One of the things that customers have been consistently requesting from us a better method of finding game servers with the specific settings that they like. Some players want servers with friendly-fire on, or TF2 birthday mode, or 24/7 Dustbowl, and so on. Other players specifically want none of these, asking us how they can find servers with no changes.
At the same time, we've watched as server operators have increasingly filled out their server names with descriptions of their custom settings.

We've been working on a solution to these problems that we hope will make sense, solving the player's desire to search for specific settings, and the server operator's desire to have better descriptive tools for their server. The concept is similar to web page metatags, where server operators can specify descriptive tags in any manner, and clients can search for servers by specifying the tags they're interested in. Some tags are automatically filled in, based on server convars. For example, in TF2 we've removed the restrictions on a variety of server options (like friendly fire & respawn wave times), and now the tag system will automatically add a tag when they're changed, so that customers who want to play on these servers can easily find them.

Click here: http://www.steamgames.com/v/img/whatsnew/serverTags.jpg for a screenshot of the new server browser interface that players will have.
As you can see, we've put a new tab onto it called "Custom". Servers with tags will appear in this list, where the player can specify a list of tags they're interested in. The "Add Common Tags" button will give them a list of the top 20 tags in use across all the servers, so they're able to easily choose the popular tags. Untagged servers will show up in the old Internet games list.

Jason

On Thursday, February 14 at 11 am PST, all PC versions of Team Fortress 2, the class-based multiplayer action game named PC Game of the Year by Gamespy.com, will receive its largest update since the product was first made available on October 10, 2007, as part of Valve's best-selling Orange Box compilation.

The free update includes global optimizations for networking, graphics, and player statistics, plus improvements to Source TV for tournament viewing.

In addition, three of the currently available maps (Dustbowl, Granary, CTF_Well) have been iterated for enhanced performance and gameplay.

The release is headlined by the introduction of “Badlands,” a new map that pushes control-point gameplay onto vertical landscapes.

Available free to all Team Fortress 2 PC gamers around the world automatically via Steam, there are too many features and improvements included in this update to list here. To view the full release notes, click here.

Updates to Team Fortress 2, the Source Engine, and SourceTV will be released tomorrow. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. Click the link below for the full change list.

Source Engine


Refactored how lightmaps are downloaded to the graphics card at level load. On some hardware configurations this can lower level load times significantly

Optimized some particle systems to improve performance on some hardware configurations

Player stats are now sent up as they change, rather than when the player dies

Improved playback of sub-frame sounds

Fixed a crash caused by alt-tabs during map load

Eliminated unnecessary temporary memory allocation in scenefilecache


Team Fortress 2


Badlands released

Changes to Dustbowl

Added a new access point to the stage2 attacker gates (drop-down left from spawn), allowing attackers a way to reach the left route without being subjected to the spam and sentry gun fire

Fixed a gap in stage 3, cap 1 that allowed a player with to wiggle above the "ceiling" clip

Fixed a gap behind stage 1, cap 1 house

Fixed a high perch on stage1 cap1 house roof

Fixed a perch offering view of nodraw textures and the skybox (stage1 cap2 rock barrier)

Fixed a few places where rockets/demoman pipes could pass through non-solid models

Sealed up a gap over stage1 lower startgate

Clipped off tall windows in stage 3 to prevent sentry guns from behind built behind them
Changes to Capture the Flag Well

Fixed trains not starting on map spawn

Removed cap association from red spawns that were spamming console
Changes to Granary

Removed spawn timing advantage from the middle (from -3 to 0)

Fixed several model perch exploits (red, blue cp1 gate and blue cp2 gate pipe)

Fixed a few places where players could get stuck between containers and silos

Adjusted playerclips on red container that made it appear like players were floating
Added a small delay (200 ms) before a zoomed sniper shot can get a critical hit

Added server side convar mp_fadetoblack. Same functionality as Counter-Strike, used mainly during in-person tournaments and LAN events

Added flamethrower "sizzle" sound when the Pyro is hitting a target

Updated explosion debris to be a bit darker

Fixed idle players not being kicked from the server if mp_allowspectators was set to 0

Added ctf_well to the default mapcycle.txt file

Added ctf_well to the default motd.txt file

Fixed floor tile material type

Fixed some weapon damage info missing from TF2 game stats

Made some small changes to the Demoman viewmodel that were causing performance problems

Added exec'ing a .cfg file on the client when you select a class to play.

Added a new timer to the HUD to show the value of mp_timelimit. This is useful if you're playing a timed match on 2Fort, where you only set a timelimit on the server and no other win conditions.

Added server log entry for buildings destroyed by their owner

Fixed sentry gun shadows being clipped

Updated glass material


SourceTV


SourceTV now uses a hidden slot on the game server. This allows for 24 player servers to also have a SourceTV proxy connected to it

Fixed Pyro's flamethrower flames not showing up in SourceTV