• Added content and features necessary to begin limited public testing of the TF2 Competitive Mode beta
  • For more information on how you can participate in testing, please visit https://steamcommunity.com/groups/tfcompetitive
  • Updated several maps to support competitive mode
• Community request: Added SetPlayerPointsOnDeath input to tf_player_destruction_logic and a PointsValue key field to the item_teamflag entity when used in Player Destruction mode
• Fixed Mann vs. Machine Mann-Up victories sometimes failing to take player tickets and reward loot
• Fixed security issues when loading certain custom content (thanks to Nathaniel Theis and Simon Pinfold for these reports)
• Added the Civilian Grade Stat Clock
  • Applies a Strange Stat Clock to a Civilian grade weapon
  • Can be obtained by trading in a combination of 5 Freelance grade or better items through Mann. Co Trades
• Mannpower update
  • Grappling hook movement speed penalty for powered up flag carriers increased by 10%. Flag carriers with no powerup still have no penalty.
  • Reflect powerup
    • Removed 25% resistance attribute
    • All classes can now have up to 400 health
    • Fixed a bug where reflection damage was being calculated prior to distance falloff reduction
    • Reflection damage increased from 50% to 80% of damage received
    • Fixed a bug where sentry rockets would reflect damage to the owning Engineer rather than the sentry itself
  • Supernova powerup
    • Minimum stun duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
    • Stun duration increased by 0.5 seconds for each additional victim stunned (max 4 seconds)
  • Vampire powerup
    • Melee attack now returns 1.25x damage as health (up from 1.0x)
  • Regen and King powerup
    • Increased the frequency of health regeneration. Rate of heal is increased for Scout and Spy
    • Increased metal regeneration amount
• Gift Wrap has returned!
  • Gift wrapped items will be delivered through Steam trading, and are subject to trade holds if the sender doesn't have a Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator
  • Items can now be unwrapped by their original wrapper
  • Moving forward, only tradable items can be gift wrapped. Items that are currently gift wrapped can be delivered regardless of the tradability of the contents of the gift.
• Giftapults can again deliver items to random players online, but will remain un-craftable
• Updated The Bounty Hat, Treasure Hat, and Hat of Undeniable Wealth and Respect to be tradable
• Vote kick events now display that target player's Steam avatar
• Updated models/materials for Hot Heels, The Trencher's Topper, The Exorcizor, The Mutton Mann, Doc's Holiday, The Cotton Head
• Updated the Crusader's Crossbow
  • Added a new shoot sound
  • Added a new impact/heal sound when a teammate is healed
• Fixed the Taunt: Kazotsky Kick not hiding the Heavy's weapon
• Fixed That '70s Chapeau not being removed when the Sniper taunts
• Fixed the Catastrophic Companions hiding the player's hat and headphones
• Fixed an LOD issue for The AWPer Hand
• Added combat text and hit sounds for damage done to buildings
• Added a "Last Hit" sound option to Hit Sounds
  • Triggered when one of your attacks causes the death of a player or building
  • Can be toggled in the Adv. Options menu
• Updated the materials for the Panic Attack to support mat_picmip
• Updated the Taunt: Zoomin' Broom sound effects
• PASS Time update
  • Fixed workshop maps not loading correctly
  • Fixed being able to get inside jump pads
  • Removed Sandman long-distance steal
  • Added experimental cvars for playtesting
• Updated cp_vanguard
  • Removed teleporter exploit on second point
  • Various minor fixes (lighting, collision, optimization)
• Updated pl_borneo
  • Fixed an exploit related to the final control point and dropped weapons
• Updated pl_snowycoast
  • Adjusted various spawn point facings to make side exits more obvious
  • Adjusted position of resupply cabinet in RED's 1st spawn
  • Added ledge to 2nd point flank route window
  • Adjusted common sentry nests on 2nd
  • Added stronger light to entrance of lower flank route
  • Door near RED's first spawn now opens on A capture and closes on final bulkhead opening
  • RED no longer get forced respawn when 2nd is captured
  • Added minor spawn for RED once 2nd is captured, active until BLU pushes through kennels
  • Adjusted timing of flank doors at 2nd and in mines
  • Updated door texture for flank exit by 2nd point gate
  • Improved defendability and enlarged 3rd point
  • Adjusted position of 3rd cap
  • Adjusted health & ammo at 3rd
  • Updated door texture for flank exit by mines
  • Changed a medium ammo pack at last to full ammo pack
  • Added door to ledge at last to improve RED defendability (closes when bulkhead opens)
  • Added 3rd exit to BLU's last forward spawn
  • Improved defendability of ledges at last inside building
  • Added new dropdown area to RED's last
  • Adjusted lighting in various areas
  • Fixed dx settings on light pole props

