Forgotten Hope School: "Releasedate"

Hello folks and welcome back for another newsupdate of the Forgotten Hope Mod. Today we have the longest one ever. So let's start quick without too many words. So, it does not need to be longer than necessary ;)

First of all we have to show of some new content that made it into 0.66. Two interesting AT weapons will be available for use. The British No73 Thermos Flask Grenade by McGibs and the Japanese suicide bomb done by Aaron Ash and Lobo.

Furthermore we have a screensaver for you. That way you can enjoy FH art not only as wallpaper. You have to thank Lobo and Rad for the images and StrangerThanFiction for putting them together. You can download the file here.

Today is the day you waited for since 0.65 was released. We have to admit it took a lil longer than we expected. But we learned our lesson for the next time. And to ensure we are not the only ones who have learned something we have a we have employed a well known star today who will give you a lesson on how to play Forgotten Hope 0.66. Let's welcome Barney!

Lesson 1 - FH for Beginners

With Forgotten Hope 0.65 a few new features were implemented that you should actually know. But as we noticed on the forums many of you were not attentive to what the teachers said. So pay attention now and learn something!

Lesson 1.1 - Ballistics

Ballistics are the study of the movements and forces involved in the propulsion of objects through the air. In simple words, ballistics affect the trajectory of your projectile. What does that mean for you and especially your aiming?
First of all: The farther away your victim is the more the trajectory is affected. Due to earth's gravitational pull and aerodynamic resistance your projectile flies in a curve. The result is that you have to aim higher on long ranges.

Short distance	Long distance

The second important thing you have to keep in mind is that the projectile has an initial velocity affected by the calibre of the weapon, as well as other factors. This value is important because it determines how fast your projectile reaches its destination and how much gravity and resistance will affect it. That's especially important with moving targets. You have to have to aim a little bit in front of your target, or, “lead“ the target. This effect might also be intensified by your ping. The higher it is the more you have to lead your target.

 

Lesson 1.2 - Tanksights

You think we removed the crosshair? You are right!
You think you can't aim anymore? You are wrong! We added tank sights to most tanks. So if you don't have a crosshair try pressing "ENABLE NOSECAM" (usually F9) and the sight should show up.

 

Lesson 1.3 - How to cap a flag

Forgotten Hope plays better in a team. Actually we don't want to see "one man armies" or "Rambos" around on the servers. So we implemented a little feature that forces both sides to operate in little squads, because some of the flags need more than one soldier to cap it. How many players are needed to take control over the outpost are shown on a sign at the mast of the flag.

 

Lesson 1.4 - 360° artillery

Artillery is unmovable at the moment? More or less actually. it is right that you are not able to move the stationary artillery from one location to another(that's the reason it's stationary :p) but you can turn the artillery 360°. To do that simply press the "MOVE LEFT" or "MOVE RIGHT" keys and the artillery will turn slowly but steadily.

Before	After

 

Lesson 1.5 - Transportplanes

Transport planes have one special advantage: They can be used to build up the focal points of an attack very quick. But to be able to do that you need more than flying over. The door needs to be opened so your comrades can bail out. Sadly too few pilots did. In FH 0.65 the door is always open unless you close it. To do so press your "PRIMARY FIRE" key and hold it. Once you release the button the door will open again. Be sure to use that because otherwise your buddies might fall out of the plane before you gave them the green light.

opened door (standard)	closed door (fire button triggered)

Lesson 1.6 - Parachutes

In the lesson before you learned how to use the transport planes correctly. Only thing you need to know now is how to use a chute and you a ready to start your paradropinvasion. Important is that the class you pick or the kit you pickup has a chute. Only thing to do then is to press the "OPEN PARACHUTE" key once you are bailed out. The following symbol in the classmenu shows wether the class has a chute or not.

 

Lesson 1.7 - Weaponkits

We just spoke about weaponkits with the lesson about parachutes. But there are many more kits. Some of them are placed apparent on the map - others are hidden more or less as a goody (like the StG44ZF). You can pickup a kit by using the "PICKUP WEAPON" key. Watch out for packages looking like these:

Example 1: Sniperkit	Example 2: Pilotkit	Example 2: StG44 Kit

Within some kits you get deploayable weapons. To place it simply choose it from the weaponsselectionmenu and press the "PRIMARY FIRE" button. You can use the weapon afterwards by using the "ENTER VEHICLE" key. To pick the weapon up again exit it and go next to it. An ammunition symbol will appear and you will pick up the weapon automatically.

Lesson 1.8 - Random Handweapons

Some classes are equipped with random heandweapons. That means you get a weapon by chance. The tank commander class p.e. will wether get a pistol or a smg. To see if your pick is equipped with a random weapon watch out for the following icon within the weapon selections menu:

Lesson 1.9 - Firemodes

Some weapons have alternate firemodes. That applies to handguns and stationary weapons.

a.) Handweapons
If your handweapons has different firemodes for you to choose you can select the one you want within the weapons selection menu.

