Hello once again, fellow Mercenaries!

First things first: the Open Fortress website has been given a brand new coat of paint, as part of a wider overhaul of OF’s visual language and design style. We’ll be introducing these refinements to the game proper in the future; for now, you can get a taste of it on these very pages. Check it out! Tell your friends! Embrace the power of purple and sepia!

Secondly, its been quite some time since we reopened downloads, and on the sidelines we’ve been paying close attention to some of the questions that players, fans and the community have raised. Why am I shooting at men in colorful jumpsuits? Where did all these guns come from? Why are you in my house? These and many more pressing FAQs will be addressed right here, right now…

The Basics

Q: What is Open Fortress?

A: Open Fortress is a free Team Fortress 2 mod that introduces new gamemodes, weapons, characters, maps, and more to the world of TF2. These additions, crafted by over a hundred community contributors, build upon the iconic mid-century aesthetic of TF2, the gameplay features of classic FPS games, and the creativity and innovation of the Source engine modding community.

Q: Is Open Fortress an arena shooter?

A: Partially! While the Deathmatch gamemode certainly takes inspiration from classic arena shooters and delivers a modern spin on their established gameplay features, it is only one of many gamemodes that are planned for inclusion in OF. Think of these other gamemodes as “games within a game”, each one utilizing the same core mechanics and visual style, but also incorporating wildly different gameplay features and unique narrative conceits.

Q: What happened to the reverse engineering project? Will the game remain open source?

A: When we originally approached Valve with our reverse engineering efforts, they requested that we shut down OF Base, our codebase of reverse engineered gameplay code. Due to Valve’s request and despite our best efforts, OF will remain closed source indefinitely; in layman’s terms, you won’t be able to create your own mods using OF code. However, we may release a few snippets of our own code and other standalone systems for the community to use.

Q: Why do I need to have TF2 installed to play Open Fortress? Why don't you pack the assets with the game?

A: We did initially! However, between 2019-2020, we were contacted by Valve ( this is before the RE efforts ), telling us that we are allowed to exist and continue development, but need to require TF2 to be installed, as well as not including "Economy" items found in TF2, such as unlockable weapons and cosmetics. Since we need to require TF2 anyways, might as well save some storage space and not duplicate assets.

Q: Can I apply to be a developer on Open Fortress?

A: Yes you can, right now! Our developer application process has gone live and is now ready for anybody who wishes to apply.

Q: Does Open Fortress have any social media channels?

A: We do indeed! You can find links to our Twitter account, YouTube channel, and community Discord server at the bottom of this website. The right of this page also features both a RSS feed for the OF blog and a Twitter feed for all our latest Tweets. Be sure to keep an eye out on all these channels for future content teasers, community content showcases, and more!

The Story

Q: What’s the backstory of the Deathmatch gamemode?

A: In a nutshell - it’s the 1970s, and the Gravel Wars are finally over. Mann Co., TF Industries and the RED and BLU teams have all collapsed, with the whereabouts of both the Administrator and Olivia Mann currently unknown. The resulting power vacuum has caught the attention of mysterious shadowy figures from the global criminal underworld, who have begun employing freelance mercenaries to carry out their top-secret orders; these mostly consist of looting the now-abandoned facilities of the old megacorporations, rumored to contain top secret experimental weapons and mysterious artifacts of incredible power. For more information, check out the briefings for individual maps - there’s a lot you can learn about the current state of the TF world from those humble chalkboard messages.

Q: What parts of the TF2 lore are considered canon in OF?

A: Pretty much all the events of the official TF2 timeline are fair game, including the Team Fortress Comics series. However, with the seventh and final installment of TF Comics currently unreleased, we have chosen to keep the aftermath of a hypothetical Issue #7 intentionally vague, only setting a few basic facts in stone (the disappearance of the Administrator and Olivia Mann, the bankruptcy of Mann Co) and keeping our focus on the here-and-now of the groovy ‘70s. As far as that decade is concerned, almost anything goes!

Q: What are your worldbuilding goals?

