TF2 Newbs (Team Fortress 2) Blog

Hey, new stuff!

1. Halloween/Full Moon is in effect for the next seven calendar days.
2. “Limited” is now an item quality, to stand for items that were once craftable or purchasable and no longer can be.
3. There are five promotional Halloween/Full Moon restricted items that can be earned if you purchase the game Alien: Isolation from the Steam Store before October 7th, 2014. This one-player survival horror game is $49.99, with a $17.99 upgrade to Season Pass.
4. The following new items and changes to the item drop list are thus:
   • Two new crates, the Director’s Cut Reel and the Limited Late Summer Crate (#86) are added to the drop list.
     • The Limited Late Summer Crate cannot yet be opened, required a yet-unreleased special key.
     • The Director’s Cut Reel is like a combination of the Strongbox and the Audition Reel: It will drop one of four taunts when opened with a standard key, but you can input words to use to “roll” for different items. It drops from the same drop list of taunts as the Audition Reel.
   • The Audition Reel is removed from the drop list.
   • Items from the all-cosmetic Strongbox Pack, released back in February, are now craftable and buyable from the Mann Co. Store.
5. The rest of the patch notes.
   • The taunt for the Scorch Shot now shoots a projectile.  Apparently that was a bug!
   • New sounds for the Boston Basher.

1. Halloween Mode On for the Next Week

Why? Probably has something to do with the Alien-themed promotional items (see 3.).

2. “Limited” Item Quality

Items that cannot be crafted or bought in the Mann Co. Store (but had once been craftable or purchasable) are now given a new item quality prefix of “Limited” Quantity. This item quality doesn’t change the color of the item text, but the prefix is assumably added to all items to let people know that Valve seem to be making two promises: 1) More copies of a discontinued item will not be available, thus preserving the rarity (and thus the market value) of those items; and 2) Valve are helping the fanbase to easily identify items that are rare, or at least, cannot simply be bought or earned again.  Hopefully Valve remembers to tag all applicable items with the prefix!

3. Alien: Isolation Promo Items for TF2!

Now you can be Amanda Ripley, looking for your mama and trying not to become alien food and/or wear new Alien-themed hats in Team Fortress 2!   There are five items; three for the Scout, and two for the Pyro.  The Scout items dress him up in an Alien costume:

Scout cosmetic

Scout cosmetic

Scout cosmetic

Pyro cosmetic

Pyro cosmetic

Here’s the nifty part: one of the Pyro’s two items is a reskinned flamethrower! And a Pyro wearing both of his promo items will do more damage to Scouts that are wearing a set of three-Alien-promo items! But I don’t think that the three Scout items count as a set (like the Pyro’s), nor do they have any special effect.  All five items are Halloween/Full Moon restricted.

4. New Crates!

Yay!  But they can’t be opened yet.  Boo!

I’ll post an item list here when we can open them….

5. Full Patch Notes

• Added Alien: Isolation promo items^[1] and enabled Full Moon holiday for one week
• Added Limited Quantity Item attribute on items that can no longer be crafted or purchased through the Mann Co. Store
  • Limited Quantity Items can be placed on the Steam Community Market
• Removed Audition Reel from crate drop list
• Added Director’s Cut Reel to crate drop list
• Added Limited Late Summer Crate to crate drop list
• Fixed the Festive Bat using the lowest LOD for the first person view
• Fixed the Scorch Shot taunt attack not firing a projectile
• Fixed incorrect bumpmap setting for the Frenchman’s Beret
• Updated the equip_region for the Mustachioed Mann
• Updated sounds for the Boston Basher

Undocumented changes

• Changed the cosmetic items from the Strongbox Pack to be craftable, and added them to the Mann Co. Store.
• Fixed the incorrect description on Horace.
• Corrected the name of Community items on the web.

[N] Obey

EDIT 2/8/2014:

1. Added the secondary fix patch
2. Added very minor patches since January 7, 2014 (bottom of post).
3. Added a list of the 43 items in the #81 Strongbox.
   
