Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad

We have put up several polls in the Red Orchestra 2 Beta forums. We are looking for feedback on changes we are looking to make in the next Beta update. Please vote and let us know what you think!

It has been a busy week here at Tripwire. Since adding "Classic" mode into the beta we've been working towards more bug fixes, refinements and tweaks based on feedback to the beta. We've also launched the Tripwire Interactive Wiki as a tool for fans of our titles to gather knowledge both about the games and how to mod them, as well as an updated TripwireInteractive.com

This weekend, in the follow up to last weekends first round of the Scorched Earth Tournament Finals, the last matches will be played. Just like last week you can watch it live here. Before, during and after the event John and Alan will be fielding community questions posted in our forums, so get your questions in soon!

The final match in the Scorched Earth Tournament is just getting under way. Tune in to watch the LIVE broadcast and listen as the commentators discuss the game and its future (along with all things Tripwire) with our very own John Gibson.

The full change log (which is too long for an OGG post it seems) can be found here

Highlights of the new classic mode include:

General Changes:

• Players can still gain experience and level up, but when playing in classic mode these levels do not grant any bonuses for class or weapon.
  
• Role and weapon loadouts are modified to closely match Red Orchestra 1 loadouts. This means fewer MkBs, AVTs, and SMGs are available
  
• Interface changes - added an RO1 style compass to the HUD. No peripheral action indicators.
  
• Uses standard realism mode as a base, and adds additional functionality on top of that
  
• Most Classic mode settings have been added to webadmin and can be toggled on/off for Custom mode
  
• Removed spawn on squad leader
  
• No lockdown
  
• No Killcam
  

Weapons use historically accurate load outs and upgrades are disabled. The following weapon versions are used:

• PPSH w/drum mag and select fire
  
• Kar98 w/bayonet
  
• Kar98 Sniper w/4X scope
  
• Mosin Nagant Sniper w/3.5X scope
  
• G41 Sniper w/4X Scope
  
• SVT40 Sniper w/3.5X scope
  
• MP40 with single 32 round mag
  
• MkB42 with bayonet (no scope)
  
• P38 Pistol
  
• C96 w/10 round mag
  
• MG34 w/50 round drum
  
• MG34 Tripod
  
• PTRS
  
• Pzb 784 (r)
  
• MN 9130 w/bayonet
  
• G41 (W) w/bayonet
  
• SVT40 w/bayo
  
• AVT40 w/bayo
  
• TT33
  
• M1895 without silencer
  
• DP28
  
• Maxim 1910
  
• All other weapons and equipment as normally given (binocs, satchels, smoke nades, etc)
  

Infantry Changes:

• Stamina usage and regeneration are modified to closely match RO1 functionality
  
• Player movement speed has been modified to match Red Orchestra 1 player movement speed. The sprinting speed is considerably slower to closely match the speed based on RO1 maps scale.
  
• Sprinting is modified to closely match RO1 functionality. The player sprints at a constant speed until running out of stamina, then stops sprinting until regaining some stamina
  
• The FOV zoom while using focus/controlled breathing is disabled
  
• Movement speed penalty when shot in the legs or feet (same as new realism mode)
  
• The player damage model is much more hardcore to match RO1 functionality. Players take damage instantly instead of bleeding some of the damage out over time. There is no bandaging or bleeding (although slow deaths from wounds are still possible).
  
• Stamina has a much greater effect on weapon sway and recoil (same as new realism mode)
  
• The FOV zoom while using focus/controlled breathing is disabled
  

Weapon Changes:

• Iron sight breathing and sway are greatly increased
  
• Weapons take longer to go into iron sights and match exactly the iron sight zoom in speed of RO1
  
• You cannot interrupt sprint by going into iron sights
  
• Weapons transitioning out of sprinting takes twice as long to more closely match RO1's sprinting transitions
  
• The weapon is unable to fire until the transition from sprinting is mostly complete. This more closely matches RO1 functionality and should encourage less "run and gun" play.
  

Be sure to give us feedback in the beta forums!

