TF2 Improvement Wishlist Megathread

[Pocket]

ITT we talk about stuff we'd like to see added or changed in future updates to the game. It could be a lengthy post like the one I'm about to make, or it can be a simple "this thing should work differently than it does". I'd like to keep this within reason, so no "remake the whole game from scratch in Source 2" here, please. Maybe when we're done I can compile a big ol' list for Valve to look over when they have, like, a whole afternoon for it.

Kicking it off, I'm going to expand on I said elsewhere about needing to make operating a dedicated server easier, e.g. integrating features that currently require Sourcemod. Here are the facts as I understand them on that subject:

1. Voting for the next map and calling a vote to scramble teams are already in the base game. But there's no way to nominate maps. As far as I know, the server just picks maps at random from the rotation.
   
2. Voting to kick players is in the base game, but you can only vote for players on your own team. This is a good idea, and I see no reason to change it. Moving on.
   
3. There's no equivalent of "rtv" i.e. voting to end the map early.
   
4. Server ops who are currently on their server have no way to directly communicate with the server from within the game — to forcibly kick and/or ban players or mess with the map queue. Clearly, though, it's possible for a server to recognize individual players by their Steam ID and grant them special privileges, since, well, Sourcemod can do it.

Unless I'm forgetting something (and I'm sure you'll chime in if I am), these are the only Sourcemod features that are considered necessities for running a "vanilla" community server. Naturally, I'm in favor of them all becoming part of the official game in some form. I'm not sure on the UI, though. Server ops could maybe get a special button next to the "Call a Vote" button that brings up a similar menu of stuff they can do:

• Edit Map Queue...
• Jump to Next Map Now
  
• Mute Player...
  
• Kick Player...
• Ban Player...

The map queue would be presented as a two-column scrollable menu where one column just lists every map currently loaded onto the server in alphabetical order and the other is the queue itself. There would be a message at the top saying something like "When the queue is empty, the server will cycle randomly through its standard rotation. Note that voting on maps will be disabled until the queue has emptied again."

Map nomination would probably have to be handled in a similar way, maybe with a menu that leaves the game in view around its borders. I guess it would have to have its own button. Voting to jump to the next map can just get its own entry on the Call a Vote menu.

 

[Prestige]

i would like them add the flame of war pyro weapon and capture some flags gamemode

 

[Pocket]

i would like them add the flame of war pyro weapon and capture some flags gamemode

Having some kind of official entity setup for multi-flag CTF would be great; the current iteration is kind of stymied by needing to assign a capture order.

 

[Powerlord]

The problem with a lot of this is srcds has no concept of server admins.

Which makes it all the more amusing that one of the callvote rejection reasons is "Can't Kick Server Admin." I guess Valve's employees forgot?

Not that I haven't (ab)used that in one of my server plugins.

As far as I know, the server just picks maps at random from the rotation.

Last I checked, the 5-item in-game vote has been broken for a while. It used to fire 2 minutes before the map end as long as the Next Level vote was enabled and no Next Level vote had successfully passed.

Having said that, how it chose maps was dependent on the sv_vote_issue_nextlevel_choicesmode cvar. 1 (its default setting) chose the 4-5 least recently played maps in the mapcycle. If set to 0, it chooses 4-5 maps at random.

I say 4-5, because it will only have 4 if sv_vote_issue_nextlevel_allowextend is set to 1.

I find it amusing that you mention Nominations because I have a server plugin that co-opts the Change Level and Next Level votes for rtv (Change Level) and nominations (both).

 

[Muddy]

All I can think of right now is to remove Medieval mode and Mannpower mode, and finish Cactus Canyon and Asteroid already.

Also, one pet peeve of mine in Mann vs Machine is how the timer starts ticking down as soon as one person readies up, which leads to many a scenario where a game starts prematurely because one person had hit the F4 button and then went for a piss. IMO it should only start ticking down when at least three people have readied up. Or maybe Valve should do away with the timer altogether and just let the game start when everyone's ready.

