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ARCHIVES >>> 4/2006
Stopgaps and Upgrades by: BUG$ & StrangerThanFiction 17.04.2006 20:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope 2. In today's news update we have more information about the development process of Forgotten Hope 2. We have a brand new model, fresh from the prototype facility and an improved version that has just arrived at the front lines, ingame. In addition, we are very happy to announce the return of yet another prodigal dev to the FH team. Join us in giving AaronAsh a warm welcome back! The first item could be considered the backbone of the German "Panzerwaffe" in the first two years of the war. The vehicle we speak of is the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 121, better known as Panzerkampfwagen II. Although it was actually no more than a stopgap tank, because of delays in the design and production of the Panzer III and Panzer IV, it became the main battle tank of the panzer divisions beginning with the invasion of France (displacing the earlier stopgap Panzerkampfwagen I, in that role). The SdKfz 121 was based on the chassis of the PzKpfw I and its 20mm KwK 30 L/55 main gun in combination with an MG34 was far more effective than the dual 7.92mm MG34 with which the PzKpfw I was equipped. Maximum speed and armor were slightly increased as well. But, as a stopgap tank design, it was largely removed from the frontline as soon as sufficient numbers of PzKpfw IIIs and PzKpfw IVs were available. Afterwards, it served at secondary fronts for patrolling and reconnaissance, in which roles it was used to great effect. Over a thousand Ausf C versions of the PzKpfw II were produced from 1938 through 1940, making it the most numerous of all PzKpfw II variants. The PzKpfw II Ausf C was modeled by Lude and skinned by AaronAsh.
Our second tank for today is the Crusader Mk III medium tank, that debuted just two weeks ago. Fresh from the supply freighters, here are the first reconnaissance photographs of this new British tank in action. Now equipped with the 57mm ROQF (Royal Ordnance Quick-Firing) 6-pounder the Allied forces will stand a much better chance against the German armoured forces. The Crusader Mk III was modeled by OMNI, skinned by Jimbob and coded by ctz.
That's all for today, but be sure to come back next week for another Forgotten Hope update. Until then, feel free to visit our public forums to discuss this update or other news.
Another Turn of the Wheel by: StrangerThanFiction 11.04.2006 03:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to the latest update of Forgotten Hope. A few people that only care about FH2 news have been impatient with so much attention being paid to the upcoming Forgotten Hope Fan Mappack for Battlefield 1942(tm) in recent news, so this update is just about Forgotten Hope 2 for Battlefield 2(tm), and there are a number of new items to show off. We will return to the Fan Mappack in a future update, but not until we are ready to announce a mappack release date. The first item for this week's news is the freshly completed Vickers Mark VIB, which was modeled and skinned by Montoya. This vehicle has been completely rebuilt and reskinned for FH2, and preserves Montoya's tradition of making strangely beautiful models of very ugly tanks.
The first Mark VI's were introduced in 1935 and intended mainly for use as a reconnissance vehicle, and were not designed to engage enemy tanks. As such, it was equipped with twin Vickers machine guns--0.50 and 0.303 inch(12.7 mm-and 7.92 mm)--and only lightly armoured, having only 14 mm at its thickest points, on the hull and turret front. The Mark VI B, which featured better engine cooling than earlier versions, played a major role in most theatres throughout the early war, including France and Egypt. It was fast, and fairly reliable, but suffered from poor off-road performance, and was eventually superseded in the reconnaisance role by wheeled vehicles. The second item for today is a wind-driven water pumping station modeled and skinned by ctz. Stations like these, found moving precious water resources in the arid North African landscape, also make a great platform for snipers and artillery spotters.
The last of today's goodies are the first ingame screens of FH2's M4A1 Sherman. When the first Sherman's arrived in Egypt in 1942, they provided badly need 75 mm punch in a more flexible package than the clumsier Grants. Kudos are deserved by Omni for modeling and skinning this beast and to ctz for bringing it ingame.
That's all for today, but be sure to come back again next week for another Forgotten Hope update. Until then, we invite you to visit our public forums to discuss this update or other news.
