Mann vs. Machine
| “ | 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
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Mann vs. Machine is a co-op game mode released in the update of the same name. In Mann vs. Machine, a team up to six players attempts to prevent a horde of AI-controlled robots from carrying a bomb to their base. Players can purchase upgrades for their weapons using in-game currency, called credits. All purchased upgrades will last for the duration of the game. If a player leaves during the game for any reason, providing they reconnect, their upgrades will be retained.
The only achievements obtainable in Mann vs. Machine are the Mann vs. Machievements.
Mann vs. Machine uses a separate set of "Best Moments" and thus keeps track of a separate performance report.
The game mode currently has five difficulties: Normal, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Nightmare.
Contents
Videos
| Trailer | Instructional Film |
|---|---|
| The Sound Of Medicine | |
Mechanics
The team is attacked by a horde of AI-controlled robots, and must try to prevent the robots from successfully delivering a bomb to the players' base (as in Payload). Each robot destroyed provides the players with credits (when one player collects a money pile, it is divided equally amongst the players). At any time during the match the players have the chance to upgrade their weapons at an Upgrade Station inside the base using this money. They may also upgrade abilities for their current class. All upgrade abilities are kept, even while switching to a different class, but the purchased abilities are only available for the class that they were purchased for.
Robots
Most of the robot horde is made up of plain robotic versions of all nine classes, including basic or mediocre weaponry. However, there are also a number of special robots with unique abilities.
While a robot carries a bomb, it loses half of its speed. However, the bomb-carrying robot receives buffs, which increase over time. 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) |
|---|---|---|
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Defensive buff, shared with all nearby robots | 5 |
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45 health regenerated per second | 15 |
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Full crits all the time | 15 |
Giant robots cannot receive the buffs nor lose speed when carrying the bomb.
Abilities and Upgrades
Players may use their accumulated credits at an Upgrade Station to fill their Canteens with a buff—such as personal ÜberCharge, a five-second critical hit boost, or ammunition refill—or an ability such as rapid building upgrades for Engineers or the ability to teleport back to the spawn point. All of these Canteens each provide up to three uses and must be filled with the same buff.
Players may also purchase personal abilities for themselves or for upgraded weapons.
 Scout
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 Soldier
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 Pyro
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 Demoman
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 Heavy
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 Engineer
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 Medic
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 Sniper
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 Spy
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Gameplay
For the sake of identification, all human players are dressed as RED and identified as team DEFENDERS 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 also spawn in periodically until the wave is over.
Before each wave begins, Defenders are shown relevant information in the top HUD, such as the enemies the next wave will contain, the current wave and the number of waves for that mission. Pre-set enemies have a number under each icon to indicate how many will be present in the wave, while support classes are listed to the right-hand side. A flashing blue icon means that the enemy or enemies will always fire critical hits. During pre-wave intervals, Engineers are able to instantly place level 3 buildings and Medics have an notably faster ÜberCharge fill rate.
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 30 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 will not increase the time.
When the wave begins, the top HUD will change to show a strength gauge to depict the quantity of pre-set enemies left. Robots will begin spawning in the battlefield in groups. Until they are on platforms that are accessible by players, attacking a robot will do nothing but cause them to glow as if they were ÜberCharged. During the wave, information about certain enemies may appear in the top HUD and will be announced by the Administrator.
- Sentry Buster - Sentry Busters are large, bipedal stickybombs that will run, stop and self-destruct near Sentry Guns. If an Engineer is moving their Sentry Gun, the Sentry Buster will chase them until they stop. These enemies only appear in response to effective Sentry Guns built by an Engineer on the defending team and will spawn more often if there are multiple effective 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 will cause the Sentry Buster to stop and it will explode. 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 will stop the Sentry Busters from spawning for a period of time.
- Tank - Heavily-armored tanks will enter the field from specific entry points. They won't attack but will move implacably towards the bomb hatch until they are destroyed or reach their destination. They may crush any unfortunate player or robot that gets stuck between them and a wall. Tanks do not need to carry or retrieve the main bomb, as each one contains its own.
- Sniper - Sniper Robots spawn like regular robots, but will mostly try to snipe players from higher platforms instead of running with the horde. All Sniper Robots except those carrying the Huntsman are unable to headshot.
