Plazma Burst 2.5

Unreleased Plazma Burst 2.5 (also referred to as Plazma Burst 3) is the upcoming game in the series. Eric Gurt plans to add many new features, weapons and even 2.5D terrain. Many features from Plazma Burst 2 are returning as well, but this process has not been completed as of writing, and the Campaign only exists in the form of a script.

The game was originally being developed in Adobe Flash, much like the previous two games, but it has since been ported over to a new engine in light of news that Adobe Flash would no longer be available to use on web browsers.

It's unknown when the project will be officially released, but plenty of information has been shown via Eric's twitter. More recent developmental updates are now being documented on patreon instead.

Summary

 * Level editor improvements, additional parameters for many different objects/entities, coding support, Skin Editor, etc
 * Several new weapons and grenades have been added, such as an all new lightning gun, Time Warp grenades, as well as turrets.
 * A freezing status effect has been introduced in the form of a new barrel, a fire status effect has also been noted.
 * Several improvements have been made to the game's visuals, canned glows now illuminate the environment, sun light effects have been improved, lamps are now colorable, etc.
 * Self Boosting returns, as well as many new mobility items/abilities, such as Jetpacks and double jumps.
 * Many AI improvements to pathfinding, and behaviour. Now being able to throw grenades, press X, as well as use new features, such as the Jetpack. Using AI opponents in place of Players during Multiplayer matches has been noted.
 * Plazma Burst 2's gameplay features have been fully implemented, including items such as the Port nade, and Shield nades. Many new weapons that were introduced in Version 1.32, have not been added yet however.

Level editor

 * Added a "live preview update for walls and water objects".
 * Improved select tool — multiple objects can now be resized at once.
 * The camera can be rotated and panned while editing.
 * Added "multiple" animation support for decorations.
 * Z axis, shading & blending effects can now be modified.
 * Visibility can now be client-sided — IE, visible for one player, and invisible for another.
 * "Texture filtering (pixelated mode)"
 * New character parameters, such as
 * "Vision"
 * "Boost equipment"
 * "Swords"
 * "Can be revived"
 * "Regeneration"
 * "Controllable by player"
 * Comments can be made within the level editor.
 * All doors will have HP and can be destroyed . However, this will be disabled by default, and map author would have to enable it via engine mark.
 * There will be a Skin Editor . It allows to mix different character's limbs, as well as recolor them. It has been hinted at that limited editing of skin parts themselves may be possible.
 * Custom .svg files can also be imported.
 * User-created skins can be saved onto a folder (saved as a .svg file).
 * User-created skins can be optionally shown to other users.
 * Maps made in PB2 will work in PB2.5 . To what degree is unknown.
 * Custom lamp colors.


 * New textures and decorations.
 * Friendly fire and team damage factor can be configured individually for every team in maps in PB2.5.
 * Characters can be scaled to be larger or smaller.
 * This would be added in version 1.27 of Plazma Burst 2.
 * The level editor can automatically generate 3D terrain (and possibly trees) in the background — behind preset backgrounds.
 * Moving lights/lamps are possible.
 * Water now can have their viscosity, density, and color changed. Lava has also been added.
 * New sky added.
 * Ammunition. The map maker can decide which ammo type to use, whether it be infinite, cooldown, limited, or unlimited with reloading.

Weapons

 * More than 16 different kinds of swords . Each sword has different stats, such as damage, swing rate, range, etc.
 * Without swords, Characters will now be able to throw punches and kicks that deal damage, grabbing and throwing with a Character's arms is also possible.
 * New grenades:
 * Grenade that creates a Time Warp effect in a small area-of-effect upon detonation, moving along the grenade.
 * Glowing grenades that stick to walls, presumably detonating when an enemy comes in contact with it.
 * Snowball grenade, unknown appearance.
 * Fire grenade, unknown appearance.
 * Virus grenade(?)
 * Several new grenades have also been mentioned, but have unknown functionality and appearance as of writing, one was noted as a variation on a pre-existing grenade.


