29 March 2010

Portfolio

Shinobi has updated his developer's blog with a video for his personal portfolio of work he has done on FAS. The video includes a run though of parts ps_derailed and ps_crossfire, as well as some of the modeling and texture work he has done.


10 March 2010

How Does I Map?

Since FAS is moving to the Orange Box engine, that means that anyone creating third party maps for FAS can not use HL:DM or any other Source engine games due to the engine change.

If you are looking for another game to use in the meantime, DysPatch recommends using the HL2:EP2, but be warned that the foliage included will not be a part of FAS.

Beta Time

The FAS Alpha Tester's Journal has been renamed FAS Beta Tester's Journal. As PFS states, "this is more or less the first version that would/could be released."

Player testers now are working on making sure there are no "exploits, bugs, [or anything]
that could detract from gameplay."

The forum still has moderated post: FAS team members have to view post before they can be posted. While this prevents leaks, it does not make it easier for testers to post game play experiences.

Do not expect more use out of this forum.

What the Orange Box Means To You

FAS is moving to the Orange Box engine, but what does it mean to you?

According to Naota in a post on the FAS Forums, these improvements include:
  • Phong shader masks in texture alpha channels.
  • Newer vertex lighting and prediction code.
  • Orange Box graphics settings (real-time shadows on dynamic lights, user-controlled motion blur, and improved HDR among them)
  • Steamworks compatibility (stats tracked on Steamfriends, persistent achievements, automatic updates, easy FAS downloads from the Steam store)
To see a complete list of these improves, you can check out Valve's Developer Community page.

FAS NEWS (3 MARCH 2010)

FAS's news post has made it official that FAS is moving over to the Orange Box engine. The reason for the change of engines is because of the problems in the older code, making the game very hard to debug and code. This change however does not effect FAS being released this year. As DysPatch states, "game balance down for what we would like to be released with RC1, so its as simple as moving the functioning clean code over, optimizing old code, and leaving behind the bugs." All of these improvements are made possible FA coding veteran, Mazor, who has done various work on the Half-Life version of FA and FA related projects.

FAS has also released new screen shots of ps_snowstorm. The map has undergone revisions since its last showcase. DysPatch has stated in his developer's journal he has been working on "finishing up the brushwork and the lighting on the map."


In addition to ps_snowstorm, there is a new render of the M18A1 Claymore Mine, modeled by Racer445


As well as the Gerber Gator Machete: modeled by Naota, textured by Dr. Hubbler, and animated by Thisismyname09.


Finally StealthSilver has updated and users who have Desura will be able download FAS though that distribution platform.