Steam News

Half-Life's Dr. Gordon Freeman Wins Gamespot's "All Time Greatest Game Hero" Contest

October 16, 2009, 1:39 pm - Valve - Press Release

To celebrate Gamespot's "All Time Greatest Game Hero" award to Half-Life's Dr. Gordon Freeman we are offering all Half-Life games at 55.8% off!

There are other great game heroes, and we're gonna let you play with them, but Gordon Freeman is THE BEST GAME HERO OF ALL TIME at least according to 55.8% of the gaming public - thank you to all who voted.

STEAM WEEKEND DEAL - 66% Off Everything Half-Life and 10% Off The Valve Complete Pack

August 13, 2009, 6:45 pm - Valve

This weekend only! Save 66% on everything Half-Life. Or get the Valve Complete Pack for 10% off.


The Valve Complete Pack
Half-Life Complete Pack
Half-Life 1 Anthology (Pack)
Half-Life 2 Complete Pack
Half-Life Episode Pack

Half-Life
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Source
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch

Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 & 2, and Portal Update Released

June 23, 2009, 3:21 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 & 2, and Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Team Fortress 2, Episode 1 & 2, and Portal

• Added support for the Novint Falcon
  

• Added an option to the advanced multiplayer menu to select left or right handed view models
  
• Fixed a bug where a spectator's wearable items could be seen floating around the player they were spectating
  
• Fixed a bug where a fake Spy hand would appear on the screen of other players
  
• Custom death animations now only play 25% of the time
  
• Fixed teleporters not being build-able in some places where they should be (such as within the pit at the end of Badwater Basin)
  
• Fixed rare client crash on connection and level change
  
• Removed refract from water ripples caused by bullet impacts for performance reasons
  
• Added log entries for player extinguished events using the medigun, jarate, flamethrower and dispenser
  
• Started tracking localization settings to help make decisions regarding localization in the future
  
• Fixed the blank progress bar in the upper-left of the screen when the client scheme is reloaded
  

• Added spawn flag to func_respawnroomvisualizer that allows it be non-solid to players
  
• Added SetSolid input to func_respawnroomvisualizer to change solidity to players dynamically
  
• Added OnWonByTeam1 and OnWonByTeam2 outputs to the TFGamerulesProxy
  

• Fixed a bad detection case in the "Friendship is Golden" achievement
  
• Changed the description of the "Triple Prey" achievement so it better describes how to get it
  
• Critical arrows now have a trail and correctly deal enhanced damage
  
• The Huntsman now defaults to be right handed
  
• Friendly arrows will no longer trigger the near miss sound on you
  
• Fixed several sources of floating arrows
  

• Fixed disguised Spies occasionally looking like they have invulnerability, instead of the correct fake Spy mask
  
• Disguised spies will no longer lose their disguise weapon when they interact with a weapon locker
  
• Fixed a bug where the spy's watch would randomly change models during play
  
• Fixed uncloaked spies flickering in and out of the cloak effect when taking damage
  
• The Cloak and Dagger now always regenerates at its intended rate. Previously it only regenerated at the correct rate when the spy was cloaked
  
• Increased the Cloak and Dagger regeneration rate slightly
  
• Capped the rate of energy loss from moving faster than run speed (falling / air toss) while cloaked with the Cloak and Dagger
  
• The Dead Ringer's cloak consume rate has been slightly reduced, giving about an extra second of cloak time on a full meter
  
• Emerging from the Dead Ringer's cloak now drains up to 40% of the cloak meter instead of 100%. This drain only happens if the meter is at least 60% full
  
• The Dead Ringer's cloak meter can now be regenerated from ammo sources
  
• The Ambassador now only crits when fully accurate and no longer penetrates enemies
  
• The Spy can no longer change weapons from the knife while shocked by the Razorback
  
• Force-A-Nature & Flamethrower air blast knockback effects no longer work on disguised spies
  
• Fixed disguised Spies showing the wrong teleporter effects when using an enemy teleporter
  

Orange Box Engine Update Released

February 20, 2009, 3:25 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to the Orange Box Engine have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Orange Box Engine

• Fixed stats and achievements not working in Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Portal
  
