Oct 18, 2024

Team Fortress 2

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 an issue with Blazehattan contracts
Fixed an issue with Outburst contracts
Fixed an invalid Soul Gargoyle location on Mann Manor
Fixed players not being able to select a class and spawn after watching an intro video
Recompiled props_farm\box_cluster03.mdl to fix a problem with the material
Updated the Dusk Duster to adjust the rigging a bit to reduce distortion
Updated the Triboniophorus Gentlemannus
- Fixed clipping
- Updated texture to fix mipmapping
- Added jigglebone
- Added attachment for genteel smoke effect
Updated the Clue Hairdo to fix a rim mask problem with the 'Case Open' style
Updated the Fleet Commander
- Fixed white seams when moving camera away from character
- Improved position of Style Selection camera by deleting unused bones
Updated the Delldozer to fix a problem with the specular map for the Re-Mastered and Re-Engineered styles
Updated The Witch Doctor to fix a problem with the diffuse textures and normal maps
Updated Taunt: Commending Clap to fix some issues with sounds and timing
Updated zi_atoll, zi_blazehattan, zi_devastation_final1, zi_murky, zi_sanitarium, and zi_woods
- Reduced Zombie Engineer's EMP Grenade Cooldown from 10 seconds to 9 seconds
- Adjusted Zombie Pyro's death explosion to briefly ignite players hit by the blast
- Fixed a bug that allowed Zombie Medic to spawn infinite dispenser entities (Thanks Psychicpie!)
- Fixed Zombie Heavy's ability appearing as an active instead of a passive on the HUD (Thanks NeoDement!)
- Fixed a bug that caused Zombie Heavy's knockback effect to trigger on afterburn damage when quickly swapping from Pyro to Heavy
Updated zi_blazehattan (additional changes)
- Fixed top roof having no collisions, causing players to 'sink in'
- Made the brick decoration near the wooden ramp slightly lower to make jumping to the top roof easier
- Removed some redundant clip brushes
- Changed the round timer from 6 minutes to 3 minutes 30 seconds
- Fixed missing textures behind the windows of the warehouse building
- Fixed rendering issue in the A Gate zombie spawn (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed several instances where players could stand on top of clip brushes and in high places (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed floodlight stuck spot near B Gate (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed troll teleporter spots (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed telephone pole collision (Thanks Midnite!)
- Added no-build triggers on top of barrel clusters at the top of the containers for consistency
- Added barrel clusters and wood debri on top of the red container with the floodlight to make it more apparent engineers can't build there, as well as to provide cover for zombies
- Various small changes
Updated tow_dynamite
- Doubled the chances of a Jump Spell drop
- Fixed the main gates killing players when touched on the side
- Fixed the main gates killing you prematurely before they are fully closed
- Fixed HUD textures going missing on occasion (Thanks Aar)
- Fixed the rooftop fire being too strong
- Fixed multiple locations that allowed players to build out of bounds
- Fixed an overly aggressive propfade in front of spawn
- Fixed edge bugs on multiple roofs that allowed players to remain alive
Updated vsh_outburst
- Improved performance
- Fixed menu images
- Fixed a minor visual issue
- Fixed being able to stick to the invisible walls
Updated koth_sawmill_event
- Reduced the amount of skeletons that spawn
- Added a new pathway to the secret underworld exit
- Redid some detailing near Reds base
- Improved lighting near some shacks near mid
- Fixed clipping for a shack
- Reworked where Soul Gargoyles spawn, now favoring Mid more often
- Made some new greener water for Mids lumber place
- New spectator cams
Updated cp_freaky_fair
- Fixed issues related to the gamemode logic
  - Fixed players being able to retain upgrades on their weapons by putting them in their loadout before the round changes and then switching back to them
  - Fixed some currency bugs related to players having upgrades pending but not accepted, and then leaving the upgrade trigger
  - Fixed players being able to retain their upgrades when switching classes inside the upgrade trigger after having refunded
  - Fixed character upgrades being occasionally set to incorrect quantities
  - Changed uber and kritz potions so they use the equivalent lakeside conditions to allow Medics to switch weapons and maintain their effects
  - Fixed players being able to put a class into a massive debt
  - Several minor fixes
- Merasmus is very talkative, so we asked him to talk a bit differently
  - Merasmus will only sometimes say something after he already talked about his financial problems during the first seconds of setup time
  - Merasmus will no longer say something that is too long to say before he needs to announce something else, he will say something different now
  - Merasmus now has more things to say
  - Merasmus will now announce overtime, stalemate and last control point being captured instead of the Administrator
- Made changes to the upgrades
  - Ghost Potion: ghost spooking radius reduced from 512 hu to 384 hu
  - Ghost Potion: ghost spooking frequency increased from 5 to 7 secs (this is a nerf)
  - Sentry Firing Speed: removed redundant 3rd level
  - Disposable sentry: Maximum amount reduced from 4 to 3
  - Crit boost on kill: Now disabled
  - Shield Recharge Rate bonus: Maximum level reduced from 4 to 2
  - Shield Recharge Rate bonus: Price increased from $150 to $250
  - Rocket Specialist: Price increased from $300 to $450
  - Rocket Specialist: Maximum level reduced from 4 to 3
  - Crit damage resistance: Resist reduced from 30% to 25% per level (this is a nerf)
  - Crit damage resistance: Maximum Resist reduced from 90% to 75% (this is a nerf)
  - Thermal Thruster impact stun: Price increased from $600 to $750
  - Explosive Headshot: Price increased from $350 to $450
  - Mad Milk and Jarate speed on target debuff: Debuff reduced from 35% to 25%
  - Mark For Death: Price reduced from $500 to $300
- Fixed several roof spots players were able to stand on (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed several teleporter stuck spots (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed floating pumpkins and planks (Thanks Midnite!)
- Fixed several spots that could be abused to spawncamp enemy team (Thanks Midnite!)
- Removed some visible dev textures (Thanks Midnite!)
- Removed stool from the arcade that was blocking the path previously
- Fixed being able to deal splash damage through metal grates
- Clipped the attic in respawn room to prevent players from getting and building there
- Clipped several beams in the lobby room
- Fixed missing wooden board near Red respawn room door
- Moved Merry-Go-Round sound source closer to make it louder
- Brightened several dark spots
- Closed the tree gap

