Blast from the Past! Red Alert: A Path Beyond [BETA] 1.2.0 - returning soon!

[Einstein 713]

Ahem! Is this thing on? I need to make an announcement!

My time machine has proven its worth once again by delivering us a blast from the past. An ancient technology that some of you may remember. . . A game from a bygone era. . . Our engineers have been hard at work in the lab, inspecting everything to make sure that it has survived intact the journey from past to present, and ensuring that it can survive on computers in this new time line, as much has changed. Things are looking well, and it is almost ready. . .

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W3D-Hub is proud to (re-)present to you: Red Alert - A Path Beyond [BETA] 1.2.0

Coming soon to a launcher near you!

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Over 10 years ago, the APB team moved the project into its [BETA] era, which was the height of player counts and online gameplay, clan games, mp-gaming, oxi-stats, demo noobs, and so much more! It was the "golden" era that defined the game in many ways. The game then moved into its "Cold Fusion" (1.3) and "Nuclear Winter" (1.4) updates, then Gamma (2.x), and finally what we all play now - Delta (3.x). And while Delta is undoubtedly the best and most advanced version of the game yet, it is fun to go back and see how things used to be, if for no other reason than to gain a deeper appreciation for what it has become in recent years. But if you're like me....you like to play Beta, because it was lots of fun, and there are lots of good memories associated with that point in time.

To give a little more info on what this actually is, it is simply a "system update" of the original game. Starting with Windows 8 and moving forward, it is increasingly annoying to even get the stock game to run, much less "as it should", depending on your computer. This is largely due to the old version of the engine that Beta was built on (3.4.4). So we have ported the game forward to the latest TT4.6 scripts, which is the same version as Interim Apex, and probably most up-to-date stock renegade servers as well. The point is that it is made to work on modern computers.

This was the first step. After that was done and the game was running stable, it was time to do some cleanup of old files, and of course fix some new bugs that appeared due to changing scripts versions. It was said by some that it would not even be possible, nor worth the effort to try to fix everything. But we found that surprisingly little was truly broken in the upgrade. The largest issues were related to Purchase Terminals and Aircraft settings, but of course there was a handful of other things. But it has come together quite nicely, and our testing phase is almost complete!

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What you will notice has changed from the stock Beta experience:

• It runs faster and more stable. It runs smoother and so much better overall than it ever did back in the day, and crashes less. You can have a near-miss with a tree or building while driving a tank, and you won't lag-warp back to it 3 seconds later. 10+ years of engine updates are to thank for this.
• It won't make you reboot your PC if it does crash. The old engine was notorious for causing a scene when it would crash. Most common issues from this were a black screen which the user could do nothing about, a "dead" area on the screen, in which nothing could be clicked, computer stuck in low resolution, and other forms of weirdness. Again, thanks to a much newer engine version, all of these are now non-issues. (Also, you can Alt+F4 to exit the game at any time now, which is cool).
• V-sniping is gone. For those that remember, V-sniping was a "feature" of Beta. It does not exist in the new version of the engine, so you will get a more "normal" sniping experience. There are 60 clicks on the scope zoom, so that should suffice
• The stealth shader is different. The stock Renegade stealth shader is being used because the one that was used in beta did not carry over. We might be able to implement this (or a better one) in a future update, but not at this time. A misunderstanding on my part previously. The shader was not activating at all, due to lack of configuration on the new engine, and thus merely displaying the underlying texture. This has been mended.
• Scroll-wheel in the sidebar! A happy accident of the engine upgrade, you can now use the scroll-wheel on your mouse to quickly navigate the sidebar purchase menu. Enjoy!
• Better and easier-to-find screenshots. Another happy accident, screenshots are now stored in their own folder with the other games' screenshots folders in your Documents folder.
• Absolutely ridiculous FPS (700+ on my PC!!!). Same old song, the newer engine made it better....maybe a little too good Unless you are still running a computer from when this version of the game was new, I would recommend that you max out all of the settings for this game, and run it in the highest resolution that it supports. Also be sure to tick on V-sync. Else you'll have super high frame rates, to the point that it will actually start to cause physics bugs to happen. Also, in order to play online, it is always best with games on the W3D engine if the client FPS and the server FPS are as close as possible. Our test server has been keeping a near-constant 59 FPS, and with maxed out settings, the clients run at 60 FPS - which is perfect.
• Bluehell is GONE! Another major benefit of using a newer engine, the bluehell bug (which is where you fall through the map into the blue "hell" below) was eliminated by simply upgrading!
• New (old) maps! In addition to all of the original maps that shipped with this version of the game (minus CamosCrossing until we fix it), we are also able to include several additional maps, which were made by fans or other staff members during the Beta era. Some you may have seen before, others likely not!
   

