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Players are now one step closer to the release of the year’s biggest massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Aion.

Within the next four weeks, NCsoft will treat North American and European gamers to two opportunities to jump into the world of Aion and explore Atreia as Asmodian or Elyos characters ahead of its release in North America on September 22 and Europe September 25. Aion’s Open Beta Test featuring version 1.5 will take place September 6 – 13 and will include numerous Western enhancements, including improvements to Aion’s innovative character customization with a host of Western styles, as well as new zones, instances, skills, quests and continued game balancing and improvements. Open Beta will retain a level cap for both Elyos and Asmodians characters at 30 allowing players to focus on getting to the same level so they can explore the lands of Atreia together, as well as the Abyss.

Players who have preordered Aion will be treated to a Pre-Select and a two-day Headstart period giving them the opportunity to explore, organize and progress through the game prior to the official launch. Pre-Select will take place on September 18, while Aion’s Headstart will begin September 20. Players can still participate in the Aion’s Pre-Select and Headstart programs by preordering the game through several participating online and brick-and-mortar retailers, including Aiononline.com, Amazon, Best Buy, EB Games Canada, Fry’s Electronics, GameStop, Steam and Target.

Unlike any MMO before it, Aion is a uniquely crafted online experience where flight offers much more than just a way to explore the landscape – it is a strategic and integral part of combat, quests, and exploration. Players will dive into battle and plunge through thousands of unique, story-driven quests, all while trying to save a world literally shattered in half from centuries of brutal conflict. Using one of the most flexible and in-depth character customization systems ever featured in an MMO, players will be able to create genuinely distinct characters and explore a visually stunning world of ethereal beauty brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.

For more information about Aion go to http://www.aiononline.com.

Updates to America’s Army 3 were released today.

• Removes Password from AA3Launch.log
• Fix for MBS not working after server changes to a new map
• Fixes TeamReady in Mission Preplanning
• Updated authentication SDK to improve reliability and performance
• Fix for freezing on training mission load
• Improved performance on loading maps/training missions
• Fixed several small memory leaks
• Fixed performance issue with server that caused it to load UI elements into the server (where they aren’t needed) and thus use up additional CPU and memory.
• Modified training authentication so it is more efficient
• Modified AMD negative delta time exception handling so it no longer stops the server or client, but just logs the event
• Fixed Admin add Player Admin
• Fixed Admin kicking of players. Now works properly with Soldier name and has optional kick by player ID
• Add new AdminListPlayers to get list of players and their player ID’s
• Removes most of the server log spam, especially that tied to missions and mission setup and ROE
• Fixes several issues related to ROE firing off when player is bleeding, asphyxiating, or falling after being wounded by ROE
• You can now strafe on ladders so you don’t get stuck in Pipeline or Obstacle Course. Strafe too far and you fall off, just like AA 2.x
• Modified program startup to clear out any old ATS temporary files
• Improved scoring messaging support for training missions
• Fixes several scoring issues
• Optimizes more of the authentication code and adds better exception handling in it
• Adjusts STS (stats) integration to better detect invalid objects to avoid crashes
• Fixes issues with single player stats not correctly initializing all of the time
• Adds feedback to UI when player purchases training until purchase is complete (says “Purchasing”)
• Modifies MBS to track how many players are playing vs. how many players are on the server (player + Spectators) and now MBS browser only shows the number of players (so the count won’t exceed max players)
• Turns HUD off whenever menu is activated (still an issue with battle planner activation the first time, however)
• Adjusts the close menu logic to always close properly so double menus should no longer happen

America’s Army 3 Update Released

Updates to America’s Army 3 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

* Removed apparent lag caused by other players entering or leaving a server
* Improved start of round spawn issues
* Resolved problem with training results not saving
* Improved communication with Authentication server
* Eliminated freezing up when moving from one training mission to another
* Cleared up hesitation during training missions
* Significantly reduce number of authentication transactions between player and Authentication server
* Solved achievements save and display problems
* Improved Login communication with Authentication server
* Improved player statistics tracking for better accuracy
* Improved overall performance

Steam News Link

Epic Games has released, for the PC, a patch to bring Unreal Tournament 3 up to version 2.0 alongside it’s hotly anticipated Titan Pack. You’ll want to apply the patch first and then the pack. Get those right here:

* UT3 Patch 2.0 (309 MB)
* UT3 Titan Pack (916 MB)

For full details on what’s in the pack, check out Beyond Unreal’s Titan Pack Reveal. In a nutshell you get:

* 16 new maps + 3 bonus pack 1 maps
* Titan mutator
* Greed and Betrayal gametypes
* Stinger Turret, Eradicator Cannon Artillery and the Stealthbender vehicle
* X-Ray Field and Link Station Deployables
* Slow-Field power-up (pickup version of the deployable of the same name)
* Two new characters: Nova (Liandri) and Kana (Ronin)
* 57 Steam Achievements
* Major enhancements, including AI, network performance, menu and UI, better mod support
* Client-side demo recording, updated server browser, new maplist system, mid-game mutator and gametype voting functionality

After what many have seen as an eternity, Flagship Studios has finally released another patch for the single-player version of the Hellgate: London. Caution that the patch is a beta and not a final release. If you wish to install the beta patch there are a large number of fixes discovered and tested in the multiplayer version. Just be certain to back up your save games before installing beta patch.

Download Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta (US)
Download Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta (UE)

Also of note is that the Test Center server was updated with an early build of Hellgate: London Patch 1.3.

Hellgate: London SP patch 1.2 beta Patch Notes:

Hello Hellgaters!

We’re very pleased to bring our single-player gamers up to date with this patch. We’ve been putting a lot of focus on the online space where we get a great deal of testing done on our Test Center servers. The consistent feedback and requests to have these same improvement made available for those of you that enjoy offline, single-player gaming has not gone unheard! We’re still a small studio, so getting everything done as fast as you and we want to can be a challenge. So we greatly appreciate your patience while we got this patch into the development / test / release cycle.

You’ll find tons of bug fixes, skill changes, class balances, UI updates, graphic enhancements, and much more in this patch. We hope that it makes your enjoyment of Hellgate: London all the greater!

