Speeder

There is much more to the development of the next Mental Omega than we can let you all in on for now. Not only are we working on fixing the issues reported in Mental Omega 3.0 and adding new units, new missions and cooperative maps for Act Two, but we're also looking forward to the return of the most needed feature for Mental Omega, which was unavailable so far for technical reasons. We're also awaiting full CnCNet 5 support for Yuri's Revenge in order to solve a lot of grievances with online play and make it work with our mod as well.

As with many big mod developments, everything relies on voluntary contributions from various people which require time. When all pieces are in place, all will be revealed and the balance of power will shift once more. When? Time will tell, sooner or later. Until then, you can help Yuri rise to power if you haven't already, or you can consider contributing to the mod to help speed up the release. 

Due to our current texture artist being unavailable, we are looking for someone experienced with UVW maps and texturing 3D models who can help with finishing the work on a set of new buildings within the aesthetic style of the game. We already have plenty of finished models to work with, be it in 3ds Max or Blender.

For more information write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com

We are also looking for additional Voice Actors for new units and missions as well as Red Alert 2/Yuri's Revenge Mission Scripters to help with the ambitious campaign project we are working on as a part of Mental Omega. Singular contributions are also welcome. Use the e-mail address listed above.
 

Map Preview #35: (2) Action Reaction (urban; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #36: (2) Artificial Ice (snow; standard map pool) by Speeder
Map Preview #37: (4) Morales' Sanctuary (new-urban; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #38: (4) Tournament Island (temperate; standard map pool) by Speeder
 

The goal to reach the magic number of 400 quality skirmish/multiplayer maps becomes more of a reality every day. Hell, it's bound to happen as we are counting at 372 maps right now, so it's going to be a jump of ~100 new maps compared to the previous release. The above are 4 latest additions to the standard map pool, two from me, two from Toveena.

"(2) Action Reaction" and "(2) Artificial Ice" are two unique duel maps designed to force the players to make the most of various terrain features, choke points and neutral tech buildings in order to gain the advantage over the opponent. Additional paths for amphibious units, bridges and water zones created by the breakers form a maze open to many twists and turns. "(2) Artificial Ice" follows the style of the maps "(2) Bay War" and "(6) Bay of Pigs" with a simple urban angular layout, only this one is covered in snow. The urban elements of this map are parts of the enhancement to the snow terrain.

"(4) Morales' Sanctuary" is an addition to the long-planned set of maps dedicated to heroes of Mental Omega. We already had "(4) Tanya's Training Grounds" from the vanilla Red Alert 2 and "(5) Rahn's Dungeon", now Morales joins the ranks of heroes with a unique map named after them. "(4) Morales' Sanctuary" is loosely based on a popular map from Kane's Wrath where fighting for the center is something you must consider in your war plans.

"(4) Tournament Island" is a remake of a well-known Command & Conquer map, where battles are fast-paced and short, navy deals a lot of pain and resources are limited. Be careful for amphibious and flying units when constructing defenses around your zone! The Artillery Bunkers will not protect you forever, but might become useful tools to taking control over the gems in the center.
 

Now, this is something we're working on although the firepower and presentation might vary in the final release. The chaos logic will be used for something different, so we want to give these cute little creatures a new, better purpose. What better purpose is there than blowing stuff up?

 

Oh hey, I used to play online too, some months ago. I don't as much anymore, at least until the next release, so if you see a Speeder on CnCNet4, you can be sure that is not me.

UprisingJC & Speeder vs AdmiralPit & Ordos
on '(4) Heartland'

They don't so that they're not slowed down when under fire.

 

And also so that we don't have to make crawl frames for new infantry.

Great news for Red Alert 2 & Yuri's Revenge modders! Ares 0.9 has been released! AlexB delivers more superweapon customization including better AI support, inhibitors, and multiple SWs on a single building or upgrade, more than 8 facings for SHP based units and weapon muzzle flashes, as well as animated rotating projectiles. So my only question is: why aren't you modding the game yet?

I do not recommend upgrading from Ares 0.4 to any newer version for Mental Omega 3.0 BR1, especially if you are planning to continue playing multiplayer. Some tags for the Ares features have changed in the meantime and of course using a different Ares version than other players online will result in a desynchronization. A new Ares version will be officially supported with the next release.

