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I just want to take a moment to say thanks to everyone who has been supporting the How It’s Done series. Originally it started out as a small venture into the world of modelling for the convenience of the readers, and it’s gradually turned into a big thing. I’ll get this out of the way as quick as I can, and just say that I want to thank these guys:

-The community contributors who have been the basis to this series and provided valuable information to the community.

-Robin Walker and the TF2 Team for their incredible support through the blog and emails about recruitment (this was prior to the blog post, thanks guys!).

-The Official Team Fortress Wiki for providing reference material and pictures.

-Pilk and Swizzle, for posting on various community forums to recruit contributors I couldn’t get in touch with.

-And you guys, the readers. Without your support this series wouldn’t have got as far as it has, and hopefully you’ll continue to enjoy the next instalments.

That’s everything, so without further ado, here is the latest interview for your viewing pleasure.

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In this instalment of How It’s Done, I have interviewed Swizzle, the creator of the Pain Train. The Pain Train was unveiled in the first wave of community contributed weapons, unique for its capture rate-affecting ability.

How did you get into Modelling?

Swizzle: My first exposure to 3D modeling was in about 2000. My sister’s then-boyfriend showed me his copy of Bryce 3D, and it piqued my interest. Before that, I thought that only movie studios could do the things that I suddenly had access to. I didn’t get serious about 3D until about five years ago when I discovered CGTalk and other computer graphics forums online. After that, I got more and more into practicing and getting involved in the community. This is how I eventually ended up stumbling onto Polycount. I’d heard of Polycount through people on CGTalk, and even visited there a few times, but I didn’t really start participating for another year or two. I mostly lurked and learned from all the amazing stuff I saw constantly posted there.

What software packages/tools do you use?

Swizzle: I use Modo and Mudbox for the 3D stage of things and Photoshop for texturing. I’d like to stress, just as Larolaro did, that the tools aren’t important. A lot of people ask what the best tool to use is, and the only answer to that comes via your own practice and experience. I’ve seen people make amazing things with every 3D package out there, so you’re really only limited by your skills and your imagination. Just like in more traditional media such as pen and paper, paint or clay, it all comes down to familiarity with your tools and how you use them, but not the tools themselves.

Roughly how long did the entire process of creating the Pain Train take, from idea to finalization?

Swizzle: I’d had the initial idea for quite a while, and I’d even tried my hand at making the model a couple of times before, but I didn’t really make something I was satisfied with until I sat down for an hour or so and doodled on paper to come up with a good design. From there, it was a few hours modeling (and refining the model) and then a couple more for texturing. Getting it into the engine was a massive pain, though, especially since (at the time) I was unfamiliar with the process used to import models into Source. The initial import process took about two days to get right, and I promptly forgot everything because my personal life got in the way.

When designing the Pain Train, did you ever have any idea about what attributes it would have, or did you know not to design it with them in mind?

Swizzle: When I first designed and modeled the Pain Train, it was actually about a year before the contribution system had even been announced, so I was actually only interested in making something that looked cool and tought me the basics of working with weapon models in Source. After I learned about the contribution system, I went ahead and submitted it, but I decided that I probably couldn’t come up with something better than Valve. Thus, I only submitted it with a short note saying I thought it would probably work well as a demo/soldier weapon and left it at that.

Do you think Valve handled your submission well? The Pain Train, being the only capture rate affecting item, is a unique addition and an asset in a Soldier or Demoman’s arsenal.

Swizzle: Personally, I think Valve handled it fantastically. They came up with a unique gameplay mechanic (that I know hadn’t even crossed my mind before I heard about it) and I’m glad it’s actually a viable weapon to use in a variety of situations. That said, I do wish they’d add some attribute that would make it useful in modes like Capture the Flag.

Would you have liked to have had more influence on how the Pain Train turned out, had you know it was going to be included?

Swizzle: While I do have a streak of perfectionism running through me, I can’t think of any way that I could have helped beyond the modeling/texturing side of things. I don’t have access to all the information and statistics that Valve collects on player habits, so I wouldn’t have been able to make a useful contribution to the gameplay design process. I think the only thing I would’ve changed about the process of getting the Pain Train in the game is actually getting a notification from somebody at Valve, or even an automated system, that said “Hey, congratulations. The Pain Train made it in!”. The only way I learned that my item had been included in the first community update was through a message from a friend on a forum I frequent, since I didn’t have access to the game at the time.

What resources can you recommend for somebody trying to get into modelling, or wanting to model in the TF2 style?

Swizzle: I would recommend to anybody interested in modeling that they get some 3D package RIGHT NOW and start playing with it. Blender is a high quality, free 3D package that’s made a lot of big strides in the past year or so, especially in regards to usability, so it’s good for people just starting out. If Blender turns out to not be your thing, try out demo versions of other software. As I said before, it’s the artist and their skills that matter, not the tools. Beyond 3D packages, though, I’d suggest drawing and sculpting using traditional media. With artistic skill in place, 3D is nothing more than learning a new set of tools to make art with. As for working in the TF2 style, I’d recommend simply taking the time to load up some levels in TF2 and walk around looking at everything. Observation is key to any sort of art, so learning what goes into the artistic style of TF2 is paramount to making something that looks like it belongs. If somebody is really committed to making something good, start posting work on forums like CGTalk, Polycount, Game-Artist.net, GameArtisans.org, the TF2Maps.net forums and anywhere else they can find. Feedback and critiques are key to developing your skills, so go to those places to get help.

If there was one key tip you could pass on to someone trying to model or texture in the TF2 style, what would it be?

Swizzle: The silhouette is king. If your item, hat, weapon, character, model or map doesn’t read well with just large shapes and no inner detail, you need to work on it further. Valve designed the characters and items in TF2 to be read from a distance, and that all goes out the window with poor planning. Good planning leads to good designs, and the best designs read well from a distance. This is because reading those silhouettes is crucial to gameplay. Lighting conditions, angles and movements change in-game, but the only thing that doesn’t is the overall silhouette of an item. If you can tell what it is from just the silhouette, you’ve done something right.

Is there any interesting trivia you can share about the Pain Train at all?

Swizzle: Well, the stuff in the TF2 wiki about it being the discarded handle of an Axtinguisher and the name coming from a line delivered by a horribly drunken demoman are both ideas completely coined by people in the community. I think that’s pretty funny, but very creative.

What is it exactly, just to set the record straight: Just a makeshift handle with a railroad spike through it?

Swizzle: It’s exactly what it looks like. A big ol’ stick with a big ol’ spike. There’s another thing that aspiring weapon designers should take note of; it’s an extremely simple idea. Simplicity is a key element of a good design.

Do you think the Polycount contest was a good idea on Valve’s part, and do you think it’s possible a second one or something similiar could happen?

Swizzle: I think it was a great idea, and I hope they have other contests like it in the future. The Artpass contest over at TF2Maps is a good example. I hope other game companies take a hint and get their respective communities involved into the process of making games. As for the possibility of more of them happening, I think it’s just inevitable.

Was ‘The Pain Train’ the weapon’s original name, or something Valve conjured up?

Swizzle: I actually submitted it as the Pain Train. I’m completely convinced, though, that the note I included with the submission was the only thing that led them to keeping the name. It said, simply, “The Pain Train’s a-comin! Woo woo!”

Thanks for the interview.

Swizzle: It was a pleasure.