4. Updated my “TF2Newbs Guide to MvM Item Hunting” post
5. There are now 3 promotional TF2 cosmetic items available for players who purchase the BioShock Infinite Season Pass on Steam before March 24, 2014, currently $19.99. (March 23, 2013 is the date the Season Pass originally launched.) Here are the 3 cosmetic items, awarded in Genuine quality for those who purchase the Pass:
   1. “First American” headslot item for the Soldier, with the likeness of Benjamin Franklin
   2. “Mister Bubbles” accessory (pocket region) for the Engineer
   3. “Big Daddy” headslot item for the Soldier, with the likeness of George Washington

Undocumented changes (from patch 2/7/2014)

• Added new promo items.
  • First American, Mister Bubbles, Big Daddy (see above)
• Soda Popper
  • Removed no random critical hits as a negative attribute.
• The #81 Strongbox will become a rare drop after February 24, 2014.
• #81 Strongbox drop list (43 items in all):
  • Scout items: Ticket Boy  (yep, only one!)
  • Soldier items: Ground Control, Killer’s Kit,
  • Pyro items: Cute Suit, Sole Mate
  • Demoman items: Bushi-Dou, Dark Falkirk Helm, Juggernaut Jacket, Sangu Sleeves, Sole Saviors, Stylish DeGroot
  • Heavy items: Bullet Buzz, Combat Slacks, Eliminators Safeguard, Gone Commando, Heavy Lifter, Leftover Trap, Rat Stompers, Sammy Cap, Trash Man, War Goggles, Warmth Preserver
  • Engineer items: Antarctic Researcher, Ein, Scotch Saver, Trencher’s Topper, Trencher’s Tunic
  • Medic items: Colonel’s Coat, Dough Puncher, Fashionable Megalomaniac,  Gaiter Guards, Heat of Winter, Heer’s Helmet, Mustachioed Mann, Smock Surgeon, Teutonic Toque
  • Sniper items: Archers Groundings, Deep Cover Operator, Huntsman’s Essentials, Toowoomba Tunic
  • Spy items: Backstabber’s Boomslang, Deep Cover Operator, Napolean Complex
  • All-class items: Law

My favorites:

Eliminators Safeguard                               Dough Puncher

Law (all-class)                                             Bullet Buzz

Patch 2

• Fixed a client crash related to the Quickplay menu
• Fixed the Crafting menu not showing the inputs/outputs correctly
• Fixed the Backpack not drawing paint splotches for items that have been painted
• Fixed the Engineer’s belt and pocket equip_regions conflicting for some items
• Reverted the changes to The Half-Zatoichi until the effects on the Soldier can be investigated

Note missed from the previous update:

• Fixed the MvM upgrade menu closing when a Strange item has its counter increment

Original post:

I warned you all that a new patch was coming!  Anyway, here’s the news:

1. TF2 patch notes (see below)
2. The TF2 Strongbox (crate #81) is now unlockable with Strongbox Keys.
   • Like many of the other recent variant crates, its drop list includes a possible 43 community-created Gold Star items
3. Some weapons that did not have available Killstreak Kits (the AWPer Hand, Lugermorph, Big Kill, etc.) now do. So this may create a run on the demand of these items.
4. Borderlands 2 is free-to-play from now through Sunday night
   • Its many incarnations, including the Season Pass, are 50% off until Monday morning

Weapon Updates

Most of the weapon updates of late have focused on rarely-played and unpopular weapons, tweaking them so that they become relevant to the TF2 game once more. Expect to see way more Natascha heavies and Degreaser/Reserve Shooter pyros in the near future.

• The Shortstop
  • Reduced extra knockback penalty from 80% to 40%
• The Short Circuit
  • Added Penalty – No longer gain metal from dispensers when active
• The Cleaner’s Carbine
  • Changed OnKill effect from gain crits for 3 seconds to gain mini-crits for 8 seconds
• Natascha
  • Added +50% extra ammo
  • This makes the weapon more viable in MvM also!
• The Reserve Shooter
  • Increased clip size from 3 to 4
  • Time to mini-crit airborne targets changed from 3 to 5
• The Beggar’s Bazooka
  • Changed penalty No primary ammo from dispensers to no primary ammo from dispensers when active
• The Quick Fix
  • Fixed the Medic not gaining the proper speed boost when a Demoman uses the Chargin’ Targe or Splendid Screen
  • Read: “Medics can now run like hell” and “Brace yourself for more Medic-Demoknight pairings”

Weapon Fixes

• Fixed deflected projectiles not affecting Strange and Killstreak counts
• Fixed the Mini-Sentry range-sphere not accurately displaying the range for the sentry when it is being placed
• Fixed the Spy’s revolver using the incorrect reload sound
• Fixed third-person Medi Gun beams appearing jittery
• Fixed the Heavy not playing his response rules lines after eating a Sandvich, Buffalo Steak Sandvich, etc.
• Fixed The Half-Zatoichi using the wrong animations for the Loadout screen and the HUD 3D Character

