Server News
Just a quick note to say that, currently, we have adequate server resources to run a successful beta test. Thanks to all of the people and companies that offered us support -- we greatly appreciate your time and interest. If our situation changes in future, we'll post some news on the website and/or get in touch with people who have already been in contact, but right now we're not in need of more servers for the beta.

To the companies whose servers we are using: we'll put up some information & buttons etc. soon.

Thanks to all.

General Beta Stuff
The beta testing is going pretty smoothly. We've got a few more humps to get over, but in general things are going just fine. A big thanks to PHISH & co for putting in so much work to get all of the beta testers set up and also to the testers themselves.

I'm sure you've noticed our forums being down for today. We moved our forums over to a different server (thanks Joe). They are technically 'up' again but we are waiting for the dns info to be updated. That should be happening shortly so they will be visible soon.

In regards to the beta testing, for right now we've added ~70 people out of 620 or so applications. There have been a LOT of good apps out there that we unfortunately just don't have the infrastructure to support. Understanding this we tried to get a good cross-section of young gamers/those with no tf background, old gamers, people with unique talents, those with lots of time, some with not so much time but could offer a unique perspective, some of those in media and so on. It's just a matter of percentages that not everyone can be picked, even though we think a lot that have not been requested would and still can give great help.

That said; we'll likely be adding up to 30 additional people once our servers get settled out.

As far as sending out mass emails- it turns out this is incredibly tedious in gmail to the point you're basically sending them one at a time. You can add addresses into a group, but to add these you have to go through each email 1 by 1 and paste them in. So apologies that we haven't been able to give a clear notification for those not selected at this point.

Besides the tremendous amount of constructive feedback that we've gotten from this fresh group, we've been able to some more looks at how Fortress Forever is handling player load. Server lag actually was okay for ~22 people on maps other than dustbowl so that was a bit surprising. The gold standard is if we can have a full out spamfest on 24 person dustbowl and not choke the server...anything better than that is gravy. I can't think of a single source game that's going to have as much crazy crap and explosions going on (non-stop)..so it will be a bit of a challenge.

Just a quick update for everyone that has sent in an application. To this point we've gotten nearly 600 apps-We'd like to thank everyone who has submitted an application so far (please stop, I'm basically a one man show reviewing them..just kidding..or not!). We're selecting people from as many different perspectives and backgrounds as possible as it will provide the best feedback and good criticism where it is deserved. At this point noone who has been 'approved' has been notified-we would like to do as many as possible in one fell swoop.

Beta testing can actually be an annoying and grueling process at times, so if you do not get picked, just be happy that you'll get a better finished product in the end without having to do some dirty work for it :)

On the server front I should have some responses for your guys soon, just need the right people to be here to figure out what will work out best.

Thanks again for all of the offers of help.

As we make the final push for release we are asking for the HL2 community's help.
We see the need to bring on a new group of testers who can help with load testing, as well as provide feedback and influence improvements on the first gameplay experience new players will have.

If you are a player of Half-Life mods, curious what the game is all about and most importantly feel you could contribute to making it better then you are the person we are looking for.

But remember before you apply that beta testing is not simply for fun, it can be repetitive and boring at times. We favor testers who are willing to help out with the mod in various ways, not simply play the game -- you will be an extension of the dev. team, and should take and expect responsibility as such, especially in this crunch time phase. Examples:

- Detailed report on first impressions of the mod and gameplay
- Helping other beta testers with problems in IRC / forums
- Updating bug reports and providing detailed feedback about bug reproduction
- Helping out community mappers test maps
- Help organise testing groups
- Any other talents you can contribute

Above all, the ability to constructively communicate is a must.

Remember to register on the forums if you have not before sending the application. You will need this valid forum name and a Half-Life 2 / HL2 Deathmatch SteamID to be considered.
The format to send your application to fortressforeverbeta@gmail.com is as follows:

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SUBJECT: Fortress Forever Beta Tester: *forum nickname* *steamid*

e.g.
Fortress Forever Beta Tester: AfterShock STEAM_0:1:2423

Name:
Age:
Location:
Halflife and Halflife2 gaming history (mods etc):
Ingame Alias:
Previous testing experience:
Current commitments (job / school etc):
Hours available per week:
Computer spec (cpu / gfx / ram):

Why would you make a good beta tester? (no more than 250 words)

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Remember not to miss the update below as well, cheers :)

I'm probably not the only one with an affinity for monkeys, that's why this surprise was so special for me. One of our mappers pulled a fully completed map out of his flea ridden hair. Personally I love it, but I am biased due to said monkey love, so I'll cut to the chase and let you see the goods.




Special thanks to some of hessi's textures and props which he graciously gave us permission to use.

Quick status rundown; what was completed since the last update. There is too much to cover, but some noteables off the top of my head
-6 gigantic bugs were squashed among others, no more game breaking bugs, hugely important
-Lower body animations redone (run/strafe in all directions)
-Hint prioritization, entire hint system is implemented
-cloak effects for dx<9
-On the hud: Fortress points, teamscores, flaginfo without having to goto the scoreboard
-lod for all player models in
-New fully completed map: ff_monkey

Biggest to complete:
-lag optimization, which is where the follow-up news post comes in.
-Upper body animations for all weapons/runs/idles redone, we've already seen some previews of DK's latest work and it looks promising.
-miscellaneous art fixups
-weapon alignment
-training

What does this all mean? Well, we're trying to get all our ducks in a row for release.

• We are looking for a linux testing server as ours is going by the wayside: we have a windows replacement but that affects our ability to test on both platforms. If you happen to have a linux server you are willing to lend for testing we would greatly appreciate the help.
  
  
• Those that plan to be running FF servers upon release and would like to be notified when the server package becomes available we ask that you provide some information on what server(s) you plan to run and we'll add you to the distribution list.
  
  
• Additionally we are looking to train up a capable programmer on the FF game code to help with post release work. We intend on supporting the mod as best as possible following release.
  

If you feel you can help with any of the above 3 items contact us at fortressforever@gmail.com