Get Blood on Your Suit With the Spy

While we're waiting for the real Spy updates and unlockables (and not fakes which momentarily fooled even Valve) OMFGNinja.com has gone and created an amazingly deep three-part advanced tutorial on how to play the Spy. It is mesmerizing, and showcases how any character in this game, with enough skill and planning, can become downright unstoppable. The leaping backstabs in part one, above, are jaw-dropping. The other two videos are at OMFGNinja, so follow the link and give them some credit. Youtube resolution sucks, but you get the idea of what the character class can do.

Advanced Spy Tutorial [OMFGNinja]

TF2 + Legos = Amazle

Swear, I don't have a sentry gun fetish. Although it would be cool to meet a girl who did (I don't judge). Last week we churned up a video of a guy who developed a paintball sentry, and now reader Mohammed I. passes along a less functional, but no less impressive version: A Lego Sentry. Props to the builder, and especially for the game-screen render around it. Seriously, new desktop pic. It's a work of art and should stand for all time. Until some bastard-ass Spy whips up a Lego sapper.

Team Fortress 2 Sentry [Lair of the Legomancer, via Shift Gamer, thanks reader Mohammed]

Sweet Pyro Costume from Down Under

Reader Paul from Australia sends in this pic (and two others) of his homebrewed homage to Pyro from Team Fortress 2. Naturally, because this is how my mind works, I thought "well if Pyro is a female character, this dude is running around in girls' clothes." I kid! I keeeed! The mask is right on, but the suit's not the same texture as Pyro's rubberized get-up, which in addition to being expensive would also look like fetish gear. What. What?!

No really, I think I have a strange form of Tourette's, that causes me to blurt out wildly inappropriate, if not profane, things. Fahey and Leigh can attest to that. So can my girlfriend from my senior year of high school. We saw "Ghost" on a date and, while she was crying during the scene where Patrick Swayze possesses the mystic's body so he can hold his wife one last time, I leaned in close to whisper, "You know, what's really going on here, is Demi Moore is actually dancing with and kissing Whoopi Goldberg." And I wondered why I was a teenage virgin.

Wow, that was a digression. Hit the jump for the images.

Some Guy Went and Built a Sentry Gun

No, he didn't assemble it by whacking a large wrench against a pile of parts either. But this guy is a serious engineer, cooking up an auto-fire paintball sentry gun. And although this isn't necessarily gameplay footage, you can watch as some poor test subject wearing a BMX helmet gets pounded in several tests. So I'm gonna say its germane because, shit, it's Sunday, and sentries are a treasured friend/loathsome foe in Team Fortress 2, Perfect Dark, and other games. And this is PC gaming, if getting shot to shit by a PC is a game.

Note that this weapon is not being fired by remote control. It's recognizing moving objects and firing on them automatically. The distraction test is a pretty good measure of its abilities.

Of course, having the laptop that operates it right next to it probably would not do well in a real firefight. Maybe it'd be a good burglar-blaster, but then, forget your keys, step in the door, and you're taking a paintbath in the living room.

Latest Video [paintballsentry.com]

The Best Team Fortress 2 Dispenser Case Mod We've Ever Seen

The last Team Fortress 2 themed PC case mod we featured, one built to look like the Engineer's sentry gun, was as ludicrous as it was impressive. Hardware modder extraordinaire Ton "TiTON" Khodee has done it again, slipping the guts of a highly capable PC into a case that apes the Engie's dispenser. It's adorable.

Sure, having this kind of stuff sitting around your house might frighten the majority of visitors, but with the mounds of internet glory that await its creator, being shunned by your peers is a small price to pay. Bit-Tech has an extensive walk-through on the dispenser's creation, something we definitely recommend giving some eyeball time.

Team Fortress 2 Dispenser Mod [Bit-Tech]

Next TF2 Update Is A Pretty Heavy Endeavor

And so the rumors of a possible Scout class upgrade coming up next dissolve in a hail of mini-gun bullets as the newly-created Official Team Fortress 2 Blog discusses upcoming changes to the Heavy, every Medic's best friend. In designer Robin Walker's highly informative post he explores the process behind updating a Team Fortress 2 class in great detail, starting with the overall goal of making the Heavy more viable as a standalone, non-Medicated class.

From there he explores the process of achieving that goal, including constraints (will the changes overpower the Heavy/Medic team?), entertainment value (will the new tools be interesting?), and weighing the changes against the basic skillset of a successful Heavy. It's an intriguing look into the process behind making Team Fortress 2 a better game, and a great read overall.

A Heavy Problem [TF2 Official Blog - Thanks Overcow!]

Over on Valve's official TF2 blog are the fronts and backs to two trading cards built for promotional uses but never used. Valve promises more updates as time goes on, so all you get now are Engineer and Demoman. They're filled with fun facts. Engie's bio says he has "11 hard science PhDs." Jesus. I can only think of, like, four off the top of my head. And Demoman lost his parents thanks to "a terrible plan to kill the Loch Ness Monster."

Doesn't Scout carry a bat? Seems he'd be obvious for the first batch. Hi res cards after the jump, or you can go get 'em from TeamFortress.com directly.

Spot on and speaks for itself. I really can't disagree with a one of these. Plus it's nice to see Heavy as something other than the butt of a joke. He has feelings, too.

