Mann vs. Machine

This article is about the game mode. For other uses, see Mann vs. Machine (disambiguation).

The bomb hatch on the map Coal Town.

“

Gray Mann has built an unstoppable automaton army with a single purpose: to destroy all things Mann Co. Luckily for you, the majority of this robot legion is equipped with basic weaponry that could never level an entire building. Unluckily, they also have access to giant bombs, which they’d drag through hell if it meant dropping one in a Mann Co. bombhole. And it’s up to you to stop them. — Mann vs. Machine publicity blurb

”

Mann vs. Machine (commonly abbreviated as MvM) is a co-op game mode released in the Mann vs. Machine Update. In this game mode, a team of up to six players attempts to prevent a horde of AI-controlled robots from escorting a bomb to a drop-point located in a Mann Co. facility. During the game, players can purchase upgrades for their weapons and various abilities for themselves, such as various damage resistances, movement speed modifications, and improved health regeneration, using currency obtained by killing the robots, called credits. All purchased upgrades last for the duration of the game, or until the player resets their abilities at an Upgrade Station. If a player leaves the game for any reason, their upgrades are retained, providing they reconnect, as well as any credits the player has spent and/or has remaining.

Players have the option of playing Boot Camp or Mann Up. Although they do not differ in difficulty, Mann Up allows for players to receive rewards at the successful completion of a Mann Up mission and even greater rewards at the successful completion of a Tour of Duty, most notably Botkiller weapons, Australium weapons, and the exceedingly rare Golden Frying Pan. In order to play a Mann Up mission, the player must have a Tour of Duty Ticket in their backpack. Upon the completion of a Mann Up mission, the Tour of Duty Ticket used is consumed and no longer available in the player's inventory. Players can also increase the amount of item drops for their entire team in Mann Up with a Squad Surplus Voucher.

Mann vs. Machine mode currently has five separate difficulty levels: Normal, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Nightmare.

Videos

Trailer	Instructional Film
The Sound of Medicine

Mechanics

The bomb

AI-controlled robots attack the defending team in waves. The player's objective is to try to prevent the robots from successfully delivering a bomb to the player's base (somewhat similar to Payload, though the bomb itself is carried in a similar fashion to Intelligence). Most robots provide the players with credits when destroyed, in the form of dropped "cash" piles of various sizes. When a player collects one of these "cash" piles, the resulting credits are awarded to all players. At any time during the match, players may upgrade their weapons at an Upgrade Station, usually inside their base, using these credits. Players may also upgrade abilities for their current class. All upgrades for weapons and abilities are kept, even while switching to a different class (though classes can not be switched during a wave), but the purchased abilities and weapon upgrades are only available for the class that they were purchased for. Optionally, players may "refund" their credits between waves in order to change to different weapons, classes, or to optimize for a specific wave.

If the players lose against the robots, the game restarts from the beginning of the wave that the players lost, until the players complete the wave successfully. This can occur as many times as are necessary. Players may also vote to restart the map entirely.

Robots

Main article: Robots

Most of the robot horde is made up of plain robotic versions of the nine player classes, typically using basic or mediocre weaponry. However, there are also a number of special robots with unique abilities and/or weaponry.

While a robot carries a bomb, it loses half of its speed. However, the bomb-carrying robot gradually receives various buff effects, causing them to grow more dangerous and harder to kill. A HUD graphic displays the amount of time until the next buff. Buffs are activated by the bomb carrier via taunting, setting off an accompanying audio cue. These buffs are divided into three stages, which stack together:

Stages	Upgrades	Time Interval (Seconds)
First stage	Defense buff similar to the Battalion's Backup but without the Critical hit immunity, shared with all nearby robots	5
Second stage	45 health regenerated per second	15
Final stage	Unlimited Critical hits	15

Giant robots cannot receive these buffs, nor do they lose speed while carrying a bomb.

Abilities and Upgrades

Main article: Upgrade Station

See also: Credits

A sample weapon upgrade menu for the Grenade Launcher.

Players may use their accumulated credits at an Upgrade Station for the purchase of personal abilities for themselves, or for upgrades to their equipped weapons.

Players may also opt to fill their Power Up Canteen (if they have one equipped) with charges of a special buff effect — a five-second personal ÜberCharge, a five-second Critical hit boost, ammunition refills, or the ability to teleport back to the spawn point. Engineer players may purchase a Canteen effect charge which allows for an instant, simultaneous upgrade for all of their buildings.

Players may purchase up to three uses of these effects at a time. Note that effects cannot be mixed-and-matched; players may only purchase multiple charges of the same effect. Purchasing a separate effect charge switches the canteen over to that effect, discarding the existing effect in the process.

