Zero-K
Small update for AI fixes
Zero-K v1.7.6.0 - Maps, Balance, and Performance
This is a fairly large update with some balance changes, fixes, and performance improvements. We have also featured 78 maps to add to the variety in the teamgame autohosts. Some maps are new and some are old classics.
The main balance changes relate to frustrations in Tank vs. Rover. Capture has been reworked to make Dominatrix less uniformly good and some other units have received minor changes. Other notable changes are some Funnelweb refinements and tankier Commanders.
The notable fixes and performance improvements are a pathfinding fix for a recently introduced bug and a significantly faster outline shader. We are also working on performance improvements for the UI framework which can be enabled Settings -> Graphics -> Experimental Interface Renderer in the lobby menu. We would appreciate testing and feedback.
Balance
Commanders start with around 800 more health, and lose the bonus at higher levels. This is intended as an indirect nerf for Scythe and Raven. The power of early commander pushes will need to be watched closely.
- Strike 3200/3200/3800/4600/5500/6400 -> 4200/4200/4600/5200/5800/6400
- Guardian 3600/3600/4400/5500/6600/7600 -> 4400/4400/5000/5700/6600/7600
- Support 2800/2800/3400/3800/4500/5000 -> 3800/3800/4000/4300/4600/5000
- Recon 2400/2400/2800/3200/3600/4000 -> 3250/3250/3400/3600/3800/4000
Funnelweb is a bit cheaper and charges faster. To compensate, it has its shields lowered such that a single silo of Eos and Shockley can bypass it.
- Maximum shield charge 28000 -> 23000
- Shield regeneration 200 -> 300 per second.
- Health 6000 -> 6500
- Cost 3500 -> 3000
- Turn rate 240 -> 520
Capture damage has been reworked to make Dominatrix much worse against low-to-mid cost assault units. This is to give the Tank Foundry some counterplay in the form of Minotaur. Dominatrix is mostly unchanged against units with average cost and health. It is a little better against mid-to-high cost glass cannons such as Lance and Emissary.
- Capture progress is now based on the health of its target instead of its cost. The Capture Health of a unit is now its current health + 500.
- Capture damage is no longer multiplied by (3 - 2*(currentHealth/maxHealth)).
- Dominatrix now deals 333 DPS instead of 78. This reflects the average HP/cost of a Zero-K unit of around 3.5, as well as the 500 bonus health.
- As with EMP and Disarm, accrued capture damage is scaled when a unit receives ordinary damage (or healing) such that the proportion of capture damage is unchanged.
- Capture damage is now affected by armour.
All the large land-based builders now have small footprints to resolve much of the frustration that can come from navigating bases. Quill, Weaver, Welder, Mason:
- Footprint 3x3 -> 2x2.
Blitz:
- Reload time reduced by 2.5%.
Ogre:
- Damage 440 -> 420
- Range 340 -> 320
- Cost 520 -> 500
Felon:
- Re-added the small fire delay that appeared to do nothing in testing, but seems relevant in practise.
Lobster:
- Added a manualfire command that fires once. This essentially acts as a more accessible hotkey for singlefire.
- Buffed turn rate by 80%.
Tarantula:
- Increased weapon velocity by 36%. Still half the speed of Flail.
Sparrow:
- Cost 120 -> 135 (morph time unchanged)
- Health 400 -> 350
- Speed reduced by 7%
Interface
Added a singlefire modifier for Force Fire commands. Issue a non-area Force Fire command with Ctrl held to fire once at the target and move on. This can be used with the Repeat command to make a unit alternate between a list of targets.
Other changes:
- Static shields, jammers, and basic radar towers now have a move command that can be used to rally their mobile counterparts when they morph.
- Added more options to control when reclaim is highlighted.
- Sparrow and Owl now have tactical AI (activated with Attack Move and Patrol) that tells them to avoid flying over enemies, keeping them out of most AA range.
- Added Morph to the ingame keybind menu.
