<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=440"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/halloween_2012t.jpg" width="440" height="233" border="0"></a>

It's a well-established fact that every Halloween, all the ghosts, goblins, Draculas, bigfoots, Frankensteins and Area 51 aliens leave their house at the cemetery to scare humans. But what would happen if you snuck down to the cemetery <i>before</i> Halloween? <b>You would die.</b> Of scaredness? No! <b>Of boredom.</b> That's because between now and October 31st, all the monsters are busy having meetings (about terror) and conducting focus groups (to test all the latest scaring techniques). Oh no! What's that chupacabra doing lurking in the shadows? (Answer: Reading a spreadsheet about blood.)

Scariness doesn't just <i>happen</i>, people. It's serious business. That's why we're giving you until October 1st to fill the Steam Workshop with <b>horrifying Halloween-themed cosmetic items.</b>

If you're not an item-making sort of person, you can still keep busy. Why not <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=440&p=1">visit the workshop</a> and rate other people's Halloween-themed items? Rating terrifying items will also help you build up your resistance to being scared before we unleash this year's Scream Fortress update. Other tips: Pay people to jump out and yell "Boo" at you. Have somebody paint ghosts on their car and then try to hit you with it. If you know an ugly person, why not ask them to try scaring you? Every little bit helps.

It's a well-established fact that every Halloween, all the ghosts, goblins, Draculas, bigfoots, Frankensteins and Area 51 aliens leave their house at the cemetery to scare humans. But what would happen if you snuck down to the cemetery before Halloween? You would die. Of scaredness? No! Of boredom. That's because between now and October 31st, all the monsters are busy having meetings (about terror) and conducting focus groups (to test all the latest scaring techniques). Oh no! What's that chupacabra doing lurking in the shadows? (Answer: Reading a spreadsheet about blood.)

Scariness doesn't just happen, people. It's serious business. That's why we're giving you until October 1st to fill the Steam Workshop with horrifying Halloween-themed cosmetic items.

If you're not an item-making sort of person, you can still keep busy. Why not visit the workshop and rate other people's Halloween-themed items? Rating terrifying items will also help you build up your resistance to being scared before we unleash this year's Scream Fortress update. Other tips: Pay people to jump out and yell "Boo" at you. Have somebody paint ghosts on their car and then try to hit you with it. If you know an ugly person, why not ask them to try scaring you? Every little bit helps.

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:


Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Fixed a bug that allowed malicious servers to execute restricted console commands on players
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed malicious servers to prevent players from executing console commands
  

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:


Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Performance improvements
  

Team Fortress 2

• Added the Fall 2012 crate key to the Mann Co. store
  
• Fixed The Escape Plan not using the same taunt as The Equalizer
  
• Community mapping request:
  • Added Parentname to the attributes for func_flagdetectionzone

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 new promo items
  
• Added replay_name ConVar to set the name of the replay bot
  
• Added a notification to Steam Trading when a user's backpack is full
  
• Fixed tv_name ConVar not working
  
• Fixed non-robot Snipers playing some of the robot Sniper lines
  
• Fixed the looping tank sound not playing if it was spawned far from the player
  
• Fixed Monoculus health bar not showing when Monoculus spawns
  
• Fixed tank destruction effects playing at the map origin
  
• Fixed bots not displaying in the server browser properly
  
• Updated the localization files
  
• Updated Koth_King
  • Added some geometry to hide floating staircases outside of playspace
    
  • Performance improvements from prop reduction, additional surfaces tagged as nodraw, and reduced overlay counts
    
  • Fixed some building faces where extra faces were being generated behind windows/etc due to spaces in geometry
• Updated Mvm_Decoy
  
• Updated Mvm_Coaltown
  • Blocked bots from being blasted into the tank tunnel
    
  • Blocked giants from getting stuck under the stairs in the final pit
• Updated Mvm_Mannworks
  • Blocked bots from being blasted into the tank tunnel
    
  • Added nobuild to stairs on center building where Engineers could build out of reach of Sentry Busters
• MvM changes
  • Fixed a client money display issue when purchasing or selling bottle charges after changing classes
    
  • Fixed an issue in the Server Browser where replay bots would add to the player count
    
  • Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the bomb to get positioned incorrectly when dropped
    
  • Added safeguards to prevent bots from getting stuck in certain cases
    
  • Fixed sniper rifle reload upgrade not reducing the time delay from hip shot to scoping
    
  • Fixed Steel Gauntlet robots failing to destroy minisentries on slopes
    
  • Fixed the party leader’s mission completions showing in the game lobby instead of your own
• Community-submitted schema changes:
  • Backpack sounds updated for Rogue's Col Roule, Cozy Camper, Scrap Pack, Professor's Pineapple, Scottish Handshake, Monoculus!, Manniversary Paper Hat, Party Hat, Googly Gazer, Liquor Locker, and Something Special For Someone Special
    
  • Weapon sound changes:
    • The Pain Train now uses Equalizer sounds
      
    • The Conscientious Objector now uses Kurkri sounds
      
    • The Amputator now uses Bonesaw sounds
      
    • The Solemn Vow now sounds like a wrench
      
    • The Market Gardener now uses Shovel sounds
      
    • The Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker now uses the Horsemann's Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker sounds
  • Weapon crafting changes:
    • The Teufort Tooth Kickers and Professor's Peculiarity are now craftable
      
    • The Cozy Camper, Sun-on-a-Stick, and Sharpened Volcano Fragment are now craftable with tokens
  • Weapon cosmetic changes:
    • Added new styles to the Big Country, Professor's Peculiarity, and Copper's Hard Top
      
