Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
<ul><li>Fixed skybox rendering as black
<li>Force the GL renderer to pick a video mode with at least 4 bits for each color channel. Fixes older Intel drivers choosing 0 bits for the red channel
<li>Fixed some window size change events not passing through correctly
</ul>
Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
  • Fixed skybox rendering as black
  • Force the GL renderer to pick a video mode with at least 4 bits for each color channel. Fixes older Intel drivers choosing 0 bits for the red channel
  • Fixed some window size change events not passing through correctly
Half-Life 2
Dota 2


Valve boss Gabe Newell stepped up to the stage during last week's BAFTA awards to receive the prestigious Academy Fellowship for his contributions to gaming. Presumably momentarily distracted by accepting a trophy modeled after a smirking face, a bewhiskered Newell fielded some interview questions over the normally airtight subject of Valve's business performance that hinted at the monumental scale of the studio's prosperity.

Newell chalked up Valve's successes largely to user-generated content on open platforms such as Steam Workshop before sharing some jaw-dropping numbers. "There's sort of an insatiable demand for gaming right now," Newell said. "I think our business has grown by about 50 percent on the back of opportunities created by having these open platforms.

"And just so people understand how big this sort of scale is getting, we were generating 3.5 terabits per second during the last Dota 2 update," he added. "That's about 2 percent of all the mobile- and land-based Internet activity."

Wait, what? We're not exactly sure what Newell meant when he dropped that bombshell of data info, apart from maybe claiming responsibility for all those times my connection speeds chugged while browsing these past few months. Still, it seems entirely plausible—Dota 2 has a lot of players, and the MOBA recently took the crown for the highest concurrent user amount of any Steam game ever. If any Steam game can feasibly take a bite out of the entire Internet, Dota 2 holds the best chance.
Day of Defeat - alfred
Day of Defeat is now available as a Beta. This beta adds Linux and OS X support.

This beta involves significant changes for all platforms and your testing is appreciated, please report any bugs to our GitHub page, https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues.

Linux and OS X users can simply install the Day of Defeat application to access the beta. For Windows users right click the game in your Library, choose properties and then go to the Beta tab. Select the SteamPipe beta to start testing. Under windows to opt out of testing simply deselect the beta option on this same page. If you opt into the Beta under Windows please use the Local Files tab in Steam to validate your install once you have opted into the beta.
Day of Defeat - alfred
Day of Defeat is now available as a Beta. This beta adds Linux and OS X support.

This beta involves significant changes for all platforms and your testing is appreciated, please report any bugs to our GitHub page, https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues.

Linux and OS X users can simply install the Day of Defeat application to access the beta. For Windows users right click the game in your Library, choose properties and then go to the Beta tab. Select the SteamPipe beta to start testing. Under windows to opt out of testing simply deselect the beta option on this same page. If you opt into the Beta under Windows please use the Local Files tab in Steam to validate your install once you have opted into the beta.
Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
<ul><li>Fixed mouse clicks not working under Linux
<li>Fixed mouse clicks being in the wrong place if your view was letterboxed
</ul>
Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
  • Fixed mouse clicks not working under Linux
  • Fixed mouse clicks being in the wrong place if your view was letterboxed
Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
<ul><li>Added letterboxing of the game based upon your resolution option so the game maintains the correct aspect ratio based upon your resolution choice. If you choose a "Normal" (4:3) and play on a widescreen (16:9 or 16:10) monitor then we will now place black bars at the edge of the screen to keep the right aspect ratio. The same is true for widescreen options on 4:3 monitors. Put "-stretchaspect" in the games launch options in Steam if you wish to disable this behavior
<li>Added better detection for older GPU drivers and the functionality they support. This should fix the green bar or black screen rendering issues people have been seeing
<li>Improved copy/paste functionality under Linux
</ul>
Counter-Strike - alfred
We have released a Beta update for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Changes in this update are:
  • Added letterboxing of the game based upon your resolution option so the game maintains the correct aspect ratio based upon your resolution choice. If you choose a "Normal" (4:3) and play on a widescreen (16:9 or 16:10) monitor then we will now place black bars at the edge of the screen to keep the right aspect ratio. The same is true for widescreen options on 4:3 monitors. Put "-stretchaspect" in the games launch options in Steam if you wish to disable this behavior
  • Added better detection for older GPU drivers and the functionality they support. This should fix the green bar or black screen rendering issues people have been seeing
  • Improved copy/paste functionality under Linux
Counter-Strike
There will be Nevgevs.
There will be Nevgevs.

Beginning tonight, we're hosting daily Counter-Strike: GO events on our server. Because why the hell not?

Our weeks-old, St. Louis-based CS:GO server has hosted lively Steam events about twice a week. We run custom maps exclusively because the community has somehow produced 1,000 of them for CS:GO since adding Steam Workshop support last month. I earmarked my early favorites in February, but new favorites have already emerged, like the cs_sauna remake.

How to join, in four extremely simple steps

Join the PC Gamer Steam Group to be notified of events
Subscribe to our CS:GO Steam Workshop map collection (this will auto-download and auto-update the maps we run on our server through Steam—MAXIMUM CONVENIENCE!)
Join the server ("PC Gamer | The Psychedelic Den of Map Experimentation," IP: 8.6.76.59:27015) around 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST
Have fun; be the kind of person you'd like to play games with

Thanks to GameServers for being a darn good server provider. If there's a config setting you'd like changed or a map you'd like to see in the rotation, just let me know or leave a comment on the Steam Workshop collection. Messages sent to evan@pcgamer.com stir my spinal community antennae implant.

And yes, we know CS:GO isn't the only game in the universe. But we've got a good thing going there, and I'd rather do a slow roll-out of community funtimes than expand things too quickly. Look for more games and events to pop up throughout the year.
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