Team Fortress Classic Releases

After the long wait, Valve Software and Sierra Studios have released the first free add-on for Half-Life - Team Fortress Classic (TFC). Originally, the download was schedule to release at the end of March but was held back to allow the development team extra bug-squashing time. Players can choose one of nine classes to play capture the flag deathmatches online or via a LAN.

TFC comes as part of the latest 1.0.0.9 release of Half-Life allowing Half-Life players improved 3D hardware acceleration performance, better gameplay bandwidth, and a new MOD browser to let gamers browse, download, and participate in custom-made games using Half-Life as its base.

The new add-on features new scenarios like Hunted, where teams are divided into bodyguards and assassins; CanalZone, where one team attempts to take all the territory for itself; and Push, where gamers play an interesting match that Valve describes as "soccer with machine guns."

Half-Life players can download the 18 MB file from GameSpot starting Wednesday by using the Half-Life automatic update features, or by using Sierra Utilities, which installs with the full retail version of Half-Life.

For Linux fans, dedicated Linux Half-Life server software and the final version of the Half-Life Software Development Kit (SDK) can be downloaded from the official Half-Life site.