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[May 5, 2000]
Valve, L.L.C. today announced a new version of its popular team-based action game,
Team Fortress (TF), is currently in the final phases of production. To be released
free of charge in the next Half-Life update, Team Fortress 1.5 features new scenarios,
an advanced user-interface system (VGUI), new networking and server technologies, and more.
"As new tools and technologies come online in the development of Team Fortress 2,
there will be opportunities to roll them out to players and the MOD community,"
said Gabe Newell, managing director at Valve. "Team Fortress 1.5 marks a
significant point in this process."
Key Features
[May 4, 2000]
Valve, L.L.C. today announced a new version of its popular action game editor,
Worldcraft, is being prepared for a worldwide release. Worldcraft 3, which will
launch simultaneously with the Half-Life SDK 2.0, includes a wealth of new
features that allow for greater ease-of-use and faster creation times.
"The new version of Worldcraft features a tremendous amount of new functionality
requested by both our internal designers as well as those in the community making new
content for Half-Life and Team Fortress," said Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve L.L.C.
An OpenGL renderer, new texture application features, and automatic previewing tools are
among the many new features in Worldcraft 3. Available free of charge via gaming Web
sites and CDs, Worldcraft 3 will support all Half-Life games and game modifications
(MODs), which currently account for over 60% of all action games being played online.
[May 2, 2000]
Valve, L.L.C. today announced the upcoming release of the Half-Life SDK 2.0,
an updated suite of authoring tools for its award-winning game, Half-Life.
The release is part of an ongoing effort to support those creating Half-Life
game modifications (MODs) and keep them current with the code base Valve
is using to author its latest creations.
"The new SDK allows MOD authors to create a much wider variety of games,
such as isometric RPGs, fighting games, and real-time strategy games,
in addition to new styles of action games," said Gabe Newell, managing
director of Valve L.L.C. "Half-Life is currently generating over 350
million player-minutes per month on the Internet and is the most popular
multiplayer game played online, and part of that success was made possible
by the amazing content created by the MOD community. We have every intention
of continuing our support for that community."
"MODs such as Counter-Strike will benefit enormously from the new SDK," said
Counter-Strike co-developer Minh Le. "Half-Life is far and away the best
development environment for MOD authors, in addition to having the largest
on-line community. With Half-Life, you can build a better MOD and have it
played by a lot more people."
This release of the Half-Life SDK includes all the assets available in the "ProSDK,"
previously only available under NDA, plus many new features, including access to Valve's
new networking system, and new user interface toolkit (V-GUI). Half-Life SDK 2.0 will be
made available free of charge on gaming Web sites and CDs everywhere in the coming weeks.
[January 2, 2000]
Beginning Monday, January 3, WON.net will begin a series of upgrades to
their online multiplayer gaming service. These upgrades will increase the
overall speed and reliability of multiplayer sessions and offer better
connectivity for users located outside of North America.
As a result, some WON.net services, including multiplayer support for
Homeworld, Half-Life, and Tribes, may be unavailable for short periods.
Every effort will be made to schedule server outages during low usage
periods. All work will be complete Monday, January 17.
Learn more about the changes happening at WON.net in the WON.net Info Center
[December 9, 1999]
The Half-Life Programming Planet is a new online resource for Half-Life level and mod designers. The site includes a developers forum, useful links to Half-Life sites, and nearly 30 tutorials on every aspect of programming and design.
To get started developing your own Half-Life material, the first step is getting your hands on the Half-Life Standard Software Developer's Kit (SDK). The downloadable SDK contains 12 MB of zipped source code to get you started down the road of online fame and glory.
[October 25, 1999]
Check out The Oxygen Tank's Team Fortress Classic Strategy Guide for tips on
how to get the most from all nine of TFC's unique characters. This tutorial is a lifesaver for beginners and intermediate players,
outlining each character's strengths, weaknesses, and special tactics.