Scout	Upgraded Mad Milk slows affected enemies. Upgraded Sandman marks robots for death when hit by the baseball or the bat, dealing Mini-Crits to marked robots. Remember: The Scout can only mark one robot for death at a time. If the Scout marks another robot, the previously marked robot is no longer marked. All Scouts have the following innate skills: Extra-large cash collection radius. Health boosts from collected cash. Faster respawns.
Soldier	Upgraded Buff Banners, Battalion's Backups, and Concherors can empower the entire team for a longer time. Upgraded Rocket Launchers can have increased damage amounts, higher firing rates, quicker reload times, and a bigger clip size. "Rocket Specialist" upgrade increases projectile speed and explosive radius, stuns targets, and negates damage falloff on direct hits.
Pyro	Upgraded Flamethrowers deal higher damage. Upgraded airblast pushes targets further. Use airblasts to separate Medic robots from their targets and push bomb-carrying robots into environmental hazards. Upgraded Flare Gun becomes a lethal long-range weapon. Upgraded Gas Passer causes all coated enemies to explode upon being ignited, turning it into a deadly crowd control device. Upgraded Thermal Thruster can stun small robots or slow giant robots by landing on or near them.
Demoman	Upgraded Grenade Launcher and Stickybomb Launcher deals increased damage. Use a Critical hit Boost canteen to lay deadly sticky traps. Use damage-upgraded sticky bomb clusters to instantly destroy all but the strongest targets. Upgraded melee weapons deal increased damage, swing faster and gain Critical hits on kill.
Heavy	Upgraded rounds pass through multiple targets. Upgraded Minigun can shoot down enemy projectiles. Upgraded Heavy can generate "Rage", the effects of which cause Minigun rounds to push back enemies.
Engineer	Upgraded buildings have drastically increased health and Dispenser range. Upgraded Teleporters can teleport allies in both directions. Upgraded Engineer can build a second, disposable Mini-Sentry. Use a Critical hit Boost canteen to temporarily boost Sentry Gun to higher firing speeds. Use a Building Upgrade canteen to quickly set up defenses mid-fight. Remember: The Wrangler excels against long-range targets, having more accuracy and firing speed to take down giants quickly and safely.
Medic	Upgraded Syringes apply Mad Milk effect, healing allies 60% of damage dealt. Upgraded Medi Gun or Kritzkrieg boosts overheal amount and duration. Upgraded Medi Guns can deploy a Projectile Shield: Medi Guns build Energy by healing, reviving, and blocking damage with ÜberCharge. When active, blocks all projectiles/Hitscan attacks and damages enemies on contact. "Healing Mastery" upgrade increases heal rate, revive rate, and self-regen rate. "Overheal Expert" upgrade increases overheal limit and duration. "Canteen Specialist" upgrade can share canteen charges, as well as increase effect duration and lower purchase cost.
Sniper	Upgraded Sniper Rifle rounds can cause explosive headshots, dealing damage to surrounding enemies. Upgraded Jarate slows affected enemies. Upgraded Sniper Rifle rounds and Huntsman arrows pass through multiple targets. Combine Jarate and bleed effect on rounds and arrows to take down larger enemies. Instant collection of credits from robots killed by any Primary Weapon.
Spy	Upgraded Knife can penetrate Giants' armor, dealing extremely high damage against them. Upgraded Sapper can disable groups of regular robots and slow Giants. Spies' disguises fool all robot enemies; however robots may detect a nearby backstab, and will always detect a Spy who is on fire. Able to reveal nearby cloaked robot Spies.

Gameplay

For the sake of identification, all human players are placed on RED team (identified as team MANNCO), while all robots use BLU colors in their visual effects and in the kill feed. Games are played in waves, each containing a pre-set number of enemies. Various support classes can also spawn in periodically until the wave is over.

When at least three players enter a Mann vs. Machine server, the option to ready up is enabled. Once one player declares they are ready, a 150-second countdown clock begins. As more players ready up, the countdown clock reduces to a minimum of 60 seconds until all players are ready. When all players are ready, the countdown reduces to 10 seconds. When the countdown ends, the wave begins. Players joining the server during the countdown do not increase the time.

Waves are constructed of a pre-set number of enemies that must be destroyed to win. A majority of waves also have "support" enemies that perform a variety of support functions. The most common supports are Snipers and Spies that spawn at set intervals throughout certain waves and generally do not drop money or go after the bomb. Other supports usually spawn continuously throughout the wave or during the last section of a wave. They usually drop a limited amount of money (so that money cannot be farmed) and also attempt to carry the bomb. While Sentry Busters are never listed as support enemies, they may appear on any wave if the team has an Engineer that reaches certain kill or damage thresholds with their Sentry Gun. If all non-support enemies are destroyed, the wave ends and all support enemies immediately die. If the support robots still had money left to drop, it is automatically collected.

Before each wave begins, the defenders are shown relevant information in the top HUD, such as the enemies the next wave contains, the current wave, and the number of waves for that mission. Pre-set enemies have a number under each icon to indicate how many are present in the wave, while support classes are listed to the right-hand side. A flashing blue icon means that the enemy or enemies always fire Critical hits. Note that typing cl_mvm_wave_status_visible_during_wave 1 into the console makes some of this information visible at all times, which can be very useful for players trying to learn a new wave.

During pre-wave intervals, Engineers are able to instantly place level 3 buildings or upgrade existing buildings by 1 level per melee hit. Medics also have a notably faster ÜberCharge fill rate, however it is still slower than the normal pre-game fill rate in the other modes.

Once the wave begins, the top HUD changes to show a strength gauge depicting the quantity of pre-set enemies left. Robots begin spawning into the battlefield in groups. Until the robots are in areas that are accessible by players, attacking one does nothing but cause it to glow as if it was ÜberCharged. During the wave, information about certain enemies may appear in the top HUD, much of which is also announced by the Administrator. Note that Snipers are not announced by the Administrator, and are instead called out by the players via automatic voice responses. These responses may also announce the presence of Tanks, Giant Robots, and Sentry Busters on the field as well.