• Fixed incompatibilities with MODs
  

Orange Box Engine Update Released

February 17, 2009, 3:16 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to the Orange Box Engine have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Orange Box Engine

• Updated the engine to report SteamIDs using the Steam_0 format instead of Steam_1
  
• Fixed problems in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Source mods running the current Orange Box engine
  
• Reverted the change that capped rate at 30000
  

Half-Life 1 Engine Update Released

October 24, 2008, 4:25 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to the Half-Life 1 Engine have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Half-Life 1 Engine

• Fixed UI crash when running a MOD
  

Half-Life 1 Engine Update Released

October 22, 2008, 4:40 pm - Valve - Product Update

A new set of Steamworks features have been released for all Half-Life 1 engine multiplayer games: Counter-Strike 1.6, Condition Zero, Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, Ricochet, Day of Defeat and Half-life 1 Deathmatch. The update includes Steamworks features such as player avatars in the scoreboard when playing Counter-Strike and Condition Zero. The update also contains several bug fixes, listed below. Note that this update will require all game servers to restart.

Bug Fixes

• Removed the need to manually re-login and re-authenticate to Steam while in game
  
• Fixed a crash on startup when running windowed with a non-standard desktop resolution
  
• Removed the display of saytext (in-game chat text) from players whom you've blocked in Steam friends
  
• Locked down several engine cvars to prevent malicious script exploits
  
• Enforced file consistency on several sprites in Counter-Strike
  
• Removed "ex_extrapmax" cvar (no longer needed)
  

• Added "-noaff" command-line option to disable setting of thread affinity
  
• Added "bannedcfg" cvar so admins can choose which file is written to by the "writeid" command
  

Episode 1 Source Engine Update Released (7/9/2008)

July 9, 2008, 4:39 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to the Episode 1 Source Engine have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Episode 1 Source Engine

• Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch customers running under Windows Vista can now take advantage of 5.1 and 7.1 speaker configurations
  

Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 Update Released

June 9, 2008, 4:57 pm - Valve - Product Update

Updates to Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode 2

• Added a new advanced video option that allows the user to easily change the field of view to any value they wish between 75 degrees and 90 degrees
  
• Updated the particle rendering code and particle data files to make them compatible with the particle editor included in the Source SDK
  

PC Games From The Orange Box Flying Solo Into Retail April 9 and 11

March 13, 2008, 1:02 pm - Valve - Press Release

March 13, 2008 - Valve, creators of Half-Life® 2 and Counter-Strike®, today announce the retail launch dates for the stand-alone, PC versions of Team Fortress® 2, PortalTM, and the Half-Life 2: Episode Pack are April 9th in North America and April 11th around the globe.

Portal - the unique single player game that mixes puzzle, adventure and first-person action - is expected to retail for approximately $19.99. Portal has been named Game of the Year by over 30 publications worldwide and earned 40 more awards for special achievements in game design, writing, and music ("Still Alive" by GLaDOS and Jonathon Coulton).

Team Fortress 2 (TF2), the sequel to the game that put team-based, multiplayer gaming on the map, is expected to retail for approximately $29.99. TF2 has been named Multiplayer Game of the Year by Gamespy.com, PC Gamer magazine, and other leading media outlets. This retail version, like all PC versions of TF2, includes the recently released Badlands map and the ability to receive auto updates via Steam® including the upcoming release of Goldrush, a new gameplay mode and map that combines the escort style gameplay of Hunted with the timed attack and defend gameplay of Dustbowl.

The Half-Life 2 Episode Pack - which includes both of the award winning new episodes for the highest rated and best selling first-person action franchise of all time, plus Half-Life 2 Deathmatch for online play - is expected to retail for just $29.99. As was the case with The Orange Box, customers who already own one of these titles will have the ability to conveniently "gift" the game via Steam to a friend.

"Given the unique nature and length of the games inside The Orange Box, the compilation approach was the right vehicle for the debut of these titles at retail," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "With the flexibility of having different pricing and packaging options via Steam, we were able to test the market viability of the individual products. The results show an overwhelming demand for these stand-alone offerings as well as The Orange Box. This gives us tremendous confidence as we bring gamers more ways to get these titles at retail."

All three packages include support for Steamworks achievements, automatic updates and more, and do not require Half-Life 2 to play.