Team Fortress 2 Freeze Tag Trailer

[@nanoco1000]

If you'd like to try out Freeze Tag, I am currently hosting a 24/7 Freeze Tag server: If you'd like to join, paste this into your console: connect 65.109.228.219 Aarmastah is also currently hosting all 6 Freeze Tag maps on his map testing server which you can find here: aarmastah.xyz/servers/tf.php

[@yahkimicki236]

Looks like fun, I'll be there

[@agoatheadbaby3512]

I can't seem to connect. Whenever I try to, I receive an error message along the lines of my map not being similar to the server's. Could you tell me what this means and what I could do to resolve the issue so that I may connect to the server?

[@nanoco1000]

@@agoatheadbaby3512 Sorry about this! the issue should be fixed now. himalaya updated on the workshop while I asleep and the server was still on the old version

[@agoatheadbaby3512]

@@nanoco1000 Thank you!

[@ejotas]

personally i'm not a big fan of community created gamemodes introduced in casual, but this one feels just right. this one makes the arena gamemode enjoyable, and encourages teamwork. congratulations on such an amazing concept

[@jeremypanjaitan4039]

vscript developers finally realizing that adding the shooting in an fps is more fun to do than prop hunt in an fps game

[@alechandro89]

@@jeremypanjaitan4039 to be fair even a lot vscripters hated prop hunt , it wasn't liked by all of them Some realized it's pure garbage

[@coolepic519]

It feels like something Valve themself would add into the Misc. section.

[@woshee_real]

The ones added have been enjoyable, VSH was essentially a long time favorite come official yet unofficial but yeah prophunt needed either more time in the oven or be a minigame in a halloween map.

[@wealthybone2990]

Why not? Community created gamemodes are the best like Saxton Hale/ Freak Fortress or Medieval Mode which I'm pretty sure was a community made at first?

[@ThePyroGod]

Arena but you can actually play most of the round? Sounds sick!

[@PootisBirdTF2]

I really don't understand why so many people hate it... it's just a Gamemode, This will not exclude all other game modes if added

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Now I can enjoy the thing I like most about Spycicle without the downsides of the spycicle..

[@wealthybone2990]

Honestly I've never thought of something like this before but I think it works quite well and I thibk it'd be a great mode for Christmas.

[@KeplerFNAF]

I’ve playtested this and it’s really fun! It’s like arena but good and you can actually play 90% of the time. Plus it adds a nice teamwork element

[@Sizzyl]

this seems like it'd be a fun christmas-only gamemode

[@Aarmastah]

Glad to be able to help with testing!

[@Ihateliarz]

Oh look it’s “I’m worse than j peg so imma ban him to help my boyfriend cucky Jesus”

[@arthropleura1075]

​@@Ihateliarzwah wah the nolife compie cant strange farm on casual players wah wah i got banned from the server! yeah man big deal

[@objectionablycurious]

this feels like a better arena mode

[@propangasschnuffle]

i think that is the point

[@pidialski]

WE BEGGING TO BE UNFROZEN IN VOICE CHAT WITH THIS ONE🔥🔥🔥🔥🕊🕊🕊💥💥💥

[@yazidefirenze]

I like it. It's still TF2, its still "shoot at the enemy team" like Arena, it just adds a new mechanic in freezing. Compared to other modes like VSH and Zombie Infection, it's the most like base TF2. No special abilities locked to a class, just Arena with a twist.

[@aarongman1909]

Freeze tag was the only reason I started playing Quake Live, I’m so fucking excited for this to be in TF2s community servers

[@nanoco1000]

I've always loved Freeze Tag, ever since Quake 3. I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to do it justice like this!

[@Nonmoth]

I have never been a big fan of vscript gamemodes, i think they bloat the game and add experiences that people stop interacting with after the update they were introduced and add more dead maps to the pool, however this feels more like an extension of arena mode then a huge gameplay change that is anathetical to what tf2 has been for most of its lifespan. I dont think we need more gamemodes (or even maps for that matter), but since we are inevitably going to get them anyway, this one is inoffensive and i think it would be ok to have in game as small shakeup of a gamemode that many dislike

[@hatti...]

VScript gamemodes deserve a fair chance to prove themselves. I feel as though the community had been a tad bit irresponsible with the new tools and immediately began making modes that turn TF2 into a completely different game, getting VScript itself a lot of backlash, when it has loads of potential to make fun gamemode variants that belong in TF2. This is one of them, I think. The biggest drawback of Arena is the severe punishment for dying. Waiting until next round. Making fun plays being too risky to bother with. This keeps the core idea of Arena while alleviating so much of the risk and waiting involved. Being derived from Quake, it just feels right.

