Medivac
Doggin' at a spot near you
AA:SF (DIRECT ACTION) V2.5 RELEASED!
Posted: 2005-10-13 - by Harmit
It's that time again! We have officially released the next iteration of the America's Army game titled: America's Army: Special Forces (Direct Action) v2.5!
Head over to the Downloads area and grab your copy today!
Go to Downloads >>
America's Army: Special Forces (Direct Action)
Release Notes (Version 2.5.0)
=======================================================
What's new
=======================================================
New Multiplayer Missions
------------------------------------------------------------
Included in this version of America's Army are two new
Special Forces multiplayer missions. One of these new
missions contains both the Special Forces playable Soldier
class, as well as the Indigenous Forces playable class.
The other new mission is 'SF Exclusive' containing
only the Special Forces playable Soldier class.
- SF Extraction:
(SF & IF)
A daytime urban mission where both teams must race to
retrieve a briefcase containing sensitive information
about terrorist operatives. Each team must locate and
secure this one briefcase and then carry it to their
extraction point successfully. The team that successfully
extracts with the briefcase in hand wins! This mission's
spawn points, and extraction points (1 per team) - are
all randomly selected each round.
- SF Dockside:
(SF Exclusive)
A small tournament map which takes place during a stormy
night in a run down harbor setting. Both teams must
locate and secure two cargo containers containing
biological agents. The first team to secure and hold
both containers wins! This mission's spawn points and
container locations are randomly selected each round.
This mission also features breachable doors, and usable
automatic doors.
NOTE (SF Dockside): This mission was designed to hold only
18 players (9 per team). Server hosts - please set the
'max players' to 18 when running SF Dockside.
New Training Mission
------------------------------------------------------------
- Shoot House (MOUT Training)
The Shoot House (MOUT Training) training mission has been
added to America's Army. Shoot House replaces the
existing MOUT Training in Basic Combat Training.
Shoot House is designed to provide players with a dynamic
and replayable training experience. Players will enter a
building, consisting of up to 10 rooms, where pop-up
targets have been randomly arranged. Players will choose
a weapon and enter the Shoot House building, each room
will present the player with various friendly and enemy
targets. Players will have to make repeated split-second
decisions whether or not to engage the targets - shooting
friendly targets earns penalties. This training will be
timed and scored for each weapon, results will be recorded
in our database and sent to a Web site where players can
compare their scores with others. (coming soon)
Tournament Mode Enhancements
------------------------------------------------------------
We've applied significant effort to our Tournament Mode
based on feedback provided by our Beta Testers and
members of the Competitive Community.
Here are just a few of the enhancements we're deploying
in Direct Action:
- TWL Support in AASM
- CAL/CPL enhancements
- Improved UI functionality
- Ability to start TM without hosting company help
- Support for additional mission planning
- Fixed ghosting bug (which appeared in 2.4)
- Simplified user options
- Tournament Results sent directly to our database
(soon to be available through our Website and possibly
even RSS or XML feeds)
Our goal is to continue improving America's Army
Tournament Mode to meet and exceed the expectations
of the competitive gaming community at-large, while also
making the setup and administration easy, whether you're
creating a local LAN event with a few friends or
conducting a regional competition in TWL.
Please see the updated 'Tournament Mode Guide' available
through the START menu (file located in the game's HELP
directory).
Enhanced Map Rotation
------------------------------------------------------------
We're very excited to roll out Map Rotation on all America's
Army servers. This will allow Server Admins (SA) to construct
themed rotations with any of the existing (and upcoming)
America's Army multiplayer maps. Leased servers will be able
to define their own particular map rotations, and can change
them at any time.
On our 250 Official Servers we'll have a balance of themed
rotations and static maps. In other words, some of our Official
Servers will continue to host a single map while others will
serve multiple maps by theme (SF Only, Desert Operations,
Urban Conflict, Winter Survival, etc.) We're anticipating
10 different themes upon release!
New Admin Command Post
------------------------------------------------------------
The new "Command Post" is intended to provide a simple to
use and easy to understand interface to the most common
administrative functions provided by the America's Army
game server. In other words, Server Administrators can run
and manage their servers entirely through an easy-to-use GUI.
- Mission Selection via GUI
- Player Management
- Ban List Management
- Change server to Tournament Mode and back again from
within GUI without editing INI
Server Admins can start and stop maps, change maps
on-the-fly, move players to other teams � complete control
via GUI. Hit the F12 key when logged into a game server as
an admin to access the new Admin Command Post.