Think you've got what it takes to be the Ultimate Soldier? eGO presents the Ultimate Soldiers II event this Saturday, February 20th, where Solly hopefuls from all over are invited to kick ass and take names on a custom map. Market Garden, Direct Hit and Cow Mangle your way to the top!

As professional war hobbyist Sun Tzu once said, "He who gets the most kills wins!" And we think he might know a little bit more about soldiering than YOU, pal, unless you think you can claw your way to victory this Saturday! Learn more about the map, prize and sign up information here.

Time flies, folks. There's now only a month left until the last contract drops in the Tough Break Campaign. So if you haven't joined up by now, then you'd better find your most tear-absorbent pillow and start crying into it, because guess what? You're too late.

Except wait! You're not too late! In fact, you're just in time to buy a Campaign Pass for only $2.99!

Why join up now? Because for half the price, you'll still get access to all 26 contracts, and completing them earns you campaign-exclusive weapon and case drops from the Gentlemanne's, Harvest, Pyroland and Warbird Collections. (And don't worry, we'll be adding a few weeks to the end of the event to give everyone time to finish their contracts.)

Buying a Pass also gets you weekly Tough Break Cosmetic Case drops from the day you buy it until the end of the campaign. You'll also get an upgradable Contract Stamp that will keep track of your progress on active contracts, level up as you complete them, and show off your level to other players on the Scoreboard.

Still not convinced? Because a portion of all Campaign Pass sales goes to the community mapmakers featured in the campaign in this case, the Snowycoast, Vanguard, Highpass and Landfall maps!

STILL still not convinced? Well, then, we don't know what to to tell you, because that was pretty much every arrow in our quiver. You are one tough-to-convince customer, my friend. For everyone else who was convinced, we'll see you in-game!

TF2Maps.net is hosting an exhibition game to show off the content created in the 2016 Winter 72hr TF2Jam! The game starts at 8pm GMT on February 6th. Watch the game on Crash's stream, or check out the showcase to see some awesome entries.

• Fixed a security issue related to the file system (thanks to Simon Pinfold for this report)
• Fixed a client crash related to the material system
• Fixed a crash when using medium or low texture quality on maps with static prop lighting
• Fixed not seeing team names when using custom scoreboards
• Fixed leaderboards occasionally not displaying when changing map
• Improved bspzip tool stability when packing maps with large amounts of custom assets
• Updated the contents of the Gargoyle Case, the Fall 2013 Acorns Crate, the Love And War Cosmetics Bundle, the Mann Co. Strongbox, and the Mann Co. Stockpile Crate
• Updated the model/materials for the Crusader's Getup and Arthropod's Aspect
• Updated The HazMat Headcase so it can be equipped by the Sniper
• Updated The Mustachioed Mann so it can be equipped by all classes and added a second style
• Updated The Special Eyes so it can be equipped by the Pyro and added a second style
• Updated The Frenchman's Formals to hide the Scout's dog-tags
• Updated the equip_region for the Cheater's Lament and added a new style
• Updated the Backburner to add the pilot light
• Updated the Rainblower to remove the pilot light
• Updated several materials to fix issues caused by mat_picmip
• Updated the localization files
• Updated pl_borneo
  • Fixed an exploit where players could get outside the map
• Updated ctf_landfall
  • Fixed some material issues
• Updated cp_vanguard
  • Added new path to the last point
  • New geometry to reduce sightlines on the middle point
  • Reorganized spawn points to better exit final spawns
  • Fixed Red forward spawn door blocking when held open
  • Fixed some material issues

• Fixed a client crash related to multicore rendering
• Fixed the material for the Golden Wrench
• Updated the model/materials for the Arthropod's Aspect and the Crusader's Getup
• Updated the localization files

