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:
  • Fixed a client crash caused by failing to properly parse the item schema
  • Fixed not being able to equip The Director's Vision taunt in the Action slot
  • Fixed not being able to taunt with the Spy's disguise kit
  • Fixed the Engineer's build menu staying open after changing class
  • Fixed being charged the incorrect amount of metal for a Dispenser when The Gunslinger is equipped
  • Updated the description of The High Five! Taunt to better describe the new toggle behavior
  • Updated the materials for The Eureka Effect HUD to support mat_picmip
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:
  • Fixed item descriptions for Strange scores not appearing to update
  • Fixed a bug where damage dealt and healing done Strange scores would stop incrementing
  • Fixed an exploit where teleporters could build up a large amount of health
  • Fixed a bug where premium accounts would temporarily appear to revert to free status
  • Fixed deflected rocket explosion sounds playing repeatedly
  • Fixed deflected Black Box rockets not giving health to the Pyro
  • Fixed being able to apply the Strange Part: Buildings Destroyed tool to the Flying Guillotine
  • Fixed several cosmetic items not cloaking properly for the Spy
  • Added the AsiaFortress Cup Season 7 medals
  • Community Request: Added SetCustomUpgradesFile input to the gamerules entity to allow servers to specify a different upgrades file
  • Updated the localization files
  • Updated the Eureka Effect
    • Can now pickup buildings
    • Repair and upgrade rates have been decreased
    • Can teleport to your spawn room or your Teleporter Exit
Team Fortress 2


TeamFortress.TV is holding a fundraiser to help send North American teams to this year's international i52 LAN event in the UK. Show your support here!



Jun 6, 2014
Team Fortress 2


If you're looking to get into league-style competitive Team Fortress, sign up for The Highlander Open, a new initiative to introduce non-competitive players into the competitive scene. Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in this massive competition. Sign-ups close on June 26th, with Week 1 beginning July 13th and lasting for over a month. Click here to sign up or get more information.



Team Fortress 2


One of the things we've been up to lately is working on new weapons for an upcoming update. And when we iterate on new weapons internally, we tend to make a lot of them. It helps ensure that the weapons we finally ship are as fun and additive to the overall gameplay experience as possible.


But it also means we're usually left with a lot of bad weapons that, for one reason or another, are better left unshipped. So while we keep busy with the latest update, we thought you might get a kick out of some of our absolute worst weapon ideas from past ones.


The Big Bomb

Any time someone starts thinking of weapon alternatives for the Demoman, one of the first questions is usually "Instead of having a bunch of small sticky bombs, what if he got one big one?"


Unfortunately for everybody else, unilateral area denial usually isn't fun for anyone except the player doing the denial. While there are some weapons that make traversing an area more difficult, they're not so overpowered that they shut down entire areas while removing the ability to respond. Rather, they lead to alternative routes and tactics, giving players an opportunity to "counter" in a variety of creative ways (airblasts, sapping, ubers, etc.).


These opportunities simply weren't available with The Big Bomb. Because it was replacing the existing demo sticky launcher (an incredibly powerful weapon), the Big Bomb also had to be incredibly powerful. Making it powerful enough to deter a team from entering a room meant that either A) as a player you felt stymied with no options, waiting for it to detonate before resuming the fun part of the game; or B) you didn't notice and immediately got exploded. In playtests, neither of these choices wound up being fun for players on either team. This includes the Demoman, who was stuck with a low-skill-ceiling, fire-and-forget weapon that primarily added spam but not value.


Also worth noting: over countless playtests, not a single life was lost to the Big Bomb. The only thing worse than a weapon that everyone hates fighting against is a weapon that everyone hates fighting against that is also terrible at killing people.


The Facestab Knife

Sometimes we're pretty confident right off the bat that an idea is terrible. But if we can quickly make a testable version, sometimes we'll playtest it anyway just to make sure. Even a terrible weapon can turn into something interesting with a little iteration.


The Facestab Knife was not one of those. While brainstorming ideas for the Manno-Technology update, one of our resident Spy players asked the question "What if there was a knife that was almost useless from the back but could backstab from the front?" The video below provides the perfect answer to what would (and did) happen.




