<img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/summer_sale_x.jpg" width="420" height="186" border="0">

It's summertime and THINGS ARE ON SALE. If only all our writers weren’t at Writer’s Camp they could tell you HOW AWESOME THIS SALE IS. If they wrote something witty about the Scout's new TOWEL you would probably say "I really want to go out right now and buy a towel for MY scout." If they said something sad and revealing about the character of the Scout's new pair of FLIP-FLOPS you would probably say "I care deeply about Flip-Flops, if only I had a pair to show my deep feelings for Flip-Flops!"

Alas, we have no such writer available. We have no one who can write about how these items ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME. We have no one who can reiterate in a slightly annoying, but still somewhat funny way THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY THE NEW ITEMS BEFORE THE SALE ENDS ON JULY 11. Indeed, we don't even have two short sentences that would convey that KEYS ARE NOW ON SALE TO OPEN SUMMER COOLERS! See? That was only one sentence and it wasn't particularly short.

Note: The Scout is shown equipped with TWO miscellaneous slot items. We realize this is currently IMPOSSIBLE. After firing the artist responsible, we are now working on making that artist's vision a reality.

It's summertime and THINGS ARE ON SALE. If only all our writers weren’t at Writer’s Camp they could tell you HOW AWESOME THIS SALE IS. If they wrote something witty about the Scout's new TOWEL you would probably say "I really want to go out right now and buy a towel for MY scout." If they said something sad and revealing about the character of the Scout's new pair of FLIP-FLOPS you would probably say "I care deeply about Flip-Flops, if only I had a pair to show my deep feelings for Flip-Flops!"

Alas, we have no such writer available. We have no one who can write about how these items ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME. We have no one who can reiterate in a slightly annoying, but still somewhat funny way THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY THE NEW ITEMS BEFORE THE SALE ENDS ON JULY 11. Indeed, we don't even have two short sentences that would convey that KEYS ARE NOW ON SALE TO OPEN SUMMER COOLERS! See? That was only one sentence and it wasn't particularly short.

Note: The Scout is shown equipped with TWO miscellaneous slot items. We realize this is currently IMPOSSIBLE. After firing the artist responsible, we are now working on making that artist's vision a reality.

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

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

• Fixed a case where servers would accumulate ghost players
  
• Fixed bug with SourceTV and Replay causing player count to be off by one.
  

Team Fortress 2

• Added lots of new Summer items, including the Refreshing Summer Cooler Key
  
• Added a new achievement: Escape the Heat
  
• Fixed a case where the client-side voting dialog would have an incorrect list of items
  
• Fixed a bug where some items would not update their team colors correctly
  
• Fixed a client backpack crash
  
• Updated the Lo-Fi Longwave to be paintable
  
• Updated the localization files
  

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 a case where CritBoost effects were being removed from players being healed.
  
• Fixed a problem with Arena mode first blood CritBoost not removing itself at the correct time.
  
• Fixed a bug where Demomen kept their leftover charge amount when self-aborting charges (you'll still keep leftovers when stopped by enemy airblasts)
  
• Fixed the problem that was causing Strange Demoman shields to not accumulate kills.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Reserve Shooter would minicrit against swimming targets.
  
• Tomislav spin-up reduction has been reduced from 75% to %40 (so it now spins-up slower)
  
• Made the Jumper's Jeepcap and Pocket Medic craft-able.
  
• Updated the bot navigation files for several maps.
  
• Added an entry for "Call Vote" to the Options->Keyboard Settings, so you can bind a key to it.
  
• Updated the gamehaptics file:
  
  • Added/Refined recoil/draw/crit/reload forces for all of the new weapons in the Uber Update.
    
  • Refined all Rocket Launcher Forces recoil forces to feel more true to recoil animation.
    
  • Tuned Brass Beast recoil to have less of an impact on your aiming reticle.
    

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, 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 (CS:S, DoD:S, TF2, HL2:DM)

• Reduced CPU usage for idle servers
  

Team Fortress 2

• Added the Splendid Screen, Ali Baba's Wee Booties, and the Mantreads to the whitelist for Medieval mode
  
• Added a server console message when a player is sent to the server via the matchmaking system
  
• Fixed the cl_gameserver_list output
  
• Fixed the Quick-Fix showing the fire overlay when running in DX8
  
• Fixed a problem with team paints not being displayed properly when playing
  
• Fixed a display problem with Hatless hats
  
• Fixed a problem that prevented the new Scout items from being used in crafting recipes
  
• Fixed a problem with clients seeing the incorrect vote options after changing servers
  
• Fixed the backpack image for the Schadenfreude not being disabled when using paint
  
• Updated the Planeswalker Goggles to not hide the Scout's hat/headset
  
• Updated the taunt items to be nameable
  
• Updated the localization files
  

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/copyright_lololol.jpg" width="420" height="245 border="0"></a>


Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Moreau. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. Any time a physician starts messing around creating life, trying to improve the species with a giraffe neck or two, or taming a cowboy's heart, you can bet things are going to end badly. The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.

