This system will be a work in progress, with more features to be added later. Please leave any comments for changes or additions you’d like to see in the stream.

Again, HiRez demonstrates their ability to closely listen to their players and address all of the major issues in a timely fashion as well as their ability to add new content at a very rapid pace.

Press release here.

Tribes Beta Version 0.1.789.1 Patch Notes

SERVER DOWNTIME: The Tribes Servers are expected to be down for a number of hours on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012 while the patch is deployed. Watch the Server Status on the game loader for the latest availability information.

Major Highlights

• The game no longer requires a key in order to play. Anyone can join the beta program by simply creating an account onhttp://www.tribesascend.com and then downloading the game. Players are reminded that their progression in the game will be kept once the beta ends and the game officially launches — so time spent playing now will be rewarded at launch.
• A new gametype, Arena, has been added with two initial maps, Air Arena and Lava Arena. The Arena gametype features five-on-five matches fought on small hazardous maps. The team that wins two rounds wins the match. During the course of a round, each team has 25 respawns. After a team’s respawns are depleted, players on that team each get one more life before the round ends. The team with the last man standing wins the round.
• A new Capture the Flag map has been added to the quick match rotation (Temple Ruins).
• A new Team Deathmatch map has been added to the quick match rotation (Inferno).
• Two new unlockable items have been added on the Soldier class: Proximity Grenade and Utility Pack.
• Servers are now available in Asia and Brazil. You may choose your server region in the Play Now menu, or in the Settings menu.
• You may now change your Gamer Name for gold, using the Store menu.
• The end-of-match screens have been given a significant user interface overhaul.
• The Doombringer and Brute have new suits. There have also been some adjustments to the suits for some other classes, based on user feedback.
• Updated art for the Accolades and Ranks.
• Variety of other fixes, clean-ups and feature additions.

Weapon/Balance Items

• Fixed an issue with the Sentinel’s Phase Rifle not properly applying damage.
• Motion sensors that are automatically destroyed for placing too many no longer trigger the notification.
• Reduced initial clip size on Sentinel’s Falcon Auto Pistol from 24 to 22. Reduced and adjusted starting ammo pool to match.
• Infiltrators using the Stealth pack now fade in and become “visible” at speeds over 173kph.
• Increased the activation delay on newly placed Light Turrets (Technician) from 1 to 2 seconds.
• The following weapons projectiles now spawn center cross-hairs, rather than offset to the right: Soldier’s Assault Rifle, Doombringer’s Chaingun, Soldier’s Eagle, Sentinel’s Falcon, Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle, Raider’s NJ4, Brute’s Nova Colt, Infiltrator’s Rhino, Infiltrator’s SN7, Technician’s Sparrow, Technician’s TCN4, Juggernaut’s X1LMG.
• Damage falloff range on Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle increased (improved) by roughly 16%.
• Two new unlockable items have been added for Soldier: Proximity Grenade and Utility Pack.

