Teleporters
| “ | Thanks for ride!
Click to listen
— The Heavy
|
” |
Teleporters, also known as Telemax Teleporters, are a type of building produced by the Telemax Corporation that can be constructed by an Engineer using the Build Tool. Two components make up a complete and functional teleporter set: The Teleporter Entrance and the Teleporter Exit. Both ends appear as team-colour-painted devices that rotate quickly to form glowing, circular pads.
Players who stand on a fully charged Teleporter Entrance are instantly transported to the Teleporter Exit in a flash of light and particles. After a brief period of recharging, another teammate can pass through. With the ability to transport teammates quickly over any distance, Teleporters are an essential component to any team not defending their front porch: when fully upgraded, respawned teammates can be back on the front lines many times faster than walking or even most special jumps. A team can easily have their offensive push or defensive setup crumble if they lack prompt reinforcements, while one with a judiciously-placed exit can apply constant pressure and even sneak into an unaware enemy's territory.
Contents
Functionality
Teleporters cost 125 metal each to place, 200 metal to upgrade to Level 2, and an additional 200 to upgrade to Level 3. Upgrading a Teleporter will decrease the entrance's recharge time. Upgrading the Teleporter on one end will automatically upgrade it on the other. However, if one end is destroyed, the remaining end reverts to Level 1. Although the model itself does not change when upgraded, the particles surrounding the teleporter become faster and more intense. The sounds the Teleporter makes also change subtly.
If a Spy places an Sapper on one end, another Sapper is automatically placed on the other end, if it exists. In turn, an Engineer can remove both Sappers by destroying one on either teleporter. The Engineer may then proceed to repair both ends of the teleporter system by using his Wrench on either end. However, since the Spy can place an infinite amount of Sappers on either the entrance or the exit of the teleporter, the Engineer may not be able to fully repair the teleporter system before another is placed upon it. This will result in the entire system being destroyed unless the Spy is killed or scared off.
Both Teleporters' health increases as they are being constructed until they reach a maximum of 150 health upon completion. When completed, a Teleporter Entrance will be instantly charged if there is an exit available, but subsequent charges will take ten seconds each unless the Teleporter is upgraded. Destroyed Teleporters leave 60 metal worth of pieces each.
Players who have recently teleported are surrounded by a distinctive, glowing particle effect for eighteen seconds after teleporting. The effect is visible if the player looks at their feet after Teleporter use. Spies who are disguised or Cloaked are not affected by this. Players cannot normally use the enemy team's Teleporters. However, Spies can use enemy Teleporters, even while Cloaked or undisguised. Standing on a Teleporter Exit when it is used by an enemy (whether it is an enemy exit or a friendly exit used by an enemy Spy) results in a fatal telefrag.
By default, players appear facing the direction the Engineer was facing when he placed the Teleporter Exit. The Teleporter Exit can be rotated by clicking the player's alternative attack button before placing the building and an arrow on the blueprint indicates the direction a teammate will be facing upon use. The Teleporter Entrance can be rotated too, though this has no gameplay effect. The entrance has an arrow that automatically points towards the exit (if it exists), which is unaffected by the rotation of the Teleporter Entrance. This arrow shows the player the general direction in which they will travel. The builder earns half of a point each time a team member uses his Teleporter. Engineers don't earn points for using their own Teleporters.
While the Teleporter's blueprints are out, the Teleporter Entrance shows an arrow pointing to the ground while the Teleporter Exit shows an arrow pointing away from the ground. This is to distinguish the entrance and the exit while building.
Players who are carrying the Intelligence cannot use a Teleporter.
In Mann vs. Machine mode, Teleporters can be upgraded at Upgrade Stations to increase their health and activate the ability to teleport in both directions, allowing one to stand on the Exit and teleport to the Entrance. Using an Upgrade Buildings Canteen will also instantly upgrade Teleporters to level 3.
Demonstration
Teleporter Levels
| Level | Health | Cost | Recharge time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 150 | 125 Metal | 10 seconds |
| Level 2 | 180 | 325 Metal | 5 seconds |
| Level 3 | 216 | 525 Metal | 3 seconds |
Related achievements
General
|
Foundry
 |
Claim Jumper Capture a control point within 12 seconds after exiting a teleporter. |
Scout
|
Pyro
|
Demoman
|
Heavy
|
Engineer
|
Update history
- Fixed bug with placement of Teleporters that could result in players being unable to move.
- Demomen grenades now collide with players and Engineer buildings after the first bounce, but still won't explode on contact
- Engineer buildings now explode when the Engineer dies during sudden death.
