While we're still busy implementing and testing the new spaceship netcode, here's another more general update. Mostly AI behaviour and performance improvements this time, but we also focused on improving the Steam-related functionalities:
We got rid of an annoying issue where the game would drop back to the main menu whenever the player lost connection to Steam for whatever reason. We're not obsessed with staying in sync with the Steam master server at all times, so now AFF will only display a warning instead of immediately disconnecting the player from the game server.
Joining your friend in the game through Steam should now also correctly put you in the same match, assuming he or she is playing online. If you don't have the game running at the time, Steam will launch it and connect you right away.
Changelog:
Improved AI commander retask frequency
Added and moved some ship core lockout objectives
Fixed some issues with destroyable spawn module appearance
Fixed vehicle award notifies not displaying on clients
Players are now able to manually select warp exit location
Match timer only pauses for last phase objectives in Incursion
Increased several projectile speeds
Fixed several issues with boarding modules attached to capships
Fixed delay in chat messages appearing on the HUD
Added console repair section to tutorial
AI should sprint backwards less
Buffed underslung flamethrower
Reduced vehicle post-destruction reoffer delays
Increased vehicle territories map duration
Shields should block radial damage better
Ship engine sounds modulated by throttle rather than speed
Hooked up "request join squad" functionality
Removed squad-only restriction from spawning on team capships
Increased number of AI that can be stolen from an AI led squad by invite to all bar squadleader
Fixed AI pathing issues with interior core objectives
Game should no longer exit to main menu when Steam drops mid-game
Joining a friend in game through Steam will now correctly put you in the same game as him/her
Fixed AI failing to retask after being kicked out of a helm seat
AI should fire at destroyables more consistently
Performance improvements
Update 9 is live!
Hey there AFF Community!
We're currently busy working on a big netcode upgrade but we didn't want to leave you guys and girls without an update for too long.
In addition to the bugfixes we also wanted to try another balance change. New players (with a combined Rank in combat, support and command below 6) will now receive less damage, starting at 50% reduction at Rank 1. Since AFF is much more focused on completing objectives than on dispatching the enemy team, we think this change might help the new players acclimatize better, without destabilizing the overall gameplay. Perhaps it's a bit controversial, but we want to use the Early Access period to try things like that out, tell us what you think!
Changelog:
Fixed maps getting stuck on an endgame loop forever
Fixed debris chunks falling under gravity in space
Fixed Territories dropship availability timer
Fixed Territories round timer duration scaling
Fixed target lock icons persisting on HUD under some circumstances
New players below a combined rank of 6 in offline or online ranked matches receive a scaled infantry damage reduction bonus starting at 50% to ease them into the game
Keybind menu - fixed chat options not appearing initially bound despite being so
Keybind menu - blocked doomed attempts to bind the same key to multiple functions by unbinding the previous setting
Infantry will now receive lock-on warnings just like vehicles
Getting targetted by a RID will now display a lock-on warning
Made Ixion station turrets somewhat useable
Launching torpedoes actually plays a sound now
All vehicle turrets display actual current aim point on the HUD, same as when piloting
Reduced performance hit of homing missiles significantly
Capship offers should display again while in a fighter
Increased USN bomber bay railgun accuracy
Infantry suit mods tweaked to avoid stacking order issues
Suit armour and explosion damping mods now have a 5% speed penalty
Heavy suit sprint speed reduced slightly
Reduced hitches on AI respawn by precaching the loadouts they might need for the match - might increase the loading times but improves the frametime variance a lot
Limited ammo resupply per weapon to total the same amount as given on spawn. Message sent on further resupply advising on that weapon becoming blocked, can be cleared by fully resupplying at a deploy point. Basically the most nades you can throw now in the field is 8 before RTB.
Some minor lighting and collision fixes
Update 8 is live!
Changes, fixes and a new map
As well as bugfixes, we've made some changes to the gameplay and we're looking forward to all the feedback.