The Hellgate: London Team

—

General

Based on the number and depth of balance changes to skills in this update, certain characters will be provided a “respec token” that allows them to reassign their skill points. This token is automatically placed in the character’s inventory and can be used at any time.

• The timer and quest requirement have been removed from the mini-game.
• Fixed a bug where chat entry became visible in the Character Select screen after logging in and then logging out of the game.
• Fixed a crash bug associated with exiting out of the Character Creation menu.
• Players that had beaten Normal mode with a character but then were unable to access Elite mode with a new character should now have access to that game mode by logging in once with the character that completed Normal Mode.
• Fixed a bug which caused audio and sound effects to sometimes stop playing.
• Adjusted difficulty of the Nightmare endgame. Decreased the ramp of the damage penalty that players face against monsters higher than their level.
• Fields from different sources can now stack. Please note that the graphics from new fields still override those of previous fields.
• Players must now wait 5 seconds before they can re-enter a Hellrift.
• Fixed a bug which caused weapons to disappear when swapping weapon sets in the middle of performing certain skills.
• Fixed a bug which caused the /played command to display the incorrect amount of time played.
• If a player dies during (or just before) a cut-scene begins playing or the game begins loading, the re-spawn options menu will come up after the cut-scene or loading screen is completed.
• Vendor inventories in Nightmare difficulty should now be stocked with Nightmare-level items.
• The Shock effect now deals damage immediately when it’s applied.
• Several character and monster animations have been improved.
• Fixed known Blueprint exploits.
• Fixed a bug which sometimes caused files to require unnecessary patching.
• Fixed a bug which caused the mini-game to become stuck if the player zoned to town or quit the game immediately after completing a round of the mini-game.

Memory Usage

• Memory manager rewritten for better performance and stability.
• Fixed a UI-related memory leak.
• Fixed a clothing and armor texture-related memory issue.

User Interface/Controls

• Reorganized the De-modificator, Augmentrex, and Nanoforge interfaces to appear in the left-hand panel area.
• Added an auto-transparency feature to the chat window.
• Players can skip all logo splash-screens with a single click.
• The Mini Map is now set to the top right of the screen with character state icons appearing below.
• The Chat Window is now scalable. To adjust the size of the chat window, hold down the ALT key. There is a small tab in the upper right hand corner of the chat interface that can be used to resize the window.
• Skill Retrainers now have a confirmation dialogue to help players from accidentally using them.
• Some UI panels have been improved.
• Fixed two bugs which caused the automap fog of war to be reset either when using a PRD or in levels with hellrifts.
• Shift-activation should now work for skills granted by items.
• The [Shift], [Ctrl], and [Alt] keys are now re-mappable, and may be set as key-modifiers.

Graphics

• Templar melee animations have been tweaked for smoother combat flow.
• Fixed an issue where backgrounds would flicker or disappear.

Graphics (DX10 Only)

• Various distortion effects have been fixed.
• Fixed a Hellrift portal graphical issue in which the image would slide inappropriately.
• Translucent models now render properly against the background.
• Particles and translucent models are no longer out of focus with the depth-of-field effect.
• Depth-of-field blur amount has been reduced and is now more subtle.
• Fixed a resource/memory leak that showed as either Page File or Commit Size growth.

Nightmare Difficulty

• The difficulty of Nightmare has been rebalanced. More overall experience is earned in Nightmare levels and the overall level progression has been adjusted.

Quests

• Fixed a bug with the Cannon Street Rails quest.
• Fixed a bug in the Helping Hands and Triage quests where Maxim and Arphaun occupy the same place.
• Fixed a bug with the Regular Customer quest where Slaughterbeast occasionally wouldn’t spawn as expected.
• Characters stuck in the Holborn station after completing the game in normal mode should be able to progress.
• Certain quests that could not be completed after defeating Sydonai because Emmera was no longer accessible can now be turned in to a new NPC named Sammy.
• Fixed a bug which sometimes caused collection side-quest counters to count down under certain conditions.
• Players can now drop the train part quest items for the “…All the Live Long Day” quest. Also players may no longer pick up these items if they do not have the quest active or if they already have the item.
• Any leftover blueprint items from the “Threshold” quest will now be removed.
• Players who have more than one of an un-droppable quest items now have the option to destroy all but one of these items.

Items

• Improved the drop rate of analyzers and various recipes.
• New blueprints have been added for Focus Items and Boots.
• Focus Items and Boots can now be made by crafters.
• Unique items that were found before Patch 0.5 that are missing special attributes may now be rerolled for free. The process is as follows:
  • All mods must first be removed using a Delux De-Modificator. This is available once at no cost for qualifying items.
  • Once all the mods are removed, insert the item into an Augmentrex 3000. Now click any of the three “Add Property” buttons to reroll the item attributes.
  • All item attributes will be rerolled and the item balance will be up-to-date. If the item level was previously upgraded with the Nano Forge, the additional item levels will be added to the newly generated base level after the item reroll. This means that the new item level may not be the same.
• The Stun Defense granted by the Gyro Stabilizer has been increased.
• Health and Power injectors now show up in high level stations.
• Fire Extinguishers now give the appropriate Ignite Defense.
• Armors with the “minion damage bonus” affix now work for the Engineer.
• Restorative injectors are usable when either health or power is below the player’s maximum since they can help recover both health and power for the user.
• Increased the amount of Shields found on items and affixes, ramping up after level 10. Note that this change is not retroactive and will not apply to existing items; however, newly dropped items and existing items upgraded through the Nanoforge will receive the adjusted amount of shields.
• Id Pulsar weapons should now ignore friendly targets.

World Movement

• Players can now use the /stuck command when in Ghost form.
• Fixed rare instances where certain areas were impassible.

Monsters

• Monsters with the Infested ability have had their damage reduced.
• The Beast of Abbadon, Oculis, and Sydonai will now re-spawn normally, even if the player has previously completed their associated quests.
• Fixed a bug which would sometimes prevent Oculis or the Furuncle from spawning properly.
• Stalkers and Burning Fiends are now part of the Beast caste and Tortured Souls are now part of the Spectral caste. This applies to all types of Stalkers, Burning Fiends, and Tortured Souls.
• Fixed some cases where monsters would get stuck in the ground.
• Wurm no longer spawns maggots when it dies.
• Maggots summoned by Wurm will now automatically die upon Wurm’s death.
• Fixed a bug which allowed the Wurm encounter to be exploited.
• The Lightning now looks like a giant robot as intended.

