It's Gajxo here with another dev diary. This week I'd like to introduce the new scoring system for our team deathmatch game mode. We believe it will improve balance and make matches more rewarding. The new score system is a modification of a community suggested solution and it's something we have been discussing for some time. It is already being implemented and will be released as soon as it's ready and tested.
The problem: A common complaint from the community is that matchmaking creates match-ups, where the power difference between the weakest and strongest ships is too large. Usually ships are split relatively fairly into the two competing teams so the overall result of the match is quite even. The issue is that highly rated ships in both teams decide the course of the match, get the most kills and the best score. The weaker ships, on the other hand get a unfavorable K/D ratio and have a hard time reaching a satisfying score. This is frustrating especially for newer players, who feel cheated and have a hard time progressing.
Goals of the new score system:
compensate the imbalance in ship rating within matches and create fairer motivations for both low- and high-level players
support and reward teamplay slightly more
The solution:
Flexible number of points for ships
At the start of each match, every ship will be given a point value based on its rating relative to other ships. This point value will be given for killing or damaging this ship.
The point value will be communicated in the lobby, in the score screen and in the target HUD in-match so that enemies are aware of it at all times.
A ship can be worth 60, 120, 180 or 240 points. The 'base' value stays at the current 120 points (100 for damage and 20 for the core). This means that the weakest ship can be worth only ¼ of the strongest one.
New victory condition
The winner of a match will be the team, with the most points, when the timer expires. Currently it's the team with the most kills. The 20 kill condition will be removed.
Assists get more points
Each % of damage done to a ship will give 1 score point. Eliminating a ship (destroying its core) will reward 20 points. This remains remains unchanged.
The points for a eliminated ship's remaining HP will be distributed proportionally to all players, who did at least 1 % of damage. These players will also be awarded a kill assist. That means it will be more rewarding to assist in damaging a ship relative to elimination. In the current system all points for a ship's remaining HP are given the the killer.
The 20 point bonus for a kill assist will be removed.
A game design sketch of the score display in the lobby.
What we hope to achieve? Powerful ships will have motivation to focus on other powerful ships, because of the overall impact on victory. At the same time, weaker ships will get a much better reward for doing damage to strong opponents and shouldn’t get frustrated, because they won't be 'feeding' the opposing team anymore.
The increased reward for assisting in ship elimination should also help the score to better reflect the relative effort put into the destruction of a ship by assisting players.
That's it for this week. What do you think of the new score system? What other features could help us improve balance Let us know on the FORUM.
Martin 'Gajxo' Gajarsky
Game Designer
Patch v. 0.1.1116 – Balance changes and bugfixes
Hey there, junker pilots!
It’s time for another update with a few balance changes and bugfixes.
We were looking at your feedback and made some of these necessary changes to balance. We hope that they will make the game better and you can enjoy it much more.
Balance changes in weapons:
Gauss Cannon – projectile travel time changed from 0.8s to 1s and range from 3500 to 3300,
Rocket launcher – improved range from 1500 to 1700, +10 % damage,
Cruise missile – acceleration and rotation speed increased by +50%, also in some circumstances, you can hit an enemy behind cover,
Phaser – range increased from 1500 to 1700,
Heavy Laser – range decreased from 2500 to 2400, +10 % energy consumption.
Balance changes in classes:
Battleship – rate of fire changed from 0.67 to 0.8, damage from 1.67 to 1.25
Frigate – rate of fire changed from 1.67 to 1.25, damage from 0.6 to 0.8
Of course these changes are not final. We will see what happens after this patch and depending from the collected data and your feedback, we will consider another changes in next patch.
Bugfixes:
fixed a bug, which caused a false broken integrity in build mode,
fixed a bug, which caused the broken upgrade on the Artillery mode,
fixed a bug, which caused the loss of colors on armor after self-destruct ,
fixed a bug, which caused the missing crosshair,
fixed a bug, which asked the player to login with email/password on Steam,
fixed a bug, which caused that your friends haven’t been able to see a private message,
several UI glitches have been fixed,
several minor bugs have been fixed.
New features:
simplified Chinese localization added,
Romanian localization added,
Slovak localization added.
Let us know what do you think about these balance changes and we will improve them based on your feedback. Thank you!
SHIP BUILDING CONTEST is here!
Hey, Galactic Captains! We're here with a ship building contest!
Post a screenshot or multiple screenshots of your ship designs into the comments on our official Facebook Galactic Junk League page by Feb 6 for a chance to win 1000 Space Credits!
On Tuesday Feb 7 we will post pictures of all competing ships into an album on this Facebook Page. 3 winners will be picked according to your votes! Ships that get the most likes during Feb 7-12 win!
