I can only repeat it... CF1.8 is not finished yet. The phase 1 beta tests which I ran with 4 of the developers had just one purpose.
To find out if we have done major shit. Unlike other modders/community leaders which only share their success with their community I always wanted to be honest and show both sides of the medal. Only that way we really can make a good progress.
It is easy to write a new system or a new ship and put it into a mod. You can test it then and see if it is working or not.
Well CF1.8 has been developed over 2 years now and is the biggest FL modding project on the "market". Next to singleplayer tests that I was able to do on my own PC not a single Multiplayer test has been done yet.
The tests we did last weekend were done to show us if the mod is actually working on other machines, if there are graphical problems on older PCs, if the server can even handle such a big mod, if there are random unexplainable crashes and if the core elements of the mod are halfway working.
To the current point of time I am not sure if I should call these tests a major success or a total dissaster.
Worries about the server performance turned out to be unreasonable. Graphical problems appeared and need to get fixed (to specify it in detail... the mod as it is will run perfect on high end machines... but we really have to develop a low res version of the mod which will take time). There were servercrashes due to NPC paths. Those crashes were actually expected by me... as the same problems appeared during the CF1.7 beta... but today I am able to fix them in a better way. There is a high range of other minor problems which got observed.
Still I need to say that those problems are no big issue as there was nothing that really seems to be unexplainable or unfixable. I had much more problems during the 1.7 beta where the server crashed every 2 minutes and nobody did know where the problem is.
The destructable universe did work... partly
it did not work like we have expected it... but it also didnt crash the server. This feature is a massive logical experiment trying to trick out the FL engine... and now I have to find a new workaround for that new problem. That will take much time... but it is not impossible.
The reported problems will have to get analized in the next few weeks in order to prepare a new beta version. It means much of work.... and up to now i have not been able to look into every single detail of the past test. Right now the setup of the new CF server has priority.
I just ask for patience... we will need to concentrate on those issues now.
. Good luck in finding a good spray! 