- The spectator resource display now displays teams on the side matching their side of the map (when applicable).
- Added Turkish and Chiense translations. Updated Polish translations.
- Reload bars no longer disappear a split second before completion.
- Added mouse-directed focus to depth of field.
- Line formations now trigger unit replies.
Performance
The UI framework is being updated to draw faster, but it has some rough edges. Without wider testing it is not clear that it will work, or be an improvement, on all hardware. It is disabled by default and can be enabled through the lobby menu under Settings -> Graphics -> Experimental Interface Renderer. Test it out and tell us if it works and if you see an improvement.
Here are some other performance improvements:
- Updated shaders. This will change how a few things look and make it easier to improve performance in the future. For now, the main performance improvement is the replacement of the old CPU based outline widget with a much cheaper shader-based version.
- Saved quite a bit of memory by cutting down on duplicate font creation.
- Optimised various parts of the command menu. Replaced the, fairly expensive, unit outlines widget with a much cheaper shader-based version.
Singleplayer
- AIs build antinukes earlier.
- Made planet Walchice (the Stinger and Stardust mission) a bit easier on Easy and Normal.
Fixes
- Fixed Funnelweb shield on low graphics settings.
- Fixed ballistic weapons not shooting when told to Set Target the ground beyond their flat-ground range.
- Fixed units sometimes getting stuck in the back of Cloaky, Shield, and Hovercraft factories.
- Fixed campaign and tutorial marker text lagging behind camera movement.
- Fixed cursor locking (grab input) not re-enabling itself when returning the focus to Zero-K.
- Fixed some pathfinding issues caused by fixing a rare bug that caused other pathfinding issues.
- Fixed Fencer not quite dealing 40 damage per shot.
- Fixed the noElo modoption.
1v1 Tournament this Sunday with divisions and cash prizes
- Brown Dwarf To SubGiant,
- SubGiant to SuperGiant,
so newer players are most definitely welcome. Sign up here: https://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/28404
The tournament is scheduled for 2019-06-02 14:00:00 UTC. See this timer: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20190602T14&p0=%3A&msg=Tournament&font=cursive
Engine update to Spring 104.0.1-1239
- Saved games now compress the entire game state, instead of saving only a few key attributes. This vastly improves the accuracy of saved games. Old saves should still work.
- The bug which caused commands to sometimes disappear in long FFA games has been resolved.
- A pathfinding bug relating to skipping waypoints was fixed. This improves the pathing of groups of units around corners.
- A desync related to the game mysteriously misplacing files may be resolved.
- Various graphics related crashes have been resolved.
Zero-K v1.7.5.0 - New unit: Sparrow
This version contains a few oblique plane nerfs and a simple Raven nerf. The biggest such 'nerf' is a new scout plane, the Sparrow, that can be morphed from a Radar Tower. This new scouting option loosens the Plane Factory's monopoly on effective scouting.
In other news, Scalpel can now kill Mace in two shots and a few campaign missions have been improved.
Balance
Added Sparrow, a light scout plane that is morphable from a Radar Tower.
- Cost 120. Note that it costs 65 when morphed from a Radar Tower.
- Speed 225
- Health 400
- LOS 950
Raven is slightly more expensive.
- Cost 300 -> 320
Scalpel now kills Mace in two shots.
- Damage 622 -> 660
Blastwing can see further.
- LOS 380 -> 450
Interface
- Added an option to control when wreckages and rocks are highlighted. The options are always, when reclaiming, or when constructors are selected, which is the new default.
- Improved some depth of field details.
Campaign
- Replaced planet Aspiris, the Tank Foundry mission, with a more interesting Tank Foundry mission.
- Added Sparrow unlock to planet Cygnet, the Sling mission.
- The patrolling units on Kirdipan, the terraform mission, no longer chase the players units.
Fixes
- Fixed some bugs with heathbar LODing.
