Supreme Commander 2
Patch 1.20 Pt. 3
- AI will now use path markers for attack and scouting.
- AI will build additional radar away from its base.
- Magnetron will now look for targets in a radius around itself, rather than the base it is assigned to.
- AI will now build the Cybran Mass Convertor.
- AI will build more than 1 mass convertor, if needed.
- AI will now prioritize getting the Mass Convertor research if it has a high amount of energy stored.
- AI will no longer mass convert when it has enough mass already.
- AI will now build more Pgens when Mass Convertor is researched, rather than waiting for it to be built.
- AI will use the buffer size to check for blocking terrain (via GPNav) before building a structure.
- AI will try not to nuke its own units.
- Improved AI research paths.
- Removed Radar and Vision cheat buffs from the AI.
- Added Naval Neural Net.
- Updated the Neural Net data based on several hundred new simulation sets.
- AI will wait until it has a mass convertor before going nuts with Pgens.
- Land, Balanced, and Rush AIs will put a higher priority on getting an Air factory if they can't reach an enemy by land.
- AI ACUs will no longer build Naval factories. This will be handled by Engineers.
- The AI will once again use the Illuminate Space Temple.
- Adjusted AI platoons to prevent the AI from stalling when hitting unit cap.
- AI can now use Naval units to guard its base.
- Guard base platoons will now guard a wider range.
- AI will build more engineers per expansion base.
- AI will only build up to 10 research facilities.
- AI will take mass fabricators into account when looking at income/spending ratio.
- AI will build Gantries in expansion bases more.
- Improved AI Nuke/Anti-Nuke behavior.
- AI platoons will no longer Jump Jet or Teleport unless at least 75% of the platoon can make the move.
- Platoons that the AI wants to run away will now clear previous commands.
- AI Neural Nets will now check to see if an enemy unit's shield is active when performing threat evaluation.
- AI units will no longer run to deactivated bases.
- AI will now use carriers appropriately again.
- Added a new function to the Platoon class to get a platoons shortest attack range.
- Micro distance is now based on the Platoon's shortest attack range.
- AI will now do a quick pathable check when looking for places to build.
- Engineers will no longer look for things to reclaim or units to repair while attached to another unit.
Known Issues:
- Replays from previous versions will not function with this version.
- Skirmish Save games from previous versions will not function with this version.
- Campaign Save games from previous versions will not function with this version. Campaign progress (unlocks) will still be preserved, however.
- When exiting a multiplayer game or skirmish before victory conditions have been met, there is a 10-second window during which replays will not save. The temporary workaround is to wait 10 seconds before pressing the "save replay" button.
Patch 1.15
• Skirmish Save/Load. Skirmishes can now be saved in game using the Menu > Save Game Function. Skirmish saves can be loaded while in a skirmish game or from the main menu under Skirmish > Load Saved Game.
• Players who have been eliminated in a skirmish or multiplayer game, but have remaining allies that are all AI, will be set as an observer will full map view, and may exit normally at their discretion.
• AI Engineers and Land Scout platoons will now execute optimized pathing (performance improvement).
• A user friendly version number will now be shown at the top of replay files. Replays that do not have the matching version number of the build will generate a “failed to load” message.
• The default folder for save games, replays, screenshots and log files has been updated to \My Documents\My Games\Square Enix\Supreme Commander 2\.
• Added redundant checking on games returned by Steam in matchmaking. This check ensures that the game fits within the filters specified for Steam. Previously old data could be called when rapidly narrowing a search.
• Illuminate Bodaboom aura range now displays as a weapon range.
Fixes:
• Fixed condition where the first player leaving a multiplayer game would stop automated replay recording.
• Further refinement of search filtering for ranked. It was possible that someone could join a ranked game because they met the criteria when they initiated the search, but then narrowed their search and no longer met that criteria. We now check for this case and reject the connection.
• Fix for most common case of players getting in an unable to join state when closing a multiplayer game from a lobby.
• Artillery Weapon Range boost will now correctly affect Long Range Artillery, increasing its range.
• Fix for AI violation of Research build condition.
• Fix for AI not building enough research stations.
• Fix for AI not building enough factories late game.
• Fix for Naval AI not building a Naval factory at all, and for secondary condition of not building them outside its starting base location.
• Fix for uncommon case of units not doing anything when running away.