• Sentry Buster - Sentry Busters are large, bipedal pressure mines that run, stop, and self-destruct near Sentry Guns. If an Engineer is moving their Sentry Gun, the Sentry Buster chases them. These enemies only appear in response to effective Sentry Guns built by an Engineer on the defending team and spawn more often if there are multiple Sentry Guns. A common strategy is for the Engineer to pick up their Sentry and run away from other players on the map and touch the Sentry Buster. This causes the Sentry Buster to stop and then explode, before which the Engineer can escape with his Sentry Gun. Another common strategy is for the Engineer to sacrifice their Sentry Gun, by allowing the Sentry Buster to destroy it in a safe location. This stops the Sentry Busters targeted at that Engineer from spawning for a period of time.

• Tank - Heavily armored tanks enter the field from specific entry points. These do not attack players directly, but move implacably towards the bomb hatch until they are either destroyed, or reach their destination. Knockback, slowing effects, and debuffs such as Marked For Death do not affect them at all. Tanks also resist 75% of Minigun damage, severely reducing a Heavy's damage output against them. Unfortunate players can be crushed if they get caught between a Tank and a solid object. Tanks do not carry or retrieve the main bomb, as each one contains its own.

• Sniper - Sniper Robots spawn like regular robots, but mostly try to snipe players from a distance instead of running with the horde. All Sniper Robots are unable to headshot.

• Spy - Unlike other robots, Spy Robots have custom spawn points littered throughout the map and usually spawn at the closest one to a player as long as a player is not directly looking at it. They can disguise as friendly players, backstab players, and can sap Engineer buildings (they ignore Teleporters like all other robots). The Announcer calls out to indicate when Spy Robots appear and when they have been destroyed.

• Engineer - Engineer Robots can enter in two ways - one more common variation of the robot teleports into the map in preset locations near the bomb, while two rarer versions with a little over half of the other variation's health enter normally. Upon reaching a predetermined nest area, the Robot Engineer commences building a Teleporter, which acts as a forward spawn point for the robots (not including giant robots and robots carrying the bomb), and a Sentry Gun to defend it. The Announcer calls out when an Engineer Robot has teleported in or if one has appeared, and upon defeating an Engineer Robot the Announcer calls out that it has been destroyed, but if its teleporter is still open she says so as well.

After each successful wave, the defenders are evaluated based on how well credits were collected, with a credit rating ranging from F to A+. If all the credits are collected (the A+ grade), the defenders earn a $100 bonus. If 5% or less of the wave's total credits are missed, the defenders instead receive a $50 bonus. If over 5% of credits are not collected, the defenders receive no bonus at all.

Once a mission is completed, the defenders are given a final evaluation, and the server loads the next Mann vs. Machine map after an interval of 20 seconds. In Mann Up mode, defenders receive item drops and exit to the matchmaking lobby after an interval of 90 seconds, and this time decreases depending on how many defenders are still in the server or are finished viewing item drops.

Strategy

Main article: Community Mann vs. Machine strategy

Maps

Main article: List of maps

Mann vs. Machine maps carry the mvm_ prefix.

Name	Picture	File name
Bigrock		mvm_bigrock
Coal Town		mvm_coaltown
Decoy		mvm_decoy
Example		mvm_example
Ghost Town		mvm_ghost_town
Mannhattan		mvm_mannhattan
Mannworks		mvm_mannworks
Rottenburg		mvm_rottenburg

Related achievements

Main article: Mann vs. Machievements

Update history

August 15, 2012 Patch (Mann vs. Machine Update)

• Added Mann vs. Machine.
• Added maps: Coal Town, Decoy, and Mannworks.

August 17, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a client crash related to Mann vs. Machine stats.
• Fixed a crash related to server plug-ins spawning a Tank before the game is ready.
• Updated the dedicated server to exit when attempting to start a Mann vs. Machine map with less than 32 maxplayers.
• Fixed mp_timelimit causing Mann vs. Machine mode to not reset properly when the defenders lose.
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine wave loss/victory dialog buttons not being clickable sometimes.
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine victory dialog getting stuck on the screen.
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine wave summary dialog showing up at the beginning of the first wave.
• Fixed the disconnect reason not being localized properly for Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Fixed player glow colors not based on player health in some community mods outside of Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Removed console spew related to missing movement warnings.
• Updated the matchmaking ConVar tf_mm_strict.

August 21, 2012 Patch

• Fixed matchmaking sending players to out-of-date servers.
• Fixed the server browser showing an incorrect player count in MvM games.
• Fixed MvM intro video not playing on some Macs.
• Fixed the sound precache string table being nearly full in non-MvM games.
  • This was causing the "error writing string table baseline" and "failed reading message net_SetConVar" errors.

August 23, 2012 Patch

• Added a command "player_ready_toggle" for players to ready-up.
  • Can be bound to any key in the Keyboard tab of the Options dialog.
• Fixed a few MvM sounds not being precached properly.
• Added Taskbar Window Flash and Drum Roll sound on successful match making for Windows users.
  • Sound will play even if the game is minimized.
• Added difficulty text "Normal" and "Advanced" to the MvM scoreboard when playing official Valve missions.
• Fixed UI Bugs related to the MvM splash screens (Wave Loss and Victory).
• Server browser will now show MvM mission name in the "map" column. (E.g. "mvm_mannworks_advanced").
• Fixed a crash when spawning the tank in non-MvM games. Added SetHealth, SetMaxHealth, AddHealth, and RemoveHealth inputs to the tank entity

September 10, 2012 Patch

• Fixed an issue in the Server Browser where replay bots would add to the player count.
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the bomb to get positioned incorrectly when dropped.
• Added safeguards to prevent bots from getting stuck in certain cases.
• Fixed Steel Gauntlet robots failing to destroy mini-Sentry Guns on slopes.
• Fixed the party leader’s mission completions showing in the game lobby instead of your own.