Full size version is at the link.

TF2 - D&D Alignment Chart [Halolz]

Team Fortress 2 and Its Less Juvenile Environment

"The server I found myself on was an odd, unsettling place," writes Alec Meer, exploring Team Fortress 2's "Achievement Servers" for Rock, Paper, Shotgun. "The tiny, custom map placed the red and blue spawn points right next to each other, removed the wait period between respawns, dropped a single capture point in the middle and placed intelligence briefcases at either end. A small pool of water was placed awkwardly in a corner, and health packs scattered in bizarre columns. No-one could ever win this map - it was set up to repeat forever."

No sooner than Pyro's unlockable weapons drop than does the grinding and achievement farming begin again with great intensity. Alec visited an achievement servers to witness the depravity himself firsthand and, of course, found himself unlocking 14 achievements and getting the Flare Gun. "It’s as though someone’s stamped LIAR on my Steam page."

Loads of good vignettes in this piece. If you like TF2 or have an opinion on achievements, give it a look.

Achieving Nothing in TF2 [Rock, Paper Shotgun]

Save The Fire Hose Jokes: Pyro Is A She?

So Team Fortress 2 fans have been eagerly awaiting the Pyro updates, but the gents at Rock, Paper, Shotgun have been busy mulling gender issues. They found some evidence to support their theory that Pyro is a female character, and cited this CS-Nation interview with lead developer Robin Walker, where he conceded:

"Looking back, we should have shipped some of the classes as female and some as male."

Said Walker further on:

“We’ve never been terribly happy with the Pyro, in particular with her shallower skill curve than other combat classes. We really want highly skilled Pyros to be visibly more effective than the average Pyro, and the new features are designed to address that.”

Progressive! And speaking of progress, the same interview also hints that the Engineer might be the next class to get a bump-up:

The populists at Valve have a new blog just for the Team Fortress 2 community, and explain:

Our hope is that we'll be providing you with a variety of interesting things to read, whether you're a hardcore TF2 player or whether you've just started. We'll be going into the details behind some of the gameplay, posting a bunch of the concept art we haven't released before, and showcasing the great content the community is creating.

Ooh! Up now is concept art for the flare gun, showing the different ideas that were considered before gameplay made the final decision. Watch that space, then, for more behind-the-scenes peeks.

TF2 Official Blog [Valve]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

With the new changes to the Pyro class in Team Fortress 2, it's time to blow the dust off the PC—something I've been neglecting—and get my hands on those lovely new weapons. And those two new maps! Since there's a free TF2 weekend happening right now, you really have no excuse not to join in on the fun. Okay, you might have a half-dozen or so, but I really don't want to hear 'em.

I'll also be cruising through Metal Gear Solid 4 one more time, taking my time to enjoy the sights instead of constantly thinking "Must finish by Tuesday. Must publish review. Run, Snake, run!!" Other than that, I'll just be trying to beat the heat.

What are you playing this weekend?

The Pyro isn't just getting three new weapons in tomorrow's Team Fortress 2 update pack. His main weapon is getting an upgrade that will completely blow you away. The standard flamethrower will now come with a spiffy new alt-fire mode that shoots a blast of compressed air, blowing away both opponents and incoming projectiles, meaning soldiers are about to get a taste of their own medicine in a very bad way.

On top of the main weapon tweaks, the Pyro is also getting the Axtinguisher, which we've already covered, The Flare Gun, teased in yesterday's Meet the Sniper vid, which allows you to set opponents ablaze from afar, and The Backburner, a flamethrower for the sneakier firebugs out there. While it lacks the compressed air feature, The Backburner guarantees critical hits from behind while granting the Pyro 50 more health.

Hit the link below for the full skinny on the Pyro update from Valve, including the two new maps and a full list of updated Pyro achievements!

The Pyro Update [Team Fortress 2 - Thanks David!]

Meet The Sniper

Valve has released "Meet The Sniper," the newest clip in the expertly animated and hilarious character profiles from Team Fortress 2. The introduction to the Sniper may rival "Meet The Heavy" in terms of laughs—especially if you pay attention during the time-lapse segment—and stands head and shoulders above every other release in terms of direction. Possibly my favorite "Meet The" so far. Thanks to everyone who reminded us of the new clip's release today.

Pyro fans will have cause to rejoice this Thursday as the perpetually muffled Team Fortress 2 is getting Medic-style treatment in the form of three new unlockable weapons—one of which will be the already announced "Axtinguisher"—and 35 new achievements. On top of that, two new user-created maps are being added to the official rotation. The cherry? A new "Meet The" video, this one focusing on the Sniper. That clip hits mid-day tomorrow.

For those still unconvinced by the magic that is TF2, another free weekend via Steam is just around the corner, kicking off Friday at 11 AM PDT. Huzzah!

I'm Sorry I Have to Do This to You

Warning, this is supremely obnoxious and you should turn your speakers down.
Dad sometimes asks me for explanation of certain video games, and since his frame of reference stops at 8 bits, and todays titles are far deeper than anything I played as his dependent, the conversation gets a little difficult at times.

But If he ever asks me what Team Fortress 2 is all about, I'm gonna point him to this video.