So don't hesitate, ship builders, and build your ship now: pxfd.co/galacticsteam!
All blocks, skins, shapes, classes and ship levels are allowed. You can even enter with more ships.
By entering the contest, you agree with the terms and conditions which are described here:
pxfd.co/contestterms
Dev Diary #22 - Roadmap Q1
Hey, guys.
In today’s Dev Diary, I’d like to present our plans for the upcoming months and uncover how our production process works.
I’d like to begin by saying, that we plan to improve and expand the game according to our vision but also according to your feedback. We are carefully monitoring the discussions on our official or the Steam forums.
Now, let’s get to the point. Right after the release, besides the bug fixes, we began to work on new content for the first major update, which we plan to release by the end of March / in the beginning of April. We will also update the game every two weeks with a minor patch, which will include bug fixes, balance changes and some smaller features (the next one is coming on February 8th.)
Before we get to the specific stuff, I’d like to point out, that anything can happen in the production process (you would be amazed), which means that some features don’t have to end up in the update and the ones we haven’t even mentioned at all may be released. In any case, we will always try to stick to the plan.
Here’s what you can look forward to in the first major update:
6 New abilities (one for each class + common)
Rewards for ship design
New cool skins for your ship
Rankings and stats
The smaller patches will include:
Balance and matchmaking changes
Arena redesign
Bug fixes
Changes in the UI/UX
Other minor features
Player profiles
One thing we would like to support, is the creativity and building of unique ships. We want to implement a system, in which players who mainly care about the design of their ships, would get rewards. The system is currently in the designing process and we will introduce it in a future Dev Diary in more detail.
Player creation
Additionally we want to expand on the “League” element of the game (since we already have it in the name :) ). A simplified version of this should be available in a web form in the upcoming weeks. We will further expand the rankings and add other cool features.
Player profile – work in progress.
Besides the league aspect, we’d like to expand on the world’s atmosphere – aftermatches screens, camera work after player elimination, etc. We also want to add new content, starting with abilities – one class-specific ability (besides the Rookie ship) and two universal ones. We will also uncover a new ultra cool set of skins for blocks.
We’ll work on fixing all of the known bugs, redesign the arenas, improve the balance and matchmaking, enhance the existing features and optimize the game. We will release these updates every two weeks.
As mentioned earlier, we will introduce these new features in the future Dev Blogs. Please, always let us know about your ideas and give us your feedback so that we can, with your help, create the best game possible.
Dev diary #21 - Let’s start a conversation Today's topic: Balance
Hello, galactic pilots!
It’s time for our first Dev diary since the Steam launch! Every week (usually on Friday), we’ll release a new diary, where we’ll discuss the most important current issues, upcoming features and other exciting stuff.
We believe the best way to improve our game is to talk to the community. Therefore each diary should not be taken as a one way message from the devs to you, but as a start of a conversation! So don’t hesitate and let us know what you think in the comments below.
With that out of the way, let’s get right to the issue that is on everyone’s mind - balance!
Problem:
Since the release the game’s meta has been dominated by long-range sniping using the Heavy and Uber Gauss guns. We think there is nothing wrong with picking long-range weapons for your ship. However, currently, a large part of the community considers them to be powerful in too many roles. They are perceived as very efficient at both short and long range and against both fast and slow ships. This may decrease player motivation to try out different playstyles which other weapons offer and deprives the game of variety.
To check this claim we have looked at the numbers . Here’s are the stats for weapon use in the past few days (that is already after one balance patch).
How we interpret these numbers:
Patch v. 0.1.1115 - Mouse settings and bugfixes
Hello, captains!
We’re here with our first patch after release. We have removed some of the most common or annoying bugs and added some features requested by the community.
We are also working hard on improving game balance and matchmaking. Read more about it in our newest Dev Diary. (Link will become available today).
Features
The CONTROLS settings now feature the possibility to invert the mouse Y axis – separately for the hangar and for combat.
Self-destruct has been disabled in the combat tutorial
A Japanese chat channel has been added
Bugfixes
Changed the name of the application from “Game” to “Galactic Junk League”
NOTE: This fix will cause the previously saved settings (graphics, sound…) and controls of ALL PLAYERS to reset to default. This can be resolved by adjusting the settings again. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Fixed a bug, which caused control settings to not save between game launches on MAC
Fixed a bug, which caused the control settings to not display properly
Fixed a bug, which caused the UI to crash and freeze after returning from a match
Fixed a bug, which made the Czech localisation button unclickable
Fixed a bug, which made it possible to get stuck in the construction tutorial
Fixed a bug, which allowed players in a party to enter matchmaking without selecting their party ship
Hull Joint level has been synchronized with the Hull Block group, to which it belongs
Several UI glitches have been fixed
Several minor bugs have been fixed
Minor balance patch – v. 0.1.1114
Hey, captains!
