Firstly, the contest ended a month ago. And second, to my knowledge, you cannot mod the game. ^ ^

The battles are up to 32 players, most are around 22 to 24. I like the zero gravity aspect, it really does change the entire way you play the game. 

The game should be regularly updated, Futuremark already has several more maps nearing release. They don't plan to charge for the new maps at all.

I don't know if any more games like this are coming out, but for now this has all the bases covered.

There are a handful of populated servers, but not all that many. Definitely enough to jump in whenever you feel like. 

I don't think they'll be doing 'classes' anytime soon, just because they want to stick to the player skill being the deciding factor in a firefight. Most likely we may see some more weapons, but I don't know. 

There isn't a single player mode (nor have I heard one planned), but I'm quite sure I've heard of other games that have the zero gravity thing in. 

Cheers everyone!

I have a few for you guys.
1. As a site, what do you hope to achieve? Are you going for the more "unique" aspect of gaming journalism or are you just trying to get your name out there?
2. What're your opinions on companies delaying games due to the release of other big name games (IE, several games being delayed to early 2010 due to the Modern Warfare 2 release)? Do you think the companies are "chickening out" or just being strategically smart?
3. If you were to pick one video game character and place him in a different video games, who would you pick and where would you put them? 
Hope the podcast goes well, you guys' have really hit it off bug with Level 42. I could see it going far.

Also thanks for the contest! Would have bought the game already but strapped for cash with all these bloody titles coming out and christmas approaching rapidly!

Personally, bring it up to the standards of online shooters, which its already close. The major thing is voice chat, and as I mentioned above its being worked on already. Its such a unique idea thats so well done, they can get away with only have one class and two weapons. But I think eventually they will have to bring in more weapons, because people will get a bit tired. 

I don't know if they are allowing user mods, but I doubt it. 

Yes, but I don't think all that many. Most newer cards can handle it fine. I have GeForce 9800 GTX+ and I can run it on medium settings with no video lag at all, let alone crashing. However a lot of the people that would normally jump at the $20 price point are going to be put down by the Dx10 Vista/7 requirement. 

"Will the gameplay suffer from lack of participation by a community?"

Futuremark has done a lot with the community and game since its come out, and I don't think the community is suffering. The biggest request at the moment is voice chat, and they are already working on it. 

"Second, I've read there is only one gun and one class in the game, that everyone is on an equal playing field.  Is this simplicity good or bad, that is to say, will the game not have longevity because of a lack of variety, especially in weapons?"

Yes, there isn't any class at all, and your gun is an assault rifle with a scope on it. Scope in and you shoot off 10 shots in a sniper format. Its up to you if this sort of simplicity is a bad thing. You never run out of ammo (you do need to reload), so a lot of that downtime is cut away, pushing you into the action quicker. 

I personally don't mind it. I much prefer dieing because someone got the jump on me or planned their attack better, rather than just having a gun that shot farther than mine. It puts more emphasis on the zero gravity strategies you employ. 

About longevity, that's mainly a problem with all multiplayer only online shooters. For instance, Team Fortress 2 has stayed interesting with class upgrades and new maps and playstyles. Excluding class upgrades, I think SH will go the same route too. More maps, different playstyles, but otherwise I think the core gameplay is staying. Futuremark has already announced that it will be putting in more maps soon (4 or 6, something like that) and hopefully voice chat soon. 

Good luck with the contest!

The second episode was released today! Good luck to all those who enter the contest

I've been dying to play this game, but missed out on the guest passes.  Thanks for the contest!