Hey Legionnaires, BugsPray here. There's a good host of features and new things coming through the pipe and some of you have found out what they are by completing the puzzles over the last several days (or by looking at the answers on the forums). I'm posting now to consolidate all of that information, clarify some things, and answer some questions from the forum. In order to keep the information posted to a reasonable/consumable size, we're breaking up the info into two posts. This first post is a big one and contains information on the upcoming update to Legions. We'll release more information in the next couple days on Torque3D and Steam.

Upcoming 1.40 Update

Big thanks to the dev team for plugging away to bring you a TON of new and amazing features that you'll see Very Soon™. We're expecting to get these changes into the hands of the private testers within 2-3 weeks for bug and play testing, then out to the general public once the kinks have been worked out - hopefully just another 2-3 weeks afterward. Do keep in mind that these screenshots should be considered a sneak peak and the features/artwork are subject to change.

UI Enhancements

The new menus have a cleaner look and some fancy effects that vastly improve the feel of the interface.

The game hud has also had a revamp, streamlining many hud elements and taking a step toward the minimalist.

New Weapon Models

Some of the newer weapons have been using placeholder models. With the 140 patch, these weapons are getting a big overhaul. Here's a teaser with the plasma rifle:

Observer Mode

Observer mode adds sorely needed control to spectator including jump to flags and flag stands as well as player and projectile following.

Capture and Hold (CnH)

Legions CnH similar to traditional CnH gametypes. Capture points spread around the map can be captured and slowly add to a team's score. These capture points can also be spawned at through a spawn selection screen. After a time, the main base of both teams becomes capturable, meaning it is possible to win the game by removing the enemy's ability to spawn.

Flag Capture and Hold (FCnH - formerly "Conquest")

FCnH is an experimental gametype that has some aspects of CnH while also bringing in a CTF element. In addition to capturing points, teams can also capture the enemy flag for a point boost. The main bases in FCnH do not become capturable.

The below screenshots are the capture point and the spawn selection screen for both CnH and FCnH. Note: There are no plans for water, the pond pictured in the second screenshot is being removed.

Boost Core

Boosts a player to high speeds at the cost of health. The speed of the boost is modified based on the speed of the player - the faster the player is going when activating the core, the smaller the boost.

Shield Core

Protects from incoming projectiles by draining energy upon impact. Keeping the shield active at the same time as jets slows energy regeneration speed.

Dodge Core

Allows the player to quickly dodge in a direction and leave a feint ghost as they move. Players will move about 10 meters if unobstructed.

Engineer Core and Deployables

This is one of those unique cores to be featured in Legions. Activating the engineer core will bring up a new Engineer HUD. There are three catagories of deployables: Reactors , Turrets and Utilities. A engineer just starting the game will be level 0 and have access to only a few starting selections. A engineer levels up by visiting their deployed objects and collecting its stored XP. A turret for example, gains/stores XP from killing enemy players. A game hud will appear when the engineer core is equiped indicating deployed objects XP progress that needs collecting. As a engineer levels up they will gain access to better Turrets, Utilities and Reactors. Deployable Reactors are needed to power objects that are not in range of a capture point reactor. A engineer can only produce so much energy for their level. Each object has a energy requirement limiting the amount they can place. There will be a ratio of engineer cores allowed on a team to how many players are in the game.

The deploy effect when deploying an inventory station:

That's all for now folks! Be sure to post your comments on the forums and tune in to the blog over the next couple days for more information about the future of Legions.