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Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Vince Wesselmann throws it back to an adventurous era with his point-and-click title, Resonance, which launched today on Steam at 10 percent off.
What's your game called and what's it about?

My labor of love is called Resonance. It's a point-and-click adventure game where you take control of four characters and their memories to work your way through a complex sci-fi mystery. A scientist has died after creating a terrible new technology and the race is on to secure his secret vault before the technology falls into the wrong hands. The player can use the unique short-term memory system to talk to any character in the game about practically anything you see. So you'll have to do some logical thinking to figure out how to navigate the game's tricky puzzles and twisty plot.

What's the coolest aspect of Resonance?

One of the unique features to this game is the Short-Term Memory system, which is tightly interwoven with the dialogue system. In most adventure games, when you talk to a character, you choose from a small selection of dialogue options the designer has chosen for you. Resonance has that as well, but it adds on the ability to "remember" any object you see in the game using your Short-Term Memory. You can then use these memories in conversation with any character in the game.

Since the correct options are no longer served up on a silver platter, you'll have to think critically about which topics of conversation might help you in each situation. And with hundreds of possible objects to talk about, brute-forcing these solutions is right out the window. The window, by the way, can also be used as a Short-Term Memory in dialogue.

#steam The head of Valve says his company is working to develop for Linux, calling Microsoft's Windows 8 a "catastrophe" that will lead product manufacturers to abandon the platform. More »

ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead VERSION 1.62 HIGHLIGHTS
-----------------------

* Multiplayer optimizations, security and server improvements
* Overall stability was improved with numerous tweaks and fixes
* Added new video options (Post-Process Anti-Aliasing, Alpha To Coverage)
* Additional AI improvements and numerous bug fixes
* Resolved issues with several training missions
* Added a lot of new script commands for content makers

* Documentation to accompany these changes is available on our community wiki BIKI: http://community.bistudio.com/ and our BIForum http://forums.bistudio.com/

Patch related information:
---------------------------

the changelog is always approximate, we suggest You to read also CIT (Community Issue Tracker) roadmap of resolved/closed bug/feature tickets:
https://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/roadmap

The complete list of all previous and upcoming versions and theirs progress is available on URL below (the size of page is huge so it may take while to load)
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/roadmap?tracker_ids%5B%5D=1&tracker_ids%5B%5D=2&tracker_ids%5B%5D=4&completed=1&with_subprojects=0&with_subprojects=1

We would like to thanks all BIF & CIT staff/mods/volunteers, whole ARMA community, our partners and everyone who helped us to release this new patch!

Version 1.60-1.62 Changelog
---------------------------

ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead / Combined Operations Engine
--------------------------------------------------------

