Aug 31, 2010
Booster Trooper Update Released
Booster Trooper - Valve
Updates to Booster Trooper have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Booster Trooper
  • Added: new map - The Tunnel
  • Improved: hit collision detection
  • Fixed: 2 small mem leaks
  • Improved: engine is now using “Bullet physics”
Aug 31, 2010
Supreme Commander 2 Update Released
Supreme Commander 2 - Valve
Updates to Supreme Commander 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

New Features
  • Added AI Custom Options menu to allow fine control of each AI's Core Strategy, Build Speed, Resource Income, Veterancy, Intel, and Target preference.
  • The pre-order maps Emerald Crater, Iskellian Coast, QAI Prototype Facility, Seraphim VII Site, and Weddell Isle are now available to play for all players.
  • Added a Cybran Mass Convertor structure, unlocked via the research tree.
  • Added “No Artillery Structures” to game exclusions list.
  • Added "No Mass Conversion" to game exclusions list.
  • Added shield range ring indicators both during placement and on mouse-over.
  • Added factional shield coloring, and quicker impact effects to improve overall visibility and feedback.
  • Added a keybind to turn the UI and all associated in-game clutter on and off for screenshots and movies: Ctrl-U.
  • Updated the current ranked season to season 2

Balance
  • Increased Mass Convert cost to 2500e and income to 250m.
  • Increased Mass Convert cooldown to 10 seconds.
  • Killing enemy units will now generate 25% less Research.
  • Illuminate Rogue Nanites heal decreased to 5,000. Was 10,000.
  • Illuminate ACU Shield health decreased to 12,000. Was 15,000.
  • Illuminate ACU Teleport, Damage, Rogue Nanites and Personal Shield upgrades each increased by 1 RP.
  • Illuminate Rogue Nanite's range increased from 10 to 15.
  • Cybran Battleship range decreased to 90. Was 115.
  • Cybran Kraken health and damage increased by 50%. Weapons no longer prefer unique targets.
  • AI veterancy cheat buff is now an increased vet rate, rather than free levels.
  • Illuminate Point Defense cost increased to 200m/440e. Was 190m/420e.
  • UEF P-Shield health increased to 600. Was 400.
  • Nuke cost increased to 1000m/4000e for each projectile. Was 750m/3000e.
  • Mobile units that are hunkered will no longer be affected by the magnetron.

Fixes
  • Fix for being able to assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the build speed reduction.
  • Fix for being able to have UEF Pgens assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the build speed reduction.
  • Fix for being able to have UEF Pgens assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the range check.
  • Fix for AI not sending early attacks.
  • Fix for Air units not accepting multiple destruction part meshes in their blueprints.
  • Fix for AI ACU going back and forth when there are enemies nearby.
  • Fix for AI not using the Noah Unit Cannon.
  • Fix for units getting strung out along cliffs.
  • Fix for units that have queued move orders pathing weird after using an ability.
  • Fix for beam weapons not turning off when units were loaded onto transports.
  • Fix for Hover units not triggering properly when killed.
  • Fix for UEF Long Range Artillery not being able to fire at their upgraded max range.
  • Fixed Sonar Radius buffs to work like Intel Radius buffs.
  • Units that are dropped from a transport will no longer infinitely loop their move ambient sound.
  • Fix for AI units trying to climb hills.
  • Fix for UI-based ACU duplication exploits.
  • Fix for replay files not closing properly under rare circumstances.
  • Fix for Platoon position being on unpathable terrain and screwing everything up for the AI.
  • Fix for units being teleported when dropped from a transport over invalid terrain.
  • Fix for the wrong leader being selected for Air units.
  • Fix for GPNav group leader selection. Agents are eligible to be the group leader only if they are close enough.
  • Fix for units that have queued move orders pathing weird after using an ability.
  • Fixed resources getting refunded for units that have completed building and are cancelled with the stop command.
  • Fix for units getting stuck against walls if they started out moving via steering only (no flow field).
  • Fix for naval units not receiving commands outside the playable rectangle.
  • Fix for some air units in a group slowing way down.
  • Fix for crash when issuing guard on the ground.
  • Fixed a version number crash when loading a saved skirmish game.
  • Fix for crash when loading a save game while a unit is jumping.
  • You can no longer send air units through an enemy Space temple beacon.

