August 29th, 2001TestThis is a test of the new news posting system. If this were an actual post, the content you are currently reading would be worth reading. August 18th, 2001Paintball II v1.73 Almost DoneOk, sorry I haven’t updated in a while, but there IS a new version on the way, and it’s just about done, too. Some of the things like the command flood protection didn’t work as well as they sounded in theory. Plus with the destruction old bugs comes new bugs :). Anyway, here’s what’s in store:
- command flood protection only applies to certain commands now (you can drop several items at once now), and the delay is a server side setting (cmdfloodprotect, default 1 sec) - bug where people can spawn in the wrong base fixed - paint splatters are brighter and the color shade is randomized slightly - paint only splatters when balls have traveled more than 1 frame (lag reducer, esp. with grens) - funnames/names check for certain chars that screw things up - the wave command hinders movement (this is server toggleable, of course) - grens only make tink sound when moving > 400units/s (for when explode on impact is disabled) - if gren hits an ent, balls go in all directions (fixes gren-to-head bug) - if balls hit an ent, no splat model is left (no mysterious floating splats when someone's hit) - timeleft hud display now only updates once/sec (oops - that was causing some overflows) - hud updates on round start - ppl can't spam swapping into observer and back - idlers always get knocked into observer now - removed "Alive - ..." thing - it's on the hud (cut down on lag) - optimized some cvars - grenade spinning code modified (appearance only) grens rotate fast and slow down with time, rotation speed reset whenever they hits something - pbgrens spin fast when exploding - pbgren smoke trails are now a server side option - balls only make splat sound if they travel more than 1 frame (lag reducer) - "endsround" "1" applied to a flag or a base will end the round when the flag is capped - "flagcapendsround" cvar added (same as above, but for all maps) - in siege mode, attackers now have to get the flag out of the base (it was too easy before) - in dm, players spawn farthest from other players (so you don't spawn in the crossfire - that's annoying)
I’m also working on server side options for the gl_modulate limit. Servers can set different punishments, ie - resetting it to an acceptable value, or making the player glow (which will be the new default). Somehow I get the feeling we’ll be seeing glowing players all over ;). Um, as usual, direct any comments/suggestions/complaints to the bboard (or you can email, I suppose - wouldn’t hurt to get some mail that wasn’t spam here and there :) Client Side AttacksA number of people have gotten annoyed and quit playing due to some children attacking their Quake2 clients, causing it to crash, disconnect, or have the bindings changed (ie, bind mouse1 "say I'm an idiot"). Our resident sleuth, Calrathan, has investigated and found a noteworthy solution. Read it here. Sad's New CodeSad's playing around with the deathmatch code and added a kinda fun feature - the person who's winning has a nice BFG effect floating above his(her?) head. It's weird, but adds a nice dimension to gameplay. Gives you a better idea of who to attack (or avoid). CGI StuffWell, GameSpy is rearranging their network or something, so some of the cgi stuff (like the POTD) isn't working. I'll get around to moving that over to dynamic... one of these days :) July 9th, 2001Paintball II v1.72 is Here!And you're still reading this news update? C'mon now - go to the files page! Actually, that really only applies to the server admins. You can still grab it so you can play with my balls, though (new ball code, I mean).
NOTE: Server admins - make sure your sv_maxvelocity is set to 4000 or more. If it isn't - the balls don't fly right (Quake2 is weird).
If you're wondering what's new, read the past several updates - I'm not going to paste it all here. This is what's new since the last post: - matchmode command added (sets default cvars for matches) - publicmode command added (sets default cvars for public servers) 1.72 Almost There...Ok, well - I didn't get everything done I wanted to yet, but I think I'll be releasing something soon (tonight? tomorrow?). I revamped the ball physics. I think it should make it easier to hit people as well as give some of the newbies more of a chance - I put together a little demo so you can see the ball flight as well as some other new features here. Extract the file to c:\quake2\pball\demos then fire up Paintball2 and type "map 172features.dm2" at the console. I forgot to set the timelimit, so the counter doesn't change - just imagine it does. :) WARNING: If you're weak in the stomach, shut the demo off after the comment about cheating (there's nothing important after that anyway).
Here's a list of what's new since the last release: - revised FloodProtection for say cmd (more appropriate settings for 1 sec limit) - dead can't talk to living - added a "chasecamonly" setting that locks the chasecam to your own team (to make it fair in matches so ppl with voice communication don't have too much of an advantage) - when someone switches out of observer (joins a team), they can respawn (don't have to wait for the round to end) - huge lag fix - skin info is only sent when users change skins (or teams) - all death msgs work correctly in deathmatch now - timeleft when there's no timelimit, now says "No time limit." instead of garbage... like anyone cares :) - time remaining is now shown in the bottom right - ppl will care about that :) - optimized skin checking code to lower server load - team join/leave msgs shortened to 1 line - balls splat 1 frame after hitting the wall, so you don't fire splats out of your gun anymore :) - added an option (elim 0) for no respawning (once you die, you're out for the round) - might be good for matches - any zbot users will be in for a surprise ;> - bouncy balls (and grens) can roll now! - added (fixed) a game mode - ctfmode -1 is now straight elim. mode - no flags June 21st, 2001Random QuotesI threw up a new little feature for fun - random quotes. What they are is pretty self-explanitory. If you have no clue, click on the chat button to the right. :)
Now all I have to do is create a script so I can actually update the site without having to edit these silly text files! (Also so Calrathan and the rest of Digital Paint can update it as well) June 20th, 2001New BBoards!Ok - the other ones weren't that great, so Fryth and I set up some a new one called Yet Another Bulletin Board. It has a lot of nice features - give it a looksee. Hope you enjoy!