We're happy to announce that 1.31 Open Beta will begin on February 22nd, 2010- but only for active premium subscribers. We've slogged our way through the critical tickets, hammered down the list of high tickets, and will continue work on the mediums throughout Open Beta. With MARTINI having found a workaround for the ATI issue and AHWULF feverishly working on the CTD crash reporting tool, it's been decided that it's time to put 1.31 to the test.

Mini Map - The old mini-map has been replaced in the HUD along with some other changes
Infantry Stamina - Fatigue thresholds have been adjusted and new breathing sounds and heartbeat sounds added
Infantry Turn Speed - While sprinting, infantry now have a slower turning/zigzagging rate
Infantry Eye & Deploy Heights - Some changes were made to better align first and third person which effect aiming and deploy
Capture - New capture rules need testing and tweaking
Rain - Random rain showers and cloudy days have been added, lighting levels need to be tested and the air play needs to be reviewed
Foliage - Looking for feedback on new clutter, bush lines, trees and forests
SMG Recoil/Dispersion - The recoil and dispersion on all SMGs has been modified
Terrain Issues - With all our old 2D buildings replaced, new grasses, berms, walls, roads, trees and buildings, we might have a few that need tweaking
Muzzle Flash - Flashes have been updated, tracer smoke added and several hit effects modified
Explosions - Several explosion effects have been changed
Joystick Issues - Fixed some issues with CH manager utility

We anticipate a week or two of focus tests followed by 24x7 testing until we close remaining bug tickets. We will be publishing a focus test schedule next week. Open Beta will only be available to active premium subscribers, so if you've got buddies waiting to come back, it's time to tell them to sign up! The 1.31 download will be made available to the public on the 22nd of February, 2010.

UPDATE! PLEASE READ THE "1.31 GET STARTED" ARTICLE NOW AVAILABLE HERE!

Once again, we appreciate your dedication and patience. This has been a huge update for Battleground Europe. Not only has the team added and improved so many game features, a tremendous list of other issues were sorted out. Some of the things you might not have noted include:

Truck audit performed
Bomb audit performed
No Fire Zone added
New terrain objects added: rocks, berms, stumps
New species of trees added
Effect redo including hit effects based on material, muzzle flashes, explosions, blood splatter, hit debris
Eye heights adjusted
Infantry animation smoothed, prone infantry conform to terrain
Shadows for infantry, buildings and trees added
New clutter and radial clutter added and settings adjusted
Cloning tool in offline mode added
All 2D buildings replaced with 3D models: new ABs, churches, vinyards, windmill, railway stations, petrol station, castle,  pillboxes, ATG pits
Speedtrees added
Cockpits art audited and fixed
SMG recoil adjusted
ATI issues fixed
Rain behavior adjusted
New tutorials
New moooooon
And much more!

This small team has been working very hard to get everything done and we couldn't have carried on without your support.

So a big "Thank You!" to all our customers. We're excited and hopeful that 1.31 will be a huge success.

S!

Past 1.31 Feature Articles:

Full 1.31 Preview
Ragdoll Preview
Dynamic Weather Preview
Capture Changes
No Fire Zones Announced

Forum Discussions on these new features and more can be found in the Q&A section.