Unusual | TF2 Newbs (Team Fortress 2) Blog

Posts Tagged ‘unusual’

Scream Fortress 2016 is LIVE!

Posted on: October 21st, 2016 by Obey

Scream Fortress runs thru November 9th! Complete missions to earn… uhh, stuff.

[UPDATE: Oct 23, 7PM EST] Halloween contracts are working properly. Go get ‘em!

The short version:

Three new community maps: Brimstone, Pit of Death, Maple Ridge Event
Added the Creepy Crawly Case
- It hasa 21 community-made items
- Chance to give one of 3 community-created Halloween-restricted items as a bonus
- Chance to give a taunt Unusualifier tool as a bonus item
All crates have a doubled chance to drop an Unusual (typical to that crate) during the event (now 2%, up from 1%)
- All Unusual cosmetics that drop during this event will have a 2016 Unusual Effect instead of the usual possible effects
Maps changed in TF2 Competitive rotation:
- Added pl_badwater and ctf_turbine
- Removed cp_granary and cp_badlands
You can now save/load your preferred maps in the Casual Mode
During Scream Fortress, choose Halloween to jump into a Halloween Event game
Fixed the MvM votekick bug (hopefully)

Come back for more details later…

Look up info on past Halloween Events on my TF2Newbs Halloween FAQ!

Patch 1:

As always, these patch notes courtesy of the Official TF2 Wiki.

Scream Fortress VIII has arrived!

Featuring 3 new community maps: Brimstone, Pit of Death, and Maple Ridge Event
Added the Creepy Crawly Case
- Contains 21 new community-created items that make-up the Creepy Crawly Collection^[1]
- Has a chance to give one of 3 community-created Halloween-restricted items as a bonus item^[2]
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
Added a taunt Unusualifier
- A new tool that will Unusualify the specified taunt with the Unusual effect listed in the tool’s description
- Can be found as a random bonus item when opening a Creepy Crawly Case
Added two new taunts to the Mann Co. Store
- Taunt: The Victory Lap
- Taunt: Second Rate Sorcery (community-created)
Added 8 new community-created Unusual effects
- 4 new effects for Unusual hats
- 4 new effects for Unusual taunts
Continue last year’s event by collecting the souls of dead players for your Soul Gargoyle by killing enemies, doing map objectives, or collecting the Soul Gargoyles that spawn in the maps
Join Halloween matches by selecting the “Halloween” category in Casual
Scream Fortress VIII runs through November 9th, 2016

During Scream Fortress VIII

All players who launch the game will receive a Soul Gargoyle if they don’t already have one from last year’s event
- Grants access to Merasmissions and Halloween item transmutations
- Tracks Merasmissions completed and souls collected
Added 3 new Merasmissions for the featured maps
- Completing a Merasmission will give players a classic Halloween item and the chance for a Creepy Crawly Case
The chance to receive an Unusual item from a case opening has been increased during the event
All cases and Mann Co. Supply Crates will grant Halloween 2016 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects

Matchmaking

The Competitive maps list has been updated
- Added pl_badwater and ctf_turbine
- Disabled cp_granary and cp_badlands
- Maps will continue to enter and exit this list over time
Added “Load Saved Settings” and “Save Current Settings” buttons to the Casual Mode Map Selection menu
- Search criteria is now manually saved to give players more control over the default settings when the game is launched
XP earned in Casual matches has been adjusted to reward players more for their personal contribution to the match
- XP per point has returned to 6.5 XP per point
- XP earned for match completion and objective completion now scales based on your score relative to total amount of points scored by everyone in the match
Increased the matchmaker’s priority of matches with imbalanced teams
- This should reduce the occurrence of extended imbalanced matches when multiple players leave

General

Added the AsiaFortress Cup Season 10 tournament medals
Added LBTF2 6v6 Season 13 tournament medals
Improved several aspects of texture handling for OS X and Linux clients
- This should reduce the rate of “Out of memory” errors for players on high texture settings, especially on level change
- Players still encountering this error can reduce texture quality to medium or lower to greatly improve stability pending further improvements
Fixed a missing material issue on cp_sunshine
Fixed players not taking damage when exploding as a bombhead without stunning Merasmus
Fixed Mann vs. Machine zombies not using the correct skin in Ghost Town outside of the Halloween event
Fixed a bug with the vote-kick timer in Mann vs. Machine mode
Fixed taunts not restoring the proper weapon when the taunts are finished
Fixed the Pomson 6000 playing the shotgun reload sound
Updated the sounds made when the Scout shoves someone while using the Shortstop
Updated some Merasmus audio files that weren’t playing properly
Updated the localization files

Undocumented changes

Updated the description for the Soul Gargoyle.

