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Valve squashes Team Fortress 2 and Portal fan projects after years of leniency
Valve appears to have had a change of heart about fan-made tribute projects “borrowing” its IP. GamesRadar+ reported on the Steam maker’s DMCA takedown notice sent to the creators of Team Fortress: Source 2, an attempt to port TF2 to the more modern game engine.
Valve is working on a major update for 'Team Fortress 2'
After years of neglect, Valve is preparing to release a major update for Team Fortress 2.
Valve is still letting bots invade one of its longest-running games
'Team Fortress 2' has been nearly unplayable for over nine months.
M1-powered Macs can run Windows apps, with some help from CrossOver
Apple’s new M1-powered Macs appear to meet the company’s audacious speed claims, but there are still some drawbacks compared to Intel Macs. One thing that’s getting lost in the transition to M1 is Boot Camp, a tool that allowed you to install and run Windows on a separate partition of your Mac’s hard drive. Obviously, there’s no version of Windows that can run on the M1 chip, so Boot Camp is off the table for now.
Valve is allowing racist bots to invade ‘Team Fortress 2’
For the past two months, Team Fortress 2 has been under attack by a horde of racist, homophobic, sexist robots. Valve hasn't done anything about them.
Valve: no reason for alarm over 'CS:GO' source code leak
Someone posted some old source code for 'Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,' but according to Valve players shouldn't be alarmed.
Valve: Steam Workshop creators have earned over $57 million
There's tidy cash to be made in designing virtual items for players on the Steam Workshop. According to a recent Valve announcement, the platform has paid out over $57 million to creators since 2011. That figure represents items created for three of Valve's most popular games: Team Fortress 2, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Valve claims the $57 million sum was split between 1,500 creators representing 75 different countries from around the globe. That works out to an average of $38,000 for each creator. Alongside the financial milestone, Valve has announced plans to launch new curated Workshops for Dungeon Defenders: Eternity and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, as well new Steam Marketplace analytics tools that should make buying and selling items both easier and more nuanced. For more, visit Steam. [Image: Valve]
Team Fortress 2 reaches the End of the Line, finds ducks
The RED and BLU teams of Team Fortress 2 have reached the End of the Line, according to Valve. And no, that's not a capitalization error on our part. A new update to the PC version of the game - dubbed "End of the Line" - has been released, bringing with it a special event that will run until January 5. Along with 21 cosmetic items designed to keep your army warm in the cold winds of winter, a new taunt for the Pyro and a new multi-class melee weapon, the event will focus on ... ducks. Yup. Collectible ducks, duck journals, duck tokens, duck statistics. You want ducks, Team Fortress 2's got ducks. It's all inspired by a community film - also titled "End of the Line" - that you can view after the break. Settle in for a bit of a ride though; with a 14-minute runtime, this is one of the longer fan films out there.
Team Fortress 2's Heavy tries on Lara Croft's hotpants
Valve recently held a contest asking players to design the best Tomb Raider-themed customization items for Team Fortress 2 as a sly, interactive way to promote the Steam debut of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. The publisher then specifically asked players not to dress the portly Heavy in Lara's butt-sculpting khaki shorts. But, because the Internet abhors polite suggestions, creators Void and MultiTrip did just that and won the contest. Their entry, the aptly titled "Jungle Booty," is seen above. Other, less alarmingly sexy winners include Crown of the Old Kingdom which grants the Team Fortress 2 cast a pharaoh-style headdress in an array of colors, and Tomb Readers which features Lara's sunglasses from the original Tomb Raider 3 box art. The creators of these three submissions will see their submission featured on the Team Fortress 2 in-game store and will receive a massive bundle of over 50 games published by Square Enix. [Image: Valve]
BlizzCon 2014: Blizzard takes on superheroes with Overwatch
Blizzard announced its newest game today at BlizzCon -- and it might just make you forget all about Titan. The game is Overwatch, a superhero-themed "team-based multiplayer shooter" that is very reminiscent of Team Fortress 2. The studio revealed the new title with a pair of trailers, one giving a Pixar-esque introduction to the world and the other showing off in-game footage. Blizzard said that Overwatch will be "very approachable" for audiences. So when is Overwatch coming out? "It is nearer than you think," teased Chris Metzen, following that with news that the beta is coming in 2015 and the title will be playable at this week's convention.