[@nanoco1000]

Thank you for your kind words. I've definitely been feeling the burn of the preconceptions of vscript as a result of how those past projects were received, but not as much I had initially feared. I think my biggest saving grace so far has been vscript skeptics giving FT a try on a full server, having a really fun time, and publically voicing in the comments about how skeptical they were, and how they had a lot of fun in the end. It's hard to urge people to give it a go when you created the mode, because of the obvious biases, but I'm happy with the reception, nonetheless.

[@moony_otter]

I think this is a cool concept, but I'm not sure if the Arena game mode was a good base to go off of Arena tends to be way too individual-focused; every single kill is a permanent detriment to everyone else, whereas in other TF2 game modes, a single player's death on a team is either made up by a good hold by their teammates, or they are allowed to recouperate after the respawn queue. I think this is a SUPER neat idea, much more engaging than normal Arena, but I feel there could be improvements: 1. An alternative objective that can be used by the losing team to recouperate after heavy losses; this is what things like a slow Payload cart, respawn waves, or slow capture times do, is to slow the momentum of the offending team to allow the other team to reform some defence. In this current version, steamrolls are going to be much more obvious and happen much more frequently, and this could be helped by some kind of limiting factor on the winning team (not something to punish winning, but something to make good momentum less likely to lead to steamrolls) or some kind of bonus for the losing team when they find some form of success (such as, maybe a slight health regen while unfreezing a teammate) or, 2: Allow players some method of unthawing themselves, perhaps by simply waiting, mashing a button, or some other idea that I'm not sure of lol. This MIGHT help avoid steamrolls, giving the losing team some chance to recouperate even if they're not quite able to get to any of their frozen teammates because 3 of them died at the start of the match, or one team doesnt have a medic and the other team does, and that alone was enough to lead to a steamroll. TF2, despite what many claim, is incredibly difficult to balance, and in many cases is simply unbalanced as it is now. Arena was killed off because of how it didn't fit the team-focused gameplay the mercenaries and their weapons were designed around, and led to too many situations where the slightest weakness in one team, a single slip-up (or crit rocket), and there would simply be nothing the team could do, the enemy simply has an inherent advantage that cannot be avoided. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out, here's for the best for you and everyone working on this project!

[@manitoba-op4jx]

well, maybe it makes teamplay in arena work

[@moony_otter]

@ maybe, perhaps teammate resurrection is exactly what Arena Mode needed, im not sure! looking forward to trying it out myself

[@nanoco1000]

From our testing we've seen that it's a lot less steamrolly than you might initially think. In standard arena once the first player dies on your team you're immediately at a disadvantage, not to mention the first blood crits (yuck). Being able to bring that player back and help even the odds has lead to more balanced games, and even some situations where a team comes back from having like, only 2 alive players and it's hype as hell to watch that comeback happen in real time

[@Le_Codex]

One important factor that we added after a lot of testing is actually to adress what you are pointing out: the more players on your team are dead, the less time it takes to thaw players. The losing team needs less effort to get back players than the winning team (from 5 seconds down to just 1), which from our testing has resulted in pretty big comebacks if the winning team gets a bit complacent and leaves a bunch of statues unguarded

[@monothephantom]

This is a creative and much more fun looking take on arena mode. I'd always get pretty bored after dying, especially when it happened early, so having a mechanic to revive sounds like a lot of fun. Hope it's balanced well lol.

[@blar3499]

a VSH variant of this would go hard

[@nanoco1000]

yknow you're not the first person to suggest this, maybe some time in the future I'll reach out to lizard of oz and see if he'd want to collaborate or something. though, knowing source, it won't be an easy copy+paste job lmao

[@reptiliannoizezz.413]

Finally, Arena but I won't have to wait till the end of the match to keep playing

[@adagas-caouchristian7875]

Very happy to see this classic Quake gamemode adapted to my favourite shooter! Great work.

[@nanoco1000]

Thank you! I'm a lifelong quake fan myself too :)

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

This is definitely an interesting way to make Arena mode less dull, although balancing how long before the control point activates must be tricky. If it takes too long, the revive mechanic will only further drag uneven games out. Make it too short, and the revive mechanic doesn't have time to properly come into play. And of course, revives only serve to legitimize the old cloak-and-dagger spies that made Arena drag even worse. Players can't both guard frozen enemies and hunt down that single remaining spy, after all. You'll want to find ways to discourage that kind of playstyle.

[@Le_Codex]

From testing, the deciding factor was actually more how long the point takes to cap. We've landed on a pretty long capture time, since that often results in the winning team having to dedicate themselves to the point and leaving room for the losing team to swoop in and get last minute revives. Sometimes it even turned into a full blown comeback! We've landed on 75 seconds for the point unlocking, which is slightly longer than regular Arena

[@Dabestbro.]

This is a really cool idea. Not sure why some people are up in arms about a mode potentially being added that they never have to play if they don't want to. Seems more engaging than arena

[@Mark_Master1]

if actual care is put into this then it looks great

[@nanoco1000]

I'm pleased to say that me and my team put so much care and effort in to make sure that it could be as good as it could possible be. We started working on this on 17/10/2023, about a week after Scream Fortress 2023 dropped, so that we had plenty of time to polish it and make it as smooth as possible!

