TF2 on deviantART

deviantArt.com is kinda like Flickr for artists. A great community for sharing art of all kinds and exchanging comments and getting inspired by others of like talent.

I've found quite a variety of artists who also enjoy Team Fortress 2, and you can see a bit of that in my TF2 Collection there.

You'll notice that there are a lot of folks that like drawing the medic, the heavy, the pyro, the spy -- but I finally found someone who gave the demo man a little love. Check it out (click to the dA page and view full size):


TF2: A Day in the Life -- 1 by ~alciha on deviantART

Please, if you find any Team Fortress art gems, post a link in a comment!

And don't forget to drop by my dA gallery when you get a chance and leave a comment on my profile to say hi! I've only got a few pieces up so far, starting with a "self-portrait" of the dedicated medic buttercup!

Team Fortress Game Sprays by GameSprays.com

I found another Team Fortress gem the other day.

Gamesprays.com is a rich resource for quality TF2 sprays. Here's a few of my favorites... (NOTE: the gray around the edge is actually transparent when you use it as a spray, so the signs look more realistic in-game...)

They have a good tutorial on how to make your own, too.

A little TF2 Christmas cheer

When I started playing TF2, I browsed around YouTube for stuff, and came across these. Too, too funny.

May you find these Christmas-themed Team Fortress videos as enjoyable as I did! Even if you've seen them before, there's always room for another round of Christmas cheer, right?

I recommend watching them in order:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Dustbowl
(or see the lyrics here)

Chaos Got Run Over By a Railcar

Spy Sapping My Sandwich

The thing that REALLY gets me is that real, grown men MADE these videos and sang these songs! Goodness! LOL.

There are more, but you can find them easily enough on your own... If you find another gem, please put it in a comment below and share the laughs!!!

Map creators - be inspired!

Recently we visited the U.S.S. Hornet in Alameda, CA. This was our second time touring the old ship-museum, and the first time since starting TF2 gaming. As we walked through the narrow corridors and I noted all the signs and arrows on the walls, there was one thought that pulsed in my brain:

This would be a great environment for a TF2 MATCH!!!

Wow, the ambience was perfect. Steel walls and floor. Thick ropes, cables, pipes everywhere (floor, walls, ceiling). Stairways, hatches and catwalks. Large panels of switches, readouts and gauges. There was tremendous variety available in terms of space:

• the upper flight deck was huge and open
  


• the hangar bay was big and open yet could be easily cluttered with large crates and stationary aircraft for cover
  


• rooms of varying sizes and with a variety of props (offices, comm rooms, torpedo maintenance, machinist shop, engine room, sick bay, bathrooms, bunk rooms, mess halls, briefing rooms, etc.)
  


• the tight corridors are similar to the vents of some maps like Turbine and Black Mesa
  


• several decks offer opportunity for multi-stage movement if you want a longer game

I'm no map creator myself, so I only know enough to recognize the potential. I'm guessing it would best be a cp map. It seems to me you could have a capture point on the bridge and a few below decks. Maybe one on the open flight deck, although I don't know the pros/cons of taking/defending wide open spaces.

You could have a sort of officers vs. mutineers scenario: One team starts on the bridge, the other starts in the bowels of the ship or in a small building at the far end of the flight deck. Each trying to take control of all the cap points (maybe 5 total points).

It might be tricky, but I suppose you could do a payload map, too. Try and escort the bomb from the flight deck down to the engine room or something (or from the bomb room to the bridge).

Just imagine all the fun you could have on a ship like this! Surely I'm not the first to think of it. Does anyone know of any maps set on an aircraft carrier?

If not, here's an open call to the map makers out there (yes, I'm talking to you, Blade!). Take a look at some of these photos I brought back with me, and be inspired!

Create another masterpiece, this time set on an aircraft carrier! Pleeeeeeeease!

Don't meet the spy - video

If you love the spy -- or love to hate him -- this is an excellent quality video with a nicely done music / sound clips mix. Enjoy! (try full screen!)

A satisfying KA-BLOOEY

As you may have noticed (if you play with me at all), I play medic 95% of the time (or more).

However, there are some maps or situations that just don't seem to lend themselves to this approach, and so I venture into the other classes.

The Viking map (probably related to ctf_yaaargh, shown in images and youtube video used in this post) is one of those cases. Last night, with few players on the server and map objectives that aren't particularly medic-friendly, I chose to try pyro, demo and scout this time.

It was my demo efforts that prompted this post. I consider myself very, very newb at the classes other than medic. Their speed, movements, reload timing and weapons fit like gloves two sizes too big -- everything feels slow and awkward, unfamiliar. In other words, I hit the respawn room a lot.

