Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

[Oli]

In an interview with GameCyte; Erik Johnson of Valve has talked about the upcoming Left 4 Dead and the future of Team Fortress 2.

GameCyte: In relation to Team Fortress 2, when did the development process begin on Left 4 Dead? You can see a lot of influence [of the former on the latter].

Erik Johnson: TF2, we started, I think, about 27 years ago. *laughs* In its current form, though, it’s been just a couple of years. It started with Mike Booth, down at Turtle Rock, building a concept of a product that was strictly a zombie horde, and fighting your way through.

GC: You can see some of the TF2 influence there. Like how every time you die in TF2; “Hey! This round, you killed this many.”

EJ: Yes; especially for new players, it’s a tricky problem to let them know what they’re doing well at. For new players, especially in the multiplayer space, it’s tough. You’re playing against people that have potentially been playing for years longer than you.

GC: I have some more TF2-specific questions, for the fans, if that’s all right. While you’ve done a great job making a fun and even game, are there any glaring imbalances in TF2’s classes that still jump out at you?

EJ: You know, when we talk about class balance, we still feel like the Demoman might be a little out of whack. It’s probably the one that comes most often into play. And it’s tricky, because there’s a skill component to the sticky grenades that’s interesting.

You can find the full interview with Erik Johnson at E3 here.

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

NERF THE DEMO!!! nerf him!!!!

[Yukiism]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

This was certainly a good read. And i'm glad Demoman will most likely get a nerf, i think it's too easy to be good with him.

[Oli]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

Valve admitted that the Stickies had some skill to them

[Yukiism]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

Yeah the stickies aren't that bad, although it's just basicly shooting a bit infront of a fleeing enemy and right click. It's just the regular nade launcher that's in my opinion overpowered. You just shoot and hope a nade connects to a enemy which almost always garentees a kill and for some reason i get a lot of crits with that thing which insta kill everything.

And don't tell me there's more to Demoman then that, because from the time i've spent in this game Demomans always use these strategies. There's only a handful of Demos who actually with the stickies.

[Oli]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

Actually, the demoman requires more skill than many people think.

They have to predict a good few seconds in advance where to launch stickies and pipe bombs and then hit fire because of the delay. Compare this to soldier who predicts where theyre going and presses fire instataneously killing people

[Yukiism]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

Still the Demo has more advantages then the Soldier, Demo runs faster and has more ammo. Also the long reload time on the rocket launcher puts the Soldier in a tight spot when a facing a Demo.

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: Valve Gives Interview On L4D and TF2

you're overcomplicating the class because you like to play him Oli, don't get me wrong Demos bug the hell out of my but if you cba with any effort then take his class for a spin

the nade launcher does require skill and effort, especially at close range, but usually its more down to luck because it doesnt have a 100% focus, so its slightly hitscan, and the fact that you can sometimes get non crit ones that insta kill the 125hp classes is lame

the sticky launcher is just a more useful bazooka, with twice the ammo and is far easier to use because of the arc and high damage, minimal skill is required to kill most classes, even scouts because you just back up and litter the floor with stickies, you hardly even need to aim

let alone the fact he can just do the old soldier style solution of noob tubing the floor and getting off with minimal splash damage