Crafting

• The limit on number of times an item can be upgraded has been raised to 10.
• Upgrading an item takes 50% less resources.
• A new, rare salvaged material crafting material called Nanoshards are now required to upgrade items.
  • Nanoshards can be obtained from any item, but the chance to salvage one is increased when disassembling rarer items.
  • The number of Nanoshards required to upgrade an item increases each time the same item is upgraded.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug where characters would not save when they killed 65,534 monsters in one session.
• Fixed a rare bug where equipping the Cleanser and a shield can delete the shield.
• Fixed a rare bug where Templar could equip both the Cleanser and a shield.
• Fixed a bug with mods on weapons not being properly equipped when loading a character.
• Fixed rare cases where the PRD became unusable.
• Fixed a bug where numerous pets would show up in Stations.
• Fixed a bug where already activated Auras would turn on and off when swapping weapons that grant Aura skills.

Skills

PLEASE READ the changes to skills carefully as many have changed. Some skills now have new names to represent their different effects or make more sense within the context of the character class.

• Fixed skills being added to and/or removed from Shift activation when swapping weapons.
• Increased the amount of Shields granted by skills that provide Shields.

Templar

• Aura of Power, Aura of Renewal, Aura of Defense, and Aura of Salvation have been rebalanced. Additionally, their skill rank progressions have been normalized to provide a 33% increase in effectiveness per skill level. Blademasters and Guardians will now see more return on investment in these auras.
• Investing a skill point into an Aura skill will no longer automatically cause it to activate.

Aura of Power

• The power regeneration granted by Aura of Power has been decreased. At rank 10, Aura of Power grants 94% of the power it gave previously.

Blademaster

Path of Righteousness

• Path of Righteousness now applies damage from offhand melee weapons.

Call of the Chosen

• The Taunt and Fear Attack Strengths of this skill now properly scale with the Blademaster’s level.
• The range of Call Of The Chosen has been increased.

Crosscutter

• Crosscutter now requires a target in order to use the skill.

Whirlwind

• Fixed a bug which caused Whirlwind to immediately cancel itself.

Guardian

• Prayer of Retribution can now be used while poisoned.
• Prayer of Healing can no longer be used while poisoned.

Aura of Thorns

• Aura of Thorns should now properly increase Thorns damage from items.
• Aura of Thorns has been rebalanced to fit the standard Aura progression model.

Aura of Renewal

• The initial health regeneration granted by Aura of Renewal has been slightly decreased. By rank 10, this aura provides significantly more health regeneration than it did previously.

Aura of Defense

• The armor bonus granted by Aura of Defense has been decreased.

Aura of Salvation

• The initial elemental attack defense granted by Aura of Salvation has been slightly decreased. By rank 10, this aura provides significantly more elemental attack defense than it did previously.

Grand Aura

• This skill now provides an equal percentage increase to the Guardian’s Holy Aura radius at each rank, ending with the same total increase at rank 5 as it did previously.

Challenge

• The Taunt Attack Strength of this skill now properly scales with the Guardian’s level.

Denounce

• The Taunt Attack Strength of this skill now properly scales with the Guardian’s level.

Cabalist

• The Summon Ember and Summon Fire Elemental skills no longer conflict when granted through items.

Brom’s Curse

• This spell now heals a fixed amount based on the attacker’s level instead of being based on a percentage of the attacker’s health.
• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Brom’s Curse affects up to 4 targets for 5 seconds at rank 1. The maximum number of targets is increased by 1, the duration increased by 1 second, and the amount healed is increased by 12.5% per rank.
• This spell may now be cast while moving.
• The range of Brom’s Curse has been increased to 20 meters.
• Fixed description for Brom’s Curse to match the actual health gained.

Afterlife

• The power cost of this spell has been reduced.

Elemental Drain

• The power cost of this spell has been greatly reduced.
• The casting time has been reduced by 1 second.

Word of Fear

• The Fear Attack Strength of this spell now properly scales with the caster’s level.
• The base Fear Attack Strength of this spell has been increased by 25%.
• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Word of Fear now gains 33% more Fear Attack Strength per rank.

Evokers

• Fixed a bug that caused Drain Power to charge an upfront power cost.
• Tempest’s targeting range has been increased and properly loses targets that move out of range.
• Fixed a bug which prevented Boneshards from having any effect on every other cast.
• Fixed a bug which prevented Evokers from using any other skills for two seconds after casting Boneshards.
• Skill Rank bonus descriptions have been updated and normalized to be based on their initial rank 1 effect. For example, Spectral Bolt now displays no Phase Attack Strength bonus at rank 1, but displays a more clear bonus of 25% Phase Attack Strength per additional rank.

Spectral Curse

• Spectral Curse now also reduces targets’ movement speed by 10%.
• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Spectral Curse now affects up to 4 targets for a 5 seconds at rank 1. The maximum number of targets is increased by 1, the duration increased by 1 second, and movement speed penalty increased by 5% per rank.
• This spell may now be cast while moving.
• The power cost of has been reduced substantially, and the range has been increased to 20 meters.
• The explosion damage caused by Spectral Curse has been increased.

Drain Power

• The damage of this spell has been increased significantly.
• Increasing ranks of Drain Power now work properly at all power ranges.

Drain Life

• The damage of this spell has been doubled.

Arcane Shield

• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted, providing slightly less shields at lower ranks.
• Arcane Shield is unaffected by the Evoker’s movement.
• This spell now lasts for 10 seconds with a 25 second recast time.

Concentrate Damage

• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Concentrate Damage now provides a lower initial damage bonus, but grants a greater bonus per rank. Concentrate Damage’s new damage bonus progression surpasses its previous curve damage bonus progression at rank 4.

Summon Ember

• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Additional ranks of this skill now provide 15% more damage instead of 20%, but the base damage of the Ember pet is significantly higher across all ranks.
• The Ember’s Health, Damage, Ignite Attack Strength, Critical Chance, Interrupt Strength, Interrupt Defense, and Armor have been increased.

