The Team Fortress 2 beta-test is now available for those that have pre-ordered the Half-Life 2 Orange Box. 6 maps and 3 game types are on offer. You'll need to fire up Steam and shell over US$50 to get into the game.

I remember the good old days of demos. I'd love to play this game _before_ I shell out $50 for it. What's the verdict, couple of comments I've read sound pretty positive so far (except the ones who are doing battle with Steam).

runs alot better then i expected on my POS x800, My pc is dieing atm tho so i cant play :(*, and im waiting for new pc to arrive.

So far so good!

I need to play some more but the class diversity and balance seems pretty spot on.

Love it!

Bring it on! See you on there.

So far I am very impressed. To be honest I was really hanging out for portal and this has been a pleasant surprise to say the least. Everything seems to fit in nicely with the cartoon/fun atmosphere of the game. None of the classes seem like wastes like in TFC. More to say about it after I play a bit more. One thing that is a minor annoyance is you can't change your alias in console, you have to do it through steamfriends.

Most fun I've had on an FPS game in years.

Is it the same or better than Fortress Forever as far as gameplay? I found FF seriously disappointing.

at one point in my life.. I never thought I'd see the day..

i have settings low and its still a bit jerky on my comp + it takes like 5 mins for the menu to load then another 5 mins just to join a server. i really need to upgrade.

tf2 is fkn awesome. i'm in love with it.

i'm surprised how well it runs on my system with all the detail up too. yay4source.

ps. sniper r0x. those headshots feel so sweet.

What do you have ravnos?

Just so I can guage what it will run on.

last edited by mission at 20:55:37 18/Sep/07

Had a good chuckle at this. If a spy is disguised he puts a mask on of the class it is disguised as.
http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/1950/cpgranary0002uo3.th.jpg

Well this has surpassed my expectations!

Looks fabulous (and runs beautifully for me)
Awesome/hilarious animations
Sounds are also hilarious
Client side stats are sweet
Game feels cheesy as hell and I love it!


Finally FINALLY a game that is incredibly well done and polished to boot, not pushed out the door only 3/4 finished.

The icing on the cake is the cost for the entire orange box package is low compared to most things.

For me this is EASILY multiplayer game of the year, best of quite a few imo.

To sum it all up in 2 words -

f***ing Brilliant

100% agree with what rubba said. As awesome as I was hoping it'd be.

Also, yeah, I laughed when I saw the spys wearing cardboard masks too :) Its such a fun game, theres so many bits in the game where I just burst out laughing cos something crazy has happened or I died in a particularly violent shower of gibs.

I also love how the demo man is a crazy scotsman who uses a bottle of booze as his melee weapon.

Sniper dominates 2fort. Really love the hydro map, bit confusing at first but it f***en rocks.
Quite a few varying Control Point modes which is cool. I've played 4 or 5 maps and each time the gameplay objectives have changed.

i'm loving it.. got my 27" lcd today it looks sweet!!!

Oh man HWG + Medic + vent chat = almost unstoppable force :D

Yeah, I gotta reinstall steam after a format and then download then puppy.

How big is the download?

I set my alarm an hour early just so I could get up and play more this morning.

Just out of interest, how big is the download for the Orange Box?

um... 11gb with the following games installed on my computer
Half Life 2
Half Life 2 EP 1
Half Life 2 Lost Coast
Counter-Strike Source
Team Fortress 2

Awping in CS feels better than TF2.. I don't like most of the maps which is a bummer, maybe they'll grow on me...

Runs like a dream though, I get better frames than CS.

HWG is a little unbalanced, that bitch is a c*** to get down especially when he's got 1 - 2 medics on him arggh! >_<

be greatful they don't have a bard with them

How big is the download?

when i was preloading tf2 i downloaded 4gig.

Gotta say its pretty impressive game, runs really well on my system at 1680x1050 with everything turned up and on. The balance feels pretty good, I do miss the nades but at least can still rocket jump. Good to see they ported some of the original maps over, I'm guessing we'll see them all eventually. Awesome gibs. If you liked the original TF then this is a must and at the price tag of $54 you can't go wrong.

Mass: what card are you running (and to a lesser extent cpu/ram) and what fps?