[@FillerName4]

I'm seeing a lot of hate and backlash to this gamemode for the admittedly very reasonable fear that this will be another slop gamemode that does not represent TF2 as a whole and is more tacky crap rushed to the game to give map makers money, when I'd argue this is much more like Haarp, a reimagining of an already existing gamemode (albeit a very flawed one) that expands on it in a way that still remains as TF2, and not tacky shit like Zombie Infection and the proposed Gun Game and Prop Hunt. THIS is what Vscript should be used for. This is my first exposure to this twist on Arena, but it's very promising. I hope to be able to playtest this map soon, and to the developers, don't be deterred by the hate. Keep at it, you've got something special going here.

[@nanoco1000]

If you're available in like an hour and want to play, we'll be playing Freeze Tag over on Aarmastah's server: connect 5.161.191.55:27015 I would love to see some new faces trying it out and giving their opinion on it!

[@FillerName4]

@ Unfortunately I've got my hands tied with school right now. I'll see if I can make it, but if not I can always wait for next time. Thanks for letting me know though!

[@manitoba-op4jx]

@@nanoco1000 you managed to get an ip address that starts with a single digit, epic

[@milliondollarmistake]

zombie infection works fine lol

[@oliverbertrand]

imagine the spycicle stab

[@JAMeep-xx1vv]

I have one problem… there’s no funny ragdolls.

[@theblorg]

this is a great trailer! cant wait to play it if it gets added! you think you could add in a feature where medics revive frozen players twice as fast, like how scout caps twice as fast (influences more people to play medic and help their team)? Anyway, all these maps look great and the gamemode sounds fun!!

[@nanoco1000]

We currently have it so that medics (using the medigun) can revive players at 66% speed, rather than faster, since scouts and pain train users already thaw people out faster. I think that giving the medic the ability to thaw people from a distance so he doesn't need to put himself in harms way is a fair way to balance it (since we couldn't stop medics healing statues anyway, so we just leaned into the mechanic instead)

[@1creeperbomb]

Lol in the upgrades arena map, I think I was revived like once. Letting any player do it sounds interesting.

[@taste5728]

1:25 i don't seem to see difference between class respawn timer meaning you could stack up power class instead of support or glass canon ones. I feel like those details need to be examined before releasing the gamemode to casual?

[@nanoco1000]

Hi, I'm not quite sure what you mean, do you mean that certain classes should take longer to thaw out than others?

[@taste5728]

@nanoco1000 yes just like how MvM reanimators take longer on specific classes. I really fear that a meta of heavy, soldier/demo with pain trains and medic vaccinators could create a wall of health and respawn. I admit that there ton of settings who play in hand such as the map layout and i will need to test it on your servers before making up my mind. Honestly with more testing and balancing it could be a good Misc gamemode but you need to take your time with it and not try to release it a soon as possible. Saxton hale and Zombie infection got ton of balancing issues who could have been prevented with more testing.

[@nanoco1000]

@@taste5728 We have been working on freeze tag since October 17th of 2023. Rest assured that we've taken our time with it, and that it plays very smoothly :)

[@IrishCoder]

Imagine a Cryo Class, that replaces pyro

[@elliotbizarre6885]

The maps for this gamemode are sick as hell omg

[@dashthatonedude]

the song is so good

[@nanoco1000]

You should go check out ODDEEO's other songs then! They're all bangers imo!

[@pixalosh]

cant wait to die in a corner and never be revived

[@nanoco1000]

We'll be working on stuff to let teammates know where you are more easily, like calling out for help when frozen and stuff like that

[@PaddelStar]

Looks great. Might actually prefer this mode over the vanilla arena mode.

[@wiggytommy8607]

Seems *cool!* Very Quake III of you

[@nanoco1000]

Thank you! I've been playing quake since I was a little babby so it's very near and dear to my heart :)

[@JillofTrades]

You're onto something here! This looks fun!

[@darenoon]

This looks pretty neat, surprised there's so many shit takes in the comments though.

[@nanoco1000]

Unfortunately just the status quo now for people making vscript modes after the reception of prop hunt and gungame/deathmatch. I'm just hoping that we can prove that vscript isn't the horrible boogyman that everyone thinks it is

[@DegmoGrandfather]

@@nanoco1000I think its more that adding gamemodes that doesnt really have anything to do with the core game itself. And if people want to play them. Have custom servers. Not many people play the other v-script gamemodes that is in casual since its not as popular. Cool for the moment but not in the long run. Dont get me wrong this looks neat but not for a casual setting.

