Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

• Fixed players seeing cloaked Spies when they should be fully cloaked
  
• Updated the Homewrecker
  
  • It now damages enemy sappers on friendly buildings
    
• Fixed items not displaying correctly while playing back a demo
  
• Badge hire dates now display the time in GMT
  

We're shipping a quick update to clean up some of the confusion around the 119th Update badges. We initially chose to calculate which badge to give players based on the beta release of TF2, because that was the date that customers could first play TF2. This turns out to have been a mistake, largely because many players did the math and thought they were getting something other than what they ended up with. So to remove that confusion, this new update moves that date forward to the official retail release of TF2, the 10th October 2007, and reissues updated badges to anyone who would be affected by that date shift.

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/119"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/platinum.png" width="420" height="333" border="0"></a>

We also felt it was still important to reward those who were there on the first moment TF2 went live, and helped us by beta testing prior to release. So we've added a new "Primeval Warrior" badge, which will replace the badge of anyone who purchased TF2 prior to the official release date.

On a quick side note, we've been having fun watching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/QuickActionTF2" class="standardLink">QuickActionTF2's</a> movies, which inspired <a href="http://communityfortress.com/" class="standardLink">Community Fortress's</a> Moments of Glory. If you haven't seen the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHHsG1fTM-s" class="standardLink">latest one</a>, it's worth it just for knoxxx's awesome move. It's also a great way to brush up on your french.

We're shipping a quick update to clean up some of the confusion around the 119th Update badges. We initially chose to calculate which badge to give players based on the beta release of TF2, because that was the date that customers could first play TF2. This turns out to have been a mistake, largely because many players did the math and thought they were getting something other than what they ended up with. So to remove that confusion, this new update moves that date forward to the official retail release of TF2, the 10th October 2007, and reissues updated badges to anyone who would be affected by that date shift.



We also felt it was still important to reward those who were there on the first moment TF2 went live, and helped us by beta testing prior to release. So we've added a new "Primeval Warrior" badge, which will replace the badge of anyone who purchased TF2 prior to the official release date.

On a quick side note, we've been having fun watching QuickActionTF2's movies, which inspired Community Fortress's Moments of Glory. If you haven't seen the latest one, it's worth it just for knoxxx's awesome move. It's also a great way to brush up on your french.

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

• Mann Co. badges updated
  
  • Added new "Primeval Warrior" employee badge
    
  • Moved badges start date to the official TF2 release date of October 10th, 2007
    
  • Gave "Primeval Warrior" badge to anyone who played in the TF2 Beta prior to the official release
    
  • Adjusted existing badges based on the new start date
    
• Fixed player avatars being squashed in the Arena win panel
  
• Fixed a client crash caused by players calling for a Medic
  
• Fixed a server crash caused by receiving invalid data in player commands
  
• Fixed wearables attached to ragdolls not setting their skins and bodygoups correctly
  
• Fixed deflected remote-detonate pipebombs becoming mini-crits when detonated
  
• Fixed deflected remote-detonate pipebombs becoming full crits if the Pyro is critboosted
  
• Prevented custom models from showing domination particles in PropHunt
  

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

• Added further PropHunt mode support
  
  • Added a "SetCustomModelRotates" input, which will enable/disable whether the custom model should rotate yaw (enabled by default)
    
  • Added a "SetCustomModelVisibletoSelf" input, which will set whether or not the local player should see his own custom model
    
• Fixed the Engineer being able to build more than 1 of each type of building
  
• Fixed old Engineer build keybinds not working with the new system
  
• Fixed a client crash on shutdown
  
• Fixed the Gunboats not properly applying the damage reduction when Spectators are nearby
  
• Fixed post-processing bug which could cause tone mapping to become stuck at highest setting
  

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/119"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/119.jpg" width="420" height="234" border="0"></a>

Today marks the 119th (or so) update to Team Fortress 2.

We think that calls for a <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/119" class="standardLink">celebration</a>.

To coincide with today's update, we are pleased to announce that our friends at The IP Factory will be releasing a limited edition collector's statue of the Heavy, which is the first in their 12 inch Team Fortress 2 line of collectible statues. The Heavy will come in both BLU and RED team versions and numbers are strictly limited.