September 21, 2012 Patch

• Matchmaking search criteria supports selecting multiple missions.
• Matchmaking will prevent late joining into the a server near the end of the last wave.
• Added the tour number to the information on the scoreboard.
• Fixed a false positive for the achievement "Clockwork Carnage".
• Added a new command "bot_hurt".
  • Parameters -name [bot name], -team [red/blue/all], -damage [amount].

September 27, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a bug where players could only buy 1 upgrade at a time from the Upgrade Station.
• Fixed a bug where the Victory dialog would sometimes show during incorrect times.

October 9, 2012 Patch

• Added two tours of duty, each with unique loot:
  • Operation Oil Spill, with 6 intermediate skill missions.
  • Operation Gear Grinder, with 3 expert skill missions.
• If a player connects to a MvM game through matchmaking and loses their connection, their spot will be held for a brief duration and they will be given a chance to reconnect.
• After victory on a Mann Up server, the players will be put into a lobby together.
• Improved matchmaking searching status screen.
• Balance changes:
  • Explosive Headshots
    • Damage is now 150 regardless of upgrade level.
    • Damage is done in one tick instead of the previous six.
    • Added a slowing effect based on upgrade level (50%-80% slow, 2-4 second duration).
    • Radius still scales with upgrade level (unchanged).
  • Marked For Death duration reduced to 7 seconds from 15 seconds when the target is a giant robot.
  • Reduced the "effect bar recharge rate increased" upgrade from 20% increments with an 80% cap to 15% increments with a 60% cap.

October 17, 2012 Patch

• Added a penalty system to deter players from repeatedly abandoning Mann Up games.
• Corrected the respawn time for the Mannslaughter mission.
• Updated MissionCycle behavior. Servers will always cycle to a mission listed in the MissionCycle file.

October 26, 2012 Patch (Spectral Halloween Special)

• Added map: Coaltown Event.

October 27, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a Linux dedicated server crash related to Mann vs. Machine mode.

November 16, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a dedicated server memory leak when running Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Fixed an Mann vs. Machine exploit that allowed permanent ubercharge/critboost effects on non-Mann-Up servers.

November 29, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Mann vs. Machine popfiles not properly resetting on changelevel.

December 20, 2012 Patch (Mecha Update)

• Added a tour of duty with unique loot:
  • Operation Mecha Engine, with 3 advanced skill missions.
  • Map mvm_bigrock.
  • Engineer Botkiller items.
• Added Engineer robot.

December 21, 2012 Patch

• Added "Benign infiltration" to the Mann Vs. Machine mission-cycle file for servers.
• Fixed a Dead Ringer Spy exploit in Mann Vs. Machine mode.
• Fixed a lighting issue in mvm_bigrock.

January 8, 2013 Patch

• Fixed clients being able to issue mp_tournament_restart, tournament_readystate, and tournament_teamname commands.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to stun a mini-boss.
• Updated mvm_bigrock with some new func_nobuild areas.

January 16, 2013 Patch

• Fixed spectator bots picking up the bomb in Mann Vs. Machine.

February 1, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a bug with item sets incorrectly applying their bonus when using Mann Vs. Machine upgrades of the same type.

February 22, 2013 Patch

• Fixed giant robots sometimes getting stuck in Mann Vs. Machine.

March 19, 2013 Patch

• Fixed the boss health bar sometimes disappearing.
• Fixed the uber Medics in Wave 4 of the Broken Parts mission charging at the incorrect rate.

March 27, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Engineer bots in Mann Vs. Machine building disposable Sentry Guns that upgrade into tiny, red, level 3 Sentry Guns.

April 3, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a bug in Mann Vs. Machine related to carrying buildings and using the "Upgrade Buildings" canteen.

May 13, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a bug that allowed level 3 mini-sentries in Mann Vs. Machine mode.

July 10, 2013 Patch (Summer Event 2013)

• In MvM, if all team members unready, the pre-round countdown will stop.
• In MvM, when robots are killed by sniper headshots or explosive headshot upgrade, they will drop 'red' money that will automatically be collected when it would otherwise dissolve.
• Renamed mvm_coaltown_event to mvm_ghost_town to fix a problem with voting for challenges in MvM when on Coal Town.
• mvm_bigrock:
  • Fixed players building on rock in cave section.

July 11, 2013 Patch

• Fixed incorrect projectile speed attributes being applied to giants in Mann vs. Machine.

July 15, 2013 Patch

• Fixed some missing Sapper particles in Mann vs. Machine mode.

October 29, 2013 Patch (Scream Fortress V)

• Enabled Mann vs. Machine event map Wave 666 in bootcamp.
• Fixed not being able to earn the Brotherhood of Steel achievement in MvM. (play with 5 friends)
• [Undocumented] Inspecting a player in Mann vs. Machine (default key: F) now shows the upgrades of the player who is currently being inspected.

