Team Fortress 2 - Valve
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 older replays/demos not correctly displaying certain particle systems
Stronghold 3 Gold - Valve
Stronghold 3
Version - 1.10.27781
Patch notes


Economic Systems Rebalanced

Peasants now move 66.66% faster.

Immigration rates have been increased.

In multiplayer the rate has been increased even higher.

All farms now produce 25% more food. Bread production been increased by 40%.

Vegetable gardeners produce and carry 50% more vegetables per delivery.

Range units (Archers, Crossbowmen, etc) now gain an attacking bonus based on terrain height

Troop Movement Changes

Macemen, Armed Peasants and Monks always run.

Men at Arms now always walk, instead of running into attack.

Pikemen walk a little faster.

Ranged troops can move and attack troops behind walls when within their line of sight.

Rally points for the Siege Camp have been added

New Market added with Autobuy/Autosell feature

Markets are no longer required to buy or sell goods. Goods can be traded via the Stockpile, Granary, Keep and Armoury.

The new Market is an advanced trading building which costs 200 wood and features a slider with controls for automatically trading goods, with individual settings per good type.

Multiplayer - Coronation Mode

In Coronation Mode players start off at the lowly rank of “Village Idiot” with limited access to buildings and military units. By generating honour players can move up the ranks, gaining new technology and weaponry along the way. The first King to achieve the rank of “Emperor” will win the game.

Coronation Mode features upgradable Keeps which have their own defences and provide additional housing for workers and troops.

New Coronation Mode map - Marshlands

Performance improvements

Simulation step has been tweaked so that scripts are now called 4 times less often.

Skinning of actors has been optimised - These include animations now do not blend from a distance, PoseDrivers are not recreated everytime there is a LOD change and the game now prioritises existing PoseDrivers, rather than always expanding the PoseDriver pool.

Pathfinding has been optimised - Buildings are now treated a one large obstacle rather than a number of small obstacles.

Sound has been optimised - combat vocalizations are no longer decompressed into memory, resulting in a memory savings of up to 100 Megabytes after a long game session.

Additional user interface options

Vsync matches your monitor’s refresh rate to the in-game frame rate to prevent screen tearing. Enabling Vsync will reduce performance so we have added an option to turn Vsync Off/On in the Options menu.

Full Screen/Windowed mode added to the Options menu.

Camera Changes

Previously when zooming out the camera would tilt until eventually the game would be viewed top down. This camera tilt has been removed. The game can still be viewed top down by pressing the Space Bar.

Health bars are now drawn for currently selected Lord units on their icons in the GUI.

Troop/Building Limits

Troop and building maximums have been added to Single Player, in order to prevent performance issues when the numbers get too high.

These limits can be overridden by changing the relevant settings in the Documents/Stronghold 3/Profiles/options.xml file.

Minimap

Flag icons have been added to the minimap for Capture the Flag mode.

Messages and map location notifications have been added when estates and flags are being captured.

Notifications have been added to show the map location of new reinforcements.

Miscellaneous

Game speed changes using the -/+ keys are now displayed onscreen.

Game speed can also now also be controlled using i/o keys (to help some laptop users that couldn’t use -/+ keys).

The in-game message log history has been increased to 50. The message scroll buttons can be held down to scroll through them.

Unwanted saved games can now be deleted in the “Load Game” screen.

The mouse cursor is locked to the game when in Full Screen or Windowed mode. Pressing ALT + TAB will unlock the cursor in Windowed mode.


Bug Fixes

The CTRL groups (CTRL+1/2/3) are now saved in a save game and available when the save game is loaded.

Fixed the Keep’s Enable/Disable all industries buttons from breaking when an ox post was present.

Fixed the green directional cursor appearing when right-click dragging, even when only enemies or buildings were selected.

Fixed the first mouse click on a newly loaded map not being able to create a selection marquee.

Fixed units becoming deselected when dragging the mouse to operate GUI controls and releasing it over the game view.

Placing a storage building will no longer open the storage building’s GUI panel, which was making it difficult to continue placing buildings.

The chat key (Enter) is now disabled in single player mode.