Firestorm

• The rank progression of this spell has been re-designed. Additional ranks of Firestorm now provide a 5% increase in damage rather than an increase in Ignite Attack Strength. Firestorm surpasses its previous damage at rank 3.
• The Ignite Attack Strength of this spell has been reduced.
• The range of this spell has been increased to 10 meters.

Flameshards

• The Flameshards spell has been re-worked. The number of shards fired is now fixed at 7, but multiple shards stack with each other. Individual shard damage has been decreased slightly to take damage stacking into account.
• Increased ranks in Flameshards now increases each shard’s Ignite Attack Strength by 25%.
• The spells now has a cool-down time of 2 seconds.
• This spell’s power cost has been decreased.
• The base Ignite Attack Strength of this spell has been increased by 25%.
• The range of this spell has been increased to 25 meters.
• The explosion delay of Flameshards has been decreased to 1 second.

Hellfire

• This spell’s casting time and initial power cost have been reduced significantly. Additional ranks now provide a slightly smaller decrease in power cost.
• This spell now has a cool-down time of 2 seconds.
• The damage and Ignite Attack Strength of this spell have been increased substantially.
• The range of Hellfire has been decreased to 25 meters.
• The targeting of this spell has been fixed.
• Hellfire can now be aimed as long as the skill trigger is held down, and fires once the trigger is released.

Spectral Bolt

• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Spectral Bolt now provides an additional 25% Phase Attack Strength per rank. The initial Phase Attack Strength of Spectral Bolt has been slightly increased.
• The power cost of this spell has been decreased, and the Phase duration has been increased by 1 second.
• The cooldown of Spectral Bolt has been decreased to 1 second.
• The base Phase Attack Strength of this spell has been increased by 25%.

Spectral Lash

• The damage of this spell has been increased by 35%.

Spectral Lash Mastery

• The damage of the explosion caused by this spell has been doubled.
• The rank bonus of this spell is now applied to the explosion effect properly.

Lightning Field

• The damage of the Lightning Field has been increased substantially.
• The power cost of this skill has been decreased.
• This spell now has a cool-down time of 2 seconds.
• The splash damage of the initial effect has been increased by an additional 17%.
• The skill description has been corrected to match the actual increase in radius per rank.

Tempest

• The casting time, power cost, and cool-down of Tempest have been decreased.
• The base damage of Tempest has been decreased.
• The strike frequency bonus per rank of Tempest has been decreased to 10% per rank.
• Each Tempest cloud now lasts for 15 seconds and has a range of 15 meters.
• The rank bonus of this spell now properly increases the frequency of lightning strikes.

Arc Legion

• The rank progression bonus of this spell has been changed. Additional ranks now increase the Shock Attack Strength and Shock Effect Damage of Arc Legion by 25%.
• The range of this spell has been fixed at 18 meters.
• The damage of this spell has been increased.

Demonspine

• The rank bonus of this spell has been slightly adjusted to a 25% increase in Stun Attack Strength per rank.
• The power cost of this spell has been decreased.
• The damage of this skill has been increased.
• The base Stun Attack Strength of Demonspine has been increased by 20%.

Boneshards

• The rank bonus of this spell has been slightly adjusted to a 50% increase in Stun Attack Strength per rank.
• The damage of this spell has been increased by 60%.
• The cooldown of this skill has been decreased to 6 seconds.
• The base Stun Attack Strength of Boneshards has been increased by 25%.
• The power cost of this skill has been increased.

Skullsplitter

• The rank progression of this spell has been adjusted. Skullsplitter now begins with 12 fragments and gains 2 additional fragments per rank.
• Skullsplitter now explodes into a significantly more predictable nova pattern.
• The power cost and cool-down of this spell have been slightly decreased.

Venomous Spirit

• The damage of this spell has been increased and the power cost has been decreased.
• The Fear Attack Strength of this spell now scales properly with the caster’s level and has been increased significantly. Additional ranks of Venomous Spirit no longer provide an increase in Fear Duration.
• The travel speed of the Venomous Spirit has been increased significantly.

Venom Armor

• Several bugs with which allowed the swarms created by Venom Armor to bypass its intended cool-down time have been fixed.
• The damage of each swarm created by this spell has been increased, and each swarm now lasts for a fixed amount of time on their target.
• The initial armor provided by this spell has been decreased, but the absolute bonus to armor per rank has been increased, reaching the previous maximum armor bonus at rank 10.

Swarm

• The rank progression of this spell has changed. Additional ranks in Swarm now increase the Poison Attack Strength and Poison Duration of Swarm by 20%.
• The cool-down of this spell is now fixed at 6 seconds.
• The power cost of this spell has been decreased significantly.

Summoners

• Fixed a bug which sometimes caused the Warper minion icon to not display.
• Master of the Flame skill effects now display properly in the skill description tooltip.

Hand of Nostrum

• Hand of Nostrum should now properly increase the number of healing beams used by the Witch Doctor.

Hunters

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused grenades to not fire properly when the skill is being repeated.

Phase Grenade

• Fixed a bug which caused the Phase Grenade to not receive the proper Attack Rating from the user. This caused the Phase Grenade to do less damage than intended against armored targets (but did not affect damage done to Shields).

Tactical Stance

• Now also gives a base Firing Accuracy bonus of 50.
• Changed the Critical Chance bonus effect (3% at rank 1 and 1% per additional rank) to a damage bonus of 15% at rank 1 and 5% per additional rank.

Escape

• Escape now provides 1 second of invulnerability when it is activated.
• Escape should now prevent enemy players in PVP from seeing the user.
• The cool-down for this skill now starts when the skill is used, not when it is cleared.
• The cool-down for this skill has been increased to 30 seconds.
• The duration for this skill has been decreased from 6 seconds to 3 seconds at rank 1, increasing by 1 second per additional rank.
• The rank cap on this skill has been increased from 5 to 7.
• Escape now clears all other speed boost effects while it is active, including Adrenaline Pills and Sprint. Using any skill or item that boosts speed will clear Escape, including Sprint.

Precision Strikes

• Precision Strikes now have direct synergies with all other Precision Strikes.
• Precision Strikes no longer have skill prerequisites
• Decreased the shared cool-down of all Precision Strikes from 20 seconds to 12 seconds.

Napalm Strike

• Increased base Damage by roughly 300%.
• Ranks in Napalm Strike now increase the Duration of all Precision Strikes by 50%.
• Decreased base radius by 50%.