Lessons Learnt:

-The tools used by others are not the most important thing, so much as how well you can familiarize yourself with them. Experiment with various software and find what’s right for you.
-Visit a wide variety of sites and resources to look at other people’s projects, find guides and recieve critique for your own work.
-View your model as a silhouette and apply it to existing class silhouettes. This will help you see whether it can easily be identified at a distance, like a lot of Valve’s weapons.

…and there’s the knowledge behind the Pain Train. Join us next time for a slightly different topic, as we dive into mapmaking and interview Icarus, the creator of Coldfront.

I’ll be brutally honest. I really have no idea how to start this one. This is always something that bugs me whenever I sit down to write something; how do you interest your audience whilst having it not sound inappropriate, without simply using “I’ll get right down to it”? Maybe I’m just obsequious to form, but heck with that, I really have no idea where to begin.

/lampshading

Anyway, there have been a few bits about TF2 nibbling at my ankles, some for quite a while, and some just recently coming into play. Whilst they’re not super important, they’re certainly things I’d like to see added, perhaps with an option to turn them off (although I don’t see why you’d ever want them off, unlike the dingalings).

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Frontier Justice crit activation

This one is fairly recent, given the weapon I’m talking about.
What I want is an action that allows you to toggle on/off any crits you’ve earned for the Justice, using mouse2 (or whatever weird key you have bound to +attack2, you nerd). It’s not a terribly huge deal, but (for example) sometimes I want to take a couple of potshots at enemies far away without wasting my crits, given that there’s less reasons around to use the Luger nowadays…

How it would work: This would start as normal – you’d have crits for your shotgun whenever you’ve earned them, but if you hit mouse2, they’ll shut off until you click it again.

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Invisibility and Dead Ringer icons

Spy is the one class where I always have viewmodels on. This is not to help time melee hits; rather, it’s because I don’t use the class icons on my fairly toasty HUD, and the only way to assure whether you have invisibility on is with the cloak bar, which is odd with the C&D.

Not only that, but I’d like a way to determine whether I have my Dead Ringer out or not, if I so choose to play without viewmodels.

How it would work: Perhaps have the cloak meter glow when you are fully invisible, and have a little cross on it when you’re only semi-invisible? Apart from that, have a Dead Ringer icon next to it whenever you have yours out, and perhaps just an outline when you don’t.

This may be a little confusing for new players though, so I’d just add it as a command that’s off by default.

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Syringe count

It’s just a pet peeve, but I’m someone who uses syringes a fair lot when they actually DO play Medic, blutsauger included.

I also, however, like to heal as much as possible for my charge, so sometimes I’m not so sure if I’ve reloaded yet before hitting a target with the beam. So…

How it would work: Show the syringe count, no matter which weapon you have out. Maybe keep the uber meter permanently on too.

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Grids for Engineers

This is slightly harder to do. In essence, I often find myself spending a second or two more than I’d like aligning my buildings to things like a corner, or just on a cliff, of sorts.

So , you could have the Engineer automatically align his building to the ledge or against the wall in a gridlike section, but the trouble lies with when you want it set diagonally, or don’t want it perfectly on edge.

How it would work: I think it would be handy to have an option that allows this ability. Just a simple console command to give people the choice, off by default, and with which they can script without having to add something silly to the game like +attack3 or +alt2 or anything.

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Glowing bars for items that recharge

Take Jarate, or Bonk, or even the Sandvich now. While the “ding” it makes is a nice touch, sometimes you miss it. Sometimes the bar glitches out and shows that it’s full regardless of the fact that you just used the item.

So here’s a little idea I had: make the bar that shows how far it’s recharged glimmer for a second when you’re fully charged. This would apply to Bonk!, the Sandman, the Banner, stickies, the Targe, the Sandvich, ubers, Jarate, and the spy watches; a sizable portion of weapons.

How it would work: Just a blink of light, maybe a second or so in duration. Alternatively, make the bar turn a different color like green, or make it blink green.

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They’re not very big issues, I’ll admit, but to paraphrase Mr. Croshaw, the niggly little bits in a game which one plays a lot come back to annoy you.

I’ll agree, it’s probably best not to complicate things too much. The thing is, sometimes it’s better to just have a console command for those people who don’t want/need such options, as keeping them out of the multiplayer advanced menu makes it simpler for new players. Some of them, such as the item recharge bar glowing, don’t really need this, while some (like the Engineer grid) do, if there’s any chance at all some people don’t want them.

Anyway, part II will be here at some point. For the time being, anyone got any little things they think would be a good addition to TF2?

sometimes I want to take a couple of potshots at enemies far away without wasting my crits, given that there’s less reason to use the Luger nowadays.

Directly from the Ubercharged.net secret interview headquarters.

An exclusive interview with Mr.E., the anonymous author of the Übermensch controversial report that made its way into the internet last week.

Reporter: It is a pleasure to be here ladies and gentlemen, gamers and gamerettes. Today we have here Mr.E., who shall remain anonymous for the duration of this interview. Good afternoon Mr.E.

Mr.E: Good afternoon to you too.

Reporter: Now, Mr.E., last week this report made its way to the internet through secret channels, and has since then been brought to both the attention of the media and the public. Would you mind explaining to us what is the content of this report so that we are all on the same page?

Mr.E: Well, this report, if you so want to call your view of it, consists of the analysis of a colleague of mine at the Reliable Excavation and Demolition company. Now, it is common knowledge that none of us in the RED team are the most usual of individuals in the psychological front. You should hear what some of them talk about themselves. What some of them say to their weapons or what they do to grass or birds or…

Reporter: Excuse me Mr.E., but… Weapons?

Mr.E: Yes, I mean… it’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Because we’re RED, and at least we’re not BLU, and that’s what counts. That’s the important point. That. Is. What. Counts. Except… This colleague of ours… I’m not so sure if he still thinks the same. I mean, initially we were all pretty quiet, you know how it is when you’re all new at the job. But then after some time, after some updates in our lives, he started to talk a lot more. And suddenly his conversations do not seem so simple, his rage does not seem simply turned towards BLU, it seems towards everyone and anyone; and sometimes he looks at us, and believe me you don’t want to see him look at you, because his eyes, his eyes-

Reporter: They are scary?

Mr.E: Yes; well, I suppose scary is a way of telling it, but the truth is it’s more than that. Sometimes it’s as if he holds us in no more contempt than the BLU’s, and that we’re all ants to him, and he sits there in his chair, with blood dripping from his fingertips and with that look on his eyes.

*Mr.E. drinks a bit of water*

Reporter: So, you believe this colleague of yours might wish you harm?

Mr.E: No, it’s not that. We’re nine combatants in the middle of a war; of course someone wishes harm to someone else, accidents and hostilities happen. It’s normal, it’s the human condition that one or other of us might sometimes be angry. But the thing is that we cannot hurt each other. There is no fire between friends, and that’s nice and okay, because that means that we can protect each other and not be worried about stray bullets. Oh, and it helps against spies, can’t stress that enough.

Reporter: I believe there might be a ‘but’ incoming?

Mr.E: Yes, there is… He is the only one that can affect us. I mean, my dispensers and such can heal them, and I can teleport them, and perhaps I shouldn’t be saying so many things, but gosh darn it… We can help each other, but it’s all very subtle and simple. But he can heal us, uber us, give us crits – And he’s the only one who can directly affect us like that. And if he can heal us, then he might be able to hurt us; and he’s invincible and we don’t know if he shares his invincibility because he has to, or if he’s not bound by any rules, and and and….

*Mr.E. drinks some more water*

Reporter: Are you calmer now, sir?

