ETQW Beta Bonanza: Comp Mod and 1.5 BETAs Rolling Your Way

Good news: There’s light at the end of the license tunnel! We’ve at last received the proper license files for both the Competition Mod and the 1.5 game update. With that in mind, we’re now prepping them for release and hope to get them out as soon as possible (for real!).

Since we want to make sure that both releases are as solid as can be, we’ve decided to run public beta phases for them – this will allow us to iron out any remaining stability issues and also make sure that the backend infrastructure is working properly. Both of these are the most difficult things to test for and since we’ve had a few issues crop up in 1.4 that didn’t surface during our testing, we feel that a public beta phase is in the best interest of the game and the players.

Read on for more information on the two upcoming Beta releases and for the preliminary 1.5 changelog.

Competition Mod BETA

The ETQW Competition Mod contains several new features and cvar settings to better adapt the game for competition and tournament play, where smaller team sizes are common. The Comp Mod Beta has already been covered extensively in this blog update, so feel free to peruse that for all the dirty details.

We’ve also got a comprehensive outline of the new settings and how to use them here in the Splash Damage Wiki. Please note that the final version of the Competition Mod will contain a few more features and fixes that so far aren’t listed there.

A few things you should be aware of:

• This is an unsupported Beta release. Neither id Software, Splash Damage, or Activision will provide technical assistance.
• The ETQW Competition Mod BETA only works with ETQW 1.4. If you are planning to install the 1.5 BETA (see below), you will need a second game install for that.
• Since this is a Mod, only Unranked ETQW servers can run it.

1.5 Game Update BETA

Of course, the Competition Mod isn’t the only thing we’ve been working on here in the rolling Splash Damage APC of Doom Quake. The 1.5 game update is nearly ready for release and we’re planning to have a Public Beta phase to make sure we catch as many stability and other issues as possible.

The 1.5 BETA is restricted to Unranked servers, so you will be able to run your own or play on one of the servers provided by our GSP partners. Please note that participation in this beta is completely voluntary and that the 1.5 BETA is not backwards-compatible with ETQW 1.4. In other words, once you’ve installed the 1.5 BETA, you will not be able to play on ETQW 1.4 servers unless you have a second game install. If you don’t feel like testing, you can just skip this release and wait for the final version – 1.4 servers will continue to work normally until then.

I should also point out that, once again, this is an unsupported Beta release that you’re installing at your own risk. Neither id Software, Splash Damage, or Activision will provide technical assistance.

With all that out of the way, let’s huddle around the camp fire and look at the changelog together. Please note that we have several other fixes planned for the final release, including a fix for the recent server crashes some people have been seeing.

HUD
• Players will no longer receive warning VO for incoming enemy artillery
• Added g_aptWarning for toggling APT warning on the HUD
• Restricted the g_mineIconSize cvar to values between 0 and 20
• The Fireteam menu will now not show ‘next page’ unless there are 9 or more players (instead of 8)
• Fixed Buddy Player Arrows showing up as the incorrect colour if that player had a Clan Tag
• Fixed the Objective Bar sometimes changing colour
• Fixed Magog warning spam

Ranked Servers
• Locked si_maxPlayers to 24 on Ranked Servers
• Fixed being able to start a match on a Ranked server with less than 6 players

Map Loads, Auto-Downloads, ETQW:TV
• Fixed downloading modifications from the server not working with Vista and UAC
• Fixed the intro movie overriding the Accept Download prompt for mods on game restart
• Fixed the map loading music continuing to play after the load had completed
• Fixed the server crash when clients are downloading files
• Fixed ETQW:TV Relays crashing when clients tried to connect too early

Player Statistics
• Fixed certain Achievement stats, such as Vehicle and Deployable kills, not being counted
• Fixed ranks above Supreme Commander displaying as ##### or emptyname
• Fixed Mining Laser objectives giving an additional 40 Soldier XP to the constructor
• Fixed XP Save not working on reconnects

User Interface
• Fixed the ‘Press F3 to Ready Up’ tooltip not always displaying
• Fixed the ‘Most Vamptire Damage’ typo in Personal Achievements
• Fixed the final Objective in a map not counting towards the Most Objectives Completed end-game reward
• Fixed Player Ranks not showing in-game or on the Scoreboard
• Fixed spectators seeing a defaulted string in the end-game scoreboard
• Fixed transparency options for Tooltips and Subtle Motivators not always saving
• Fixed video options not always saving if a player is using a ‘Set as Default’ profile

Tooltips
• Fixed the Tooltip frame being completely white on first map load
• Fixed decoy tooltip not always playing
• Fixed Strogg Hack tooltip not playing on Volcano
• Fixed players not turning to face final objective on Outskirts during tooltip
• Fixed not resetting proficiency upgrade VO when resetting tooltips

Fixed Exploits
• Fixed clients having incorrect spread values for the Scoped Assault Rifle whilst unscoped
• Fixed exploit that allowed GDF to get past Strogg Energy Shields
• Fixed being able to complete certain objectives at a distance
• Fixed clipping hole in Refinery that allowed players to get underneath the map

Bots
• Fixed potential bot freeze issue with enemies & hunting
• Fixed Medics not seeing obstacles when giving supplies
• Fixed Anansi pilots getting stuck chasing Icarus players around the map
• Bots will now avoid vehicles ‘booby trapped’ with Charges, unless it’s the MCP
• Bots will now stop and give engineers time to repair their vehicle
• Bot Oppressors will use their Energy Shields more effectively
• Bots can now use all seats in the Bumblebee
• Removed some debug prints
• Other Miscellaneous bot fixes

Miscellaneous
• Fixed unintentionally skipping through multiple weapons and tools when using the mousewheel
• Fixed the ‘Aborting Bombardment’ VO not playing when the Airstrike/Violator beacon is in an invalid location
• Fixed spectators sometimes hearing hit-beeps when switching between players
• Fixed player landing sound sometimes playing multiple times
• Fixed some cases of vehicle wheels occasionally being above the ground when they spawn
• Fixed a disguise spotting issue
• Fixed lock-on issues when the MCP is disabled
• Fixed visual MCP deploy issue where it would sometimes come in sideways
• Fixed objects sometimes showing up in the wrong place when playing back demos

Known Issues
• The game will not start for users running the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Beta
• Some empty folders are left behind by the ETQW 1.5 uninstaller
• Capturing the Energy Cells on Quarry gives no XP
• Intermittent server crashes for some users
• Additional map holes in Refinery and Salvage

Keep an eye on the news page for the latest on the Competition Mod and the 1.5 game update BETAs!