Different but balanced character classes, all with a unique role within their team, were always the hallmark of the original TeamFortress. No surprise that a class-based system returns in TF II. Medics will run around and dress wounds while snipers will try to pick off the enemy from a distance. Robin opened up a menu and we took a quick tour of the different classes and their abilities.
Robin: We have 8 classes. They've changed a fair bit [from TeamFortress I]. Only one class, the pyro, was actually removed. The rest of them are still there in one form or another. It's not so much a case of "this class is now that class," it's more like, "This class has some of that class's old abilities now..." It's just a redesign. With TF I we had originally five classes, and the others were added later. With TF II we sat down and designed it all from the ground up.
TeamFortress II will include:
- Light Infantry
- Medium Infantry/Field Medic
- Heavy Infantry
- Rocket Infantry
- Sniper
- Commando
- Spy
- Engineer
Robin: Light, medium, and heavy are basically the standard infantry. They're the center of your combat action. Light is a small, skirmish class. Their weaponry is usable while on the run. They have the most accurate non-pistol weapon. They can do hit-location damage. All pistols do hit-location damage, but only light infantry carry a non-pistol that does hit-location damage. [In other words, a shot to the head will be more devastating than a shot to the leg.] It has a very short range, though, I think 100 game meters. Of course light infantry is very lightly armored. Medium infantry is slightly slower, but with a good mix of weapons ... they carry an M16-A2, it's a nice long-range weapon. It's got semi-automatic and fully automatic weapon modes. Medium infantry have also been combined with the old medic class.
Heavy infantry uses an M240G: belt-fed, 100-shot clips... you've got to crouch when you're firing in order to get any kind of accuracy with it. It's a full-fire weapon. Good for long ranges, if you can see it you can normally hit it. It's not very accurate but throws out a lot of bullets really fast. Right now you can get 100 decals [marks on the wall] in five seconds. That's one of the great things about the Half-life engine -- you will see where it's been fired! [laughs]
Rocket Infantry is another support-fire class. They carry a large RPG weapon. When they fire it, it fires a ten meter backwash out the back, and throws the rocket out the front...
Contaminated: So your teammates have to avoid standing behind you when you fire that thing?
Robin: Exactly! It's not a Quake I rocket launcher. You don't get into fights with this. You get up into a high area with it. Blast radiuses are big, now. Grenades are really dangerous. We have various grenades now, as well.
The sniper ... [Pause] How could we change the sniper? [Laughs] It's a pretty strong class, we're not changing much.
The commando is similar to the original demoman. He uses a lot of explosives, and he has something equivalent to pipe-bombs. He's got C4 that he can attach to floors and walls, and he can remotely detonate them.
The spy, he's very much like the original spy, although he's now more "James Bond infiltration" oriented than before. Picking off enemies is fairly easy for him now. He doesn't lose his disguise instantly when he shoots things anymore. If he can kill all visible enemies within a certain short period of time, and they don't get on the radio for assistance, he can keep his disguise. We really wanted the spy to be able to find an enemy separated from their main squad, and take them out pretty easily.
The engineer? He's still there in all his glory! He's got a few more things to build. The building is a little less complex now: he doesn't use metal, he uses energy. And there's no arbitrary limit to how many things he can build anymore. You can build as many sentries as you like, but they all consume energy as they shoot. So while there's no arbitrary limit, there's a theoretical limit. If you've got two sentries in low traffic areas, they'll be fine, but if you put a couple in a high-traffic area and they're constantly firing, you'll run out of energy fast. You can also build buildings to increase your energy ... rechargers and such ...
Contaminated: And the enemy can start destroying your resources and cutting off your energy?
Robin: Yeah, exactly. So if you've got a lot of batteries keeping a lot of sentries going, and they come in and destroy your batteries, your sentries will cut out on you.
Contaminated: Let's talk about building things for a second ... it looks like it works differently here. How does the engineer work?
Robin: Our building system is fairly revamped now. [Robin started using an Engineer character.] The Engineer uses energy here... [He pointed to a display on one of the menus.] Placement is done using a hologram, so you can see where you're putting it. [A translucent image of a gun on a tripod appeared on the screen. Robin moved it around, demonstrating how it would disappear if placed too close to a wall.] And it won't let you put it in an illegal position. Once you've got your building position selected, you'll start to build it... [He clicked a button and the gun began to fade into existence amidst sparks and various machine tool sounds.]
Contaminated: And that's a sentry gun right there?
Robin: It's a placeholder sentry gun model at the moment. The final one will be bigger. And it won't look like it'll fall over when it shoots. [laughs]
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