Minor Contest #6: TFConnect 3: The 2024 Dream Machine Pseudocontest [UPLOAD THREAD]

[Pdan4]

Banner artwork by @Pdan4.​

Main Thread | Voting Thread | Results​

Now we're in the deepest dream... where the true art forms, cogs turn, and worm gears inch along! Submit here! Remember, you can only submit up to 3 Dream Machines.

See the Main Thread linked above for rules and how the voting will work.

Deadlines:​

• Planning & Concepting begins: Now! Get to thinking, but don't make any artpieces yet!​

• Contest & Artworking begins: 2024 Nov 29, 12:00pm Pacific (3:00pm Eastern / 8:00pm GMT).​

• Submissions open: 2024 Dec 1, 12:00pm Pacific (3:00pm Eastern / 8:00pm GMT).​

• Submissions close: 2024 Dec 2, 12:00pm Pacific (3:00pm Eastern / 8:00pm GMT).​

• Voting begins shortly after: 2024 Dec 2, 5:00pm Pacific (8:00pm Eastern / 4:00am GMT).​

• Voting ends: 2024 Dec 3, 3:00pm Pacific ( 6:00pm Eastern / 11:00pm GMT).​

Requirements for each submission:​

1. The name of your Dream Machine.
2. Its Machine Category. Try to keep this list short if it's multi-category.
3. An explanation of the concept. If it has stats / damage values / timers / etc, give the numbers. Try not to be any more vague than ingame item descriptions are.
4. At least 1 piece of artwork depicting it - in any format! It could be audio, video, VScript [recorded demonstration & map required], an image, origami, a particle system, brushwork, a model, map-guyvered prop-collaging, a written story of it in action (at least 1000 words), a poem or song about it (at least 500 words), etc. In any case, it has to obviously depict your specific Dream Machine.
5. (Optional) A description written in the same style as the ones player items get (even if it's not one).

​

You must use this template to submit a Dream Machine:​

Simply reply to this thread with your post. Each entry must be submitted with its own template, but you can bundle them all into one post.

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional) ​	Forum Link (Optional)​

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

Copy and paste the code, then hit

this button twice:​

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]Dream Machine's Name[/TH]
[TH]Machine Category
(If multiple, list from most to least important)[/TH]
[TH]Explanation of concept[/TH]

[TH][CENTER] Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item
(Optional) [/CENTER][/TH]

[TH][CENTER]Forum Link
(Optional)[/CENTER][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH][CENTER]Artpiece #1
(Guaranteed appearance on stream)[/CENTER][/TH]

[TH][CENTER]Artpiece #2
(Optional)[/CENTER][/TH]

[TH][CENTER]Artpiece #3
(Optional)[/CENTER][/TH]

[TH][CENTER]Artpiece #4
(Optional)[/CENTER][/TH]

[TH][CENTER]Artpiece #5
(Optional)[/CENTER][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Entropy (She/Her)]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Hippokratischer Eid	Equipment	The Hippokratischer Eid, the vampire Medi Gun. Designed to be able to drain the health from enemy players that get the beam attached to them, though at a slower rate than healing. The Hippokratischer Eid is a medi gun that incentivizes healing your team and during an uber being able to steal the HP from enemies to give it to yourself. This medi gun is part of the Urgent Care set

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Entropy (She/Her)]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Insulin Injector	Equipment	The Insulin Injector is a syringe gun designed to use it against the enemy team in order to infuse them. Infused enemies will health players that hit them with a formula similar to that of the blackbox. Hitting enemies with this will allow medic to do AoE healing in order to heal during more aggressive pushes. This syringe gun is part of the Urgent Care set

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Entropy (She/Her)]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Herzstillstand	Equipment	The Herzstillstand is a melee weapon shaped after a defibrillator with a battery attached to the Medic's wrist. This weapon requires charging it similar to the huntsman in order to use it. The Herzstillstand specializes in close quarter combat dealing more damage but pushing enemies away on hit with its shocking power. This melee weapon is part of the Urgent Care set

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Hat Stack]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
G.R.E.G.	Objective, Enemy	G.R.E.G. is a very big robot who works as the main objective for Robot Control. He has 6000 Health, can fire both Fire Rings & Lasers (check PDF for specific numbers), and moves as slow as a heavy walking backwards. To activate him, you need to capture him, which works like your usual KOTH map, but once captured, he joins your team! Once the enemy team drains all of his health, he regains all his health and switches sides, so now you have to fight him! The first team to keep him for 5 minutes wins!

