CommunityFortress

Definitely no disrespect meant to Robin by posting these, he did a great job answering the questions he did and we appreciate the time he put into them. It's tough to say with some of these questions why he chose not to discuss them, omg new maps soon? Although with others its more apparent, such as the X-box/Microsoft dispute remaining untouched. Either way, Jinn and I thought it'd be good for you guys to see what else we asked that wasn't included in the interview...and to feed some speculation.

eXtine: Its been great to see the debut of the TF2 comics, which alongside the “hidden” web-pages have done quite a bit to expand the story of the Team Fortress world. When did this back-story start coming together, and what can we expect in the future in terms of integrating storyline with TF’s multiplayer gameplay?

Robin:

eXtine: A new format for recording and playing back demos has been in the works for a while now. Its long fermentation is surely indicative of more expansive changes being included. Can you let us in on how that work is going, and what features will be included initially and in the future?

Robin:

eXtine: Will Valve’s upcoming maps incorporate more story elements? Is it possible we will see objective oriented maps ala Enemy Territory? Is R.E.D. ever going to get to attack? Any updates you can give us on maps in development?

Robin:

eXtine: The Orange Box for the X-box 360 sold about a million copies and there was a small but strong community of players who played TF2 on the X-box for a long time despite its less developed state in comparison to the PC version. While some aspects of the game, such as rocket jumping, are more difficult on the console, the game nonetheless translated well with the smaller player counts paralleling the competitive game style. Can you share some of your thoughts on the challenges of dealing with TF2 for the X-box and will we ever see a re-release for the 360?

Robin:

eXtine: With the Halloween Special sale, Free Weekends, and influxes after big patches, Valve has brought in a multitude of new players since the game launched. While Valve has always had a philosophy of post-release support, are TF2’s continuous sales, alongside the ever expanding TF2 merchandise line, enough to keep a development team devoted to the game for a long time to come?

Robin:

eXtine: While Valve has never included advertisements in-game, enabling teams to display their sponsor’s logo through a jersey system, increasing the capability for leagues to insert advertisements into maps/demos, or even potentially inserting commercial breaks between rounds are the types of things that could eventually lead to “professional” FPSers actually being paid professionals. Is this something that Valve would ever enable themselves or is it your belief that these sorts of issues lie in the hands of players and league administrators?

Robin:

eXtine: The Source engine appears to have a large amount of scalability with players finding variables to tweak the graphic performance higher than intended. As the lower end of computing power rises, cheaper systems will be able to run TF2 and it will be available to more players. On the other hand, the hardcore element of the gamer community will always be trying to push the capabilities of the engine. Is the Source engine durable and upgrade-able enough to last for a long time to come?

Robin:

eXtine: Having been involved with Team Fortress from its origins as a Quake mod through the development of TF2 and its various updates, you’ve guided Team Fortress to the fantastic game that it is now. TF2 is still bursting with life in the competitive scene and on casual servers. At what point in the future would Team Fortress 2 development wrap-up and your attention turn towards Team Fortress 3?

Robin: