Hi all, The last two months have been spent fixing and polishing 0.2 to get it ready for testing. I've fallen short of the end of March deadline and don't quite have an enjoyable version for you yet. It's about to begin a closed-alpha test, limited to a handful of community contributors. Once the closed alpha is finished, the open-alpha will begin and allow you to finally get your hands on 0.2. [h2]Open Alpha[/h2] There's still so much more left to do, and I much prefer developing along side you all in frequent updates instead of bi-monthly dev logs. I'll be putting an unfinished, but still enjoyable build up on a new Steam branch. It wont have all the features we currently have in 0.128 initially, but they should be reintroduced quite quickly over time. Here's what to expect: [list] [*] The vehicle editor including geometric internals and all of its rewrites. [*] Standard sandbox testing of vehicles, excluding enemies to fire at. [/list] Here's what will be [b]missing[/b], to be added over the course of the public alpha: [list] [*] [b]Backwards compatibility[/b] - Your old designs wont be usable in the alpha. [*] [b]Tank combat[/b] - The new damage model isn't quite ready yet. [*] [b]Enemy tanks[/b] - AI isn't fully functional. [*] [b]Scenarios[/b] - Dependent on tank combat and enemy tanks. [*] [b]Rivets[/b] - I'm replacing the tedious rivet placement with a more enjoyable and optimized system that's integrated with freeform. Including an automatic rivet generator made possible with the freeform rewrite. [*] [b]Individual component saving and loading[/b] - This is being replaced with a new system which also lets you save multiple regular parts, preserving their structure. Allowing things like particular interior layouts to be reused across designs. [*] [b]Several parts[/b] - HVSS, spare tracks and spare wheels. [*] [b]Fender generation[/b] - To be brought over to 0.2 with a more flexible system. [*] [b]Clutch braking powertrain[/b] [/list] [h2]Progress[/h2] The lack of new features recently creates the perfect opportunity to mention some of the smaller quality-of-life features which haven't been significant enough to be mentioned in the the previous dev logs. [list] [*] Reversable suspension arms and editable suspension arm length. Not currently applicable to single arms but the potential is all there. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/1faca39b69446b79997b30347458d879e6d4181f.gif[/img] [*] All parts are now able to be mirrored. You can select multiple parts and hit 'F' to manually flip them and disable future auto-flipping. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/5592021da95c7f73e0d0805593d6d5c73120d80a.gif[/img] [*] Holding control while rotating parts toggles snapping. [*] Moving a part will now move all parts attached to it. Useful for parts on fenders. [*] The part repositioning and mirror toggle is now per-compartment and is saved with them. [*] Freeform delete, fill and extrude actions now support mirroring. [*] Track wheel grouping can now have an offset. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/5ae73ab2e8bf23458e824553f88796a6787bc6c4.gif[/img] [*] Holding control while selecting in freeform will now select entire plates. [*] Ammo racks are now extendable lengthwise. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/5b5df464026493ea3862d93879db909e3cd3fd38.gif[/img] [*] Overlays are now toggled between via buttons instead of a dropdown. They're hotkeyed via the number keys now. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/16f033e5bcf0e6e64f0c5600b13eaf59aaa4d348.png[/img] [*] Exhaust effects have received a makeover. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/dbfd618667ee437f14a873d47ab53dbb59e092b4.gif[/img] [*] Armour plate thickness is now visible in exterior view: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/5c2ea7827bd91e17a260e02fcd36e00584dc0a3a.png[/img][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/f52fe5c1fafc36994540686fb0b2e81fcb17e5b6.gif[/img] [*] Freeform edges are now permanently visible when editing faces and edges. [/list] The date of the public alpha depends heavily on the results of the closed alpha. The closed alpha is purely checking for any game-breaking issues so as soon as it's got the ok, the open alpha can begin. I'll give you an exact date shortly before then. - Hamish