First of all, at long last, Fortress Forever has been submitted to Steam Greenlight (read about Steam Greenlight). If FF gets Greenlit, you would be able to install and update Fortress Forever through Steam like you would a commercial game. Because Fortress Forever is still being actively developed, this is actually a big deal. It would both make it easier for players to install and update the game and easier for us to release updates.

Please feel free to encourage your friends to vote for FF on Greenlight.


Also, a new bug fix patch will be coming soon (with many fixes relating to spectating). Be on the look out.

It has been nearly a year since the last patch, but we're still alive and kicking. This update brings some much needed/long-awaited changes (new class selection screen) as well as bug fixes, balance tweaks, and a large amount of added Lua scripting functionality.

2.45 Changelog




Download

Fortress Forever was released 5 years ago to the day. This post is way overdue, but I want to take some time to thank everyone that has helped FF over the years.

• A gigantic thanks to all the developers that came and left before I joined the team. Seriously, I don't think I can possibly express the gratitude they deserve. The scope of this mod is truly unbelievable and they did an amazing job.
  
• Thank you to AfterShock, GreenMushy, Dexter, caesium, Crazycarl, Elmo, and all the rest of the current dev team for sticking with the game through some bleak times
  
• Thank you to Bully for providing us with fantastic voiceover work (announcer and training voiceover). Sorry if we didn't show enough appreciation, your contributions have been invaluable.
  
• Special thanks to anyone that has stuck with the game since 1.0
  
• Thank you to everyone that has helped populate public servers all this time
  
• Thank you to anyone that has hosted a FF server
  
• Thank you to Scuzzy and the O-T clan. No matter your opinion on them, they have supported the game since before release and have helped FF countless times over the years (running the FF beta server, hosting the website for a time, etc, etc).
  
• Thank you to []Zer0 and infy for supporting #ff.pickup and helping it survive all these years (and everyone that has hosted a server for #ff.pickup)
  
• Thank you to Dr.Satan and PoC/marxist for running successful seasons of UGC
  
• Thank you to everyone that has stuck with #ff.pickup since it started (the_cake, rodox, Hoopajoo, hadeZ, SiSCoS, GreenMushy, exoskeletaL, WATER, VinnyTheBoss, R00Kie [come back!], BananaHammock) and to everyone that has played in pickups over the years
  
• Thank you to everyone that played in the Quakenet #ff.pickup channel before the channels merged (sadly, I'm not as familiar with these players)
  
• Thank you to anyone that has helped promote FF in any way
  
• Thank you to ryu^ for making Fortress Forever - The Movie
  
• Thank you to anyone that has made a FF video (off the top of my head: 1337CaLeB, FDA, Lateralols [POTMs], SiSCoS, Hoopajoo, caesium, ryu^, Mase)
  
• Thank you to Jiggles and Dr.Evil for helping me out with code edits while I was on the beta team
  
• Thank you to NeoNL, R00Kie, and nine` for being the nicest and most helpful people of all time
  
• Thank you to the_cake and rodox for being tremendous helps while beta testing and giving valuable feedback
  
• Thank you to all current and past beta team members (2.1 beta testing was the most fun I've ever had playing FF; those epic rounds of hunted were amazing)
  
• Thank you to anyone that has made a map for FF (of particular note: zE)
  
• Thank you to anyone that has made custom models/textures/HUD elements/etc for FF (of particular note: Jester)
  
• And finally, thank you to anyone that has done so much as played and enjoyed Fortress Forever in the past 5 years
  

We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. I hope you'll continue to support the mod in any way you can. It means a lot.

Steamworks is an API intended to help with developing and publishing a game or mod. If Valve gives you access, it means that your game/mod will be distributed by Steam and will have access to features like achievements and matchmaking, among other things. Essentially, though, if we were granted access, it'd mean you could update or install Fortress Forever using Steam just as you would update or install a commercial Valve title. Unfortunately, Valve never contacted us about being included when they were inviting other Source mods to be part of the program.

