Overtime

“

Overtime! Click to listen — The Administrator

”

Overtime occurs when the timer runs out on a map while an objective is currently being contested, giving the attacking team a brief window to win or extend the game with a last-second push.

The RED team's HUD timer showing that the round is in Overtime.

On Control Point and Territorial Control maps, Overtime occurs when the timer runs out and a point has been partially captured. It ends either when the capture has been completely reverted (in which case the game will end) or the capture is completed (in which case more time is added to the timer and the game continues unless it is the last point). The reversion speed of incomplete captures is accelerated by a factor of six during Overtime.

On Payload maps, Overtime will occur when the map clock runs out if the cart is not moving backwards. The cart timer automatically changes to 5 seconds (if Overtime starts with the timer already less than that, it will keep counting from its current time). Overtime ends when the timer runs out and none of the BLU players have managed to secure it in time (ending the game) or when the cart moves to a checkpoint (adding more time). Payload Race maps do not have Overtime with the exception of the first two stages of Nightfall; if neither cart has reached the end of the track when the timer expires, both will begin rolling forwards on their own, meaning the losing team must push their cart faster in order to catch up before the winning team's cart finishes.

On some Capture the Flag servers, Overtime is awarded if either team's Intelligence is anywhere outside of its spawn area, whether it is being carried by an enemy or dropped onto the ground. The game will end once both team's Intelligence has returned to their base, either by being captured and returned or defended until it has returned on its own. Given that an Intelligence can still be taken out of its base during Overtime before the other Intelligence is returned or captured, Overtime in Capture the Flag can continue for an extended period (for as long as at least one Intelligence is in play) and may only end when a team reaches its capture limit.

During King of the Hill games, Overtime occurs when one team's timer has reached zero but the other team has partially captured the point. Overtime in King of the Hill is on a per-team basis and will continue as long as the point is not wholly in that team's control; gaining control wins the game. It is possible for Overtime to occur on both teams if the second team reaches its time limit while the first team is trying to recapture the point. At this point, the first team to gain complete control of the point will end their respective Overtime and win the game.

The special case of DeGroot Keep (and its Halloween variant, Sandcastle) is a unique mix of these previous Overtimes. Much like Control Point maps, as long as the control points are being captured or reverted, the round will not end. If both points are captured, the gate will still open and the timer for the gate to close is the BLU team's window to access the final point. If the BLU team captures the point, they win; if they don't, most of them will be stuck in the RED team's base.

Overtime generally is fast and hectic. Oftentimes the entire offensive team rushes the objective in a desperate attempt to salvage their game and the entire defensive team crowds around the contested objective. Scout rushes are a common Overtime tactic on Control Point and Payload maps so as to keep contested Control Points from reversing or the Payload Cart timer running out, and Spies are often sent on suicide runs to keep the Intelligence alive until a full team can coordinate an attack to fully capture it. King of the Hill games with both teams in Overtime present a concentrated zone of chaos as each team desperately tries to push the other off the Control Point so as to complete or reverse the capture to win the game.

Update history

August 14, 2009 Patch

• Fixed Announcer Overtime bug on KOTH servers using mp_timelimit (this bug involves "Overtime" being announced constantly during Overtime instead of once when it begins).
  • Due to many requests, added server ConVar tf_overtime_nag. When set to 1, it keeps the broken announcer behavior.

Bugs

• If a Soldier is reloading any of his Rocket Launchers as a game goes into Overtime, when the Overtime starts, he will continue performing the reload action infinitely until he shoots it or is killed.