Engineer Update! Day 4 (Release Day)
by Hey You on 08/07/10 at 7:15 pm
We can all finally breath now, update day is here and the Engineer Update has dropped. So many goodies can to Team Fortress 2 players across the planet on Day 4 of the update.
First off, many did not expect a third Valve map to come along with this update. pl_thunder_mountain, not to be confused with Disney’s Great Thunder Mountain, was the third map announced for the update. Alpine Themed Thunder Mountain included three separate stages and incorporated rollback zones, lifting bridges, and long lapping vertical climbs in dark stormy skies. There is quite a few treasures that came along with this map like talking characters through windows and the sniper camping off in the distance. One change that seemed apparent when compared to older Valve maps was the apparent open space. It feels as though Valve has readjusted their map making rules. This might be to compensate for the new Engineer toys. Overall Thunder Mountain was a great addition to the TF2 Valve map base.
Secondly, after hinting at a robot, no one expected for the robot to be apart of the Engineer. The Gunslinger, which replaces the wrench, is a robotic arm for the Engineer that allows him to place Mini-Sentry’s, gives it’s wearer 25 more health, and crits on the third “combo attack”. Min-Sentry’s only cost 100 metal to place, they built 4x faster than a normal sentry and deploy with full health, however, they cannot be repaired or upgraded and they only deal half the damage a normal level one sentry would do. The Gunslinger has turned out great for offensive Engineers that want to drop a quick sentry to keep the front lines pushed up.
Thirdly, the Engineer can now move sentries, dispensers, and teleporters. This is done by left clicking on the equipment you desire to move with either the wrench or the gunslinger. Once you have picked up the device your character will move slower until it is redeployed.
Last of all came a list of small changes and a new Community Map. The new community map was Coldfront by Icarus.
Here is the short list of other additions:
- The Sandvich now uses a cooldown timer, instead of the health pack recharge mechanic.
- The Gunboats now reduce self-damage by 60% (was 75%)
- The Tribalman’s Shiv bleed duration reduced to 6 second (was 8), and its damage penalty increased to 50% (was 35%).
- Added better feedback sound for Pyros on when their flamethrower is doing damage.
- Fixed blood effect on bleeding player.
- Added a glow effect to Payload carts.
- Added Engineer main menu music.
- Added Romanian language support.
Overall this Engineer update has changed the face of Team Fortress 2. Old maps have been changed with new Engineering possibilities and weapons.
