Category: podcast

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Just when we were starting to think it was the end of the line for Valve made additions to the game we get a huge Mann vs Machines update. The Two Cities update features two new MvM advanced maps, Mannhattan and Rottenburg. Medic gets three new MvM-only weapons in the form of the ghostbusters style Reanimator, the Shield and the Mad Milk Syringes.  A few other weapons are tweaked too to make them work better in MvM. There’s a new control point map, Snakewater, that’s been used by the comp scene for years but it’s kinda mad seeing in a game with 12-16 people on each side.

Also included in the update is a new way to flavor your ordinary or otherwise weapons into Killstreak weapons. Ruskeydoo and Heartsman do a pretty good job of explaining what that means while Agro thinks hard of questions to ask our guest this week. The RPS featured creator of the End of the Line trailer and Practical Problems entry to the Saxxys 2012, Jame McVinnie. He has news about his own TF2 update and lets slip a secret or two about what’s going to be in it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RYeKYj4vEY?list=PLMBFalydzo5_E4S3cI9hA3_3_ipvT6nzC]

Speaking of Saxxys, this year’s competition is coming to a head so they get a mention but not before we lambaste ESEA for their bitcoin farming ways. Now that they have been fined (pinky finger in the corner of the mouth) one million dollars it’s hardly surprising that AG are looking to move to CEVO.

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As we say goodbye to another year of Halloween it’s not it’s with some regret that we can’t actually tell you what Eternaween looks like. In theory it should be dark and sinister with silly hats for hours but you need a registered server and no-where we’ve tried it seems to work. What makes this doubly frustrating is that there are 13 new Merasmus voice lines including such beauties as “Happy Halloween mode!“ and our favourite “Welcome to T-G-I-Halloween, where it’s always Halloween! I’m Merasmus, your server! We have a couple of lovely specials tonight: ONE OF THEM IS YOUR OWN DEATH! The other is loaded tuscan flatbread.” Mmmm, loaded tuscan flatbread. Maybe we have to wait till the next full moon though since that’s when the Halloween spells will have their visible effects.

On the no-wait list we have the Collectors item quality. Just combine 200 of your identical unique quality item with a special chemistry set and out pops one red weapon. Totally worth it. As are voting for this year’s Saxxys, which as luck would have it has begun. Corporate Secrets and Crackpot are two examples of the level of quality we’re seeing in 2013. Be sure to keep an eye on our YouTube and Facebook pages where we’ll be highlighting some of our other favs.

Looking out to our friends at TF2maps.net they are having a 72hr Winter Mapping event in a few.. well a few months. Kick off date is Jan 17th but that’s no reason to not start getting excited now. You’ll have to maintain that excitement over Thanksgiving and Smissmass but hey, call it tantric practise. Until then Hideous joined us to chat about some of the interesting winter themed items appearing in the Steam Workshop: The Arctic Adventurer, The Chronoscarf, xmas_Ball_2 and The Puff Papa. One think you’ll not see this season, or ever again for that matter is the ID badge. This little unused item has been completely removed from the game.. aww, I would have bought one and given it to Gordon Freeman since it’s his 15th and 9th birthdays for the first and second Half Life games.

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Halloween is finally over. But that won’t stop us from talking about it and what classes got what. We chat about our impression of the event, How we would have done it differently and cover the new fixes and changes that were made to smooth it all out. Plus we laugh ourselves silly at some of the cut medic lines.

This week we’ve brought in Sir gray. One of the admins from PPM trading group, who this week hosted an event/video of a $9000 Spy crab bet. We take this chance to discuss why such things happen, how the trading community reacted to some of the new items/unusual effects

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rqTWmTxPR8?rel=0]

Valve let some of the worlds tech and game media get their first hands on look at the new steam machines. If only we were some of those people, Then we’d answer the most important question of all…..does the controller lend itself to TF2?

What do you do if TF2 Lobby goes down? You bombard TF2 Center, the Work In Progress replacement, with requested for a beta. That is exactly what happened on Sunday. As such, TF2 Center did a 1 day open beta. How much better will it be than the currently abandoned TF2lobby? Ruskeydoo, who had a chance to try it, Thinks it will be a lot better.

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The Halloween event is apon us. Which is more than can be said by the DOTA2 fans. We’re not shoving it in their faces, all I can say is that at least Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has a sense of humor.

