Beta 2.3

This article is a stub. Also known as The Orange Box Update, Beta 2.3 brought new life to the mod, introducing a wealthy amount of content, including a new character, a new map, a new game mode, and for the first time ever, Steam support.

History

The migration to the latest version of the Source Engine was announced by the time Beta 2.0 was released, in early 2008, however the programming team could not get the upgrade done by the time Beta 2.1 and 2.2 were released. Shortly after the release of Beta 2.2, the dev team announced that Steam support was greenlighted by Valve Software and thus they received the Steamworks technology, providing automatic updates and achievements.[1]

In february of 2009 the dev team announced the brand new features introduced in Beta 2.3 thanks to The Orange Box Engine's updates: soft colisions, facial expressions, custom particle systems, among other things.[2][3] Following that announcement it was revealed new information about the updates on several existing maps, such as Island, Temple, Frostbite and Forgotten.

On April 12th it was revealed for the first time the Gestir.[4] Gameplay video was released much later, in November. [5]

The new menus were revealed in September 2009, showing a new menu screen and a new character select screen, as well some of the achievements to come with the update.[6]

The planned december release was delayed due to many members of the PVK Team having a very busy schedule, and because of that the update wasn't polished in time for it's debut on Steam, which ended up being released on February 12th 2010.[7] Shortly after it's released, several bug fixes related to server crashes and frame stuttering were released outside Steam, and later with a patch.[8][9]

Changelog

Orange Box Engine

• Many weapons now use new particle system for their effects
• Added new map name prefixes, the prefix is removed and Map Name displayed with Game Type on loading screen and map list. (bt_ for booty, te_ for territory, hg_ for Holy Grail, obj_ for Objective Push, lts_ for Last Team Standing, dm_ for Team Death Match)
• Added thumbnails for maps for map list browser
• Added Win system to use Medals now, Gold for winner and Silver for second placed team.
• Added an Achievement notification panel for showing when you achieved and periodically with progress for longer count ones
• Added over 100 achievements
• Added a hints system to the loading screen
• Added Support for Steam Community Groups for Server Admins and Server Community. sv_admin_groupid, sv_community_groupid, and sv_community_grouptag are the convars used to setup a server with this feature. Admin group takes precedence over all other special status, community group is lowest on totem pole.
• Added cases carrying a chest and holding the grail for being in excited face state
• Added other facial expressions
• Added a particle effect when a player is stunned
• New Objective Score System
• Added kill assists
• Added Steam Avatars to Scoreboard
• Added soft player collisions
• Added new OB water effect which makes the view look like you are underwater with a refractive overlay

Combat

• Attacking at the same time with fully charged weapons will stun both players
• Blocking direction is now chosen automatically according to the attack direction of the opponent closest to the blocker
• When pressing the block key the player will now block to a random direction if there are no enemies nearby
• Perfect Parry/Shield Bash now gives a speed boost for 1 second (to make it easier to hit players with a counter-attack)
• Mouse2 can now be used to cancel a charged range attack
• Added a speed bonus for melee attacks. The player's velocity now affects the amount of damage dealt.
• When an attack is readied, Mouse2 now cancels the attack instead of going directly to block mode
• Charged attacks are slightly faster than normal ones
• Charge meter now slowly drops down for projectile weapons
• Projectiles now deal less damage from point blank range
• When attacking a blocker with a fully charged attack the blocker may be stunned and some damage will be delivered to him
• Blocking with a large weapon is now slower
• Increased charged attack bonus
• Reduced perfect parry effect
• All hit groups now do the same amount of damage (head, legs, arms..)
• Damage received from getting hit by throwing chest/throwing keg increased
• Blocking an enemy attack to the wrong direction may stun you
• Player speed when blocking with melee weapons now depends on the class speed
• Increased opportunity to counter-attack after a perfect parry

Shields

       Shields now block 100% of damage
       Breakable Shields added - armor pickups restore shield health
       Shield bash can now be charged. A charged bash pushes the opponent farther and does more damage
       Fully charged shield bash is a block breaker (stuns blocking players)
       When you bash (full charge) someone carrying a chest they will drop it
       Players now move faster when blocking with shield
       Shield's counter attack is faster now
       Increased movement speed while blocking, still slower than when not blocking
       Added a delay on shield bash stun, so a player cannot be stunned constantly
       Attacking a player who blocks with the shield with a fully charged attack will damage the player a little

Classes

   HK special now stuns enemies
   Captain can now cancel his parrot recall by using right click again
   Keg re-spawns back after sometime
   Made the skirmisher cutlass attack at a faster rate
   Added dynamic crosshair to flintlock
   Reduced crossbow reload time
   Reduced Huscarl's walking speed when throwing axes
   Crossbow now pushes players
   Many class speed and damage tweaks for balance.
   Archer special now pushes players away
   Crossbow does less damage when not in aim mode
   Captain Special does 90% damage to self now.
   Removed crossbow zoom
   Reduced flintlock accuracy
   Reduced blunderbuss ammo in pickups
   Blunderbuss now has a pushback effect depending on range from player
   Berserker's attacks cannot be stunned while berserking
   The archer special now requires only 1 arrow
   Increased Heavy Knight special meter
   Increased archer special meter
   Reduced starting ammo for Skirmisher, Captain and Huscarl
   Keg explosion now pushes enemies farther
   Keg explosion now pushes shield blockers
   Archer special cannot be blocked by teammates
   Cannot turn while reloading blunderbuss
   Crossbow does some damage to shield blockers