Oct 10, 2024

Team Fortress 2 Update Released

Team Fortress 2

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:

Scream Fortress XVI has arrived!

Featuring 7 new community maps: Toxic, Darkmarsh, Freaky Fair, Dynamite, Circus, Outburst, and Blazehattan
Added the Terrifying Trove Case
- Contains 21 new community-created cosmetic items that make up the Terrifying Trove Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
Added 4 new community-contributed taunts to the Mann Co. Store
- Taunt: Crushing Defeat
- Taunt: Peace Out
- Taunt: Commending Clap
- Taunt: The Punchline
Added 22 new community-created Unusual effects
- 12 new effects for Unusual hats
- 10 new effects for Unusual taunts
Added the Scream Fortress XVI War Paint Case
- Contains 12 new community-created War Paints that make-up the Scream Fortress XVI War Paint Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
All players who launch the game will receive a Soul Gargoyle if they don't already have one
- Grants access to Merasmissions and Halloween item transmutations
- Tracks Merasmissions completed and souls collected
All Halloween Contracts have been reset, allowing them to be completed again
Added new Contracts for this year's featured community maps
Completing a Halloween Contract will give players a classic Halloween item and the chance for a Terrifying Trove Case
Continue last year's event by collecting the souls of dead players for your Soul Gargoyle by killing enemies, doing map objectives, or collecting the Soul Gargoyles that spawn in the maps
All cosmetic and taunt Cases will grant Halloween 2024 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the event. This does not include Crates.
Join Halloween matches by using the Special Events category in Casual
Scream Fortress XVI runs through November 7th, 2024

