PDA

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This article is about the Engineer's PDAs. For the weapon type, see the Weapons page.
I built that.
The Engineer

The PDAs are default PDA weapons for the Engineer, consisting of the Build Tool and the Demolish Tool, which he uses to construct and destroy his various buildings respectively. The Build Tool appears as a calculator style apparatus possibly for ordering parts, whereas the Demolish Tool is shown as a typical hand-held detonation device with a miniature screen and a large red button.

These gadgets are not regular weapons, as they cannot be used to attack; they mainly serve as a visual cue to the player and those that see the player's character. Thus, switching between PDAs and the last weapon active does not cause the usual delay caused by weapon switching. While the player is using a PDA, a special on-screen menu appears to allow the player to build or destroy available buildings.

Upon selecting one of the PDAs, a superimposed HUD graphic then appears which lists all four buildings available. Selection of the buildings is done through the preset numbered keys. Pressing the last weapon used key or primary fire key will cancel the PDA and return to the previous weapon.

The selection keys will only function on the appropriate PDA under the right conditions. Should the player have insufficient Metal, they will be denied access to certain buildings on the Build tool, yet gathering metal will re-enable the choices with the cost met. Conversely, the Destroy PDA will only destroy builds that have already been constructed. The Demolish tool cannot be used to destroy buildings currently being sapped by the Electro Sapper.

If a player chooses to construct an available building from the Build tool, the player model will then hold a toolbox, and the player will see a template on the ground in front of them showing the orientation of the chosen building. While the template is visible, secondary fire adjusts the building's orientation by 90 degrees anti-clockwise, whilst primary fire starts the build. The last weapon used button cancels the build.

Note: The console versions do not have a separate Demolish tool. Instead, both are handled by the Build Tool, serving as a single PDA. After choosing the proper weapon slot to activate the PDA, the player uses the right trigger/R2 to construct the selected building (if enough Metal is available) and the left trigger/L2 to demolish the selected building (if it is already built).

Demonstration

Update history

September 26, 2007 Patch

  • Fixed some truncated strings in the destroy menu

February 28, 2008 Patch

  • Changed PDA menus to accept keys bound to "slot1", "slot2", etc., and "slot10" cancels
  • Fixed Engineer being able to detonate buildings that are being sapped.

January 19, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the Engineer PDA view models (build/destroy) having Red skins while on the Blue team.

Trivia

  • There is a PDA Token in the items_game.txt file, but it is unused. Internally, the Engineer's Build tool and the Spy's Disguise Kit fall under this slot.
    • The PDA2 token is used for crafting the Spy's unlockable watches, which fall into the PDA2 slot, and can be made by crafting together 3 Spy watches. This is the only use for the token.

Gallery

See also