Planned 2.5 split to make a 2.42 update
 

For those of you who don't read the forums you will have missed a lot of talk over the past year. We apologise for our lack of attention to this news page and accept that it could seem as though we've abandoned the FF project. However this is NOT the case!

We are still very much active and are continuing to evolve and improve Fortress Forever.

What was planned

We have been testing a lot of big changes for the upcoming 2.5 patch--adding new weapons and even going as far as completely changing how some classes operate. Some of those changes will make the cut, and some won't, but we realized that there are a number of small changes and bug fixes that we want to release. Hence, the 2.42 patch.

Where we're at right now

Squeek and Dexter have been working very hard merging changes from our beta build and have, as of last night, got it up to date so that we can shortly begin testing release builds.

There are a few (four or five) changes which are still up for debate as to their inclusion in this patch.

Can we have some idea of what to expect in the 2.42 patch?

Here's a taste:

• You no longer lose a kill for suiciding.
• Added soft-clipping of friendly players. This means no bumping into your allies and missing that conc (you can still stack on their heads, if that's your thing).
• No longer will your crosshair betray you: Your crosshair disappears when you are concussed. The true crosshair (where you are actually firing) now flashes upon firing a weapon.
• The scout's jump pad can now only be used by friendly players (with a team-colored paint job to reflect that fact). Enemies can damage and destroy them, but they regenerate health when left alone.
• Due to recent U.N. mandates regarding biological weapons (“we really mean it this time”), we thought the days of the infection were numbered. However our crack team of lawyers thankfully discovered a loophole. The medic's infection wears off after a set amount of time. It will bring players to 1hp, but won't kill them. When the infection wears off, the lost health returns.
• HWGuy now has a secondary attack called the "overpressure". Use it to push nearby enemies away where you can safely fill them full of lead.
• New map ff_warpath will be released! Fight your way through this pristine desert valley, capturing each command point until you are at the enemy's doorstep.

That's only a portion of what we have in store, so watch this space for the full change log coming in a few weeks.


So what's happening to these 'considerable changes' & the 2.5 patch?

Some of the changes we like, but are waiting for further testing, appropriate models, and textures or coding in some required changes. Some items will be cut in the end, but 2.5 will contain some rdical new changes that we've been having a lot of fun with.

If you want to help get this next patch out the door, consider joining the beta team! We are always looking for active players who can attend tests and give good feedback. Apply in the forums. If you have developer skills such as SDK coding, modelling, animation, or level design, see our jobs page.

Finally, a news post!

Looks pretty solid as a whole. Soft-clipping is probably a good thing, changes to the jump pad are nice, infection changes are great, and I definitely want to see this HW change. Warpath is amazing, of course.

Not so sure about the change to the conc effect, though....hm.

Blog/dev journal from me should be pretty damn soon.

Yay Elmo you're the best!

I snuck in a warpath image.

I'd just like to say that the soft-clipping is AMAZING.


edit: Props to elmo for writing this beast of a news post.

was myself and carl with some help from episkopos

Most of those changes look sweet! Definitely excited to try this out.

BTW,
In the post on the front page, both of the links you posted (beta application and jobs page) only point to www.fortress-forever.com/

-Icculus

Sounds pretty cool, I can't wait to play warpath.

How does the HW push thing work? Is it going to push a concer backwards mid conc? Or does it only affect people moving a certain speed? (ie: someone who's just standing infront of you shooting you and stuff?). Is it directional like a single target? Cone shape capable of hitting a couple guys in the direction you're facing? 360 degrees on the horizontal plane? Or spherical effecting anyone in the bubble it creates?

Is it a big enough and strong enough push that if you used it on a scout who's about to conc, and just before his conc goes off you pushed him away from you and sent him in a backwards motion his conc goes off and his conc continues moving him in that backwards motion? Essentially making concers conc backwards.

Does it work on teammates? And if so, would it accelerate things like concs. As in a HW stands behind a scout and they time it so the HW pushes the scout just before the conc goes off and his conc becomes stronger because he's at a higher speed. This would be a lot of fun, it's always entertaining working together with other classes to try and do some cool stuff, and HW boost + scout concs would definately be pretty cool just to fool around with, or it could actually be usefull say on maps like palermo where you could get scouts concing to extreme heights and distances.

I like the team based jp's that's the way it should've been from the start. How much dmg does it take to destroy one ? Lets say in terms of rockets 1,2,3,4+ rockets?

For the medpack thing, is the amount restored after the infection brings you down to 1hp cumulative, and capable of going above 100% hp's? Say you get infected at 50 health , but you keep grabbing health packs, and by the time you get to 1 hp it's done a total of 125damage to you, would it pump you up to 125 hp's?

Since the Laser-Nade has been revealed, I'm going to publicly put my $.02 out there about it.

It's a great improvement over the Nail Nade. No bullshit. It floats above the floor like the nail nade, emits the 3 lasers, and spins, covering the area of effect. Then, the lasers retract, and the nade vanishes... it does not explode.

It's not an "instagib" weapon, but will deal you damage if you're caught in it. It is also possible to avoid the beams, if you time your movement properly.

Great news post Elmo, it's perfect.

Agreed, although id say it needs a different look :)

Soft clipping? Fuck yes.

I think they used the nail-nade model as a place-holder. Anyone who wants to work on this should apply to do so.

I don't like the change to the medic. I'd rather see the damage double every 3 to 5 seconds till it kills you or a medic heals you. We're gonna see less people playing medic. Its hard enough already to get a medic to help.

I also don't like the pass through. I can see a bunch of people gathering around the flag to block people from being able to reach it because they can't get through them. I also just think that passing through your own team is silly.

I like the HW bounce. Hes big enough he should be able to bounce people away, not far but enough. I can also see that as being very helpful if hes defending the flag or a button.

I like the laser grenade.

I like the changes to the jump pad.


And been waiting for warpath for a while.

Oh no, Fortress Forever has lost a handful of troll-Medics that run around mindlessly with the medkit.

If it works like the clipping in Team Fortress 2, players can't stand in one spot together, and are pushed away from one another if standing still. Even if they could, how impractical would this tactic be? Make your entire team an easier target.

Can somebody decipher the meaning of this for me? Running into your teammates is extremely annoying. Soft clipping is a very good thing.

The old medkit had no purpose other than to annoy people.

He's basically saying that, because team-mates can pass through one another, a bunch of them will get together and stand on the enemy flag and create some impenetrable wall to prevent the other team from grabbing it. If only the flag hitbox wasn't as big as an xbox.

Wouldn't soft clipping make that even less effective? Both standing in the same spot = less area blocked.

Edit: Not that it even matters. Nobody is going to even try to do this.