[@randoguy7488]

@@DegmoGrandfather Ah yes, the fun and casual gamemode belongs in pro leagues and esports

[@DegmoGrandfather]

@@randoguy7488 Has nothing to do with it. By creating many casual gamemodes we split the players even more which will cause longer queue times. And why create official ones when we have the community servers. And if it is so wanted, why is many servers with said gamemode dead or barren if its so needed?

[@KiwiConductor]

Not only does this game mode look Cool but the developers seem really nIce and Chill

[@smiggleincinc]

i love arena, and would appreciate this map being added. great work with vscript!

[@DoubleRealitian]

The comment section is torn in half and I think I understand why. The Conservatives of TF2 do not want to let people alienate the game from what it really is. And then there's people who would like to bring something new to the table. While I understand the conservative concern regarding bloating the game with needless gamemodes and things that just don't feel like TF2, I think it's not such a big deal. If we will keep freeze tag gamemode as a smissmas special then I don't think this will ruin the game. I would be more upset myself if this was now all-year permanent addition to the game and I would definitely not play on it.. mostly because you know how it is to play TF2 in close quarters is.. tryhards will always triumph. I also worry that if we'll keep adding 1-2 new game modes every year then the game will really turn out for the worse. So let's don't get ahead of ourselves with the new community-made content. In conclusion: Cool concept, if you'll get the green light then please keep it as a smismass gamemode only.

[@nanoco1000]

We would love it to be a smissmas exclusive as we think it would make it more special every time it comes around every year, but I don't think we get control of that unfortunately, I think that's entirely up to valve whether it's holiday restricted or not :(

[@manitoba-op4jx]

goated neutral comment. thanks for "getting it"

[@sora911204]

I absolutely hate vanilla arena, and anything creative mappers can do to change the mode is likely only a benefit. I think this is a cool idea but I’d like to see a more in-depth review of the revive mechanic. (How does DR function with it and how do the revives impact matches)

[@nanoco1000]

The revives provide way more sway over the outcome of a match. During testing we had multiple instances of a team getting down to 3 or less players, while the enemy team had more or less all of the players. In regular arena this would be the death knell and the round would basically be over already, but we've had times where those 3 players were able to revive some members of their team to even the playing field and go on to win the round, it's super exciting! As for the dead ringer, we accounted for that! As you can see at 1:11, it creates a fake statue where you died that disappears when you uncloak. Teammates will see a DR icon above your statue so that they know it's not real, and it has a unique sound for when it disappears (which you can kinda hear in the video, but not too well)

[@sora911204]

@@nanoco1000 Do the revives act as control points? (Can multiple players expedite the revive)

[@nanoco1000]

@@sora911204 Sorry for the late reply! Yes, we wanted to utilise as much of base-game tf2's mechanics as possible so that players more easily understood how interactions work. So in this regard, multiple players speed up the revives, as well as scout and pain train users. You can also block an enemy revive like you would block a cap point by standing near it. I even made all of the bespoke reviving and blocking noises sound like the cap point sounds (but different enough to not cause confusion)

[@DeltaTitan]

This looks cool enough that it might actually get me to open up tf2 again

[@Giozize]

Oh this is a sick idea. Good job! Hopefully gets added

[@JJtoob]

This unlocked a core memory. I forgot about this game mode. The first time I played freeze tag was in a Call of Duty 4 custom server with this mod. It was super fun! Wonder what game they used this idea in first?

[@nanoco1000]

As far as I could tell from my research at the start of development it started as a playground game, and then its first use in a videogame was Quake multiplayer. I may be wrong and there may be a game the did it before Quake, but that's as far back as I could find.

[@PyroToaster75]

I think you did a great job of incorporating tf2 gameplay with your own custom sub objective, it enables robin walkers core value of this game of letting good and bad players contribute and making a difference in this match. I think everyone hated most vscript stuff that isnt a core gameplay for example prop hunt. But you did it, this definitely makes me excited for your arena twist. People that have negative things to say are only looking at it at a surface level and don't understand your gameplay concept along with player interaction/implication of the possible scenarios they can cause with winning or losing and close calls that can happen from being sweaty or goofy. This is how you make a vscript game mode and I hope you dont get burn out from the nay sayers

[@nanoco1000]

Thank you for the kind words! We've definitely had some vscript naysayers writing some nasty comments, but not as many as I was bracing myself for, thankfully. I'm truly grateful for every skeptic that has tried the game mode out for themselves and been convinced of the legitimacy and Fun of the mode.

[@MJS2389]

Glad to see a take on arena that isn't boring after you get killed... can't wait to try it :D

[@iamsixsyllables9679]

I always loved to play Quake Live CA and Freeze Tag, one of the best chill gamemodes for Quake deathmatching. Really cool to see it implemented into tf2! Would be a lot more popular than the standard arena that we have now. I remember playing experimental seaons with TFArena when they tried out respawn mechanics, which was interesting but hard to implement in a balanced manner.

