Update Notes Catchup Through 9/15/2023

Just a short update catchup for now since a few versions have passed. The patch notes for this particular catchup are contained in just one post located here.

Map Changes

• Minor renovations to maps: PM-LavaRun, and PM-RocketRun1.
• Major renovations to CTF-PirateShips, PM-PirateShips, PM-LavaCenter, and PM-Sk8'sBedroom. These are some of my favorite renovations recently, so check them out!
• Added fall damage reduction to the remaining "shrunken player" maps including PM-Sk8'sBedroom, PM-BreakfastRemix, CTF-Bedrooms][Remix, and PM-Bedrooms][Remix.
• An old community favorite PM-OutcastFacility receives some quality of life updates including item placement, some additional cover in open areas, an extra route to the second floor, and triggers for the doors to make them more reliable and intuitive.
• While not the most playable maps, CTF-FloatingIslandExtremeRemix and PM-FloatingIslandExtremeRemix are an interesting piece of community mapping history. These maps contained some of the first conceived customized weapons. Though they tend to be simplistic, they have now been updated to be functional after updates years ago broke them with changes to weapon functionality.
• CTF-CivilWarRemix and PM-CivilWarRemix received some standard updates, but also functional cannons for the forts!
• And for the first time in a very long time, a new map was submitted by Grafik, PM-GFK-Renovatio.

System Changes

• The Greed gamemode has received some much-needed quality of life updates. The scoring system has been redone to reward scorers with bonus points for scoring large amounts of points at once, encouraging stockpiling and rushing. The more points you carry, the more bonus points you can potentially net! The bonus points are even shown on the HUD! Also, improvements were made to bot AI in this mode, though the work in this respect is not yet finished. Lastly, players who are knocked out can drop more than one point if they were on a spree, adding more variation into the scoring potential and encouraging you to hunt down that sniper for all his accumulated bounty.
• Two improvements were made to the menu system. For one, work was continued on the loading system code for the Setup Botmatch screen when it comes to loading map information (screenshots and descriptions). These updates have once again improved the loading speed of this potentially long list. Secondly, a bug was fixed that caused issues reading in the map description info for gamemodes other than PointBlast. Sometimes, under certain circumstances, the reading of description files could fail, resulting in several maps reporting to have "no description" when indeed they did have descriptions. This has been fixed.

Weapon Changes

• The RocketsNAB mod received some slight tuning to bring the weapon out of "overpowered territory".

The Bonus Update

Part of the charm and what separates Nerf ArenaBlast from its cohorts on the same engine is its arcade-approach to the idea of a traditional first-person-shooter. Points are awarded not for a knockout, but for a variety of point-scoring maneuvers. From dropped point pickups to accuracy bonuses to point targets, Nerf ArenaBlast has always had a number of ways to get points besides the main objectives. But for a number of years, many of the community maps have lacked the map-based bonus point opportunities. No longer! I have begun the process of adding point targets to community-made maps where appropriate, and other bonus points where they're not the best fit. The hope would be to one day give almost every map some form of attainable bonus points, and begin rewarding players for style and skill. While this small step is the first in that regard, I am already researching other fun ways to make the gameplay more rewarding and varied. And don't worry, bonus targets can be toggled off with a mutator if desired. For now, the most important changes follow:

General Changes

• Added support for clicking https links in the news window. Previously, only http links were supported.
• Smite can't be used before the game starts.
• Cleaned up bot-adding code.
• Fixed some issues with spectating.
• Added console messages for leaving fly and ghost and invisible.
• Fixed issues with using walk command in water.
• KillAll command can no longer kill the class you are or players.
• Summon now takes into account the size of the item being summoned.
• TarPointTrigger now has the option to specify a texture for the points.
• Bug-fixed the WarheadSpawner class so the person triggering it now appropriately gains credit for any knockouts resulting from its use (such as in PM-Trenches or PM-FithRemix).
• Point targets can now be attached to movers.
• Added a new bot-compatible jump pad class for experimentation. Check out PM-Breach and PM-RedPsi to see it in action and expect it to get added to other maps eventually.
• Bugfixes for CloudZones.

Map Changes

• Added standard point targets to several maps: PM-1on1-BigBrother, PM-1on1-Noob, PM-Anoxia, PM-Baboos, PM-BigBo, PM-Breach, PM-BreakfastRemix, PM-Chroma, PM-CinderCanyon, PM-Cirrus, PM-Colosseum, PM-CDTraining, PM-Darkside, PM-DreamM, PM-FloatingBridge, PM-FoamFactory, PM-Fun, PM-GladiatorRemix, PM-Lunar, PM-NABCommunityMap, PM-NerfFunnel, PM-Probe, PM-Quickie, PM-Ringo, Pm-RomanArena, PM-ShortCircuit, PM-Sniper'sAlley, PM-SolitaryDuel, PM-SpaceScraper, PM-Static, PM-TootieFruity, PM-TopsyTurvy, PM-TrainingArena, PM-Twister, PM-Vortex, PMX3-Luna.
• Added special bonus point targets to PM-AirRage, PM-BathroomRemix, PM-BluePsi, PM-Convoy, PM-DrStrangeLove, PM-KringleRemix, PM-Slam'sHauntedHomestead, and PM-TantricRemix.
• Shooting the core in PM-FithRemix now awards 100 bonus points per hit.
• Environmental destruction in PM-Dragon'sEnd awards bonus points.
• Snowman heads in PM-Containment can now be shot for bonus points.
• Killing the birds in PM-Bedrooms][Remix now awards bonus points.
• Renovated the map PM-GFK-Cityscape.
• Mini-renovation of PM-Khufu.
• Re-remixed PM-SesmarRemix and added a CTF version of the map.
• Re-remixed PM-GladiatorRemix, PM-StalwartXLRemix, PM-TechnoTourneyRemix, PM-TempestRemix, and PM-UndergroundRemix.
• Added two doorways to the conference room and a vent shaft to PM-SpaceScraper to alleviate some dead ends.

As always, see the patch notes forums for full details and more minor changes.