It has been a long time coming, but the moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived.
Today we release the First Strike 1.5 Client Files a little earlier than expected as a gift to all those who have supported us over the years, and to give you all plenty of time to get this large file downloaded and up and running, so that when the official release date of the 28th does arrive you'll all be raring to go, and will have nothing to do all day but enjoy First Strike 1.5.
Now here is a little video taster of what you can expect to see and do in First Strike 1.5.
Listed below is the 1.5 changelog which I think you'll find to be quite the interesting read as you download the mod...
First Strike v1.5 Changelog:
Weapons:
- Enhanced AI tweaks for many turbolasers - Enhanced AI tweaks for anti-starfighter turrets
Vehicles:
- MLC-3 added - All Terrain Personal Transport (AT-PT) added - Sentinel added - Jawa Sandcrawler added - Enhanced AI tweaks for Yavin X-Wings and Y-Wings - Tweaks to Firehawke and T1-B for better balance
Maps:
- Jundland Wastes - Strike at Parmel
Singleplayer Map Support added to:
- Bandomeer Refinery (dogfighting only) - Bestine - Endor Clearing - Endor Strike Team - Mos Entha - Mos Espa
Co-op Map Support added to:
- Bestine - Endor Clearing - Endor Strike Team - Mos Entha
Improved Singleplayer & Co-op Map Support for:
Battle of Yavin
Visual:
- Cap ship destruction sequences enhanced, including longer wreck times - new static objects for Jundland Wastes and Strike at Parmel - Improved object population added to many interiors on Mos Espa - Endor Strike Team visuals refined and updated
Gameplay:
- Scoring added for Deflection Tower destruction on Yavin - Scoring added for successful Exhaust Port torpedo shots on Yavin - Scoring added for Heavy Turbolaser destruction on Escape from Hoth - Scoring added for Imperial Bulk Freighter destruction on Imperial Convoy Raid
Various bug fixes: - Including the Rebel Medic's droid bug
Also of note, due to the sheer volume of new content it was impractical to produce an incremental patch from 1.4 to 1.5, so I'm afraid trying to update 1.4 to 1.5 with the current launcher will not work. You have to download and install 1.5 in its entirety. Think of it as a fresh canvas or foundation on which we will build. This just tidies things up a lot at our end, and will make future development and updates much cleaner.
Finally below is the important bit, a list of locations where you can download the client files. So all that is left to say is good luck with installing 1.5.
And that we all look forward to seeing you out there on the battlefield troopers!
So here we have the first step in the release of First Strike version 1.5, the server files can be downloaded from any of the links below. Remember that these are just the server files and are only needed if you plan to host a First Strike server. The Client files for those who wish to play mod will be available in a day or two. We will release a further news post when these go live, together with a full changelog. Don't worry, you might just have the game well in advance of Saturday the 28th to give you ample time to get it uploaded and ready in time for a full weekend of First Strike gaming. So keep your eyes peeled for further updates!
Continuing our revival of the Developer Diary this week on the eve of the next release, it is the turn of FSDev Twigs. Now we must not allow him the modesty to sell himself short, he'll say he doesn't do an awful lot on First Strike, but he is currently a backbone of the dev team, ably switching between mapping and coding tasks and project management. If you want a job done, he's your go-to-guy.
So let's see what he has to say on the subject of his development on the team, and his love note to X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, the space map Strike at Parmel...
Hey folks, well looks like we’re starting the Dev diary series again so here is my little entry.
I’m Twigs, many of you may have seen me in game where I usually go by JE_Twigs and wear the FSDev clan tags. The JE comes from my old clan, TRA (The Rebel Alliance) and stands for Jedi Elite.
