So report in Freshmeat! Now’s the time you choose your arsenal and get ready for battle

Quote by DysPatch, Development Lead

Below are some images from the game.

Demonstrations of some of the awesome weapons from in game.

All images and video remain the property of their respective creators and owners firearms-source.com

You can download the client files from the following links.

Firearms source client EXE

Firearms source client ZIP

Team Fortress 2

- Added a Parasite hat to celebrate the release of Alien Swarm (http://www.alienswarm.com/)

- Fixed a client crash when opening the backpack while running in a language other than English.

- Fixed not being able to pick-up buildings in Arena mode.

- Fixed an exploit that allowed team kills with Wrangled sentries.

- Fixed a bug where teleporters could be given more than their normal amount of health.

- Fixed old demos with different data tables thinking the SourceTV player entity was burning.

- TF Bot Changes

- Improved performance of bot computations that are done when a point is captured, a round starts, or a checkpoint reached.

- Fixed Engineer bot infinite build-destroy behavior loop regression

- Fixed Medic bots losing their charge if they touch a resupply cabinet

- Fixed a crash due to having multiple types of bot systems running in-game simultaneously

- Fixed bot behavior issue resulting in bot pile-ups near level 3 teleporter entrances

- Bots no longer consider sapped sentries a dangerous threat

- Bots will not try to navigate through enemy spawn rooms (unless they have won the round)

- Bot Engineers will avoid building teleporters on steep slopes which can hinder teammate movement

- Added tf_bot_pyro_always_reflect cvar. Set to 1 to make Pyro bots always reflect projectiles, regardless of difficulty level.

Jason

GameUI
- Fixed the desktop resolution not appearing in the list of valid resolutions when using windowed-mode.

Server Browser
- Fixed a crash caused by leaving the server browser open while playing.

Engine
- Added client/server version check on client connect.
- Fixed a crash caused by hitting ctrl-alt-del while playing.

Counter-Strike: Source Beta
- Added sv_disablefreezecam cvar to turn off the freezecam on a server.
- Added sv_nonemesis cvar to turn off domination/revenge on a server.
- Added sv_nomvp cvar to turn off MVP stars on a server.
- Added sv_nostats cvar to turn off stats on a server.
- Added avatar images to the scoreboards.
- Added stats report to scoreboard to show whether a server has stats enabled or not.
- Fixed achievement tab so it now updates at the time you earn an achievement.
- Fixed bug causing achievements to be listed as earned in July 2009.
- Fixed issue where you couldn’t chat during intermission.
- Fixed player stutter while moving in water.
- Fixed player stutter when running into other players.
- Fixed issue that caused footsteps to play when walking.
- Fixed miscellaneous consistency, spelling and grammatical errors in the string tables.
- Fixed grenade velocity problems.
- Updated a few audio effects.
- Updated scoreboard
- Changed layout to make it more readable.
- Changed scoreboard opacity to make the action behind it more readable.
- Supports Unicode and lowercase letters.
- Grayed out the names of dead players.

Team Fortress 2
- Added community submitted deathnotice icons for the community submitted weapons.
- Changed the deathnotice text color to use black instead of white when the local player is involved.
- Fixed domination/revenge messages not using team colors for the player names.
- Fixed an issue where sequences with an activity weight of 0 never get selected.
- Updated Koth_Nucleus:
- Changed side spawn exits to prevent sniping from inside the spawn door.
- Fixed graphical glitch on platform floor.
- Fixed blue-colored models in RED area.
- Updated Tc_Hydro:
- Added respawn time advantages when a team begins to cap any point.
- Resets when the cap progress resets.
- Fixed various nobuild and playerclip issues reported by the community.
- Removed logic that reduced spawn times based on roundtime.

And then, at the beginning of May, Killing Floor stumbled along. Killing Floor, The budget priced pretender, perhaps even usurper to the zombie-style gameserver crown.

And while Killing Floor didn’t perhaps have the polish round the edges that Left 4 Dead did (and a multi-million dollar budget to suit), it’s certainly sent shockwaves in the direct of Valve, rich from the successes of a game many considered to the best of 2008.

Going head to head, Killing Floor is pretty much akin to Left 4 Dead, in the newly formed versus mode. Wave after wave of Zombies, with achivements for simply staying alive. Left 4 Dead certainly has the depth and longeitivity of an impressive release; but there’s just something about Killing Floor, and a reason why I’m playing on my Killing Floor server at the weekends, and not on my permanently full Left 4 Dead game servers.

Killing floor servers- the bad bits

• Some have likened the game to an old version of Quake (wrong really, because its based on the UT2004 / RO:OS engine). Overall, I feel this is a little harsh. The graphics aren’t the best, but in-game, and through the menus, they do reflect their price tag.
• Bugs, and more bugs. While the development team appear to be frantically ironing out problems, glitches in the server browser and in-game (Stalkers getting stuck, and being invisible to find!) haven’t helped the mixed reviews.
• Although I’ve not found myself too bored yet (gaming hours are testament to this), I do wonder how long it’ll be before I and the community grow bored of the same old game play (although it’s said new gametypes will be introduced over time).