 * A deployable turret has also been added, able to stick to walls. It takes the Character's currently equipped weapon as it's own.
 * At least 5 brand new weapons have been added, and most of the Plazma Burst: Forward to the Past weapons are returning, as well as the old Alien pistol, a weapon separate from the current Alien Pistol.
 * Some of these weapons include a lightning gun, appearing similarly to the CS-GaussRifle. It is noted as one of the heavier weapons currently in the game.
 * Bulky gun, appearing similar to the Plasmagun CS-Bloom, primarily colored light blue instead of grey. Its function is unknown.
 * A weapon that fires a continuous beam of energy, but losing damage output if fired for too long. Appeared as a concept sketch.
 * New pistol, appearance and function unknown.
 * "New" gun, appearance and function unknown.
 * Repair gun, can be used to repair Shields, turrets, and potentially vehicles. It also damages "non-robotic" characters as of writing, the Repair gun's appearance is unknown.
 * The Rocket Launcher from Forward to the Past now has additional blue highlights.


 * The Drone Gun CS-Virus has been reworked, viruses can also now receive damage weapons other than PSI Blades.
 * Fan art weapons from Plazma Burst 2 will be added.

Gameplay

 * A coop Campaign has been confirmed.
 * Jetpacks, or at least some jetpack/booster-like equipment/items/abilities . Although it's unknown what would jetpacks look like and what exactly would they do, it's known that selfboost technique will somehow be considered a jetpack, along with double jump.
 * It is possible to drop grenades(?)
 * It is now possible to shoot armed Grenades to prematurely detonate them.
 * At least one new game mode, Team vs Team . This is likely a credits-based game mode that is planned as a main mode for Multiplayer . In this mode, the players are expected to be able to buy weapons (and likely ammo) using money they have earned by killing enemies (or/and completing some special objectives), as well as being able to buy equipment such as jetpacks.
 * Multiplayer with server side sync. Sync for projectiles, characters, and more has been completed.
 * "Speculative" projectiles, and other various other server-side sync changes, related to hiding projectiles and other entities while not in a player's active vision.
 * Lag compensation changes are 90% complete, a note states: "Bad sync for shields... Some fixes needed."
 * Fire has been added, burning entities.
 * Freezing has been added in the form of a specialized barrel type.
 * The green barrel now exists, as well as a new clear, empty barrel — lacking a symbol.
 * The oil barrel from Forward to the Past returns, whether or not it has a new appearance is unclear.
 * Added collision check for projectiles and weapons. Bullet damage/speed will no longer decrease on gun collision.
 * Bullet drop, which affects both bullet weapons and energy projectile weapons.
 * Projectile spawn offsets can now be changed, allowing projectiles spawn parallel to each other, rather spreading out from the center.
 * Guns that fall on characters or the player will do damage and can even kill. This depends on the size and weight of the gun.
 * All projectiles have hit points, and can intersect with one another. Damage needed to destroy projectiles depends on each gun's power value(?).
 * For example, the Assault Rifle C-01r needs 3 hits, and the Pistol C-01p needs 2 hits to destroy rocket. Beam weapons do damage to rockets/plasma/grenades/bullets without knockback. Explosions damage hitpoints and change speed and direction of projectiles (including bullets).
 * Swords can also collide with each other.
 * Pistols can be dual-wielded . This seems to cause major balancing issues, though . Other weapons can be dual-wielded in the level editor, depending on map author's preference.
 * When switching between weapons, there is now an animation of a character putting a weapon on their back, then taking out another weapon . The heavier the weapon, the longer the switch takes. This is to prevent instantly switching weapons, especially heavy weapons such as the CS-BNG.

