CURRENT BETA INFO. You want it, you got it.

[Circuitous]

The way I figure it, being secretive doesn't give us any benefit at all. All it does is make people bitch, moan, and whine because we reveal just enough information for you all to go totally apeshit, and then can't adequately explain it for fear of being cut from the team or worse.

But fuck that.

Here I'm going to elaborate on everything new in the beta, as it currently stands, as well as anything worth noting that has changed.

If you have a question or do not understand what's been said, YOU ARE UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TO BEGIN WHINING LIKE A LITTLE BITCH. Any comments to the effect of "this will ruin the game" or "you've fucked up everything" or anything even remotely similar will earn you a 3-day forum vacation. If you have a complaint or concern, bring it up civilly or don't post a word. This is not a joke.

All information posted in this thread is subject to change without notice. Nothing listed here is final or set in stone. Until the patch is released, none of this is guaranteed.

Here's the current beta changelog [and my numbered comments below]. This is in adittion to, or overrides, the changelog posted in the public forum.

GAMEPLAY

• GENERIC:
  • Bhop increased to 1.20 from 1.14 [1]
  • Walls no longer apply friction to grenades, concmaps should be possible now! (thanks mirv) [2]
  • Small auto-conc for HH concs when you dont jump [3]
  • Frag grenade damage up to 145 (patch 1.0 was 180, patch 1.11 was 126). Radius the same.
  • Throwing the flag is now upwards slightly rather than skidding along the floor [4]
• Scout: [5]
  • Jump pad now has a warmup time before using.
  • Jump pads are now invincible and last 60 seconds.
  • Players can only use a jump pad once every second, so they dont get multiple triggers.
• Sniper:
  • Radiotag duration reduced from 60 to 15 seconds.
  • AR damage down from 7 to 5.5
• Soldier:
  • Soldier special now quickswitches between shotgun and RPG. [6]
  • Soldier RPG radius reduced to 135 from 150 [7]
• Demoman:
• Medic: [8]
  • Medpacks are now discarded slightly upwards like flags so you dont have to aim upwards to get the maximum throw distance.
  • Medpacks only last 5 seconds before disappearing now, to stop spamming them on your defense positions.
• HWGuy:
  • HW AC: Overheat removed, rof changed from 0.06-0.12 to 0.05-0.15. cof changed from 0.10-0.15 to 0.05-0.30. [9]
  • Charge bar removed and put on a cvar in case anyone wants to keep it (cl_acchargebar). [10]
• Pyro:
  • Flamethrower pushforce cap increased to 850 from 550.
  • Pyro special now quickswitches between flamethrower and IC. [11]
  • Pyro upwards flamepush increased, Can use it in conjunction with
    ICjump to get a little bit higher. [12]
  • Pyro vs Pyro now takes 100% damage up from 75%. [13]
  • Flamethrower damage increased to 16 from 13
• Spy:Spy now has a 'last disguise' option on the menu [14]
• Engineer:
  • SG bulletpush now works on the ground (thanks jiggs!) [15].
  • SG air bulletpush reduced to 15 from 24

BUG FIXES

• Dispenser / SG health now displays properly on the HUD even if you are
  far away (thanks mirv)
• Possible fix for CL_CopyExistingEntity crash (!!) (thanks mirv + jiggs
  + 4est and all the testers!) [16]
• Jump pad now has an invisible trigger around it so you don't get stuck
  on it funny (thanks jiggs)
• SG now tracks properly when built on a slope (thanks mirv) [17]
• SD2 / push lasers are now visible again (thanks mirv)
• Death by burning is no longer a suicide (thanks jiggs) [18]
• Jump pads no longer move around when you bump into them [19]
• Fixed LUA error causing security icons to disappear when players connected

VISUALS / POLISH

• SG models (they werent added properly last week) [20]
• New explosion scorch decal (thanks 5316)
• Medkits now turn in the air horizontally so they dont get stuck in the
  ground funny
• 'on fire' hud redness reduced a lot
• Jumppad makes a sound when you use it (thanks mervaka for sound /
  jiggs for code)
• Changed URL for update stuff (thanks mirv)
• SG now has muzzleflashes and tracers coming out of both barrels
• Pyro scream sound now limited to once every 3 seconds
• Nail glow is now removed when they hit a wall
• Cvars for turning off targets + gren trails

MAP STUFF

• ff_openfire_b2 added
• Various crossover tweaks including a revamped midmap
• Epicenter 3-cap LUA system added, some various tweaks