After a lot of uncertainty surrounding the issue, we now have something definitive. This is the last correspondence with Valve we have had regarding Steamworks. I replied and asked for some clarification but have gotten no response.

Originally posted by ValveThank you for submitting “Fortress Forever” for potential Steam distribution. We have taken a look at the information provided and determined that Steam is not a good fit for distribution. It is our company policy not to provide specific feedback on a submission but we would like you to consider Steam distribution for your future products.

The way I see it, this can mean one of a few things:

1. Fortress Forever is ineligible for Steamworks for some specific reason
   
   Reasons could include things like:
   
   
   
   • We need to be on the 2007 engine to be eligible for Steamworks support
     
     • I don't believe this is a requirement for Steamworks, as I think a mod has gotten Steamworks support while on the 2006 engine
     
     
   • We are not popular/established enough to be eligible for Steamworks support
     
     • If the mods that have received Steamworks support are any indication, this (hopefully) shouldn't apply to Fortress Forever. We've been actively developing the game for almost 5 years and have maintained a small but loyal playerbase
     
     
   Whatever the reason, though, it seems like if there is some requirement that we do not meet, then it'd be nothing but beneficial for them to let us know what that is so that we could work on those specific aspects and re-apply.
   
   
   
2. Valve has some sort of grudge against this mod specifically and/or doesn't want it to "compete" with TF2
   
   While this would make for a good pity party/movie plot, I don't think there is any evidence to support this.
   
   
   
3. Valve is moving away from supporting mods in general
   
   Unfortunately, I think this is the most likely answer. Mod support from Valve has been getting increasingly small over the past years. Here's a select few things that point to this:
   
   
   
   • Zero mods have received Steamworks support since around 2009
     
   • When using Create a Mod in Source SDK to create a 2007 (OB) engine mod, it gives you source code that doesn't compile because it is missing files. This has been the case for a while and has not been fixed
     
   • The 2009 engine update has not received mod support (the Portal 2 engine with Mac support); it seems likely at this point that it never will
     
   • Mods are somewhat buried in the Steam store (as a "fun" game, try to find Fortress Forever's Steam store listing without searching for it directly), and the Steamworks mods have been removed from the Library tab if they are not installed
     
   • The hlcoders mailing list, where you used to be able to get responses from Valve employees about Source mod programming, has been almost entirely abandoned by Valve
     

Essentially, this boils down to the fact that we probably won't be getting Steamworks support. However, Steamworks support isn't as big of a deal as it once was and is more likely to get worse for mods over time (due to #3 above) rather than better. It seems unclear at this point if getting on Steamworks would even increase FF's visibility in the Steam UI.

I'd love to be proven wrong and see Valve release updated tools and a new mod-supported engine version. In the meantime, though, we'll keep plugging away at improving Fortress Forever. With Steamworks no longer in the picture, we must make our own way forward, meaning that community support is as necessary as it's ever been. If you'd like to help us out with anything, let us know on the forums.

Also, be on the look out for a new patch in the near future (give or take a few soon's).

Patch 2.44 is a (much needed) bugfix patch with a few balance tweaks and general improvements. Enjoy!

Changelog

• 2.44 Changelog

Client Installers

• Download/Update Fortress Forever automatically with Desura

2.43 to 2.44 Patch Installer

• ModDB.com (.EXE)
  
• Fortress-Forever.com (.EXE)
  
• FFPickup.com (.EXE)
  
• Atreuce (.EXE)
  

2.44 Full Installer

• ModDB.com (.EXE)
  
• Fortress-Forever.com (.EXE)
  
• FFPickup.com (.EXE)
  
• Atreuce (.EXE)
  

Server Packages

2.43 to 2.44 Server Patch

• Fortress-Forever.com (.ZIP)
  
• FFPickup.com (.ZIP)
  
• Atreuce (.ZIP)
  

2.44 Server Full

• Fortress-Forever.com (.ZIP)
  
• FFPickup.com (.ZIP)
  
• Atreuce (.ZIP)
  

UPDATE: There is a server crash in this patch. Here is a fixed server.dll:

2.44 Server Hotfix