Team Fortress 2 Update Released

[tf2.com]

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:

• Fixed a server crash related to Flamethrower particles
• Fixed a client crash related to matchmaking parties
• Fixed a client crash related to the ConVar tf_flamethrower_boxsize
• Fixed a memory leak in the main menu
• Fixed some languages having missing characters in the ConTracker menu
• Fixed the voicemenu command being used to lag servers
• Fixed a rendering issue with Unusual effects for the Antarctic Eyewear
• Fixed some War Paint weapons not being valid trade-up items for the Civilian Stat Clock
• Fixed an animation bug related to the Thermal Thruster and changing class while holstering it
• Fixed matchmaking players being able to sit at the MOTD so they can't be kicked by players in the match. They will now show in the scoreboard on their assigned team and will be valid vote-kick targets by members of their team.
• Updated the Autobalance system to skip asking/waiting for volunteers. Instead, it will go straight to switching candidates to balance the teams.
• Updated model/materials for the Valhalla Helm to fix some clipping issues
• Updated the localization files
• Updated pl_enclosure_final
  • Fixed players being able to get stuck in closing dropdown door in stage 3
  • Fixed missing team filter for small resupply room in stage 3
  • Removed unnecessary env_wind entity messing with env_dustmote entities

Read on the TF2 Blog...

 

[G.bo]

Updated the Autobalance system to skip asking/waiting for volunteers. Instead, it will go straight to switching candidates to balance the teams.

*left brain*
I'm sorry, I thought we were past this, Valve.
We agreed the old method wasn't good.
The community trusted you, Valve.
Why are we back on this page.

*right brain*

EDIT: Naaah, but I'm not really that bothered by this change. I just find it funny we're back to what the community originally complained about.

 

[Muddy]

*left brain*
I'm sorry, I thought we were past this, Valve.
We agreed the old method wasn't good.
The community trusted you, Valve.
Why are we back on this page.

Honestly, the volunteer system was even worse imo. At least with autobalance, every game was guaranteed to have an equal (or mostly equal) number of players on each team. With volunteering, it was pretty rare for people to willingly join the team that was getting their bums kicked because there was such a team imbalance - and then, because the losing players were mad about the team imbalances, they'd leave the server, creating even more imbalances and in some cases completely emptying servers.

Autobalance is lame, but it's the lesser of two evils here.

Nice TMBG reference btw

 

[FloofCollie]

Yay, lagbots begone!
Also hopefully more balanced matches.

 

[EArkham]

Non-important side topic here, but I usually get these notifications via email before they're posted here or on the blog. I didn't get this one though... at all. Checked my spam and didn't see it.

Just wondering if anyone else got an email?

[Edit] Uh nevermind. Looks like someone else over on Facepunch also didn't get an email, and the HLDS page isn't loading, so they're probably having issues.

 

[Idolon]

Other issue with the volunteer system: If you're in a party and volunteer to switch, you get stuck on the opposite side of Friend Team and don't get put back when the round ends. If teams were shuffling around more consistently (say, a team scramble after every match), I think players would be more willing to switch teams.

(I seem to be in the minority as someone who often volunteers, so I may also be completely off-base.)

 

[FishyUberMuffin]

So now we have the old auto balence before meet your match. What next replace causal with quick play.

 

[Muddy]

So now we have the old auto balence before meet your match. What next replace causal with quick play.

Oh god yes. I completely support this. Quickplay was almost perfect.

 

[EArkham]

When they killed quickplay and ad hoc connections to Valve servers, it also killed my daily playtime habit. Went from a couple of hours a day to not even starting TF2 up since the last time I needed to make a map edit.

I doubt they're ever going to bring ad hoc back again, but maybe they'll bring quickplay back.

 

[AsG_Alligator]

Now we need time limit instead of 2-round win limit and auto-team-scramble back and it would be golden.

 

[Zed]

Quickplay fucking sucked. Ad-hoc was where it was at.

 

[Vel0city]

When they killed quickplay and ad hoc connections to Valve servers, it also killed my daily playtime habit. Went from a couple of hours a day to not even starting TF2 up since the last time I needed to make a map edit.

I doubt they're ever going to bring ad hoc back again, but maybe they'll bring quickplay back.

Seems like a waste of money of them to not have Valve servers in the server browser. No really. You que up this time around and watch how many servers are just empty sitting there not ever getting populated yet Valve's paying for them.

