(Image credit: LazerSofa, Mr. Light, Feksil, Overlord Lettuce, boba)

The Particle Mayhem contest is BACK this year with a shocking twist: they're going beyond time and space! The best part is... they want YOU to create all sorts of particles, cosmetics, and war paints for the event! The starting prize pool will be 100 keys, with more being contributed as the event progresses!

Do you think you have what it takes to travel throughout history or venture into the vast regions of space? The Particle Mayhem 2 contest runs through December 31st, 2023, at 12am UTC, so get cracking on those creations!

Visit the Particle Mayhem 2 website for more information!

(Image credit: Raos)

North America's biggest competitive Team Fortress 2 event of the year is taking place this Fall with the https://resup.gg TF2 LAN in Philadelphia! All the top teams in the region - froyotech, Like A G6, Global Clan, Ford Gaming (and more!) - are back to fight for this year's championship!

Catch the action on Saturday, September 30th, and Sunday, October 1st, starting at 12:00pm EDT, streamed live on b4nny’s Twitch channel.

More info about attending as a spectator, and methods of supporting and following the tournament can be found on the official event page.

(Image credit: Artist - Yoki, Editor - Lapi, Compositing - Herwork)

For fourteen long seasons of ETF2L Highlander, one team has claimed victory over all others - SDCK! No longer content with European glory, they are coming for your American jobs! Can two-season RGL Grand Finalists, Fast Forth, put pay to these visions of world domination?

Find out on Sunday, September 17th @ 1pm PDT / 22:00 CEST live on KritzKast's twitch channel.

Important Links:

• Twitch
  
• YouTube
  
• Twitter
  
• Discord

(Image credit: washy)

The ever-persistent hordes of possibly late and definitely murderous robots have banded together for one sole purpose: delivering high-yield explosives to random locations all across the badlands! Unfortunately for them, murderous robots aren’t allowed to enjoy explosions, so they’ll be blown up for our enjoyment instead!

Operation Galvanized Gauntlet is a charity event created and hosted by Potato.TF. Fight your way through more than two dozen community-created maps and missions to finish off the summer and complete at least 12 missions to receive an in-game medal! Servers are available in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Click here to get started!

Feeling generous? Potato.TF is also hosting a charity fundraiser supporting Direct Relief's efforts to help those affected by Hawaii's wildfires. Donate as little as $5 to receive an in-game medal! Have the link to your steam profile ready and click here for more information.

Destroy those robots while you can! The event will run through October 10th, 2023.

Important Links:

• Event Website
  
• Discord
  
• Steam Group

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 related to the dispenser and the recent addition of -unrestricted_maxplayers
  
• Fixed the floor particles for the Pastel Trance Unusual taunt effect sometimes drawing full white
  
• Fixed SourceTV not recording in-game chat for Mann vs. Machine defenders
  
• Added SetStepHeight and SetMaxJumpHeight inputs to the base_boss entity
  
• Updated the Beaten and Bruised cosmetic item
  • Fixed a floating triangle when equipping the Ultra Violence style on Sniper
    
  • Reduced the clipping for Soldier and Sniper
• Updated Clubsy The Seal to be an assister in Pyrovision
  
• Updated the models/materials for the Brimmed Bootlegger and Prohibition Opposition to fix clipping, skinning, and UV issues
  
• Updated/Added some tournament medals
  
• Updated Taunt: The Head Doctor
  • Fixed skinning on lower LODs
    
  • Fixed team coloring for both teams
    
  • Adjusted animation to reduce prop clipping
• Updated Taunt: The Road Rager
  • Fixed skinning on lower LODs
    
  • Adjusted animation on wheels to better match character movement
• Updated pd_selbyen
  • Fixed door stuck exploit
    
  • Major optimization improvements (thanks yrrzy!)
    • Added/moved some func_occluders
      
    • Hinting adjustments
      
    • Added skyboxes and func_areaportals to separate areas better
      
    • Added func_areaportalwindows to unload spawn building interiors
      
    • Turned some small brushes into func_details
      
    • Adjusted some prop fades
      
    • Fixed slight misalignment of the yellow center buildings roof structure
      
    • Better lighting under the docks
      
    • Minor detailing changes
• Updated cp_steel
  • Added additional clipping where needed
    
  • Fixed some windows clip and trip spots
    
  • Adjusted Red respawn base times to not go over 10 (could get to 11 and 12)
    
  • Capture point HUD layout now matches its map kin (Gravelpit and Sulfur)
    
  • Updated map menu images to the present day (1970)
    
