DoWpro:SS 3.57 is LIVE!!!!
DL HERE!!!!
To install:
- Have SS 1.2 installed
- Any prior DoWpro installations will be overwritten**Note that 3.57 has been released with only Russian and English translation updates compared to 3.55. This means that ~10 lines will not be in Italian/French/German/Spanish etc and will be in English instead. I decided to rush 3.57 for testing and to have a clean installer. Future updates will contain these languages fully updated**
SSpro 3.55 --> SSpro 3.57.......a languid but steady path to improvement
There's been much upheaval in my life certainly since the release of 3.55. Finishing university, going on overseas trips, starting work and traveling widely across the Australian outback as part of that (Crazy Kanga you might say). The reality is that DoWpro development has lagged behind somewhat and I haven't been able to give the community its normal degree of attentiveness.
However, DoWpro is as ever by baby and I cannot leave it neglected for long - especially in a half-finished state like the 3.56 attrib release. Thus I've slaved heartily over 3.57 with particular attention to DE and Tau. Additionally, the Autowiki has been updated with numerous fixes including the most interesting feature - Dark Eldar!
3.57 is solidly based on community feedback. The existing races don't have that many changes excluding perhaps Orks (Cheaper banners and earlier Mek shop), Tau (Skyray got some love, Stealthsuit/Vespid path now much less Kauyon/Mont'ka dependent) and of course Dark Eldar (Huge sweeping changes - lots and lots of polish). The key global change was to allow turrets to be built near enemy HQ's again - this was done as per community request.
The community verdict of 3.56 is that by and large the main races were playing pretty well and thus Dark Eldar, Tau and Orks got particular attention. In addressing those races and also releasing a nice clean full installer I hope to attract more players into the community so we can see a bit more activity in #dowpro.
3.57 will need future updates. Dark Eldar will not be perfect - hopefully they'll be a significant improvement on previous iterations but will require ongoing tweaking. Tau and Orks will need more review and of course Eldar remains the most fiddly race out there balance wise. 3.57 represents a refreshing new start for DoWpro in 2010 having built on the excellent foundation of the 3.55 release. With many players not really at home with Starcraft 2 I hope that 3.57 will offer the RTS community a fun alternative.
In the interest of reviewing DoWpro's progress over the last few years I'll reiterate some of what I said in the 3.55 release.
We're all aware of the dramatic and long design process of DCpro. DCpro 3.41 was released Oct 2008 and was a pretty exciting release marking the end of a slew of updates on the original DCpro 3.0 public release. Whilst Soulstorm had already been released for months the DoWpro team had made a crucial decision: to not move onto SSpro until DCpro had really been perfected. It took a long time but we eventually got there.
However, our work was far from over with 3.54. Ultimately DoWpro is about delivering the best possible gaming experience and I certainly felt that 3.54 could offer more. 3.55 was the culmination of a 9mth journey to deliver a superior gaming experience. SSpro 3.54 was released on the 18th of February 2009 and represented the culmination of months of intense redesigning, balancing and feature expansion that took DCpro to a new level - improved gameplay and balance, more races and Soulstorm compatibility. 3.55 builds on this and delivers playable races with comprehensive updates, revisions and tweaking on 3.54; updated visuals; additional loading screens and sounds; and much more. 3.55's key focus has been gameplay - and I expect that most players will appreciate the revisions over 3.54 that offer superior tempo, depth and fun.
SSpro has built on the mindset we developed when making DCpro and further increases the tempo and dynamic nature of the gameplay. Re-desiged elements of racial tech trees to better round the races and improve their progression once again feature in this release of SSpro. In 3.55 every single unit, ability, research and structure of every race has been individually groomed to give you guys the polished DoWpro experience you've become accustomed to.
3.55 does feature a build of the amazing Dawn of Skirmish AI mod - however, it may not be functioning as well as it could as I keep making changes which outdates the AI's code. This is my fault and is in no way due to the AI mod - hopefully we'll be able to get it updated in the future to ensure maximal AI performance. I hope that 3.55 represents the start of a less turbulent time with regards to tech tree changes. This will mean that coding for the AI will not need as much revision from patch to patch which will make AI coding a much more manageable task than it has been over the last 9mths. We've been very lucky to have LarkinVB again assist with AI coding and hopefully, with less dramatic tech tree changes in the future, we'll have a chance of getting more regular AI updates.
DE has undergone repeated updates and will continue to do so. Polishing a race to DoWpro quality takes time and DE is certainly getting there - with player input we hope to continue to improve DE even more. Luckily due to the hard work of Nicodemus DE are already a great race and with great community support from the likes of ReaperDudikoff I hope to continue to see them improve.
SoB is currently disabled as a playable race in 3.55 (and 3.57). Due to time constraints in RL I have not been able to devote myself to getting them to the quality I'd expect of a DoWpro race and have decided to postpone their development for the time being. SoB development may be restarted in the future - particularly if someone is able to take over the design and coding work for them. Until this happens SoB will not be included in DoWpro - our focus remains on preserving great gameplay and having SoB in an unfinished state drags down the quality of the mod as a whole.