[@RedGreenBeep256]

I want to ask: 1. Wouldn't revives cause long stalemates? 2. If they don't, wouldn't it just be anticlimactic koth? 3. Is there any game-interaction when frozen? 4. What's the individual reason to revive teammates? 5. Do thawed statues start at full health (after the über)?

[@nanoco1000]

I'll try to answer these as best I can: 1: Stalemates aren't really a thing, as if someone is stalling the game out you can just go cap the point after it unlocks, and players revive with half HP to prevent situations where a big revive happens and the enemy team just can't win 2: We've had a bunch of instances of teams clawing victory from the jaws of defeat during testing. Lots of times where teams would get down to 2 players left, which would normally be the death knell, but they manage to find some teammates to revive and turn the tide of battle in their favour! 3: No in-game interaction when frozen yet, but what we want to do is allow frozen players to call out for nearby players to revive them, like calling for medic 4: Aside from helping your team win the game, you also get 2 scoreboard points for every player you revive. I know scoreboard points are essentially useless but it's a nice little benefit I think. 5: Thawed players revive at 50% hp, and slowly regenerate back up to full. This is so that you're not facing down the barrel of a freshly thawed heavy with full HP, giving you a little bit more of a fighting chance! If you have any other questions please let me know! I would love to answer them :)

[@DelusionalDetective]

this will affect the trout population

[@TF2oonicorn]

Ventrici would love this

[@nanoco1000]

Who is Ventrici?

[@stressedcatinabox]

This looks like an awesome take on Arena! Probably makes the base format way more fun :P Good job guys! 👍

[@jacobhebert667]

Scottish Resistance finally useful (its just a slightly different spawn camp). Real talk, I hope Valve adopts this very well-made gamemode the same way they adopted Zombies and Vs. SAXTOOONNN HAAAAAAALLLLEE.

[@GuiltyOSheep]

Very high-risk and rewards type of gameplay. Mini capture points scattered by players to help keep pressure on both sides. An actual tug-a-war and great map choices

[@min-sleep]

I think most have already said it but, this is an amazin twist on arena mode

[@lucasribeiro-vg7jy]

It's like Arena Mode but they made it more fun and took away the bad parts

[@Kostian-sz3oe]

Capture the teamate ahh mode

[@nebulahunter803]

Ah yes a gamemode which makes spy even weaker then he already is. Spys stick is going into the enemy back line where any kills he gets can be unfrozen with little risk to the other team and if he dies he trapped away from his team until he perma dies. Spy gaming at its finest

[@DeltaTitan]

Counterpoint: Spy is weaker as a pick class, but takes on a strong supportive role due to his ability to sneak in and rescue teammates frozen behind enemy lines. Flankers could do this to an extent, but not as successfully or safely as spy, I would think. Idk, I'm not a spy main

[@_JustynkaPL]

3:30 ICE IS SPY!!!

[@lesboy]

this looks fuckin awesome! creative solution to arena's one-life problem, for sure. also these maps look amazing, great job!! hope these get added over time :)

[@csi7169]

This is the gamemode of all time

[@waynecarrjr.1187]

cool idea

[@alechandro89]

arena but great gimmick may be one of the best kinds of map in tf2 , unironically

[@vilmaquagliotto181]

I love that a map is called aspen as a homage to dumb and dumber

[@thepulle4722]

Are there plans to make updated versions of the classic Arena maps with this new game mode? Because this really seems like a great way to update Arena to fix its biggest flaw. Also wonder if this freezing mechanic could work for VSH as well (maybe with Australium statues instead lol)

[@nanoco1000]

We actually used a few of the classic arena maps as testing arenas for the initial versions of Freeze Tag, just to figure out what kind of gameplay spaces worked for the mode. People liked Lumberyard, and Offblast was pretty fun too but Ravine was pretty dire just because of how small and cramped it was. I wouldn't be opposed to someone else on the workshop doing it when we release the prefab to the public, but I don't think I'll be doing it myself because I'm not a mapper and hammer scares me lmao

[@thepulle4722]

@@nanoco1000 Yeah that’s fair, I still think that Arena could be replaced with Freeze Tag and brought back to Casual, especially if Valve has no intent of bringing back the original maps as they were, I wouldn’t see any harm in updating them with the Freeze Tag mechanics

[@thatsaladprophet7051]

Way better than prophunt as an official mode!

[@Crust_Crease]

1:24 mercenaries never die!

[@echlinryan]

Looks great, awesome job!

[@Crystalitar]

Glad to see airblast is just viable here and not unfair on spot of death haha

[@Crystalitar]

I might try arena for once due to this

[@Rathayibacter]

how does the mechanic work with the meat grinders? do you freeze on top of them, or do you die For Realsies

[@nanoco1000]

Deathpits will teleport your statue to the nearest nav mesh point, so even though the grinders Look like they chop you up into tasty little giblets, your corporeal body is completely safe :)

[@Le_Codex]

You can see examples near 1:05 and 1:55

[@Double_D__]

This takes me back; it used to be a community game mode back in the game's heyday.