  • Reduced one-way door speed to stop ejecting players into orbit
    
  • Rebuilt B Red spawn exit to a cleaner style to alleviate spawn trapping and potential camping
    
  • Fixing some props that fade too early
    
  • Moved medium healthpack to the side between D->E to avoid accidental pickups
    
  • Reduced speed of handrail deployment so it doesn't overtake the bridges in the rare case that Blu captures C and D in quick succession
• Updated koth_synthetic_event
  • Brightened and evened out lighting in play space
    
  • Fixed missing soundscape
    
  • Fixed missing detail sprites
    
  • Minor detail changes
• Updated pl_venice
  • Added new exit for initial Blu spawn
    
  • Added new balcony outside Attic room above Point B
    
  • Added new balcony inside near Point D
    
  • Moved door on balcony near Point A (Thanks Billo)
    
  • Bridges now have solid side walls
    
  • Raised bridge is now less steep
    
  • Small building next to raised bridge is now taller
    
  • Added cover at Point C
    
  • Slightly adjusted balcony above Point D
    
  • Fixed being able to place turrets above Point D
    
  • Initial Blu spawn doors now close
    
  • Replaced fences at Blu spawn with buoys
    
  • Removed some interior props near Point D
    
  • The payload now sinks
    
  • Moved some health and ammo around
    
  • Updated navmesh
    
  • Lots of minor bug fixes
    
  • Lots of minor other changes
• Updated vsh_distillery, vsh_nucleus, vsh_skirmish, and vsh_tinyrock
  • Failing to capture the point in 3 minutes after it opens results in Stalemate
    
  • Powerjack, Ali Baba's Wee Booties and Bootlegger on-kill effects now work on-hit
    
  • Hale's abilities now get affected by Vaccinator resistances
    
  • Fixed Ubercharge rate bonus applying only with the Ubersaw
    
  • Fixed self-damage counting towards Airstrike bonus rockets and Frontier Justice revenge crits
    
  • Fixed Natasha and Huo-Long Heater having incorrect damage penalty
    
  • Community servers now can expand the Script even further by creating a new file at scripts/vscripts/vsh_addons/main_pre.nut. While previously added main.nut gets executed last, main_pre.nut gets executed prior to most of the Script.
• Updated vsh_skirmish (additional changes)
  • Fixed an out of bounds exploit
    
  • Fixed not being able to wall climb certain trees in the main arena

(Image credit: 14bit)

The temperature is low, but the spirits are high! The annual 72 Hour Jam is back once more!

This year, the Jam’s charity drive is supporting Gamers Outreach. Anyone who donates $5 or more to the drive is eligible to receive this year’s in-game charity medal. Donate here!

Starting Friday, September 15th, at 5pm UTC, you have 72 hours to make whatever Team Fortress 2 creation you can think of! Whether it be a Map, Model, Artwork, or even another game entirely, anything goes as long as it's Team Fortress 2 related!

Additionally, you are able to earn another medal simply by participating!

For more information, check out the thread on TF2Maps or join the TF2Maps Discord. Be sure to also follow @TF2Maps on Twitter and Twitch for live coverage over the weekend, as well as any future events!

Happy Jamming!

An update has been released for Left 4 Dead 2.

Tank Run mutation fixes based on feedback from Tank Run community groups:
- Removed auto-revive.
- Re-enabled water slowdown.
- Re-enabled crawling when incapped.
- Lowered revive health to 40.
- Revive duration set to 3 seconds.
- Fixed issue where Tanks deleted by triggers were still counted as alive.
- Starting the two extra generators in Sacrifice finale will now decrease the finale timer by 30 seconds and spawn a Tank for each generator.
- Fixed issue where Tanks wouldn't spawn if some players were still connecting.

Team Fortress 2 is once again back at Insomnia Gaming Festival, featuring some of the best teams from around the world competing for their chance at a £3000 prize pool! The event takes place from Friday, September 8th, to Sunday, September 10th. EssentialsTF will be streaming three days of content hosted live at the NEC in Birmingham, UK!

Sign-ups for the tournament are here. The action will be streamed both at the event and online from 12pm BST (1pm CEST / 7am EDT) each day by EssentialsTF over at their Twitch page, so you can watch the event in-person or in the comfort of your own home!

For the latest information, be sure to check out https://essentials.tf/insomnia71/ and the EssentialsTF Discord.

(Image credit: prOjesse)

Things are done a little differently down under, so you won't want to miss this!

