EdgeGamers is hosting an UltiDuo tournament next weekend! See if you have what it takes to be the ultimate Soldier/Medic (or Medic/Soldier) combo in EdgeGamer s 2016 NA Ultiduo Tournament. 32 Dynamic Duos will go head-to-head this November 12th and 13th, with prizes awarded to the top two teams. But don't wait around! Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here learn more.

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 the GA'lloween 2016 community event medals
• Fixed sv_shutdown not working for community dedicated servers
  • All servers now enter hibernation state when they are empty and have no remaining work, which informs commands such as sv_shutdown
  • Added tf_allow_server_hibernation (default: 1) to allow disabling hibernation state
  • This should generally only be necessary if running server plugins that are not compatible with hibernation
  • Added sv_shutdown_cancel to cancel a pending shutdown
• Updated the truce period during Halloween boss fights
  • Players are no longer affected by the truce when in their spawn room, allowing them to fight their way out if necessary
  • Sappers can no longer be used while a truce is active
• Updated the "tiny" spellbook spell
  • Fixed a case where players could get outside the world
  • Fixed not switching Heavies to their melee weapon
• Updated player destruction mode so the "Team Leader" does not heal teammates while in the Underworld
• Fixed Halloween contract reward items not being craftable
• Fixed Strange Human Cannonballs and Strange Battery Canteens not tracking stats
• Fixed Casual search criteria being saved automatically while connecting to a server
• Fixed a case where players could suicide on a pumpkin bomb to gain progress on certain Merasmissions
• Updated the equip region for the Spine-Chilling Skull
• Updated pl_fifthcurve_event (Brimstone)
  • Fixed exploit where players could get under the map near BLU starting area
  • Fixed exploit where players could get out of the map near graveyard
  • Fixed exploit where players could enter RED base as BLU
  • Fixed some skeletons running into lava when there are no enemies in Hell
  • Fixed medieval tiny spell & other Merasmus voice spells lasting too long for some players
  • Fixed big ghost getting stuck when map ends
  • Fixed a spot where players could get stuck if entering it under Tiny spell
  • Fixed another case of non-solid pumpkin
  • Tuned respawn time for RED team at last area
• Updated cp_sunshine_event (Sinshine)
  • Fixed multiple visible nodraws and other texture bugs
  • Fixed nonsolid pumpkin in lobby
  • Fixed trigger bounds in RED spawn
  • Various lighting changes

Over the last two months the TF community has been hard at work on this year's Halloween showcase, and now it s here! Spend the spookiest day of your life looking at equally spooky mods here, and check out their Steam Workshop here!

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:

• Removed ctf_turbine from the Competitive maps list
• Updated Mann vs. Machine to use the new ping information system already in use for Casual and Competitive matchmaking
  • In particular, parties with members from differing regions should now have a better queue experience

Correction from the Scream Fortress VIII release notes:

• Added a taunt Unusualifier
  • A new tool that will Unusualify a specific taunt with a random Unusual effect when the tool is applied to the taunt

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:

• Extended Scream Fortress VIII to run through November 16th, 2016
• Fixed a problem causing some players to receive the incorrect number of Merasmissions
  • Players should receive one Scream Fortress VIII Merasmission per day of the event, for a maximum possible of seven as of today
  • Players who received too few Merasmissions will be able to quickly catch up to the intended amount
  • A small number of players who received too many Merasmissions will not receive any for the next few days
• Fixed the Tome of Merasmissions displaying an erroneous maximum number
  • All players will have the opportunity to receive twenty-six Merasmissions during this year's event, regardless of number of Merasmissions completed in previous years
• Fixed a small number of unusuals that did not have the proper displayed quality (unique (golden name) instead of unusual (purple name))
• Updated the model/materials for The El Paso Poncho
• Fixed not seeing the correct display name for featured community maps (example: pl_fifthcurve_event vs. Brimstone)
• Updated the localization files
• Updated mvm_ghost_town to fix error models in the spawn rooms
• Updated pl_fifthcurve_event (Brimstone)
  • Fixed RED players getting inside BLU's 2nd forward spawn
  • Fixed skull's teeth in hell being non-solid
  • Fixed hell's coffin tune and tiny spell song sometimes playing to the next round from previous round
  • Fixed some players dropping into hell's lava in rare cases
  • Fixed big pumpkin in RED 2nd base being non-solid
• Updated pd_pit_of_death_event
  • Fixed an exploit which allowed players to enter the enemy spawn
  • Fixed enemy players teleported to the Underworld spawning in one another
  • Fixed finale particles not being drawn from certain distances
  • Fixed certain overlays not rendering
  • Increased damage over time dealt in the Underworld
  • Added climbable props to the platforms near mid
  • Added a nobuild to the area surrounding the portal
  • Added signs in spawns to make the second door more obvious
  • Adjusted respawn times so that the losing team will respawn faster
  • Adjusted health, ammo, and spellbooks around the map
  • Changed the Underworld buff to use the Purgatory buff from Eyeaduct
  • Players killed during the finale will now turn into ghosts
  • Decreased score limit from 5 to 4 points per player

