First-Person Shouter

I think it’ll definitely be interesting to see how it works out.

“Trust In The Valve” - Every letter had to be capitalized Just To Emphasize How Important It Was, Huh?

I’m going to imagine that the baseball is going to be a noticeable taunt, like the heavy’s fingerbang. However, this would have longer range. I find it hard to imagine that you could hit a ball while running, as THAT would be overpowered. Start it up around a corner, run around, and hit it to anyone that happens to be there.

Or maybe it will be like the tank’s rock throw in L4D. You’re immobile, but you can change the direction of the attack in the process of the hitting.

However, I highly doubt this is the most controversial unlockable we’re going to get in the upcoming days… the scout is supposed to get something that will help him be effective against sentries… whatever it is, just imagine the callings of “fag” throw against Valve in such volume….

Horrifying.

Love Valve. So Much.

This could help in some cases against sentries. You could knock out the engi while a spy lovingly saps.

Well, I’d say it’s safe to trust Valve on this one. After all, it’s been in developement for so long they must’ve playtested it for weeks. It’ll be tolerable, if not fun to be stunned.

As for sentries, I think it was Tom Francis who came up with the idea of a baseball that diverted sentries for a fewseconds (But I’m probably wrong)

I’m so happy they finally have it set in stone that we will have it on Tuesday. The Sandman seems like a rather interesting item. While the stun is a rather effective ability, the lack of the double jump would severely weaken the scout in CQC. A scout can bound around a heavy while blasting him, but not if he’s packing this. So I’m wondering if this will encourage a more supportive role rather than run into the crowd and shoot role. But of course the big questions are what are the two other items, what do they enable or limit, and how they play together. Can’t wait to see what we get shown tomorrow.

If you’re playing EVE-Online, I recommend that you join a corp. Otherwise its not nearly as fun, since you have no friends or teammates around to help you mission, mine or do PVP with. It really improves the game. All you need to do is jump into the Recruitment channel and say you’re looking for a Newbie Corp to join. I recommend that you join EVE University, since they’ll teach you the basics of the game and give you a 20 million ISK starting loan which you can play around with.

aw man, I cay-ent wayt troo gret mee mah bashebawle blat de blat blat! seriously though, i have a felling tf2 is about to become funnier.

I just can’t wait.

Oh also note it says if you hit the HEAD several times. I’m sure there is going to be some aim involved in the use of this…

That graph shows why Valve is so brilliant. They hear the complaints but create intelligent solutions that maintain balance. I am very pleased they didn’t cave and do something stupid like remove the sticky’s close rage capabilities.

Chris, if you consider doing PvP in EVE with fun people, I’ll shamelessly promote the corp that just picked me up during my first days. Link in my nick ;)
And even if you don’t wanna join, the guides section there is very helpful and not too tldr.

As for the Sandman: interesting, but the drawback might keep me away from it. We’ll see, sounds fun though. And I’m fairly sure the pyro will be able to reflect the baseball to balance things out.

I think that I will use it when it comes out, because, really, if double jump was crucial to success, then they would have given it to everyone. I don’t think that (for me)it will be that much of a loss. Also, about the baseball/stun effect, how often do you think that, in the middle of battle, a scout hit the ball, and it will fly perfectly and hit you, while you are running, shooting, jumping, ect.? There is a teensy weensy chance that this would ever happen. Now, I’m not saying that the stun effect is bad or useless, I actually think its a really good idea, but I’m just saying that it won’t happen to frequently to become annoying, or actually hinder gameplay. Thats just my take on it.

It will be worth it the first time I stop an Ubered Heavy.

Plus no one knows with what frequency or in which quantities the balls can be ‘fired’.

But I just realized that it might make the scout more useful when it comes to defending on payload maps, since you’d only have to hit the ball in the general direction of the cart where you have good chances to actually hit someone. Might even be devastating if the thing ricochets and could hit multiple enemies, but that just sounds plain overpowered.

Wait - so you can’t doublejump at all when you have this equipped in inventory (but are using, say, Scattershot), or you only can’t double jump while using The Sandman and having it in your hands?
If you can’t double jump AT ALL, even with a Scattershot, then I’m not going to use this.

This just annoys me even more that the xbox 360 version of TF2 still hasn’t been updated.

Hope we get the class updates after the scout pack’s out.

Valve ruining the Demoman. Seriously. I had a fight with a Spy I usually own as a Demo on my fav server. We both had full health. After the fight I was left with 40 HP.

WHAT DID THE DEMO EVER DO TO YOU?! HE IS EASY TO BACKSTAB, SNIPE, ROCKET, SCATTERGUN, AND NEEDLE! *SOB* *SOB*.

Oh well. Heavy is my most played lately. Watch out, Scouts, I’m gonna get this Do No Touch Sandvich achievement.

