10/31/2000 12:30 PM

RocketArena:UT 1.60 Released!

Well, it's about time. :) This is the official release of RocketArena:UT 1.60. This version breaks network-compatibility with previous versions of RA:UT. Because of this, server operators should upgrade to 1.60 as soon as possible, to ensure that users downloading this, as well as users with the UT GOTYE version, will have servers to play on. I'd like to make the transition to 1.60 as seamless as is possible.

With this version, I'm hoping to avoid the need for a non-umod version. If you have trouble installing the umod version, please post a message on the RA:UT Suggestions messageboard and I'll create one for you guys. It just seemed that very few people ever seem to download these versions, and every platform of UT (PC, Mac, Linux) all have the capability for installing umods anyway.

If you encounter any bugs, please post them to the RA:UT Bug Reporting Forum to help me keep track of them, and to help avoid duplicate bug reports. I'm hoping to see no activity at all on that forum, but I have a feeling that can never be the case. :)

When looking for servers online, the RocketArena: UT tab has no method with which to eliminate older versions of RA:UT. However, when you click on a server, a list of "rules" is shown to you in the lower right of the server browser window. Check this list for servers where the "ra_version" rule is set to "1.60".

As a side note, UT:GOTYE (Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition) was released with version 1.50 of RA:UT. This version is identical to 1.60, with the exception that 1.60 contains additional maps that did not make it into the 1.50 UT:GOTYE release. So if you see 1.50 servers, they are fully interoperable with 1.60 servers. Sorry for the confusion, but it was made necessary by the agreement made with Infogrames for UT:GOTYE.

And so, without further ado, here's the download list for RA:UT 1.60. Have fun, and enjoy the many new maps!

If you have a mirror you'd like to contribute to the above list, please let me know.

Mongo

10/30/2000 2:30 AM

RA:UT 1.60 Release Tomorrow

Argh! College has been taking up a lot more time than I had planned. As such, it's been delaying my ability to accomplish things. RA:UT has been fixed for 432, but I've needed time to get it collected together, not to mention that I didn't have a copy of UT here for awhile, and needed to get one shipped here. :) Anyways, the side effect of all this is that I just haven't had time to collect together the beta list and organize a proper beta test. Those of you who have not heard anything from me, do not worry. I just never got around to what I promised in my last email. Not to fear, however, as Infogrames has performed extensive beta testing as well on their copy of RA:UT for UT: Game of the Year Edition.

And so, my current plan is to just get this release out the door so the community can play the mod instead of sitting around and waiting. Look for a release of RocketArena:UT tomorrow night. In the meantime, I've collected some screenshots of the new levels that will be in this updated version: 1.60. Be sure to check out the screenshot page for the goodies. Check out the five new levels to be included with this version, as well as the modifications to two existing maps: RA-DavidM and RA-Shinigami.

Mongo

10/8/2000 2:30 PM

Compatibility Problems, Update Soon

Well, I have recently found out that RA:UT has problems with the latest patch for UT, version 432. And so, you can expect a new version of RA:UT (1.50) to be coming out soon, which includes the fix for UT 432 along with a host of other bug fixes.

Due to all of these changes. (both in code and in maps,) this version will be network-incompatible with the previous versions of RA:UT. This means that everyone will need to upgrade in order to make this transition smooth and problem-free. In addition, because of the map revisions that were made, the patch to this version of RA:UT will not be small like the previous RA:UT patches. This next version of RA:UT will contain two new maps, and three or four updated maps, causing the patch size to bloat much larger.

In other news, thank you for all of your emails to become beta testers. Sorry for never replying to all of you individually, but you will be getting email soon about what is going on. I plan to let the beta testers have a few days beta-testing this latest version of RA:UT, and then letting it out to the world. This release should be the most bug-free one yet, because of all the bug reports I've already gotten from Infogrames in testing for the Game of the Year Edition of UT, and because of the bug reports from our beta team that should catch any bugs that slipped through the cracks.

Mongo

8/3/2000 5:45 PM

RA:UT 1.42 Released

Argh! Looks like I let slip a pretty major bug in 1.41. I hate this feeling of deja vu. :) I have two things to talk about in this update:

First, 1.42. The major bug was that as I was trying to fix the problems of the wrong team occasionally winning, I made it so the blue team ALWAYS wins, which is admittedly much worse than the problem I was trying to fix. Anyways, this has been amended in 1.42. It was that bug that prompted me to release 1.42. In addition, I included one small client fix since it was convenient, where the wrong menu would stay on the screen as you scrolled in to and out of clan arenas. Version 1.42 is network-compatible with both 1.40 and 1.41, so it should still be a seamless upgrade on everyone's part. The downloads follow..