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Jan_Colon]

Spoiler: This entry was disqualified, since players only interacted with it like a stock cart.

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Cartapult	Objective, Hazard	The Cartapult is an additional objective for KOTH. Both teams possess a Cartapult at their base, with only the winning team's Cartapult activating at the end of a round. Upon activation, the winning team's Cartapult will launch a fast-moving (1000 HU/s) payload towards the opposing team's base, damaging any players or geometry within the payload's blast radius (1024 HU).

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​
			[BSP File]

 

[NickKnacks]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The E.M.M.P.R.	Equipment, Building	Intended to rectify the sapper’s lack of any building-like qualities even though it’s classified as a building, the E.M.P.P.R. (Electromagnetic Pulse Projector Robot) is an item replacing the Spy’s sapper with a throwable EMP device that can stick to all surfaces. It has 240 health (140 more than the stock sapper), and has 15 DPS when sapping a building (40% less than the stock sapper). When thrown, the Spy’s disguise will not drop, and the E.M.M.P.R will travel in a small arc until it reaches its destination. When placed, all buildings within 1024 hu and with a direct line of sight to the E.M.P.P.R. will be sapped except for other E.M.P.P.R.s. When the E.M.P.P.R. is destroyed, all buildings will reactivate; the EMP Device is destroyed when its health is depleted or after a 20 second timer. Contrary to the stock sapper, the E.M.M.P.R. can be damaged by any damage source from any class on the opposing team. After being thrown, the E.M.P.P.R. cannot be used again until a 30 second cooldown is either completed or shortened with ammo packs. If a Spy throws a recharged E.M.P.P.R. and one of theirs is already deployed, the oldest one will be destroyed.

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Box Of Paper]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Robomancer	Building, Equipment, Pickup, Enemy	The Robomancer is a new PDA for the engineer which replaces the buildings with robots that follow you around and aid you in battle.		https://tf2maps.net/downloads/the-robomancer.18335/

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Blade x64]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
Fielding Force Shield	Oasis	A shield that allows players to pass while blocking bullets and projectiles. Exploitable by both teams, the shield serves as protective cover that does not restrict visibility or movement. The shield is spherical and attached to a payload making it a predictable yet dynamic oasis. As the payload progresses, the gameplay space is continually altered in a substantial way.	A proven SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT for personal HEART TO HEART EXCHANGES in the form of CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT.

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​
		View: https://youtu.be/Qfpb56s4gak	The BSP

 

[Trip]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Runnin' Gun	Equipment	The Runnin' Gun is a secondary item for the Engineer. The idea of this item is to transform the act of hauling a building from a laborious task to a way to support one's team whether it be with a perfect aiming, mobile sentry gun or an infinite health and ammo supply for the entire team strapped to the Engineer's back. This power comes at a cost, however. The Engineer now relies on his buildings more than ever to keep him alive as he is much more vulnerable to pretty much everything. He cannot be Ubered because an invulnerable sentry would be overpowered and he moves much slower the more powerful his buildings become. I left teleporters out of this concept as I felt they would lead to griefing of fellow team mates. I believe this item is balanced however, the downsides may be too harsh for some so I'm open to feedback.

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[Goomenstein]