The download will be different, it uses the source engine so if you already have any of the HL2 titles you will only probably download 1.5 to 2gb.... I didnt have any so mine was almost 5gb download!

i already had hl2 etc and it still downloaded 4gig just for tf2.

edit: wow my valve folder is 21gig

This game is so awesome. I can't decide which class I like the best, because so many of them are fun to play as (not to mention completely different styles of play). I never played the original TF, so I have no idea how alike it is to the original, but I'm loving this.

I am, however, one of the few that have had horrible technical issues with the game. Basically, the only way I can get the game to run correctly is in windowed mode. Otherwise, there's any combination of random crashes, full system lock-up, HUD not being displayed, plus much much more.

I've also learned that they haven't enabled multi-core support for this yet, but it's supposed to be in there for when it's officially released, so I'm looking forward to that.

my steam folder is well over the 50gb lol! compulsive buyer!!

Rubba and I have been venting this up and doing medic/offensive styles and it rocks!
My record was 54 kills no deaths with medic :D
something like 10 mins alive time (without just cheesing it - was actually in their base the entire time).

Love the game, it's far surpassed my expectations.

For someone who asked about Fortress Forever.
FF sucked a massive bowl of dongs compared to TF2.

Runs nicely on my sys (basically same specs as rubba)

8800GTS 640mb
2gb ram
3.2Ghz CPU.

Max detail with 8xcsaa
not a single hitch (Except occasional lag spike which only seemed to happen on one or two servers).

Sniper for the win, did an awesome shot offensively sniping, in their base in 2fort down below. Scout drops down from the roof hole (the grated bit) as I was running in.
Zoom --> instant shot. killed in mid flight from a snapshot, was very satisfying :D

last edited by Loki at 17:28:15 19/Sep/07

Denny: I'm running an 8800 GTS 320Mb, 2Gb RAM, E6750 CPU @3.6Ghz. The fps sit at a solid 60 as I turn on vsync otherwise it seems to get a bit of tearing (Samsung 22" LCD).......without vsync the FPS averaging 90. Very smooth indeed.

Well after playing this for quite a few hours these are my thoughts on gameplay negatives atm.

Scout = too powerful, shotgun damage needs to be kicked down a notch

Spies spies everywhere... my cause of death would probably be 90% spy, the invisibility thing is a real anus, it needs a longer cool down period or class limit or something to stop teams of 50% spies. Right now some servers are a complete backstab noobfest and it's essentially attack anyone that comes near you.


Pyro is quickly becoming my favourite class. I love the character and setting people on fire and chasing them down with the shotgun is great fun. Plus its a class that can't really be used as a tank.

I'm still sorting out video and network issues here (q6600, 680i , sli 8800gtx, raided raptors, gigabit lan on 1500/256)

Imho it is the single best online multiplayer game since q3test hit us all those years ago. It puts the fun back into gaming and for me, it's fun to play even though I am still learning and completely suck at it.....

It's a complete blast , the theme, the maps , the characters, the voice taunts, the gameplay - and the fact that it doesnt take itself too seriously adds to the longevity of this game on my system anyway. If anyone has any optimisation tips for my rig please flick me an email noosapara@hotmail.com , thnx.

Did I mention this game was FUN ??

Cheers


Das Meat/-\xe

Couple of things.

One, I desperately need dual core support - because I have to run it in windowed mode, I can see my CPU and RAM usage, and one core is chugging its little heart out while the other stays idle.

Secondly, although it is early days, I think it is very encouraging that the comments above mine mention good characters/overpowered classes, but they all seem to be different.

From my experience, the scout/pyro/demoman were the weakest, with the medic being the most useful/powerful class (obviously not for killing), followed by heavy, spy, soldier and engineer. I also found the sniper is hard to play with, especially if your team-mates are too retarded to kill spies.

How much is TF2 Standalone? Also, do you get access to the beta if you buy only the TF2 Standalone?

Cheers. I want this game, don't want the rest of orange box.

You can't buy it standalone until its released... I believe its $29.95US to buy by itself. Obviously since its not available until RELEASE, you won't have access to the beta.

