Futuremark Games has released a major update for Shattered Horizon, which includes voice-chat, new ranks, improved MPR grenade and more.

Added in game voice chat support offering talk to team, talk to all, player muting and global disable.

Improved ranking system adds 50 new experience ranks better tailored to both new and existing players.

Rank promotions now appear on the in-game HUD.

As a player ranks up cosmetic changes are added to the space suit to distinguish between new and experienced players in game.

Tutorial screens added to main menu.

MPR grenades have been made more effective against flying targets.

HUD targeting brackets no longer appear on spawning astronauts.

No longer possible to hit tankshots from the front, or visor shots from behind.

Main menu, level loading, team selection and match results screens have been redesigned.

All game audio has been re-mastered to improve dynamic range.

Added sound effects for when a round has 2 minutes left and 10 seconds left.

In game chat now supports special characters such as ä, ö , é …

Server browser list now refreshes every few seconds. Dead servers are removed from list.

Added Rules Info page to server browser screen.

Added support for 5:4 monitor resolutions such as 1280×1024.

Server 1.0.1.5

Servers can now be set to limit access to players above, below or between configurable point thresholds with the limits appearing in the server browser Rules column.

Added Melee Only (MO) option to server configuration options.

Added configurable away from keyboard (AFK) auto-kick to server options.

Added tooltips to server GUI.

Bug Fixes and Optimizations

Fixed a bug that allowed dead third party servers to appear in the server browser list.

Fixed an issue where players could not connect to a server due to a protocol error.

Fixed a bug that could cause a server to crash.

Fixed a bug in the Assault game type where ending a round in silent running mode caused some elements of the HUD to disappear when starting the next round.

Fixed a bug that could cause the game to hang on exit.

to hang on exit. Fixed an issue that could cause the screen to flicker when changing resolutions.

Fixed a minor bug with the logic of the hand computer menu.

Fixed a rare bug that could cause grenades to detonate at an incorrect position.

Fixed a few rare crash bugs.

Fixed double-buffered and triple-buffered v-sync.

Physics calculations (substepping) have been optimized.

Voice Chat

Voice chat allows you to communicate with your team or everyone in the game. There are separate buttons for talk to team and talk to all and there are options for player muting and global disable if needed. Before trying to use voice chat first set up and test Voice Chat in Steam under Steam’s Settings menu.

In game, use the Settings > Audio Options menu to set up Voice Chat.

By default, G is talk to team, H is talk to everybody (you can rebind these if you wish)

If you use voice activated chat, you will talk to team by default. Press H to talk to all. (Make sure the mic is away from your mouth. Shattered Horizon already has a breathing sound so you don’t need to add your own.)

Text will appear on the right-hand side of the HUD to show who is talking and when you are broadcasting. Icons appear on HUD brackets and RADAR for players who are speaking in view or in range (these icons also appear when triggered speech is heard such as “cover me, I’m reloading”). To mute a player, press ESC to bring up the arm menu, select Audio Options, then the Muting tab, then click on the player you wish to mute.

If you disable voice chat you will neither broadcast or receive chat from other players. In fact, you won’t even receive the data (nor for players that you have muted) ensuring maximum bandwidth for game data.

New Ranking System

Number of rank levels increased from 10 to 50

Current rank and rank progress now displayed on title screen

Rank promotions are now shown on the in-game HUD

The aim of the new ranking system is to provide better rewards for all players from people new to the game through to the game’s seasoned veterans. The new system uses the same 10 rank titles from Recruit through to Commander but each title now has sub-ranks named Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. This system creates 50 ranks in total allowing lower ranks to be grouped closer together and experienced ranks to be spaced further apart.

These changes mean that almost everyone will find themselves with a new rank following the update. The old second rank, Technician at 120 points, is now equivalent to level 12 (Bronze Engineer) meaning new players will be rewarded far more quickly as they learn how to play the game and adapt to zero gravity combat. At the other end of the scale, the old point limit for Commanders at 10,000 points is now equivalent to Rank 36 (Iron Lieutenant).

The latest server update allows server admins to limit access to players below, above or between configurable points thresholds. Effective with this update, official Futuremark servers are now set up in each region with the following conditions:

New Players server: 32 players – Mixed mode, all maps – For players with less than 400 points.

Proving Ground server: 16 players max – Mixed mode, all maps – For players with more than 120 points.

Training server (no damage): All maps – Open to everyone.