Red Player Model, Prone, and TC_Rubble Showcase news

Howdy folks! I apologize for the lengthy delay in releasing this media update. It's our intention to produce these every two weeks, but the size and scope of today's news post caused considerable delays. However, we think the time spent on this one was worth it.

I introduce to you the new Red Force player model. Last year, at the team leadership's request, Schmung created a new red player model to replace the CSS stub you've been seeing us use up until tonight. Shinobi has weighted the model to a new set of animations done by Christian Oelund, a former FA team member, and the skin you see has been done by none other than the very talented StealthSilver. Those "new" animations include not just prone, which is pictured, but brand-new animations for every other player action in the game: Running, jumping, shooting, reloading, and crouching. Nothing is used or taken from Valve, and is all original work by the FAS team.

The big feature I have been working on, and mentioned in my developer journal post, was none other than prone. The original implementation from last year needed considerable work (a weekend's worth) to get the ACT names and reference poses working right. We ended up adding a temporary thirdperson camera to test it, and ran into some issues, which have since been resolved. Long story short, prone is good to go, and will be in Firearms: Source for Release Candidate 1.0. We look forward to getting this into formal testing as soon as possible.

The past couple weeks, Shinobi and Christian have been busting balls to get the new player model in game. It has been a pain staking experience but it was worth it. Shinobi has also compiled a brand new set of high-quality (but yet, non-performance affecting) world models for each weapon. The magazines in each world model can be detached for the reload sequences, adding extra realism.

Speaking of the reload sequences, and animations in general, they've been done by military expert Christian Oelund with input from military adviser TheUltra4sshole. Our animations are exceptionally accurate and realistic. StealthSilver has done considerable work on the player skin, as well. It's gone through several iterations, and suffice to say, without his talent we probably wouldn't be where we are with it now.

Last, but certainly not least, is TC_Rubble. I have to hand it to DysPatch, he's done an amazing job with this map. Each new revision gets better and better. The latest iteration has a more engaging skybox, with new, customized ground textures and better brushwork. It also looks and feels more war-torn, with burning buildings and more destruction. A second TC flag was added to assist in creating a more dynamic and interesting game flow, but the overall size and scope of the map has remained relatively unchanged. I think it's safe to say Rubble is the best looking FAS map we have, and it's most definitely a tester favorite.

Firefights on Rubble tend to be fierce, but objective-oriented. Teams fight almost hand-to-hand combat inside of the warehouse to gain control, and then must deploy themselves into defensive positions to retain control. Rushing attacks with flashbangs, hand grenades and smoke grenades are common. Open space in the middle of the map allows for mid-range engagements as well, letting the M79, machineguns and assault rifles see considerable use.

What do you think about today's update? Do you have any ideas for our prone implementation? How about custom animations? Let us know your thoughts by posting on our forums, or by going to our moddb page at Moddb.com