Anyways, on with the important stuff, what exactly do I do for the mod? Well, not a lot really! I started off as a tester, recruited shortly after the release of First Strike 1.0, eventually becoming the so called ‘Testing Team Leader’. A lot of the devs and testers used to hang around in an IRC channel, and some of us discussed porting some of the X-Wing series missions over to First Strike. As a result of this FSDev Woodrow and FSDev Imperial conjured up a magical little programme, the First Strike Space Editor. This allows you to create the very basics of a space map, creating the play area, spawn points and ships.
I started playing around with the space editor, making little maps for my own enjoyment. The limits of this programme though prevent you from adding static objects, for this you need to use the BF Editor, so it was a natural progression for me to start looking at that. Around the same time I decided that some of the objects in First Strike didn’t quite work the way I wanted them to. This resulted in me learning how to clone an object and then beginning to alter pieces of the code to get the results I wanted.
My love of the X-Wing series has resulted in one of the new maps to be released in 1.5, Strike at Parmel. It has blended together everything I have learned in under 12 months, from mapping through to coding. Yes, admittedly it’s possibly the simplest space map to be produced, but it also brings back some memories for anyone who has played the X-Wing games.
This isn’t the first space map I’ve produced for First Strike though. There is another that is still in production, while it won’t feature in 1.5 due to a couple of reasons, it isn’t too far from being completed.
So, you want to follow my example and try your hand at producing a map? All you need is the BF Editor, windows notepad and some patience!
This week we're going to bring back an old First Strike tradition to keep you entertained while you await the forthcoming release of First Strike 1.5. That old classic the Developer Diary. Now it has been a good year and a half since we've released one of these, RedMonkey was #19 way back in November '08.
With a lot of fresh blood on the team we thought it was high time we brought these back, and we start this revival this week with two of the current rising stars on the Dev Team, both have taken on the role of Lead Developers on the two new maps you'll be recieving with the release of 1.5. So with no further ado, lets introduce you to the first...
Hello there troopers.
Let me introduce myself. I am Krenyo the creator of many different assets for First Strike, and perhaps the lead contributor to version 1.5.
Let me start by giving you a little history lesson. I started my FS experience as a humble player who waited eagerly for a long time reading the news posts and watching the forums before version 1 was released. Having always been a huge star wars fan and having spent many, many hours playing the old Galactic Conquest mod, First strike was a dream mod come true.
I played First Strike very regular right through version 1.2 and 1.3. After exhausting all the available maps (I really did play a lot), I decided to have a go at making my own map. This started with me learning the BF2 editor and spending many hours experimenting and getting used to how the BF2 engine works and how the maps are made up. Eventually I settled on a solid idea for a map and produced the initial version of “Strike at Bimmiel”, a map that’s main objective was for the rebels to fight their way up a large mountain and attack an imperial communication installation. This map of course became the popular “Null Sensor Station”.
To further develop my skills and the then called “Strike at Bimmiel” map, I needed the assistance of the official dev and testing team, so I got in contact with one of the testers who I always got on well with in game (he knows who he is) and he got me (and my map) into the testing team eventually with full tester status and access. Once I had this access to advice, experience and dev/tester resources I was able to completely overhaul the map into something much more professional looking. Even with all this help there was still something missing...custom statics.
To really be creative and unlimited in map making, you really need to be able to model your own assets that are custom tailored for the requirements of the map. This is where I really got into modding. I started off with something basic, a tall, tall tower to get from the bottom of the mountain to the very top via a network of ramps. The first designs were very basic as to be expected, but as my experience in using 3D software rapidly grew, the tower was eventually finished as you see it today.
With my new found tools and skills I then took on the ambitious project of modelling the base itself. Again this started out fairly basic but quickly progressed into the finished piece.
Shortly before the release of version 1.4 I was made a full Dev team member. Imperial nominated me for membership based on the work I had put in on Null and I was voted in unanimously. After the release I spent some time experimenting with new map ideas and further developing my skills. Eventually this led to me building the ATPT walker which has to be my proudest moment of all. I actually managed to model, texture, animate and code the whole thing by myself and as I was new to all of this I was very proud of my achievements. Eventually Neko redid the animation as mine were a little wooden but they were fine for initial testing and development.
