Tf2 Weapon Concept Creation

If you have played Team Fortress 2 for more than an hour, then you have probably seen the diversity of weapons. From projectile penetration to bullets that heal your teammates. There is almost a limitless supply of creative weapons to use. Though at some point within you first hour of playing, you probably thought about a cool idea for a new weapon or tool that could allow you to play your favorite, or any class, in a new way. But after thinking about your new idea for a while, you might have had the problem of making it seem like a viable item to add in the game. Well then this guide is for you. In here, I will give you tips on how to balance a weapon, what positive, negative, and passive are and what kinds you can use, and more. Though if you just want to see weapon concepts or need some fresh ideas, I have a group setup for that as well (link at the bottom).

Positive, Negative, and Passive effects

When you look at a unlockable weapons description, you have probable seen three kinds of text colors, Blue, Red, and White. Each of these texts colors have a specific meaning and tell you a lot about a weapon. Knowing these is the first step to creating weapon concepts.



Positive: Positive effects are shown in blue text and show the weapons advantages. These can range from damage bonus to clip size. An unlockable weapon always has to have a positive effect otherwise no one will use it.

Negative: Negative effects are shown in red text and show the weapons disadvantages. The negative effects are usually the oppisite of positive effects. Examples include lower damage or decreased movement speed while equiped. Not all weapons have to have disadvantage, though almost all of them do.

Passive: Passive effects are shown in white text and are the least common yet most interesting of the three. A passive effect shows the special ability a weapon may have. The main difference between a passive effect and a positive effect is that a passive effect is less situational and is not a direct advantage. For example the wrangler for the engineer, it give you the ability to control your sentry gun. Even though this may sound like an advantage, it really isn't, it is just something this Utility allows you to do.

Weapons and Utilities

Now that we have covered the different kinds of stats a weapon can have, lets talk about the two kinds of concepts. They are weapons and utilities.

Weapons: As you would expect, a weapon is, as the name suggests, a weapon. Weapons are items based on dealing damage or fighting. Weapons can have many different effects though the majority do not have passive effects

Utility: A utility is an item that helps you team or yourself. The best example of this is a medi gun for the medic. It supports you team with healing and an occasional ubercharge. Utilities can do more than just heal people. They can give you ammo, heal buildings form a distance (if you play engineer), and they can even give you temporary mini crit damage. The disadvantage of utilities is the sacrafice the ability to deal damage or kill enemies. Even though some of them deal damage, that is not their main purpose.

Getting Ideas

This is the part of creating weapon concepts that can make your weapon stand out. The base idea behind your weapon can be as simple as increased damage or as complex as the ability to teleport to nerby enemies. Though there are some things to consider when coming up with ideas.

1. Is this concept a weapon or utility
2. Is this an item players might use
3. Does my concept seem to overpowered
4. Would this weapon be for a specific class, or would it be avaliable to multiple classes.
5. What playstyle might this weapon effect or create
6. Does the concept seem to fun to play with and against
7. Why would another player use this weapon

Asking yourself these questions will allow you to balance your concept better, get an idea of how powerful your weapon would be, and see how popular it would be among players.

Creating and Balancing the Stats of your Concept

The most important thing about a weapon concept is its stats. These tell a player what your weapon can do, and what it sacrafices to be able to do that. When creating stats, the first thing to do is find a way to include your idea. You can do this by writing it as a passive or positive effect (assuming it is suposed to help a player), depending on the bonus you are giving the concept. After stating the main point of the weapon, you then have to state any other advantages it should have. The best way to gauge the amount of advantages is to decide how powerful the main effect of the weapon is. After you add the advantages you then have to add the disadvantages, which is usually the trickiest part. You have to decide what your weapon should give away in exchange for its powers. Though there isn't really much advice I can give you on this part, but I can tell you how to judge this on your own, through community feedback. I find this is the best way to filter concepts until they are the best they can be.

Final Tips

Before I end this guide, I want to leave you all with some quick tips. First of all, always be willing to accept feedback on your concepts. Feedback shows that people are interested in your idea, but just don't like it in its current state. Also, don't create a concept thats to overpowered just because it would give your favorite class an advantage. Try to consider the effect of your concept would have on other players, not just by the classes they choose, but also by how fun a weapon would be to play against. At the end of the day, just do not create tf2's next pomson 6000. Good luck and have fun.
Cheers, Gearweel

Group: TF2 Weapon ideas (weapons.tf)
Link: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/WeaponClub