Highlights: By pausing the timer while certain objectives are under attack in Incursion mode, we aim to incentivise defenders to defend harder but also to reward attackers for pushing harder. It also gets rid of the annoying issue where the match would end on defense timeout even with an objective being currently captured.
Space Incursion maps should also feel more dynamic, the attackers are now able to win via a dramatic last boarding action. After the attacking carrier is destroyed, the game doesn't end until the defenders get rid of all the enemy boarding pods.
To incentivise human players to keep teams balanced, and to create extra challenge if they do stack on one team, the respawn timer for the team with fewer humans now gets decreased by up to 50%
Also you'll probably be glad to know that flashbangs should no longer blind players through walls.
We're also throwing another map into the mix:
Fortress Territories It's a work-in-progress map based on an older layout with light vehicles - transports, mechs and gunships.
Changelog:
Fixed low quality shaders not compiling for release (global detail level < 3, black Errah terrain bug)
Rewritten Incursion map timer code, fixing maps not timing out
Fixed several dropship animations
Fixed bad warp location in Lellebah-Territories
Fixed mech weaponlock location
Fixed issues with objective replication when joining an in-progress match
Fixed turret AI struggling to use lockon weapontypes (eg. Heimdall Destroyer)
Fixed friendly fire scales
Compensated for and incentivised human player team balance by decreasing the respawn timer for the team with fewer humans by up to 50%
Objectives under attack by the attacking team in Incursion mode will pause the match timer
Space incursion maps should only end by 'no deploy points' when all carriers and dropships/modules are destroyed
HUD should no longer incorrectly display 0% health
Ships should no longer spam component destroyed messages on core breach
Added what weapon probably killed you to death popup box
Added laser pointer to RID which displays while it is charging
Added a postprocess effect on taking damage
Dropships in Territories mode will not become available for 5 minutes after being destroyed (increased dropship health to compensate)
Replaced ULA Frigate with a Destroyer in Meudeverre
Ship warp-in effects and vehicle explosions played by chunks will no longer trigger all at once for newly joining players
Flashbangs should no longer blind through walls
Medkit healing should update HUD health indicators correctly
Tapping out or bleeding out of infantry incapacitated state should increase the kill counter of the last person to injure the incapacitated player
Shield materials shift to a red tint as their health decreases
Torpedos and such should be resupplied from carriers again
Reduced gunship homing missile damage
Reduced RID and SM54 accuracy
No longer possible to attempt a respawn during intro matinees or commander vote
Replaced ULA frigate in Meudeverre with destroyer
Reduced detpack frag charge damage
Reduced detpack auto-splosion damage when player dies
Various tutorial fixes
Fixed some wayward comms squawks
Fixed issue where AI could sometimes spawn two fighters, leaving empty ones floating around
Added Fortress Territories map
HAPPY EASTER!
Update 7. hotfix
Hey there AFF Community!
Some bugs resurfaced after the last patch under certain rare conditions and you immediately caught what we missed in internal testing. Thanks guys and girls, you're the best!
We're releasing a small hotfix, official servers are already running it. Changelist:
Fixed unranked servers not applying match scoring
Fixed warped capships weapons not initialising properly on net clients
Fixed Igneous phase messaging
Fixed bomber plasma fire sound
Reduced heavy plasma splash damage
Reduced capship death explosion damage radius
Reduced AI useage of AV weaponry on infantry
Fortress phase two hack objectives made consistent with the rest
Fixed Mazikeen maplist preview
Buffed underslung shield
Turret AI line-of-sight calculations adjusted
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!
Update 7 is live!
6 new maps, 1 new fighter weapon, hundreds of fixes, net optimization, mechs!
Hey there AFF Community!
Phew, it's been a while. Hope we didn't blow anything up by making such a giant update at once this time.
And yeah, we're going to call these "updates" instead of "patches" now. Seems more accurate, as the usual bugfixes and optimization will be accompanied by new content.
