Server changelog

Everything that changed since 1.51. The big ones are the new lobby, the practice area, duels and achievements. Restart your game once after you join, so it downloads the new files.

New lobby (new)
The lobby is a new open-air plaza with the VCAD logo on the floor, and everything in it is a ring you walk into. No commands needed.

• Pink ring: Practice. Cyan ring: Duel, it shows how to challenge someone and who is free right now. Yellow ring: watch the round that is running.
• Four boards with violet rings: Rules, News, Info and Events. Stand in a ring and a panel opens with the text, in your language (/lang). Step out and it closes.
• The News board shows the current /setnews text and the Events board shows what staff set, plus clan match info.
• While you wait in the lobby the sky stays at daytime.

Practice area (new)
Type /practice when you're not in a round (that includes after you died in one) to go to a private shooting range. Type /practice again, or step on the yellow EXIT pad, to leave.

• A 100 m lane with target boards every 25 m, and a yard with target dummies. Your shots, hits and headshots are counted, and a board on the wall shows the best session so far.
• The dummies stand, walk around or pop up from the floor. A hit on the head counts as a headshot.
• Step on the pink pad to pick a weapon with the mouse, or use /pweapon <name>. Ammo and health never run out. Explosives, rockets, flamethrowers and the minigun are not allowed in there.
• Step on the cyan AIM LAB pad, or type /practice lab, for a timed 60 second run on the dummies. /practice labtop shows the best scores.
• Tall lights mark the pads: pink for weapons, cyan for aim lab and yellow for exit.
• Nothing in there counts for your stats or achievements, and you're taken out automatically when a round starts.

Duels (new)
The duel arena from above: you spawn at one end, your opponent at the other.

• /duel <name> challenges a player to a 1 on 1. The other player answers with /accept or /decline.
• First to 10 kills wins. You both get an Ingram plus one more weapon, in a sealed arena in the sky.
• /duelstats shows your wins and losses and /dueltop shows the top 5. Quitting a duel before 3 points were played doesn't count, quitting after that is a win for the player who stayed.
• Duels can't be started during a round, and a duel that is still running when a round starts is cancelled.

Achievements and daily challenges (new)
This is what the banners look like.

• 24 achievements: kills, captures, survives, last bloods, assists, time played, first blood, a round with 10 kills, top of the round and a daily streak. Each one is common, rare or epic.
• Three daily challenges every day. A banner pops up on your screen when you unlock something, and /ach shows your progress.
• Only rounds with at least 4 players count.

Discord link and base balance

• /link gives you a code. Send !link and the code to the bot in Discord and your account is linked. /unlink removes it again. Once linked, !stats and !ach work without typing a name.
• /basestats shows how often attackers win on a base, once at least 10 rounds were played on it. !basestats does the same on Discord.

In rounds

• The camera now flies over the base during the 20 second prep before a round starts. /skipcam gives you your own view back for that round.
• A pink arrow shows over a teammate who got knocked down, until they get up, and over a burning vehicle with a teammate inside. Only your own team sees them.
• Name tags are hidden during the 20 second prep and come back when the round starts.
• You bleed when you drop below 16 HP in a round and stop bleeding at 16 or more, also after healing.
• Referees and spectators don't go through the round start sequence any more: they aren't frozen, moved or shown the intro camera.
• When you die in a round you get a short note that you can use /practice and /duel until the next round, and now and then a tip about them shows up in chat.

Weapon sets and /put

• The set menu shows the set you really have now. Before, after an error like "wait 5 seconds" the same set button could stop working until you picked another set. The shotgun, pistol and SMG choices do the same.
• /put only works on brawl bases now. On the other bases use the weapon station at your spawn.

Everything that changed since 1.50, from yesterday and today. The big ones are weapon stations, the new health pickups and server messages in your own language.

Weapon stations (new)
Each spawn now has a weapon station: a crosshair disc with a gold rim, in your team colour. Walk away from your spawn, come back to it and you're taken to the set room to pick your set, then /go sends you back to the station.

• You can only use your own side's station, and only once per round.
• They're there for the first 90 seconds of the round, or until first blood, whichever comes first.
• If an enemy comes within 300 metres, the station disappears until they leave again.
• There are no stations on brawl bases.
• /put works the same as before for now. If the stations work well, /put might be removed.

Health pickups
The old pill pickups are gone. When a teammate gets a kill, the drop is now either a heartbeat disc or a glowing orb, picked at random. Same as before otherwise: +20 HP, your own team only.