Please see the new 'Admin Command Post Guide' available
through the START menu (file located in the game's HELP
directory).
Gameplay Enhancements
------------------------------------------------------------
- Adjusted Recoil:
When firing in full auto the recoil gradually increases to a
higher amount then levels out. This more realistically
portrays the controllability of automatic fire and promotes
shooting in bursts or single-fire.
- Damage Hindrance System:
Physical reactions to damage have been enhanced. When hit
by bullets players will camera shift to display pain and also to
promote taking aim to make the first shot count. Other effects
are also included such as view shifts when receiving falling
damage.
- Grenade Enhancements:
Grenade kill damage has been dropped to a more realistic 5
meters (from 10) with fragment damage causing a gun down
stun effect allowing room clearing assaults to still be
successful.
- CEM Adjustments:
The CEM has been weighted to cause very large increases
whenever sight mode is initiated. This added realism will
promote the concept that a player needs their sights up if
they want to shoot accurately. In addition to this,
transparency has been added to the 2D sights for more
realism and to make them easier to use. CEM bonuses due to
proximity to other teammates have been adjusted as
follows: highest bonus given when in close proximity
to the Squad Leader, next highest bonus given when
in close proximity to your Fireteam Leader, and a small
bonus now given when in close proximity to any teammate
(promoting teamwork).
- Added Horizontal Hand Tremor:
Previously only up and down breathing aim wander was
noticeable on most weapons. Now more left and right wander
has been added to more effectively portray arm tremor when
weapon sights are up.
- Bunny Hopping Deterrents:
A player can no longer reload while in mid jump or jump while
a reload is occurring. In addition the jump key is limited
with a stall time between each jump. These two additions
should deter most bunny hopping outright, however once a
player becomes accustomed to the changes they can go
anywhere they originally could in a speedy manner.
New Game Commands
------------------------------------------------------------
- Added in a new command 'AdminChangePassword' to allow
changing the admin password via console.
- Added in help for admins for various admin commands.
New console Help commands are:
Help - Shows general admin commands.
PBHelp - Shows general PB help.
PBBanHelp - Shows PB Ban commands.
PBBadNameHelp - Shows PB Bad Name commands.
PBCvarHelp - Shows CVAR related PB Commands.
PBWebsiteHelp - Shows Even Balance site in web browser.
- Added new command 'SummonNPCSoldier' which will summon
a single NPC soldier pawn directly in front of your view
(for offline use only).
New Honor Licensing Program
------------------------------------------------------------
Play the game with the elite of the elite and make your
score count. If you are a game service provider or just
simply want to run your own America's Army Honor gaining
server, then you need to head over to AAHONOR.COM and
setup your Honor License!
Whether you want to license Honor for your existing
game server or lease an Honor server from server providers
with locations all over the world - AAHONOR.COM is the
solution to your America's Army Honor server needs.
NOTE: When licensing Honor on your AA game server, you
will be provided with a unique username and password
which will have to be included in your Honor server's
configuration file (server.ini) located in the
'America's Army/System' folder. The sections you will
need to edit are seen below:
[Andromeda.Andromeda]
GameServerIP=
(Enter IP address to send to auth server to validate
authorized mode)
[Andromeda.AuthorizeServerRequestAdapter]
ServerAuthUsername=xxxxxxxx
ServerAuthPassword=xxxxxxxx
(Make sure to uncomment these 2 lines by removing
the proceeding ';' and replacing the 'xxxxxxxx' with the
account information provided to you by either Pragmatic
Solutions or one of the official Honor server providers
whom you are leasing your server from.)
To provide these credentials using the AASM, use the
Options pull-down menu, choose Preferences, then the
Honor Server tab. Fill in the appropriate fields.
This Auth username and password is required in order
for the Authentication Server to activate Honor gaining
mode on your Honor server. However, some server providers
may take care of this for you, consult with your Honor
server provider for more details.
Key Bind Rules Change
------------------------------------------------------------
Key binds for certain commands are now limited to that
single command only. The following commands, in order
of priority, may not be combined with other actions and
any other action will be ignored:
1. Crouching
2. Crawling
3. reload*
4. swaphands
5. jump
* The "reload" command may be combined with the "reportin"
command but the command will automatically be modified to
"reload / teamsay "Reloading, Cover Me!!" / reportin".