Troop health bars are now draw correctly when max health is above 100% due to Good Lord buildings

Fixed some issues with troop speech when Lord units were part of the selection

Added minor GUI feedback sounds to some controls

Tooltips for troops and building costs have been reformatted to be more readable. Tooltips have been added for placing rally points and increasing buy/sell amounts.

Fixed the stop command not functioning for Trebuchets, Battering Rams and Burning Carts.

Fixed honour gains not being tracked correctly for in-game statistics

Changed maximum building limit in Multiplayer and Singleplayer to only track the player’s primary estate

Reformatted the siege camp panel to look better in Single Player.

Fixed the cutscene replay button appearing too soon for the final campaign mission cutscenes.

Icon added for the Haybale / Harpoon launcher.

Fixed issues with troops not being able to properly navigate the square bastion in certain circumstances.

Fixed the shortcut key “L” not selecting non-standard lords in multiplayer.

Visual damage from troops attacking walls better reflects number of hit points left.

Some French Keyboard and German Keyboard fixes.

Map Editor - Deleting the Engineer’s guild and saving was causing a crash.

Added some more audio easter eggs... the scribe may say a bit more here and there, and certain units have a bit more to say.


Other things to be aware of in Stronghold 3

Line of Sight Changes

Troops on towers/gatehouses/platforms are now less restricted by Line Of Sight. This change was made primarily in order to avoid frustrating situations where troops standing at one side of a tower couldn't fire directly down at enemies on the ground on the other side of the tower.

The side effect of this change is that sometimes you will see troops shoot through structures when it may look like they shouldn't be able to. Whilst this is obviously not ideal we decided the gameplay benefits of this change outweighed the visual inaccuracies caused as a result of this change.

Graphic Settings Recommendations

If you are using a graphics card with 256mb video memory, we recommend playing on Low settings. If you are using a graphic card with 512mb video memory, we recommend playing on Medium settings. Using High settings or at least High Texture High detail may lead to crashes with 256mb/512mb onboard memory on the video card.

4 Player Multiplayer Recommendations

4 Player multiplayer can be demanding for lower spec computers, particularly lower spec CPUs. For the best 4 player multiplayer experience we recommend playing on a high spec computer such as an Intel i5 or i7 based computer with at least 4GB RAM.

Map Editor

Loading 2 maps into the Map Editor consecutively will cause problems when saving the next map. Please open one map, edit it and save. Then exit the editor and re-load to edit the next map.

Keyboard shortcuts

A list of all the keyboard shortcuts are available in English, German and French on the Firefly Website at the following address - http://bit.ly/sh3keys
Product Update - Valve
Release notes for 5/11 Beta 14

Gameplay
• Tweaks to the recoil model based on player feedback.
• Decreased the throw velocity for Incendiary and Molotov grenades. They can no longer be thrown far enough to block terrorists from leaving spawn in Inferno.
• Removed the ability to exploit the radar data.
• The aiming precision now changes back to the standing accuracy state immediately after the crouch button is released as opposed to waiting until you get to a full stand.
• Movement speed when entering a crouched state will no longer instantly switch to crouched speed. This should improve crouch jumping.
• Added the option to have the very first round in a match have a "warmup period". This gives late joiners the chance to start at the same time as everyone else.
• Players who join late into an Arms Race match get the same weapon given to them as the player with the current lowest level in the game.
• Changed the default player models to st6 and phoenix; this addresses the issues with error geometry being shown on player created maps.

UI
• Update to Match Setup screen – selecting the “GO” button instead of the map image will now launch the game.
• All offline modes now allow the player to select a bot difficulty.
• Server Browser can now be accessed via the “Community Servers” menu option.
• The Screen Resize screen in Advanced Video options has been updated.
• Fixed a scaling problem with weapon comparison bars in the Buy Menu. Weapon properties now display with the full range of the bar.
• The position of the Mini-Scoreboard has been adjusted.

Characters
• Added GSG9 and Balkan character models. You can see these news skins in cs_office, de_nuke, de_train, ar_baggage, and de_shorttrain.