   New Class - Gestir:
       Langseax/Shield weapon
       Spear with spear charge special
       Throwing Javelins

Menus/VGUI

   New team and class selection menus
   New main menu and background when starting game
   Changed team flag/player colors to match scoreboard and text
   Added punch death with icon (Captain left-strafe attack without parrot) and added drown death icon.
   The client's player is now highlighted in the scoreboard
   Personal Score Breakdown now displayed on scoreboard
   Added a new GUI for the end of a Round that will display the top mvps for the winning team, or if it’s a draw, the top 3 from all teams.
   Added a re-spawn timer HUD element
   Added class descriptions to the class menu
   New color correction based effects are now being used for Berserker Special, Grail Vision, and a Pushing Daisies Effect.
   Flintlock and Blunderbuss now use new crosshairs
   The charge bar now flashes when full
   Added an icon for when berserker dies from his own special
   Added Random and Cancel buttons to class selection

Game Modes

   Added player re-spawn delay to Grail and re-spawn waves to Territory and Booty
   Added Priority Spawn option for spawning during round starts
   Holy Grail:
       Holy Grail will now only reach a minimum alpha of 0.25 so that maps of any size the players can more easily find the grail location
       Reduced health regen rate with grail
       Grail is now always transferred to the player who killed the carrier as long as the killer has line of sight to the carrier
   LTS:
       Added to LTS a random chance for a whole round with sudden death at the start. mp_randsuddendeath controls the chance from 0(none) to 1(always)
       Added ability to set Sudden Death time in info_pvk
       Added a Revenge objective type for Last Team Standing for killing the person who killed you in previous rounds.
   Booty:
       Chests are now locked for 30 seconds at the start of the round so all teams will have an equal chance of getting to the chests (time can be specified by the mapper)
       The timer stops counting down if there are enemies inside the chest zone
       Capturing a chest now gives health and armor
       The timer of the team that is currently winning now flashes. If the winning team changes it is announced with a text message
       Added a special to the chests. When you have a full special you can grab a chest and use your special to gain a speed boost
       Added a mechanic for capturing a chest you did not own to subtract 5 points from your timer while adding 5 points to enemy timer it was stolen from
       Reduced booty re-spawn time
       Reduced speed when carrying a chest
   Territory:
       Now supports multiple territories which show up on HUD. The more you own the faster your counter reduces
       Territories on HUD can use custom icons specified by the mapper in the mod_textures_mapname.txt file under maps folder
       Territories are now captured and remain in the team's control even when players aren’t in the territory
       Mapper can decide if owning all territories in the map leads to a win and can specify a countdown to win when all are owned
       Enemy teams can work together to take control of a territory away from the other team, but only one team can capture at a time
       Enemies in territory will cause counter to countdown slower
       Flag entity can now be linked to a func_territory to have the flag update when the territory state changes
       Added outputs to func_territory

Maps

   New map: te_sandstorm
   pvk_saints removed
   bt_forgotten:
       New pickup layout
       Blocked team spawns, its not possible to enter the spawn once you have left it.
       Attacking in spawns doesn't work now
       Each team starts with one chest, while the other 3 chests are outside the spawns (in the middle of each route)
       It’s now not possible to fall down the wooden planks when using the Viking-Pirate path
       Made the Viking-Pirate route more user friendly
       Added two new paths to Pirate base from Viking side
       Added one new path to Pirate base from Knight side
       Added one new path to Viking base from Pirate side
       Added two new paths to Viking base from Knight side
       Added new path to Knight base from Viking side
       Added new path to Knight base from Pirate side
       Changed Viking base, added more cover and new locations. changed spawn location.
       Changed Knight base, added more cover and changed the spawn itself.
       Made entrances wider (in the whole map)
       Fixed places where it was possible to exploit the chests
       Fixed graphical flaws
       Added rope on the boxes next to the tree in the Knight base
       Added enemy team flags to bases to show which route leads to which enemy
   bt_island:
       New pickup layout
       Added a new path to Viking base from Knight side.
       Altered the old path to Viking base, making it wider mostly.
       Altered the Pirate escape route, it now ends at the hubb jubb café
       Made the doors and stairs between Pirate and Viking base wider.
       Made the cave leading to Viking base from Pirate base wider.
       Added new path for Vikings escaping the Pirate base. They can now escape through the disco.
       Made the cave and tunnel leading to Knight chest zone wider (Pirate side)
       Made the cave leading to Knight chest zone wider (Viking side)
       Added a new path from the docks next to Knight base to the basement (Viking side)
       Added rope from the water near the bridge at Viking-Knight side
       Fixed graphical bugs
       It’s now possible to shoot through the gaps in the Knight-Pirate basement gate
       Fixed locations where a player could exploit the chest
       Reduced the starting tickets of Knights from 480 to 450
   hg_desertruin:
       Now uses holy grail game mode
       Removed some pathways and added new ones for balance
       New pickup and spawn layout
       Added objects to help block ranged attacks in open spaces
   hg_fort:
       New pickup and player spawn layout
       Added priority spawns
       Blocked some areas off where the grail could be thrown but not reached by player
       Added new path up the outside rocks
       Fixed graphical flaws
   hg_frostbite:
       New pickup layout
       Added priority spawns near the grail for each team.
       New player spawn layout.
       Added ladders to the frozen cave(from the grail room area)
       Changed the entrance to the snow cave next to the pillar room
       Made the path to the frozen cave wider (The one next to the yard)
       Added a new location in the pillar room with the broken floors
       Added snowflakes
   hg_temple:
       Increased the size of the map and all areas to allow for more room to move during combat
       Added several player-controlled traps
       Tweaked a few traps to allow player control
       Added new rooms and pathways
       Added detail to rooms and halls - also blocks ranged users so melee players can get to them without being killed as easily
       Changed lighting to add variety to different areas of the map
       Added themes to hallways to make it easier to distinguish one from the next (construction, foliage, dirt)
       New pickup and player spawn layout
       Removed jail cell basement because it was easily camped
       Added three priority spawns per team near grail for beginning of round so each team will spawn 3 players near grail
   lts_arena:
       New pickup layout
       Teams now spawn in the arena
       New sudden death - removed crows and flaming rocks now fall from the sky, lava rises faster
       New skybox includes volcano and apocalyptic clouds during sudden death
   lts_cathedral:
       New pickup layout
       New sudden death effects

