» Desert Combat - Contra Tournament
Posted February 23, 2021. By
predator_bg.
Greetings Generals
Following the growth of the Contra Mod community & the wonderfully balanced fun gameplay it offers, the very first tournament has opened for signups.
Date, Time and Location
Desert Combat will be on Sunday, 28th Feb beginning at 16:00 GMT. We will meet in the Contra Tournaments network on Radmin immediately after you check-in.
Desert Combat will be a SINGLE ELIMINATION. All rounds will be BO3 up to the Semi-Finals which are a Bo5. There is no 3rd place match.
Minimum participants: 8 Maximum participants: 16
Registration
All you need to do to register for this tournament is to post your in-game name & Discord name in the registration topic (also linked below). Only register if you're going to be able to show up on the day of.Registration officially closes on Saturday, 27th Feb at 20:00 GMT.
Check-in
The check-in period will be between 15:00 and 16:00 GMT, at which point the brackets will be drafted and made official. There will be an official check-in thread that will open at 15:00. To check-in: simply post in the check-in thread and include your in-game name if it's different than your forum name. If you check in and you don't participate, you may be banned from any tournaments for 30 days. If you can't play, don't check-in. Only players that are registered will be allowed to check-in. Only checked in players will be in the bracket. If you have a situation that would cause you to not be able to check-in, but you can still participate then message Leikeze.
You will have 15 minutes to begin your games after the brackets are posted. Brackets will likely be posted by 16:05, but this depends on how late players check-in. You must start your games by 16:15 or you will be disqualified.
If you're early then you're on time. If you're on time then you're late. And if you're late you're disqualified!
There is simply no fun in sitting around waiting on people, so the 15 minutes is the maximum grace period allowed in between all rounds. Failure to appear at any stage of the event will result in a forfeit. Extreme circumstances can be discussed with event staff.
If you need to take a break in between games, inform your opponent and the Referee. At most, five minute breaks will be allowed and only if needed. Maximum one break per round. If a player is found to be abusing this freedom or failing to inform the necessary parties or not returning on time, you will be disqualified at Referee discretion.
Streaming
All matches will be streamed. So do not start playing until you and your opponent have arranged with a streamer.
In case the streamer causes bad lag, you may choose to play without one, however, you must then send the replay after each match to a streamer so that they can stream the matches.
» Contra 009 FINAL PATCH 3 released!
Posted December 31, 2020. By
predator_bg.
Happy New Year everyone!
Thank you for voting once again in this year's MOTY!
We made it to honorable mentions, and that's a good sign that people still love and support our work.
As promised, Patch 3 is here!!!!
We've worked hard, especially this month, to make even more content. As usual we worked on all aspects, visuals, balances, voices, bug fixes, everything to improve previous version and to give something new, as we heading towards our final goal = Contra which will have everything in its best!
There are many people who are working with us freely, artists, testers, voice actors, mappers. They are all respectively listed and credited in Credits!
With every update, we also share sneak peak of new stuff. We will respect tradition!
USA Cybernetic Lancer Droid model was not well received by many people as it didn't fit rank 1 drone army. Lancer benefits from AP Bullets upgrade (+25% damage).
We started with GLA structures in past, adding extra objects to each side to make structures even more unique. We continued with all other factions too. You will notice them in game even more.
Please, feel free to use this download button and give yourself a treat!!
And special thanks to people who support us, their names are listed in Credits! It means a lot to us!
» Contra 009 work in progress - News Update 17
Posted December 14, 2020. By
predator_bg.
Hello everyone!!!
A lot of time passed since our last update, but this doesn't mean we stopped working on the mod.
This year was weird and strange for all of us, we can agree on that.
Current situation caused unpredicted stuff in our real life, but still we try to find time and inspiration for continued work, even though most of the times it doesn't turn out as we wanted.
All of you were kind to us, supported us, and once again you voted for us and helped us achieve TOP 100 in MOTY.
This means a lot for us, and in order to return a favor we decided to post an article about progress.
Besides dozens of balance changes, there are also many visual updates and improvements.
Here are some of them....
- All USA factions (besides Cybernetic general) got new Machine gun defense structure. Patriot turret was universal defense, effective vs all types of units (infantry, vehicles, aircraft, structures) and often it was used and abused for early rush, in combination with cheap structures like Barracks with upgraded Security Systems. This often lead to early game deciding moments with building Patriot near enemy supplies (mostly vs China). In order to change this, and make game more fair, Patriot defense is now barely effective vs infantry units (such as RPG-s), and none of the USA structures benefit from Security Systems, except Supply Center (Security Systems damage is increased since it can be only used on Supply Center). New Machinegun defense is cheap and does not consume power. It is effective only vs. infantry and light vehicles. Can be upgraded with Flashbangs to stay effective in the later stages. Rushing with USA dozers is harder now, since you need to combine both Patriot and Machinegun defense to cover all targets.
- Most of the visual changes were focused towards Laser general, and his unique way of playing. Unlike all other generals (except Cybernetic general), Laser general favors gaining experience the most. Basic laser powered units, with each veterancy state change too. We saw it in patch 2 already, but now laser colors are corrected, experience gaining through destroying targets is harder (currently you need 20% more EXP pts for rank up). Laser powered units do have help gaining veterancy, and it is through 3 generals powers. Veterancy generals powers are linked and accessible at rank1, rank3, and rank5 game phases by the cost of 2pts each.
Biggest change is their visual update, which helps you determine which laser damage currently they have (red, green, blue, violet).
- Besides laser visuals, Microwave tank got a makeover too, since he was using Avenger's basis.
- Many changes were done to Super Weapon general as well. We are very proud of Saturn's makeover. Besides just a visual update, he has a new weapon. He fires a new beam which has huge potential to freeze targeted vehicles, so in general he fires Ice beam.
- But we didn't forget other generals too. China infantry general was mostly changed in order to be more balanced, and more appealing to player. Helix is replaced with new helicopter, Harbin.
Harbin has speed and cost of Thor, but health of Helix. His basic weapon is a small machine gun, but his main characteristic are the bunker slots (currently 2).
» Contra 009 FINAL PATCH 2 released!
Posted December 17, 2019. By
predator_bg.
Just before Holidays, we decided to finally release long awaited Patch 2 for Contra 009 FINAL!
We know that patch 1 was long time ago and you expected patch 2 earlier this year, but we packed so many things into this that at the end it was worth waiting.
This Holiday special bundle includes: reported bug fixes, new artwork, new voices, new general's powers, fixed AI, new maps, new launcher and new VPN!
- So, let's start with bug fixes and in-game changes!
To avoid huge list in this important article, you can read full changelog by following this link: https://www.moddb.co...angelog-part-21
- Just some of the new artwork!
A lot of in game stuff is changed, from units, effects, to game menu interface. Most of the beautiful stuff you will experience while playing.
However, as usual, here are some new renders of redesigns:
As seen in official videos, Valanx is replaced with Hummer variants. There are 2 random variants with snow version.
Super Weapon and Air Force generals use Hummer-based Avenger
Old Seraph mech is redesigned with concept similar to other angel type units!
GLA Marauder tank is now using its original Zero Hour concept, but much more detailed and improved!
Most of the "spawn" generals powers in game are balanced in such way, that they are dropped by planes. This change affected GLA and for this purpose small cargo plane has been made. Corvus will drop demo traps, acid, toxins and tunnel drillers.
China Gatling defense is also improved visually!
- Contra is richer by one new dimension now, thanks to voice actors and amazing job they did for so many units: Matthew Vanston (1, 2), Trench Dog, Forrest McGilvray, Connor Miranda (1), Cari Scholtens, TryToEpic (1, 2), Kinsmarck (1), Greekas, Caroline Sawatzki, Maelstrom (1)
- Contra Launcher has been reworked to support a new VPN. Once again you have everything you need with one control panel:
- Now you can also support us and our work. Contra is larger than before, and includes many collaborators and skilled people who share and sacrifice their free time in order to expand and improve this mod. All the support will be a reward used for further projects!
At the end, once again we want to say thanks to all the good people who voted for Contra in the last MOTY. It's always good to see that hard work is appreciated, and so it can be this year too. Contra is already in second round and we are happy for this, but feel free to vote once again and help us score better!
