ValveTime

Following the onset of the Steam Hardware beta, Valve have begun shipping the Steamworks API that will allow game developers to incorporate specific support for the Steam Controller in their games. In other words, you might soon see official Steam Controller support added to your favorite Steam game!

The post also mentions that Steam users who currently have one of the beta Steam Controller units are encouraged to begin creating and sharing their own custom controller mappings for the Controller’s "Legacy Mode", which is essentially a keyboard emulation mapping functionality which allows all Steam games to be played with a controller, regardless of official controller support.


Click here to see the original blog post. We'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the latest Steam Controller news.

It's nearly Christmas, and that means Gabe Claus is starting to make his annual rounds! Check out what Gabe might have left for you in the ValveTime Weekly News Round-Up for 16th December 2013! Some of the most recent headlines include the Wraith-Night update for Dota 2, the release of the first Steam Machines and SteamOS, and the reveal of two brand new maps for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive!

Valve recently announced two forthcoming maps for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in a new blog post over on the game’s website. The first is an updated remake of the classic "Cobble" (de_cbble) map, while the second is an all-new map entitled "Overpass". In the announcement blog post, the team shares some details on the design processes used to create the two new maps.

In remaking the classic Cobble map, the Counter-Strike team set out to maintain its large scale to ensure it remains fun for large numbers of players, while also tweaking the design to accommodate for more intimate 5v5 matches. The blog post notes the decision to add significantly more detail to the map as a means of increasing the opportunity for strategy, making it seem less monotonous, and scaling the whole map down a touch to make it seem less like a "land of giants." The map now also features fewer dark corridors to make it feel less restricted. Additionally, some of the map’s layout has been changed to add more strategic routes, which is a direct reaction to the unavoidable choke points apparent in the original.

Click here to read about the upcoming, all new "Overpass" map! [...]

The wait is over and with the Steam Machines having been shipped to the lucky beta participants SteamOS is finally ready for download! The official SteamOS page gives the system requirements, installation instructions and answers a couple questions users may have about the OS.

If you want to set up your own Steam box you'll need a machine with a 64-bit processor, 4 GB of RAM, an nVidia graphics card (AMD and Intel support coming soon) and a USB port. There are two separate versions of the installer to download, a default one and a custom one that gives you more control over the installation. Valve warns though that the installers will erase all data on the computer they're being installer on to. If you want to dual-boot with your Windows machine you might want to wait a bit for a less nuclear option to be released.

The SteamOS FAQ gives more details on the OS itself. It's based on Debian 7.1 and it does feature an ordinary Linux desktop (GNOME) to install and use ordinary Linux applications through. It is of course also open source and if you are so inclined you can view the source here.

Good luck to everyone who's going to try out SteamOS and make sure to tell us what you think of it!

Valve have already begun giving out their Christmas presents, with the first sizable gift appearing in the form of a brand new major patch for Dota 2, known as the "Wraith-Night" update. Frostivus is once again cancelled, with Wraith-Night, which appears as this year's Winter update, instead focusing on Skeleton King, who was recently removed from the game in preparation for this update.

The announcement page mentions that "Skeleton King is crumbling to dust after too many resurrections", which means it's up to the Dota 2 community to bring him back to life as a redesigned character known as the "Wraith King"! The new mode is described as a horde game type which pits players to defend themselves and Skeleton King's wintry Altar against dangerous monsters while collecting "Wraith Essence" to revive the fallen monarch.

Once morning arrives at the conclusion of the event, Skeleton King will be permanently reborn as the Wraith King. At the conclusion of every match, all five players are awarded "Phantom Fragments", with the game rewarding more items based on individual player performance. Fragments can be used to purchase "Wraith-Night Reliquaries", "Offerings", and "Tributes", all of which function as separate tiers which provide different types of items.