Additional Items

• You may now add a player as a friend directly from the scoreboard. You may also mute players (turn off chat and VGS).
• Eliminated several issues that were causing “hitches” in matches. (Some other issues may still exist — optimization still in progress).
• Several bug fixes and cleanups to the main menu UI.
• The Target Practice map has been improved. There are now Light, Medium and Heavy bots in the maps, in addition to both enemy and friendly vehicles, along with other improvements.
• The Rabbit gamemode has been removed from the Quick Match rotation. It will be available through Custom Servers at a later date.
• Added the ability to view both Blood Eagle and Diamond Sword skins from within the Class menu.
• The ability to add Tribes Gold to your account is now available from all menu screens.
• Under Gameplay Settings, you may now set “Default Objectives On/Off”. This controls whether you see the objective markers by default in a match. (To toggle them inside of a match, press the “O” key).
• VGS and Announcer volumes are now independent settings
• Revisited Blood Eagle variant class visuals based on user feedback.
• Various minor cleanups have been made to the Ski Tutorial.
• Made several changes to the Shrike: increased yaw-turn sensitivity, decreased damage received when hitting static objects, and changed the collision model so that wing tips are less likely to cause terrain impacts.
• Changed Beowulf handling, it will no longer allow immediate forward/backward velocity changes.
• Enemy vehicle icons will now show through walls if they are detected by a Radar Sensor.
• The Flag Reach perk will no longer allow players to pick-up the flag through walls.
• Accolade medals have been given another polish pass. New accolade medals have been added as well.
• To be consistent with other maps, vehicle stations in Crossfire were moved next to the vehicle pad.
• A message now displays when a teammate executes a Call-in.
• Call-ins are now free in roaming and training.
• When a player is invulnerable and they fire a weapon, invulnerability immediately expires.
• Fixed and improved how the client handles an unexpected disconnect from the server.
• Fixed an issue in the main menu where a character skin from the Classes screen could pop into other main menu scenes.
• Fixed an issue where Gameplay Settings for sensitivity were only allowing integers, they now allow floating points.
• Fixed an issue where if a player died while falling in a deep pit, footstep sounds could begin playing.
• Fixed the chat filter, and added an option to disable it in the Settings menu.
• Fixed an issue where if a player died while falling in a deep pit, the previous damager could get a blue plate or air mail accolade.
• Fixed an issue where AoE wasn’t properly being applied to players and surrounding objects when a generator or inventory station was in the way. This includes Technician’s turrets being placed in inventory stations not taking AoE damage.
• Fixed an issue where Bass Boost in the Audio Settings was not properly being saved. The frequency ranges that are boosted (or suppressed) have also been tweaked to prevent audio popping.
• Fixed an issue where zooming while attempting to deploy an object could cause a second object to appear at the top of the screen.
• Fixed an issue where a player could fire a projectile (or call-in) and suicide, which would result in teammates taking damage.
• Fixed an issue where players were able to place deployables in volumes that were not permitted, this is most noticeable with the Doombringer’s Force Field being placed near the flag stand at certain rotations.
• Fixed an issue where dying players were not dropping ammo nuggets and ammo nuggets could get lost inside generators or base deployables.
• Fixed an issue where users binding ‘Enter’ to chat would have the chat window immediately close.
• Fixed an issue where a player dying before the MIRV launcher’s secondary split would not be properly credited for the kills.
• Fixed an issue where the Doombringer’s Chaingun spin-up sound would be stuck playing if you died while spinning up.
• Fixed an issue on Drydock where no-deploy zones around the flags were to large relative to other maps.
• Fixed LOD popping on all new class variant visuals.
• Fixed some other situations where UI sounds played multiple times for the same event
• Fixed an issue where users with certain graphics settings were able to see fully stealthed Infiltrators.
• Fixed an issue with Doombringer’s forcefields not being able to be destroyed at certain angles.
• Fixed incorrect description on Soldier’s Energy pack.
• Fixed an exploit where users with specific graphics settings were able to see a fully stealthed Infiltrator.
• Fixed an issue where Radar Sensors weren’t properly detected being hit.
• Fixed an issue where Base Turrets and Light Turrets were unable to target enemy players through friendly base force fields on Bella Omega.
• The enemy generator icon will always display if you are showing all objective markers.
• Fixed an issue where players were losing their invulnerability when spawning a vehicle. They will now remain fully invulnerable until they are teleported into the vehicle.
• Fixed an issue where the zoom binoculars were being stuck on when zooming while throwing grenades.
• Fixed an issue causing some maps to crash in roaming mode.
• Fixed issues with the Friends List that occur when you scroll down the list.

Known Issues

• Heavy characters may sometime appear as stretched out medium characters.

The game will be streamed live through Onemoregame.tv, with HiRezBart and SirScoots casting, and featured on the front page of Twitch.tv!

The last time the US faced off against European competition in a Tribes game was during the Tribes 1 World Cup, with US-W defeating Sweden in the finals. As zfz is a mostly West Coast team, will they be able to continue the legacy? Be sure to watch to find out!

We played Boss in a rematch. It was to be a Bo5 match, but due to time constraints for Boss was limited to Bo3. zfz took the win with a score of 2-1.

ArxNovena – Boss 5, zfz 3

Drydock - zfz 5, Boss 3

Crossfire – zfz 5, Boss 1

Link to direct release here.

