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Following in the footsteps of CS:S, Valve announced today that TF2 will have a parellel Beta build open to all TF2 players to test things not yet ready for the retail build.

From the TF2 Blog:
Prepare for your examination!
December 2, 2010 - TF2 Team

As you've probably seen by now, we like to change things in Team Fortress 2. A lot. And while we're perfect most of the time, we occasionally get something wrong. One reason for this is we just don't get enough data from internal play testing, and another is that we spend too much time watching Tom Bui serenades on Youtube (Hint: Search for "Tom Bui" on Youtube) (Another Hint: Click here). So to help us change TF2 even more frequently, we're pleased to announce the Team Fortress 2 (public) Beta.

What sorts of things will we use the beta for, you ask?

• Testing and tuning various class, item, and weapon changes
• Testing map changes and variants
• Running higher level, game-wide experiments (like doubling player health)
• Testing new technologies without the risk of breaking the game

The beta is available to anyone that owns a copy of TF2. To install, launch Steam, open the Library and install "Team Fortress 2 Beta" from your games list.

What's in the initial release?

Three Natascha variants:

• -40% damage
• -25% damage, -25% health
• Spin-up/down time increased, slowdown-on-hit effect falls off over distance.

Map changes:

• cp_granary: new entrance added into the RED and BLU mid ramp room.
• cp_5gorge: 5 CP version of cp_gorge.

Misc balance changes:

• Players being healed by a medic are immune to movement-impairing effects generated by hit-scan weapons.

FAQ:

Are there items in the Beta?

• On signing into the beta, you'll be automatically granted all the achievement based unlockables. As we add new items for testing purposes, these will automatically be added to your backpack. Random items drop are turned off, and the store will not be available.

Will Beta items be changed or removed?

• In response to the feedback on them, items in the Beta may change, or be removed at any time. Don't get too attached to them.

Are there Beta servers? Can we host our own?

• We're running a set of official Valve Beta servers, and it'd be great if other server administrators want to chip in. Details are here. (Use "-game tf_beta" with HLDSUpdateTool to install the server files for the Beta).

In an interview with Gamasutra, the multiplayer design lead for THQ's upcoming team shooter Homefront explained the team's part of the approach to PC support.

I mean obviously an extreme example of structuring shooter development is Medal of Honor, where DICE did the multiplayer and the single player game was done at EA LA. How did you organize your development in terms of structure?

ED: Kaos is doing both multiplayer and single player, the only thing that we're outsourcing is the PC platform. We have Digital Extremes off in Ontario working on that, and that's really so that that platform can really hit on the key parts of the experience that are important to the PC audience. And we're supporting things like dedicated servers hosted by users on PC, we're supporting things like server browsers -- things that the PC player really wants. In terms of single player and multiplayer, we really share all the base technology and all the assets, all that is the same stuff. As the player goes through the single player experience, they're really learning how to use all these weapons and getting familiar with the controls, and then they can jump right into multiplayer.

More snippets from the interview:

When you approach it from a design perspective, do you draw inspiration from other sources?

ED: We absolutely look at the competitive landscape, and what other people are doing. We also try and find some new things that we can bring to our game. We've shown off the battle point system, which is a new innovation we're trying to do. It allows players to make strategic choices on the fly -- while they're on the battlefields. Part of our philosophy is we want to keep you in the action, we want to keep the pace of the game really high. We don't want you to sit around, waiting for a vehicle to spawn, we don't want you to have to run really long distances, we want to get you into the action quickly.

It sounds like your approach is somewhere in between more hardcore titles like Battlefield and something more casual, as if you are trying to ride that line between the two.

ED: Absolutely. Yeah, we want to hit a real mainstream audience, and make sure the players can jump in the game and start having fun right away. This is not the kind of game where you're going to have to spend hours learning how to fly a helicopter. This is the kind of game where you jump in, you can use the controls immediately and you start having fun right away. And then as you start playing the game you kind of start to encounter those second level systems to get more depth out of a vehicle or mechanic.

THQ heeft bekendgemaakt dat Homefront op 11 maart 2011 zal uitkomen. De shooter verschijnt voor de Xbox 360, de PlayStation 3 en de pc. Het was al bekend dat Homefront in het eerste kwartaal van 2011 zou verschijnen.

Via het Twitter-kanaal van de game Homefront is duidelijk geworden dat het spel op 11 maart 2011 in Europa op de markt verschijnt. De Verenigde Staten worden drie dagen eerder voorzien. De shooter zou in eerste instantie in februari worden uitgebracht, maar het uitstel tot maart werd in september al naar buiten gebracht. Nu is de definitieve releasedatum gepubliceerd.

Homefront verschijnt voor de Xbox 360, de PlayStation 3 en de pc, en het verhaal speelt zich af in de VS, waar het Koreaanse regime inmiddels de scepter zwaait. De shooter wordt ontwikkeld door Kaos Studios en uitgever THQ hoopt bovendien een film rond de franchise uit te brengen. THQ-directeur Danny Bilson liet zich eerder ook al ontvallen dat er al aan een opvolger wordt gewerkt.

Bron: http://tweakers.net/nieuws/70840/homefront-verschijnt-op-11-maart.html

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