Rounds

• Only the attackers see who is capturing the checkpoint now. The capture bar is still there for everyone, just without the name for the other team.
• The autostarter used to switch itself on every time someone left the server. That's sorted, it only happens when the last staff member or donator leaves.

Matches

• Staff can run matches with /match, for clan wars and events. Teams are locked with a password, every round is counted, and the result is saved. This replaces the old event mode, which wasn't working properly.
• Finished matches show up on the new Competitive page on webstats: https://vcad.thijn.ovh/webstats/competitive.php

Languages (new)
Server messages can now be shown in your own language. Type /lang to see the list and pick one, and /lang en takes you back to English.

• Available: English, Turkish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Spanish and Polish. Arabic, Urdu and Hindi are written in English letters, the way you would type them in chat.
• Your choice is saved on your account, so it stays after you leave. Guests keep it until they disconnect.
• Round messages, votes, /put and the weapon station, set errors, /help, /cmds, /rules, login and registration messages, ping, FPS, ignore and quotes are translated. Anything that is not translated yet stays in English.
• New players get a short tip about /lang when they join, and it comes back now and then in the random messages.
• The translations are not perfect yet. If something reads wrong in your language, tell staff and we will fix it.

/put and weapon station reminders
When a round starts you now get a message saying how long the weapon station and /put stay open, and a reminder 10 seconds before each one closes. They show in your language if you picked one.

Team score
The score at the top of the screen used to stop at 30. There is no limit any more, whatever the score is, it shows. Big scores get smaller digits so they still fit. You need to rejoin once so the game downloads the new files.

If you notice anything broken, let staff know.

A bunch of smaller changes since the last update, mostly in game. Here's what changed:

Rounds

• Assists are counted now. If you did at least 20 damage to someone in the last 10 seconds before a teammate killed them, the kill message shows your name as the assist.
• The round summary at the end shows who did the most damage and who got the most assists.
• /stats shows your total assists and damage too. These start counting from 13 October, older rounds aren't included.
• If you're tabbed out when the set countdown ends, you're skipped for that round instead of getting an AFK strike. Come back within 30 seconds and you're put back in.
• The yellow 20 second countdown is back at the bottom right while a checkpoint is being captured, next to the capture bar.

Chat

• Server messages have new colours. Normal server messages are cyan, staff chat is pink, and errors, warnings and success messages each have their own colour so they're easier to tell apart.
• Team colours in chat are the same as before, red and blue.
• Join and leave messages are in a softer colour so they don't take over the chat.

News

• When there's an update you'll see a short note about it when you join. Type /news to see it again.

Discord

• The "players are on VCAD right now" message is posted in #general now instead of #console, so more people see it when the server is busy.
• The round end card showed the trophy and the text twice, and sometimes the word "undefined" at the top. Both are gone.

If you notice anything broken, let staff know.

A few changes to what you see in game and on Discord. Here's what changed:

In game

• The kill feed at the top right (the last four kills) is gone. A lot of you said it was in the way, so it's removed. The kill messages in chat are still there as before.
• The capture bar and the round summary are not affected.

Discord

• Kills now show up on Discord live, one line per kill. Each team has its own VCAD shield (red and blue), then the weapon and the distance. Headshots get their own icon.
• The weapon has a small icon for its type (pistol, SMG, shotgun, rifle, sniper, rocket, grenade, molotov, melee and so on). The weapon name is still written next to it.
• Some kills get a tag with its own badge: first blood, double/triple kill, clutch (last one alive on your team), long shot (80 m or more) and team kill.
• Deaths without a killer (drowning, falling, explosions, car crashes, burning) show an icon for what happened.
• A card is posted when a round starts (base, who is attacking, how many players, time limit, score) and when it ends (who won and how, how long it took, top player, first blood, last blood, score). The cards have small icons too, for the time, the winner, the checkpoint and the base record.
• Joins and leaves have their own icons. Joins still show your country flag.
• When a lot happens at once, the lines are grouped into one message so the channel doesn't lag behind.

Chat in game looks exactly the same as before, only the Discord side changed.

Edit (11 October): the Discord feed now uses our own VCAD icons for teams, weapons, tags and the round cards.

If you notice anything broken, let staff know.