It seems a Mental Omega fan has started a TVTropes page for the mod and several more have already contributed. If you are familiar with the tropes, feel free to expand the article for others to read. I must say I am surprised at how accurate and spot-on the information is in all of the sections available so far, and that's including the YMMV one.

 
Now before you give the Mental Omega page a (long) read I suggest you take a look at what we've been working on recently.
 

So at the beginning of post-BR1 development I thought we wouldn't have too many new cooperative missions for the next release but Sandman is proving me wrong as he has prepared his third cooperative map so far and there are several others coming from other mission scripters. Perhaps I'll have a go at another coop myself in the near future. If there's anything you'd like to see in a cooperative mission be sure to leave us a comment!
 

Co-op Mission: Balance of Power

The amount of Battleships under Allied control during the war with the Soviets was limited, but enhanced production of these powerful units has been started in order to dominate the Soviets in naval combat. Unfortunately, the Soviets managed to gain the upper hand and drive the Euro Alliance to the British Isles before the plan was fully realized.

Furthermore, the Soviets were able to capture one of the Allied ports where more Battleships were being produced and commandeered the local units. With Battleships supporting their Dreadnoughts, they might just be able to break through the Allied defenses surrounding the Great Britain. It's up to you and a fellow Allied commander to make sure those Battleships don't stay in Soviet hands.

 So as you might have noticed in the last news bulletin that there was a new structure on the '(2)' Steadfast' map preview and today's '(8) Icy Trinity'. That new building is the Tech Nuclear Plant created by Nooze, which provides 1000 power units on capture but explodes almost just as violently as the Soviet Nuclear Reactor. 

Map Preview #32: (2) Dune Patrol II (desert; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #33: (4) Double Patrol (desert; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #34: (8) Icy Trinity (snow; standard map pool) by Toveena

So Toveena kept insisting that '(2) Dune Patrol' is still possibly one of the most popular maps in Mental Omega 3.0 so he got the bright idea to adjust its "axis" by 90 degrees and also make a double version of it afterwards as well. '(2) Dune Patrol II' and '(4) Double Patrol' are both extensions of the well-executed idea from the vanilla game and we have high expectations for these maps to also become popular among players who strive to play Mental Omega in a more competitive manner.

Looking at the list of maps we have previewed, it appears that '(8) Icy Trinity' is actually the first new 8-player map we're showing. It is a large map with plenty of neutral tech structures and resources at locations tricky to hold and defend. As you can see, harvesters at any of the ore or gem fields are vulnerable to fire from the cliffs above so better be careful and make sure those cliffs are under your control. There's also several Tech Base Expansion Posts for players to fight for.
 

Here's a nice team game on one of the most popular maps in MO, '(4) Double Malice'.

UprisingJC & Ultra7 vs ShadowE & LibraPalm

on '(4) Double Malice'

If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome. 

There's been a lot of development in the shadows, the results of which we continue to reveal to you piece by piece. Defeated but not done for, the Allies continue to arm up!

There is a new late-game addition coming to all Allied subfactions - the Experimental Warpshop. This unique structure, of which you will only be ableto have one at a time, will provide you with additional support powers based on chronoshifting technology. These support powers will be revealed in a short video in the future. Additionally, it will grant the Allies access to the teleporting troops which form the Chrono Legion, a key piece to their plan for victory in Act Two. The expansion of chrono technology might just give the Allies the technological edge they need to break free from the London Fortress, their bastion and prison, and seek revenge on their enemies. The artwork for it was created by Nooze.

The Gun Turret has received a long overdue makeover, also by Nooze.

Allied Experimental Warpshop & new Gun Turret

We are improving the old cooperative missions and creating new ones as well to cover the side stories of the campaign. Unlike the single player campaign, there is no set amount of new cooperative missions we will be adding in the next release.

After receiving feedback on the experimental first set of 18 cooperative missions in the first release, we've decided to reduce the playtime of cooperative maps to approximately 30 minutes max because of the lack of save/load capabilities in multiplayer modes and potential disconnection issues. We will also define the objectives more clearly and give hints for both players in the next version. If you have any additional thoughts regarding the cooperative missions do let us know.

