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Team Fortress 2 |OT4| Official Halo Thread of Polearms and High Fashion

B

Blizzard

Banned
MatthewB92 said:
I say in the middle. That way we don't split people.
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How would it not split people if there are two servers? Plus each one can only hold 6 people, so they're going to be split regardless.

Since people are going to be split anyway, having two servers in the middle means everyone gets semi-bad ping, but having an east coast and west coast server means everyone might get a decent ping on at least one of them. Clearly no one lives in the middle.

Of course none of us are going to get to play on them anyway since they will be 24/7 used by randoms or premade groups of Kuro and 5 girls, but the idea is nice.
 
Y

Yeef

Member
Blizzard said:
How would it not split people if there are two servers? Plus each one can only hold 6 people, so they're going to be split regardless.

Since people are going to be split anyway, having two servers in the middle means everyone gets semi-bad ping, but having an east coast and west coast server means everyone might get a decent ping on at least one of them. Clearly no one lives in the middle.

Of course none of us are going to get to play on them anyway since they will be 24/7 used by randoms or premade groups of Kuro and 5 girls, but the idea is nice.
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They'd be private with a super-secret password.

[EDIT] I'm leaning toward just doing all three (one east, one west, one central), but I'm going to wait to see how it actually works before doing anything. If it turns out that one server can host multiple games at a time, then I'll probably just do one in central with enough slots for 3 or 4 games to happen at once.
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
There's so much shit in this game now. It feels like somewhere out there is a tweak guide to optimize all the thousands and thousands of particles flying around all the time in TF2 while being almost completely imperceptible. There has to be. But we'll never find it.
 
P

Proven

Member
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
There's so much shit in this game now. It feels like somewhere out there is a tweak guide to optimize all the thousands and thousands of particles flying around all the time in TF2 while being almost completely imperceptible. There has to be. But we'll never find it.
Click to expand...

My recent tweak guide told me to build a new computer. So I finally did.
 
Y

Yeef

Member
Here are some answers to questions regarding hosting MvM servers:

* Players can join your server through any means they can join PvP games: the server browser, ad hoc joins, or the new matchmaking system (quickplay beta).
* To accept matchmaking traffic, you must select which sort of traffic you want. (Regular PvP traffic or MvM traffic.) Set "tf_mm_servermode 2" to be placed in the MvM pool.
* For MvM matchmaking, if 6 players are sent to your server to start a new game, it will switch to whatever map the players selected.
* You will need a TF gameserver account to accept matchmaking traffic.
* You can switch the server in and out of any matchmaking mode pool or back to any regular game mode at any time.
* The CPU usage for a 6 player MvM game is about the same as for a regular TF server. (Yep, this mode requires significantly more CPU cycles per player than the PvP mode, that's an unfortunate fact.)
Given the surge of players that comes with any major release, and the player / server ratio of this game mode, the demand for MvM servers will probably be high. We expect that a large number of players will want to try out the new mode, so we will be converting most of our servers to host MvM, and then adjust the allocation based on what players are playing.

I, for one, DO NOT welcome our new robot overlords!

- Fletch
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HAIL ANTS
 
B

Bluth54

Member
doitlive said:
As much as I think mvm is, I'd rather they just update the damn source engine or at least go with some optimization.
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They just need to do an optimization community update, list all the models they need LODs for and tell the community to go make them. Tell them the person who's LODs get added to the game get a community version of that weapon and maybe a special hat or something, no money.

I guarantee that Valve would have every LOD they need within a month or less.
 
B

Bluth54

Member
Forkball said:
IT HAPPENED.

Wish it could support more players, but ROBOTS
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Yeah, I kinda wish it supported 9 players so we could have 1 of each class, but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

I guess I should finally get a mic that I actually use since communication is pretty important in co-op modes.
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
Proven said:
My recent tweak guide told me to build a new computer. So I finally did.
Click to expand...

The only part of my computer that isn't new is the processor (an E8400). Seeing as I'm leaving and going back to a laptop in 2 weeks, it's not worth a $200+ upgrade right now. If I listened to all the computer advice the internets give, I would be flashing the BIOS and replacing hard drives every other day.

And my problem is that the game isn't constantly running above 60fps. It drops, in the worst circumstances, to a terrifying 35 fps, maybe. But in the Source engine, it's noticeably choppy. Try fps_max 36 (anything below 50, really) and it's noticeably less smooth than uncapped or capped at 60, even if your framerate never drops below 35 fps. I don't know anything about the Source engine, but ideally TF2 runs at 60 fps and no less.
 
C

CrocMother

Banned
Not knowing when the next time I'll be able to play TF2 is, I went on my fav server and gave away all my items by asking trivia questions.

Felt good man. :*(
 
F

Forkball

Member
So a server can't host both MVM and regular matches?

Also, no secret link? There are two empty spaces near the lock on the MVM page.
 
P

Proven

Member
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
The only part of my computer that isn't new is the processor (an E8400). Seeing as I'm leaving and going back to a laptop in 2 weeks, it's not worth a $200+ upgrade right now. If I listened to all the computer advice the internets give, I would be flashing the BIOS and replacing hard drives every other day.

And my problem is that the game isn't constantly running above 60fps. It drops, in the worst circumstances, to a terrifying 35 fps, maybe. But in the Source engine, it's noticeably choppy. Try fps_max 36 (anything below 50, really) and it's noticeably less smooth than uncapped or capped at 60, even if your framerate never drops below 35 fps. I don't know anything about the Source engine, but ideally TF2 runs at 60 fps and no less.
Click to expand...