–

Because Chris have decided he aint moderating my comment in that other blog post, and because it is TF2 related, I will post it a link at a time, also in my name:

Talking about photography in gaming, I just deleted my over 20GB worth of TF2 pictures taken on the last year. I have realized I never look at these pictures and never share them, because about 60% of it is crap I never had the time to find and delete. So everything had to go. I have not stopped taking pictures, I just try to take what I won’t want to delete. It’s not working, but I have this REALLY awesome deathcam I can’t find amongst the about 1000 other pictures I took yesterday. HERE ARE SOME OTHERS!

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4210/heartacedrunkislookinggnt6.png

While uploading, I have found the deathcam:
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3766/spiderpigislookinggoodty3.jpg

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7162/uffishislookinggoodpy3.png
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6660/awakeislookinggoodtk1.png

A third link in my nickname.

Hey, I thought you can post 2 links. Oh god. I’m gonna have to post this all over agin because Chris isn’t confirming comments.

——

Valve ruining the Demoman. Seriously. I had a fight with a Spy I usually own as a Demo on my fav server. We both had full health. After the fight I was left with 40 HP.

WHAT DID THE DEMO EVER DO TO YOU?! HE IS EASY TO BACKSTAB, SNIPE, ROCKET, SCATTERGUN, AND NEEDLE! *SOB* *SOB*.

Oh well. Heavy is my most played lately. Watch out, Scouts, I’m gonna get this Do No Touch Sandvich achievement.

–

Because Chris have decided he aint moderating my comment in that other blog post, and because it is TF2 related, I will post it a link at a time, also in my name:

Talking about photography in gaming, I just deleted my over 20GB worth of TF2 pictures taken on the last year. I have realized I never look at these pictures and never share them, because about 60% of it is crap I never had the time to find and delete. So everything had to go. I have not stopped taking pictures, I just try to take what I won’t want to delete. It’s not working, but I have this REALLY awesome deathcam I can’t find amongst the about 1000 other pictures I took yesterday. HERE ARE SOME OTHERS!

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4210/heartacedrunkislookinggnt6.png

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7162/uffishislookinggoodpy3.png

A new link in my nickname.

This is the best one:

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3766/spiderpigislookinggoodty3.jpg

Note; there are 2 pictures in my nickname in the comments above. This one dosen’t!

Sorry for making such a big mess, Chris, but really I wanted to post these links :(

Are you sure that’s TF2? Isn’t that somy beta-copy-attempt from the 1995?

Only way I’ll use this is if you can stun SG’s, and if you can double jump while holding the other weapons.

I can see this being one of the preferred weapons for people who don’t like scout mainly because they find it too difficult to play him in his current state.

I love double jumping around. It makes the scout expert at taking down players who have lower sensitivity, or unskilled players, and even some skilled players.

Without the double jump the scout loses his maneuverability, and his abbility to dodge attacks at close range.

Another alarming thing I saw with the update was it said you have to hit them in the head… If you have to hit them in the head, it’s going to likely be like a grenade (hopefully flare gun, as it’s arc is pretty easy to compensate for) and even if it doesn’t have a charge up time, getting a hit in the head is going to be difficult and lowers the usefulness of the bat.

Why would a baseball bat prevent the scout from double-jumping? That doesn’t make a lick of sense. It just feels like some arbitrary nerf thrown in to balance it against the regular bat.

There just isn’t any “in-universe” justification for this. At least with the Backburner the lack of air blast can be explained as difference in weapon design, but the double-jump is supposed to be an innate ability of the Scout, and as divorced from reality as TF2’s setting can be, making a baseball bat magically take that away from him spreads my suspension of disbelief a bit too thin.

Also, I hope Valve sees the light and gives groin hits separate animations.

Magicly taking away the very logical double jump.

I guess the Scout has to carry baseballs, and maybe the bat is heavy?

Nonomu198 may be right, but I still don’t like the removal of the double-jump. I agree with Zoinker, and like Chris, I’m concerned about this, too. It IS an innate ability for the Scout and I don’t like the idea of subclasses within the existing classes (like the original Back Burner Pyro, essentially a juggernaut/tank class).

The Sandman is probably made out of wood heavier than aluminium,plus baseballs.

I don’t really mind the change from a gameplay perspective. It gives more variety to what I’ve always felt was a very bland character, giving players a choice between an in-your-face close offensive role and a more support/mobile harassment role.

My major gripe is the lack of “in universe” justification for the change. I don’t see how the weight of the bat would be a sufficient answer. If that were the case, why doesn’t it slow him down as well, and why wouldn’t the scattergun have the same effect?

It’s probably a stupid reason to gripe, and I actually look forward to trying it out once I’ve [s]farmed[/s] earned the necessary achievements, but I wished Valve could at least have given us some justification that fits the setting.