A: We’re embracing the opportunity to venture further out into the wider world of Team Fortress, beyond the confines of RED, BLU and Mann Co. In particular, the hyper-masculine, chaotic presentation of TF2 from 2010 onwards has been considerably downplayed, and references to characters such as Saxton Hale and the TF2 mercs will mostly act as brief namechecks rather than fully-fledged crossovers. Instead of making the world of OF feel small by focusing only on these established characters and companies, we’re essentially treating it as a soft reboot, with a broader goal of spoofing the media, attitudes, aesthetics and politics of the ‘70s, just as TF2 did with the ‘60s. Outside of Deathmatch, expect the upcoming Retro Mode to feature direct nods to Team Fortress Classic, both in its original form and its later inclusion within the established timeline of its sequel. There might even be a few nods to the granddaddy of them all, Quake Team Fortress…but we don’t want to give away too much just yet!

The Gameplay Experience

Q: How do you bunnyhop in Open Fortress?

A: To bunnyhop, simply hold the jump button (usually Space, but it may differ depending on your keybinds) and airstrafe - pressing the left and right direction buttons (usually the A and D keys) while moving your mouse in the corresponding direction. Practice bunnyhopping whenever you get the chance - you’ll get the hang of it in no time.

Q: Help! I’m not used to games being this fast-paced, and I’m feeling discouraged. Is there anything I can do to improve?

A: The mile-a-minute pace of Open Fortress can be overwhelming at first, especially for players who are new to arena shooters or Source engine games. With that in mind, it helps to take a step back and focus on one area of improvement at a time; for example, maybe your aim isn’t as precise as you’d like it to be, or maybe you find that other players are always beating you to weapon spawn points. Whatever it is, identify what you want to prioritize, experiment with different approaches, and if you find one that works for you, stick with it - the journey to becoming the best merc possible may take a while, but it’s worth it. (And don’t forget that above all else, having fun triumphs over victory!) 


Q: Why isn’t [X gameplay feature] more like it is in [Y game]?

A: One of the goals of Open Fortress Deathmatch is to bridge the gap between the strategic class-based gameplay of TF2 and the fast-paced mobility-oriented gameplay of classic arena FPS games. In melding the two types of game together and ensuring that fans of each side of gameplay are not alienated, there are inevitable compromises that have to be made. For example, dropped weapons and ammo boxes have physics rather than stay at the point of the player’s death, and the available weapon pool is rooted in its TF2 equivalent above all else, with a broad variety of melee, hitscan and projectile weapons. We hope that this fusion of gameplay styles is above all else enjoyable and refreshing for veterans of both camps, as well as to players new to both arena and class-based shooters. 



Q: Why isn’t Open Fortress more like [X Source engine mod]?

A: Each of the many TF2 mods of recent years has their own take on TF2; there are many different approaches for gameplay and presentation, and many different ways to contextualize them within Valve’s own design philosophy. Just because one mod team does something a particular way, it doesn’t mean the others have to follow suit. This is the case with Open Fortress; we have our own unique goals that we’re following, just as Pre-Fortress 2, Team Fortress 2 Classic and Dating Simulator Fortress have theirs. (Disclaimer: one of these mods does not exist. Yet.)

Q: What are the differences between OF Deathmatch’s weapons arsenal and TF2’s?

A: Almost all of the typical TF2 weapon archetypes have been tweaked to better fit the flexible, on-the-fly nature of Deathmatch gameplay. These changes range from subtle refinements (such as the smaller blast range of OF’s own Rocket Launcher) to more significant overhauls (such as the explode-on-player-contact projectiles of the China Lake grenade launcher). Many of the weapons have also been given corresponding makeovers for their visuals and sound design; as a general rule of thumb, the further a weapon looks and sounds from its TF2 counterpart, the more different it’s likely to play too. And if you don’t recognize it from TF2 at all, it’s probably a brand-new weapon wholly unique to OF!

The Future

Q: Is development on Deathmatch finished?

A: Not yet! Although Deathmatch is essentially playable in its current form, there are still many additional features that we are working hard to finish. These include (but are by no means limited to) new voicelines, animations, UI refinements, support for sub-gamemodes such as MCTF and Duel, new maps, new weapons and power-ups, anti-cheat features, and general optimization. In addition, the simplicity and flexibility of Deathmatch means that features and systems designed for it can be reused in other gameplay modes in the future; this, combined with the experience of the OF team, means that development on future gamemodes should progress much faster than that of Deathmatch.