First of all A BIG THANK YOU for playing Galactic Junk League!
We are looking at your feedback very closely so that we may make the game even better. That’s why we are implementing a small balance patch today. We want to try out how these changes affect the game during the weekend so let us know what you think.
Balance issue: We have noticed several complaints from the community about sniping being too powerful.
Our vision for the game is to allow many different playstyles to be useful and fun to play. We agree with our players that currently sniping may be useful in too many situations.
We think long range fighting has an important place in the game as a counter to slow high-HP ships like the battleship or cruiser. On the other hand, we also want other styles such as flying small maneuverable frigates and rookies to be useful.
Solution: That’s why we are doing two changes to the Uber Gauss and Heavy Gauss weapons.
We have increased their projectile travel time by about 0.3 seconds. This will allow small or fast ships to outmaneuver their fire, if they try hard enough :) ).
We will also slow down the turret firing sequence of both guns. This means that not all turrets will fire at the same time, but in a short sequence. This way the damage of these weapons will be a bit more spread out so that one hit kills happen less often.
For now we want to keep both the range and damage of these guns, so they will remain very effective snipers.
Gatling Gauss – projectile travel time 0,2 -> 0,29 s
Mega armor – CPU 20 -> 16; HP 650 -> 700
Armored Bridge – CPU 5 -> 4
Other changes:
Japanese language has been added (日本語) and Japanese chat channel is coming soon.
A bug has been fixed which caused problems with the English language chat room.
That’s it for this patch. We are planning to release guides about the game’s weapons or abilities to help newer players get around.
We will collect more data and listen to you, the players, and balance the game even further! Have fun playing!
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
Cheers!
GJL Development Team
GJL Steam Launch - A word from the devs
Hey galactic captains!
We’re glad you decided to try out our game. After more than a year of development GJL has finally come to Steam Early Access.
For us, this is just the start of the road. Our goal is to make this the most customizable multiplayer game ever, where every playstyle has a place. And we can only do it with your help.
If you dislike something about the game, if you have a suggestion, or even, if you find something awesome, please let us know. This way, we may make a game our players love as much as we do.
See you in the arena!
Best regards,
The GJL Development Team
Here are some useful links if you want to give us feedback or find out more about the game:
Our Web Forum - post your feedback and meet the community
Dev Diary #20 - Major Patch and Steam Preparations
Hello Captains!
Steam Early Access is right around the corner (January 17th everyone!) so here's a quick update on how things are going.
Steam Launch Details
Next Tuesday the game will become available for download in the Steam Store. At first launch, players will be able to merge their current game account with their Steam account. That means all your levels, ships and purchases will be transferred. The game will also remain available through our original non-Steam client.
New Patch
On Wednesday (January 11th) we have released the final large content update before the Steam release for a public testing. You can find the changelog and discussion HERE.
Right now we are playtesting the new patch and the Steam version and fixing any critical bugs that may come up. There were a lot of new features included (party play, ship buying, new blocks) so we expect that several minor and medium issues will pop up. We will fix these in the following weeks. We would like to ask the community to help us find any bugs that may come up as well as to provide feedback on the user experience with the new features.
It's Marketing Time
We're hard at work promoting the game. We have contacted major gaming media in cooperation with our PR agency ICO Media. We have already scored a nice article in Rock Paper Shotgun ( HERE ).
E-mails have been sent out to all youtubers, whose contacts we could find. This has already payed off with nice videos by DieselDesigns, NilfgorN, Panzer Dusk Attack!! #2 and our old friends Paveł and Plaga. There are rumors that the incredible Boris from Life of Boris is up to something.
We have also sent out messages to the world-famous youtubers PewDiePie, jacksepticeye and Markiplier. So listen up community. Let them know you want them playing Galactic Junk League! You can tell them on Twitter or comment on of their Youtube videos.
Steel Squadron Warping In!
The new patch saw the introduction of 18 Steel series blocks as well as 8 ship blueprints using these blocks to the in-game shop. There are four lvl 10 ships and four lvl 20 ships (that means one for each class at that level). These blocks share a high-tech militaristic theme and are aimed at more serious players.
Typhoon - level 20 Steel Cruiser
Gamechange - level 20 Steel Battleship
That's it for this week. Tell us what you think on the forum. See you in the arena!
