Team Fortress 2 (TF2) at one point in time was being developed as sequel mod for Quake 2 (the original TF being for
Quake). For various reasons (read the article "TF2 Development"
for full details) TF2 has moved from a sequel mod to a full fledged game, with it's own custom built engine
at Valve Software. The development cycles has been long and discouraged more than a few that it will ever be released
and be any good, if it is. This article will take only facts and discuss the common gamer
questions and reactions to TF2's current status.
Team Fortress 2 has always been under development at Valve Software (as stated before, it was going to be
a 3rd Party Quake2 Mod before that) and never been canceled. In fact, it has been worked on
(as only an expansion pack to Half-Life at the time) prior to the release of Half-Life. During that time
Valve made the decision to develop TF2 as a full game in order to "unleash the full potential of TF2."
While this development has been ongoing, Valve has worked on many other projects
(working with folks such as Gearbox, CS Team, etc) released: Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life
Blue Shift, Counter-Strike (Condition Zero on the way), DeathMatch Classic, worked with all Half-Life Community
mod teams, released new netcode, mrm & parametric animation model technology, voice communication, and a
slew of other updates, additions and fixes.
Needless to say, with proper organization and multiple team management, that is still a large amount of work and releases
in a short time span for any software company.
Many people are surprised to find out that TF2
itself has been created and started over from scratch more than twice.
Starting from scratch also happened at Valve when developing Half-Life. Valve is very picky,
and long developments with no release dates are the result. Half-Life turned out ok (and it did take a long
time as well, years beyond original release dates).
Of course, the success of a software company's first product does not guarantee anyone that their next product
will be as successful. What it does mean is that a company that does know how to do things right, can. Opinions
have, are, and will be tossed around wether or not TF2 will be worth it. This simply won't be known
until the game is out. If you keep reading, it will be shown why TF2 (the full game) has had such a long
development cycle.
- Other Games Out Better?
This all depends if you are talking graphically or gameplay wise. If they stick with TF's current muiltiplayer gameplay,
they still are ahead of a lot of games out there (but then, there would be no need for TF2 if it's the same as
TF and TFC). With the current incarnation of TF2, no specific gameplay information has been released
(reason why coming up) so it's tough to compare. PlanetFortress' TF2 Section has full information on previously
gameplay concepts of TF2, and it is logical to assume some similarities, this information is no longer accurate
to the current version of TF2 being developed at Valve Software. Robin Walker jokingly told DieHard and The Warthog
during their trip to Valve that when this game is done he wants
to name it TF5, as that is a true representation of how many versions of the game have been created.
Graphically, you can see where TF2 was at a few years ago by
these screenshots, currently there are no screenshots of the
"Valve Engine" (generic name, the engine has been officially confirmed as under development, but no specs, or
name, has been given) so once again, no comparison can be made. Until screenshots are given and gameplay
information is released any effort to compare the games is a waste of effort. As always, personal gamer taste,
style, preference and prejudice all come into play here. We see wars of fanboys who can't like both UT and
Q3A, or the XBox PS2 and GameCube all the time, when TF2 is released the truth of it's quality will be found
by how many people don't waste time yelling at each other, and go play the game they like to play.
- Valve's Silence
Here is where some speculation comes into play. No statement has ever been specifically given by Valve
regarding their silence. Offered here are a few possible reasons (most likely a combination).
Proper marketing strategy would dictate that it's only time to make press releases, do interviews, and give out
screenshots shortly before the game is ready to launch. Compare this to movie trailers, you might see one or
two a long time before release, but then when it's close you get hit by a flood. Doing so too soon is regarded
as overhyping and looked down upon by gamers. You get a poor name association such as Daikatana (see?).
Gone are the days of John Carmack's Quake Development .plan updates, where he would talk endlessly about the
details of the game -- not to advertise it, but to just talk about it for those who were interested in what he
was doing. Like or not, any public statements about a game in development become posted on every site everywhere
and are scrutinized by gamers in general. There are still people (myself included) that want to revert back to just getting to
read up on what developers are doing and where they are at, but unfortunately, it's not possible to do anymore.
Another possible explanation for the silence is a much more touchy subject regarding the integrity of software
development companies. I will not support or condone any in this article, and merely show the facts. During TF2's
development, I have seen many design and gameplay concepts given out by Valve employees in interviews
become an element in another game. Is this a coincidence caused by great minds thinking alike in gameplay design,
unethical pirating of ideas, or something else?
RtCW Image, click for full screenshot.
To see one example of this, read up on the abilities of
the Field Medic (scroll down a ways). Specifically note the
ability of a Medic to revive a dying teammate. This information about the Field Medic was given by
Robin Walker to PlanetFortress nearly two years ago, and the Medic's ability to revive dead/dying teammates has
been talked about other interviews around that time (that time being when interviews were being granted).
Those of you who have played
Return to Castle Wolfenstein will note a startling similarity
in the ability of a TF2 Medic and Return to Castle Wolfenstein Medic to revive teammates.
This situation goes beyond the medics. Map ideas have been talked about, then we see it in another game, also
classes as well -- but that does that mean no game should have an engineer?
That would be like expecting no games
after Quake to be allowed to have a rocket launcher. Where is the line drawn?
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