Q: What other gamemodes will be added to Open Fortress after Deathmatch?

A: Once DM finishes development, our next focus will be on Retro Mode, a spruced-up recreation of Team Fortress Classic that bridges the personality, painterly visuals and backstory of TF2 with the Half-Life derived environments, unique gameplay features and military theme of TFC. Beyond that, we hope to begin development on a new gamemode called Espionage, which we’ll be keeping mostly under wraps for now - as is befitting of its name.

Q: Will the OF team be adding more classes to Deathmatch?

A: No. In order to ensure precise game balance, the Mercenary has been and always will be the only available class within Deathmatch. If you really want to see how the TF2 classes play in Deathmatch, they can be enabled by entering the developer console and typing in the following command: “of_forceclass 0”.

Q: Will any additional weapons be added to Deathmatch?

A: Yes and no. The baseline arsenal for Deathmatch is essentially complete, with only the flamethrower needing more refinement, so we don’t have any plans to add any new base weapons. However, more super weapons will be added further down the line, as their map-by-map nature means they can be incorporated without disrupting existing gameplay balance. Several new super weapons are currently in development - we’ll have more news on them soon!


Q: Will more cosmetics be added to OF in the future?

A: We definitely plan on adding more cosmetics to Deathmatch as time goes on, but be aware that it’ll be a limited and careful selection. Unlike the anything-goes bonanza that is live TF2’s take on war-themed hat simulation, OF cosmetics need to fit with the Mercenary’s distinct characterization, the action movie-esque tone of OF’s narrative, and the 1970s setting. (Existing TF2 cosmetics will not be added for the same reasons, as well as because of the legal wrangles that would come with essentially licensing active components of a microtransaction-based economy). We can also confirm that Deathmatch will be the only gamemode to feature cosmetics, namely because our upcoming Retro Mode will take place during the 1930s, a time when America was still suffering from the effects of controversial “prohatbition” legislation. No wonder people called it the Great Depression - you’d be depressed too if you saw so many bald, hatless heads all the time.

Q: What is the current status of bot support?

A: Support for bots in OF is being rebuilt from the ground up, as we’ve had to remove any and all Nextbot code from the mod. The bots are basically functional in their current state, but they still require significant refinement to their AI in order to bring them up to par with human players. Expect the finished bots to accurately recreate behaviors such as switching between situation-appropriate weapons on the fly, prioritizing important item pickups, and more!

Q: Will the OF team be updating the UI?

A: Yes! We are currently developing a consistent and comprehensive overhaul of Open Fortress’ visual language and design style, both in the game and in secondary promo materials, including the recent refresh of the very website you’re reading this on. This overhaul will involve changes to the UI, so stay tuned…

Q: What happened to the CSMG? Will it return in the future?

A: The CSMG was a very similar weapon to the Tommy Gun, and over time we realized that having two weapons in the same category with the same role was ultimately unnecessary; out of the two, the CSMG was felt to be less suitable for both that specific weapon niche and the for Mercenary’s character, and so it was the one that got the chop from the Deathmatch roster. However, it’s not gone for good - we can confirm that the TFC Sniper will be using the CSMG in Retro Mode as his secondary weapon. (We can also confirm his primary weapon will probably be some kind of sniper rifle - surprising, right?)

Q: What happened to OFToast? Will it return in the future?

A: Our former launch/installation software OFToast was a suitable enough solution during the earlier days of OF, but with the recent increase in demand on our servers following OF’s grand reopening, its flaws became increasingly apparent. Thus it was we made the difficult decision to take the toaster out the back and unplug it for good, like Old Yeller if he'd been riddled with error prompts instead of rabies. Thankfully, work is currently underway on a replacement launcher, OFToast2 - a ground-up redux that incorporates a far more stable and less buggy framework, with a brand-spanking-new coat of purple paint to boot. (Sort of like the plot of Old Yeller 2: Cyborg Resurrection, the beloved straight-to-video sequel that remains banned in 37 states to this day.) As always, keep a sharp eye on this very blog for further news on the matter!

If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out on our official Discord server!