Merc Zone v0.5.31

Quick sticker fix!

• Looks like stickers were broken. Sorry about that. I feel great shame. Oh, yeah, new customizations are coming very soon. Stay tuned!

Thanks for playing!

Ramirez

Merc Zone v0.5.30

Customization is here

• The bare bones of customization are now in the game. After the holiday break we'll be focusing on building out the feature, but we wanted to give you a taste of things to come.

Merc Zone v0.5.29

More networking fixes

• More updates to stabilize individual rooms.

Merc Zone v0.5.28

Minor networking fixes and restoring hit flash

• More networking code and a fix for the missing hit flash.

Merc Zone v0.5.27

A small server update

• Adding some server code to help with monitoring.

Merc Zone v0.5.26

Oops, I broke it!

• In my haste and confusion last night, I broke Free For All mode and I'm terribly sorry for any anguish I might have caused.

Merc Zone v0.5.25

Minor update

• Extra resources have been allocated to alleviate performance issues. If you're still having problems please let us know on our Discord server.
• Added a pull-down menu for mode selection on the front page. Now you can play Teams without entering the custom game tab.
• Added a link to the News on the front page.

Merc Zone v0.5.24

"Sharp Dressed Egg" promotion is live!

• Now's your chance to earn some sweet Merc Zone-themed gear in Shell Shockers! There are a total of three prize packages that we're handing out at 50, 100, and 200 kills. Your rewards will be waiting for you on the main menu once you've completed an achievement.
• Rewards are issued on return to the main menu. If you reached a goal but didn't get a notification, try reloading the page. All rewards, past and present, will be stored on the "Intel" tab for easy access!

Merc Zone v0.5.23

A critical bug fix

• This update should eradicate the room kick issue that almost everyone has been experiencing.
• In addition I'd like to mention that we've hired a replacement for Murphy, and we've hit the ground running. Stay tuned for an update within the week.

Merc Zone v0.5.22

Just Some Grenade Fiddling

• This update features a handful of Grenade adjustments:

  All classes have had their Grenade cooldowns reduced.

  Grenade physics have been refined to make the Grenade toss feel better.

  Fixed a bug that was making Bingo's Grenade cooldown longer than it should be.

  Stay tuned: More explosives changes are coming soon!

Merc Zone v0.5.21

Some changes to the Neighborhood

• We've received a good amount of feedback on our newest level, Neighborhood, and given it an overhaul. Go check it out!
• A number of other refinements to some of older levels.

• We've received reports of some players with older machines experiecing jittery / jumpy movement while playing. The issue is most likely related to a recent Chrome update.

  So what can you do about it right now? Go into Settings and turn Threading OFF. Reload the game. If performance isn't better (or is worse) you can try turning Threading back ON and playing the game in Chromium Edge (Windows 10 users only).

  In the mean time, we'll be looking into a better work around. But hopefully the issue is remedied in an upcoming Chrome update. Sorry for the inconvenience!

• Thanks to everyone who participated in our Maps Poll! We'll be incorporating your feedback into the new levels going forward.

Merc Zone v0.5.20

Ramping Back Up!

• Hey, Merc Zoners! Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Summer's end trips and back to school prep have slowed us down a little bit. But we're back with a new content update!
• New Map: Neighborhood!
• A number of fixes for other maps like Island.
• At this point in the game, we've released a fair variety of maps. Going forward we'd like to know the types of maps you'd like to see more of. So be sure to take our newest poll! Just follow the link at the bottom of the main page.

Merc Zone v0.5.19

Custom Games Part Drei!

• Tons of great stuff this week. Strap in, folks!
• New Mode: Last Merc Standing! Eliminate your competition without dying to become the Last Merc Standing!
• Lobbies are no longer required to select alternate game modes. Just select a mode when you create a custom game.
• New Map: Island! The perfect map to try out Last Merc Standing. Fire it up and invite your friends!
• Bolt Action Rifle has been given a proper scope due to popular demand. Third-person model has been revamped, making it easier to distinguish from a distance.
• Shotgun and Bolt Action Rifle no longer lock you into ADS when reloading.
• Spectator mode is now much better thanks to the necessary work on Last Merc Standing. Use number keys to jump from player to player in first-person view.
• Spawns have been totally reworked to address that stupid spawn glitch.
• Chaingun barrel spin now decays quicker. Spread has been increased slightly.
• Bad lightmaps on vehicles have now been fixed.
• And plenty of other bug fixes and tweaks

Merc Zone v0.5.18

Custom Games Part Deux!

