Oct 27, 2010

Team Fortress 2 - Valve

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Engine (CS:S, DoD:S, TF2, HL2:DM)

Removed the rate limit for the "status" command when entered into the server console
Fixed an exploit that allowed people to send fake server messages to clients
Significantly improved engine vertex compression (large reduction in per-model memory usage)

Team Fortress 2

Added TF2Maps.net Art-pass contest winners:
- Mountain Lab
- Mann Manor
Halloween 2010 Event
- Mann Manor is haunted by the Horseless Headless Horsemann.
- Random gift drop in Mann Manor.
- 4 new Halloween achievements.
- Added new Halloween hats.
- Added a new Halloween weapon.
Added Gift Wrapping of gifts to the store.
Added Custom Description tag to the store.
Added the community created "Swamp Theme" assets, so all maps can use it:
- See http://swamp.tf2maps.net/ for full details.
Updated cp_coldfront with the latest changes from the community creator (Icarus):
- Improved visibility on last CP.
- Moved second CP slightly closer to the attacker's side.
- Added cover for players queuing up the health pack on the second CP.
- Improved clipping on the zig-zag ramp to middle CP.
- Teams that capture the middle CP are now awarded with faster spawn times.
Added a health penalty to the Rocket Jumper.
Added the Sticky Jumper for Demomen to practice jumping.
Fixed the Sandvich charge meter.
Fixed glows not drawing correctly when using antialiasing on some computers.
Improved the checks that trigger mp_scrambleteams_auto.
Added console commands to initiate trades directly (cl_trade/cl_trade_steamid) to help people running trading servers

Oct 27, 2010

Sound of Blog Post Being Posted

Team Fortress 2

Two blog posts in two days? Your eyes don't deceive you. We're blog-writing machines this week, and there's plenty of gas in the tank.

Today's update includes both of the Art Pass Contest Winners' maps: Mountain Lab by Valentin "3Dnj" Levillain, and Mann's Manor by Tim "YM" Johnson and Alex Kreeger.

Also included in this update: You being scared! [sound of bat wings] That's right, it's the Second Annual Team Fortress Halloween Special. Will there be ghosts? Quite possibly. Will there be exploding pumpkins? You never know. Will you wet your pants in terror? If you're anything like us, emphatically yes.

And what more perfect holiday than Halloween to add the scariest feature yet to the Mann Co. Store: Gift wrapping! If someone decides to trick or treat on your server, wrap up that spare bottle of Jarate and give them the gift a thousand words could never describe, and a thousand therapist appointments will never undo.

Also added to the store: new community items themed for Halloween and a few scary hats of our own dark design. Some of these new holiday items are only available to purchase during the holiday, but will remain wearable all year round, so grab 'em while they're grabbable.

Oct 27, 2010

Left 4 Dead Update Released

Left 4 Dead - Valve

Updates to Left 4 Dead have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Left 4 Dead

Added Mac support for Left 4 Dead
In Versus mode Tanks will spawn in stasis until a human player takes over. Tanks in stasis are invisible and invulnerable, and won't move or attack
Tank speed is no longer reduced when on fire
Allow players on the Infected team to manually spawn during finales
Added a vote option toggle All-Talk
Any Special Infected that causes a Survivor to stumble into a "ledge hang" situation will receive 50 points
Bullets that first pass through an infected character before striking a Survivor are now ignored as friendly fire
In Versus mode car alarms will now trigger anytime a Special Infected pulls or stumbles a Survivor into an alarm car
Protected console commands that can be used to lag or crash servers

Oct 27, 2010

Left 4 Dead Comes To Mac, Goes Cheap

Left 4 Dead

Mac owners can start "grabbin' peels" today with the arrival of the original Left 4 Dead, which Valve has released via Steam. To celebrate the latest Windows-to-Mac port, Left 4 Dead is now 50% off. But wait, there's more!

In addition to Mac support for Left 4 Dead—delivered kind of on time, no less—Valve has also made the following updates.