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Credit where credit is due.

• I would like to thank @moonsense715, @dblaney1, and @CMDBob for their effort in making this possible - these guys fixed the bugs.
• @Dghelneshi, @Jerad2142, @triattack, and @Pushwall for giving excellent tips, advice, and assistance in this.
• @A4R91N for providing me with some maps which I did not have previously (which was so long ago that he may not even remember doing it)
• @FRAYDO for accidentally giving me the idea to do this in the first place (he asked for old screenshots and I delivered a game ).
• @NoSoldier and @OrangeP47 for taking some extra time to test this.
• The Tiberian Technologies Team, as this would have not even gotten started if new engine updates were not available.
• And I would also like to thank all of the people who put work into making this game and the maps so many years ago. There are too many of you to name, and I don't know all of you anyway. But thank you. We are still enjoying your work.

[blurb]Red Alert: A Path Beyond [BETA] 1.2.0 - coming to the launcher soon![/blurb][thumb]thumb_apb.3.png[/thumb]

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0.9935 is next

[OrangeP47 173]

I'll say at one point I actually got it up to 1300 FPS, after I had reported the 700-800   But yeah, V-sync fixes all those issues.

[Pyryle 154]

43 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

0.9935 is next

Objectively the best version. Fite me

[thedisclaimitory 30]

is it possible to get renegade alert on there aka the alpha or pre alpha to apb?? And when is the chronospere coming to apb aka  the ra time machine and or the iron certain witch == "DA, YES I'am INVINCIBLE!"? 

 

Edited January 29 by thedisclaimitory
added more

[FRAYDO 1,275]

7 hours ago, Einstein said:

@FRAYDO for accidentally giving me the idea to do this in the first place (he asked for old screenshots and I delivered a game ).

You had one job. ONE. JOB.

[MPRA2 137]

I boycott this until CamosCrossing gets fixed. I want my Manya/Medic hill rushes.

other than that, I'm pretty hyped for the re-release of "Beta"

[Alstar 154]

I cant wait for retarded OT rushes with rifles at the start of the game on River Raid.

[Einstein 713]

3 hours ago, MPRA2 said:

I boycott this until CamosCrossing gets fixed. I want my Manya/Medic hill rushes.

So the map itself is probably fine, the newer engine just really doesn't like ID collisions, which it complains that CamosCrossing has apparently. So it refuses to load it until we sort that out. The 9935 version of the map works, but I'd rather save that for actual 9935 (as it is slightly different).

[Threve 133]

Incredible work. Still believe however that V sniping should be included solely for the fact and remembrance of how far we have come and what we should be grateful for.

Beta Days were fucking great. Back when you could M-60 or Ranger every soviet defense with no risk, Medium Tank Mechanics (@EvanB90), the Medic had a Pistol, RA_ForestOfIllusion.mix, RA_SovietsAlliesLOL.mix, Bluehell everything, RA_Fjord.mix with the floating tanks, 0 second delay Demo Truck Firing and my personal favorite the good old Sniper+Phase Combo which prevented you from being seen on Radar until some dumbass bought a demo truck.

 

Only thing it's missing is the people in my signature. Thanks for this Einstein. We needed it.

Edited January 29 by Threve

[Blujet 5]

For the people who haven't played beta before, what's V-sniping?

[Einstein 713]

V-sniping was a hacked up sniping mechanic used back then. Instead of a traditional zoom, you could hold V and move the reticle around the whole screen freely. We did not intentionally remove it, but rather it just happened as a result of upgrading the engine.

Also, the Y and T traditional chat keys work, as well as the F2 and F3 keys, to match whatever preference you may have.

