NEWS

What's new?
===========

Prototype 5.4+dev2
------------------

- Simplify default game but add "PRO" mutator to restore old rules.
  Default game:
  - CATs have 150 instead of 75 health but no damper.
  - CATs don't have shields.
  - Decreased falling damage.
- New mutators:
  - damper: CATs take less damage the more energy they have.
  - halfhealth: CATs have 75 instead of 150 health.
  - lowhealth: CATs have 50 instead of 150 health.
  - crater: Triple falling damage.
  - "supersniper-arena": CATs carry hyper-powered sniper rifles.  
  - "novamp": Deactivate CAT 'V-AMP' module.  
  - "PRO" combo: damper/shields/halfhealth/crater
  - "INSTAGIB" combo: supersniper-arena/noshield/nodamper/novamp/nevertag/oobdeath
- Small fixes


Prototype 5.4
-------------

Released: Jan. 4, 2014

- CATs no longer lose health while not inside a zone, but
  old behavior can be restored with new "oobdeath" mutator.
- Add alternative fire modes for Blaster and Sniper ROFL.
- B.O.U.N.C.E. has been moved back from the orange/green
  into the red/blue weapon category.
- Repel Discs push harder depending on how low the target CAT's anchoring is.
- CATs regain anchoring much slower. (Almost as slowly as they lose it)  
- Lots of small changes to weapon visuals and sounds.   
- Sniper ROFL changes:
   - Add alternative fire mode: Low damage but bypasses
     barriers instead of shields (red/blue weapon category).
- Blaster changes:
   - Add alternative fire mode: Fire single slow but powerful bolt.
   - Revert back to using hitscan projectiles for default fire mode.
   - Reduce energy cost of default fire mode.
   - Force slow firing rate but add ability to fire immediately after
     being equipped.     
- Minigun changes:
   - Change bullet spread depending on zoom level.
   - Reduce impact impulse by half.
- Battle Rifle changes:
   - Projectiles explode on impact instead of bouncing.
   - Add minimum pause of 160 ms between shots.
- New tagging rules:
   - New default is that all players are tagged all the time.
   - New mutator to restore old rules: "temptag".
   - New mutator "nevertag": Players are never tagged.
- Other new mutators:
   - "noshield": Deactivates CAT shields.
   - "lowhealth": CATs have 50 instead of 75 health.
   - "QUICKDEATH": Combo: noshield/lowhealth
- Removed "superblaster" mutator.   
- Removed sound files that use third-party assets with NC licenses. 
- Bugfixes & other minor improvements


Prototype 5.3
-------------

Released: Mar. 30, 2012

- This is the first release available for Mac OS X.
- Repel disc changes:
   - Don't remove anchoring anymore.
   - Stop enemy CAT before pushing it.
   - Ignore enemy CAT's anchoring when pushing.
- Mine Launcher changes:
   - Bubbles don't bounce anymore.
   - Increase proximity radius from 5 to 6.
- Early version of new map (Archipelago)
- Bugfixes


Prototype 5.2
-------------

Released: Feb. 15, 2012

- Standard blaster now uses projectiles instead of hitscan.
- New grenade: Bypasses shield but does much less damage.
- An exploding mine can now lead to a disc-lock.
- Mutators for ROTC: Ethernet:
   - Slowpoke: Makes the game slow.
   - Superblaster: Replaces standard blaster with powerful hitscan version.
- On "death", display info on what caused your CATs destruction.
- Per default, HUD colors now indicate player condition instead of team.
- MOTD (Message Of The Day) feature.
- Make damage flash more visible.
- Force waiting period after using the "Ask for a game!" 
  button in the global player chat.
- Bugfixes & other minor improvements


Prototype 5.1
-------------

Released: Jan. 4, 2012

- New (albeit very simple) map.
- Increased recoil of Blaster and Battle Rifle.
- Bugfixes & other minor improvements


