Team Fortress 2 Updates, August 27th

Hiya peeps. Just a quick post to chat about the recent updates. Turns out there were two of them. Before we start, here are the actual update notes:

• Added a new promo item
• Client/server memory improvements
• Fixed ragdolls not applying the ice/gold effect for cosmetic items
• Fixed the Australium Scattergun material looking pixelated
• Fixed some issues with clipped text in the localized versions
• Fixed the difficulty of the current challenge not displaying correctly in the MvM scoreboard
• Snipers can no longer jump immediately after firing a scoped shot
• Updated the materials for The Dalokohs Bar
• Updated the equip_region for The Dashin’ Hashshashin
• Updated the Stout Shako to fix a lighting problem
• Updated the localization files
• Updated rd_asteroid
  • Added line of sight blocker to the front doors to prevent Snipers on battlements from shooting into the bases
  • Removed reduced spawn time bonus for players that die in the enemy base
  • Moved interior battlements health and ammo further into the base
• Updated pl_cactuscanyon
  • Stage 2
    • Removed from the sequence so stage 1 links to stage 3
  • Stage 3
    • Added rollback to cart while in the train collision zone
    • Cart is now unavailable to push for a short period at the start
    • Adjust spawn times during the final push-pull
    • Pushed spawn gates forward in the right-side exits of Blu spawn
    • Adjusted cover surrounding the middle exit of Red spawn

And a second update released a bit later.

Rolled back the previous changes to rd_asteroid

So, what about these? Most of it is your normal stuff, fixing random items, changing hats into miscs so traders can make more profit, map changes, whatever. But there’s some interesting stuff here. Very interesting. Or just weird.

Firstly, we’ve got the changes from rd_asteroid, which were completely reverted. Completely. I didn’t get a chance to see the changes made on the map before the second update came out, which is a shame, because a line of sight blocker sounded interesting. It was probably just a wall or something but never mind. The ammo and respawn changes sounded peculiar too, but again, I haven’t gotten around to seeing what exactly has happened.

Secondly, we’ve got the rather obscure change to Snipers. While not as dramatic as that Demoman nerf (and we don’t want to relive that, now, do we?). Snipers can no longer jump right after firing with their rifles. Basically, a Sniper has to wait until they’re fully unscoped before they can jump. I tested it out and it is noticeable, but I feel this is a temporary fix for something in the future. Or not. Either way, Snipers are going to be annoyed for a while.

Finally, we have the removal of the second part of pl_cactuscanyon. They just removed the entire second stage. Why? Who knows? The second stage was always considered to be the hardest and spammiest, so maybe Valve said “enough was enough” and got rid of it. Alternatively, they’re temporarily not using it because not enough people are getting past the second stage, so stage three has remained rather under-tested. Or maybe they’re taking away stage two so they can make bigger changes to it.

Either way, curious stuff. On top of the weird promo item (apparently for Rock, Paper Shotgun), strange times lay ahead.

As always.