The new models

While I’m sure that Totentanz won’t spare you his opinion about the patch and the new models I’d like to make a short comment on the models myself.
Tot: Now, if that isn’t an open invitation to add my 2 cents to his post - I don’t know what is. *gryn*

All in all I think they are done well. Some are looking really amazing and done with a much detail (like the demoman, spy or the pyro), others look a bit silly to me (can’t decide if the sniper looks more like a fireman or a bee-keeper), but there is no denying in the quality. I’m still in the progress of getting used to them - I still need a moment to register a scout as such when I see one and I stiff mistake a soldier for a pyro occasionally due to the similarity of the new soldier skin to the old pyro skin - and of course I have aesthetical preferences based on my personal taste (e.g. I dislike the look of the spy and the pyro, though both are well done).
Tot: I like the scout, he finally does look like a military scout should. The Sniper has a proper Ghillie suit - but the model just looks bad in my not-so humble opinion. The Soldier model rocks, completely totally and utterly. The Demo looks like an riot cop, and has lost ALL it’s personality and attitude - I really dislike it. The Medic model is cool, I just don’t like the helmet - makes him look like a mushroom-head. The HWGuy model just rules - best of the bunch, I say. The Pyro model - to put it bluntly - looks like a complete pile of crap. He has a pinhead, and anyone that’s ever worn any firefighting gear would tell you that the mask he’s wearing would have a negative effect on him - It should be bulkier, with some insulation space between it and the bare skin, except where an air seal is need - so it doesn’t cause his face to blister and stick to the mask itself. The Spy model is another horrid one - it looks to me like this just recycycled the female assassin model from Half-Life, and added a couple of features to it - It’s far too much of a skinny model. The Engineer looks kinda goofy now, and I agree with many people that I also want the good ole Caughley Tools spanner back. At least make it not look like a cheap Star Wars toy. :P But I do agree, the skins ARE well-done, at least.

However, I have two gripes with the models beyond aesthetics:

1) Some of the classes are really hard to identify by team color on larger distances. This applies to the sniper, the medic, the HWG and the spy. On many maps this is not much of a problem, but maps with much movement like warpath, cz2 or epicenter it often takes a crucial moment to tell friend from foe (and while the name now is shown in the teamcolor there is often not enough time to make a proper identification first). NOT done well, Valve!
Tot: surprisingly, for a geezer like me, with failing eyesight and slower reflexes - I don’t have this problem making visual id of what team who is on. I gotta disagree with Teatime on this aspect.

2) On a more basic note I think the more realistic approach to many of the models isn’t exactly appropiate to TFC. The HWG and the engy don’t fit into this appraoch in the first place, and I actually liked some of the unrealistic touches the old models had (the eyepatch of the demo, the silly hat of the sniper, etc.). I would have wished they’d incorporated more ’funny’ elements into the new skins (not in a silly way, but carrying on to comment the classes in an ironic way) than doing a testrun on TF2-model-design here. IMHO the HWG is a good example how to make a model looking a bit over the top without making it cartoonish (though I’m sure some people might disagree with me here). I’d liked to have more of that attitude behind the other models as well. The way the models look now even more people will mistake TFC for a wargame ...
Tot: Mixed feelings here. I prefer a bit of the more realistic look, but not at the complete sacrifice of personality or attitude. Like I said, I miss the old Demo’s eyepatch and facial expression, but think the new HWG is much better, attitude-wise.

Tot: My biggest gripe with the model, is the animations. The legs move entirely too quickly most of the time, giving it a "skittery" appearance that I really don’t like. Otherwise, I hate to admit it, but I’m starting to enjoy TFC again - except for the resounding lack of bugfixes in this release. But I’ll save that for another rant.