Just some quick things to think about. First, we're going to eventually redo the map A Path Beyond as it should be a flagship map, but instead sucked and was not very good in terms of gameplay. A few people have been concerned we've forgotten it, but it's a topic of internal discussion. Next, let's talk about Patch 3 a bit.
We wanted to do a little update that would just fix some problems (score system lol) and retune the balance again based on what we've seen and experienced in-game. You know, one of the advantages of such a large and active player base is that we can actually afford to test things both before and after release. Unit combinations you wouldn't expect happen. Anyways, as per our usual operation, the new version is getting rather large in terms of the adjustments we want to make. So it won't be out quite as soon as we would have hoped.
We're intending to include a couple extra maps in there this time around as well, but right now Complex has some strange errors we can't quite pin down. We were hoping to release it for this update but it's causing crashes. It's okay though, as we already have plenty of maps and will be introducing one or two new ones anyways! Pacific Threat will be making a return however.
Despite all the crying, we still think having a buildable supply/cargo truck for the Soviets is a good idea. :shobon: We'll figure out how imbalanced it may truly be during testing. It will probably be counted as one of the Soviet utility vehicles, thus not taking away from the tank vehicle limit; I'm not sure if we brought that up before.
We'll probably do a small 1.2.1 update anyways that has some launcher fixes, but not the extensive list of tweaks.
So many people are playing APB lately and I have to end up waiting in line for games sometimes. At 4AM EST. What the heck is going on? I've decided we need some statistical tracking for when hotspots in the day occur in terms of gameplay, and this stat collection may be worked into the launcher itself. Hopefully people won't scream BIG BROTHER at us, and it will be able to be turned off. But hey, if the server is full, the second server is open again. It has been passworded earlier, but give it a shot now if there is no room in the main server. I'm glad to see so many people playing, though. Lots of new faces. Just be sure to try to at least gives the n00bies some tips in between berating them for screwing up your rush.
Also, XWIS (that shitty WOL replacement EA allowed to happen) has been causing some issues for the servers. Anytime the connection to them is lost, the server restarts. This may have been a good idea back during Renegade, when WOL was somewhat stable at least (either down or up but not both at once in some quantum insanity) but we have no ranks to care about and most people direct connect anyways. The end result is that everytime XWIS freaks out for a second, the server restarts it seems! Back to the beginning of the map rotation. Sorry about that.
Some of you probably don't know who he is, but Sir Phoenixx is the guy who made virtually every pretty object in APB. He was our old weapons and vehicle model guy and he did so much work for us, some of which still hasn't even been put in-game yet; but he did it, he did it fast, and he did it right. Sir Phoenixx has basically been "done" with everything he had to do for the mod; the list of incomplete assets that weren't infantry or buildings was finished by him, now we're just remaking stuff largely.
Right before Christmas, his father died from lung cancer at age 59. Sir Phoenixx is working a job and trying to help his brother and mom, and really doesn't have the time for working on mods or gaming. He will be retiring therefore, after years of excellent work for us. He was a great guy and probably one of the best staff members we've ever had.
(Originally posted by Chronojam and edited for ModDB by Category 5 Hurricane)