The Medic mains are taking over this thread

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category	Explanation of concept​	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item
The Insurance Investment	Equipment	Medic players would have you believe that the most fun thing about playing Medic is to see that ÜberCharge meter build until it reaches 100%, then cashing out on your top-scoring player to finally break the sentry nest and spine of that pesky little Engineer on the enemy team who has been causing a stalemate for the past three minutes, however, we believe that to be a coverup to hide the insecurities of the Medic mains who have been called "submissive" by their peers many times before. The truth is, medic players are massive masochists! They just LOVE to be flanked and killed without any way to defend themselves! They LOVE never getting to build Über because they keep dying to Snipers! They LOVE being backstabbed too! Why else do you think that happens so frequently, despite Medic having enough movement speed to outrun Spies? They do it on purpose! That's why we designed a Medi Gun for players who just love to feel miserable: The Insurance Investment! With the Insurance Investment equipped you start out as a pathetic little wimp with a movement speed so bad that you can barely keep up with 7/9 classes. This not only makes sure that Medic can't run away from danger, Snipers have an easier time hitting a slow moving target, and spies can trivially catch up! Great! And don't even think for a second you can cheat by healing faster classes! That function was axed. We know you hated that change so we removed it. The healrate is also greatly reduced, making the Medic overall a burden to his teammates, increasing the amount of angry chatmessages sent their way by his "friends". Medic players love it! There is no ÜberCharge for you to pop either! That's right, cashing out your ÜberCharge meter is no more. Not like that sentry was going down to an Über anyway, it was wrangled. Filling out your Über to 100% takes eons too! With a -50% ÜberCharge buildrate penalty, you are looking at 80 seconds until you build 100% Über, and this is the BEST CASE scenario! Because this is a "game" and we have to make things "balanced" to make things "worth using" we regrettably had to add some upsides to the blasted thing. But don't worry, we designed them in a way where they won't become relevant before you get shot. As your ÜberCharge increases, so do your movement speed and your healrate! If you stay alive with this piece of junk for long enough you may even nullify the downsides, nay, you become faster than a Medic that would use a Stock Medi Gun and even have the potential to heal faster than the Quick Fix! At 100% ÜberCharge, your movement speed increases by 40% and your healrate by a staggering 100%!!! (Note: Because the penalties still exist, a Medic at 100% would max out at 127% movement speed and a 150% healrate of the stock Medi Gun. (36 health/s)) And in the unlikely event that you survive long enough to reach 100%, your healing target gets a treat: Mini-crits! And also resistance piercing to deal with those pesky dead ringers and vaccinators! Until you die!!! If you're disappointed that you are now good at running away from danger, don't worry, the Insurance Investment now emits a distinct glow from its muzzle and plays a loud, distinct whistling sound! This not only gives the enemy players visual and audial feedback on why they are being minicrit by your teammates, it also let's the Spy and Scout in the flank to your right know where exactly you are. So there is now more danger! We hope you have fun!

Artpiece​

 

[Ismaciodismorphus]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Sticky Note	Equipment	A Secondary weapon unlock for the Demoman that replaces his usual stickybombs with contact triggered explosive arrows, hitting a surface or Impaling a player with the arrow results in the arrow violently sticking into the surface and dealing an initial burst of damage to the struck player before the fuse is ignited and begins to tick down for three seconds transforming the player into a walking timebomb. Hitting a player who is currently blast jumping, using a grappling hook or rocket pack results in the timer being set off instantly and dealing a minicrit to the airborne target with a greatly increased explosion radius. Arrows must be fully charged to enable the explosive payload on hit, In self defense situations the arrows can be fired at a faster pace at the cost of Damage and the loss of the explosive charge. The weapon has a 25% smaller magazine size and a 40% slower reload, Explosive bolts cannot be detonated manually by their owner and bolts cannot headshot. (Scope is cosmetic)

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​
	WEAPON MODEL DEMONSTRATION IN GAME View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg9US6Ve6cE

 

[Trip]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
Oil Pump	Hazard	Oil pumps are a player controlled hazard which is actually not seen much outside of Halloween maps. The idea was to give more agency in how players defend, allowing them to close off problematic flanks to recuperate or just simply trap enemy players.	Spills oil every 10 seconds creating a small puddle Puddle can grow from small to large over 3 stages Puddle can be lit on fire, burning any enemy who walks through for 40 damage every tick (.66 seconds) Enemies suffer from 3 seconds of afterburn akin to that of the flamethrower's Fire burns for 5 seconds while small, 6 seconds while medium, 8 seconds while large Spills oil again 15 seconds after fire goes out

