Modding TF2 weapons.

Well, I am proud to announce my newest, and, likely, my first modding project. I said in my first post that I really wanted to get into it, and well, now I have - and, what better to mod than a game I have been playing for the entirety of its lifespan, at a large variety of skill levels, exploring every single piece of content possible. I think I'm only more qualified to make a Pokemon game.

Most people who make their own weapons in TF2 do so to see how crazy they can make it (such as machine guns shooting 4 rockets a second), or, to test out unlock ideas that they had envisioned in the past (though, with our limited set of possible modifications, most are very impossible.).

My Aim:

I skipped the first motive - as, well, the crazy game modes and etc. have never interested me - I can see why some would love randomness and having everyone shooting shotguns that shoot rockets that drop plasma grenades, but, as I mainly play games to analyse them, figure out the maths behind them, and the developer's motives - the off-the-wall modes don't interest me. I'm interested in the balance and the designs - others are into the action.

That's not to say I don't like my share of fast paced gaming, but, generally when I play my mind is elsewhere.

I started modifying weapons, and making my own for reason 2, to test out some of my ideas (luckily, most of my ideas were very basic ones that had already seen similar systems in the game, such as life steal and slowing - not to say that they are boring to use, but, they're intended to be balanced and useful, rather than different and situational), and for a third reason - I want to try and balance out some weapons and classes myself. I have a lot of fun playing with pre-existing balance, so this is perfect.

Progress:

First off, I made two weapons that Valve has had in the works for some time now - the Heavy's Gloves of Running Urgently (GRU), that are supposed to counter the Heavy's poor mobility even when outside battle, at the cost of a constant health drain. I like these a lot because they are extremely well thought out, and they don't change game balance when fighting too much. The Heavy merely doesn't take 3 minutes to get to the battlefield anymore. An interesting part of the weapon is the health drain, as, this makes the Heavy a great Medic buddy when running to the battle field, further strengthening their synergy. If Valve made all unlock like this one, I would be in paradise.

The other Valve designed weapon is the Engineer's P.D.Q. - it's a wrench that builds buildinggs much much faster (+150% speed... making a sentry go up in 4 seconds), but, it cannot upgrade the buildings it makes at all.

This build likely sets up a quick teleporter and dispenser, having other engis upgrade them, while the Engineer sets up offensive, dispensable sentries around the place to hinder the enemy as much as possible.

I love the offensive Engineer style, so I really hope this one makes it into the next update. Likewise, if Valve made all of their unlocks like this, heaven.

After these, I started making my own weapons.

First off, was a Syringe Gun for the Medic that builds uber with each hit. The tradeoffs are that it fires far slower (otherwise it would build an uber every 2 minutes just with random spam), it deals very little damage (it's much harder to defend yourself), and, it totally nullifies the Medic's natural health regen.

This highlights the risk vs. reward nature of the Medic - you can take the Blutsauger or Syringe Gun that have better survivability - or you can go for the gun that, with some use, will get you those last few drops of Uber, but, if you're caught in a bad situation, can't help you.

I also made the weapon less powerful in combat so that there are no big issues with Battle Medics trying to gun down the enemy team for an uber, rather than heal.

The 2nd change I made was to the Pyro's Fire Axe. It is currently underused in play, due to the strength of the Axtinguisher - so I added 14.5% movement speed to it when drawn. This aims primarily to solve the poor movement issues of the Pyro, which keep him out of competitive play (not that this unlock will make him viable) - but also, to make the Fire Axe a good choice.

This pure buff is balanced by the fact that the Pyro must be holding his Melee (sacrificing most offensive power) to get the buff, meaning that like the GRU, it will not affect combat too much. It may be harder to run from him, but, with the Airblast, and his average running speed, chances are you weren't really going to without killing him anyway. The melee makes it easier to kill him.

Still, I may nerf this if necessary after further thought.

The final unlock I made today was an additional Pistol for the Scout. This Pistol has a 66% chance of slowing the enemy, but gives up 25% of its damage, and fires slower as the trade-off. This makes the Pistol ideal for catching up to someone, but less amazing in combat situations.

I thought up this unlock because I was not satisfied with the Bonk Drink that the Scout got for his update.

I wanted the Scout to get an unlock that slowed the enemy, as the Scout is the optimal class to take advantage of it. The Scout can catch up to an enemy, and, as his weapons are effective in close range - he can deal a lot of damage through this. The slowing effect also compliments the annoying nature of the Scout, which Valve tried to capture in his update with the Stuns and Knockback.

By contrast, the original slowing weapon was given to the Heavy, who, while he needs to keep his enemies close to him, is in much less a position to take advantage of the trait.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to using this one if I ever get the chance - I think it'll be useful and a lot of fun.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, just thought I'd type up the report.

I have a few more ideas to make before work tomorrow - wish me luck.

Goodnight,