[94918] New: command unit addMagazine[name, ammoCount]
[94912] Fixed: Video memory detection on W7/x64 sometimes wrong because of bug in IDirect3DDevice9::GetAvailableTextureMem.
[94886] Fixed: Possible gear item duplication (private https://dev-heaven.net/issues/36648)
[94761] TBB 4.0 update 5, (tbb40_20120613oss, http://threadingbuildingblocks.org/ver.php?fid=187)
[94699] Tweak Reinhard tonemapping pars
[94629] Fixed: Wrong magazines are removed with weapon in briefing gear.
[94206] Fixed: Disabled channels can be bypassed in briefing screen (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/33906)
[94049] New: terrainIntersectASL command
[94049] Fixed: terrainIntersect reverted to ATL
[94002] Fixed: PlayerId changed for users using Reinforcements or Arma X Anniversary edition to prevent PlayerId conflicts.
[94001] Fixed: "enableItemsDropping = 0;" now even for MP clients
[94001] New: moonIntensity command
[94001] New: sunOrMoon command
[93989] Changed: When dropping weapon unrelated magazine will not be dropped
[93958] New: Dropping items while swimming can be disabled with "enableItemsDropping = 0;" in description.ext
[93945] New: In gear added bars with ammo count
[93945] New: setGearSlotAmmoCount, setIDCAmmoCount, gearIDCAmmoCount, gearSlotAmmoCount gear commands
[93897] New: AToC & PPAA added into UI video options
[93841] Fixed: AI using NVGs as binoculars after dropping their primary weapon (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27297)
[93821] Changed: Authentication Timeout is distinguished from bad CD key
[93812] Fixed: Restrict gamma value set by profile
[93809] Fixed: Restrict brightness value set by profile
[93722] Fixed: Effects of setDamage to buildings different on clients and server (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/23915#change-136685)
[93701] Fixed: Changing gear in briefing screen is not working reliable in MP (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/16421)
[93680] Optimized: MP: attachTo no longer sends a message when the attachment does not change.
[93672] Fixed: Unable to access AI soldier's gear in map
[93670] Fixed: Prone units stop engaging (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/32475)
[93664] Fixed: Damage of buildings synchronization in MP after JIP (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/25659, https://dev-heaven.net/issues/23915, https://dev-heaven.net/issues/18492)
[93657] Fixed: Target is no longer stored in the long-term target list when forgotten for the second time (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27895)
[93654] Improved: Tone mapping
[93652] New: Scripting functions visiblePositionASL and nearestBuilding position
[93648] New: Scripting functions ASLToATL and ATLToASL to convert between coordinate systems.
[93624] Changed: Scripting function weaponDirection returns a primary weapon direction when empty string is used as a weapon name.
[93622] New: Scripting function eyeDirection.
[93598] New: Scripting functions eyePos object and aimPos object
[93583] Fixed: Player-created markers not synchronised with JIP clients (see https://dev-heaven.net/issues/6337)
[93575] Fixed: StringLoad command reads unicode
[93570] Fixed: Player-made map markers disappearing in MP under certain circumstances (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/32160)
[93542] New: MP Statistics screen (key I) contains the Server hostname
[93528] Fixed: Max distance for DirectChat raised from 20m to 40m
[93415] Fixed: empty weaponHolder is not deleted when used by remote player
[93398] New: System chat like player connected/disconnected switched to CCSystem=6 channel. New configuration opportunity disableChannels[]={chan1,chan2,...}; in mission description.ext file possible.
[93294] Fixed: Multiple Object not found problems such as Server: Object 6:4 not found (message 124)
[93276] New: terrainIntersect command
[93273] New: lineIntersects, lineIntersectsWith commands
[93156] Changed: increased gear MP messages priority
[93146] Fixed: LOD blending
[93120] Fixed: JIP connecting players less affect other players network bandwith
[93117] Fix: Crash: https://dev-heaven.net/issues/31784 - caused by fix: "LOD blending not working reliably (rev. 93017)
[93017] Fixed: LOD blending not working reliably
[92956] Fixed: Sound: Music often stop playing after window focus is lost and regained
[92925] Fixed: switching backpack with dead unit in MP
[92821] Fixed: Joining unit in the vehicle to a different side group did not change the perceived side of the unit.
[92781] Fixed: SelectPlayer makes direct communication unreliable (see https://dev-heaven.net/issues/30991)
[92754] Fixed: scaling icons with grenade cursor
[92706] TBB 4.0 update 4, (tbb40_20120408oss, http://threadingbuildingblocks.org/ver.php?fid=185)
[92705] Fixed: Possible crash when in out of VRAM conditions because of a race condition.
[92679] Fixed: A Javelin missile often did not lock a target when playing with a Veteran or harder difficulty (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/28865)
[92612] Fixed: SelectPlayer in MP can break the Direct Chat or cause other MP issues.
[92582] Fixed: AI detection after load
[92463] Fixed: AToC ATi 77xx
[92071] Changed: Observer RPT messages now once per 60 sec, https://dev-heaven.net/issues/29985
[92061] Fixed: AtoC on nVidia for CSAA
[92059] PPAA pars tweak & SMAA use color edge detection method
[91173] New: Registry driven mod can contain list of required mods in its REQUIRE string value (the same syntax as for LOADAFTER). Moreover, the reg.value CANDISABLE="0" can be used to make the Disable button disabled.