• Fix for AI Land platoons not running away.
• Fix for AI not properly utilizing the Noah Unit Cannon and Carriers for building.
• Fix for Defensive builders going to the wrong task state when they fail to find a build position.
Balance and Tuning:
• Engineers will no longer circumvent assist mitigation when ordered to assist open ground.
• AI has improved seeking/hunting capability against hidden commanders.
• AI will only build Artillery/TML in their base if they have enemy structures in range.
• AI will build more generators after they have a Mass Converter (or the research for the Cybrans).
• AI will normally only build shields in their bases when there are structures there to protect.
• AI will not build excess mass extractors.
• Illuminate ACU Energy Income Boost research decreased to +200%, was +300%. Decreasing Mass Income Boost to+250%, was +400.
• Decreased Rate of Fire on Illuminate flares by 33%.
• Added a 25 second rebuild time when the Proto-Brain is destroyed. Added a Cybran Proto-Brain crash damage of 2000.
• Increased minimum radius on Long Range Artillery to 150, was 50.
Known Issues:
• Replays cannot be created from a game that has been loaded from a Skirmish save, the UI does not currently reflect this. Although it appears to save, it does not, and the “Replay LastGame” feature will actually play the last valid replay.
Patch 1.14
• Fixed a crash when performing a game save on Campaign mission 17, “Surface Tension”.
• Fixed UI exploit allowing ACU duplication.
• Fixed a skirmish/multiplayer crash when AI was attempting to use a Space Temple that had previously been destroyed.
• Fix for AI hangup while targeting for Artillery and Tactical Missile Launchers at extreme range.
• Fix to AI withholding resource reservations for construction units that have died.
• Fix for AI factories getting stuck not building.
• Fix for rare game crashes related to the AI resource manager.
Improvements
• Introducing the new advanced “AI Overlord”.
• The AI Overlord can now direct multiple AIs in team-wide attacks and defenses against priority targets and threats (Easy AI will not participate in Overlord operations).
• The AI Overlord can merge disparate AI platoons for game operations (Easy AI will not participate in merged platoons).
• Added Main Menu buttons for viewing the ranked Leaderboards and the Global Chat Room.
• AI can send and respond to distress calls from nearby AI allies.
• AI can notify AI allies about priority threats such as Nukes and Artillery.
• AI will now perform evasive maneuvering in close combat to mitigate damage from unguided munitions (micro).
• AI will now redistribute excessive resources from the “Slush bucket” late game.
• AI improvements in evaluating potential Landing Zones.
• AI can now mix Experimentals with Conventional units into platoons on creation.
• AI now considers mixed group strength when dispatching attack groups.
• Added larger AI platoon sizes to accommodate mixed platoons.
• AI will now build transports sufficient to handle extended mixed platoons.
• Engineer platoons will now use Route threat checking when finding a place to build mass extractors.
• Lowered Engineer extractor platoon threat threshold.
Patch 1.13
• Mobile Artillery Damage Radius decreased to 5. Was 6. Cost increased to 54m/120e. Was 50m/115e.
• Long Range Artillery Damage Radius increased to 6. Was 3.
• Cybran ACU TML Damage decreased to 200. Was 400.
• UEF ACU TML research cost increased from 3 to 5. Damage reduced from 200 to 120.
• Cybran ACU Anti-Air research cost increased from 4 to 6.
• UEF ACU Anti-Air prerequisite changed to Health II.
• UEF ACU Range boost reduced from +50% to +25%.
• UEF ACU Damage research cost increased from 3 to 4.
• UEF ACU Health research cost increased from 2 to 3.
• UEF ACU Artillery research cost increased from 6 to 7. Rate of Fire decreased from 0.3 to 0.2.
• Kraken cost decreased by 15%.
• Wilfindja cost decreased by 15%.
• Speed Reducing Mega Armor now uses Damage reduction instead of increasing Health. Reduces damage by 50%.
• Illuminate PD shield upgrade Health increased to 1000. Was 800.
• Illuminate AA shield ugprade Health increases to 950. Was 750.
Patch 1.12
• Added a warning dialog when a player accesses multiplayer with modified data.
• Adjusted exploit handling for research during game initialization.
• Adjusted exploit handling for hotkey-triggered commands.
• Land AI will default to Air factories faster on non land maps.
• AI will build units from factories that are outside its primary base radius.