Bug Fixes

   Clamped player's velocity when jumping to prevent bunny hopping
   Reduced the height of many death icons
   Moved custom death icons for traps to map specific mod_textures files to reduce loading on Maps that don't use them
   Fixed team balance and player shuffle counting as suicide
   Kegs can no longer be blown up by teammates
   Fixed moveplayer and moveplayerid commands not working correctly with mp_limitteams 0
   When suiciding with a keg or captain special it shows the correct icon now
   Crossbow reload will cancel if you enter water while reloading
   Kegs can't kill parrots anymore when dropped on them
   Several fixes to make client and server hitboxes match better
   Fixed weapon sometimes not being switched to the best one when spawning
   Berserk no longer gives a suicide when you die from it
   Parrot no longer dies from captain special
   Fixed captain special being blockable with shields
   Chests now properly award player kills of parrots
   Chest and Keg toss damage now adds to special bar of thrower
   Significantly reduced the push back from stuns so it can't be used for jumping out of melee range anymore
   Fixed auto-assign always assigning the player to the first team with the fewest players when there are multiple teams with the same player count
   Fixed captain special always inflicting full damage to the captain regardless of the distance to the explosion
   Skirmisher lunge damage is now limited per target
   Team balance now chooses the newest player on that team who hasn't been team balanced already before
   Dead players in scoreboard show dead string in the special status area now, instead of the player's name
   When you pick-up the holy grail it will not override any slow effects currently in effect on your person
   Fixed pistol underwater reload bug
   Blunderbuss reload is cancelled if you enter water
   Can no longer grab the booty while loading special
   Fixed a problem when a player didn't receive grail graced kill while under the effect
   Fixed an issue when projectiles would show onscreen at the end of a round
   Fixed an issue when player name wasn't seen sometimes when spectating

Miscellaneous

   Disabled walking
   Added a prop_dynamic_video that can play a BIK for the model texture
   Added lag compensation for NPCs (parrots)
   Added client side options for disabling head bob and melee view effects
   Blunderbuss and Flintlock now fire ranged impact events as well
   Added an event when a player throws a grenade type weapon (used with powder keg)
   Added a few mod events for melee swings, ranged projectile impacts, ranged impales, and projectile bounces
   New particles and sound when you have full special
   Added Universal ammo and armor
   Added trigger_nosuicide entity mappers can use to disable suicide in a specific area
   Added a berserker proxy to show players that a berserker is in his special
   Added prop_vehicle code to the fgd
   Blood Effects now show up on weapons after hitting an enemy
   Added an option to multiplayer advanced options for automatically taking a scoreboard screenshot at the end of a map
   Added a third-person glow effect for melee weapons to indicate when fully charged
   Chest drops gold coins when carried
   Fall Death Trigger can be set to not cause suicides
   Added a Waiting for players period prior to the start of the first round, to give people time to load the map.
   New ammo pickup model
   New Berserker Skin
   Reduced the blood effect when getting hit
   Increased health and armor pickup healing percentages
   Increased crouch walk speed
   Decreased backwards movement speed
   Parrots now have white Target IDs to tell them apart from players easier
   Modified Food Pickups to regenerate the health over a time period of 10 seconds rather than instantly. They also will stack so eating many foods will heal you faster
   Mute now blocks text as well
   Reduced the frequency of the jump sound while jumping
   Removed mp_friendlyfire