I've played a fair bit... and I find that its fairly even really... I think that medics should have less health... but apart from that, I think its fairly even.

They need more CTF maps, at the moment, there is only the remake of 2Fort. I'm guessing that will come in the release version.

As for performance, I'm running it at max detail on my 8600GT. lawl. 16xAA, 16xAF and its completely playable (AthlonX2 @ 2.2ghz and 3gb ram)

Hope it runs ok on my Quad Core, 4gig ram, 8800Ultra 768meg.

I dunno dude maybe you'll need to overclock.

demoman were the weakest

I call shenanigans, bounce teh tubes ftw! I've found that the grenades are stronger than the rockets.

Pineapples!!

quang quang tink tink .. rut roh

Hope it runs ok on my Quad Core, 4gig ram, 8800Ultra 768meg.

hope you e-peen feels bigger now

Ya mum loves mai e-peen

Still drawing love from the forums :)

If anyone is having issues with random crashes and owns an Nvidia card, the new drivers seem to have sorted the issue. I haven't had a crash since installing them.

Since 1989, you know it... whos copying !

Laaaaggg!!!! whos copying !
Funny stuff.

Broadband has sorted that out, but its less sociable. I miss the LAN days and the old crew.

Keato, the wanker of the e-world.

hi!

Still waiting on the guys at umart to get my order for a new computer, been 2 weeks now. So far on 2 seperate orders they have ran out of stock on a PSU after I ordered it. Althought supprisingly it doesnt run completely horrible on a amd 3.7 with a 6600gt.

last edited by shad at 12:24:25 20/Sep/07

"Keato, the wanker of the e-world."

Picking up online what you leave offline :)

hi2u2

i hope my hexcore 7000gig ram 34500xpXPRESS turbo lowered Teforce runs it ok

im having 22' rims on it tomorrow too

hehe

I like to party in tf2.

god damn it

i need a new machine!!!!

i need a new machine!!!!

me too :(

Aren't the min specs like a p4 1.8, 512mb and Direct X 9 Video card.

Recommended P4 3.0, 1024mb and Direct X 9 Video Card?

Does it really need something super to run it?

My specs are amd 2800, 1gig of ram and geforce 6600 256mb ram

I should be able to run this fine right? (given that i turn details down abit)

wouldn't mind some feedback before i fork money over and start dl'ing

That's pretty much the rig I'm running and it runs fine. Keep in mind it runs at about the same fps as half life 2.

If anyone is having issues with random crashes and owns an Nvidia card, the new drivers seem to have sorted the issue. I haven't had a crash since installing them.

The ironic thing is I was having better luck with the beta drivers off nzone. I'd played hours and hours without ANY problem since the beta release and after upgrading to the official drivers last night I had 1 hl2.exe crash within the first 5 mins, played for a few hours problem free after that though. I'm hoping it was just a one off glitch.

tf2 wont even work now. once the map is loaded the computer resets :/

hl2 and cs work fine on my rig, why wont tf2? :(

last edited by ravn0s at 09:23:47 21/Sep/07

For all you nubs running Vista make sure you have your OS up to date with windows update. There are quite a lot of hotfixes etc out for it now, the list keep growing heh.

I am running mine on Vista x64 and apart from that one off crash its been great.

Rav - are you getting a quick BSOD flash up on the screen? If so its likely to be some kind of driver/software problem if other games are fine. Maybe try the beta drivers on www.nzone.com or the latest offical drivers (or if you are already on those, roll back to a previous version).

last edited by rubba-chikin at 09:32:46 21/Sep/07

Played this for almost 6 hours last night, was very impressed with the class balance. There is no crap class / overpowered class. There are some combos like Heavy or Pyro with a Medic bitch (Like Saint) they seemed to be very powerful.

I really enjoyed the "Defend Base" maps at time had flash backs to DM4 with all the grenades and rockets flying all over the place.

When I was Medic I swear every spy playing would poojab me every chance they got, felt like a 21st party at Casa's house.

Apart from the unwanted poojabbing was awesome.

I'm on schedule to be downloading this and getting on the battlefield tonight.

Woot.

my pc keeps crashing (pc issue just dosnt like games).
online vendors keep messing me around with my new pc.
frustrating.
managed to play for a good 1hr last night before i crashed out., was great.