November 21, 2013 Patch (Two Cities Update)

• Operation Two Cities
  • Two maps: mvm_mannhattan and mvm_rottenburg
  • Advanced tour (Operation Two Cities) featuring four missions (Empire Escalation, Metro Malice, Hamlet Hostility, and Bavarian Botbash. These missions are also playable from Boot Camp.)
  • Two extra Boot Camp-only missions (Big Apple Barricade and Village Vanguard)
  • Added 14 achievements.
• Players can earn a "Refund Upgrades" credit by collecting money during waves.
  • The amount required is listed in the scoreboard, and varies per-mission.
  • Any money collected – whether winning or losing – will count toward earning a credit.
  • To redeem, visit an Upgrades station and click the "Refund Upgrades" button.
  • Any money spent on buy-backs and Canteen charges will not be refunded.
• Detailed player performance stats added to the scoreboard.
  • Damage and Tank. Total damage done to Gray Mann's forces.
  • Healing. Direct healing done to other players.
  • Support. A composite value that reflects anything a player has done to help their team:
    • Examples: reset a bomb, stun or slow an enemy, provide increased damage, block damage with invulnerability or shield, and lots more.
  • Money. The amount each player has collected.
• Players can inspect upgrades on teammates via the "Inspect" key. (F) by default)
• Medic
  • Revive (no upgrade required)
    • Teammates leave behind a revive marker when they die.
    • Target the marker with your Medi Gun to revive them.
  • Projectile Shield Upgrade
    • Build Energy by healing teammates, reviving and preventing damage via Invuln ÜberCharge.
    • Press ATTACK3 to activate when Energy meter is full. (mouse3 by default)
    • While active:
      • Blocks all enemy projectiles.
      • Damages enemies on touch.
  • Mad Milk Syringes Upgrade
    • Syringe Gun needles apply Mad Milk (heal-on-hit for teammates) on contact.
  • Healing Mastery Upgrade (previously two separate upgrades)
    • +25% heal rate per point.
    • +25% revive rate per point.
    • +25% self-regen rate per point.
  • Overheal Expert Upgrade (previously two separate upgrades)
    • +25% more overheal per point.
    • +50% duration per point.
  • Canteen Specialist Upgrade
    • Shares canteen charge effects with heal target.
    • +1 second charge duration per point.
    • -10 canteen charge price per point.
• Soldier
  • Rocket Specialist Upgrade
    • +15% rocket speed per point.
    • On direct hits
      • Stuns target (duration increases per point).
      • +15% increased blast radius per point.
      • No range-based falloff damage.
• Heavy
  • Attack Projectiles Upgrade
    • Now has two levels.
      • Level one is less effective than before.
      • Level two is more effective than level one used to be.
    • Price reduced from 600 to 400 per point.
  • Rage Pushback upgrade activation moved to ATTACK3 (mouse3 by default)

November 22, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a server crash related to damaging the tank with the new Medic shield.
• Fixed bots trying to attack an old sentry location after the gun has been picked up by the Engineer.
• Fixed a bug that would cause robot "gate hat" items to be craftable. Gate hats that were crafted while the bug was active have self-destructed and become limited-quantity Glitched Circuit Boards as a commemorative token.
• Fixed the Health Regen MvM upgrade string mistakenly displaying %.

November 26, 2013 Patch

• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine return-to-lobby timer not updating properly after a mission has been completed.

November 27, 2013 Patch

• [Undocumented] Removed the Gatebot Light hats from the Mann Co. Catalog.

December 6, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a client crash related to the Mann vs. Machine mission victory panel.
• Fixed players who join in the middle of a mission not receiving the Upgrade Refund credit if it has been earned by the team.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed purchasing upgrades for weapons other than what they were intended for.
• Updated mvm_rottenburg
  • Fixed a bug where the bomb could get stuck out of reach in the corner near the cap.
  • Fixed a bug where bots could be instantly killed by being pushed into the tank tunnel once opened.
  • Fixed a bug where money could get stuck in the tank barricade when it was rebuilt, preventing collection.
• Updated mvm_mannhattan
  • Rebalanced Empire Escalation.
  • Fixed credits not always being collected when they fall into the grinder.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed the gates to be captured out of order.
  • Fixed a lighting bug related to lower graphics settings that cause the map to be too dark.
• [Undocumented] Giant Bonk Scout: Reduced bonk regen bonus from +65% to +45%.
• [Undocumented] Colonel Barrage: Removed -90% rage attribute.
• [Undocumented] Colonel Barrage (gatebot variant): Removed -90% rage attribute until after all gates are captured.
• [Undocumented] Major Crits (boss gatebot variant): Increased projectile speed penalty from -60% to -65%, and reduced rage penalty from -90% to -80% after all gates are captured.
• [Undocumented] Major Crits (non-boss gatebot variant): Decreased reload rate bonus from +78% to +60%, increased projectile speed penalty from -60% to -65%, and removed -90% rage attribute.
• [Undocumented] Giant Heal-On-Kill Heavy (boss gatebot variant): Increased rage giving penalty from -10% to -40%.

December 20, 2013 Patch

• Fixed being able to inspect Blue-team bots.
• Fixed the mission victory screen not always showing the correct information for each player.

January 9, 2014 Patch

• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine scoreboard not always displaying values correctly.
• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine related to purchasing upgrades.

January 23, 2014 Patch

• Fixed the bots not being able to equip multiple cosmetic items.
• Fixed Scout bots not playing the correct animation when stunned with the Sandman.
• Fixed not being able to reset the countdown timer if a player disconnects while Ready.
• Updated the countdown logic to un-Ready a team if someone quits during the final 10 seconds or disconnects while everyone else is Ready.
• Updated mvm_rottenburg
  • Improved collision near barricade to reduce players getting stuck.
  • Fixed credits not always being collected when they fall into the barricade.
• Updated mvm_mannhattan
  • Fixed being able to construct buildings inside the respawn room.
  • Fixed a material problem near the hatch.

February 7, 2014 Patch #1

• Fixed the MvM upgrade menu closing when a Strange item has its counter increment.

