Welcome, once again, to another Gunslinger's Academy Friday Update. We've got some media to share with you guys, as well as a few patch notes, and an excerpt from the story to share with you guys. Remember, if you want to watch this mod's future updates, track the mod, or even better, register on our forums and pitch in on some discussion.
The past week has been pretty hectic for me and the rest of the development team. We've been racing to produce new content for you, our loyal downloaders. School however has been bogging us down, and even producing new brainchilds. As part of a school project, I produced a Flash top-down RPG engine (PM me to haggle over licensing), so that helped open my eyes a bit to programming.
Today we preview to you a feature that has been in place since 2.0.1: variable connection screens. The concept is that the connection screen will change based on the current gametype of the server that you are trying to connect to. Here are some screenshots of this phenomenon.
Click the images for fullscale.
Ingame, the "Welcome Player #" goes at the top, while raw connection information goes at the far bottom. This is all part of a massive UI overhaul of Gunslinger's Academy, labeled only as "Codename: 2.0.2". The UI overhaul also includes new loading screens, which may or may not be previewed next week (It's all chance, really). I think it's fair to say that you'll be intrigued with the direction of the loading screen. ^.^
Now, the meat of the patch: Patch notes. Here are some new ones for next week:
PatchNotes wrote: New Features:
- You will never be kicked for inactivity while spectating.
- g_specInactive: if g_inactivity is on, instead of kicking inactive players, it spectates them. This is on by default.
- /help: Gives you information about commands in the mod.
We leave you today with what our story looks like so far. You're free to give your opinion about it, as usual.
eezstreet wrote:
The year is 2012. After recently pulling the troops out of Afghanistan, the United States is in a time of relative peace. Attacks against the United States have not surfaced as of yet, and the president is constantly reminding homeland security of what a great job that they are doing. Although the president is a Democrat, the large majority of Congress and the Senate are Republican or tea party activists, in pursuit of a smaller government.But our story does not start in the United States. Our story starts in the heart of North Korea, where our six friends meet in the cafe, pondering their next move. "What shall we do now?" Samagwi asked. Samagwi was a thin and somewhat sickly individual. He did not do well at physical tasks, however he showed little fear or remorse. "I've got some spray paint," Kugeo replied in Korean sign language. "We could write some seriously bad stuff with this." Kugeo was the outspoken member of the group. He was also incredibly quick and had a lot of stamina. However, he lacked the ability to speak, for his vocal cords had been scorched out for at least 15 years. Sign language seemed like his first language, and in addition to being quick, he was also good at electronics.
"Spray paint?" Dudeoji said, "A can or two of spray paint won't get us far. We need to do something big. Something to really piss off the police." Dudeoji had a soft spot for bloodshed and big tasks. When he wanted something done, he wanted something done. "Dudeoji," Nancha courted, "I don't want you to get hurt." Nancha was the lone female of the group. In addition to being completely in love with Dudeoji, Nancha was very stealthy. "Regardless of whether or not there is to be violence, something needs to be done," Neugdae boldly stated. Neugdae was arguably the leader of the group. Dudeoji had constantly tried to assert his position as the leader, but all the others, Nancha included, felt otherwise.
Dudeoji agreed. "We need actions, not words, not vandalism, not..." In an effort to come up with something else to say, he looked first at Nancha and then at Neugdae, "not something that we can regret later". "We would regret every decision we make. We would regret not taking action, and we would regret taking things too far," Samagwi said. "What do you mean?" Neugdae asked, "Are you showing fear now, soldier, when all we have now to fear is fear itself?"
"I'm not being fearful, I'm being conservative and apprehensive."
"War is not apprehensive. War is-"
"One sided? I suppose."
"One sided if your enemy is as large as the Korean Army is."
"A gas can't have a larger volume than it's container."
"Only if the container doesn't shatter from the pressure. Besides, we're talking about war here and not physics."
"True, true."
"Any other bright ideas?"
Kugeo raised his hand.
"You?"
Kugeo responded in sign language. "We need guns." Neugdae, being able to read Korean sign language, responded. "Yeah. Where would we get them though?" Dudeoji answered that question. "I know some suppliers. They've been coming in from the North." "Nice find," Neugdae praised, "But where did you get that information?" "The police records. Says there's been gangsters shipping them in." "I suppose we didn't call you Mole for nothing." Dudeoji grinned.One week later, the deal was set. The rebels agreed to pay a detachment of the Russian mob a USD equivalent of 5 million dollars, in exchange for some Steyr TMPs that they plundered from Russia. On the way to the meeting location, Nancha and Dudeoji talked alone.
"You best be careful," Dudeoji warned, "Who knows what these gangsters are going to think when they see you."