EDIT: also fix mat_wireframe for Mac so it doesn't look like this

EDIT 2: they should also break out the studio orchestra and record my 72hr entry with real instruments

 

[DeleteMyAccount]

remove Medieval mode and Mannpower mode

Why?

 

[Muddy]

Because they're absolutely, objectively, categorically awful

 

[BenCo]

I agree on the mannpower one but not on medieval though. Mannpower is a pain when you get to the enemy spawn and you just facing 6 sentry guns. But medieval can be fun sometimes. Specifically if you Berry and you love to play demoknight...

 

[Fantaboi]

Open Source and Independent Hammer would be top for me, definitely would love to see/learn how code like that is handled alongside learning stuff to make additions, its almost non-existent with any toolkit understandably though

 

[Izotope]

Voting to kick players is in the base game, but you can only vote for players on your own team. This is a good idea, and I see no reason to change it.

Would be nice to have some sort of cvar that can enable all-team kicks.

What I would personally like to see added to the game,
are some "ports" from other Source games such as Half-Life 2 and Portal 2.
Specifically entities like func_tank and vgui_movie_display, the latter of which would have been useful for Brickyard's easteregg.
These entities would allow for some unique elements in custom maps.

 

[Vel0city]

Get some GPU accelerated compilers. That'd be nice.

Oh, and memory leaks memory leaks memory leaks. I'm surprised they've been in this game for 1.5 years now.

 

[Izotope]

I just remembered something I've always wanted (along many other things that I don't remember):
New damage types for trigger_hurt, for example the vaporization effect caused by the Cowmangler,
the burned-to-ashes effect caused by the Third Degree, et cetera.
I think this is really needed for even more awesome custom map gimmicks.

I'll post more things in here as I remember them.

Spoiler: EDIT

- Cowmangler vaporization effect
- Third Degree burn effect
- Spycicle freeze effect
- Golden Wrench effect

Adding/collecting damage types

 

[Werewolf]

Personally I think the Hammer editor needs some of the 3rd party applications integrated into the main program. Take VTFedit for example, commonly used to convert picture files into .vtf files. Why can't there be a simple option to import a jpeg (or whatever) from inside Hammer? Include a few options to set up the .vmt file, then once you click OK those files are ready to use in the custom/materials directory.

 

[henke37]

Integrated, not built in. It's just a simple matter of launching a new process.

As for my wish: how about predicting env_sprite? It's a small thing, but it ruins the visuals.

Oh, and a queuing system for connecting to full servers. The current system is horribly unfair.

While on the topic of next map, why not allow preemptive downloads of the next map? This way they can cut down on the load time for servers with custom maps. Probably need to be optional so that people without QOS on their internet connection wont complain.

 

[Trippey]

Ladders

 

[Jethro]

All I can think of right now is to remove Medieval mode and Mannpower mode, and finish Cactus Canyon and Asteroid already.

Not a fan of removing gamemodes or maps that work perfectly fine. Do I think they should necessarily be making ten new Medieval-Mannpower maps? No, of course not, but removing functionality for no good reason isn't a good use of time.

 

[Beef Bucket]

I have about two pages worth of loosely connected ideas that I wrote down a month ago and then forgot about. I was going to throw this at Valve's face but prior interaction with them seems to indicate they round file all emails that aren't crash report related. Now I get to throw it all of y'alls faces, yeah!

Spoiler: Words Words Words

Mentally preface each line with one to two self-deprecating statements and the phase ‘I feel as though’
Weapon Changes:
The Huo-Long Heater should given a specific role. The ring of fire already makes it suited to engagements in tight areas, I’d like to see that expanded to by increasing fire rate at a cost of accuracy

Brass Beast - Lessen movement penalty while firing, but damage reduction only applies to the front. Remove the bit about the damage reduction only applying when low health 'cause that shit's needlessly complicated

Having the Loch n Load grenades explode rather than despawn on contact with ground would make it less needlessly difficult to use, though that would infringe on the Soldier’s niche. Currently it seems the Loch n Load’s role is as a building destroyer which the Stickybomb Launcher already fills, better