Major Highlights

• The Sentinel, Infiltrator, Technician and Raider classes have new suits/visual aesthetics. The Doombringer and Brute will receive their new outfits in an upcoming patch.
• XP prices of many weapons have been lowered. Those that purchased the weapons at the older XP prices will be refunded XP as if they had purchased at the new prices.
• The front-end menu has undergone a significant number of usability improvements and bug fixes. Some of the changes include:
• • Easier navigation to modify your class from the in-game class select screen.
  • Several improvements to the Friends list layout and usability.
  • Reduced clicks to join a quick match.
  • Hot-keys to access some menu items.
  • A number of additional bug fixes, cleanups and minor enhancements.
• Several maps have had adjustments for performance, playability and aesthetics.  More is planned for future releases.

Weapon/Balance Items

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Ultra Capacitor II Perk from being unlocked.
• Fixed a bug with the Sentinel’s Phase Rifle allowing users to fire faster than intended.
• Added minor damage falloff to projectile-based automatic and semi-automatic weapons. This affects Soldier’s Assault Rifle, Doombringer’s ChainGun, Sentinel’s Falcon, Pathfinder’s LAR, Infiltrator’s NJ4,Rhino, Infiltrator’s SN7, Technician’s TCN4, and Juggernaut’s X1LMG)
• Damage reduced by roughly 4% on Technician’s Thumper.
• Reduced Falloff on Brute’s Nova Colt, increasing its damage at range.
• Reduced Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle clip upgrade from +4 to +3 size, to fit with it’s 3-round-burst.
• Increased reload time on Juggernaut’s X1 LMG from 1.8s to 2.75s.
• Raider’s White Out Grenade no longer requires the player to be looking at the grenade for the affect to apply. Radius on the Whiteout Grenade has been substantially reduced (roughly 50%) to account for this, and is now more in line with other grenades. Note the Egocentric Perk makes the thrower immune to this effect.
• Brute’s Fractal Grenade is no longer effective against Armored Targets (Vehicles, Base Assets) or Generators. Reduced damage by roughly 9% on Brute’s Fractal Grenade.
• Changed the third skill unlock on Brute’s Fractal Grenade to be radius, per its status change away from being effective against Armored targets.
• Fixed an issue in which Brutes started with one extra Fractal Grenade already unlocked, without getting the upgrade.
• Fixed a bug so that mines will no longer give air mail accolade.
• Devices and mines are now properly protected by forcefields.
• Infiltrator’s Prism Mines are now harder to detect. The range in which you can see the beams has been drastically reduced making them a more viable trap around corners.
• Reduced the maximum damage caused by the “Clothes Line” upgrade of the Super Heavy Perk by roughly 23%, and raised the speed at which maximum damage is applied to 216kph.
• Changed Beowulf Passenger/Gunner position to be projectile based.
• Removed inaccuracy when throwing Grenades or other Belt items.
• Reduced the amount of camera shake on the Juggernaut’s MIRV Launcher.
• Fixed an issue where Juggernaut’s MIRV launcher secondaries were giving too much knockback.
• Fix for Raider’s EMP Grenades causing energy drain on self, even with a fully upgraded Egocentric perk.
• Fix for turrets shooting dead people or attempting to aim at a point the player could never reach.

Additional Items

• Fixed a bug that prevented users from being notified when they received the First Win of the Day Bonus.
• Players should now receive XP at the end of a match even if they are offline when the match ends.
• Fixed an issue where if a player skied into certain objects (such as the back of a Deployable Inventory station) or over certain lips they could be propelled at a very fast velocity.
• Increased graphical performance on some rapid-fire weapons.
• Added bass boost, vertical sync, and frame-rate smoothing to the settings menu.
• Improved performance at Class Modify screen at the main menu.
• Auto balance has been enabled for Team Deathmatch matches.
• Re-enabled Screenshot button (F9).
• Fix for prism mine not properly destroying particle effect.
• Fixed laser targeter and repair tool effects lingering in 3P.
• Additional fixes for instant fire lock-on of Saber Launcher.
• Fixed players losing their hand model in 1P when they unzoomed after switching from 3P to 1P.
• Fixed an issue where certain NumPad keys were not bindable.
• Fixed an issue where call-in inventory stations were able to be placed on areas not allowed.
• Shrike particle effects have been pulled in favor of boosting the frame-rate with them on screen. They will return more optimized and better looking next patch.
• All weapons have been given a third person pass. A spectated player will now display the correct weapon model.
• Fixed a glitch where if two players were jetpacking and became “stuck” to each other, they would be propelled at an incredible speed.
• Fixed an issue where TDM Night Katabatic would crash in Roaming mode.

Known Issues

• First person hands do not match class models yet.
• Shrike can be hard control, especially when running at a high framerate. This is being actively worked on.
• Hotkeys inside the main menu are not working for many users (for example, hitting M to return to the main screen). Mouse clicking the button at the bottom of the menu that references the Main Menu does return you home. It is a keybinding issue.

HiRezBart was available for the whole morning to do a direct Q:A session with the community about the patch, as well as other questions on their minds. Videos of the Q&A are still up on Bart’s Twitch.tv account.

HiRez Studios continues to set precedence for community-minded development, this patch adding many features that have been at the forefront of T:A players’ wishes. The open Q&A session shows the level of commitment and transparency that HiRez has during the development process.

-zfz.Michalius

Original Source: http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/297

SERVER DOWNTIME: The Tribes Servers are expected to be down for a number of hours on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 while the patch is deployed. Watch the Server Status on the game loader for the latest availability information.

CONVERSION NOTE: Due to the depth and breadth of changes in this update, users will start fresh in the game with no items purchased. Gold and XP will be refunded based on previously earned XP, Tokens and Gold in the game (such that your time in the game thus far is rewarded). This will allow each user to choose how to allocate their earnings optimally under the new system without being constrained by your previously made choices.

Major Highlights

●     There is a new UI for all the front-end menus. Many aspects of the new UI are still a work in progress, so please forgive any issues or quirkiness.

●     The class and purchase systems have undergone a major overhaul. The new system allows greater customization within a given class. Among the highlights:

○     There are now 9 classes instead of 12 (Pathfinder, Sentinel, Infiltrator, Soldier, Technician, Raider, Juggernaut, Doombringer, Brute).

○     New players receive the Pathfinder, Soldier and Juggernaut classes for free.

○     Each class has a default loadout associated with it that includes your Armor (Light/Medium/Heavy), a Primary Weapon, a Secondary Weapon, Belt item, a Pack, and two Perk Slots.  You may unlock alternate weapons for each slot, using XP or Gold.

○     The class specific skill trees have been removed and replaced by a weapon-centric and armor-centric upgrade system. Upgrades are still unlocked using XP.

○     Perks have been overhauled. With this patch, there are 18 perks in the game — nine assigned to Perk Slot 1 and nine assigned to Perk Slot 2. You now unlock Perks using XP or Gold. Once a perk is unlocked, it can be used on all classes.

○     Perks now have upgrades that can be purchased with XP, and contain additional functionality. (Example: The Pilot Perk gives +10% vehicle health, and has upgrades that provide +10% more health, with a final upgrade giving Ejection Seat).

●     16 new weapons have been added to the game.

●     A new Crossfire Team Deathmatch map has been added. This map is an early iteration and is not in its final intended artistic or design state.

●     Several new Rabbit maps have been added (using previously released Team Deathmatch maps as their base).

●     Tokens have been removed from the game, and all purchases previously made through Tokens can now be made through XP (see CONVERSION NOTE).

Weapon/Balance Items

●     The following Classes have been condensed:

○     Jumper has been removed, and most of Jumper’s weapons and gear are now available on Pathfinder. The Sawed-off Shotgun is now a Technician Secondary option.

○     Ranger has been removed, and Ranger’s weapons and gear are now available on Soldier.

○     Scrambler has been removed, and Scrambler’s weapons and gear are now available on Raider.

●     The following new weapons have been added:

○     Light Assault Rifle (Pathfinder Secondary)

○     Explosive Nitron (Pathfinder Belt)

○     Phase Rifle (Sentinel Primary)

○     Falcon Auto-Pistol (Sentinel Secondary)

○     T5 Grenade (Sentinel Belt)

○     Stealth Spinfusor (Infiltrator Primary)

○     Prism Mines (Infiltrator Belt)

○     Thumper (Large version) (Technician Primary)

○     Sparrow Pistol (Technician Secondary)

○     Motion Sensor (Technician Belt)

○     MIRV Launcher (Juggernaut Primary)

○     X1 LMG (Juggernaut Secondary)

○     Disk Toss (Juggernaut Belt)

○     Heavy Bolt Launcher (Doombringer Primary)

○     Mines (Doombringer Belt)

○     Nova Colt (Brute Secondary)

●     All Perks have been significantly modified, and many have been combined together. Perks have upgrades that can be unlocked with XP, and the final upgrade usually provides new functionality.

