Tribalwar

TF2 Pyro Update Includes Significant Class Changes; First Unlockable Weapon Unveiled

Submitted by: LouCypher @ 01:13 AM | Sunday, June 8, 2008 | (url: http://www.shackn...)

One of the new weapons, dubbed the Axtinguisher, does about half the damage as the standard axe but will guarantee a critical hit when striking enemies set ablaze by the Pyro's flamethrower.

And you thought it was bad when the medic achievements were introduced...

Steamworks Development Kit Available

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 11:37 PM | Saturday, May 3, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

Steamworks, the Steam-based tool that gives developers access to auto-updating, anti-cheat/hacking technologies, key authentication and management, social networking, and much more has been made accessible by all. Steamworks is offered free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it.

Deploy NoFix at waypoint.

Lower Prices on Valve Titles

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 11:36 PM | Saturday, May 3, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

Over at the Valve Steam Store, it would appear as though many titles, including Team Fortress 2, have new and lowered prices. If you've been waiting for the prices to drop, the time has come. The new prices include:

The Orange Box: $39.99
Half-Life 2: Episode Pack: $19.99
Half-Life 2: Episode 1: $9.99
Half-Life 2: Episode 2: $14.99
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch: $4.99
Team Fortress Classic: $4.99
Team Fortress 2: $19.99
Day of Defeat: $4.99
Deathmatch Classic: $4.99
Ricochet: $4.99

There are also two new packs you can purchase for additional savings as well. The Half-Life Complete Pack (from Half-Life to Episode 2) for $49.99 and the Counter-Strike Complete Pack (Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, and Counter-Strike: Source) for $29.99.

Valve feels the Wii love

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 11:40 PM | Saturday, May 3, 2008 | (url: http://www.comput...)

"We all play the Wii a lot and we think that the proper way for Valve to approach the Wii would be to make something cool designed specifically for it." he added, when quizzed on the possibility of Valve venturing away from its usual FPS scene.

How Valve is revitalising PC gaming

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 08:16 AM | Friday, March 28, 2008 | (url: http://www.comput...)

"We're talking about Valve becoming the platform holder and guardian of the PC as a gaming system over the next two years," says Stephen Gaffney, Business Development Manager of Splash Damage.

...

With 15 million customers, their digital delivery platform has already taken on a life of its own: through it you can buy all of Valve's releases and over 250 third-party games, while it also takes care of multiplayer matchmaking, voice chat, stats collection, anti-piracy measures and sales tracking.

Epic Comes to Steam

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 11:59 PM | Monday, March 17, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

Apart from the single games, you can also purchase the Unreal Deal Pack for $59.95 (granting you all Unreal titles). If you purchase any Epic titles before March 24, you'll also save an additional 10%. So why not check it out and see what the Unreal realm has to offer you.

The Deal Pack includes Unreal Tournament 3, which is sold separately for $49.95.

Valve to Split The Orange Box on April 9

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 10:17 AM | Thursday, March 6, 2008 | (url: http://www.shackn...)

The move is not one of desperation. While The Orange Box has done well on consoles, with well over a million copies sold between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, Valve's Doug Lombardi characterized the PC release as "significantly stronger," citing a two-digit percentage increase over the console editions.

New Team Fortress 2 Update Includes Tournament Mode

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 09:59 AM | Friday, February 29, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

Also,

General
# Added protection against voice command spamming. Dramatic reduction in teleporters needed

Left 4 Dead Announced For XBox 360

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 10:50 PM | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

The 360 version of L4D will allow for four-player coop and eight-player versus matches over XBox Live or System Link. Lombardi was asked whether or not the game would support split-screen multiplayer, but he replied that for now, although split-screen is an attractive prospect, he couldn't promise it.

Portal 2 Confirmed by Valve

Submitted by: KnightMare @ 11:32 PM | Thursday, February 21, 2008 | (url: http://www.shackn...)

Valve's acclaimed puzzle-action hybrid Portal will be given a sequel, according to the game's lead designer Kimberly Swift.

"Well, I believe Doug Lombardi who is our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2," said Swift in an interview with G4TV.

Lombardi had previously stated that more Portal was on the way, but Swift's comment is the first mention of a true sequel to be made thus far.

Major Source Engine and Team Fortress 2 updates

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 10:23 AM | Thursday, February 14, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

At 11:00am PST (2:00pm EST) today, all PC players of Team Fortress 2 can expect to get their hands on a very large update that delivers gameplay enhancements, graphics and networking optimizations, and perhaps most anticipated is the release of the "Badlands" map and tweaks to three of the existing maps as well.

Full list of changes after the jump, including Source engine optimizations for lighting and particle effects, lowering level load times.

Steam Reaches 15 Million Accounts+PVK II Beta 2.0 Released!

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 06:51 PM | Thursday, February 7, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

The popularity of Steam and Steam-based games can't be argued with more than fifteen million active accounts being used as well as a year-over-year sales growth of 158% through the holiday season.

BONUS: PVK II Beta 2.0 Released!

Valve's 10-year war to rule online gaming continues to march forward

Submitted by: OtakuMark @ 02:10 PM | Thursday, January 31, 2008 | (url: http://planethalf...)

Valve has announced Steamworks, a way for publishers and developers to benefit from the features available at the Steam platform, whether they have chosen to publish their games on Steam or not. Steamworks is not engine-specific, and will help save development time and eliminate technology licensing fees.

Some of the features include:
# Auto-updating
# Game stats collection and display
# Multiplayer Matchmaking
# Key-based authentication and anti-piracy protection
# Rapid and secure build distribution
# Testing & usability data collection

New Official Team Fortress 2 Maps Coming

Submitted by: Colosus @ 12:45 PM | Friday, December 14, 2007 | (url: http://ve3d.ign.c...)

We are currently working on new maps, and we are planning to release them as downloadable content for the 360. I don't know what the schedule will be for that - new maps will likely be released individually on the PC as they're ready, and then we'll offer them as a single pack on the 360. We're currently testing a new map that's extremely fun, and we can't wait for our customers to try it out.

Valve's Francke on Art Direction

Submitted by: Colosus @ 10:47 AM | Monday, December 10, 2007 | (url: http://www.gamasu...)

Valve's Francke: Game Art Direction In Its 'Infancy' on Gamasutra is a Q&A with the Team Fortress 2 art director, who expresses the opinion that art direction in games is not yet where it needs to be.