Smackdown

• Ranks in Smackdown now increase the Elemental Attack Strengths of all Precision Strikes by 25%.
• Increased base damage by roughly 300%.
• Decreased base radius by 50%.

Shock and Awe

• Decreased base Damage by roughly 25%.
• Ranks in Shock and Awe now increase the Radius of all Precision Strikes by 15%.
• Decreased base radius by 75%.

Engineers

• Engineer Drone behavior improved.
• Fixed a bug that allowed Repair Drone to be used at no cost.
• Drones will now level properly along with their owner. Existing Drones that are below your character’s level will automatically be raised to the correct level.
• Drones now receive correct health bonuses with skill level after they are re-summoned.
• Engineer Drones now come with a base armor rating.
• Engineer Drones now properly receive Armor bonuses from Armor affixes.
• Fixed bugs that caused Engineer Drones to receive more than twice as much Armor than intended.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the effects of Medpak Retrofit and Shield Generator Retrofit to properly scale up with additional levels.
• Engineers should no longer erroneously receive bonuses from items which grant the Overshield skill.
• Summoned pets should no longer fail to spawn when summoned.

Beacon

• Decreased the base effect to 15% from 25%.

Marksmen

Rebounder Rounds (formerly Ricochet)
“The Marksman uses modified ammunition that has a chance to ricochet off enemies and walls.”

• This skill is now an Active skill. You must use this skill in order to gain the effect and functions similarly to how “fire both weapons” works.
• There is no power cost for using this skill.
• This skill has a chance to proc its effect (based on the skill and increasing based on the rank of the skill) for each individual firing of the skill. Since its effect is no longer dependent upon landing a critical hit, the effect of this skills will be seen much more commonly at all skill ranks and character levels.
• This skill has indirect synergies with the other skills in the “Ballistics” line. Each rank in Rebounder Rounds has a chance (albeit smaller) to proc when either Ravager Rounds or Concussion Rounds are used.
  • EXAMPLE: The first rank of Rebounder Rounds gives a 10% chance for shots to ricochet while using Rebounder Rounds. Due to skill synergy, Ravager Rounds and Concussion Rounds have a 7% chance for this effect to occur while using either of those skills.

Ravager Rounds (formerly Reflected Shot)
“The Marksman uses modified ammunition that has a chance to blow through and subsequently retarget additional enemies.”

• This skill is now an Active skill. You must use this skill in order to gain the effect and functions similarly to how “fire both weapons” works.
• There is no power cost for using this skill.
• This skill has a chance to proc its effect (based on the skill and increasing based on the rank of the skill) for each individual firing of the skill. Since its effect is no longer dependent upon landing a critical hit, the effect of this skills will be seen much more commonly at all skill ranks and character levels.
• This skill has indirect synergies with the other skills in the “Ballistics” line. Each rank in Ravager Rounds has a chance (albeit smaller) to proc when either Rebounder Rounds or Concussion Rounds are used.
  • EXAMPLE: The first rank of Ravager Rounds gives a 3% chance for shots to blow through and re-target a new enemy while using Ravager Rounds. Due to skill synergy, Rebounder Rounds and Concussion Rounds have a 2% chance for this effect to occur while using either of those skills.

Concussion Rounds (replaces Homing Shot)
“The Marksman uses modified ammunition designed for maximum impact.”

• This skill is now an Active skill. You must use this skill in order to gain the effect and functions similarly to how “fire both weapons” works.
• There is no power cost for using this skill.
• This skill increases the Interrupt Strength (indirect chance to proc) of the Marksman’s weapons (based on the skill and increasing based on the rank of the skill) while the skill is used.
• This skill has indirect synergies with the other skills in the “Ballistics” line. Each rank in Concussion Rounds increases Interrupt Strength (albeit by lesser amount) when either Ravager Rounds or Rebounder Rounds are used.
  • EXAMPLE: The first rank of Concussion Rounds gives a 12% increased Interrupt Strength for shots fired while using Concussion Rounds. Due to skill synergy, Ravager Rounds and Rebounder Rounds have a 8% increased Interrupt Strength when using either of those skills.

Weapon Master (formerly Hollow Points)

• Increased the Critical Damage bonus of this skill from 20% at rank 1 and 10% per additional rank, to a flat 30% bonus per rank.

Beacon

• Decreased the power cost by 33%.
• Increased the per-rank bonus to 7% from 5%.
• Decreased the base effect to 21% from 45%.
• Duration is now fixed at 6 seconds.
• Beacon may now be used on targets who already have the Beacon effect to refresh the timer.
• The Multi Beacon and Beacon effects no longer stack.

Elemental Beacon

• Now also decreases the target’s Elemental Attack Strengths.
• Gives increasing Elemental Attack and Defense penalties per rank that scales with the character’s level.

Multi Beacon

• Fixed a bug which caused increasing ranks in Multi Beacon to not provide any bonuses.
• Increased the cooldown to 12 seconds from 2 seconds.
• Duration is now fixed at 6 seconds.
• The Multi Beacon and Beacon effects no longer stack.

Sniper

• Is now available at level 5.
• No longer forces the Marksman to crouch and stop moving when used. The character now moves at 50% speed while the skill is active (in addition to the Armor and Weapon Energy Consumption penalties).
• Weapon Accuracy, Range, and Missile Velocity bonuses are now fixed at 60%, 60%, and 25%, respectively.
• Damage bonus has been decreased from 200% to 150%.
• Rank progression now decreases its rate of use and rate of fire penalties by 3% per rank, beginning at a 50% penalty at rank 1 and ending at a 23% penalty at rank 10.

Master Sniper

• Now provides a 1% Critical Chance bonus per rank, in addition to its previous 20% Critical Damage bonus.

Rapid Fire

• Now clears Multishot when used.

Multishot

• This skill has been moved under Weapon Master in the skill tree. It required two points in Weapon Master to unlock, thus requiring fewer total points to unlock than before.

Overshield

• Overshield now gives the correct amount of shields.
• Increased the Shields bonus per additional rank from 33% to 100%.
• Overshield now grants Shields in a fixed ratio: the Marksman’s current Shields Percentage will not change when the skill is activated or deactivated.