Forgotten Honor together with Tripwire Interactive are happy to announce that our Red Orchestra 2 knockout tournament "Scorched Earth" has reached its international finals. The two finalists have battled through 5 phases over the last 3 months, including 64 clans from across the world, to make it to the Grand Final. And, with $12,000 in cash prizes at stake, as well as personal honor, the competition has been ferociously fought out to get to the final two - DoublePenetration for Europe and Team Chaos for the USA.

The finals will be played in two legs - one on a US server, the other on a European server. The first (US) one takes place this coming Sunday, 18th March, at 3pm Eastern/8pm Central European and can be viewed LIVE through Livestream (details can be found here: http://www.forgottenhonor.com/scorchedearth/live/livestream/ ), with commentary provided by Sam Reese of Crosshairs fame and John (Rammjaeger) Gibson, President of Tripwire Interactive.

For more details on the contest, including the dates and the lists of the participants, head for the Scorched Earth web page at: http://www.forgottenhonor.com/scorchedearth/


Servers provided by NFO Servers (http://www.nfoservers.com/) for the USA and Gaming Deluxe (http://www.gamingdeluxe.co.uk/) for Europe.

Discuss on the forums ->

MMGN.com had a chance to do a voice interview with our Vice President Alan this past week. They've gone ahead and posted the entire 30 minute interview online here. Alan covers upcoming plans for Killing Floor, Red Orchestra 2, and Rising Storm (and even some hints at potential future announcements). So make sure to give it a listen.

Killing Floor kicks it off, Red Orchestra starts in at about 7 minutes, and Rising Storm around the 20 minute mark for those looking for a specific topic. Be sure to let us know what excites you the most by joining the conversation in our forums.

Discuss on the forums ->

Three weeks ago we started a campaign of information dealing with upcoming (often work in progress) changes coming to Red Orchestra 2. We have covered the additions of RO Classic and Multiplayer Campaign, the new map Mamayev, and upcoming refinements to the game. This is all culminating in the reopening of the Red Orchestra 2 Beta for all players to help us test and give feedback on these changes and additions!

To read the full changelog of the first beta update head over to the Red Orchestra 2 Front Page!

Additional information about what is in the beta, what isn't, and servers can be found in the beta section of the forums.

In the last few editions of the "What we are up to" blog we've gone over "RO Classic" and touched briefly on other additions coming to the game in 2012. Today we would like to let you explore what is slated to be the first new map, Mamayev!

Set on the outskirts of Stalingrad, Mamayev was a strongly contested high ground that both sides vied to maintain control over. The belief was that the side that held the hill could control all the rest of the city. The Soviets dug in with trenches, bunkers, barbed wire and mine fields before the battle began. By the end of the battle of Stalingrad, after trading sides numerous times, the hill was mostly flattened and no grass would grow on its lead poisoned ground.

Mamayev is an infantry only map featuring combat between trenches and bunkers one hundred and fifty to two hundred meters apart. It is designed to meet the needs of those looking for extended range rifle combat, truly separating the riflemen from the boys. Those skilled with the rifle and holding the high ground will be able to find their targets even further away, with the current office record stands at a 411 meter head shot delivered via sniper rifle. For players who enjoy a more up close and personal fight, they will be spending time finding their way through the twisted corridors of the bunkers built into the hill searching for those laying in ambush (or lying in said ambush themselves).



Keep in mind that this map is still hand the hands of the level design team working on how it plays, and has yet to be art passed. With the fact that what you are about to see is still a WIP (work in progress) version of the map, we are proud to reveal the first out of office shots of Mamayev!



Players will soon be able to take to the slopes of this battlefield as the RO 2 beta rolls out again.

Now that we've given you a first look at our plans for "RO Classic" we would like to fill the community in on what we have in the works for the coming months for RO2. First we would like to talk about how we'll be handling the PR and the development of the updates that we are working on. Traditionally we've worked like a typical game studio slaving away for months on a cool update which we would reveal to the press and the community close to the release date when it is almost finished. This is a great way to get press attention and spread news about the update to the broader gaming world. Unfortunately, it also has the side effect of the community not knowing what we are working on, and being unable to have their feedback incorporated into the update BEFORE the release. So with that in mind we've decided to do an experiment involving our community of Red Orchestra fans that will be a much more collaborative process of development and PR.