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[MayaMogus]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
The Dislocator	Equipment	A medigun that features 4 uber charges, each takes 5 seconds to fill. When Ubering a patient, their skeleton is torn out, and reanimated to fight for your team. This is EXTREMELY painful for the patient, but don't worry, bones grow back! (especially when the medic needs 3 more skeletons)		The Dislocator (RESKIN) REPLACES MEDIGUN AND VACCINATOR View: https://youtu.be/uniHU4EFq2c A medigun that features 4 uber charges, each takes 5 seconds to fill. When Ubering a patient, their skeleton is torn out, and reanimated to fight for your team. This is... tf2maps.net

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​
			View: https://youtu.be/uniHU4EFq2c

 

[Paper Shadow]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
Eagle	Enemy	High Flying Support Robots for Gray Mann's Machine Army. Named after the animal that raised Gray Mann. Come in three flavours: Buff Banner (100HP), Battalion's Backup (120HP), and Concheror (100HP, regens health). Multiple Eagles of one type spawn when Machines are being destroyed shortly after spawning, similar to how Sentry Busters spawn when a sentry has dealt significant damage. They spawn behind players, similar to Spy Robots, and fly to random open positions away from the Robot's regular spawn. The Administator will announce when Eagles have arrived and Eagles produce a notable buzz to nearby players. Once in position, Eagles with create a map-wide buff to all Robots. The nature of the buff is the same as the buff granted by the backpack they carry and will persist until all Eagles of that type have been destroyed. A new wave of Eagles can spawn before previous waves have been fully destroyed, but will prioritise spawning a type of Eagle not currently present. All Eagles automatically self-destruct when the Wave ends. Eagles do not generate any money. Designed to provide additional challenge to skilled MVM players who can hold the robots at spawn by having them decide to either send a player to deal with the Eagles to dismiss the buff or to brute force through powered up robots, all without overwhelming novices or groups struggling with a wave.

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[kitrod]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
E.D.F.P.B.A.N.E. Explicitly Designed For Pushing Buttons And Nothing Else	Objective, Hazard	I've always quite liked the idea of a giant cartoony robot hand stuck to a payload cart, so that's what I decided to go for. Along with playing some fun animations for capturing a point or pushing a big red button to destroy something at the end of a map, the hand is capable of smashing red players that stand too close to it for too long, similar to the Necro-Smasher on Carnival of Carnage. The hand could also be choreographed to perform other actions, like temporarily shielding the cart from the front or destroying RED buildings placed too close. Picking up players and tossing them could be fun but I guess I'm not sure how useful that would be

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​

 

[YOYOYO]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
Scaffolding	Engineer Building	Why use hammer, when you can change a map's layout yourself? These 3 new buildings allow engineer to make his own height advantage, using some automatic Scaffoldingtm !! Each level of scaffolding gives the players 48 entire hammer units to simply glide up. The idea came to me in a Dream

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAPiSGjBDzc	View: https://youtu.be/RiKdeMfGwXU	View: https://youtu.be/rapnP0o8zn4

Artpiece #4

 

[Paper Shadow]

Dream Machine's Name	Machine Category (If multiple, list from most to least important)	Explanation of concept	Description in the style of a TF2 inventory item (Optional)​	Forum Link (Optional)​
Ghost Potion	Pickup	A pickup for Halloween maps that transforms players into ghosts. On pickup, the Player experiences zero gravity and gains the ability to float in the air, invisibility, and the ability to travel through certain map-designated brushes (examples being grates and windows). The Ghost Potion lasts for seven seconds or until the player attacks.

Artpiece #1 (Guaranteed appearance on stream)​	Artpiece #2 (Optional)​	Artpiece #3 (Optional)​	Artpiece #4 (Optional)​	Artpiece #5 (Optional)​
https://imgur.com/1V30tIm

 

[Pdan4]

As he is having technical difficulties, Seacat is being given an extra 30 minutes past the deadline.

 

[StovePipe]

Translocator Shield	Equipment	Shield weapon for Demoman; During the shield charge, if uninterrupted at the end of the charge, the player will "phase" for 0.5 seconds (dissappering for everyone else but still able to see, like a cloaked Spy would percieve the world. In this half a second, the Demoman will go through any player or player made objects. If timed correctly, and the Demoman reemerges "inside" of an enemy player, it will deal a great burst of damage, possibly gibbing them.

Artpiece #1 ​