I used to ad-hoc Valve servers pretty much every time since they give me the vanilla experience for as long as I want. 45 minute Badwater lets goooooo. Now it just kicks you off after two rounds and it's bad. Has been bad since the change, remains bad to this day. Quickplay needed to go, yes. Ad-hoc connections, absolutely not. I pretty much only get to like one or two servers this time around. One's only populated for like 2.5 hours in the EU evening, the other one is a 24-7 insta-respawn no cart Hightower server. With Hoovies. Sometimes it's casual mode for me but it's always the same maps over and over and over again.

 

[EArkham]

I used to ad-hoc Valve servers pretty much every time since they give me the vanilla experience for as long as I want. 45 minute Badwater lets goooooo. Now it just kicks you off after two rounds and it's bad. Has been bad since the change, remains bad to this day. Quickplay needed to go, yes. Ad-hoc connections, absolutely not.

Oh, believe me, I could rant for hours about how awesome ad hoc was.

Like you said, you could stay on a server you liked for as long as you liked. Wanted to play rd_asteroid all night? Fuck yeah you could! (Can you even play on asteroid via casual?)

Map you don't like next in rotation? Bounce off and nearly instantly be on a map you did like. Map you did like ended? Bounce and find it on another server.

Cheater on the server? Immediately find another server. Teams unbalanced? Same.

Basically ad hoc was as mercurial as you wanted to be. It was glorious.

 

[Vel0city]

Oh, believe me, I could rant for hours about how awesome ad hoc was.

Like you said, you could stay on a server you liked for as long as you liked. Wanted to play rd_asteroid all night? Fuck yeah you could! (Can you even play on asteroid via casual?)

Map you don't like next in rotation? Bounce off and nearly instantly be on a map you did like. Map you did like ended? Bounce and find it on another server.

Cheater on the server? Immediately find another server. Teams unbalanced? Same.

Basically ad hoc was as mercurial as you wanted to be. It was glorious.

I remember Asteroid. And no, it's not in casual mode. But what was it, 4 years ago already that the now canned "Space Update" was teased with Asteroid going public beta?

Someone good from here, please finish that map. And Cactus Canyon.

 

[Muddy]

The TF Team should just delegate that to the community. Give us the original VMFs and whatever concept art they had for them. We'd get both maps done in a matter of weeks.

 

[MaccyF]

artpass 2.0

 

[Idolon]

I'd caution against another artpass contest. Valve's new update format (Jungle Inferno) is effectively a competition, in that you make maps for a theme and there's some guarantee that some maps get into the game. However, maps made for Jungle Inferno that weren't accepted didn't become effectively obsolete, and there were more winners overall. The original artpass competition was a lot more competitive, and it didn't do much good for the community.

In addition: Valve's level designers could easily be as precious with their maps as we can be with ours. If they don't want to give their map away to someone else to finish, then so be it.

Lastly: There's some speculation that the level designers behind Asteroid and CC have since left the company, making their future incredibly uncertain. If the rights for those maps belong to the designers instead of Valve, then continuing them would be legally tricky - and even if they do belong to Valve, I don't know if the TF team would be comfortable continuing/releasing a former colleague's work.

 

[Moonrat]

When they killed quickplay and ad hoc connections to Valve servers, it also killed my daily playtime habit. Went from a couple of hours a day to not even starting TF2 up since the last time I needed to make a map edit.

I doubt they're ever going to bring ad hoc back again, but maybe they'll bring quickplay back.

Oh man I agree so much with this. My playtime post MYM isn't even 10% of the time I put into the game before. I used to play just about daily, and now I ONLY play the game with friends, and even that's iffy.

It wouldn't be so bad if the community server option everyone goes on about was actually viable. You can't get a reasonable vanilla experience from community servers, I looked for months to find such a server. I don't even think there is one available, let alone populated.

 

[FloofCollie]

I definitely can't find any 24/7 badlands, no populated vanilla arena and Casual adds NOTHING of value to what Quickplay already offered besides making it harder to find a game you actually want to play. I liked the feeling of choosing what server to play on, jumping into a match that you could see was booming with people and hopping between them manually, but now it's done automatically and the one factor that it's supposed to sell based on - matchmaking - doesn't even work adequately. Every server is full of all types of players, just as they've always been. Personally, I WANT it to be that way - but since it is, it begs the question: what's even the point of Casual?

 

[theatreTECHIE]

Casual was made to appeal to newer players, who just want to click play and be put into a server rather than have to learn how to join a server. Also if you want to play in a community server, there is the teamwork.tf community quickplay option to find a server, as well as the usual server browser.

Personally I don't mind casual, and it's relatively easy to queue with your friends, and you can now queue for games that your friends are in, which is nice. It also means that no one has to be on a server that is virtually empty for an extended period of time, as (at least in my experience) the game often places you in a server that (once everyone has joined) is at least half full, and generally around the 18-24 players mark.