If you've ever wondered why it takes Valve so long to make new Team Fortress 2 short films, the latest post on the Team Fortress 2 blog has some answers. Valve have posted four videos showing early "animated storyboards" of the original stories they had planned for Meet the Medic. The blog post dissects each element of the old ideas to explain why, in the end, they didn't work out. It's an interesting insight into Valve's creative process, and we get to see what the Meet The.. films look like before they receive a megaton of Valve polish.
The intro to the blog post sums up the process of putting together a TF2 short film. Apparently it's "a lot like a game of Jenga." Awesome!
"99% of it involves making room for an idea and seeing what happens" reads the post. "Most of the time what happens is the whole structure collapses. Then you have to figure out why it collapsed and rebuild it, this time making sure to add in some structural support for your idea so it doesn't bring the whole short down."
The team went through various ideas before settling on the final premise. One had the Medic returning from holiday to find his team flailing without his help, another had him discover the secret of the medigun. The blog post explains why these ideas were eventually binned, and describes what the quick animations below were intended to look like once finished. Here are three of the clips, followed by the final version of Meet the Medic. Get the full and enlightening account on the Team Fortress 2 blog .
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