Forts News

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In anticipation of the upcoming FPL Season 2 we dedicated our 5th official map making competition to the creation of new 2v2 battlegrounds. Our judges were given the unenviable task of selecting 5 finalists for the livestream out of the 19 entries received. Then after a series of showcase matches featuring the newly promoted Hagelslag Maten a winner was selected. Though not without controversy...

Congratulations to MandalorianJedi, winner of Forts Map Making Contest V! Mt. Fuji 2v2 will be added into the FPL and FAL Season 2 map pool as will Boonies 2v2 from runner-up Mech70 and S. S. S. Skylines from third place winner Flinnshadow. Also making a return is Wingman to bring the total number of maps to 11 and reach parity with the Ranked 1v1 map pool.

The winners also receive Steam Gift cards of $100, $50, and $20 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Flinnshadow has elected to donate their $20 prize to the winner of the upcoming community event EtaNLess 1v1 Tournament 2 brought to you by EtaN.



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[h2]1st Place: MandalorianJedi - Mt. Fuji 2v2[/h2]
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2988818162
Mt Fuji 2v2's most notable feature is also its most controversial. Impending doom hangs over the players in the form of remnant cannons and howitzers. This leftover ordnance threatens to plunge downwards onto the bases and wreak havoc, potentially deciding a match. While it can be safely disarmed with the appropriate weaponry, the cost of doing so could be a fatal setback against opponents willing to risk everything on an all out attack. It was the clear favorite amongst the judges who loved the spectacle, but a source of trepidation for the FPL map testers.

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[h2]2nd Place: Mech70 - Boonies 2v2[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2990356433
Boonies 2v2 by Mech70 combines standing forts at relatively close range with hanging forts at longer range. The hanging forts must build downwards to expand past 3 mines while the standing forts front expansion could provide a foundation for additional defenses or a point of vulnerability for opponents to drag the base down.
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[h2]3rd Place: Flinnshadow - S. S. S. Skylines[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2989903856
Flinnshadow's S. S. S. Skylines more than lives up to its name with a massive environment that extends vertically beyond all reason and is filled with small details. Despite this, the action is contained within an enclosed area with bases snugged into pockets of terrain. Unique attachment points abound and managing angles is paramount.

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Thank you also to our showcase players, AkkerFreek, felixwoelmuis, Flinnshadow, and greatwo for field testing the maps live on stream.

And to our hosts and judges, EWG developers Blammo and Noze, Project Incursus and event organizer 42 scientist.

Livestream VoD
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
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[h2]Discord[/h2]
If you haven't already, join the Forts Official Discord server to find these and other maps and for more information on mapmaking, modding, strategy, and upcoming events.


Cheers,
EWG

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We're absolutely thrilled to announce the highly anticipated Season 2 of the Forts Pro League! After taking player and viewer feedback we're ready to bring more great competitive 2v2 Forts action. The most notable change in Season 2 will be non-exclusive commander picks, making commander mirror matches possible. Who wore it better? Now decided with cannons and lasers and rockets!

The FPL has invited back the 10 qualifying teams from last season including Hagelslag Maten, winners of the Forts Amateur League Season 1. During the group stage they will face each other in a round robin format with the top 4 qualifying for the playoffs where the final victor will be decided. Meanwhile, the teams in last positions face relegation to the FAL.

Speaking of the Forts Amateur League (pathway to the FPL) Season 2 open registration begins effective immediately at Challengermode and closes on July 8th. There is no limit to the number of teams that can join and all Forts players not currently under a multiplayer or Forts Official Discord ban are eligible to participate. Teams will be divided into round robin groups, and the winners of each group will face each other in the playoffs. The winning team from the FAL playoffs will gain immediate entry into the future FPL Season 3, taking the position of the last placed FPL team. And the Runner-up will have an opportunity in a relegation match against the next lowest FPL team.
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When is it going to happen?

Signups for the FAL begin now and end on July 8th. Both leagues will be starting on July 15th. The playoffs (date to be announced) will be held once the round robin stages have concluded.

How to participate?