- Spy - Unlike other robots, Spy Robots may spawn anywhere where players aren't looking in the field by use of their cloaking. They can disguise as friendly players, backstab players, and can sap Engineer buildings. The Announcer will call out the number of Spy Robots remaining after each successive one is killed.
- Engineer - Engineer Robots can enter in two ways - one, more common variation of the robot will teleport into the map near the bomb, while two rarer versions with half of the health will 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, and a Sentry Gun to defend it.
After each successful wave, the defenders will be evaluated based on how well money was collected (with a credit rating ranging from F to A+). If all the piles of money are collected (the A+ grade), the team will earn a $100 bonus. Once a mission is completed, the defenders will be given a final evaluation, and the server will load the next Mann vs. Machine map after an interval of 20 seconds.
Abandoning
Introduced in the October 17, 2012 Patch, rules regarding players "abandoning" games have been implied. A player is considered to have "abandoned" a game if they meet all of the following criteria:
- Leave a game while playing a Mann Up game on an official server; and
- Have not played through a single wave to completion or failure; and
- There are 5 or more players currently connected to the server (including the player).
If they meet all of the criteria repeatedly, the player will temporarily be placed in a low-priority queue, resulting in a significantly longer wait upon matchmaking.
Otherwise, it is safe to disconnect a game without being considered "abandoning" the game.
If a player presses the disconnect button, the player will receive a message telling them whether it is safe to leave. The player will either abandon the game with a penalty or without depending on the occasion. However, if the player leaves by other means (such as changing server via console or the in-game Steam HUD), they will not receive a message and may get a penalty without being notified.
If a player loses their connection while in-game, the spot will be reserved for the player and will have 3 minutes to rejoin. If the player does not rejoin after the time is up, the player will have been counted as leaving the server intentionally. If the game has crashed or the player loses their Internet connection, then the player can then restart Team Fortress 2 and the player will be given a prompt to reclaim their spot in the match. This prompt will inform the player of the penalties they will get if they decline the spot. If the player fails to rejoin within the three minutes and they fill out the criteria listed above, then it will count the player as having abandoned the match.
If a player is kicked for being idling whilst in a match, then it will be counted as quitting intentionally and therefore will incur a penalty. If a player is votekicked from a server, they will not be considered as leaving intentionally and will not incur a penalty.
Strategy
Maps
Mann vs. Machine maps carry the mvm_ prefix.
| Name | Picture | File name |
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| Big Rock | 
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mvm_bigrock
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| Coal Town | 
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mvm_coaltown
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| Decoy | 
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mvm_decoy
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| Ghost Town | 
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mvm_ghost_town
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| Mannhattan | 
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mvm_mannhattan
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| Mannworks | 
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mvm_mannworks
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| Rottenburg | 
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mvm_rottenburg
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Related achievements
Update history
- Added Mann vs. Machine.
- Added maps: Coal Town, Decoy, and Mannworks.
- 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_timelimitcausing 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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].
- Parameters
- 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.
- 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.
- Explosive Headshots
- 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.
- Fixed a Linux dedicated server crash related to Mann vs. Machine mode.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fixed spectator bots picking up the bomb in Mann Vs. Machine.
- Fixed a bug with item sets incorrectly applying their bonus when using Mann Vs. Machine upgrades of the same type.
- Fixed giant robots sometimes getting stuck in Mann Vs. Machine.
- Fixed the boss health bar sometimes disappearing.
- Fixed the uber Medics in Wave 4 of the Broken Parts mission charging at the incorrect rate.
- Fixed Engineer bots in Mann Vs. Machine building disposable Sentry Guns that upgrade into tiny, red, level 3 Sentry Guns.
- Fixed a bug in Mann Vs. Machine related to carrying buildings and using the "Upgrade Buildings" canteen.
- 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.
- Fixed incorrect projectile speed attributes being applied to giants in Mann vs. Machine.
- Fixed some missing Sapper particles in Mann vs. Machine mode.
October 29, 2013 Patch (Scream Fortress 2013)
- 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_mannhattanandmvm_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.
- Two maps:
- 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
ATTACK3to activate when Energy meter is full. (mouse3by 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.
- Revive (no upgrade required)
- 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.
