This update introduces two new plasma weapons, particle effect improvements that now include heat distortion effects, and other less major improvements and changes affecting user interface, and game balance.
Plasma Weapons
The two new plasma weapons are energy-based; they don't require ammunition, though they will drain unit energy fast if not enough batteries are present.
Plasma Launcher - standard size, long range weapon. This weapon has a high firing rate, but is less powerful than most rocket launchers; unlike rockets, plasma launcher projectiles cannot be shot down mid-flight by lasers;
Large Plasma Thrower - a very powerful, short range, and expensive weapon. Very useful when a unit finds itself trapped and unable to fire its other weapons.
Heat Distortion Effects
New heat distortion (heat coming from jet engines, explosions, fires, etc), and other particle effects have been added, and improved. Note that these changes will not show up if your Particle Quality settings are set to Low.
Other
Other changes and improvements:
General Camera Reset key added;
Balance changes: Build Pad cost reduced from 200 Pellets to 100 Pellets;
Rough Country starting bases have been expanded with additional Build Pads;
General interface improvements;
Unit acknowledgement sounds improved;
Other minor bug fixes.
Update: Enhanced Unit Autonomous Behavior, Better Core Utilization
What's new?
This update introduces a new unit behavior mode that lets the units automatically recharge, restock, and repair themselves, freeing up the player to focus on more strategic tasks.
The update also improves CPU core utilization, which leads to significant performance gains in many scenarios.
Autonomous Behavior
Auto Maintenance - units that have this behavior enabled, will automatically try to recharge, restock ammo, and repair themselves. For example, harvesters will seek out the nearest repair pad when their energy dips below a certain level; they will resume mining as soon as charging is completed. This behavior is enabled by default for all units, but it can be toggled on and off.
Additional information:
Units generally will try to perform maintenance only when idle, or when it is absolutely required to perform their tasks;
Units set to Hold position will not perform automatic maintenance;
Units will not try to repair themselves unless they are also set to Defend position;
Units will not recharge or restock their ammo if the repair facility is too far away unless it is required to perform their tasks; flying units are the exception - they will always try to recharge themselves when needed.
Better Performance
With better CPU core utilization the game performance has been significantly improved in many scenarios - especially when it comes to large scale battles, and multi-player games with lots of units on the field.
Note: For maximum performance gains, the CPU needs to have at least 3 cores (4 cores are recommended); dual-core setups should also experience performance improvements.
Other
Multi-player performance improvements
Various interface fixes and improvements.
Update Notes: Advanced AI Difficulty Customization, New Skirmish Map
What's new?
This update introduces the ability to fine-tune AI opponent difficulty in Skirmish and multiplayer modes, adds a new skirmish/multiplayer map.
AI Difficulty Customization
Skirmish AI opponent level of play can now be adjusted by changing its various skill levels. It can be quite useful when testing new units, tactics and strategies. This feature may receive further expansions in the future.
Other
Notable additions, changes and improvements:
New skirmish/multipalyer map called Sunken Ruins;
Multiplayer improvements: better performance for suboptimal network conditions, stability improvements.
Various interface improvements and bug fixes.
Update Notes: Expanded Naval Base Building, Submarines, EMPs and Railguns
What's new?
The update features expanded naval base building, a new propulsion module (Ballast Tank) that allows for creation of submarines, two new weapons, a new naval-oriented skirmish map called Islands, as well as many other less major improvements and additions.
The previously announced advanced AI difficulty customization still requires some work, and will come out on May 4th. Sorry for the delay.
Submarines
Submarines can be built with the help of a new propulsion module called Ballast Tank. Equipped with enough of these modules, a unit can freely submerge and surface at any time when in water.
When submerged, submarines are less vulnerable to some types of damage (kinetic weapons do less damage, lasers and EMPs have no effect at all). These units can be very advantageous on maps with large bodies of water.
Marine Factories
Marine Factories are factories that can be built on build pads which are placed in water. They act the same as field factories with the exception that they can be used to deploy units that cannot move on land.
In addition to the factories, almost all other buildings can be built on water. The exceptions are - Repair Pads and Resource Chutes. In order to repair units directly on water, a new building has been introduced - the Repair Bay. It can be built on water, and will repair, recharge and restock all units that surround it (one by one). If placed close enough, multiple repair bays can target a single unit, which will increase the repair speed.
Large Railgun and EMP
The update also introduces a new railgun-type weapon - Large Railgun. The new railgun, like the artillery gun, inflicts a lot of damage per single hit, it is relatively slow to aim, and has a significant cost. Unlike the artillery gun, the new weapon shoots very fast projectiles that can reach their targets almost instantly.
The EMP Gun, instead of inflicting damage, drains the energy of its target by a set amount per hit. Its projectiles also immobilize the target unit for a few seconds. EMP guns are very useful against fliers, which can be trapped and destroyed with a few well placed shots.
Other
New skirmish map (Islands);
Sandbox changed to include the Marine Factory;
Regular Railgun balance changes (decreased range to 7.5);
Various interface improvements and fixes.
Feature Preview: Submarines, Naval Factories, EMPs and Railguns
The upcoming update is scheduled to arrive on April 27th. It will bring a set of naval-related features including naval bases, submarines, and naval skirmish maps. It will also introduce two new weapons, AI difficulty customization, as well as many other less major improvements.
Submarines
Submarines can be built with the help of a new propulsion module called Ballast Tank. Equipped with enough of these modules, a unit can freely submerge and surface at any time when in water.
When submerged, submarines are less vulnerable to some types of damage (kinetic weapons do less damage, lasers and EMPs have no effect at all). These units can be very advantageous on maps with large bodies of water.