[Pushwall 895]

3 hours ago, Threve said:

Beta Days were fucking great. Back when you could M-60 or Ranger every soviet defense with no risk, Medium Tank Mechanics (@EvanB90), the Medic had a Pistol, RA_ForestOfIllusion.mix, RA_SovietsAlliesLOL.mix, Bluehell everything, RA_Fjord.mix with the floating tanks, 0 second delay Demo Truck Firing and my personal favorite the good old Sniper+Phase Combo which prevented you from being seen on Radar until some dumbass bought a demo truck.

I dunno, most of those (except FoI and LOLmap) sound like bad things to me. Beta was fun back then, but there was quite a bit wrong with it in retrospect, and the main draw was that players were around back then and that its flaws weren't nearly as profound as Gamma's. Then Gamma came along and said "hey, we can make it so playing as a mechanic requires you to have some brain cells to rub together and non-mechs can't just diceroll their way through things with bluehell, but the law of equivalent exchange demands that we balance it out with some bad. Like gradual tech level unlocking, arthritis-powered M16/phase/pistols, OP autocannon hind, no more kill icons, no more taunts, somehow worse framerate than Delta, helis covered in treacle, RA_Hourglass, C4 for volkov, laggy chargeups for tesla weapons, flamethrowers that can shapeshift into AP mines, snipers not being rebalanced to compensate for the fact that there is no longer a cheat-gate on sniping, MGGs that spew poogas, EVA being vague about what's under attack, and MRJ producing nausea-inducing sounds. And by some bad, we mean all of it. Take it or leave it", drove everyone away, and a lot of people just haven't come back since. I wish we could have just skipped Gamma and gone straight to Delta

[OrangeP47 173]

22 minutes ago, Pushwall said:

I dunno, most of those (except FoI and LOLmap) sound like bad things to me. Beta was fun back then, but there was a lot wrong with it in retrospect, and the main draw was that players were around back then and that it wasn't Gamma. Then Gamma came along and said "hey, we can make it so playing as a mechanic requires you to have some brain cells to rub together and non-mechs can't just diceroll their way through things with bluehell, but the law of equivalent exchange demands that we balance it out with some bad. Like gradual tech level unlocking, arthritis-powered M16/phase/pistols, OP autocannon hind, no more kill icons, no more taunts, somehow worse framerate than Delta, helis covered in treacle, Hourglass, C4 for volkov, laggy chargeups for tesla weapons, flamethrowers that can shapeshift into AP mines, snipers not being rebalanced to compensate for the fact that there is no longer a cheat-gate on sniping. And by some of the bad, we mean all of it. Take it or leave it", drove everyone away, and a lot of people just haven't come back since. I wish we could have just skipped Gamma and gone straight to Delta

I'll say the main draw of testing this for me had been nostalgia about the maps.  Then, when I actually got in game, those rose tinted glasses came off pretty fast.  I can honestly say there's not a map in the current build that I dislike, but loading up some of those old ones I was like "wow", in a bad way.

I still miss Fjord and some others, but I think they might be bad

[Threve 133]

52 minutes ago, Pushwall said:

I dunno, most of those (except FoI and LOLmap) sound like bad things to me. Beta was fun back then, but there was quite a bit wrong with it in retrospect, and the main draw was that players were around back then and that its flaws weren't nearly as profound as Gamma's. Then Gamma came along and said "hey, we can make it so playing as a mechanic requires you to have some brain cells to rub together and non-mechs can't just diceroll their way through things with bluehell, but the law of equivalent exchange demands that we balance it out with some bad. Like gradual tech level unlocking, arthritis-powered M16/phase/pistols, OP autocannon hind, no more kill icons, no more taunts, somehow worse framerate than Delta, helis covered in treacle, RA_Hourglass, C4 for volkov, laggy chargeups for tesla weapons, flamethrowers that can shapeshift into AP mines, snipers not being rebalanced to compensate for the fact that there is no longer a cheat-gate on sniping, MGGs that spew poogas, EVA being vague about what's under attack, and MRJ producing nausea-inducing sounds. And by some bad, we mean all of it. Take it or leave it", drove everyone away, and a lot of people just haven't come back since. I wish we could have just skipped Gamma and gone straight to Delta

 

Agreed. But the quirks in Beta good and bad definitely come to mind when thinking of earlier versions. Everyone did leave come Gamma as well including me. Gamma as a whole just seem a lot more laggy, weird, the characters seemed abnormally tall, firing a gun was retarded and it just overall was not a good experience to me for some reason or another. Delta is definitely a return to form and dare I say better than Beta. The implementations of new features like hitting the rear armor for more damage, crouching for increased accuracy and being hidden on the radar are small but at the same time ground breaking for a game like this and only add a new factor/tool to the game instead of changing it completely. The direction of Delta excites me and I truly believe there has never been a better time to play APB. Sadly player base is just needed, especially for a game like APB. I hope you guys have a good marketing/propaganda team this year.

