Team Fortress Classic

Team Fortress Classic (TFC) is a popular multiplayer modification for the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life that allows teams of players to compete on the Internet in lethal games of capture the flag, escorting a VIP, territory control, and other missions. Its origins can be traced to the Team Fortress mod for Quake.

Classes
One interesting aspect of TFC is the interdependence it breeds amongst teammates. After picking a team (i.e. red team or blue team), players pick a "class". After dying (which is normal), players can pick a new class. Each class, listed below, has its own advantages and shortcomings.


 * Scout - fastest class, can strip spy of its disguise
 * Sniper - has sniper rifle
 * Soldier - can shoot RPGs
 * Demoman - can lay pipebombs
 * Medic - can heal teammates and infect enemies
 * HWGuy (Heavy Weapons Guy) - slowest class, has heavy armor and machine gun
 * Pyro - has flamethrower and napalm missiles
 * Spy - can disguise as a member of another team and remove enemies' disguises; can kill in one stab with knife
 * Engineer - can build automatic sentries, ammunition dispensers, can regenerate teammates' armor, has EMP grenades

For example, the scout is the fastest class in the game, but can easily be wasted by an HWGuy. But an engineer can lay waste to an HWGuy with his EMP grenades, which won't really affect medics. But snipers can lay waste to a medic before he gets close, but is vulnerable to getting stabbed in the back by a spy. But the spy's identity can be revealed by a scout, and the interdependence goes in loops like this again and again.

Competition
Several on-line gaming leagues exist, where players compete each week for dominance with their team, or clan. Since TFC is naturally a team game, it lends itself well to this aspect.

But you don't have to be in a formal team to play TFC right now. All you need is a copy of Half-Life and join any public server. It is likely populated with players like you--if not, pick another--and start shooting away. For beginners, a class like soldier or HWGuy is recommended.

Contemporary issues
Since its release in 1999, the developers of the game, Valve Software, have introduced various changes into the game. Perhaps the most momentous was TFC 1.5, which, amongst other things, "rebalanced" the game in an effort to make certain classes less dominant or more competitive.

Serious groups of players, clans, have seen the rise of playing for money in tournaments like the CPL. However, TFC's popularity has probably seen its peak, and CPL prizes have not seen the heights of $100,000 for the Counter-Strike champion.