A-Spec: First Assault cover
A-Spec: First Assault screenshot
Genre: Simulator, Indie

A-Spec: First Assault

Patch 0.20.1 is live

Patch Notes 0.20.1

Note: This update will reset all existing bindings to default values to avoid conflicts with new generic HOTAS and generic flight pedal default bindings

Overview

  • Added an overview screen as a place to easily reference control bindings
  • Artillery and Autocannon weaponry adjusted to provide more distinct differences and use
  • Improvements to Torpedo Launchers (installation costs, flight specs, damage)
  • Kherson turrets significantly less likely to spontaneously combust when firing a launcher salvo


Added

  • Default bindings for generic HOTAS controllers
  • Default bindings for generic flight pedal controllers
  • Controller Bindings Overview screen (For a quick glance reminder of controller bindings accessible from the pause menu during mission flights)


Changed

  • Adjustments to all Artillery and Autocannon variants towards defining distinct useage of these weapons and to Artillery:

    • Artillery are long range weapons (range increases, while muzzle velocities decrease, as slot sizes go up)
    • Burst and Standard Autocannons are medium range weapons (range increases, while muzzle velocities decrease, as slot sizes go up)
    • All Autocannons have a slightly faster muzzle velocity than the equivalent it's Burst Autocannons
    • Adjusted maximum projectile range and muzzle velocities to move autocannon use from long range to medium ranged

  • Torpedo Launcher (Medium):

    • Fitting Points cost changed to 61 (from 169)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 1464 (from 1624)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities

  • Torpedo Launcher (Large):

    • Fitting Points cost changed to 243 (from 675)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 5832 (from 5400)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities
    • Adjusted Explosive damage values

  • Torpedo Launcher (Extra Large):

    • Fitting Points cost changed to 648 (from 2250)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 15552 (from 18000)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities
    • Adjusted Explosive damage values

  • The launcher status bar in the flight HUD weapons panel will no longer play out the reloading UI animation when the launcher ammo is 0, instead it will remain as an empty bar
  • The Save/Load window in the Equipment Loadout Screen:

    • Window real-a-state has been increased and equipped items are listed with consolidated totals to ensure specification text is fully displayed
    • Players can now select Save/Load Slots 6-8 when using controller navigation

  • Controller axis binding for roll is now inverted by default


Fixed

  • Hard at work Akkadian Technicians have corrected a minor fault with the Kherson's new forward positioned keel turret mounts. In completely unrelated news, the Kherson's launchers have been repositioned further forward allowing missiles to reach their intended target that little bit quicker, oh, and-any-keel-mounted-turrets-will-no-longer-spontaneously-combust-when-firing-said-launchers
  • Several side missions were not using overrides to spawn vessels and instead used the data in the mission file (therefore no random spawns!)
  • Firing a secondary launcher with multiple salvo's and then immediately switching to another secondary launcher will pause the firing of the previous launcher
  • Projectiles were applying the shooters velocity to position offsetting the spawn location from the muzzle (which is no longer needed due to a script execution order change in a 0.19.x change)
  • Explosive Damage Enhancer Passive Module is not being applied to equipped launcher missile explosion damage
  • Equipment Loadout Screen now highlights locations (Primary, Secondary, Turrets) and equipped weaponry (primary guns and Turret models) on the vessel when hovering or selecting the relevant equipment slot
  • Vessel Selection Screen: Vessel loadout specification text for assigned wignmen is not updated when navigating the UI with the directional keys/buttons
  • Adjusted Turret Hierarchy Order so that turrets listed in the fitting screen in a standard convention
  • Muzzle Velocity and Max Range stats for projectiles do not display correct adjusted values with the Frictionless Coils Passive Module equipped
  • Rate of Fire stat for projectiles do not display correct adjusted values with the Magnetic Callibration Passive Module equipped
  • Using a Controller with a Throttle Axis binding assigned will set the throttle value to 0 while a Flight Group (1,2,3) button binding is held
  • Help Glyphs are not using a fallback for generic controllers without glyphs, which would instead use the element descriptive name of the controller for the bound action

Welcome to the front lines, Commander.

[p]Greetings, Commander.

There is a lot to digest in the patch notes below, so I'll cover some of the more noteworthy inclusions for update 0.20.0:

Chapter 4
3 new main story missions brings the player to the front lines of the war. Encounter tougher and bigger enemies than before. Chapter 4 side missions up the ante as well, if you want a real challenge then test your mettle with the 'Ambushed' side missions.

Corvette Ship Improvements
The Akkadian corvettes (Player faction) have been given additional equipment slots, varying by ship across primary, secondary, turrets and passive modules. The Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson have significant increases in Max Fitting Points to make the most of these.

Optional Player Assists
Near-Miss
Do you love flying into the enemy head on guns blazing, but hate how the enemy chews you up as much as you do them? Then hate no more, and increase the chances of enemies missing your entirely with the Near-Miss assist.