Patch 2

Fixed spooky OS X crash upon joining a server
Fixed not being able to gain progress on Merasmissions

Notes

[N] Obey

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TF2 Meet Your Match + WAR! Update

Posted on: July 6th, 2016 by Obey

This blog has been updated for the changes from Day 2. Here’s the summary, with more details forthcoming:

Day 1′s Important Changes

Competitive Mode is now out of Beta
PASS Time is now out of Beta
You can play in unranked (casual) games, if you wish, to match you into games with players with roughly equal Comp Rank
Three new Community maps
- Released in the Day 2 patch: Sunshine, Swiftwater, and Metalworks
No TF2 patch has released yet–but one is expected on Day 2 (tonight or tomorrow?)

Day 2′s Important Changes:

A “WAR” between Team Heavy and Team Pyro
- Choose one Team when you join your next Ranked or Unranked game
- Points you score go toward your Team; doesn’t matter what class you play
- Winning Team overall all of TF2 (Heavy or Pyro) will decide which character will be first to get a patch designed for that character
- The losing character will likely get a patch some time after the winner
Some important game rebalances
Added 4 new taunts
Added the Perfect Stranger crate
Added new “starter pack” crates and “keyless cosmetic” crates in the Mann Co. Store
- Each class has one of each, so that you can outfit your favorite class
Added new items in the Valve Store
- More TF2 stuff in the Valve Store

Comp

What is Competitve Mode?

As the splash page says, you can now join a ranked 6-vs-6 game, solo or with up to 5 of your friends, to play a Ranked game where the outcome of the game affects your Rank. Measured from 1-18, your Rank can go up or down depending on points scored and whether you win or lose. You can lose Rank and face temporary bans from Comp play by leaving a match or being disconnected.

There seems to be an option for 9-vs-9 games as well, but it isn’t currently available.

Quickplay now has the option to join a casual, unranked match where you play against players of similar Rank. “Unranked match” means that playing doesn’t affect your Rank, but does put you into a game with (hopefully) users of similar skill.

Here’s the FAQ and the wiki page, but here’s some more pertinent info:

To play, you need to be a Premium (not F2P) user. See this blogpost for more info on what Premium is.
To play, you also need either a valid phone number registered to your Steam account OR buy a Lifetime TF2 Comp Pass.
- The Lifetime Comp Pass is not to be confused with the TF2 Comp Beta Pass.
- If you currently have the Steam Mobile Authenticator on your smartphone, you should already qualify.
During play, note the following additional rules:
- Currently only 6v6 is supported, no class restrictions
- You can’t change your teams, and you’re penalized if you leave the match
- Random critical hits are disabled for all weapons
- Shotgun-type weapons (only) have fixed damage spreads (in a 3×3 grid pattern)
- Symmetrical Control Point maps play best-of-3 rounds (or best-of-5 rounds in higher Ranks)
- Attack/Defense maps play the Stopwatch mode where the fastest attacking team wins
- DirectX9 and certain vanilla graphical modes/options are enforced
Maps currently supported: Process, Badlands (!!), Gorge, Gullywash, Snakewater, and KOTH Viaduct
- Note that the 3 new Community-made maps are not yet supported

3 New Community Maps

(I’m glad to see that these maps aren’t set in the desert.)

Sunshine is a traditional 5CP map designed for competitive 6v6 play that might remind you a little of Badlands. Has already seen UGC Comp play. A Halloween-themed clone, Sinshine, also exists, so expect it to show up in this year’s Halloween rotation as well.

Metalworks is also a traditional 5CP map, set in a cloudy industrial setting at night. It’s as grey as your bosses’ hearts.

Swiftwater is a payload map in a water bottling map in an Alpine setting. This map has seen lots of play in the UGC Comp Highlander ladders.

Important Game Rebalances

There are SO MANY important game rebalances, I’m going to have to write a separate blogpost about it. Here are the biggest changes:

Yeah, I’m out of time. Scroll down to read the patch notes–you’ll be glad you did. Have fun adjusting how you play Medic!!