» Contra 009 FINAL released!
Posted January 1, 2019. By
predator_bg.
As promised, we are bringing you Contra 009 Final in 2018!
The long wait is finally over! Over 200 bugs have been fixed, many and many balance and stability changes have been made! This is a well polished version. A lot of attention was put in all aspects by all people involved: developers, testers and collaborators! 009 Final introduces three new challengers: USA, China and GLA Boss. Skirmish AI was fixed and then drastically improved. Numerous crash and mismatch errors were found and fixed.
First of all, let us say that we are so grateful and thankful for all of your voting, which helped Contra to score very high in MOTY 2018 and boost Contra's popularity.
As a thank you, we have a small gift which is actually last minute model work. It will improve visuals even more. Angels for Cybernetic general have been remodelled and improved.
Angels are remade by Creator and dce.
This has been an amazing year for us, and for Contra. Our community grows each day. Many good and talented people are joining us, and helping us improving various segments.
But also, very important news is that Creator is back!
He will join us in our development, and help us achieve our goals and plans for next version, but even more. Creator already improved some stuff like walking animations for spiders, walkers, projectiles and some more.
One of the new additions is hand-made map previews for all maps (by triatomic). A lot of effort and work is put on this one, everything in order to have better visuals for you!
Of course, there is a brand new launcher made by Predator, with full ContraVPN support (made by tet too)! You no longer have to search people online, struggle with settings....Everything starts with this launcher. ContraVPN is maintained by the wonderful guy tet.
Use this power wisely. Meet other people, join online games, improve your skills.
Of course, if you don't like to play multiplayer games, you can always compete vs improved AI (by Predator), or enjoy redesigned challenge games and fight even Boss generals!
If you need instructions for setting things up, Persun is your guy. His channel is better and better, and has more and more Contra content. Instructions video below!
We have no doubt that more of our friends and streamers will offer more content on their channels. Please check them, and subscribe, so you can be sure not to miss anything: Jundiyy, Maelstrom
One thing which you won't miss if you play Contra, are well-known super units. All of our super units have been voiced by voice actors who made really amazing job: Maelstrom, Matthew Vanston and George Exley
Thanks to WWB2 for big attention to details, helping us with challenge missions and bug hunting, Adriane for making new multiplayer maps and triatomic for the high-quality map previews and decals! Testing 009 Final to ensure quality release would not be possible without Dark_E_Swan, WWB2, Armanis, ParadoX, Persun, tet, triatomic, Marakar, Jundiyy, Adriane, Raven, Noctis, Falcon and Nizar_Haddad for continuous support with testing and reporting issues. Special thanks to Nizar_Haddad for close collaboration in fixing hard-to-fix bugs.
However, we need to warn you about possible Mismatch problems with AI. Blaming SAGE for such thing became a meme, but unfortunately it is a true one. We stretched this old engine in every direction, made sure to have everything polished, but with improved AI, and tons of new stuff, mismatch may happen often if you play online game with your friend vs. AI. So, please keep this in mind. Remove AI and it will be fine.
What more to say at the end of this year!? We wish you all happy and successful New 2019 Year! See you in next adventure!
» Contra 009 FINAL - Official trailer
Posted December 11, 2018. By
predator_bg.
Dear all!!!
We want to thank you for voting for Contra in this year's MOTY.
Thanks to you, again, we are in second round. As a part of gratitude we made a short, but very tasty trailer for the stuff you can expect very, VERY soon
We hope you enjoy it, but also, vote once again for Contra so we can get even better results in MOTY second round! http://www.moddb.com/mods/contra
» Contra 009 work in progress - News Update 14
Posted July 8, 2018. By
predator_bg.
Greetings everyone!
A short video presentation of a new super unit for Cybernetic general, "Widow".
In case you didn't notice yet on Contra 009 stream videos, Cybernetic general got his spider units back, as an option to counter fast and deadly GLA attacks.
This means, when you reach rank3 and build Strategy Center, you will have to decide whether you will join the cult of Spiders or follow the path of Angels.