Co-op Mission: Downfall

As the Soviet victory in Europe seems inevitable, it is up to two Allied commanders to delay their advance towards the English Channel. A defensive perimeter is set up in the northern France to prevent a significant enemy taskforce from reaching the shore.
While the downfall of France is just a matter of time, if the Soviets were to gather enough firepower in the English Channel, their attack on the Gladius System might succeed resulting in no protection against the MIDAS bombs and failure of Operation Sunlight. This co-op was created by Sandman.
 

Map Preview #29: (2) Steadfast (temperate; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #30: (4) Overcome (temperate; standard map pool) by Mevitar
Map Preview #31: (6) Perseverance (temperate; "Fortress" map pool) by Toveena

First, '(6) Perseverance' came to be, the first real 4vs2 'Fortress' map and it was grand and great. So grand and great, the island alone could have worked as an interesting 2-player map and so '(2) Steadfast' happened. The Mental Omega map pool grows every week, heading straight for the 400 map count. With the addition of Toveena's '(6) Perseverance' the unwritten rule I've had that 'Fortress' maps should always pit many players against one has been broken, adding more variety to the mode. More maps with different team setups might follow.

'(4) Overcome' is the first new map in a while from Mevitar and it is loosely based on a battlefield from one of his favourite RTS games that are not Command & Conquer. In Mental Omega it serves as a strict 2-on-2 map with many potential base expansion points which might be vital to your victory, considering the limited amount of resources available at the starting positions. The map has lots of choke points formed by the unique cliff formations and encourages creating strong defensive settlements.
 

Not familiar with Mental Omega multiplayer? Starting from this week I'll be spotlighting interesting matches from Mental Omega which have been recorded and uploaded on YouTube.

UprisingJC vs ShadowE on '(2) Dune Patrol'

See many more of UprisingJC's multiplayer matches on his YouTube channel.
You can also watch ShadowE play and commentate on Mental Omega 3.0 on his Twitch channel.

 
If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome. 

I've asked recently what Mental Omega players' TOP 3 favorite units are. If you haven't voiced your thoughts on this matter yet, you might still do before I take a closer look at the results and reasons behind them, either in the comments here, on our Facebook page or here at ModDB. The most favorite unit will of course be removed, as it's probably the most overpowered one, yup.
It's Wolfhound, isn't it?

The Mental Omega story continues! The necessary mission remake is revealed today.
 

The gods are kind and have allowed the Allies to tame the powers of nature. A mission that has been in the making for a long time, long before even some of Act One missions were finished, will finally take place during the Act Two. The Allies need their Weather Controller and despite the destruction of the Weather Crystals, the Pacific Front was finally able to complete the weapon. Its presence did not go unnoticed however, and now the enemy is coming to take it down before it becomes operational. 

Operation: Stormbringer

Something we did several times in Act One was reverse the roles of the player and AI in remakes of original missions from Red Alert 2, and it's a thing we'll do again with Operation: Stormbringer. It will be your task as the commander of the Pacific Front forces to defend the Weather Controller from enemy attacks and use its devastating powers to destroy their bases. Lucky for you, it will not be possible to destroy the device with a single tactical nuke.

Or will it? The mission in Red Alert 2 was way too easy because of that, perhaps now it is time for you to be in the shoes of the Allied commander whose hopes are easily dashed with a single nuke.
 

Map Preview #22: (2) Tournament Tower (new urban; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #23: (2) Pipeline Problem (desert; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #24: (6) Power Shift (urban; standard map pool) by Speeder

We've been on a 6-player Collection & Creation rampage recently, since we've noticed quite a demand for these kind of maps and a large disproportion between the amount of 2-player, 4-player & 6-player maps in Mental Omega. '(6) Power Shift' is another new addition to the set and it's a 3v3 team game map with a rather.. unique layout, I'd say. The map is really fun to play against the AI which will stop at nothing to deny you control over the important locations on the map. There is only so much you can do with the Oil Derricks and ore located at your starting position so expanding further to collect the gems and more Derricks is a must. Taking the Concrete Fortresses and special tech buildings might help you secure those locations.

