BattleSpades Beta 0.2 (0.2.1-beta.5)

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 brings the recovered retail compatibility work and the
follow-up gameplay and stability fixes into one server release.

Gameplay and compatibility

• Fix transparent terrain on late join after earlier players dig or destroy
  blocks: newly exposed solid faces now carry their colors into map transfer.
• Correct map lighting, marker/light colors and player block colors. Placed
  prefabs retain the original retail model/team-color blend.
• Keep players connected through stock retail map rotation and preserve the
  normal map loading, team and class selection flow.
• Fix disguise lifetime, stale entity attachments, respawn cleanup and mode
  transitions across Classic CTF, Diamond Mine, VIP, Zombie, Territory Control,
  Tutorial and Map Creator.
• Recover weapon damage, spread, ammunition, restocking, explosion, fire, goo,
  block damage and prefab behavior; improve lag compensation and action timing.
• Improve bot navigation, shore recovery, mining and human slot availability.

Movement and networking

• Give retail clients nominal 30 Hz airborne owner updates while preserving
  the native BattleSpades client's six-tick cadence.
• Improve lost-input recovery, bounded idle backlog handling, jump replay
  delivery and jetpack/parachute handoffs. Server corrections remain enabled.
• Preserve the native jump's first displacement so the server works with the
  optional retail movement fix. Unpatched retail still has a local jump-reset
  defect; this release does not promise zero rollback in the stock client.
• Split remote snapshots from ordered owner updates to reduce reliable-channel
  stalls, with a per-connection reordering guard.

Hosting and stability

• Reduce voxel-memory overhead, improve map loading and worker lifecycle, and
  add repeatable regression, network-impairment and capped-memory soak tools.
• Yield periodically during background spawn discovery so map rotation keeps
  the live server responsive on macOS as well as Windows and Linux.
• Add private-server password support for the maintained BattleSpades client,
  configurable map constructs and Diamond Mine discovery/cash-in options.
• Update the in-game welcome to Discord, where
  players can find the server source code and community support.

Validation and limits

Every downloadable server archive passes the complete server test suite and
packaged-launcher checks on its own GitHub runner before publication. The
release requires all six Windows/Linux/macOS x86_64/arm64 builds and a complete
SHA-256 manifest.

Before packaging, the final movement compatibility changes passed 1,953
targeted tests on both Windows and Linux, including an independent original
native jump fixture. A six-hour earlier-runtime soak completed under a
536,870,912-byte cap with zero swap, OOMs, failures or unexpected restarts;
peak cgroup memory was 373.10 MiB. That soak predates the final movement edits
and the final background spawn-scan change, and does not establish indefinite
leak freedom or high-player-count coverage.

Native client source is published separately for local building and testing;
this release contains server downloads only. Optional retail fix sources
are available in client_patches/retail_mousefix; no client binary is built or
attached here. Keep your existing configuration and review the new options
against the supplied defaults when upgrading.

These beta archives are unsigned; macOS archives are not notarized. Verify the
download against SHA256SUMS.txt. The server is AGPL-3.0-or-later; third-party
licenses remain in the bundled notices.

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 (0.2.1-beta.3)

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 brings the recovered retail compatibility work and the
follow-up gameplay and stability fixes into one server release.

Gameplay and compatibility

• Fix transparent terrain on late join after earlier players dig or destroy
  blocks: newly exposed solid faces now carry their colors into map transfer.
• Correct map lighting, marker/light colors and player block colors. Placed
  prefabs retain the original retail model/team-color blend.
• Keep players connected through stock retail map rotation and preserve the
  normal map loading, team and class selection flow.
• Fix disguise lifetime, stale entity attachments, respawn cleanup and mode
  transitions across Classic CTF, Diamond Mine, VIP, Zombie, Territory Control,
  Tutorial and Map Creator.
• Recover weapon damage, spread, ammunition, restocking, explosion, fire, goo,
  block damage and prefab behavior; improve lag compensation and action timing.
• Improve bot navigation, shore recovery, mining and human slot availability.

Movement and networking

• Give retail clients nominal 30 Hz airborne owner updates while preserving
  the native BattleSpades client's six-tick cadence.
• Improve lost-input recovery, bounded idle backlog handling, jump replay
  delivery and jetpack/parachute handoffs. Server corrections remain enabled.
• Preserve the native jump's first displacement so the server works with the
  optional retail movement fix. Unpatched retail still has a local jump-reset
  defect; this release does not promise zero rollback in the stock client.
• Split remote snapshots from ordered owner updates to reduce reliable-channel
  stalls, with a per-connection reordering guard.

Hosting and stability

• Reduce voxel-memory overhead, improve map loading and worker lifecycle, and
  add repeatable regression, network-impairment and capped-memory soak tools.
• Yield periodically during background spawn discovery so map rotation keeps
  the live server responsive on macOS as well as Windows and Linux.
• Add private-server password support for the maintained BattleSpades client,
  configurable map constructs and Diamond Mine discovery/cash-in options.
• Update the in-game welcome to Discord, where
  players can find the server source code and community support.