Mr.E: Yes, yes. It’s just that when I think of him then, looking at us sometimes when he barges in, his body reflecting every light in a sickly red glow. It gets to my stomach a bit.

Reporter: I am sorry for the interruption sir, but it seems that there are some disturbances outside our studio.

Mr.E: What? WHAT? Is it him? It is him, isn’t it? It’s him? It’s HIM!

Reporter: No, of course not sir. It cannot possibly be him, our headquarters are well hidden, there’s no way such a person might find its way here, and-

Mr.E: He can, believe me he can. The things I’ve seen him do. He. Can.

*CRASH*

Mr.E: It’s him, it’s him. I know it’s him, no one can keep him out, no one, no one. Noonenoonenoonenoonenoonenoone-

*Reporter nervously wipes sweat from his forehead*

Reporter: Stay calm please Mr.E., I’m sure it’s just the wind, no reason to be alarme-

*CRASH*

External voice: We apologize for cutting this transmission. We shall make sure that the rest of this interview will be transmitted as soon as possible with possible corrections and RUN RUN RUN FOR SAFETY HE’S BEHIND ME AND HE’S WATCHING US ALL AND HE’LL KILL US ALL HE’S MAD HE’S M-

*SPLAT*

-connection lost-

In this instalment of How It’s Done, I have interviewed Larolaro, the creator of the Homewrecker and a winner of the famed Polycount pack contest, with his Tank Buster pack for the Soldier.

Firstly, how did you get into Modelling?

Larolaro: Well, for the past 4-5 years I’ve been working as a freelance illustrator (http://larolaro.blogspot.com) and at the same time I’ve always had a lingering curiosity for games and what-not, so I started to dabble in modelling. It was a straight up nightmare at first, as I found it very difficult to learn by myself, so the extent of my knowledge comes from 4 years of tedious un-knowing button clicking, haha. 2D and 3D really are two opposite sides of the same coin but eventually I got the hang of it… Sort of. Now, to be honest, I’m never going back. Being a digital artist moving onto 3D really gives me a plethora of new options to realize my ideas.

You initially designed the Homewrecker. How long did the Homewrecker, from idea to realization, roughly take?

Larolaro: I created the homewrecker roughly a year before I submitted it to valve through their contribute page. So, embarrassingly, the homewrecker was just a bit of tooling-around practice, as I just did it for fun and never intended for it to be a serious submission. The concept took me 5 minutes and the model and texture was complete in about 2 hours. However, the compiling and such took an age, the source engine really isn’t noob-friendly. I see the source engine as a beautiful ornate chair with a spike carved into the seat; It looks great, it’s solid and it will last for a long time, it’s just a pain in the ass to use.

What software packages do you use? Previous contributors have said that the paid stuff (like 3DSMax) is the best, but you can do just as well sometimes with freeware.

Larolaro: Oddly enough I get this question alot from random people on steam, and I never answer the question because if I did I would giving the impression that it matters which one to use. I’m sorry to burst any bubbles and such but unfortunately there really isnt a magic button to make 3D, as it’s difficult to learn 3D no matter what program you use. The program is just a tool for a similar result; just pick one that looks good and use it and if it doesn’t work out too well for you, you will naturally move onto a different program anyway. So my advice would be, try them all and pick what feels right for you.

The Homewrecker was originally an Axe/Axtinguisher skin (back when it was called Mr. Sledge), but upon submission did you ever think about what attributes it could have had? Some people think this is necessary, despite this not being the case.

Larolaro: Well, I have a lot of respect for the way valve do their thing, so I just left it to them, I had nothing in mind to be honest. I don’t manage a hugely successful online multiplayer game, so I don’t have any right to say what’s what because I really don’t know the amount of implications a game mechanic might have.

Do you think that Valve handled your submission well? The Homewrecker was initially a choice alternative for quick building destruction, but with the addition of the ability to damage Sappers it suddenly became a used and viable option for Pyros. And would you have liked to have had more influence on these modifications?

Larolaro: I really think they did great with the homewrecker, I was even happy with it before the sapper-removing stat, albeit it being a whisper of a weapon. The homewrecker was one of the first community weapons to be added into TF2, and it was new ground they are walking on, so I figured they would possibly weaken its impact on TF2’s gameplay.

When someone’s trying to get into modelling, can you offer any resources or tips you found helpful?

Larolaro: Well, I didn’t use many tutorials when I was learning so I don’t have any resources to offer. For learning 3D, my advice would be just stick at it, don’t give up and practice, practice, practice! It’s a decade long battle with a wall of scary buttons, so if you don’t suck it up and focus you’ll go crazy.

Do you think you learned much, if anything, from modelling for TF2?

Larolaro: Well, I’ve played and admired TF2 from the start, having clocked 1000+ hours in it. It really is a massive inspiration to me, modelling this and that for TF2 has really helped me on the way to becoming “industry” ready, if you know what I mean. It’s a huge compliment from valve to give the homewrecker and Tankbuster pack their professional blessing.

When you decided to enter the Polycount contest, did you have a clear image of the class/weapons you wanted to do, or was it a much more gradual and developmental process?

Larolaro: For the 5 weeks we had to do the contest, it took me a week to gather up the courage to even start. I really didn’t think I would have a chance of winning so I very almost didn’t enter, But I thought I might as well do it for some good old practice. So 1 week in I started a WWII Survival Theme (Check it out here). This involved a rucksack, a survival knife (See it here) and a scrim camo helmet. After 3 weeks I started to get a lot of criticism and my theme started to fall apart so I scrapped it entirely. I wanted to pursue an entry that went smoothly and people enjoyed, so I came up with a tangent off my original idea and this is when I came up with the Tankbuster Pack. I started my Tank Buster pack from scratch with only 10 days left of the contest. This meant I had 5 items to concept, model, texture and compile with 2 days each. It was total chaos and I really didn’t sleep very well for those 10 days, haha, but I learnt a lot and eventually got picked as a winner, so it was totally worth it.

Are there any other packs that you particularly liked in the Polycount contest? Valve have said that just under half of the entries were of a good enough quality for submission, so there will be more community items to come from the contest regardless of the main winners.

Larolaro: I enjoyed a lot of the entries in the contest, and it’s a shame only 5 won the contest, but I can understand coming up with game mechanics and balancing 12 weapons really is enough for one update. Some of the entries that caught my eye from the start were Nrek’s (Croc-O-Style), Progg’s (Gas Man), Both of Swizzle’s entries (Expert’s Ordnance Pack and Field Medic’s Tool Kit), Gerre’s (Hillbilly Pack) and Pierate’s (Medievil pack).

If there was another Polycount contest or something of that ilk, would you participate given the chance?

Larolaro: I have no doubt in my mind that Valve will do something similiar in the future, given the popularity and quality of the entries in the contest. In fact, I’d be surprised if they didn’t do something. And when that happens, I may have to take another shot at it, with a hopefully larger timeframe than what I had to do my entry in.

Lessons Learnt:
- Keep practising as much as possible. Remember, getting good is not a quick process, and needs time investment.
- Be sure to consider your ideas thoroughly first, and be ready to abandon projects if they become boring and are clearly not going anywhere.
- Once again, experiment with as many different softwares as you can until you find the one that suits you best. There is no definitive ‘best’, so it’s up to your tastes and working style to determine yours.

…and there is the lowdown behind one of the more successful modelling achievements in TF2.

