patches posts

It seems that on release day for Red Faction Guerrilla, Valve has pulled a fast one on us. A Team Fortress 2 patch! It is by no means as large as the classic updates (of which the classless was the most recent) but it also does not skimp on adding and tweaking things to make your TF2 experience that much more rewarding.

Some of the new features include the ability for a Heavy with the Sandvich to drop it (which restores 50% health to someone who picks it up), the replacement of "no critical hits" on the Blutsauger with a constant health drain (-2 HP per second), and an increase of the medic's self regeneration ability from 1 HP per second to 3 HP per second. Perhaps the biggest and best change, though, is the expansion of the backpack, which can now hold a whopping 100 items! Check out the full list change after the jump.

With probably the shortest turnover time for any publicized update, the new classless update is out for all of you Team Fortress 2 lovers to enjoy. Along with the new King of the Hill gametype and new maps and hats of the previous update pages, the update contains a rework of Sawmill into a CTF map as well as a host of new additions and fixes. Still no item trade, we're sorry to say. Our personal favorite of the additions not yet covered here has to be this:

• Added a color blind option to add a Jarate icon above enemies who are busy accepting a terrifying existence where they have no dignity.

Full patch notes after the cut.

For those previously frustrated by the lack of communication regarding the new Team Fortress 2 update, look no further than the official blog. Taking to heart the complaints of frustrated players, Erik Johnson decided to explain just how the item system works, as well as include a bonus page showcasing the new head items that players can find and the community map included in the update. The most important part of this explanation to most, however, is this little quote, which echoes Robin Walker's statement that the system was initially broken:

When we were tuning this system we first looked at the average amount of time that players spend playing TF2 daily. From there, we set the goal of most players having around 20 items in their inventory after a couple of weeks of play. If you're someone who plays a lot of TF2, you're going to get items a lot faster than that. In the first few hours after the release yesterday, we had some issues that prevented the system from working properly, so that timeframe was not indicative of the system as it's designed.

In other words, simply play Team Fortress 2, and you'll get items! The more you play, the more items you will get. Hit the jump for new features planned in upcoming updates!

The new Team Fortress 2 Sniper vs. Spy update is out! Let the rejoicing begin! Except nobody seems to be rejoicing. In fact, less than a day into the update people are already becoming frustrated with the new patch and their inability to get the new items. Valve unveiled a new unlock system which randomly gives an unlockable item to players as they play, but people are not getting items reliably. No achievement farming required, but there's nothing you can do to impact when you get the items. The exact mechanics of this haven't been explained yet, but a post detailing the system on the Team Fortress 2 blog is being eagerly awaited.

According to Robin Walker in a post at Rock Paper Shotgun, the system is bugged, and along with the explanation of how it works, they are planning on fixing it so that the drop rates are more in tune with what they intended. In his own words:

"As in everything else we do, we want to iterate, so this is really the first step towards our desired implementation. We also think we have bugs in the system as well, since we're seeing some players not finding any items after a few hours of play, which is not at all how it's tuned. We want unlockable drops to be a pretty regular occurrence for players, with the cosmetic hats being the rare finds."

For those wanting to try out the new Sniper and Spy weapons, this is great news! We'll keep you updated on the status of the new update as well as how the new unlock system works.

Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

Sometimes, when developing a game, you come across a really good idea (or a lot of really good ideas) that you just can't incorporate into the game at release. Or maybe after release you find that your game is absolutely ridden with more bugs than a graveyard gone fallow. You have two options: Leave it alone, or bring your considerable developer muscles to bear against the problem. While each game should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the general consensus is that no matter your position as an indie or accomplished developer, you should take control of your project after release and guide it. After all, if all developers simply abandoned projects immediately after completion, we wouldn't have such great games as World of Warcraft or Team Fortress 2!

Big Iron had the opportunity to catch up with Funcom's Jorgen Tharaldsen (JT) at Dragon*Con, and was able to ask him some questions about what's in store for the hardware freaks as far as Age of Conan is concerned. Their willingness to speak frankly about what the player base has brought up as points of concern is great to see, and the fact that they're so up-front about what they're doing to address these items is laudable.

From their July Developer's Note (for those who haven't seen it):

Da, Comrade? Vat can we help you with? Oh, you haf your new orders? Glorious! Praise to Mother Russia in all her visdom! We heard you will be gettink new weapons to assist in your fight for one of the Amerikanski corporations. While we do not applaud you working for capitalist dogs, we do not question to visdom of the Motherland. So, in celebration of your new orders and weapons, we will give you this document. It details how to acquire your new armaments. Do not misuse it or distribute it to the enemies of Mother Russia, or we will be forced to inform the KGB of your treasonous actions! You may view parts one, two, three, and four of our guide as well.

Download Armageddon Empires v1.08b Patch [Windows] (5 Mb)
Download Armageddon Empires v1.08b Patch [Mac] (5 Mb)

Armageddon Empires v1.08b Patch Notes:

UI Improvement
Special bonus damage including the combined arms bonus is now displayed in the battle results dialogue box for ground to ground combat. Damage modifications for armor special abilities are also displayed.

Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where the Triage special ability was not being used efficiently by the AI's when deciding on army builds.

Fixed rare AI vs AI battle bug where one AI had not had its intel object updated to show the opposing AI as attacking him in the hex.

Fixed bug where Great Kabaagh would retaliate when any nuke exploded not just those target for him.

Fixed bug where Plague did not continue to spread between units and continue to weaken units once Plague Mother was terminated.

Fixed bug where espionage success could cause false indie resource collectors (which are really outposts) to be displayed.

Fixed bug where Attack card could use munition in Air to Air Challenge.

Fixed bug where munition card was not being cleared when choose next attack card for air to air intercept was occurring.

Fixed bug where Plague Mother could move her Plague Hut onto a independent minefield and take it over until she moved away.

Fixed bug where AI goal to try and capture out of supply hex could cause script error if army assigned to goal was destroyed.

Fixed bug where Tactical Genius special ability was not being applied for Retreat Challenges.

Fixed bug where presence of an enemy hero could cause the AI to reject a deployment hex for an outpost even though it could control the hex and hunt the hero.

Fixed bug where capturing an enemy hero in an enemy minefield caused an error because of a fault in the hex control algorithm.

Fixed bug where siege status might not be correctly determined if undetected enemy stealthed army was still present after another army exited hex.

Fixed bug where destruction of ground based SAM by HARM could cause crash if it was last card in Army.

Patch removes CD check from the original Halo: Combat Evolved for PC. Patches for the Halo Custom Edition and Dedicated Server are also available.

Download Halo v1.0.8.616 Patch (3 Mb)
Download Halo Dedicated Server v1.0.8.616 Patch (2 Mb)

Download Halo Custom Edition v1.0.8.616 Patch (3 Mb)
Download Halo Custom Edition Dedicated Server v1.0.8.616 Patch (2 Mb)

Team Fortress 2 is one of the most enduringly great multiplayer shooters of all time. This is in no small way a result of the many frequent updates the game receives to fix glitches, balance maps, and just in general make the game better. Another update has been released, and this one fixes a lot of problems. Some example of the things fixed are:

• Players can no longer fire through grates, walls, or other thin obstacles
• Players killing themselves now gives the kill credit to the last player that damaged them
• Kritzkrieg now works on servers with criticals turned off
• Backburner no longer gives a health bonus

This is only a small sample of the bountiful fixes and tweaks in the new update. To download the patch, simply log on to Steam. Full patch notes can be found at Steam's site.