• AI platoons will loiter less and instead attempt to move to the best possible place to do damage.
• The starting base locations will now generate less econ threat to the AI causing the AI to more aggressively target buildings outside the starting base locations.
• The AI will more quickly respond to attrition, and retreat appropriately.
Fixes
• Fixed a potential crash encountered when entering the game summary screen with an AI present.
• Fixed an issue where the AI could repeatedly queue the same unit (especially transports).
• Cybran AI will now properly research naval walking.
Patch 1.11
• New AI categories are now available via the Skirmish or Multi-player lobby menu:
o Air: Focuses on Air units.
o Land: Focuses on Land units.
o Rush: Focuses on large amounts of land units and less on defense.
o Balanced: Balanced between Land and Air.
o Naval: Focuses on Naval units.
o Turtle: Focuses on defenses and Experimentals.
o Random: Chooses one of the above based on various factors.
• Added the Steam avatar for each player on the multiplayer summary screen: This will let players click on the avatar image and access that player's Steam profile. From there, they can add that player to their friends list if they've had a good match
• Added Mic Icons display in game when bringing up the in game score menu (F2) allowing players to mute individual players
Improvements
• Added anti-cheating code that will detect modified lua files and prevent playing with unmodified users. This also prevents achievement and leaderboard updates. Still permits playing with others who have identically modified their games.
• Disconnections in Ranked: The game now tracks the number of disconnects a player has during Ranked 1v1 matches. If you exceed a certain percentage of disconnects to games played, they will count as losses instead of wins.
• AI Improvements (See Patch 1.11 AI Improvements below)
The Ranked maps have been updated to:
• Markon Bridge
• Clark Training Center
• Coalition Ship Yard
• Arctic Refuge
• Open Palms
• Finn’s Revenge
Fixes
• Fixed units arriving from Space Temple teleport immunity to Magnetron effects
• Fixed Engineer pathfinding in crowded conditions
• Fixes for occasional crash if Client disconnects at the same moment Host launches Ranked game
• Fix for Crash / Soft Locked: Players can get soft-locked in the 'Starting Game' screen if other players disconnect when matchmaking begins 'Starting Game'
• Backspace will reveal all characters in the edit box when you have more characters than the visible section
• 4/16/10 Hotfix - Fixed an issue where air transports failed to drop units in campaigns.
Tuning and Balancing
• Capturing units now provides the same experience as killing them
Patch 1.11 AI Improvements
• The AI will choose an appropriate archetype based on unit restrictions.
• If a unit type is restricted the AI will act as though the unit does not exist in the game.
• AI will now group units based on their target enemy's threat.
• AI will now group experimentals based on their target enemy's threat.
• If the victory condition is Assassination we are artificially inflating the Neural Net data to make attacking the ACU more desirable for both Land and Air units.
• AI can now respond to being attacked my Nukes or Artillery, even if it cannot see where it is coming from.
• Fixed a bug where threat build conditions were not being used.
• The AI should no longer attempt to send attack platoons to unpathable areas.
• The AI will hold back units until it thinks it has enough to make a push based on defensive intelligence.
• Fixed an issue where the AI would constantly pull units back to attack an expansion base instead of pushing forward.
• The AI will no longer build more than 3 transports unless it has land units and it is not a land map.
• Added AI response to make a land AI get land unit AA upgrades if the enemy has air units.
• The Naval AI will not build more than 3 subs unless the enemy has Naval.
• If Research is disabled the AI will not build research facilities.
• The AI will add a small amount of threat to all enemy start locations so it knows where to find them.
• Platoons will try to only attack areas where they think they can do enough damage before dying.
• The AI will react to enemy TML, artillery, or Experimentals by building more shields and placing them closer together.
• The AI should send a more appropriate number of units based on enemy threat.
• AI will build and use Mass Convertors.
• If the closest enemy to the AI is a lot weaker than the other enemies the AI will focus on the weak enemy.
• The AI's air units will wait longer before re-evaluating which target to attack.
• The AI's NUC will now check for pathability before firing units.
• The AI's Nuke Launcher will now check for pathability before firing.
• You can now select which AI type you would like to play against from the dropdown in the game lobby (random is still an option).
• AI will build factory shield upgrades more often, not just when the enemy has air.
• Factory upgrades now have a threat value.
• AI should react better to an enemy having nukes.
• AI will not build research stations if it already has everything researched.
• AI will not build a mass convertor until it has enough energy to convert.
• Added bigger Air and Land platoons.
• When a build item has a resource type of All the AI will use Slush first.
• Added build conditions to check for current target enemy threat.
• AI air scout platoons will now path around threat as much as possible.
• Mass convertor research is now a higher priority for the Turtle AI.
• Changed some threat evaluation when deciding where to attack.
• AI will build fewer MMLs and Mobile Artillery.
• Added a new function to store the victory condition for the AI.
• When an AI unit dies it will add threat to the instigator's location to warn other units.
• Added some anti-turtle measures.
• Fix for units that were built outside of the AIs base not being used.
• Fix for AI not using its full base radius.
• Land AIs on Island maps should build Air factories to build transports.
• AI should send platoons when it is at unit cap, no matter what.
• AI will space out naval factories more to prevent blockage.
Patch 1.10
• Ranked 1v1 System!
• Ranked Challenge System
• Unranked Quickmatch
• Map Pings - Added three different kinds of map pings for team play. F5 issues a generic alert to your teammate at a specific location, and it appears as a yellow arrow when zoomed in and a yellow animated ping indicator in strategic mode. F6 is a Move ping, and it uses a blue indicator. F7 is Attack ping, and it uses a red indicator. Color coded arrows will appear on each edge of the screen where your teammate has placed one of these for you to view.
• Multi-player lobby ready-up checkboxes will now "uncheck" any time a host changes the settings
• Changes to multi-player lobby exclusions, game-type, etc. will show up in the multi-player lobby chat box when the host makes changes
• Voice icons display next to each player in the multi-player lobby allowing the user to mute individual players.
• Menu version number – The game now displays a version number on the Main Menu. The versioning has been adjusted at this update to 1.10 to accommodate future updates.
• AI now starts as a random faction.
Fixes
• Cheating fix: Closed a loophole in the code that allowed some players to enable limited cheats.
• Fixed rare crash if player gets kicked out of the lobby and submits chat text.
• Fixed rare crash when player hits the enter key in the Skirmish menu.
• Fixed replacing ready kicked player with AI causes the AI options to be locked..
• Fixed inability to join DLC map games if you don't have the pack as a client.
Tuning and Balance
• UEF Assault Bot Research cost decreased from 4 to 3.
• Cybran Battleship Range reduced from 128 to 115.
• Cybran Destroyer Energy cost increased from 500 to 650.
• ACU Training bonus reduced to +25% per level.
• Soul Ripper II Anti-Air Damage reduced by 50%.
• King Kripter, Colossus and Cybranasaurus-Rex Health and Damage increased by 35%.
• Cybranasaurus-Rex Range increased from 22 to 32.
• Wilfindja Speed increased from 3.6 to 4.6.
• Gantry build time reduced from 120 to 100 seconds.
• Pulinsmash weapon range increased from 50 to 100.
• Darkenoid Health increased from 20,000 to 27,500.
• AC-1000 primary weapon damage blast radius increased from 1.5 to 3.
• Cybran Air Rate of Fire boost Research cost increased from 3 to 5.
• Bodaboom Health boost increased from +20% to +30%. Aura radius increased from 20 to 30. Added a +200% regeneration bonus.
• ACUs are now repaired 150% slower.
• Increasing ACU storage size to 15.
• UEF Submarine weapon range increased by 50%. Movement speed reduced from 6 to 5.25.
• Structure bubble shields now take twice as long to come back online.
• Anti-Air Tower damage increased by 25%.
• ACUs and Engineers now get a Sonar range equivalent to their Radar range.
• ACU/Escape Pod Experience value increased to 7500.
• Gantry Experience value decreased to 1250.
• UEF/Illuminate Mass Convertor Experience value increased to 750.
• UEF/Illuminate Mobile Anti-Air Experience value decreased to 100.
• Fighter/Bomber Experience value decreased to 250.
• Transport Experience value increased to 750.
• UEF Fighter & Bomber Experience value decreased to 200.
• UEF/Cybran Battleship Experience value increased to 1500.
• Cybran Destroyer Experience value increased to 750.
• UEF Submarine Experience value decreased to 150.
• King Kriptor, Universal Colossus, Cybranasaurus Rex and Pulinsmash Experience value reduced to 3000.
