I’ve taken a bunch of popular requests and complaints in regard to the existing gameplay engine and decided to finally do something about them. A lot of the major issues were related to the free-for-all mode, mainly where you could be attacking another player and you wouldn’t get the kill credit because they’d kill themselves right in time. Well not anymore! You now get the full credit for pressuring another player to kill their character. You can also now see how many kills that player has in FFA by looking above their head!

Other players’ scores will appear next to their name as shown in the picture above. This is a response to the complaint where you would never know how close players are to each other. You let your guard down for one second thinking you’ve got a lead but then bam, “Roach has 19/20 kills!?” Woops.

I’m not going to go into full detail anymore, but here’s a list of everything that’s been changed!

Spherack Reloaded – Client Changes in Build 069

• Fix glitch where weapons can obtain the properties of others during map changes
• Suicides in Free-For-All now reward the last person to damage the suicidal character
• Direct hits from the grenade launcher now instantly kill players
• HP now regenerates slower based on how much energy your character has
• Fixed an issue with the auto-updater on Windows 7
• Fixed Spherack’s internal error-reporting function
• Added visible player scores to free-for-all mode

Spherack Reloaded – Server Changes in Build 069

• Code and graphic output optimized to reduce RAM usage by up to 60%
• Server now displays more status information through website
• Fixed an issue with the auto-updater in Windows 7

I hope everyone’s excited for and will try out the new build! Grab a couple friends one night and play a round!

Also, I’m holding another public online match to introduce more people to Spherack. Join us tonight, April 7th at 8pm Eastern Time. We’ll be playing on ZNet-IV. Be sure to RSVP to the Facebook event to let us know you’re coming!

Click here to go to the Download Page!

Spherack v3.2.068 is now available for download! This build features a brand new map, mp_alley, as pictured to the left. As you can probably tell, it’s built with a brand-new tileset and everything, and also is the first map to feature interactive scenery as part of my mission to make gameplay even more exciting than it already is.

Also in build 68, I’ve fixed mp_gray, which you may know for lagging or even crashing the game. This was due to an issue the game’s physics engine had with the slopes in the level, so I’ve removed them, meaning the map works once more for all!

Lastly on the list of exciting things that happened this build: I’ve updated the server’s default settings to make it easier for newer server-owners to launch their own games. The default score limit is now 20 (compared to 100) and the auto-rotation of modes and maps is also enabled by default.

So what are you waiting for? Pull a few friends aside, and grab the new version!

Click Here to Download!

So in short, everything looks the same, acts the same, but works a little differently. Simple benefit is, you can see what servers are online and you don’t have to worry about your own servers getting booted off the list for unexplained reasons.

Lastly, because people weren’t in favor of using an installer to download the game, I’ve made it available to download only through a ZIP file. I also rewrote some of the filenames and locations for a few files, which means anyone who has a copy of the game installed already will have to remove it from their system and download this release, because it won’t be available through auto-update. To download the game, click here.

Enjoy!

Between school, work and music rehearsals, I’ve been working on the “Spherack Reloaded Engine.” (pending title, perhaps?) This is in short, the backbone to Spherack Online 3 but without all of the networking material that makes the game online multiplayer capable.

Instead, this is designed as a base to power single-player shooters. I still haven’t decided however, whether or not I’ll be releasing the engine to the public or keeping it private for my own use. Maybe if someone or enough people beg (ask kindly) I’ll put it out there. For now though, if you’re a follower of mine on Twitter or at least follow the Spherack Online account, you may notice I said I’ve also been working on “AI.”

That’s for you to learn about my next update here

Stay posted!

Somewhere that night between 3am and 8am something went crazy-go-nuts and the motherboard fried itself. Not exactly sure what happened, but something did.

Anyway, I’ve ordered a new computer from HP… usually I’d build my own of course but I found this deal to be a real steal:

Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.3Ghz
4GB DDR2 RAM
640GB HDD
Windows Vista Home Premium with a free upgrade to Windows 7

Plus the usual stuff HP throws in like the case, power supply, keyboard, etc. All for just  $525, I found that for quite a steal and ordered it. Of course, it won’t be here probably until next Friday or something so for now I’ve double-monitored my netbook. It’s good fun. 1024×600 on a 19 inch monitor; an 80-year-old’s dream.

Anyway, what this means for you guys right now is Spherack is completely down. You won’t be able to host or join servers because my computer is what they all use to route themselves together. I apologize; I didn’t expect this to happen until December yet it did anyway.

SOOOOO yeah. I’ll be on a netbook with two monitors for the next week or so. Leave comments here or something.

That’s right, one of the major features you’ve all been waiting for have arrived! (I’ve stopped procrastinating) Rather than just killing each other with one gun, you can now choose between the Thompson, a Shotgun, and the Grenade Launcher over the area of now, five maps.

What are you waiting for? Go over to the game page and download it now!

So now, a few months later, with time to actually work on the game again, I’m including a brand new menu & server browser as part of the game’s big 3.1 Update. I can’t say I’ll be retaining the chat system just yet, but I can say it’s faster and far less glitchy to use.

If you’re interested in catching some previews, follow me on Twitter!

Yes, an actual options menu, and I mean IN-GAME options! Rather than instantly quitting the game when you hit the escape key, you’ll open up this window from which you’ll have quite a few choices I think you’ll all like. As I said, you’ll be able to adjust the in-game settings, and you’ll also be able to change your team in-game and switch weapons. New weapons! They’re coming! I’ve already got a rocket launcher made up and its filled with awesome!A variety in weaponry is sure to bring a fresh approach to gameplay as some have their advantages as well as disadvantages. Choose what works best for you and suits your interests.

There’s a lot of things to come in the future update. When it will come I can’t say, but for now stop by my new bug tracker at http://flyspray.AndrewNatoli.com to browse and submit your own feature requests and bug reports! I’d love to hear your ideas on what I should add and change, so why keep them to yourselves?

I might go about posting some screenshots from the upcoming build soon. I apologize for the lack of progress the past few months but hope you’re excited for what’s to come!