Prototype 5-testing
-------------------

Released: Dec. 16, 2011

- Support for Infantry arenas.
- Fixed zone mechanics and demo recording.
- Improved UI (both functionally and visually).
- Changed default key-bindings: "t" for chat, "shift t" for team chat.
- New disc: Explosive Disc
- New way to configure loadout: Hotkeys load a pre-configured loadout
  and only the first slot can be exchanged on-the-fly.
- New menus: "Edit Loadouts", "Switch Team" and "Arena Admin".
- B.O.U.N.C.E. has been moved from the red/blue into the orange/green
  weapon category. To compensate for bypassing the shield, its damage
  has been reduced.
- B.O.U.N.C.E. can now annihilate enemy projectiles.
- The mines now work and look more like conventional explosives and
  have been put into the orange/green weapon category.
- Repel Discs cut anchoring in half rather than zeroing it.
- Revert influence of the shooter's momentum on the battle rifle's 
  projectiles' trajectory back to the way it was in prototype 3.
- Improved disc target tracking a little
- "Smart" crosshair.
- Connecting players automatically join the team with less players.
- Although functionally unchanged, the "damage buffer" is now
  presented more like a classic energy shield.   
- The more unusual mechanics have been turned into to CAT 
  equipment items to make them more noticeable.
- Tweaked battle rifle projectile bounce sound and visuals.
- Mission Editor: Ignore locked or hidden objects when ray-casting.
- Bugfixes & lots of other minor improvements.


Prototype 4-testing
-------------------

Released: Jun. 26, 2011

- Breaks backwards compatibility to older versions!
- Newbie helper
- Handicap feature allows more experienced players to 
  give a fair chance to less experienced players.
- CATs now skid when touching the ground at high speeds
  and not etherboarding.
- Changed color rule for weapons that bypass health buffers from
  orange/cyan to orange/green and updated sniper rifle visuals accordingly.
- New "barrier" mechanic:
    - CAT's have a health buffer and a "barrier".
    - Orange/green projectiles bypass the health buffer.
    - Red/blue projectiles bypass the barrier.
    - The barrier is only activated when a CAT was hit by
      an orange/green projectile.
    - When a CAT's barrier has been activated, the CAT is not
      affected by orange/green projectiles until the barrier
      has completely faded away.
- Weapon changes:
   - Increased Blaster armor cost from 2 to 4 thus dropping the "b00nstick" alias.
   - Battle Rifle projectiles no longer bypass health buffers but
     again do 30 instead of 25 damage per projectile. The influence
     of the shooter's momentum on the projectile's trajectory has
     also been increased.
   - Replaced grenade launcher with mine launcher.
- Disc changes:
   - CATs can now be attacked by multiple discs at once.
   - A disc hit no longer leads to another disc lock.
   - Discs no longer deal damage. Instead they do the following:
      - Remove the target's anchoring.
      - Remove the target's barrier.
      - Push the target away from the CAT that launched the disc.
- Regeneration modules now only heal when standing still.
- Bugfixes & all kinds of minor improvements.


Prototype 3-testing
-------------------

Released: Apr. 26, 2011

- Breaks backwards compatibility to older versions!
- Somewhat improved performance (still requires way too 
  much horsepower for the way it looks).
- Damaging enemies again increases/restores a player's health,
  but unlike before, damaging enemies' damage buffers 
  does not count. In addition, overflowing damage buffers
  leak very fast in CAT form.  
- Players now have three equipment slots instead of two.
- The etherboard now takes up an equipment slot.
- New "Regenerate" ability: Takes up one (or more for increased
  effect) equipment slots but constantly heals the player while
  in CAT form.
- The weapons' now impart a lot more force when they hit.
  To compensate for this, CATs can become "connected" to the
  ground by being close to it and not etherboarding. When
  fully connected,  the impact force from a hit is reduced by 75%.
- B.O.U.N.C.E. now also deals damage based on the speed of the bounced enemy.
- Weapon changes:
   - Blaster:
      - Now requires at least 4 of the 9 shots to hit in order 
        to get a disc lock.
   - Battle Rifle: 
      - Reduce damage but bypass damage buffer.
      - Projectiles now bounce off surfaces.
   - Sniper Rifle:
      - Reduce damage but bypass damage buffer.
   - Minigun: 
      - Increase accuracy and remove spin-up delay.
- Mission Editor improvements:
   - "Snap To Grid" and "Rotation Snap"
   - Moved most useful options from the "World Editor Setting" into
     separate "World Editor Toolbox".
- Bugfixes & all kinds of minor improvements.
  
