The core of the new faction system arrives this update. The current faction system includes the near minimum systems required to create faction gameplay so don't expect any drastic changes this update. Captains can now select a faction from a list of their available steam groups after selecting a ship and before launching an expedition. Faction affiliated captains will automatically ally captains in the same faction. Captains gain "influence" for their faction and drain influence for other factions in locations across the map by completing various activities.
Currently faction captains apply influence to the map by...
Completing contracts given by providers near a location.
Completing deliveries to a location.
Claiming bounties near a location. Collecting bigger bounties apply more influence.
Defeating faction affiliated ships in a location controlled by that faction. Bigger firepower faction affiliated ships apply more influence.
More in future updates...
Once a faction reaches 600 influence in an area they will control the territory. The benefits of faction control are incredibly slim right now and will receive the most expansion of the core faction systems. Besides your randomly generated banner hanging at outposts in the territory, any naturally spawning AI ships will spawn belonging to the faction that controls the territory if a player from that faction is in the server. These ships will aid faction members in battle and allow allies to freely offload their cargo.
Three preset public factions are provided by default but it is possible to create your own custom factions. Custom factions are linked to any Steam Groups you have joined. Custom factions will use the name of the Steam Group and randomly generate faction colors and a banner consistent across all servers.
Future updates will continue to expand on factions and further integrate them into other parts of the game. Future faction changes will stay purely faction relative and will not directly affect non-faction gameplay. Over time the differences in faction gameplay will shift such that a "weak" faction will be detrimental compared to no faction and a "strong" faction will be beneficial compared to no faction.
Airmen 1.20.2: Blast Resistance
This week's update adds a new damage mechanic with a massive impact on ship building and combat. Hull, glass, beams, and plating are now “blast resistant”. Blast resistant parts will split AoE damage amongst all blast resistant parts in the AoE instead of taking full damage. So 4 armor plates hit by a 100 damage AoE would each take 25 damage for 100 total. 4 armor plates and an engine hit by a 100 damage AoE would take 25 damage to the armor plates and 100 to the engine for 200 total.
This change is a massive increase to the durability of hull structures. Blast resistance shifts some power away from AoE weapons to piercing and single target weapons but also increases the power of hull over functional part ship frames. If the weakest part of your ship was the pilot seat it likely no longer is. These big changes will likely be followed up by balance changes in the future relative to the hitpoint balance between blast resistant and non-blast resistant parts.
Added blast resistance. Blast resistant parts split the damage of an AoE amongst themselves instead of each part taking full damage.
Hull, plating, glass, beams, blast cannons and gatling cannons are now blast resistant.
Minor Features
Reworked damage reduction to reduce a percent of damage instead of a flat amount.
Reworked armor penetration to reduce a percent of damage reduction instead of a flat amount.
Tweaked armor penetration values of all weapons to match the new percent reduction system.
Bug Fixes
Fixed boarding charges not showing their indicator.
Fixed allies not syncing properly when joining an expedition.
Airmen 1.20.1: New Float Stone Shapes
A different take on float stone lift is available this update with 4 new float stone parts. The new float stone shapes retain similar lift to volume ratios but rely entirely on the hull surface connection instead of limited beam connections. These shapes should both visually and functionally integrate better than their original counterparts.
Increased float stone hp/lift to match box balloons.
Tweaked the build hitbox of steering wheels and hull edges.
Bug Fixes
Fixed delivery point defending AI outposts not spawning.
Fixed refineries providing more parcels than they normally should.
Fixed some synthest plates not appearing in the parts list when part grouping is disabled.
Airmen 1.20.0: Synthest Tweak
Synthest receives some attention this update adding a new shape and knocking 5 points of damage reduction off of all plates. The lightweight extra armor option has taken a ubiquitous role in ship building and is more than capable of retaining its relevance by weight efficiency alone.
Reduced the damage reduction of synthest plates from 25 to 20.
Minor Features
Refineries can now hold 3 ready parcels instead of 1.
Improved the consistency of the ship blip placement.
Added a button to force the hangar ship into sandbox ignoring all restrictions.
Added triangle shaped glass part.
Added a new synthest plate shape.
Bug Fixes
Fixed spawning extra ships in sandbox being blocked when using preset spawn locations.
Leveled the ground at some landship spawn points.
Fixed not being able to load in when using an airship with a landfort.
Airmen 1.19.26: Grappling Gun Tweaks
The grappling gun gets a quick pass this update modifying both its visuals and functionality. The grapple rope will now for a spiral in-flight and pull taught when applying force. The first person animation has also been tweaked to execute the pull at the same time as the force being applied. Finally, the pull has been given the ability to better cancel momentum and the projectile sped up for easier execution.
A handful of new cosmetics and challenges are also available this update. The new challenges are all mining and refining related and can be found under the "Cargo Hauling" challenge category.