[@ChronoSquare]

_SpongeBob voice_ 0:34 THAT'S ME GARY THERE I AM

[@aph391]

This is awesome wth I literally cant wait to play

[@someweirdlookingdude7901]

Will a public Play test server be made to help the general public try it out?

[@nanoco1000]

I think Aarmastah will be hosting the maps on his server, but I will also be looking into hosting a dedicated freeze tag server over the weekend for people looking to try it out! EDIT: If you check the pinned comment, I am now hosting a 24/7 Freeze Tag server with all 6 maps available to play!

[@zachelbom1825]

Congratulations!

[@sheop874]

It would be amusing if in slaughter there were the twofort cardboard cows hung up in some places, maybe with some kind of easter egg for shooting them all, but yeah this looks really neat and the maps are very clean

[@JasperLaw]

Wow, looks awesome!

[@tsuaririndoku]

I think this is giving a reason for not playing Medics. And no funny Ragdolls. 0/10

[@nanoco1000]

Players revive with half HP, so medics are still very useful :)

[@tsuaririndoku]

@ but… where’s the funny Ragdolls!?

[@Trip_Toon]

if anything thats a good thing. arena is pretty much unwinnable without a medic.

[@mountainman889]

Looks pretty fun, I'll have to give it a try. I will say that I don't think it should be added to the base game or casual rotation

[@yazidefirenze]

Alternate gamemode for sure. They don't even have Arena in there.

[@nuggers2573]

i wonder how the dr would work

[@heehoo3685]

they show it off in the trailer, a fake statue is created with the timer above it looking like the dead ringer, then it poofs away

[@nanoco1000]

@@heehoo3685 it's worth nothing that the dead ringer icon only shows to teammates to let them know that it's a fake statue! It even has a bespoke noise for when it disappears too :)

[@Le_Codex]

Icy spy 😆

[@tyrian_baal]

any servers that host this??

[@nanoco1000]

All 6 Freeze Tag maps are available to play on Aarmastah's server, and we will even be hosting a small FT game day tonight at midnight GMT! aarmastah.xyz/servers/tf.php Go here and click "PLAY!" to instantly launch into the server! :) Hope to see you there EDIT: Check the pinned comment, I'm now hosting my own server with all 6 maps!

[@SandwichGamesHeavy]

The only problem I have with this is how the "frozen player capture area" border looks a bit "overwatch-y", But that's just nitpicking, good job!

[@nanoco1000]

Could you please explain what you mean? The border on the map thumbnails or something else?

[@SandwichGamesHeavy]

@nanoco1000 I have misspelled the word "border", I meant the sircle around the frozen player

[@nanoco1000]

@@SandwichGamesHeavy ohh okay I understand now. We took inspiration from existing assets within TF2, namely the cap point hologram, and the MVM reviver for this

[@SandwichGamesHeavy]

@nanoco1000 oh, that's nice. I just think that the height of the effect should be lowered just a bit, and it will be perfect

[@nanoco1000]

@@SandwichGamesHeavy We can maybe look into that in future! I think the way it is right now is to help it be a bit more visible on uneven ground

[@AvieweronYT]

Where can i play this?

[@jeremypanjaitan4039]

in team fortress 2 :troll:

[@AvieweronYT]

@@jeremypanjaitan4039 thanks for advice! :troll:

[@nanoco1000]

All 6 Freeze Tag are in the rotation for Aarmastah's custom map testing server which you can find here: aarmastah.xyz/servers/tf.php I will also be looking into hosting a 24/7 Freeze Tag server over the weekend so keep your eyes peeled for that :)

[@AvieweronYT]

@@nanoco1000 thanks :) I will be looking more to it

[@proaxel7003]

@@nanoco1000How will we find your server? On the aforementioned website?

[@GoniMineCraft]

The problem I have with Arena is that it's a time waster if one dies early then has to wait for 1 to 3 minutes just to try again. While the modification of player revives does make the non experience less frustrating, it is still a "hope your teammates know what their doing" scenario as you are entirely depending on them to allow yourself to try again. How about making it that players can still attack, with the limited ammo they still have, but can't move. That way we can still do something to help our team but in a more limited manner.

[@nanoco1000]

While it's true that you're relying solely on your teammates when you die, we've added a whole bunch of features to make it so that your statue is very easy to find, to help ease newer players into the experience. For example, the thaw timer above your head will show through walls, and guide teammates to you to come rescue you. The killfeed also shows when players of both teams are being revived, so you can more easily tell what kind of situation your team are in!

[@TheEvilCheesecake]

Well the secret is to not die early.

[@lazynihilanth1899]

I think people are against this mostly because of the presentation. The Freeze Tag title and characters turning into statues just isn't very TF2-y. Maybe a spin on the revive feature from MVM? Same mechanics but now they're team-colored holograms instead of ice sculptures. Call it "Arena Revive" or "Resurrection" or something.

