For the last few weeks, the world has been quite busy dealing with hangovers and filling stomachs with Christmas goodies. In actuality, there is not that much for us to report this month because we've been taking a bit of a holiday break ourselves. We have loaded some of the last release candidate builds to the Steam servers, and they're quite ready to go. It's up to Valve to press the button now.
Besides that, a few developers have been compiling a few things, and adding finishing touches. Below, we've put together a quick video to show you a couple small things that we have been working on. Rabidpenguin, one of the team's newest additions, is a very talented modeler and animator. He has been working on animating a couple of models overdue for such an honor, over the last few weeks. His latest score are two commonly used models in cyberspace, the cyber-shard and the ice-mine.
Sverek, our new sound engineer has been working diligently on adding new sounds, and changing old ones, to move away a lot of our sound base from Half-Life 2 oriented sounds. He has proven to be quite a hard worker, and has made exceptional progress.
Finally, a few of the mappers have made an update. Venciera, original author of Cybernetic, has been working pretty hard to give his map some fresh updates. Flying cars, a floating hostage pod and a teleportation device are just some of the things he's been perfecting.
Turning the page, to a little bit of a different side of things, we have great news for everyone regarding the statistics system. To kick it all off, we will give everyone a glance at all of the first 42 achievements available in the 1.2 Statistics system.
To close it up, we'd like to let everyone know that all supporters can now access the 1.2 stats system for use, and if they'd like, defect identification. Upon 1.2's release, the stats system will host a larger array of features for the Dystopia community than the previous system. Also, supporters will have many exclusive features available to them.
Check out the new stats system, available now for supporters! And have a happy 2009 everyone!
Finally, make sure to help get Dystopia nominated to the top 100 for the ModDB Mod of the Year Awards for 2008!
It was the sensation that pulled me in, that sensation which bore deep into our consciousness and took refuge within our minds. The sensation brokered a deal with our imaginations to understand a vastly dissimilar world from our own. It was a world that was contrary from the comfort of our chairs and our conditioned air, with ions glazing our faces with a coat of lethargy. Sent away from this comfort, we engaged in the usage of skill and tactics to combat our attacker. Skirmish after skirmish, it had sucked us in.
This sensation pulled me in, I felt the atmosphere of the world around me and the camaraderie of my team. We fought countless hours to see our goal's end, and always repeating the fight until it brooded our own stories and memories.
It's been too long since we have spoke, you and I -- or at least that eerie silence between us has made it seem that way. I looked to you for the depth of my experience, and the longevity of my enjoyment. They lust for you and there is no denying that they want you back.
You're the chilling sensation that made me sense the inside of Corporate Battle Armor as my own, which made me grip tight against the stock of the cold hardened steel separating me from death. I have been waiting until you can bring that back to me again. And now, my wait has finally come to an end.
Since being given the opportunity to utilize the SteamWorks utility, we have made it very clear to ourselves that we would keep it a secret, even to our best of friends, play testers and supporters, until we knew for a fact that we could harness this powerful application.
I have the pleasure of announcing that our next version, 1.2, complete with new maps, many new changes and fixes, will be available direct to download from Steam, utilizing the SteamWorks framework! I have said it numerous times in the past, but I will re-iterate. It does not matter the quality of the modification or game brought to SteamWorks, as it does that the modding community has been given this great opportunity to use such a distinguished application. We are very proud to be alongside some of the greatest modifications the Source community has to offer like Eternal Silence, Insurgency, D.I.P.R.I.P., Pirates, Vikings & Knights II, and more!
Along with this announcement, we'd like to formally announce the long-awaited and much anticipated Dystopia Statistics & Information System 2.0. We call it 2.0, because it is a complete rewrite, from the network protocol to the master server to the database to the web frontend. The whole thing is new and incorporates much of what we have learned from the original system. We've also implemented rolling stats, as was discussed heavily on the suggestions forums. It is flawlessly integrated into our next version to deliver a fast and easy to interpret informational view of all of Dystopia's players, matches, servers and more.
And now, for a video run down of the new stats system:
As mentioned in the video, here are just a few of the achievements we plan to bring to the Dystopia community in 1.2. 52 planned achievements affected by things like damage, kills, energy and usage. We have also planned an additional number of achievements that are unique to Dystopia, that we will talk about in the future.
Critical Mass - Kill 5 enemies with EMP Grenades Pineapple Punch - Kill 10 enemies with Frag Grenades One Fist, Two Fist, Red Fist, Blue Fist - Kill 25 enemies with the Fatman Fist Street Samurai - Kill 40 enemies with the Medium Katana Thinktank - Deal 3,000 damage with the Cortex Bomb Vapourware - Deal 33,000 damage with the Ion Canon
Also, please take the time to welcome three new members to the Dystopia team, rabidpenguin a modeller and animator, Sverek, an Audio Effects developer and The-Donkey-Headed-Adversary, a tryout 2D Interface artist. We look forward to their contributions to the success of Dystopia!
Things have been slowing down here on the team, and not the bad type of slowing down that you hear of. We're getting close to the end of 1.2's development life cycle, and nearing a very special milestone date that we have all had in our head. Team members are now communicating much more than normal, and helping with other’s tasks to meet this deadline.
As always, the IT/Support team has been busy chipping away at a new navigational menu for everyone. Now, a re-written website has a perfect companion of expanded navigation, you’ll notice a drop down menu in place of the older menu that opens up the overview, team, awards, irc and supporter page. The team page has been updated to include proper links to forum profiles for those who need to get in contact with us. Also, on a special note, please take the time to congratulate Spire on being Dystopia’s new art lead! Spire has displayed a large amount of skill and dedication in regards to art on Dystopia, and has proven every confidence. He has a difficult job ahead of him, and walks in very difficult footsteps.
Lastly, when speaking about the new navigation menu for the website, the third party map page is now available for everyone! This long overdue page is a source for anyone looking to get that extra feed of Dystopia through more maps, and incorporates the winners of the third party map competition and the team’s hand picked favorites. Wrapped up with a bow in a nice installer for everyone, you'll get community favorites and competition winners like like Tower, Infect, Racetrack, Desert, and Fusion.
Be sure to stop by the third party map page, get a heads up on the maps featured there, and grab the installer. We will be sure to update the installer as often as possible, and provide the community with the best levels available. The media gallery has been updated with screen shots from each of these great maps as well as an album of the upcoming 1.2 release.
On the development side of 1.2, as mentioned, we are nearing a very special milestone date. One of the tasks to get to that milestone, is completion of one of our upcoming maps, Exodus. Exodus, based on a later iteration of an older map called Abandon, takes place in a depleted urban area with rampant criminal activity. Fight to protect what little order is left in this exhausted inner-city, before all hope is lost here and the last presence of a corporation vanishes!
Originally a testbed for movement and low-level code during Dystopia's pre-release development, Abandon slowly came to fruition over the last few years. Now called Exodus, a highly collaborative map, many have given their all to make this level very fun and balanced! Exodus is now available in our latest RC, Release Candidate 4, be sure to check out the Exodus media gallery. Also featured are plenty of in-game and level screen shots from in-game, check em out! RC4 brings changes and fixes, as well as this awesome new map!
Energy no longer drains while holding sprint in cyberspace.
Medi-plant turns back on when decking out, if decking in disabled it.
Added a fade in to grenade IFF.
Fixed a bug where Supporters would get kicked.
Fixed cyberhands showing up in meatspace, and the subsequent crash they caused.
