Tentative release date: Around Xmas.
The current cycle, according to the Heathen grandfather clock, runs until 12/21; allow a bit of time for last-ditch efforts, testing and packaging, factor in that 12/24 is a decidedly bad release date for anything, and you'll arrive at some spot in end-December.
I know we announced demos several times, and we did not manage to release a demo in June like we wanted, because my map ran into the BSP format limit and the others were close, surviving on hacks to circumvent it... Then BSP2 was done.
However, as you know e3m3rq has been more or less ready for a while and is very pretty (and scary), and I guess ijed could polish up some other Episode 3 maps for release if he wanted.
RickyT23's e2m1rq is another candidate; it is more or less layout complete as far as I remember, and somewhat finished despite its gargantuan size... last thing I heard Ricky still wanted to work on details.
RJ has been chipping away at his Episode 2 maps; while I have seen pretty screenshots recently, I'm not up to date with the progress on e2m3rq and e2m4rq. One of them might be a release candidate.
Considering it's only six weeks, and that's precious little time, I'm not sure how much will make it into the demo, but something from ijed (and hence Episode 3) is a pretty safe bet.
New features, off the top of my head:
- BSP2; map limits chopped down, nuff said. Tools & engine.
- Possibly HDR lighting; down to MH, depends if he wants to finish this off; we were testing it.
- IQM support; unlikely to be actually used in practice due to the fact only one guy is making IQM models, and that guy is busy.
- New monsters
- New and very evil traps
- Helicopters and / or other mapmodels
- Spellcasting (OK, there was a spellcaster Vore in the last demo but I doubt many people found it)
- New weapon
- Hi-res map textures, a lot of them custom made / QRP variations
First and foremost, as you might guess from the names of the involved people, and the feature list, this demo will show off the maps. The Episode 3 stuff is pretty, scary, and deeply Lovecraftian, while the Episode 2 stuff has been described as Unrealesque. Needless to say, map limits were obliterated and engines were left in the dust crying. Yadda yadda.
It's basically MAPS.