• Cybran Intel Add-on Vision radius is now correctly set to 75.
• Fixed an issue with Cybran tactical missiles that prevented them from hitting a target if it was really far away.
• Illuminate ACU Teleport time reduced from 10 to 6 seconds.
Known Issues:
• Translation for the Ranked Games Interface in European languages will be in our next update.
1 v 1 Ranking System
The Matchmaking Menu is accessed from the Main Menu. Select Multiplayer, and Find Match. It lets you between choose two different kinds of 1v1 matchmaking: Ranked (1v1) or Unranked (1v1).
The Unranked (1v1) tab lets you pick your Victory Condition (Assassination or Supremacy), your Faction, and it matches you with a player of a similar skill level on a randomly selected map. These matches do not count toward any leaderboards.
Ranked (1v1) only supports the Assassination Victory Condition. Once you choose your faction, you can click "Find Match" and you'll be matched with someone of a similar skill level.
In Ranked mode, you can adjust the range of potential matches on the "Finding Opponent" screen. It defaults to finding an opponent who is within 32 points of your current rating. It will search for as long as you want to find an opponent within that range, or you can manually adjust the searchable Min and Max Rating of potential opponents by clicking the "+" and "-" buttons. You can cancel the Search at any time and return to the Matchmaking Menu.
Once a match is found, you automatically connect to a 1v1 match with your still-unknown opponent on a randomly picked map. The current Ranked map list is as follows:
Arctic Refuge
Clarke Training Center
Coalition Shipyard
Mirror Island
Markon Bridge
Fields of Isis
Seraphim VII Site
Challenge Mode System
"Challenge Mode" is enabled on the Matchmaking Menu. If both players who are looking for a match have the option enabled, they are able to "Challenge" each other at any point of the match in order to "Raise the Stakes."
What's at stake? The impact of the match's result on each player's final Rating.
A normal Ranked 1v1 game has a 1X multiplier, meaning it's worth 1 game when calculating your final rating. The change in the rating is based on the difference between two players; a player with a high rating will get less of an increase from playing a lower-ranked player, but a low-ranked player can move up quickly by defeating a higher-ranked player.
In "Challenge Mode," you're increasing the multiplier so the result will count the same as if you played multiple matches against the same opponent. In other words, the resulting change in ratings will be greater than it would be for a normal, 1X match.
A "Challenge" is issued from a button in the scoreboard, which is accessed by pressing F2 during the match. Players can issue up to 5 challenges per game, and the owner of the Challenge alternates between players.
Either player can initiate a Challenge at any time during a match. Once the initial challenge is issued, the match pauses and the "Challenge Mode" menu appears. For the player receiving the challenge, it tells them what's at stake and gives them 30 seconds to decide whether to accept or decline the challenge. For the initial Challenge, "Decline" is auto-selected after 20 seconds. If a player declines the first challenge, the match will continue as a standard 1v1, and neither player can re-issue a challenge.
If a player accepts the challenge, the match continues. However, the player who accepted the challenge has a new button on their scoreboard: "Raise Stakes." If they click on this button, they will "Raise the Stakes" on the match and increase the multiplier. The game pauses again, and the other player gets the Challenge Menu.
At this point, that player's options are to either "Accept" the newly raised stakes or "Forfeit" the match with the previously agreed-to multiplier. In fact, if you do not make this decision within 30 seconds, you will automatically forfeit and the match will end. In other words, once you're in Challenge Mode, you can't back out.
After the match is finished, each player gets the standard summary screen with new text that shows each player's Rating at the start of the match and their new Rating after it's been calculated.
A match with a 5X multiplier doesn't increase your score by five versus a 1X match. The math used to calculate the final rating accounts for the changes between both players' rating each time it's calculated, so the actual increase/decrease in high-stakes games is considerably less than the multiplier. The system can't be easily gamed, because matching is random and tied to an individual player's Steam account.
"Challenge Mode" increases competition by potentially increasing the stakes for each match. A lower ranked player can more quickly move up the Leaderboard, or a high-ranked player can more easily keep their lead… or feed their ego. Bold (or crazy) players can try to bluff their way to getting their opponent to forfeit a match, at the risk of tumbling even more positions on the Leaderboard. It's 100% voluntary, so players are free to disable the mode on the Matchmaking menu.