Finally, We've managed to add several new gameplay elements and models courtesy of the excellent models from the Fires over Kronos mod team. Many thx to these guys!! Their models are exceptional and add greatly to DoWpro.
3.57 retains the great features of the 3.55 installer.....and goes further to add even more features in the 3.57 installer:
- As per 3.55, a fully configured IRC client is bundled to allow maximum ease of reaching the DoWpro community IRC channel
- A fully functional AutoWiki created by the amazing Nicodemus. "AutoWiki ?? :o" you say - we've managed to provide for you a COMPLETE stats dump of DoWpro that's fully up to date with the final version listing every single important stat you could think of of any unit/building/research/ability/weapon in the game. Access to it is delivered from a shortcut on your desktop. Dark Eldar is now added into the AutoWiki!.
- We've provided a full compliment of manuals AND mp3's detailing each race of DoWpro along with some general overviews of various changes to help ease the learning curve for new players.
- Advanced new visuals to make playing DoWpro even shinier but also more intuitive with additional Fx's to represent in-game effects.
- Expanded map choices with revamped pro versions of the originals!
- A "Logo-less" option for those who don't want the "DoWpro" opaque logo visible in game
- A significant update on the extra sounds bundled with DoWpro...you should HEAR the difference! Many thanks to Hollow for his hard work here
- All new in game loading screens and updates to the old tech tree's using Krix's great loading screens!
- Updated and greatly expanded version of Yao's AutoSaveReplay Tool featuring greatly expanded features like APM graphs, build queue timelines and chatlogs!
- Updated and expanded Translations (particularly Russian). Again many thanks to Hollow for coordinating this.
- Several additional units and many Heavy Weapon options on existing units that are not found in the original game
DoWpro provides not only a unique host of great features but also its trademark gameplay and balance. DoWpro 3.57 is another step up on what you've seen from the DoWpro Team before on every level. More Features. Better gameplay. Superior Balance....and two new races to play with!
SSpro 3.57 is the premiere DoWpro experience. If you haven't tried DoWpro before or haven't tried it in the last few weeks you're missing out. SSpro is not DCpro - it's an evolution of DCpro with many many enhancements beyond just a new race. You should see it for yourself.
As a sneak preview of what to expect I suggest you check out some of the amazing tech trees produced by Krix!
- Chaos
- Imperial Guard
- Space Marines
- Tau
What is DoWpro???
I'll keep this section somewhat brief in order to keep this release notice from being too epic :p There's a FULL explanation in the manuals and audio guides bundled with the installer - I recommend you check those for a more expansive explanation.
However, DoWpro is a gameplay and balance redesign of DoW:SS. It's a mod project thats been running since April '05 and is widely known throughout the DoW community. The primary goal of DoWpro is to create a deeper, more exciting, balanced and competitive version of DoW. A version where players can truly immerse themselves in their chosen race and explore a multitude of possibilities. Whether you're interested in skirmish against the AI, casual games with friends online or more competitive online play - DoWpro caters for your gaming needs. We try to capture the feel of the 40k universe, bring back some of the key features of DoW vanilla (eg. hard counters, importance of morale), marry it with great gameplay and top it off with super balance and AI. DoWpro aims to cover all the bases.
We've got a very friendly and vibrant community based on IRC (irc.quakenet.org #dowpro) that is readily accessible using the IRC client bundled with DoWpro. We're also based at http://www.dowsanctuary.com where Robo has very kindly hosted a special DoWpro forum and replay section for years on our behalf.
Where to Get Support and Meet Players:
If you have any technical issues, or are just looking for a couple of games. please join us on the IRC chat Channel "#dowpro" on the "quakenet" server , either by using an IRC client such as MIRC, or Chatzilla (a firefox plug in) or by using the bundled client found in the SSpro 3.55 installer. If you want a game, this is the best place to find one. The most popular gaming time is from 10 to 22 GMT.
Please post your problems or any feedback in our forums at http://www.dowsanctuary.com. Note that all our replays are also posted here - be sure to check out upcoming 3.57 replays!
If you are playing SSpro online, I can recommend creating a new Gamespy account with a DoWpro tag, as this will help all of us finding and arranging games. The Eye Of Terror (EoT) is where we usually play, so please do come online or into the IRC and catch a few games with us. IRC is the single best place to try and find games as many players idle there throughout the day.
The X-Fire Cult is also a great means of finding other players for those who don't use IRC. The cult has over 50+ members so far, so sign up now to make it easier to find other DoWpro players.
Finally - SSpro 3.57 and beyond
SSpro 3.57 does not represent the end of DoWpro development - just a new level in maturity and polish. Ideally I'd also hope to offer updates to the Skirmish AI mod. It's been a long time since a full installer and I'll be sure to use 3.57 to iron out any potential issues so that the upcoming Elsewhere Tourney has a truly amazing DoWpro version to play with.
Rest assured that the SSpro experience will be built upon and enhanced over time.
In the mean time please enjoy SSpro. Literally years of work has gone into getting it to this point and all of us on the DoWpro team hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
- Korbah
DoWpro:SS 3.57 Full Version Released
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