It’s fair perhaps to say in reflection, the ‘weaknesses’ in Killing Floor, aren’t plenty, but they are glaring in places.

Left 4 Dead game servers- the sucky

• Fans of the game will wonder why L4D2 is being touted for release in November. Still no proper SDK support, so you can automatically download custom maps. And thus a real lack of support for custom map, bar through plugins such as Sourcemod. They really should have sorted that out before plotting the sale of the sequel.
• The scare factor. My hypothesis is that Left 4 Dead is more ‘cartooney’ to appeal to a younger market. It’s ok to headshot zombies if they look like they are out of a comic book. But with this, Left 4 Dead just isn’t as scary as Killing Floor, which looks far more raw, and despite the inferior graphics, more real.
• In light of the above flaw in Killing Floor, perhaps not a fair observation. But for the extra money we paid for this game, the campaigns seems a little on the light side. I can’t be the only one that was expecting more gameplay for my £?

Killing Floor- the juicy

• The Max Payne style slow-mos are fantastic. Particularly when you have a fully loaded pistol. Nothing more satisfying than blowing Zombie brains to pieces, with extreme precision.
• Map support. Where Left 4 Dead fails in this department, full custom map support has been met enthusiasm from the gaming community. More customisation = more longevity.
• The crappy characters. The cockney cries of “Money, money money”. And “Stand still, I’m not trying to shag you”. While others might point to this being another unpolished part of the game. It’s a light relief from being attacked by a half-human arachnid.

Left 4 Dead – why its a Zombie classic

• Wide choice of gameplay. Campaign, versus and survival give way more scope and variation that Killing Floor just doesn’t.
• While Killing Floor seems more of a shooting frenzy, Left 4 Dead is far more tactical and offers a superior sophistication of coop. You can’t afford to run off Rambo-style on this game. You’ll get eaten.
• It would be unfair to criticise the cartoony style characters on Left 4 Dead, without complimenting the smooth and aesthetically pleasing environment the source engine gives you with Left 4 Dead. The levels are polished, and the bugs and glitches are fewer.

Shall I buy a Left 4 Dead server or Killing Floor game server?

The obvious answer is both, because What Left 4 Dead servers offer, Killing Floor gameservers make up. And vice versa.

If you were to pick one, the big deciding factor as always is the price. Killing Floor costing a tad over £10, which is excellent value for money.

In conclusion, I might upset a few by suggesting Killing Floor a marginal winner. And I base this decision on Left 4 Dead seemingly making way for Left 4 Dead 2 in November. And the fact that Killing Floor has only just started with the more open customisation base.

But really, if you like your Zombie Games, I’d definitely be owning a copy of both

Those customers that hadn’t heard of us took some convicing we weren’t like some unscrupulous gameserver hosts. Sad really, that after nearly 6 years in business.

The BBC would have a field day. Never mind Rogue Traders. How about Rogue Gameserver Hosts? Unfortunately there are too many!

So even if you don’t rent your gameservers with INX, and you look for another host, I hope these five things to check that will help you avoid being scammed.

1. How long has the host been in business?

Don’t get me wrong, there are many gameserver companies that have only been around for years that are far worse than those only 6 months. However, with a game server company that hasn’t been around long, you’ll struggle to find reviews, so it’s very difficult to know just how good they are. Also, consider a large percentage of businesses fail in the first 6 months. Everyone starts a game server provider believing they will be the next big thing. They’ll offer MSN support and their personal mobile. Wow! But it’s not scaleable. One person cannot continue to look after gameservers if the company is to grow. We’ve always seen it as the biggest failing point for any gameserver host.

2. How easy is it to contact the server host?

We believe any company whether it be game server host or Florist, should be easily contactable. And they should state clearly, their opening hours. That’s what we do. We’re honest about it. And at the time of writing we don’t offer 24/7 support, so we don’t lie about it. Beware, lots do. A host that gives you his / her msn sounds fantastic. But what if he / she is taken ill.

Can you see an address to write to on their website? Any company failing to list an address is breaking distance selling regulations. It seems to be the norm, rather than the exception new hosts do this. Do you really trust a company that breaks such clear trading rules?

3. What’s their Eglish loike?

Ho ho

Seriously, can you trust a gameserver host to look after your clan / communities servers, if there are hordes of spelling mistakes on their front page? It doesn’t take five minutes to spell-check a page. Loads of grammatical and spelling errors, for me, suggest someone that can’t be bothered. How bothered will they be when your servers are down through no fault of your own?