Satchels have two different fuses - 5 seconds and 10 seconds. But be careful: No fuse works 100% precisely. That means that the 5 second variant actually has a fuse time between 4 and 6 seconds and the 10 second version's time is somewhere between 9 and 11 seconds.

And don't forget: Different firemodes does not mean that they use different ammunition! They share the same ammo!

b.) Stationary weapons
If a stationary weapon allows you to select a different ammunition type you can change the mode by pressing "MOVE FORWARD" or "MOVE BACKWARDS" key. A small indicator will show which shell is selected at the moment.

Antitank shell selected	Antiair shell selected

 

Lesson 1.10 - Ammoboxes and their limits

Ammunition is always limited--it doesn't matter which type. Use the reserves in your ammoboxes wisely and try to use other ways to rearm. Read Lesson 1.14 for more informations on how to rearm without an ammobox.

 

Lesson 1.11 - Minefields

Minefields were pretty common in WW2. Good luck for you is that warning signs will help you to avoid them.

Lesson 1.12 - Seaplanes - catapult start and spotter

Some ships have planes for reconaissance. These planes need a catapult to start. To activate it press "SECONDARY FIRE" once the engines are running at 100%. After the plane takes off "SECONDARY FIRE" will have another function:
Artillery targets can be assigned.

 

Lesson 1.13 - Flaps on Vehicles

Some vehicles have flaps that protect the cargo while driving. These flaps can be lowered/raised with the "OPEN SCUTTLE" and "CLOSE SCUTTLE" keys.

Raised flaps	Lowered flaps

 

Lesson 1.14 - All about truckin'

Trucks are well known as vehicles with the ability to transport everything. That's the reason Forgotten Hope has many variants including troop transports in combination with ambulance and ammunition trucks.

Trooptransport	Ambulance	Ammunition

 

Lesson 1.15 - StuG Commander

The german Sturmgeschütz has a real weakness: The drivers view is very limited.
But the Sturmgeschütz also has a real strength: The commanders hatch!
Pressing key "3" will get you into that position and allow you a 360° view and the abilitiy to assign artillery targets.

Commander's hatch view	Artillerytarget assigned

 

Lesson 2 - FH for Professionals

Let's head to lesson 2. Have a closer look because new features of 0.66 will be introduced. And what you miss now might be the reason for losing your life on the field.

Lesson 2.1 - Cargoships

Cargo ships are more or less useless within a battle? That was before 0.66! They have now the ability to repair and rearm all the naval vessels on your side. Use them wisely because a naval battle might be decideded by how you use them!

 

Lesson 2.2 - Mortars

We guess all of you hate mortars, as they were quite useless within 0.65 and were part of the reason that the Pacific maps weren’t working properly in 0.65. But believe us: You will love them within 0.66!
The only hurdle you will have to get used to the aiming. Looking down will increase the mortar’s range et vice versae.

 

Lesson 2.3 - Special Kits

a.) Call Airborne Reinforcements
With this kit you can call a transport plane as mobile spawnpoint. When you select it from your weapons selectionmenu and press the "PRIMARY FIRE" key you will find yourself in the pilots position. You can steer the plane you called with the "MOVE LEFT" and "MOVE RIGHT" keys.
A special version of this kit is the Waco version where your buddies who spawn in the plane can take control and pilot themselves to their desired destination.

Weaponicon	Pilotview	Minimap with Waco	Waco

b.) Call Air Support
Using the remotebomberkit you will find yourself in a bomber with a bombingsight. You can steer the plane you called with the "MOVE LEFT" and "MOVE RIGHT" keys. The height of the plane depends on the angle you choose with the binocs when calling it.
Be careful when exiting the plane because you will be pushed forward a little bit. That might cause you to fall to your death if you are in certain locations.

Weaponicon	Bombingsight

c.) Japanese Suidice Kit
This class will give you a TNT charge that you can use for a kamikaze attack. And this charge is fully loaded. Don't try this at home kids and be sure there are not too many of your buddies around - otherwise the game might be over faster than you think because you get kicked from the server for too many TK's ;)

Weaponicon	1st Person	3rd Person

 

Take care of what you have learned and use the knowledge wisely. It might serve you well on the battlefield. And you will need it soon. And this time soon means tomorrow! But before we talk too much - here is the release time of the Forgotten Hope Mod version 0.66:

Forgotten Hope 0.66 Linux Server (Full):	133 MB	December, 30th at 0900 GMT
Forgotten Hope 0.66 Windows Server (Full):	116 MB	December, 30th at 0900 GMT
Forgotten Hope 0.66 Windows Client (Update from 0.65):	288 MB	December, 30th at 1100 GMT

NOTE: FH 0.65 is still required! FH 0.66 is only a patch!!

Anyone who wants to provide us with a mirror is welcome to contact ArminAce via email (arminace@aol.com) with the subject "Want to provide FH Mirror". The more mirrors we have the better. So don't loose any time. Release is close.

Be sure to check out tomorrow's newsupdate to be able to get your copy of Forgotten Hope 0.66. And feel free to stop by our public forums to discuss this one. And rember that the Teamspeakserver is available 24h a day - and with a little luck you might find a dev who can answer some questions. ;)