Toveena has recreated two other 2-player maps from Tiberium Wars, namely the '(2) Tournament Tower' and '(2) Pipeline Problem'. No, destroying the Seismic Stabilizer on the former will not destroy everything else on the map, it is located in a seismically inactive region and the device is no longer working. It's just there to block easy movement for your ground forces with its rather larger size.
 

With the Ares tags EnemyInsignia=, Insignia.ShowEnemy= and customizable insignia for every veterancy level, I've done some modifications to fix several problems and improve other minor aspects of the game. Right now, no insignia on your unit is visible for your enemy to conceal their status or presence on the battlefield. Units hiding in the trees or behind buildings will no longer be exposed because of their veteran or elite status.

All hero infantry gain a special insignia on the basic level to help you find the unit in a crowd. Libra, thanks to the new special symbol for heroes can now be easily spotted by the user in a group of Libra Clones, which on the other hand will no longer display the weird 3-square symbol they had in Beta Revision 1. A unique symbol also applies to spies - you will now be able to see an eye symbol next to your and your allies' infiltrator units. You will not see this symbol on enemy spies and neither will units which detect disguise reveal it. The look of these symbols might change.

I've considered something similar for the Engineers, but since you can disguise your spies as them and the insignia wouldn't carry over, it would be too easy to spot the "false Engineer". 

If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome. 

Everything shall be explained.

The Mental Omega War is not GWW2, it's GWW3.

Red Alert 1's one is GWW2.

World War I is "remembered" as GWW1 in MO timeline.

Yesterday it's been exactly 12 months since the release of Mental Omega 3.0 Beta Revision 1. The day after its release, ModDB began the 2013 edition of their annual awards, in which we reached the TOP100. This year, with the beginning of December, the ModDB 2014 Mod of the Year Awards begins.
If you feel like supporting us in this competition, you can head to our mod profile @ ModDB and cast your vote. Every vote counts and it's a great way to show your support for the project and future developments thereof.

Now, let's return to the weekly news bulletin, shall we?
 

Question: Will there be a mission in London in Act Two? Answer: yes, obviously.
The remaining Allied forces are hiding there after they emerged victorious in Sunlight.

Operation: Godsend

What can I say without spoiling it entirely? It's a mission. It's for the Epsilon. It's in London. That's it!

..okay, that's a bit of a cop-out. You might have seen this picture before on ModDB. Let me show you a screen from a different mission.

Operation: Ghost Hunt

The Scorpion Cell grows stronger every day. However, this damaged yet unusual Psychic Amplifier in Morocco has drawn someone's attention. Why is it broken? Is it a threat and should it be removed immediately? Perhaps there are forces already on their way to take it down before it becomes dangerous? We will answer these questions right now: nobody knows, yes and yes.
 

Map Preview #12: (2) Tournament Arena (urban; standard map pool) by Speeder
Map Preview #13: (4) Battleblock Theatre (urban; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #14: (6) Advanced Warfare (new urban; standard map pool) by Toveena

'(2) Tournament Arena' is a loose remake of a very popular tournament map from Tiberium Wars. Nothing describes this map better than the word "simplicity". It is very open but still has several key areas which you should take control of as soon as possible in order to gain advantage over your enemy, or rather, to not stay behind. The Base Expansion Post near the gem fields is an important asset; it must be captured and defended as soon as possible. Perhaps it's worth capturing right after your first Barracks are up? You'll have to try.

'(4) Battleblock Theatre' is Toveena's original and very unique skirmish map divided into 25 zones, each zone has very interesting objects the players might find useful. The center of the map has a Tech Missile Silo, Tech Sat Hack Centers & Tech Secret Labs, all surrounded by Tech Irradiators which will now be seen on skirmish maps other than '(8) Cowfields'.

'(6) Advanced Warfare' is based on one of the Uprising Challenges, although this one was designed for 6-player battles. Capture the Tech Armory in the middle for quick veteran infantry. Go for the Tech Expansion Posts on the remote concrete islands to gain fast access to the only gems on this map and slam down a Shipyard at the enemy's gates, or rather, shores.
 

"Proselyte, as Yuri foresaw, our enemies from the European Alliance continue to develop their technologies and experiment with new weapons. We can sense it. Our foes are creating potent weapons which they will use against us. We must strike first and destroy the SteinsTech Hangar within the London Fortress, it so happens we have just the thing for that."