Note - mechs are still heavily in development so expect work-in-progress animations and various other quirks in visuals. We'd rather not hold back giving you guys access until the visuals are finalised, as we greatly value your gameplay feedback and comments on overall feel. Let us know your thoughts when you take them for a jog!
We've also added fighter-grade ion beam weapons to be equipped in the loadout. We're shifting some of our manpower more towards content now but that's not what delayed the patch for so bloody long. We hope the list of fixes (see below) justifies the long wait - we invested a lot of time in rewriting some low-level systems to optimize the game. This means both in terms of performance (AI is significantly less CPU-intensive now) and network lag. Network optimization is an ongoing process and we'll keep reducing the amount of data the game sends back and forth, but it should already feel noticably smoother online.
We are also going to start a kind of a devblog soon-ish, to highlight some of the interesting things going into the game (and raise the awareness of existing features). Not sure what the form will be yet. We're big fans of how Rust does it so maybe something like that, reports by team members with some short videos and screenshots. We'll see.
We've been keeping this under the radar so far, but we also invested some time into what seems to be the bane of AFF - the UI. We don't have anything to show off yet, but amid all the other work we've been building a new framework for the UI, a completely new pipeline. This basically means that soon we won't have to use the 3rd party tools we built the current UI in. This will not only result in better looks for the UI but most importantly in far shorter iteration times - so creating a new HUD and menus should be a pretty rapid process once this is done. A quick thought experiment for all you curious Early Accessers by the way - try running the game without the HUD some time and see how pretty some of the space maps are. Just punch "togglehud" in the in-game console
On a side note, we're getting more and more reports of weird behaviour on Windows 10 where the game performs much worse than it should. We're still investigating the issue but it seems to be at least partially related to Nvidia drivers somehow. I suggest if you guys and girls are running Win 10 (especially upgraded from any previous version) make sure to try a clean reinstall of all your Nvidia drivers \ accompanying software if your framerate is in the 20's with decent hardware (have a look at our "Solutions for common problems" thread)
As for the fixes and improvements in this patch, the list literally didn't fit into the Steam announcement character limit. So CLICK HERE to see it in all its glory.
January Status Update
Hey there AFF Community!
We just wanted to do a quick update on the state of things here.
Right off the bat: the next patch is a few weeks late and you guys and girls are probably somewhat frustrated by that. We had a couple good reasons to delay the thing though:
We fixed some low-level issues with spaceship (and gunship) physics desynchronizing between server and client. That itself needed quite a bit of work to get it right. But it also exposed some more issues with how we handled interactions between ships and debugging that took a good week.
Thanks to our awesome Community we've also been able to recently run some tests on the servers. That helped immensely in optimizing some aspects of the game - we're in the middle of an on-going netcode optimization but we also managed to make the AI a lot less CPU-intensive. Implementing those optimizations obviously took some time so there's that other part of the delay.
So, what's holding back the patch now? One thing is we're mopping up some camera issues that also got exposed by the spaceship state fixes. The other is we're mulling over how much new content we can finish before actually releasing this patch. As we've mentioned in the Holidays update we have quite a few new maps lined up and those could take a few more days or weeks to wrap up. We still haven't decided which of those are finished enough to be included right now. Same with mechs.
So, long story short, the next patch is coming probably within the next 2 weeks, which is way overdue, but it's going to be massive. In addition to the low-level fixes mentioned above we've done a ton of gameplay-related improvements (my favorite probably being how much more dynamic the Territories gametype feels now, thanks to every action contributing to the overall progress). Not going to spam the Steam announcements with the whole list right now but you can see a rough one here
Thanks for your patience and stay tuned for more space awesomeness!
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!
Merry Christmas - may good cheer plug your hulls.
Hey there AFF Community!