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Now, this is where I reach out to you, the reader. If you are an estabilished TF2 contributor (this includes maps), are interested in an interview, or know one who would be happy to have one published here, then please try to contact me here in the comments, on the UC forums, or at the Official Team Fortress Wiki. I’d like to make this series last as long as possible as I’ve recieved such positive feedback and so much useful information for aspiring 3D artists has come out of it, as well as revealing info to keep non-modellers amused and interested. Thanks for all the support, and hopefully expect more in the near future.

Ibuprofen from the forums continues to do our job for us with this amusing image breaking down the appeal of each Team Fortress 2 class:

Some of you may have heard that CEVO is banning the Sandman, Natascha, and the Wrangler for the upcoming season, a decision that’s met with a lot of controversy. The arguments against banning them are rather obvious, but between CEVO’s forum and a topic on our own forum, a few excellent explanations have popped up to explain why they’ve chosen to ban these weapons

Starting off general with a theme that covers two of these bans, from Ubercharged forum member ibuprofen:

Didn’t the competitive scene say that Scouts are borderline overpowered?

The quote was that Scout is the only “borderline overpowered” class. This means that if a player can hit every meatshot, He is overpowered compared to any other class that can get every shot, i.e a Sniper getting headshots with every shot will not be as effective as a Scout hitting every shot.

Also, for those who don’t agree with Natascha being banned, think of it like this. There are 5 combat classes on a team of 6. One of them is running Natascha. This player has begun to attack an enemy. This enemy’s mobility is now non-existent. Not only can they not escape, but they are a piss easy target for the 4 other players on a team. Competitive players aren’t like your usual pub player; we hit our shots. Therefore, imagine being the enemy when a single bullet begins a cycle of helplessness.

TF2 is a game of momentum and mobility. If one player can destroy the mobility of every class on the enemy team, that team will probably take mid and gain major momentum. This is a major game breaker. Note how every class (not Medic obviously) that is standard in comp play is extremely maneuverable or has a method of gaining instant mobility.

A response to “Well, can’t the enemy just use a Sniper and easily counter the Heavy using Natascha?” again from ibuprofen.

OK, I’ll break it down for you to understand it better.

The Sniper’s advantage is that he can eliminate targets from range. His damage does not amplify depending on distance. He is able to get “picks;” kills that allow the pushing team an advantage of having a player over them. The best “pick” is a medic pick, where a medic is eliminated from the enemy team. Snipers can do this at a range, which is why they are favorable. However, this is the only thing they are able to do; frag. Scouts can frag as well. However, Scouts move extremely fast, have a double jump, are able to outmaneuverer explosives classes and fight through spam. They can also avoid a Soldier juggle. Scouts can insert themselves into a battle, complete their objective, and remove themselves just as easily and quickly. Scouts capture at 2x the regular rate. A Sniper can do none of these things.

The mid fight is very important in competitive play, because the game is about momentum, as I mentioned. However, problematically, the Sniper is always late to the mid fight, which means the team’s Scout has a 1v2 fight at mid against the other team’s scouts. He also has to protect the team’s Demo and flank the enemy Demo, both of which are at mid. If you just don’t run scouts at all, first of all, your team’s Demo is dead instantly. Second, by the time your powerhouse gets to the fight, the point is already half capped. Thirdly, the enemy Demo will have stickies up the exits, trapping the combo. The enemy scouts will also have an advantage on the flank, etc.. etc… the list goes on. So, the team’s Scout is fucked at mid when you’re running a Sniper, jeopardizing the mid fight. That’s point #1.

The Sniper must be protected at all times. If a Soldier knocks him up in the air with a rocket, there is literally NOTHING the Sniper can do, as he cannot scope in nor outstrafe the extremely easily second rocket to complete the juggle. If the Sniper is ambushed from a blind spot by a Scout, he is dead before he came humanly react. Before you say, NO NO I’M A 1337 SNIPER I GET ALL THE SHOTS, keep in mind it takes 200ms for your shots to register as 150dmg headshots and not as null 50dmg bodyshots regardless. Add reaction time and lag (avg on central servers is 70ms) and you begin to realize how weak the Sniper is. The enemy team has TWO of these flanking classes, so if they ambush you at the same time, which they often do, you are dead before you can kill either. So essentially, you’re playing two classes down when you run a Sniper, since one has to babysit him. That is point #2.

The Sniper can do 150dmg a pop with a quickscope. This takes out unbuffed Scouts and Medics. In less time than it takes to do this, a Scout can deal two meatshots. Therefore, in the same time, the Scout could have killed any Scout (Buffed or otherwise), a Medic, an unbuffed Soldier, an unbuffed Demo, and put a buffed Demo in red to be pistoled easily. The Sniper can charge up, however, for 450 dmg. However, this takes four seconds. In these four seconds, the Scout can have popped out much more than 450 dmg. This is point #3.

Moving on to the Wrangler, here again from ibuprofen

This is just typical competitive crap. Why would a competitive clan/league or whatever ban weapons that provide a TACTICAL ADVANTAGE. Nat Heavies can be damn useful in a defense. The Sandman was damn useful before it got nerfed to oblivion and The Wrangler opened up a new skillset for the Engie.

This is what I don’t understand about competitive teams, they’re always banging on about skill yet when a weapon comes along that gives less experienced players an advantage over them, they’re quick to call for nerfs and bans as opposed to – oh I dunno… avoiding them?

I talked about the Natascha early on, but on the Wrangler, it makes a lot of sense. I’m not going to go to far into it, but in competitive play, sentries exist only to make enemies pop their uber early. Picture the Badlands choke when the offensive team is pushing out from yard after losing the mid fight. They have to fight uphill (THE worst position you could ever be in) and it is a back and forth struggle to peak out and get a pick so that their team could move in. Players flank from the house and scouts sneak in from the back side to ninja cap.

Now, what the team that has middle can do is they can run an Engineer and set up a level 3 sentry on the train car and wrangle it. This effectively shuts down both chokes and makes it impossible for the other team to push out. If they push out of the usual choke, they will get spammed in by a Sentry with a 66% damage reduction shield (seven stickybombs to frag) and double fire rate. If they try to push out house, the Sentry can just turn to the left and cover that too. So really, their only option is to push from valley (the area under the bridge), and this is a SEVERE disadvantage. Remember what I said about uphill fights behind the worst possible obstacle you could face? The valley is ten times more steep than the choke. Even when pushing out from here, the Sentry can still target you if you pop out. It will take literally the entire length of an ubercharge to kill a sentry. Which is not fair considering how fast the Engineer can build and maintain a sentry.

Like I said, I won’t go too far into it (there are loads of other problems), but to summarize, the Wrangler makes chokes impossible to push through and the entire game becomes a steamroll for whatever team wins mid.

Bellsprout, also from the UC forums, outlines the main reasons behind all three bans.

The only strategies that these weapons are good for are that of stalemating the game. The game revolves around Ubers, right? The Sandman is able to stun the Medic before he can Uber meaning he’ll be die. Or it can be used to stun the Soldier while he’s building Uber leaving the Medic defenceless. I should mention that by stun in those sentences I mean the speed nerf/unable to use weapons state.

The Natascha means that that an Ubered pair will go in and HAVE to focus that Heavy with 450 health, else he’ll stop any retreat. If there’s two of them then you’re just being stalemated as it is pretty much impossible to kill the two – especially if there’s a Medic with Uber. However because the team has two heavies it’s very difficult to push second. meaning stalemate.