Thanks to Ares DLL you can heavily customize the Chronosphere weapon. A long time ago, when I first tried to use its new settings, I achieved quite devastating effects.. I'm still trying to figure out how to expand the chrono technology for the Allies in some interesting ways, the Allies definitely are developing something interesting in the London Fortress! Read the documentation here.

 

If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome.
 

Because I thought it would be a good idea and it was.

Weekly updates continue, with more Act Two missions revealed and additional info on new features planned for Mental Omega. We start with a visit to a place familiar to some..
 

After Act One the Soviets emerge victorious and control the entire European continent. They've built a large prison facility in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, which in this timeline is never completely destroyed. Now a city transformed into a fortress, where the Soviets hold one of their most valuable prisoners. You, as the Allied commander, will have to use the first ever Chrono Legionnaire suit to rescue this prisoner. The Allied Act Two begins with.. 

Operation: The Mermaid

If you ever wondered, why the Allies never used their teleport troops to end all conflicts, Mental Omega will offer a believable explanation. The Chrono Legion is an elite assassin task force lurking in the darkness of time and space, preparing for the moment when the Allies will be ready to fight back against their oppressors. With limited resources available in Great Britain, the technology becomes highly experimental and expensive, and if it would ever fall into Yuri's hands thanks to mind control, it would likely put an end to all Allied plans for an insurrection.

Any screenshot of another location in this mission would be a major spoiler, since the city is a labyrinth and the map design relies on Chrono Legionnaire's inability to teleport into shroud, which is why this is the only one we can show to you, at least right now. A hint though: the end is where The Mermaid is. The building's artwork was created by Nooze.
 

A new Ares DLL feature introduced in version 0.8 allows us to create buildings which when owned will make all newly build units or even structures veteran or elite at the moment of their creation. The feature has additional customization, making it possible to specify which objects can or cannot gain these bonuses, meaning that you can create a structure which only grants immediate elite status to just Libra, for example. Read more about this logic here.

So far, we've made use of this feature and with Nooze's help we added 4 new tech buildings.
 

From the top-left to bottom right: Tech Academy, Tech Heavy Machinery, Tech Aeronautics, & Tech Defense Bureau, which grant initial veterancy to infantry, ground units, aircraft, and defenses respectively. We might consider adding one for the navy in the future. Special objects which grant elite status to selected units might appear in some form.
We have new tech buildings and with the introduction of new tech buildings comes a need to actually have those on the skirmish maps.
 

Map Preview #7: (4) Tournament Complex (urban; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #8: (4) Eternal Alliance (new-urban; standard map pool) by Toveena

Depicted in the links above are two brand new 4-player maps which feature the new tech buildings in important positions. Since they provide you early veterancy for the price of a single Engineer, capturing them quickly might give you a serious advantage early game and if you play your cards well and manage to hold the structure long enough, this advantage might give you victory. Designs of both "(4) Tournament Complex" and "(4) Eternal Alliance" encourage 2v2 team games, but by Mental Omega's game mode standards they are not maps limited to the obsolete 'Team Alliance' mode. You can, but are not forced to, play these maps in teams but also in any other mode you want.
 

Remember the Iron Fist? It's the unit which was supposed to work as advanced Soviet stolen tech until the enhanced Apocalypse Tank replaced it. Maybe we should think of a way to bring it back into the skirmish play.. Also that's a nice unused Mental Omega logo.
 

 

If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome.
 

Piece by piece we reveal more information on the development of the new Mental Omega release. Today we relive the past while also gaining a sneak peek into the future.
 

Imagine waking up in the Amazon rainforest, living through one of your worst nightmares! The iconic mission from Mental Omega 2.0 returns with a twist in order to induce a complete state of paranoia. You have an important mission to complete, one that could change the fate of this world but everything there is out to get you. Shadow Tanks, Basilisks, Invaders, Brutes, Viruses.. not to mention the large amounts of enemy troops hidden by the Chimera Cores. It is a terrifying scenario, even for two brave heroes such as Tanya and Norio. They will compensate for each other's weaknesses and hopefully, with your great commanding skills, will succeed in taking down Yuri's Psychic Amplifier.