    • The Third Degree now vaporizes enemies on kill like the Phlogistinator and the Manmelter
      
    • Loosened equip region restrictions for the Whiskered Gentleman, Sight For Sore Eyes, Googly Gazer, and Nine-Pipe Problem
      
    • The Birdcage, HOUWAR, and Scrap Pack can now get kill assists in Pyroland
      
    • Updated attribute text to be more clear on the Loch-N-Load, Force-A-Nature, Soda Popper, and Family Business
      • Weapon functionality is unchanged

Mann vs. Machine's been up and running for over a week now, and we've been hard at work since we launched to make the experience even better. We've upgraded our matchmaking system and given a huge boost to our server count, reducing the average wait for Mann Up Mode down to a minute or less, and Boot Camp to around two minutes. So you should be able to get in to play a lot faster, and get matched up with people a lot closer to you.

Also, guess whose birthday it is? Did you guess Team Fortress or Valve? Well, technically sure, both are sixteen years old today. But more importantly, today is the birthday of high-wattage Hollywood megastar Steve Guttenberg, who is probably 112 years old today, if we had to guess.

<img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/guttenberg_bday.jpg" width="440" height="292" border="0">

In celebration of all of these birthdays, and birthdays in general, Birthday Mode is active in the game! Happy sweet sixteen, everybody! We're not going anywhere! Long term, we mean. Short term we <i>are</i> going somewhere, because Team Fortress is now old enough to drive, so we're gonna go Tokyo Drift over to the cake store.

Mann vs. Machine's been up and running for over a week now, and we've been hard at work since we launched to make the experience even better. We've upgraded our matchmaking system and given a huge boost to our server count, reducing the average wait for Mann Up Mode down to a minute or less, and Boot Camp to around two minutes. So you should be able to get in to play a lot faster, and get matched up with people a lot closer to you.

Also, guess whose birthday it is? Did you guess Team Fortress or Valve? Well, technically sure, both are sixteen years old today. But more importantly, today is the birthday of high-wattage Hollywood megastar Steve Guttenberg, who is probably 112 years old today, if we had to guess.



In celebration of all of these birthdays, and birthdays in general, Birthday Mode is active in the game! Happy sweet sixteen, everybody! We're not going anywhere! Long term, we mean. Short term we are going somewhere, because Team Fortress is now old enough to drive, so we're gonna go Tokyo Drift over to the cake store.

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:


Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Added a new command "kickall" which kicks all connected clients except for replay, HLTV, and the listenserver host if applicable
  
• Updated Steam binaries; fixes Linux crash on shutdown or restart
  

Team Fortress 2

• Fixed a problem with items not displaying the correct styles
  
• Added a new command "player_ready_toggle" for players to ready-up in MvM mode
  • Can be bound to any key in the Keyboard tab of the Options dialog
• Fixed the Metal Regen upgrade displaying a percentage instead of an incremental value
  
• Fixed a few MvM sounds not being precached properly
  
• Added Taskbar Window Flash and Drum Roll sound on successful match making for Windows users
  • Sound will play even if the game is minimized
• Added difficulty text "Normal" and "Advanced" to the MvM scoreboard when playing official Valve missions
  
• Fixed UI Bugs related to the MvM splash screens (Wave Loss and Victory)
  
• Fixed a UI Bug that would display previous MvM loot on the victory screen for subsequent MvM games
  
• Server browser will now show MvM mission name in the "map" column. (E.g. "mvm_mannworks_advanced")
  
• Community requests
  • Fixed a crash when spawning the tank in non-MvM games. Added SetHealth, SetMaxHealth, AddHealth, and RemoveHealth inputs to the tank entity
    
  • The tf_bot_add command can now create a bot with a custom name and can create a bot that isn't managed by the value of tf_bot_quota by adding the custom name and "noquota" arguments respectively

<a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/i46/tournaments/event/team-fortress-2" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/insomnia_festival.jpg" width="440" height="244" border="0"></a>

<p>The <a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/">Multiplay Insomnia Gaming Festival</a> in Telford, England is UK's biggest LAN tournament, and unquestionably one of the <a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/i46/tournaments/event/team-fortress-2">highest profile TF2 competitions in the world</a>. One thing it <i>didn't</i> have until recently, though, was any American representation. E-sports broadcaster <a href="http://www.extelevision.com/">eXTV</a> has been spearheading a fundraiser to get our boys in the fight, and the TF2 community has responded, <a href="http://extv.chipin.com/i46-multiplay-north-american-contingent">donating the money</a> for airfare, PCs, and accommodations to get <a href="http://www.teamfortress.tv/articles/view/43">America's top TF2 players</a> to the 6v6 tournament.

We couldn't be happier to hear this, firstly because it once again proves that TF2's got the most generous community in gaming history, and secondly because <b>U! S! A! U! S! A!</b> Actually, there might be some Canadians on the team. <b>Close! E! Nough! Close! E! Nough!</b>

The Multiplay Insomnia Gaming Festival in Telford, England is UK's biggest LAN tournament, and unquestionably one of the highest profile TF2 competitions in the world. One thing it didn't have until recently, though, was any American representation. E-sports broadcaster eXTV has been spearheading a fundraiser to get our boys in the fight, and the TF2 community has responded, donating the money for airfare, PCs, and accommodations to get America's top TF2 players to the 6v6 tournament.

We couldn't be happier to hear this, firstly because it once again proves that TF2's got the most generous community in gaming history, and secondly because U! S! A! U! S! A! Actually, there might be some Canadians on the team. Close! E! Nough! Close! E! Nough!