Beta 2.0

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With the mod's acclaim and success, a major update was released for Pirates, Vikings and Knights II under the name Beta 2.0. Announced in July 2007 and released in February 2008, it brought new features such as new maps, three new playable characters and much, much more.

History

The Beta 2.0 update was officially announced in July 1st 2007 by jRocket, revealing the three playable classes which came with the full package. In August 14th it was revealed that Colosseum (later called Arena) and Town were in development. It was also revealed on the same day that blocking would be updated by having a four-direction system for improving self-defense.

In October 6th new screenshots of the update were released as well an announcement about the PC Gamer UK Interview, which revealed more information about the upcoming version of PVKII; in the interview, the first screenshots of Tortuga were shown and it was also revealed that they were planning to release the update in late November, which ended up being delayed.

On October 16th the map Forgotten was revealed, becoming one of the update's most anticipated features.

On December 1st CrazyTalk announced about the difficulties in finishing the update in time and because of that it was delayed yet again. It was revealed that Town wouldn't be able to be finished before its release.

On February 4th 2008 the trailer was released, following the update, three days later.

Gameplay

Beta 2.0's menu screen.

One of the updates' biggest changes is the blocking system. All classes with a shield or a melee weapon are now capable of chosing any blocking position according to their direction of choice. With the new mechanic implemented, self-defense has become more practical against the incoming attacks. The hit detection was also updated.

Classes

Captain

The new addition to the Pirates, the Captain posesses a slower yet powerful version of Skirmisher's cutlass, a devastating blunderbuss and the iconic parrot, one of the updates' most anticipated features.

Archer

The Archer becomes the ranged-oriented class of the Knights, using his powerful longbow, his deadly crossbow and a sword to defend himself in close quarters combats.

Huscarl

The Huscarl becomes the first class of the Vikings with a ranged weapon, albeit very tricky to use with success. It is also the first Viking class with a shield, an item only used by the Heavy Knight until then, which gives to him the ability ofblocking projectiles, shield bashing and parrying, as well a charging special attack that obliterates anyone in his path.

Other Classes

With the addition of the Archer, the crossbow is no longer part of Heavy Knight's arsenal, becoming a close range-only class.

Maps

Arena and Forgotten are the mod's two major names in the maps section, providing alternate takes on the Team Deathmatch and the Booty game modes, respectively. Other changes include the introduction of Booty Tag to Fort, a larger territory to Desertruin and new geometry to Island.

Similar to Beta 1.0, two maps didn't make into the update's release, Town and Tortuga, albeit the latter was in near completion visually. Their official release would have to wait another four years. The two maps were planned to be shipped with a Capture the Flag mode which was in development around the same time, however the game mode was in a buggy state by the time the update was ready to be released, leaving both Town and Tortuga behind in development. Both maps were later released with different game modes: Last Team Standing for Town, Trinket Wars and Territory for Tortuga.

Other

Beta 2.0 also marks the first time that loading screens are introduced, with one for each map and several for gameplay hints. The menu screen was also updated to include the three new characters. With Town and Tortuga's anticipation, unused loading screens for the two maps can be found in the Beta 2.0's folders.

Media

Trailer

The Beta 2.0 trailer was released three days prior to the update's release. Similarly to the first teaser trailer, it also makes use of a minimalistic edit of Bob Thomas' PVKII Theme and camera shots of maps, most precisely Forgotten.

In the trailer, the Skirmisher, the Heavy Knight and the Berserker (playing the berserking animation) play an unused running animation, while the Captain and the Archer play a different walking animation while holding their weapons (the parrot and the longbow, respectively) and the Huscarl plays his charge attack.

The video file can still be downloaded in FilePlanet, as opposed to the Teaser Trailer and the Beta 2.2 preview video.

Player Guide

A player guide was released for the first time around the time the new update was released. It provides information about the mod's gameplay and it's classes.[1]

Changelog

  • Three new classes to choose from (Pirate Captain, Viking Huscarl and Knight Archer)
  • Improved combat system: directional blocking, more realistic hit detection
  • Two new maps (pvk_arena and pvk_forgotten)
  • pvk_island: balance and other changes
  • pvk_fort: layout changes (Now Booty Tag)
  • pvk_desertruin: Larger territory
  • Updated playerguide (playerguide.html in pvkii folder)
  • Various other changes and balances

New server commands:

  • moveplayer, moveplayerid

Moves a player to a different team

  • mp_restartround x

Restart the round in x seconds

Release and Reception

With the update's release, FilePlanet's servers clogged up with the amount of times the installer was downloaded, letting several players annoyed with the wait line. New mirrors were released the following day to prevent traffic.

Reaction to the mod was positive, praising the new classes and maps, as well the parrot which would later be considered by many gaming journalists as one of the most creative weapons in any first-person video game.

Trivia

  • It was revealed that Jahhur was enlisted in the military by the time he was working on Forgotten. Luckly for the players, the map was finished in time.

External Links