  
Prototype 2-testing
-------------------

Released: Mar. 5, 2011

- Breaks backwards compatibility to older versions!
- In-game player chat (implemented as uber-minimalist IRC client).
- New weapons.
- CATs can now fire a B.O.U.N.C.E. that reverses the momentum of
  nearby enemy CATs.
- In Ethernet arenas, damaging enemies no longer restores a player's health.
- In Ethernet arenas, CATs are limited to carrying 2 weapons (not
  counting discs, grenades and B.O.U.N.C.E.).
- Deflecting discs should now be easier/possible at higher latencies.
- Render player trails to make it easier to gauge CATs' velocities from a distance.
- Increased minimum speed needed to suffer impact damage.
- New default font & slightly fancier GUI.
- Warnings on the HUD for low health / armor.
- New etherboarding effects.
- Bugfixes & all kinds of minor improvements.


Prototype 1.11
--------------

Released: Nov. 30, 2010

- Replaced HTML manual with server-driven in-game online help
  and README, NEWS, AUTHORS and COPYING files.
- Changes to Ethernet zone mechanics:
  CATs can only capture zones adjacent to their own zones, but can
  enter any enemy zone to prevent the enemy from manifesting there.
- Unlimited etherboarding.
- Higher maximum speed for CATs.
- No more weapon sets: CATs carry both MG and Sniper ROFL.
- Reduced MG splash damage radius from 3 to 2 and removed 
  influence of player trajectory on MG projectile trajectory.
- Reduced Sniper ROFL damage & armor cost.
- The "Controls" dialog now allows rebinding almost every control
  and should finally work properly (keep your fingers crossed).
- Early version of dynamic in-game music.
- More player statistics.
- More useful minimap.
- Color of sniper projectile trail now shows if the shot hit.
- Revert to simpler (uglier and faster) zone rendering for now.
- Zones now flash when they change color.
- The sky now changes color to show which team has more health
  in a disputed zone.
- Reverted to always equipping the Trident when manifesting as CAT.
- Changed sound effects for manifesting, grenade explosion, sniper
  firing and sniper & MG projectile explosion.
- Reverted to default Torque Game Engine server query protocol.
  (Prototype 1.11 servers will not show up in the server browser
   of previous releases.)
- This release does not include the "nort1" arena of previous releases.
- Minor visual changes
- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.10
--------------

Released: Dec. 31, 2009

- Improved playback of Recordings/Demos.
- Zone grid computation has been sped up.
- The exploding Sceptres have been replaced by "imploding" grenades
  that draw from their own separate ammo source.
- The seeker Sceptres have been replaced by head-mounted disc launchers.
- Discs don't steal energy from their target.
- Players can only be attacked by one disc at a time.
- Deflecting a disc gives the player a three second grace period during
  which he can not be attacked by another disc.
- Discs return to their source when they miss their target.
- Discs that attack you are shown on the HUD.
- The Hyper-Missile Launcher has been replaced by the Sniper ROFL.
- Trident damage and energy consumption have been reduced and there's 
  now a small forced delay between shots.
- The grenades of the MG no longer need time to arm themselves
  after leaving the barrel.
- Jumping does not drain energy anymore. But players can re-jump in
  mid-air at the cost of energy.
- Using the Etherboard now draws power from regenerating "Etherboard power".
- The glowy bits on a CAT now indicate health instead of energy/armor.
- Players can't zoom while in Etherform.
- The zones on eth1 have been made taller and ambient sound has been
  added to the map.
- The health buffer is now also displayed as part of the health bar on 
  the HUD.
- Remapping controls using the controls options should now work properly.
- An entry to control mouse sensitivity using numbers has been added to
  the controls options.
- Anisotropic texture filtering is now used by default and texture 
  filtering options have been  added to the graphics options dialog.
- The "serverwatcher" mod has been replaced with a simpler "serverlist"
  mod that simply prints the server list and then exits.
- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.9.2
--------------