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:

• Fixed spooky OS X crash upon joining a server
• Fixed not being able to gain progress on Merasmissions

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:
Scream Fortress VIII has arrived!

• Featuring 3 new community maps: Brimstone, Pit of Death, and Maple Ridge Event
• Added the Creepy Crawly Case
  • Contains 21 new community-created items that make-up the Creepy Crawly Collection
  • Has a chance to give one of 3 community-created Halloween-restricted items as a bonus item
  • Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
• Added a taunt Unusualifier
  • A new tool that will Unusualify the specified taunt with the Unusual effect listed in the tool's description
  • Can be found as a random bonus item when opening a Creepy Crawly Case
• Added two new taunts to the Mann Co. Store
  • Taunt: The Victory Lap
  • Taunt: Second Rate Sorcery (community-created)
• Added 8 new community-created Unusual effects
  • 4 new effects for Unusual hats
  • 4 new effects for Unusual taunts
• Continue last year's event by collecting the souls of dead players for your Soul Gargoyle by killing enemies, doing map objectives, or collecting the Soul Gargoyles that spawn in the maps
• Join Halloween matches by selecting the "Halloween" category in Casual
• Scream Fortress VIII runs through November 9th, 2016

During Scream Fortress VIII

• All players who launch the game will receive a Soul Gargoyle if they don't already have one from last year's event
  • Grants access to Merasmissions and Halloween item transmutations
  • Tracks Merasmissions completed and souls collected
• Added 3 new Merasmissions for the featured maps
  • Completing a Merasmission will give players a classic Halloween item and the chance for a Creepy Crawly Case
• The chance to receive an Unusual item from a case opening has been increased during the event
• All cases and Mann Co. Supply Crates will grant Halloween 2016 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects

Matchmaking

• The Competitive maps list has been updated
  • Added pl_badwater and ctf_turbine
  • Disabled cp_granary and cp_badlands
  • Maps will continue to enter and exit this list over time
• Added "Load Saved Settings" and "Save Current Settings" buttons to the Casual mode Map Selection menu
  • Search criteria is now manually saved to give players more control over the default settings when the game is launched
• XP earned in Casual matches has been adjusted to reward players more for their personal contribution to the match
  • XP per point has returned to 6.5 XP per point
  • XP earned for match completion and objective completion now scales based on your score relative to total amount of points scored by everyone in the match
• Increased the matchmaker's priority of matches with imbalanced teams
  • This should reduce the occurrence of extended imbalanced matches when multiple players leave

General

• Added the AsiaFortress Cup Season 10 tournament medals
• Added LBTF2 6v6 Season 13 tournament medals
• Improved several aspects of texture handling for OS X and Linux clients
  • This should reduce the rate of "Out of memory" errors for players on high texture settings, especially on level change
  • Players still encountering this error can reduce texture quality to medium or lower to greatly improve stability pending further improvements
• Fixed a missing material issue on cp_sunshine
• Fixed players not taking damage when exploding as a bombhead without stunning Merasmus
• Fixed Mann vs. Machine zombies not using the correct skin in Ghost Town outside of the Halloween event
• Fixed a bug with the vote-kick timer in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed taunts not restoring the proper weapon when the taunts are finished
• Fixed the Pomson 6000 playing the shotgun reload sound
• Updated the sounds made when the Scout shoves someone while using the Shortstop
• Updated some Merasmus audio files that weren't playing properly
• Updated the localization files

Experts assure us that ghosts are just hallucinations brought on by carbon monoxide poisoning. Well, experts, have fun explaining the 13 terrifying hauntings that just simultaneously went live in our fully poison gas-free Halloween maps! For everyone else, prepare to experience the spectral horror of carbon monoxide without any of the headaches or lethargy!