Improvements
  • When we buff a unit's max health we now set the units health percentage to the same as it was before the buff was applied.
  • Removed the visual effect on other units from the Bodaboom and Universal Colossus to improve performance.
  • Increased Bodaboom buff check time to 8 seconds and Universal Colossus to 6 seconds to improve performance.
  • Changed the Bodaboom range circle to match the Bodaboom's buff range.
  • Attempting to join a game when you have modified files and the host does not (or vice-versa) will fail with a warning message. This is true for joining through the game browser or by receiving an invite.
  • We now disable collisions on units while they are in a transport.
  • All Air to Ground and Ground to Air projectiles will no longer collide with each other.
  • Units that die while jump jetting will fall like air units.
  • Anti-Nukes will now show the proper Available/Max numbers when you hover over the build AntiNuke button.
  • Made path requests NOT immediately reset from cost stamp collisions.
  • If you lose and have a human ally that is still alive, you can no longer hear sounds from enemies under the Fog of War and can no longer see decals created under the Fog of War.
  • We no longer remove units from their group when issuing ability commands (except in special cases).
  • GPNav now allocates all the memory it will require for Integration Fields at the start of the game to improve performance.
  • Jump jetting units will now adjust their flying height to avoid colliding with terrain.
  • Reduced the effect ambient sounds have on the game's framerate.
  • Improved 'should dodge' logic so if your push class is less than, then you should dodge.
  • Improved 'pass through walls' handling so battleships don't get pushed onto the shore.
  • If a unit cannot move as fast as the group, then the unit's speed bonus max is 15% instead of 50%.
  • Fixed air units group speed calc, so its not just the leader speed.. its the speed vote, just like land units.
  • Illuminate Flare effect updated. Now less expensive, added an on ground impact effect.
  • UEF Disruptor Station Activation Effects. Bigger for better player feedback.
  • Illuminate Electroshock beam and impact adjustments.
  • Illuminate Radar Overdrive, added activation effect.
  • All faction scaffolding effect LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Tri-armor buff effect. Now better looking and less expensive.
  • Reclaim, Capture, Repair, Build effect LOD adjustment. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • All Faction Unit destroy LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Experimental Unit weapon effect LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • LOD update on unit upgrade, build bonus, overcharge, mass convert and hunker. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Changed text for shield restrictions to imply structures only.

AI
  • AI will now use path markers for attack and scouting.
  • AI will build additional radar away from its base.
  • Magnetron will now look for targets in a radius around itself, rather than the base it is assigned to.
  • AI will now build the Cybran Mass Convertor.
  • AI will build more than 1 mass convertor, if needed.
  • AI will now prioritize getting the Mass Convertor research if it has a high amount of energy stored.
  • AI will no longer mass convert when it has enough mass already.
  • AI will now build more Pgens when Mass Convertor is researched, rather than waiting for it to be built.
  • AI will use the buffer size to check for blocking terrain (via GPNav) before building a structure.
  • AI will try not to nuke its own units.
  • Improved AI research paths.
  • Removed Radar and Vision cheat buffs from the AI.
  • Added Naval Neural Net.
  • Updated the Neural Net data based on several hundred new simulation sets.
  • AI will wait until it has a mass convertor before going nuts with Pgens.
  • Land, Balanced, and Rush AIs will put a higher priority on getting an Air factory if they can't reach an enemy by land.
  • AI ACUs will no longer build Naval factories. This will be handled by Engineers.
  • The AI will once again use the Illuminate Space Temple.
  • Adjusted AI platoons to prevent the AI from stalling when hitting unit cap.
  • AI can now use Naval units to guard its base.
  • Guard base platoons will now guard a wider range.
  • AI will build more engineers per expansion base.
  • AI will only build up to 10 research facilities.
  • AI will take mass fabricators into account when looking at income/spending ratio.
  • AI will build Gantries in expansion bases more.
  • Improved AI Nuke/Anti-Nuke behavior.
  • AI platoons will no longer Jump Jet or Teleport unless at least 75% of the platoon can make the move.
  • Platoons that the AI wants to run away will now clear previous commands.
  • AI Neural Nets will now check to see if an enemy unit's shield is active when performing threat evaluation.
  • AI units will no longer run to deactivated bases.
  • AI will now use carriers appropriately again.
  • Added a new function to the Platoon class to get a platoons shortest attack range.
  • Micro distance is now based on the Platoon's shortest attack range.
  • AI will now do a quick pathable check when looking for places to build.
  • Engineers will no longer look for things to reclaim or units to repair while attached to another unit.

Known Issues
  • Replays from previous versions will not function with this version.
  • Skirmish Save games from previous versions will not function with this version.
  • Campaign Save games from previous versions will not function with this version. Campaign progress (unlocks) will still be preserved, however.
  • When exiting a multiplayer game or skirmish before victory conditions have been met, there is a 10-second window during which replays will not save. The temporary workaround is to wait 10 seconds before pressing the "save replay" button.
Aug 31, 2010
Pre-Purchase Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale Now and Save 10%
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale - Valve
Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Valve and Carpe Fulgur LLC today announced an agreement to distribute the PC game Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale by independent gaming group EasyGameStation on Valve's Steam service.