I’m most wondering about aim/speed of the ball. Like, will it have a crosshair, and that’s where it goes? Does it travel in an arc? Do you click once, throw the ball up, click again, swing, and try to hit as best you can? Will it be a 90 MPH major league hit? Or will it go over the field at a leisurely pace?

Well, wooden bats are heavier than aluminum ones, plus he has the added weight of the baseballs to carry with him. He’s also got his other weapons with him even when he’s not using them.

Let’s say he can only double jump if everything he’s carrying weighs less than 15 pounds.

Old Kit:
Aluminum bat: 5 pounds
Scattergun: 6 pounds
Pistol: 2 pounds

Total weight: 13 pounds. Can double-jump.

New Kit:
Wooden Bat: 6 pounds
Baseballs: 2 pounds
Scattergun: 6 pounds
Pistol: 2 pounds

Total weight: 16 pounds. Too heavy to double-jump.

I didn’t add in ammo, but same difference. I think it makes okay sense.

Alternate theory: pine tar allergy. It’s his personal kryptonite.

@Christopher
Maybe, but that depends on whether the scout looses the double-jump by having the Sandman in his inventory or only when wielding it.

In the former case it would make sense since he’d still have to carry it even when he’s not using it, but in the latter case that line of reasoning would fall apart, since holding the bat won’t make it any heavier.

The problem is that Valve didn’t give any official reason why the Sandman takes away the double jump. Previously such explanations were unnecessary since the changes were limited to the weapon at hand and thus were easier to justify, but this time the unlockable affects an ability that is more associated with the class itself rather than it’s weapons (compare the soldier’s rocket jump, which could logically be removed by a rocket launcher alternative). By making this change without explaining why it would make sense, Valve weakens our suspension of disbelief.

@Christopher

Hopefully you don’t have any bats, Aluminum or wood, that weigh 5 pounds. The Scout would be barely able to swing that. The heaviest baseball bats in use are slightly over 2 pounds.

Well, if you want to talk about “in universe” questions, everyone is asking the wrong one anyway. The real question would be, why can’t he use the baseballs with his existing bat?

Yes, Spot, those were just example numbers. I realize that a guy who can magically change direction in mid-air by double-jumping couldn’t possibly swing a bat that heavy.

I was expecting this would be an instant death taunt…plus I wonder if these baseballs are unlimited (Like the pyro’s hadouken taunt) or if they’ve got an ammo limit to em…

Anyone noticed how buggy TF2 is in the last couple of days? I have been on several servers to find half my team mates frozen. It has made for interesting gold rush pushes.

You guys are acting like TF2 is a realistic tactical ops sim. Why do you care about an explanation why the double jump would be impossible with the Sandman? You realize that there are also guys running around who are shooting rockets and bombs at their feet to fling themselves around the battlefield while there’s a dude with a magic healing beam around that just got a knife in his back because he was fooled by a man who wore a mask made of cardboard? I could go on, just sayin. :D

If I couldn’t care less, I’d like the pine tar = kryptonite explanation the most. :>

Well, it can be fun trying to determine governing rules in ridiculous systems. It’s one of the things I really enjoy about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books — he sets up a magical, fantastical world but still has rules within it that make a certain amount of logical sense.

But you can go too far with it, too, which is why I think the heavier bat (or pine tar allergy) work okay as an explanation. Dig much deeper and nothing is really going to make any sense.

TF2 is full of weirdness and fridge logic, but it usually slides because the whole setting is so inherently ridiculous that the player can easily accept such things as one way steampunk teleporters, healing guns and axes that work well on people on fire because they have barbed wire stuck on them.

The Sandman irks me because there wasn’t any reason given why you can’t double jump with it. If Valve had mentioned weight as an issue in the press release, I would have accepted it without question. Instead they basically say “You can’t double jump because it lets you stun people, and we can’t have both”. Without giving the slightest hint why this would make sense, even within the madcap world of TF2, Valve reminds us of the real reason, game balance, and thus immersion is broken.

It’s a dumb thing to nitpick about, and I hope I’m not coming off as a compulsive ranter, looking for any reason to rain on people’s parade, but it’s kind of annoying considering Valve could have avoided this with two words (”it’s heavy”).

I hope they make it breakable like the demoman’s bottle. Only after a successful crit hit though. That would rock :D

@MartinJ

I use special settings so my computer can run the damn thing without an avrage of 20 fps when looking at nothing. I still get an avrage of 5 fps in big fights of 3 and more people, and 15 fps when fighting jst one guy, though. That’s why I play Heavy and a Sniper-Engie (which is an Engie that snipes people at medium range because he aint a dumb zombie like other Engies). Yes I know I need a new computer.

@Chris

I like Discworld too. Also, I already said these things about the weight.
Anyhow, can you explain the Backburner? It crits on backs for some reason, and you can’t have airblast just because the other flamethrower can (what the hell is up with airblast anyway).