Find it from the main menu under Options > Game > Near-Miss Spread Angle
Increase the slider to make the enemies aim worse or reduce to 0 to turn it off entirely. Velocity changes, and relative speeds are factored into calculation, so you'll still need to make a few flight adjustments.

Homing Projectiles
You position the target in centre, your gimbal guns swivel to line up the perfect shot, squeeze the trigger and... Damn, the target fired its thrusters and adjusted its velocity enough for the projectile barrage to harmlessly pass by!

Feel more like a crack shot pilot at the extremes of your guns max ranges with the Homing Projectiles assist. When enabled any targeted vessel with the guns lined up for the kill will have their projectiles home in on the target. A bit like a heat seeking missile, but for projectiles!

This doesn't guarantee a 100% chance hit rate, if the projectile travel time is long enough the target has a chance to evade if they put enough thrust into it.

Find it from the main menu under Options ? Game > Homing Projectiles
A simple toggle on or off.[/p][p]ːlunar2019coolpigː[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Patch Notes 0.20.0 (Merged with 0.19.x Release Candidate Builds)
Overview
[/p]
  • [p]Chapter 4 added to the story campaign
    [/p]
  • [p]Increased Prestige rewards for completing main missions
    [/p]
  • [p]FPS performance improvements
    [/p]
  • [p]Various additions, gameplay improvements and bug fixes
    [/p]
[p]
Added
[/p]
  • [p]Chapter 4:
    • [p]3 Main Missions
      [/p]
    • [p]New (tougher) Side Mission spawn pools for: Ambush, Ambushed, Seek and Destroy, Convoy Escort/Destroy, Distress Call
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Added weighting system to reduce the possibility of the same mission name types being overly repeated in side mission offers.
    [/p]
  • [p]Allowed Akkadian Combat Pilot Actors to use afterburners (does not apply to other factions as adding this feature dramatically changed the difficulty and timings of a variety of missions)
    [/p]
  • [p]Collision Avoidance conditions to stop AI Actor Pilots of larger ships evading much smaller ships
    [/p]
  • [p]Targeted Substructures now have subsystem health and substructure health bars and values displayed in relevant flight HUD sections
    [/p]
  • [p]Radar detection range can be adjusted on a per structure type basis (used to reduce detection range for specific structures in a Chapter 4 mission)
    [/p]
  • [p]Improved FPS during explosions (Object Pooling relevant)
    [/p]
  • [p]A couple of Particle Explosions missing from Object Pooling have now been included
    [/p]
  • [p]Burst Autogun XXSmall (as a replacement for Sumer fighter craft using the Prologue Autogun XXSmall within the main campaign)
    [/p]
  • [p]Projectiles being fired against the player (when the player is) will now calculate the chance that the projectile should be a near-miss based on local velocity and distance (All Blaster gun variations are excluded from this check)
    [/p]
  • [p]Gameplay Assists (Options > Game > Gameplay Assists) for reducing enemy accuracy against the player and improving player accuracy with homing projectile weapons (excluding Blasters)
    [/p]
[p]
Changed
[/p]
  • [p]Luhansk Corvette:
    • [p]Max fitting points increased to 404 (from 273)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) Primary Port group (x2 guns)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) forward launcher slot (Small fitting)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) Small Turret slot (rear keel)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) Small Passive Module slot
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Donetsk Corvette:
    • [p]Max fitting points increased to 1200 (from 566)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+3) turret slots on the keel
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+2) forward launcher slots (Small/Medium fitting)
      [/p]
    • [p]All small only turret slots on the deck can now fit Medium fittings (in addition to small fittings)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) Small Passive Module slot
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Kherson Corvette:
    • [p]Max fitting points increased to 1542 (from 960)
      [/p]
    • [p]Secondary weapon slot has been re-positioned to a forward launcher towards making it more useful and in keeping with every other secondary weapon slot on other ships
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+1) forward launcher slot (Small/Medium fitting)
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+5) turret ports on the keel
      [/p]
    • [p]Additional (+2) Small Passive Module slots
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Adjusted Prestige rewards for completing main missions. Players will now have more Prestige to spend on ships and loadouts. This has been retroactively applied to existing campaigns
    [/p]
  • [p]Thruster Optimizer Module description has been improved for better clarity
    [/p]
  • [p]Thruster Tuning Modules description was using the original Thruster Optimizer Module description and has now been corrected to better summarise the modules' effect
    [/p]
  • [p]Collision Avoidance checks for AI Actors now exclude distinct debris in the world
    [/p]
  • [p]Improved FPS performance (linked to Radar system updates)
    [/p]
  • [p]Sumer Fighters and Gunships have reduced armour and hull points to make them feel much less spongy
    [/p]
  • [p]Reworked Subsystem damage through projectile penetration of armour layer:
    • [p]Previously subsystem damage scaled down linearly based on the max armour hitpoints (HP) and current armour HP. If we have two armour quadrants, one with max 500 HP and the other max 1000 HP, they would offer the same level of subsystem protection based on their HP percentage. To make subsystem penetration more consistent a weapon has a defined threshold for how much HP it can 'pass' through to achive penetration. The subsystem damage is scaled based on the threshold (passing through more armour HP will reduce the projectile subsystem damage down to 0 when it reaches the penetration threshold). This make positioning and angle of attack more important when wielding penetrating weapons (with the railgun, and lesser the autocannons) for damaging deeply housed subsystems on armoured targets.
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Adjusted the main campaign mission progression unlocks due to C01M03 being made available immediately available after C01M02.
    [/p]
  • [p]Prologue Mission 6 (Based on feedback about objectives around destroying enemy turrets proved too difficult to manage for a tutorial mission - thanks StoneofTriumph):
