s above, I guess it still all depends on the situation. And by that, I mean the map and the location of the exit.
My other suggestions:
- Be able to have 2 teleporter exits, one leads scouts somewhere different than other people
- Have an indicator as to when the exit is taking damage. Fooking pyros!
And now, meet the (new) sentry!
bjj responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 10:58 am #
YOU’RE ABOUT TO HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT
http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=2096
Baejung92 responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 11:03 am #
Aww bjj beat me to it. By like 6 hours it seems. But am I the only one that thinks Hain is either a) some kind of psychic or b) works at Valve?
minimegacar responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 11:21 am #
medic should be lower
demo higher
and engie lower
supremesonic responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 11:45 am #
Wait what? I know I have the 360 version, but why in HELL did the remove the colour trails from the spy after he takes a teleporter?
I thought that made things much more interesting and strategic. Especially when you start killing the guy who doesn’t realise they exist.
bjj responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 12:01 pm #
I assume it’s because the spy has a barrel of disadvantages to begin with (low hp, avg speed, slow weapons, etc etc) that they wanted to take away a couple problems with him.
bjj responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 12:53 pm #
Here’s some spading (testing numbers in-game) for you gents:
Dispenser Lvl 2 Gets a drawer full of medic tools, 50 Metal per tick
Lvl 3 Gets a popup electrocardiogram machine on the top, 60 metal per tick
Teleporter Lvl 2 starts charging from ~30% full
Lvl 3 starts charging from ~60% full
41 Metal box = a second of cloak
100 = half the meter
200 = full meter
Didn’t check whether the tele can be upgraded at both ends.
Matt responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 12:59 pm #
With a level 3 teleporter, I’ll no longer turn ff on and shoot scouts who come out of it!
Ninja’d, Ubercharged.
ExAstris responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 1:01 pm #
Oh wow,
I just love the Captain Kirk bit — though he’d probably wind up stranded somewhere, and wind up making out with the announcer before Doctor McCoy (the Medic), Checkov (the Heavy) and Spock (the Sniper) came and got him
funkeystu responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 1:43 pm #
@minimegacar
1) Engi needs priority because if his sentry/tele exit is taking damage and he isnt there then no one will be able to use it
2) Medics save lives – the faster they can get to people burning to death the better, if anything I thought they should be higher (afterall we all give way to ambulances on the road, even though they can drive faster). They’re also integral to keeping the aforementioned Engies in a state fit for repairing tele exits.
3)yeah, demo should definitely be above the spy/pyro, but not sure he has the same level of priority as heavy/soldier given his faster movement speed.
madlep responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 1:47 pm #
Hi Hain, how about letting old madlep in on the Valve update scoop nexttime mmkay?
(OR POSTS WILL MYSTERIOUSLY STAY ‘PENDING REVIEW’ FOREVER!)
Either that, or you’re a damn commie psychic.
madlep responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 1:48 pm #
@Baejung92 – bjj only beat you by a few minutes.
Times on this site are set to Melbourne, Australia
hain responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 1:58 pm #
For the record, I don’t work for Valve. Valve works for me. Valve works you, too. Valve works for all of us, working so hard to prepare the next update.
I wouldn’t take me as a psychic, yet. Wait until you see the wooden wrench as the final unlockable.
You think that is funny? You mean funny like a clown? Do I amuse you?
I will see you after “Meet the Sentry”.
Blaenk responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 2:02 pm #
Awesome how valve just released an update so Engineers can level their teleporters and dispensers up to level three
XDLMAO responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 2:34 pm #
Can someone make that a spray?
Nosedigger responded on 12 Dec 2008 at 4:06 pm #
That priority list is definitely too specific. Here are a number of situations that could screw it up:
Teleporter is close to the front: Makes it useless for spies.
Teleporter is in danger of being stomped on by the advancing enemy: Medics are bad, since you may port there and find no one to heal. Spies and Scouts also bad. Engie depends on how much chance you have of rebuilding. Pyro/Demo/Soldier/Heavy usually good.
Teleporter that is behind enemy lines but hasn’t been found yet: Spies good, scouts fine if they have an area to run around in, Pyros good. Medics (no one to heal) and Heavies (too slow, cannot perform guerilla warfare) bad.
You just died, but your stuff seems to be holding out okay: Engies should walk.
Your stuff is under attack: Depends on whether you expect a sniper or an ubercharged demo to deal with on the other end.
Round is about to end and you’re attacking: Fresh medics go LAST (scouts LASTER). Demos/Soldiers/Heavies first. Pyros walk.
Also, take into consideration how many teleporters there are.
Snipers should also be generally lower down the list, along with Scouts. At least if scouts happen into a crowd of enemies they can hit their faces with a scattergun or run like hell. Snipers – are they even essential to the team?
Yeah, I know that GENERALLY, Heavies and Soldiers are the ones that most need the teleporter, but can we apply some dynamic thinking, please?
Kal responded on 13 Dec 2008 at 10:42 am #
Oh god, I love the picture of the Scout in City 17.
n00bie51 responded on 13 Dec 2008 at 10:51 am #
I don’t think it won’t matter as much anymore if you take the time to upgrade your teleporters; a level three teleporter could probably send three Heavies to the front lines in the time it takes you to taunt once.
Dust Monkey responded on 13 Dec 2008 at 12:42 pm #
I’m making that chart my new spray
Dust Monkey responded on 13 Dec 2008 at 12:45 pm #
When a scout trys to push me off my teleporter I just destroy the entrance and build another when he’s gone! ;D
General Goose responded on 14 Dec 2008 at 12:43 am #
I guess the priority list varies between map and the current state of affairs, but unless its a level 3 teleporter, scouts should just not use teleporters.
Maybe George Bush is the secret 10th class?
Shnitzel responded on 16 Dec 2008 at 12:40 pm #
*Snatches sign*
Radda radda*
*thank you
Pyrit responded on 21 Dec 2008 at 5:51 am #
I think Scouts can be let off not using teleporters now, or any class for that matter as long as the teleporter is level 3 or maybe even just 2. That’s the glory of the new update, because now teleporters can be much more helpful than just being restricted to certain classes.
General Goose responded on 24 Dec 2008 at 11:43 am #
In the event of a level 3 teleporter, I still think scouts (and to a lesser extent snipers and spies) should let other classes go first.