[1] bhop is a lot faster and smoother now, especially noticeable in light classes.
[2] KubeDawg says it's perfect, and I believe him.
[3] While running and holding a conc grenade without jumping, you'll make a small concjump just like you'd do with a frag grenade.
[3.1] Some testers brought up that this might hurt a couple fake-out tactics. It's being considered that, if holding still, the conc should still go off without an effect. Discuss.
[4] Barely noticeable unless you're looking for it, but it comes in handy more often than you might think.
[5] For those of you who don't know, the Scout lost his caltrops and instead got a jump pad. The jump pad (also called a mancannon) is a simple polygonal mound, currently made of shiny pink metal, and upon contact with it you get launched in roughly the direction you were moving, with speed proportional to the speed you hit it with.
[5.1] Using the jump pad with concs, explosives, and other pushes can yield major boosts. The team is looking at balancing issues (perhaps it should just launch at a set speed, what angle should it use, how tall should it be, etc.)
[6] This is awesome.
[7] It has been decided already that this is too high, and will be lowered before the patch.
[8] The Medic can, if you did not already know, toss medpacks using secondary fire.
[8.1] Currently they can't be caught in midair. Don't know if this will be "fixed" before the patch.
[9] Now you can hold fire to spam spam spam the AC all you please - however, the cone of fire becomes so ridiculosuly huge that anything past about fifteen feet can easily get by. You need to control your ROF to hit farther targets.
[10] The charge bar still appears on the gun's ammo count, with or without the cvar.
[11] Again, awesome.
[12] By aiming down with the flamethrower and jumping, the Pyro can use the flame like a weak jetpack, mostly for raising the height of a jump somewhat, or for greatly slowing a descent. Good Pyros can use this to get long distances or heights off of IC/Nade jumps, but the slow speed makes them bait for any nearby Snipers, Soldiers, HWGuys, or really anyone that can reach that far.
[13] Pyros still don't catch fire, but now Pyro v. Pyro fights are a little less sad to watch.
[14] This automatically disguises you as the last disguise you CHOSE. So if you backstab someone, that is NOT considered your last disguise.
[15] We're working our pants off to find a push value that works. So far, we don't really have one. Once functioning, it should prevent enemies from sprinting headlong into an SG with no fear whatsoever (so long as they aren't airborne).
[16] Confirmed working.
[17] Still bugs occasionally, testing is mostly focused on this.
[18] IC still sometimes triggers this bug, being tested.
[19] In their early implementation, jump pads pushed along the ground each time they were used, knocking them out of alignment constantly.
[20] Much better chrome effects, much brighter and more visible.

A few things this changelog doesn't really mention:

• Grenades now have a color-coded trail on them, like yellow pipes had, and if you're near a grenade sitting on the ground it has a small, color-coded halo around it.
• Player models now have high-visibility skins - brighter, more vibrant team colors, less camouflage, etc. They're much easier to spot against normal textures.

Okay, that's everything from our end. Ask your questions, make your ridiculous kneejerk reactions, but for God's sake be civil about any complaints or suggestions you have. You wanted us to be upfront, so here you go, DO NOT throw this back in our faces or make us regret doing this.

[Circuitous]

By the way, I'm the one that leaked those beta videos.

www.wegame.com/user/igotffbeta

It explains some of the new changes, and some of the new problems.

[Bully]

Release

[squeek.]

The jump pad actually lasts for 60 seconds. That was a typo in the changelog.

Edit by Circ: D'oh, yeah. Fixed.

[Vicious]

Not being a jerk, just pointing out you didn't mention the shorter time for blue pipes or the slight reduction of SG health.

Questions:

How many medpacks can a medic throw?
How much health do they regenerate?

*EDIT* Those pyros moves are fuckin awesome!

[Circuitous]

Originally Posted by Vicious

Not being a jerk, just pointing out you didn't mention the shorter time for blue pipes or the slight reduction of SG health.

Questions:

How many medpacks can a medic throw?
How much health do they regenerate?

I did, however, point out that this changelog is in addition to the one AfterShok posted on this board.

The Medic can have five out at a time, and can only hold five at once. He can get more by resupplying if the pack has the right ammo, and gets more upon respawn.

They restore, I think, 25 health. Don't quote me on that, no one ever tosses them my way.

[SmellyCat]

Cool, thanks.

How much does the flamethrower push when looking behind rather than down? Does it give a fairly decent speed boost?

[Circuitous]

Originally Posted by SmellyCat

Cool, thanks.

How much does the flamethrower push when looking behind rather than down? Does it give a fairly decent speed boost?

The pushforce cap is up 300 points, so that's approximately an extra 75% attainable speed. That said, I don't know exactly how the pushforce is calculated. I know it feels a bit faster, but can't gauge exactly by how much, especially with the bhop changes.

It's definitely faster.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by Vicious

Not being a jerk, just pointing out you didn't mention the shorter time for blue pipes or the slight reduction of SG health.

Questions:

How many medpacks can a medic throw?
How much health do they regenerate?

This was the changelog for the most recent version of the beta. It doesn't include changes that were implemented in earlier revisions.

Each medpack costs a certain amount of cells. I'm pretty sure the max cells carried is 50 and each cost 10, but that could be totally wrong. He regenerates cells after medpacks are thrown and they last for a really short amount of time.

