Valve has released the first significant update for the PC version of Team Fortress 2 in about a month, making several gameplay tweaks and bug fixes. If it has not already patched itself in your copy of Steam, Team Fortress 2 will update automatically when you attempt to launch it. Particularly interesting changes include Sudden Death now being a server option that defaults to "off," the Spy doing slightly less damage to buildings with his weapons after sapping them, the Medic healing at a faster rate during the pre-round setup time to offset the need for players to self-inflict wounds and boost the heal rate, as well as some fixes to SourceTV and the Source engine. There are also a number of changes specific to the Dustbowl map.

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

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

SourceTV

• Relay proxies can now record demos now with tv_autorecord 1
• Fixed an interpolation code bug during demo playback that was resulting in view jitter
• Added several TF specific game events to SourceTV auto director logic
• Increased the average shot length by 2 seconds