[@nanoco1000]

I don’t agree that characters turning into statues “isn’t very TF2-y” considering the existence of the spycicle, the saxxy and the golden pan. I chose “Freeze Tag” as the title to pay homage to the classic Quake game mode which I used as inspiration for a lot of the design work. With Quake being TF2’s predecessor, I felt that it was apt to use the same name for the same game mode. “Arena Respawn” already exists in some capacity in the community and functions similarly but different enough from Freeze Tag that I did not feel it was the best descriptor for the mode.

[@lazynihilanth1899]

@@nanoco1000 I get that but with those examples there's some context/rationale (you stab someone with an icicle and they freeze, the golden weapons are meant to be rare and flexs for the user) instead of in the gamemode where it just sorta inexplicably happens on death and also inexplicably unhappens when teammates are in your vicinity. Some people in the comments are seeing that and thinking "this belongs in Garry's mod" even if the statue thing already exists with some specific weapons. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying I get where others are coming from.

[@sentrydraws25]

Agreed its kinda weird that killing someone in this game just freezes them without any actual reason. Afterburn deaths are gonna look weird lol. The gamemode looks fun, but I think some reflavoring would help make it fit more.

[@thebirdaplierphd.memeology3411]

REV ME REV ME REV ME

[@notyou9348]

isint this just a worse take on awks version of arena? No one plays arena for a reason

[@nanoco1000]

I'm an arena enjoyer, but truthfully I don't know what awks version is. Could you go into more detail please?

[@davemosby168]

You just need to be half decent at the game for arena to be enjoyable lmao this is pretty cool

[@notyou9348]

@@davemosby168 idk man there have been quite a few issues with the mode you probably know about already

[@notyou9348]

@@nanoco1000 The video is up if you want to watch it. It's called "how I put robots in arena mode" but TLDR: You can revive teammates, there's multiple objectives, you get rewarded for teamwork, and you can't stall the game.

[@nanoco1000]

@@notyou9348 I've just gone ahead and watched that video, it seems very interesting, but I would like to note that everything you mentioned Awk's version of arena does, Freeze Tag does too, and I think that it's different enough to stand out on it's own, while providing a unique gameplay experience :)

[@SandwichGamesHeavy]

2:38 this looks like something from TABS or Hello Neighbor

[@Д.К-ж8ф]

keep it community only

[@Gregger.]

Tf2ian’s try not to make a new “gamemode” for casual challenge (level insane):

[@nanoco1000]

I understand your hesitation, given the past game mode implementations, and with how prop hunt and gungame/deathmatch were received on the workshop. I would like to posit though that at the end of the day this is still very much Just arena mode, so it's not a new "gamemode" per say, but more like a new way to play it, if that makes sense

[@Gregger.]

@ ah alright, it’s just that if this does make it to the game i’m pretty sure that it’s gonna end up like vs saxton hale (not to say that in a mean way) and will barely have a lot of people in it

[@milliondollarmistake]

vscript was added to tf2 exactly FOR stuff like this lol

[@Pet354_]

There is a reason why the one halloween arena mode map is so hated. Keep arena out of casual, it is not a fun gamemode

[@nanoco1000]

As an arena enjoyer, I find that a big amount of the distaste for arena mode is the permanence of the dying. I get that it's the point but it does inarguably kinda suck when you die at the start of the round and then don't get to play. With Freeze Tag, even though the objective is still to kill everyone like normal arena, dying at the start of the game is less penalising since you can be brought back to life to help out your team again. It also gives lower skilled players (myself) another way to help their team out, as they can run around the map and help with reviving their dead teammates.

[@skipmanghondarg]

The Graveyard contract? To me it's more of the contract problem, objectives are kinda shisht. But the mode itself felt unique and i like it idk

[@Pet354_]

@@nanoco1000 TF2 in itself doesn't punish the player too hard on dying. You die, you just have to wait some secounds and get back to the fight. In arena you have to wait till a round ends and new one starts. Also it doesn't help less skilled players but even punish them since now these need to fight against more enemy players who focus them since they are one of the last ones standing while trying to survive them. Cause I remembered now were I have seen something like this before... On another bad halloween map, "PERKS", when you manage to get the "Second change" Perk. In your version you need to be near in a radius and can revive as any class. And from all the times I had to play on Perks I can tell you, this ability does nothing, either it "undoes" the chip damage as in killed players by the other team or you getting rushed down so you don't even get the chance to revive anyone. Sorry, this gamemode needs more refining and thought than to release it as is for casual. and DAMN. 6 MAPS at ones? Maybe try to get one out, get the results in what should be changed, some tweaks to the map layout and to the cap timers + roundtimers. This gamemode sounds maybe good on paper but once realized doesn't hold up well in praxis, ESPECIALLY for casual game. You want it in game? Put up a community server, that is the reason for them.