The Wrangler means that an Uber is necessary to JUST kill the sentry. If there’s another engineer with another Wrangled sentry then you will lose. Simple. Once again, pushing to second is very difficult.

French Toast, one of our authors particularly well known for being part of the comp guide adds a side note about why guaranteeing that someone will die is so taboo.

The issue stems from the size difference between the average pub game and the average competitive game. When I stress to say “every little thing matters 10x more in a game with half the players”, I literally mean everything. It’s hard for a player used to comparatively large games to wrap their minds around because losing one or two guys in a pub only means another filling his place. If you’re down a man in 6s, that one man you just lost means a lot more in terms of fire power and coverage.

Laerin from our forums explains the “cannot move hence death” aspect a little more clearly

It’s been mentioned time and time again how the Natascha’s slowdown leaves players completely at the mercy of others. The scout, soldier and demoman are used instead of say two heavies becuase of their speed and versatility. The heavy is meant to be a tank with a high DPS and large amount of health but by trading off it’s speed. But the Natascha robs other classes of their speed and manueverability; the most important thing they have over the heavy. A soldier cannot rocket jump away. A scout cannot run away – or even get close to him. In one-on-one situations, unless you are right beside a means of escape, your two options are either to kill the heavy (the class with the higher DPS and health) or die. In most cases however, you will be a sitting duck to the other classes and your set of options will have dwindled by one.

This last one is from Sigma, over the CEVO forums

Quote: Originally Posted by Hawkeye
The Natascha ban is simply idiotic. It’s been around for a few seasons, used, no one had issues with it, it is not over-powered otherwise we would’ve seen the Heavy/Natascha a whole lot more then on maps to fend off scouts and more teams winning maps running Natascha heavies.
Natascha heavies came out on every map this season in invite (and almost every match of the lan, often doubled up). It’s to the point that even mid fights, where the heavy is traditionally terrible due to his speed, would see a heavy showing up. The increased speed + reduced spin time turned heavy from situational to crazy good. I don’t know about open or other leagues, but if players there aren’t using it it’s a result of not trying it and seeing how broken it is. Scouts pretty much cannot make any plays once a natascha heavy is spun up. They get hit by 1 bullet, are totally frozen + get directed + die. Soldiers and demomen can’t peek corners, because the bullet stream will cause them to be too slow to escape from the return spam. As a medic, you pretty much have to treat the natascha heavy as a sniper — once he slows you, you take damage from almost every rocket, so you have to stay out of LoS. If you suggest getting a heavy of your own or a sniper to counter it, sure, that works, but the game slows to a crawl and is no longer fun.

On the other hand, heavies are extremely effective for creating a health advantage through sandvich use and following up pushes with the huge 450hp buff. This remains unchanged with the regular minigun (and is in fact more exciting, because the heavy exchange happens much faster). The heavy can still hold the flank 1v2, but only if he has good tracking — as opposed to the natascha version, where he can sit spun up on a corner and get a guaranteed kill on any scout that peeks it.

AG used natascha heavies as much or more than the other invite teams, and all of us agree that the weapon is way too strong. By the end of the season Otter refused to use it in scrims because it was so lame, and it was so easy to use that there was no point in practicing it.

Quote:Originally Posted by Bodknocks
Banning Wrangler just seems really odd. I feel like it’s a huge knee-jerk reaction to the item. I don’t really know what else to say other than that, did people honestly think Engie would start being main classed and that Wrangler was going to dominate the scene? I just don’t really understand why this is supposedly overpowered in 6v6 environment, it’s definitely an upgrade from the pistol (lol) but that’s not a good reason to have it banned.
It only takes a couple scrims on gpit to see what’s wrong with it. Sentries have no damage falloff. This is fine if they have limited range, but when you can put a gun in a sniper’s position and spam huge damage from long range, then pick up said gun and hide it once it (eventually) gets damaged, the attacking team has no counter. The engy can sit at spawn with his gun, get free damage on any team that decides to push through C, then pick it up, teleport to B, and put it super far away from the doors to spam more long-range damage. You can try things like double-DHing it, but you still need 6 or more rockets to bring it down (thanks to the ridiculous shield), and the engy can easily just pick it up and hide it, the shield will let it live long enough. Heck, you could even rocket jump a teleporter to the roof and teleport your gun (and team) up there (without having to deal with the old problems of taking a long time to get up and being vulnerable to snipers). Who wants to push B with a heavy, level 3 infinite range sentry, sniper, demo, med, soldier all sitting on the roof? I know I don’t.

Hopefully, this helps you better understand CEVO’s decision. If not, however, let me just close with a couple of choice comments from French Toast

The minute people stop thinking of competitive player as this separate group of completely foreign players, the sooner you realize that everyone plays the same game. It’s the same thing as some people liking 32 man, roll the dice servers, or other people preferring 18 man 24/7 arena servers. Competitive players are just another bunch that like to play the game the way they like, and it happens that the leagues agree that it’s the most competitive way to play, so they host tournaments for that style.

It’s our little corner of the world, and the actions the leagues take are our concerns. If you can’t accept our reasoning, which has been rather beautifully laid out before you in this thread, for following certain rules, and banning the use of certain weapons, we don’t care. Why? It doesn’t affect you, it’s our little corner of the TF2 world and we enjoy it the way we have it.

Ahh, drawbacks. What wonders await thee in the exciting (or, for some people, annoying) world of unlockable weapons. Forgoing balance discussions and ideas, we will discuss what I think are drawbacks to unlocks that haven’t really been explored or have been neglected.

Every unlockable weapon has to have a drawback, even if it’s just an artificial drawback like the “reduced damage” on the Axtinguisher. Bar a few weapons (which will go unmentioned), there must be a reason you’d want to use the original weapon apart from aesthetic and fun, otherwise the unlockable isn’t really an alternative.

Most commonly, the drawback is lack of access to the original weapon, with over 10 items carrying this effect, i.e. you trade a weapon for another completely different one, such as the Sandvich.
After that, Valve most often uses a “lost ability” status and reduced damage, followed by health penalty and slower firing rate (see KGB).

This author, however, would like to make a statement. You see, things such as health, speed, and damage dealt are what I like to call “passive” weapon statistics. They’re not in your control, and giving a class a buff without really requiring the player to do anything isn’t very interesting.
This not only makes them a little boring to start with, but also requires no input on the part of the player as far as the benefit/drawback goes. Giving the heavy, say, a speed boost to 350 units at the cost of some health is just a stats change, and while I don’t disapprove of a G.R.U.E. style unlock, where you can go with these kinds of unlocks are limited at best. Sure, it’s a different skillset when the numbers matter, but TF2 isn’t an MMO. Or at least, not yet, anyway.

All that said, here are the few drawbacks to a weapons bonus that I think deserve a little attention.

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Ammo count

Ah yes, ammo. Two weapons currently feature this, the Force-a-Nature (although it doesn’t really count), and the Frontier Justice.

Ammo management is an important aspect of the Soldier, and to a lesser extent, the Heavy, Demoman and Scout. Knowing how many rockets you have left in the clip is a pretty important aspect of any competent Soldier, seeing as he has limited killing ability after expending them all, and he cannot run around/away like a little bunny while reloading.

Ammo management, however, isn’t quite something that’s on the mind of many other classes such as the Sniper and Pyro. Introducing such a thing into a weapon would certainly go a way towards what I believe is a new skill set.

For example: What if the Heavy had a weapon (we’ll call her “Ludmila“), that increased the Heavy’s base run speed to 280 units, but he has to reload a new chain belt every 40 shots? Bar the animation budget, it would certainly be more interesting to see how this plays out. Plus, no random crits.