As 2015 is drawing to a close we'd like to thank all of you for participating in the awesome experience AFF has been so far! We are still overwhelmed by the warm reception we've received, despite the game clearly having numerous problems on launch.
Having released 6 pretty hefty patches we feel like we have addressed a lot of the critical issues. The game is much more stable now, performs better and some of the silly mistakes (like the tutorial being broken) are gone. 7th patch is right around the corner fixing a lot of collision bugs, ships de-syncing online, turret aim being off and more.
However, we are very aware of the remaining problems:
The UI is getting a total makeover - we're currently preparing a completely custom back end to speed up the creation of the new HUD and menus - a new system that lets us assemble the UI directly inside the game.
The servers are often seen as empty. We are not particularly worried about that at the moment, but we have some ideas on how best to address this.
We believe a big part of the problem is that people are going into the server browser (and we see in the Steamworks back end there's a couple dozen people just hanging out and not going online), seeing low player counts and assuming they are not gonna have a good game. So they don't join and as a consequence the player counts never increase. A self-fulfilling prophecy!
One solution is to just promote the game more intensively. Whilst this could remedy the issue in the short-term we're holding back for now as we want to avoid the post-release situation repeating itself. We don't want new players to bounce off the remaining technical issues with the game. A more involved marketing campaign will come in time - closer to when the game has fewer bugs and is about to leave Early Access.
NEW STUFF!
Okay, we've been talking a lot about problems and fixes, but what about new things coming in 2016? We don't have exact deadlines on those things yet but here's some upcoming content tease:
Maps - So many maps in the pipeline! Here's a few nearing completion to whet your appetite:
NB3345 - Space Territories
Green and dusty nebula mining outpost. Watch out for that battleship...
Mazikeen - Space Territories
A ton of hexy platforms for complicated space fights...
Mirnoide - Space Incursion
Raid a pair of contrasting hydroponic habitat stations, one desert, one lava!
Fortress - Territories
Territories with tanks and castles! A new layout and a different mood for this familiar map.
YinTaoShan - Territories
Free for all with all vehicles by the light of the silvery moons. It gets dark in the pink mountains!
and lastly, a wild mech appears...
Thanks again for your support with AFF.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!
Patch 6. is live!
Biggest feature this time is the stats working in singleplayer, lots of you asked for it. As of now it still requires a connection to Steam for technical reasons but you don't have to make a private server anymore to get the progression running.
We've also fixed a lot of low-level stability issues. We'll very likely post another patch in a few days, fixing the issues with gunships/fighters physics freezing and desynching but it needs some further internal testing. Thanks in advance for your patience guys and girls!
If you're reading this inside the game, please considering clicking "Read More" and checking out the announcement about Indie Of The Year 2015 Awards. Please help us spread the news about AFF a bit further!
News piece in main menu is now automatically pulled from Steam announcements
Singleplayer games should now read and save stats progress
Fixed AI failing after servertravel
Fixed a crash on exiting the game while in a vehicle
Fixed various issues in tutorial and added key prompts to tutorial triggers
Fixed deployed shieldturret team settings
Fixed vehicle inventory rollout and selection on clients
Fixed vehicle uprighting and interaction prompt
Fixed turret weapon stall when AI tried to change firemodes at a bad time
Fixed duplicated audio in briefings
Reduced radio chirp and milnet message received sounds
Reduced S77 spread
Rebalanced spaceship shield healths and countermeasure timings
Adjusted lead location calcs to compensate for barrel locations (eg. Huginn ion)
Reduced detpack radius
Enabled EVR underslung mod slot and removed a body slot
Adjusted geometry around Irega Phase 3 Elevator objectives
Various performance improvements in HUD, AI and spaceship physics
Minor adjustments to first-person weapon visual recoil
Adjusted Hare and Silverback handling with more grip and less torque
Vote for AFF in Indie Of The Year 2015
Hey there!
We're trying to get some extra exposure through IndieDB's Indie Of The Year contest.