Escape Artist

• The Movement Speed bonus has been increased to 25% per rank.
• The rank cap on this skill has been increased from 5 to 7.

Grenades

• Grenades now have direct synergies with all other Grenades.
• Increased the damage of all Grenade skills by roughly 70% in addition to individual Grenade skill damage changes.
• Increased the cool-down of all Grenade skills from 5 to 6 seconds.

Explosive Grenade

• Explosive Grenades now explode on impact with monsters (but not objects) and have a 2 second fuse.
• Decreased base Damage by 23%.
• Decreased base Ignite Attack Strength by 33%.
• Ranks in Explosive Grenade now increase the Damage of all grenades by 12%.

Phase Grenade

• Increased base Damage by 6%.
• Ranks in Phase Grenade now increase the Elemental Attack Strengths of all grenades by 30%.

Toxic Grenade

• Toxic Grenades now bounce off of objects (ignoring monsters) before exploding after 1.5 seconds.
• Toxic Grenades now create a field that lasts for 4 seconds, dealing field damage.
• Decreased base Poison Attack Strength by 50%.
• Ranks in Toxic Grenade now increase the splash or field radius of all grenades by 10%.

Flashcrasher Grenade

• Increased base Damage by 12%.
• Decreased base Stun Attack Strength by 50%.
• Ranks in Flashcracker Grenade now grant and increase the Shield Penetration of all grenades by 10%.

Patch Notes Disclaimer: While we make every effort to include all upcoming changes in our patch notes, please be aware that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted.

This Bonus Pack includes 3 new maps (well, 2 revived back to life for UT3 and 1 completely new map).

• Morbias is the deathmatch arena that started it all, perfectly suited for anything from small intense duels to chaotic free-for-all matches.
• The Unreal Tournament classic, Facing Worlds was one of the most played maps in gaming history, beloved sniper map.
• Searchlight is an intricate new capture the flag map designed for both z-axis rooftop runs and strategic indoor gameplay. Returning classics and fresh new designs let you experience Unreal gaming like never before.

DM-Morbias: The Morbias Station is a transport hub that focuses all traffic passing through Taryd’s jumpgates. The Station offers a terrestrial shuttle, storage facilities (with quarantine services for live cargo), and a social center where guests can meet incoming visitors or hold private meetings in a neutral setting.

DM-FacingWorlds: The Necris have forced their way into even the most revered of Izanagi landmarks. Their corruption has spread to the Temple of Facing Worlds, and one of its towers is already showing the effects of infection and decay.

CTF-Searchlight: The lighthouse serves as a beacon to this remote island, thought to be the ancient home of the Necris Prophet. The spiritual components of the Necris conversion are greatly misunderstood, and their power is vastly underestimated. Those who are willing to face the impact of their conversion often come to religious centers like this one to meditate.

This patch was created to address a few minor issues prior to the next release of America’s Army.

FORCE CLASS
We have enabled Global Forceclassing (FC) on honor bearing servers. Individual FC can still be used but not on honor servers. Using a Global FC on everyone levels the playing field for all. When using Global FC, honor is accrued at less than normal rates due to the fact that old maps were created with specific weapon loadouts in mind. Forceclassed Servers will show up in MBS with an (FC) preceding their name for easy identification.

USERNAMES
Spaces in user account names are no longer permitted. If you have an old account with a space it has been replaced with an underscore character (_) or in the case of conflicts a number. You should have received an email to your address of record indicating the change. All of your other account information was retained.

BAN SYSTEM
Ban system again supports banning by IP, MAC, or Name/PBGUID (for PB servers banning by NAME will result in a PBGUID ban instead of a name ban). Ban system now supports console commands to list ban lists in sets of 20 (or so) to allow “scrolling” through the list to locate banned players. The Admin Command Post only supports showing the first 100 ban entries but now has a wider list to show all the ban details. The Banning system was rewritten and includes the preliminary ability to download a ban list from a web server on game server startup.

The following INI section can be added to support this:

[Engine.BanManagement]
BanListMasterServer=www.somedomain.com
BanListWebPath=/AA2831BanList

This will cause the game server to try to retrieve the “BanList.status” file from the web server using the URL:
www.somedomain.com/AA2831BanList/BanList.status (using the example above) which will be compared to the local version to see if the ban list file version matches.

The BanList.status file contains the following lines:

AABanListMasterServer
Version=
MD5=

If the version does not match (regardless as to whether it’s newer or older) the remote BanList.txt file is downloaded from the web server. It is not recommended to use this for large ban lists. It is anticipated this ban list management system will be expanded in future versions of America’s Army.

PLAYER ADMINS
Player Admin support has been rewritten to require player administrators to have passwords. The new AASM provides support for creating the appropriate format PlayerAdmin entries. For those wishing to manually edit their INI file the PlayerAdmin setting is now in the format “PlayerAdmin=, ” (e.g. “PlayerAdmin=Bob,mysecretpassword”). Player Admins wanting to join the server must join the server using either the MBS browser and right-clicking on the server name (with it selected) and choosing “Join As Player Admin” or by joining via the console using this format “open ?PAPassword=” (e.g. “open 192.168.0.1?PAPassword=mysecretpassword”). You must have logged into your account in order to use this functionality on any official or authorized server.

The Crysis 1.2 Patch is now available for download. The patch addresses the performance of Crysis, contains many bug fixes and also some new features like auto team balance (Players will now be moved from full teams to the opposing side when dead if the numbers are unbalanced), Logitech G15 display now fully supported in MP and SP and Added mod loader to the main menu.