[91055] Fixed: Respawn with backpack
[90909] Fixed: crash of Linux server when player with custom face connects
[90901] New: setUnitRecoilCoefficient command
[89964] Fixed: Linux servers were never green in server list.
[89899] Fixed: Helicopter is more accurate with unguided rockets
[89898] Fixed: Secondary gunner tracks enemies
[89603] Fixed: A possible crash when textures were loading too slow from the disk.
[89523] Fixed: Crash during engine termination from multiplayer game.
[89361] Fixed: Linux server slow startup
[89205] New: Player can look up/down using a mouse while driving land/water vehicles.
[89201] New: SMAA antialiasing introduced, use PPAA=3, PPAALevel=0..3 in Arma2OA.cfg.
[89104] New: Implemented automatic looking intro turns when driving a car with a mouse.
[89086] Experimental: A different way to handle mouse steering is implemented for cars, tanks, boats and bikes.
[89079] Fixed: Multiple reload sounds in mp (see https://dev-heaven.net/issues/28201)
[89011] New: A cursor is shown to provide a visual feedback when steering a car.
[88975] Fixed: Multiple reload sounds in MP (see https://dev-heaven.net/issues/28201)
[88948] Improved: Airplane thrust and brakes can now be applied at the same time.
[88947] New: Full joystick axis can be mapped by mapping both positive and negative part of the same axis (map negative first to use the axis inverted) (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/3546)
[88918] Improved: AI scanning for the target more when a visual contact is lost.
[88890] Improved: AI vehicles scanning area with their weapons when target position is not known exactly.
[88870] Fixed: AI vehicles sometimes see player outside their field of view (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/28203)
[88850] Fixed: AI was sometimes able to reveal a unit which has detonated a satchel (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/11610)
[88726] Fixed: Frequent client/server crashes in MP (when merging multipacket messages)
[88269] Changed: Application name changed to "ArmA 2 OA" for "ArmA 2 Reinforcements".
[88195] Improved: -beta mods now always loaded first (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27762)
[88147] Add: Optional FXAA sharp filter, *.cfg "FXAASharp"
[88119] Improved: AI spotting reducing in high speed moving vehicles more accurate now (movement direction is considered).
[88111] Fixed: Unguided rockets no longer explode when passed by the target (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27772)
[88110] Fixed: AI gunner hits the ground with manually guided missile when "Auto guided AT" is disabled (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/14297)
[88015] Fixed: Aircraft gunner firing even when manual fire was selected by a pilot (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27689)
[87963] Optimized: Reduced memory footprint in complex missions.
[87840] New: Added scripting command productVersion (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/25580)
[87837] Changed: Addons config value requiredVersion ignored for easier addon sharing between various products (A2, TOH).
[87824] Changed: Removed support for config parameter nightVision (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/26117)
[87768] Fixed: AI vehicles crews seeing targets badly (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/23388)
[87755] Fixed: Player automatically reveals targets which AI would never see (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27493)
[87746] Fixed: Looking around no longer possible when combat mode changes in vehicle (https://dev-heaven.net/issues/17777)
[87745] New: Cheat Shift+Minus+FPS to allow artificially limit FPS for testing to 40,20,10,5.
[87740] Improved: Targeting and firing always commanded by observer. (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/2353)
[87706] Improved: AI laser target detection at large distances improved.
[87692] Fixed: Manual guidance not working for a helicopter gunner (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/12025, http://dev-heaven.net/issues/27418)
[87659] Fixed: AI was unable to engage invisible laser targets used for SSM (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/26317)
[87658] Fixed: Command doTarget on friendly unit did not work (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/22724)
[87655] Fixed: Text parameter file parsing not reliable (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/27403)
[87654] Improved: A behaviour of the leader player is now assumed to be the most restrictive behaviour of his subordinates (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/11699)
[87652] Fixed: AI always turned out when player is effective commander in cargo (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/2733)
[87646] Fixed: MP: Bullet hits of remote units not visible over large distance (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/12973)
[87645] Changed: Default memory allocator is now tbb4malloc_bi instead of tbb3malloc_bi
[87643] Fixed: Manually guided missiles lost control when reaching 1500 m distance (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/12101)
[87640] New: RVExtension dll interface implemented (http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/callExtension)
[87640] Improved: AI sometimes did not start firing at enemy which passed quickly just in front of it.
[87640] Fixed: AI unable to target crew in vehicles other than tracked ones (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/25847)
[87640] Improved: AI units now give more preference to close targets (http://dev-heaven.net/issues/25847)

