Greetings Neo Earthers!
September's update 1.6.0 brings forth some big changes in combat mechanics and balancing plus forcefield animations and a whole host of fixes. This could well be one of the last updates before leaving early access on October 7th, however even after full release I will still be addressing any bugs that emerge, with planned new content for things like mission packs and new units also on the cards.
Combat mechanics changes - introducing the 'PWR' stat
Previously the combat system would use the weapon's dmg lo stat to try beat the target's defense, now a dedicated 'PWR' stat is used instead. The PWR stat determines whether a weapon will do only it's minimum damage to a target or do random damage between the low and high range.
PWR => DEF = random damaged done (dmg lo - dmg hi).
if PWR is equal or higher than the target's DEF then random damage between the lo and hi ranges is
deducted from target's HP.
PWR < DEF = damage done (dmg lo only).
if PWR is less than the target's DEf then only the low damage is done.
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Cover bonus system for infantry units:
Due to being able to conceal themselves easier than vehicles, Infantry-type units now get a +2 DEF bonus for moving to a square with terrain that provides cover such as forests, hills, fields of cacti, craters etc. Doing so displays a shield icon above the unit sprite and in the UI bar. Naturally enemies can now do the same.
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Fixes:
- Experimental fix for the phase/turn bar and phase cooldown icon appearing too far down the screen on some monitors
- Fix for shadows not appearing on newly risen soldier zombies
- Improved the phase cooldown icon
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Forcefields:
Added forcefield animations for when an enemy is hit by an attack that it is resistant against
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Balancing:
Enemies:
- Alien egg DEF lowered to 3
- Cyber Wasp and Fire Wasp DEF lowered to 12
- removed some enemies from Desert and Floodplain maps to prevent overcrowding
Weapon range adjustments:
- plasma rail cannon range 3>5
- shredder cannon range 5>3
- scatter lance range 4>3
- heavy beamer range 4>3
- gatling cycler range 3>4
- all heavy aircraft weapons set to range 4
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