Changed the grappling hook rope animation to a spiral instead of a wave.
The arm pull of the grapple fire animation will begin immediately when force is applied.
Doubled the speed and removed drop from the grapple projectile.
The grapple now cancels momentum that isn't in the direction of the grapple while pulling.
Added the ability to abandon contracts at the quartermaster.
Added 5 new cosmetics and challenges to unlock them.
Airmen 1.19.24: Wood and Nitranite Outpost Refineries
This week's update rounds out the new refinery implementation with wood and nitranite refineries now appearing at outposts. The overall frequency of aetherium refineries across the archipelago will drop with a massive increase in refineries of any type.
Spawn restriction mechanics also change this update allowing spawning in zones with allied players nearby. The ships of players that add you as an ally will not block your spawn options as long as the spawn points are not also physically obstructed. Destroyed ships will also no longer block spawning so any ally you wish to spawn near can clear the area of interfering ships.
Nearby ships on teams that have allied you will not block your spawn locations.
Nearby destroyed ships (no engines and wells) will not block your spawn location.
Added a refresh button to the spawn point selection UI.
Ally and bounty ship markers are no longer a HUD element so they can be obscured by ships, terrain, water and clouds.
Bug Fixes
Fixed chat falling behind the reconnect overlay after opening the spawn selection menu.
Airmen 1.19.23: Refining Contracts
A new variety of contracts arrives this update to utilize the new cargo caches. Refining contracts require the purchase of new raw materials: aetherium slag, knotted wood and inert nitranite. These parcels can be unloaded from a nearby cargo cache and refined into their respective refined parcel. Refining contracts can be acquired from the new Harvester contract provider.
Outposts now have a random chance of hosting an aetherium refinery in addition to the Harvester. These refineries are locally managed so all airmen can make use of the refineries without interfering with each other's resources. Alternate outpost refineries will be added in future updates.
Cargo can be deposited directly into your stockpile at a cargo cache. Cargo deposited in this manner is not split with crew.
Added the harvester contract provider to non-sewer outposts. The harvester can hold refining and harvest contracts.
Removed harvest contracts from the porter.
Some non-sewer outposts will have an aetherium refiner attached.
Ship cost values in the hangar UI will appear in red if there are insufficient resources in the stockpile.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug that prevented anyone from accepting more than one contract from the same slot at a provider.
Airmen 1.19.22: Cargo Cache Integration
Cargo caches are further integrated into contracts this update adding them as an acceptable drop off point for delivery and harvest contracts. Parcels can be dropped off at a cargo cache by carrying a relevant parcel and activating the cache. Opening a cargo cache is now done by holding the activate key.
Delivery contracts can be completed by manually dropping off parcels at cargo caches.
Harvest contracts can be completed by manually dropping off parcels at cargo caches.
Minor Features
Porters have 2 extra contract slots and now have a chance to hold harvest contracts.
Added more aetherium rocks to the archipelago mainland.
Bug Fixes
Fixed expedition menus opening when typing in text fields.
Fixed the cargo pick up noise not playing when taking a parcel from a pad by activating the parcel.
Fixed being unable to join crew with active smuggling contracts.
Fixed guns smoke remaining visible after stashing and drawing a weapon.
Airmen 1.19.21: Smuggling Tweaks
Rolling off of the UI updates, this week changes the final step of smuggling contracts. Instead of auto-loading, smuggling pick up points are now interactable cargo caches at each outpost. The purchased parcels must now be unloaded by hand before the pursing bounty hunter arrives to distribute justice. To compensate for the added chore, the gains of smuggling contracts have been increased.
Future updates will further integrate cargo caches to add optional shipless solutions to new and existing contract types.
Reworked smuggling contracts to use cargo drop points at outposts.
Minor Features
Harvests, rescues, and captures can now only be returned to the original contract location and this location will always be marked on the map instead of another qualifying drop off point.
Added three new hull paint shapes.
Double smuggling contract payouts and halved the cost.
Bug Fixes
Fixed all but one heavy cannon projectile not doing damage.
Airmen 1.19.20: Quest and Guides UI Update
The UI passes continue this update with a number of minor improvements. The guides menu is now accessible from expedition and features two new expedition related guides. Each header has also been made collapsible to help accommodate a higher amount of tabs. These improvements have also been duplicated in the quest menu.
1.19.20
Minor Features
Attempting to fire a grappling gun with a parcel equipped will now stow the parcel instead of doing nothing.
The cargo haul menu now appears in the splash menu.
The guides menu is now accessible from the expedition menus.
Added dropdowns to the quest menu and guides menu.
Added guides for contracts and expedition basics.
Bug Fixes
Fixed some typos in notifications.
Fixed a tight watercraft spawn point in Harbor Islands.