ARMA 2 / ARMA 2 Operation Arrowhead Data
-----------
fixed : [OA] SC 48 Sector Control is missing ammo for Mk17 EGLM RCO and Mk17 TWS SD
changed : [OA] New set of multiplayer chat colors
added : New Video Options (PPAA, AToC)
fixed : Boot Camp 02: https://dev-heaven.net/issues/36778
fixed : Boot Camp E08: https://dev-heaven.net/issues/28187

More details at http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_2:_Operation_Arrowhead:_Version_History

Graphs! They’re boring old data turned into sort of modern art or something. No one can deny their allure. It’s with that special fact in mind that I plunged headfirst into a world of Steam’s Hardware Survey for June 2012. It turns out that the graphs provided more than just an aesthetic diversion, of course, because they also illustrated some trends in hardware usage, too. I know! Let’s see if we can spot those hot trends, with clues below.

(more…)

Today's Deal: Save 75% off Lucid!

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

Dead Island Game of the Year Edition is Now Available on Steam!

The Zombie apocalypse returns with this content packed edition of the fan favourite. It´s time to return to the beautiful, zombie-infected shores of Banoi!

With the Dead Island Game of the Year Edition players get the chance to experience the full story behind the Banoi Zombie Outbreak. The GOTY includes

Dead Island Maingame
Bloodbath Arena DLC
Ryder White DLC
Blueprint "The Ripper" Weapon
Get ready for your return to Dead Island, a paradise to die for!

Owners of Dead Island get 50% off the upgrade to Game of the Year Edition.

Resonance is Now Available on Steam and 10% off until Wednesday, Auguset 1st 10AM PDT.

When a brilliant particle physicist dies unexpectedly, the race is on to secure his terrible new technology before it falls into the wrong hands. The lives of four playable characters become entangled as they fight against the clock to find the dead scientists secret vault.

While it's true the first Steam game to run on Linux will be Left 4 Dead 2, Devolver Digital's fast-paced shooter may be a close second. Serious Sam 3: BFE is currently in development for Linux and should launch sometime this year - the Linux version will launch with all content "up to date" with the PC and Mac versions.

The Linux version of Serious Sam 3: BFE will feature full Steamworks integration, including achievements and "the whole shebang," developer Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker says. Look for it to debut on Steam sometime this year.

Source Filmmaker version 0.9.5.11 has been released. This update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

• SDK Launcher improvements
• memory usage in status bar turns red when running low on memory
• graph editor text fields are now visible for small window configurations
• show/hide focal plane in viewport now updates
• improvements in copy/paste between shots with infinite time selection
• added Left 4 Dead 2 survivor models

New DLC for Street Fighter X Tekken is Now Available on Steam!

The update 2.5 of X3: Albion Prelude has been released. The major changes include:

New Features and Improvements:
- Added Terran plot: Operation Loose Ends
- Added Terran HQ model
- Added Bioscanner and Supply Command Software to Terran Docks

Fixes:
- Fixed crash in graph menus when extreme values are involved
- Linked ATF rank to Terran rank
- Added delay to war ships attacking player assets to allow time for player escorts to exit the system
- Fixed war ships from being destroyed if they have been captured by the player
- Fixed several RRF issues
- Fixed case of unnecessary auto-jumps in Terran sectors
- Added missing Jumpdrive to Terran docks and Jonferco Research Station
- Fixed Marlin cargo bay size
- Fixed exploit in freight transfer menu

Two new DLC packs are planned for Quantum Conundrum, Square Enix announced today. Both the Desmand Debacle and IKE-aramba! will be available later this summer for 240 MS Points ($2.99) each.

The Desmond Debacle DLC pack launches on Steam first on July 31; PS3 and Xbox 360 get the DLC on August 14 and August 15, respectively. IKE-aramba! launches on Steam later on August 28, followed by PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 11 and 12. Those who've picked up a season pass through Steam will get both of these DLC packs as part of the their purchase.

Four all-new Magicka DLC's are now available on Steam!

Grab the Mega Villain Robes pack or Aspiring Musician Robes pack to add three all-new robes to your repertoire. Checkout the Peculiar Gadgets Pack or Heirlooms Pack to gain a bevy of new items for your arsenal!

Today's Deal: Save 75% off Dirt 3!

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

During this week's Midweek Madness, save 75% off the X-Series!

TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK in a living and breathing universe.

From X: Beyond The Frontier, the first part in the X-Universe series developed by Egosoft, to the latest and recently updated X3: Albion Prelude, play a role in the massive X universe.

