Archived News » Playtest 20140927

Posted by Paul Chote at 2014-09-28 00:00 +1200

The first playtest for our next big release is now available!

The biggest change in this playtest compared to our July release is the overhauled in-game interface:

The RA mod has received a brand new sidebar.

A new end-game score screen appears once a game is complete.

The in-game menu now shows an objectives panel in all mods (previously only available in the TD mod).

New keyboard shortcuts have been added, and the default keys have changed to match Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3.

The Red Alert sidebar interface has been given a much-needed facelift and a more compact design.

These UI changes are still a work in progress, and further refinements will be made before the final release. If you have feedback on the new design then please let us know during this playtest period!

The full Changelog lists many of the other improvements, bug fixes, and balance changes that are included in this playtest. A few notable improvements include:

The lobby now prevents players from choosing colors that are too similar to each other or the terrain.

Veteran units gain improved reload time and accuracy, and elite units will now heal over time.

Planes will maintain their distance from each other in a similar fashion to helicopters.

Several of the Tiberian Dawn campaign missions have been updated with mission objectives.

A number of small balance changes to the Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn mods.

A lot of work has gone into our new Lua API for scripted maps that was introduced with our June release. This new API offers improved performance, stability, and integrates with the new mission objectives system. If you have written any scripted maps then please use this playtest as an opportunity to port your maps to the new API, and please file a bug if there are any missing features. The old API will be removed in the near future.

Several Tiberian Dawn campaign missions have been overhauled with objectives and other improvements. Planes no longer bunch together, which makes them much less vulnerable to enemy AA.