[ SHANGHAI MAJOR ]

• Updated MIBR player sticker items autographed by Lucaozy with the autographs of brnz4n.
  
• Fixed a UI bug that allowed dropping Pick'Em team logos outside of Major Pick'Em hub using both mouse buttons.
  
• Pick'Em challenge picks can now be placed for the upcoming Elimination Stage of Shanghai Major.

[ DAMAGE PREDICTION ]

• Predicted ragdolls without a confirmation or correction from the server within a short time window will now revert.

[ MAPS ]

• Train
  
  • Increased collision fidelity of several models
  
  
• Overpass
  
  • Replaced railing inside Heaven with a wall
    
  • Additional visibility improvements in Heaven
  
  
• Edin
  
  • Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)
  
  
• Palais
  
  • Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)

[ MISC ]

• Fixed 'boost player contrast' visibility rendering option sometimes revealing parts of players or weapons through thin surfaces.
  
• Added r_allow_low_gpu_memory_mode setting to allow running CS2 Workshop Tools in low memory GPU conditions.
  
• Fixed various bugs in Hammer.

An update has been released for Left 4 Dead 2.

- Fixed some exploits used to crash remote servers.

An update has been released for Left 4 Dead.

- Fixed some exploits used to crash remote servers.

The Counter-Strike Major has come to Shanghai.

Over the past month, teams from around the world challenged the best in their region for their spot in the Major. Now the dust has settled and 24 teams remain--perennial favorites, seasoned veterans, and more than a few newcomers.


The Shanghai Major Hub is now open for business, complete with the Pick'Em Challenge, the Shanghai 2024 Viewer Pass, Souvenirs, Graffiti, and Team and Player stickers. 50% of the proceeds from tournament items are shared with players and organizations.


The Pick'Em Challenge is free to play, but if you want to upgrade your Shanghai 2024 Coin (and earn extra Souvenir Packages), make sure to activate your Viewer Pass before the event begins. You can also compare your Pick'Em performance to other friends with active passes on the Active Pass Leaderboard.


It's time to support your favorite teams. Place your picks, set your graffiti, mark your calendar and get ready, because the Shanghai Major is about to begin. May the best team win!

[ SHANGHAI 2024 MAJOR ]

• The Shanghai Major Hub is now available. Visit the hub to purchase tournament items, play the Pick'Em Challenge and more.
  
• Purchase a Shanghai 2024 Viewer Pass to receive an upgradable Shanghai 2024 Coin. With an active pass, you can upgrade your coin and earn extra souvenir packages by playing the Pick'Em Challenge. Additionally, you will show up on the Active Pass Leaderboard where you can compare your Pick'Em Challenge performance to your friends.
  
• All players with Prime status can place Pick'Em picks for free! However, to complete challenges and earn rewards from an event stage, you will have to activate a Viewer Pass before that stage begins.

[ MUSIC KITS ]

• A new music kit “Ay Hey” by Perfect World is now available for purchase in-game in standard and StatTrak versions.

[ GAMEPLAY ]

• Added "sv_quantize_movement_input" setting, enabled by default, to keep players from using analog binds to move at fractional speeds that the game is not designed to handle.
  
• In cases when servers toggle some game rules from competitive to deathmatch and back to competitive mid-match, the weapons will no longer disappear when dropped on the ground, but toggling game rules settings without reloading the map is not a generally supported workflow for community servers.

[ ANNOTATIONS ]

• Added support for turning off text background
  
• Added support for grenade types other than Smoke
  
• Increased node limit from 100 to 300
  
• Fixed annotation_delete_previous_node not cleaning up particle effects

[ MISC ]

• Added ability to rent weapons from all previous CS:GO weapon cases.
  
• Added policy settings to enforce client delta ticks order, namely sv_deltaticks_enforce and sv_deltaticks_log, which should help diagnosing configurations causing delta ticks out of order disconnects.
  
• Fixed a case where an unlocalized #SLOT prefix could appear in chat.
  