The FPL is invitation only. If you want to have a chance to be promoted to the Pro League, you can start by signing up for the Amateur League!

Player names must be clearly readable and match on Discord, Steam and Challengermode. The maximum length is 16 characters for players and teams. Players are expected to use this name when playing all of their matches. Offensive player or team names will be disqualified from the league.

Team tags must be 3 characters or less.

Team logos should be 128x128 pixels. Offensive images will result in disqualification.

How to join the Forts Amateur League:

• Click on the Challengermode link;
  
• Click 'Join Tournament' (you must have an account on Challengermode);
  
• If you already have a teammate, click 'Join with Team';
  
• You will be asked to create a team if you do not have a team yet
  
• Close this window and invite your teammate (Click on your team name on the right side of the window to invite them);
  
• Return to the FAL Season 2 page;
  
• Click 'Join Tournament' once again;
  
• Choose your lineup and click 'Join';
  
• Message @42scientist on the Forts Official Discord with your Team name, roster, team tag and logo. Also include the Discord and Steam ID's of you and your teammate.;
  
• You are now officially registered in the Amateur League!
  

What are the prizes for Pro League?

• 1st place: $100
  
  
• 2nd place: $50
  
  
• 3rd place: $20
  

Prizes will be split equally between team members and distributed as a Steam gift card.

[h2]Where?[/h2]

• FAL Season 2 at Challengermode
  
  
• FPL Season 2 at Challengermode
  
  
• The Official Forts Discord

[h2]Rules[/h2]

For more information on rules and match scheduling please read the Forls Pro League Official Rules

Earthwork Games reserves the right to make changes to this event as needed

[h2]Streamers[/h2]

Project Incursus

Salzwerk

Cheers,
EWG

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For the second season in a row we crown a different champion! Helicopter (better known as Matteo) is our season 23 victor. And having also won previously in season 12 one of only two players to have won multiple championships. In 2nd place is PLAYER II (better known as mcc72k), of team Pro Aim fame alongside Helicopter in season 1 of the FPL, And the final player atop the season 23 podium is Malme, last season's champion who broke EtaN's streak of 9 consecutive victories.


While the top 3 places receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze, every player finishing within the top 20 will receive a Season 22 Medal. Congratulations to all medalists as well!

Some Season 23 trivia:

• The recent trend of more first time medalists continued
  
• We saw the widest variety of picks yet, with almost the entirety of the top 20 playing multiple commanders throughout the season
  
• Architect continues to gain traction but Eagle Eye has had a resurgence as well
  
• The ranked ping limit was so successful at improving connection reliability that it has been increased from 300ms to 350ms in update 1.21 in order to facilitate more matches
  

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[h2]1v1 Leaderboard[/h2]

1. Helicopter
   
2. [PA] PLAYER II
   
3. Malme
   
4. EtaN
   
5. I am myself
   
6. [BOG]#Der Benzinpreisvergleicher
   
7. Spinix愛
   
8. greatwo
   
9. Klappi
   
10. 籽岷妙妙屋
    
11. Schuka
    
12. 鱼
    
13. Dranistian
    
14. [DFC] Cloud_
    
15. john ツ
    
16. Poolboy
    
17. cyrv
    
18. AkkerFreek04
    
19. Goldjunge
    
20. Rigor
    

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[h2]Season 24[/h2]
Season 24 is already underway and will run through July 31st. This season's map pool consists of the following battlefields:

• Hang Time
  
• Hillfort
  
• Moorings
  
• Stalactites
  
• Vanilla
  
• Desert Ruins
  

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[h2]Make Sure To Join Our Discord[/h2]

If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.


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Cheers,
EWG

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We're back with another bi-monthly update covering a range of important bug fixes and quality of life improvements, to serve the Forts community and enhance the playing experience. We've also included a few commander changes. Read on for more.

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[h2]Post-Battle Stats[/h2]
Individual player stats now appear in the battle results screen.

Hot on the heels of the Observer HUD and multiplayer loading screen comes the post-battle stats screen. After the battle has ended, players will get a breakdown of how each player fared, individually listing damage done and reactor health left. Ordered by Damage Done, this feature will allow players, observers, streamers and viewers a handy overview of player performance. It's even shown during replays.