Community Updates

• Added the Strongbox Key to the Mann Co. Store
• Added 43 community-contributed items to the Strongbox Crate
• Added the Tumblr Vs Reddit Participation Medal

Mann vs. Machine

• Added Killstreak Fabricators for the following weapons to the Two Cities Tour reward list:
  • The Lugermorph, The Big Kill, The Iron Curtain, The Frying Pan, The Black Rose, The AWPer Hand, Chargin’ Targe, Splendid Screen, and The Mantreads
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to purchase/sell the Canteen Specialist upgrade to get more money than they originally spent
• Fixed an exploit where players could stand on a robot’s head to block their movement for an easy kill
• Fixed players not being able to earn the Frags to Riches achievement if there is money in the world when the mission is completed
• Fixed a bug that caused players to not receive an Upgrade Refund Credit when they should have
• Fixed the UI not updating properly if an Upgrade Refund Credit is earned after the wave has ended

Quickplay

• Added advanced options page, which allows you to search for a few commonly-requested non-vanilla options: 32-player servers, nocrits, and instant/modified respawn times
• Added “Show Servers” button to quickplay. This will run the normal quickplay search, but instead of joining the “best” server, it will present a list of about 20 servers and let you pick.

Other Changes

• Improved loading of item information panels to prevent hitches when cycling through backpack pages
  • Use the convar tf_time_loading_item_panels to control how much time is spent per frame loading item panel data.
• Fixed Australium items not using the correct images in the Steam Community Market
• Added missing payload audio for the Medic, Soldier, Demoman, and Spy
• Added the server command “sv_setsteamaccount” for logging in with a persistent game server account using a login token. Login tokens may be acquired via the IGameServersService/CreateAccount web API. Using a login token is not required to run a game server, but allows Steam users to continue to access your game server from their favorites list if your game server changes IP in the future.
• Added the game server’s SteamID to the output of the status command
• Fixed the Killstreak counts not being accurately portrayed in the scoreboard
• Fixed seeing the incorrect LOD settings for models when they are being previewed during submission to the Steam Workshop
• Fixed a UV/skinning problem on the level 1 sentry
• Fixed a problem where “activate virtual reality” doesn’t work if you have 2 monitors + headset
• Fixed a client crash caused by trying to load an invalid URL
• Fixed achievements getting stuck in a completed state and not being awarded to the player
• Fixed not hearing hit sounds after a level change when using tf_dingalingaling_repeat_delay
• Fixed the “equipped” label being displayed on incorrect backpack panels when equipping items
• Fixed the upper-left backpack panel always being highlighted when equipping items
• Fixed player names being clipped by item images in the Freeze Cam and Inspect panels
• Updated the equip_region for The Extra Layer
• Updated the Blue team material for the Ambassador to be less red
• Updated ctf_2fort
  • Fixed a rendering bug on a silo prop in the skybox area for the Blue base

1/10/2014 Patch: Undocumented changes

• Added Mann Co. Strongbox Series #81 to the drop list.
• Fixed crashing problems on Upward and Watchtower, as well as some custom maps.
• Strange Wranglers now track wrangled kills properly.

1/9/2014 Patch:

• Added the ability to change an item’s style in the class loadout menu
• Fixed not being able to apply Killstreak Kits to the Sleeping Dogs promo items
• Fixed Killstreak sheens for the Gunslinger and the Heavy‘s Fists
• Fixed Killstreak counts being limited to 128 kills
• Fixed projectiles not drawing correctly in old .dem files
• Fixed not being able to gift wrap the Festive Sapper
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine scoreboard not always displaying values correctly
• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine related to purchasing upgrades
• Fixed not being able to use the Festive Crusader’s Crossbow in Medieval mode
• Fixed Medics seeing the incorrect string when trying to heal a target with the Escape Plan equipped
• Fixed Medigun healing beams staying on when the Medic dies while healing someone
• Fixed a problem that caused the Steam Holiday Sale 2013 promo items to be untradable for some accounts
• Updated Strange Wranglers to track wrangled sentry kills^[1]
• Updated the Heart of Gold so name tags and description tags can be applied to it
• Updated the localization files
• Updated the Short Circuit
  • Damage lowered
  • Consumes 15 metal per projectile destroyed
  • Can no longer fire underwater
  • Fixed a bug with orphaned particles

Undocumented changes

• Fixed Killstreak sheens for the Bat Outta Hell
• Removed Heraldic Targe from tf_english.txt

[N] Obey