    • [p]Swapped out the Choke Blaster for Autogun player primary weapon (due to Choke Blaster limited range)
      [/p]
    • [p]Disabled the offline repair ability for enemy turrets
      [/p]
    • [p]Changed Xenia comms dialogue around turret repair
      [/p]
    • [p]Added Medium Autocannon 8 to the frigates
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Chapter 2 Mission 3 (C02M03):
    • [p]Reinforcing friendly cruiser now spawns as an Akaddian Cruiser (instead of Sumer Cruiser) and given some speed mods to get it into the action quicker
      [/p]
    • [p]Reduced the reinforcing Akaddian Donetsk corvettes to 3 (from 4) allowing the Akaddian Cruiser more opportunity to get in on the action
      [/p]
    • [p]Sumer Gunship loadouts' have been adjusted giving 2 (from 4) gunships bombs to drop (bringing mission balancing back in line with pre 0.19.0 changes)
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Chapter 3 Mission 2 (C02M02):
    • [p]Fixed vessel names for several rebel frigate spawns
      [/p]
    • [p]Admiral ship cannot be destroyed
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Chapter 3 Mission 3 (C03M03):
    • [p]Adjustments to rebel frigate and tug loadouts to improve their threat
      [/p]
    • [p]Renamed the station
      [/p]
    • [p]Civilian frigates now use correct prefab for ship data
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Chapter 4 Mission 3 (C04M03):
    • [p]Moved the starting spawn location of Sumer transports 15000 meters further away from the warp out point to provide the player more breathing room when engaging them (for a whopping extra 60 seconds)
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Adjustments to rebel frigate and tug loadouts to improve their threat and challenge during chapter 3 side mission encounters
    [/p]
  • [p]Combat Pilot AI: Adjusted calculation values for pilots deciding if they should change target to a bigger threat (should stick with designated targets for longer while under fire)
    [/p]
  • [p]Combat Pilot AI: Logic on afterburn useage has been tuned towards reducing the overshooting targets and inappropriate usage overall
    [/p]
  • [p]Removed peneration ability from Autogun and it can longer apply damage to covered subsystems
    [/p]
  • [p]Mini Gun (used by the Sumer Gunship) renamed to Cannon and increased direct damage by 5DPS (30DPS total) and increased subsystem damage by 10DPS (60DPS total)
    [/p]
  • [p]Player HUD Weapon Panel now counts down number of rounds remaining to be fired from a trigger pull (i.e. Burst Autocannons) on the weapons reload status bar
    [/p]
  • [p]Updated the equipment text stats format and layout in the fitting screen
    [/p]
  • [p]Sorting order improvements for inventory items listed in the fitting screen
    [/p]
  • [p]Reinforced Armor Plating (Small) changes
    • [p]Type I = Fitting points increase to 18 (from 6)
      [/p]
    • [p]Type II = Armor HP increase to 3000 (from 2000), Fitting points increase to 84 (from n) and Prestige cost increase to 1120 (from n)
      [/p]
    • [p]Type III = Armor HP increase to 7000 (from 3000), Fitting points increase to 270 (from n) and Prestige cost increase to 4992 (from n)
      [/p]
    • [p]Percentage values are now penalized (reduced with multiple modules affecting the same stats) instead of just being a additive flat value
      [/p]
    [/p]
  • [p]Progression with Equipment Unlock time changes
    • [p]Artillery Medium X1 TURRET unlocks after completing C02M03
      [/p]
    • [p]Autocannon/4 X1 (61) unlocks after completing C02M01
      [/p]
    • [p]Autocannon/4 X2 (62) unlocks after completing C02M01
      [/p]
    • [p]Autocannon/4 X3 (63) unlocks after completing C02M02
      [/p]
    • [p]Burst Autocannon/2 X3 (59) unlocks after completing C01M01
      [/p]
    • [p]Burst Autocannon/2 X3 (60) unlocks after completing C01M01
      [/p]
    • [p]Explosive Damage Enhancer I unlocks after completing C01M03
      [/p]
    • [p]Explosive Damage Enhancer II unlocks after completing C02M03
      [/p]
    • [p]Explosive Damage Enhancer III unlocks after completing C03M03
      [/p]
    [/p]
[p]
Fixed
[/p]
  • [p]Replaced ship loadout secondary weapon references to old MLRS Launcher to new MLMS Launcher(s).
    [/p]
  • [p]Skirmish Menu: Players will no longer be able to see or select factions not intended for use by the player
    [/p]
  • [p]Sumer Light Frigate was incorrectly used as friendly unit in Ambush mission, and has now been replaced with Donetsk Corvette
    [/p]
  • [p]Burst Autocannon/04 X1-X3 Turret Gun DPS has been increased to expected output values (due to wrong reload time being applied)
    [/p]
  • [p]Gunship now uses its own unique XS turret
    [/p]
  • [p]Corrected typos in various mission texts
    [/p]
  • [p]Explosive Armor Protection III (S) module had a vastly inflated price
    [/p]
  • [p]Null Reference Exception when a turrets target warps out
    [/p]
  • [p]Sumer Gunships' secondary launcher slot size was forgotten and has been restored back to Extra Small
    [/p]
  • [p]AI Actor will no longer use full throttle when in a sweet spot behind a target
    [/p]
  • [p]Disabling AI Actor causing Invalid Operation Exception error
    [/p]
  • [p]Resolved an issue with mission scripting logic for checks on subsystem health when the subsystem is attached to a damageable (and destructible) substructure which would return incorrect values when the substructure is destroyed
    [/p]
  • [p]Null reference exception when an engine substructures(s) health reaches 0 on the Sumer Cruiser
    [/p]
  • [p]A wingman with their own wing will not spawn their wing in formation when playing a Skirmish match
    [/p]
  • [p]Vessel Loadout Screen: Equipped ship weaponry DPS overview list are significantly over inflated for primary weapons
    [/p]
  • [p]Explosions hitting a dying substructures will continue to feed additional damage through to the main structure
    [/p]
  • [p]Projectile guns which fire off multiple rounds on a single trigger pull start the reload timer as soon as it starts firing instead of after the last round being shot off (affecting Burst Autocannons and Blasters)
    [/p]
  • [p]Blaster/4 Primary Gun was using a Medium slot size when it should be Small slot size and has been corrected
    [/p]
  • [p]Ship overview panel in the fitting screen now shows individual applied stat values and correctly shows applied weapon damage stat values
    [/p]
  • [p]Stopped the filter being re-applied when equipping an inventory item into a slot in the fitting screen (which would reset the scroll view back to the top each time)
    [/p]
  • [p]Corrected known typos across several main mission briefings, debriefings, and communication dialogue
    [/p]

