The first major update Defend the Base! adding new content to the game [v0.30.0a (b230821)] is now live with the following changes:
NEW
- New game mode: Defend the Base!
- New feature: Weapon Prototypes
- Prototypes are weapons with enhanced base properties that cost both Squad Points and crafting materials. They can be further improved with weapon upgrades.
- They are awarded in Single Mission mode for completing a mission within Turn limits, and are available from a separate tab in Squad Assembly.
- The quality of a prototype depends on mission difficulty and Performance Score. This determines the amount, type, and value of the random improved properties it has.
- If you don’t want a prototype at all, you can sell it for an amount of crafting materials. This can’t be undone, although prototype weapons already in your inventory remain functional and unchanged (until sold).
- New items with new mechanics: scanners!
- The structure scanner can reveal Fog of War in a 90-degrees angle within a range of 7.
- The biosign scanner reveals the position and threat level of aliens (whether they are visible or not) in a radius of 10, and scans visible ones for exact Health/Armor/AP values (and Health loss expected) within a range of 5 (this exact data is available until the next Turn).
- Both are available to buy at a fairly high Squad Point cost, but can be also crafted!
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
- Changes to the mission deadline (Turn limit) system:
- In Single Mission mode, all deadlines are now only “soft”, meaning you can complete all types of missions outside the Turn limit, but that will incur a Score and rewards penalty. Item unlocks (when available) are granted either way. Weapon prototypes are only awarded if you can complete the mission within the Turn limit, though.
- In Operations, deadlines remain mandatory (it’s about in 50% of all sub-missions), as they are much needed for the corresponding tactical situation and narrative to be interesting and engaging. However, Turn limits are now increased by a substantial amount (+50%, +35%, +25%) for Beginner, Standard, and Hard difficulties, respectively, allowing for more tactical choices (Ultimate remains unchanged.).
- In the future Campaign mode, we don’t plan to have hard deadlines for any mission, but, of course, some situations will have a sense of urgency, enforced by other gameplay mechanics.
- Increased base Score for “Data acquisition” and “Reach extraction point” missions by 25,000
- Reworked some RMG rules for Mission #1 of the “Escape the mines!” Operation to be more consistent in terms of playability and challenge
- The last selected path for a unit will now be removed (“forgotten”) when entering Defense mode
- Insertion/Extraction zone markers are now always visible on corresponding grids (for example, the starting elevators in Single Missions)
- Item crafting is now available from a separate, dedicated tab on the Squad Assembly panel, that also allows for filtering by type (there will be a lot more craftable items in the future!)
- Equipment items in Squad Assembly now have a Gear and a Tech filter instead of “Gear & Tech”
BALANCE CHANGES
- Adjusted main alien attributes per difficulty level; in general, they are weaker and slower (less APs) now on lower difficulty levels, while on the higher ones, the change is less noticeable (Ultimate remains unchanged)
- Aliens will now do less physical damage on Beginner (0.7x), Easy (0.8x), and Standard (0.9x) difficulties (the others remain unchanged)
- Marines will now take less elemental damage from direct sources on Beginner (0.5x), Easy (0.65x), Standard (0.8x), and Intense (0.9x) difficulties (the others remain unchanged)
- Note: we want players who are new to the game or the genre to feel more confident, and have a more successful experience doing missions while they’re learning the game. Players who seek a greater challenge will find it unaltered on the higher difficulty settings.
- Adjusted the Minigun (MG-10/MG-12 [turret variant]):
- Ammo capacity increased to 375/750 (up from 100/250)
- Critical damage factor increased to 2.50x (from 1.75x/2.00x)
- Spread reduced by 3 (15 >> 12, 10 >> 7)
- “Scatter” roll damage increased to 60/70 (up from 30/35)
- “Focused fire” base damage increased to 55/60 (up from 45/50)
- Please note that these changes will only take effect for newly started missions!
- The 7.62mm Auto-Turret now comes with 750 FMJ rounds (up from 500)
- Adjusted the Field Expertise skill:
- AP cost reduction bonus per level increased to 12% (up from 10%)
- Secondary specialization static cover bonus increased to 4 (~30%) from 2 (~15%)
- Reduced the base AP cost of using the welding torch to 25 (from 30)
- Reduced the Integrity and Armor of secondary objective item crates to 250/25 (from 500/100)
FIXES
- Fixed an UI glitch where leaving a game while a turret was selected resulted in the turret shutdown button being stuck on the screen in Squad Assembly
- Fixed an UI glitch in Squad Assembly where the “buy for unit” buttons were shown as interactable when the unit didn’t have any suitable free slots in their inventory (did not affect functionality)
- Fixed a minor UI glitch where when starting a mission with a squad that doesn’t have a loadout yet for the selected mission configuration, the menu transition graphics would be frozen while the information dialog was being displayed
- Fixed a bug in Squad Assembly where selling an upgraded weapon from the Stash wouldn’t refund the cost of the upgrades
- Fixed an inventory bug where you couldn’t swap two non-stackable items of the same type
- Fixed a minor bug where movement AP cost display could temporarily get stuck on the map if unit deselection happened in a very rapid succession (only achievable via hotkeys) to entering Defense mode
- Fixed a sound issue where the “I can’t do that!” voice line could be “spammed” when repeatedly trying to perform an impossible action in rapid succession
- Fixed minor rendering issues with some Tutorial markers (did not affect playability)
- Fixed a few minor issues with Tutorial events/triggers (did not affect playability)
- Fixed a graphical glitch where marines’ torchlights could pass through the sides of closed doors
MISCELLANEOUS
- Added missing Chinese translation for weapon model names
- Tutorial squads can no longer be loaded outside of the Tutorial; this is to ensure players don’t accidentally start playing with them and later lose progress for any reason
- Optimized system resource usage in some underground mission types