TF2 Newbs (Team Fortress 2) Blog

Click back to the previous post for more information on how to win hats, keys, and more in the month of June for playing TF2Newbs’ 2Fort servers! Also, TF2 patched last night. As always, here’s the short version:

• A “Demo Support” feature has been added to auto-record matches with increased replay options
• Fixed energy weapons not reloading when auto-reloading is turned ON
• Some hats updated
  • Co-Pilot is now all-class
  • Added styles for Fear Monger, Big Elfin Deal, Bootie Time, Patriot’s Pouches, Tough Stuff Muffs, and Toowoomba Tunic
• TF2Newbs: |N| Octo is resetting HLStats for all of our servers today for the contest

2Fort Contest thru the Month of June

Contest is now live! Play on any of Newbs’ 2Fort servers, and HLStats will turn on when at least four players are active. You can earn rewards for being the first to reach point total thresholds, winning weekly stats contests, or having played more Newbs’ 2Fort than anyone else! You can also earn rewards for jumping in to server-starting events on #04 “Haley’s Octo-land” every day when they’re announced.

The first set of weekly stats contests begins Monday, June 6th. Try to earn the most backstabs, or reflected rocket kills, or buildings destroyed, or whatever stats will be announced for that week, over all of our 2Fort servers! You can access these stats, as well as our forums and check our current server population, via the TF2Newbs’ main page by clicking on the “Stats” link.

NOTE: Servers #11 and #27 no longer exist, so they aren’t part of the contest. Servers #01, #04, #05, #09, #11, and #21 are the six 24/7 2Fort servers for TF2Newbs.

 

TF2 Patch, May 31, 2016: Patch 1

• Added a new Demo Support feature to auto-record matches
  • Can be configured via the Adv. Options menu
  • Automatically records .dem files of your matches (or can be set to Manual) and puts them into the specified folder
  • Logs killstreaks and bookmarks to a master _events.txt file in the same folder as the recordings so the events can be easily reviewed
  • Logs killstreaks and bookmarks for each specific .dem file to .json file that has the same name as the .dem file (see the ds_mark command below)
  • Supports the following console commands:
    • ds_record: manually start a recording
    • ds_stop: manually stop recording
    • ds_mark [comment]: bookmark the current demo tick count for future reference. The [comment] is an optional descriptor you may include.
    • ds_status: report the current recording status
• Security fixes (thanks to Diodine for these reports)
• Fixed an exploit related to the Heavy‘s gloves and blocking the payload cart
• Fixed energy weapons not reloading when using cl_autoreload
• Fixed the team-win dialog not being displayed for SourceTV clients
• Updated several hats to fix the Sniper not removing the hats while taunting
• Added UGC tournament medals for Highlander Seasons 17 and 18, 6v6 Seasons 19 and 20, and 4v4 Seasons 6 and 7
• Updated models/materials for The Dead Head, The Scoped Spartan, The Patriot’s Pouches, The Sub Zero Suit, Fear Monger, Co-Pilot, Tough Stuff Muffs, The Toowoomba Tunic, Weight Room Warmer, The Bootie Time, and The Big Elfin Deal
• Updated The Federal Casemaker to hide the Scout‘s headphones
• Updated the localization files

Undocumented changes

• Updated the Weight Room Warmer to be equippable by Scout and Demoman.
• Updated the Toowoomba Tunic to be equippable by the Demoman.
• Updated the Co-Pilot to be equippable by all classes.
• Added styles to the Fear Monger, Big Elfin Deal, Bootie Time, Patriot’s Pouches, Tough Stuff Muffs, and Toowoomba Tunic.
• Updated the equip_region for the Scoped Spartan.

Patch 2

• Fixed pink error textures appearing on heavy^(sic) fist weapons

[N] Obey

Been up all night getting duckies? Catch up with the Newbs News below!  As usual, the summary is at the top, and the full patch notes are at the bottom.