March 5, 2014 Patch

• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine mode related to purchasing upgrades for free.

December 22, 2014 Patch (Smissmas 2014)

• Added chance to find Australium Weapon rewards to all Advanced and Expert Mann vs. Machine tours. Previously only available on Two Cities tour
• Added Killstreak kits for Quickiebomb Launcher, Iron Bomber and Panic Attack in to Two Cities MannUp loot tables

January 7, 2015 Patch

• Fixed grenades not dealing consistent damage against buildings and Mann vs. Machine tanks.

January 9, 2015 Patch

• Fixed using the Holiday Punch to tickle Mann vs. Machine enemy bots.

February 11, 2015 Patch #1

• Fixed the Explosive Headshot upgrade in Mann vs. Machine not applying to the Classic.

July 2, 2015 Patch (Gun Mettle Update)

• Expert tours now require completion of at least one advanced tour
• Fixed not getting the bonus if any red cash from a Sniper headshot burns out before picking up all the green cash
• Fixed being able to change class while at an upgrade station
• Fixed an exploit related to vote restarting and canteen specialist
• Only allow skill respecs when between waves
• Skill respecs are now unlimited
  • Added tf_mvm_respec_enabled (default 1) that replaces tf_mvm_respec_limit for on/off state
  • Convar tf_mvm_respec_limit default changed to 0 (no limit)

July 3, 2015 Patch

• Players no longer drop their weapons in MvM.

August 18, 2015 Patch

• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine Medi Gun shield not being re-created after switching away from the Medi Gun and back while the charge is draining.
• Fixed some alignment issues in the HUD meters for the Mann vs. Machine rage knockback and Medi Gun shield.

October 1, 2015 Patch

• Fixed a server crash related to Mann vs. Machine mode.

November 13, 2015 Patch

• Fixed a bug where players would see cosmetic items following them around while playing Mann vs. Machine

November 25, 2015 Patch

• Fixed missing Crit rocket sound for giant Soldiers in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed control point HUD not being displayed for Mann vs. Machine maps with control points like Mannhattan

December 22, 2015 Patch

• Fixed not being able to sell playerclass upgrades in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed bots sometimes not spawning in Mann vs. Machine mode

February 29, 2016 Patch

• Fixed Mann vs. Machine Mann-Up victories sometimes failing to take player tickets and reward loot

March 10, 2016 Patch

• Fixed bots equipping the canteen in Mann vs. Machine mode.

May 11, 2016 Patch

• Fixed a regression with the explosive-headshot upgrade sound in Mann vs. Machine.

June 25, 2016 Patch

• Fixed erroneously being warned that leaving a bootcamp match will result in an abandon penalty.
• Fixed servers running tf_mm_strict 2 mis-handling bootcamp matches.
• Fixed servers failing to recover properly from crashing while running a bootcamp match.

July 7, 2016 Patch #1 (Meet Your Match Update)

• Fixed multiple Mann vs. Machine bugs caused by bot AI functions being executing after the bots have died.
• Fixed Medics sometimes instantly reviving players in Mann vs. Machine.
• Improved Flamethrower flame performance in Mann vs. Machine on clients and servers by up to +500%.

August 19, 2016 Patch

• Fixed a common server crash that occurred during Mann vs. Machine matches.

August 29, 2016 Patch

• Fixed Mann vs. Machine players receiving abandon penalties after playing at least one wave.
• Fixed Refill Ammo canteens not refilling the ammo for all weapons in Mann vs. Machine.
• Fixed mini-Sentry Guns not having full health when they are built quickly during the setup time on Mann vs. Machine maps.

September 14, 2016 Patch

• Fixed a regression in Mann vs. Machine where stunned bots could not pick-up the bomb.

October 12, 2016 Patch

• Fixed the Sentry Buster sound being orphaned if the Sentry Buster detonates while invulnerable.
• Fixed zombies not using the correct skin in Ghost Town.

October 21, 2016 Patch (Scream Fortress VIII)

• Fixed a bug with the vote-kick timer in Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Fixed Mann vs. Machine zombies not using the correct skin in Ghost Town outside of the Halloween event.

October 25, 2016 Patch

• Updated Mann vs. Machine to use the new ping information system already in use for Casual and Competitive matchmaking
  • In particular, parties with members from differing regions should now have a better queue experience.

November 10, 2016 Patch

• Fixed players not always returning to the matchmaking lobby screen at the end of a Mann vs. Machine match.
• Fixed Mann vs. Machine bots not playing the teleport sound effect and becoming invulnerable after teleporting.

December 21, 2016 Patch (Smissmas 2016)

• Fixed the ShouldPreserveSquad flag not being parsed correctly in Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Fixed a bug related to bot Engineers and Teleporters in Mann vs. Machine mode.

January 16, 2017 Patch

• Fixed a case where late-joining a Mann Up match during the final wave could result in erroneously receiving a ten minute cooldown.
• Fixed a bug causing Invader's buildings to blow up if another Invader building of the same type is destroyed after the Engineer has died.

June 2, 2017 Patch

• Players who leave an MvM match for any reason cannot be re-matched into the match in question for a few minutes.
• Players who are vote-kicked from an MvM match cannot be re-matched into the match in question for several hours.
• Fixed Rescue Ranger bolts healing disposable sentries in MvM.

