Mann vs. Machine (update)

This article is about the update. For other uses, please see Mann vs. Machine (disambiguation).

This article is for content released in the update. For the patch itself, see August 15, 2012 Patch.

“

Alright, enough reading advice. It's man-to-man talk time. I am not going to lie to you: I am going to have to lie to you. You men are absolutely prepared to deal with this, and you are going to be just fine. Right. End of lie. Now get ready to absorb some bullets so they don’t hit my factories.

— Saxton Hale; TF2 Official Website

”

Mann vs. Machine is a major update for Team Fortress 2, announced on August 13, 2012 and released on August 15, 2012.

Day 1: Machines

Day 1 revealed a new co-op game mode in which a team of six players fights a horde of bots, as well as a new map, Mannworks, and multiple special classes of robots introduced for the new mode. It also revealed the trailer for the mode.

Robots

Note: This article details the original set of robots released with the August 13, 2012 Patch. For an up-to-date list, please see the Robots article.

Main article: Robots

The majority of the robot legion represent each class (with the exception of the Engineer) equipped with basic weaponry.

Special Robots

In addition, several Special Robots were announced:

Machine Class	Name	Equipped with	Abilities
Scout	Minor League Scout	Sandman Batter's Helmet	Uses baseballs to temporarily stun
Demoman	Demoknight	Eyelander Chargin' Targe	Sword-wielding maniac Can cover large distances very quickly by charging
Heavy	Steel Gauntlet	Fists of Steel	Very durable Damage resistant Good with its fists
Heavy	Heavyweight Champ	Killing Gloves of Boxing Pugilist's Protector	Doesn't need weapons to rough you up Attacks in large groups
Medic	Quick-Fix Medic	Quick-Fix	Heals fast Can't über
Medic	Über Medic	Medi Gun	Übers like a maniac
Sniper	Bowman	Huntsman	Deadly accurate Quick on the draw
Sniper	Sydney Sniper	Sydney Sleeper	Shoots Jarate-coated darts

Giant Robots

Giant Robots are larger and more durable than normal robots, but also move at half speed. Each Giant Robot has its own unique ability.

Machine Class	Name	Abilities
Scout	Super Scout	Unlike other Giant Robots, Super Scout moves lightning fast, so don't let it pick up the bomb!
Soldier	Rapid Fire Soldier	The machine gun of rocket launchers. Don't stand in one place for too long.
Heavy	Deflector Heavy	Can shoot down projectiles such as rockets and grenades.

Sentry Buster

Day 1 also introduced the Sentry Buster, a robot designed to take down co-op players' Sentry Guns.

Machine	Based on	Abilities
Sentry Buster	Demoman	Detects Sentry Guns that are dealing sustained damage to the horde and runs at the offending Sentry Gun, exploding after a couple of seconds. Also can destroy Dispensers, Teleporters and kill teammates in the explosion radius.

Tank Robot

The Day 1 update page also teased another robot, displaying only an image of a set of tracks in the dirt, accompanied by a mysterious note. It was revealed in-game that the said robot was a Tank Robot.

Machine	Abilities
Tank	Has an extremely large amount of health, more than most other robots. Does not attack players through any means, but will instantly crush to death any players caught between the tank and (for example) a wall while it is turning. Carries a separate bomb that it will automatically begin to deploy if it reaches the hatch, regardless of whether a robot has the main bomb or not.

Bomb Carrier Upgrades

The longer a Bomb Carrier survives, the more attributes they get, making them tougher to kill. The upgrades accumulate, and can make them very dangerous should they be ignored or otherwise not killed quickly. One upside is that every time they upgrade, they will stop for a few seconds and Taunt, giving any nearby player a chance to take it out while its guard is down. However, while giant variations are able to carry bombs, they do not upgrade.

Stages	Upgrades
First stage	Defensive buff, shared with all nearby robots
Second stage	Health regeneration
Final stage	Full crits all the time

Maps

Name	Picture	Game mode	File name
Mannworks		Mann vs. Machine	`mvm_mannworks`

Day 2: Mercs

Day 2 revealed a variety of new upgrades and power-ups that players can purchase using in-game currency to boost their effectiveness on the battlefield, as well as Canteens. A new map, Coal Town, was also featured. Day 2 also revealed a set of sample tactics for each class, indicating each class's special abilities and the effects of upgrading some weapons.

Power Up Canteens

Image	Type	Usage
	Become Übercharged	Supplies 5 seconds of personal invincibility.
	Become Crit Boosted	Full critical power for 5 seconds.
	Refill Clips and Ammo	Instant ammo and magazine refill.
	Teleport To Spawn	Immediately returns user to respawn room and supplies temporary speed boost.
	Building Upgrade	Upgrades user Engineer's buildings to level 3 in a hurry.

Maps

Name	Picture	Game mode	File name
Coal Town		Mann vs. Machine	`mvm_coaltown`

Day 3: Bounty

Day 3 revealed 35 new achievements, as well as an alternative Mann Up game mode, obtainable with the purchase of a ticket from the Mann Co. Store. A new map, Decoy, was also featured.