1. You can turn unwanted items in your Steam inventory into Gems, a currency used to bid for new games during Steam Auction periods.
   • You can recycle items into Gems. Gems are marketable in stacks of 1,000.
   • You can buy booster cardpacks with Gems.
   • You can bid for Steam games with Gems.
2. Server provider Packhead is no longer streaming 24/7 Christmas music through 12/25.
3. Participate in the monthly Server #15 Stats Contest and win keys!
4. Wanna sign up for some TF2 Newbs Secret Santa give-and-take?
5. Post-EotL TF2 Patches
   • Redesigned the Backpack Panel: Click on an item for a drop-down menu of actions to choose from.
   • Added the Cold Snap Coat to the EotL Community Crate #87.
   • Fixed Halloween footsteps being displayed for disguised Spies… heheheh.
   • Check the previous blogpost for info on the “End of the Line” Update!
6. [Added 12/15/14] TF2 Newbs’ Server Rules have been modified/clarified in regards to dodging autobalance.
   • TL;DR: Don’t dodge autobalance, as you can be banned for it, especially if your behavior causes the server to empty. Please refer to the specific text in the link above.

 

1. Steam Auctions: Turn Unwanted Items into New Games

Splash page here, scroll down for rules. Comic here.

This promotion focuses on three new features offered by Steam:

1. You can now “recycle” or turn unwanted Steam inventory items into Gems, a permanent Steam currency
2. The ability to purchase Steam card packs with Gems
3. The ability to bid for new Steam games with Gems on a rotation Auction schedule

“Recycle” Your Unwanted Steam Items

 

Here’s the deal: Most of us Steam gamers have inventories of items that we will never use: backgrounds, emoticons, cards,  etc.  Steam now lets you turn those into Gems, a currency that you use to spend on packs of cards of a Steam game of your choice, or to place bids in the Holiday Auction.  Simply click on an item, and scroll down to see how much the item is worth in Gems (just above the Steam Market’s lowest going-for price). With one click, you can turn it into Gems!

 

Gems exist in your Steam inventory as an item. Gems are tradable, but not marketable as-is. A “Sack of Gems”, in increments of 1,000, can be marketed! As of this post, they are selling for about US$0.66 to US$0.72 in Steam Wallet Funds.

Gift copies of games, in-game items, and coupons are not recyclable for gems. Cards are worth very few Gems (usually less than 30). The popularity of the game and/or the lowest Market Price of the item affects how many Gems the item returns when recycled, so rarer items are worth more Gems. For example, one medikit emoticon from TF2 recycles into 100 Gems.

If you intend to participate in a Steam Auction, you will want to have Gems in the tens of thousands. (If you are NOT going to participate in the Steam Auction, and want some more Steam Wallet Funds, I suggest that you sell all of the items you wish and quicksell the Gems while the demand is high.)  Gems are a permanent currency and will remain after the Holiday Auction promotion.

Buy Steam Card Booster Packs with Gems

Click on your Gems, or this link, to find the button to the screen where you buy Booster Packs. A Booster Pack has three random cards of the game’s set, and collecting them will increase your level badge for the game (which earns you more Steam Items which you may keep, recycle, or Market), as well as earn you EXP towards leveling up your Steam Profile. NOTE: You can only purchase one Booster Pack with Gems per game, per day.

Each Steam game that features Steam Trading Cards will now show its price, in Gems, to buy a Booster Pack. For example, the screenshot above shows TF2 Booster Packs can be bought for 667 Gems each.

This feature will remain permanent, even after the Steam Holiday Auction ends. Perhaps you can buy more things with Gems at a later date?

 

Bid on Steam Games in the Auction

First, go to the Auction and place a “maximum bid” of Gems on a game of your choice, which may or may not be higher than the current Highest Bid. Bids that you place remove that many Gems from your inventory. Then you wait.

The first copy of the game will sell to the Highest Bidder on December 15th at 7:45 AM PST. After that, one more copy of the game will sell to the newest Highest Bidder every 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, until 100 games are sold and the Auction ends on Thursday, December 18th at 10:00 AM PST. After that, all the remaining bids will be deleted and your Gems returned to your inventory.

Don’t forget that a Sack of 1,000 Gems market for roughly US$0.70 (as of this post), so I doubt that you would want to bid more than $20 worth of Gems (28,600 ish) for a $20 game.  It’s not a fundraising event, but you might score a new game that hopefully someone hasn’t bought you for Christmas already!