The new update 2.5 for X3: Albion Prelude is Now Available! This new update includes the new plot "Operation Loose Ends", in which the player is dispatched deep behind enemy lines to weaken the Commonwealth war efforts. Gaining new technologies he will play an even more important role in the war.

During this week's Midweek Madness, save 75% off the Left 4 Dead 2!

Also, make sure to check out the "Cold Stream" update today! This 5 campaign DLC includes Crash Course, Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest and the community created Cold Stream. The update also makes all mutations available to play any time.

Updates to Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:


Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Fixed dedicated servers not being able to set sv_region
  

Team Fortress 2

• Fixed Replay/SourceTV clients getting kicked when quickplay servers hibernate
  

version 1.014
=============
1) Added hint to make divisions if you have lots of units and have not created any yet.
2) Changed the way unit icons are created so they make more sense for long-barrelled guns.
3) Added new option to allow the game to auto-manage and update divisions for each type of unit.
4) Fixed bug where if you didn't restart the game, you kept unlocking the same unit.
5) Added support for colorblind mode.

Change Log 1.602:
- Fixed Hang when exiting to main menu from Chapter 4 on the Mac

#steam After all the games and all the savings, Steam's Summer Sale is drawing to a close. Many of you have likely bought at least something. Just as many, though, have likely been holding out, waiting for good deals to get better. More »

This is it. Dig around your couch cushions, look under the rug and peek between the seats in your car (if you haven't sold it, that is) for any extra change. The final day of the Steam Summer Sale is here.

The last day is going out with a whimper, offering the BioShock franchise for $9.98, Bastion for $3.74, a Double Fine bundle including Costume Quest, Psychonauts and Stacking for $7.49, and Splinter Cell: Conviction seeing a range of deals, starting with the game itself for $4.99. Jagged Alliance: Back in Action is $9.99, Operation Flashpoint Complete (Dragon Rising and Red River) runs $13.74, Football Manager 2012 is $7.50, and Space Pirates and Zombies is $2.49.

Indie Bundle XI includes Hydrophobia: Prophecy, Orion: Dino Beatdown, Star Ruler, Waveform and World of Goo for $9.99.

And that's that, everyone. Summer's over. Now get back to work; you have to pay off all those games you bought somehow, and it's certainly not going to happen if you take the time to play them.

The Steam Summer Sale concludes today with huge savings throughout the store!

Today's Daily Deals Include:

• Football Manager 2012
  
• Tom Clancy Franchise
  
• Bioshock Franchise
  
• Bastion
  
• Jagged Alliance: Back in Action
  
• Operation Flashpoint Complete
  
• Double Fine Bundle
  
• Space Pirates and Zombies (SPAZ)
  
• Indie Bundle XI - featuring Star Ruler, Hydrophobia: Prophecy, Orion Dino Beatdown, Waveform, World of Goo
  

Don't forget to check back for a new Community Choice vote every 8 hours and new Flash sales throughout the day! You can also grab the Steam mobile app to make sure you never miss any great deals while you're on the go!

Complete information on all the savings, Flash Sales, Community Choice Votes and more may be found on www.steampowered.com.

The Steam Summer Sale continues today with huge savings throughout the store!

Today's Daily Deals Include:

• Batman Franchise
  
• Quantum Conundrum
  
• Prince of Persia Franchise
  
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Franchise
  
• Torchlight
  
• Fable III
  
• Arma II: Combined Operations
  
• Evochron Mercenary
  
• Indie Bundle X - featuring Machinarium, Eufloria, Beat Hazard, BIT.TRIP RUNNER, and All Zombies Must Die!
  

Don't forget to check back for a new Community Choice vote every 8 hours and new Flash sales throughout the day! You can also grab the Steam mobile app to make sure you never miss any great deals while you're on the go!

Complete information on all the savings, Flash Sales, Community Choice Votes and more may be found on www.steampowered.com.

Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Fixed Unicode characters getting stripped from player names
  

Pre-load Prototype 2 now and be ready to play when it releases.

Plus, all Steam Pre-Purchasers receive the RADNET DLC which includes new missions, events and powers for Prototype 2 and a copy of Prototype to play now for free!

Check out the game page for more details.

r22508c
------

Critical fixes:
+ Fixed a Comparative Analysis UI crash.
+ Addressed a weapon bank related crash.