If you have ever been unsure about wanting to watch or play competitive TF2 in OCE, then witnessing the head-to-head matchup of the two best highlander teams in the region should be all the convincing you need!

Catch it live Thursday, August 24th, at 8PM AEST / 3AM PDT / 12PM CEST on KritzKast's Twitch channel!

Important Links:

• Twitch
  
• YouTube
  
• Twitter
  
• Discord

An update has been released for Left 4 Dead 2.

- Fixed several exploits reported via HackerOne.
- Fixed controller navigation in some menus.
- Fixed not being able to open the train door in Crash Course when playing the Tank Run Mutation.
- Only the original attacker gets credited for damage caused by exploding props.
- Restored the knife's original horizontal swing trajectory.
- Fixed incorrect instructor lesson bindings for the Tank.
- Fixed LDR skybox rendering on low shader settings.

New response criteria:
- "TankActive"- 0 means no Tank aggro, 1 means Tank is aggro.
- "Chapter" - 0 is first map of mission.

New Script Functions:
- "AreAllSurvivorsInBattlefield" - Returns true if all Survivors are in the battlefield
- "GetClosestCharacterWhoIsIT" - Returns the closest character who is IT
- "GetClosestSurvivor" - Returns the closest Survivor to the passed origin
- "GetHighestFlowSurvivor" - Returns the Survivor with the highest flow
- "GetLowestFlowSurvivor" - Returns the Survivor with the lowest flow
- "GetRandomSurvivor" - Returns a random Survivor

Maps and Mutations:

Dead Center
Map 1:
 - Restored window clip-hang bugs that were patched with TLS to re-allow access to the rooftop in Coop mode.
 - Versus: Tank will now only spawn after Survivors have exited the elevator, and no later than leaving the kitchen.
Map 3:
 - Blocked a stuck spot at vending machine alternative path.

Dark Carnival
Map 1:
 - Patched a rarer stuck spot at the swamp's cargo container.
 - Patched an elaborate SI out of bounds exploit.
Map 5:
 - Addressed some issues with "THE MAIN ATTRACTION" Achievement by adding more triggers so it no longer fails if any Survivor disconnects or goes idle while on stage.

Swamp Fever
Map 1:
 - Patched janky ladder near the ferry event.
 - By popular community request the TLS Swamp gator is now canonically named Fred.
Map 2:
 - Blocked a stuck spot behind some rocks at the start near the parachutist.
 - Blocked a stuck spot on a cypress knee near the parachutist area dock.
Map 3:
 - Blocked stuck spots at two sets of cypress knees around the event start area.
 - Versus: Blocked a stuck spot for SI behind a bush to the left of the first bridge upon entering the water.
 - Versus: Blocked a stuck spot for SI in the bush near the lantern/event start.
 - Versus: Improve SI clipping of first ladder outside saferoom to allow drop through a large gap.
 - Versus: Moved a TLS Infected ladder out of the Survivor's way at the start.
Map 4:
 - Versus: Blocked a stuck spot for SI behind a bush in the back of the enclosed hedge area.

Hard Rain
Map 2:
 - Restored a shortcut that was patched with TLS; instead fixed the soft-lock where Survivors cannot progress if one player skipped the elevator.

The Parish
Map 2:
 - Eliminate a stuck spot that a previous ladder patch created.
Map 3:
 - Versus: New ladder in far corner of manhole drop area to fix stuck .
Map 4:
 - Versus: Reduced a jet strike trigger after the balcony drop that previously dealt 25 damage per touch (75 total) to Survivors, down to only 2 damage per touch to behave like the other triggers.

The Passing
Map 1:
 - Blocked a stuck spot in a corner behind a floodlight in the top floor after the alarm cars.
Map 2:
 - Fixed collision issue with clips on the stairs by the saferoom that caused noticeable teleporting when not on a local server.

The Sacrifice
Map 2:
 - Versus: Delete func clip that blocks SI access into end closet.

No Mercy
Map 1:
 - Lift anti-grief kill trigger off the ground to prevent an incap glitch.
 - Versus: Add clip to patch a ladder shortcut at the start.
Map 2:
 - All sets of railings will now appear for all players regardless of graphics settings.

Crash Course
Map 1:
 - Block rare stuck spot between the box wreck and traffic light.
Map 2:
 - Clip to prevent gas cans from falling between finale buses.

Death Toll
Map 3:
 - Blocked a stuck spot at the top of a rock cliff cluster just after the church bus.
 - Blocked a stuck spot between the cliff rocks and the right side of the mandatory house.
 - Versus: Fixed an SI stuck spot on the barricade by the church.

