Contra 008 Beta 2 released and changelog (part 15) news

Contra 008 Beta II

Happy New Year to all of you!!! We are happy to inform you that Contra 008 Beta II release is ready!

Greetings fans! After turbulent last few months, we have made this release for all of you. As posted before, we guess you all know what is happening with our team, and with Contra mod.

Still, we have raisen from dust and put a lot of effort to make this true... and probably even better.

As it is stated in credits (if you watch them in-game), you will see a special section with credits for people who made this version happen.

We'll say once again:

- Anubis_theDark
- Zeke_Dlyoung
- VectorIV
- Javellin Cos
- Anto111ka
- Kris (moddingrocks)

And of course our former members which contributed a lot for 008:

- Andrey [Creator] Pestryakov (mod author)
- Gundamwen
- Lil Tasman
- Casojin
- S_P_R
- EvGamer
- Annihillator

And now, current team which holds this project not to fade away, and who decided to take everything in their own hands:

- dcesarec
- Predator_BG (a.k.a. ThePredatorBG on Mod DB)

We both made almost everything new, that you will see and enjoy. We both had to learn many new things, spent many days and nights to make this come true. It has been almost a year since the first Beta. That's because we (dcesarec and predator) decided to continue over the official release about 1-2 months ago.

Now, download, play, have fun. This version is made for enjoying multiplayer, playing challenge and skirmish
Also, post feedback, so we can quickly fix things which we missed. And so we can make a decent story and release FULL version sooner.

We still take offers for help and get in team... because Contra will live!

Some art and sounds were taken from:
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade
Total Annihilation
Men of War: Condemned Heroes

We suggest using GenTool v6.2 for better experience.
2shared.com
Note: We are not the makers of this software.

Changelog:

These are all changes, ranging from 008 Beta to 008 Beta 2.
Russian translation: Redsys.su

Bugs fixed:

- Tech buildings block projectiles. Fixed.
- Saturn and Nemesis did not have hero signs on mini-map. Fixed.
- Yan Wang could not attack helicopters. Fixed.
- Music was not playing. Fixed.
- Flame general Artillery Training cameo had wrong coordinates. Fixed.
- China Bunkers had missing cameos. Fixed.
- Tank Hunters fire missiles from their feet. Fixed.
- USA Missile Defender had a visual glitch with feet. Fixed.
- Some maps were not available in multiplayer. Fixed.
- Some GLA units use English voices. Fixed.
- Some GLA voices were missing. Fixed.
- Some GLA voices were delayed after unit action. Fixed.
- Medic Droid was affected by Exoskeletons, but upgrade icon was missing. Fixed.
- Nuclear Battlemaster was affected by Nuclear Tanks, but upgrade icon was missing. Fixed.
- Cyborg uses Ranger voice for building capturing. Fixed.
- Terminator uses Burton voice when planting charges. Fixed.
- Raven uses Comanche voices when destroyed. Fixed.
- Internet Centers use Command Center preview sound. Fixed.
- Omega Cannon could be attacked by light weapons. Fixed.
- GLA Worker had selection glitch. Fixed.

Changes:

Global:
- Power production at game start removed.
All USA:
- Command Centers have more health and are limited to one at a time.
SW general:
- Dozer moves 20% faster.
- Security Systems upgrade added.
- Hybrid Engine upgrade moved to Command Center.
- Tomahawk Storm has +20% more firepower.
- Web Defense System removed.
- Heavy Construction Dozer requires Strategy Center and rank 3.
- Saturn is now a unit built at War Factory in order to eliminate all bugs.
- Blackout Missile System is built by Dozer only (was Saturn only).
- Garrisoned infantry in Fire Base and SSM Site auto-heal. The point of auto-heal was to give infantry inside those defenses a chance to survive since they get killed by everything in Contra. Don't try to kill infantry with anti-personnel weapons. Focus your fire on the building.
- Cyclone range increased.
AF general:
- Dozer moves 20% faster.
- Security Systems upgrade added.
- Hybrid Engine upgrade moved to Command Center.
- Hydra (EMP Artillery) removed.
- Colossus was changed. Sparrowhawk flies around Colossus and fires missiles at enemies around it. There is a designation effect on the targeted unit.
- F16XL firepower increased slightly.
Laser general
- Dozer moves 20% faster.
- Security Systems upgrade added.
- Hybrid Engine upgrade moved to Command Center.
Cyber general:
- Cyborgs move as fast as other infantry from the start. After Exoskeletons upgrade, they move +50% faster.
- Cyborgs are resistant to toxins and radiation. They take damage very slowly.
- Drone Controllers' drones have 50% less life time.
- Nemesis has less speed, more health and more firepower
- Pegasus is armed with one bomb. Firepower and particle effect from Contra 007 have been returned.
- Cepheus shoots one shell with double firepower and double reload time.
- Cyborg Drop, Missile Cyborg Drop and Medic Drop have been removed.
- Cylon firepower increased, armor decreased.
All China:
- Command Centers have more health and are limited to one at a time.
- Airfield is available at rank 3.
Nuclear general:
- Radioactive Shells and Chain Guns upgrades moved from Internet Center to War Factory.
- Nuclear Battlemaster health was decreased by 10% and the chance to fire a nuclear shell has been returned (all the same as in 007).
Infantry general:
- Minigun upgrade moved from Internet Center to Barracks.
- Chain Guns upgrade moved from Internet Center to War Factory.
- Sniper is now stealth while moving.
- Troop Crawlers move 10% faster.
- Mongoose removed.
- Dragon Tank range is now the same as other Dragon Tanks (was less). It also fires continuously now.
- J-10 costs $1100 (was $1750), but also has 30% less health
Flame general:
- Fire Wall and Thermite Shells upgrades moved from Internet Center to War Factory.
- J-10 removed.
- MiGs have 2 missiles instead of 4. Missiles don't spread anymore.
- Artillery Barrage has a slight flame effect, not for destruction, but for possible fuel ignition.
Tank general:
- Fire Wall, Black Napalm and Improved Autocannon Shells upgrades moved from Internet Center to War Factory.
- J-10 costs $1500 (was $1750), but also has 30% less health. A strike of 4 J-10s creates a firestorm (was 6).
All GLA:
- All Bomb Trucks are stealth while standing still and moving.
- All Angry Mobs are as usual. Cost returned, build time reduced, built at Barracks.
Demolition general:
- Efreet is stealth while standing still and moving.
- Airfield holds 3 planes instead of 4.
- Cockroach jump/boost into suicide action was removed.
Stealth general:
- Hazael damage increased by 30%.
Toxin general:
- Bomb Truck removed.
- Default Toxin Rebel's firepower was lowered to match other generals' infantry. Also, he doesn't clear buildings anymore.
- Toxin Rebel gains the ability to clear buildings with Anthrax Gamma (Difosgen) upgrade.
- Toxin Pump upgrade was moved from Black Market to Barracks.
Assault general:
- Katyusha was moved at rank 3.
- Dana was moved at rank 1.
- Sneak Attack general's power was moved at rank 3.