In our evil update we get a new map, Helltower. It’s actually a revamp of Hightower with the addition of a hell mouth and spells and corpses and skeletons and yes, it as as complicated as it sounds. Maybe even more so. Alongside the map and fireballs there’s one hundred and two new items to find/buy/uncrate. I was going to list them all here then I thought.. why would I do that when you can find them all on the wiki? Along with the items is something quite interesting. The Enchantment: Eternaween which is supposed to make any map into a Halloween map.  There’s a couple of videos for you here too. The possibly leaked Valve Stream Fortress 2 vid and the removed taunts.

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What? Still no update? but we are so close to Halloween and we have no idea whats going to happen. not even mystery crates. Its ok everybody. We’ve still got a lot to talk about. We also invited Craig from Ablegamers to talk more about the TF2 event which happened this weekend. They raised over $11,000 in a 24hr period. That money will go towards giving the ablity to play games to those pysically can’t. Its either that or playing with your foot.

Breaking news from TF2center. its still not done. TF2 center being the “replacement” for TF2 lobby. They have missed their January prediction, however, it seems like things are back in full swing with testing and hopefully a release coming soon. keep your eye open for more information as we get it.

If its Community Contests you love, then we have 2. The first is the Round Robin Halloween event, Which was playing out as we recorded the show. One that you haven’t missed is the TF2Jump Contest. Over the course of 12 weeks and 12 maps, People will be challenged in different ways to do with Jumping in TF2. The goal is to find out who truly is the best Jumper in TF2.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYS4a6u4BQM?rel=0]
Lastly we bring you news from outside MCM Comic Con London, where Agro and Heartsman went and talked to many as cosplayer about why they selected their costume and how they went about making it. Check out these videos and see it first hand.

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This week, some of the team are off dealing with things outside of TF2 (I know, I didn’t realize that was out there either). However, we have 2 great guests to help fill in the gaps. Fukki, our admin of the month, and Bogon aka Scar, the head of TF2 Warehouse. But what are these group of Hosts going to be talking about. Certainly not an update as this week, there isn’t one. That doesn’t stop us though.

However we have not just 1, but 2 charity events on the show. The first is the second tip of the hat event. Last time they made $35,000 during a 48 hour live stream. Although the second is a long way off, its still very exciting. However this week, backpack.tf & TF2warehouse have joined forces to run a charity event for ablegamers, an amazing charity that give games to those who are not physically able to enjoy them in the way we take so much for granted. We even brought Bogon from TF2WH to explain all the details of the event.

If you feel like spending a bit of money on yourself awsell, then we have 2 new items that you might want to invest in. The first is a 1:1 scale sandvich……but this time with a massive bite taken out of it. Guess what, Its already sold out. The other is an item to help you believe you really are a pyro. A sweater replicating the pyros appearance. Not just for conventions, but also good around the house.

Also, Do you remember Fortress Forever? That fan mod of the original Team Fortress Classic. Its just been Greenlit. Which means that it can easily be downloaded and played via steam. Playing 6 years catch up on TF2.

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Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday, Team Fortress 2, Happy birthday to us. That’s right, this week marked 6 years of Team Fortress 2. What a ride its been and what a ride we are still on. This week we talk about the recent update, which added the keys for those 2 fall crates that were added last week and all the contents inside them. It also brought an end to 2 bugs that brought both pain and glee to players. What are they, you’ll have to listen to find out (we are such a tease)

Have you heard about Steam Dev Days? If you haven’t, check out the mini site valve have made for this invite only developers conference. As far as we can tell, its meant to be a way to get some of the new tech valve have made into the hands of developers in a relaxed environment. Such things as the new Steam OS, Steam machines and of course the new Steam controllers. Speaking of which, we now can see how they will play out in your hand, after valve released the video below showing how it handles different games.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeAjkbNq4xI?rel=0]

The way the workshop is used is changing. Besides Ruskeydoo giving his opinions of why the workshop fails sometimes, we also bring you news of the Gristly Gumbo Pot. Unlike most items on the workshop, this one comes with a website, Comic and technically lore as to its origins. Is this they way forward with promoting your workshop items?