Patch 2 Changelog:

Optimizations and Stability
*Corrected a number of memory leaks with FSAA modes.
*Optimized Object Motion Blur for DX10 Very High Spec
*Destroying objects will now properly remove their decals from the world under DX10.
*Fixed a number of memory leaks with some procedural vegetation and destroyable objects physicalization.
*Fixed issue in windowed mode where the map or weapon attachment UI cursor can leave the game window.
*Fixed potential server exploit that could cause servers to crash
*Fixed crash with AI triangulation in the editor

General Fixes/tweaks
*Added new effects for vehicle shattering after being frozen
*Player movement will now be cancelled if the player is shooting while moving in prone mode.
*Fixed issue where player will exit VTOL from closed rear hatch irrespective of seat.
*Continuously firing the VTOL machine gun in 3rd person mode no longer causes the VTOL to descend.
*Fixed an issue where vehicle 3rd person camera could break when switching the player “ControlledTurret” flag while using the gun.
*Fixed identical swimming sounds being used on surface, underwater and swimming in different directions.
*Frogs will no longer block the player’s view after being picked up
*Fixed an issue where in unarmed mode, the character’s arms will suddenly reappear and disappear when picking up and dropping an object.
*Fixed health recharge rate when computing drowning damage.
*If climbing a ladder while cloaked, energy no longer depletes at the same rate as if player were standing still.
*Mouse cursor will no longer be permanently removed on attaching gamepad.
*Fixed issue where resetting gamepad control with Default button doesn’t enable Force Feedback.
*Fixed issue where the Clear All and Back Keys do not function properly when creating a profile on the gamepad.
*Fixed the “Back” key in the on-screen keypad not deleting the first character in the keypad text box.
*Fixed the “Clear All” key not functioning for text input in the on-screen Keypad.
*Waterfalls can now be viewed from underwater.
*Virtual keyboard now functions correctly when a game pad is connected
*Fixed an issue where users can lose the ability to look around with the Right Stick.
*Player no longer continues to move forward when prone on roof of bunker after letting go of button.
*Mouse cursor now hidden when virtual keyboard is enabled
*Fixed an issue where key bindings were not saved until the player resumed the game
*Fixed a number of chainlink fences/barbwire that could not be shot through.
*Fixed a broken LOD1 on electricity pylon object
*Fixed player receiving damage from ragdolls.
*Decoupled basic speed-mode movement speed from current suit energy level. Sprinting still takes up energy.
*Fixed bolting/pumping sound not playing when firing shotgun, precision rifle and gauss rifle in scope view.
*Fixed issue with vehicle mounted MOAR reload sound being audible for all players.
*Added mouse wheel scrolling support for server browser

Weapons
*Added “overfreezing” sounds to handheld and vehicle mounted MOAR/MOAC
*C4 will now stick to doors correctly
*C4 can no longer stick to the surface of water
*Fixed an issue where the player could shorten the shot duration of the MOAR near the edges of a map.
*Fixed an issue when using dual handguns and switching to 3rd person view, a pair of arms will remain when running devmode or in editor
*Fixed an issue where the player could force firing after reloading if player clicks and keeps pressing fire button while reloading.
*Explosive charges no longer clip through the top of the NK tanks located in the munitions dump in mission tank.
*The ice beam animation from the moar gun no longer clips through the walls of tunnels.
*Grenade Launcher projectile is no longer invisible.
*When freezing a dual-SOCOM player, the second pistol will now be properly frozen.
*Freezing a player that is shooting a MOAR will now properly stop the MOAR’s beam.
*Nano-Disruptor grenade will no longer disrupt the revive invulnerability effect.
*Fixed claymore/mine limit not being applied properly.
*Added an empty landmine animation.
*Players are no longer revealed to enemy on enemy minimap when using silencers on weapons unless they are within 5 meters of another player.
*When prone with a sniper rifle, the attachments menu should no longer be cut off.
*Fixed issue where dual wielding SOCOMs the pistol equipped in main hand doesnt automatically reload if weapon switched whilst empty.
*The crosshair for the TAC no longer disappears after the player zooms in and out of ironsight mode.
*Added missing animations for FY71 and SMG when holding an enemy and using the melee attack.
*Fixed issue when the player dropped last picked up SOCOM, even if that is the pistol with the most ammo.
*Scaled grenade launcher projectile for better visibility.
*Added smoke trail to grenade launcher shell for better visibility.
*Adjusted odd looking random rotation values for grenade launcher projectile
*Adjusted explosion radius of grenade launcher to be more efficient vs players
*Decreased air speed of grenade launcher projectile for better readability.
*Reduced initial visibility time of grenade launcher shell very slightly
*Improved the behavior of guided rockets, when aiming through player collision proxies. This should reduce instances of rockets flicking away from targets occasionally.
*Improved the HUD Grenade Indicator – Players will now be able to track one enemy and one friendly grenade. Enemy grenades show up as red, friendly as blue.
*Fixed a number of issues where the grenade indicator was not showing up on multiplayer clients.
*Added new grenade indicator icon.
*Improved the behavior of the Repair Kit, when repairing rotating turrets.
*Update singularity explosion effect.
*Fixed an issue with some weapon effects that would cause explosions not to be rendered.
* Moved assault scope further away from the camera to allow for a better peripheral view while zoomed

Vehicles
*Added first person view limits for helicopter, VTOL and APC rear seats.
*Fixed an issue with incorrect “friendly fire” icon in multiplayer VTOLs
*Helicopter wind effect no longer plays after vehicle is destroyed.
*Fixed a number of issues where players getting out of vehicles would get stuck in walls.
*Fixed issue where the AA cannon only produces tracers from the left side barrels
*Fixed issue with friendly fire setting not affecting vehicle-actor collisions
*Components can no longer be more than 100% damaged.
*Correct firemode now displayed when switching seats in Gauss Tank in Multiplayer.
*Improved vehicle handling under braking and boosting
*Tweaked damage for players hit by vehicles at lower speeds
*Reduced collision damage multiplier for actor-vehicle collisions in MP.
*Smooth out change between vehicle views when changing seats.
*Adjusted wall collision damage for civilian car.
*Reduced damage to trucks during slow collisions.
*Added new shell ejection effect for air vehicles.
*Vehicle lights will now turn off vehicle lights after player leaves vehicle.
*Vtol cannon now has correct spin up or spin down sounds
*Fixed issue with the amphibious apc taking far longer to repair than any other vehicle
*Fixed potential issue with tank turret rotation when a second player takes control of vehicle, the turret could be unsync’d between server and clients.
*Increased VTOL vulnerability to being hit by other aircraft cannons
*Added seat entry point for gunner position from roof of cab of Truck
*Fixed an issue where vehicle ammo could become greyed out when in a vehicle in a valid buyzone.
*Increased visibility of friendly player name tags by 3 times when in vehicles
*Fixed issue where players hands were not touching the hovercraft steering bars correctly
*Disabled vehicle exploding above a certain speed threshold in MP and SP when there isn’t a player in the vehicle.
*Locked camera in 3rd person view when player is using a vehicle mounted weapon in difficulty settings that allow driver controlled mounted weapons on vehicles.
*Fixed issue where explosions had no sound when hitting VTOL or helicopter
*Added overheat sounds for VTOL and helicopter guns
*Fixed issue with VTOL weapons not overheating correctly
*Greatly increased AAA damage vs VTOL and Helicopter
*Adjusted damage of rockets vs. AAA
*Fixed a number of issues where players would not get the correctly awarded/deducted amount of prestige points for team kills or enemy kills

