The new TPU Challenges page is up! You can find it in the 'TPU Stuff' section in the left sidebar. There's a direct link below.

The first challenge has also been posted: it's the =kink= Battle of Britain flying challenge. There's a map, rules and a scoreboard where your name will be listed when you master the challenge.

NOTE: the scoreboard is starting out blank, which means that any previous challenge completions have been wiped out. That way everyone starts on an even footing. Good luck!

http://jdrgaming.com/geeklog/staticpa...challenges

Sisko's latest video is now available for viewing. You'll find it in the Files and links section, or you can use the quick link below.

The new video is a promotion for TPU, and it's epic. There's gameplay footage from several different maps, showing plenty of action. The new chessboard on Dark Ryda's Race Track map is also shown.

Warning: this is a long video. Due to upload bandwidth constraints of TPU's Internet provider, it will take a while to download no matter how fast your connection is.

Thanks, Sisko!

http://jrc-core.com/files/TPU_PROMO4_by_Sisko.m4v

Both servers were down this morning for about 20 minutes while the power meter was replaced. The outage should have only been for a couple of minutes, but there was a problem with the router that took a few additional minutes to sort out. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The map El Alamein Brit has been removed from the DCX map rotation since it was causing server crashes.

TPU's stats have been reset for the new year. I kept a copy of the 2011 stats, which you can still see by clicking the '2011' link next to the main 'Statistics' link in the left sidebar. Stats from before 2011 are also still available; click the '2010' link to see them.

Sisko was the king of 2011 by a wide margin. Congratulations! Can anyone unseat him in 2012?

Update: Stats review for 2011

Top points using TPU rating algorithm:
Sisko: 22,426.25 points

Top score (BF1942 score):
Sisko: 285,050

Top score per round average (played at least 20 rounds):
Tenacious: 88.7491 per round

Top Kill/Death ratio (played at least 20 rounds)
Sisko: 17.1263 kills per death

Top Team Killer:
Tenacious: 2343 kills

It's a new year, so that means I'm busy doing some yearly maintenance. I'm hoping to roll over the stats later today. This morning I went through the laborious task of resetting every event in TPU's BFSM scheduler. This must be done every year or the scheduler stops working entirely. Let me know if you notice any apparent scheduler problems.

By popular demand, TPU is now running DC Extended (DCX) instead of DC Final on Tuesdays.

The TPU Battlefield 2 server is now running the Allied Intent eXtended (AIX2) mod instead of the Hard Justice mod.

Hard Justice is awesome, but it doesn't look like there will ever be an update to fix all the issues caused by the Battlefield 2 1.5 update. So I'll be evaluating AIX2 over the coming days. If I'm happy with AIX2, I'll leave it running on the server; otherwise I'll switch back to HJ and work on fixing the bugs. So far AIX2 looks very polished, and it has some very cool exotic weapons, including a handheld minigun.

You'll need to install the AIX2 client files in order to join the server. You can download the files from the 'Files and links' page (link in left sidebar).

The server IP address hasn't changed; it's still 174.6.225.213 (same as the main TPU server). But the server name has changed slightly; it's now [TPU]BF_1.5_AIX2_Coop.

I just discovered there is a debug version of BF1942. So I created a page that describes how to install and use it, which you can find in the "Files and links" section. There's also a direct link below.

Basically, the debugger generates a log during map load and subsequent gameplay, describing any problems with missing resources and various other problems. You map modders out there should seriously take a look at this thing - I know I will.

On the new page, there's also a link to an article that describes how WinRFA destroys some of the information in a map when it is used to pack map files. I'll be looking into that to see if maybe we can start showing "the chrome shiny reflections on some weapons & vehicles" on TPU maps. UPDATE: My own recent testing of WinRFA indicates otherwise, so this issue was presumably addressed in an update to WinRFA at some point.

http://jdrgaming.com/geeklog/staticpa...42debugger

UPDATE 2012Jan09: Oops! I left the linked page as a draft, which means you probably couldn't see it if you tried. That has now been fixed.

DarkRyda has been hard at work enhancing the Battle of Britain map (the bf42 one). Some of the changes were requested by other players. Some of them are attempts to reduce lag, which has been a bit of a problem with this map. He also removed some of the jeeps that the bots like to sleep in. Here's the list of changes:

1. Changed the SBD to a Corsair.
2. Changed the B17 (removed) to an Illyushin.
3. Removed some Kettenkrads at the Axis airfield so bots don't drive them in front of planes.
4. Changed the spawn rates for tanks/jeeps/kettenkrads back to default setting.
5. Lowered all spawn rates for all planes to a maximum of 2.
6. Added a couple of AA guns at the Axis base to defend against plane raping.
7. Removed some Jeeps/Kettenkrads.

As always, feedback is encouraged.
Thanks, Ryda!