Good news: Valve are working on a new “major update” for their free-to-play FPS Team Fortress 2 [official site]. Bad news: it’s not a Halloween update. This new update has left the TF2 team too busy to create another all-spooking, all-devilling spectraltacular (boo!) so they’re turning again to the community.
This year’s Halloween update will largely be pieced together from spooky maps, weapons, items, taunts, and so on submitted to TF2’s Steam Workshop.
Halloween has come to mean two things: rotting childrens' teeth with autumnal-coloured sweets, and Team Fortress 2. Every year for the past six years, Valve has pulled out all or most of the steps to throw a spooky shindig for its now free-to-play multiplayer shooter.
Er, except this year. Valve explains here that it's rather busy working on the next major update, so in lieu of a proper Halloween event it's bringing back all of the previous ones at once. Not only that, but there will be a showcase of the best community content.
After revealing that the forthcoming update will feature "new maps, cosmetics, and a new campaign with contracts and weapon collections", Valve went on to explain the nature of this year's seasonally spooky box social.
"Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that there s something missing from that list: Halloween. The reality is, if we produce a holiday-specific event map this year, it means we'll have to stop working on everything else. So: We ve decided to turn Halloween mostly over to you. This year s Halloween Update will be a showcase of all the best Halloween-themed community content (items, maps, taunts and unusuals) you guys can come up with. We ll also be activating every one of our past six Halloween Updates, so there'll still be plenty of spooky holiday-themed game modes to play.
"Over the next month we ll be looking through the Workshop for anything tagged 'Halloween', so if you ve been working on an item you think would be perfect, make sure you get it submitted and tagged before October 18th, 2015."
You'll be pleased to hear that there are "no restrictions" on this year's Halloween items, meaning they can be viewed all year round. So if you're inclined to make TF2-themed stuff, and to put on Steam Workshop, go nuts.
First off, a reminder that the Gun Mettle campaign is ending (the last new contracts drop September 30th), so if you want to complete those contracts you'd better get to work. Speaking of getting to work, the TF2 team is busy putting together the next major update, which should be out by the end of the year. It'll feature new maps, cosmetics, and a new campaign with contracts and weapon collections. We re also working on things like competitive matchmaking, perf, balance improvements and moving Mannpower Mode out of beta with a new map.
Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that there s something missing from that list: Halloween. The reality is, if we produce a holiday-specific event map this year, it means we'll have to stop working on everything else. So: We ve decided to turn Halloween mostly over to you. This year s Halloween Update will be a showcase of all the best Halloween-themed community content (items, maps, taunts and unusuals) you guys can come up with. We ll also be activating every one of our past six Halloween Updates, so there'll still be plenty of spooky holiday-themed game modes to play.
Over the next month we ll be looking through the Workshop for anything tagged Halloween , so if you ve been working on an item you think would be perfect, make sure you get it submitted and tagged before October 18th, 2015.
Plus, if you didn t already have enough incentive to submit to the Workshop, we re changing our restrictions on Halloween items this year. Normally they re only visible to players on Halloween and full moons. This year, all newly selected Halloween-themed items will have NO restrictions put on them, and may be viewed year round. (So don't get too gross or out-there with your submissions.)
Well, back to work! We ve been incorporating plenty of great community feedback from our last update, so the next one should be even better.
According to determined intenet sleuths, Team Fortress 2 is being invaded by UFOs. Datamining the Team Fortress 2 update that rolled out earlier today, a user on the Facepunch forums discovered a bunch of new assets listed in the code. Words like 'invasion' and 'saucer' feature prominently, as does references to posters that feature these.
Then there are other TF2 players who have actually spotted UFOs by, you know, playing the game. Another user on the Facepunch forums spotted one of the aforementioned posters in the 2fort map, and YouTube user waterandroid even made a video of a flying saucer appearing in the skies above Dustbowl, as below:
Someone on Reddit has collated all of the evidence so far, and it's pretty compelling. I'd go so far as to say it's conclusive. The UFO Invasion update has been rumoured for a while after all, with this very unsubtle video leaking back in July. Oh, and Halloween is coming next month, so I wouldn't be surprised if all these sightings culminate in something around then.
Item donations are now open for Tip of the Hats, an annual charity livestream event hosted by the Team Fortress 2 community. Cash donations will begin on Saturday, September 12th. The event streams at twitch.tv this September 19th at 12:00 PM EST. Last year's event boasted over 500,000 unique viewers and raised over $100,000 towards One Step Camp, a program that gives camp experiences and other programs throughout the year that allow children with cancer to just be kids. It's a worthy cause, and this year's event promises to be the most ambitious yet! Be sure to tune in, and don't forget to donate!