Graphics / UI

 * Dynamic lighting has been added to every bullet, grenade, explosion, muzzle flash, as well as swords. These can all illuminate dark areas. Explosion light is based on explosion color.
 * Projectiles — even after disappearing, can illuminate the surfaces they impact.
 * Self-boosting and rockets will now leave behind trails of energy, fire, and smoke. The new double jump and jetpack abilities also use these trails.
 * Many canned glows (Weapons, Characters, and Barrels) will now illuminate the environment around them.
 * As with one of the game's titles, the game can render 2.5D environments.
 * Water will be 3D and will have more realistic splashes . However, it will remain static, meaning it can't flow down to another area.
 * Indirect illumination & sun light effects. Ambient lighting completely removed.
 * Blood can now be sprayed onto walls and backgrounds, which can remain permanently.
 * When a Character is shot, a spot of blood will be left behind.
 * Procedurally generated death animations for characters.
 * Snow effects seem to be improved.
 * Entities now have shadows.
 * Dynamic light shadow casting for 3D objects.
 * Volumetric explosions have been added, and will now emit smoke. Explosions will also behave differently while underwater.
 * UI added to display how much ammo the player currently has.
 * UI includes new grenade types, and "...level specific progress bars (basically any level variable, such as extra bar for armor)."
 * The Player nameplate has been changed, the username can also have it's colors customized.
 * Health is visually segmented, each segment represents 10 hitpoints.
 * There can now be multiple red-cross signs that appear on dead/dying allies, which will remain visible on the sides of the screen.
 * A "blaster" effect has been added, creating a watery trail that follows behind certain projectiles.
 * The game will now display the exact amount of damage dealt by each shot . This can be turned off in game settings.
 * Magazine weapons now have reloading animations.

Misc

 * Projectiles now spawn from the barrel of a gun, instead of originating from the Character.
 * Some community-created content will be added later on.
 * Player bounding box (AKA hitboxes) improvements have been added. They should let player's movement feel more based on player's body instead of the bounding box.
 * A clan system has been confirmed.
 * Characters can now perform gestures, such as waving hello.
 * 3D Crates have been added, and with a simple destruction animation.
 * The overall project is divided into separate files, unlike Plazma Burst 2.
 * Proxy now has a new helmet-less head model, and an alternative skin.
 * New sound effects for snow, grass, shells, weapon pickup, and impacts for non-energy bullets.
 * New entity type, unknown appearance and function.
 * Custom maps browser for profiles.
 * Added enemy point of view replays (IE, killcams), which can be initiated by level editor logic, the speed of the replay can also be altered in real-time.
 * It has been noted that a fully-fledged (larger) replay system can potentially be implemented.
 * Basic gamepad support has been added.
 * Changing keybinds from their defaults is possible.
 * It is possible to switch to different game versions, including experimental versions. This is also possible to do without needing to re-download unchanged game files.
 * "Glitching through solid objects probably won't be possible".

AI

 * AI have received many optimizations, some of which are undocumented. While it's been stated that AI features are "90%" complete, they have yet to receive support for levels that can change their geometry, after a level has already loaded.
 * AI can now change their aiming angle, and predict the trajectory for grenade launcher weapons.
 * AI players are now able to make ricochet shots that can hit opponents hiding behind impenetrable walls.
 * AI can calculate possible damage for penetration-based weapons in PB2.5.
 * AI can perform wall-jumps, swim properly, and use all new jetpacks.
 * AI players can gather information from other allies and make blind shots on targets.
 * AI can throw grenades now, and can dodge explosives.
 * AI can do blind shots with rocket/plasma/grenade weapons expecting to deal indirect damage with explosions by aiming at walls near enemies.
 * AI are able to use the X button to dodge enemy projectiles.
 * Advanced pathfinding for AI, allowing them to move upwards at will or travel the map.

Possible features
Below is a list of features that are not yet known to have been implemented, existing only in concept.
 * Sloping surfaces, and walls . However, this is making calculations 30% slower, so this may not be a feature appearing in the release.


 * The Falkok ship may be a usable vehicle in PB2.5.
 * A barrel that creates fire, whether it is all new, or replaces an already existing barrel is not known.