Archived News » Playtest 20151031

Posted by Paul Chote at 2015-10-31 12:00 +0000

Halloween is upon us, and the latest OpenRA playtest is full of new tricks and other treats! This build includes all of the major new features and balance changes that we have planned for our Christmas release, and it is going to be one of our biggest releases yet!

We rely on your testing and feedback to make sure that our release builds are as balanced and bug-free as possible, so please let us know if you find any issues or just generally don’t like something by filing a bug or joining our IRC channel! We will try our best to fix any issues before the final release.

Grab the installer now for your operating system from our download page!

Ten reasons to try the new OpenRA Playtest

1. New chat lobby

The multiplayer server browser and game lobby have been redesigned around a new global chat channel.

This will make it easier to find and talk with other players, and to organize matches without server-hopping.

The channel is available from outside the game as well, by connecting to irc.openra.net:6667 channel #lobby using your favourite IRC client.

2. Game speed options

Do you think that our default game speed is too slow (or too fast)? We now include a game speed option in the lobby and campaign menus!

3. Overhauled Dune 2000 mod

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows.



— from "Manual of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

One of our big focuses has been completely overhauling our Dune 2000 mod to more closely match the original game. All of the unit and building statistics have been adjusted, and we have implemented new (old) features including the thumper and spice blows.

We have made good progress towards matching the feel of the original game, but we aren't there yet. Let us know what you think, or if you find something that still doesn't match!

4. Tiberian Dawn mod improvements

The Tiberian Dawn mod includes some incremental balance changes plus a bug fix for SAM Sites that would refuse to close. We have included several new multiplayer maps, and two new campaign missions — including a stormy commando mission.

5. Red Alert mod improvements

The Red Alert mod finally received a much needed shock-trooper nerf, and a fix for destroyed aircraft taking far too long to crash to the ground. The Soviet Hijacker and France's fake structures have also been improved, and we include five(!) new campaign missions.

6. Joystick scrolling

Another commonly requested feature was the ability to scroll using the right mouse button like a joystick (like TS and RA2). You can now enable "Joystick" scrolling in the Input tab of the Settings dialog. We are still hard at work on our Tiberian Sun mod, but we still don't have a release date for you yet!

7. Units “defend” by default

Players have often complained about their units chasing the enemy across the map, and our "pro" players know that it is best to change the stance of their units to the "defend" mode. We have made this the new default for all units, streamlining the game play a little bit for everyone.

If you want to change your units back to the old "attack anything" mode, you can use the change stance hotkey (ctrl+z by default).

8. New asset installer

We have consolidated our asset installation procedure into the mod chooser. Look out for even more improvements in future releases!

9. Fixes and performance

We have fixed a large number of bugs, including the well-known replay freeze bug when a player disconnects, and a memory corruption bug that would cause random crashes when starting a match on a Windows OS. We have continued our crusade for performance, and this playtest shows significant further improvements over the last release.

10. Improved map and mod support

There is a boatload of new features for modders and map authors: maps can now include custom music and define particle effects for rain, snow, or sand storms. We have made major changes to the traits that control actor rendering and targeting that make them more flexible and self-consistent. Make sure to use the automatic rule upgrader to easily port your maps and mods to the new release! You will need to manually update your mod.yaml and UI definitions for the new version.