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Energy Shield now absorbs firing resources as well as reflecting beams, giving Shockenaugh an edge against beam-happy opponents. Shocker!


In line with the hyper theme of the character, Hurricane's Repair Stations now reduce the duration of the EMP effect of EMP Rockets and the like by half a second, each second. This effect stacks; the more Repair Stations, the quicker your weapons recover from EMP.


The banked shot ability added to Eagle Eye a couple of updates ago has proved effective. Perhaps too effective. We've give this a little tickle and increased the time to bank the extra shot from +20% up to +25%.

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[h2]Change list dlc2 28 r14448[/h2]

Add: player stats to multiplayer results panel
Add: Add results window to end of a multiplayer replay
Add: Add round scores (if configured in obs tools customisation) to results screen
Add: Lobby chat warning message when current map has no AI
Add: Map/mod edit box and filters to workshop screen
Add: GetProjectileClientId, SetProjectileClientId script functions for player stat tracking of script created projectiles
Add: GetWeaponClientId and SetWeaponClientId script functions for player stat tracking of script created weapons
Add: Observer Tools HUD pulse background of last built field when important constructions occur
Add: Show event of important item construction tech
Add: Host option to enable artificial lag for host
Add: EMPRepairFieldRadius and EMPRepairFieldRate properties to device repair field to reduce EMP effect (RepairFieldPeriod must be > 0)

Balance: (Shockenaugh) absorbs firing resources as well as reflecting beams
Balance: (Hurricane) Repair Stations reduce EMP effect at half time
Balance: (Eagle Eye) increase time to bank extra shot from +20% to +25%

Fix: ranked map preview is sometimes missing
Fix: joining players sometimes reset the lobby's game mode (thanks Vykro)
Fix: scripts are able to allocate unlimited amounts of memory, causing the PC to grind to a halt
Fix: (Shockenaugh) the energy used to fire beam weapons is not absorbed by shields
Fix: Debug Console vars available in multiplayer matches
Fix: non-owning clients send door close messages when deleting a weapon
Fix: lobby ready and mod remove buttons can be spam clicked
Fix: desync caused by sprites with a 'colour' table or with invalid frame textures
Fix: desync of playing clients when a client connects at the same time as another joins
Fix: all structures are suddenly destroyed when zero speed projectiles collide
Fix: crash when weapon animation scripts cause an exception
Fix: crash when the only node 'mass' is negative in building_materials.lua
Fix: crash during preview and construction when there are no bracing plates in building_materials.lua
Fix: (SetWeaponReloadTime) documentation says remaining time, when it should be progress time
Fix: crash when a player drops out and then tries to send loading progress
Fix: English Workshop item names are overwritten with local language display names when updating a workshop item
Fix: Observer Tools HUD Label and Commander filters not applied when starting a match/replay
Fix: Observer Tools HUD text bleed for long team names
Fix: Observer Tools Metal rollover text field not set correctly
Fix: Select button is not added to hosts downloaded lobby chat line messages after subscribing to a selected map/mod
Fix: Unregistering console vars not correctly comparing string names
Fix: (UpdateGroundTriangles script function) no effect during gameplay
Fix: (GetBlockVertexPos script function) crash when vertexIndex is out of range
Fix: (EnumerateStructureLinks script function) matchSide parameter doesn't function correctly
Fix: lobby medal popup is shown over afk and desync messages
Fix: desync message shows 'Due to inactivity your game is not discoverable' if host was previously away
Fix: commander can be charged by reflected projectiles attacking team-mates
Fix: Uninitialised data in Observer Tools
Fix: Observer Tools teams scores not sent to clients in lobby
Fix: restarted campaign missions produce replays which desync
Fix: (reactor) sprite unnecessarily depends on construction sprites, causing desyncs when textures are replaced
Fix: Observer Tools isn't initialised until second frame of match
Fix: Players can delete built in maps in the editor map select list
Fix: Maps and Mods items offset from each other in workshop screen
Fix: filter edit box shadow consistency in map and mod select screens
Fix: Text filter is not applied after toggling 'Use English Names' in map selection screen
Fix: (\bind command) commands are not triggered by key
Fix: (\bind command) commands with paged output are not escaped
Fix: (\bind command) doesn't wait for key
Fix: (\bind command) key is added to prompt after selection
Fix: (\keylist command) listing doesn't show entire key label