October 20, 2017 Patch #1 (Jungle Inferno Update)

• Fixed the announcer sometimes saying "The tank is halfway through!" when a tank first spawns in Mann vs. Machine mode.
• Applied the match rejoin limitations in Casual to Mann vs. Machine as well.
  • Players who leave a Mann vs. Machine match cannot matchmake back into that same game for several minutes.
  • Players who are vote-kicked from a Mann vs. Machine match cannot matchmake back into that same game for several hours.

October 26, 2017 Patch (Scream Fortress IX)

• The Thermal Thruster no longer fully stuns mini-bosses in Mann vs. Machine mode.

October 27, 2017 Patch

• Removed the "Faster recharge rate" upgrades from The Dragon's Fury.
• Fixed the missing "Increased Airblast Push Force" upgrade on The Dragon's Fury.
• [Undocumented] Fixed the new airblast not honoring airblast vulnerability modifiers on Mann vs. Machine bots.
• [Undocumented] Fixed the new airblast not benefiting from the airblast force upgrade in Mann vs. Machine.

October 30, 2017 Patch

• Fixed being able to buy airblast upgrades for the Phlogistinator in Mann vs. Machine mode.

November 1, 2017 Patch

• Fixed a bug related to the Medi Gun overheal upgrade in Mann vs. Machine.

March 28, 2018 Patch #1

• Fixed Squad Surplus Vouchers only being usable by the party leader in Mann vs. Machine.
• Fixed Mann vs. Machine robots sometimes using human voices instead of their robot voices.

March 30, 2018 Patch

• Fixed Mann vs. Machine matches with open slots not receiving late-joiners.

April 12, 2018 Patch

• Fixed Mann vs. Machine late-join failing for parties of two or more.

June 7, 2018 Patch

• Fixed client crash when playing Mann vs. Machine.

December 19, 2018 Patch (Smissmas 2018)

• Fixed a Mann vs. Machine bug with giant robots reported by Justin G. (sigsegv).

July 25, 2019 Patch (Summer 2019 Pack)

• Fixed Medi-gun^(sic)/Wrench items not dropping for the Mann vs. Machine rewards.

August 21, 2020 Patch (Summer 2020 Pack)

• Fixed Australium Medigun^(sic)/Wrench items not dropping for the Mann vs. Machine rewards.

December 3, 2020 Patch (Smissmas 2020)

• Fixed exploit where players could use "retry" in the console to reset the MvM timer and prevent the wave from starting.

June 22, 2021 Patch

• Updated the Mann vs. Machine "inspect" command to only work for players in your party or in your Friends list.

October 22, 2021 Patch

• Added checks to prevent loading an invalid .pop file
• Fixed several .pop file references from "Witch Hat" to "Point and Shoot"

November 15, 2021 Patch

• Fixed an infinite health exploit for Snipers using The Razorback.
• Fixed the incorrect .pop file being loaded during map change when using tf_mvm_missioncyclefile.

July 7, 2022 Patch

• Fixed not being able to kick Spectators.
• Fixed bots not displaying the correct names.
• Fixed the loading screen backgrounds on Valve servers.
• Fixed Übercharge charge rate and duration upgrade not working for the Vaccinator.

September 26, 2022 Patch

• Fixed clipped text in the Mann vs. Machine loot list screen.

January 5, 2023 Patch

• Fixed entities being considered static props after long server times
  • Fixed Mann vs. Machine bots failing to spawn

March 1, 2023 Patch

• Fixed exploit related to using the td_buyback command during matches

March 20, 2023 Patch

• Added a check to prevent td_buyback audio spam after the round has started

July 25, 2023 Patch

• Added check to make Mann vs. Machine invaders immune to pushback while leaving their spawn

July 27, 2023 Patch

• Add ConVars to control Mann vs. Machine team limits on community servers
  • tf_mvm_defenders_team_size
  • tf_mvm_max_connected_players

Unused content

• RED versions of all of the robots (besides the Tank and Sentry Buster) can be found in the game files.
• Tan/skin colors were originally going to be used for the robots (Sniper Robot's tan head textures can be found in game files).
• The robot mothership originally made a humming sound the first two days MvM was released, but was removed later.
• Expired cash would have originally made a sound, but was ultimately scrapped.
• All giants originally had their own unique footstep sounds.
• There's an unused siren sound which is similar to an air raid siren.
• There is an "endless" mode left over in the game that has the players fight randomly generated waves of Robots.
  • This mode can be enabled through the developer console with the command script Convars.SetValue("tf_mvm_endless_force_on", 1), through VScript, or with SourceMod plugins by setting the tf_mvm_endless_force_on server variable to 1.
  • The Robots are be able to "buy" upgrades, being allotted a certain amount of credits based on the current wave, and are limited to pre-defined sets of upgrades.
  • Losing a wave resets the players to wave 1, regardless of how far they got.
  • There is very little setup time between waves, with waves going almost directly into each other.