 

[Einstein 713]

On 1/29/2019 at 5:16 PM, Threve said:

Agreed. But the quirks in Beta good and bad definitely come to mind when thinking of earlier versions. Everyone did leave come Gamma as well including me. Gamma as a whole just seem a lot more laggy, weird, the characters seemed abnormally tall, firing a gun was retarded and it just overall was not a good experience to me for some reason or another. Delta is definitely a return to form and dare I say better than Beta. The implementations of new features like hitting the rear armor for more damage, crouching for increased accuracy and being hidden on the radar are small but at the same time ground breaking for a game like this and only add a new factor/tool to the game instead of changing it completely. The direction of Delta excites me and I truly believe there has never been a better time to play APB. Sadly player base is just needed, especially for a game like APB. I hope you guys have a good marketing/propaganda team this year.

Well stated, and I can agree.

From what I hear, we have some pretty cool big ideas bouncing around on the PR front

[FRAYDO 1,275]

On 1/29/2019 at 5:16 PM, Threve said:

I hope you guys have a good marketing/propaganda team this year.

Want a job? The propaganda team could use a man of your skills. I've recently hired on Hiramaky, and the Game Night we held in January was quite a success. We'll be working on organizing more game nights and potentially inviting YouTubers for coverage. Testament and I are also discussing paid advertisement to expand our outreach. The AMA thread has our current PR strategy, and our outreach can only get better as more C&C Remasters updates brings fans old and new in. Stay tuned!

[Jeod 497]

10 hours ago, FRAYDO said:

Want a job? The propaganda team could use a man of your skills.

Spoiler

 

[FRAYDO 1,275]

9 minutes ago, Jeod said:

  Hide contents

 

haha you're a moderator we trust and can't afford to delegate to mere PR duty. How dare you be competent at your moderation duties

[Jeod 497]

Just now, FRAYDO said:

haha you're a moderator we trust and can't afford to delegate to mere PR duty. How dare you be competent at your moderation duties

But I don't do anything.

[Einstein 713]

2 minutes ago, Jeod said:

But I don't do anything.

Fired.

[Jeod 497]

Just now, Einstein said:

Fired.

*I don't do anything to do with moderation duties. I do other things that involve poking staff with a stick multiple times so I slowly acquire the resources I need to continue my experiments.

[FRAYDO 1,275]

5 minutes ago, Jeod said:

But I don't do anything.

 

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Fired.

[Einstein 713]

1 minute ago, Jeod said:

*I don't do anything to do with moderation duties. I do other things that involve poking staff with a stick multiple times so I slowly acquire the resources I need to continue my experiments.

Ahem. The Mad-scientist role is already taken in this game 😎

[Jeod 497]

Just now, Einstein said:

Ahem. The Mad-scientist role is already taken in this game 😎

Alternate universes collide, old timer.

It's more like the discord and game server are well-behaved 99% of the time. Go stir up some drama @FRAYDO!

[FRAYDO 1,275]

Would you say you are, a cool mad scientist?

[delta 165]

Is getting ships stuck in the naval yard spawn coming back? 

[Einstein 713]

1 hour ago, delta said:

Is getting ships stuck in the naval yard spawn coming back? 

Good question! I'll have to play with it and get back to you on that one.

[NodGuy 316]

On 1/28/2019 at 11:59 AM, Einstein said:

Bluehell is GONE! Another major benefit of using a newer engine, the bluehell bug (which is where you fall through the map into the blue "hell" below) was eliminated by simply upgrading!

 

 

[MPRA2 137]

5 minutes ago, NodGuy said:

 

 

I do enjoy a good trip to bluehell in 15 FPS if your helicopter sneezed near a tank on a service depot.

[gammae102 18]

V-sniping?  Moar like V2 sniping, .9935 where you at?