Jun 28, 2012
Dota 2 Update - June 28, 2012
Dota 2 - Valve
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Added Luna
- Added Guardian Wisp
- Dota 2 now uses the CELT codec for increased voice communication quality.
- Added a testing tool to the Workshop tab that allows contributors to see their models on a hero before submitting.
- Added Heropedia to the Learn tab.


GAMEPLAY
- Bloodseeker: Fixed a bug where he could get healed by friendly heroes dying in the area around him that he didn't deny.
- Pudge: Fixed a bug that was sometimes causing Pudge's Dismember to do an extra tick of damage
- Pudge: Fixed a bug that allowed Pudge to deal damage without hurting himself by quickly toggling Rot.
- Rubick: Fixed a rare case where Rubick could get permanently stuck with Telekinesis Land.
- Rubick: Fixed a bug where Rubick would gain permanent Spectral Dagger buffs until he died.
- Rubick: Fixed a bug with Poison Release that would cause you to steal the wrong ability from Shadow Demon.
- Tiny: Fixed Aghanim's Scepter siege damage vs backdoor armor
- Fixed being able to use a different player's items in your combine, if that item was in your stash at the time


VISUALS
- More Rubick spell animations
- Various Rubick visual effect improvements and fixes
- Haste animation added for Bloodseeker
- Adjusted Ogre Magi's sidearm attack animation
- Logos removed from waterfall and mid river areas to safeguard gameplay
- Tweaked dire banner position left of fountain shop
- Roshan timer appear only after 10 seconds have passed from death
- Reduced Gyro's model scale a little
- Removed ambient effects on Razor and Morphling when hexed


UI
- Fixed some cases where icons could get stuck on the screen
- Fixed new heroes not showing up in the hero picker if you had custom view set (They'll now appear in the top left of the grid view, for you to then place as you like)
- Tournament Panel: Fixed game list not refreshing unless you opened a different tournament and then back.
- Tournament Panel: Increased the size of the live games and recent games.
- Tournament Panel: Fixed details button not working properly for the last few games.
- Fixed Spectator label cutting off number of spectators.
- Fixed Live games not displaying correctly after opening a Tournament.
- Fixed a recent bug with the shop not closing when a unit is selected
- Fixed some bugs with losing commentator perspecting when pausing and unpausing
- Added backpack preview to couriers
- Back button in the loadout takes you back to the backpack if you arrived via a backpack right click
- Fixed some slots on the backpack not being right-clickable if they were not on page 1
- Fixed the first equip from the backpack sometimes not working properly
- Added inspect button near the hero panel for heroes that have custom items
- Updated the replay skill filter to have more usefull categories.
- Fixed dragging an item onto itself not turning its icon back on.
- Cheat commands are now echoed to chat
- Added a testing tool to the Workshop tab that allows contributors to see their models on a hero before submitting.
- Fixed Mute button on the scoreboard not working.


AUDIO:
- Dota 2 now uses the CELT codec for increased voice communication quality.
Jun 28, 2012
Team Fortress 2 Update Released
Team Fortress 2 - Valve
An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:

  • Added sd_doomsday to the mapcycle files
  • Fixed exploit that allowed Beggar's Bazooka to indefinitely hold rockets in the chamber without misfiring
  • Fixed hatless hats not not-drawing correctly
  • Fixed bugs with The Hitman’s Heatmaker
    • Headshot kills now properly decapitate
    • Bodyshot damage penalty is properly applied
    • Fixed sound issues while in focus
  • Fixed missing DX8 particle effects
  • Fixed seeing through Sniper fences in 2Fort when using Pyrovision
  • Fixed the second style for the Robot Chicken hat
  • Teddy Roosebelt can now get assist credits
  • Updated sd_doomsday:
    • Players can now fall into the launch pad after the rocket lifts off
    • Optimized some prop_dynamics to reduce server hitching
    • Engineers can no longer build teleporters behind the spawn
    • Players will no longer get pushed through the terrain if the elevator falls on them
    • Death pits now kill dead ringer Spies
    • Lowered the frequency of announcer lines
Jun 28, 2012
Team Fortress 2 Update Released
Team Fortress 2
An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:
  • Added sd_doomsday to the mapcycle files
  • Fixed exploit that allowed Beggar's Bazooka to indefinitely hold rockets in the chamber without misfiring
  • Fixed hatless hats not not-drawing correctly
  • Fixed bugs with The Hitman’s Heatmaker
    • Headshot kills now properly decapitate
    • Bodyshot damage penalty is properly applied
    • Fixed sound issues while in focus
  • Fixed missing DX8 particle effects
  • Fixed seeing through Sniper fences in 2Fort when using Pyrovision
  • Fixed the second style for the Robot Chicken hat
  • Teddy Roosebelt can now get assist credits
  • Updated sd_doomsday:
    • Players can now fall into the launch pad after the rocket lifts off
    • Optimized some prop_dynamics to reduce server hitching
    • Engineers can no longer build teleporters behind the spawn
    • Players will no longer get pushed through the terrain if the elevator falls on them
    • Death pits now kill dead ringer Spies
    • Lowered the frequency of announcer lines
Jun 28, 2012
Buy Your Own Version of Valve's Latest "Hero"
Team Fortress 2

Buy Your Own Version of Valve's Latest "Hero"You can now purchase a $30 replica of the star of Valve's Meet the Pyro video. That's right, not the Pyro itself: the Balloonicorn, nature's most majestic and impractical animal.


Available from Valve's store, as you reach for your wallet, remember: you're about to pay $30 for a 13-inch balloon.


