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Hello everyone and welcome to this Apocalypse Rising Mega Update! We've been really busy these past few months working on a bunch of stuff, so here's a big summary of all of our major developments since February! Gameplay Videos For those who are here to see how the game plays, we will start with two in-game footage videos right away. This first one is from Renegade's 20th Anniversary Event, which ran from 19th February to 27th February! Apocalypse Rising was featured on the 23rd, which for many of our guests was their first ingame experience! Huge thanks to CCHyper for our specially-themed Red Alert 2: Apocalypse Rising screen! Expect to see that during our Apocalyse Rising streams that you can catch on our Twitch channel @ twitch.tv/w3dhub The second video is from C&C community streamer, Lunak; who has recorded himself playing the same event from a different perspective. We would like to thank him for taking the time to stream our content! If you would like to see more of his streams, visit his channel @ twitch.tv/lunak89 and tell him W3D Hub sent you! Map Updates Next on, we have a few screenshots of some maps that we have been working on. Our team has made significant progress on these and we can't wait to have you explore everything! Dune Patrol First up is are two WIP screenshots of Dune Patrol, created by @ moonsense715 . Dune Patrol features a village in the east which infantry can engage in close-quarters combat, as well as capturable Oil Derricks to earn bonus income for your team! The center of the map also features a small staging area, pictured below. Make use of the bunker and supplies found here to dominate the center and allow your teammates to push onward! W.I.P: Mayak Beach Next up is Mayak Beach, made by the combined powers of @ Romanov and @ moonsense715 . This level is still under construction and features a new super-weapon. Intel acquired by Agent Tanya and a British Spy shows that the Soviets have built a space-based nuclear weapon. This never-before-seen weapon will cause catastrophic destruction if left unchecked. This cannot happen! The Allied forces must not allow the Soviets to win this battle! W.I.P: Secret Superweapons Map Last but not least, @ Romanov has been working on an additional new map. It features a new Allied building (the Gap Generator), along with the familiar Red Alert 2 superweapons, the Weather Control Device and the Nuclear Missile Silo. The systems controlling the superweapons are about to enter a heavy testing and iteration phase! Superweapons have long been a popular demand and our testing will tell us how best to fit these into gameplay! Yes, the red barn is also a Superweapon. As are the cows that reside within. User Interface Updates Moving on, next we have some details about some major upgrades to the user interface. These are mainly quality of life improvements that will enhance the gameplay throughout. Vehicle Queuing System @ moonsense715 has recently coded up the vehicle factory queue system (APB is already using it). We have listened to player and the tester feedback and we decided that this was a very needed QOL update. This new system allows players to queue up their vehicle purchases instead of playing the who-buys-faster game at the Purchase Terminal. No longer will players stand around, waiting for the War Factory to become available. Just submit your request and wait for your order to be processed! In the mean time you can defend the base or chat with your teammates. Alternatively, until your order starts being processed, you may cancel your order and get refunded, Here is a picture of what the factory bar looks like. The player pictured below has ordered a Grizzly Tank that is waiting to be processed: A supplementary feature to compliment the factory bar is the "Queue Information" panel. This is displayed on your interface if you have an order being processed. This way you can see how much longer you need to wait for your vehicle to be ready, without having to check in the purchase terminal. This is what it looks like when the player has ordered a Grizzly Tank and it is currently 2nd in the Allied War Factory queue: Building Capture Bar Currently in Apocalypse Rising, you can capture tech buildings simply by standing next to them (the Engineer also has a bonus to capturing speed). We received some feedback that capturing buildings was lacking some visual feedback, so this is now shown towards the top of the screen in the centre, so you can clearly see the capturing progress: Dynamic Loading Screens Recent code changes by @ moonsense715 allowed us to build a dynamic loading screen. This automatically picks up images and data related to the level being loaded, for example specific images and the name of the map. We have also built a tooltip system into the loading screen. This will pick a random tip (out of a pool) and display it here. You might learn something new every time! 3D Model Updates This section contains a whole bunch of 3d model updates to various units within the game. Black Eagle After all that, yes we still have a few asset updates left to show as well. First up is the Black Eagle, which was originally a model of an F-18 made by artist Wolves-Realm. @ OWA has used this model as a base to come up with a new Black Eagle model, which is a massive improvement over our placeholder model. Rhino Tank Our Rhino Tank was beginning to shows its age and low resolution textures, so @ moonsense715 went ahead and updated it with the leading help of one of our testers, @ Purple. Big credit for the help! Pictured below are the older model and the new and improved model! As you can see from the older model, the Rhino previously have undefined barrels, an unimpressive gun barrel, and basic tank wheels. In collaboration with Purple and building upon the old model, the new Rhino Tank features a much more impressive exterior, complete with more defined armour, a coaxial machine gun, improved treads, a front window, spotlights, and more! See it all in this side-by-side comparison! Guardian GI The Guardian GI has received a new model which has now made its way in-game. He looks a bit more sturdier than the regular GI, but retains some consistent visuals between the two; such as the helmet, goggles and kneepads. This new model gives the Guardian GI the formidable appearance as befits him. "Tanks are no match!" Credit to@ OWA and @ Romanov for the model and texture respectively. Crazy Ivan Crazy Ivan is the Soviet's resident bomb specialist. Armed with a ton of TNT, he excels at destroying enemy buildings. Previously using an older Renegade model and a change of clothing, the Crazy Ivan is now represented by his new and unique model! TNT strapped to his body and donning his signature eye-patch and bandana, he is now more dangerous than ever! Credit to@ OWA ,@ Romanov and @ moonsense715 Gap Generator The Allied Gap Generators produces a fog bubble around the Allied base preventing the Soviets to be able to see what is happening inside. The Gap Generator in AR will be different to APB. We are using a new script for the concealment logic. What this means is that when a Soviet player is inside the bubble, enemy Allied players will not be stealthed (like in APB), but instead they will be un-targetable and their information on the HUD and various menus will be hidden. This includes defenses and buildings too, so if a Gap Generator bubble covers either of these, the Soviets cannot track its health. Credit to @ Romanov for the model, texture and script! Spy Bug Device This is a special device that the Allied Spy uses to hack buildings. To use it, the Spy must place it on an enemy repair node. This will then have a negative effect to the Soviet team until they are able to disarm it. The effect varies on the building that is placed on, which can be discussed in more detail at a later time. Once discovered, the bug device can be disarmed by shooting it with any regular weapon. Credit to @ Squid Empire and @ Romanov for the model and texture! That's it!That's all from the AR mega update. Join us next time for more stuff!

