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Yay a Team Fortress 2 Update – Oh no it broke a bunch of things :(

Posted on: February 17th, 2009 by octo dhd

Today there was a new TF2 Server update released -

  • Sticky bombs now get a reduced close range damage ramp up (like Rocket Launcher & Syringe Gun)
    • Ultimately reduces damage done by sticky bombs to enemies <512 units from the Demoman
  • Moved the unlockable system over to the new item backend:
    • Added a warning dialog to the loadout screen telling clients when the server they’re on could not get their loadout
  • Made “tf_damage_disablespread” a replicated convar, so clients can see the value of it on the server they’re connected to
  • Renamed “mp_stalemate_at_timelimit” to “mp_match_end_at_timelimit”, to better explain its function now that stalemate is optional
  • Fixed muzzle flashes & shell ejections still playing when viewmodels are hidden
  • Server tags can now be used to include or exclude servers from the list

    • All of these things are great, and I’m glad that Valve also fixed some other bugs/exploits (‘Protected several more commands from client exploitation’).  Unfortunately they also changed one other item which has a much broader impact than any of these other fixes.  The decided to update players STEAM_ID’s to be like the L4D Steam IDs.  I’m sure theres a great reason for this update (maybe its required for use with the new steam cloud stuff) but unfortunately they didn’t give any sort of warning that they were going to make this change.  On the surface it seems like a pretty innocent / simple change but the impact is far reaching.

    Lets use my steam_id as an example:

    Until today it was STEAM_0:1:5809658 after this update it was changed to STEAM_1:1:5809658 (notice the 0 changing to a 1).  This seems pretty insignificant until you realize that a lot of things that happen on a server are tied to this identifier, and until recently a lot of these were hardcoded for the STEAM_0:x:XXXXXXX format.   One of the major things that this disrupted were bans.  The ban list is just a text file with a list of steamid’s in it.  Now that the ids have changed (even a little) makes the old bans not match any longer – effectively unbanning everyone.  The solution to this of course is to update the list so it uses the newer notation, and to update other software like HLstatsX CE, Sourcebans, sourcemod (used for admins, reserve slots, etc) to newer versions which matches people based only on the x:XXXXXXX portion of their steamid. 

    So if you noticed the stats down for a little while earlier, or that there were some banned players on, or that your reserve slot not working, or your admin abilities suddenly disappeared this is why.  I have upgraded most everything, so heading forward there shouldn’t be any more problems.   =)

     

    . Octo

    This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 1:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    One Response to “Yay a Team Fortress 2 Update – Oh no it broke a bunch of things :(”

    1. LeeTagger Says:
      February 17th, 2009 at 7:13 am

      just when i start playing demoman for the lulz :( dam valve and there nerfin’ machines!

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