Other fixes:
+ Fixed recent mission screen UI issues.
+ Fixed loophole that was allowing station construction to exceeed the
number of each type of station allowed.
+ Engrammed admirals with the Inquisitor trait no longer gain extra traits.

r22508b

------

Critical fixes:
+ Fixed reported crash bugs in combat.
+ Abandoning a colony in the Colony Established dialog no longer causes a crash.


Other fixes:
+ AI no longer executes diplomatic actions without sufficient diplomatic points.
+ AI now builds various station types again.
+ AI no longer redesigns platforms continually.
+ Battle riders can now be targeted specifically.
+ Security slider no longer jumps to a notched position when the
research slider is moved in the star map.
+ It is no longer possible to retrofit stations with pending modules.
+ Mining stations can now be built on asteroids.
+ Fixed absorber ship section effect.
+ Asteroid monitors now have Polaris missiles.
+ Ship targets in combat are no longer lost when turrets are lost or a
section is destroyed.
+ Fixed a corner case that could result in ships rolling continually in combat.
+ Meson projector now aims at the intended target and applies damage correctly.
+ Ships turned over to a different player in combat now are now
correctly removed from hotkey groups.
+ Fixed torpedo retargeting.


Other changes and additions:
+ Added Leech Driver.
+ Added population manager.
+ Added comparative analysis screen.
+ Changes to the All Stop command mean that a ship issued All Stop
will return to Normal Stance. If a ship is answering All Stop and
another stance is selected, it will start moving again.


Known issues:
- Existing sync errors in multiplayer turn updates are still being addressed.

Source Filmmaker version 0.9.5.10 has been released. This update will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

• added models and materials from Team Fortress 2s pyro update
• fixed a crash in koth_badlands
• removed arena logic from arena maps to allow players to spawn in those maps
• fixed ambient occlusion on some partially transparent models
• fixed some cases where the escape key would sometimes unload the map
• fixed movie export to work with sequences that dont start at time 0
• fixed a hang in the startup wizard dialog

Source Engine Changes (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM)

• Added sv_namechange_cooldown_seconds, to throttle clients from changing their name too rapidly. (Defaults to 20 seconds)
  
• Added sv_netspike_on_reliable_snapshot_overflow to selectively enable the automatic dumping of netspike file if a client drops due to "reliable snapshot overflow" (defaults to 0, which disables the debugging)
  
• Added check to prevent player names from containing color codes
  
• setinfo console command will now reject attempts to set / change convars with any unusual characters
  

Team Fortress 2

• Fix a bug that caused gameservers to not properly receive client inventory updates. (Frequent cause of the "The server you are playing on has lost connection to the item server" error message.)
  
• Fixed not being able to equip all-class items properly
  
• Fixed the DX8 water effect
  
• Fixed the Beggar's Bazooka misfiring with 100% crits after firing a crit rocket
  
• Fixed the Strange Sandman not accepting the Posthumous Kills strange part
  

It's the most wonderful time of the year to be a PC gamer: the Steam Summer Sale! For those of us who are fans of Western/PC RPGs, this is a chance to get some of the best games available for prices that ought to make console fans jealous.

This column is going up toward the end of the sale, so some of the best prices for some may have come and gone, but between the voting, the flash sales, and the fact that Steam usually uses the last day or so to repeat some of the biggest sales, it's possible to get the best prices again even if you missed the first round.

You're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
I've already bought several games during this year's Steam Summer Sale, including Legend of Grimrock, an old-fashioned dungeon crawler with a modern veneer. Good for me! Oh, except Legend of Grimrock is a PC game. I don't even have a PC right now, and I've never bothered to set up a dual-boot partition on my MacBook Air. The dread of missing out on the deal was so great, it overwhelmed the fact that I don't even have the preferred equipment for the game.

It happens every year, as Valve gets more and more adept at carving off costs and doling out deals at the perfect pace - slowly enough to keep you coming back, but not fast enough to let you realize that you're spending something you don't have.

Money isn't the problem. Spending five bucks on the latest indie gem, even if it's buried in a shopping minecart of indie gems, won't be the death of you. The actual death of you, however, might be slightly more prohibitive when it comes to buying all these games. When are you going to find time to play all this stuff?