What this means is that first we are switching up to a very open PR style, pushing lots of information out for you and seeking feedback from you all, much as we did back in the Red Orchestra mod days. This is to make sure players are more aware of upcoming changes and means you get to see stuff while it is still work in progress (WIP). We'll also be running a Beta open to anyone that owns RO2 that we'll be using to push out these new features and improvements early on in the development process. We'll tell you what we have in mind, show it to you as it comes together and let you try it out early in development, so that we can get good feedback, when we still have time to react to it. Of course, showing you things that early means that they are definitely subject to change too - from your feedback and from our own. It also means you will get to see things in the beta that are very early in development and potentially incomplete. So don't be surprised if you jump into a map in the beta that isn't pretty, or try a new feature that isn't balanced or complete. You'll get to see that map or feature come together, and participate in the process.

So, here is the "big picture". We've got a big update coming for the game, with a lot of content. We'll fill you in on the details over the coming days. That will lead us pretty much straight up to all the pieces of that update being pushed into the open Beta, so that everyone can get a look and try them out, while they are still in development. Bug fixes, optimizations, and refinements will be brought over from the Beta to the live game as soon as they are ready. Major new features will be pulled together into that one big update for you. The key elements of the update include (and we'll push out lots of details on all these over the next few days):

* Multiplayer Campaign Mode
* We'll have a complete new map for you
* "RO Classic", that we've already talked about
* Major refinements to existing gameplay systems to improve the gameplay balance and fun as well as to incorporate player feedback (systems such as Lockdown, Player Damage, and more are being refined)
* And, of course, we'll continue fixing bugs that we (or you) find and making optimizations to the game


So, stay tuned over the next few days as we look to give you more detail on all of this! And watch for announcements as features roll out into the Beta for you to try out and feedback on.

You can watch the Semi-Finals LIVE! right now. Just follow the links!

General

* Made a number of improvements to ammo resupply
* Bots now have more variation in the spawn points they select
* Achievements for single player campaign progress should unlock properly now
* Reduced range of the rifle bash attack. Bayonets are unaffected.
* Fixed occasionally invisible binoculars when using them as a melee weapon
* Fixed some situations where teammates could not resupply machine gunners. (e.g. if the MG was not the currently equipped weapon)
* Fixed max audio channels setting not always working correctly in the settings menu
* Fixed a bug where some voice chatter would play from somewhere other than the location of the person speaking


Stability

* Player still encountering stability problems can use our new automatic crash reporting system! (read more on: http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=75253
* Added additional debug information for crashing during startup
* Modders can once again unsuppress logging without causing the game to crash
* Various crash fixes based on player reports

Remember to stop by the forums and read the latest "What we are up to" thread. You can find last weeks here: Feb 3rd WWAUT

The Scorched Earth Tournament for RO2 has the final 4 teams closing in on the big prize money – a total of $12,000. With the Superbowl out of the way, this week we have the divisional play-offs for Scorched Earth, to find the best team in Europe and the best in North America. The two winning teams will progress to the grand final for the shot at the World Title and the big cash prize!

First up, on Wed 8th Feb, at 8pm in the UK [9pm Central European, 3pm Eastern], is the European Division Championship match where Enclave face off against DoublePenetration. Both teams have put out some old favorites, so we’ll see which of them makes it to the World Championship match!

And, following up on Thu 9th Feb, at 9pm Eastern [6pm Pacific, in the wee small hours of Friday morning in Europe], we have the North American Division Championship. Team Chaos take on Hardcore North America for the title – and their own shot at the big prize.

The matches will be broadcast live (with a small delay just in case anyone needs to bleep out a nipple slip, or stray middle finger). Details HERE: http://www.forgottenhonor.com/scorchedearth/live/livestream/ . And the hashtag for the twitter conversation will be #fhscorchedearth. Get tweeting!

Get out there and support your team – the hono(u)r of whole cultures is at stake here! Along with $12,000…