Summary
Team Fortress 2is more proof thatValvedoesn’t know how to count to three. With hopes of Half-Life 3 fading away with each passing year, fans were hoping that at least Team Fortress may get a third installment, but to no avail. However, withthis year’s rumour mill for Half-Life 3 getting more wind than ever before, Team Fortress is also back on the menu… sort of.
Rather than making Team Fortress 3, Valve has decided to let the community take control of the IP. This comes directly from Valve, whorecently announcedthat the Source Software Development Kit will be getting all of Team Fortress 2’s client and server game code in an update.
You Can Now Make Your Own Team Fortress 3
“Mod makers, rejoice! We’ve just released a massive update to the Source SDK, adding all the Team Fortress 2 client and server game code,” said the announcement. “This update will allow content creators to build completely new games based on TF2. We’re also doing a big update to all our multiplayer back-catalogue Source engine titles (TF2, DoD:S, HL2:DM, CS:S, and HLDM:S), adding 64-bit binary support, a scalable HUD/UI, prediction fixes, and a lot of other improvements!”
Valve went on to explain that this newly added SDK mod support will enable modders to “change, extend or rewrite TF2, making anything from small tweaks to complete conversions possible.” Of course, any mods or content using these mods should be available for free to everyone, given that the SDK is licensed to users on a non-commercial basis.
This means that you might just be able to play Team Fortress 3, only it will be a fan-made mod project, rather than something official by Valve. Given that Valve is probably not planning on making a Team Fortress 3, this is the best possible move to continue the legacy of Team Fortress, which still has a strong community and legacy.
Things haven’t been too great with the game itself, however, with the community complaining about bots, cheaters, and hackers ruining the experience for everyone. This has resulted inTeam Fortress 2’s Steam reviews dropping to Mostly Negative.
Hopefully, releasing the source code to the community will bring the game’s reviews and overall sentiment back to where it belongs.