New players don't have to wait for an admin anymore, and there are a few stats and Discord changes too. Here's what changed:

Registration

• When you /register, the server checks the account straight away. If everything looks fine you're approved on the spot and can play right away.
• New accounts start on probation for their first 5 hours of playtime. During that time you can't send PMs to other players (staff are fine), start a vote kick or vote for a base, and the chat spam limits are a bit stricter. It ends by itself, or staff can end it early.
• If the server isn't sure about an account, it's held for staff to check, same as before. Ask in the Account Approvals board or on Discord. During a bot attack, new accounts are held for a while until it calms down.
• Up to 3 players can connect from the same IP. If you play with family or friends, ask staff and we'll add an exception.
• Accounts that were already approved aren't affected. The full explanation is here: VCAD Registration System.

Stats

• /stats now also shows your kills, deaths and K/D for this week and this month. Monthly numbers start from 3 October.
• K/D shows two decimals again (like 1.47) instead of a rounded number.
• Kills from players who were still online when the day changed over at night weren't counted in the weekly top killers. They are now.
• At the start of every month the top 5 killers of the month get posted on Discord, like the weekly ones. The first one goes out on 1 November.

Discord

• The game server now reconnects to the Discord bot by itself. Before, if the bot restarted, the echo and Discord commands could stay dead until the server was restarted.
• When 6 or more players are online, the server posts on Discord so people know there's a game going, at most once every 2 hours. That message wasn't actually being sent before. It works now.

Bug fixes

• If a banned player made a new account on the same PC, they got kicked. That also caught innocent players whose PC ID is shared with other people (some Linux and Mac setups). It doesn't do that anymore.
• When a temporary ban ran out, the account was always set to approved, even if it wasn't before the ban. It goes back to how it was now.
• Ban appeal messages and the event stats link pointed to the wrong website address. That's fixed.

If you notice anything broken, let staff know.

Mostly a bug fix update this time. Here's what changed:

Bug fixes

• Command cooldowns are now per player. Before, if one person used /stats, everyone else got the "You must wait" message too.
• Keybinds 1/2/3 also have their own cooldown for each player now.
• Base settings made with /updatebase (WG, immunity, custom time, special weapon, HP and so on) no longer reset when the server restarts.
• Bans with an apostrophe in the reason (like "don't spawnkill") weren't being saved. That works now for all bans, in game and from Discord.
• Playtime was being counted way too high. It counts properly now, old totals stay as they are.
• Distance to base, kill distance and K/D were slightly off. They show the right numbers now.
• The headshot sound was playing on vehicle hits instead of headshots.
• Evade alerts for alt-tab and /q were missing most cases. They work properly now.
• /put now actually blocks you when an enemy is close.
• Admin spectate turns off at the end of the round.
• If you voted in a vote-kick or vote-end, you can vote again in the next one.
• Changing your base vote now moves it properly.
• Rounds on bases without a checkpoint could crash at the end, which also stopped teams from swapping. That's sorted.
• Some players' stats weren't being saved when the server restarted. They are now.
• In rare cases a kick or name reset could hit the wrong player. That can't happen anymore.

Discord

• Messages between the server and Discord don't get lost anymore.
• Staff with extra roles (like Nitro Booster) can use staff commands again.

Other changes

• Less lag at the end of a round. Stats are now saved a few players at a time instead of all at once.
• Picking sets, weapons and extras from the menu follows the same rules as /set and /wep now.
• Admin commands that don't have a level set now need level 2.
• If a banned player makes a new account on the same PC, they get kicked. Staff also get a notice when someone joins from the same IP as a banned player.
• Some security improvements.

Added on 3 October

• /stats now also shows your kills, deaths and K/D for this week and this month. Monthly numbers start from today.
• K/D shows two decimals again (like 1.47) instead of a rounded number.
• At the start of every month the top 5 killers of the month get posted on Discord, like the weekly ones. The first one goes out on 1 November.
• When 6 or more players are online, the server posts it on Discord so people know there's a game going. At most once every 2 hours.
• Kills from players who were still online when the day changed over at night weren't counted in the weekly top killers. They are now.

If you notice anything broken, let staff know.

Improved: mute system - every mute is now 15 seconds long. The more times you spam, the more +15 seconds get added to every mute.

Smuggler Yacht is now Smuggler Island

New: mute immunity - Admins can now immune players from mute. (Donators get mute immunity by default)

New: random join messages - Added new random join messages.

New: country and join message customisation - Added ability to hide country or use a custom country name (can only be set by admin). Also, custom join messages can be used. Donators can get them by default.