Pilots, come and try the 0.19.0 Release Candidate on the Beta Channel

"Why is making a video game so slow!?!" - Many anonymous (indie) game developers (and potential customers) in existence.



Hey Pilots!

I use the term Release Candidate to state a patch that has not quite got everything in that I want for that patch. Effectively, its not officially released as I feel its not fully ready for it.

The 0.19.0 Release Candidate has been added to Steam Beta channel. If you are wanting to experience the Chapter 4 Story Missions (they are considered majorly complete) and/or wanting to help with testing, and providing feedback, navigate to the game's properties, go to the "Betas" tab, and select the 'Developer' beta from the dropdown menu.

Be aware, if you do opt-in, a backup of your campaign will be made towards avoiding loss of data. Which may need to be restored if any unexpected issues happen when the public patch is released. Profile backups can be found in the windows 'LocalLow\Digitum Software\A-SPEC First Assault` folder. If you don't feel confident you can always make a copy of the A-SPEC First Assault` to keep a copy safe. I do my best to avoid any issues, but sometimes unexpected edge cases can occur.




You can see what's included in the patch notes below.

As for what is missing for the public release:
  • I'll be looking at expanding and reviewing the side missions for more variety
  • Improving Actor AI afterburner decision making
  • Increasing the difficulty of side missions at each Chapter start as they feel too easy

    Of course I'd love your feedback on the RC, on the above, and anything else, allowing me to focus on ensuring any changes and additions will minimise frustrations while providing fun, variety and engaging situations in every play.

    Patch Notes 0.19.0
    Overview

    • Chapter 4 added to the story campaign
    • Increased Prestige rewards for completing main missions
    • FPS performance improvements
    • Various additions, gameplay improvements and bug fixes


    Added

    • Chapter 4
    • Allowed Akkadian AI Actor Pilots to use afterburners (does not apply to other factions as adding this feature dramatically changed the difficulty and timings of a variety of missions)
    • Collision Avoidance conditions to stop AI Actor Pilots of larger ships evading much smaller ships
    • Targeted Substructures now have subsystem health and substructure health bars and values displayed in relevant flight HUD sections
    • Radar detection range can be adjusted on a per structure type basis (used to reduce detection range for specific structures in a Chapter 4 mission)
    • Improved FPS during explosions (Object Pooling relevant)
    • A couple of Particle Explosions missing from Object Pooling have now been included