After a few trials with various map scenarios I eventually settled on an open desert map. This initial idea was to become “Jundland Wastes”. I wanted this map to incorporate a little of everything I had learnt so far and I wanted it to be as unique and as packed full of fresh new content as possible. There are too many new assets to list here but it includes new statics, new vehicles, new terrain painting and sculpting techniques, new play scenarios, new effects, etc. This map has literally hundreds of hours of work put into it, the majority by me, but with contributions from pretty much every other member of the team somewhere along the line. Not to mention the many hours put in by the testing team to iron out any bugs and check for bad play etc.
So after all the hard work from everyone and myself, I hope you all enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed creating it! See you in the desert!
It is with great pleasure that I can reveal to you all the release date of what we hope will prove to be the second coming of First Strike. With new vehicles, new maps, new game modes, new features, and extensive tweaks across the mod, I think you'll find First Strike 1.5 to be quite the different animal when compared with the current version of the mod. We're sure you'll find that all the changes will do a lot to improve your enjoyment of the mod, and you'll find that there is so much more going on here than just two new maps.
So when can you expect to have all of this in your grubby little mitts? When is the golden date?
Well we have really been working our collective butts off on the next release of First Strike. We seem to have developed a reputation for the Trademark it will be out "SOON" TM remark, but at long last the wait might soon be over. It has been over a year since our last considerable new content release, and as a result the player base of our mod has failed a little, we still have a hardcore fan base, but the numbers are dwindling as no new content has been available in so long.
Well that will soon be changing. Bolstered by the return of several key members of the Development Team over the Summer, and a fierce desire to get all the hard work that has been put into the production of First Strike 1.5 to the public, there has been a flurry of activity these last few months that has culminated in this last week where an unprecedented volume of work has been put into the mod with constant test builds being updated, tester feedback considered, and new builds produced so rapidly that the mod has improved immeasurably in mere hours. Critical problems that have been hampering the mod have been tackled head on and bludgeoned into submission. Chief amongst these has been a critical class 'A' bug that was causing us some serious issues with one of the key assets of the next release, the much anticipated Sentinel lander. The problems were becoming so serious, and the delays caused by this were such that we had to start considering pulling the ship from the release and just pressing forward without it until the bug could be found and dealt with, but as luck would have it FSDev Krenyo managed to pull our fat out of the fire today and finally sorted out that pesky bug, and now the last hurdle keeping us from release has fallen away.
Another hero of this last big push towards release is FSDev Twigs who has really gone from strength to strength on this mod, starting off leading the Testing Team his desire to see First Strike's space maps rival the thrill of the classic X-Wing vs TIE Fighter games has seen him push himself to excel at mapping and coding, and the effort he has put into getting content into the mod these last few weeks has been nothing short of Herculean.
Together with this surge of development activity the testing team for our mod have really come through for us going above and beyond the call of duty to test all hours that they are available, not just the designated testing times. I guess with so much new content to see and get to grips with they have plenty to keep them busy, and the fact they stay on after testing is over to carry on playing the test builds of the mod even though they've already been at it for hours can only be a good sign.
There is so much to keep track of it is easy to get lost in it all. Safe to say that you have not been waiting over a year for just two new maps (wonderful as they are), there are also fundamental changes to a lot of existing assets, gameplay tweaks, aesthetic modifications, and still a fair few surprises that we have in store for you that we haven't let slip yet. So yes I know I've said it before, but I do believe you'll find it well worth the wait, and that wait is almost over. Look out for an announcement on an actual release date. Not long to go now.
It makes me very proud to see the team as a whole come together so strongly with such a clear vision and goal that unites us. To deliver to the public the best Star Wars game we possibly can, by the fans, for the fans.
Lastly to whet your appetite still further why not feast your eyes on the freshly textured Virella Systems Cargo Tanker, that's right, she's in game already!
Closed Alpha Test & Deth..
