Hi Grimm, der erste richtige Newsletter is draußen.
wird jetzt lang....
Welcome to the very first edition of the Allegiance Newsletter!
Where do we stand?
==================
As most of you know the last "big" event was the removal of AZ, the
1.25 patch and the increase in number of players/game on the FZ (now
64 max instead of 32). Right now, FZ has quite a few servers, most
notably the two HomeLAN servers which can easily handle the increased
player load (and run at 58 max), and the FBI server which is almost
as good (and is currently dedicated to AW games). There are quite a
few others which provide lag-free experience, if only with a lower
player limit. There have been some excellent games of late recently,
proving Allegiance is still going strong, stats or not.
The other recent "big" event, for those who know him anyway, is the
return of YP. Apparently, he wasn't actually dead but had a bit of a
much, much extended phone line problem. With his return a number of
stalled MA projects may pickup speed - stay tuned.
Couple of notes on the 1.25 patch
=================================
*The readme states lux int signature has been reduced 25%. This is
not true.
*The readme makes no mention of the fact that asteroids can only be
damaged by seismics and anti base weaponary now (and not galvs
either). I have some more comments on that on MA general board.
BTW, if anyone has problems updating to the 1.25 patch, YP has made
it available on the MA site. It can be downloaded from the Files
section.
When the FZ goes down
=====================
After a shaky start, which was apparently due to zone-wide problems,
FZ seems to be stable lately. However, when it goes down, we'll be
ready. Thanks to Zaphoon (who maintains the server list) and VenCain
(who has developed SOVRoute and the server-checker program that
determines whether a server is alive), we now have an list of servers
maintained around-the-clock at
http://allegservers.hn.org. Anyone
running SOVRoute servers can simply go there, and add their servers
to the list, and even come back and change IP etc. without having to
type it all in again.
But the important part is, the list is automatically scanned
regularly to find active servers and these are automatically
downloaded into SOVRoute v1.1 or later. You no longer have to hunt
for IPs for hours on end in the Zone chat room. We finally have a
usable alternative to the FZ lobby.
SOVRoute (which is now up to 1.1 build 005) can be found at
http://home.swbell.net/vencain/sovroute.htm - The server list is once
again at
http://allegservers.hn.orgNew Allegiance site
===================
Noodle has constructed a very nice looking Flash-based site at
http://allegiance.crankytech.com - It's mainly geared to high-
bandwidth users due to extensive multimedia content, but be sure to
check it out even if you only have a modem. It's really innovative.
On the horizon
==============
One of the most widely anticipated results of KGJV's ICE was the
development of new tech trees. Currently, there's only one out there
that has shown promise and that's was-fired's SOC tech tree. I
believe he could use help with models and graphics, so if you are
that way inclined give him a holler (if you need to email him, send
them to me and I'll forward)
There are a couple of other exciting developments that are still in
the planning stages. The first, which we can expect real soon, is a
solution to the annoying colored text problem that's plaguing the
chats. While it probably won't be possible to private-chat (via TAB
name completion) someone using a "colored" name, we will be able to
get rid of the coloring on the actual chat text. I'd like to use this
opportunity to once again urge everyone using color in their nicks to
use common sense, and avoid this annoying practice which also
confuses the already chat-challenged newbies to no end.
The second is.... authentication. Yes, there's a scheme that might
work. No, work hasn't started on it yet. Yes, it'll be some time.
Yes, we'll let you know
Newbies!
========
A nice side-effect of the 1.25 patch is the removal of CD-key check.
That means anyone with a copy of Allegiance can now play online.
Thanks to the efforts of several players, this has resulted in a
surge of newbies online.
What seems to have helped quite a bit is the mentioning of Allegiance
(and some other piece of news such as how it's completely free now)
on appropriate threads such as on other game forums where people are
asking for alternative games, or on space-sim forums/sites or even on
news sites. Once you point people in the right direction, they seem
to be able to find their own way into this great game.
One request I'd like to echo, also brought up on Alvault boards
recently, is DO NOT BOOT NEWBIES. Ok, maybe if they hoard a huge sum
of money that you really need, or they are constantly messing with
your constructors. But not for any other reason, not for idling, not
for not responding, not for, ahem, stupidity. Newbies are our life
blood and this game has one of the steepest learning curves this side
of Falcon 4, so please be nice to them.
Misc info, mainly for newcomers
===============================
The only full-featured Allegiance site right now is MA at
http://www.total-games.com/MyAllegiance - its discussion boards are
pretty active, but the old-school board at
http://vnboards.ign.com/default.asp?cat=5010 is also a good bet. Make
sure to check out Noodle's new site as well.
We have a large number of online tutorials available and they are all
listed at
http://www.total-games.com/MyAllegiance/links.asp - for
those who can't get to that page, they are:
http://www.geocities.com/allegiance_academy/http://home.new.rr.com/svs/index.htmhttp://www.planetallegiance.com/guides/http://www.gamespot.com/guides/allegiance_gg/http://www.angelfire.com/yt2/allegiance/http://www.german-borg.de/tactics/tactics.php (in German)
http://versionx.gq.nu/index.htmlNewbies, please check them out - they really help.
A good tech specs reference can be found at
http://www.total-games.com/MyAllegiance/AllegianceTechInfo.htm - it's continually
being updated and a new update is due in a few days.
About this newsletter
=====================
Got news? Please mail me at carterburke@hotmail.com and they'll go in
the next edition. Want to get off the newsletter mailing list? Simply
mail me or follow the directions at the bottom of this email. Wanna
see past newsletters?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allegnews is the
address. Have friends who want to subscribe? Either email me or use
the in-game FZ server "newsletter signup" which has a bot running on
it that will let you auto-subscribe via a simple admin message.
---
Well, that brings us to the end of this very first edition. Hope you
liked it. Feedback most welcome, please send them to
carterburke@hotmail.com.
Till next time,
Spunkmeyer, Allegiance News
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