Team Fortress

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Team Fortress
Tf1-1.jpeg
Basic Information
Released:

August 24, 1996

Developer:

Team Fortress Software

Engines:

Quake Engine
QuakeWorld Engine

Genre:

First-person shooter

Mode:

Multiplayer

Designers:

Robin Walker, John Cook, Ian Caughley

Platforms:

Windows
Mac OS X
Linux

Requirements:

Quake, QuakeWorld
800 MHz processor
128 MB RAM
32 MB video or more
Windows 2000/XP

Team Fortress (TF) is a team- and class-based multiplayer online first-person shooter video game mod based on id Software's Quake Engine and subsequent QuakeWorld Engine. Team Fortress, also known as Quake Team Fortress (QTF) and later QuakeWorld Team Fortress (QWTF), was designed and written by Robin "Bro" Walker, John "Jojie" Cook, and Ian "Scuba" Caughley in 1996. This team created their patch to Quake for personal use because they desired a multiclass game with quite different playing styles for each class.[1]

Due to its popularity, Team Fortress has spawned an endless amount of mods for not only Team Fortress but other games as well. The game continues to be played competitively today, largely through its open-source fork FortressOne.

Valve took an interest in the Team Fortress Software organization and hired the two of the creators to work on a Team Fortress Half-Life mod and later a standalone version called Team Fortress Classic (TFC), released in 1999. A standalone sequel to Team Fortress Classic, Team Fortress 2 (TF2), was developed by Valve and released in 2007.

To this day, people still participate in Team Fortress servers. Team Fortress has also spawned many mods replicating its formula for other games, such as Quake III Fortress, Enemy Territory Fortress, etc.

Note: "Team Fortress" is also the name of the overall series of games.

Gameplay

Team Fortress has a high emphasis on teamwork and cooperation, involving two teams (Red and Blue), up to 32 players, and nine classes. Some maps have an extra two teams (Yellow and Green) and an additional tenth class; later games in the series, such as Team Fortress 2, only include a red team and a blue team (stylized as RED and BLU in Valve's 2007 release). The players battle each other to complete objectives in game modes like Attack/Defend and Capture the Flag (CTF), the latter adapted from David "Zoid" Kirsch's landmark Quake mod Threewave Capture the Flag.[2]

Team Fortress has ten classes available to each team:

A possible scuba-diver class was discussed between the developers but never made the cut.[3]

Game modes

Maps

Official maps have never been made for this mod, but the community has picked the best custom maps and made an unofficial "map list". Nearly all of the game modes in the rest of the Team Fortress series of games have their origins in unofficial Team Fortress maps. The most popular maps are:

When Valve hired two of Team Fortress's developers to work on Team Fortress Classic, the pair recreated a few of the maps that were made for the original Team Fortress mod: 2Fort, Well, Canalzone, and Rock. 2Fort and Well were eventually remade for Team Fortress 2.

Clans

At the time, clans were the fabric of a multiplayer game's community, and Team Fortress was no exception. These organized groups of players hosted servers and held regular clan war matches and eSports tournaments, but, most importantly, clans were havens for the most competitive and ambitious players. Most clans peaked at an upper limit of around 30 players. However, some groups reached a point of fielding two teams at a time—Dark Shadows, for example, attained its highest amount of players at 56 members.[4] While many clans were loosely structured, it wasn't uncommon to see the implementation of web-based match attendance databases, demerit systems, and "War Councils".

Notable QWTF clans.

Versions

Quake Team Fortress:

  • August 24, 1996 - Version 1.0, based on the Quake Engine, released. Scout, Sniper, Soldier, Demolitions Man, and Medic classes added.
  • August 31, 1996 - Version 1.1 released. Heavy Weapons Guy class and 2Fort map added.
  • September 11, 1996 - Version 1.2 released. Random class added.
  • September 17, 1996 - Version 1.21 released.
  • October 31, 1996 - Version 1.3 released. Pyromaniac class added.
  • November 4, 1996 - Version 1.31 released.
  • November 10, 1996 - Version 1.32 released.
  • November 11, 1996 - Version 1.33 released.
  • Sometime around November or December - Version 1.37 (Beta) released.

QuakeWorld Team Fortress:

  • December 22, 1996 - Version 2.0 (Beta), based on the QuakeWorld Engine, released.
  • December 24, 1996 - Version 2.01 (Beta) released.
  • December 28, 1996 - Version 2.03 (Beta) released.
  • January 23, 1997 - Version 2.1 released. Civilian class added.
  • January 27, 1997 - Version 2.11 released.
  • February 4, 1997 - Version 2.12 released.
  • February 17, 1997 - Version 2.13 released.
  • March 12, 1997 - Version 2.14 released.
  • April 8, 1997 - Version 2.15 released, which is the same as 2.14 but using QuakeWorld 1.5.
  • April 9, 1997 - TeamFortress Software founded.
  • April 13, 1997 - Version 2.5 (Beta) released.
  • June 13, 1997 - Version 2.5 released. Spy and Engineer classes added.
  • August 13, 1997 - Version 2.6 (Beta) released. The changes were reportedly highly controversial among the TF community.[5]
  • August 23, 1997 - Version 2.6 released.
  • October 13, 1997 - Version 2.65 (Beta) released.
  • October 17, 1997 - "Quake Intro" released.
  • October 30, 1997 - 2fort5 map released.
  • December 16, 1997 - Version 2.666 released. Christmas mode added.
  • January 29, 1998 - Version 2.7 released.
  • May 23, 1998 - Version 2.8 released.
  • October 20, 1998 - Version 2.9 released.

Intro video

The Team Fortress (version 2.6) introduction video.

TeamFortress Software

Created at the suggestion of Ian Caughley, TeamFortress Software (incorporated on April 9, 1997) was a short-lived game company located in Melbourne, Australia, totaling six employees. The team developed Quake mods[6] and related utilities[7], including Team Fortress. Moreover, the company was sometimes preoccupied with contract work for major publishers like Electronic Arts and Activision.[8]

Around this time, Valve's attention turned towards the bustling FPS modding scene, though more specifically, Quake's growing legion of dedicated modders. According to John Cook, "Valve basically was taking advantage of Quake's modding ecosystem to hire people. They were looking for anyone who had made anything interesting with Quake, and with other games, but Quake was certainly a focus."[8]. To Valve, QWTF stood out in the industry, and in March 1998, the lead designers were invited to Valve's Seattle Headquarters for three months to work on Half-Life's multiplayer modes and the earliest iteration of Team Fortress 2. Roughly six weeks after their arrival, Gabe Newell offered to purchase the licensing rights to Team Fortress and provide the three with full-time jobs.[8] From then on, Cook and Robin Walker would work on TFC and TF2 as part of Valve's software department.

Trivia

Gallery

  • The Heavy Weapons Guy.

  • The Engineer.

  • The Scout fleeing an enemy Medic.

  • The Soldier battling an enemy Sniper.

  • Promotional image.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ TF Code Designers - Robin Walker, The Guild / Team Fortress Map Creator's Guild (The Official Team Fortress Home Page).
  2. ↑ QWTF Chronical pages.
  3. ↑ A Romp Through TF History - Mr.Potato Head.
  4. ↑ History of Dark Shadows
  5. ↑ TF News, August 17, 1997
  6. ↑ TeamFortress Software - Quake Patches
  7. ↑ TeamFortress Software - Quake Utils
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Threading the Needle: The Making of Quake Team Fortress - Robin Walker.
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