- Clamp instead of block off-map commands. These commands should not normally be issuable, but when they are issued it is good to give players feedback.
- Fixed units set to guard shields or cloakers ignoring custom formation orders.
- Fixed a performance issue with lobby UI scaling and fullscreen switching.
2v2 Anniversary Tournament 27 April 2019
In celebration of Zero-K's first anniversary on Steam, our (sometimes) tournament maestro _Shaman is organising a 2v2 tournament at 14:00 UTC on 27 April 2019!
Format: 2v2 double elimination best-of-3
Information and signups here
Zero-K v1.7.4.0 and Map Rotation
This version contains a few important fixes, compatibility for an upcoming engine update, and a reduction of the previous Outlaw buff.
Map Rotation
Added to 1v1 and Teams pool:
- Rogues River v1.2
- Shifting Sands v1.5
- Badlands 2.1
Added to 1v1 pool only:
- Izki Channel v1.0
Removed from 1v1 and Teams pool:
- EvoRTS-New_Iammas-v05
- Intersection v4.1
- Living Lands 4.1
Removed from 1v1 pool, still in Teams pool:
- Aurelian v1.0
Balance
- Outlaw damage 35 -> 30 (was 20 previously) with the corresponding change to slow damage (105 -> 90).
- Paladin manual fire now fires 12 missiles (increased from 10) to match its model.
- Raven thinks units are thinner than they are, causing it to dive lower and hit more consistently.
- Welder defaults to hold position.
Fixes
- Fixed units failing to reveal themselves if they fire from behind terrain while inside an enemy units LOS range. This primarily makes buried defenses targetable.
- Fixed units with attack orders not having their attack order overridden by some commands. This mostly affected issuing reclaim orders to fighting Welders.
- Fixed a case of tactical AI not working for units on hold position.
- Blocked the ability to give gunships orders off the edge of the map.
- Zenith now gains XP and can shoot through allied shields.
Depth of Field Fixes
- Fixed issue where the autofocus would incorrectly weaken when zooming in after a certain point.
- Fixed colours blending to a mush (unfortunately this means some banding in dark regions, not sure how to fix without ruining the more pronounced circles).
- Normalized depth calculations to Spring unit distances, so blur power is no longer map-dependent.
- Fixed projectile lights rendering on top of DoF (this involved changing priority, and this seems like a blunter fix than necessary).
- Expanded blur radius limits so near-to-camera objects blend more nicely.
- Made the transition from in-focus to out-of-focus a bit smoother.
Zero-K v1.7.3.8 - Dominatrix Nerf
Most of the work for this release is in performance improvements related to saying up to date with the Spring engine. The more visible change is to Dominatrix, which escaped the previous big balance release.
Balance
Dominatrix:
- Speed 2.2 -> 1.95
Dominatrix can come out very early in the Rover vs. Tank matchup. The speed nerf will make it slightly harder to deploy, and easier to out-maneuver.
Interface
The jumpjet UI now draws the jump arc to the sea floor (instead of the surface) and indicates when a jump command would be blocked by terrain.
Unit AI:
- Scalpel, Mace, Dominatrix and Mistral now start skirmishing before they have fired their first shot if they are facing towards their target. This allows them to start turning earlier, but stops them from running away forever without firing.
- Tweaked Dominatrix skirmish AI numbers to make it better at fighting units like Mace and Ogre.
- Tweaked Knight tactical AI numbers to make it prioritise firing over turning.
- Raven now dives based on the maximum of {target speed, target jump speed/2}. This primarily makes it dive against jumping Recon commanders more successfully.
Other changes:
- Added a new disruptor bomb sound for Commanders and Disco Rave Party.
- Added the ability to hotkey toggling the depth of field shader.
Fixes
- Fixed a new graphical glitch that could occur when tilting the camera.
- Fixed nano turret aiming.
- Fixed overhead unit state icons not displaying.
- Fixed a bug that momentarily interrupted weapon firing while using Attack-Move. The most affected units were Mace and Dominatrix.
