Death & Taxes

Hello? Who opened the blinds? How long did we sleep for? What year is it, and who are all you people? Update, what update? Oh good God, where did all this content come from!?

Death & Taxes blog announcement

The Death & Taxes update, also known as 2.0.0, was the first major update for Team Fortress 2 Classic, released on July 4, 2020.

The update focused on cut content from Team Fortress 2. Its flagship feature is the VIP game mode, in which BLU team must escort the new Civilian class to the end of the map, while RED team has to assassinate him. To highlight this new game mode, three VIP maps were included: Trainyard with a single capture point and a one-life VIP, Mineside with a VIP-exclusive briefcase that must be delivered to unlock the capture point, Harbor with three capture points and no special gimmicks, and a VIP version of Badwater Basin with four capture points (later reduced to three) and a nighttime atmosphere.

Another major feature was the addition of Four-Team mode, shattering the previous paradigm of RED and BLU by introducing GRN and YLW. The new Four-Team maps were the Arena map Flask, and a Domination version of Hydro - which itself is a new game mode, with Oil Canyon as a two-team exemplar. The update also brought back 9 new weapons based on unreleased Team Fortress 2 content, as well as 6 weapons and 31 maps that already exist in TF2.

In addition, most mechanics were rebalanced based on Team Fortress 2 updates, and the vast majority of the game was refactored in design, interface, and content. The prior "deathmatch" game mode was removed entirely, as well as numerous weapon concepts and aesthetic choices. Finally, the update also included improved bot support for offline play, a new achievement system, nametag medals for developers, contributors, and beta testers, and many, many exclusive settings, console commands, and weapon attributes.

In total, the update included 3 game modes, 38 maps, 15 weapons, 15 achievements, 2 new teams, and 1 new class.

Announcements

The Death & Taxes page officially began on July 1, 2020, as announced on the Team Fortress 2 Classic Website.

• Day 1: Introduced the VIP gamemode, Civilian class, and the maps Mineside, Harbor and Trainyard.
• Day 2: The Nail Gun, the R.P.G., the Dynamite Pack, the Tranquilizer Gun and the Fishwhacker were re-introduced as weapons, alongside the Hunting Revolver, the Mine Layer, the Shock Therapy and the Coilgun as new additions.
• Day 3: The new Domination game mode was introduced, alongside the map Oil Canyon. The new Four-Team game mode, along with the GRN and YLW teams, were also introduced with the maps Flask and Hydro (Domination).
• Day 4: Badwater Basin (VIP) was announced with 6 returning weapons from Team Fortress 2: the Kritzkrieg, the Überspritze, the Huntsman, the Flare Gun, the Gunboats and the Sandvich. Scoreboard medals for developers, content contributors, and beta testers, bot improvements, and a new achievement pack were also announced.

Additions

Maps

Main article: List of maps

Name	Picture	Game mode	File name
Flask		Arena	arena_flask
Hydro (Domination)		Domination	dom_hydro
Oil Canyon		Domination	dom_oilcanyon
Badwater (VIP)		VIP	vip_badwater
Harbor		VIP	vip_harbor
Mineside		VIP	vip_mineside
Trainyard		VIP	vip_trainyard

Weapons

Scout

Weapon	Kill icon
Nail Gun

Soldier

Weapon	Kill icon
R.P.G.
Gunboats	N/A

Pyro

Weapon	Kill icon
Flare Gun

Demoman

Weapon	Kill icon
Dynamite Pack
Mine Layer

Heavy

Weapon	Kill icon
Sandvich	N/A

Engineer

Weapon	Kill icon
Coilgun

Medic

Weapon	Kill icon
Kritzkrieg
Shock Therapy
Überspritze

Sniper

Weapon	Kill icon
Hunting Revolver
Huntsman
Fishwhacker

Spy

Weapon	Kill icon
Tranquilizer Gun

Trivia

• The name of the update is a reference to a quote from Benjamin Franklin: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
• The Civilian class and the VIP gamemode originate from Team Fortress Classic. They were originally planned for Team Fortress 2 as well but were cut.
• A lot of the weapons are cut from earlier versions of Tf2 or cut entirely. Some can even be seen in the Orange Box 2006 Playstation trailer.