For general feedback about the game.
Steam SupportVisit the support site for any issues you may be having with the game or Steam.
Since our recent TF2maps.net Art Pass Contest, our level designers have gone back to their default state at the TF2 offices, which is to say, doing nothing, taking naps, eating lunch, and complaining. This has become a bit of a poison pill for the rest of the TF2 team, all of whom possess strong opinions about working (against it), naps (pro), lunches (very pro) and complaining (big fans).
As part of the fallout, this morning the writing team refused to do their work for the month, which was to write today's blog post and name some hats. At first we weren't terribly concerned—partly because most of the team wasn't even aware the game had writing in it, but mostly because everybody here, unlike the writers, knows how to perform a skill AND write words. (Here's a pro-tip for you youngsters: Build your career on a skill that isn't something five-year-olds can do.)
But then someone pointed out that, even though writing's incredibly easy work, it's still technically work. So we reached into our comprehensive bag of solutions, and pulled out our well-worn one-trick pony: Community Contest Time!
Fans have been mailing us for some time now, asking for a contest that didn't involve modeling or level design. So now they get their wish. That's right: you'll be competing over who can describe hats the best. Introducing the first ever
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You probably thought we were done for the day too, but we've barely started this blog post. The fine folks over at Team 17 are about to release Worms Reloaded this week. Being massive fans of their work, all the way back to the original Alien Breed, we thought it'd be fun to do something with them. So, we approached them and politely asked if we could include an iconic element of their game in TF2. The conversation was going swimmingly until they said that the best item to use would be the Holy Hand Grenade. We shuffled our feet and nervously explained that some soon-to-be-fired idiot had removed all of TF2's grenades.
But luckily, we were saved by our own shoddy workmanship. While we removed grenades from the game during early development, we left two of them dangling on the front of the Soldier as a teasing reminder of what once was. So, to celebrate the release, we're going to give a nifty Soldier visual update to anyone who buys Worms Reloaded before Thursday, September 2nd, allowing him to sport two Holy Hand Grenades and a new Soldier helmet. Here's what it looks like in-game:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, a couple of quick competitive notes:
The fine folks over at ETF2L have launched their Highlander Community Challenge, and we're excited to be a part of it. We'll be giving out in-game medals to everyone who participates, so if you've got some friends who should stop wasting their gaming time and get to the work earning virtual goods (for you), now's the time.
Ubercharged.net has put up their most recent Interview with a Community Item Creator, Larolaro. We love reading these, because it's often the case that we get the best feedback when the community talks to itself, instead of when it's talking to us.We ask for feedback on our tools all the time, and everyone's much too nice to tell us directly that they're like a "beautiful ornate chair with a spike carved into the seat". Also, Hackett mentioned to us that he's trying to get in contact with other Community Item creators, so if you've made something that we've shipped, and want to create more colorful analogies for describing our toolset, then contact him on the UC forums.
This afternoon Corey Peters suddenly yelped and jumped out of his chair claiming that a Creeper had gotten into the new training map he was working on and that it was blocking his ability to get any work done. This was followed a few minutes later by Jon Lippincott claiming he couldn't finish up his code because he had run out of Iron Ore. Even as I write this I can hear Dave Riller telling a story about how he beat a sheep to death with his bare hands to make a new set of pants and a woolly hat.
It seems, dear friends, that our development team has succumbed to Minecraft addiction.
Minecraft is an amazing little (read: freaking huge) world building sandbox game by Markus Persson, aka Notch...the very same Notch that developed Left4kDead a couple years ago. In Minecraft you carve out your own little empire in the wild, building just about whatever you want while the natural world tries to slaughter you every nightfall. The game's box-like representation of reality is cute and definitely charming...until a horde of cute box-like skeletons rip your cute little box-like arms from your cute little box-like body in a spray of cute little box-like blood and gore.
Yes, you should play this game.
Apparently we aren't the only ones to fall prey to the lures of Minecraft. A number of you in The Community have also discovered the game and, as we have come to expect, you immediately went out and imported it into our game, Team Fortress 2.
Check out this Payload Race map developed by some Minecraft fans:
I have a feeling we'll be "playtesting" this map once it's available.
You can check out the latest updates for Minecraft by reading Notch's Blog.
Just a quick, but excited note: TF2maps.net has opened their doors on their new Art Pass Contest.
It's a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved: you get a chance to show us how much better at detailing maps than we are, and our (ex) art team gets a chance to find new jobs at companies that still need their kind!
After our usual delay, we're proud to announce we've finished the utterly impossible task of selecting the winners of the Polycount Contest. These five lucky individuals will soon receive the unbridled adoration of the TF2 community when we release their packs in an update. Unluckily for them, we're also going to attach gameplay attributes (probably of a game destroying nature) to these items, sullying their perfect work with our clumsy attempts at game design. Anyway, enough mucking about, head over and see who won!