[-] September 20, 2007 - Current Release

---Changes/Additions
-Linux Dedicated Server beta release
-Disabled the loading of background maps

---Bug fixes
-Fixed not being able to issue rcon commands with empty strings like: rcon sv_password
-Fixed refresh rate video mode issue
-Fixed crash on opening the scoreboard after having changed between windowed and fullscreen
-Fixed a hitch problem related to mouse updates happening too frequently
-Fixed sentry muzzleflashes not drawing unless sentry was near the map origin
-Fixed a crash during loading while starting the game in fullscreen mode
-Exploit fix related to "join_team".

Can someone please clarify. If I order the Orange Box, can I just download TF2 only (without the other parts) so I remain under my download cap? Then download the other parts at a later time? Or don't you get a choice?

Yes, you get a choice, its a separate game on Steam. Though it probably has dependancies like it'd need some HL2 files and such, so you might end up with bits of a few other things, but you can still download just TF2 and what TF2 needs to run.

You end up with about 60% of HL2.

I knowwww this cause I installed TF2 then HL2 and had 60% done already :P

(that includes SDK already installed tho)

Gah

The download for me is 6.7gig for TF2 alone or 9gig for all the other bits.

ETA of 7 to 10 hours :(

I'll be playing in the morning.

hmm i have CS:S and downloaded TF2 with around 1.3gb of data, dunno where everyone is pulling 6gb from :|

Once the files are extracted and you are taking the download size from the folder size in the steamapps directory, sure, its 6gb. The actual downloads are compressed and are not as big.

protip: if you want to defend your briefcase thats dropped in the field, use a demoman and cover the area around it with sticky bombs and rack up the kills as spys and scouts try their hardest to steal it back

Tonight I scored my highest in a lot of things with an 8 minute HWG life, I was 1 point short of cracking a 100 score :( 6 invuns during all that chaos :D

I wasn't ever a big fan of the heavy but mowing down so many poor bastards is so much fun :P

Another update mannnn worst capped week of my internet career.

[-] September 21, 2007 - Current Release

-Changes/Additions
Optimized sound system

-Bug fixes
Removed background map due to incompatibilities
Fixed a Direct3d device restore problem causing crash and/or black screen
Fixed Windows Vista crash bug
Fixed achievement manager crash
Fixed occasional sniper zoom crash

So I bought the orange box when it became available so i could get in on the beta but only just got around to pre-loading it. Preload has finished but i just get a message saying i can play it as soon as it gets released. So is there something I'm missing here or am I just s*** out of luck until it's officially out?

Once the files are extracted and you are taking the download size from the folder size in the steamapps directory, sure, its 6gb. The actual downloads are compressed and are not as big.

I just checked my dowload meter thing and it says I downloaded 5.3 gig last night. A bit less than Steam saying 9 gig but sometimes the optus meter is slow to update so it all may not be reflected yet.

BUT I did just format and all I had on my HD was a Steam back-up I made, which was two CD's, back in Novemebr 2005. So I didn't have CS-S or any of the other shizzle you gradually download through Steam over time.

last edited by mission at 11:19:24 22/Sep/07

So I bought the orange box when it became available so i could get in on the beta but only just got around to pre-loading it. Preload has finished but i just get a message saying i can play it as soon as it gets released. So is there something I'm missing here or am I just s*** out of luck until it's officially out?

The ad on steam is still saying you can start playing the beta now if you prepurchase, so you shouldn't be locked out...

pretty damn good game, money well spent

Best game I've played in a long time.

5 stars.

great game - good for a bash or two :P


I'm still deciding whether to join a TF2 clan or a et:qw one for comp-level fun


both are awesome games...


descisions descisions...