    Changed

    • Kherson secondary weapon slot has been re-positioned to a forward launcher towards making it more useful and in keeping with every other secondary weapon slot on other ships
    • Adjusted Prestige rewards for completing main missions. Players will now have more Prestige to spend on ships and loadouts. This has been retroactively applied to existing campaigns
    • Thruster Optimizer Module description has been improved for better clarity
    • Thruster Tuning Modules description was using the original Thruster Optimizer Module description and has now been corrected to better summarise the modules' effect
    • Collision Avoidance checks for AI Actors now exclude distinct debris in the world
    • Improved FPS performance (linked to Radar system updates)
    • Sumer Fighters and Gunships have reduced armour and hull points to make them feel much less spongy


    Fixed

    • Replaced ship loadout secondary weapon references to old MLRS Launcher to new MLMS Launcher(s).
    • Skirmish Menu: Players will no longer be able to see or select factions not intended for use by the player
    • Sumer Light Frigate was incorrectly used as friendly unit in Ambush mission, and has now been replaced with Donetsk Corvette
    • Burst Autocannon/04 X1-X3 Turret Gun DPS has been increased to expected output values (due to wrong reload time being applied)
    • Gunship now uses its own unique XS turret
    • Corrected typos in various mission texts
    • Explosive Armor Protection III (S) module had a vastly inflated price
    • Null Reference Exception when a turrets target warps out
    • Sumer Gunships' secondary launcher slot size was forgotten and has been restored back to Extra Small
    • AI Actor will no longer use full throttle when in a sweet spot behind a target
    • Disabling AI Actor causing Invalid Operation Exception error
    • Resolved an issue with mission scripting logic for checks on subsystem health when the subsystem is attached to a damageable (and destructible) substructure which would return incorrect values when the substructure is destroyed
    • Null reference exception when an engine substructures(s) health reaches 0 on the Sumer Cruiser
    • A wingman with their own wing will not spawn their wing in formation when playing a Skirmish match
  • Quick Fix (0.18.0) for missing rewards and inconsistent functionality

    Is is a quick fix patch to fix the following:

    • Added launcher rewards missing from the campaign. The requisition officer has been advised of this oversight.
    • Fixed the 3rd person camera from being too far out for various ships. The AI drone camera system has been retrained to no longer fit the ships engine flares into view despite it's opposition of wanting to include 'all of the the shiny flares'.
    • The wrong ammo was fitted to the MLMS-POXY 2/5/10 launchers and will now use the correct proximity detonating warheads. This is the requisition officers second performance and standards warning.

    Patch 0.17.0 - Neat and tidy edition

    Welcome pilots, the 0.17.0 update is here.

    This latest update was intended to include the campaign's Chapter 4, which will be released in the next planned milestone release. With this features update out of the way I will be focussing on the story campaign. In an effort to get more content out of the space dock, new features will be limited to allowing progression through the campaign missions.

    Patch Notes 0.17.0
    Overview

    • New cruiser and battlecruiser ships available to fly in Skirmish, along with existing weapon variants for their slot sizes
    • New and improved Multiple Launch Missiles (MLMS-CTAT, MLMS-POXY)
    • Performance and visual improvements
    • Lots of other additions, bug fixes and improvements


    Added

    • Missing descriptions for certain guns and turrets
    • Reinforced Armour Plating module L and XL sizes
    • Engine Optimiser XL modules
    • Engine Tuning XL size modules
    • Explosive Armour Protection XL size modules
    • Frictionless Coils XL modules
    • Kinetic Armour Protection XL modules
    • Kinetic Damage Enhancer L and XL modules
    • Magnetic Callibrations XL size modules
    • Nanite Repair Optimisation XL size modules
    • Thruster Optimiser XL size modules
    • Thruster Tuning XL size modules
    • XLarge Artillery Main Gun
    • Large Artillery Main Gun
    • Hardpoint and Launcher mounting sizes
    • Battlecruiser for enemy military faction
    • Cruiser for player military faction
    • Mining Outpost model
    • Science Vessel model (functions like all Transports)
    • Rocket S, M, L and XL
    • Multiple Launch Missiles (MLMS) S, M, L, XL sizes (replacing previous MLMS secondary weapon)
    • Multiple Launch Missiles with Proximity detonator (MLMS-POXY) S size
    • Added scripting logic for defining Wingleader/Wingmen behaviours
    • Distinct debris for enemy faction transport


    Changed

    • Added MLMS-POXY/02 secondary weapon to player starting ship default loadout in the main campaign
    • Reduced disk size requirements by using texture packing techniques (on going)
    • Changed Autogun muzzle flare VFX
    • Changed Autogun projectile VFX
    • Changed Autocannon muzzle flare VFX
    • Changed Autocannon projectile VFX
    • Changed Artillery muzzle flare VFX
    • Changed Artillery projectile VFX
    • Changed Railgun muzzle flare VFX
    • Primary weapons will target the center of a turret rather than the turret pivot point
    • Engine Optimiser S, M and L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with rulest
    • Engine Tuning L size modules modifier, prestige and cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Explosive Armour Protection L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Frictionless Coils S, M, L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Kinetic Armour Protection L modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Magnetic Callibrations L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Nanite Repair Optimisation L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Thruster Optimiser L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Thruster Tuning L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Allowed Substructures to be protected by the damageable layer of the parent on a per substructure basis
    • Update the dying throes of all enemy faction ships
    • Reduced number of particle explosions called for death explosions across all ships from prologue to campaign, by using fewer more appropriate sized particle explosions
    • Blaster 4/8/16 direct and subsystem damage along with Fitting and Prestige costs
    • Torpedo model and VFX
    • Rocket model and VFX
    • Multiple Launch Missiles model and VFX
    • Improved raycasting times for AI actor collision avoidance checks


