Viewer Workshop: Thunderchin

Thunderchin gets props for being the first person to comment on this blog. I've seen his work before on the SPUF forums, so there's extra props there. Check out his blog here. Anyway, as promised I plan to promote ideas I like from the comments section on Fridays, in a segment I call Viewer Workshop. I might even talk a bit about ideas, offer suggestions and such.



The Medic
Offensive/Support/Transportation is all in one Building. Think of it as a Dispenser that can overheal. As it heals, it builds up a meter of its own. Also as it heals, it doles out speed boosts to whoever it heals. When this meter gets full, it becomes a planted Buff Banner except with full crits instead of minicrits.

An all-in-one building that offers overhealing, speed buffs, and eventually full crits. I've dubbed it the "Comprehensive Coverage". It's a full support machine from a full-support class. I like it.


The Spy
Offensive: Decoy Generator
Generates holographic decoys of the friendly team to help draw fire.
Support/Transportation: Team Invisibility

I'm a known proponent of team invisibility in general, so of course the team invisibility machine gets earmarked as a good idea. Of course, it's one I think is so valuable it could even be extended into the multiplayer arena, so that would be interesting to see.

Heavy Buildings

The Heavy Buildings were kind of a tricky build because, of course, everyone always wants to suggest a sandvich dispenser, and nobody wants to see a support building that gives the Heavy independent heavy ammo a la the dispenser. Giving him an offensive weapon that didn't come off as overpowered

Anyway, this is a continuation of the MVM buildings project, buildings for the Heavy. Further concept art is forthcoming. As always, suggest your own! I am by no means even a halfway competent developer and I have a one track mind. Get creative and submit stuff to my comments! Good comments and ideas will get posted--with credit--on Fridays.

Offense:

The Western Affront
Rename pending. This is a fast-deploying minisentry type weapon, meant more to help the Heavy beat retreats than serve as additional firepower. Drop one of these to stall the robots while you spin down, back up, and head for more health and ammo.

Support:
Natascha II
This support weapon works like a regular sentry, but instead of firing bullets, it slows down its victim. Hits are still registered as hits (and can thus draw the attention of sentry busters), but do zero damage.

Transportation:
The Cubano
This "transportation" building actually generates a defensive cloak--enemies cannot attack through it, as though it were a fortification. Technically I guess it is a fortification.

Medic Buildings

A continuation of the MVM buildings project, buildings for the Medic. Further concept art is forthcoming. As always, suggest your own! I am by no means even a halfway competent developer and I have a one track mind. Get creative and submit stuff to my comments! Good comments and ideas will get posted--with credit--on Fridays.

Offense:
The Zombie Turret
On kill in AOE, generates a zombie minisentry
Minisentries can be controlled by dead allies



  
This is a double modification of a couple of older ideas I had. The Zombie Turret doesn't actually do any killing on its own. However, when there's a kill nearby, it converts the victim's robot corpse into a Zombie Node, a tiny minisentry that deals a small amount of damage. However, there's another special perk to this: zombie miniturrets can be operated by the spirit of dead comrades waiting for a respawn. Medics can opt to eject unhelpful allies by shooting a possessed zombie turret.

Support:
The Blood Bath
Collects all non-medic healing in range and converts it into a canteen charge. Every time a nearby ally collects healing from a medkit, eats a sandvich, lands a hit with the Black Box or Blutsauger, or heals themselves in any way, they generate charge. As an added bonus, a canteen charge ALSO fills a medic's uber bar by 50%.

Transportation:
A standard teleporter. I got nothing.

Pyro Buildings

A continuation of the MVM buildings project, buildings for the Pyro. Further concept art is forthcoming. As always, suggest your own! I am by no means even a halfway competent developr and I have a one track mind. Get creative and submit stuff to my comments! Good comments and ideas will get posted--with credit--on Fridays.

Pyro PDA: A charred notepad and pencil (?)




