(thanks to Bakphoon for the modified logo)
History of this thread: OT1 | OT2 | OT3
Trading Thread - head here if you're looking to trade with other GAF members.
Servers & Steam Groups
- NA - Steam Group | Cap That Point (Dallas)
Overview
Team Fortress 2 is a realistic, class-based, modern military FPS with a strong focus on teamplay and class-roles*. Teamwork is essential and the commander class, as the name implies, is responsible for keeping the team organized and efficient.
Videos:
Stealth Gameplay
Vehicle Gameplay
GameStar Overview
* That's how it started at least. Eventually, Team Fortress 2 became what it is today: a whimsical, stylized, class-based shooter and frustration engine. In June of 2011 Team Fortress went FREE TO PLAY and the game is constantly updated with new content at no extra charge.
Classes
--- Scout ---
The glass cannon. Scouts are extremely dangerous in the right hands, but very squishy.
Advantages - Fastest movement speed, double jump, very powerful primary, excels in 1v1 combat
Drawbacks - Low health, can't deal with crowds very well
[Hard] Counter - Engineer Sentry Guns
--- Soldier ---
The man's man, man! Soldiers are the jacks of all trades.
Advantages - Second highest health, powerful primary, high mobility via rocket jumps
Drawbacks - Slow walk speed
[Soft] Counter - Pyro airblasts
--- Pyro ---
The mysterious comedy sidekick. Pyros are close-range fighters that excel at ambushes and herding enemies.
Advantages - Highly versatile primary that can ignite enemies and reflected projectiles back at would-be attackers. Can extinguish allies with an airblast. Great for spy-checking.
Drawbacks - Poor at mid and long range combat
[Soft] Counters - Heavies, Well-placed Engineer Sentry Guns
--- Demoman ---
KABOOM! The guy you'll learn to hate.
Advantages - Demoman excels at dealing explosive damage at mid-to-long range. He also has a vast array of power melee weapons at his disposal. If there's something that needs doing, from destroying a sentry nest, to killing large numbers of enemies, a good demoman can probably get it done.
Drawbacks - Poor at close-ish range. Since they have no hit scan weapons, demomen need to lead their targets and account for latency when doing so.
[Hard] Counter - Scout
--- Heavy ---
The ugly one! Heavies are the tanks of the team.
Advantages - Highest Health, Most powerful primary weapons
Drawbacks - Slow movement speed, Primary weapon needs to be revved before it can fire
[Hard] Counters - Sniper Headshots, Spy Backstabs
--- Engineer ---
The smart one. Engineer focuses of area denial for enemies and creating a forward base (or defensive line) for allies.
Advantages - No need to aim, sentry guns will do all the work for you! Build tools such as teleporters and dispensers to aid your teammates.
Drawbacks - Low health. Unappreciative, unhelpful teammates
[Hard] Counters - Demoman, Spy Sapper
--- Medic ---
Teamwork, personified. The medic does little killing himself, but greatly increases the effectiveness of teammates.
Advantages - Overheal: increase a patient's max health by 50% temporarily. Ubercharge: After building a charge, the Medic grants himself and his patient invulnerability for 8 seconds. The medic also has the second fastest movement speed.
Drawbacks - Medics are a bright white target to anyone who spots them. A smart enemy will always aim for the other team's medics. Medics themselves are also not very good at direct combat.
[Hard] Counter - Sniper headshots
--- Sniper ---
The point-and-clicker. Snipers generally hang back and pick enemies off from a distance. Direct combat is something they try to avoid when possible.
Advantages - The only long-range class in the game. Sniper headshots can kill any class in a single shot.
Drawbacks - Low-health. Poor at mid-to-close range combat. Complaints from teammates that you have too many snipers (and spies).
[Hard] Counter - Spy Backstab, Enemy Snipers
--- Spy ---
The sneaky one. Spies have an array for tricks to fool their enemies and catch them off-guard.
Advantages - The spy can disguise as other classes, both enemy and friendly. He can also use his watch to turn completely invisible for a short time. Using his knife, a successful backstab will instantly kill any enemy.
Drawbacks - Low-health. Relatively weak in direct combat. Other players can't see your stylish hats when you're disguised or cloaked.
[Hard] Counter - Pyros
[Soft] Counter - Scouts
Game Modes
King of the Hill - This simple mode challenges each team to hold a control point for three minutes. While your team holds the point your timer will count down. While the other team holds the point your timer will pause and theirs will count down.
Push (aka 5 CP) - This mode has each team trying to take control of all 5 control points in linear order. The first team to control all 5 at once wins.
Attack/Defend CP - This mode has RED team defending their control points while BLU team tries to capture them in a set amount of time. If BLU captures all points than they win. Otherwise, if the timer runs out, RED wins.
Payload - This mode isn't important. Just forget it exists. Suffice to say, it's basically a bastardized version of Attack/Defend.
Payload Race - This mode is similar to that-mode-which-we-do-not-speak, but each team has it's own cart. They must, simultaneously, try to get their cart to the finish while stopping the other team from doing the same.
Capture the Flag - The mode that's been in every competitive video game ever. You probably already know the rules, so I won't bother explaining them.
Arena - Arena is basically Deathmatch Elimination. Since the game isn't really designed for deathmatch it doesn't work out so well, but it is fun every once in awhile.
Territorial Control - This mode is a myth. Like the Chupacabra, or a viable third party candidate.
Mann vs. Machine (Co-op Mode) - Mann vs. Machine is TF2's co-op mode. It has it's own OT: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487483
Competitive TF2
There are several leagues where TF2 is played competitively. The two popular formats are 6v6, which generally revolves around Scouts, Soldiers, Demomen and Medics, and "Highlander Mode," a 9v9 game-type where each team must have exactly one of each class. For more info, go here: http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Competitive
Cosmetics
Team Fortress 2 is, amongst other things, a game of HIGH FASHION. There are tons of hats and accessories that you can use to decorate your
Content Creation
Hey! Did you know that you can make your own maps and models and potentially have them added to Team Fortress 2?! ...You did? Well, fine. I won't go into too much detail then, but here are some good places to start if you're interested in making some content and, potentially, some cash off of TeamF2 by uploading it to the Steam Workshop.
Mapping:
Valve Developer Wiki
Hammer Editor Video Tutorials
TF2Maps.net
Modelling:
Blender Video Tutorial
Polycount Wiki
Polycount Forum
For further information on all topics, visit the official Team Fortress 2 Wiki
