Image: Valve
This is Valve’s first Team Fortress 2 update since it addressed the ‘Save TF2’ campaign.
Valve has pushed a new update for Team Fortress 2 with small fixes for the game’s ongoing bot problem, along with the removal of some very old bugs. This comes almost a month after the company promised that it would, “work to improve things,” after fans orchestrated a ‘Save TF2’ campaign protesting its bot problem.
Team Fortress 2 has been nigh-unplayable for some time now, owing to bots flooding into the game and kicking out actual players from matches. Bots also cause servers to lag, resulting in very unpleasant gameplay, or cause games to crash once players attempt to kick them off a match. Obviously, they’re not fun to play against either. You might have to deal with aimbots that instantly kill you during a match, or an in-game chat spammed with slurs.
Today, Valve has initiated what is hopefully a first step towards mending this problem. Team Fortress 2’s newest update implements a few fixes aimed at the bot problem, such as removing the ability to enter cheat codes on secure servers and fixing up the in-game voting system. It also adds a few more quality of life improvements, mostly fixing old bugs such as the Spy using incorrect weapons when disguised as other characters.
One bug mentioned in the patchnotes: “Fixed %killername% and other placeholder names sometimes showing up on the kill cam and stats screen,” has been around since launch! A 15-year-old bug, finally removed from the game entirely. Fans are pleased as punch, to say the least.
It’s doubtful that these changes will eliminate Team Fortress 2’s bot problem entirely, but it’s a solid step in the right direction. Here’s a list of fixes included in the patch notes:
- Fixed an exploit related to clearing the in-game text chat
- Fixed an exploit where players could use sv_cheats on secure servers
- Fixed an exploit where players could teleport back to their own spawn by changing loadout/class while touching the other team's No Entry gate
- Fixed an exploit with the Huntsman in which a player could change loadout to negate the speed debuff when charged
- Fixed an exploit with the Ap-Sap where players could spam noises
- Fixed an exploit where dispensers could heal through glass on some maps
- Fixed an exploit where a Spy could disguise and create an invisible bullet blocking shield at their feet
- Fixed laggy animations on Halloween bosses, skeletons, ghosts and other ghoul-like beings
- Fixed the Spy using incorrect disguise weapons when disgusing as Soldier, Pyro, Heavy or Engineer with no member of the same class on the opposing team
- Fixed projectiles sometimes colliding with teammates too early/late
- Fixed being able to change names during a matchmaking game
- Fixed some HUD images being blurry when using low texture settings
- Fixed the Spy's feigned deaths with the Dead Ringer not showing up in the matchmaking quick team status bar
- Fixed %killername% and other placeholder names sometimes showing up on the kill cam and stats screen
- Re-enabled ability for servers to send disconnect reasons to clients
- Added ConVar net_disconnect_reason to use the disconnect reason sent from the client
- Removed Headgear option from the Mann Co. Catalog dropdown list
- Updated vote system
- Both teams can have a kick vote running at the same time
- Can have a global vote running at the same time as a kick vote
- Fixed sometimes not being able to vote on maps at the end of the round
- Updated the El Fiestibrero to fix a problem with the model
- Updated/Added some tournament medals
- Updated the localization files