The IP Factory will begin accepting Heavy statue pre-orders on Monday 3rd May 9.00am.

To grab a sneak peak of the Heavy statue in all of his glory visit their website at <a href="http://www.gamingheads.com" class="standardLink">www.gamingheads.com</a>.

Today marks the 119th (or so) update to Team Fortress 2.

We think that calls for a celebration.

To coincide with today's update, we are pleased to announce that our friends at The IP Factory will be releasing a limited edition collector's statue of the Heavy, which is the first in their 12 inch Team Fortress 2 line of collectible statues. The Heavy will come in both BLU and RED team versions and numbers are strictly limited.

The IP Factory will begin accepting Heavy statue pre-orders on Monday 3rd May 9.00am.

To grab a sneak peak of the Heavy statue in all of his glory visit their website at www.gamingheads.com.

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

• Fixed several issues with the Source SDK
  
• Added new items to commemorate our 119th (or so) update
  
• Scout's "Retire the Runner" achievement updated to be
  
  • "Kill a Scout while they are under the effect of Crit-a-Cola."
    
• Added a 20% damage bonus to The Backburner.
  
• Fixed the Flare Gun's afterburn duration being lowered by the Flamethrower's duration reduction.
  
• Fixed the teleporter exit using the wrong particle effect.
  
• Fixed HUD damage indicators not appearing.
  
• Fixed Teleporters not reverting to level 1 when their other side is destroyed.
  
• Fixed receiving damage not causing view-kicks on players.
  
• Fixed Engineers & Spies being able to circumvent build restrictions.
  
• Fixed Server Browser not saving filter settings properly.
  
• Fixed a client crash in the targetID on clients running custom HUDs
  

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

• Added new community map cp_freight
  
• Added missing physics models for several items
  
• Added jiggle bones to the Sam & Max items, and The Buff Banner
  
• Added Crit-a-Cola
  

Dedicated Server

• Linux optimizations.
  
• Fixed Linux servers not relisting correctly after a master server restart
  
• Fixed a case where servers could have "ghost" players consuming player slots
  

Engine

• Marked the "snd_show" convar as a cheat
  

Gameplay Changes

• Pyro changes
  
  • Flamethrower direct damage reduced 20%.
    
  • Burn duration reduced (10 -> 6 seconds).
    
  • Airblast re-fire delay reduced by 25%.
    
  • Airblast ammo usage reduced by 20%.
    
  • All reflected rockets/grenades/arrows now mini-crit.
    
  • Airblasting enemies into environmental deaths now awards the death credit to the Pyro.
    
• Heavy changes
  
  • Minigun spin-up/down time reduced by 25%
    
  • Minigun firing movement speed increased to just under half-normal (from 80 to 110).
    
  • Throwing a sandvich to a teammate now earns a full bonus point (was half a point).
    
• Bonk! changes
  
  • Post-use movement penalty removed.
    
  • Now has a re-use cooldown time, like The Sandman.
    
• The Chargin' Target changes
  
  • Direct charge hit now does 50 damage + 10 per head (up to 5 heads).
    
  • Capped the turn rate from +left and +right while charging.
    
• The Huntsman changes
  
  • Removed restriction that arrows need to be aimed before they can be lit by a Pyro.
    
  • Bow can now be lowered without losing the lit arrow.
    
  • Changed bow so you can start charging it while you're jumping, but you can't fire until you're on the ground.
    
  • Fixed bug where flame effect would get stuck on if you change weapons with a lit arrow.
    
• Backpack changes
  
  • Moved Crafting button out to the root class/backpack selection panel.
    
  • Dragging and dropping items in your backpack now makes appropriate sounds.
    
• Bot changes
  
  • Bots don't retreat to gather health as readily if they are in combat.
    
  • Bots no longer retreat when moving to block a point capture.
    
  • Bots should now equip an appropriate combat weapon and fight while moving to collect health.
    
  • Bots who are roaming the map and hunting now chase down their victims, following them around corners.
    
