Just Cause 2 Multiplayer Mod Introduces AI Scripting

Happy nearly-birthday to the Just Cause 2 multiplayer mod [official site], which came out just about two years ago and has graduated into its old age with a nip and tuck in the form of quite a hefty update which you can check out here.

The update, which ticks over into 0.2, is in public beta at the moment and adds a whole lot of bug fixes and features. But more on that after the jump.

Possibly the most interesting addition to the mod are scriptable NPC characters. There are a few examples of usable scripts on the mod's official site, which includes scripts for the wingsuit, companions, claymore mines, among other things. From the sound of it there's also been some significant improvements made to server/client performance.

Also worth mentioning are the introduction of Steam achievements. That means that now if you stand on top of a flying plane for one minute total you will get the "Careful Down There" achievement. And if you drive people around in a taxi then you'll earn the straight-to-the-point "Taxi Service" achievement.

We played the mod back in 2014, describing its earlier beta iteration as a glorious spectacle. "Just like everyone else, I want games with smarter writing and games that are about more than just explosions," wrote our Graham. "But sometimes explosions – thousands of explosions – are still enough to make me coo."

You can download JC2MP on Steam and opt into this public beta by going into the Betas tab of its Steam properties. But keep in mind, for now the modding team warn: "Do not switch to this branch unless you are willing to actively help find issues and prepare your scripts for the release. If you don't know how to switch to the branch, we advise you wait for the official release. If you do switch, you won't be able to use servers running mod version 0.1.5. To switch back, opt out of betas again."