Tighten Up
Add Backbiter’s crits from behind bonus to the stock flamethrower, remove the Backbiter
When I say combine the Airstrike and Liberty Launcher, I mean remove the Liberty Launcher
Combine the Third Degree and Neon Annihilator
Combine the Conniver’s Kunai and Big Earner
Add the Mantread’s ability to Soldier’s stock attributes, remove

TF2 is cluttered already, and adding any more weapons at this point can only further that problem. That said, adding a new weapon or two is a quick and easy way to get the unwashed masses of your back. If you are going to add new weapons, I think the Iron Bomber approach of changing a minor mechanic would be best

A few such minor changes to consider would be:
Medigun that restores ammo instead of over-healing
SMG/Shotgun that shoots fire, or an SMG/pistol that burst fires
Shotgun that fires slug rounds
Explosive weapon that has increased push force at cost of damage (maybe even add this trait to the Rocket/Sticky Jumper)
With the exception of the Medigun, any of the above could be added to existing weapons

Other Thoughts

Remove scout’s ability to change direction in midair because that’s a pain in the ass to fight against

Minor changes in the pitch of the sound effects of sentries and cloaks depending on team

Hiding a mini sentry somewhere outside spawn is cheap, and fun for nobody except the engineer. This could be countered by greatly reducing the amount of bullets carried by mini sentries and/or having them emit brighter light. If you wanted to get crazy you could have all sentries have Wrangler laser pointers on all the time or fire tracer rounds

It might be useful to see damage done to your healing target as text. It might be possible for a custom HUD to do this, which, while we’re on the subject, it would be nice if the the stock HUD had some of the features of custom ones

When a damage modifier is applied, a number shows up somewhere that indicates how much unmodified damage it would take to kill you

Other, Non Gameplay related changes

Add a HUD workshop

The argument that players should be allowed four cosmetic slots hinges on the idea that the game doesn't already chug on many systems, that said an additional badge slot would be useful
Also, make the world traveler's hat into a badge or a less ridiculous hat. What hats do hitchhikers wear? I don't know, I want to show off my map stamps, but I also don't want to dress like a pirate

Include an option to disable cosmetics and/or unusual effects, for purely optimization purposes of course

 

[radarhead]

Some weapon/class change suggestions for now:

Soda Popper
New stats
Deals crits when fired directly downward
25% faster reload time
50% slower firing speed
-66% clip size
Finally, the #1 Fan set has a purpose! With a weapon that crits when fired downward while being weaker in normal combat, positioning is key. The extra jumps from the atomizer and winger can help you get the "jump" on your enemies, but are not completely necessary to the point where without them this weapon is underpowered.

Liberty Launcher
+100% push force by explosions
+40% projectile speed
-30%damage penalty
Wow! Now it actually combos with the reserve shooter and gives the weapon a new niche: harassment through explosions

Pyro
Afterburn now creates a "healing deficit"/poison effect where a portion of a players health is marked for burning. Affected players will take damage until this the portion of health marked is depleted. Healing sources such as health packs and medigun beams reduced the portion of marked health, reducing afterburn time but not providing health until there is no afterburn left.

Degreaser
+50% afterburn damage
This weapon holsters 50% faster
This weapon deploys 50% slower
-90% direct damage
Now this flamethrower solidifies its niche as the combo weapon for the pyro. Stronger afterburn, faster switch from speed with weaker direct damage makes it the hit/run/sting weapon of choice.

Demoman
Stickybombs deal 50% less damage in midair. Also, revert those dumb quickie launcher changes.
Grenade launcher projectiles now have a longer arc.
I think that it is proof that air bursts are too strong when it is considered unskilled or noobish to use demoman's primary weapon at all.

The Bottle/Scottish Handshake:
Now break on first hit with enemy. Not confusing for new players.

