Wednesday, 29 December 1999 2215Z
The beat(ings) goes on... -Totentanz

Okie, dokie....To say that the reaction to this little project I've cooked up has been healthy - would be an understatement. Between feedback on the PlanetFortress forums, and posts from the TFC Reform project (unlike the Blair Witch project) page, I've got all kinds of stuff to collate, reformat, post on the page, and forward to Valve for their scrutiny. So, I'm going to ask for a wee bit of slack on keeping the page itself updated, and pretty. Rest assured, the FIRST priority is to get the discrepencies to Valve, to be scrutinized for action, etc. I may not be able to give "instant feedback" on progress, and some things myself and Bundy-sama will NOT be allowed to mention publically. For those of you in the biz, it's called an NDA, or Non-Disclosure Agreement. Basically, it means we'll let you know stuff, but if you squawk, we'll beat you up. ^_^ However, remember this, always - I'm not only a newsie-type, I'm a player of the same TF community as you all are, with the same concerns you do have. So, don't think I'll let Valve get off easily. ;) However, I *DO* have a couple of important requests for the community, please...

1. PLEASE, do not decide to go spam Valve with email about this matter. Send it our way here at the Fort, and it will be added to the list of stuff, and this stuff WILL be seen by the Valve development team. Trust me on this point - this IS the best way we have going to get this fixed.

2. As much as your enthusiasm is for this game, take a moment and think about the submissions you make. The objective of this is bugfixes, primarily. Directly effecting the engine itself, and after that, the maps Valve made themselves. Suggestions to expand the play of the game - like adding vehicles - quite frankly will be moved to the very bottom of the list, if not discounted completely. That's not the objective we're striving for, here.

3. the easiest ways for me, is to deal with the commonly used method of submitting info - is the PF forums, and email. However, in light of the mass volume, and my blazingly fast 2 wpm typing speed *joke*, feedback from me or Bundy may not be instant. If you sent email to myself, I will make every human effort to respond to acknowledge I got it. But also remember, it's more important to get this data to Valve to be looked at, than to make sure everyone gets a warm fuzzy feeling, I'm sorry to say. Which would you rather have - an email in your inbox saying "thanks for the input, these items you mentioned have been submitted, these you did will be added to the list, check the page for updates" - or a patch from Valve actually fixing the issues in contention? I thought you'd see it that way. ^_^

Ok.... the longer I spend working on THIS page, the less gets done on the important stuff. So I'm gonna mix up a giant-sized cough syrup and Geritol smoothie, and get cracking. See you on the servers.....

Tuessday, 28 December 1999 2330Z
The TFC reform project begins -Totentanz

Ok, I'm going to apologize in advance for the REALLY horrendous excuse for HTML work on that page, but I threw it together to get the project itself going. Between the holidays, the Y2K insanity (I work in the IT field), and various other factors, I feel pretty good that I managed to get it done - only took me 3 bloody days. :/ Prettiness can come later, consider it an alpha version. *grin* Go HERE, read the subject content, give feedback, and let's see what we can do to TRY to get TFC made better for the community.

Wednesday, 23 December 1999

0500Z
A Christmas Salute from Fort Bundy -Bundy

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I IMAGINED
I'D FIND A SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

We at Fort Bundy salute all who have served and are now serving in the military, wherever you are.

Monday, 20 December 1999

1700Z
Let's get something straight -Bundy

It seems that I managed to create a little hate and discontent with yesterday's update. Not really - the hate was already there and the discontent is always just beneath the surface.

Having said that, I'd like to say a few more things. As for my dislike of conc and rocket jumping, I'm entitled to my opinion. Those of you who are ready to hop on a forum and slam me for my opinion are some of the first ones to defend your right to your opinions. To those of you who are lurking the forums waiting for a chance to jump on something without at least trying to get clarification first - I say bite me.

On the other hand, I received several emails from people who wanted to discuss my post with me and we are having a nice dialog. Even though we don't necessarily agree on everything it often turns out that we agree on more things than we disagree. In fact, it isn't unusual to come to the conclusion that we are saying the same thing but in a different way. If anyone has a problem with what I say you are more than welcome to write me. I will respond. On the other hand, if you are just some slug who doesn't have anything better to do than hawk the forums looking for a chance to start a flame war - I say again: bite me. Most people have an idea what to expect when they come to this page. It is a TF/TFC (and TF2 when it comes out) community opinion/editorial page, people. It is NOT a news page, nor is it a feel-good page where I'll tell you what you want to hear. I don't address clans nor do I talk about leagues or matches. I stick to talking about public servers. If you don't like that, you should spend your time elsewhere. There are plenty of other pages out there.