  • Bots That fire projectiles (ie: rockets/grenades/etc) don't hold down their fire button for a minimum time. This was causing Soldier bots to fire rockets into nearby walls as they strafed, killing themselves.
    
  • Soldiers bots now switch to their shotgun after firing all four rockets when engaging an enemy.
    
  • Added a few more bot names from community suggestions.
    
  • Fixed a behavior loop with Engineer metal gathering.
    
• The Sandman change
  
  • Added a slight speed reduction to stunned players.
    
• Community requests
  
  • Added ConVars log_verbose_enable and log_verbose_interval to report player positions in the server log at regular intervals
    
    • log_verbose_enable default: 0
      
    • log_verbose_interval default: 3 secs
      
  • "Last-weapon" initialization on respawn now sets itself to be the melee weapon if you don’t have a selectable secondary weapon (like The Razorback).
    

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an case where The Gunboats didn’t apply their damage reduction properly.
  
• The amount count in the HUD now flashes red when you’re low on ammo.
  
• Extinguishing a burning teammate now earns a full bonus point (was half a point).
  
• Fixed a permanent overheal exploit involving dispensers.
  
• Fixed a bug in spectator mode where the user aborted out of freezecam, setup a spec mode (like IN_EYE), and would then have the setting stomped after the freezecam timer expired.
  
• Fixed bug with disguised spy sometimes seeing his own name in the disguise status HUD.
  
• Fixed a client crash that could result from players with arrows embedded in them.
  
• Fixed items that can be worn by any class having the wrong model when worn by a disguised Spy.
  
• Added missing map prefixes to server browser game types.
  
• Killing yourself with your own sentry no longer increments the sentry's kill counter.
  
• Fixed dropped hats sometimes having the wrong team color.
  
• Fixed crit-boosted players not getting critical hits if their weapon has custom no-crit behavior.
  
• Fixed the achievement dialog taking a long time to pop up, and completed achievements now sort to the bottom of the list.
  
• Fixed Spies disguised as Medics hearing the autocaller sound.
  

<img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/loadout.png" width="420" height="204" border="0">

Today we're shipping some significant changes to the item drop system.

<ul>
<li>Previously, we rolled randomly at intervals to see if you got an item drop. Now we roll to determine when your next item drop will occur. So you're guaranteed to find items at fairly regular intervals. The bulk of drop complaints we've received in the past have been from players having unlucky streaks, where they didn't find any items for weeks. That won't be possible now.</li>
<li>We've significantly increased the rate at which item drops occur, compared to the previous average interval.</li>
<li>There's now a maximum amount of playtime per week in which you get item drops. Playing beyond that amount won't find any more items. The amount varies, but if you play an hour or so a day you're good. Some of your unused time will rollover to the following week, so if you're an intermittent player you'll also be fine.</li>
</ul>
What are the net effects of these changes? Here's the quick summary:
<ul>
<li>If you're an idler, you're going to find fewer items than you were prior to this change. Sorry. On the bright side, there's less reason to idle, because it won't earn more than players who are playing regularly.</li>
<li>Everyone else will find items more frequently, and with greater regularity.</li>
</ul>
We're still thinking about how to allow you to influence your drops. When we see discussions on the forums, people often ask why we don't tie it to some in-game performance (like your scoreboard position, or number of kills, etc). Many players understand that if we did this, idle servers would simply change into servers running plugins that generate those in-game events frequently (as we saw in the Soldier & Demoman WAR!).

There's another side of it that we care about just as much, which is the message it would send to all the players who don't want to idle. Any in-game performance metric we chose would result in there being specific maps, classes, tactics, and so on that resulted in more drops. We really don't want that to happen. When it's simply playtime, you're free to play the game however you like. If you love Payload, you can play Payload maps without worrying about whether you're earning less drops than the guys playing Arena maps. Community mapmakers don't have to worry about whether their maps earn item drops fast enough. Similarly, server operators can configure their servers however they like, without worrying about reducing the rate at which their players are earning drops. In short, while it's far from perfect, not tying to in-game performance is a lot less poisonous to your minute-to-minute game experience.