 

2. Packhead Still Christmasing It Up In Here

While you consider that unusual conjugation of the word “Christmas”, you can listen to over 300 modern and classic Christmas songs thanks to Packhead, who provides some of our servers.  Just click on the M3U button to choose a program to stream through your internet connection.

 

3. December Stats Content for Server #15!

Hey, there’s still plenty of December left to muscle in and take a title! The following five contests are taking place on this 24/7 Hightower server!

connect s15.tf2newbs.com

• Most Points (the player points earned as displayed in your HUD)
• Most Backstabs
• Time Played (because idling also helps keep servers full)
• Most Airblasts
• Most Kill Assists as a Medic

Click here to pull up a list of Server #15 stats, then choose the stat to pull up the list of who is winning.  The top performer of each stat will win a prize (limit one contest win per month).

 

4. Secret Santa Stuff

If you would like to participate in Secret Santa, click here to sign up!

 

5. Post-EotL TF2 Patches

New Cosmetic: the Cold Snap Coat

The Cold Snap Coat is a tradable, giftable, paintable, and craftable Soldier cosmetic that was added to the EotL Crate #87 on December 12th. Like all items from that crate, there is a chance of it having the Strange quality when uncrated. It is not yet available for purchase. Paint affects the brown jacket collar around the Soldier’s neck only.

Full Patch Notes: 12/12/14

• Added the Cold Snap Coat to the End of the Line Community Crate
• Fixed a client crash related to ragdolls
• Fixed a client crash related to the material system
• Fixed the backpack panel not highlighting the currently selected page number
• Fixed Halloween footstep spells being displayed for disguised Spies
• Fixed The Swagman’s Swatter not being held by the Sniper for lower LOD settings during the melee taunt
• Updated the materials for The Peacenik’s Ponytail and added a new style
• Updated The Li’l Dutchman to fix a jiggle bone issue
• Updated The Ghost of Spies Checked Past to fix a jiggle bone issue
• Updated Mann Co. Store prices for foreign currencies to current USD equivalents
• Updated the localization files

Full Patch Notes: 12/10/14

• Fixed a client crash related to the main menu
• Fixed the Engineer PDA being stored as the last weapon used
• Fixed the Objective leaderboard not updating for Objective ducks
• Updated the equip_region and bodygroup settings for some of the new cosmetic items^[1][2]

Undocumented Changes

• Updated the item type of a number of new cosmetic items ^[3]
• Made the Duck Journal nameable
• Updated BLU Hunter Heavy texture.

 

Full Patch Notes: 12/9/14

• Fixed a client crash related to the material system
• Fixed the Restore command not working properly in the backpack panel’s context menu
• Fixed a crash in the item import tool
• Fixed updating Duck Journal stats from ducks created on servers using sv_cheats
• Fixed the Taunt: Pool Party item to fix a problem with the pool not scaling smoothly
• Updated the materials for the Hunter Heavy and the North Polar Fleece

Notes missed from the previous update:

• End of the Line Key, Duck Journal, and Duck Token sales support the End of the Line team
• Redesigned the backpack panel
  • Clicking on an item creates a context menu that lists the valid actions for that item
  • The context menu replaces the buttons that were used for interacting with items

 

[N] Obey

HLX:Stats are back up again!  (NOTE: Will be updated over the next few days as things go.)

Here is what you need to know:

• Market-related bugs:
  • Some Specialized Killstreak Kits there were in the Market were removed from the Market; you will have to place them on the Market once more to sell them
  • Tradable Unusual Taunts can now be Marketed
• New convar that, if implemented, prevents Red/Blu players from joining Spectator if it would exceed a set Team Unbalance Limit
• Updated Cactus Canyon, mostly dealing with Stage 3.