Now, I'll spell it out to those of you who are looking to pick apart everything I say and I'll try to be as brief as I can: TFC IS NOT WHAT IT COULD BE! Sure, it's a great game. There is no denying that. It is head and shoulders above whatever is in second place. The resources (servers, news pages, etc) carried over from TF are second to none. But, sadly to say, too many of you have no idea whatsoever what you are missing. It seems to me that there is WAY too much emphasis on winning at any cost, and personal glory. Both of which drive people to do things that detract from the game - not only for others, but for themselves as well. The lack of Sportsmanship is evident in just about every pub game you join.

I, for one, KNOW that the game could (and should) be a lot more enjoyable. Before you condemn me for my opinions maybe you should stop and think that just maybe I know what I'm talking about. But it's more fun to shoot the messgenger, isn't it?

Let me put up a quote for you. I found this at Old Skewl - Team Fortress, the way it was meant to be..., a league dedicated to the way TF used to be. Read it and think about it.

Old Skewl, the name, the phrase itself, encompases all that this league is, what it stands for, why it was brought to life, what it means to us, and perhaps, to you. Some of us remember a time in Teamfortress when honor played on the battlefield. Mixed in with the blood and horror were grudging admissions to an enemy proven stronger. A time when a man would pick himself up off the ground and shake the hand of his foe. Many of you only came along long after that time had passed, and missing that time is a travesty in our opinion. So now, in honor of those long forgotten times of hero's and legends... I bring you 'Old Skewl'. A tribute to times past....play with honor.

Sunday, 19 December 1999

1745Z
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... -Bundy

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". This opening phrase from Charles Dickens' classic novel of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities, can also be applied to describe the current state of the Team Fortress community.

It is the best of times in many ways. Hardware is available at decent prices, video technology is improving at an exponential rate, large hard drives are dirt cheap, cpu's are getting faster and faster and there is no end in sight. The AMD Athlon^™ (currently at 750 MHz) is now in production at 1 GHz. That's 1,000 MHz. The NVIDIA^™ GeForce 256^™ chipset is capable of processing ten million polygons per second, motherboards are available that will support dual processors, major manufacturers are supplying systems loaded with Linux operating systems, and high-speed internet connections are becoming more readily available to the masses.

There are some excellent map makers who devote countless hours creating outstanding maps for us to play. HellFace, a personal friend of mine, is a good example of this. He has been making maps since the early TF days and is a prolific contributor to the scene. He also wrote a program (Vote) which permits the players to vote on the next map but unfortunately the latest release of TFC has a bug that doesn't let Vote work properly. His popular map, Darkness is being updated to Darkness2, and the interesting thing about his maps is that he actively solicits player feedback on forums, via email, ICQ, or any other means. To download his Darkness and Betrayed (I love that name) and to check his progress, go to DARK/BETRAYAL, his map page.

One of, if not the most positive things that I see now is the evolution of a group of players who are dedicated to team play and helping others. TeamPF. The TeamPF stands for Team Play First. THAT is what TF/TFC is all about, isn't it? I'll talk about DMFortress (Death Match with classes) later, but these guys are walking the walk. I have nothing but respect and admiration for what they have accomplished. Before I had to take an involuntary hiatus from the game several months back I was doing my utmost to promote Honor, Sportsmanship and Team Play. Even though I often felt it was for naught, the seeds I helped to plant took hold and grew. Folks like Totentanz, Kinlord, Gudlyf, Cheat_H8tr, EricP and many others I don't have room to mention here nurtured the ideal of Honor and Sportsmanship in an environment where wankers are the norm. I sincerely thank all of you for fighting The Good Fight^™ in my absence. Upon my return, I found many references to something called "TPF" on the Planetfortress Forums. In fact, they have their own forum there. Make sure to go to the PF Forums and click on the TPF link. There you will find a great bunch of folks who are quite knowledgeable and are willing to help you with just about any problem you have. TPF are without a doubt the most helpful and accessible people in the game. Speaking of forums, the folks from Valve frequent the forums and answer questions. That shows their willingness and desire to see what the players think and to help them with their needs.

I can't possibly talk about the good things without mentioning Pinhead. Pinhead is one of the smartest people I know. He is a wealth of knowledge on many subjects but the one that he is most noted for is his indepth testing in pursuit of a better ping and how to reduce lag. Unless you are running on an OC3 you definitely need to visit Pinhead's page. Many thanks, Pinhead.

As you can see, there are the best of times in many ways. The community has grown a lot since the introduction of TFC and with this growth there are a lot of new players who have never played TF. Along with the new players there was a shift in the "identity" of the typical player. I, being an old school TF'er, welcome the influx of more mature players that have made a home with TPF and some of the clans. On the other hand, I can't say that I'm enamored with the physics of the Half-Life engine when applied to TF. I never even accepted rocket jumping, much less all the conc jumping that is part of the game now. The game has been bastardized to the point it is barely recognizable now, even though the eye candy is great.