The Sucker

The Pyro's Sucker was intended to be the opposite of the airblast, moving enemies closer to the Pyro by applying a steady force over time rather than a one-shot blast. However, on top of the unenjoyable gameplay issues it caused, the Pyro's vacuum-inspired Sucker also had a host of technical issues.


One of the reasons why TF2 works and feels solid even on slower network connections is that every client is constantly predicting its own movement without having to talk to the server. Your player can move forward in real-time on your screen, responding to your input the same way the server eventually will.


The Sucker played hell with the prediction system. The constant force by the Sucker moving the victim around over several seconds was an impossible-to-predict situation, causing a lot of disorienting view stuttering for players who got hit with it. While an explosion or a standard airblast would cause prediction to be wrong for a single frame, the Sucker would cause prediction to be broken for a group of players for as long as the button was held down.


Even on fast networks, where prediction plays less of a role, the Sucker was lackluster. It gave the Pyro, a class that's deadly in close quarters, a tool to move anyone into range. We've found that TF2 works best when classes and players support each other, making up for weaknesses and combining into new strengths, rather than giving any one class more and more tools to solve all potential problems.


The B.A.S.E. Jumper

Mobility is really important in TF2, both during and between engagements. When we saw that community members Sexy Robot and Square had created an amazing Soldier parachute, we started thinking about the options it might open up for that class. Being airborne provides strategic position benefits, but at the cost of maneuverability. Increased movement options against Pyros and Demomen are balanced by increased exposure when fighting Heavies and Snipers.


In playtesting the parachute, we all had a bunch of fun, and at the end of the day that's really what we're hoping for with all of our weapons.




Wait, this isn't a terrible idea at all. Okay, forget that last one.


Team Fortress 2
Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically. The major changes include:
  • Fixed a case where some clients/servers would crash during map load
Team Fortress 2
Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically. The major changes include:
Source Engine Changes (CS:S, DoD:S, TF2, HL2:DM)
  • Fixed the skybox on 3rd party maps when using certain sky materials
  • In Hammer, while using the Vertex Tool, pressing CTRL+B will snap selected vertices to the grid
  • Allow about:blank in the MOTD
  • Marked mat_texture_list as a cheat to prevent client exploits
  • Removed the sv_voicecodec convar because it isn t necessary anymore and was being used as an exploit
  • Updated the con_logfile convar to checking for invalid filenames
  • Updated the network resource download path to check for invalid filenames
  • Updated the plugin_load command
    • Servers can only load plugins if they are not running a map
    • Clients can only load plugins if they are not connected to a server
Team Fortress 2
  • Fixed a bug that would cause the Sentry s health to look overhealed when it wasn t
  • Fixed an exploit with the Red-Tape Recorder and Sentry where the Sentry could build up a large amount of health
  • Fixed a bug where the Spy could not place a sapper without switching weapons first
  • Fixed the Engineer being able to purchase the Disposable Sentry Gun upgrade in Mann vs. Machine, build a disposable Sentry, and then refund the upgrade without the Sentry being destroyed
  • Improved client-side critical attack prediction for rapid-fire weapons (i.e. Flamethrower, Minigun)
  • Updated the equip_region for the Pyromancer's Mask
  • Fixed the equip_region for tournament medals conflicting with other items
  • Added the LBTF2 Season 9 tournament medals
  • Updated the localization files
Team Fortress 2


A lot of lore can stack up over seven years. If you've got a friend you think would love the ongoing TF2 digital comic series, but you think they'd find all the shirtless Australian men, magical gold bars and centuries-old vendettas confusing, we've put together a Catch-Up Comic that blasts through the backstory like an expository rocket-sled. Now your friend can dive into the ongoing comic, and finally figure out what all those jpgs of a nude Soldier covered in honey were about.


Team Fortress 2
Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically. The major changes include:
  • Fixed another issue where compressed community maps would not be decompressed by clients if the file size was too large
Team Fortress 2
Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically. The major changes include:
  • Fixed an issue where compressed community maps would not be decompressed by clients if the file size was too large
...