Validation and limits

Every downloadable server archive passes the complete server test suite and
packaged-launcher checks on its own GitHub runner before publication. The
release requires all six Windows/Linux/macOS x86_64/arm64 builds and a complete
SHA-256 manifest.

Before packaging, the final movement compatibility changes passed 1,953
targeted tests on both Windows and Linux, including an independent original
native jump fixture. A six-hour earlier-runtime soak completed under a
536,870,912-byte cap with zero swap, OOMs, failures or unexpected restarts;
peak cgroup memory was 373.10 MiB. That soak predates the final movement edits
and the final background spawn-scan change, and does not establish indefinite
leak freedom or high-player-count coverage.

Native client source is published separately for local building and testing;
this release contains server downloads only. Optional retail fix sources
are available in client_patches/retail_mousefix; no client binary is built or
attached here. Keep your existing configuration and review the new options
against the supplied defaults when upgrading.

These beta archives are unsigned; macOS archives are not notarized. Verify the
download against SHA256SUMS.txt. The server is AGPL-3.0-or-later; third-party
licenses remain in the bundled notices.

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 (0.2.1-beta.4)

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 brings the recovered retail compatibility work and the
follow-up gameplay and stability fixes into one server release.

Gameplay and compatibility

• Fix transparent terrain on late join after earlier players dig or destroy
  blocks: newly exposed solid faces now carry their colors into map transfer.
• Correct map lighting, marker/light colors and player block colors. Placed
  prefabs retain the original retail model/team-color blend.
• Keep players connected through stock retail map rotation and preserve the
  normal map loading, team and class selection flow.
• Fix disguise lifetime, stale entity attachments, respawn cleanup and mode
  transitions across Classic CTF, Diamond Mine, VIP, Zombie, Territory Control,
  Tutorial and Map Creator.
• Recover weapon damage, spread, ammunition, restocking, explosion, fire, goo,
  block damage and prefab behavior; improve lag compensation and action timing.
• Improve bot navigation, shore recovery, mining and human slot availability.

Movement and networking

• Give retail clients nominal 30 Hz airborne owner updates while preserving
  the native BattleSpades client's six-tick cadence.
• Improve lost-input recovery, bounded idle backlog handling, jump replay
  delivery and jetpack/parachute handoffs. Server corrections remain enabled.
• Preserve the native jump's first displacement so the server works with the
  optional retail movement fix. Unpatched retail still has a local jump-reset
  defect; this release does not promise zero rollback in the stock client.
• Split remote snapshots from ordered owner updates to reduce reliable-channel
  stalls, with a per-connection reordering guard.

Hosting and stability

• Reduce voxel-memory overhead, improve map loading and worker lifecycle, and
  add repeatable regression, network-impairment and capped-memory soak tools.
• Yield periodically during background spawn discovery so map rotation keeps
  the live server responsive on macOS as well as Windows and Linux.
• Add private-server password support for the maintained BattleSpades client,
  configurable map constructs and Diamond Mine discovery/cash-in options.
• Update the in-game welcome to Discord, where
  players can find the server source code and community support.

Validation and limits

Every downloadable server archive passes the complete server test suite and
packaged-launcher checks on its own GitHub runner before publication. The
release requires all six Windows/Linux/macOS x86_64/arm64 builds and a complete
SHA-256 manifest.

Before packaging, the final movement compatibility changes passed 1,953
targeted tests on both Windows and Linux, including an independent original
native jump fixture. A six-hour earlier-runtime soak completed under a
536,870,912-byte cap with zero swap, OOMs, failures or unexpected restarts;
peak cgroup memory was 373.10 MiB. That soak predates the final movement edits
and the final background spawn-scan change, and does not establish indefinite
leak freedom or high-player-count coverage.

Native client source is published separately for local building and testing;
this release contains server downloads only. Optional retail fix sources
are available in client_patches/retail_mousefix; no client binary is built or
attached here. Keep your existing configuration and review the new options
against the supplied defaults when upgrading.

These beta archives are unsigned; macOS archives are not notarized. Verify the
download against SHA256SUMS.txt. The server is AGPL-3.0-or-later; third-party
licenses remain in the bundled notices.

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 (0.2.1-beta.2)

BattleSpades Beta 0.2 brings the recovered retail compatibility work and the
follow-up gameplay and stability fixes into one server release.

Gameplay and compatibility

• Fix transparent terrain on late join after earlier players dig or destroy
  blocks: newly exposed solid faces now carry their colors into map transfer.
• Correct map lighting, marker/light colors and player block colors. Placed
  prefabs retain the original retail model/team-color blend.
• Keep players connected through stock retail map rotation and preserve the
  normal map loading, team and class selection flow.
• Fix disguise lifetime, stale entity attachments, respawn cleanup and mode
  transitions across Classic CTF, Diamond Mine, VIP, Zombie, Territory Control,
  Tutorial and Map Creator.
• Recover weapon damage, spread, ammunition, restocking, explosion, fire, goo,
  block damage and prefab behavior; improve lag compensation and action timing.
• Improve bot navigation, shore recovery, mining and human slot availability.