INFLATABLE BALLOONICORN [Valve]


Jun 28, 2012
Take Balloonicorn Home!
Team Fortress 2
Liked Balloonicorn so much in the Pyromania Update that you'd like to take him home with you? Because Balloonicorn could really use a place to crash at for a bit (one, two weeks max), he's going through a bit of a rough patch right now. Also, you totally won't even know he's there. Hey, look, also, could you pick Balloonicorn up some smokes on the way home? He's good for it, he's just waiting to get some money wired to him. Available through ThinkGeek and the Valve Store.

While you're at the Valve Store, check out all the other cool new TF stuff that we just got in.

Jun 28, 2012
Rumoured Half Life episode 3 concept art leaked
Half-Life
Half Life Episode 3 concept art


When Half Life: Episode 3 concept art surfaced on the facebook page of fansite ValveTime yesterday we were sceptical, but it's increasingly appearing that they really could be from the long awaited sequel.

Most of the artwork depicts a snowy wilderness with characters clad in winter clothing. This tallies with location the Borealis, the Aperture science ship that was revealed to be stranded in the Arctic in Episode Two. More intriguingly several of the stranger pieces of artwork contain the word 'Xen' in the file names, the Alien world visited in the original Half Life's final act.

OXM have been on top of the story and note that moderators on the Steam forums are claiming the pictures are genuine. Meanwhile fansite Lambda Generation traced the images back to a (since deleted) Picasa gallery belonging to Valve artist Andrea Wicklund.

Now here's the bad news. Although they were only recently discovered these images were all uploaded to Picasa in March 2008, only a few months after the release of Episode Two. This means that even if they are genuine, they aren't necessarily indicative of the direction Valve are taking now, four years later.

You can see the full gallery of images over at Valve Time.
Jun 28, 2012
Team Fortress 2 Pyromania patch is live
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 - meet the pyro


Team Fortress 2's latest update has landed and it's magical. A whole new batch of items have been added that allow the wearer to see the world as the Pyro does. And if you don't know what that means, be sure to watch Meet the Pyro (embedded above) before reading on.

Watched it? Good, then I'll carry on.

The update gives every class a pair of Pyro goggles, which allow them to see into the magical world of Pyroland. A whimsical, beautiful place where no-one dies and everyone is friends.
In Pyroland, everything is brighter and more colourful. There's no blood or pain, instead hurt enemies spray balloon and confetti, and laugh in excitement. Medikits look like cakes, and dominations are friendships. Also, all the signs read "MMM MMMPH".

The goggles aren't the only way to visit Pyroland, using any of the new items (many of which we saw in Meet the Pyro) will do it. Weapons include there's the Rainblower, a flamethrower that fires rainbows, a giant lollipop shaped axe called the Lollichop. While miscellaneous items like the Burning Bongos, The Infernal Orchestra and the Balloonicorn will do it. These items look like default weapons to anyone who can't see into Pyroland, but those who can will perceive them in their full glory. Oh, and did we mention you can buy a real Balloonicorn? Well you can, and it comes with the item code too.

There's a hilarious summary of the new items on the Team Fortress update page, but more details can be found on the Team Fortress wiki. Meanwhile, we've included some screenshots of our own journey into Pyroland below.









Jun 28, 2012
Candy Camera: Pyrovision Goggles Are Kind Of Amazing
Team Fortress 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Jim Rossignol)

wheeeeeeeeeSTOP: If you haven’t watched Meet The Pyro yet, watch it, for goodness sake.

This morning I found myself grumbling in RPS chat about how news sites were casually spoiling the twist in the Meet The Pyro video, by posting pictures of it. Now I am going to do exactly> the same thing, because you really should take a look at the Pyrovision goggles in action. Anyone who logs into the game between now and next week gets a set of goggles that mods the game world to look a bit like the Pyro’s view of things, including shooting rainbows, balloon-gib deaths, and floating pink plushie unicorn. There are some videos of it in action, below. (more…)

Jun 28, 2012
You’ll Never Guess What Adult Swim’s Adding To TF2
Team Fortress 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

I managed to dig through code and find this image with no prior knowledge of how code actually works because I AM A WIZARD.Everyone, I have some regrettable news: I woke up this morning with the sudden realization that – in my heart of hearts – my truest wish has always been to lead a life of megalomaniacal supervillainy. So, incredibly long and spellbindingly interesting story short, I’ve wired the entire world to explode. Unless!> You can tell me – without glancing about one nanometer below this sentence – what’s come of the Team Fortress team-up between Adult Swim and Valve. Mwahahaha, I can smell your fea– yeah, it’s a hat. Well, damn. I guess I’ll just go back to writing about videogames, then.

(more…)

Jun 27, 2012
Pyromania is LIVE!!!
Team Fortress 2 - SZ
<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/pyro_day3_blog.jpg" width="420" height="263" border="0"></a>

The <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/">third and final day</a> of Pyromania is here, and the update is now <i>live!</i> New new items! New achievements! A new game mode! Pyrovision! Bongos! It's all live right now! In fact, this is such a big deal, we're doing it! We're HITTING THE ALL-CAPS KEY! WE'VE BEEN SAVING THIS FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION, AND IT DOESN’T GET ANY SPECIALER THAN THIS! MAN, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE SCREAMING! IT'S LIKE A MILLION VOICES CRIED OUT IN TERROR, AND THEN JUST GOT LOUDER!

WHAT'S THAT, ROBIN?

okay, caps lock key is off. we can't even capitalize our sentences now because they took our caps lock key away. didn't take our exclamation mark key though!!!!!! oh hellz yeah okay they just took that too. enjoy the update, everybody.

oh, hey, also: just because this is the last meet the movie, don't think it’s the last update you’ll see from us. we have big plans for the future of tf, so stay tuned [exclamation mark]
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