"I'll just assume that you're just calling me pretty."
"Well, you know, we are dealing with criminals here. Rapists and other scum."
"You're forgetting that I've killed a man before."
"And so have I," Dudeoji hissed, "but have you ever taken on a group at once?"
"It's every girl's dream to have multiple guys wanting them. Is it not?"
Dudeoji rolled his eyes. "That isn't quite what I meant."
"I was just pushing your buttons."
"I want you to stay behind. Things could get rough."
"If you insist."Neugdae briefed the team on their operation. "Dudeoji pulled some information regarding the names of some Russians who are taking refuge in the country. One of the names we pulled has a large stock of Steyr TMPs, which we will use later. They are asking 5,807,500,000 Won in delivery of the TMPs. Now, clearly we don't have this amount of money, which is why we printed some money off the printing press- the same one we used for the aquarium scam. We'll present them with the money, to appeal to their greed. Then we take the TMPs and go for a mad dash, preferably capping the Russians in the progress."
Samagwi asked the first question. "Who is our contact?"
"One Alexei Ivanov. Or, Mr. Ivanov for short. Small time gangster. He's especially drawn to money. This is his biggest deal yet, so he's not very experienced. Expect him to bring backup though."
Dudeoji whispered to Nancha, "I told you it was a bad idea for you to come along!"
Nancha gave Dudeoji a dirty look, then pointed to Neugdae, who was speaking.
"Next question?"
Dudeoji raised his hand. "Rules of engagement?"
"Leave all but civilians standing."
Samagwi raised his hand again. "Why kill them?"
"They're going to find out that the money is counterfeit at some point. Better to kill them then than for them to haunt us later."
Samagwi raised his hand yet again. Neugdae, looking worn out from all the questions at this point, called on him. "Yes, Samagwi?"
Samagwi smiled from the irritation he was causing. "Oorah?"
The team bellowed out, with the exception of Kugeo, "Oorah!"A beat-up car drove down a dark alleyway in downtown Pyongyang. Four car doors opened, and Neugdae, Kugeo, Samagwi and Dudeoji exited, Kugeo carrying a briefcase. Nancha stayed behind in the car. Ahead of them, a black sedan sat with three Russians and a briefcase.
"Hello, gentlemen," a short Russian greeted.
"Ivanov, I presume?" Neugdae asked.
"You presumed correctly, comrade."
Neugdae stood puzzled for a moment, wondering why the man he was about to kill called him 'comrade'. Such a word was reserved for friends. Ivanov caught his puzzlement, and continued.
"You brought the stuff, yes?"
"Only if you did."
Neugdae opened the briefcase, revealing 1000 Won notes cleanly stacked. Ivanov took a moment to inspect the bills (however his inspection did not reveal that the bills were fake). Kugeo leaped on the opportunity to examine Ivanov's guards. One was carrying a shotgun and the other carried a small assault rifle.
Dudeoji slammed the briefcase closed, narrowly avoiding crushing Kugeo's fingers. "Are we going to talk business, or stare at money larger than your paycheck?" Ivanov, knocked out of a trance, became slightly belligerent. "As you wish. The guns, Shirley?" The man named Shirley was a large man, ironic to his name. He opened the briefcase containing the guns, allowing the Korean teens a moment to see them, before closing it and dropping it on the floor. Kugeo followed his lead, dropping his briefcase as well. Dudeoji picked up the briefcase, opened it, and tossed a weapon to his friends, loaded them, and took aim at Ivanov before he had the chance to pick up the briefcase.
Ivanov simply laughed.
"Silly Koreans, we have bigger guns than you, you should know this by now!"
Ivanov's henchmen brandished their weapons. Neugdae responded to this threat,
"But surely, with a name like Shirley, you can't expect much!"
Shirley slanted his eyebrows down. "That was my mother's name!"
Dudeoji nodded to the rest of the team. They began a fast retreat, opening fire on the Russians. A bullet grazed Shirley's arm, causing him to writhe in agony and become vulnerable to another shot.
"They killed Shirley!" Ivanov's other guard screamed in horror.
"No time, Viktor! Drive the car! We can catch them!"
"But..."
Viktor looked back at the corpse of Shirley.
"Viktor, he is dead. There is nothing we can do!"
Meanwhile, Dudeoji took the wheel of the small car, tossing his free weapon to Nancha.
"Oh, I see how it is. Now that you managed to get your ass in trouble, you ask for MY help..."
"If you continue, I'm turning the car around!"
