americas-army posts

As promised last week, the free space simulation game Moonbase Alpha has been released via Steam. And we once again state that this game has nothing to do (unfortunately) with the 1970's TV series Space 1999 which is set on (wait for it) Moonbase Alpha.

The game was co-developed by Virtual Heroes and the America's Army Game Project on behalf of NASA. The game pits you as a space-suited astronaut on the moon in the near future. The goal of the game is to repair the life support systems of Moonbase Alpha after they are damaged by a meteorite impact. The game is also supposed to be a proof-of-concept for a proposed NASA MMO game which Big Download exclusively revealed the details of several months ago.

It's been a long time since players of Amercia's Army 3 have gotten an update for the free multiplayer shooter. Very soon, however, the game will be getting a new and very extensive patch that will address a number of issues, add a new version of the Alley map and more to the game.

However there's also a new feature that may cause current players to get a little upset. The new patch, when its released, will update the game's training missions. However it will also force all previous players of the game to go through the training levels once again. Current players will keep their Honor and non-training experience points, The patch notes admit, "While this may be a minor inconvenience to some, we feel this is the best and most fair way to reactivate the training missions."

The US Army has spent a total of $32.8 million of its budget over the last 10 years in funding for the America's Army game, according to a new article at GameSpot. The info was revealed to the site via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Funding for the free multiplayer shooter game, which also serves as a recruitment tool, began in 2000. The first PC version of America's Army was released in 2002. An all new version of the game, America's Army 3, was launched earlier this year.

Yearly budgets for the development of the game have varied widely over the past decade, with the lowest being $1,288,552 in 2005 and the highest being $5.6 million in 2001. Just after the release of America's Army 3 last June the US Army shut down the game's primary development team at Emeryville, CA and moved the game's development to its Redstone Arsenal offices located neat Hunstville, AL.

(Full disclosure: Big Download is the exclusive site for the America's Army 3 Deploy Client)

The free multiplayer shooter America's Army 3 is scheduled to get a major update today with several new features that should be a huge help for players. The update should be live right now via an auto-update on the game's Deploy Client. You should be able to see some of the new features on the game's Account Management Website.

One of the new features is something you can see above. The Combat Map shows a top down view of how many kills have happened in each maps with one dot representing one kill. Players can use the info to determine where to see up ambushes and where to to be caution. Another new feature that uses the top down map view is the Battle Planner where teams can actually draw their attack plans on top of the map to show teammates where to go in a multiplayer match.

More info about the update can be found after the jump:

America's Army 3 is getting a big update today that addresses a number of different bugs and gamplay issues. The game updates automatically once the game launches through the Deploy Client. A full list of changes is shown after the jump. So, update and get back into the fight, soldier!

Download America's Army 3 Deploy Client (273 KB)
Check out all America's Army 3 downloads

Happy Independence Day! To celebrate the US Army has released a new patch for America's Army 3, which fixes a number of issues with the game and improves the overall experience for the recently released free multiplayer first person shooter. The patch can be automatically downloaded and installed through the Deploy Client when the game is launched. A full list of changes is shown after the jump.

Download the America's Army 3 Deploy Client (273 KB)
Check out all America's Army 3 downloads

The launch of the free multiplayer first person shooter America's Army 3 has been a success at least it terms of widespread interest and numbers of players downloading and signing onto the game's servers. However the game, developed and funded by the US Army, has run into some first week launch problems and most of them deal with the massive amount of players that have overloaded America's Army 3's authentication servers. In addition, the US Army has admitted that it has decided to close down one of the game's development studios located in Emeryville, CA.

Big Download contacted the public relations representative for America's Army 3 to get some answers about both the shutdown of the Emeryville office and the technical issues that have cropped up for the game. The PR rep promptly sent over the US Army's official answers to these questions.

(Full disclosure: Big Download is the exclusive site for the America's Army 3 Deploy Client)

Just one day after the release of America's Army 3, it appears that the development team for the free-to-play FPS has been downsized considerably. According to Shacknews the game's main development offices in Emeryville, CA has been closed. A number of the game's team members were laid off as a result, although the exact numbers of people that were affected are currently unknown.

According to a statement from the US Army, "This consolidation will allow us to gain efficiencies between our public and government applications." Development of America's Army 3 will continue from the US Army's offices in Redstone Arsenal located neat Hunstville, AL.

Update:The launch of the game itself has had its own issues due to massive amounts of players trying to sign into the servers. The US Army claims (via an IGN story), "At points during the day yesterday, we experienced over 20 million connections, which affected the ability to download, install and register to play the game. In addition, gameplay was affected by the stress on our servers." The US Army states they are working to fix these problems.

The wait is nearly over for fans of the free multiplayer shooter America's Army. Today it was announced that AA3, the revamped Unreal Engine 3-based version of the game, will usher in its first release on June 17. Once more you can start pre-loading the game right now on Steam which should allow gamers to have the game in their hard drives before its release

The original America's Army launched in the summer of 2002 and remains one of the most popular PC multiplayer shooters online. The Steam version will include features such as Steam achievements and support for the Steam Cloud.

This new client for America's Army Special Forces: Special Forces (Overmatch) uses a new system that replaces the previous Deploy Client. It's been rewritten from the ground up to improve the download experience. Features include a new download subsystem, an updated user interface and a self-updating system that starts immediately upon launching the client. The main America's Army game remains the same. Visit the official website for more information.

Download Updated America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) Deploy Client (276 KB)
Check out all America's Army downloads