To that we say pshht. The real moral of <i>Frankenstein</i> is: If you're going to bring a guy back to life with lightning, maybe don't give him the brain of a serial killer. Try a vegan librarian. If you're stitching together animal-man hybrids, how about not jumping straight to ravenous hyenas? Start with hamsters, see how that goes, and work your way up the food chain.

Never toil in God's domain? Good advice if you're an idiot. If you know what you're doing, though, toil away. Why <i>not</i> give the Demo a couple extra livers? Why <i>not</i> replace Sniper's spine with a giant piece of sheet metal? Why <i>not</i> stitch a mouth onto Scout's backside so he can literally talk out of his ass?

Which brings us to our point. Not every mad doctor lives in a castle surrounded by villagers with pitchforks. Sometimes they live in the trenches, where there's plenty of spare parts flying around and a pressing need to get inventive with them.

Let's <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/">Meet the Medic</a>.

Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Moreau. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. Any time a physician starts messing around creating life, trying to improve the species with a giraffe neck or two, or taming a cowboy's heart, you can bet things are going to end badly. The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.

To that we say pshht. The real moral of Frankenstein is: If you're going to bring a guy back to life with lightning, maybe don't give him the brain of a serial killer. Try a vegan librarian. If you're stitching together animal-man hybrids, how about not jumping straight to ravenous hyenas? Start with hamsters, see how that goes, and work your way up the food chain.

Never toil in God's domain? Good advice if you're an idiot. If you know what you're doing, though, toil away. Why not give the Demo a couple extra livers? Why not replace Sniper's spine with a giant piece of sheet metal? Why not stitch a mouth onto Scout's backside so he can literally talk out of his ass?

Which brings us to our point. Not every mad doctor lives in a castle surrounded by villagers with pitchforks. Sometimes they live in the trenches, where there's plenty of spare parts flying around and a pressing need to get inventive with them.

Let's Meet the Medic.

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, 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 (CS:S, DoD:S, TF2, HL2:DM)

• Updated the shared interfaces for the TF2 Free To Play update
  
• Updated the shared localization files
  

Team Fortress 2

• TF2 is now Free To Play
  
• Added the Uber Update: http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/
  
• Added PL_Barnblitz, a new Payload map
  
• Added all kinds of new goodies!
  
• The Main menu now has a "Start Playing" option which presents users with various game modes to choose from. Once selected, the game matches the player into the best available server for that mode.
  
• The Crafting interface has been redesigned to accommodate the fact that crafting blueprints are always known to players now.
  
• The Item selection screen in Loadouts has been redesigned to support selection among a larger number of items.
  
• Training improvements:
  
  • New training user interface
    
  • Added "A,W,S,D" movement instruction to Soldier training
    
  • Added ammo instruction to Engineer training
    
  • Clarified many instructional strings
    
• Added new voting sounds
  
• Fixed various Coaching bugs
  
• Fixed various gameplay bugs
  

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/world_war_wednesday.jpg" width="420" height="186" border="0"></a>

War. Hunh. Yeah. What is it good for? Up until right this second, absolutely nothing. We'll say it again: Absolutely nothing.

But now Edwin Starr's going to have to rewrite that stupid song of his to something more accurate, because as of this moment, war is good for something. Like what, you ask? Free stuff. March on over to <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/">World War Wednesday</a> for all the details—or "SITREP", as we learned when we stole Tom Clancy's mail.

Also, if you weren't eagle-eyed enough to notice, the <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/scoutpack.html">Scout made a surprise appearance</a> yesterday with a class pack of his own. Why make a class pack an Easter Egg? There's a very good reason. Probably. There's also the real reason, which was that it didn’t fit into our <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/day_01.html">Mobster</a>, <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate/day_02.html">Timbuktu</a> or <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate">War</a> themes.

War. Hunh. Yeah. What is it good for? Up until right this second, absolutely nothing. We'll say it again: Absolutely nothing.

But now Edwin Starr's going to have to rewrite that stupid song of his to something more accurate, because as of this moment, war is good for something. Like what, you ask? Free stuff. March on over to World War Wednesday for all the details—or "SITREP", as we learned when we stole Tom Clancy's mail.

Also, if you weren't eagle-eyed enough to notice, the Scout made a surprise appearance yesterday with a class pack of his own. Why make a class pack an Easter Egg? There's a very good reason. Probably. There's also the real reason, which was that it didn’t fit into our Mobster, Timbuktu or War themes.