Posted: 2005-10-13 - by Harmit
It's that time again! We have officially released the next iteration of the America's Army game titled: America's Army: Special Forces (Direct Action) v2.5!
Head over to the Downloads area and grab your copy today!
Go to Downloads >>
America's Army: Special Forces (Direct Action)
Release Notes (Version 2.5.0)
=======================================================
What's new
=======================================================
New Multiplayer Missions
------------------------------------------------------------
Included in this version of America's Army are two new
Special Forces multiplayer missions. One of these new
missions contains both the Special Forces playable Soldier
class, as well as the Indigenous Forces playable class.
The other new mission is 'SF Exclusive' containing
only the Special Forces playable Soldier class.
- SF Extraction:
(SF & IF)
A daytime urban mission where both teams must race to
retrieve a briefcase containing sensitive information
about terrorist operatives. Each team must locate and
secure this one briefcase and then carry it to their
extraction point successfully. The team that successfully
extracts with the briefcase in hand wins! This mission's
spawn points, and extraction points (1 per team) - are
all randomly selected each round.
- SF Dockside:
(SF Exclusive)
A small tournament map which takes place during a stormy
night in a run down harbor setting. Both teams must
locate and secure two cargo containers containing
biological agents. The first team to secure and hold
both containers wins! This mission's spawn points and
container locations are randomly selected each round.
This mission also features breachable doors, and usable
automatic doors.
NOTE (SF Dockside): This mission was designed to hold only
18 players (9 per team). Server hosts - please set the
'max players' to 18 when running SF Dockside.
New Training Mission
------------------------------------------------------------
- Shoot House (MOUT Training)
The Shoot House (MOUT Training) training mission has been
added to America's Army. Shoot House replaces the
existing MOUT Training in Basic Combat Training.
Shoot House is designed to provide players with a dynamic
and replayable training experience. Players will enter a
building, consisting of up to 10 rooms, where pop-up
targets have been randomly arranged. Players will choose
a weapon and enter the Shoot House building, each room
will present the player with various friendly and enemy
targets. Players will have to make repeated split-second
decisions whether or not to engage the targets - shooting
friendly targets earns penalties. This training will be
timed and scored for each weapon, results will be recorded
in our database and sent to a Web site where players can
compare their scores with others. (coming soon)
Tournament Mode Enhancements
------------------------------------------------------------
We've applied significant effort to our Tournament Mode
based on feedback provided by our Beta Testers and
members of the Competitive Community.
Here are just a few of the enhancements we're deploying
in Direct Action:
- TWL Support in AASM
- CAL/CPL enhancements
- Improved UI functionality
- Ability to start TM without hosting company help
- Support for additional mission planning
- Fixed ghosting bug (which appeared in 2.4)
- Simplified user options
- Tournament Results sent directly to our database
(soon to be available through our Website and possibly
even RSS or XML feeds)
Our goal is to continue improving America's Army
Tournament Mode to meet and exceed the expectations
of the competitive gaming community at-large, while also
making the setup and administration easy, whether you're
creating a local LAN event with a few friends or
conducting a regional competition in TWL.
Please see the updated 'Tournament Mode Guide' available
through the START menu (file located in the game's HELP
directory).
Enhanced Map Rotation
------------------------------------------------------------
We're very excited to roll out Map Rotation on all America's
Army servers. This will allow Server Admins (SA) to construct
themed rotations with any of the existing (and upcoming)
America's Army multiplayer maps. Leased servers will be able
to define their own particular map rotations, and can change
them at any time.
On our 250 Official Servers we'll have a balance of themed
rotations and static maps. In other words, some of our Official
Servers will continue to host a single map while others will
serve multiple maps by theme (SF Only, Desert Operations,
Urban Conflict, Winter Survival, etc.) We're anticipating
10 different themes upon release!
New Admin Command Post
------------------------------------------------------------
The new "Command Post" is intended to provide a simple to
use and easy to understand interface to the most common
administrative functions provided by the America's Army
game server. In other words, Server Administrators can run
and manage their servers entirely through an easy-to-use GUI.
- Mission Selection via GUI
- Player Management
- Ban List Management
- Change server to Tournament Mode and back again from
within GUI without editing INI
Server Admins can start and stop maps, change maps
on-the-fly, move players to other teams � complete control
via GUI. Hit the F12 key when logged into a game server as
an admin to access the new Admin Command Post.