It's time to segue into the second part of my post - that of being "The worst of times". Like I said in the above paragraph, the eye candy in TFC is outstanding, but it comes at a price. The bar has been raised in terms of baseline equipment requirements. I don't have a problem with it since I a) have a job, and b) don't mind spending the money to have good equipment. To paraphrase Scatterblak, another friend of mine, "Good players get good equipment". In other words, don't expect an old Ford Pinto to keep up with a Porche. The Porche will win every time, all else being equal. This also applies to your internet connection, but there is less you can do about that part. Let's face it - DSL and cable modems are not available to everyone. In fact, there are still a lot of places where 56K isn't an option. As far as the hardware part goes, there are many players who don't have the latest gear and have no way to get it. Since the public has become convinced they must get "the internet" for little Johnny, they have bought some pretty tacky units for their kids. These kids are quickly frustrated when they can't keep up with the rest of the pack and often become wankers who do their best to spoil everyone else's fun. I'm not saying that they are all that way, but come on - don't tell me it isn't a big part of the problem we have on public servers.

I see the equipment/connection problems getting worse as new games are introduced. Take TF2 for example. I, for one, am convinced that your basic P200 with 64 Meg just won't hack it for TF2. It played just fine in TF, will barely work with TFC and probably won't be a player with TF2. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I don't want to be unable to enjoy new things because someone else can't keep up. Unfortunately, ol' Dad probably won't see the need in buying Junior a new box just to play a new game. So Junior becomes even more frustrated and either drops out or joins the Dark Side. The games of today DEMAND a decent system and a good internet connection, no matter what their minimum specs call for in their press releases. Game developers are in a quandary because they have to appeal to the broadest group they can. I believe Valve will to their best to maintain the playability vs. eye candy/features situation they can. I'm sure we'll be pleasantly surprised.

TF is going through what may be called it's death struggles now. It is the opinion of many old school TF'ers (and myself) that TF is packed with cheaters and is quite newbie intolerant. The new players are drawn to TFC and have no inclination to even try TF - after all, TFC is the latest Big Thing^®, is it not? For the record, I much prefer TF over TFC. As I said earlier, I don't care for the physics of the Half-Life engine when applied to TF. Additionally, the player models are larger (20% larger I think) and the maps "feel" smaller. This, when coupled with the different game engine physics, have enabled players to bastardize the classes to the point that defensive classes have become offensive classes. The Medic was NEVER intended to be an offensive class. Now he is a major part of any team's offensive cadre. What happened to healing your team mates? It is rare to see it anymore. I brought this up on a forum one time and was told that if you needed healing on defense you should go to the resupply locker and grab a health pack. Excuse me? Well, call it what you will, but that wasn't the intent of the class. Nor were Scouts intended to fly. The conc jumping mania that has become a stock-in-trade of Medics and Scouts have totally changed the makeup of the game. Soldiers use double rocket jump scripts to bypass the defenses on many maps while the Medics and Scouts simply fly over them. To my amazement, this is not only accepted but is condoned and encouraged!

My very favorite pet peeve is respawn "camping". You can visit nearly any forum and mention respawn "camping" and you'll be able to identify the less-than-honorable and wankers. Throw a rock in a pack of dogs and you're bound to hit one. heh. They come back with all the arguments about how it is a "valid tactic" and all that rubbish. Furthermore, they'll tell you that it is so easy to kill the offending "camper" that you have no reason to complain. Well, I'll tell you right now that the focus shouldn't be on whether it is a "valid tactic" or not, but whether it is the right thing to do. I could care less what two clans agree to do in a match - I'm talking about playing on public servers. There is no excuse to do that on a pub server. If these respawn camping assholes as so good, why to they insist on preying on players who can't defend themselves? If they are as "leet" as they would have you believe it seems to me they would "own ju" straight up without just getting cheap frags to make their kill/death ratio look good. Bah, I would ban them from the game for life if it were left to me. My isp is setting up game servers as we speak. I am likely to become the TF/TFC/TF2 admin for our server. Guess what? I'll ban you for life in a heartbeat if you wank on my server. Don't say you weren't warned. Not only that, but I'll publish your WON ID so other admins can ban you as well. heh.

I think this is the worst of times for our community because I don't see a lot of people actively condemning wankers and their lame practices. Even the TPF folks, whom I consider the most honorable group around, don't come out strong against wankers. Rather than condemn their actions, there is a general attitude of "tolerance" and mild disapproval. I say that you should call a spade a spade and be done with it. There is no doubt where I stand on this or any other issue and I'd like to see more people take stronger stands on issues that affect the community. Until wanking and respawn "camping" are deemed to be unacceptable they are here to stay. Until players stand up and speak out nothing will change. Until admins and rcon holders actually police their servers (yes, that was a deliberate choice of words), the assholes will have their way. I refuse to let them go unaccountable and so should you.