Patch 1

• Fixed rockets colliding with other projectiles and getting stuck in the world
• Fixed a bug with the Soldier‘s Fresh Brewed Victory taunt and the Power Up Canteen
• Fixed the Demoman not being able to equip The Grandmaster
• Fixed a bug where Professional Killstreak items were being displayed as Specialized
• Market Listings for Specialized Killstreak kits for the following items have been removed and will need to be relisted
  • Stickybomb Launcher, Minigun, Direct Hit, Huntsman, Backburner, Back Scatter, Kritzkrieg, Ambassador, Frontier Justice
• Fixed character audio being cut short when characters clap during the Conga taunt
• Unusual taunts that are tradable can now be listed on the Steam Community Market
• The Classic can now accept Enemies Gibbed strange parts
• The Manmelter can now accept Allies Extinguished strange parts
• Added mp_spectators_restricted server convar
  • Prevents players on Red/Blue from joining team Spectator if it would exceed mp_teams_unbalance_limit
• Updated the HTML display in the MOTD to use shared Steam browser control
• Updated the materials for The Dalokohs Bar
• Updated the equip_region for the Soldier’s Stash, Exquisite Rack, The Pencil Pusher, and Antlers
• Updated the localization files
• Updated pl_cactuscanyon
  • Stage 1
    • Reworked the geometry of the back stairwell route leading to the final cap
  • Stage 3
    • New design of back yard underpass area
    • Added new building and route near the underpass
    • New geometry for Red battlements and spawn exit by the first cap
    • Added new exit from Red spawn leading to the raised middle rock outcrop by the barn
    • Reworked Red spawn exit by capture point 2
    • Removed rocks and added a new structure by the final cart push
    • Cart now takes longer to pass through the building at the end of^(sic)
    • Adjusted spawn times
    • Adjusted Health and ammo packs

Undocumented changes

• Updated the backpack image for the Dalokohs Bar.
• Updated the item type of the Soldier’s Stash, Pencil Pusher, and Antlers.

Patch 2

• Fixed Linux and Mac clients not being able to launch the game

 

[N] Obey

Hey Newbs!  This isn’t the “Lunar Patch” that’s in the works, but some new stuff is coming so that the big patch won’t be a tremendous download later on.  Here’s the most important parts of patch 1.2.4:

• Terraria is 75% off in Steam thru Sunday night ($2.49)!!
• A kind of Smart Cursor can be toggled on/off.
• There is now an Angler NPC… and fishing! The Angler gives you quests with progressively better rewards. The biome where you fish determines what you can catch–including lots of strange kinds of fish, and other items like crates.
  • It is apparently possible to get hardmode ore bars out of crates, even when the world is not in hardmode, albeit rarely.
• Shiverthorn is a new flower material that grows in snow and blooms in blizzard (rain).
• Trees in Snow Biome now drop Boreal Wood.  New furniture can be crafted from Boreal Wood.
• Over 20 new potions can be crafted, mostly from fishing rewards and related to shiverthorn.
• You can now ride/pick up minecarts, and lay minecart tracks.
• Some crossover content from the other Redigit game, “Pixel Piracy”, is available for crafting.
• Molotov Cocktails are craftable: Silk + Ale + Torch.
• Fixed a lot of bugs and exploits.

Full Patch Notes

Features and Mechanics:

• You can now get quests from the Angler NPC for cool rewards. Each time you complete a quest, the rewards progressively get better.
• You can now use critters as bait for fishing.
• You can now ride around in style on the new Minecart system.
• Beaches no longer feel so empty.
• Truffle Worms now spawn in hardmode Mushroom biomes. Be wary using this bait near the Ocean.
• You can now place weapons and tools on the craftable Weapon Rack. (Thank you Goryō for your suggestion!)
• Added Smart Cursor. This can be toggled using control and has an interface option. Smart Cursor makes digging, chopping, placing, and breaking much faster and easier.
• You can now craft stone letters and numbers with a Heavy Workbench.
• Lihzahrd Powercells drop more commonly from enemies in the temple.
• Rain is now red during a Blood Moon.
• Updated Gemspark tiles to make the inner border complete.
• You can now place coins to create Coin Piles. (Thanks Omnir!)
• Added several new underground cave wall graphics.
• Moss backgrounds have been updated with new textures.
• Replaced grass graphics for when they are surrounded.
• Grass is now killed when a player covers it in solid tiles.
• You can now find shark statues in worldgen , they spawn sharks when there’s enough space.
• It is now much more likely that you will spawn on a flat clean surface when creating a new world.
• Added some world gen cleanup to remove small segments of floating blocks.
• Worms now spawn when breaking rock and dirt piles.
• Grasshoppers can now be found when you cut grass.
• Rainbow Bricks and Brick Walls now go through the entire spectrum.
• Hives are now more common.
• The Abeemination no longer requires Obsidian, Crisp Honey, or a Demon Altar to be crafted.

