Major Update Speculation Thread V3: Tonight's the Night, forever and always - Games

[QUOTE=Blargargh;36179659]So there's been talk about the satchel's paper texture. And what's written on it. [IMG]http://www.treybrown.com/images/medic_sachel_update02.jpg[/IMG] Apparently, this is what valve changed the new satchel's paper to include Meet The Pyro hints ([URL="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=73092771&searchtext="]Source; scroll down to the uploader's comment.)[/URL] Upon reading... looks like a doctor's report on the pyro. Age, birthday, talking about symptoms.. Meanwhile, [URL="http://p3d.in/xuGXr/"]this[/URL] render of the model seems is the original, notice it lacks the "mtp" in the bottom left, among other things. Although, the only really trustworthy of any new texture of the paper would be [URL="https://www.dropbox.com/s/imj46i2nqhkqn6q/medic_clipboard.jpg"]this.[/URL] Yeah. tl;dr nothing's happened.[/QUOTE] What did I say?heh [editline]4th June 2012[/editline] Fuck it's fake

Optimism: hopefully when DOTA 2 and CSGO get off the ground there'll be more, better tf2 updates.

[QUOTE=Drsalvador;36194066]Optimism: hopefully when DOTA 2 and CSGO get off the ground there'll be more, better tf2 updates.[/QUOTE] our best bet now I think is the Portal 2 crowd getting bored and moving to TF2 and not Dota 2, and I think that's unlikely. Dota 2 offers such a different sort of project for them, I can see why its so appealing. People who have worked entirely on serious, modern, shooters, a top down fantasy game would seem like a really different and unique project to work on. At one point, that might have also been why so many worked on TF2. CSGO is being made out of house, their team is irrelevant. Another opportunity for TF2 to pick up some guys is from L4D2, which is on its last major update. If we think we have it bad, the poor L4D2 guys have been working a year and a half on the same map. I have a feeling after Cold Stream, the L4D2 team will disperse to other projects, probably TF2 or Dota. All of this though makes me wonder what the serious writers at Valve are doing to keep busy. Dota 2 has minimal story elements, besides a short one or two paragraph lore, and other than that, not much. Unless there's a big Portal 2 story DLC coming (doubt it), then they kind of have nothing to do, unless there's a super secret project coming.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194113]All of this though makes me wonder what the serious writers at Valve are doing to keep busy. Dota 2 has minimal story elements, besides a short one or two paragraph lore, and other than that, not much. Unless there's a big Portal 2 story DLC coming (doubt it), then they kind of have nothing to do, unless there's a super secret project coming.[/QUOTE] Except there's like 100+ heroes in Dota2 May be nothing worthy nor interesting but still, a lot of text to write, correct, polish and publish

Well there's still that other "leaked game" and leaked concept art of that game that valve is apparently working on that we don't know much about other than it involves space and ships.

[QUOTE=SLBros.;36194145]Except there's like 100+ heroes in Dota2 May be nothing worthy nor interesting but still, a lot of text to write, correct, polish and publish[/QUOTE] you don't need a serious script writer to write a paragraph of lore. Especially since the Lore between heroes is only loosely connected.

I bet they're idling away on f-stop or any other number of unannounced projects. Not spinning about on their office chairs and high fiving.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36193921]what I really hope is Valve realizes this and gives us more frequent updates of sizes that are manageable. Stuff like the Deus Ex update, small, but incredibly unique and fun weapons. Or even more like the Cozy Camper, taking old ideas and repurposing them to spread out more content. Because this model is not working, and I think we're in the growing pains stage as TF2's updates start to wane and the team size needs to find their capacity. If a major update that used to take 2 months to put together now takes 6+ months, something is wrong. They need to find the size of "major" update that can fit to their team size, and make sure those are the best damn updates ever. Quality now, versus quantity, which in a humbling sort of way more closely emulates the class updates of old.[/QUOTE] I don't think valve thinks in the same way that we do. To use we conform the team based on the size and mass of the update when, in business terms, its the other way around. I can confirm from a friend who visited the HQ a few weeks ago that there is only about 12-15 people on the TF2 helm right now and honestly i see that number to dwindle even more. we all saw it coming. The workshop is a way to lessen the load of the team and has worked so far. MtP is the one major thing left to complete the TF2 universe and we'll probably be on a 2 year ultimatum before TF2 will finally stop updating majorly. Dota 2 is shaping up to be massive and it will take up valves time for the next few years. During that we expect a TF3 in the works to rev-up the cycle once again.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194113]Dota 2 has minimal story elements, besides a [b]short one or two paragraph lore, and other than that, not much.[/b][/QUOTE] Ah, good one. As a Steam Translator, I almost find this claim from you offensive. Each character has a bio with more words than this thread page. [sp]And I had/still have to translate them all[/sp] They're a very interesting read, though. Reading the character's background almost makes me forget I don't like the game itself at all. How normal is this anyway? Being more interested in the characters of a game than the game(play) itself?

