Well it is finally out there, after a hard long slog we've finally released 1.5. And a hard road it has been too with one thing and another. Anyone who has been following the progress of First Strike is probably well aware that we were planning to release 1.5 just after Christmas last year, but just before release we had to have a major rethink of how the gameplay worked on Jundland Wastes. This was quite heartbreaking at the time because we'd all put a lot of focused effort into getting everything done in time, and then it was like. No, It looks like we're gonna just have to stop and take stock, and look at the fundamental issues that need to be dealt with and then look at this again. Also with the lead designer and mapper on Jundland, Krenyo soon to become unavailable in the new year this was a double blow.
As a result for the last 8 months we have been slogging away at redesigning where the CPs are on the map, chipping away at how the CPs should be taken from a gameplay perspective, honing a gameplay design which would still give you the freedom to explore the map in its entirety, and yet still focus the gameplay enough not feel too spread out and impossible to engage the enemy. Also we have had the addition of such assets as the Sentinel which is a major plus, and then also additional little touches which just add so much to the polish of the mod, not to mention the addition of the space map Strike at Parmel.
In the Summer with the return of many key Dev Team Members we were able to capitalise on the work that had gone before and then really get a concentrated last push to get this out before the end of the Summer.
As always, as soon as you set a release date new problems start to arise, but you just have to tackle them head on with your eye still on the prize, and I think to a large extent we have managed to successfully do that. We still have a few issues in need of resolving, but with new updates on the way which can swiftly and easily fix these problems using our automatic updater system, there should be little or no issues for the player. Chief amongst these issues is a bug which has plagued the mod ever since the popular map Battle of Yavin first got released. A bug which causes issues for players using Nvidia cards. Well I can happily announce that after all this time we have finally nailed that bug, and the fix should be winging its way to you very soon. Once these fixes and any new bugs that become apparent after release have been dealt with? It will finally be time to rest, and then look forward to the next release of First Strike and what we intend to achieve there.
Either way, this delay has been a good thing, the result is much more polished, a lot more content has been added, and the gameplay of Jundland as a map is much more solid now which I hope will give the people who play the new version of the mod an experience which has been well worth the wait.
See you out there on the Battlefield Troopers!
