Apr 13, 2011

Defense Grid: The Awakening - Valve

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

Defense Grid April 2011 Portal 2 ARG Updates:

Two free new and original Defense Grid Levels with new voice acting and story.
Portal's GLaDOS invades the network and brings a new style of level design to Defense Grid.
New computer console off the main menu. Poke around in the old computer archives, try out puzzles, and learn some DG back-story.
Tesla towers now recharge faster and do more damage.

April 13 update:

CHAS level is now unlocked for everyone!
Recruiting is still important, so keep it up.
Tony has one more trick up his sleeve
Three more clues to find

Apr 13, 2011

Star Ruler Update Released

Star Ruler - Valve

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

Fixed:

New treaty notification icon was not disappearing when opening the empire window.
Ship build cost would not appear in the hover information on planets with no empty slots.
Holding shift while clicking a top bar button would not correctly open a new window of that type.
Automation orders did not import from exported designs.
Could not select the shipyard world governor in the planet window.
Large odd numbers of flags in the race customization window would make the last flag disappear.
Divide by zero crash when adding 4 or more shipsets.
Automatic blueprint updates would reset automation orders.
Heavy Hull level was too high, causing it to have much more hitpoints than the other hull types.
Negative mood did not display correctly in the planet window.
Items in the pinned list would still display after returning to the main menu.
Random freeze/crash caused by a deadlock. Frequently appeared when lots of scouts were auto-exploring at the same time.
GUI Elements could disappear in some situations (chat box when working in the layout window, scrollbar in system window).
Shipborne factory systems would use up resources even if there was no place to store what was being fabricated.
Fixed a bug in multiplayer clients that would cause weirdness and instability.
Planetary bunkers weren't correctly absorbing damage.
Fixed timestamps on saves being off by one hour (or worse).

Changed:

Object list's filter box is now case-insensitive.
Added Ere4s3r's corrected smoothing groups to the Neumon.
Cargo storage no longer always unlocks Armor at level 4 by paying the link cost.

Balance:

Reworked Coolant System to cause more significant increases in weapon firing rates, but also dramatically increase running costs for the connected weapon.
Flak range and delay now scale the same as all the other weapons.

Added:

"Declare war if this treaty fails" clause. If the treaty fails due to either party having insufficient resources, declare war now.
"End all existing treaties" clause. If accepted, all previous treaties are nullified.
"Ammo lifetime damage" stat to detailed statistics page. Shows how much damage a full load of ammo can do before being depleted.
"Supply Resource" automation order. Used for tankers to automatically supply ships with fuel.

UI:

Making the research window small enough now hides the queue.
The empire window now loses information in the top area more gradually when resized down.
When hovering over a system, the name is colored the same as the ring.
The top left ticker now displays research rate.
Holding shift while pressing the import button in the blueprints window attempts to import all designs in the profile.
Blueprints in the planet and system windows can now be sorted.
Blueprints sort can now differentiate between ascending and descending.
Add option to sort planets in system window by name, slots or governor.
Link icons in research window are hidden on zoom levels smaller or equal to 0.30x.
The top left ticker displays research progress by coloring the text from left to right.
Percentage complete is now shown behind the name of the current building item in the planet window.
Added a "Continue" button to the main menu, which will load the newest save (including autosaves).
F7 will now open the civil acts window.
F10 will open the escape menu without closing any windows. (Used to be F12)

Apr 13, 2011

Portal 2 for PlayStation®3: Steam Details Revealed

Portal 2 - Valve

Valve's Highly-Anticipated Title Prepares for Launch On PS3™

Valve, creator of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today disclosed details regarding the Steam experience designed for the PlayStation®3, which is set to debut next week with the release of Portal 2.

The first title to support Steam on a console, Portal 2 offers cross-platform matchmaking, gameplay, friends, chat, and achievements, all powered by Steam. Steam on the PS3 also saves co-op game progress and single player saved games to the Steam Cloud, enabling players to pick up where they left off on any PlayStation®3.

The Steam overlay for PS3™ provides access to Steam friends, displaying their in-game or online status and providing a quick pathway to text chats, player profiles, friend requests, and game invites. Steam Achievements are earned in lockstep with PSN Trophies and are also accessible within the Steam overlay.

Steam on the PS3™ provides access to all of these features once the player has linked their PlayStation®Network account with a Steam account, which is done right within the game. A Steam user can login to an existing account, and anyone new to Steam can create an account with the click of a button.

In the spirit of Steam Play, linked players of the PS3™ version of Portal 2 can also access and play their copy of Portal 2 on any PC or Mac by redeeming an in-box access code on their computer. The Steam client verifies the linked customer and then lists Portal 2 among their library of Steam games for PC and Mac.

For more information regarding Steam on the PS3™, visit the Steam Support knowledge base. For more information regarding Portal 2, visit www.thinkwithportals.com.

Apr 12, 2011

ProtoGalaxy Update Released

ProtoGalaxy - Valve

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

Game:

All Backdrops in the Alpha Op Campaign are now animated.
Added hotkey information to the The Tutorial Mission.
The Ecologist Achievement is now much easier to obtain.
Damage text is now slightly smaller and healing MAX fades out if displayed for a long time.
Fixed a bug where players were being awarded additonal object kills in The Credits Mission.
Fixed a bug where the Ecologist Achievement for The Substructure Mission became impossible to get.
Added the escape key to the default controls.
Fixed a bug where Auto Hotkeys could be used to gravity objects which were not allowed to be gravitied.
Fixed a bug where some objects (such as buttons) in the game were not properly being removed on death
Fixed a bug where the mini point enemy was not properly being created.
Fixed a bug where the campaign menu path state was sometimes not syncing properly in network games.
Fixed a crash related to playing certain missions with multiple computers.

Menu:

Removed the widescreen bars from the game.
Added some additional controls information to the campaign menu to help new players.
Fixed a bug where starting the game without an internet connection could crash the game
When entering new screens on the main menu, default actions are now reset every time (Host: Start Game, Profiles: Customize, Editor: Edit).
It is no longer possible to enter Windows' reserved keys into text popups related to creating files.
Fixed a bug where entering specific text into text entries could crash the game.
Fixed a bug where the network game name was sometimes incorrect.

Editor:

It is now possible to edit Object Drops.
You can multiselect objects in the background.
Added some new trigger effects.
Added some new properties to modify for player and enemy weapons.
Added another snap option for more detailed placement and movement.
Fixed a bug where some enemies would be given additional turrets incorrectly.
Fixed a bug where some enemies would not unghost correctly.