No idea what to buy for your loved ones this coming Christmas? (only 69 shopping days left). If that’s the case, we have a selection of TF2 themed items you might want to consider. The first made its appearance at this weekends New York comic Con. Called the Portable Mercs, They seem like great TF2 toys for those who can’t afford a 3A model. But for those who can afford a 3A model, here’s another one. Just in time for Halloween, they have teased a blurry picture of a TF2 Ghost Statuette.  Not your bag? How about a Balloonicorn that won’t deflate? A 6inch Vinyl Balloonicorn? If its hats your after, check out Threnodi’s, our player of thew week, max’s severed head. A full hat that you can wear for cosplay, to scare the neighbors dog or just to confuse family members.

But what ever you do, Don’t buy them, from UK forbidden planet. In fact FUCK FORBIDDEN PLANET…….that’s better, I needed to get that out.

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Fall is coming. I say Fall, what I actually mean is Autumn but those crazy Americans have got me thinking “math” is something you study at school and “pants” should be warn on the outside and not just at Halloween. Anyway, Fall’s Acorn and Gourd crates are now dropping so that’s the seasons officially changed. More interestingly they’ve fixed the sound the Demoman makes when he charges forward. Turn your speakers down before you follow this link to hear what it was like when it was broken.

The Third Annual Saxxies have been announced. They’ll be accpting submissions from 11th Nov for one week. What you’ll not be able to enter with is a replay or original content. Which pretty much means it’s SFM only. Although I’ve a feeling they’ll accept stop motion animation.

Just in time for the Saxxies Maxxy, RoxyRox and VeLlix have pushed out their female sniper model. There can’t be many classes left that don’t have a female conversions.

And on the topic of conversions there’s the TF2 StarFox mod. It’s still in pre-alpha stage but the mod shows tremendous promise. In the mod you get to fly upside down and loop the loop, much like I’m doing with these show notes as we circle right back to Halloween and tf2chan’s invitation to join their spooky fan fics for Ghost Stories from Tuefort.

Lastly, Steam Family Beta is out for a few lucky people, included in that are Ruskeydoo and DougRattmAnnThEpyRo.

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The doubters have been proven wrong; Valve can count to three but only when it comes to Steam in the living room. They have released all their big announcements regarding the fan-titled Steam Box. Firstly there’s the new linux based operating system, SteamOS. Next comes the hardware, Steam Machines, available directly soon from Valve and other manufacturers. Lastly we see a brand new, and utterly unique take on the standard console controller. There’s no analogue sticks, just touch pads, hundreds of them, everywhere.

This is a TF2 podcast so we really should mention the update that dropped. The one where strange misc-slot items that are tradeable can now be listed on the Steam Community Market. There’s a bunch of Bombardier changes along with more stuff being added to the Mann Co. Store., including the Byzantine Bundle from the Total War Rome update.

Heartsman has been spending more time with KritzKast so we snuck him in to Eurogamer Expo 2013 and found some TF2 cosplayers and the Atomizer Bat.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmeICNWTwII?rel=0]

Round Robin are running a Halloween Special mentoring tournament. 3A Robots go on sale in Hong Kong and Ray’s the Dead hat tries to sneak into the game.

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Once again we are joined by the delightful Heartsman, while Ruskeydoo makes his way back to the internet. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have masses of things to talk about. TF2 updated this week with a reduction in Stickies for the Stickie Jumper, Plus a pile of exploits that leave us dazed and confused.

Halloween is coming. Boy do valve know it. After being bombarded with Halloween themed items already, they have requested that any item creators now tag them with the “Halloween 2013“. They have also stated that all Halloween items this year will be full moon items. But they also said that means people can be more extreme with their item creating. Hopefully this will result in an awesome Halloween.

What has really left us confused is what the possible announcement valve has this week. now, by the time you hear this, it will already be clear to you, but to us, we think its steam box related. I wonder how right we are? To find out more, head over to the teaser page valve have put in place.

More news on the 3A robot heavy appeared this week. In fact, we can now see the whole product. It looks beautiful. We also know that you can pre-order them from September 27th and they are expected to cost $220. Seems like a lot, but these are authentic articulating models with light up eyes. A very nice piece for any collector.

From that we jump into the amazing things that fans have been creating. Like a real life MannCo key for example. Or “Stop That Tank” The mod that merges MvM and Payload into 1 very confusing yet awesome mod. But most of all, we want to show you all of the hats ever made in TF2 in 1 painting. Not only that, but they are alphabetized. How could we not give the creator player of the week.