Maps

Name	Picture	Game mode	File name
Decoy		Mann vs. Machine	`mvm_decoy`

Trailer

Main article: Mann vs. Machine (teaser)

Pre-announcement references

While officially announced on August 13, 2012, numerous references had been made by Valve prior to the release.

Haunted Hallowe'en Special

The 2009 Haunted Hallowe'en Special revealed Zepheniah Mann's Last Will and Testament, written on his sloughed-off skin, with several lines obscured by sand.

A mysterious will

119th Update

On May 5, 2010, as part of the 119th update, Valve released a 27-second teaser for the Engineer update. The teaser shows an early skin-toned model of the Heavy Robot's head passing in front of the camera at 00:08 and a Demoman Robot's head with a red eye socket in the background at 00:15. The blueprint seen behind the Engineer shows what looks like a Scout Robot.

Engineer Update

Day 0 of the Engineer Update itself started as a wall covered with pictures which was eventually covered with blueprints. One of the pictures depicts a Scout Robot in the style of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Diagram of a robot from the Engineer Update.

Australian Christmas 2011

Australian Christmas 2011 released a new map, Foundry. Exploration revealed two secret rooms; One with four blurry photographs of robots and the numbers "13 22 13" (which read MVM when translated to letters; 1 = A, 2 = B, etc.). The other room had a sign reading "Doctor Wilson's AUTO-BORAX," with two wooden planks leaning against the sign. When reading the text between the two boards, it reads "TOBOR," "ROBOT" backwards.

Cp foundry photos.jpg

The four photographs
Cp foundry date.jpg

The numbers
TO-BOR

May 3, 2012 Patch

The May 3, 2012 Patch added sound paths to the pl_thundermountain manifest which referenced sound files involving 'mvm' and 'robot'.

 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_step01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_step02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_step03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_step04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_soldier\giant_soldier_step01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_soldier\giant_soldier_step02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_soldier\giant_soldier_step03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_soldier\giant_soldier_step04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_demoman\giant_demoman_step_01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_demoman\giant_demoman_step_02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_demoman\giant_demoman_step_03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_demoman\giant_demoman_step_04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_scout\giant_scout_step_01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_scout\giant_scout_step_02.wav" 
 "sound\mvm\giant_scout\giant_scout_step_03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_scout\giant_scout_step_04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_pyro\giant_pyro_step_01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_pyro\giant_pyro_step_02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_pyro\giant_pyro_step_03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_pyro\giant_pyro_step_04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_soldier\giant_soldier_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_demoman\giant_demoman_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_scout\giant_scout_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_heavy\giant_heavy_explodes.wav"
 "sound\mvm\giant_common\giant_common_explode.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_explode.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_step_01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_step_02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_step_03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_step_04.wav"
 "sound\mvm\sentrybuster\mvm_sentrybuster_spin. wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_deploy_small.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_deploy_giant.wav"
 "sound\mvm\melee_impacts\cbar_hitbod_robo01.wav"
 "sound\mvm\melee_impacts\cbar_hitbod_robo02.wav"
 "sound\mvm\melee_impacts\cbar_hitbod_robo03.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_tank_loop.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_tank_deploy.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_tank_start.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_tank_smash.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_tank_explode.wav"
 "sound\music\mvm_wave_done.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_bought_upgrade.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_bought_in.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_used_powerup.wav"
 "sound\mvm\mvm_player_died.wav"

June 19, 2012 Patch

The June 19, 2012 Patch added the Damaged Capacitor. Closer examination of the numbers imprinted on it reveals two sets of numbers. The larger, '6.22V1800', corresponds to a future date: June 22, 1800 PST. This would lead up to a blog post made by the Pyro. The smaller set, '07180125', corresponds to the same alphanumeric code (07-18-01-25, A=1, B=2...), reading 'GRAY'.

Pyromania Update

The Pyromania Update released a new map, Doomsday. Exploration revealed another secret room with the same four photographs and a map showing three locations; Mannworks, "Death Pit" (Coal Town), and "Cactus Valley" (Decoy).

Doomsday secret closer look.jpg

Four photographs
A secret map

Source Filmmaker

The release of the Pyromania Update coincided with the release of Source Filmmaker. An internal version was accidently leaked a few days prior to the official release. This contained various models and materials that were not included with the full version. Models of robot heads used in the Engineer Update (teaser) were included, an album of each class' robotic head was leaked to the public.

ARG

Main article: ARG#Mann_vs._Machine

On August 10, 2012 a bloodstain appeared on the TF2 Website, leading to the start of an ARG. It lead to a photograph of the birth certificate of the previously unknown third son of Zepheniah Mann, Gray Mann.

The following day, a second bloodstain appeared, again linking to Zephaniah Mann's will revealing new text which was previously obscured by sand. He mentions Gray Mann and leaves his cache of "miracle gravel" to Elizabeth.

The August 11, 2012 Patch created an intricate ARG involving the Barely-Melted Capacitor and the High-Five Taunt. See the associated article for more details.

The conclusion of the ARG led to the release of the comic, Blood Brothers, on August 12, 2012, which explained the origins of Gray Mann. A day later, the Mann vs. Machine update was formally announced.