Naval Factories
Naval Factories are factories that can be built on build pads which are placed in water. They act the same as field factories with the exception that they can be used to deploy units that cannot move on land. More information on naval base-building will be posted when the update arrives.
EMP Gun and Large Railgun
The upcoming update will add two new weapons - EMP Gun and Large Railgun. The new railgun, like the artillery gun, inflicts a lot of damage per single hit, it is relatively slow to aim, and has a significant cost. Unlike the artillery gun, the new weapon shoots very fast projectiles that can reach their targets almost instantly.
The EMP gun, instead of inflicting damage, drains the energy of its target by a set amount per hit. Its projectiles also immobilize the target unit for a few seconds. EMP guns are very useful against fliers, which can be trapped and destroyed with a few well placed shots.
More information on all the new features and additions will be posted when the update arrives!
Upcoming Update: Advanced Naval Capabilities
Coming Soon (April)
The upcoming update will focus on adding new water-based unit related features. Currently, it's possible to build units that float and move in water, but because all units are constructed on land -- strictly naval units have to rely on transport and are of very limited usability. To improve this, the next update will add the ability to construct factories and most other buildings directly on the water surface.
Additionally, a new propulsion module (Ballast Tank) will be introduced; with this module a unit will be able to control its buoyancy, making it possible to design a new class of submarine units. New naval focused skirmish maps will also be available.
The update will also feature a new weapon, advanced AI difficulty customization for Skirmish and Multiplayer games, multiplayer performance improvements for slower connections, and other less major additions. It is expected to arrive sometime in April. More information and previews will follow closer to its release!
Update Notes: Large Walker Legs, Propulsion Module Configuration
What's new?
The update introduces a new propulsion module (Large Walker Leg), a much improved automatic unit stability model, as well as the ability to control its influence. Furthermore, it adds a few new structural modules; various other minor fixes and improvements are also included.
Walker Legs
This update adds a new walker leg class propulsion module - Large Walker Leg. It can support greater weight and is more stable than the regular walker leg. Like the regular leg, the larger leg is retractable.
In addition to the new module, walker leg physics model has been tweaked and improved upon. As of this update, walker units of all types should have better overall handling.
Other walker leg related changes and additions:
Extend/Retract Legs - extension and retraction of legs and telescopic beams are no longer combined into one command. In order to extend and retract legs use the new Extend/Retract Legs command (default hotkey: C);
Legs are now auto-extended when the unit wants to move - but only when no wheels, tracks or screws are present and the walker is not currently in water with working water jets.
Leg energy consumption has been changed, so that lighter units consume slightly more energy than they used to.
Stability Control and Advanced Module Configuration
The new Stability Control model greatly improves the handling and viability of lighter units. It may also improve the performance of heavier units, but the effect will most likely be not as drastic.
The unit on the left has its stability control disabled. Too much power delivered to its wheels cause it to roll excessively. The unit on the right with the stability control enabled has no trouble moving at normal speed.
Stability Control influence is set to 100% for all ground propulsion devices by default; it is the recommended setting for most units. However, reducing it may improve speed and acceleration for some light units with non-standard wheel configurations. This setting can be set on a per-wheel basis (accessed via Configure Modules from the Unit Designer).
The maximum power the wheel can utilize can also be adjusted; the recommended setting here is 100% as well.
Structural Modules
The update adds two new structural modules: Spherical Hull and Half-Spherical Hull. Both modules have colorable and reflective versions, and both can be modified.
Other
Minor fixes and improvements include:
Air Fans can now be configured: as before, the fans are engaged only when no wheels, tracks, screws or legs touch the ground by default; though now they can be configured to drive the unit at all times.
Unit and building indicator bar size reduced when the camera is zoomed out;
In-game chat has been improved;
Larger tall units are no longer delayed upon deployment when transported on belts;
Minor campaign balance changes.
Other minor interface fixes and improvements.
Upcoming Update: Large Legs, Advanced Module Configuration
Walker Legs
The upcoming update will add another, much larger Walker Leg class propulsion module. The larger leg can support greater weight, and it provides even more stability due to its increased size. In addition to the new module, walker leg physics model has been improved, making walker unit handling and efficiency better.
Just two large legs are more than enough to support a tall unit firing two Artillery guns.
Advanced Module Configuration
The next update will introduce more module configuration options. Specifically, wheels and tracks will have the option of controling and disabling the automatic stability system that controls their power -- that will allow for better performance with more unusual designs. Wheel and track power output will also be adjustable directly. As always, advanced module configuration is optional, and usually is not required even for optimal unit behavior.
The update is scheduled for March 15th. More information will be provided in the update notes when it arrives!
Update Notes: Walker Legs
What's new?
This update introduces a new propulsion module - Walker Legs. Walking units are compact, agile, and quite stable. While not the fastest propulsion method around, legs are retractable, and can be combined with other propulsion devices when needed. Legs also have greater energy requirements than wheels, which is important to consider when designing heavy units.
To learn more, you can find some examples of walker units in the sample repository!
Other
Improved physical stability for smaller units;
Other minor bug fixes and improvements.
Feature Preview: Walker Legs
The Walker Legs update is scheduled to arrive on February 23rd. It will feature the Walker Leg module (two size variations are currently planned), as well as some other less major improvements and additions.
As mentioned before, walking units should be quite stable and maneuverable, and take less space - making it possible to design taller units.
Legs are also slower than other propulsion methods, and adding more legs won't provide an increase in speed. However, they are made to be retractable, so it's possible to combine them with other land-based propulsion devices, and switch between them when speed is a priority.
More info will follow when the update releases, and as always stay tuned for more news!