Bugs

• Sometimes a menu such as team, class, or upgrade choice freezes on screen, forcing the player to refresh the HUD (this can be accomplished by typing hud_reloadscheme in the console or pressing Tab ⇆).
• When killed by a dead robot, such as by afterburn, or when removing a destroyed Spy Bot's Sapper, the kill feed may show that the robot has moved to spectator mode. This is due to an internal routine that reassigns robot players for the next attack.
• If the TotalCount in a WaveSpawn cannot be evenly divided by the amount of robots in the WaveSpawn's Squad, the game spawns a full Squad that exceeds the TotalCount. This causes some Wave Summaries to display an incorrect amount of robots, such as wave 4 of Mannslaughter which displays 13 Medics, however the wave actually spawns 15.
• Sometimes, after a wave is complete, the Administrator continues to issue warnings about the bomb's progress. This does not affect gameplay in any way.
• Robots that are destroyed while speaking and players who are killed while using Mann vs. Machine-related responses continue speaking after their destruction/death. Tank Robots that are destroyed as they stop to deploy the bomb continue to play the "buzz and ding" sound sequence.
• It is possible for the Administrator to announce that a mission has failed when it has not. This can happen when destroying the bomb carrier as it is about to drop into the bomb hole. The bomb hatch is destroyed, but the game considers the bomb undeployed. In this case, the following bomb carriers never make it to the hatch as it continues to kill anything that steps on it.
• Sometimes, when a Mann Up mission is finished, the loot screen shows up empty. This can be fixed by entering hud_reloadscheme in the console.
  • If this occurs during server maintenance, the reloadscheme command does not work because the server was unable to return the loot. If pressing Tab ⇆ still shows tour numbers, players likely receive their loot later; however, if the tour numbers are all gone, players most likely do not receive any loot, but also do not lose their tickets.
• There are a small number of Sentry Gun placements that are immune to Sentry Busters. If the target Sentry is in one of these areas, the Sentry Buster spawns and, without jumping down or exiting spawn, they detonate.
• Certain sounds become stuck in a loop if a wave is failed while they are playing. A notable example of this is the Sentry Buster ticking sound. This can be fixed by typing snd_restart into the console.
• Rarely, before the round, the bomb appears in the spawn points for the robots for all maps with no robot carrying it. An extremely rare case of this is the bomb being teleported to the hatch at the start of the round.
• Rarely, most of the robots' voice lines may not be robotized at all. For example, the death cry of an Engineer Bot or the laugh of a Sentry Buster.
  • This can also happen if a robot speaks while far away from the player, most commonly occuring with Spy bots (with the exception of the map-wide laughter).
• Sometimes the Robot Spy's map-wide laugh voice line is cut short (this is because the robot Spy's voice files have a second delay on them).
• Sometimes, on Mann Up servers, a glitch occurs in which players are unable to join the server. The only way to fix this is for every player to leave the server.
• Rarely, if an Engineer Bot's Teleporter is not destroyed by the time the wave ends, the Teleporter does not self-destruct and continue spawning robots when the next wave begins.
• Occasionally, if a Giant Robot is destroyed with the Medic's Projectile Shield, it dies as a ragdoll rather than exploding.
  • This can also happen with any weapons that would cause ragdolls to normally be vaporized, such as the Cow Mangler 5000.
• If a player is inspected during setup or mid-game, upgrades may be lost. If occurring during setup, money spent on the lost upgrades is refunded. If occurring mid-game, however, there is no refund on lost upgrades.
  • This happens most often with building upgrade canteens.
• Rarely, robots may stop spawning, causing the wave to be unbeatable. This can only be fixed by restarting the map.
  • Before restarting, check around the map for a lone bot that may have wandered to the hatch. Sometimes bots head to the hatch without the bomb and delay the next sub-wave from spawning as all the other bots need to die before it can continue.
• Sometimes, when playing two Mann Up missions in one play session, the second mission completion loot screen may show the loot screen from the previous mission and the notification for "Found Items" does not show up. Items are still obtained after updating the backpack.
  • Other times, it fixes itself after a few seconds.
• Rarely, a human ragdoll appears rather than a robotic one.
  • This usually happens when Spy bots are killed far away from the player - for example, a Spy dying right before the player takes a teleporter from spawn would appear to have left a blue human ragdoll.
• Very rarely, a RED Demoman's projectiles may appear to be blue instead of red when fired. Damage to enemy robots is unaffected.
• Entering a wave that is in progress during the setup phase causes the Announcer to not say anything and no music to play. The rest of the waves play normally, however.
• There is a random chance for an Ullapool Caber to spawn in mid-air when a Sentry Buster spawns.
  • The Caber spawns in random places around the map, and cannot be interacted with.
• Rarely, when connecting to a server, the player is connected to a different match while still on the load screen.
  • This sometimes results in the game placing the player in an empty server with no robot waves.
• Sometimes, the model for the Demoman robots appear as Sentry Busters. They do not possess the ability to explode, as this bug only affects the model and not its mechanics.
• When a player readies up, their confirmation voice clip is played by every player's class, causing them to animate their faces as if they were saying the line as well.
• Robot Spy disguises sometimes appear to have the wrong team colors on certain cosmetics.
• Sometimes, the HUD at the top of the screen does not count the death of a Robot. The icon stays at the top, but once the last Robot is killed the wave ends.

Notes

• Mann vs. Machine uses a separate set of "Best Moments" and thus keeps track of a separate performance report. These appear after the usual set of "Best Moments" as a client connects to a server.
• Normal achievements cannot be obtained while playing this game mode. The only achievements obtainable in Mann vs. Machine are the Mann vs. Machievements.
• Optionally, players can utilize .pop files to create custom waves of robots, either for practice or to create entire new missions.
• Between waves, if a Demoman shoots stickies Crit boosted by the Kritzkrieg and the Medic switches classes, the stickies will break without exploding.
  • This does not occur if the Medic shares a Become Crit-Boosted canteen when upgraded with Canteen Specialist.

Trivia

• Unused code suggests that players would've originally lost credits for dying during a wave.

Gallery

• 

  The HUD on Mann Vs. Machine.

• 

  The main menu illustration used for Mann vs. Machine prior to the Meet Your Match Update.

External links

• Mann vs. Machine website
• Mann vs. Machine speedruns