In Versus mode Tanks will spawn in stasis until a human player takes over. Tanks in stasis are invisible and invulnerable, and won't move or attack
Tank speed is no longer reduced when on fire
Allow players on the Infected team to manually spawn during finales
Added a vote option toggle All-Talk
Any Special Infected that causes a Survivor to stumble into a "ledge hang" situation will receive 50 points
Bullets that first pass through an infected character before striking a Survivor are now ignored as friendly fire
In Versus mode car alarms will now trigger anytime a Special Infected pulls or stumbles a Survivor into an alarm car
Protected console commands that can be used to lag or crash servers

Oct 27, 2010

Team Fortress 2 Gets Its First Boss Monster, Second Halloween Update

Team Fortress 2

Halloween has come to Team Fortress 2! And so has the game's first boss monster, the axe-wielding, jack o' lantern behatted Horseless Headless Horsemann. It's all part of Valve's second annual TF2 Halloween special.

The latest update for the oft-updated Team Fortress 2 adds an all-new map, the spooky Mann Manor, as well as a quartet of new, potentially heart attack-inducing achievements. Even more frightening? The Halloween-themed achievements made available during last year's Halloween update are now achievable once more!

(Update: There's another new map in this update, Mountain Lab! Both new maps come from TF2Maps.net's Art Pass contest.)

Also new are fresh community made and Valve made items in the Mann Co. Store, some of which are only available while the TF2 Halloween special update is live. That's from today until November 8, by the way.

If you're at least this tall and don't suffer from a pre-existing heart condition, it's recommended that you start playing some Team Fortress 2 now. If you dare, of course.

Team Fortress 2 - Halloween Special [Team Fortress - thanks, gregfromtheinternet!]

Oct 26, 2010

Couldn't ya see the bloody bombs?

Team Fortress 2 - SZ

We've been fairly busy around the office this week after it was mandated that browsing International Stately Hats of Nationals was not a good use of time and there was work to be done on the next update.

Are you prepared to make your mother proud? We've joined up with <a href="http://www.kritzkast.com/uncensored/">Kritzkast</a> to determine what the Demoman really said during his diatribe in Meet the Demoman. Our sensitive ears are incapable of determining exactly what was said so it's best left to the experts. The funniest clean entry, funniest not so clean entry, and most accurate will all receive prizes. Recording your brother being dominated in Dustbowl is not a valid entry.

<a href="http://store.valvesoftware.com/index.php?t=2&g=7"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/stickybombs.jpg" width="420" height="299" border="0"></a>

When you're done yelling into your microphone, check out this fine Sticky Bomb Plush now available in the Valve Store! Available in <a href="http://store.valvesoftware.com/product.php?i=S0225">Red</a> and <a href="http://store.valvesoftware.com/product.php?i=S0239">Blue</a> these are identical to the in-game variety except they're cloth, have fewer spikes, won't stick to surfaces, and can't detonate.

While we're here, we thought we should also mention that <a href="http://mygamingedge.com/">My Gaming Edge</a> has continued working on their <a href="http://mygamingedge.com/mge-mod/">training mod</a> designed around 1v1 play. The first player to 20 points wins the duel, and while changing classes might give you an upper hand it will award your opponent a point. The mod also features several arenas each with different class restrictions, and an ELO rating system to track player statistics. Awesome stuff.

Last of all, the fine gentleman behind the original interactive video, "A Heavy's 2fort Adventure" has released a new video with an even longer title, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS3ANTUOevY">"A Granary Adventure: The Underdog Story" </a>. Watching the Pyro flee brings smiles all around as it reminds us of all the times we've chased down a fleeing Eric Smith in our internal playtests.

Oct 26, 2010

Couldn't ya see the bloody bombs?

Team Fortress 2 - SZ

When you're done yelling into your microphone, check out this fine Sticky Bomb Plush now available in the Valve Store! Available in Red and Blue these are identical to the in-game variety except they're cloth, have fewer spikes, won't stick to surfaces, and can't detonate.

While we're here, we thought we should also mention that My Gaming Edge has continued working on their training mod designed around 1v1 play. The first player to 20 points wins the duel, and while changing classes might give you an upper hand it will award your opponent a point. The mod also features several arenas each with different class restrictions, and an ELO rating system to track player statistics. Awesome stuff.

Last of all, the fine gentleman behind the original interactive video, "A Heavy's 2fort Adventure" has released a new video with an even longer title, "A Granary Adventure: The Underdog Story" . Watching the Pyro flee brings smiles all around as it reminds us of all the times we've chased down a fleeing Eric Smith in our internal playtests.

Oct 26, 2010

Couldn't ya see the bloody bombs?

Team Fortress 2