Released: Nov. 29, 2009

- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.9.1
--------------

Released: Nov. 20, 2009

- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.9
--------------

Released: Nov. 17, 2009

- Legal stuff section added to this manual.
- Mod support
- Stricter requirements to get a target-lock for the seeker Sceptre.
- Etherboard does not consume energy anymore.
- Drain 50% energy when returning to Etherform instead of when
  manifesting as CAT.
- Ability to throw exploding sceptres instantly at full force.
- Exploding sceptres take 3 seconds to return to inventory after
  exploding.
- No more text message and audio cue when a CAT gets killed by a
  Sceptre.
- Improved zone rendering and added graphics options to toggle zone
  rendering mode between "none", "borders only", and "full".
- The color of the sky changes to match the current zone.
- New visual concepts for the Trident and the Hyper Rifle.
- Tweaks to the HUD.


Prototype 1.8
--------------

Released: Aug. 12, 2009

- Add option to invert mouse y-axis.
- Fixes and cleanups


Prototype 1.7
--------------

Released: Jul. 23, 2009

- New Sceptre mechanics.
- Reduce splash damage radius but increase splash damage of
  exploding Sceptre.
- Fix player list (including rudimentary player stats).
- Select last used weapon when manifesting as CAT.
- Option to configure mouse sensitivity in the "Controls" options.
- Reduce size of Etherform collision box and fix Etherform trail.
- Change "zone lost" sound.
- Use "Shell" audio channel for critical game events.
- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.6
--------------

Released: Jul. 4, 2009

- Compatibility with mEthRadiant.
- Support for Mumble's positional audio facility.
- Minor improvements to map editor.
- Complete overhaul of all weapons.
- Improved zone visualisation.
- CATs take damage when they're not inside a zone.
- Make CATs more agile.
- Decrease rate at which damage buffer leaks.
- Automatically set last damaged enemy as currently tagged object.
- Improve Etherform third person camera.
- The "Controls" options window now provides some basic remapping
  functionality.
- Bugfixes


Prototype 1.5
--------------

Released: Mar. 5, 2009

- Decrease MG splash damage from 30 to 25.
- Contact with water kills CATs instantly.
- Text message and audio cue when a CAT gets killed by a sceptre.
- Change Etherform movement and improve Etherform collision detection.
- Returning sceptres pass through all solid obstacles except the terrain.
- Minor improvements and small fixes


Prototype 1.4
--------------

Released: Feb. 12, 2009

- The engine can now handle .dif files created by Torque Constructor.
- When inflicting damage, reduce amount of damage that is transferred
  from the victim to the attacker as health from 100% to 50%.
- Try to make CAT movement act more bi-pedal.
- Jumping now consumes energy.
- Etherboard does not have an anti-gravity effect anymore.
- The speed at which Etherforms receive health inside their team's 
  zones now depends on how many Etherforms are receiving health at the
  same time.
- Make Etherform less bouncy.
- The Sceptre now requires absolutely no energy to use and sucks up to
  20 points of energy from enemy CATs and gives them to the CAT that
  threw the Sceptre.
- Increase MG splash damage from 20 to 30.
- Minor fixes and improvements


Prototype 1.3
--------------

Released: Jan. 22, 2009

- This release does not include any maps because the new map system
  provides a cleaner layer of separation between the "game core" and
  the maps, making it easier for maps to be developed and distributed
  independently from Ethernet releases while not requiring players to
  download the maps manually (unless they want to host a server).
- Shell-like in-game menu and various other GUI improvements/fixes
- Try to fix "firing-twitchiness" of the Trident and the MG.
- Remove any vertical velocity when manifesting as CAT.
- CATs that get hit by enemies are automatically tagged.
- Change filenames of recordings to include the player's name.
- Other minor improvements/cleanups/bugfixes


Prototype 1.2
--------------

Released: Dec. 31, 2008

- Add this What's new? section.
- Increase visibility of teammates/enemies on the mini map.
- Slightly decrease visibility of zones.
- Set $pref::backgroundSleepTime to 0 by default.
- Minor cleanups


Prototype 1.1
--------------

Released: Dec. 30, 2008

- Bugfixes
- Add Player options to shell.


Prototype 1
--------------

Released: Dec. 23, 2008

- First release of Revenge Of The Cats: Ethernet.