And actually, that ties in directly to my next point…

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Reload time

Ah yes, again the thing that mainly the Soldier (and Demoman) have to take into account. 6 of the unlocks don’t even have these (discounting “cocking”), but a gun with a decent reload time also takes management skills.

But forget purely reload time for a second. TF2 itself allows you to interrupt any and all your reloads to continue firing the remainder of your clip. What if, and I stress if, you had a weapon that COULDN’T be interrupted in the middle of reloading?

This idea came to me while watching Pistol Frenzy 2; a traditional reload where you’d have to get an appropriate time to reload when combined with a substantial reload time.
For instance, say we get a shotgun with an 8 shell revolver-style magazine. It does a base damage of only 50, and you can’t interrupt the reload, but the reload time is the same as 4 shells on a normal shotgun. You’d have more ammo to work with, but you’d also have to watch out because you can’t pull a round or two out while reloading, and it makes you think more about combat readiness. Also, no random crits.

Now before all the jarheads come in with their CS:S comparisons, hear me out. Consider how it would add to a certain weapon’s drawback: you’d have to be paying attention to your ammo, and pick an appropriate time to reload, such as in the company of teammates or when you’re sure no one can get to you before you finish. I think it would be a decent drawback compared to, say, no random crits, albeit a little boring.

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Reserve ammo

A subtopic of Limited Ammo Count, this looks into the ammo you can spare on the battlefield.

TF2 in it’s original form, as well as TFC, used to give you a bucketload of ammo to go crazy on. Soldiers and Demos used to have tons of ammo for their main weapons back in the day, and now ammo management is more important as the game changed.

Remnants of these days are still present in TF2 with weapons where your current ammo isn’t too much of a hassle. This includes all shotguns, the sniper rifle, the syringe gun, all sentries, the minigun (think about how 200 ammo was considered “a small amount” by the development team), and the flamethrower, although the compression blast reduces this somewhat.
Most notably, think about how the Engineer has 200 spare 9mm bullets, and goddamn, even with the autopistol that’s a crazy amount.

Valve has taken a look into this with unlockables already; the huntsman gives you (somewhat) limited ammo, as does the flare gun (although 16 flares is still quite a lot for it’s firing rate). I do think that limited ammo can make an interesting drawback, and to heck with Engineers complaining about their metal.

Regardless, it’s not something that can stand up as a drawback by itself. A shotgun that, say, deals 100 base damage with only 10 extra shots would be a pretty devastating weapon, and would encourage suicide runs anyway, even if it had no random crits.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Anyway, hopefully I’ve been able to provide some insight into these weapon design ideas as far as ammunition ideas go. Ignoring “brand new weapons,” feel free to throw in any ideas you may have as far as stat changes and new design goes. And who knows, if they’re good, I’d be so inclined to ask permission to put them on the front page.

As a concluding point, as much as I’ve said stats don’t usually make for the most fun weapons, I am putting together some ideas for what would make more interesting weapon advantages.

Something I’ve noticed is Valve’s plentiful use of crits, and as of late, mini crits, in their weapon designs. But, like I said, the amount of damage you pump out (while being an important part of gameplay) is a boring design to put into weapons as an advantage, even in the form of crits (for example, the direct hit).

So, in the next post, expect a few different ideas for advantages that don’t simply ditch the set weapon designs themselves. Not plain unlockable ideas, but ideas that can be part of an unlockable. Thank you, and good night.

Let’s face it, doing explosive jumps is fun. I know I’m not the only one who got into Soldier for the rocket jumping. I also know I’m not the only one who wishes they were good at sticky jumping. This, therefore, is the first of what I hope to be a series of articles exploring some fun places that you can jump to which may not have immediately presented themselves; a lot of them look like decoration. These aren’t trick jumps, so while I’m both quite good at rocket jumping and incredibly modest, you don’t need many particularly difficult skills to do them – a basic knowledge of rocket/sticky jumping is all you require. Also a criterion for inclusion in this article is that the jump should have some use in a normal game. No opposing Pyros airblasting you or weird glitching out of the map, just interesting and importantly unexpected places to stand. If you know the maps inside out, you may know some of these positions already. The format for each jump will include the following:

Where? – Whereabouts on the map the jump is. Accompanied by a fancy taunt.

Who? – Which classes can get up there. Most will be confined to Soldier/Demoman, but the odd jump will be available to Scouts, and on rare occasion, everyone. I haven’t had practice with the Wrangler and sentry jumping yet, so go ahead and try these jumps with your sentry gun. I can’t promise anything.

How? – The nitty-gritty of the jump. I’ll explain how to get where I got. The screenshots show where to place your stickies. Unless otherwise stated, a rocket jump from the same place should work as well.

Why? – Accompanied by a screenshot of the view, and suggestions on how to use the position.

This article focuses entirely on Badwater.

Position 1

Where? – White pipe just past the first point.

Who? – Soldier and Demoman

How? – There are two ways to do this with both classes, but Demoman has a much easier time of getting up there. Firstly, you can lay a sticky at the bottom of the pipe and do a standard sticky jump up to the top, however, this is quite tricky to pull off, as if you don’t have the right angle, you will just fall straight back down. Easier is to place a sticky on the corner of the “shelter” where Engineers often build. Take a look at this screenshot and you’ll see what I mean.Then just do a standard sticky jump from there, making sure to get some distance as well as height.

As a Soldier, this jump can be quite tricky. You have to either do a wall jump, or airstrafe. If you choose to airstrafe, do it from a similar position to the above sticky, and it should be easy to get onto the pipe. If you can’t airstrafe, don’t worry! Stand at the bottom of the pipe, do a normal high rocket jump, making sure to hold forwards, crouch, and keep your rocket launcher at the same angle. Then once you hit the peak of your jump, while still holding forwards and crouch, shoot another rocket into the corner. This will give you extra height and get you on top of the pipe. If you do this, however, you’ll use a lot of health, so consider the Gunboats, and make sure to ask for an overheal from any nearby Medics.

Why? – It’s out of the way, and since you’re high up, a lot of classes will have a difficult time hurting you, due to damage falloff, spread, and arcs. The view is surprisingly wide (see screenshot below), and it’s a good place to rain down explosives from, catching those who are unsuspectingly pushing the cart. Once you’re done, jumping down will cost a lot of health. To help reduce this, there’s a billboard with a big A on it. You can actually land on top of this billboard then jump the rest of the way. It won’t stop you taking fall damage altogether, but it might mean the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, you’re in full view of one of BLU’s exits, so if you’re on RED, you’re in danger of being sniped. Consider using this as a quick ambush then moving on.

Position 2

Where? - Around the corner from the first point. On the roof of the alcove, just before the push to second point.

Who? – Soldier and Demoman

How? – This jump is surprisingly simple, although it has one caveat. The area you can stand on this roof is a very small rectangle close to the corner. To get onto the roof, you have to make sure you’re as close to where it meets the other building as possible, otherwise you will hit an invisible wall and fall. To get up there, simply sticky or rocket jump from this spot.

If you’re a Demoman, you should get more than enough height to land on the roof. If you’re a Soldier, you need to practise getting close to the corner. After a few tries, you’ll learn what does and doesn’t work. Although I recommend it for all jumps, for this one in particular, it’s helpful to create your own local server and just practise.

