Beta patch 5

[NeverRetreat]

The long awaited beta patch is out for those who want to help test it. I suggest taking a look at this huge patch and all the goodies they have finally done. I'm pleased with the direction this patch is taking T2.

You can check it out here in the news section:

http://www.tribalwar.com/

[[AK]Leonidas]

NR, can you post a link to the readme for the patch?

[[AK]Squidly]

Satchel Charge Icon Glow
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When the satchel charge is deployed and ready to explode, the icon now glows. The icon disappears completely when the satchel is destroyed (either through activation or destruction). This allows players to more readily keep track of satchel charge status.

Cheat Fixes
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Significant cheat prevention code has been implemented to eliminate known cheats, as well as to make it much more difficult for future cheating of a similar nature to occur.
NOTE: If you have any troubles running a server now, you may have altered or removed something from the build on your server. The code is checking almost everything now (shapes, textures, etc.), so you should ensure that you have all files present from a normal build on your server. (Additional files, like MODs and extra art files won't be a problem...but all original files must be there as well.)

Siege Halftime Improved
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The Siege halftime now gets a screen listing the winning team instead of simply "Switching Sides".

CTF Individual Scoring
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No change was made whatsoever to the team CTF scoring. But the individual scoring now takes into account vehicle kills, more repair/destroy stuff, and makes it nice and robust for statistical tracking later. NOTE: The scores are dramatically inflated compared to previous individual scores so that we had more "granularity" in the system and didn't have to use decimal points. Thus, you will appear to be racking up a huge amount of points, but it's all relative when compared to other players in the game.
Scoring Details
----------------------
Kill: 10 pts
Flag Capture: 30 pts
Flag Grab (if subsequently captured): 20 [A one player grab-and-cap you get both for a total of 50]
Carrier Escort: 5
Sniper Headshot: 1
Turret kill: manned: 10 automated: 3
Flag Defend: 5
Flag Carrier Kill: 5
Flag Return: 0 - 10 pts [Points are scaled by distance: no points for a short return. 10 pts if the flag carrier gets all the way to the flag. 1 point per 10% (Halfway is 5 pts.)] 15 points if the return breaks a stalemate (both teams have had each others flags for 60 seconds or longer.)
Generator Defend: 5 pts
Object Destroy Repair
Generator 10 8
Sensor 4 1
Base Turret 5 4
Inv Station 2 2
Vehicle Station 5 4
Solar Panel 5 4
Sentry Turret 4 2
Deployed sensor 1 0
Deployed inv station 2 2
Deployed turret 3 3
Shrike 5
Bomber 8
Havoc 5
Wildcat 5
Tank 8
MPB 12
*vehicles destroyed by mines are double points, vehicles destroyed by vehicles are triple points
**vehicles destroyed also score 2 points per passenger (after any multiplier)
***points accumulated in a vehicle are earned by everyone in the vehicle


Heat Lock vs. Target Laser Lock
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Heat Locking now supercedes Targeting Laser Locking so that heat locks can be attained on objects that are being lazed by friends. Keep in mind that when the target is out of range for the ML, it will still lock onto the targeting laser giving the appearance that its locking onto the laser first. If the target is in range the ML will always look for heated targets first.

Objective HUD Visible on Vehicles
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The objective HUD is now visible while flying/driving vehicles.

Client-Side Toggle on Vehicle Tport
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The player now has the ability to toggle Vehicle Tport ability on/off (defaults to ON) as a client-side option in SETTINGS/GAME.

EAX Sound Improvements
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EAX environmental sound reverbs have been included for underwater and interiors. Those sounds will only be heard when using EAX or EAX2 drivers. (We recommend EAX for best results.)

IFeel Force Feedback Mouse
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The IFeel force feedback mouse vibrations should now work correctly again. They have also been enhanced beyond what was previously available.

Vehicles Parking on Flags
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"Anti-Parking" code has been added to flags similar to the "anti-camping" code around a Nexus in Hunters. This results in vehicles taking damage over time when they are parked near a flag, eventually resulting in their destruction if left there too long.