SinglePlayer
*Fixed an issue with “Escort Prophet out of sphere” objective failure causing reloading issues.
*Player will now be prone if loading a level that was saved while they were prone.
*Fixed an issue with troopers missing shield fx if the player was holding them when the level was saved and loaded.
*Fixed issue where after saving the game manually while in the shell, the save will not immediately appear in the save list.
*Player no longer has grenade controls during cutscenes
*Player is no longer able to carry enemies into cut scenes.
*Fixed issue where player weapon loses shadow on loading save game.
*Fixed player view aligning to horizon on loading.
*Helmets on the Navy personnel on the flight deck now fit their heads.
*Added a missing texture at the base of doorway leading to schoolhouse roof from staircase in village.
*The paper on all of the clipboards through out fleet no longer appears to be upside down.
*Improved AI machinegun handling (both stationary and mounted machineguns on vehicles.)
*Increased player melee damage and decreased AI melee damage
*Increased damage of most player-fired weapons and decreased damage of most AI-fired weapons.
*Helmets will never deflect shots when the player hits them while using weapon sights.
*Halved suit energy required for punching in strength mode.
*Adjusted AI vehicle coax gun pitch limits

MultiPlayer
*Fixed issue where death effects were only showing on remote players.
*Server admins can now remove the server password with ‘sv_password 0′.
*Clients with a password set can now correctly connect to unpassworded servers.
*Fixed some game states not properly resetting after game restart.
*Fixed an issue where factory vehicle marker was not showing up for clients. The vehicle you purchased is now visible with a blue icon.
*Fixed an issue where scores could change after the game has ended.
*Fixed issue where sometimes demotions would not be properly announced.
*Radio commands will now be properly played as a voice sound.
*Fixed an issue in spectator mode where the player’s view could clip through the top of objects
*Fixed an issue where vehicle shattering effects were not playing on clients
*Fixed an issue where standing on a crouched squadmate would cause model clipping.
*Fixed an issue where the player was unable to purchase additional mines or claymores through load out menu if one already in inventory.
*Fixed issue with missing subtitles in French version of PowerStruggle tutorial.
*Player can now no longer create and save unpurchasable custom loadouts by including multiple pieces of kit equipment.
*Player can now no longer create custom loadouts with more weapons than the player can carry.
*Fixed issue where player was automatically assigned armor mode when switching to spectator team.
*Fixed issue where tutorial message warning player of an enemy base is played too late.
*Fixed issue where tutorial message starts too soon when player gets to the aviation factory.
*Player no longer gains 1 free grenade when he uses up all ammo in a grenade launcher and purchases a different weapon.
*Fixed a potential negative ammo hurricane issue.
*Fixed an issue where if the player picks up a claymore after placing two claymores, player’s weapon will not switch to claymore upon pick up.
*Player can no longer suicide when already dead.
*The loadout menu no longer changes to the weapons menu when an alert event occurs in the game.
*When using PDA, if any player captures a location it will no longer revert to the first page of the PDA.
*Players will no longer be banned for team killing while in pre-game period.
*Players will now be able to pick up a respawned MOAR attachment.
*Fixed not being able to scroll player names on end of game scoreboard.
*Fixed an issue where the character’s hands immediately disappears when attempting to throw a grenade with dual socoms equipped.
*When grabbing an enemy while Dual SOCOMs are equipped the right hand SOCOM will no longer disappear.
*Fixed an issue where the parachute is not seen by players when deployed in Powerstruggle.
*Fixed issue where VOIP doesn’t work properly on non-dedicated servers.
*Tweaked spectator camera so view is more horizontal.
*Delayed manual switching to spectator mode right after death.
*Fixed issue where spectators don’t see player names in IA.
*Map filter no longer allows the user to input an infinite amount of characters.
*Removed ability to highlight players on instant action scoreboard.
*Fixed issue where the player score was not the default view when pressing the ‘Tab’ button in MP.
*Fixed a number of issues where projectiles are not playing explosion effects and sounds on clients.
*Added team colors to kill/death messages
*Purchasing SMG and SCAR ammo now gives the correct amount of bullets in each clip
*Increased FY71 Incendiary ammo damage slightly
*Teamkilled players will no longer drop their weapon.
*Fixed an issue where enemy HQ flag icon would disappear.
*Added some additional clamping and protection to some console variables that could be used to cheat.
*Added a number of warnings for incorrect map version and missing maps when connecting to servers.
*Added a number of missing additional entities to the network scheduler
*Fixed an issue where players could be killed with AV mines placed above vehicles but not in contact with the vehicle.
*TAC icon for enemy players will now disappear when the player who is carrying a TAC launcher cloaks.

New Features
*Added auto team balance. Players will now be moved from full teams to the opposing side when dead if the numbers are unbalanced.
*Added multisample shading for shadows.
*Added vehicle-specific shatter effects when vehicles have been frozen.
*Logitech G15 display now fully supported in MP and SP
*Added free-rotation support for spectator camera.
*Added zooming support for spectator camera.
*Added mod loader to the main menu. User created content can now be loaded and unloaded through this menu.
*Added some additional audio hitfeedback functionality to multiplayer and singleplayer bullet impacts. Headshots will include an audible ding in multiplayer games.
*Improved red near-death HUD effect and visual feedback for player being hit.
*Added additional audio feedback for player hitting enemies. The feedback can be disabled with “g_useHitSoundFeedback 0″.
*In single player, AI can now be knocked over while running into them in speed mode.
*Added numbers to energy bar in PowerStruggle for quicker reference
* Allow loading of custom objectives.xml files inside the respective level folder.

Download Crysis 1.2 Patch (alternate)