Why? – It’s a very strong defensive position. You have just enough manoeuvrability to walk backwards a little and duck, giving you pretty good cover. When you’re not taking cover, you can shoot rockets or stickies down to defend the chokepoint, and when the cart moves past you, drop down and attack from the rear. Your view of the chokepoint is amazing, and there’s very little chance of being sniped:

Position 3

Where? – The pipe attached to the wall of the building next to point 2.

Who? – Soldier, Demoman

How? – This one’s just a simple hop up there. Standard rocket or sticky jump, just make sure not to overshoot. Approaching from the side is easier, just be careful not to overshoot.

Why? – A simple ambush. You have a clear view of the opposite entrance, and people coming from the other will tend to just walk straight past you. You’re pretty much on top of the small health pack, so you can guarantee some enemies will come your way, especially if you have a Pyro working his magic down on the ground. This is also somewhere from which to destroy any teleports placed out of reach on top of the vent.

Position 4

Where? – The pipe by the entrance to the small building just after point 2.

Who? – Everyone but Heavy.

How? – Two different methods. Playing anything but Soldier, simply jump onto what I have dubbed the “reactor thingy” pictured below. From there it’s a simple crouchjump to the pipe for most classes. Soldier is too slow to get across, so if you’re playing a Soldier, just do a short rocket jump onto the pipe instead.

Why? – Again, a simple ambush. People rarely look up, so laying in wait above them, then dropping down and stabbing their juicy exposed backs (Razorback notwithstanding) or blowing them up or setting them on fire or… well, you get the picture. Basically, ambushes are great.

So, this article has shown you four fun places to try standing next time you play Badwater. Discovering places like these is great fun. I encourage you all to create a local server and go exploring. You never know what you might find.

In this instalment of How It’s Done, I have interviewed Benjamuffin, one half of the duo that created the Dalokohs Bar (as SamMunRawr had been away). The Dalokohs Bar was released in the first wave of community content, and introduced the concept of a temporary max health increase.

How did you get into Modelling?

Benjamuffin: Well, as I’ve said on the wiki, modelling is more Sam’s latest experiment in media. He, like I, like to learn how things are made, then work on the process of doing that thing ourselves. For me, modelling has probably got to be the one thing I have yet to try properly. The closest I’ve come is playing around in Blender a couple of months ago. As far as I know, modelling for Sam however was one of those things you feel you’d like to pick up and learn. Somewhat like a guitar I suppose, you see or hear someone playing something you like, and you wish you could just pick up that instrument and do it to at your leisure. That’s how I feel about most things I’m capable of using at a impressive level in media, and I think that’s likely the same case for him too. Especially seeing as most of his work these days goes to his deviantart rather than being used for anything.

Ah, I see. You did the Dalokohs Bar co-operatively, didn’t you? How did that process work?

Benjamuffin: Well the process was a little bit of fun really. We never thought anything would come of it. The two of us are close friends, and one night while talking on Skype, we were discussing the contribute page and the fact that I had recently released a Coach Heavy skin. Someone mentioned on the skin release that a chocolate bar would go great with the Coach Heavy, and I simply said to Sam. “Hey… how about we make the chocolate bar, then submit it to the contribute page?”. At this point Sam was pretty playful when approaching modelling, and shunned the thought a little of doing something serious so soon. But nevertheless, we sat and did it all in one night. Sam opened up the program, and I described how it should look (given it was intended for my skin release). So we sat and discussed exotic chocolate styles, and such, until we eventually came up with the chunky shape you see now. Needless to say we slept like logs during the morning of that day. So, to summarize my ability to digress beyond a simple answer: Sam modelled, and I supplied direction. I then worked around Sam’s rather “out there” texture map, and did the business in photoshop, which is where I am at home (having used it for about 5 years or so).

So the actual process of idea creation didn’t take very long at all?

Benjamuffin: I suppose not. We’re just fond of the playful side of Team Fortress 2, and wanted to contribute something that would support that. It would have likely been out of character for us to make a weapon, not unless it had fuzzy spheres on springs, and fuzzy dice attached to it. That and the weapon would have to fire cake or something. We wanted something we could use when we were just stood around playing with other users, rather than something that would go unnoticed during the heat of the battle. Everyone likes Sandvich Parties, so we figured, why not give him some more things to eat?

I’d use a cake gun anyday.

Benjamuffin: Hmm, maybe we made the wrong item… . Noted for the future.

Many would-be modellers and designers find it difficult to get into because the software choice is so large, and that the better quality options are a lot more expensive. What software do you and Sam use, and do you think it’s worth paying so much for the good stuff?

Benjamuffin: I suppose it all comes down to how talented you are to in some respects. For example, good video editors can create something in windows movie maker and people would be none the wiser, whereas a bad video editor will make it strikingly obvious. The same applies to software. If you have the willpower and the ability to understand where and when something is going wrong, and the ability to pick something up, then the free 3D modelling programs are fine for anyone. I’ve seen some brilliant things done with Blender. However when it comes to choosing something to model in, you can’t really go wrong with 3D studio Max. It’s the most commonly used application among the public as far as I know, and offers the most versatility. However in comparison to the free options, it comes with the hefty price tag, and it obviously isn’t as easy to pick up. However, if one works there way up from the bottom, following tutorials along the way, one can’t go wrong. Experimenting in free time is probably the best way. Forget official guide books. You can get a much better feel of your surroundings if you just run the program, and figure out everythings purpose. It’s how I was with photoshop, and I’ve never looked back. It also helps to find applications that have similar layouts. There’s no point in finding a rather indie and unknown 3D program, learning it’s layout, then finding the standard 3D applications use a different layout.

When designing the Dalokohs Bar, did you have any idea about what attributes it should have? Valve insist it’s not up to the creators to fulfil that goal, but some people do so anyway, or (unknowingly) make their contributions based on those ideas.

Benjamuffin: Not at all unfortunately. We never gave it a thought due to the fact that we didn’t think it would make it in given the many REALLY good modellers out there, and we were just doing it for a friendly bit of fun. There was also the aspect that we figured if it DID make it in, then we’d be fine with the fact it was in the game, regardless of what it did. Looking back however, I do wish that we had been able to put a little input into it. The publics reactions among the angsty teeny gaming community hasn’t been exactly 100% pleasant. People seem to forget, we’re only responsible for the item itself. When asked people think it looks great as a Team Fortress 2 chocolate bar, but most people tend to judge it on what it does. And now, what with the latest update to the Sandvich and Dalokohs, people seem to hate the bar even more. It’s a little saddening, but at the end of the day, we?re still very proud of the achievement. I wanted to say something about me being happy to help, in a humorous way, but my mind is lacking. So I shall just say “Jolly good!” and look the other way.

You currently maintain the Dalokohs’ respective page on the Official Team Fortress Wiki. To negate the fact that most people dislike its use over the Sandvich, can you recommend any good tips or times/situations to use it in?

Benjamuffin: Well initially I would say to casual people, “Most of you only use the Sandvich for eating in groups. Isn’t chocolate better?”, but since the downgrade I suppose a legitimate time would be if you are challenged by another Heavy several times. Or just as a buff in general. People claim the Sandvich is better due to the health gain, but I rarely see it used, and with the new cooldown, the Dalokohs is somewhat more useful. If used before battle. The Sandvich is pretty quick and just as useless in the heat of battle, as it can’t prolong your life when being attacked as it used to. So to summarize once more, if the threat demands you outlive a clashing opponent, or if in general you need a health boost. It’s a weapon about choosing your battles, and making your future ones more successful. Nothing more I can add really. People will think what they want to think at the end of the day. All weapons are situational, that is in essence the point of having different unlocks, yet people seem adamant on claiming things such as the Natascha or the Backburner are completely useless and that only noobs use them. It’s a little strange really.