Recettear was first released in Japan in December 2007 by EasyGameStation at the 73th Comiket convention. Carpe Fulgur has provided a top-class localization of this shop-simulator-slash-RPG title, and has distribution rights for the game outside Japan.

Recettear is the story of an item shop, the girl who lives in it, and the fairy who turned her life upside down. Recette Lemongrass finds herself in charge of an item shop built into her house, in order to pay back a loan her father took and then skipped out on - and Tear, her newfound fairy "companion", won't take no for an answer! As Recette, you have to decide how you'll get your stock - either through playing the markets in town or going out into the wild with an adventuring friend and thrashing beasts until they give up the goodies - how much to sell things for, what the shop should look like, and how to best go about getting the money Tear needs to pay off the loan. If you can't come up with the money... well, hope you like living in a cardboard box.

"We are happy - almost to the point of delirium, really - to be on Steam," said Andrew Dice, Project Director for Recettear at Carpe Fulgur. "This is the first time an independently-made game from Japan has appeared on the Steam service. This will allow the game to reach an audience of millions that otherwise would've been closed to it, and we have high hopes that Steam users will enjoy the game for the unique gem that it is."

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is currently available for pre-purchase on Steam with a 10% discount and will be available to play on September 10th, 2010.

ABOUT CARPE FULGUR LLC: Carpe Fulgur LLC was founded by Andrew Dice and Robin Light-Williams. They envisioned a localization group that could bring deserving works of interactive entertainment - independently-made or otherwise - from Japan to America while using the fruits of modern technology to collaborate as closely as possible with the original content creators, in order to create English-language versions of works that read naturally in English but were still as close as possible to the visions of the original creators. The two need not be mutually exclusive - that rests at the heart of Carpe Fulgur's philosophy.

ABOUT EASYGAMESTATION: EasyGameStation is an unincorporated independent game creation group founded in 2002. Beginning as a simple hobbyist group which created works derived from existing IP, "EGS" released their first completely original title, Chantelise, on the world in 2006. Ever since then, EGS has been known for the high quality of their releases in independent gaming circles in Japan.

ABOUT STEAM: The leading online platform for PC games and digital entertainment, Steam delivers new releases and online services to over 25 million users around the world. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.
Aug 30, 2010
New Release - Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 5
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse - Valve
Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep, the season grand finale, is now available and has been added to The Devil's Playhouse season pass!

5 Great Episodes, 1 Awesome Price! Grab your season pass now if you haven't already and wield psychic powers against fearsome foes in the epic comedy saga over 5 episodes. Gaming's greatest dog and rabbit sleuths Sam & Max seek the power’s ancient secrets, as manic Max gains shape shifting, teleportation, mind reading and future vision abilities for battling these foes.

Aug 30, 2010
Counter-Strike: Source Update Released
Counter-Strike: Source - Valve
Updates to Counter-Strike: Source have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Source Engine ( TF2, DoD:S, CS:S )
  • Fixed hang when typing "map" twice in the console

Counter-Strike: Source
  • Smoke Grenades
    • Made them bloom faster
    • Made them more opaque
    • Fixed "one way" smoke
  • Changed walk speed to be 0.52x of run speed ( Counter-Strike 1.6 )
Aug 30, 2010
Steam client update released
Client Update - Valve
A Steam client update is now available. To apply the update, click the File menu inside of Steam and then select "Check for Steam Client Updates...". The specific changes include:

Steam
  • Fix a bug where installing a game with a demo may not initial install all content with some left to download on first launch
  • Fix a bug with ISteamNetworking getting available packet size for Steamworks Partners
  • Steam Cloud improvements to support save games in more cases for Steamworks Partners
  • Windows: Fix a case where minidumping due to an error could deadlock the client on startup or shutdown
  • Windows: Fix a memory leak that could lead to too much memory used or a crash if you remained in a busy group chat for several days
  • Mac: Fix client errantly opening a script in a text editor at startup (rare bug)
Aug 27, 2010
New Release - ARMA II: British Armed Forces DLC
Product Release - Valve
British Armed Forces DLC has now been deployed on Steam providing a surge in support of the ongoing coalition deployment in Takistan.

Next in the line-up of military simulators, ARMA II: British Armed Forces (BAF) - a huge downloadable add-on for the recently released ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead - deploys today and delivers a new campaign, numerous single missions and a brand new faction and environment, expanding upon the already epic collection offered up by ARMA II's ''MilSim'' sandbox.

BAF provides an opportunity to explore the beautiful country of Takistan in even more depth, and offers the chance to hop across the border to Karzeghistan in the Shapur e-Dalanper region - a brand new area included as bonus content. A small, strategically important area, Shapur consists of pockets of densely developed settlements and industrial complexes within its regional boundaries, located just on the Karzeghi side of Takistan’s volatile borderlands.

