A [VIDEO] Guide to Respawning

A VIDEO guide to the Respawning, respawn times and all other related gameplay mechanics in TF2.

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Note: This is the video's script and may not be formatted well for reading.


Hey everyone, Dom here. Today I’d like to talk briefly about a mechanic in Team Fortress 2: Player respawning.

Respawning is what it’s called when a player dies and comes back to life. (as a side-note: spawning is what it’s called when a player joins a server and selects a class.) Respawning is a vital mechanic in Team Fortress 2. It’s an important factor in the game’s design and actually has a lot of nuance to it.

When a player dies in most gamemodes they temporarily become a spectator to the game. They sit in a virtual time-out until the time indicated on screen reaches 0. When that happens they usually come back to life (respawn) at a spawnpoint in one of their team’s spawn rooms. The spawn point and by extension the spawn room is determined by map state.

Players respawn in waves. Rather than respawn alone, players respawn together with other players who have died at similar times as them. This is not by choice. A wave is usually once every 10 seconds on official maps. When a player dies they are placed in a queue to respawn at the end of the wave after the wave about to respawn meaning they usually have to wait 10 to 20 seconds to respawn.

This 10 second wave interval timer is decreased or increased by what’s happening on the map. Normally doing well with map objectives lowers respawn wave times for the team doing well. As an example the team that’s winning a 5 control point map by owning more control points will have a faster respawn wave time.

Doing well doesn’t always equal a lower respawn wave timer. Here’s king of the hill viaduct. This is the input-output logic related to respawn waves. Basically in this situation the default value is 6. When one team captures the point their respawn wave value goes up to 8 and their opponents goes down to 4. The increasing and decreasing of these values is probably to hinder one team from dominating entire rounds since the losing team gets the advantage.

Another factor in respawn wave times is how many players there are on a server. Respawn wave times are scaled down when a team has less then 8 players. When a team has 3 or less players the maximum benefit is reached and the wave time is at its lowest value.

That was an explanation of how respawning and respawn times work mechanically. There’s still the question of why this system is built like how it is and what purposes it serves. There are a few sources of information regarding what the developers were intending when they implemented respawning as it is today in Team Fortress 2. One source of information is from developer commentary on CP_well.

From this commentary it is apparent that respawn times exist as a way to avoid stalemates and reward players for doing well and winning. Another source of information on what the developers intended with respawning and respawn times can be found in an official blog post made October 8, 2008.

• They reward teams doing well and killing a lot of enemies with time to do map objectives. Without respawn times killing off enemies for the final push was penalizing because the enemies immediately came back.
  
• Respawn waves cause players to travel together thus increase teamwork. Proximity to team mates allows for teamwork.
  
• Respawn waves and times improve the flow of gameplay. Without it there would only be constant high-intensity battle, which is fatiguing. The frontline becomes a static area that never moved. This lack of progress for both teams made gameplay monotonous.
  
• Spectating while waiting to respawn is a positive thing only possible because there are respawn times. It gives time to view and assess the situation in the map. It helps teamwork. Lastly it helps new players. Players will usually automatically spectate teammates playing the same class and learn from them.

And that just about sums up everything noteworthy about respawning. Respawn times are an important mechanic in Team Fortress 2. They improve the flow of the game, reward doing well and discourage players mindlessly throwing yourself at opponents. (zerging.) Think twice before joining an instant respawn server. Think how your gameplay experience may be lessened by the modification. The loss of a small amount of time between lives is a small prise to pay for rewarding gameplay.

Thanks for watching, like if you enjoyed or learned something new and subscribe for more videos like this one. Au revoir.


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Useful Links

Offical TF2 Wiki page on respawning: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Respawn
Offical TF2 Wiki page on cp_well’s dev commentary: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Well_developer_commentary
TF2 blog post on respawn waves: http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=1872

More Guides by Dom

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=258046134
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http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233100638
(Click here to just look at every guide I've made.)

[Balding swiss subhuman]

Thanks for the info once again.

[Frautcres]

Well said well done/

[baby shpee (inkling)]

i think battlefield 4 might have this mechanic because it takes forever to respawn XD

[Slight Cherry]

Just wanted to say thanks, I had no idea about the wave system. Now that I think about that makes a lot of sense.

[TurbojetChicken]

Nice job Dom, as always! :)

[charitysheep]

:yay:

[God Of BOX]

Lol, i think it was another joke guide...nice guide thought

[il]

thanks now I can play the game

[coffeee]

liked it ;)

[Pistol Messiah]

:P