Paranoia is now Allied Mission 19. Without spoiling too much, the main objectives haven't changed. Take out 2 Nuke Silos first, then the Psychic Amplifier. What has changed though is your party and a certain detail: both of Tactical Nuke Silos have to be taken out simultaneously, otherwise the one that's left intact fires and you fail the mission. Good luck! 

Operation: Paranoia

Don't remember the Mental Omega 2.0 version of Operation: Paranoiac? Check out this video!
No stealth cheating! Remember that you can still download the old versions of Mental Omega.
Is there any other mission you'd like to see make a return?
 

Map Preview #4: (2) Oil Spill Crisis (snow; "Islands" map pool) by Speeder
Map Preview #5: (2) Canyon Fodder II (temperate; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #6: (3) Canyon Fodder III (temperate; standard map pool) by Toveena

There is quite a clear theme in today's Map Pool Update: remakes & alternate versions. Since the original Canyon Fodder map was removed for Beta Revision 1 but many did have quite fond memories of it, we've decided to reuse its layout ideas which resulted in the creation of "(2) Canyon Fodder II" & "(3) Canyon Fodder III". There is also a bonus 4 player version which will be included in the next beta. "(2) Oil Spill Crisis" is a balanced remake of the original map Alaskan Oil Spill which was also removed for Beta Revision 2 and will only be available in the Islands game mode.
 

Something worth mentioning, but not possible to show, is a new feature that allows us to change the loading, victory and defeat music themes for the sides. It's something we've added to the next Mental Omega build and it's quite a nice detail. Recent updates to Ares also include a bunch of bugfixes such as no visible repair wrench animation on buildings which are cloaked and several fixes to the memory management issues which were the cause of crashes on newer systems while trying to start a second match in a row among few others.
 

The addition of FactoryOwners in Ares 0.6 had me updating the tech trees for all three sides, something I will focus on in one of the future updates. The logic allows you set a factory constructed by a specific house as a prerequisite for various technology. As a quick example - to build most of the subfaction unique Allied technology you'll need to build one of the three buildings depicted above. However, in order to be able to build these as a subfaction which doesn't normally have them in the build list, you'll need to capture the Construction Yard of someone who does.
 

Ares also allows you to replace the mission selection in form of three buttons with a mission list, in case you make more than 3 campaigns or just want to let the players choose any mission at any moment without the need to use save files. The amount of missions visible in the list is customizable and so is the presence of short mission description at the bottom of the selection screen.
 

The amount of new missions grows and so does the number of loading screens for them.
 

Word is that the army of China has a workshop of their own and after their defeat in "Dragonstorm", they've been working on new weapons to try and take on the Russians once more. This piece of intel is unverified but there's a low quality photo. You'd think that with all the advanced technology available in the Mental Omega timeline there'd be halfway decent spying equipment.
 

If you'd like to help develop Mental Omega further, write an e-mail to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com
Right now we're in need of additional Voxel Artists, 3D Artists, Mission Scripters and Voice Actors.
Single contributions are welcome.
 

Let's get this started: regular media updates, here we go! With these I will attempt to regularly bring you news from the development of Mental Omega. We're still pushing the game to its limits and right now, we're working on Act Two of the Mental Omega campaign along with a secret side project I can't disclose to you yet.

As for the status of Beta Revision 2: regular patches for Beta Revision 1 were planned but after the initial release I've realized we've made several mistakes which I hope to fix in the next release. This means that Beta Revision 2 will be another full mod release and not an update. I was hoping for CnCNet5 implementation but the status of that is uncertain for now, so as the months have flown by we've been working on new content to compensate for the lack of regular updates. What I now plan to do is a full release next year with all the new content we've created and new important features & bugfixes which I'll be presenting to you in these media updates, starting now. These weekly or bi-weekly updates will reveal new missions, new maps, new units and even new music.

Speaking of secret side projects, have you seen the latest teaser yet?

It might include some secret side project stuff.
 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about upcoming video intel updates as soon as they're up. There'll be a whole new series of shorter and longer development and promo videos.

 

First of all, you know there's Act One, you know there'll be Act Two. You know how many missions Act One has, but do you know how many missions we aim to have in the complete Third Great War story? The answer is.. 

