News

7 March, 1999	Finally!

Finally, a new release! After many problems caused by rapidly merging both the Xatrix and Rogue source code, I believe (hope) I finally have a stable version of EraserULTRA again, therefore, I am going to release it. There are a number of features which I had planned for this release that I have not completed, however I feel this release is necessary to show that development continues.

The two main new features are Xatrix support, and 3-Team CTF support, however there are a number of other more subtle changes - see the readme for full details on changes.

1 January, 1999	Happy New Year

Still no release... what with some bugger sending me a file infected with a virus, and all sorts of problems with modems (I've used 4 in 4 days), I haven't done too much coding. Oh well.

24 December 98	Happy Christmas

Well, it looks like I wont have a new release before Christmas - oh well! I'm sure nobody will notice anyway, as everyone will be too busy playing with their new "toys", and getting stupidly drunk!

20 December 98	New features

ID have finally released the source to 3.20, and also the two mission packs, so I've had some updating to do... So far, I've merged all the Xatrix and Rogue code in - so the weapons, powerups etc. (and lifts in Rogue) are now availble under EraserULTRA, like any other weapon. The bots cannot yet use any of the new equipment, but hopefully soon.

I have also gone quite a way into making EraserULTRA 3TCTF map compatible - so you can play 3tctf maps (with red/green/blue teams). A few bugs relating to the AI of the green team, but... getting there.

I'll try and upload some screenshots for you to see the features in action...

The bad news - and this is why I've been keeping quiet on all these nice new features - is that I've introduced a bug which causes EraserULTRA to crash a few seconds after a bot spawns. This is on whatever map - so its not specific to the rogue or xatrix weapons/maps. Until I have tracked down this bug I cannot release another version. I have next week off work, so hopefully I will get some time to find it. Fingers crossed.

29 November 98	Delay...

Sorry guys, still no release. I've been working on a few big features recently, and haven't got any of them working 100% yet. I'm also very busy at work, and will be going away (with work) for two weeks, so there wont be an updated version until at least 14th December.

Sorry for anyone who is waiting for an update... its unavoidable, I'm afraid.

25 October 98	Setup problems

OK, quite a few people have had problems getting 0.27 to spawn bots. This is because of the changes to the config files so that config-cycling works nicely. I removed the following line from most config files:

set deathmatch 1

If you choose not to use config cycling, then you will have to insert this line into your chosen config before play. Other lines, such as "maxclients" and "dmflags" may also not be included in all configs - see the cycle.cfg for an example of all of these lines.

I am not sure what the implications of the config file changes are for the launchers - I know that Bot Johnny may support config cycling options in a future version...

18 October 98	0.27 released

Sorry for the lack of updates... I've been working away, and didn't want to talk here until I knew what I was doing was going to work... You will notice that there is a new version available for download (Linux version RSN). Lots of changes - key changes are:

• Zbot detection/banning
• Config cycling
• Grapple support much improved (choose between CTF/offhand/both/none)
• lots of bug fixes and minor changes

Config cycling is a really cool feature, but it might take you a while to get your head around it... and I have a feeling it may cause problems for the launcher authors - sorry guys, its just too nice a feature.

I've got a number of nice things lined up for the next few versions - but they may take a week or two to implement, so dont panic and think I've stopped if there aren't any updates for a week or two... :-)

3 October 98	Some info

A few changes underway, but nothing to release yet. A number of bugs fixed, and some new features implemented - release probably next weekend.

Sad news this week - Subhuman has decided to give up The Bot Outpost. I can understand his reasons, and wish him well.

On a brighter front, Fred, who worked with Subhuman on the routes section of the Outpost, has started his own page - Quake2 Route File Depot. Fred has also re-done the EraserULTRA Q2dm* routes, and has added some more routes. I haven't had time to check them all yet, but those that I've played have been good - so go get 'em.

23 September 98	Downloads updated

Oops - it looks like the linux version was actually the Windows version! sorry. This should now be the correct distribution. Also note that the windows version now extracts to the ultra directory.

Also, check out the demos recorded by Swelter[SLH]

21 September 98	Version 0.26 released

Sorry, yet again a slight delay... but its up now. Changes (on top of those listed below) are:

• Start of some Xatrix compatibility
• Linux version tested
• Fixed yellow shells (haste rune, and safety mode) for 3.19
• Implemented yellow shell when in safety mode
• Implemented bot_railtime to tweak lag on bot railgun aiming
• Implemented use_lasers to allow target_laser entities to be disabled to lower suicides
• Implemented bot_lava_mod and bot_slime_mod to reduce damage caused by lava/slime
• Implemented *_speed variables (bot and normal weapon balancing)

News

11 September 98	Update coming soon

Its been a bit quiet here for the last week... Its because I've been busy coding. :)

I hope to release a new version some time this weekend - here are the updates so far:

• Bugfix: bots now use their starting weapons, even on their first spawn
• Bugfix: HUD resetting to 0 on respawn reduced
• Bugfix: FPH counter now stops at the end of the game
• Bugfix: onegun will force the starting weapon to the chosen weapon
• Bugfix: if start_weapon has no ammo, it is still used
• Bugfix: offhand grapple now drops nodes in the same way as on-hand grapple.
• Bugfix: Correct "Navlib" now used, so hopefully no incompatibility with 1.01 routes
• The "ammo hud" (def_hud 3) is now implemented
• Item replacement now configured via a separate config file
• Onegun mode forces Weapons-Stay (dmflags) to OFF, as it makes no sense
• Item/weapon banning is disabled when bot_calc_nodes is set, because it will cause problems when using the route when items are not banned.
• Linux version compiled (but un-tested!!)

3 September 98	New WWW pages

As you'll notice, this is at new URL - please bookmark it and change all links. Thanks.

31 August 98	0.25 released

I got quite a bit done today, so here is a new version - enjoy!.

27 August 98	No news

Real life is getting in the way a little bit, so I haven't been able to spend the amount of time that I wanted to on ULTRA. I hope to get some time at the weekend to address some of the bugs that have been raised.

The version that is available in "patch" form is quite stable though, so not a big problem.

23 August 98	New version

Ok, a new version is available for download. Its not quite as complete as I'd hoped, but I think enough changes have been implemented to make it worth putting this up. For this reason, its only a patch upgrade, as its not really a full release... I'll upload a full version tomorrow when I've finished migrating, and doing a few other bits.

This version is based upon the Eraser 1.0 source code. I've also fixed a few bugs - although I've temporarily removed observer mode because it was causing a bug. Some other bits (eg LMCTF support) and a few patches to other CTF code have not yet been included

However... I have included the 3.17 Vwep code, so hopefully the errors that are plaguing the Eraser 1.0 release will be fixed

21 August 98	Eraser 1.0

Eraser 1.0 is out, and I have just spent the last hour and a half play-testing it to see whats changed... Suffice to say, I hope to release a version of EraserULTRA based upon the Eraser 1.0 source by the end of the weekend.

It doesn't look like it'll be too hard to migrate to Eraser 1.0, but I'm not looking forward to trying to migrate to Quake 3.18 when the source is released...

19 August 98	Doc updated

Oops. I gave the wrong command line - its "+set game ultra" and not "+set game eraser" (the rest of it stays the same).

Also, I didn't really give enough detail about what to do with route tables - put them in the quake2\ultra\routes\ directory.

Using the "replace" command isn't that easy, so I've expanded the docs on this command, and also documented "replace_list" which was originally only intended for debugging, but its in the 0.21 release.

14 August 98	0.21 released

Only a few minor updates - changes to the default config files, and some bug-fixes.

A number of people have commented that it seems a little slow (but still cool) - I'm not sure how much this is my code, but I'll be doing some optimisations to my code, so I'll see what I can do about it...

12 August 98	OK, a public release

Yes, you read right - I've put a version up for people to download. Please dont run servers based on this, as I dont want to compete with Lithium...

Also, remember that it is an early version, so expect bugs - you will definately find some.

2 August 98	Some progress...

I'm still working away, and will definately release something - if not EraserULTRA in its current form, something will be released.

A number of bugs have been fixed, and I've documented a few more known bugs that I am gradually hunting down. I've also been adding new features, like the item replacement (eg. replace weapon_bfg weapon_railgun) and the front end menus.

My current though is that I'll release EraserULTRA as a "client only" mod, which is not intended for servers to run - ie not in direct competition with Lithium II. I'll also release another mod, which isn't just a lithium clone, which is intended for net play on servers - eg. with the flood-protection, voting etc

16 July 98	Shall I continue?

OK, I've got a response from WhiteFang (author of Lithium), and (not supprisingly) he doesn't really want me to release EraserULTRA as he plans Eraser support. I've been thinking, and am not sure what to do.... I think there are enough people out there who want it... Comments?

On the plus side, before I got WhiteFang's response, I managed to fix most of the known bugs - it certainly feels like Lithium (and LMCTF 3) now - only of a few of the more minor (from the players point of view) features not working.

6 July 98	HUD starts working?

Sorry for the slight delay again... I am on the virge of fixing the biggest bug (the HUD not working properly), and would be really happy if I could get this fixed before I release it.

If you are really desperate, and cannot wait a few days, I can maybe have a few more beta testers...

4 July 98	WWW Pages go active

Yes, these pages are now up, and will be kept fairly up-to-date with progress, so bookmark them now.

Things are going well - expect the first public release tomorrow evening (UK time). Obviously not complete, but certainly worth having.

1 July 98	First Beta Test of Eraser ULTRA - SUCCESS

A chosen few are allowed to test the first BETA of Eraser ULTRA.

They like it.