General

Added UI scaling based on resolution for better HiDPI support
Fixed the reload speed attribute in Mann vs. Machine not scaling projectile speed and gravity correctly for the Huntsman (community fix from Marxvee)
Fixed the damage bonus attribute in Mann vs. Machine not scaling correctly for the Huntsman (community fix from Marxvee)
Fixed not being able to pickup currency in MvM if it's on a teleporter
Fixed Keyless Winter 2016 Case not playing the special winter case sound
Recompiled some skybox models to fix UV issues
Updated the Scariest Mask EVER to fix some issues with clipping
Updated Sapped Unusual effect to fix the animation playing at the wrong speed
Added check to prevent copying a disguise target's action slot item when disguised as them
Exposed CTFBaseBoss::SetResolvePlayerCollisions() for VScript users
Updated/Added some tournament medals
Updated Sapped Unusual effect to fix the animation playing at the wrong speed
Updated several maps to fix localization issues
Updated zi_murky, zi_devastation_final1, zi_atoll, zi_woods, zi_sanitarium
- General Changes
  - Zombies no longer spawn instantly- their respawn timer is now dependant on the map
  - Changed team names to "Survivors" and "Zombies" (Instead of "RED" and "BLU")
    - Note: this change is only visible in casual mode or servers with mp_tournament set to 1
  - Survivor Spy can now disguise as a Zombie and will be seen as a Zombie by the enemy team (Thanks Sprinkles!)
    - Note: disguised Survivor Spies will still be highlighted by Zombie Spy’s “Reveal” ability
  - The Pomson 6000 now puts Zombie abilities on cooldown on hit
  - Survivor Pyro can now destroy Zombie Engineer's EMP Grenade by hitting it with the Homewrecker
  - Walking in to Zombie Sniper's Spit now consumes the Spycicle and prevents initial damage
  - Standing in Zombie Sniper's Spit now emits additional sound effects and a burning green HUD overlay
  - Added new kill icons for every zombie attack
- Zombie Changes
  - Removed the out-of-combat speed buff from all Zombies
  - Zombie Pyro
    - Zombie Pyro has a new ability - "Dragon's Breath"
      - Fires a Dragon's Fury fireball
      - The initial cast of the fireball can reflect projectiles and airblast enemies
    - Zombie Pyro now deals mini-crits to burning players on melee hit
    - Zombie Pyro now creates a small explosion on death, knocking back enemies in a 125 hu radius
    - Zombie Pyro no longer emits a Gas Passer cloud on death
  - Zombie Demoman
    - Added new sound effects to telegraph Zombie Demoman's Blast Charge ability
  - Zombie Heavy
    - Zombie Heavy's health reduced to 450 (from 600)
    - Zombie Heavy now drops a Medium Health Kit on death
  - Zombie Sniper
    - Zombie Sniper's Spit damage vs buildables is now reduced by half
    - Zombie Sniper's Spit now applies a screen overlay to players standing in the pool
  - Zombie Medic
    - Zombie Medic now emits health like a dispenser to nearby Zombies
    - Zombie Medic can no longer attack while using Heal
    - Added a new sound effect for Zombie Medic's Heal ability
  - Zombie Spy
    - Zombie Spy no longer emits particle effects while cloaked, making him fully invisible when not attacking. Jumpscare warning!
  - Zombie Scout
    - With other zombies getting slower, Zombie Scout's speed stands out more than ever before
- Bug Fixes
  - Fixed a bug that allowed Zombie Demoman to survive his own Blast Charge (Thanks gasous nebule!)
  - Fixed a bug that caused Zombie Demoman to not receive kill credit when killing players with Blast Charge
  - Fixed a bug that caused Zombies to not gib correctly
  - Fixed a bug that caused Zombie cosmetics to persist on RED players after the round restarts
  - Fixed a bug that caused Zombie Sniper's Spit Pool to nudge players slightly in certain circumstances
  - Fixed a bug that caused players to have the incorrect player skin when respawning at round start
  - Fixed a bug that would cause players to become stuck in spectate mode when attempting to join a game in progress
  - Fixed an issue with "game_text" entities not being correctly cleared after round reset
Updated zi_murky (additional changes)
- Survivors now spawn across the map in multiple small groups instead of all at the sewage plant
- Added a life preserver shop to connect to the lonely shack in the southern end of the map
- Added a new dock network with a series of platforms leading to the roof of the central boathouse
- Added a small ramp to the left-most sewer pipes
- Removed some awkward ladder-ramps and replaced them with proper docks
- De-cluttered the roofs across the map
- Removed the floating large medkit
- Removed expensive reflections from the water
- Reduced color correction intensity
- Clipping improvements
Updated zi_atoll (additional changes)
- Set a culling distance to most props
- Added occluders on the lighthouse to improve performance
Updated zi_woods (additional changes)
- Fixed the announcer not being silenced when time is added
Updated zi_sanitarium (additional changes)
- The roof is now accessible
- Added several routes to the roof
- Slightly reduced the intensity of the fog
- Added more pumpkin bombs
- Raised the skybox height
Updated cp_gravelpit_snowy
- Improved performance by combining props
- Improved clipping
- Increased volume of laser gun finale
- Miscellaneous improvements
Updated koth_sawmill_event
- Fixed an overlay
Updated koth_undergrove_event
- Fixed several out-of-bounds exploits in the Underworld (thanks MN!)
- Adjusted overworld pumpkin bomb placement and increased maximum bomb count to 6
- Fixed an incorrect texture on RED's side
Updated koth_synthetic_event
- Moved spells away from mid
- Detail adjustments
- Clipping fixes
- Very minor lighting changes
Updated pd_mannsylvania
- Added even more Bats!
- Added more spawnpoints for pumpkin-bombs
- Added new nag voiceline for if Dracula does not receive any blood donations
- Removed setup time, replaced it with a normal countdown instead
- Increased duration of the Vampire Powerup after leaving Dracula's Castle from 15 -> 20 seconds
- Decrease dropped blood bag timer from 15 -> 10 seconds
- Decreased respawn wave times for the losing team from 4 -> 2 seconds
- Decreased respawn wave times during a neutral gamestate from 4 -> 2 seconds
- Changed the main spawn doors to have windows
- Removed Rare Spell spawn by the graveyard area, replaced with Common Spell
- Health and ammo pickup adjustments
- Clipped stairs by the Castle's exit portal
- Minor visual updates
Updated ctf_applejack
- Fixed the projectile weapons from not working inside the buildings
- Removed bullet collision from the intelligence room handrails
- Removed the prop jump up to the sniper balcony, to help snipers feel more comfortable there
- Removed the vents with missing textures
- Fixed the bug with being able to get stuck in the blue shed
- Fixed a stuck spot in mid shed (ty Midnite!)
- Fixed a texture being weird in the intel rooms
- Fixed a black displacement in the red intel yard
- Removed the collision from the food in the red spawn table
Updated cp_ambush_event
- Fixed exploit where players were able to build into RED 1st base (Thanks MN!)
- Improved lighting at RED base in stage3
- Fixed lantern being clipped into cliff wall in cavern at stage1
- Fixed odd shadows cast by some props
- Fixed coffin from being non-solid in stage2
- Fixed spawncamping spot in stage2 at RED indoor exit
- Fixed few hovering lamp props
- Fixed some prop fading too soon
- Fixed rare issue where players fell of directly to lava on underworld teleportation
- Clipped few crates to make it easier to jump on them
Updated arena_lumberyard_event
- Recreated the game mode in VScript
- Significantly increased server performance
- Instead of using the best-of-seven round system on top of casual's best-of-three system, the map will simply run 15 traditional game rounds like ZI and VSH
- Updated the healing ghost appearance for RED team
- Text pop-ups are now drawn in chat instead of in the middle of your screen
- Reduced volume of the incoming spell
- Removed the random Skeleton King and the Horseless Headless Horseman
- Removed the rare spell given to the last player standing
- Converted some medium health kits into small health kits
- Removed small health kits from the second story of both churches
- Fixed a pumpkin bomb that was stuck in the terrain
Updated pl_embargo
- Fixed an exploit that allowed BLU to teleport to RED spawn (thanks Jameson)
- Fixed the lack of countdown at the end of the round