●     Reduced damage by roughly 6% on Ranger’s Assault Rifle, Raider’s NJ4 SMG, and Infiltrator’s Rhino SMG. Reduced by 11% on Technician’s TCN4 SMG.

●     Updated reticule on Doombringer’s Chaingun so it does not block visibility as much.

●     Increased fire rate on Pathfinder’s Light Spinfusor. Slightly decreased damage, per the fire rate increase.

●     Reduced starting clip size to 32 on Infiltrator’s Rhino SMG.

●     Reduced Saber Launcher starting ammo to 8.

●     Increased damage on Pathfinder’s Bolt Launcher to be more in line with other medium AOE weapons.

●     Changed the way the Looter perk was calculated. It now gives a lot more bonus ammo to all weapons.

●     ST Grenade was removed from the game, and replaced with a new option on Pathfinder.

●     Reduced initial clip size to 28 on Technician’s TCN4 SMG.

●     Fixed a bug that gave extra starting ammo to Raider’s Whiteout Grenade.

●     Reduced initial values on Juggernaut’s Regen Pack.

●     Reduced damage from Raider’s EMP Grenade, enhanced EMP effect in upgrade track.

●     Increased damage on Infiltrator’s SN7 Pistol by roughly 6%.

●     Reduced damage by roughly 8% on Soldier’s (previously Ranger’s) Thumper DX. Reduced knockback on Thumper DX to account for damage reduction.

●     Reduced knockback on Whiteout grenade.

●     Increased damage by roughly 8% on Juggernaut’s Fusion Mortar.

●     Decreased damage on Shrike’s Plasma Cannon by 18%.

●     Decreased energy recharge rate and maximum energy on Shrike Afterburner.

●     Decreased Shrike Health by 33%.

●     Increased effectiveness of non-tracking AOE based projectiles against Shikes. (Spinfusors, Thumpers, etc). Luck (or skill) shots provide a bigger payoff.

●     Added vehicle boost to the Beowulf.

●     Shotgun spread has been adjusted to be less “random” and more reliable. This affects Pathfinder’s Shotgun, Technician’s Sawed-Off Shotgun, and Brute’s Automatic Shotgun.

Additional Items

●     All maps may now be roamed using the Training menu.

●     Added a “Ski Challenge” mode under the Training menu. This is an early iteration. Expect further enhancements in future patches.

●     CTF Bella Omega has had a significant change to it’s base layout. This is an early iteration and is not in its final intended art.

●     CTF Arx Novena has had a significant change to it’s interiors. The Bases have been moved further apart (15% distance increase). Workplace safety has installed security fields over the bottomless pits. One of the towns was sacked. This is an early iteration and is not in its final intended art.

●     CTF Katabatic has additional inventory stations near the generator. The flight ceiling has been raised.

●     Some performance optimisations on Drydock. More still planned.

●     The overhead carets and names of players on your friends list will show as green instead of blue when inside of a match, so long as they are on the same side as you.

●     You may now switch your active class using Hotkeys (as an alternative to visiting the Change Class menu). The Hotkeys default to Numpad1 through Numpad9 and are configurable under SETTINGS | KEYBINDINGS | HOTKEYS.

●     Added a simple ammo indicator when in third-person mode.

●     A subsystem has been added for users to redeem promotions inside the game using the EXTRAS menu.

●     A “MINIMAL” option has been added under Graphics Detail settings. This better optimizes the game for lower-end machines. Note that additional improvements and optimizations are still planned.

●     New Base Turret Fire and Projectile sounds.

●     Fix for wolf howl on Arx Novena.  Will not play as often as before.

●     All projectile explosions and weapons fire now apply a low pass filter at closer range.

●     Fixed issue with certain weapons damaging the Shrike pilot when you were shooting any part of the Shrike and not just the cockpit.