Dead Air
Map 3:
 - Updated clip brushes and navmesh to allow SI players onto a previously blocked pipe that has an Infected ladder leading up to it.
 - Updated clip brushes and navmesh so that Survivors may now enter the hallway next to the end saferoom, which was blocked by a roof clip in the port from L4D1.
Map 4:
 - Fix SI player and AI stuck spot inside the end rubble.

Blood Harvest
Map 2:
 - Versus: Fixed SI stuck beyond the end of tunnel just before end safe room.
Map 3:
 - Fix rare stuck spot in starting saferoom for SI only.
 - Stuck in tree near shed.
Map 4:
 - Versus: Patched fence Infected ladder next to lawnmower room.

Cold Stream
Map 2:
 - Fix stuck next to military truck leading to barricade.
 - Fix two stuck spots behind the long hedges on the right of after the military truck leading to barricade.
 - Fix a regression with easy event skip clip and a stuck clip nearby.
Map 3:
 - Enlarged a stuck clip to fully fix it.

The Last Stand
Map 2:
 - Simplified finale difficulty scaling so it is now only increased on Advanced and Expert difficulties rather than scaling each difficulty differently; the intention is to curb player fatigue and confusion in addition to bringing it more in line with expectations from other finales.
 - Lowered the number of required gas cans in Single Player by 25% to help compensate for only having bot teammates; Easy/Normal difficulty now require 6, and Advanced/Expert difficulty now require 9.
 - The gas can requirement in Multiplayer modes now increases by 1.5x per difficulty; Easy/Normal difficulty now require 8, and Advanced/Expert difficulty now require 12.
 - Versus: Fixed an out of bounds exploit to get under a cliff side.
 - Versus: Fixed a stuck spot between a tree cluster and Versus-only fence at the cliff that overlooks the beach.

Tank Run:
 - The first map of a Campaign will now spawn two Tier 1 weapons near the start area if no other Tier 1's are nearby.
 - Car alarms will now spawn a Tank if triggered.
 - Disabled water slowdown for all maps.
 - Set Survivor revive health to 50.
 - Added auto self-revive mechanic with a delay based on the "survivor_revive_duration" Cvar (default 5 seconds).
 - Slight buff to pistol and melee damage against the Tank.
 - Fixed issue where the sacrificing player would get auto-revived after restarting the generator.
 - Fixed issue where the finale would result in a failed screen if players that jumped off of the bridge to restart the generator got incapped.
 - Fixed issue where players going idle, switching characters or leaving the game would break the auto-revive for that Survivor.
 - Fixed issue if a Tank was deleted while being biled, it would break the script.
 - Fixed issue where Tanks would not retain their slowdown when biled, if they were hit with another vomit jar while already being biled.
 - Fixed issue where Survivors could get instantly revived when hit with a car.

Death's Door:
 - Enabled heartbeat sound when under 25% health.
 - Enabled B&W state when at 1 permanent HP.
 - Fixed heartbeat sound when taking over bot.
 - Fixed Fallen Survivors being able to drop medkits.
 - Fixed temporary health decay in the safe room, loading players will no longer decay temp health.
 - Defibrillator now heals 1 permanent - 99 temporary HP (still B&W).
 - Safe room respawn now heals 24 permanent - 26 temporary HP (only heartbeat sound).
 - Safe room transition now heals 80% of the missing HP to half health of living Survivors, e.g. 1 to 40 (no health effects).
 - Fixed an issue that caused the mission to fail for Sacrifice type finales when the player presses the final button.

Versus Survival:
 - Thickened clips and other map-specific fixes to dramatically reduce stuck spawns.
 - Made it auto-trigger any outputs on the entity used to start Survival if the pre-round timer expires.

Taaannnk!!:
 - Thickened clips and other map-specific fixes to dramatically reduce stuck Tank spawns.
 - Players no longer need to wait for incapped Survivors in order to progress at areas like elevators.

L4D1 Coop & Survival & Versus:
 - Set the claw viewmodels for the L4D1 SI to the proper L4D1 models for L4D1 Versus.
 - Disabled water slowdown for L4D1 Survival.
 - Defibrillators now convert to pain pills instead of medkits; previously, when converted to medkits the game kept trying to spawn more defibs which led to an over-saturation of medkits.
 - Changed noise levels for running and talking to their values from L4D1; this will make it slightly harder for Common Infected to notice Survivors, like their L4D1 counterparts.
 - Changed to use much more accurate L4D1-like looking ragdolls.