We have quite a bit happening this week here at Hostile Intent.
One of the first things we should mention is our interview over at hl2online.com featuring Talon, Bic-B@ll, Biotek, and myself, swatman. Many thanks to Dabaz and his staff. We wish them much success.

Now for the great and powerful changelog for 1.4. It's not all that we would of liked to have done, but HIPR will take over from here.
1.4 Changelog:

New and updated maps:

• [NEW] hi_basque


• [NEW] hi_downed


• [NEW] hi_efreeti


• [NEW] hi_khartoum


• [UPDATED] hi_aurora


• [UPDATED] hi_colombia


• [UPDATED] hi_congo


• [UPDATED] hi_croatia


• [UPDATED] hi_deadbolt1


• [UPDATED] hi_deadbolt2


• [UPDATED] hi_depot


• [UPDATED] hi_hotel


• [UPDATED] hi_jungle


• [UPDATED] hi_majesty


• [UPDATED] hi_offshore


• [UPDATED] hi_russia


• [UPDATED] hi_twilight

New weapons:

• [NEW] FAMAS


• [NEW] Sig552


• [NEW] USP .45 Tactical


• [NEW] Colt 1911


• [NEW] Makarov


• [NEW] Cougar Suppressed


• [NEW] Glock Suppressed


• [NEW] Smoke grenades

New and updated weapon models:

• [NEW] AK-47


• [NEW] AKS74U


• [NEW] m16a2


• [NEW] m4a1


• [NEW] PSG-1


• [NEW] m76


• [NEW] SPAS-12


• [NEW] m67


• [NEW] RGD5


• [UPDATED] Remington


• [UPDATED] Cougar (further)


• [UPDATED] Glock (further)


• [UPDATED] mp5 (closer)


• [UPDATED] mp5sd (closer)


• [UPDATED] Flashbang

Updated player animations:

• [UPDATED] Pistol Stances


• [UPDATED] Rifle Stances


• [UPDATED] SMG Stances


• [UPDATED] Sprint Animations


• [UPDATED] Walk Animations


• [UPDATED] Strafe Animations


• [UPDATED] Jog Animations


• [UPDATED] Crouch Animations

Bug fixes, adjustments, and other updates:

• [NEW] We have a manual! (manual.html)


• [NEW] Many new weapon firing and reload sounds


• [NEW] Many new sprites (frag explosion, weapon HUD, muzzle smoke)


• [NEW] Added cvar cl_lowendsmoke 1/0 to control smoke sprite quality


• [UPDATED] Main menu splash screen


• [UPDATED] Grenades now give off flashes of light


• [UPDATED] Grenades are now only primed 1.3 seconds into the animation


• [UPDATED] Decreased ladder movement sound and speed


• [UPDATED] Minor damage, recoil, and reload time adjustments to the weapons


• [UPDATED] If spec_teamonly is enabled, opposing team's data is not visible and death messages are disabled while spectating


• [UPDATED] Weapon changes can now be made at the start of the round before firing within the timelimit set by mp_spawnperiod


• [UPDATED] Updated various game files: decals.wad, materials.txt, settings.scr, user.scr hostile.fgd, default server and client config files


• [UPDATED] Added a 1.25 second delay before player can raise sights after going prone


• [UPDATED] Observers now have nightvision


• [UPDATED] Bullet penetration distance depends on weapon power and the strength of the material being shot


• [UPDATED] Player now joins a team immediately following the team VGUI menu, instead of after equipment selection


• [UPDATED] Flashbangs can no longer be cooked (the 2 second fuse starts when the player throws)


• [FIXED] Shotguns now fire the appropriate number of pellets


• [FIXED] Suppressed weapons no longer have firstperson or thirdperson muzzleflashes


• [FIXED] Advance button on team and equipment VGUI doesn't cause primary attack anymore


• [FIXED] spec_mode 3 no longer gets around spec_forcefirstperson


• [FIXED] Team switching no longer gets around kit restrictions


• [FIXED] Players can no longer exploit to spawn in opposing team's spawn area


• [FIXED] It is no longer possible to get a double-win in one round by completing objectives and killing the opposing team


• [FIXED] Holster and deploy weapon animations should now be functional


• [FIXED] Menu text now fits the VGUI


• [FIXED] Removed player count from team selection menu and added ability to see the scoreboard over the VGUI


• [FIXED] Weapons no longer click multiple times after the magazine is emptied (exceptions: Cougar, USP, Makarov)


• [FIXED] "Objective X is not complete!" message is no longer shown to players on the defending team when using an objective that depends on another being completed

Many talented community members also contributed to Hostile Intent 1.4. The team would like to thank the following individuals for their work:

• Fearfisch and Meltdown for the Makarov


• C.R.E.A.M. for the weapon sounds


• Celt for the AKS74U model


• Darkstorn for the m67 skin


• HardCoil for the updated splash screen


• Netman over at DSSGhq.net for the test server


• Kulfaangaren for the Linux testing

There are countless individuals who contributed time and effort to making Hostile Intent a great game and its community a great place. To all those who put their time into this, thank-you.

The HI team would also like to thank the beta testing team for their incredible hard work over the prolonged 1.4 development period. Many of them contributed content for official release in the form of new sprites, updated maps, and models. Without these guys 1.4 would not exist, and we would like to extend them our greatest thanks for being our strongest supporters and most vicious critics.

The good people over at ktrain.net run Campaign Night, an event dedicated to helping new players learn to play Hostile Intent. If this is your first time downloading HI, we highly recommend you attend the event on Mondays at 6:00 PM EST. It's an absolute blast, you can meet some great people to play with, and is a great way to learn your way around the game. It runs for a few hours and usually covers a few maps. Be there!

Additionally, it's worth noting that there were a number of maps produced over the course of 1.4 that did not make the final release due to quality or playability issues, but these may see the light of day someday in the future in the form of a custom maps release...

I guess this is the most important part of the whole news update..... THE RELEASE DATE!
That's right, we have finally set a date for release and it is this Friday 4/29/05. If all goes as planned we will see a release to the mirrors early on friday morning and to the public sometime in the late afternoon or early evening.