• The next part of custom games has descended upon the Mercenary City. Create a Lobby in Custom Game mode to enable Spectators and play Team matches! PSA: These features may have some bugs. We'll be cleaning things up over the next week or so.
• Spawn bugs should finally be fixed (fingers crossed!)
• Fixed a number of places where players could fall out of various maps
• Added match-based stats
• Lighting on every map has been changed to address some unsightly issues with lightmapping
• And plenty of other bug fixes and tweaks

Merc Zone v0.5.17

Stats and Death!

• Merc Zone is now tracking your stats! I'm sorry we had to reset the stats thus far, but it was necessary. If there's something we're not tracking but you think we should, let us know in our Discord channel!
• New death animations! It's just a first pass, but it's way better than death animations not working, right?
• Addressed an issue that caused players to spawn outside of the map in Two Temples.
• Miniplex has been given an overhaul to address performance issues (hopefully).
• And plenty of other bug fixes.

Some tweaks and a new map!

• We've added another "small" map called Miniplex. Lots of verticality, lots of ziplines in a smaller space so check it out!
• Ziplines have been slowed down a bit to address the spamming issue.
• Crates and Barrels has had its zipline issues addressed.
• Fixed a nasty chat censorship bug.
• A bunch of small stuff and things that don't pertain to gameplay (i.e. stuff you don't care about).

Merc Zone v0.5.15

Lotsa Stuff!

• Map rotation is here. Map voting is now enabled between rounds!
• Firefox is now supported!
• Crates and Barrels has been retrofitted with ziplines!
• Chat censorship has been given a chill pill.
• Round time has been increased from 4 to 5 minutes.
• Melee combat has been tweaked significantly. Please let us know what you think about the changes in the BWD Discord server.
• We've added a button to reset button mapping to the defaults.
• Chaingun range has been reduced a fair amount. Apologies to all those chaingun snipers out there.
• Tons of map and collision tweaks. Hopefully most of the remaining collision issues have been addressed.
• Aaaaaaand plenty of other fixes.

Merc Zone v0.5.14

Ziplines!

• We've started playing around with ziplines so this week's build focuses on the new feature. Use the 'f' key (or remap it) to latch onto a zipline and ride it in the direction you're facing. You'll automatically dismount when you reach the end or you can use 'f' to drop off at any point.
• To showcase the ziplines, we've added a couple of new maps - Two Towers and Complex. Go check them out and let us know what you think in the BWD Discord server.
• We realize the feature is a little rough at this point - that happens when we're trying out new stuff - so it's possible you'll find some bugs or be turned off by the lack of polish. Don't worry. We'll be cleaning it up very quickly.

Merc Zone v0.5.13

Full Color and Other Level Niceties

• The results of the poll were overwhelmingly in favor of color. So every level has been given the color treatment.
• Lots of collision fixes. Hopefully this pass will fix most of the issues people have been experiencing.
• Now that we've colorized things, we're starting to spruce up some of the sparser aspects of the levels.
• And tons of other fixes and tweaks

Merc Zone v0.5.12

The Ted Turnerization of Merc Zone

• Color! So we've been playing around with different aesthetics this week and finally injected some color into the game! Right now Heist is our Guinea pig so go check it out and let us know what you think.
• Music! Sexy new music in the game! Let us know what you think in our Discord channel.
• We've added a new Australian server for our friends in Oceania!
• Spawn Fixes - finally spawning weirdness (badness) should be fixed!
• Sweet new Death Notice animations
• New Poll! Go play Heist and let us know what you think about the new color scheme. There's a link at the bottom of the main page.
• Plenty of other fixes and tweaks

Merc Zone v0.5.11

Custom Games!

• Custom games are here!

  Make private rooms!

  Choose your map!

  Lock them!

  Or don't lock them!

  Invite your friends!

  Or don't invite your friends!

  Or lock them to keep your friends out!

  Browse existing rooms!

  Or simply sit on the home page and feel the excitement but putting your head really close to the monitor!

  (We don't judge.)

• Poor Ogre really stunk up the favorite class poll. But that's okay because he's been heavily revamped. Notably:

  He's a bit faster now when he's not firing.

  Chaingun spins up much faster.

  Chaingun fires faster.

  Damage has been adjusted accordingly.

  Overall he should be a joy to play with. Go check him out!

• The Watch Tab is Born!

  Wanna see cool Merc Zone content? Well, now you can. The Watch tab will give you access to streamers and content creators. Keep an eye on this feature as it will undoubtedly grow and evolve in the coming weeks.

• And finally

  Various map tweaks

  Minor bug fixes

  Big ups to Cochese for his narrow victory in the class poll! We weren't sure you'd be able to pull it off, but here we are. Crazy stuff.