- Fixed nuke explosions not occurring on aircraft or tall Funnelweb shields.
- Fixed Crab walking while under construction.
- Possibly fixed other Crab bugs.
- Fixed a carrier error.
Zero-K 1.7.3.5
This version addresses a few problematic units, has further refinements to the commander income change, and includes engine-related fixes. Flea is more expensive, Shieldbots have been buffed, and players now have innate base income. Keeping up to date with the latest engine version has allowed us to coordinate and incorporate some performance improvements.
Balance
Each player now generates some base income that is not tied to any unit or structure. This makes commander sniping a little less lucrative and ensures players can always rebuild from one constructor in a FFA.
- Each team receives +2 base metal and energy income per player (technically, per spawned commander).
- This base income is split evenly between the active, non-resigned, players on the team.
- Commander income reduced +6/+8 -> +4/+6.
- Factories and Strider Hub no longer produce +0.5/+0.5.
Flea has good interactions but is a bit too cheap for its overall power. Instead of trying to make it individually weaker, we simply reduced the number of Fleas that players can field.
- Cost 20 -> 25
Redback is a bit bad for a riot, and should also see more use with the weaker Flea.
- Cost 250 -> 240
Bandit has trouble raiding due to its low speed, however, it has too much range for a speed buff to be feasible. Instead, we buffed Bandit within the Shieldbot theme by increasing its survivability.
- Health 250 -> 265
Outlaw was more powerful years ago, but was nerfed down to the level of other riots. Many other riots were subsequently buffed, but Outlaw missed out and is now considered to be a relatively poor riot.
- Damage 20 -> 35
- Slow Damage 75 -> 105 (multiplier 3.75 -> 3)
- Buffed explosion speed by 9% because it seems to match the graphics better.
Felon aim delay has been removed, although it appeared to be non-functional previously.
Racketeer now has improved targeting AI. It is now able to keep high cost units permanently stunned against mixed armies.
Mace is a little too good at catching skirmishers and is by no means a weak riot.
- Range 350 -> 345
Duck gained an arc in the previous release, but also gained the ability to miss raiders in some situations. This has been fixed.
- Halved arc angle.
- Increased missile turn rate by 12.5%.
Ronin now moves a little faster while reloading.
- Reload movement speed modified 75% -> 80%.
Zenith now has few, more powerful, meteors to help with performance.
- Damage 1000 -> 2000
- Meteor rate 0.7s -> 1.2s
- Maximum capacity 500 -> 300
The Commander Disintegrator damage has been increased by 42% to match the Ultimatum buff from the previous release. Previously the Commander Disintegrator dealt more damage than Ultimatium.
The terrain smoothing fall-off exponent of weapons such as Quake and Tremor has been reduced from 2 to 1.5. The effect is that weapons with a smoothing effect now create smoothed areas with gentler slopes around the edges.
Features
- Added a depth of field shader.
- Added/improved start boxes for Anteer Strait and Server.
- Added reload time to Dominatrix ingame stats window.
Fixes
- Fixed a recently introduced engine bug in which constructors would sometimes walk around their construction order without starting construction.
- Fixed a bug in which constructors building spaced lines of buildings could become stuck deciding how to move out of the way of their own construction.
- Fixed a texture crash on old hardware.
- Fixed some crashes on launching Speed Metal map variants.
- Fixed an method of circumventing bonus objective unit losses in the campaign missions via reclaim.
- Fixed a shield merge crash related to using a non-default shield link setting.
- Fixed a transport error related to picking up floating amphibious units.
- Fixed AI memory usage, which should fix a few crashes.
- Potentially improved performance in various ways, introduced bugs.
1v1 Tournament March 30th 2019
There will be a 1v1 tournament at 19:00 UTC in two weeks, Saturday 30th March. The format is round robin or Swiss followed by tiebreaks or finals.
Sign up by posting in this thread: https://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/27979