Please see the new 'Admin Command Post Guide' available
through the START menu (file located in the game's HELP
directory).
Gameplay Enhancements
------------------------------------------------------------
- Adjusted Recoil:
When firing in full auto the recoil gradually increases to a
higher amount then levels out. This more realistically
portrays the controllability of automatic fire and promotes
shooting in bursts or single-fire.
- Damage Hindrance System:
Physical reactions to damage have been enhanced. When hit
by bullets players will camera shift to display pain and also to
promote taking aim to make the first shot count. Other effects
are also included such as view shifts when receiving falling
damage.
- Grenade Enhancements:
Grenade kill damage has been dropped to a more realistic 5
meters (from 10) with fragment damage causing a gun down
stun effect allowing room clearing assaults to still be
successful.
- CEM Adjustments:
The CEM has been weighted to cause very large increases
whenever sight mode is initiated. This added realism will
promote the concept that a player needs their sights up if
they want to shoot accurately. In addition to this,
transparency has been added to the 2D sights for more
realism and to make them easier to use. CEM bonuses due to
proximity to other teammates have been adjusted as
follows: highest bonus given when in close proximity
to the Squad Leader, next highest bonus given when
in close proximity to your Fireteam Leader, and a small
bonus now given when in close proximity to any teammate
(promoting teamwork).
- Added Horizontal Hand Tremor:
Previously only up and down breathing aim wander was
noticeable on most weapons. Now more left and right wander
has been added to more effectively portray arm tremor when
weapon sights are up.
- Bunny Hopping Deterrents:
A player can no longer reload while in mid jump or jump while
a reload is occurring. In addition the jump key is limited
with a stall time between each jump. These two additions
should deter most bunny hopping outright, however once a
player becomes accustomed to the changes they can go
anywhere they originally could in a speedy manner.
New Game Commands
------------------------------------------------------------
- Added in a new command 'AdminChangePassword' to allow
changing the admin password via console.
- Added in help for admins for various admin commands.
New console Help commands are:
Help - Shows general admin commands.
PBHelp - Shows general PB help.
PBBanHelp - Shows PB Ban commands.
PBBadNameHelp - Shows PB Bad Name commands.
PBCvarHelp - Shows CVAR related PB Commands.
PBWebsiteHelp - Shows Even Balance site in web browser.
- Added new command 'SummonNPCSoldier' which will summon
a single NPC soldier pawn directly in front of your view
(for offline use only).
New Honor Licensing Program
------------------------------------------------------------
Play the game with the elite of the elite and make your
score count. If you are a game service provider or just
simply want to run your own America's Army Honor gaining
server, then you need to head over to AAHONOR.COM and
setup your Honor License!
Whether you want to license Honor for your existing
game server or lease an Honor server from server providers
with locations all over the world - AAHONOR.COM is the
solution to your America's Army Honor server needs.
NOTE: When licensing Honor on your AA game server, you
will be provided with a unique username and password
which will have to be included in your Honor server's
configuration file (server.ini) located in the
'America's Army/System' folder. The sections you will
need to edit are seen below:
[Andromeda.Andromeda]
GameServerIP=
(Enter IP address to send to auth server to validate
authorized mode)
[Andromeda.AuthorizeServerRequestAdapter]
ServerAuthUsername=xxxxxxxx
ServerAuthPassword=xxxxxxxx
(Make sure to uncomment these 2 lines by removing
the proceeding ';' and replacing the 'xxxxxxxx' with the
account information provided to you by either Pragmatic
Solutions or one of the official Honor server providers
whom you are leasing your server from.)
To provide these credentials using the AASM, use the
Options pull-down menu, choose Preferences, then the
Honor Server tab. Fill in the appropriate fields.
This Auth username and password is required in order
for the Authentication Server to activate Honor gaining
mode on your Honor server. However, some server providers
may take care of this for you, consult with your Honor
server provider for more details.
Key Bind Rules Change
------------------------------------------------------------
Key binds for certain commands are now limited to that
single command only. The following commands, in order
of priority, may not be combined with other actions and
any other action will be ignored:
1. Crouching
2. Crawling
3. reload*
4. swaphands
5. jump
* The "reload" command may be combined with the "reportin"
command but the command will automatically be modified to
"reload / teamsay "Reloading, Cover Me!!" / reportin".