When did you find out the Dalokohs was going to be implemented? Did Valve let you know a short time before the update, or was it a case of simply opening up the game and finding it there, or the steam forums revealing it? And also, when did you get your selfmade items, instantaneously or soon after?

Benjamuffin: Surprisingly Valve said nothing, even though there is an email section when submitting something. Even to this day we received nothing official stating we were in. Sam called me up in the middle of the night, in a hyped up mood, and told me to go and look in the GCF. Naturally, I was a little confused and annoyed, being woken up to look through files and folders of a game I regularly check the GCF for (for base skin files). He showed me c_chocolate. I got excited, but waited until I opened it up in the model viewer first. It was our bar. We were stunned and childlike about it all. This was during the night before it was released. But the first moment I stepped into TF2 in that area of time, I received the Self-Made Dalokohs Bar. The server I was on had about 3 people on it, who I don’t even remember anymore. But there you go. Kind of wish I’d gone on a busy server really. Also the map was 2fort. I was outside the red spawn room. There’s some random Trivia. Also I was Heavy. Wait… that was obvious, scratch that.

When someone’s trying to get into Modelling or Editing, can you recommend any resources you found useful?

Benjamuffin: With texture work, a lot of people advising others wishing to learn tell them to use VTFedit and Gimp, among several other applications. If you’re completely set on only using free programs, this is the way to go, but it’s a chore to do it that way. So many steps, and so many programs to go through. Photoshop is the best bet for anything graphical really. With the VTF plugin you’re good to go. When you get used to photoshop it’s a pretty straight forward program. Though following tutorials is a good way to learn. Not tutorials explaining the program, but tutorials that show you how to create a certain effect on a picture, or how to replicate a logo. Things slowly become second nature after doing those for a while, and it also comes with the benefit of creating decent looking work, when you’re only a novice. For 3D, as I’ve said, Blender is a great place to learn. It’s free and there are even tutorials on the Steam forums on how to model hats in it. So you’re covered on that one. Another program that has some uses for Team Fortress 2 texture making is a program called Corel Painter. It is laid out very much like photoshop, and has the ability to simulate real life painting. It’s the kind of program Valve switched to when they stopped painting giant textures then scanning them in. It gives clarity, and avoids photo artifacts. I haven’t used it beyond painting pictures, but it’s great to get that patchy hand painted look for Team Fortress 2. It’s a lot of fun to use, but a bit awkward (Painter). There are some amazing artwork pieces out there made in it, that you would SWEAR were painted with real paint. Anyone can pick that one up and create something.

If there is one thing you learnt when modelling/texturing for TF2, what would you pass on? So far, New has said it’s key to get your project ingame to check it looks alright. What can you add?

Benjamuffin: That’s a good piece of advice. And I would agree, the model viewer has limitations. What looks fine outside the game can have unexpected problems ingame. It can be tedious going back and forth, but it’s better in the long run. You should see my desktop. It’s cluttered with copies of the same file, material structured folders (ready for drag dropping into a copy of TF2). The two things I hate are pixel stretching and doing two things for alpha channels. For pixel stretching an example would be that I had to do stripes on something, and the right looking size came out at 1 pixel in width. The model, then causes the texture to stretch in places sometimes, which means it’s wider than one pixel on the model. Now the problem with that, is photoshop can’t go smaller than a pixel in width for a brush. So you have to then make the texture bigger, which can cause peoples computers to go a bit odd if it’s not up to scratch. It’s a very annoying process when you come across something like that. The other thing is alpha channels as said. If I have something that needs to light up, and have a normals map too, I end up tyng myself in knots and making a mess as it means I need more than one alpha channel somewhere. It just confuses me. So I guess what you could take from this is: If you come across pixel stretching issues, resize your texture to be large. Providing the scale is the same, the game will make everything look right. Just don’t make it TOO big, or people will hate you for it. And if you’re stuck on alpha channels… don’t ask me as I’ll probably mess something up, because I never remember the details of that that until I’m stuck into it.

Is there any interesting trivia about the bar you could share?

Benjamuffin: Well most people have figured out that it’s Shokolad spelt backwards. And the other stuff such as the slogan which is cut off by the wrapper, which is now on the Wiki trivia thanks to me. But I suppose if people didn’t know, the bar originally had a normals map, and was submitted in blue without team colors. So it originally looked a lot more detailed in some ways, and the BLU team can now either rejoice, or explode with anger. It’s their bar, they should deal with it. Eat it, I mean… Oh! And people always mess up how to pronounce the name. It’s a European bar, so it has no rounded vowels. People like to say Dah-low-cuss. It’s as I wrote on the Wiki, Dah-loh-cuss, or Dah-lock-uss. I just hope the Valve team get it right if they ever get round to giving the Heavy some lines for it. Another small bit of trivia, though it’s not as important, is that I like to change the bar’s lore at random when on servers. I find that being the creator, people take it as fact until I change my mind. It’s a little bit of fun.

When will we have our official WHITE Dalokohs Bar? We know you have it hidden somewhere, and some people (including myself) would prefer a lighter variety.

Benjamuffin: Funny you should say that! I’ve been emailing Robin about that one on and off. He’s a bit of a promise breaker somewhat. Now and then, I will email him about Dalokohs changes. Textures and such (the white one being one of the main ones). And every time, he has turned round and said they will try and get it in. That’s the impression of most of his emails. Then nothing happens. He is a busy man though, so I’m not surprised if he forgets it about it. However, at one point I did suggest the Self-made one could be the only white one. But that’s just me, heh heh heh. I do love white chocolate. My hopes are that someday the Dalokohs will make it into a Meet The… video. Even if it’s just a background prop. Until then I can’t wait for new Heavy lines. I can guarantee that will go as my phone ringtone.

A Heavy with his gun and full of chocolate is a happy Heavy.

Thank you very much for the interview, it’s been informative.

Benjamuffin: Cheers.

Lessons Learnt:
-If collaborating with another person on your submission, make sure that you discuss the details and clearly get what you want from them across.
-Don’t end up relying on guides and tutorials. They may be good for learning the very basics of a software package, but try to get a feel for it yourself once you’ve got those and simply learn by doing.
-If using Photoshop, try to find plugins for editing .vtf files, the primary filetype used for Valve’s textures.
-Remember that when applying a texture a model, the texture’s features may appear uniform but on the model can be distorted. To remedy this, either edit the texture so that the composed model looks how you want it to, or alter the model slightly to acommodate the texture’s details. In the event that you can’t make any details smaller, increase the size of the entire texture.

Credits: Benjamuffin for the Interview and for filling in for Sam somewhat.
The Official Team Fortress Wiki for providing Dalokohs and Heavy pictures.

…And there’s the knowhow behind the Dalokohs Bar! Join us next time for an interview with the creator of the Frenchman’s Beret.

Thanks to Bazinga for sending this in. YouTube user thejazzman9475 has been hard at work creating some of the best TF2 videos ever made. Ever. So far, they’re unfinished, but they’re already dripping with freshly painted win.

There are a couple other ones in the works too, featuring the Pyro, the Sniper, and the Engineer. There’s also one with a surprisingly risqué Heavy/Medic pairs dance sequence. I, for one, can’t wait for these to be finished.