In summary, now is the time for us to get our act together for the next Big Thing^® - TF2. Just like I said before TFC hit the streets, we really need to make a decision on how we want things to go and act on it. I guarantee you that there will be another mass influx of people who have never played an online game in their lives, people who are refugees from Death Match games, and people who are just curious. The community will evolve (devolve?) and many changes will take place. It is up to US to influence it and help it achieve the level of gameplay we desire. I am so sick of joining a game and finding it is only Death Match with classes. The respawn "campers" are a classic example of this, but it is not limited to them. Have you ever entered a game only to find NO organized defense or offense? Of course you have. Have you ever entered a game only to be told "no caps!"? Of course you have. Have you ever entered a game only to find a team that is all soldiers, medics or scouts? Probably. Do you think this is fun? I don't. Do you think this is the way the game was intended to be played? I KNOW it isn't.

Much like a very wise man said about government: "The people get the government they deserve" - I will say that you'll get the gameplay you deserve. If you don't do something about it, you have no right to complain. If I've said something that has made you think, then I've accomplished my goal. If I've said something that you agree with, that's even better. If I've said something that has made you see things in a different light - well, that is great. I just hope that the Honorable folks who never participate on a forum, never write an editorial and who are letting someone else do the talking for them realize that it is also up to THEM to fight The Good Fight^™.

Monday, 13 December 1999 1340Z
You're going to love this - trust me. -Totentanz

Team Fortress Classic Soundset, by Janson[MERCENARY]

First, let me say that THIS is the new standard that mods and addons should be compared to. I have never seen anything this professional looking outside of a commercially made and distributed producted I've purchased in stores - and some of those not even this polished looking.

This baby comes in two flavours - for the oldschool TF dog, like myself, you get the traditional PAK format. Great for those of us who prefer to get our hands dirty, and the control freaks. ^_^

Second, there is a Installable version. If you're the sort of person who's NOT uber-technical, this *IS* for you. it installs, using an installshield- type application, and if you don't like it, it will automagically uninstall with a few clicks. SWEET!

Next, this thing is pure subwoofer candy! If you don't have one already, go buy one NOW! I mean, RIGHT now! Without one, you'll miss a lot of the inherent goodness of this pack. Let me tell, with this running, if you're in the middle of a hot firefight, it does a damn good job of simulating the chaos of war. Talk about getting pumped up and your adrenaline going!

The sounds for the various weapons have been enhanced, and the only beef I have, is the silenced sniper rifle sound. Anyone who's taken SERIOUS sniper training will tell you a real sniper will NOT put a silencer on their weapon. It lowers muzzle velocity, which drastically reduces accuracy. In fact, silencers only work well with lower-velocity ammunition. But that is strictly just a personal judgement/preference on my part that I do dislike that one sound. Otherwise, the sounds are a pure joy to listen to, especially the detpack - the debris falls like forever. ^_^

It has 3 "modules", for lack of better description. the "base" sounds, the grenade timer (speak-type), and the Sentry addon. The base sounds are your normal weapon and ambiant sound substitutions, to include neat "Star Trek transporter" sounds for players respawning and entering/leaving the server - a really fun touch. The grenade timer is nice, no config work is required, but if you already have on, and you install this, you will get a double timer - which threw me off for the first game. Then I went and disabled my beep timer I was using, and stayed with this speak timer. I'm still learning the proper timing with it, but I've grown to like THIS timer more, now.

The sentry sounds merit some discussion, because Janson, the developer of this addon, was concerned about it. It makes the sentry idle and locking sounds a bit longer and more easily distinguishable. He was worried that this might be viewed as a "cheat". Let me asure you, being someone who has absolutely ZERO tolerance for cheaters, it does not. It does help make them a wee bit more detectable, but lets face it - with the nuclear MIRV grenade, and the medic's SNG - Sguns really don't live that long anyhow. And these sounds make them a LOT more meaner-sounding, too. ^_^

In summary, besides it's hefty download size (4.9mb for the installer version, 3.5mb for the pak), I can't recommend this strongly enough. It adds spirit to TFC, without making it the frantic sound mess that MegaTF was for TF1(IMHO). Install this thing, crank up that subwoofer, and go forth to do onto others...

To quote Joe Bob Briggs: Here's the report card. Grenade-Fu. SubWoofer-Fu. as many buckets of gibs as your sick, demented little hearts can handle. Star Trek Transporter-Fu (no 7of 9, sorry boys). The meanest sounding Sentry Guns this side of the Pecos. Explosions that sound so real, you'll be ducking for cover in the safety of your own homes. Totentanz sez "check it".

And for your downloading convenience, Here are links to the goodies!

Installshield version
PakFile version