Offense:
The Volcano Rig
This teeny-tiny sentry remains dormant until an enemy gets close, then lets loose with a fiery blast that knocks the enemy into the air while setting them on fire. Its dormant state is silent as the grave.






Support:
The Camping Fire
Expendable canteens last a few extra seconds longer

Transportation:
The Air Elevator
Tosses an ally into the air (and extinguishes them!)

Looking for a clever way to bounce allies around. This isn't really that clever.

The Streetfighting Scout Set

Seen here in front of a weird brown blob

The Bonk! Variety Pack
Primary Weapon
M1: Throw held beverage
Hold M1: Shake held beverage (creates splash attack)
M2: Consume held beverage
Jumping off someone's head deals 25 damage

You can throw beverages quickly, about one every one second, with each dealing 60 damage on a direct hit. A well-shaken can deals 120 damage with splash. You can consume cans to gain beverage buffs, but they fill a thirst bar. When the bar is full, you can't drink any more, so watch out. You have six bottles, and you're carrying a two more six packs in your satchel. Or towel, or whatever the Scout is wearing on his back.


The reload animation is the Scout flipping the empty carton over his shoulder and taking a new one from behind his back.

The Bonk Variety Pack activates a PDA slot, the Beverage menu. The beverage menu can be used to select which flavor is next in the rotation. This feature is especially under consideration for utility.

Flavor 1: Bonk Standard
normal phase ability, cannot attack during

Flavor 2: Crit-a-cola Classic
minicrit bonus, can attack during

Flavor 3: Painslayers brand Analgesic Beverage
Heals 30 HP and negates ramp-up for ten seconds, can attack during
Flavor 4: Australium in a Can
Your projectiles deal extra damage for ten seconds, can attack during

The idea was to create a Scout set that takes away all his guns and leaves him using sort of found, everyday weapons instead. Mostly I just like the idea of a guy running into a gunfight whipping bottles from his six pack at everybody he sees, but eventually I realized it was sort of a Scout-appropriate grenade launcher disguised as a six pack.

And I liked that. People on SPUF would complain if you created an item called "The Gremlin's Grenades" and was a badly nerfed Scout grenade launcher, but if you disguise it as something the scout would plausibly use... I probably shouldn't be explaining this out loud.

The Arthur

The Arthur
Baseball Bat
Alt fire: Improved functionality to targeted friendly building
Excessive buffing will hurt you
-50% swing speed



Basically, the Scout uses his non-bat-holding hand to love-tap friendly buildings, causing them to temporarily work faster. Dispensers heal slightly more, teleporters recharge faster, and sentries fire a little quicker. Buffs are administered on a meter, and exceeding the buff hurts the Scout's hand. Just a fun little idea.

Scout Buildings

Brainstorming All-Class PDAs, because obsessive completionism and machines are more fun than working game mechanics. These are designed specifically for MvM, where the smaller playercounts make all-class sentries a workable idea. This is an idea that keeps reverberating in my head, buildings for all classes as designed by the Engineer, because I want the engineer to design more things. I hunger for them. Admittedly most of these have more in common with the "character" of each merc than their class, but then this is a fun exercise more than a serious game changer.

Non-engie buildings are, in this vision, not upgradeable or repairable partially to avoid the visual incongruity of fixing a things by hitting them with swords, baseball bats, or whatever.

Ultimately, these ideas turn TF2 into a Orcs Must Die style castle defense/action title, and that sounds like a freaking awesome idea to me.

First up is the Scout.

PDA: Simple, gameboy-like PDA (credit where it's due)

Offense: The Pitching Arm
Fires stun baseballs
Looks like the sentry, but with a horizontal spinning wheel over the ammo feed to fire baseballs. And a modified barrel. Obviously.

Support: The Second Phase
Allies moving near this building charge it, eventually activating a phase ability that minimizes damage
An handheld cooler containing bonk. The lid is wired with a timer, and when it reaches zero the lid opens and allies are phased.





Transportation: The Plate
A directional plate that gives classes running over it a speed boost.
Looks like home plate.