Unprecedented freedom of movement, action and tactics, together with hundreds of unique models and epic sandbox-style maps, create the most authentic military simulation game available in the world today: war without the training wheels - available as a download now!


Aug 27, 2010
The Guild II: Renaissance Update Released
The Guild II Renaissance - Valve
Updates to The Guild II: Renaissance have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

The Guild II: Renaissance
  • Description of Monasteries on Novaesium broken
  • AI didn't use new professions (has been tweaked a bit)
  • Possibility of war tweaked
  • War fixed (Inventory-bug, War-only-once-bug)
  • Dynasties shouldn't die so early now
  • Amount of workshops displayed at the new-title-pergament counted also fields and meadows
  • Wrong icon for the kontor fixed
  • Forced marriage now only works for non-dynasty-members (you were able marry the whole dynasty of your enemies in MP)
  • Capturing mines now is no longer a good way to make money
  • You could save debts in your strongbox
  • Graveyard AI shouldn't curse buildings that much now
  • Information window of beggars deactivated
  • Children were not controllable after adding to party
  • Bribe should now work properly
  • Warehous upgrades fixed
  • Miller produces more and faster now
  • Privilegue "lower office level" (or so) now disappears when the char gets a higher title
  • Trials now work properly incl. penalties
  • AI also charges other characters now
  • Scaffolds of warehouse corrected
  • Completely overhauled the market
  • Crash when music changes fixed
  • New multiplayer lobby form
  • Banker now works longer
  • Dyes were not produceable
  • Text errors
  • Map errors
  • Fishes now have animated nifs again
  • In Cologne there were two similar chappels
  • New sellicon
  • Soundlocator on Novaesium map corrected
  • Added missing resources on some maps
  • Workingtime for banker increased to 12 hours
  • kontor hat a bad rendering icon
  • Graveyard has been smoking out of the roof
  • City lamps fixed
  • Battle behaviour fixed: Allies don't flee anymore
  • It could occur that a thug was not attackable after he started to attack a building
  • Attacking a building now should work properly
  • Boobytrap now need resources
  • Tirades are now sellable
  • It was possible that the market was flooded with raw materials. This should not happen anymore
  • Worker don't disappear anymore or get stuck in woods or rivers
  • There should be no spinning carts anymore
  • The donkey lost his ability to teleport
  • AI-production of raw materials reworked (also has an influence on production of high tier products)
  • AI now builds meadows and fields
  • Stock purchase warrants nerfed
  • Stock order fixed
  • now you get what you've ordered
  • Binge fixed
  • Diplomats now leave your estate also if you canceled the measure
  • AI now should buy titles more often
  • Prices for titles lowered a bit
  • Juggler now gets for work
  • Possible fix for the blackscreen issue activated
  • Smuggling-measure reworked
  • AI now shouldn't get any offices anymore without the appropriate title
  • Stone rotaries work properly now
  • Several causes for OoS messages fixed
  • Mouse icon for the Travell-measure added
  • Measure "Upgrade residence" can't be clicked during upgrade anymore
  • You can see what profession your candidate is before you start the courtship (the profession is shown in the character screen)
  • Medicus treatment reworked
  • Higher titles now need a specific fame level
  • War on the Hansa map was buggy
  • Added mills and orchards on some old maps
  • Cost for thugs and bodyguards increased so their equipment can't be sold anymore with profit
  • If you died in war your husband/wife was not able to choose another partner
  • Guild elders don't disappear after some time now
  • Orphands don't get older now and they also need some sleep
  • The measures for buying an engagement ring or adopting an orphand sometimes stopped
  • Fixed a bug which prevented the player from choosing another town than "Hall" when playing on the map of Kufstein
  • Allied characters don't flee anymore if they see you doing something illegal, they'll help you now
  • Many small bugs...
Aug 27, 2010
Now Available - Shrek Forever After™
Shrek Forever After™ - Valve
The #1 animated franchise of all time is back with Shrek Forever After™ The Game and is now available for purchase on Steam.

Team up with your friends and family in the ultimate Shrek® Game, based on Dreamworks Animation’s final Shrek movie. Play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss In Boots to out-smart, out-fight, and out-play that crafty Rumpelstiltskin!

Aug 27, 2010
Now Available - Making History II: The War of the World
Making History II: The War of the World - Valve
Making History II: The War of the World is now available on Steam and 20% off until 9/3/2010.

Prepare for the ultimate grand strategy experience.

International trade, religious and cultural strife, military campaigns, diplomatic negotiations... here, you control it all. MAKING HISTORY II: The War of the World gives players the power to take full control of any world nation, colonies, regions, cities, and military units during the time leading up to and during the Second World War. Armchair generals and fans of grand strategy can take their turns building great empires or protecting the world from tyranny during these pivotal moments in world history.

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