●     Fixed melee, grenade, and mine animations not properly playing.

●     Tweaked the Shrike controls: increased reverse thrust, vertical thrust, and added separate pitch/yaw sensitivity Configuration (under Settings | Gameplay).

●     Fixed the Shrike going into a death spiral when no player was piloting it.

●     Fixed bug with inventory stations not providing loadouts.

●     Fixed call-ins not working if you were killed the moment it deducted credits.

●     Fixed the saber launcher being able to instantly lock-on to players.

●     Fixed players dying when colliding with friendlies or goomba’ing friendlies/enemies.

●     Fixed friendly players being able to block tank shots by sitting on the turret.

●     Fixed sound issues with drop jammer ‘jammed’ loop playing across the map.

●     Fixed projectile-bullets not playing impact sounds properly.

●     Fixed an offline forcefield colliding with tracers, making it appear as if bullet-projectiles and projectiles weren’t going through.

●     Fixed issue with base asset damage/death effects not working properly when you first join the server.

●     Fixed issue where sticky projectiles weren’t properly exploding.

●     Fixed issues with the chaingun loop not ending in a variety of situations.

●     Added a timer where all turrets will ignore an invulnerable player to discourage turret farming at spawn points.

●     Mines and grenades now consume ammo as soon as the button is pressed, allowing the player to pick up ammo while throwing and be credited for mine/grenade ammo.

●     Zooming in while in third-person will kick you back to first-person.

●     Fixed objectives not properly taking damage from bullet projectiles when the player was too close.

●     Fixed issue where the client could crash or the screen would go black when skiing into objects.

●     The Beowulf’s view pitch is now properly limited depending on how inline your view is with the vehicles. When looking the highest you can when the Beowulf is tilted down a hill this still properly limits the view, but does allow a higher view than previously capable when looking backwards which was tilted up.

●     Fixed vehicle overhead damage numbers being inaccurate.

●     Fixed using the thrust/jump pack while jetting breaking jetpack functionality.

●     Flags get a larger impulse when landing on vehicles, preventing them from landing on vehicles and being driven across the map.

●     Fixed the ability to place turrets behind walls.

●     Made placing deployables more reliable.

●     Infiltrators will now only reveal if they throw a belt-item and have ammo.

●     Fixed lowered FPS when entering a vehicle with the repair gun equipped.

●     Fix for player doing self damage when shooting automatic weapons at feet.

●     Flags now animate and react to the flag holder’s movement.

●     Overhead damage numbers for shotgun damage now properly display each impact of the spread on its victims.

●     Fixed an issue where a friendly flag carrier’s player name would be off-center.

●     Overhead damage numbers will display from damage done from a personal deployed turret to a vehicle.

●     Added in a new INI setting, PlayerShadowFadeResolution, for handling the fading away of player shadows. Player shadows should now be visible at a larger distance as a result.

●     Fixed an issue where turret animations would sometimes not orient correctly if the turret was aiming at a target behind it.

●     Fixed an issue where the overhead damage numbers would display if looking directly away from the location of the damage.

Known Issues

●     Since this update contains a massive amount of changes, we expect our tester community will find a significant number of issues. Found bugs can be posted in the Closed Beta Private Forums.

●     Bass Boost is not in the Audio Settings, this will be added in a later patch.

We played BFF in a best of five scrim, winning 4-0.

Crossfire – zfz 5, BFF 1

Drydock – zfz 5, BFF 2

Katabatic – zfz 5, BFF 1

Arx Novena – zfz 5, BFF 3

We played Tao in a best of five scrim, winning 3-0. Each map went into overtime, very close game.

Crossfire – zfz 5, Tao 4

Katabatic – zfz 5, Tao 4

Arx Novena - zfz 5, Tao 4

We had a rematch against Deadstop, best of five. The final score was 1-1-1, with Deadstop unable to complete the match.

Crossfire – zfz 5, Deadstop 2

Katabatic – zfz 4, Deadstop 5

Katabatic – zfz 3, Deadstop 3

We played Deadstop in a best of five scrim, winning 4-1.

Katabatic – zfz 4, Deadstop 1

Drydock – zfz 5, Deadstop 1

Crossfire – zfz 2, Deadstop 5

Katabatic - zfz 5, Deadstop 2