    Fixed

    • Medium and Large turrets now use correct size projectiles and muzzle flares for their sizes
    • Null Reference error in Subsystem Repair
    • When a substructure is destroyed any attached turrets are destroyed resulting in null reference exceptions
    • Using the "Target turret under reticule" targets turrets which are offline and under repair and therefore invisible
    • Engine subsystems will stop being repaired when 2 or more engine subsystems exist but at least 1 engine subsystem is attached to a substructure which has been destroyed
    • Reinforced Armour Plating modules missing Thruster Max Velocity modifier
    • Reinforced Armour Plating modules modifier values adjusted in line with ruleset
    • Calculations for DPS and RPS for guns with multiple rounds per shot (Blaster & Burst Cannons)
    • Turret highlights become disconnected from F2 Cruiser when targeted
    • Explosion VFX on ships are included in the target highlight
    • Sub-targeting turrets will use the wrong turret mesh for the highlight (and other weird highlight behaviour)
    • When a ship is fitted with the Kinetic Damage Protection module and a substructure (i.e. Turret) takes direct damage, the damage feeds down to the ships hull even though if the ship has enough armour to absorb the full amount of damage
    • Group spawning without a wing leader will clump spawn at same location (spawning inside each other)
    • Equipment Screen: Equipped Turret slots arcs display issue
    • Invalid Operation Exception when disabling an active AI Actor by script

    Quick Fix (0.16.1)

    Patch Notes 0.16.1
    Fixed

    • Bug: Radar blips no longer appearing skewed on the radar panel (introduced from last patch)

    I see you watching me, watching you, watching me on this new patch release

    Patch Notes 0.16.0
    Overview

    • Improved lighting/shadows and made better use of engine graphics options for game graphics quality settings from Medium to Ultra
    • More targeting actions for Monitored, Wingmen, and who's talking
    • The Command Panel has visual improvements and additional actions


    Known Issues

    • Autospeed match 'close' setting does not work as expected (but won't soft lock progress when required, and may require a little patience when used in scripting for Chapter 03 Mission 03 if you feel otherwise)
    • Mesh fitting detailed (ship vs weapon collisions) and simple colliders (ship vs ship collisions) required for opponent faction ships (Fighter, Gunship, Carrier)
    • Jump-out animations are not scaled correctly for ships bigger than a gunship


    Added

    • Keybindings for targeting monitored structures in Flight controls
    • Keybindings for targeting wingmen in Flight controls
    • Keybinding for targeting the current talker in Flight controls
    • Added new actions to the Command Panel "Targeting > General" category: Next/Prev Monitored, Next/prev Wingmen and Current Talker
    • Added new category to Command Panel: Flight Controls
    • Added new actions to the Command Panel Flight Controls category: Reverse Speed toggle, Match Speed toggle, Match Speed Range Modes Slide cycle, Flight Control toggle, Activate Autopilot
    • Command Panel control fallback when a flight control action referenced by help glyphs not assigned to gamepad button (tutorial stuff)
    • Command Panel control fallback will breadcrumb to the desired control not mapped to a gamepad button (if it exists as a Command Panel action)
    • Command Panel context sensitive text panel based on category and/or action button highlighted
    • Help glyphs are shown next to the Command Panel for its navigation controls


    Changed

    • Adjusted the font sizes on the flight HUD text assets to meet Steam Deck font size recommendations/preferences
    • New rendering quality settings applied to video quality settings from Medium upwards, improving visual fidelity on higher settings
    • Adjusted the shadow rendering settings for improved shadow effects when projected shadows are further away from the camera
    • Changed default gamepad binding for Full Primary in Flight Group 1 category
    • Changed default gamepad binding for Auto Targeting in Flight Group 1
    • Gamepad Start button can be now mapped in Flight Group 1-3 categories


    Fixed

    • Closing the Options popup screen will no longer lose button focus on the Option button on the campaign menu, forcing gamepad users to use the mouse
    • Menu "Options > Video > Graphics Quality > Shadow Type" setting is no longer ignored
    • The mouse cursor refused to hide until mouse first moved after a scene load (affected gamepad users)

    Stellar Vistas Update (0.15.0) is now live!

    Today is a good day to play flight games! But why limit it to just a day when you can go all week long?

    September 16 - September 23, Steam is hosting Steam Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Fest, with discounts for automobile sim, flight, and trains simulator games, including A-Spec First Assault and Absolute Territory.

    And before I forget, here are the latest patch notes for A-Spec First Assault...