4. Who’s shizzle are they reselling?

I’ve written about this on our about page. No doubt some gameserver hosters are going to be calling me a range of colourful names ranging from dispstick to…er…can’t print that on here

No doubt they won’t agree with me, because they are resellers of resellers of resellers.

Check the about page for a full explanation. But in short, too many middle men, nothing gets done. A simple server reboot can take take days. Do you really want to wait that long?

5. Have they got a clue?

My next blog post will be on how easy it is to setup a game server provider. It’s very easy.

But doing it right, is another thing. I could setup a Chiropodist clinic if I wanted.

I’d get Daddy to give me a loan, I’d get myself a shop…buy all my equipment and wait for the customers to flock in. Ok, without thinking about marketing and advertising I’d not get many customers. But before long, there would be one mug walk in.

Eesha, INX company secretary calls me Propellar Arms. It’s not because I can fly. I believe it’s a lovely reference to my nimble hands. So trust me, you would not want me near your feet with a razor blade.

Similarly with game server companies, it’s so easy to setup. But when it comes to knowing the games, the operating system, the mods. It’s not something you can buy. It’s taken us 5 years + to get where we are knowledge wise.

While what I’ve written is perhaps lighthearted, it should be taken seriously.

When one big name GSP went bust last summer, so many customers were left hundreds, even thousands of pounds out of pocket. With no refunds. Clans died as a result.

I hope my modest nuggets of game server hosting wisdom help you avoid being ripped off.

- Olly

We’re putting together a free map repository system, in the lead up to the release of the Download Core 4. Any Call of Duty 4 server customer can get free hosting for their maps by contacting support

The whole fast download thing with Call of Duty is a quite a pain in the arse, so why not move your COD 4 server over to INX so we can take the hassle out for you?

Just a very quick note to let you know we’ve added a new game to the panel – Hidden Source: Beta. Hidden Source originally was based on the old hlds engine, but has been ported onto the source engine as of late. It’s a fantastic indie game, and well worth checking out. Existing customers can install Hidden Source via our game server control panel, or if you prefer, you can rent a Hidden Source server.

Call of Duty 4 has even by its own expectations, taken everyone by surprise, let us not forget Team Fortress 2. Such a fantastic game, and amongst COD4, a game I’m thoroughly addicted to. You can buy a Team Fortress 2 game server by clicking the link!

Best of wishes for 2008!

- inx|Olly

Hail the conquering hero!

No longer is COD4 point and click monkey only!

Call of Duty 4 has finally been patched to work on Linux. As such INX-Gaming are now offering Call of Duty 4 game servers with instant setup!

Right now I am distributing this to all our servers, and our backend.

All customers should hopefully within the next few hours be able to switch to COD4 via the control panel.

For news and updates, please keep an eye on this forum thread.

Call of Duty 4 is fantastic. However, it’s in danger of going the same way as Insurgency…ETQW. Those other games that had that potential to live up to something great.

And my gripe in the case of COD4….No sodding linux server files, again.

Did the COD boys not learn from their former ties with Medal of Honour? The Medal of Honour Airbourne farce is covered in such great detail across the net, it really needs no introduction. For those in the dark, picture a recurring nightmare for Linux game server providers.

• Game X gets hyped up beyond belief, pre-release. Wow @ those screenies. OMFG @ those trailors. We cannot wait. I am busting a nut with excitement (really).
• Game X released. It’s as good as the previews suggest! Wahey!
• Erm. WTF. Server files? Linux server files?
• Game dies a death.

IMO, and let it be known in my very humble opinion, games make or break in the first week. It’s that first week the rush of people playing online, and hooked, begins.

What is continously letting publisher (shareholder) profits down is:

• Shoddy initial server files
• WINDOWS only server files

For crying out loud. We don’t all rent Windows licenses, slap on a copy of <insert well known popular windows control panel, which GSP brands as GSP-Name-Panel and passes off as their own>, and pass ourselves off as game server gurus.

Some of us love understanding how things work.

We adore the open source.

We <3 performance.

We aren’t point and click-monkies.

Some of us don’t particularly want to use Windows. Give us a command line any day.

An awful lot of us don’t want to host Windows, we want Linux.

Which, BTW is why COD 4 servers aren’t listed on the website yet.

So now, you know why

- inx|Olly

The first game we’ve added is Warsow. Not exactly new, no. Take a look at our Warsow game servers page for some more detailed info on the game itself. We were asked to test this by a customer and it seems to run fine. Very popular it seems for competitions and the likes.

The second game we’ve added is the appetite wetting Team Fortress forever. We’ve added a FF gaming servers page for it, naturally. I’m not sure how Fortress Forever is going to take off, given Team Fortress 2 is out very shortly. Not the best timing, but hey, it’s free. Switchable on the panel, so why not give it a go this weekend?

I’m currently suffering with the flu, so I am going to go and die in the corner with some lemsip and Bioshock on my 360.

Olly