- Rocket Specialist Upgrade
- 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.
- Now has two levels.
- Rage Pushback upgrade activation moved to
ATTACK3(mouse3by default)
- Attack Projectiles Upgrade
- 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 %.
- Fixed the Mann vs. Machine return-to-lobby timer not updating properly after a mission has been completed.
- [Undocumented] Removed the Gatebot Light hats from the Mann Co. Catalog.
- 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%.
- Fixed being able to inspect Blue-team bots.
- Fixed the mission victory screen not always showing the correct information for each player.
- Fixed the Mann vs. Machine scoreboard not always displaying values correctly.
- Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine related to purchasing upgrades.
- 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.
Unused content
- RED versions of all of the robots (besides the Tank and Sentry Buster) can be found in the game files.
Bugs
- Sometimes a menu such as team, class, or upgrade choice will freeze on screen, forcing the player to refresh the HUD. (This can be accomplished by typing
hud_reloadschemein the console or pressing Tab ⇆.) - When killed by a dead bot, such as from afterburn, or when removing a destroyed Spy bot's Sapper, the kill feed may show that the bot has moved to spectator mode. This is due to the internal routine that reassigns bot players for the next attack.
- Sometimes after the wave is complete, the Administrator will continue to issue warnings about the bomb's progress. This does not impede progress in any way.
- Bots will occasionally become stuck when jumping down into the map from their spawn. On rarer occasions this will cause the bot to immediately die upon touching the ground.
- Giant bots have been known to die upon falling from a decent height, regardless of health remaining.
- Bots that are destroyed while speaking and players who are killed while using Mann vs. Machine-related responses will continue speaking after their destruction/death. Tank Robots that are destroyed as they stop to deploy the bomb will continue to play the buzz and ding sound sequence.
- It is possible for the Administrator to announce the team has failed the mission when they haven't, by destroying the bomb carrier as it is about to disappear into the bomb hole. The bomb hatch will be destroyed, but the game considers the bomb undeployed. In this case, the real bomb will never make it to the hatch as it will continue to kill anything that steps in to it.
- Sometimes, when the map is finished, the loot screen shows up empty. This situation becomes recurrent for the player affected.
- There is 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 will spawn, and without jumping down or exiting spawn, they will blow up. This does not show in the kill feed, and the Sentry Buster icon at the top of the screen will remain.
- Certain sounds will become stuck in a loop if a wave is failed while they are playing. A notable example of this is the sentry buster sound. This can be easily fixed by typing
snd_restartinto the console. - Rarely, before the round, the bomb will appear in the spawn points for the bots for all maps with no bot carrying it. An extremely rare case of this is the bomb being teleported to the hatch at start of the round.
- Rarely, most of the robots' voice lines may not be robotized at all.
- Robot Spies' voices will not be robotized when heard from a distance (this excludes the laugh that is constantly heard when they are present on the map).
- Rarely, near the last third of the sixth wave on Big Rock, if one or more players leaves and is matched back into the server, the spawn rate of robots will drastically decrease, and most classes will not spawn at all. If a special class (Spies, Snipers) is active when this occurs, they will spawn in groups of two at a speed of about once per thirty seconds. When this occurs, friendly Sentry Guns will attempt to target players, though they will not do any damage. The only known method of circumnavigating this bug when it occurs is to restart the game entirely.
- Sometimes on Mann Up servers there is a glitch where players cannot join the server. The only way to fix it is for every player to leave the server.
- Rarely a Demoman Bot will glitch, with only his sword viewable, this bot can not be killed by any means known. Only option is to let the bots plant the bomb to restart the round. If players choose to vote to restart the round (because there are no more bots to kill or deliver the bomb and players are now stuck on an unfinished round) there is a small chance that the resulting restart will cause all bots to spawn more slowly. Although this may make the round easier to win it will increase the amount of time to win the wave (all waves are affected) to over 10 minutes per wave.
- Very rarely, a robot may appear as a giant when it shouldn't be, or vice versa. Sometimes, the giant may still have the health of the smaller counterpart, or it may have the health that the giant version has.
- Rarely, if a Engineer Robot's Teleporter is not destroyed and the wave ends, the Teleporter will not self destruct and continue spawning robots when the next wave begins.
External links
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