Martin "Gajxo" Gajarsky
Game Designer
Update v. 0.1.1108 – Steam Public Test Patch
Hi there, galactic captains!
We’ve released a HUGE update, which includes features that will be available at the Steam Early Access launch (coming January 17th!).
We are setting aside this one week to test everything in our standard client. Let us know if you find any bugs or have any suggestions to improve the new features.
I will shortly address two possibly controversial issues - the new matchmaking and the free hull block system - and also other stuff that you may find interesting.
What is new in this patch:
A new faster matchmaking with matches of up to 7 vs. 7
A party play system for up to 3 people
41 ship blueprints for purchase in the shop
A new block set - the Steel Series
The Free Hull Block mechanic along with a large block rebalance
An upgrade of almost all sound effects
New songs and upgrades to old ones
New camera effects
Upgrades to a lot of particle effects
Achievements (Steam only)
Chat now has localised channels
Lag compensation - lasers and gatlings now work
New builder UI
The Redeem Code mechanic has been added (stay tuned for cool giveaways next week)
Balance changes
New matchmaking This patch introduces a more ‘standard’ matchmaking similar to other multiplayer games. You enter a search for a match and, after some time, when the conditions are right a match is created. As of now up to 7 vs. 7 matches can be created. Our matchmaking is designed to balance the quality of matches and waiting times. It creates matches based on four criteria -> the number of players waiting for a match, how long players are waiting, their classes and ship power rating.
This system is intended for an increased number of players which we expect after the Steam release. At lower player numbers, which are possible in the testing week (January 11-17), it may not function optimally. However we are confident that after some tweaking this system will produce an optimal experience in.
Free hull blocks For each class we have added a number of free hull blocks, which which can be placed on ships before they start costing any CPU. The number of FHB increases with each. At the same time we have increased the CPU cost of hull blocks from 2 to 4 and reduced the CPU cost of Armor from 5 to 4.
The number of free hull blocks for each class.
We did this to:
reduce the number of extreme ships with too many hull blocks which caused performance problems in matches (borg cube type ships)
motivate players who only placed weapons and thrusters on their ships to get more creative :)
For almost all ships this change means an overall increase in ship size.
For some large battleships this may cause them going over the CPU limit and they will need to be edited a bit. Sorry for that guys, but it's better to have made this change now than later :).
Party Play It is now possible to create up to 3-player parties. You can invite a player to a party via the Friend list.
How to invite friends to a party.
Balance changes
The range of Phasers increased from 1300 m to 1500 m.
The HP of weapons has generally decreased so they are not as effective as armor in protecting the ship.
The mass of weapons and other functional blocks has increased while the mass of blocks and armor has decreased.
Some of you might ask why we didn’t do some requested changes like nerfing Particle Burst (Frigate Stun) this time. This is because we think that larger matches, lag compensation and an influx of new players will significantly affect the metagame. We are also preparing for a large ability system rework and then we will address all controversial abilities at once.
[UPDATE] :We have changed to formula which calculates rotation speed so that spread out ships now rotate faster. The formula takes into account both the mass of individual blocks and their distance from the center of mass of the ship.
[UPDATE:] The full balance change list: Hull Blocks Mass 5 > 4, CPU 2 > 4, Armor Blocks Mass 12 > 10, CPU 5 > 4, Advanced Gyro Mass 80 > 120, Mega Armor HP 600 > 520, Energy Generator Mass 40 > 60, Heavy Laser Mass 40 > 80, Phaser HP 120 > 100, Mass 40 > 50, Cruise Missile HP 360 > 240, Mass 40 > 90, Rocket Launcher HP 240 > 200, Mass 40 > 60, Gauss Cannon Mass 40 > 120, Gatling Gauss HP 240 > 160, Mass 40 > 60, Uber Cannon HP 600 > 450, Mass 80 > 160, Phaser Range 1300 > 1500.
[UPDATE:]Class balance: The Battleship class now has 125 % block hit points and 125 % mass per block down from 167 % for both. This makes the battleship faster but less durable at the same time. We did this, because we considered the battleship to be too extreme in terms of hit points (other classes are C: 100 %; D: 80 %; F: 60 %) and speed. However we think the battleship will still do its job in terms of tanking with the largest HP, CPU and most free hull blocks available while becoming more maneuverable at the same time.
Lag Compensation
The new lag compensation system increases the performance of Gatling Gauss, Lasers and Phasers. We’ll be watching how this affects balance. For players with higher ping it may seem their projectiles spawn further away from their guns.
[UPDATE]: The system also affects ship movement based on your lag. In case of low latency the ship reacts faster. In case of higher latency the position of ships is displayed more accurately to other players.
