"We will be performing maintenance on our login servers on Monday, May 12th, 2008 between 8:30 am (EST) and 11:00 am (EST). During this time you may not be able to join online games or may lose connection with online games you are playing. This only affects PC players."

"Hello all,

I wanted to update everyone regarding the status of the 1.1.0 patch. Things have been going well and we have recently started testing internal builds for various territories. This is a significant patch with new features such as the integration of Punkbuster and the newly redesigned server browser so more extensive testing is required. Thanks for being patient and I will update you again next week with our progress.

Thanks,

Joe Halper
Senior Producer
THQ | Kaos Studios"

"Updates to Frontlines: Fuel of War have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Frontlines: Fuel of War

* Fixed a problem with the game when runing on Shader Model 2 hardware"

" This hotfix addresses issues found by users who have the
ATI X800 and X850 (Shader 2) video cards which meet minimum specifications
for Frontlines: Fuel of War.

Note: The recommended graphic options should be set to Low or Very Low."

"We are pleased to announce that we have completed our testing and we are releasing the first version of our dedicated server files today:

http://www.kaosstudios.com/ffow-server

This is a stand-alone dedicated server application for Frontlines: Fuel of War 1.0.2 and will run on Windows XP, Vista, and 2003 Server.

The application will let you host Frontlines servers. The full game, CD key, disc, and registration are not required.

Documentation and other information can be found in the Hosting section of our Wiki:

http://community.kaosstudios.com/wiki/index.php/Hosting

Please note that THQ and Kaos Studios do not provide support for these tools and materials.

For assistance, please visit the PC Tech Issues section of the forums:

http://community.kaosstudios.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105

We have also set up an official thread for feedback and issues at the link below:

http://community.kaosstudios.com/showthread.php?t=8207"

"PC Dedicated Server 1.0.2 Status

First I’d like to let you all know that we are performing final tests on the 1.0.2 dedicated server files. This will be released to the community on Monday, April 7th, 2008.

PC Patch 1.0.3 Information

I also wanted to post some details on what is in current development and testing for the next PC 1.0.3 patch. Our objective is to have these fixes and features sent over to THQ QA’s internal test team in the last week of April and then released soon thereafter.

Please note that items in the list are contingent on the development and testing schedules so some things may be pushed out as we get closer to release. But there is also the possibility of fixes and features getting added which is always a good thing.

Thanks for your continued patience and support!

New Features

*

PunkBuster anti-cheat is being added

New Server Browser

*

Phase 1 of the NEW Server Browser
o

New streamlined design w/easy to use layout
o

Added text filters for the following categories: Server Name, Player Count, Ping, Map Name & Version Number
o

Added server IP display field
o

Added text clan/server company banner support
o

Added ability to Cancel Server Search and will continue to display already pulled servers

Gameplay

*

Players can no longer stick Landmines onto their legs
*

Invert controls for land vehicles has been fixed
*

Players can no longer “fly” or “jump” around levels
*

Turrets will no longer continue firing when squad menu is raised
*

All positions in vehicles now iterates when the vehicle is hit
*

Sentry guns take less damage to destroy.
*

Sentry guns will cause slightly less damage.
*

Grenade launcher damage vs infantry has been reduced.
*

Character Movement Changes
o

Forced pause which prevented the player from moving when recovering from a jump has been removed
o

Player will be prevented from jumping immediately after landing for 0.5 seconds (stops the bouncing bunny syndrome)
o

Multiple fixes should result is much less visible “sliding”, “worming” and “Dolphin” effects from transitioning between crouch to standing, crouch to prone and prone to standing.
o

Sprinting while crouched or prone has been removed
o

Jumping from and to prone should now be impossible
o

A minimum timer has been set in between changing positions. (This will prevent crouch/prone spamming)
o

Character ground speed has been slightly increased, this includes strafe speed
o

Free fall speed has increased for a more realistic feeling

UI

* Key for Exit Vehicle (E) is no longer missing from the control menu
* Scoreboard no longer shows double entries
* Scoreboard no longer shows all entries/columns with Zero points
* Player can now paste text longer then the max characters set for a text box.

Crashes

* Fix for reported ATI X800/X850 user crashes on start up
* Vsync default setting is now turned to off, solving some crashes for lower end cards. (This is the Maximize Framerate option, in the Video- Advanced tab)
* Added NULL check to stop players from inputting illegal characters and crashing the game

Additional “Future” items that are being evaluated

* Additional server browser enhancements
* Leaderboards (ranked/unranked)
* Additional items we will soon provide more information on."

"Summary: The below items are either “Fixed” or added “Features” for our next patch update for Frontlines: Fuel of War. This update is expected at the end of April so it’s coming SOON! We are still testing heavily but it’s looking extremely well.

There might be some small additional fixes not included in the below list. Thanks again for everyone’s support! We just wanted to give you an idea where things are at.