When it comes to development, we're 1/3 done with the missions for Act Two with 1 dedicated mapper and 4 mission scripters. However, the more the merrier! Here are some previews from one of the new missions for Act Two, this one's entirely made by Sandman. Can you guess what it's about?
 

Operation: Power Hunger

With the addition of Toveena to the Mentalmeisters team, the amount of new skirmish maps in the mod is rising rapidly and as the counter grows, I am continuously surprised with new ideas for the battlefield layouts. The skirmish map naming format will also be changed for the next version. The amount of players on a map will be written at the beginning of the file name rather than the end. Because reasons. 

Map Preview #1: (2) Tournament City (snow; standard map pool) by Speeder
Map Preview #2: (4) Ebony and Ivory (temperate; standard map pool) by Toveena
Map Preview #3: (4) Temple Toveena (desert; standard map pool) by Toveena

 
My "(2) Tournament City" is a good start for when it comes to the implementation of Snow Terrain Expansion, which I was uncertain of including before. The need for a snowy city comes mostly from the planned mission in Moscow. The original Red Alert 2 version of that mission didn't exactly look like a huge metropolis covered in snow. Our Moscow will be completely different and definitely in trouble when Yuri reemerges from the shadows.
 
"(4) Ebony and Ivory" is another skirmish map with a Japanese theme and one of the few new maps to have the rain effects on it. In comparison, "(4) Temple Toveena" is the first map to include capturable neutral vehicles on the battlefield. More skirmish maps will feature them in the next version.
 

It is true that ever since the release of Beta Revision 1 of Mental Omega 3.0, the Ares Expansion DLL version has leaped from 0.4 to 0.8. I've made use of its many features and its bugfixes, which is something I'll be presenting to you in these media updates as well. There are lots of awesome things you, as a modder, can do with Ares when creating your own mod for Yuri's Revenge so maybe some of this will inspire you.

First comes the way AlexB restored and improved the EM Pulse Cannon superweapon from Tiberian Sun in Ares 0.8. One of the new features I was able to do with it is Drakuv Healthpacks support power. As long as you have a Prison Facility and Drakuv on the field, when you activate this support power, infantry around all of your and your allies' Drakuvs on the battlefield will be quickly healed. This replaces Drakuv's ability to heal T1 infantry. How does it work? A Type=EMPulse super weapon with EMPulse.TargetSelf=yes detonates a map-wide warhead which applies an animation with healing via AttachEffect to all of your/your allies' Drakuvs on the battlefield.
 

Thanks to Ares, it is now possible to give stealth sensors to buildings, which is why the Soviets now gain these new Sensor Towers. Instead of covering their bases or units like the Allies do with a Gap Generator or the Epsilon does with Chimera Cores, the Soviets can build these counter-intelligence defenses, which will also reveal enemy spies and any incoming enemies to you. Additionally, the Sensor Towers have a sight radius of 14, which is larger than vanilla game without Ares allowed you to have without issues.
 

The jump in Ares versions allows us to do much more with the game, I'll be covering that later.

 Random things from the Mental Omega workshop, no context, only for speculations or maybe just eye candy. The above is all work by Nooze, done in Blender. You can probably guess the scenarios in which some of these objects will be implemented, but I'll leave showing you the maps and in-game screenshots with the new objects for later.
 

After our message from July in which I had written that we're in need of additional mission scripters to speed up the development of Act Two, our team has grown larger with the addition of Chinese mission designer Sandman who has created the "Power Hunger" mission depicted above and is working on two additional missions. Mental Omega is a project by fans for fans.

 

We don't hire professional artists and level designers, but recruit people who'd like to help develop one of the last active modifications for Red Alert 2 today in their free time, to keep the game alive by creating something new for the fans to play.

Apart from Act Two, we're working on another big part of the mod which I hope to unveil sometime soon, depending on how fast development goes. Right now we mostly require new voxels and 3D models so if you're interested in contributing to this new secret project we're working on, write to mental.omega.apyr@gmail.com. Even small contributions in the form of single voxels, infantry models or building models are welcome. If you are a capable Red Alert 2 mission scripter, write to us as well.
  

New mission by Sandman: Power Hunger.
 

Soviet Act Two mission "Heartwork" preview. China's back!