• Fixed not seeing team names in the scoreboard on dedicated servers using tournament mode
• Fixed the Nostromo Napalmer drawing the flamethrower pilot light by mistake
• Fixed the Engineer's Wrangler contract updating points while the player is not an Engineer
• Updated the campaign stamp images in the scoreboard and win panel
• Updated the model/materials for The Federal Casemaker
• Updated the model/materials for The Dictator, which can now be equipped by all classes
• Updated the localization files
• Updated the Phlogistinator
  • No longer restores player to max health on MMMPH activate
  • Increased amount of damage required to fill MMMPH meter to 300 from 225
• Updated koth_highpass
  • Removed unnecessary detail props
  • Revised fade-distances
  • Turned some brushwork into props
  • Revised hints and skips
  • Added nobuild entity on the ramps in front of spawn
  • Improved cliff displacements
  • Revised some details and textures

• Added more postcards for the Tough Break contracts
• Fixed some of the partner taunts not properly hiding the weapons
• Fixed the scrollbar overlapping the ping column in the scoreboard when mouse input is enabled
• Updated the model/materials for The Gaelic Garb and A Well Wrapped Hat

• Fixed some random client crashes related to memory exhaustion for Mac clients
• Significantly reduced memory usage on Mac and Linux clients
• Added LBTF2 6v6 Season 12 and LBTF2 Highlander Season 3 tournament medals
• Added the ability to restore festivized weapons via the context menu
• Fixed an issue causing maps with packed assets to occasionally have pink textures when played on servers using sv_pure
• Fixed the Australium Minigun and Australium Scattergun materials
• Fixed objective names in deathnotice HUD using white text when the local player was involved
• Fixed the Quick-Fix Medi Gun not healing the Medic after switching away from the Medi Gun and back while the charge is draining
• Updated the model/materials for The Bolted Birdcage, The Scrumpy Strongbox, Pirate Bandana, The Crone's Dome, The Hat With No Name, The Gaelic Garb (now paintable), and A Well Wrapped Hat (new paint style)
• Updated The Frenchman's Formals so it can also be equipped by the Scout and added a new paint style
• Updated the backpack image for the Taunt: Soldier's Requiem
• Updated the Man Melter so extinguishing a teammate will return 20 health to the Pyro
• Updated Mad Milk and Mutated Milk so both grant a 20% cooldown reduction when used to extinguish a burning teammate.
• Updated the server log entry for kick votes to include the ID of the vote initiator
• Updated cp_vanguard to fix an exploit related to spawn room doors
• Updated pl_snowycoast
  • Fixed several unintended perches
  • Fixed being able to damage through the setup gates
  • Added some fences & cover inside BLU's first spawn to reduce spam angles
  • Added an extra resupply in BLU's first spawn and RED's last spawn
  • Moved medium health kit at 1st point back towards BLU's side of choke
  • Changed collision on large railings to allow projectiles
  • Added some cover to the sentry platform inside last
  • Adjusted lighting/detailing at stair to 2nd point low flank to make it more obvious
  • Quonset hut sniper deck raised
  • Spawn locations in RED's first moved further from the door
  • Added windows to main entrance of RED's first spawn
  • Adjusted the narrow fence near RED spawn
  • Prevented building teleporters at the edge of spawn doors
  • Fixed an exploit related to BLU's 2nd forward spawn's entrances
  • Added some logic to prevent players getting stuck when RED's first spawn closes
  • Changed how RED spawn moves players to their last spawn when 2nd is capped (no longer slays & respawns)
  • Replaced dump truck in kennels with crates
  • Door near RED's first spawn now opens as the cart approaches 2nd instead of after capture
  • Switched main exit and window on RED's last spawn
  • Adjusted placement of health and ammo near RED's last spawn
  • Fixed various floating props
  • Fixed some texture alignment issues in the tunnels
  • Fixed spot on last ramp that would keep the cart from rolling back
  • Fixed some smoothing/geometry problems on crates at last
  • Reduced size of kill zone on falling crates during finale
  • Added map menu photos

TF2Maps.net is hosting their 72-hour TF2 Jam! This season instead of making just maps, they're encouraging all forms of TF2-related creativity: maps, models, SFM builds, hats, fanfiction, poetry, HUDs, art passes, competitive tournaments, and anything else! The Jam starts 10am PST, January 29th and runs for 72 hours, ending at 10am PST Feb 1st. Visit the TF2M Thread to learn more.