Sniper Update Next for TF2, 360 Update Proving Difficult
The class updates continue for Team Fortress 2 and it looks like the Sniper is next. It seems that the 360 update might be a while off though. From the TF2 Blog.
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It's been a couple of weeks since we posted, so we thought it'd be good to do some housekeeping. The next class pack will focus on the Sniper. It's actually shaping up to be the largest TF2 update yet, with multiple new maps and a bunch of gameplay tweaks. In addition, we've got another update in the works that should be done before the Sniper, and that one will include some new content for all classes.
The XBox 360 update is still being worked on. If you're wondering what's taking so long, since the content is "done" on the PC already, it's mostly been around fitting it all onto the XBox. The original version of TF2 in the Orange Box was very close to the XBox's memory limit, and all the additional TF2 content we've produced has pushed well beyond it. We've found a couple of nifty ways to get back a bunch of that memory, but it's turned out to be a lot of work, and that's what most of our time is being spent on. In the meantime, we're going to get a code update out to address the server cheating that's going on.
No PS3 love there. Valve's attitude towards the console and those who bought the game for it is pretty poor.
Sadly not surprising when Gabe Newell had this to say back in 2007
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"The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted," Newell told Game Informer magazine. "I’d say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a ‘do over’. Just say, ‘This was a horrible disaster and we’re sorry and we’re going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.’"
The port wasn't even done in-house, it was reportedly handed off to a second-rate team at EA. Valve should be downright ashamed of how they handled things, if they weren't going to support it properly they shouldn't even have bothered. Instead they went ahead and screwed a ton of people out of their money.
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"You shutup, and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you died or if your mother was eaten by a bear or something." - TheFlyingOrc
If they're having trouble getting it running on 360 what makes you think they're at all interestedin putting in the effort on the PS3? It would be a waste of time
The port wasn't even done in-house, it was reportedly handed off to a second-rate team at EA. Valve should be downright ashamed of how they handled things, if they weren't going to support it properly they shouldn't even have bothered. Instead they went ahead and screwed a ton of people out of their money.
Somehow I have a feeling Valve wasn't very interested in even releasing a PS3 version but that it was EA who pushed them into doing it. Well, that's just my theory..
The (relatively) new trend of PC gaming that is updating and adding content to your game even few years after it was released doesn't work that well with consoles. On the PS3 side the console itself is seemingly very terrible platform to code on and adding content that pretty much changes the whole game must be pretty tough and annoying. On the X360 side you have all the limitations MS has decided to implement not least of which is the 13GB hard drive space. And MS has done NOTHING to help gamers and developers get over that limit - you still can't use your own hard drives and the MS hard drives have so insane pricing it's ridiculous. Oh and they are still pushing to sell Arcade versions with no hard drive at all.
Well of course there's seemingly easy to implement DLC but as the current and future DLC releases have already shown us, most of the DLC is already in the game or ready before the game is even released so that certainly makes it easier to add DLC. Plus, MS gets money from DLC. MS gets nothing from TF2 updates. Money money.
Why would Valve port it internally when they don't have any PS3 programmers? That doesn't make the least bit of sense, and sounds like someone who has no idea how this works would suggest.
This isn't a matter of Valve developers shooting magic PS3 development lasers at the game to convert it. They need to have people experienced at porting and coding for the PS3. Which clearly Valve doesn't. Which is why they would send it to a team that has experience doing that.
Why would Valve port it internally when they don't have any PS3 programmers? That doesn't make the least bit of sense, and sounds like someone who has no idea how this works would suggest.
This isn't a matter of Valve developers shooting magic PS3 development lasers at the game to convert it. They need to have people experienced at porting and coding for the PS3. Which clearly Valve doesn't. Which is why they would send it to a team that has experience doing that.
Were they or their publishers intending to do so you would expect it to be mentioned.
I miss the days when you bought a video game, and it was complete. These free content updates are great, but as good as it is, it's a blatant marketing strategy designed to keep interest in a game. Rather than spend extra development time and release all updates at once, or even two at a time, they are intentionally dragging out how long it takes. That way, as the player numbers decrease, they just throw out a new content update. So really, I have a love hate relationship with this business model.
Also, fuck episodic content. HL2 came out in 2004. Its 2009. That's five years. Episode three still isn't out. They could have made HL3 in the mean time, but they'd rather spend five years making episodic content with game assets that are already made, add no guns, one new enemy every other game, a few new locales, and have them be three hours long. Outrageous. Valve needs to get their shit together. HL3 better be bundled with Episode Three, for free.
Zetsuei: Given that TF2 already took 7 years to be made, if they tried to apply all these content patches before the game shipped, it wouldn't have came out till 2015 or something.
I like the game constantly updating myself, it gives me a reason to go back and play it - I don't see how thats a bad thing.
I miss the days when you bought a video game, and it was complete. These free content updates are great, but as good as it is, it's a blatant marketing strategy designed to keep interest in a game. Rather than spend extra development time and release all updates at once, or even two at a time, they are intentionally dragging out how long it takes. That way, as the player numbers decrease, they just throw out a new content update. So really, I have a love hate relationship with this business model.
Also, fuck episodic content. HL2 came out in 2004. Its 2009. That's five years. Episode three still isn't out. They could have made HL3 in the mean time, but they'd rather spend five years making episodic content with game assets that are already made, add no guns, one new enemy every other game, a few new locales, and have them be three hours long. Outrageous. Valve needs to get their shit together. HL3 better be bundled with Episode Three, for free.
People who have no clue about the things involved with game development getting pissed and indignant has got to be the most hilarious thing ever.
As for the no-love PS3 thing, who cares if Valve handed it off? PS3 owners should be happy they even got the game. Even without the extra content, TF2 is still a great game.
This takes me back to the days just before the xbox release when people we so excited about consoles because they wouldn't crash, wouldn't need to be patched, etc.
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Are you still leaving nothing but bones in the way?
I choose quality over quantity any day of the week.
And lost seems to fail to understand the concept of caveat emptor.
Not to publicly prioritize customers? Yeah, far better to secretly do it and release garbage without reason. It's called transparency, something that Valve has done well from the beginning, unlike most of other major game producers.
This better be well implemented. An OPed sniper could be a nightmare - they're already bad enough whenin the hands of a skilled player.
Well, yeah. ANY class is a nightmare in the hands of a skilled player. Well, except maybe the Medic, I guess, but even after the update for the medic it's still clearly NOT the class you want use to do any damage with.
I'd like to see a deployable for the Sniper. Maybe some toe-poppers he can place to protect himself, or, maybe funnier, some string or something he run between two points where he thinks an enemy might come up from behind him somewhere, that when they cross over it rattles a bunch of pots and pans or something (but can still be defeated by someone with a keen enough eye to spot it and the presence of mind to jump over it).
I don't really play the sniper much, but when I do, I hate getting ganked from behind while I'm scoped in.