Improved: GUI and Sync

New: 25 new brawls - Added 25 new brawls. Details under:

New: Team HUD - a new overlay at the top centre of the screen during rounds:

• Red and Blue round scores on either side of the base timer
• Attack / Defend tag for each team
• Alive counter with pips showing how many players each team has left
• In the last 30 seconds the timer turns orange
• When a round ends the HUD stays on screen for 10 seconds: the winning team's name replaces the timer and their score glows, while the timer, alive counts and side tags hold their final values
• Hidden in the lobby

New: Base name bar - the base name now shows in a bar at the bottom centre of the screen when a round starts, with the base number and mode (Attack & Defend, or Brawl for brawl bases). The old base text that overlapped the screen has been removed.

New: Capture bar - while someone captures the checkpoint, a bar appears under the timer showing who is capturing and how far along they are. It replaces the yellow countdown that used to show at the bottom right.

New: Kill feed - the last four kills now show at the top right, under the game's own health and weapon display. Killer and victim are in their team colours, with the weapon in between, and an orange edge marks a headshot.

New: Round summary - when a round ends, a panel under the win display shows the base, the top player with their kill count, first blood and last blood. It stays for the same 10 seconds as the win display.

Changed: old bottom-of-screen texts removed - the text at the bottom left that showed your side (attacking / defending) with the timer, the round timer at the bottom right, and the yellow 20-second capture countdown are gone. It is all in the Team HUD and the new capture bar now.

Improved: chat anti-spam

• Muting is now based on how many messages you send in a short time, so normal chatting no longer gets muted by mistake, while fast spam is stopped
• The message that triggers a mute is no longer sent
• Repeat offenders get longer mutes: 30 seconds, then 2 minutes, then 5 minutes (this resets after an hour without spamming)
• Team chat, /me, /dc and private messages count too
• Repeating the same message is blocked, even with different capitals, spaces or punctuation
• Colour codes in chat messages are removed, and messages written mostly in capitals are shown in lower case

Improved: base voting, sets and spectating

• The base vote skips bases played in the last rounds and always offers three different bases
• In big lobbies (10 or more players) the vote offers regular bases instead of brawl bases
• The last base and the third vote option could never be picked before - now they can
• /setlist now lists what each set really gives you
• Spectating remembers who you watched last and goes back to them

Fixed

• Backspace error in vehicles created by admins during the game
• /startbase random could pick an empty base, and some base numbers were not checked
• Rounds ended by an admin were logged as "vote end"
• Errors in /keybind, /go and /teaminfo (which also crashed when a team was empty)

Images are design previews of the new overlays.

• Shotgun has been reset to default with an attempt to fix sync.
• Certain Brawls have been replaced with new A/D bases
• A/D base times now scale up/down according to current players ingame. It may start at as low as 2 minutes to 6 minutes, normally, and 8 mins for 10 or more players. This may affect immunity during start of round.
• All Sets except Set 6 (RPG) are now enabled in Brawls
• Top Killers have been reset for all bases once again
• GUI Base Voting is now more dynamic

List of Currently Available Brawls:

BRAWLS

Changelog 1.5

• Fixed Referees being able to attack and obtain weapons
  
• RPG has been disabled for all brawl bases.
  
• Added a new Brawl ( Castle Brawl ) and a new A/D base named House of Dragons.
  
• Fixed CP in all brawl bases.
  
• Fixed /wep and /set commands
  
• Sets 1, 3, 5, and 8 ( Molotov, Flamethrower, Grenades, Remote Detonator, Teargas ) have been disabled for closed brawls.
  
• Added 2 new attacker spawns.
  
• Fixed the bug which caused 2 yellow blips on the map.
  
• RPG close range is now 25m instead of 20m.
  
• Improvements have been made to RPG close range system. Now even if a player flies towards you upon hitting RPG, you won't be warned for CR. Additionally, if a player jumps back when shooting an RPG, it will still count as CR by script.
  
• Improved HP Addon System. HP pickups won't spawn in Brawls and you will receive HP addon automatically.
  
• HP pickups can now only be taken by players of opponent team (if red is killed, only blues can take his HP addon)
  
• Reduced the number of vehicles from all 4 attacker spawns. Only required/needed vehicles are available now.
  
• All brawl bases have now a default timer of 3 mins
  
• Bugged Maps/Brawls have been replaced and fixed.
  

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