Movement and networking

• Give retail clients nominal 30 Hz airborne owner updates while preserving
  the native BattleSpades client's six-tick cadence.
• Improve lost-input recovery, bounded idle backlog handling, jump replay
  delivery and jetpack/parachute handoffs. Server corrections remain enabled.
• Preserve the native jump's first displacement so the server works with the
  optional retail movement fix. Unpatched retail still has a local jump-reset
  defect; this release does not promise zero rollback in the stock client.
• Split remote snapshots from ordered owner updates to reduce reliable-channel
  stalls, with a per-connection reordering guard.

Hosting and stability

• Reduce voxel-memory overhead, improve map loading and worker lifecycle, and
  add repeatable regression, network-impairment and capped-memory soak tools.
• Yield periodically during background spawn discovery so map rotation keeps
  the live server responsive on macOS as well as Windows and Linux.
• Add private-server password support for the maintained BattleSpades client,
  configurable map constructs and Diamond Mine discovery/cash-in options.
• Update the in-game welcome to Discord, where
  players can find the server source code and community support.

Validation and limits

Every downloadable server archive passes the complete server test suite and
packaged-launcher checks on its own GitHub runner before publication. The
release requires all six Windows/Linux/macOS x86_64/arm64 builds and a complete
SHA-256 manifest.

Before packaging, the final movement compatibility changes passed 1,953
targeted tests on both Windows and Linux, including an independent original
native jump fixture. A six-hour earlier-runtime soak completed under a
536,870,912-byte cap with zero swap, OOMs, failures or unexpected restarts;
peak cgroup memory was 373.10 MiB. That soak predates the final movement edits
and the final background spawn-scan change, and does not establish indefinite
leak freedom or high-player-count coverage.

Native client source is published separately for local building and testing;
this release contains server downloads only. Optional retail fix sources
are available in client_patches/retail_mousefix; no client binary is built or
attached here. Keep your existing configuration and review the new options
against the supplied defaults when upgrading.

These beta archives are unsigned; macOS archives are not notarized. Verify the
download against SHA256SUMS.txt. The server is AGPL-3.0-or-later; third-party
licenses remain in the bundled notices.

BattleSpades Beta 0.1 (0.1.0-beta.1)

BattleSpades Beta 0.1 (0.1.0-beta.1) — portable dedicated server for Ace of Spades: Battle Builder (protocol 168).

What's new

• Bots that fight and move like players. They sprint along routes instead of stepping cell by cell, run off small ledges, keep their eyes on where an enemy was last seen, take cover to reload, draw sidearms, flank, use jetpacks, guard on a beat instead of freezing, and dash for the intel in CTF. On AncientEgypt TDM travel speed went from 4.4 to 7.5 blocks/s and there-and-back head wags from 25 to 11 per bot-minute.
• A loaded map costs about 50 MB instead of 235 MB, so the server fits on 512 MB hosts. Serialized maps are byte-identical.
• Bit-exact movement on Linux and macOS. The physics was compiled with -ffast-math outside Windows, which drifted from the retail client by one unit in the last place; all 2040 retail parity cases now pass on every platform.
• Private join greeting with the release name and build date, plus a configurable MOTD ([server] join_greeting, motd).
• Planner fixes: no jumps through head-height openings, no drops into tunnel mouths, straight walks require headroom.

Downloads

Portable archives for Windows, Linux and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. Extract the whole zip, then run BattleSpades --check before opening a public server. Builds are unsigned; macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

All six archives passed the full test suite. The macOS x86_64 archive was built from a later commit of main whose server code is identical to this tag (its CI job exceeded the tag workflow's 90-minute limit twice).

Client: https://github.com/KikoTs/BattleSpadesClient/releases/tag/v0.1.0-beta.1
Details: docs/BETA_0_1_RELEASE_2026-09-21.md, docs/BOT_LOCOMOTION_2026-09-21.md, docs/BOT_COMBAT_REALISM_2026-09-21.md

BattleSpades 0.0.3-alpha.9

Unsigned alpha server builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

BattleSpades 0.0.3-alpha.8

Unsigned alpha server builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

BattleSpades 0.0.3-alpha.5

Unsigned alpha server builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

Highlights:

• restores authoritative block placement, block-line placement, spade/pickaxe hit, and block-breaking sounds for the acting player as well as observers;
• makes placed and launcher-created landmines destructible with stock health, correct explosion/detection center, native damage type, buried-layer triggering, and reliable player damage;
• allows spectators to rejoin a playable team and receive the normal respawn schedule;
• enforces a fresh-life boundary for live class/equipment swaps so replacement equipment receives correct charges, while preserving live backpack editing inside Map Creator;
• adds focused regressions for equipment, mines, projectiles, sounds, spectator rejoin, packaging, launcher versioning, and runtime paths.

Qualification: two local full passes of 1,149 tests, clean native/Cython build, all three Windows launchers packaged and smoke-tested outside their directory, server/tutorial --check with real maps and an AI worker process, Microsoft Defender reporting no threats, plus the GitHub six-platform build/test/package/smoke matrix.

BattleSpades 0.0.3-alpha.4

Unsigned alpha server builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

BattleSpades 0.0.3-alpha.2

Unsigned alpha server builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64 and arm64. macOS archives are not notarized. Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.