But I know by now that only with practice does skill come. So I stuck with demo a bit on this map to try and improve my grenade lobbing aim. The spiral stairs is a great place for this. There were enemies up the stairs, and I figured I should be able to lob a few grenades and damage them without getting in range of their weapons.

It was a nice theory.

Did I mention that I respawn a lot? Anyway, I kept at it, and then decided I'd try the sticky approach. While they were gone from the stairs, I placed some stickies on the ceiling and walls. It was kinda obvious, but I still hoped to catch someone.

A scout came running along and figured I was easy prey for his shotgun (not the first time). I lured him up the stairs, and he came cheerfully along, figuring to dodge my 'nades and mow me down with the scattergun at close range. And he almost did. But I fell down the stairs out of his way, and then just as I guessed he was passing my stickies on his way to finish the kill, I hit the right mouse button.

KA-BLOOEY!!!!

SCOUT STUFFING EVERYWHERE!!!

Oh, my. Oh, my! It was truly satisfying. I finally killed somebody with my stickies ON PURPOSE. I laid the snare, I lured them in, and BAM! got the timing right.

Ahh, yes. Very memorable moment, my first sweet kill as demo.

So tell me: What TF2 firsts do you remember best?

And for your viewing pleasure, a video that pretty much captures the fun of this map:

Map: Black Mesa

There are two things I remember best about my first time on the Black Mesa map:

1) there were so many points, and I never seemed to know which one to go to

2) spies! there were spies everywhere!

I've been playing on the excellent =(eGO)= Black Mesa server (72.233.91.126:27015). Highly recommend it. The first couple of times I visited, it was jam packed with players, and the action never stopped.

Not having any clue about the map, I just followed other players out into the fray and medic'd as best I could, dying often. The enclosed spaces (corridors, vents, small rooms) take some getting used to, and pyros especially seem to mop up on this map.

There are many clever hiding places for spies -- even things as simple as hugging the wall on the same side that the enemy usually barrells through from their spawn point (who ever looks behind them when running through an "obviously" empty room on their way to the front line?).

There are fun places that demos can camp and lob grenades (ledges around the top of rooms, catwalks, vents). A scout in an enclosed space is always difficult to target, so they might have fun -- though I wouldn't call the map scout-friendly per se. Snipers can shoot down looooong corridors at enemies rounding the corner at the far end, or camp out in the basement catwalk areas and pick enemies off cap point A.

There's definitely a little something for everyone, no matter what class you like to play.

The other night I experienced Black Mesa for the first time with relatively few players: 5 vs. 5. Given that there are five capture points (I think -- sorry, but I don't feel like logging in to double-check the map for accuracy at the moment, so I'm just writing this from memory), trying to win with 5 players is a whole new dynamic.

When we played with a full server of good players, I don't recall any actual wins when I was there -- just stalemate after stalemate.

But with the smaller number, every decision made a difference, and our team pulled it together into a WIN, at least once, maybe twice! (You know how it is, the last match is the most memorable, and I remember winning that one!)

Some tips for playing with just a few teammates on this map:

• Even when numbers are low, medics are still important! I tried going attack class with the idea that medics aren't needed with so few, but ended up switching back. As a medic, I found myself both busy and useful. There were times that I could capture or defend a c.p. by myself, and there were lots of chances to partner with teammates to take well-defended points together.
  


• Engineers are important, too! I think we had a medic, an engineer, and then a mix of attack guys who switched as needed between pyro, demo, soldier, heavy, etc. An engi with a sentry gun can sit and lock a key point while the rest of the team takes the others.
  


• You gotta communicate, people! I loved my team, because the chatter was friendly, cooperative and focused. When the engi's sentry was under attack and he couldn't reach the enemy in the vents above him, he'd call for assistance. When we were losing point A and needed to get it back, we dispatched someone without losing focus on whatever other targets we were pounding. This coordination was the key to our win, imho.
  


• Know the map! It was maybe my third time on the map, and I was still learning the details, but overall it was a HUGE help that I understood where to go when the call went out for everyone to gather at a particular capture point. All you really have to do is look up on the walls and read the signs to get the basic idea. And guys, don't be afraid to ask for directions. I found the others very helpful when I did get lost (thanks, guys!).
  
  
• Watch your HUD for cap point info! There's a very handy HUD indicator at the bottom of your screen that shows which cap points are held by which team. Use this! You can see which c.p.'s are under attack and need defense, even if you don't have anyone stationed there.

I'm looking forward to my next visit to eGO's Black Mesa server. Maybe you can meet me there and we'll secure some B-L-A-C-K points together!

Meanwhile, what's YOUR favorite map right now, and why?