Second, I need a beta team, so that this situation does not happen again. Yes, we had a beta team before, but over time its members became disinterested, or went on to other things. This is an invitation to join the beta team. To do this, you must be willing to play RA:UT whenever asked to, (within reason, of course. :) You should have a decent connection so that you are able to download any beta maps or code that will be distributed. And of course, I have to be able to trust you not to spread it to the world. The one hitch, which I'm sure will trip up at least 25% of you, is that the message you send to me must have 'RaBetaTeam' in the Subject of the message. If you cannot follow those simple instructions, then you won't be on the beta team. I need people who are able to follow instructions, and this is a good a way as any to figure out who meets that. (Besides the fact that it'll make my email filter much happier. :)

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Mongo

8/3/2000 3:00 PM

RA:UT 1.41 Released

Welcome back.

Thank you for all of your bug reports, suggestions, ideas, and comments. Your help in making RA:UT bug-free is greatly appreciated. With all of the issues on the issues page fixed, I can now present RA:UT version 1.41. Don't let the version number fool you. There are tons of fixes and nice little features in this upgrade, which may not be apparent from the small version number increment.

If you have not been keeping up with the news, some of the most notable fixes in this release include:

  • Mutator Support
  • The "F2" Server Info Listing now works correctly in netplay
  • The key bindings (under Preferences->Controls, at the bottom of the list) now work correctly as well
  • There is a global talk key available.
  • Clan matches have been fixed to keep people from messing up the game.
  • You cannot fire before the round starts (was a quirk in the way UT handled the firing code)
  • Many other small cosmetic enhancements and bug fixes, all of which can be found on the Issues Page.

For people who have not downloaded RA:UT before, there is a Full version as well as a Patch version for owners of RA:UT 1.40. And while this version is completely network-compatible with the previous version, 1.40, I'd strongly encourage everyone to update as soon as possible because it's only 180 KB, and there are fixes on both the client and server that will make your experience much nicer. The full effect of this release can only be seen when playing with 1.41 on a server running 1.41.

The files can be found on the Downloads page.

Thank you for your support in making this mod a success.

Mongo

7/30/2000 3:00 AM

RA:UT 1.40 Known Issues and Plans

Heya,

Thanks for all of your feedback in reporting the remaining bugs to me. I have compiled a list of seventeen bugs/issues that exist in this RA:UT version 1.40. I currently have fourteen of these bugs fixed for a patch, which I plan to title 1.41. The remaining three are more difficult to track down, and I have not yet identified what is causing them. If you have any idea as to what might be causing them, I would appreciate it.

Please check the known issues page to see the current bug list and which ones have been fixed already. I currently plan to wait another day or so to see what new bug reports trickle in. If no more bugs are identified, then I will release this 1.41 , which will be around 180KB or so, to make modem users happy. This patch should be network-compatible with 1.40 to ease the transition, and will provide fixes for both servers and clients alike. Although it is possible to release it now, I'd like to wait and see if I can't squeeze more bug fixes into this release. And I do not want to fall into the cycle of rapid releases that I caused last time. Many people complained about such a rapid release cycle, and I have listened and learned from your complaints. Anyways, I hope you are enjoying this release of RA:UT, as we work to make this mod completely bug-free over the next week or two.

Mongo

7/29/2000 4:10 PM

RA:UT Release 1.40 Available

Yes, it is time.

After weighing the volume of bug reports coming in (not very much), and some pressure from CliffyB, I decided that I may as well meet the July deadline I imposed upon myself, since at this point there is nothing to gain by waiting further.

So, I set off in search of fixes for all of the remaining bugs. Luckily, with some hefty hours on my part, I was able to squash every known bug in the last two days. So now, I can present you with RocketArena: UT 1.40. This version is stable, and in the testing, online and offline, I haven't found any bugs.