• Added a reference Counter-Strike Broadcast Playcast Webserver implementation: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive_Broadcast#Reference_Playcast_Webserver_Implementation

[ MAPS ]

Basalt

• Updated to latest version from Community Workshop (Update Notes)

Train

• Fixed various gaps in map
  
• Collision fidelity upgrades
  
• Blockers added for train in B to avoid unfair angles
  
• Various visual fixes

Thought you were done being spooked, startled, terrified, or even downright horrified? Well GUESS AGAIN! Something very scary is coming just before Christmas. How scary exactly? We're sure you’d love to know, but unfortunately what’s in store for you is so scary, so terrifying, so unabashedly EVIL that you might immediately DIE if you even heard how diabolical things are about to get, and quite frankly nobody wants to be on the hook for that.

Operation Ghoulish Gambit is a new Mann vs. Machine charity event brought to you by Potato MvM! Complete over two dozen missions across new and returning maps! Event 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 the World Central Kitchen! 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 (and zombies) while you can! The event will run through December 15th, 2024.

Important Links:

• Event Website
  
• Discord
  
• Steam Group

• Enable support to keep music playing during level transitions throughout the base Half-Life 2 campaign (no convar needed).
  
• Added support for displaying an active Workshop campaign name in your Steam friends list.
  
• Added a slider to the settings menu to allow scaling stick sensitivity for gamepads.
  
• Fixed issue with overlapping commentary tracks if a commentary track was playing between level loads.
  
• Fixed issue where gamepad buttons may be permanently stuck pressed after saving the game.
  
• UI fonts updated for better support in Cyrillic languages.
  
• Fixed Thai font rendering on Linux.
  
• Added initial support for Ukranian and Vietnamese.
  
• Various crash fixes when switching between episodes.
  
• Fixed soundscape playback for the Citadel menu background map.
  
• Removed collision from an underwater tube that speed runners enjoy.
  
• Updated localization files.

As the year winds down, https://tf2maps.net/threads/72hr-jam-2024.53258/ is proud to announce the return of their beloved 72-Hour Jam!

They're supporting their friends over at Gamers Outreach once again. Anyone who donates $5 or more to the drive before December 31 is eligible to receive this year’s in-game charity medal. Click here to donate!

Additionally, you're able to earn a medal for sharing your creativity! Starting Friday, December 13, at 5:00pm UTC, you have 72 hours to make whatever Team Fortress 2 creation you can think of! Whether it be a map, asset, cosmetic, artwork — or even another game entirely — anything goes as long as it's Team Fortress 2 related!

For more information, check out the thread on TF2Maps or join the TF2Maps Discord.

Jam on!

[ GAMEPLAY ]

• Fixed a case where a disconnected player could cause a poltergeist CT model to appear in the middle of the map
  
• Player model of a disconnecting player should now immediately suicide when disconnect is detected instead of lingering for 10 additional seconds under certain conditions
  
• Fixed a case where damage prediction was incorrect due to view angle changes mid-spray
  
• Lag compensation now runs when shooting at teammates and mp_teammates_are_enemies is enabled even when mp_friendlyfire is disabled

[ UI ]

• Fixed layout inconsistencies for ranks display and player profiles

[ MAPS ]

Train

• Updated sounds on main menu background
  
• Improved movement around ladders
  
• Fixed various gaps in map
  
• Fixed z-fighting in various spots

Inferno

• Fixed various holes
  
• Adjusted clipping in multiple spots
  
• Fixed various texture bugs

Nuke

• Fixed a spot that players could get stuck on

Office

• Fixed a case where a T would spawn in the air

• Fixed issue where NPC reactions to the player's flashlight and some incidental dialogue would not play after switching between episodes.
  
• Fixed amount of bloom applied after switching between Episode One and Episode Two.
  
• Fixed the FOV setting not applying until you got the HEV Suit if you started a new game and watched the intro sequence.
  
• Fixed issue where HUD messages for pickups and responses to some console commands would display multiple times after switching between episodes.
  
• Fixed scaling for Aim Assist at very high or very low framerates.
  
• Fixed issue where the gamepad weapon selector UI could be stuck on after relaunching the game with no gamepad connected.
  
• Fixed non-workshop mods displaying their title as "Half-Life 2" on the main menu.
  
• Improved load times when switching between episodes or when adding and removing workshop content.
  
• Workshop - Fixed some mods that were tagged to load as Episode One data but were being loaded as Episode Two mods.
  
• Workshop - Better handling for addons that are corrupt.
  
• Workshop - Fixed support for weapon mods that reskin the Stunstick.

NOTE: There is now a public "beta" branch for Half-Life 2 that will periodically receive updates before they go live to all players.