- if you select Angels, you will be able to build rank3 Angel units, together with their rank5 leader "Seraph" mech.
- if you chose Spiders, you will be able to use rank3 Spider units, with their mother "Widow" as rank 5 super unit.
Many of you will ask what is the difference and which one to use!? Well, it depends on your twisted mind.
- But it also depends on the type of the opponent you are facing. If you are fighting China, or USA, most likely you will go with Angels because of their firepower and armor. Angels are strong, but also slow and cost more.
- If you are fighting any of GLA generals, you will probably want to go with Spiders, as Spiders are fast and weak, but also cost less.
Depending on which option you chose, you will be able to build one Super unit, either "Seraph" or "Widow".
"Widow" is fast long range Super unit, armed with prototype of dual rail gun cannons, missile system effective vs ground and air targets, and is able to deploy spider mines for cheap price (used by repair droid in the past).
Please note that final version of Widow may differ from what you saw in video, as things are still being tested, fixed and repaired.
» Contra 009 work in progress - Update 12
Posted December 23, 2017. By
predator_bg.
Originally posted on ModDB by dce on Dec 23rd, 2017
Hi all!
First, we need to disappoint all of you who were awaiting a Contra 009 Final or another Beta release.
We decided not to release another version for these holidays.
...that's one way to start an update....
The reason is simple. We didn't have enough time to test and balance properly all the stuff we made and changed. Last year we were so excited to show you progress that we released some units with serious balance problems (like Ratel II, or Centurion tank with bonus).
Now we want to correct this, we will rather wait a bit more and release Contra 009 FINAL next year.
This is our plan, but please keep in mind that, if a car hits me or PredatorBG while we are walking down the street minding our own business, that plan MIGHT change (so don't ask for exact release day).
...some other less important reasons might delay release too, like WW3 or cancer....
So, we already said thanks to all of you who support us, and voted for us on MOTY. It is also great to see our community growing bigger on Discord channel. Once again, we are inviting you all there. Arrange games, make new friends, chat, and you might even get access to Developer version.
Last update was about amazing AI changes, this one will be about some model updates. Together with models, there are plenty of code changes too, which of course cannot be shown with renders.
Let's start!
GLA Airifeld had major flaws with its appearance in game. So model is changed. It also contains only two units. Since GLA air units don't need to land on airfield, once they are in air, you can still produce as much as you like with only one airfield.
AF Burton A-10 strike was annoying and overpowered in many cases. So his ability is changed and replaced with another unit. This fighter can take down a single unit without causing massive damage to nearby structures and units too. Unlike A-10, fighter is also affected by stealth upgrade.
Cybernetic general is constantly being balanced. It's a thin line between being OP or a very weak general. New structure is called Spider Nest. This structure is small, cheap and easy to build. It is stealth all the time. Attacks nearby enemy units by releasing small Spider Mines. It is great when you need to stop Dragon tank, or any rush unit while you still don't have TOW missiles upgrade.
Another thing for Cybernetic general is Vorta (yes, I'm a Trekkie). Vorta is a secondary supplies gatherer. Half of the price of Harbinger, but it also brings half the amount of supplies. It is faster and can be used well in some critical situations where you need smaller amount of money but faster.
And last improvement is Nemesis N2
Old Nemesis is improved and replaced with this unit. His role is changed too. He is not a battle oriented unit anymore. In fact, he comes with 8 Cylons loaded inside. Thanks to Nemesis N2's great armor, you can transport them anywhere you like.
Of course, this also means Cylons as power drop, are not available anymore. Instead, you can drop a squad of Cyborgs. This is all balance wise.
So, there you go. Even while I'm writing this, another stuff is being made, nice and warm Christmas cookies, but these are all for me.
We wish you all Happy Holidays, and see you next year!
Woooooooooosshhhh (that's a sound of me flying off with my jet pack).
» Contra 009 work in progress - Update 11
Posted December 16, 2017. By
predator_bg.
Originally posted on ModDB by ThePredatorBG on Dec 16th, 2017
Welcome back to Contra, dear generals! This will be an unusual update. This time, we will present you some of the improvements we made to the Skirmish AI. Let's go!