Didn't test exact heal amounts, but it is enough for them to be useful. As of right now, they can't be caught in the air which disappoints me. I hope to see it fixed in the final release.

[there's nothing here]

Will FF be considering a greater degree of originality?

I like the game, but I don't know.. I still really don't see the thing that sets FF apart from all the other Fortress games.

Maybe it would be a good idea to break away just a bit from the tradition. FF needs more unique!

The dev team's talented! I just wish their imagination would shine through and make this game even awesome for generations to come.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by Circuitous

The pushforce cap is up 300 points, so that's approximately an extra 75% attainable speed. That said, I don't know exactly how the pushforce is calculated. I know it feels a bit faster, but can't gauge exactly by how much, especially with the bhop changes.

It's definitely faster.

You're fast at posting.

But, I tested backwards bhopping with the flamethrower and you reach speeds of a fully bunnyhopping scout. It's useful.

[Circuitous]

Originally Posted by there's nothing here

Will FF be considering a greater degree of originality?

I like the game, but I don't know.. I still really don't see the thing that sets FF apart from all the other Fortress games.

Maybe it would be a good idea to break away just a bit from the tradition. FF needs more unique!

The dev team's talented! I just wish their imagination would shine through and make this game even awesome for generations to come.

Well, there's the mancannon and the flying medpacks.

...

That sounds like a band.

Originally Posted by squeek.

You're fast at posting.

But, I tested backwards bhopping with the flamethrower and you reach speeds of a fully bunnyhopping scout. It's useful.

...back atcha.

[Hirohito]

Are you guys still going to do that big advertising campaign? I'd rather wait until you've ironed out the kinks in the new patch and have 2fort and Training mode implanted before you try to reel in new players. :/

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by there's nothing here

Will FF be considering a greater degree of originality?

I like the game, but I don't know.. I still really don't see the thing that sets FF apart from all the other Fortress games.

Maybe it would be a good idea to break away just a bit from the tradition. FF needs more unique!

The dev team's talented! I just wish their imagination would shine through and make this game even awesome for generations to come.

If you have some suggestions, the Dev team is open to them. Depending on how much work it is, coupled with what currently needs to be done, will decide on what features to implement when. I was hesitant about the "mancannon" at first, but I really like how it turned out.

[Circuitous]

Originally Posted by Hirohito

Are you guys still going to do that big advertising campaign? I'd rather wait until you've ironed out the kinks in the new patch and have 2fort and Training mode implanted before you try to reel in new players. :/

Yeah that's pretty much the idea. The PR campaign will be held off until FF is more complete and "newb friendly." That means training and bots, as well as 2fort and schtop, which likely will not be making this patch.

There's actually been some discussion as to whether this patch should even be called 2.0, but it's a bit late to take the name back now.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by there's nothing here

Will FF be considering a greater degree of originality?

I like the game, but I don't know.. I still really don't see the thing that sets FF apart from all the other Fortress games.

Maybe it would be a good idea to break away just a bit from the tradition. FF needs more unique!

The dev team's talented! I just wish their imagination would shine through and make this game even awesome for generations to come.

In my eyes, this patch will set it apart. At least apart from TFC. Pyro will see a huge boost in usage in all modes of play. Diverse offense will see the light of day. Medic can now heal effectively, even while on O. If these changes aren't enough, there's always the ideas & suggestions forum. It seems people don't want truly significant change though, judging by the 3-slot system thread.

[KubeDawg]

Question: Can we test more of the Handheld type concs when you don't jump on the ground? I often run past enemy defenses and hold my conc so I don't have to aim it at them all the time, instead just running past them. This is a good fake out tactic because if they don't see the conc, they're less likely to try to dodge it.

[Hirohito]

Originally Posted by Circuitous

Yeah that's pretty much the idea. The PR campaign will be held off until FF is more complete and "newb friendly." That means training and bots, as well as 2fort and schtop, which likely will not be making this patch.

There's actually been some discussion as to whether this patch should even be called 2.0, but it's a bit late to take the name back now.

Yay! We still need some more time to make the Wiki newbie-friendly, anyways. <3

[GhostBuster]

Thrown medpacks = from X% to 100%, and if u grab more u get more, the limit is the same limit when u heal somebady more than 100%, cant remember it now but its the same as in 1.11

And ive read that there will be no big publicity campain for 2.0, i think there is lot of work to do before that.

[squeek.]

Originally Posted by KubeDawg

Question: Can we test more of the Handheld type concs when you don't jump on the ground? I often run past enemy defenses and hold my conc so I don't have to aim it at them all the time, instead just running past them. This is a good fake out tactic because if they don't see the conc, they're less likely to try to dodge it.

This has been discussed. There's a couple options being thrown about for a fix.
1. No auto-hh when standing still
2. No auto-hh when walking
3. A checkbox in options to turn off the auto-hh's completely.