Best game ive played in AGES, very balanced, something different than open battlefield style but still requires a v high lvl of teamplay. Its got some great animations and awesome set ups, ive seen some fkn hectic gibs and had alot of lols already. Some of the heavier classes feel a bit slow, feels wierd not being able to pull out knife and run fast, but i guess thats where the teamplay comes into it. The medic's are so powerful :O they perhaps heal a bit too fast? i danno its still hell fun either way. Ill certainly be laddering it up when this comes out :D:D

Runs decent on my set up, 3400+ 1 gig ram 7800GS medium settings, defiantly playable even for a fps greedy mofo like me :O

5 stars =)

last edited by simple at 21:07:30 22/Sep/07

Yeah it's a hefty download.. Took ages even on my DSL 2+.. Would be a bummber if your on a 10 gig cap..

Played some last night and wow.. Lots of fun.. Brings me back to the orriginal game making sentry guns etc.. There's some nice new features over the old one but essentially the gameplay is very much the same. Love it..

what i really love about it is the complete different game play each class has, and the time it takes to get decent at each class. You might get bored after a while of one class, then you change to another and its like a completely different game (if you try to play the classes to their full advantage). This one will be keeping me busy for a while to come :)

Really getting sick of noobs letting spy's rack up the backstabs. Guess I just need to give it time.

where the f*** are the servers?
Every time I try an join or even browse a game nothin shows up?

I had that at first, then I clicked the "Stop Refresh" button on the server browser and suddenly they all appeared.

Theres 15 GA and 20 node servers Hermi, that should be enough :) I do find every 2nd time I try to refresh my favs it will end up blank or only show 3 or 4 servers.

Pressing "stop refresh", then "refresh" again seems to bring them all back.

Khel, was that since the game update this morning?

I was thinking the server software needed to be updated.

EDIT: just confirmed the GA servers are running old software and cant be joined until they are also updated. See what happens when Trog goes overseas. Who will answer the call now????

:p


last edited by E.T. at 11:01:06 27/Sep/07

so internode is out of date now as well?

There has been 3 updates in the last 3 days.
http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=news

Right click tf2 in steam games to see all the updates.

[-] September 28, 2007 - Current Release

Changes/Additions
Added option to change Field-of-view, between 75 & 90, from the Options->Multiplayer tab
Added option to disable Player sprays
Increased flamethrower damage at point black range
Demoman grenades (not stickybombs) no longer explode on contact after the first bounce
Bug fixes
Fixed flamethrower hit detection
Fixed a startup crash
Fixed a case where players could get stuck in tc_hydro
Fixed player movement prediction errors
Fixed third-person sniper aim animation not matching player's view exactly
Fixed achievements and stats being awarded when watching other player's demos
Fixed rare server crash due to data corruption in networking
Fixed a case where some sounds had incorrect volumes

OH f*** YES PYRO TWEAKS!!!!!!!!!

*dances*

I'm off to burninate some c***s :D

$50 ffs, what a money grab

Yeah, $50 for 5 games, what a f***ing rip off.

Demoman grenades (not stickybombs) no longer explode on contact after the first bounce

Kinda lame

Hopefully that will un-s***terfy the pyro, 'cos they were crap. I'd walk up to someone and fill their body cavity with fire, and they'd leisurely stroll off and get backup.

Much easier to get kills with pyro up close but hes still useless at mid/long range. I was hoping for a little more range on the flamethrower.

The tweaks are nowhere near enough to change it being a super underplayed class... try again devs.

Doesn't seem to have much improvement.
Some, but still needs tweaking regarding running forward + firing flame thrower.
And the scattergun still needs a huge tonedown

Can't believe they jewed the pyro again.

That was the only class in TFC that was NEVER player.

Pyro definitely needs a bit of a boost :( Not too much, could definitely become over powered if they go too far, but at the moment you die too quickly and don't do enough damage to the other side.

haha you must all f***ing suck. I havnt had a chance to play any TF2 since the patch but every comment about the change I just briefly saw on SA was in tune with the pyro being awesome now. You definitely had to play a certain way before the patch and I guess that hasnt changed... The pyro is a thinking mans class :O (I dunno about that but you certainly cant run head first into people)

I can get my fair share of burny kills, but pyro will never come close to topping the scoreboard. It just won't happen in the current state of the class because its such a suicide mission to get kills. To get kills you need to get up close, and getting up close more often than not results in death from other enemies after you have fried your target.