• Dedicated Servers
- sv_allow_lobby_connect_only is off by default.
- mapcycledisabled is off by default.
- Fixed sv_password.
- Added Tags column to Favorites tab of server browser.
- sv_search_key tag is only added to matchmaking servers to remove clutter from server browser.
- "Status" will now report whether ds is official or community.

Maps
• Shoots
- Adjusted geometry to reduce areas where players and bots can get stuck or stand in inappropriate areas.
• Dust
- Fixed some interpenetrating prop models.
• Train and Shorttrain
- Clip brush pass.
- Removed a number of physics props.
- Turned a number of phys props to static props.
- Fixed bad fade distances on a number of static props.
- Certain static props no longer us physbox.
- Removed bar structure.
- Adjusted tonemap settings.
• Aztec
- Tweaked some fade distances to fix objects popping into view.
- Added vphys clip to a gap where the bomb could get stuck.
• Bank
- Set the "sweet relief" doors to not be breakable.
- Removed all physics props.
- Turned a number of props to static.
- Fixed a number of floating props.
- Rotated spawn instances so they're facing the correct way.
- Fixed a number of bad fades in static props.
• Nuke
- Fixed a stray triangle in a destroyed door prop.
- Fixed odd looking nuclear waste barrels near bomb site B.
- Fixed the resolution of the ground texture near T spawn.
• Sugarcane
- Fixed some bad materials in the warehouse.
- Improved the fade distance on a number of props.
- Fixed sky brushes that were making geometry in the sky pop in and out.
- Made miscellaneous lighting tweaks in dark areas.
- Added light fixture to stairwell so players can't hide in the dark.
- Moved a large light fixture that was under the bombsite to ease movement.

Audio
• Update the M4A4 sound.

Bug Fixes
• Arms Race now updates a bot's difficulty on bot respawn.
• A fix has been made to Casual mode where a match tie caused players to spawn into a new round momentarily before the scoreboard is shown.
• Fixed a bug in the player id delay and re-enabled it.
• Connecting to a dedicated server should no longer show or hide loading screens in weird orders or return the player to the Main Menu screen temporarily.
• The loading screen “Continue” button should no longer display after an aborted or failed loading occurs.
• Fixed Main menu intro music persisting into games.
• The ESC key now closes the “Continue” loading screen.
• Fixed a bug in the death notifications where a player's name displayed in the wrong team color if they did damage to a teammate and then that person was killed by an enemy.
• Fix for enemy radar icons disappearing after a map change.

Misc
• Added support for ATI X1000-series GPU
Offspring Fling! - Valve
Offspring Fling! is Now Available on Steam and 20% off!*

Offspring Fling! is a game about a poor forest creature that has misplaced all of her children. She'll have to fight her way through over 100 levels of action puzzle platforming to get them all back home. There's danger around every corner, but she won't rest until her family is safe again.

Mutant Storm: Reloaded - Valve
Today's Deal: Save 50% off Mutant Storm: Reloaded!

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are.

Avernum 4 - Valve
Avernum - The Great Trials Trilogy is Now Available on Steam and 20% off until 10AM PST Friday, May 18th.

Avernum is one of the great tales of indie gaming, an epic series of fantasy role-playing adventurers set in an enormous, subterranean nation. Avernum is a land underground, a subterranean nation full of rogues, misfits, and brigands, struggling for survival and wealth in the monster-infested darkness. Avernum - The Great Trials Trilogy is three games that tell the tale of your land’s struggles in the face of powerful forces that seek to destroy it.





Product Release - Valve
The Dream Machine is Now Available on Steam and 20% off until 10AM PST Friday, May 18th.

The Dream Machine is a 5 part award-winning point and click adventure series made out of clay and cardboard. Play as Victor Neff, the husband in a young couple who've just moved into a new apartment. While trying to get settled in you discover that all is not as it seems in the quiet, unassuming apartment building...

Try Chapters 1 and 2 for the price of a single chapter or get The Entire Series at an extra low price.

