Pyroland
| “ | We are in a world of magic! (Happy scream)
Click to listen
— The Soldier
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Pyroland is how the Pyro sees the world through their eyes. A surreal and whimsical pastel-colored dreamworld distinct from Team Fortress 2's usual rustic artstyle, it was first seen in Meet the Pyro. This aspect of the lore can also be viewed in-game by equipping certain weapons or cosmetic items.
Contents
In media
As seen in Meet the Pyro, Pyroland is a stark contrast to the usual aesthetics of Team Fortress 2. Instead of run-down desert towns or secret spy bases, Pyroland appears as an extremely cartoonish pastel-colored landscape including big flowery meadows, a bright blue sky with giant, pudgy kittens, puppies, and hamsters floating around, giant lollipops and candy sprouting out of the ground, and a little town full of candy shops and party decorations. The 1965 song Do You Believe In Magic by The Lovin' Spoonful plays in the background.
Members of the BLU team are seen as little winged babies, having their normal heads on chubby diapered bodies. They gleefully coo and giggle at Pyro's seemingly-innocent antics, whereas they are actually being brutally hunted and killed in the real world — for example, in Pyroland, the Pyro blows bubbles at a baby Scout, which is humored by their actions; the real Scout is actually being shot in the face with a Scorch Shot flare at point blank. In both the real world and in Pyroland, the Pyro keeps an air of carefree, happy-go-lucky cheerfulness.
In the comic Ring of Fired, it is implied that fire is the main source of the bright colors and scenery for Pyroland; without it, the Pyro views the world in a grey, muffled, dull, and bland perspective, with people appearing as rectangular creatures speaking nearly unintelligible language.[1] This is contrast to Pyroland seen in Team Fortress 2 gameplay, which always retains its childish pastel theme regardless of a total lack of fire and other horrors of combat at the moment.
In-game
By equipping the Pyrovision Goggles, Rainblower, Lollichop, Infernal Orchestrina, Burning Bongos, Balloonicorn, or Reindoonicorn, players of any class can view Pyroland, which results in changes that affect both the game world and the player.
A selection of features from birthday mode are enabled:
- Health and ammo pickups appear as cakes or wrapped as presents, respectively;
- Gibs turn into gears, toys, and other silly objects, such as unicycles and fish;
- Cables and ropes from Grappling Hooks are adorned with festive lights;
- Blood effects become balloons, streamers, and confetti.
In addition, a number of additional cosmetic changes to the game world are applied. Many surfaces found in the game world are retextured into brightly-colored pink or blue materials that represent either the RED or BLU team. Certain lights, such as the ones found on the left side of the RED spawn in Sawmill, may be turned on or have their brightness increased. The contents of existing signs seen in objective-based game modes such as Capture the Flag or Control Points are replaced with "MMM MMMPH", with the exception of those found in the Special Delivery game mode. Most company logos are replaced with swatches of white paint, while others are changed to fit Pyroland aesthetic; for example, the Cornwell branding on Dustbowl and 2Fort is changed to Candy. Resupply lockers found in spawn rooms are colored purple with yellow handles and have pictures of a cuddly cat and dog in place of the ammo and health symbols.
Other players also receive minor cosmetic changes that are not visible outside of Pyroland. The Soldier, Pyro, and Demoman's grenade packs (and items that override them) are replaced with baby bottles, and all voices except the player's are heard at a higher pitch. Igniting a player with a weapon such as the Cow Mangler 5000 or the Degreaser results in the affected player being covered in colorful sparkles instead of fire, and certain smoke effects that are triggered by explosive or fire-based weapons (such as the Soldier's Rocket Launcher or the Pyro's Detonator) are replaced with soap bubbles. A litHuntsman or Fortified Compound arrowhead shows colorful, yellowish sparkles instead of a flamelet. Players gleefully laugh instead of grunting or screaming in pain when hurt or killed.
All Pyro items included in the Pyromania Update (such as the Rainblower or Lollichop) are visible to the player when in Pyroland. Outside of Pyrovision, the Rainblower and Lollichop are instead viewed as their respective stock variants. However, all Pyrovision-enabling items are shown in deathcams, irrespective of whether the player is in Pyroland or not. All fire effects, either from the Pyro's primary weapons or the Thermal Thruster, appear as a rainbow that changes color as it travels, and the Dragon's Fury fires a large assortment of lollipops and rainbow swirls in place of a fireball.