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194113] All of this though makes me wonder what the serious writers at Valve are doing to keep busy. Dota 2 has minimal story elements, besides a short one or two paragraph lore, and other than that, not much. Unless there's a big Portal 2 story DLC coming (doubt it), then they kind of have nothing to do, unless there's a super secret project coming.[/QUOTE] did you know that brandon does many of the writing? fun fact for you.

[QUOTE=Roninsmastermix;36194215] Dota 2 is shaping up to be massive and it will take up valves time for the next few years. [B]During that we expect a TF3 in the works[/B] to rev-up the cycle once again.[/QUOTE] Don't be silly, Valve can't count to three. What we'll be getting is TF2: Episode 2 :v:

I can't wait for Day of Defeat: Global Offensive :v:

[QUOTE=Roninsmastermix;36194215] we all saw it coming. The workshop is a way to lessen the load of the team and has worked so far. MtP is the one major thing left to complete the TF2 universe and we'll probably be on a 2 year ultimatum before TF2 will finally stop updating majorly. Dota 2 is shaping up to be massive and it will take up valves time for the next few years. During that we expect a TF3 in the works to rev-up the cycle once again.[/QUOTE] I don't know, that's a huge cash cow to just leave behind. Bringing in 10 million over a year and a half is pretty crazy, unless that dramatically slows down, they'll want to keep it at least alive.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194510]I don't know, that's a huge cash cow to just leave behind. Bringing in 10 million over a year and a half is pretty crazy, unless that dramatically slows down, they'll want to keep it at least alive.[/QUOTE] But thats the thing, the workshop is where the money's at right now. Promos are next and they can afford to make mini-updates here and there. but that's it. TF2 is pretty much self-sustaining now to the point that they can afford to coast away for a year or so. Just in time to develop the next cash cow. They pretty much did that with dota 2 and we'll see if that takes off they'll be developing something next.

First Valve E3 announcement leaked: Steam and the Source Engine coming to Linux in 2013 [url]http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/2012/00058960-e3-2012-steam-sous-linux.htm[/url] [quote]After bringing Steam on Mac, Valve has announced that a Linux version of its digital distribution platform would come out by 2013, accompanied by a Linux version of the Source Engine. That should please fans of this free operating system.[/quote]

That sounds pretty rad. Humble Bundles on Steam Linux!

pfff we all know the world is going to end in 2012 of course valve are going to say that! Ahah, joke aside, I know someone who uses linux and should be happy about that.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194595]First Valve E3 announcement leaked: Steam and the Source Engine coming to Linux in 2013 [url]http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/2012/00058960-e3-2012-steam-sous-linux.htm[/url][/QUOTE] Penguin Update confirmed. Launch TF2 on Linux to receive exclusive item. [sp]which will later be used as currency in this game[/sp]

[QUOTE=B-Rabbit;36194735]Penguin Update confirmed. Launch TF2 on Linux to receive exclusive item. [sp]which will later be used as currency in this game[/sp][/QUOTE] No, launch DOTA2 on Linux and get a Penguin Courier. [sp]that will be used for currency[/sp]

Dota will probably be first. Dota's competitors are on Linux, and by that time Dota should be completely done [editline]4th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Roninsmastermix;36194589]But thats the thing, the workshop is where the money's at right now. Promos are next and they can afford to make mini-updates here and there. but that's it. TF2 is pretty much self-sustaining now to the point that they can afford to coast away for a year or so. Just in time to develop the next cash cow. They pretty much did that with dota 2 and we'll see if that takes off they'll be developing something next.[/QUOTE] Dota2 allows for player made sounds and animations. If they allowed that for TF2 is would help so much.