That really is the problem because all the other classes can get to the top if used by a skilled player. I have never once seen a pyro even in the top 3 on any server I have played on.

i dunno, i topped the scoreboard a few times with it ... mind you those were with a score between 60 and 120

I reckon the pyro is lame, much like the flame thrower in babo. They should both be dropped immediately.

pyro rocksit, reso sucksit

medic + hw ftmfw

Just had a few rounds with the updated pyro. It is MUCH stronger now, you really feel like where you aim gets hit and when you are chasing somone you fire much longer.

Easily topped a couple servers, albeit at 3AM :P

I had a bash last night and the Pyro definatley has a few more herbs in his thrower. I scorched many a fool.

I love flame throwers, like the old Kingpin days. But sooo many lame lamers would winge and complain.

all for the pyro boost, but ffs why nerf the demomans second bounce ><

man, for a game that they have tried to make really casual player friendly, sudden death is such a f***ing idiotic feature. both teams just end up turtle at their bases. i dont get why it wasnt scrapped a long time

apart from that its awesome. most fun ive had playing a game in a long time

I can get my fair share of burny kills, but pyro will never come close to topping the scoreboard. It just won't happen in the current state of the class because its such a suicide mission to get kills. To get kills you need to get up close, and getting up close more often than not results in death from other enemies after you have fried your target.

there are too many ppl that play tf2 like its a game of cs..you're meant to die, and die lots. as a pyro u might not be on top of the score but thats really not your job... if u run in and burninate 5 ppl and then die, mission accomplished!

what many people have to realise is that you're not meant to sit around and be pussies. (again, its not cs)

there are too many ppl that play tf2 like its a game of cs..you're meant to die, and die lots. as a pyro u might not be on top of the score but thats really not your job... if u run in and burninate 5 ppl and then die, mission accomplished!

what many people have to realise is that you're not meant to sit around and be pussies.

Damn straight.

Wars > Pub x 100000000000000000000000

Yeah that is the way I play Pyro. Tonight I had some uber rapage and ended up leading the scoreboard for a long time, ended up coming third to a sniper and medic.

I love busting into a room with 5 or 6 newbs and flailing about in circles igniting everyone. They all freak the f*** out and scatter in all directions.
Best thing they could do in that situation is just turn and all fire at the pyro at once killing them straight up. Then the medic would probably be able to heal most of em fine.

It is very much a suicide class, and so many of your kills get nicked at the last second while they are running away screaming. I often end up with roughly equal assist to kill ratio.

Pyro absolutely pwns with an ubercharge too, the peons run for their lives when u wobble around the corner all glowy and the flamethrower is great for nuking SGs too.

last edited by rubba-chikin at 01:06:32 01/Oct/07

Do the flames of burnination go around corners? Cause if they don't that sucks. If they do, that unsucks!

nah they don't toll.

And yeah, pyro has it's uses, but could still use a boost.

!

That is the suck.

Flame throwing weapons need to go around corners and fill up rooms and s***. NOWHERE TO RUN in small rooms and whatnot. That is the power of flame throwers, o and to still terror into people and break the moral of the opposing force, but its a computer game so it doesn't work like that. so make the flames fill the room, and lots of smoke so no-one can see.

The flame throwers range goes to nothing when you are running forward too. All you have to do to beat it is to run backwards shooting while just outside of melee range and unless they pull out their shotgun there is nothing they can do.

That said with a medics invul and people dumb enough to stand still or a small enough room it can be really powerful.

yep pyro is one of my fav classes now. he pwns if you just play smart. flank their assaulting squad then its roasted anoos for dinner.

i like the kamikaze style of play where you just go hard and freak the f*** out of as many people as possible. even if you dont end up killing heaps, but just delay an opposition assualt by forcing them to disband and find health - then youve done your job :D

yeah i saw you playing last night strex, you were doing quite well with the pyro

i was spying on that map and half the time i had the enemy medics healing me while i backstabbed the rest hehe

I love pyro now pisses people off easy. Do what strex said, flanking ftw.

I've found the same thing, flanking with the pyro is great now. More often than not, when I run into a big group of enemies, I'll still die, but now I take pretty much all of them with me.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n239/rubbachikin/pyropwnage.jpg

Orrryer flank and burn :D I love pyro!