4 New Taunts

These taunts are currently only available for purchase in the Mann Co. Store, and not in a crate at this time.

The Balloonibouncer has the Pyro jump onto a spring-loaded Balloonicorn and ride it… well, a little gentler than the Engineer rides his Bucking Bronco. $7.99 in Mann Co. Store.
The Disco Fever has the Spy do a short disco-inspired dance for 8 seconds. $4.99 in Mann Co. Store.
The Carlton has the Scout do a 6-second dance where he wishes he was related to the Fresh Prince, Will Smith. $6.99 in Mann Co. Store. Da da DAA daa….
The Fubar Fanfare has the Soldier play a sad trombone for 5 seconds. $4.99 in Mann Co. Store. Womp womp womp womp….

The “Perfect Stranger” Crate

Also known as Crate #103, this crate requires a standard Mann. Co Key, and is filled with Strange-quality weapons and weapon parts that have been requested by the TF2 community. Here’s what’s inside:

Strange Part: Heavies Killed
Strange Part: Pyros Killed
Strange Part: Critical Kills
Strange Part: Allied Healing Done
Strange Part: Damage Dealt
Strange Sandvich
Strange Natascha
Strange Powerjack
Strange Degreaser
Strange Reserve Shooter
Strange Ambassador
Strange Quickiebomb Launcher
Strange Back Scatter
Strange Panic Attack
Strange Iron Bomber
or the usual 1% chance of an Unusual cosmetic item

None of the above items existed as a Strange item before. Also, all of those items are assumed to have an equal chance to drop. (Don’t forget: all of those items are marketable also!)

“Starter Pack” Item Bundles

Nah man, it’s not a meme. These are item packages sold in the Mann Co. Store to outfit the class of your choice. They’re on the Home screen of the Store under the “Starter Pack” tab.

Each item bundle includes one each of all of the non-Stock, non-promotional items for that class. All of the items are Unique-quality, cannot be used in crafting, and they (and the item bundle itself, if left unopened) are tradable after a few days. The bundles cost between US$2 and $6, with the Medic being cheapest (fewest items) and the Soldier being the most expensive (most items). Each bundle also includes one Name Tag, so you can rename your new favorite weapon.

For example, the $3.99 Sniper Starter Pack include a Huntsman, Razorback, Jarate, Tribalman’s Shiv, Syndey Sleeper, Darwin’s Danger Shield, Bushwacka, Shahanshah, Bazaar Bargain, Machina, Cozy Camper, Cleaner’s Carbine, Hitman’s Heatmaker, and the Classic, plus a Name Tag. (Note that you don’t get items like the AWPer Hand or a Fortified Compound, because those were both promotional weapons and cosmetic reskins of other weapons.)

You can also choose not to open the bundle after you buy it, and trade or market it later. Perfect for gifting to noobs.

“Keyless Cosmetic” Crates

Called the “Unlocked Cosmetic Crates” in the Mann Co. Store, you can buy for US$2.49 (the same price as a key!) this tool item of the class of your choice. When opened, it produces one random cosmetic equippable by that class, with an unknown chance of it being Strange or Unusual. These crates are found under the same “Starter Pack” tab in the Store.

We don’t know what the chances are for the item to be Strange or Unusual. We also don’t know if all-class or multiple-class cosmetics can drop from it, or cosmetics from certain series like Robocrates, or promotional items. The crates do say that any Strange or Unusual items pulled are hats only, so don’t expect to get lucky and pull an Unusual that wasn’t possible before. If a drop list becomes available, I’ll provide a link in the future.

Consider this: It costs four refined metal + one class token to craft a hat of a given class (or three ref for a cosmetic of a random class), which is cheaper than buying this crate (or a key). But it can be a pain to bother finding a trading partner to trade enough metal, with keys being worth 20 ref for a while now.

Also, all of the cosmetics for sale in the Mann Co. Store are minimum US$4.99, so whatever you get is a relative deal. The TF2 community, as well as Valve, has gotten away from crafting or introducing new weapons into the economy (at least until the Pyro and/or Heavy future patches come out), and players are much more likely now to buy straight from Valve or the Market. TF2Newbs still has two trade servers, #2 and #18, so you can try to find trade partners there.

One More Thing About Crates

All (well, maybe most) crates in your inventory now include a list of the possible items within. If you mouse over the items, you get a pop-up picture of the item, so you can see better what possible items are in the crate.