Improve: increase ranked ping limit to 350ms
Improve: Remember last tab in Workshop screen when re-opening and only populate tabs when made visible
Improve: AbsorbsBeams is mutually exclusive to ReflectsBeams (materials can do both or either)
Improve: repair, EMP repair, and disruption device abilities are mutually exclusive
Improve: Vertical positioning of victory/defeat results
Improve: DedicatedHost setting is written to settings_hardware.lua when disabled for easier editing
Improve: (\bind and \keylist commands) control modifiers are localised
Improve: (\bind command) is cancelled by pressing Escape

Remove: option to disable anti-air in Skirmish and Multiplayer

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[h2]Make Sure To Join Our Discord[/h2]

If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

Cheers,
EWG

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When we polled the Forts Pro League players at the conclusion of last season they were overwhelmingly in favor of expanding the current map pool. What better inspiration could there possibly be for a new map competition? We're looking for 2v2 maps balanced for high level competitive Moonshot play.

The winning creator will receive a $100 Steam gift card, Map Maker Champion in-game medal, and have their map promoted in-game, on Steam, and across social media with an opportunity to be included in the upcoming FPL Season 2 map pool.

Are you excited for season 2?
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Format

The event will consist of two stages:
Stage 1 - Map makers will be able to submit their maps starting on June 10th 8PM UTC and ending on June 17th 8PM UTC in accordance with the rules below. Maps submitted before June 10th 8PM UTC or after June 17th 8PM UTC will not be accepted.

Stage 2 - Our judges will select the 5 best entries to go into the Live Stream June 24th 8PM UTC, where a group of top players will compete in exhibition matches to showcase each map while the judges look on.

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Prizes

[h3]1st place[/h3]

• $100 Steam gift card
  
• In-game Map Maker Champion medal and accompanying role on Discord.
  
• The winning map will be promoted in-game, on Steam, and across social media with an opportunity to be included in the FPL Season 2 map pool.
  

[h3]2nd place[/h3]

• $50 Steam gift card
  

[h3]3rd place[/h3]

• $20 Steam gift card
  

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Live Stream

Date - June 24th 8PM UTC

Judges and stream hosts: Blammo 42 scientist Noze Cronkhinator Project Incursus

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In order to participate you will need to:

• Have Forts
  
• Familiarise yourself with The Forts Map editor and Style Guide
  
• Create and submit a map that fulfills all requirements between June 10th 8pm UTC and June 17th 8pm UTC
  

Map Requirements

• An original Moonshot (no High Seas dependency) map created from scratch
  
• Balanced for competitive 2v2 play (FPL)
  
• Begin with 1-3 Mines
  
• Allow flexibility with weapons and strategies
  
• Receive the Symmetric tag on the Workshop
  
• Have suitable performance on all computers
  

How to submit your map

• Upload your map to the Steam Workshop with the name "FMMC5 - yoursteamname" example, FMMC5 - Romerolagus
  
• Select a separate map name to include with your entry submission.
  
• Set your Workshop visibility to Unlisted
  
• On the Official Forts Discord, direct message @42 scientist#0042 with a link to your entry and the desired name for your map before June 17th 8pm UTC.
  

Maps will be graded according to appearance, gameplay potential, and Forts best practices. A more detailed description of the full grading criteria will be made available on Discord. We look forward to seeing your creativity on display.

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In order to improve your map's chances of winning, check out these guides on Steam for best practices:

[h2]The Forts Map Editor Guide[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=870883350

[h2]The Forts Map Editor Style Guide[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=916955478
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Special thanks to Cronkhinator and 42 scientist for organising the first community led map competitions.

Good luck to all the competitors and have fun!

Cheers,
EWG