THE LAST CRUSADER by: BUG$ & StrangerThanFiction 02.04.2006 23:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. First of all a few words for everyone who is new to our mod. There might have been a little confusion about the latest updates, including news about the fan mappack. For that reason we would like to give a brief remedial explanation. The Forgotten Hope Developer Team started Forgotten Hope for Battlefield 1942™ a long time ago. More recently, with Battlefield 2™ available we decided to concentrate on developing Forgotten Hope 2 for Battlefield 2™. Nonetheless we are still supporting our latest release, Forgotten Hope 0.7 for Battlefield 1942™, through the Fan Mappack. This means that not all content we preview in the mappack updates is part of Forgotten Hope 2. Everything concerning the Forgotten Hope Fan Mappack #6 will only be available for Forgotten Hope 0.7 for Battlefield 1942™. And now for the update! First of all we would like to welcome Major Hartmann and Master Minder back to the team. Both felt it was time to get back to work instead of enjoying their boring retirement and we are really happy to have four more capable hands helping with the development of Forgotten Hope 2. Welcome back boys! Today we have the first skin created for FH2 by our newest member Jimbob. We hope you enjoy his work as much as we do and that you will give him a warm welcome! Jimbob's project is the British Cruiser Tank VI Crusader Mk III.
FAN MAPPACK NEWS After our little progress report on Forgotten Hope 2 here is the final installment in our map preview series for the upcoming Forgotten Hope Fan Mappack for Battlefield 1942™. Both of today's maps come with extra goodies. To start with we have A Day of Zitadelle, which was created by Battlegroup 2 developer Benseras. As a special bonus, this map comes its own SU-152, which provided the Red Army with the badly needed punch to deal with the heavy new German armor which saw action at Kursk. The model and skin were originally created by the Operation Anubis mod team and later donated to the Battlegroup 42 mod. The SU-152 was exported by BG42 leader Panzaman and then code tweaked by FH's ctz and FH beta tester Knoffhoff for greater FH compatibility. The Forgotten Hope developer team would like to say thank you to everyone who was involved in the creation of this vehicle, especially the Battlegroup 42 team for their generosity in allowing Benseras to use their model in a Forgotten Hope fan map.
Special mention should also be made of a nice atmospheric goody for the map-- the bees modelled, skinned and coded by Golem_Moja, who is also the creator of many useful modding tools.
Operation Zitadelle, the code name for the German plan that led to the battle more commonly known today as the Battle of Kursk, was a huge tank battle on the Eastern Front, in mid 1943. This map features the intense tank, large scale armored combat suitable to a map representing part of the largest armored engagement of all time, with more than 2700 tanks and assault guns alone on the German side. In addition to Benseras's work, as well as all the others mentioned earlier, the map was given a final tweaking by Real-BadSeed.
The second and last map for today, as well as for our Fan Mappack preview series, Spurning Fate, has never before been released in an official Mappack. It takes place in eastern Germany, April 1945. At this time Allied air superiority made large tank movements during daylight almost impossible for the Wehrmacht. The only reliable way to avoid enemy air power was to fight and move at night. Spurning Fate is a paranoia-inducing game of heavily armed cat and mouse. Making a virtue of necessity, Axis scientists developed the "Vampir" IR-technology to give their troops an edge in darkness. Starting in late 1944, special units for night fighting entered the field consisting of five PzKpfw V "Panther" Ausf. G, equipped with "Vampir" rigs, as well as one SdKfz 251/20 "Uhu"(on the right) and one escorting SdKfz 251/1 "Falke" (at left)manned with infantry using the Sturmgewehr 44 with an infrared telescopic sight. Although the technology was ready for mass production only a few were employed as the war was close to an end. But let's have a look on the new euipment now.
Before the history watchdogs start to bark please not that a little historical license was taken, as the team involved in producing Spurning Fate's night-fighting Panthers wished to include both the earlier "Solution A" version of the Vampir technology(at left) as well as the later "Solution B" version(on the right). "Solution B" did not fit well onto the FH Panther G without extensive modification(this version of the Panther G lacked a drivers viewport hatch), so the Panther A was conscripted to fill the gap. To show you how the IR works in Spurning Fate we have 3 ingame shots for you demonstrating the effect. You can have a look at the map screenshots below them for comparison. On top are the Panther's gunsight, on the bottom left the MG34 and MG42, sight, and last but not least on the right is that of the StG 44.
Sir Fluffy modelled the nightfighting euipment, which was skinned by Lobo and the final coding was done by Knoffhoff and CamelNele, member of the Norwegian Resistance minimod. Furthermore the beautiful new skin for the SdKfz 251/20 "Uhu" and SdKfz 251/1 "Falke" was made by Mr. Cheese, the new uniforms are from Hanley and the map itself as well as the concept is by Lili Marlene.
That's all for today, but be sure to come back next week for another Forgotten Hope update. Until then, feel free to visit our public forums to discuss this update or other news.
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