Looking good! I remember testing Dune Patrol without textures. Glad you found some you like. Question: In APB, some of the buildings are a bit out of the way and as a result aren't used often in standard gameplay (specifically, StormyValley's church comes to mind while typing this). I love the idea of several buildings to use for cover and battlegrounds a-la Battlefield's urban maps. Are the placements for these any better to ensure they'll actually be used?

[blurb]This release adds new pets, an item, redesigns the weather/temperature screen fade system, adds discord integration to the modern client, and more![/blurb]This release adds new pets, an item, redesigns the weather/temperature screen fade system, adds discord integration to the modern client, and more! New Features Food and drinks now modify your body temperature! If your body temperature is up by a degree it takes about a minute to get back to normal. Consumable Degrees Pizza +2.0 Water Bottle -5.0 Burger +2.0 Burgershot Meal +4.0 Cluckn Bell Meal +4.0 Coffee +10.0 Fries +1.0 Popcorn +1.0 Soda Cup -10.0 Soda Can -5.0 Completely redid the weather and heat screen fading system, it is now better tied in with the damage, heat, and other systems that used to fade the screen. Now eating too much hot or cold food will fade the screen as your body temperature gets to high or low, in addition placed fires will also fade the screen visibly. Also while improving this system I came across the bug that causes your screen to throb when your injured sometimes, I’ve always liked the affect so instead it is now properly coded into the system and will happen reliably. A new item, the coffee cup has been added, it has the same attributes as the soda cup except it gives heat instead of takes it. Added two new pets to the pet system; one is the turkey, a weak but cheap pet. The other is a mystery and is definitely not totally overpowered in anyway. Modern Client Update 1.4 Discord integration has been added thanks to Unstoppable's work! VSync is no longer needed in the modern client, it will frame cap at 300 and also uses proper refresh rates (Thanks to Dblaney1). Other tweaks and fixes may apply that were in the last 4.7.2 Renegade update (and technically it has everything that was in the latest 4.7.3 release too). Tweaks/Improvements Pop can price has been reduced from $75 to $25 Pets are now smart enough to switch to a secondary weapon… not that there are any pets that have one… The old energy shield script has been improved to be able to use more than 100 shield… not that there are any units that have more than 100. Taxis are now much more forgiving if the player jumps out and resummons it right away again, they’ll let the player do this roughly 3 times before getting tired of them and just leaving. Taxis no longer try to use the map’s pathfind grid to get to their first road point, this was causing them to drive all over the place before following the road… I suspect I originally did this because there is a rare opportunity for the AI to be moved by another unit or miss their first point, in which case it would spend a bunch of time stuck before getting back on path. However, the way it was working pretty much always made it drive like a complete nut until getting to the first point. Bug Fixes Weapons crate now tells you the weapon is full instead of giving you some abstract “No ammo for this weapon” message. When drinking too much of something it used to say something along the lines of “I can’t take anymore” now it says “I can’t drink anymore.” Lighting effects in the night club now better respect damage and heat effects (it's far from perfect). Server Patches (Updated 5/17/2022) The following are issues I found post push to the server and will be rolled out for all people hosting in the next patch. Fixed a bug causing the Multi PT's arrows to be mis-positioned on the 4.x client (not sure if this was a recent bug added by 4.x updates or if I had been missing it all along). Fixed an issue causing one of the pet PT's to be invisible (id collision). More improvements to the pet AI: Pets are now on the Renegade Team. Pets now actually use line of sight to do attacks. Pets will no longer attack the vehicle the player is in. Pets can now fight other pets and ignore other pets you own. Fixed an issue with the new pet perks causing them not to load. And that's all for this release, have fun!