    Patch Notes 0.15.0
    Overview

    • Added Chapter 3 to the main campaign
    • New Point Defence mode (PDC Mode) for turrets to shoot down incoming missiles (not all turrets are PDC capable)
    • A new Command Menu panel pauses the gameplay while you leisurely send orders, change targets, instead of mapping every control to a gamepad


    Known Issues

    • Autospeed match 'close' setting does not work as expected (but won't soft lock progress when required, and may require a little patience when used in scripting for Chapter 03 Mission 03 if you feel otherwise)
    • Mesh fitting detailed (ship vs weapon collisions) and simple colliders (ship vs ship collisions) required for opponent faction ships (Fighter, Gunship, Carrier)
    • Jump-out animations are not scaled correctly for ships bigger than a gunship


    Added

    • Chapter 3 main missions
    • When the players ship turret is taken out, the weapon display for the turret will change to shows it's repair status until its back online
    • Quick Actions Panel popup to allow control selection from a menu interface (not yet bound to a default key, recommend manual assign to 'F8' for QWERTY layout. See Flight - Other - Quick Actions Menu)
    • Wingmen status panel also shows each wingman's current order being actioned
    • Small Turret Guns can be put into Point Defence (PDC) mode (not yet bound to a default key, recommend manual assign to '#' for QWERTY layout. See Flight - Weaponry - Cycle PDC Modes)
    • Turrets now prioritize targets based on a target order list based on target size (i.e. fighter > gunship > corvette > ...) and weapon suitability
    • Primary gun slots now have and are restricted by mounting size restrictions
    • Side mission weights are adjusted during play (less likely to repeat mission variant if you played it --- doesn't mean you won't get another variant with the same type)
    • Player ship regenerative systems are fully restored during autopilot transitions
    • Turret specification text now includes "[PDC]" marker to highlight Point Defence Capable turrets
    • Missing default bindings (Custom bindings will be reset to avoid conflicts)
    • Tug, Frigate and Large Transport ships for Civilian faction
    • Event Log added to the Pause menu during flight gameplay (default: Esc) to re-view previously received transmissions during a mission


    Changed

    • The loading screen is now animated, to show the game is loading
    • Starting the game will show the first loading screen longer than usual. This is the new normal. It's important work towards keeping memory footprint down and keep loading in to missions quick
    • The training button will be hidden until the prologue has been completed at least once (as the prologue acts as a story based tutorial, as the dedicated tutorials are more for a refresher and/or deeper mechanics for veteran players)
    • Campaign: Changed starting ship loadout (after the prologue) to be equipped with Autogun(S) for primary and turret slots to be more effective against fighter craft
    • Primary weapon Autogun (S) max range and muzzle velocity increased
    • Turreted Autogun (S) X1-3 muzzle velocity increased
    • FPS is now defaulted to 30 for first time players, to ensure a smooth and consistent gameplay experience during large skirmishes due to physics being linked to frame rate. Experiment/adjust with the FPS video setting to your preference/machine
    • Several code refactorings for improved frame rate stability
    • Adjusted the size of the Controller and Keybindings Screen to use more of the width of the screen for binding the three controller types
    • Large Transport and Mining Barges (found in the Prologue) are now have optimized and better fitting colliders
    • Adjustments to fighter AI behaviours for better avoiding other structures
    • Increased Unity Engine Max Virual Voices and Max Real Voices to eliminate audio cutting out when too many sources are playing at default values


    Fixed

    • Slow loading with Skybox and HUD assets which only became apparent after adding modular backgrounds as Addressable Assets
    • Full speed button is not enabled with other speed settings in Prologue Mission 1 & 2
    • Yaw was incorrectly disabled during first mining task in Prologue Mission 2
    • Corrected grammar in Xenia dialogue re afterburning during Prologue Mission 3
    • Player Received Transmission override source name was not being applied under certain conditions
    • Turrets performance were not being affected by the of the Gun Control subsystem health
    • Subsystem pips for health of the player ship and targeted ships
    • "Full throttle" the t in throttle should be uppercase for consistency in Control Mappings
    • Enemy Cruiser encountered in chapter 2 was missing Engine and Thruster Particle Effects
    • Thruster and Engine FX will no longer continue to play when the ship is in Slide mode
    • Afterburner audio for the player ship only plays through the right audio channel in 1st/3rd person view
    • Main Gun weapons now have use slot size requirements
    • Turrets firing prematurely
    • When in a mission, pausing the game then pressing the escape key will resume the mission while with pause screen is open
    • Vessel Fitting: Launcher list is not indented correctly in the Specification Panel
    • Vessel Fitting: Turret list is not indented correctly in the Specification Panel
    • Vessel Fitting: Turret slots are missing mounting size labels
    • Vessel Fitting: Modules are not being filtered by selected mounting sizes
    • Nanite Repair Optimization I (S) module has wrong price (extra digit added)
    • When using External Camera Tracking the HUD will eventually vibrate while player travels away from the position the camera view was engaged at
    • Prologue Mission 7: Transports jumping out where not being counted correctly causing incorrect dialogue to be triggered
    • Afterburn visual effect will continue and consume fuel during the autopilot cutscene, if afterburning when engaging the autopilot
    • Adjusting ships armour current health values via mission scripting can prevent repairs of regenerative armour
    • Added missing thruster effects to Large Transport and Mining Barges (found in the Prologue)
    • Improved performance during flight gameplay (identified through performance analytics)

    A-Spec First Assault July Progress Update

    Hey pilots,

    A quick progress update. Chapter 3 is essentially complete and playable. This chapter has taken much longer than any other chapter, and the results may not be immediately obvious once released but tries something I have not done before, leading to longer development time.

