Mars Explorer - Mars Explorer 1.9.5 is online!

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Native applications, server settings, and more...

Submitted By admin on 09/04/02

Mars Explorer, admin, Documents, Official News

Greetings everyone!

Today I am announcing the release of Mars Explorer 1.9.5, which represents a significant advancement to the 1.9 beta series.

Enjoy,

-Aubrey

» Play Online

» Download for OS X

» Download for Windows

(Note that fancy installers and things aren't currently included, but are planned for the final release)

Paramount:

Built with Unity 2.5:
- Now available for download as native Mac OS X and Windows applications
- (hold the Option key on your keyboard when starting Mars Explorer to access the input mapping settings if you want to completely customize your exploration experience)
Improved performance:
- Tons of the optimizations that were developed for Mars Explorer for iPhone have been incorporated in the desktop version
- In some preliminary tests, playing as a buggy with 10 bots in freestyle at fast quality on my (integrated graphics chip) MacBook jumped from 15 FPS to 30 FPS between 1.9.4 and 1.9.5!
- The iPhone buggy has also made it's way to the fast desktop rendering level
Server settings:
- Server hosts now have the ability to control whether bots can fire or drive, whether anyone can view a minimap, if lasers are allowed in the game, and if player name badges are "camoflaged" (new feature: hides badges unless your mouse cursor is near the player, allowing for a much more stealthy game)
- Look for the ability to customize every aspect of games - including vehicle physics - in the (hopefully) near future!
- Want a completely new game experience? Try a Freestyle game with no lasers, camoflaged badges, everyone as tanks, and enjoy an awesome game of martian tag!
Enhanced physics:
- Better laser hit detection - especially up close
- Tanks now properly detect track collisions - much more fun for tag!
- Buggy has a new vehicle and terrain collision model - including less terrain bouncing, and a higher inertia tensor - which provides for more controllable high speed offroading
- Buggy's flight model now includes smoother and more powerful wing flaps, vastly improved airbrakes, tighter turns, and new blended sideslip model for much more graceful wing deployment when not pointed in the direction of travel
- Better buggy lava physics - including more skipping, easier lava takeoffs, slightly more powerful seafloor exploration, and faster surface cruising

Subsidiary:

Hopefully better networking: Games with a (*) next to the "Join" button in the server list don't require NAT translation, and should be more reliable to connect to. If you have problems joining any games, please try enabling "Force NAT" in the networking settings box, and let me know if it helps
Game settings now apply much faster when joining a server
Color coded minimap markers - You are blue, quarry is green, and everyone else is white
No more lava "flicker" at lava / terrain boundaries
Mica's two sound tracks are now available to select as the in-game music. Server list music now properly mutes when in-game music is disabled. Don't ask about the new audio option labled "hypersound" - someone was having a bit too much fun and got carried away...
Much more intuitive and friendly messages throughout the list interface
Cooler game logo intro
Tagback time set to five seconds instead of three
Tanks motors inverse power when you reverse direction - allowing you to make even sneakier dodges :)
Reset and rematerialization timer - MacDane
Lasers now travel through lava surface in both directions
New "DST" readout displays your distance to the quarry
MPH now indicates the actual speed of your vehicle in Miles Per Hour