[QUOTE=B-Rabbit;36194735]Penguin Update confirmed. Launch TF2 on Linux to receive exclusive item. [sp]which will later be used as currency in this game[/sp][/QUOTE] Except every damn person would have it.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194790] Dota2 allows for player made sounds and animations. If they allowed that for TF2 is would help so much.[/QUOTE] My God. If they added that to TF2, I would personally head a Kickstarter campaign to hire Robin Atkin Downes to professionally record some new Medic lines.

[QUOTE=COSTA;36194234]Ah, good one. As a Steam Translator, I almost find this claim from you offensive. Each character has a bio with more words than this thread page. [sp]And I had/still have to translate them all[/sp] They're a very interesting read, though. Reading the character's background almost makes me forget I don't like the game itself at all. How normal is this anyway? Being more interested in the characters of a game than the game(play) itself?[/QUOTE] Oh I totally agree. Also item descriptions are maybe short but theres many of them. I spent 2 days translating those new "item" strings but I kinda liked it. also tf2 topic: cant wait to install linux to get tux tuxedo for Spy :)

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194790] Dota2 allows for player made sounds and animations. If they allowed that for TF2 is would help so much.[/QUOTE] Can they do that without restructuring the engine? The impression i got from the comments of brandon before was that TF2's structure made it difficult to introduce animations without them doing it for us. If they're going to restructure TF2 for the full support of the workshop features, they might as well do TF3. I've alluded to before also that Dota is another sandbox for valve to incorporate features that TF2 lacked like animations, bodygroups and sounds.

[QUOTE=Roninsmastermix;36194926]Can they do that without restructuring the engine? The impression i got from the comments of brandon before was that TF2's structure made it difficult to introduce animations without them doing it for us. If they're going to restructure TF2 for the full support of the workshop features, they might as well do TF3. I've alluded to before also that Dota is another sandbox for valve to incorporate features that TF2 lacked like animations, bodygroups and sounds.[/QUOTE] That's what it really seems like- TF2 is running an older version of the source engine and it'd be hard for them to port the game to the newest version of Source, especially if they only have a 12 man team.

I'd pay full price for TF3.

[QUOTE=dageek;36195026]That's what it really seems like- TF2 is running an older version of the source engine and it'd be hard for them to port the game to the newest version of Source, especially if they only have a 12 man team.[/QUOTE] I keep saying. TF2 could be around for 2 or more years or so. By that time, the game would have been 6+ years old. Having a 6 year-old, free-to-play game that generates 10s of millions of dollars is a feat already on its own. It's time for a sequel. I'm sure valve can't pass the opportunity up.

Since it is currently June right now, and Valve has always updated TF2 on June 23rd, I am calling that the Pyro update will indeed come out this June 23rd. Same day that the Uber Update came out last year.

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;36194790] Dota2 allows for player made sounds and animations. If they allowed that for TF2 is would help so much.[/QUOTE] TF2 is a bit too far into its lifespan for some of the innards to be gutted and rewritten. They never anticipated that it would last 5 years. Hell, they never anticipated that they'd make alternate weapons, need to make more animations for things, or even accept community-made items. The game wasn't originally structured to support that kind of stuff on a long-term scale. It just simply wasn't built, originally, to be future-proof. With Dota2, they're expecting it, so they're preparing the game's structure to support such a thing.

I've been thinking. Didn't they say before the release of Meet the Medic that they were planning on releasing 3 more Meet the Team videos? I've come to the conclusion that if this statement is still true, the final video will be Meet the Hat(s) and I'm being dead serious. For years, they've played around with the "America's #1 War-themed Hat Simulator" thing. There are like 300 of them in the game. People like to think that TF2 is mainly about hats and it's a fact that they're a big part of them. Wouldn't it be the logical conclusion to this joke (and the Meet the Team series) to release a video about them? I mean, they did one for the Sandvich and it's nowhere near as legendary as hats. [I]But[/I] if they did it, what would happen in it? Would they show how the hats are created? The opening of a crate? Some kind of a montage of hats? A fashion show? Meet the Pyro 2: The Hattening?