New in this version:

  • Four new incredible maps for a total of ten maps.
  • A humongous amount of bug fixes that covers every bug that I know of. Please let me know of any that you find.
  • The RA:UT menu. It's a nifty new menu called "RA:UT" (of all things :) that appears next to the Mod menu, and appears ONLY when you're playing on a RA:UT server (so as not to bother you at other times)
  • New options. Instagib servers, bouncier rockets, spectators can be prevented from communicating to players.
  • Improved botplay. Although they still don't measure up to humans, they are better than they were before. If you think the bots suck and are no challenge to you, even on Godlike, then I suggest you go online and play it like it was originally intended to be played. :)
  • A new gametype: "Rocket Arena: Regular Maps". This allows you to play any map (only small DM and CTF maps are recommended) with the RocketArena style. Everyone will wait in one line to have a chance to play on the big map. No arenas are available here.
  • If you're a person that likes making voicepacks, you can make custom voicepacks for the RA:UT announcer voices. Best of all, it's clientside, and the server never needs to know about it.
  • A ton of stuff that I've forgotten because it's been so long since I implemented it. :)

Current plans...I plan to get all the feedback I can regarding this release, and make a new RA:UT 1.50 for mid-August. In order to achieve this goal, I need you to let us know of all the bugs that you find. Here's the deal: If it's a bug in any of the following maps, or if you really like their map, email the author of the map:

If it's a bug in any of the other maps, or a bug in the code, please send me an email with "RABUG" in the subject line to help me identify it. My email is mongo@planetunreal.com.

Now, if you're looking for servers to play on, please note that there probably will still be some old RA:UT 1.25 servers hanging around. As such, you will get a "Version Mismatch" when trying to connect to them. Please just keep trying another server until you find one that let's you in. This should only be a problem for a short while as all the servers transition from 1.25 to 1.40. Or, if you'd like, Stallion has set up a new web-based server listing that display ONLY the new 1.40 servers, in a webpage format.

Thank you for your patience during RA:UT's long and twisted history, and I hope you can now experience RA:UT in a new light, without all the bugs that plagued the earlier releases.

I suppose you want the links to download it now, don't you. :) Have fun! Downloads, and Mirrors.

Mongo

7/26/2000 1:30 AM

RA:UT Status Update

Hello again,

Time for another status update, I suppose. Here's the state of RA:UT right now.

Maps: The new maps are coming along quite well. While there's still tweaks and adjustments that need to be made, the next release of RA:UT will have at least four new maps created by the community. These maps come courtesy of DavidM, BigBird, Shinigami, and Pagan Pete. And if four new maps weren't enough, I'm hoping to get Faceless and Willhaven to complete their nearly-done maps, to stick them into this next release as well. And finally, if you've created an RA:UT map that you believe is of high enough quality to be included in the next release, please send me mail at mongo@planetunreal.com, including a URL of where I can get your map. Please, don't send large files to my account, as there is a space limit.

Code: Yeah, since this is the one that's been taking the longest, this is probably the one you are more interested in, right? :) I recently went on a trip for two weeks, and sent off a version of the code for beta testing just before I left. Unfortunately, I have not yet received the bug reports for that version, leaving me unable to fix bugs in the code. Don't worry, as I should be getting these bug reports within the next day or so, allowing me to proceed working at full speed again. Once I've seen the bug list, I'll be able to determine whether I can fix them up quickly and release within the week (to meet that end-of-July promise), or I'll realize that there are still too many major bugs that would require me to delay the release into August. Don't worry, a bug-free RA:UT with four to six extra maps WILL be worth the wait. And to help me rationalize the situation more, it wouldn't really be nice to go and interfere with RA:Q3's popularity right now. It's much more polite to wait a small period of time before stealing their players. For all of you humor-impaired people, that was a joke, so please no flames. :) Anyways, I'll be sure to keep you updated on what the plan is for RA:UT as soon as I know myself.

Oh, and so you don't go away from here completely empty-handed, please be sure to check out our screenshots page, as it has been updated with screenshots from each of the four maps that will be included in the next release. If more maps become available for the next release, I'll make sure that page stays updated.

Mongo

7/3/2000 1:30 PM

RA:UT Plans

Hey folks,

Thought I'd just take the time here to give you a status update on what's going on with RA:UT, and what my plans are for the mod for the near future.