    There's been a fair amount of backend changes affecting mission scripting and skyboxes (the pretty stars), and many minor changes , all of which needs to be fully tested. Essentially I need to go through all the missions, campaign and side missions, as part of a campaign playthrough and catch less obvious issues not identified from individual mission testing.

    There are no major hurdles to over come for this update, it's just a whole lot of testing and re-testing required across the entire campaign, skirmish and tutorials to ensure all is still working and no gameplay blockers preventing players progressing through the campaign.

    I'll be using the full month of August for playtesting, bug fixing. What time I have left will be put into making manageable improvements. All going well, I'll be in a good position for providing a release date for this update.

    Fly safe!

    A-Spec First Assault May Progress Update

    Read on for May development progress for A-Spec First Assault and what will appear in the next patch.

    Chapter 3 Story Missions


    I have two of the three missions fully scripted for Chapter 3. The 2nd mission was quite the challenge. All the scripting occurred inside a single Navpoint (for reference you transition to additional Navpoints via autopilot).

    This leaves the 3rd mission to be scripted. Then the briefing and debriefings need to writing for all.

    Given how long the first two Chapter 3 missions took to script I needed a bit of a break from scripting and reflect on the overall story.

    Side Missions


    Chapter 3 side missions require extra consideration before scripting starts.

    Background Scenery


    To clear my palette from scripting missions, I decided to improve the capabilities of the skybox and for the last week working on implementing modular backgrounds sourced from this awesome creator. The modular backgrounds are various celestial bodies combined to replace or supplement the skybox.

    This is all coded in the level editor I use to script all missions and will allow me to create unique celestial backgrounds per mission and Navpoint. It’s mostly complete and functional and just needs to include all types of modular backgrounds and provide some additional options (i.e. lighting settings).

    FYI the level editor is not publicly available in A-Spec. TBH with all the changes I have made since Absolute Territory, it is not as user-friendly. And will remain so at this time.

    Combining a standard skybox with multiple background elements.#screenshotsaturday pic.twitter.com/WfQ2gQt6ob
    — Digitum Software (@digitumsoftware) May 25, 2024


    Game Bundles


    A-Spec First Assault is now in the A-Spec First Assault & Operation: Harsh Doorstop bundle. This includes the donation DLC to the free-to-play moddable military multiplayer shooter game Operation: Harsh Doorstop with 20% off.

    New features


    In addition to PDC's, which I talked about last month, the next patch release includes some additional features.


    • Primary weapon mounting slots will have size restrictions.
    • Gun Turrets now have a target priority list for each. Depending on the size and weapon type turrets favour smaller or larger craft based on the priority list. The 'fire at will' turret command will ignore the priority list.
    • When a player ship turret is critically damaged and offline the weapons panel will show reflect this and provide the repair time before going online again.
    • The wingmen status panel displays each wingman's order being actioned.
    • A quick actions popup panel for gamepad users to interact with ship actions there are more actions than button combinations with Xbox and PlayStation controllers. It also pauses the action when open.
    • Subsystem damage indicators added to the HUD for the player and the player's target. These indicators change colour to reflect the amount of damage to a subsystem group to provide a quick glance at overall ship performance.


    Bug fixes


    More bugs found with the more pressing ones squashed into a fine bug paste.

    If you find a bug, please let me know on either the Discord or the A-Spec Steam forum, explain the problem, and if you can repeat the problem or not.

    If you can repeat the problem, provide the steps on how to do it, like a list of actions to perform to make the bug happen. Using that I can investigate and follow your steps to replicate the problem, and if I can replicate the problem I can then start working on a fix.

    If it is a bug that appears often, but also seemingly random, if you are willing to provide a video recording of that moment, it may help.

    I want to keep A-Spec free of jank and bugs. Most bugs I find myself, which should be the case as I am on the front line. Though I am only one guy, and bugs do fall through, I work quickly to resolve them. Your continued help in identifying is appreciated.

    Conclusion


    Thank you for reading. Chapter 3 is taking longer than I expected it to. Though I am happy with the results so far.

    Once I have added and evaluated all required functionality for the modular backgrounds, I will return back to completing the Chapter 3 missions, including additional side mission types/variants.

    Thanks for all your support. A-Spec is just the next step on this journey towards making a fun simcade (between arcade-simulation) for space combat enthusiasts.

    https://store.steampowered.com/app/1608330/ASpec_First_Assault/