Three new Halloween maps! All classic Scream Fortress Maps! All-new contracts! New taunts! And a Creepy Crawly Case with the chance to get our newest unholy Halloween creation: a taunt Unusualifier!

Plus, for all you unusual effects fans: For the duration of the event, all unusual cosmetics that you unbox from any case or crate will have a Halloween 2016 unusual effect, and the chances of receiving an unusual cosmetic across all cases, even old ones, will be DOUBLED. It's usually single! That's TWICE as many chances! And that's terrifying!

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:

• Players will now be randomly selected to participate in a survey at the end of Casual and Competitive matches
• Ongoing improvements to the matchmaking backend to improve match quality and reduce wait times
• Fixed air-blasts sometimes sending deflected projectiles in random directions when the Pyro is close to enemy players
• Fixed a case where players joining community bootcamp servers via the server-browser could not select a team
• Reduced the rate at which players can earn bonus points for extinguishing teammates
• Fixed a case where players could use the Halloween teleport spell to get outside the map
• Updated the localization files
• Community requests
  • Fixed Merasmus not being stunned by bomb-head players on community Halloween maps
  • Added the ability for community Halloween maps to call a truce during a Monoculus or Merasmus fight
    • Can be set via the game rules entity using the SetMapForcedTruceDuringBossFight input
  • Fixed energy weapons not hitting pumpkin bombs, Merasmus props, and RD robots
• Mann vs. Machine update
  • Fixed the Sentry Buster sound being orphaned if the Sentry Buster detonates while invulnerable
  • Fixed zombies not using the correct skin in Ghost Town
• Updated cp_snakewater_final1
  • Changes based on community feedback
• Updated pl_millstone_event
  • Updated bot navigation file, bots now use all routes, won't get stuck so easily and are smarter
  • Fixed woodpile spot where HHH could get stuck
  • Improved clipping on wood piles
  • Fixed missing rooftop texture
  • Fixed a few props flashing at certain angles
  • Fixed a spot in the last area where you could place stickies underground
  • Fixed Monoculus not getting stunned when hit by players exiting purgatory
• Updated cp_sunshine
  • Blockbulleted spiral staircase on the back of second
  • Added medium ammo to mid near choke
  • Removed clipping over wooden arch going into second from valley
  • Reduced the size of the wooden arch
  • Blockbulleted a few undersides of staircases on last that could catch projectiles
  • Removed a ladder on last

Awooo, folks! It s almost that time of year again: Halloween. Normally that d mean we d be putting the final touches on our annual Halloween event, but this year we re working on something even better: an all-new Pyro Pack, improvements to Comp Mode, and a big new update and campaign.

But that doesn t mean Halloween s cancelled. Next week, as always, every past Scream Fortress event will rise from the dead to terrorize your computers for a limited, horrifying time, including last year s Merasmissions. We ll also be shipping some community Halloween maps, all-new custom contracts for those maps, a new Halloween taunt, a new item that gives unusual effects to taunts, and a new cosmetics case!

And it wouldn t be a Halloween pre-announcement blog post if we didn t scare most of you TO DEATH. For instance: What if just now you heard the rattling moon-lit sound of a SKELETON? No, nothing? Everybody still alive? Okay, but what if that sound was coming from INSIDE YOUR OWN BODY? Because there s a SKELETON in there RIGHT NOW? Oh, you already knew that, did you? Well, what if we were to tell you it s STEVE BUSCEMI S SKELETON? How did it get INSIDE you? What did he do with YOUR skeleton? Why don t you ask him, because he s RIGHT BEHIND YOU! No, look down! Farther! Because he s just a puddle of flesh with two BULGING EYEBALLS staring up at you! And a SNAGGLE-TOOTH! That s right, you just BODY-SHAMED STEVE BUSCEMI! Because it was YOU writing this blog post the WHOLE TIME! AWOOOOO!

Happy pre-Halloween, everyone who s still alive after reading that! (Probably not many of you.)