Graphics:

- USA Thor 3D model inserted.
- USA Laser Turret 3D model was changed.
- USA Annihilator 3D model was changed.
- USA Cyborg 3D model was changed.
- USA Super Weapon Burton (Splinter Cell) 3D model inserted.
- USA Air Force Burton (Duke Nukem) 3D model inserted.
- USA Seraphim 3D model inserted.
- USA Nemesis 3D model size increased.
- USA Phobos 3D model inserted.
- USA Cepheus 3D model inserted.
- USA Lancer 3D model inserted.
- USA Female Ranger 3D model inserted (for SW general).
- USA Comanche texture was improved.
- USA Robo Raptor texture was improved.
- USA Drop Pod texture was improved.

- China infantry textures improved.
- China Sniper 3D model was changed.
- China Flamethrower Turret 3D model was changed.
- China Flame Battlemaster 3D model was changed.
- China Nuclear Battlemaster 3D model was changed.
- China Bunker's garrisoned version is easily recognizable now.

- GLA Rebels 3D models inserted.
- GLA Airfield 3D model inserted.

- New trees inserted.
- Bushes enabled.
- Ice objects added.
- Coconut objects added.

- Rocks objects' textures improved.
- Some textures in vanilla Generals have higher resolution than these in Zero Hour. Some of them were added in Contra (DrainPipe, DrainPipeFlowing, CargoLoadingCranes, damaged Chinese Command Center, damaged Chinese War Factory and some others).
- Snow version of supplies fully inserted now.
- Some Contra terrain textures were replaced with better ones.
- Some vanilla Generals and Contra terrain textures improved.

- Many cameos have been improved.
- Inserted Fixed Cameo Pack by n5p29 (thanks for making this public)
Moddb.com

Challenge mode:

- Challenge mode enabled.
- Assault and Cybernetic challenge maps added.
- Infantry challenge map removed.
- All Challenge maps were updated. Bug fixes, balance changes, visual enhancements.

Maps:

- All maps have a new depth of field (fog) effect.
- All maps have new realistic water effects.
- Some unblended tiles (terrain textures) were blended.
- Long Range Radar tech building and new Civilian Bunker were added on some maps.
Notable changes on most played maps:
- Defcon and Tournament Island were completely overhauled visually. New terrain textures used.
- Tournament Island has wider entrances now.
- You couldn't capture USA and China dozers on Europe Raptor map. Fixed.
Hostile Dawn:
- The Artillery Platforms in the middle were removed.
- The Oil Refinery in the middle was replaced with a Long Range Radar.
- There are two Reinforcement Pads now (was one Reinforcement Pad and one Repair Bay).

Other changes:

- Added new select/preview sounds for Cepheus, Azarakhsh, Communications Center, GLA Airfield, Cyborg Factory, Chemical Bunker.
- Added new voices for Saturn, Heavy Construction Dozer and Female Ranger.
- Inserted new sounds for Jihad Warrior's shotgun, Huang Zhong and Aladdin's guns.
- Many text changes. Misspellings, wrong information and conflicting hotkeys fixed.
- Shellmap from Contra 007 was returned with some changes.
- Main menu interface was updated.
- New music plays on shellmap and menus.
- GLA announcer speaks English again.