Crits themselves are a mystery. And don’t you give me the super-heat idiotic explanation, it’s not funny, it’s annoying.

A wizard did it.

I agree with Zoinker in respect to Headwoünd’s comment.

Christopher, you pose a great question. Why CAN’T the Scout just use the regular bat?

It would make much MORE sense if the unlockable was simply baseballs. And they would be really heavy baseballs, lots of them just bulging in his carrying bag so you can tell he’s using this unlockable and can’t double-jump.

And now we have two new maps. Another alpine one…that’s Arena again ¬¬. And a much more intersting sounding Gravelpit-esq map. In other words, slow news day.

w00t for new maps :3

Aww, of course… they give us a new Alpine map, and it’s Arena AGAIN. I mean, I’m not hating on those who like Arena, but couldn’t we get a CP or something? :’(

They’re not new maps - they’re sponsored User Created maps.

I like arena! People who complain about having to wait out a round (It’s generally about a minute, come on!) are just lazy.

Anyways, lookin’ good!

If you are bringing the Sandman into question here, why stop there? Why does the axtinguisher do more damage against people on fire? Why does the ubersaw swing slower? Where do the magical crits come from when the Heavy uses the KGB?

Just saying. Don’t start picking at the weaving of TF2 without being prepared to find all the other answers. Just play the damn game.

keep the jump abillity, ist not worth losing it, mayn

i am the worst scout ever so i don’t think i will even get a chance to unlock the new weapons :)

Zortan, you don’t need to be skilled at the game to unlock Achievements and the new weapons. (;

” Now the bad news: You can’t double jump when you’re carrying this little beauty.”
>>carrying

Does that mean if you equip the weapon in the weapon loadout, you can’t double jump even while holding a scattergun? Or is the double jump only disable while actually wielding the weapon in the number 3 slot.
There’s a big difference there, and it would mean using it or not for me.
I was surprised by this, because I along with many others assumed that if there was to be a baseball, it would replace the pistol.

Hey, since Valve seems to read this: Can the little Steam icon on the system tray look like a cloud when it uploads to the Steam Cloud? I keep thinking a new update is going live whenever I exit L4D and then nothing…

Also, a funny joke:

Maybe the new Scattergun will not let you do even a single jump, and the new pistol only lets you walk.

why don’t we just give the scout 300 health and a minigun with that logic…

I wonder if the sandman will also be able to knockback other players.

These are community made maps, don’t blame Valve (also Arena is best).

The problem with the Sandman is that it deals with character-relater abilities. For instance, a weapon that takes away uber charges might make sense, beacause it’s the medigun that makes the ubercharges, not the Medic himself. But the doublejump is non-weapon related, so why would a new weapon change it? We can (already have if you READ THE COMMENTS) only speculate.

Have anyone noticed that addition of cp_junction with the Scout Update is somewhat… strange move? Scout’s most advantageous postion is big,open location,preferably outdoors,with some stuff not restricting freedom of movement,yet useable as cover - Gravelpit’s point A is a good example of this. Meanwhile,map “full of tight spaces and short sight lines, which create combat opportunities dominated by ambushes and explosive weaponry” is a huge contrast with this. It seems more like Demoman/Heavy paradise. What do you think?

Actually, most of junction’s not terrible for scouts: there’s a maze of twisty passages, all alike, that can be used for some serious flank-and-flee. The short sight lines can actually be pretty rough on heavies, who are easy to surprise before they get spun up. It really is demoman paradise, though; especially the last point, which is well-nigh uncappable anyway. Forget scouts once you get that far in.

You people can stop whining about the Sandman; it hasn’t even come out yet. Shut up.

Pistol alternative is up along with a list of achievements. If you think the scout is hyper now, just wait until you see him hopped up on mountain dew! Awesome idea!

Also, check the background. Payload race?

MUST DRINK BOINK!

awesome idea. A few seconds of EPIC speed with a bullet dodge effect to get past sentries :D

Also check what the scout is carrying in his hands… Sweet new scatergun…

EPIC Payload race!!!!!!!111

:DDDDD

Valve already gave us the RED Payload cart secretly during a recent update.

http://www.ubercharged.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=877

I found that GODDAMN RED CART shotly after NEW YEAR,told you back at 1Fort,and it seems i’m not the only one who found it. AND NOW EVERYONE THINKS WHAT IT’S GOING TO BE! OF COURSE,IT’S GOING TO BE PAYLOAD RACE,OR SOMETHING SIMILAR,THAT IS AND WAS OBVIOUS!!!
/rant

Okay,now on topic. Bonk! seems good idea (i thought Valve will give him super speed,but didn’t expected Nuka-Cola),and achievements… I won’t even try to guess.

Killa-Ewok, guess what? We were right to be concerned — the Sandman totally kills Übers and Bonk! makes Scouts invincible.