Ben Goldberg took a moment to sit down with D6Veteran from http://tacticalrealism.com/ to talk RnL and give some info on our features as well as how development on the mod is progressing. In addition we provided Tactical Realism some exclusive eyecandy for all you RnL fans. You can read the interview here. Also keep in mind that the irc channel is still the best place for all your RnL info.

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It's been sometime since we updated. We appreciate everyones confidence and support in our project even when we are silent for a bit. We were going to release a few ingame vids/screenshots, but since we are replacing our player models, we felt it didn't represent what we thought was good. So in the mean time, I just wanted to give you a little info on whats been going on behind the scenes.

Coding: The NCO map has been done. The NCO can choose it, objective areas are marked, and other classes can view the map if they are close enough to the NCO. New respawn system has been started, and you can find more info on that if you've been following along in the forum. A lot has been talked about on how it's going to work.

Artwork: Tim, our new texture artist has hit the ground running. He has completed all our new faces for our player models. He has also knocked out all sorts of prop models that we where waiting so long for a skin artist without a ego.

Val and AC have been working on Eglise's church models, and the stain glass looks incredible. This treat will wait till we release,it's that cool. :D

Ryan has completed 2 wrist watch models that will be added to the game and serve as a neat feature. He has also completed a NCO map model that will serve a certain purpose. I'm sure you all can guess. ;)

Animation: Well, to be honest, this was what was hanging us up. Since we decided to can our old player model animations, we moved to XSI from Maya. So that required Naseem to learn XSI in a hurry. Well I'm happy to say, we are almost complete on our base set of animations. Right now we are starting prone, and once that subset is done, all we have to do is minor, or we hope so. ;) The new player models will have eye tracking, and in the future we hope facial animations. :D

Geoff has been extremely busy at school, but has managed to work on the NCO map first person animations. They're not finished, but if it goes well, it will be a very unique way to view the map for the NCO.

We've been trying out other first person animators, but I have a feeling most people that apply, don't realize the amount of work required to be a developer for a mod, or at least ours. We have one candidate we are trying out, so far he's doing well, and we hope to bring him on.

Sound: Brian, our main man has been strapped with work. Real Life has almost taken him completely away from us, but good fortune has fallen apon us, and he's back to working with us on a limited basis until work slows for him. Some new things hes worked on make it feel like you are really taking ammo out of your pouches instead of it suddenly just appearing on screen. Very convincing.

Mapping: Toni has really optimized his map and has increased the FPS by at least 10% in all areas. Eglise has been optimized more, and has more room now for the jump effects, were it was sitting pretty tight beforehand, a welcome change. ;) Stefan has added on more houses to his map. It feels more populated than ever before. Rick's map, the causeway to carentan has been completely scraped and is getting remade. So far from the pictures, and test versions, this map is going to be awesome. There will be, with some luck, some very nice shots taken in some areas. ;)

Ok time to spill some beans. We are in the process of working toward our first solid test beta, which we will be using outside help to test. What this means is, we will be selecting about 10-12 community members to do some internal testing with us. It will not be a public test, so please do not misunderstand that. Along with testing, you will have a vote on what features should be implemented as we go along. More on this as we get closer.

We are also looking for more coders, and a second player animator. If you feel you have what it takes to work on this team, please fill out an application. We definitely need the help, so dont think for a second you couldnt make it.

Again, thanks so much for all of your support. We all know its hard to go on just words alone, and do not think this is some sort of vaporware. Trust me, we wouldnt be here working this hard on something that doesn't look like there will be a end to it. So please be a little more patient with us and you will be well rewarded.