- Fixed scoring problem where destroying a buildable added a phantom point, not attributed to any scoring bucket but still included in total score
- Fixed some edge cases where grenades could go through player or buildings
- The Engineer's "build X" commands will now behave properly when bound directly to keys
- Engineers no longer earn points for using their own Teleporters.
- Fixed a bug in scoring Engineer building destruction.
- Fixed exploit that allowed players to teleport with the intelligence
- Fixed building bone merge cache from dormant entities. Fixes weapons in SourceTV attached to wrong bones
- Fixed the teleporter's player shaped particles not drawing.
- Sapped buildings now take slightly less damage from the Spy who sapped them.
- Added server log entry for buildings destroyed by their owner
- Changed Engineer buildings to detonate when a player disconnects instead of blinking out.
- Fixed Engineer being able to detonate buildings that are being sapped.
April 29, 2008 Patch (Gold Rush Update)
- Teleporter effect no longer shows up on invisible or disguised Spies.
- Fixed "times used" entry in Teleporters maxing out at 32.
- Mapmakers can now place Engineer buildings directly into a map, with an option for them to be invulnerable
- Teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is.
- Added teleporter sounds for level 2 and 3 Teleporters.
- Fixed teleporter entrance/exit effects being drawn when they don't have a matching teleporter entrance/exit.
February 24, 2009 Patch (The Scout Update)
- Added new sounds for upgraded Teleporters.
May 21, 2009 Patch (Sniper vs. Spy Update)
- Spies can now use enemy Teleporters
- Fixed Spies not being telefragged when standing on an enemy teleporter exit with the Dead Ringer enabled.
- Fixed Teleporters not being buildable in some places where they should be (such as within the pit at the end of Badwater Basin).
August 13, 2009 Patch (Classless Update)
- Engineers wrenching a teleporter will repair the other end as well, and remove Sappers from both if they exist.
- Fixed being able to burn buildings that are in the water while standing outside the water.
- Fixed teleporting Spies getting stuck in enemy players standing on the exit.
- Fixed server log not listing telefrag kills as weapon "telefrag".
April 29, 2010 Patch (119th Update)
- Fixed Teleporters not reverting to level 1 when their other side is destroyed.
- Fixed Teleporter exit using the wrong particle effect.
- Fixed the Engineer being able to build more than 1 of each type of building.
July 8, 2010 Patch (Engineer Update)
- Engineers can now pickup & move their buildings.
- Fixed a server crash related to carrying buildings.
- Fixed a bug that allowed sapped buildings to be picked up by the Engineer
- Fixed a bug where players would go into reference poses when switching classes while carrying a building.
- Engineers can no longer pick up buildings while stunned or in loser state.
- Fixed a server crash in the player death code, related to building carrying.
- Fixed a server crash related to carrying buildings at round start.
- Fixed players picking up buildings before a round has started.
- Fixed a problem with not being able to pick-up buildings in Arena mode.
- Fixed a bug where Teleporters could be given more than their normal amount of health.
- Fixed Engineers being able to destroy sapped buildings by issuing the command directly in the console.
- [Undocumented] Several particle effects, including Teleporters, were altered to appear brighter. These changes do not apply to ATI graphics card users and some others.
- Fixed teleporter progress being displayed incorrectly after upgrading a teleporter while it was recharging
- Fixed being able to place buildings in nobuild zones
- Fixed Sappers attaching incorrectly to Teleporters that are still building
Bugs
- If a teleporter exit is on a significantly sloped ground, any attempts to teleport will instead destroy the exit and leave the player on the entrance.
- Sometimes the teleporter circle effects are upright instead of flat on top of the teleporter.
- It is impossible to use an entrance that is underwater as the game will not see you as standing on top of it.
- When a level 3 teleporter becomes first active and a teammate or enemy Spy stands on the entrance, the teleporter attempts to teleport two times, until it succeeds at third try.
Trivia
- The Engineer's Teleporters are manufactured by Telemax, a division of TF Industries.
- According to the Team Fortress comics, teleportation was invented under the effects of Australium.[1]
- There is a small extra cost in Metal to upgrade a Teleporter to the next level if a completed entrance or exit is being upgraded while the other end is still in the process of constructing. It is unclear if this is a bug or intentional. It may be that the extra cost is the result of the game interpreting the incomplete state of one end of the Teleporter as being "damaged" since an incomplete building does not possess the maximum health of a completed building, and thus a small repair cost in Metal is incurred. The phenomenon occurs only once per construction.
- Teleporters gain more health than other buildings from a building health upgrade in Mann vs. Machine mode.