Ivanov and Viktor's car suddenly pulled to the side of Dudeoji's. Nancha screamed, and instinctively opened fire on the car. "Shit!" Neugdae yelled. Nancha pulled another TMP, and opened fire. "Don't you know how to reload?!" Dudeoji yelled. "I've kinda got my hands full here!" Nancha replied. Kugeo swiftly took up the task of reloading discarded weapons. The backseat of the car was a madhouse. Nancha, between Kugeo and Samagwi, was wildly opening fire upon the other car. Samagwi was sitting back in his seat, trying his best to avoid Nancha's bullets. Kugeo was the only sane person in this madhouse, calmly reloading discarded magazines of Nancha's weapons.Eventually, the other car opened fire. Bullets whizzed through the open windows, narrowly avoiding passengers. Bullets that did not go through the windows left great dents in the metal. "You think the rental place will be pissed when we give them back their car?" Samagwi asked. Neugdae laughed. "Who said anything about returning the car?"
Now out of the alley, the two cars began to run into busy traffic. Although it was night, the streets still remain packed with parked cars and other types of traffic. Other cars swerved to avoid a fatal collision. The stakes were getting higher and higher by the minute. Surprisingly, the police hadn't shown up yet. Suddenly, the car of Russians jammed a hard right, sending the other car on a crash course into a pole. The impact was tremendous. The force of the car against the pole bent the pole into a rough V shape. All four doors of the car opened, leaving Neugdae barely enough time to yell "To the safehouse!".
The moral of the team was very disheartened. They felt as though they had been defeated. It took Neugdae a victory speech to cheer them up. After all, they got what they came for: The Steyr TMPs. However, it would have been a personal victory for them if they dispatched the Russians. Neugdae said that it didn't matter, that while they lost one objective, the entire mission was not at a loss. Neugdae ordered the team to shower up and prepare to head for the chow hall.
Talk amongst the chow hall was as it usually was; Samagwi and Dudeoji were trading food to suit their tastes. Nancha sat next to them, watching them and getting a few words in edgewise. Neugdae and Kugeo sat further down the table, talking business. Occasionally, after a great victory, the team would be assembled, and Neugdae (or sometimes Dudeoji) proclaimed a toast. Today was not that type of day. It was a typical day for them. Neugdae would sometimes confide within Kugeo. Kugeo couldn't run his mouth.
"Kugeo, you ever wonder what's going to happen to us?"
"Us? What do you mean?"
"Us. The team. Me, you, Dudeoji, Samagwi and Nancha."
"Sometimes I wonder. But I try not to worry about that."
"Why?"
"A great philosopher once told me it's better to live life, than worry about what's ahead."
"I suppose."
"Neugdae?"
"Yeah?"
"Why does Dudeoji try to take your position?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because he wants to be just like me."
"Maybe."
"Why do you ask?"
"I sense a bit of darkness within him."
"How often?"
"How often what?"
"How often do you sense darkness within him?"
"All the time."Kugeo changed the subject rather abruptly. "What are we going to do for our next mission?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"We've got the guns. We could put them to use."
"I'm currently more worried about the team's safety. We've got Russians on our asses, and I'm sure the police would have fun putting us in jail."
"Do I detect a bit of fear within you, Neugdae?"
"I'm not afraid of what's going to happen to me. I'm more afraid of what's going to happen to you. You are my family after all."
"That's noble of you."Suddenly, the door burst open. Korean special forces flooded the room from wall to wall. One man, presumed to be police chief, stepped forward with a scroll. "You are under arrest. Please do not try to escape, as you are surrounded. Give up now!" The team stood up, arms raised. One man brutally grabbed Nancha's arms and forced them behind her back, making her scream with the pain. Dudeoji stepped forward, before behind pulled back by Neugdae and then by the police.
Jail was a cold and bitter place, unlike the warmth and friendliness that surrounded the chow hall. Neugdae sat silently on his bunk, while Samagwi and Dudeoji began to argue. Kugeo sat near the corner, putting the smalls of his back against a warm water pipe coming from the boiler, in an effort to keep warm. Nancha was nowhere to be found. Eventually the argument between Samagwi and Dudeoji got intense enough that Kugeo and Neugdae had to seperate them.
"Enough!" Neugdae yelled.
"He started it," Dudeoji pointed.
"I don't care who started this. I'm going to end this," Neugdae countered.
Somewhere, somehow, something about Kugeo caught his eye. Neugdae's thoughts went back to what he said to him earlier. You are my family after all. He started up again.
"Either we can shed blood, or accept our fate. Which is worse, being killed by your friend for an argument, or being killed by the government for standing up to them?"
The room was silent. Kugeo smiled.
"Alright, ladies," a guard outside the cell interrupted, "You're now on your way to the courthouse, where your fate will be decided. Get up." He opened the cell and escorted them out.
Good hunting, my friends.
