We're going through the video that we recorded during our tests, and things look great. Gamma is a blast with a good group of people, and having some realistically-sized matches instead of 3v3 has helped us identify problem areas (the M16 is a bit too weak, and the Golden Wrench is a little too weak) that were more difficult to spot before. Things seem great otherwise.
Instead of boring you with words, I'm going to give you even more footage, with more forthcoming. While I can't give you Gamma right now due to circumstances beyond my control, I can make it feel like you were right there playing along. Here's a full 15 minute round of Seamist, overlaid with our Teamspeak chatter, as viewed by Westy543 on the Soviet team. Seamist has been redesigned from the ground up, literally, and it's a favorite so far with a lot of pressure on both sides.
Short on time? Here's a ten second clip of another round of Seamist to sum the conflict up succinctly, with wise words from Wallywood for any Allied team that might be slacking... or more commonly, overly confident enough to overcommit during a counterattack on the Soviet's heavily defended base.
Earlier this week on the official forums, we posted this video on Guard Duty, of a Medium Tank battling it out with a Soviet Heavy Tank as artillery flies back and forth between the bases. Separately, tank/minelayer infiltrations occur at opposite entrances to each base. Guard Duty is another favorite, with close bases where early-game infantry raids are to be expected and artillery exchange is constant.
This weekend, we've got the view from the Soviet perspective. A V2 Launcher tosses heavy explosives into the middle ground and Allied base, firing back at Allied Artillery while the above tank skirmish takes place. A view from the Allied artillery shows some fancy footwork to avoid direct hits from a V2, which will take them out from full health; close calls can do extreme damage, too. Plus, a view of the southern side of the map, where a Medium Tank harasses some Heavy Tanks as they approach a hidden minefield. Enjoy the show.
And then we have Complex (a snowy map based loosely on the old Renegade map of the same title (but lacking the infantry passageways loosely resembling the Goldeneye map of still the same title)) which has been overhauled with substantial vehicle-capable underground portions with several exits to the surface and it now features multiple elevation levels for those underground passages that can allow infantry to compete with vehicles traveling the lower section. Sniping's effective from several positions still and there is plenty of room for tank clashes.
Plus, Cuddling recently worked on finishing up the new look for the Allied Pillbox anti-infantry defense. This is the final defense structure to be overhauled, and Gamma will thus feature entirely remade defenses for each side (including even base walls, of course). It may look a bit tall, but that is intentional so that it can be placed on slopes and sunk into uneven terrain more easily.
Cool.
If only this had some kind of dynamic accuracy system to prevent bunnyhopping. No offense, but Renegade's bad for that reason. It's saddening that such a well designed mod suffers for the sake of keeping that engine around. I went back to it recently for nostalgia, but whenever I played in one of the non-coop servers there was always someone insisting on showing me that skill consists of how quickly you press spacebar + A/D and how long you fire before having to reload. On top of this, actually playing tactically is discouraged due to the lack of cover and abundance of wide open spaces.
You're right.
One of the aims for the new version we're working on was to make infantry combat more fun, and we've tried several things along the way; we tried adding a basic sense of inertia so that tapping A/D leaves you nearly at a standstill, adjusted ammo counts and reload speeds, gave many of the instant-hit weapons downsides or adjusted the unit's own stats, and played with base speeds and gravity.
The inertia stuff and walking slower backwards than forwards was cut in the end, but most of the other stuff stuck. Heavier weapons like the M60 and PKM now are carried by slower infantry, and a lot of the maps have been redesigned to offer far more cover for infantry and vehicles :)
Sounds awesome, just what the doctor ordered.
mabye its just me but the game will be inpossible for troops with no bunnyhopping, its the only thing that keeps people alive 90% of the time...