Since 009 Beta 2 release, many players, including me, were disappointed from the AI which was even more broken than the first Beta. It was time to get my hands on it. I started studying and testing AI. After fixing all the major bugs, I got interested in scripting some unusual, special AI behaviors.
What you see below is the Insane AI building a Hadron Collider near your base. I could have kept this one a surprise, but I'm sure many people will still not expect or forget about the AI being able to do it. This hidden attack is performed only by Insane AI on official 1v1 maps, suitable for building Hadron Colliders.
Next up, we have AI deploying AA Radars on their way.
Shandian and Centurions performing overwater attacks. Sounds dangerous, huh?
Troop Crawlers! More trouble.
Tank AI utilizing Bixies.
And dropping heavy tanks behind enemy lines.
A sneaky BTR-50 creating a Sneak Attack in my base.
Assault AI using the Rig Launcher to dig tunnels on its way.
AI will call paradrop support powers in their base. This prevents them from sending their paradrops on suicide missions.
We are also very proud to announce that Contra is much more stable than before. While playing online together, we noticed some suspicious situations (e.g. Nuke Battlemaster having a high chance of causing mismatch in the first few minutes of the game). Every mismatch we were suspicious about was later tested and if confirmed, we went over and fixed it. The most common cause was the following case: Many units had a minimum attack range glitch. If their minimum attack range was too low and they were ordered to attack close to their location, they used to fire a shot which would not register properly. It actually detonates at the bottom left corner of the map and therefore the game considers it a mismatch. Fixing this one drastically reduced mismatch errors. It is shown below.
More such stability fixes include Leonidas mismatch fix, Squid Drone crash fix, Strategy Center Battle Plan switching crash fix, and a very rare crash found by PeRSuN caused by a garrisoned Laser Defender shooting close enough to damage the building he was in.
Fixes to some texture shaders such as those used on parachutes, particle and AI optimizations improve overall performance. On top of all that, we have ContraVPN in active development by tet, which is as lag-free as possible. It will be integrated with 009 Final once it comes out.
That's all for now. Thank you for making us part of the top 100 mods in this year's MOTY competition. We hope we got you excited once again!
Consider joining our Discord channel if you're up for some online games or just hang out with us.
» Contra 009 work in progress - Update 9
Posted June 6, 2017. By
predator_bg.
Originally posted on ModDB by d-ce on Jun 06th, 2017
Hi everyone!
This time, we made a special treat for all of you. Before showing renders with descriptions as usual, we put a bit more effort and made little trailer video about this update.
CAUTION!
Holding onto something while watching video is highly recommended, due to much awesomeness which causes your ass falling on the ground!
Now, let's explain what we saw.
- first, there is a new cool thing for Laser general. His Power Plant structures got unique upgrade, Laser Fences which can be upgraded from rank1. Laser fences will protect Power Plants from sabotage, and capturing by killing any infantry which comes very close. It also provides additional health to structure. But upgrade is not cheap, and drains one power point.
- defense cores are special vehicle units for Super Weapon general, which can be produced from Command Center. From left to the right, Patriot, Ion and Grendel. As we saw in video, they can be deployed in their respective defense structures. Their cost is equal to defense structure and half of the Dozer price. In balance order, they are vulnerable, and especially in deploying phase which takes around 7 seconds. Defense cores are great at reducing micro, and capturing more zones on map. Carrying them by Chinook and deploying multiple at the same time, is much easier than building each structure with one Dozer.
And now you saw it in game, with new weapon projectiles.
- Weather manipulation device, is actually replacement for Blackout Missile System. More or less, it acts the same, but more visual effect is given, and will be even more. It also deals a bit more damage.
- Thing which is not shown in video, is Gatling addon for Patria
In order to balance Infantry vs. Airforce matchup, minigun upgrade for minigunners is moved to rank 3, while Gatling upgrade affects Machinegun Patria both visually and with firepower.
And last but not least, is visual improvement on all USA structures, thanks to PredatorBG who took some time and effort to improve them for all of us: Click
We would also like to thank Hecthor Doomhammer who gave great review of Contra mod.