Interesting. As someone who regularly played TF2 sub-30 fps, I just learned to roll with the punches. But, it is the Source Engine, so it could have just felt sub-30. As crappy as my laptop was, my internet connection was the primary bottleneck most times.

Source Engine still is CPU-focused though, right? They'll have to reevaluate that for Source Engine 2, but I agree that the $200 upgrade wouldn't be worth it right now.
 
S

Snacks the sober sea lion

Member
The game definitely got more complicated fast with the Polycount update, which I think was one of the worst updates ever. They just dumped a couple dozen new items into the game without any apparent balance testing, and it took me a year to get all of the new weapons through item drops, not to mention item sets that require hats. If you've been playing consistently you'll be more concerned with the items being overpowered than with them making the game more complicated, but if someone who has only played the tutorial comes into the game and finds out that the demoman has a dozen swords and can trade his sticky bomb launcher for RPG-esque damage resistance and a charge attack, they would be confused.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Snacks the sober sea lion said:
The game definitely got more complicated fast with the Polycount update, which I think was one of the worst updates ever. They just dumped a couple dozen new items into the game without any apparent balance testing, and it took me a year to get all of the new weapons through item drops, not to mention item sets that require hats. If you've been playing consistently you'll be more concerned with the items being overpowered than with them making the game more complicated, but if someone who has only played the tutorial comes into the game and finds out that the demoman has a dozen swords and can trade his sticky bomb launcher for RPG-esque damage resistance and a charge attack, they would be confused.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I seem to recall that around that time things started getting extra crashy and stuttery. Sometimes it takes a few weeks for crashes to be fixed, and sometimes performance might suffer for a long time (for instance if weapon LOD's are bad). I feel like the game has become pretty bloated. But if I had a newer CPU maybe maps would load quickly, who knows.
 
Y

Yeef

Member
We will not have Steam group functionality tomorrow.

You actually have to set maxplayers to 32 to host MvM (to make room for all the bots). That's why the mode is expensive CPU-wise, to not only simulate all those players but run their AI logic as well. We'll have more details on the recommended settings tomorrow.

Regarding exactly what happens if a 24-player server switches to MvM: I actually don't think we have worked that out yet.

I'm pretty sure on day one there will be lots of people trying out all sorts of things. Our approach to experimentation in MvM will be the same as in PvP: we encourage it, provided that players are opting in to any major deviations from the vanilla experience. Our servers will all be configured vanilla, and the matchmaking will enforce the 6 player limit, and the server browser will be the primary means for players to find those sorts of customizations. What will the most interesting customizations be? What will the standard tags be used that we request server operators to set in order to help players find the modifications they want or avoid the ones they don't like? We can't know that yet. That's something we expect you guys and your players to figure out.

I will hazard a guess that raising the player count well above 6 would be detrimental the experience. There ratio of humans to bots would be off and the human defending team would not have enough challenge. (As an extreme example: imagine a 32-player server where everybody is defending an there are no bots.) Exactly how far it can be raised above 6 without totally breaking the game is speculation of course. I think a smart server operator will start out with the server configured relatively vanilla, and then watch how the game unfolds and listen to their players, and try to make smart decisions about which areas to experiment, rather than assuming the same sorts of adjustments your community prefers in PvP will automatically apply to this mode. A fun co-op mode with more than six players is likely to require entirely new missions. (The mission decides the pattern of enemy robots that come at you.) We have purposefully made it easy for players to create their own missions. (It's a lot easier than creating a whole new map!) But if you play with more than six players, with the missions we've made, I think the balance will be way off.

- Fletch
Click to expand...

OK, a little investigating reveals that this statement I made:

* You can switch the server in and out of any matchmaking mode pool or back to any regular game mode at any time.

Is not really accurate! Sorry! If the server is EMPTY or has fewer than 6 players, yes, there are no problems with switching --- that is true. However, in general, switching from PvP to MvM is going to cause several problems. (I believe that what would actually happen is that the 7th, 8th, etc. players who connect on a map change will be forced into spectator. At any rate, we don't officially support that, so if you do it, you're on your own.) So, you should expect to segregate your servers into MvM and PvP. Don't just put the MvM maps into the mapcycle file, that won't work. (Actually, the mapcycle file is slightly different for MvM because you really are cycling through missions, not the maps. Likewise, players can vote to change the "mission" even if it's on the current map. We'll have more details on all this tomorrow.)
Click to expand...

This changes everything.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Alienups said:
East coast please
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image.php


This is appalling.
 
H

H3xum

Member
So I recently got into TF2 and I have found a bit of lore but I was wondering is there any kind of story line or progression with characters (playable and not) that I could catch up on?

I've seen all of the Meet The's but didn't know if there was anything else
 
S

Sianos

Member
People on the Gaming Forum are talking about how much they love playing Gunslinger Engineer and sapping the fun out of magical wide open jumper maps. :(

Guess it's time to try out Direct Hit + Shotgun.
 
P

Proven

Member
S

Sianos

Member
Sgt.Pepper said:
I hate hats.

I hate useless weapons.

I hate fun.
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But I LOVE Mini Sentries!!! It's the ultimate troll loadout! - Gaming Side on TF2

On the fence about recommending new players to stick to the play now button. They're new to FPSes, maybe they should try simpler modes on servers with less experienced players.

Also, they'll probably play Mini Sentry Engie.
 
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