[October 25, 1999]
Gamepro identified a long list of Sierra Studios titles in their "Future of
Teamplay" feature Monday, identifying Team Fortress Classic, Tribes, Tribes
2, SWAT 3, and Team Fortress 2 as games that are pushing the limits of the
first-person shooter genre. Catch the rest the article, including comments
from Valve founder Gabe Newell on PC Gamepro.
[October 13, 1999]
Gamespy has scored yet another interview with Valve's Managing Director and
Co-founder, Gabe Newell. This time around Gabe discusses the Half-Life Mod
Community and how Valve plans on supporting Mod makers in the future.
[October 1, 1999]
Looking for some new Team Fortress Classic maps to entertain yourself with
this weekend? Well then, head on over to I.am TFC and feast your eyes on one
of the largest collections of maps in the known universe. These crazy TF™
junkies have just added a whopping 40 TF™ maps to their already mammoth
collection. Enjoy.
[June 4, 1999]
Looking for that special edge that will put you and your team atop the TF™
leader board? Then look no further than the new TF™ game guide on Gamespot. One quick read through this informative guide
and you will be on your way to TF™ greatness in no time at all.
[April 19, 1999]
The community support for Team Fortress Classic has been amazing. There are
already tons of user made maps available on the Internet. Check out I.AM
TF™ to download a collection of 18 new TF™ maps.
[April 13, 1999]
Gabe Newell, founder of Valve Software, was recently interviewed about the success of Team Fortress Classic. In the Next Generation Online
interview Newell discusses
the free Half-Life mod and describes how making TF™ helped reinforce many of Valve's decisions regarding the forthcoming Team Fortress 2.
[April 8, 1999]
We hope everyone is enjoying Team Fortress Classic. The folks at USA Today
sure were. In a recent review, the national newspaper gave TF™ a perfect 4
out of 4 score saying, "Coupled with brilliant level design, sound effects
and gameplay, Classic rocks." Also, if you need some help setting up and
playing TF™ check out the TF™ Game Guide on Modcentral.
[April 7, 1999]
The wait is over! Many a frenzied Half-Life fan will be downloading the free multiplayer mod Team Fortress Classic today. Don't be left out!
Head over to the Media section to find out where to download.
[March 31, 1999]
As part of the Team Fortress Classic for Half-Life launch preparations, Sierra Studios and Valve recently hosted a TF™ party in San
Francisco. Journalists from all over came to wine, dine, and frag the night away. After they recovered from their night of fun, many of the journalists
wrote about their experience. Check out the articles on Gamecenter
and Gamespot.
[March 16, 1999]
Valve has announced that Team Fortress 2 will use Intel's Multiresolution
Mesh Technology (MRM). The MRM technology will allow Valve to create a
"scaleable" game with highly detailed, realistic looking models that
automatically adjust performance to the gamer's PC. Check out the official
release to learn more about this exciting technology and
what it will bring to Team Fortress 2.
[March 8, 1999]
The much-anticipated release of Team Fortress Classic for Half-Life is just around the corner. Recently the folks from Valve paid some magazines a visit
with TF™ in hand. Read what the mags had to say about the free mod for Half-Life at IGN PC, CNET Gamecenter, and Gamespot.
[January 19, 1999]
The folks over at PlanetFortress have posted a Q&A
with Valve's Robin Walker. Check out the interview to get more details about the highly anticipated Half-Life mod, Team Fortress Classic.
[January 15, 1999]
In a recent press release Sierra Studios and
Valve announced the development fo Team Fortress™ Classic for Half-Life. Team
Fortress™ Classic is a port of the original Team Fortress™, an extremely
popular multiplayer mod that features unparalled team play. Valve's Robin
Walker said, "Team Fortress™ Classic players can now enjoy Half-Life's
superior graphics and audio, ease of use, and advanced animation technology
while we focus on making Team Fortress™ 2 the best multiplayer game
possible.
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