Finally, there are some long-awaited news for die-hard TF2 fans. There have been many rumors about about new Medic achievements and weapons in the past but now there is information from a reliable source on these topics.



Robin Walker was available for a Q&A and was happy to provide IGN with some interesting facts about forthcoming additions to TF2.

With regard to Medic achievements there was nothing surprisingly new. As previously communicated, there will be a total of 36 achievements and the Medic will be the first class to receive such an update. Others will follow.

[quote]
IGN: How do you actually unlock the items?

Robin Walker: They're tied to achievement progress. So you unlock the first Medic unlockable when you complete 12 of the 36 Medic achievements, the second at 24, and the third at 36. We're also looking at other ways to unlock weapons too, so that everyone gets to be involved in the weapon selection process.
[/quote]

However, concerning the the new weapons there are considerably more news. Each of the three Medic weapons will contain an unlockable type. These new types are accessible as soon as 12 achievements are completed. So, after the first twelve achievements Medics get their first extra weapon, and another twelve are needed for the next and once all 36 achiemenents are unlocked the whole set of variants is made available. Valve says that the new weapons will empower the Medic with advantages, but they have also their specific disadvantages. According to Robin Walker this will allow players to better adapt their equipment to their specific style of play. For example the new medigun, which is currently tested, provides the player with 10 seconds of critical hits instead of 10 seconds of invulnerability.

[quote]
IGN: What types of items can players expect to unlock with the Medic and other classes? Can you give a few specific examples?

Robin Walker: We'll be shipping an unlockable version of each Medic weapon. Our focus has been to produce weapons which have both pros and cons, so they're not a straight win when equipped. Much like the TF classes are aimed at different players, where the "best" class varies depending on the player's skill, we want the "best" weapon to vary based on the player's playing style. So we want players thinking about what kind of player they are, and what strategies they like to use, and trying out different weapon loadouts to see what works best. As an example of these tradeoffs, the unlockable medigun we're play testing right now switches out the 10 second invulnerability effect for 10 seconds of 100% chance of critical hits. It's the source of much debate internally as to whether it's better or worse than invulnerability, and under what circumstances it's better or worse. This is the kind of weapon we're aiming for, where you can think of many cases where it's better, and many cases where it's worse. It also affects the play of the Medic and his partner a lot, which is another goal for us. If the unlockable weapons don't significantly impact player's play style, they're not worth doing.
[/quote]

There are also some news about the highly anticipated new map Goldrush. Goldrush will be the first map in which Valve will use the Cinematic Physics Technology from Half-Life 2: Episode 2. According to Robin Walker the development team is very happy with the results. Valve named the new game type which will be introduced with Goldrush "Payload".

The release date for Goldrush is still unclear, but there are Internet rumors about mid April as being the time of launch. The Medic update is supposedly scheduled for the same time frame.

There is still no definitive information about which of the PC updates will be made available to console players and when the updates will be released, so stay patient and cross your fingers!

The entire TFP staff is keen on getting more news about the upcoming PC additions and we will let you know as soon as new information is made available.

What do you think about the Medic update and the new game type? Share your views by posting in the forum or by adding a comment below.

More news on this topic

• 05.02.2010: Yet Another TF2 Update
• 04.02.2010: TF2 Update
• 03.02.2010: TF2 Propaganda Contest
• 30.01.2010: TF2 Blog News - The Administrator is not amused
• 29.01.2010: TF2 Mini Update

[ Write a comment ]

You only can write comment as a registered member