I've become increasingly aware of the fans desire to have something to play. Every day, people still play RA:UT online, although the number of people doing that has been increasingly diminishing as time has passed, due to the lack of news about and updates for RA:UT. RA:UT has had it's hiccups since the 1.25 release, notably with schoolwork and vacations on my end, and E3 preparation and 3dRealms for GreenMarine. If you were worried, rest assure that this mod will not die.

About a month ago, I decided that it would be in the best interest of RA:UT to give it a decent rewrite, to allow for things like mutators, custom arenatypes (imagine mod makers creating their own arena types for 1v1v1 or some other tournament logic..), among other features. Work on that version has been slow, however, and the community has been restless for a release of some kind. As such, I've decided to refocus our priorities, concentrate on fixing all of the bugs in 1.25, and releasing that as 1.50. There will be small interface upgrades, and some nice new features or two I'll keep secret, but it will be bug-free. In essence, it will be the RA:UT release that GreenMarine originally envisioned 1.00 would be. After this version is released, and barring any bugs or fixes that need to be made, I plan to settle in and work on the larger rewrite, which will be much more expandable, and have a new interface for RA:UT. This version will take longer to complete, and that's why the current priority is to release the 1.5 version soon, so that the community has something to hold it over until the major new version.

While you probably won't see anything here for a couple weeks, as the beta testers shake the internal version for any remaining bugs and try to get them all out before it sees the light of day, look for a definite release by the end of July.

Oh, and if you're one of the people that still has 1.25, and would like to find servers to play it online, check out ModCentral's server listing for Rocket Arena.

Mongo

5/19/2000 4:11 PM

GM Status Update

I am extremely sorry for not getting back to this sooner, unfortunately my days have been incredibly busy. I just got back from an insanely busy E3 and now I'm moving to Dallas. I haven't left the Rocket Arena UT project and will get back on the ball once I have a chance. I'll definitely try to make up my recent absense somehow, with free maps or SOMETHING.

GreenMarine

4/19/2000 8:09 AM

Rocket Arena Forums Are Live

There's been plenty of rumors and talk surrounding Rocket Arena in the past few weeks, so we decided to setup a few message boards. The three boards will allow interaction with both team members and fellow RA-fanatics. You can give suggestions, report bugs, and ask for advice on map creation. We'll also add a mapping forum when the map docs are released for those interested in RA:UT level design. In order to keep things smooth, you'll have to register before posting. The current forum list is below:

Note: certain forums support starting polls and attatching files, (screenshots, demos, etc.) so be sure to take advantage of them.

If you have any trouble with the message boards or think some things should be changed, drop me a line. For all other questions, contact Mongo.

Stallion

4/19/2000 8:09 AM

Rocket Arena Coming Back Together

I've been getting nothing but positive feedback about Rocket Arena UT, so I think that I overreacted this weekend :) I perceived the issues to be significant and felt that I couldn't keep the issues snowballing. One severe issue that leads to a fast patch begets more significant issues that require even faster patches. Many people have told me I shouldn't have taken RAUT down, that they think the mod is a lot of fun. I think that taking it down has given the RAUT team time to take a step back and look at things.

We've got a team of people together to help test the next release. I think we'll have a version for the testers this weekend and we'll be working on putting together something very bug free. I'm going to rework parts of the interface. My problems with the interface lay in the fact that it wasn't clear to new players that multiple arenas existed, so you had huge waiting lines in the first room.

The first interface enhancement is to pop up a list of all arenas when you connect to a server. The list would display each arena's name and the number of players in it. When you click an arena name, it will take you to that arena and then move to the current navigation menu. I would then replace "Next Arena" with "Change Arena." Change Arena would pop up the arena browse window. The second enhancement is to roll the "Create Team" and "Join Team" behavior into one menu option.

Once we get a version we are happy with, we'll put it up for download. Given the massive amount of feedback I've been receiving, I think that RAUT will really kick some ass. The mod is very fun, there are just issues with the high learning curve. Anyway, the team really appriciates the feedback. RAUT is certainly not going away!! When I suspended the mod, I didn't mean we weren't going to work on it anymore. I just realized that the release was too early and the mod needed more time.

The RAUT team WAS really frustrated with the situation, but I think now we have clear heads and a good idea of what needs to be done. We don't just want to make a mod that you think is cool, we want to fulfill our own expectations of what the mod can be. With that in mind, I don't want to promise any release dates for the next version. I don't think it will be long, though. With a testing team, turnaround on bug reports is much faster.

GreenMarine

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