Pixel Piracy Crossover Content:

• Falcon Blade.
• Pirate Minions.
• Placeable Sail “wall” sold by the Pirate NPC.
• Placeable Pixel Piracy painting.
• Ginger Beard vanity item.

Items:

• There are now 22 new potions you can craft from fishing and/or shiverthorn related materials.

• There are now 5 new mounts to help you traverse the terrain.
• There are several new pets including the Mini Minotaur (Thank you Tobuscus)
• You can now craft couches out of silk+material. (Thank you Eikester for the 20 you contributed)
• Dressers and Pianos have all been given custom graphics. (Thank you Eikester)
• You can now craft Grandfather Clocks out of more materials.
• Over 100 new furniture items have been added to complete old furniture types.
• Trees in the Ice Biome now drop Boreal Wood.
• You can now craft furniture out of Boreal Wood.
• Queen Bee,King Slime and Pirate Invasion now have larger loot tables.
• There are 6 new summoner weapons.
• There are now 2 new summoner armors.
• You can now craft Molotov Cocktails out of Silk+Ale+Torch.
• The underworld and Dungeons have more furniture from new world creation.
• You can now craft Gemspark Walls.
• You can now craft Tin Plating tiles and walls.
• You can now craft Confetti tiles and walls.
• You can now craft Midnight Confetti tiles and walls.
• You can now craft Waterfall tiles.
• You can now craft Lavafall tiles.
• Living Fire Blocks now drop from enemies in hardmode Hell.
• Updated Glass Wall item sprite.
• Added fireworks box (wirable and placable , you can also use it by right clicking)
• Added Firework Fountain.

New Music:

• Underground Crimson

Optimizations:

• Wiring system runs at least three times faster. Longer wire systems get larger gains.
• Improved multiplayer performance.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug where the last bucket of a stack wouldnt go into an available stack when used.
• Fixed bug where buckets don’t stack together by themselves when dropped in the world.
• Fixed bug where Gemspark Blocks wouldn’t merge well after being actuated.
• Fixed bug where “The jungle grows restless” message would appear before you have beat all 3 Mech Bosses.
• Improved readability of two of the guide’s tips as per complaints.
• Fixed bug where Truffles had a hole in his shop if you didn’t meet a requirement.
• Changed the Quick Heal to use the best fit healing item instead of the first.
• Fixed a bug where only one wire attached to a Lever would work when you flipped it.
• Fixed exploit where you could dupe pets with Bug Net in multiplayer.
• Fixed bug where spawn rates would increase underground when a moon event is happening.
• Fixed bug where Crimsand Blocks would attempt to enter ammo slots on pickup by themselves.
• Fixed bug where Flask of Gold would apply Ichor debuff on enemies rather than Midas debuff.
• Fixed the crash when a chest is placed above but not directly on a Boulder.
• Fixed bug where Mana Crystals wouldn’t immediately fill the new Mana Star they give when used.
• Fixed bug where Well Fed granted 10% magic damage and no ranged damage by mistake (was most likely a typo , magic damage 5% twice , 1 of them near the ranged crit boost).
• Rudolph no longer flies the moment he touches down if the jump button is held.
• Fixed a bug where Rudolph could sometimes regain the ability to double jump while flying.
• Dressers , Pianos and Tables no longer emit particles when struck – you’re not breaking them.
• Fixed a bug where Glass Walls were not drawing to the map properly.
• Fixed a bug where the background was showing through some Stone Slab parts.
• Fixed bugs with the sign / npc chat display again.
• Fixed bug where tile wands did not consume items if you had high tile placement speed.
• Fixed bug where breakable pots wouldn’t drop life and mana when you weren’t at your max if you had temporary increasers.
• Fixed bug where other player’s pets would disappear after a while (in multiplayer).
• Fixed a bug that could cause the Minimap to crash the game.
• Fireworks now show the wiring layout when selected.
• Fixed bug where watches show 2 ‘:’ marks when displaying time.
• Wooden fence types now properly let the sunlight through.
• Updated graphics for Chairs and Tall Torches to fix some issues.
• Fixed a bug where bad item stack sizes could cause the game to crash when saving.
• Fixed an alignment issue with Pearlwood Chandelier.
• Actuated tiles no longer remove the water over them on world load.
• Fixed bug where minions on multiplayer would disappear after a while.
• Fixed a bug where buff tooltips were staying visible on the map screen.
• Fixed the name for the Hoppin’ Jack NPC.
• Fixed issue where minions would not sync upon spawning them in multiplayer.
• Fixed grammar issues with magic quiver tooltips.
• Fixed issue where Death Sickle and Vampire Knives would not animate properly on other players in multiplayer.
• Fixed issue where Scorpions worked with King Statue and Travelling Merchant did not.
• Fixed the exploit where you could have infinite Hoverboard hovering time.
• Invasion summon items will no longer be consumed if no invasion would happen using it.
• Not destroying a Shadow Orb at all will no longer block Natural Pirate invasions.
• Painted walls show up properly on the map.
• Fixed issue where holding binoculars with mouse would still move your camera , making it annoying to move them to chests and the likes.
• Fixed bug where you couldn’t dye the Flying Carpet accessory.
• Fixed exploit where you could buy and sell stackable items for profit.
• Fixed bug where glass would not let sun through properly.
• Fixed bug where wings wouldn’t work after getting out of water with Merman accessories equipped.
• Fixed a bug where you would die on entering a world from fall damage.
• Fixed exploit where you could duplicate buckets on Mannequins.
• Purification Powder now says ‘cleanses the evil’ rather than ‘cleanses the corruption’ (to make it crimson compatible)
• Fixed bug where magic missiles, drills and dirt rods would not function properly in reverse gravity.
• Fixed bug where the player would float when standing between a downwards slope and a halftile.
• Fixed bug where close dropped wires wouldn’t merge with each other.

There is no set date for the Lunar Patch (probably patch 1.3), but there won’t be much warning when it launches. If I were to hazard a guess, I would think they plan to launch in July or August; the game receives heavier play when it is summer in the northern hemisphere. At $2.49 for a gift copy, you could gift a copy to a friend!

[N] Obey

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

 

We here at the Newbs blog are preparing for a new event that we’d like to share with everyone in the community. We’ve decided to call it “Meet the Admin”, where you will get a chance to ask (almost) anything and all questions of the admins of our servers.  Ever wondered what Crap’s favorite ice cream is?  Ever thought about what sports Octo likes to play?  Ever wonder how JiB learned those sweet dance moves?  This is your chance to find out those answers and more about the admins that help us run Newbs.

 

This Q&A will work much like a Reddit AMA, where we will be opening up a thread to all of you to ask any and all of your questions. You may have seen examples of this earlier on the forums but if you haven’t, it’ll go something like this: We will make a post on the forums, you guys will get a chance to post on the thread asking whatever question you like, then the person answering will quote your question with their answer, so be sure to keep an eye on the thread. Sounds simple? You bet! All you have to do is come up with a question you want answered and make sure to follow the thread and blog posts to see the results. The more questions we get, the more everyone can get to know the admins.

 

For the first Q&A, Octo will be answering your questions.

 

In the interest of time and making sure people aren’t locked into something forever, after the first question is asked we’ll be limiting this to a period of 2 weeks. After which, we’ll pick our favorite and most interesting questions, and post a more detailed interview here with a vote on who should be next. We’ll keep you updated on who is getting ready for which weeks, so keep checking out the blogs for news and updates.

 

The more communication the better I say and giving you guys and gals direct access doesn’t get much better than that.

 

See you on the forums!

http://www.tf2newbs.com/forum/index.php/topic,12128.new.html#new

 -Newbs Blog Team