What has changed in Beta 2.0
What has changed since version 1.3b? Well, simply put - everything. Every model, texture, sound, and chunk of code has been reworked, redone, or restructured. Gameplay has changed massively, but the 'feel' of DoD - the immersion, the tension, is still there.
Following is the short list of what has changed, or what has been added:
Recoil - Firing your weapon will now give a natural 'kick' - pushing your muzzle up and to the side slightly. Each weapon has a unique amount of recoil - crouching and going prone will reduce this recoil.
New "Aiming" System - A unique system has been introduced in which the crosshair has been divided into two parts. The center 'leaf' will roam around the screen depending upon how the player is moving, and represents the front of the weapon's muzzle. The main crosshair part will remain in the center of the screen, and represents the rear weapon site. The movement of the crosshair will give the player a rough indication of what his accuracy will be, without firing.
Accuracy and Damages changed - Many changes in this area, including a major reduction in accuracy while moving for all weapons. Weapons are generally very lethal across the board - this has not changed. However, numbers have been tweaked slightly since 1.3b.
New "Machine Gunner" classes added - Machine Guns use a
new, unique system that makes them a very interesting class to play. All MG's have bipods - in order to deploy your bipod, you must go prone and hit the 'secondary fire' key. Also, certain maps have "MG Nest" areas that allow you to deploy a bipod while not prone - simulating the effect of balancing your bipod on sandbags, bunker walls, window sills, etc. Accuracy and recoil while undeployed will be horrible - making the MG's a very useful static defensive position.
New Levels - 10 New Maps added - ranging from beach invasions to bridge captures. Lots of work has been done in this area, and we're truly proud with what the level designers have come up with for Beta 2. See the map section of the manual for more details.
Prone System - Once down, your view will sway back and forth while moving, once stopped your view slowly resets to center screen. You can not fire while moving in prone.
Movement System - New movement system. 2 new movement types - jog and sprint. Hold down the sprint key to get a quick burst of running speed. Sprinting drains stamina quickly, so should only be used when absolutely necessary.
Weapon 'bob' and 'drop' - Weapons in the first person view will now sway realistically when walking. Also, during times when the player is unable to use his weapon, it will drop off screen. (Swimming, walking up ladders, going prone, etc.)
Added weapon "Scoped Karbiner 98k" - replaces the G43 Sniper rifle for the German sniper class.
Added weapon "Spade" - replaces the knife for certain german classes.
Added weapon "MG42" - Machine Gun for German MG class.
Added weapon "MG34" - Machine Gun for German MG class.
Added weapon "M1 Carbine" - Semi-auto rifle for Allied 'Sargeant' class. (Formerly known as Staff Sargeant.)
Added weapon ".30 Caliber Machine Gun" - Machine Gun for Allied MG class.
New Weapon Models - The conversion of the weapon models to use the "new" hands, started in 1.2, now complete. Most weapon models have been redone or 'touched up.'
New Sound System - Sounds that in 1.3b are only heard by the individual player can now be heard by those around him - 'equipment jiggle', footsteps, pain sounds, etc.
New Effects System - Not complete, but started. New explosion sprites, along with smoking shrapnel effects. New sprites for weapon hits, water hits, body hits, etc.
New Sniper System - Zooming in will cause a 'fade-in' effect with the scope - simulating the time it takes to bring a weapon to your face. Snipers can now be seen raising the scope to their eye in third person. While zoomed in, a player will get a 'sway' effect - the weapon will no longer remain perfectly still. Crouching and proning will lessen this effect. Snipers also can no longer move while zoomed in.
New Animation System - Nearly every third person 'player animation' has been completely redone. New death animations, new jog\walk\crouch animations, new getup\get down prone animations, new machinegun bipod out\in animations, new hand signal animations (ties into the voice commands, and also can be done by themselves when stealth is required.) As mentioned above, when zooming in with sniper rifles, your player actually does a zoom-in animation.
New HUD (Heads Up Display) - Opaque, colored hud. Better functionality with map objectives, respawn timers, and weapon selection. Not yet fully complete.
New Sounds - Nearly every weapon sound redone, as well as new sounds for walking in different environements. (Stone, dirt, water, mud, etc.) Ambience for all maps redone or 'cleaned up.' New voice commands.
New File System - Better, cleaner, more efficent file structure. Many old, unused files cleaned out.
New Objective System - Tons of new goodes added to our mapper's "FGD." New maps include a variety of different objectives, including our "Area Capture" and "Team Capture" objectives.
New Fog System - 2 versions, the Valve version of OpenGL, and then the plain OpenGL version. cl_fog (1 = opengl, 2 = valve). You can set the color of it with (cl_fog_red, cl_fog_green, cl_fog_blue) give those a RGB value, default is 192 for each (grey). cl_fog_start is used to show where the fog starts in relation to your view point, cl_fog_end is the ending point for it in relation to your view as well. Fog is completely optional - no player will be forced to use it, as it limits your view. Simply an 'eye candy' feature for now.