[@nanoco1000]

@@Pet354_ When I mentioned lower skilled players I meant that it gives them another objective to help their team out. In base arena mode lower skilled players are objectively an active detriment to their team, as the control point takes a while to open, and they can provide the enemy with first blood crits if they're not careful, which will hurt their teammates. In freeze tag, even a lower skilled player can sneak around as scout or spy and revive some of the better members of their team in order to turn the tides in their favour. Coupled with the fact that the more players on your team that are dead, the faster you thaw people, means that it doesn't take much to equalise again, and we've seen this through our vigourous testing. Regarding the 6 maps, remember that TF2 initially launched with 6 maps, so I don't think that's that ridiculous of a number. We did initial tests on the existing arena maps Lumberyard, Ravine, and Offblast, so that we could determine what kind of gameplay best suits freeze tag. We determined that leaning towards more open areas is better, as ravine is quite a close quarters map, so it ended up with a lot of players dying in cramped corridors and being very difficult to revive. Once we figured out what kind of gameplay spaces to aim for, we started testing on our first bespoke map, Himalaya. The larger spaces of the map worked very well to improve the moment to moment gameplay, and prevent too much statue stacking on one place. We took the results on board from Himalaya, and the map makers slowly started working on the rest of their maps as we worked on the game mode balance. We tried many different balancing changes to fine-tune the game mode over the course of its development. Our maps have longer times to cap than normal arena mode to give the losing team a chance to thaw out some teammates to make a last desperate push onto the point. We also have a slightly longer time for the point to unlock to allow players to disperse throughout the map instead of immediately congregating around the point at the start of the round. There's a lot of balance changes that we made and then threw out because we didn't like how they changed the mode. For example, we initially had it so that players had a base thaw time of 3, and it increased by 1 second every time they died. This only served to punish lower skilled players, or players that went for aggressive plays, while their team were left to pick up the pieces. There's a lot of stuff we left on the cutting room floor because they simply did not play well and were not fun. I would love for you to give the mode a go yourself since you are (understandably) skeptical about how well it plays. At the very least, please trust that with over a year of development time sunk into it already, and a whole bunch of positive feedback from many different communities (even some who despise arena mode), we're very confident that we've created a fun experience that expands on an existing game mode, without stripping away any of TF2's core identity as a class-based team-based shooter.

[@mike1564]

Valve please. TF2 is not Garry's Mod.

[@nanoco1000]

Correct! This game mode is originally from Quake, of which TF2 owes its entire existence and identity to. Not Garry's Mod

[@nonexistantt]

@@nanoco1000 that doesn't give it a reason to be added to the game though lmao

[@Snot_born_nice]

why did you suport the deadringer?

[@nanoco1000]

Well we felt that it'd be unfair if a player wanted to play a specific way but they couldn't because the mode didn't support it. TF2 at its core is a game about using the class and loadout and playstyle that you want and we wouldn't want to stifle that choice in any way.

[@Adrenaline0413]

@@nanoco1000 amazing!!!

[@Snot_born_nice]

@@nanoco1000 but It’s a shitty weapon and so are the people using it.

[@Crystalitar]

​@@Snot_born_nice That is an opinion

[@Snot_born_nice]

@@Crystalitar nah im just saying a fact

[@Squeezebox1738]

no thanks we dont need another vscript fortnite gamemode in tf2

[@nanoco1000]

freeze tag is from Quake

[@somestuff1337]

Bro, chill, no one takes your "vanilla" expirience away from you. You can play only OG 6 maps or so if you wish.

[@mehreeoman8502]

If you don't like it, don't play it. Simple as.

[@TheTdw2000]

​@@mehreeoman8502If people don't like it worksloppers shouldn't make it. Simple as.

[@Goomenstein]

@@TheTdw2000 Well, people like it. Perhaps you shouldn't speak for everyone.

[@Chalkist]

Yeah..no.

[@galacticp1]

Yeah..yea.

[@mudflap8648]

keep this shit in community servers its going to be absolute aids in casual. no thanks/not interested

[@nanoco1000]

Can I ask why you think it will be "aids" in casual?

[@bongopod]

you're wrong and you suck mudflat8648

[@TheEvilCheesecake]

Maybe you can play it at your 14th birthday party champ.

[@joltz..2042]

This gamemode is... Really...... Boring.....

[@bayito9986]

How so

[@miguelpereira9859]

Have you ever played FreezeTag in other games?

[@manhoovy193]

​​@@bayito9986 he means that you sit and watch how other people play while you're dead spectating and that is boring

[@objectionablycurious]

@@manhoovy193 think of it as a better version of arena, which is basically the same thing, except you don't respawn until the end of the round. This still punishes you for dying, but in a way that's less permanent

[@manhoovy193]

@objectionablycurious no thanks/not interested