Hi everybody!

I'm flying off to South Africa (4 weeks) tomorrow, and I didn't finish
MechWar v1.2 in time! Curses!
I'm sorry about this, but Proteus (that medical program) has reared its
head again and I've had to spend plenty of time on it instead.

Well, I'm releasing a Public Beta of MechWar v1.2, showing you the Work in
Progress. The file is called mech12b.zip and can be found on several
ftp sites:



Please make sure to look at the (short!) READ.ME file before running the
game.

    This is in the Beta:

    Life forms       Life forms are all the little creepy-crawlies on the
                     battle field. They will attack each other as well as
                     Infantry (they're scared of Mechs and vehicles).
                     Using the LifeDesigner LD.EXE, you can actually
                     customize them quite a bit (creating harmless rabbits or
                     a pack of wolves).

    Forts            Fortresses are an improvement on Gum Emplacements.
                     Covering only one hex, they are something like complex
                     houses: factories, repair centers, storage tanks (which
                     can blow up), automatic defense installations (robots)
                     or actual fortresses, carrying a wide assortment of
                     weapons.
                     There's even a mobile version available :)
                     Have a look at FortressDesign (FD.EXE).

    Infantry         Foot infantry, motorized infanry, jump platoons and even
                     Elementals are fully supported. You can use
                     InfantryDesign (ID.EXE) to create your own troops.

    Vehicles         Lots of different vehicles: wheeled, tracked, hover,
                     naval, hydrofoil, subs and even VTOLs can be built using
                     -yes!- VehicleDesign (VD.EXE).

    Sprites          All sprites in the game are stored as KBNETFSF files
                     (Klaus Breuers Not Exactly Terribly Famous Sprite
                     Format) with the extension SPR. Using SpriteDesign
                     (SD.EXE), you can change _any_ graphics in the game. You
                     can even give each Vehicle (and later, each Mech) its
                     own sprite.

    Maps             Depending on your resolution, maps can have a size of up
                     to 42x36. The final version will have lots of different
                     maps, but this Beta only has one. You can design your
                     own maps with MapDesign (MAPD.EXE).

    Equipment        and weapons can also be defined by you. Using
                     EquipmentDesign (ED.EXE), you can create any weapon you
                     want. Lots of options are available, but not all of them
                     are implemented yet (no cruise missiles in the Beta, for
                     example).

    Sound            Well...my SoundBlaster is supported, I don't know about
                     yours. Sound support is still very poor, but at least
                     you can add your own sounds to the actions (in .VOC
                     format).

    Animation        A simple form of attack animation has been included -
                     anybody got ideas what else I have to animate? (Hey!
                     Don't overdo it! :)

    Backgrounds      Most of the things going on in the background (spread of
                     fire, volcano eruptions, etc) are already implemented.
                     I'm thinking of adding meteor strikes, weather and
                     orbital bombardment.

    Config File      Nearly everything can be configured. Have a close look
                     at MECHWAR.CFG

    This is planned for the final v1.2:

    This is just a copy of my ToDo list. It looks like a lot, but it actually
    isn't - my modules are very modular and adding, for example, Mechs is
    quick and easy. I estimate that I'll have it all done after (at most) two
    weeks (Hi iD!) when I return from Africa.

        *  Mechs! (it is called MechWar, after all).

        *  LOS-based gameplay: you only see your enemy if you have good
           beagle probe or LOS. Also, the current LOS is bad - you can see
           missiles jinking about.

        *  Better road/river/seashore graphics (anybody want to help me with
           this?).

        *  Better swamp graphics.

        *  Rewrite distance function (sometimes gives improper values due to
           LOS bug).

        *  Install proper error handler and better user interface (for
           example, pressing 'Q' lands you in DOS without asking for
           confirmation).

        *  Option to allow you to confirm each weapon shot before firing (I
           consider this a mild form of cheating).

        *  Graphic title screens (one of the Beta Testers - Praise Be Blake!
           - is working on them :)

        *  Add the rest of the weapon effectd from EquipmentDesign.

        *  Mouse support

        *  Record the battle in detail for statistics, reports and possible
           replay.

        *  Modem, net and BBS support.

        *  Graphical damage representation (similar to MW2).

        *  Allow moving some infantry last so they don't get into each others
           way.

        *  Better mines (command mines and the like).

        *  Stacking units.

        *  Limited repair facilities.

        *  Entering/climbing on buildings.

        *  Show Mech heat history as graph.

        *  Option to dump screen to .PCX

        *  ConflictDesign module to create scenarios.

        *  WarriorDesign module.

        *  Vehicle sideslipping.

        *  Morale for Infantry and Vehicles.

        *  Jury-rigged Mechs.

        *  RPG shell, allowing you to advance your stats, trade and repair
           your Mechs, have limited cash and repair facilities, etc.

        *  Sort Ammo to appear last in the lists.

        *  Option to quit when all human players are dead.

        *  Ramming.

        *  Swarm attacks for infantry.

        *  Keep ejected Mech pilots active on the battlefield (possibly have
           to be rescued).

        *  Arena Test mode - design your Vehicle/Infantry/Mech, test it
           against a random opponent and end up in the design mode again.

        *  Trains, with different cars (freight, weapons, etc).

        *  Night combat.

        *  Update the documentation, perhaps as just two files (game and
           editors). Also release the documentation in PostScript and Epson
           Printer format.

        *  See the section 'Planned enemy AI' for more ideas.

    The Bugs!

    Yes, a Beta Version has bugs in it (which is why it's called Beta :). I
    know of the following:

        *  MGs don't properly damage infantry.

        *  Sometimes, a weapon impact will cause a fire.

        *  The LOS doesn't always follow a straight line.

        *  The Undo Function in Vehicles can be used for cheating.

        *  The program sometimes erases all info on your hard drive and blows
           your video board (just joking -- I hope).

Please let me know your comments, ideas and feedbacks - I'll try to
incorporate as many of them into the final version as possible (release
date is Middle of October).

Ciao,
Klaus
