Valve released a new Team Fortress 2 game mode, but it’s broken
Team Fortress 2 may be 16 years old at this point, but it’s still alive and kicking thanks to a very dedicated community. However, the cartoony first-person shooter is not exactly free from bugs and glitches and the players regularly have to deal with cheaters plaguing their servers. For that reason, any official updates from developer Valve are usually a very welcome sight, especially since the community is going through a lot of trouble diagnosing issues and suggesting solutions to the company.
Sometimes, though, Valve doesn’t listen. The Team Fortress 2 update from July 12, 2023, is an example for that. Though it lists a good amount of fixes and introduced some community-made content including 14 new maps, the patch contained none of the community-suggested fixes that Valve had promised to add.
The developer also added a new game mode, Versus Saxton Hale, which is great – but it causes server crashes on a very regular basis, so that’s unfortunately not a win either. A hotfix already is out for the patch, trying to repair some of the issues caused by the update, but it’s probably going to take a while until everything runs smoothly.
Here are the full Team Fortress 2 patch notes for the July 12, 2023, update.
Team Fortress 2 update (July 12, 2023): patch notes
Summer 2023
- Featuring 14 new community maps: Sharkbay, Rotunda, Phoenix, Cashworks, Venice, Reckoner, Sulfur, Hardwood, Pelican Peak, Selbyen, VSH Tiny Rock, VSH Distillery, VSH Skirmish, and VSH Nucleus
- Added the Summer 2023 Cosmetic Case
- Contains 25 new community-contributed items
- Added 6 new community-contributed taunts to the Mann Co. Store
- Taunt: Killer Joke
- Taunt: Star-Spangled Strategy
- Taunt: The Head Doctor
- Taunt: Tuefort Tango
- Taunt: The Road Rager
- Taunt: The Killer Signature
- Added 20 new community-created Unusual effects
- 12 new effects for Unusual hats
- 8 new effects for Unusual taunts
- Added the Summer 2023 War Paint Case
- Contains 10 new community-created War Paints that make-up the Summer 2023 Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
- All cosmetic and taunt cases will grant Summer 2023 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the Summer event. This does not include crates.
- The Summer event runs through September 15th, 2023
General
- Security and stability improvements
- Fixed the Mann vs. Machine upgrade panel closing after receiving a matchmaking party invite
- Fixed an exploit related to the ConTracker and being able to move/shoot while it's deployed
- Fixed the Strange Count Transfer Tool not being able to transfer stats for Sandvich items
- Fixed the Engineer not being able to move for a short period of time after doing The High Five taunt
- Fixed missing No Headphones style for the Universal Translator
- Fixed Engineer teleporter audio that was referencing the dispenser by mistake in Spanish
- Fixed incorrect alpha channels for the Smissmas 2021/2022 Cosmetic Case models
- Fixed the Winter 2019 War Paint Case not being shown in the Mann Co. Store
- Updated/Added some tournament medals
- Updated pl_enclosure_final to fix localization issues
- Updated cp_gravelpit_snowy
- Boosted volume of snowman explosions
- Added occluders to C to improve performance
- Improved clipping
- Updated cp_steel
- Prop collision cleanup and improved player clipping
- Explosive splash bug collisions on stairs, props, etc., around the map
- Spawn point issues (collision, prop blocking, clipping, etc.)
- Fix Pyro door exploit on A
- Fix choke and spam issues into Blu & Red spawns
- Fix Pixel walk collision issues
- Fixing ceiling clipping and stuck spots including exploits
- Clean up geometry in spawns, the spawn locations and their exits
- Fix roof readability issues, with sticky and rocket jumping
- Fix rare double death bug when falling into pit
- Fix Cliff stuck spots and ledges in E pit
- Removed head glitch tele spawn on A-B connector
- Fix rare overtime cap bug
- Fix Red team getting stuck in spawn door to A
- Updated cp_mossrock
- Fixed numerous perch points
- Fixed players being able to get under Blu spawn
- Fixed a location where a teleporter could be build out of the map
- Fixed collision on rock near final point so it is more accurate to the visuals
- Fixed lots of small visual bugs
- Fixed some small exploits
- Improved optimisation
Hotfix
- Fixed a client crash related to audio and the new taunts
- Fixed Red being able to enter the Blu spawn room on pl_cashworks
- Fixed a transparency issue with the Hard Carry Unusual effect
- Fixed missing contributor for vsh_distillery
- Fixed spelling for the Taunt: Teufort Tango
Despite its age and issues, Team Fortress 2 is one of the best free games on Steam, so if you and your friends are up for some silly shooter fun, this is one to try out.
