FAS News (7 SEP 2008)

FAS is showcasing the newest weapon in the FAS arsenal, the OTs-33 "Pernach". The OTs-33 is the first Russian pistol ever included in any version of FA. It modeled and animated by Naota and animated by thisismyname09.

The OTs-33 is a select fire pistol, with single shot and automatic fire options. It has a 18+1 round magazine and an amazing cheep cost of only four credits (subject to change). Hitman describes the weapon as "a mix between an M11 and the 92FS, but with a smaller mag and better accuracy on semi-auto than the submachinegun category." The OTs-33 is also slightly weaker than the 92FS due to the weaker round it employs.

At only four credits the price can't be beat, especially when compared to the 93R of older versions of FA. The 93R was also a select fire pistol, but only single shot and three round burst and cost around five credits, depending on the version. Hitman also mentioned that the OTs-33 has "an integral accessory rail underneath the barrel." It seems odd that he would mention something about the weapon that wouldn't have any feature in the game; perhaps he is hinting to something.

This is not the last weapon to be added to FAS's arsenal. Hitman states that an ever more obscure weapon will be showcased in the future; a weapon so obscure that it has never been included in any game, ever (to the best of the FAS Team's knowledge).

As always, the FAS Team is always looking for help. Animators and skinners are in most demand, but the FAS Team will also take on modelers, sound artist, and mappers. Lastly, the FAS Alpha Testing team is full. Applications to be a tester will be turned down at the moment, but Hitman expects they'll be able to open up new rounds of testing very soon.

More Than One Knife

Consider the following:

Hitman said in the FA:S Forums on the 1 June 2008 News thread "Yes. If you kill someone with a melee weapon or a silenced weapon, and you have stealth, the kill notice is "hidden". The person who died only sees that an enemy killed them (their name shows up as [stealth]), but they can't tell who it was. Nobody else on their team will see the message at all." (Bold is mine).

Hitman eludes to more than one melee weapon by not specifically stating knife in his post. If the knife was the only melee weapon, wouldn't it be more logical to say "with the knife or silenced weapons"? And "a melee weapon" applies more than one instead of "the melee weapon" if the knife was the only melee weapon.

StandingCow said in a thread in the General Section of the FA:S Forums "... and I am sitting here wondering if he will catch that hitman didn't say knife".

StandingCow confirms that we are supposed to realize that Hitman specifically chosen to say "melee weapon" not "knife".

Naota said in a thread in the FA:S Idea forum suggesting more than one knife "Mere words cannot describe how much I support this idea. I follow after it with a will. A terrible, sadistic will. Even if I have to model the larger, meaner knife myself, I will see that such a beautiful tool of murder falls into your hands, good sir!"

Furthermore, Naota detailed the benefit of a second knife (or melee weapon) in the same thread, "A second knife would definitely be an asset to Stealth players, seeing as our current knife has a very short range and isn't reliable at stealth-killing because it takes two hits even with all the trimmings, which usually equates to at least a full clip of ammo dumped into your face (maybe half if you crept up from behind a moving player). Something slow and large or just longer that complimented the double knife damage from Stealth would be perfect because its secondary swing would take something like 1-2.5 seconds to lift up before the (stealth only) killing blow, though the range would be much longer to guarantee that the attack could actually hit through buggy interp or lag. That would make CQC instagibs really difficult while making stealthy kills from behind worth a player's while and filling up that infamous leftover credit or two."

Lastly, in the same thread, thisismyname09 edits a post concerning two knifes, to which DsyPatch replies, "lol lemme guess, you that this was in one of the sekrat forums."

The thread in the Idea forum tells us that Naota thinks idea of a second knife would be a welcomed addition. He even goes so far to outline how it would function, its benefits to the stealth ability and game play as a whole. This is followed by thisismyname09's edited post, to which DsyPatch comments that thisismyname09's post was intended for the Testing/Developer Forum. This could only mean that the idea has all ready been talked about.

The thread in the Idea forum is two months old. If thisismyname09 was going to talk about it in the Testing/Developer forum it would be safe to say they have all ready talked about adding in a second melee weapon before the thread in the Idea forum was posted. This would give the FA:S Team over two months to create and implement a second knife - or melee weapon - for FA:S.

It is important to note that even with the above, melee weapon could actually be something besides a knife. A rifle butt, pistol whip, or bayonet would also be considered melee weapons as well. However, if you consider the above, it would be a safe bet that FA:S has a second knife in its arsenal by the time it is released.