Aiming Up and Down
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The restrictions on aiming up and down have been virtually removed for all armors. NOTE: This will result in situations where your weapon can clip through the leg of your armor when looking straight down. If this bothers you, then change your graphics setting to "Items Only" so that your body is not drawn when in first-person perspective.

Jetpower for Suits
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Scout jetpower (power of thrust) was reduced to previous levels, but their maximum speed velocity was increased somewhat. This removes the "butterfly" effect, but allows slightly faster skiing than previously allowed. Additionally, air resistance was reduced by 33% on all armors to further reduce the "floaty" feel. This also allows slightly faster speeds across the board.

Splash Damage
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Splash damage on shots was reduced slightly. It is still much more powerful than when the game was released, but this change makes mortars and grenades more playable.

Shrike Speed
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The Shrike thrust was returned to normal, making the Shrike very responsive again. A new maximum speed cap has been added to prevent it from going too fast, but the performance improvement on this vehicle is significant.

Mine Damage
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Mine damage was reduced slightly to prevent Lights from being one-shotted by stepping on a mine. They will still be severely harmed, but won't go from 100% health to dead in one shot.

Missile Launcher
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The Missile Launcher range had been inadvertently reduced during the reticle improvements a few patches back. It has now been increased back to its original design. Range is now 400m.

Heat Signature Fall Off
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Heat reduces *very slightly* slower than it did previously. Players can still easily manage their heat signatures, but must be a bit more paranoid of missile launchers now (thus making it a bit easier for high-ping players to use this weapon).

Suit Mortars vs. Tanks
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The strength of hand-held mortars versus Tanks was incorrectly weak. It has now been increased so that it is much more useful.

Shrike Gun Changes
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The Shrike blasters have been moved out to the wing joints to allow easier strafing of objects. Additionally, there is some (very minor...one degree of spread) projectile spread on the blasters now to make strafing easier. (For comparison purposes, the chaingun has eight degrees of spread.)The range of the blasters was incorrectly enormous and has been reduced to a balanced distance (slightly outside the range of hand-held missile launchers).

Water Movement
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Speeds in water have been greatly increased so as to make water a more viable playing environment.

Whiteout Grenades
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A maximum saturation has been defined for the Whiteout grenades to keep your "whiteout" time to no more than two seconds.
OOB Grid
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The mission boundary is now visually defined. As you approach a mission boundary, and "out of bounds grid" will fade into existence. If you go past the boundary, the grid will not fade out until you return inside the mission area. This is done to make it easier to avoid getting a flag stripped or getting damaged due to OOB damage. This visual option can be toggled OFF in your Game Settings area (option button is called "Show Out of Bounds Grid").
Grenade Icons
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Each of the individual grenades is now represented by different artwork on your HUD. Concussion, flare, whiteout, regular, and even cameras now all have separate icons so that you can better understand what your loadout is at a glance.
Wildcat Grav Bike
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"Suspension" has been added to the Wildcat making it easier to control over rough terrain.
Air Drag
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Air Drag has been reduced making the game feel "faster".

===================================
If you fly past the flight ceiling then you will lose your jetting and thrusting ability. Angle you nose down (when you are above the flight ceiling) and thrust will function normally.
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This annoying server degradation bug has been fixed. It may pop back up if you have a very busy server that is up for an extended period of time. If this occurs, reboot the server.
"Unassigned" Team
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This bug allowed a person to join as "unassigned" and view all friend/foe triangles as grey. It has been fixed.

[[AK]Palooka]

It looks like the patch will enormously improve the game. I really like the new scoring system; it ensures that people get credit when performing important jobs that do not necessarily involve killing the enemy or capping.

[Garrett]

Ack...Kiss my mortar trick goodbye.
damnit i liked that too.

[[AK]Squidly]

Mortar Trick?

[Dr_K]

Garret, was that the 140 Meter thingy?