TPU (Tanks n Planes Unlimited)

Yesterday afternoon (June 21), from about 4pm to 8pm PST, TPU's connection to the Internet was apparently down. This morning it became clear that the building's WAN connection is going up and down sporadically.

I have started the troubleshooting process and will most likely need to call in Shaw again. You may or may not be able to play on TPU, and even if you are able to connect, your connection may drop for no reason.

I'll keep you posted. Sorry for the inconvenience.

DarkRyda has started going through the BG42 maps, bumping up the tank and plane spawns, TPU-style. The first batch is now on TPU:
Iwo Jima
3712-fall_of_nanking
4212-tebourba_breakthrough
4212-tigers_at_tebourba

Check out the changes on Sunday or Monday.

You can now check to see how the TPU server (Hubie) is performing on the new TPU Monitor page. It shows CPU, memory and network usage over the last 24 hours. If there are any more metrics you would like to see there, let me know.

Update: The monitor is finally working. You should be able to see four graphs showing Hubie's performance. Let me know if you can't.

This morning at about 1:55am PST, the IP for TPU changed again. Presumably this is related to the ongoing changes being made by Shaw. I re-added TPU on GameTracker with the new IP but of course that means all the GameTracker stats and ranking info will start again at zero. I put in a request on the GameTracker forums that they add a feature for changing a server's IP. The in-game server browser should show TPU at its new IP by the time you read this; if not, click the UPDATE button. If you have TPU listed as a Favorite, check the IP to make sure it's correct.

Old IP: 174.6.242.193
New IP: 174.6.225.213

Sorry for any inconvenience.

DarkRyda and TenaciousMojo have given the Eagle's Nest map their special touch.

New things: Natters, jetpacks, Tigers, M10s, Mustangs and BF109s.

The Natters are in about the only places they will work; there are four Natter spawning locations: three are in the middle of the map, but one is actually inside the Eagles Nest home. There is a jetpack or two in all open buildings, and they respawn like the tanks and planes, so everyone gets a pack now. There's only one location for the plane though; the Allies have the only flat area to take off from so if you want a BF109 you're going to have to take that base first. They also changed/moved/added new tanks all over the map, and at all flags. There are now some Tigers and M10s to play with. Tank spawns were added to that repair depot that is never used; bots will use it if a human is in there with a tank.

The fences at the Axis base were lowered so that the Natter can fly out of the compound. The fences are still there, but underground. So the map should still be 'pure'.

Yesterday the BG42 map '4412 Ghost front' caused the dedicated BF1942 server software on the TPU server to go into a restart loop. I have removed it from the BG42 map list.

While the TPU server hardware, software and configuration are administered by me (Jeff Rivett, aka Boot13), administration of actual gameplay is ably provided by several other people as well. These people are volunteers, but they are also TPU's biggest fans and contributors (both financially and in terms of modding work). So I thought it was about time to give credit where it's due. (From the home page, click 'read more' for all the details.)

I've posted a new topic in the (new) TPU forums about the idea of 'wildcard' days on TPU. What are your thoughts on this idea? Go to the new forums and jump into the conversation.

The new router is active. Unfortunately, there was no obvious way to prevent getting a new WAN IP, which means the IP for TPU has changed:
New IP: 174.6.242.193
Old IP: 174.6.224.147

It will take a while for the Gamespy servers to update, but you should be able to join via the new address, or using XFire if you update it.

Please drop me a line if you notice anything different or any problems.

UPDATE: The TPU stats were not updated for the last couple of days - since the new router was installed. That problem has been resolved, and the stats should now be up to date. During the outage, stats were still collected, so you shouldn't end up losing credit for anything.

UPDATE: According to the admins, TPU is now once again appearing on the in-game server browser list. If anyone out there is finding this not to be the case, please let me know.

Name something about BF42 that's better than BG42.

1. Not everyone has BG42. But that's easily remedied.
2. Most of the BG42 maps haven't been tweaked for TPU. That's annoying. I hate waiting for planes and tanks.
3. Update: BG42 has higher hardware requirements, so some people who can run BF42 have trouble running BG42. That's a problem.

That's all I can think of.

Take a look at one of the BG42 maps that has been tweaked for TPU: Midway. Is the BF42 version better in any way? I don't think so.

BG42 has a much larger variety of units. All the sound is better. The visuals are better. Flamethrower tanks. More maps. All of the BF42 original maps are included, and the BG42 versions are better. Units vary more: the Tiger is much slower than the PzIV, for example. Weapon damage is more realistic: if you shoot someone on the head, they die. This increases the difficulty, but if you're an experienced player, you can deal with it. You can always see what vehicle you're in. The map names all start with the year and month, so if you play them in order, you move forward in time. Artillery and other emplacements can be rotated. Vehicle kills are more believable. Did I mention variety? There are more types of weapons, and they vary more noticeably, in terms of their effect and effectiveness as well as the way they sound. The list goes on...

Can you add anything to this list?

Because I'm starting to think that we should:

1. Tweak all the BG42 maps for TPU.
2. Bug all TPU players to install BG42.
3. Switch the TPU server to BG42 (with the TPU-modded maps) 24x7.

What do you think?

UPDATE: As you can see from the comments, several of the TPU faithful have chimed in - thanks, guys! I won't be increasing the amount of BG42 on TPU any time soon.