Merc Zone v0.5.10

Some quick fixes

• A handful of small but important things

  Chaingun has been rebalanced slightly: faster spin up time; slower spin down time; larger spread in non-ADS; slightly faster walk speeds

  AK gets a small damage reduction

  A number of room fixes, including a fix for the "getting stuck in the floor" issue on Heist

  We're attempting to prevent a crash that could occur when rooms merge - hopefully this does it

  Icons for Ogre's weapons

Merc Zone v0.5.9

Introducing: OGRE

• You wanted it, you got it. It's Ogre, the newest class to enter the Merc Zone! Featuring:

  A Chaingun of ridiculous proportions

  An Ogre's best friend, the crowbar

  HP for days

  The speed of an octogenarian

• New Server Regions!

  You may now pick from the regions three: US-West, US-East, and Europe-North

• Plenty of other stuff:

  Changes to the sprint animation

  Level tweaks

  New handgun reload animation

  3rd person animation fixes

  Plenty of minor bug fixes

Merc Zone v0.5.8

IKEA and Bono Vox

• A real melange this week:

  Wonderful new robot voices!

  Lots of aesthetic tweaks and improvements in every level.

  Round scoring changes: collecting bounties now provides extra points. We're still in the process of tweaking scoring so expect values to change over time.

  Some reload animation improvements.

  Hit effects have been toned down.

  Sprint animations are less exaggerated.

  We've changed the way crouch works a bit: when running you'll slide until you stop and automatically pop back up; just hold crouch if you want to keep crouching.

  Plenty of minor bug fixes

Merc Zone v0.5.7

Tweaks and fixes

• Lots of fixes:

  "House" gets a few tweaks to fix some movement issues and an issue where players could spawn in a wall.

  Fixed a bug that prevented assists from scoring properly.

  AK's accuracy in ADS has been reduced slightly.

  Firing rate of handguns has increased.

  Other minor bug fixes

• An experiment with movement:

  You now run by default.

  FOV has been adjusted to accommodate this, but you can still tweak it in the Options menu.

  Firing a weapon will slow you to a walk.

  Crouch will still make you slide, and you will stay crouched until jumping or hitting crouch again.

Be sure to let us know what you think of the changes!

Merc Zone v0.5.6

Lots of polish and a new level

• :

  You can now use the 'Share Link' button to link your friends to your game!

  Brand new level 'House' is in the mix. It's a bit unfinished and still has some rough edges, but let us know what you think in our Discord channel!

  A small amount of gun rebalancing - AK clip size reduced; bolt action damage adjusted; handgun(s) damage increased.

  Smart Spawning (tm)

  More accurate grenade cooldown

  Assists now contribute to your score. Additionally they've been heavily retooled to fit Merc Zone properly - edge cases have been removed; qualitifactions have been redefined.

  Server announcements - warnings for impending updates and server reboots.

  A bunch of UI refinements

  Plenty of other quality of life adjustments

Merc Zone v0.5.5

Version 0.5.5 is alive!

• Welcome to Merc Zone! Tanning season is over so we're finally leaving those servers on full-time. Here's an overview of what's inside:

  A fancy shmancy new UI (Ooooo la la)

  Enemies now have color to make them easier to spot (this is something we'll be playing around with for a bit)

  Accounts are finally live so sign up/login and claim your name! No stats or customization yet, but we'll be getting to those things in the not-too-distant future.

  A brand spankin' new level concept in the rotation. Yeah, I said concept. Going forward we'll be dropping in levels with varying degrees of polish to test out ideas and grab some player feedback. Maybe they'll be good. Maybe they'll suck. Only the shadow knows ...

  Aaaaaaand plenty of other tweaks and fixes ...

Merc Zone v0.5.4

Getting close to throwing the switch

• We're on the cusp of turning things on full-time so today's build is mostly improvements. A couple of bigger notes:

  All maps are now in the rotation.

  Bullet collision is now consistent with what you see, meaning if you can see through it you can shoot through it. So be careful out there.

  Plenty of other tweaks and fixes ...

Merc Zone v0.5.0

Welcome to the Merc Zone!

• There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call 'The Merc Zone'.


• A few notes about the game:

  This game is in extremely early development so there will be bugs and weirdness and all manner of broken stuff. Still we try to keep it as stable as possible. Our hope is that each weekly build is more compelling and stable than the previous.

  If you run into problems and would like to report them, please find us on the Blue Wizard Digital Discord server. Just click the link at the bottom of the main page.

Thanks for playing!

Murphy & Ramirez