All five prior Scream Fortress maps return to Team Fortress 2
To prepare players for the imminent horror of a new Scream Fortress map, Team Fortress 2 developer Valve has made all five of its previous Scream Fortress releases available to players at no charge. As its punny name suggests, a Scream Fortress map is a Team Fortress 2 map designed to be extra spooky, with additions like zombies, arcane magic and new, thematically-appropriate achievements. Er, excuse me, according to Valve that should read "Necromannchievements." In practice, new Scream Fortress maps are a usually just a change of scenery for most regular Team Fortress 2 players, but any excuse to gun down magical wizard ghosts is a good one. There are no caveats attached to these five re-released Scream Fortress maps. Anyone with a copy of Team Fortress 2 can jump right into the Halloween gunplay after a relatively quick, free download. [Image: Valve]
Team Fortress 2 cast sprints in Saxxy-winning footrace
The things people can do with Source Filmmaker are pretty awe-inspiring; we've seen recreations of scenes from Futurama and The Matrix, as well as original shorts like "Rivalry Rush," which you can check out after the break, where YouTuber Leaking Red pits the men of Team Fortress 2 against each other in a footrace. You may be asking yourself why these gentlemen would compete in such an event, especially when they've got perfectly capable guns lying around. The answer to your query lies with the race's prize: a lifetime supply of beer and sandviches. Sounds like a good deal to us! For their efforts, the team behind the short won a Saxxy - an award specifically for films created with Source Filmmaker - in the action category. The Saxxy winners were announced earlier this week.
Super Time Force Ultra adds Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 characters
Capybara Games has turned the proverbial Valve, and now three characters drawn from Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2 are pouring forth into the upcoming game, Super Time Force Ultra. Zoey from L4D uses twin pistols and propane tanks to destroy her foes, while the Pyro and Saxton Hale - both from TF2 - roast baddies with a flamethrower and punch them into oblivion, respectively. STFU (get it?) is an updated version of Capy's Super Time Force, which released earlier this year for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. We thought it was quite good, though not without flaws. Ultra adds not only the new characters mentioned above, but a new Ultra Force power mode and 50 Helladeck challenge levels. STFU will complete its journey through time and space and arrive on Steam on August 25. [Image: Capy Games]
Test Mann Co.'s beta maps in Team Fortress 2 starting this week
Feeling adventurous, Team Fortress 2 fans? Valve is beta testing a series of new maps for its hat-filled free-to-play multiplayer FPS, and all current players have a chance to check them out prior to their public launch. Starting this week, Team Fortress 2 players can opt-in to the beta test by enabling the "Play Beta Maps" option within the "Play Multiplayer" menu. Don't get too attached to what you see, though – Valve warns that beta map layouts will change frequently based on player feedback, and existing rule sets may see "drastic swings" as testing continues. Valve is also offering a set of official beta servers to power quickplay matchmaking, and community servers are also welcome to host beta maps. [Image: Valve]
Team Fortress 2 'Love and War' update rolls on, adds weapons and gluten
After adding a handful of colorful taunts to its free-to-play shooter, Valve has rolled out a mix of new weapons and items available for Team Fortress 2 as part of its "Love and War" update. Items featured in today's update include, but are not limited to: The Back Scatter, a scattergun with the ability to minicrit when used on enemies at close range from behind; The Tide Turner, a shield with solid resist bonuses; a parachute for slower descents; a new sniper rifle with the ability to charge shots; and a rocket launcher, which launches rockets according to the instructional manual. There's also a limited edition item – the breadbox – that players can craft to earn access to a number of gluten-based items featured in Valve's recent TF2 short film, Expiration Date.
