Dear Fans of the Stargate Mod,

today is the day when gifts are to be unpacked and hence we don't want to miss out on putting a small present under your Christmas tree
This time you had to wait quite long for a news post, although some team members have posted blog entries.

Enjoy our Christmas news! And before I forget: Happy holidays 2009 to you and your families!

• At first we want to show you some screenshots from the well-known map O'Hara. stino has spiced it up a bit by bringing the mountain on top of which the temple is built to life: A hot stream of lava now exits the active volcano. The lava utilizes special shaders that make the air glimmer above the lava.
  
  
• Fuzyhead has released new screenshots of his ever more polished map Roswell 47. Comparing these new screenshots with older ones you can nicely see how much work has been put into it so far (more on this in our recent blog). In the Mod, a map can be used for different game modes. The spawn points and objectives change accoring to the selected game type. As an example, in this map there is also a Capture the Flag mode in addition to the classic deathmatch game types ("normal" and team deathmatch).
  
  
• O'Hara and Roswell 47 of course are not the only maps we have been working on. There are also new map like Fallen City, Forrest or Greek, which we have not yet shown you any material about. We've chosen to do this in subsequent news postings or blog entries. We have also made huge progress in the coding section as well as in character and weapons modeling. You can be sure to see some good stuff next year!
• OK, now an important announcement! The best thing comes at the very end: In this year we have something very special in addition to the regular news for a selected circle of forum members. During the upcoming months, there will be a first beta testing program of the STARGATE Mod. For the testing to take place in an ordered manner, we have selected 10 of the most active people from our forums to participate (thus it is a "closed beta"). These members will be contacted shortly to explain the conditions of the testing. Here is a small preview:
  
  The reason why we perform the beta test this way is that first we want to reward our long year forum members. Second, we know those people are very well informed about Stargate and hence are the perfect audience for effective testing. We have now reached a point where we can not go on without regular playtesting. We want to first give the potential beta testers the opportunity to say yes or no before announcing their names. Please be patient.
  
  We know that your first question is "how can I become a beta tester as well?" We are planning to extend the list of beta testers. When this will be the case depends on how successful the first phase of beta will be. This means that...
  
  • ... the beta testers should show us that a beta test is really meaningful by giving constructive feedback.
  • ... fans that are not yet beta testers can use our application form to apply for upcoming beta testing phases (please include your qualifications).
  Since we have selected the beta testers for the first phase via our forum it may also be meaningful to actively take part in discussion on the forum.
  
  Here are some details about the beta version of the Mod: The current version will be extended continually and currently contains:
  
  • 6 multiplayer maps and test maps with a total size of more than 100 MB
  • More than 400 models
  • Almost 2.500 textures and materials
  • as well as several thousand lines of SGM-related code
  
  Our goal is that all fans of our project can get in contact with the Mod as soon as possible. I want to thank those who have not yet been selected for their patience!
  

Again Merry Christmas and thank you for reading!

Dear fans of the Stargate Mod,

It's definitely time to post some news! All you Easter Bunnies out there can consider this posting our "Easter Special", but to keep things politically correct we file this under "yet another update with lots of screenshots and renders"!

The massive pile of images aside, there's also an important message that we'd like to get out so by all means please do not skip this paragraph! With recent departures - most notably Ray - we definitely are in need of a skilled Animation Artist. If you're up for the task please get in contact with us right away! We're also looking for experienced Source Engine Level Designers and Texture Artists and although we've recently received multiple applications from 3D Artists we're always glad to give out additional modeling positions.
That said we'd like to redirect all those interested to our application form. Thank you for considering!

Now, on to the promised Easter special... uh... "lots of screenshots and renders"!

• Here are some new screenshots of Anubis. stino has reworked the layout and added some new rooms and also improved lighting. Also notice the new palm trees by aph0x who is currently upgrading all the map's textures alongside stino. The map features a set of ring transporters that allow the player to quickly navigate from one part of the map to another.
  
  
• Fuzyhead is giving parts of the map Roswell 47 some finishing touches: Final rooms are being added as well as textures and lighting being perfected. The map has a rather linear layout with team bases at opposite "ends" of the map, which makes it very suitable for team-based game modes. However, it is also a lot of fun to play in deathmatch mode, because there are some quite open areas with multiple levels making some rash decisions deadly for players!
  
  
• One of the Stargate Mod's first maps, the small Pond has recently been revitalized by stino. New bridge parts, HDR lighting and updated textures make this "upgrade-in-progress" deathmatch scenery much more appealing.
  
  
• Music update! Our web-music-player, which you can find in the upper right corner of this website, now offers a collection of new songs! And there's more: The player can now be undocked from the browser window, thus not limiting your experience of the website while still being able to listen to all our songs. Just click on the leftmost icon (or simply click here: ) to try it.
  
  Here's a list of music tracks that are available:
  
  • Cheyenne (2:05)
  • The Getready 1 (1:25)
  • The Getready 2 (2:14)
  • Waking (4:32)
  • Epic Epic Epic (3:17)
  • XMas08 Trailer (3:19, full version)
  • The Hunt (1:32)
  • Intro (1:30)
  
  We wish you a lot of fun listening to those almost 20 minutes of music!
  
  
• Finally some model renders: mpro and aph0x have combined their skills to create the flashbang model and texture, respectively. Palm tree models have been added by aph0x. The M4A1 was reworked and has more details now. stino has started working on a HMMWV model and mpro is working on a model for a ZPM plug, which is likely to be used in a multiplayer game mode.
  
  

Like the new content? Don't like a certain aspect? Please use the comment/answer link below to let us know!

Thanks for reading and see you next time!