The Official Gamesever has returned
The officially-endorsed Conflict Arenas server has returned, with the new updates, including a prototype warning system and other functionality to allow both players and moderators the ability to keep the gameplay fair and be able to respond to situations in a more efficient manner. The rankings have been reset along with these changes.
Good things are on the way
By the way, Coolair reports that the APB-ready Brenbot is nearing completion after a while of hard work and testing alongside Dan. And as always, the variety of secret things I wish I could confidently tell you about have been progressing smoothly; hopefully soon we'll have some really good news, but I'd hate to make an announcement for something that might not pan out.
I'll make it clear however that we'll probably have more maps at 994's release than we planned for and originally said, and a very special one released (hopefully) shortly thereafter should incorporate some impressive new gameplay possibilities. Would've saved this all for the next dev blog (which we are doing each Wednesday) but hey, why make you wait? Extra maps that will hopefully be included will be remixes of some of the classic maps from the old days, as in additional to the nostalgia factor, there has always been an interest in resurrecting or remaking them among community members.
If the extra content doesn't make the cut, it can always be provided as an additional download after the fact, remember. Although, due to the planned inclusion of new buildings post-994, you'll likely end up with these maps at some point down the road anyways, and that's not barring heavy changes to the base layouts.
Balance Testing
Right now we are doing testing on changes having to do with the Hind and Longbow that should hopefully open up more strategies for use on maps with helicopters. We're also still playing around with the hero units Tanya and Volkov, Flame and Shock damage on walls, and the possible reintroduction of the Phase Transport. All of these things need lots and lots of testing. Which leads to this last part:
Who wants to help us test all these changes?
If you're interested in helping the project out but can't texture to save your own life, drop Chronojam a line on the forums. We would like to conduct some larger-than-usual internal testing sessions before .994 is released so that we can properly judge the balance changes we've made. Even if you don't think you're that good, let us know if you're interested! We need players of all skill levels to make proper analysis of these changes. These would be temporary testing positions but some testers will be retained after 994's testing to participate in future content/version review.