Both the Domination and Revenge messages in the kill feed are replaced with "[Player1] is BEST FRIENDS with [Player2]" and "[Player1] BROKE UP with [Player2]", respectively. Additionally, certain cosmetic items, such as the Catastrophic Companions or the Balloonicorn, appear to assist or be assisted by a player for unassisted kills (using the item's custom name if applied). If the player has more than one applicable items equipped, one is picked at random for the kill feed notice.
Maps changed by Pyroland
The player is allowed to see certain maps through Pyro's eyes:
- 2Fort
- Badlands (Arena)
- Badlands (Control Point)
- Badlands (King of the Hill)
- Badwater Basin
- Doomsday
- Dustbowl
- Gold Rush
- Gravel Pit
- Hightower
- Viaduct
Note that changes in other maps such as 5Gorge, Barnblitz, or Mannhattan only add strings of holiday lights, as opposed to the total re-texturing used for the maps in this list. By modifying the mtp.cfg configuration file, one can implement support for Pyroland to any map, or completely disable the visual changes on currently supported official maps; however, not every map properly supports Pyroland in its integrity.
Demonstration
Related achievements
General achievements
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Update history
- Added Pyrovision!
- [Undocumented] Added 4 General Achievements related to Pyrovision.
- [Undocumented] Brain Parasites are now credited as being assisted by the player on unassisted kills.
- [Undocumented] Pocket Buddies are now credited with assists on unassisted kills.
- [Undocumented] Added advanced multiplayer options to turn on Pyrovision while spectating and during replays.
- Fixed seeing through Sniper fences in 2Fort when using Pyrovision.
- Teddy Roosebelt can now get assists in Pyrovision.
- Fixed Pyrovision sometimes activating in killcams for more than just weapons and cosmetics.
- Fixed blood getting sprayed on the world in some cases in Low Violence and Pyrovision.
- Fixed decapitations creating head gibs in Low Violence and Pyrovision.
- Added team color to rainbow-showered players in Pyrovision.
- Added options for Pyrovision to the Advanced Options dialog.
- Added enable/disable for the HUD border.
- Added the ability to make the HUD border static.
- Added the ability to turn off the skybox depth of field.
- The Birdcage, HOUWAR, and Scrap Pack can now get assists in Pyroland.
October 26, 2012 Patch (Spectral Halloween Special)
- [Undocumented] Items which are only visible in Pyroland now have a Balloonicorn icon in the backpack view.
- The Prize Plushy can now get assists in Pyrovision.
- Fixed the achievement "The Great Deflate" not counting certain Balloonicorn and Reindoonicorn items.
- [Undocumented] Tux now counts as assister in Pyroland.
June 14, 2013 [Item schema update]
- [Undocumented] The Pocket Pyro now gets assists in Pyroland.
- Updated the Pocket Pyro so it can get assists in Pyrovision.
- Updated several cosmetic items to count as assisters in Pyrovision.
- Updated the Little Bear so it can get assists in Pyrovision.
- [Undocumented] Updated the Hillbilly Speed-Bump, Pocket Heavy, Pocket Raiders and Pocket Villains so they can get assists in Pyroland.
- Updated the Magical Mount and The Pony Express to be assisters in Pyrovision.
Bugs
- The Ready voice lines in Mann vs. Machine and Demoman's shield charge yells do not play at a higher pitch.
- Most effects seen in Pyroland (such as texture replacements) are not supported under DirectX 8 and instead display their regular counterparts.
- Pyroland flame effects and baby bottles may fail to properly display on some configurations.
Gallery
Pyromania Day 3 update page.
Ditto, opened.
Pyroland foliage on Dustbowl
Turbine's intelligence sign as seen in Pyroland.
Ditto.
2Fort's spawn room sign as seen in Pyroland.
Ditto.
Festive lights on Double Cross.
A cuddly cat found in Pyroland.
A cuddly dog found in Pyroland.
A cuddly hamster found in Pyroland.
The baby bottles as they appear on the Soldier.
The baby bottles as they appear on the Pyro.
The baby bottles as they appear on the Demoman.
References
External links
- "Dreams of Chronic and Sustained Cruelty", TF2 Official Website, 31 July 2012.
- "Pyrovision", Valve Developer Community wiki.