XLSP Dedicated:

• If players cannot enter a server because it is full, they will receive the message “game server is full” rather than “game session no longer available”.
• Custom filters will filter servers based on “minimum players” count rather than maximum, so players can find 32-player and 50-player dedicated servers faster. This also gives you the option to find only “Kaos Dedicated Servers” much easier.
• LSP Consoles are no longer freezing. This causes errors in server status in the custom server browser.
• Custom server browser will retrieve all dedicated server pings.
• Fixed - Incorrect player counts due to player not correctly registering with host player through Xbox live.
• Fixed - Incorrect player counts due to player counting as a negative number on Xbox live.
• Fixed - Incorrect player counts due to player counting as an extra player on Xbox live.

VoIP:

• New Feature! VoIP works with 50 players (previously capped at 32 players).
• New Feature! Push-to-talk squad leader chat channel. Want to chat with same team Squad leaders on your side? Now you can!
• New Feature! Proximity chat that allows you to talk to your teammates within a specific proximity.
• New Feature! Inter-vehicle chat that allows you to talk to your teammates within the same vehicle.

50 Player Maps:

• Enhanced memory usage to allow more variety of 50 player maps. We will provide a list soon of the server’s available for 50 players. Get ready for our biggest MAPS at 50 such as SolarFarm, Oilfield, Gnaw and more!
• Fixed - 50 Player Servers fail to appear in the Search Browser results menu after all clients have exited the server during gameplay.
• Fixed - 50 Player XLSP servers fail to appear in the Search Browser menus unless the LSP Console is restarted and a 32-player server is started on the same server Pod.
• Fixed - Hosted 50 player XLSP servers do not appear in Server browser. Also finding 50 player matches are much easier!

Ranked Servers:

• Fixed - Ranked servers not completing countdown when reaching min player count at times.
• Fixed - Ranked servers not allowing some players to join before match begins in some cases.
• Fixed- some ranked sessions will load players directly to end-of-match scoreboard.

Leaderboards:

• Fixed - Player statistics are missing from the overview Leaderboard when at least 2 open NAT clients quit after a ranked match begins.
• Fixed - Stalemate statistics are missing from the player overview in the Ranked Leaderboards.
• Fixed - Stats fail to be accessible when there is a Stalemate in a Ranked match in the Leaderboards when player uses new profile.
• Fixed – Air Support Time Played to be misrepresented in the Ranked Leaderboards
• Fixed - The stats fail to be recorded when a Ranked match ends by forfeit in the Leaderboards.
• Fixed - The client’s total time played is doubled on the Leaderboards after exiting and re-entering a match in the same round in some instances.
• Fixed - Suicides count as kills in the Leaderboards.

Multiplayer Gameplay:

• New Feature! Spawn Protection: Players will spawn with a few seconds of invulnerability that will end if they perform an action to prevent spawn camping.
• Fixed - Auto Balance The user is unable to switch teams in any listen or XLSP server after hosting a match with Auto Balance on in multiplayer. We also improved the auto balance process.
• Sentry guns take less damage to destroy.
• Sentry guns will cause slightly less damage.
• Grenade launcher damage vs infantry has been slightly reduced.
• Fixed – deploying drone while weapon pie HUD is button mashed leaves a headless soldier.
• Fixed - Vehicles fail to take damage after colliding with explosive barrels, causing them to explode, during MP Gameplay.
• Fixed - Players can fly to top of maps by standing on turrets, while drones fly the turrets into the air.
• Fixed - The Red Star Light Armor Vehicle machinegun fires continuously non-stop when switching from the gunner position while firing.
• Fixed - The host’s controller fails to vibrate while damaged in the gunner seats of transport helicopters and the light armor vehicles in multiplayer matches.
• Fixed: We will now receive vibration reaction from your controller when getting hit when inside a vehicle ( driver or passenger)

Single Player Gameplay:

• Bots that target player from behind cover remain in cover after they empty their clip.

David Schulman
Senior Producer
THQ | Kaos Studios"

"Our intrepid Sound Director and part-time lumberjack Matthew Harwood will be luring an unsuspecting Brian Holinka into his studio for an interview for our upcoming podcast. The interview will focus on the Desert Combat and Trauma Studios days and we'd like to include your questions as part of the feature.

Brian's bio follows and please reply to this post with any questions, again, related to Desert Combat and Trauma Studios... Thanks!

Brian currently works as Lead Technical Designer on Frontlines: Fuel of War. A part-time programmer, part-time designer, he's had his hand in many parts of the game but focused on vehicle programming and design. He began his career in the videogame industry working on the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942 while a lieutenant in the US Air Force. He only flew desks in the Air Force however, and transferred into the reserves to move to New York City to work with Trauma Studios. He's been in New York making cool things blow-up ever since. He continues to struggle with a strong soda addiction to this day."