Some weeks have passed since the last newsupdate, but you won't regret the wait - because in exchange you will now get a hot update on the patch and the future on TO:Crossfire!

We have been working hard on bugfixes and the good news is: most stuff is done!
This includes:
* Reinstated variable FF
* Fixed damage falloff (no more 5hp-headshots with the Desert Eagle, we promise!)
* Rebalanced a few of the maps which you told us were one sided.
* Tuned the movement speed
* Fixed behindview server option

Needless to say that we also took care about most mapbugs and tried to adjust the maps in areas in which gameplay wasn't fun. Besides simply fixing bugs we want to make the patch as complete as possible so you dont have to play with things that aren't fun for any longer. It is an important milestone for us that will allow us - once reached - to concentrate on Beta 2.0 (which will be massive, that's for sure!)
In order to reach our goal we have listened carefully to your feedback and changed some parts of the gameplay according to your preferences. The most important changes include:

* Improved hit indicators
* Improved visibility and acoustic feedback of grenades
* Simplified handling of magazines (removed re-enqueuing)
* Reduced HE-nade radius

One thing we are really proud of is something that we initially underestimated: bots.
With Beta 1.0 we tried to concentrate on the multiplayer part and put our efforts in making this part fun - bots did not have priority. But as it seems, you (the public) needs them - and we have to admit it can be fun to play 1 vs. 19 :)
Thanks to a massive coding-marathon by grimfort the bots in the patch will not only shoot and hunt you down with their knife, they will randomly split up in teams which will have their own character (offensive and defensive playing squads) and will go for objectives! Yes, no more camping bots, no more boring standby time to watch the bots jump from a platform of St.George.

Now that you know what to expect, we'll anser your question when to expect it: next friday (if we can make it) we will release the first Open Beta. Open Beta - what the heck..? Oldtimers might remember that something similar was done years ago for TacticalOps and led in the end to the legendary 2.2 version. Below you can see a chart of how the timeline for the Open Beta looks like.

The goal: Get as much feedback about the changes we have made and at the end release a version that satisfies not only us but also you.

How will it work?
Each friday this month (depending upon the speed we are able to fix the bugs) we will release a single *.zip that you have to extract over your current TO:Crossfire install. That's all! When we have reached a state in which most bugs are fixed and no major problems occour, we will also release seperate installers again, so if you have to reinstall you dont need to download all Open Beta packages again.

What will we need?
Feedback! We will need loads of feedback - post on our forums and report your bugs to a bugtracker (details will follow) to make sure they dont get lost!

Ha, and this newspost is not over yet! We've got a very special present for you: OBJ-Salsa!
somb]I[ has been working for some time now on a new revision of his classic map from the amazing Aim-IT mappack for TacticalOps and it's looking great!

Salsa will ship within the Open Beta! And for the time beeing, here are 2 preview shots: