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1999 video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Team Fortress Classic is a first-person shooter game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios. It was originally released in April 1999 for Windows, and is based on Team Fortress, a mod for the 1996 game Quake. The game puts two teams against each other in online multiplayer matches; each member plays as one of nine classes, each with different skills. The scenarios include capture the flag, territorial control, and escorting a "VIP" player.
| Team Fortress Classic | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Valve |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Designer(s) |
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| Engine | GoldSrc |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux |
| Release | April 7, 1999
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| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Valve hired the developers of the Team Fortress mod to develop Team Fortress Classic using its GoldSrc engine (used in their 1998 game Half-Life) to promote the Half-Life software development kit.[1] The game received generally positive reviews, although the graphics were a point for criticism. In 2007, Valve released sequel Team Fortress 2.
Matches in Team Fortress Classic typically feature two teams, one red and one blue, and nine playable character classes. Each character class has a set of weapons and abilities unique to that specific class. This differentiation between classes makes for rock-paper-scissors-esque gameplay that requires teammates to work together in order to effectively achieve the objective.[2] The class-system also encourages players to vary their selection of classes and utilize certain classes in conjunction with one another to gain the advantage.
In Team Fortress Classic, a server can hold up to 32 players simultaneously, and matches can be played in a number of game modes, each featuring different objectives.[3]
In Team Fortress Classic, the player can choose to play as one of nine classes: the Scout, Sniper, Soldier, Demoman, Medic, Heavy Weapons Guy, Pyro, Spy, or Engineer. Each class comes equipped with at least one weapon unique to that class, and often a secondary weapon which may be common across multiple classes (typically a shotgun or nailgun). Additionally, each class gets a melee weapon (all classes, with the exception of the Medic, Spy, and Engineer, wield a crowbar, an homage to Valve's game Half-Life). Finally, each player carries grenades; the effects of grenades vary, depending on the player's class.[4]
In Escort game modes, a player may also choose to play as the Civilian class, which is armed only with an umbrella, no armor, and very little health. Civilians are typically escorted and protected by the rest of the team.[5]
Team Fortress was originally a modification for Quake (1996),[14] and then later for QuakeWorld, developed by TF Software Pty. Ltd. Its developers were working on a standalone version, Team Fortress 2, when they were hired by Valve to write a port of Team Fortress as a mod for Valve's game Half-Life.[15] After several delays from the original release date of March 26, 1999, the mod was released on April 7, 1999.[16][17]
On June 9, 2000, Team Fortress version 1.5 was released as a part of Half-Life's 1.1 update.[15] It was the first standalone version of Team Fortress.[18] The update added "new sounds and weapons, enhanced graphics, new models for classes and weapons, new maps from popular mapmakers, an updated user interface that makes finding and joining games easy and intuitive, and a new in-game Command Menu Interface".[19] It also included a new in-game interface and the networking code for Valve's then-upcoming Team Fortress 2.[20] There were three new maps with the update: Dustbowl, Warpath, and Epicenter.[21] Additionally, the new Command Menu Interface was an in-game menu that allowed players to execute commands to change teams, call for a medic and change classes while in a match.[19]
Valve significantly updated the game over time, tweaking the game's networking code, and adding new maps and game modes. In 2003, Team Fortress Classic was released on Valve's Steam system. Versions for OS X and Linux were released in 2013.[22]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 85%[23] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| PC Gamer (UK) | 85%[24] |
| PC Gaming World | 9.8/10[25] |
Team Fortress Classic received positive reviews, garnering a rating of 85% on the video game review aggregator site GameRankings.[23] There were some criticisms, however, like Graham Smith of Rock, Paper, Shotgun who criticized the game for being "like Counter Strike only messy and gruff."[26] PC Gamer US named Team Fortress Classic the best multiplayer game of 1999, and wrote that it was "more fun and more addictive than any other multiplayer-only title released in 1999, and didn't cost owners of Half-Life a single penny."[27] PC Gamer UK praised the game for its multiple character classes, "sophisticated game-tactics", and drive to work together with your team, but also noted the game's "clunky" inter-team communication and mediocre graphics.[24] In 2010, the game was included as one of the games in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[28]
Following the success of Team Fortress as a Quake modification, Team Fortress Software began development of a sequel. Interested in the project's potential, Valve hired the team to develop Team Fortress 2 on the modified Quake engine used by Half-Life.[29] The partnership was announced in 1998, developed in parallel to Team Fortress Classic. However, the game was not shown publicly until a year later at E3 1999. Introduced as Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms, the game showcased multiple unprecedented technologies for its time and won several awards including "Best Online Game" and "Best Action Game".[30] In June 2000, Valve announced that Team Fortress 2 had been delayed further, attributing this to their rebuilding of the game on a new, proprietary in-house engine that is today known as the Source engine.[31]
Following this delay, little mention of the game was made by Valve for a period of six years. Running up to Half-Life 2's release in 2004, Valve's Doug Lombardi claimed that Team Fortress 2 was still being developed and news of its release would come after that of Half-Life 2.[32] In 2006, during Electronic Arts' 2006 Summer Showcase, the game was shown publicly, with an art style that contrasted its initial design.[33] In 2007, Team Fortress 2 was released to critical acclaim as part of The Orange Box.[34]
The plot and characters of Team Fortress 2 were expanded upon outside of the game in the form of short videos or comics. In April 2014, the Team Fortress comic series reintroduced the Team Fortress Classic classes (excluding their respective Medic) as a rival cast of characters to the Team Fortress 2 team.[35] A catch-up comic released on the TF2 website released for free comic book day described Team Fortress Classic as being set in an alternate 1930, and that the game takes place during the Gravel Wars era of the timeline, along with the fact that the Classic engineer is the father of the engineer in Team Fortress 2.
A fan-made total conversion mod for Half-Life 2 titled Fortress Forever was created, aiming to replicate the gameplay of Team Fortress Classic while using the more modern Source engine.[36] Fans have also made a similar mod of Team Fortress 2 titled Team Fortress 2 Classic, which seeks to marry gameplay elements and concepts from both entries alongside scrapped ideas from the sequel's development cycle and several entirely original additions.
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