Valve releases new Team Fortress 2 short film, adds dancing taunts
You've decked out your heroes in pretty hats and now it's time to hit the town and dance. Team Fortress 2 has entered the next-generation of taunting opponents by introducing the ability to ridicule them in the form of dance. New taunts featuring the conga, square dancing, headbutting other players, throwing teammates in the air for extreme flip action, and playing rock, paper, scissors are all coming to Team Fortress 2 in the Love & War update, a blog post has revealed. To celebrate, Valve has released a fifteen minute short film featuring its motley crew of warfighters, a briefcase, and the Scout looking to muster up the courage to ask teammate out on a date. If it wasn't for all the blood, it would be adorable. Well, actually, there is a lot of blood in and around the heart so, yeah, it's pretty adorable. [Image: Valve]
Catch up on Team Fortress 2 storyline with new comic
Valve has launched a free digital Team Fortress 2 Catch-Up comic in an effort to bring new players up to speed on its free-to-play competitive shooter's seven-year backstory. Valve's latest comic briefs players on the events leading up to the endless in-game war between the red and blue factions, and offers a great deal of background detail and ancillary information. Did you know that Team Fortress 2 is actually a documentary? It's true! The events seen in the catch-up comic lead directly into the core Team Fortress Comics series, which is also available for free online. [Image: Valve]
Pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order, earn Team Fortress 2 hats
Alternate history Nazi shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order is now available for pre-order via Steam, and Valve has opted to sweeten the deal by offering free Team Fortress 2 hats to anyone who plunks down early cash for the PC game. Though Valve's announcement makes no mention of what exactly these hats will look like, it does describe them as both "exclusive" and patterned after some element of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Whether that means historically inaccurate pickelhaubes or the combination helmet and gas mask worn by the grunts in this trailer remains to be seen, but, again, these are free bonuses so try not to look this gift horse in the mouth. Alongside the newly-revealed gratis chapeaus, a pre-order of Wolfenstein: The New Order also grants players access to a beta of id Software's next entry in the hallowed DOOM franchise. However, as we mentioned earlier this month, that beta will only be available to those who pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. [Image: Zenimax Media]
Valve: Trust in employees is key to good game development
If you treat your workers with kindness and compassion, they'll reward your support with better work - at least, that's the stance Valve Software takes. In an interview with the Washington Post, Valve CEO and co-founder Gabe Newell explains this philosophy by examining how the company handles employee sick days. Specifically, Valve doesn't handle them, and employees are trusted to be responsible with their time. "[W]e don't track vacation time or sick time - we just tell people we trust you to make all of these other decisions, of course we are going to trust you to manage your own time," Newell said. "It's actually a pretty minor issue in terms of how much time people actually spend on vacation or sick leave." "But it's a really important issue for someone who is say, coming out of Hollywood," he added. "When you tell them that - and it's really true - it seems to be useful in getting them to start to realize that there is a rationale behind how the company works. There's sort of the flashy public things like desks on wheels, but it really is intended to create a better environment for a highly technical set of tasks that vary fairly quickly over time." While other companies have different tactics in dealing with the inevitability of employee illness, it's hard to argue against the games Valve has produced. Half-Life and Half-Life 2 regularly feature on "best games of all time" lists, and Team Fortress 2 is heading into its seventh year of operation with no indication that it will lose popularity any time soon.
Steam kicks off holiday sale with BioShock, Batman, more
It's that time of year again, boys and girls. No, not time to express your love for the people who raised you, but instead, it's time for Steam's holiday sale. This year's sale runs from December 19 to January 3 and as in previous iterations, it offers a wide swath of discounts. First, there are the daily discounts, which collect a handful of games and slash their prices. At the moment, you could pick up BioShock Infinite for $10 or Batman: Arkham Origins for $25. Then there are the Flash sales, which usually offer larger discounts than the daily discounts, though they only appear for eight hours. Right now you could pick up Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for $3.74, but eight hours from now you'll be out of luck. Not just a sale, Steam's holiday celebration is also a community event. Every eight hours three games will be offered up for the community to vote on. Whichever receives the most votes gets a deep, public discount. Voting also entitles you to one free Snow Globe card with which can unlock rare items in Steam games such as Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2. Or you could simply horde your cards until you have enough to craft the Snow Globe 2013 badge. This won't help you in-game, but it's a nice reminder of how you spent this year's holiday season.