Good Afternoon, This year 2022 has started out with the effects still felt from 2021 and 2020 respectively. However in the previous 5 month time frame we've also felt the ramifications of a European War that's still raging to this day by both sides, a near crash of the stock market with the total collapse of a stablecoin (Luna) that some people have unironically invested their life savings in and inflation that’s currently in limbo on when it’ll be fixed... creating financial stress (if not difficulty) on most. Behind all of this a recent shooting occurred in the state of New York where upon the person live streamed people falling to the ground from being shot point blank with a rifle. Despite any opinion on any of these topics there is something that remains which is the ability to seek and get help when needed. This brings me to the point of my topic today which is May is Mental Health Awareness month. However, I am asking everyone reading not just to not ignore the importance of this topic but also not ignore yourselves. If you’re in financial, mental or any type of distress to the point of harming yourself or others then please call the numbers listed below. I don’t know any other way to say this other than it’s not worth it. Life is worth living and you do matter. People do care about you. If you’re unable to call or unwilling then I am willing to listen and help anyone to the best of my ability if they need someone to talk to. Just PM me on discord or on W3DHub.com. Having a chat with someone here has helped me more times than I can count in my life and I know it can for you as well. It really can be that small difference. If you need help, get help. While we again, reflect on this month and what it means along with all the events of the past. I ask that if you see a friend that’s down to reach out to them. If you’re down and considering something irreversible then please reach out. We can do this. Thank you. ================================================================================================== https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines (Worldwide) Suicide Hotline (Spanish + English) = 800-273-8255 The Samaritans Crisis Hotline = (212) 673 - 3000 The Trans Lifeline can be reached at 1 - 877 - 565 - 8860 (UK) Text SHOUT to 85258 (Free 24/7 Text based UK service)

Keep up the great work! Loving what I see.

Also great job setting this up @ Killing_You . Felt very smooth.

So, here's a thought. What if we just planned on doing one or two epic games a year? Schedule something months in advance and make it something people actually mark down on their calendars. I'd like to hop back in and join, just hasn't worked out lately with my schedule.

Let's admit it--Jeod failing the "r u scum" test was the start of the end for this Harkonnen mission. Only went downhill after that.

GAME END With the day coming to a close, you arrest Category 5 Hurricane under suspicion of being a Harkonnen spy. Not wanting to make any more mistakes, you decide to bring him before a Truthsayer. Unable to resist the influence of the Bene Gesserit, he confesses to being a Harkonnen agent. He also reveals that he was instructed to weaken the Elite guard from within before making their move. However, in the process, he reveals a startling truth: House Harkonnen was not responsible for the death of Duke Rogal Atreides. Before he could be questioned further, however, a dart strikes him in the neck, and he falls over dead. Category 5 Hurricane was Fassur Tomicki, a Harkonnen Levenbrech! What does this mean? If House Harkonnen did not kill the Duke, who did? And for what purpose? These questions will be answered in due time. For now, it's time to celebrate your victory, and hold a coronation ceremony. All hail Duke Achillus Atreides! POST-GAME ANALYSISI'll be honest, I did not see this game turning out the way it did. With two power roles per faction, one rolecop and one roleblocker, I anticipated a cat-and-mouse chase with the night actions, along with a couple of counterclaims. But it was not meant to be, as both Town power roles successfully targeted both Scum night one. In fact, had Cat5 targeted anyone else, Irish would've discovered his roleblocking ability, and the jig would be up. Cat5 passing away his Hunter-Seeker drone was also quite unfortunate, as it would've allowed him to punch through both being roleblocked and Louis' shield. This would've made N2 much easier for him, and the game would've likely gone in a much different direction. That said, since Jeod and Cat5 had a hard time coordinating their cover story for N1, it was unfortunately a matter of time. As for the setup itself? I think it's quite solid, probably my best balanced setup so far. Aside from a couple of flavor bits, there's not much I'd change about it, and I don't think my minor errors had a major impact on the game (if at all). So, what was the long story bit on this post about? Well, dear reader, it is a tease. Sometime this summer (likely after the next Mafia game or two), we'll be returning to Arrakis for a more intricate, more story-heavy game. Based heavily on @ Nodlied 's incredible July Crisis Mafia, the Dune Landsraad mafia will feature several players trying to piece together evidence and solve a mystery, while other players will be trying to stop them and cause an intergalactic war. Featuring an Imperium Tension mechanic, investigations that will aid in finding evidence without removing players, and much more, this promises to be quite an affair more complex than anything we've had in a while. Until then, there will hopefully be many more Mafias to be had. See you next game!