Aug 14, 2024

Major League Mayhem: Übercharged Charity Tournament

Team Fortress 2

(Image credit: SFM - Herwork, Typesetting/Compositing/Logo/Paintover - Requim, Feedback - IVG, Lecter, Shippy, YLR)

BATTERS UP!

Fortress Faceoffs is bringing you another action-packed Bostonian beatdown for their eleventh event! Don't delay! Get yourself a ticket for the front row! Get ready to relive the excitement of the MAJOR LEAGUES in this spin on an American classic. Teams of five Scouts will face off against one another in this arena, where only ONE hit can seal their fate. Dive, duck, and weave your way across the various battlefields as baseballs zip through the sky at Mach one, but don't count yourself out just yet.

The Fortress Faceoffs team has been hard at work in the laboratory crafting a variety of special tools for your team of Boston bully-boys. POWER-UPS will change the ebb-and-flow of the battle, giving you special abilities for a limited time. Special abilities range from faster movement speed to summoning the power of your inner Scottish Cyclops by causing your baseball to EXPLODE! How will you be able to put them to use?

But that’s not all Fortress Faceoffs has in store! For the duration of this unconventional doubleheader, they will also be raising funds to support The Trevor Project, a charity group that aims to help LGBTQ+ youth. Click here to donate!

Sign up today to secure your spot in this climactic beatdown and a bottle of overpriced water (water not included)! The games begin August 18th @ 11:59 PM / 23:59 BST for both North American and European competitors respectively! The top 8 finalists in this series will have their knocked-out teeth showcased live!

For more information about the event's rules, prizes, and more - Join the Fortress Faceoffs Discord Server and claim your spot in the MAJOR LEAGUES.

Important Links: