Gamers in Germany will get a free taste of Team Fortress 2 this weekend. Valve has announced that German Steam users will be able to play Team Fortress 2 all weekend without having to purchase the game. For more information on the offer, head on over to Steam Games.

The devs over at Valve have released a new Team Fortress 2 Update. The update makes several key fixes including better map cycle management and preventing people from exploiting a respawn bug. You can check out the full list of changes/updates below and as always restart your Steam Client for the changes to take effect.

CVG has released a new Team Fortress 2 guide, properly titled "How To PWN At Team Fortress 2". They list 12 key tips and tricks that will hopefully help your game. The list includes tips such as how binding will make you more efficient and how to properly manage your server. To check out the full guide head on over to the CVG Website.

Updates for the Source Engine, Team Fortress 2, and the Steam client have been released. The updates are as follows:

Team Fortress 2
- Sudden Death mode is now a server option (a convar) and defaults to OFF
- Sapped buildings now take slightly less damage from the Spy who sapped them
- The Medic's Medigun now charges at an increased rate during Setup time, to remove the need for self-damage grinding
- Fixed an rcon/console command that could cause server crashes
- Prevented players from playing the "civilian" class
- Prevented players from hiding their name in the scoreboard
- Fixed exploit where the Medigun UberCharge wouldn't drain if you switched weapons
- Fixed decals not being correctly applied to the world in some cases
- Fixed critical bullet tracers not being visible to players other than the firer
- Fixed first person spectator view of the Spy watch not showing the correct cloak value
- Fixed the teleporter's player shaped particles not drawing
- Fixed the flamethrower stuttering when firing directly into a building
- Fixed a rare crash that can happen when a player being healed leaves the server suddenly
- Fixed rocket trail effects sometimes existing permanently in world
- Added effects to players when they earn an achievement, visible to other players nearby
- Tweaked achievement HUD fonts and color palette for more readability
- Improved stat gathering for map play times to increase accuracy
- Improved stat gathering around draws to better understand why they're occurring
- Fixed occasional misreporting of syringe gun & fireaxe damage distances to the stats system
- Fixed an occasional crash caused by an achievement not being found during a game announcement

Dustbowl
- Now waits until either team wins fully before changing to another map on server timelimit expiring
- Teams now score a point per captured control point, rather than per sub round
- Prevented Demomen being able to launch grenades into the stage three alleys while standing at the final cap point
- Fixed gaps in stage gates that allowed snipers to kill defenders during setup
- Fixed several model and brush perch exploits in stage three
- Added stair access to the upper area in stage three after the first cap
- Limited line-of-sight at the first control point in stage 3 to remove a griefable sniper spot

SourceTV
- Fixed some audio buffer support issues with Vista
- WorldVertexTransition under dxlevel 80 + 81 now correctly uses vertex alpha to blend the two textures
- Improved the console in the graphical UI version of the dedicated server

Source Engine
- Fixed some audio buffer support issues with Vista
- WorldVertexTransition under dxlevel 80 + 81 now correctly uses vertex alpha to blend the two textures
- Improved the console in the graphical UI version of the dedicated server

Steam Client
- Improved in-game overlay compatibility with FRAPS and ATI Tray Tools
- Fixed the in-game overlay not showing up in Civilization IV
- Fixed changing resolutions when the in-game overlay is enabled

Restart your steam client for the updates to take effect.

The Steam Team has released another small update for Team Fortress 2, fresh off the heels of last weeks major update. The update fixes several key problems including restricting sound engine to a max of 100fps and adding the ability for servers to have map specific configuration files. The complete changes/fixes list is below, and as always, simply restart your Steam Client and the update will take effect.

Team Fortress 2 has been updated today. Restart your Steam client to get the update! Release notes follow:

In the most recent Steam News update, the team announced that the Team Fortress 2 stats have officially gone live. The stats include information on everything from which class is most played to the places on maps where players are killed the most. Either way, its pretty interesting to see how every aspect of the game are tracked. To check out the stats for yourself, head on over to the Steam Website.

Be the first to join!

MPN has just added a free new feature. You are now able to join a x-fire group and be able to talk to admins almost instantly with any questions you may have. You are also able to talk to people within the group, which are other CGN members from all over that have joined the group. This is a great way to help build our gaming community and to make friends at the same time. You can find more information at the x-fire group home.

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Thanks, Taylor.

The Valve team has released their weekly Steam News Update including details on the new achievement packs for Team Fortress 2. In total there will be 36 all new packs, a few of them being listed below. Also, you can get now get your hands on all new lithographs from Half-Life 2: Orange Box. For more, or to pick up some for you are that significant gaming other, check out the Valve Store. For all this news and more, check out the complete Steam News Update below.

Valve has released a new steam update, aiming to patch up a few small bugs. The full list of changes can be found below, and as always, simply restart your client for the changes to take effect.