Winners:
The Gasman (pyro)
Tank Buster (Soldier)
Special Delivery (Scout)
Croc-o-style (Sniper)
Saharan Spy (Spy)
In other good news, the chaps over at CEVO dropped us a line to say that registration for the CEVO TF2 Season 6 tournament has just opened up. With three skill divisions, it's a great place to play some competitive TF2 matches, even for relative beginners. They're trying to convince those of us in the Valve TF2 team to play in the Amateur division as well, which would be possible if we ever figured out how to curb our usual desire to cheat spectacularly.
Note: The current top 4 TF2 teams in North America (Complexity, Blight-fanom, eMazing Gaming, Nexus) will be battling it out this weekend at the ESEA season 6 LAN in Texas. The top CS:S and CS 1.6 teams will also be there. http://www.Pwnage.tv will be covering all 3 games.
Since our announcement of Team Fortress 2 on the Mac, we've received literally thousands of emails from over seven people, curious as to how the Apple comic shown in the update fits into the ongoing TF saga. Did Saxton Hale really buy the Apple company? Can Heavy's gun actually shoot email bullets now? Who was that mysterious figure? And why were Valve's lawyers so insistent that he remain mysterious?
Some good questions. Good enough, anyway, that when we angrily confronted our writers with them, they got that look animals get when they're walking across a road in the middle of the night, headlights appear, and they realize they're about to lose their jobs. Following a frantic search through the internet for fancy excuse words, they came up with an answer.
Apparently the Apple comic was non-canon. Think of it like a "commercial". Then imagine yourself removing the quote marks around "commercial", because it was a commercial. "Ah, now I get it," you're saying. Just in case you're lying, here's another example: Say Team Fortress was Hercules. Our class updates would be all of those times that Hercules fought gorgons or suplexed an evil king into a mountain. The Apple update would be like the time Hercules enjoyed a jalapeño popper platter at Applebees.
Since this announcement creates a canon-shaped void in the lives of TF2's biggest story fans—our writers—we let them "imagineer" (their words) an epic Engineer story spanning three generations.
The item system in Team Fortress 2 generates a ton of data. Up to this point we've provided access to this data through some hacked-together scripts that, frankly, were old and creaky before they went live. Ah, but now...
Pow! Shiny new web APIs that are officially supported. (Find out how to use them here.) This new system comes with a few new features:
Team Fortress 2 (TF2), the game PC Gamer magazine's editors have called the most fun game ever made, is now available for the Mac via Steam, a leading online platform for games with over 25 million accounts worldwide.
Like all the titles Valve has brought to the Mac platform, TF2 features Steam Play allowing gamers to make one purchase to play the game on both the PC and Mac. In addition, TF2 supports cross platform play -- so Mac gamers can play against/with PC gamers.
Those who purchase TF2 for the Mac will receive a free set of "earbuds" for their favorite player character. Purchase the game this weekend can save 50% off the regular. Or, try the game now via the Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend happening now on Steam.
In addition to all the TF2-Mac goodness, a new single player training mode has been rolled out for both PC and Mac.
Don't have Steam? Get it here.
WAR! is over and the update for Team Fortress 2 is now live on Steam. In true tradition of class updates the Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend is now under way! The Free Weekend is open to all players around the world; all that is needed is a Steam account to join so play now! Don't have Team Fortress 2? Buy it for 50% off until Monday! The Free Weekend ends Sunday December 20th at 1 PM PST.
To celebrate the upcoming WAR! Update, Team Fortress 2 will be hosting a Free Weekend for players that don't already own the game. The event starts this Thursday night as soon as the update goes live. Play the full game for free including brand new maps, new special items and more! Start pre-loading now and be ready to play as soon as the Free Weekend starts. Requires that you have Steam installed.
Team Fortress 2 is available for only $2.49/£2.49/2,49€ for the next two hours. Offer ends exactly at 1:00pm Pacific Time. Join in on the fun with in the The Terrifying Team Fortress 2 Haunted Halloween Special Update from October 29th thru November 2nd! Read the official TF2 Blog Post that explains the madness.
Team Fortress 2 is available for only $2.50/£2.50/2,50€ for the next two hours. Offer ends exactly at 7:00pm Pacific Time. Join in on the fun with in the The Terrifying Team Fortress 2 Haunted Halloween Special Update from October 29th thru November 2nd!
Team Fortress 2 is available for only $2.49/£2.49/2,49€ for the next two hours. Offer ends exactly at 2:00pm Pacific Time. Join in on the fun with in the The Terrifying Team Fortress 2 Haunted Halloween Special Update from October 29th thru November 2nd!
Scout Site Unveiling Release Details February 17, 2008 — Valve, creators of award-winning games and leading technologies, today announced a set of new releases for Team Fortress 2, the title named Editor's Favorite Game of All Time by PC Gamer (UK). The releases are headline by the Scout Update and will be made available Tuesday, February 24. Between now and then, folks can learn more about what's coming by checking www.tf2.com/scoutupdate each day.