The Buffalo Steak Sandvich
While under the effects, move speed is increased by 30%, attacks mini-crit, damage taken will be decreased by 25%, and the player may only use melee weapons.
-50% eating time
Valve. The Heavy is a meat sponge. Locking him to melee and increasing his speed by a negligible amount does not make him strong enough to warrant the increased damage, especially considering most of his melee weapons make him take more damage anyways.

The Dalokahs Bar
Same as it is now, but takes 50% less time to eat when under the effects.

 

[Hyperion]

I have about two pages worth of loosely connected ideas that I wrote down a month ago and then forgot about. I was going to throw this at Valve's face but prior interaction with them seems to indicate they round file all emails that aren't crash report related. Now I get to throw it all of y'alls faces, yeah!

Spoiler: Words Words Words

Mentally preface each line with one to two self-deprecating statements and the phase ‘I feel as though’
Weapon Changes:
The Huo-Long Heater should given a specific role. The ring of fire already makes it suited to engagements in tight areas, I’d like to see that expanded to by increasing fire rate at a cost of accuracy

Brass Beast - Lessen movement penalty while firing, but damage reduction only applies to the front. Remove the bit about the damage reduction only applying when low health 'cause that shit's needlessly complicated

Having the Loch n Load grenades explode rather than despawn on contact with ground would make it less needlessly difficult to use, though that would infringe on the Soldier’s niche. Currently it seems the Loch n Load’s role is as a building destroyer which the Stickybomb Launcher already fills, better

Tighten Up
Add Backbiter’s crits from behind bonus to the stock flamethrower, remove the Backbiter
When I say combine the Airstrike and Liberty Launcher, I mean remove the Liberty Launcher
Combine the Third Degree and Neon Annihilator
Combine the Conniver’s Kunai and Big Earner
Add the Mantread’s ability to Soldier’s stock attributes, remove

TF2 is cluttered already, and adding any more weapons at this point can only further that problem. That said, adding a new weapon or two is a quick and easy way to get the unwashed masses of your back. If you are going to add new weapons, I think the Iron Bomber approach of changing a minor mechanic would be best

A few such minor changes to consider would be:
Medigun that restores ammo instead of over-healing
SMG/Shotgun that shoots fire, or an SMG/pistol that burst fires
Shotgun that fires slug rounds
Explosive weapon that has increased push force at cost of damage (maybe even add this trait to the Rocket/Sticky Jumper)
With the exception of the Medigun, any of the above could be added to existing weapons

Other Thoughts

Remove scout’s ability to change direction in midair because that’s a pain in the ass to fight against

Minor changes in the pitch of the sound effects of sentries and cloaks depending on team

Hiding a mini sentry somewhere outside spawn is cheap, and fun for nobody except the engineer. This could be countered by greatly reducing the amount of bullets carried by mini sentries and/or having them emit brighter light. If you wanted to get crazy you could have all sentries have Wrangler laser pointers on all the time or fire tracer rounds

It might be useful to see damage done to your healing target as text. It might be possible for a custom HUD to do this, which, while we’re on the subject, it would be nice if the the stock HUD had some of the features of custom ones

When a damage modifier is applied, a number shows up somewhere that indicates how much unmodified damage it would take to kill you

Other, Non Gameplay related changes

Add a HUD workshop

The argument that players should be allowed four cosmetic slots hinges on the idea that the game doesn't already chug on many systems, that said an additional badge slot would be useful
Also, make the world traveler's hat into a badge or a less ridiculous hat. What hats do hitchhikers wear? I don't know, I want to show off my map stamps, but I also don't want to dress like a pirate

Include an option to disable cosmetics and/or unusual effects, for purely optimization purposes of course

Buff LnL? Uhhmm what? IMO it is almost straight upgrade to stock because you can hit enemies more easily and sentries go down in <2 seconds

To Captain Claim, adding guaranteed crits for scout doesn't work as we have seen with critcola

 

[Mikroscopic]

I wonder if it would be possible to have a modded server that tests these kinds of changes. I know there's some custom weapons servers out there, so why not a "rebalance testing" server?