Dustforce DX - Valve
Patch notes are:
-Fixed rendering issue (black or flashing screen) on Mac OS 10.6.8.
-Fixed crash at launch on Mac, caused by certain gamepads being plugged in.
-Fixed issue with new key system.

Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition - Valve
r21135b
------


Critical Fixes:
+ Fixed an end of combat crash related to retreating.
+ Fixed a couple crashes related to diplomatic actions with
independent factions.
+ Fixed remaining known multiplayer sync crashes.
+ Fixed a crash caused by the target of a boarding pod being destroyed.
+ Fixed a crash in the battle rider manager.
+ Fixed a crash caused by network clients finishing combat prior to the host.
+ Fixed a crash that could occur when calculating rebel AI economic ratings.
+ Fixed a crash caused by submitting a treaty with an independent
faction without first selecting the type.


Other Fixes:
+ Fixed spectre camouflage.
+ Strategic turn timer is now displayed in games that use it.
+ Fixed an issue where players were not being assigned the correct
initial star systems.
+ Fixed the UI issue that was preventing players from moving ships in
combat in some cases.
+ Gate labs now apply a bonus only to drive research.
+ Independent colonies no longer form on barren planetoids nor gas giants.
+ Fixed an issue that was preventing minelayers from functioning in combat.
+ Improved framerate in combat when many ships are selected.
+ Fixed some issues with the grav cannon.
+ Colony information panels were tweaked to display in owner colors.
+ Trade stimulus no longer provides more freighters than are needed.
+ Encounters involving non-aggression parties no longer induce morale penalties.
+ Fixed known AI issues with slaver encounters.
+ Fixed a bug that was assigning unwanted modules to stations and ships.
+ Fixed known issues that were preventing players from upgrading stations.
+ Addressed VN-related framerate issues.
+ Retreating ships no longer get pulled back into combat at the same location.
+ Fixed an issue - fleets will now maintain their positions for
multiple rounds of combat.
+ Initial station weapons are now longer range.
+ Fixed an issue where station upgrades were not updating station structure.
+ Fixed an issue where players were spawning too close to the star
during random encounters.
+ The Morrigi Relic encounter no longer holds players in combat after
the relics are destroyed.
+ Fixed an issue where the research screen was not correctly
displaying module bonuses.
+ Fixed main menu sound playing in games when the sound enabled
options are turned on and off.
+ Removed the unwanted vertical scrollbar from the avatar and badge
selection strips.
+ Fixed some issues with AI ship design and related weapon selection.
+ Active invoices are now properly discarded when leaving the build screen.
+ Made changes to fleet interception logic to address a pathological
case that was causing Hiver intercepts to fail when they should not.
+ Fixed some Hiver Gate fleet loopholes.
+ Fixed an issue that was allowing speech events to play while disabled.
+ Fixed various text string errors.


Additions:
+ Added curvature Compensation bonus for Liir.
+ Added phase dislocation tech bonus.
+ Added colony support trips configuration.
+ Support missions now default to the maximum possible trips.
+ Added station retrofitting.
+ Added click-to-focus for items in the fleet summary.
+ Support event dialogs now identify the supporting fleet.
+ Empire summary values now display in red and green to reflect change
since the previous turn.
+ Asteroid monitors are now available as player buildable defenses.
+ Protectorate ship section effects.
+ The defense manager now displays incoming fleet vectors for pending
encounters.
+ Zuul missions will now prompt for the automatic inclusion of a bore
ship when necessary, instead of assuming that one is needed.

Team Fortress 2 - Valve
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:

  • Added The Front Runner
  • Added new promotional items
  • Added the UGC Highlander Season 6 medals
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented servers from reconnecting to the item server after dropping connection
  • Fixed a client crash when using custom main menu .res files
  • Fixed a bug that allowed buildings to be built in nobuild/respawn volumes
  • Updated the localisation files
  • Added Enabled/Disabled inputs for the mapobj_cart_dispenser entity
  • Added ability for plugin authors to add custom colors in chat messages. Use either:
    • \x07 followed by a hex code in RRGGBB format
    • \x08 followed by a hex code with alpha in RRGGBBAA format
...