Patch #15 Build Notes – Mar 24
There’s lots of things being worked on right now on our end (and it’s moving fast!), which has made it a bit of a challenge to get a solid patch together. Sit tight, this patch is going to be a bit rough around the edges but we’re ready to HOTfix the things we need to! There are some nice additions in this patch which should hopefully make up for that, though :)
New and Noteworthy Additions:
-New Map + Game Mode: Imperial Fortress Harkus with the Stronghold Game Mode! (Details below!)
- This patch also introduces LARGER MATCHES! We’re currently keeping this at 64 players for all maps (and have temporarily disabled the Olipsis Refinery AND Blackbolt Defense Station due to them not being a map that supports 64 players very well), but will change this if the performance/lag is too much. We’re keeping an eye on it!
-2 new weapons: The Multi-Melta and the Power Maul!
-New visual overhaul for the UI!
-New Voiceovers!
-CSM MoN has been given more health, as a temporary solution until more balancing can happen.
-Control/keybind changes to how the scoreboard and auto-lock work.
Bug Fixes:
-Lots of collision bugs and stuck spots fixed across all the available maps.
-Fixed potential crash caused by vehicle turrets.
-Fixed an issue where the staggering effect would persist even after redeploying.
-Fixed a bug where the player could reset the camera while bracing and shooting.
-Fixed an issue where the aim toggle was not working in cover with a pistol.
-Fixed an issue where the character could float when switching weapon sets.
-Fixed waypoints accumulating and displaying a question mark when set on inactive capture points.
-Vehicle-mounted Storm Bolters are no longer able to fire on the vehicle itself.
-Fixed a texture bug with the metal ground tiles found around a few of the maps.
-Adjusted LOD setting so textures/buildings won't pop in as much.
Gameplay Tweaks/Improvements:
-New Stronghold Game Mode! Here is a rundown of the mechanics (keep in mind these are not final, has some bugs and are being continuously worked on!):
- Strongholds have a linear capture point progression (typically only 2 objectives). If the attackers take the last point, they win the match. If the match hits the time limit, the defenders win. Lost capture points cannot be retaken by the defenders. If a point is being contested while the timer is getting close to 0, overtime is triggered and 2 mins are added to the clock (Note: this is currently not working and is a bug with the overtime system!)
- In addition to the required objectives, there are destructible objectives that provide defenders with spawn points and bonuses (such as turrets) so long as they have not been completed. Completion of these objectives is not necessary for the attackers to win the match.
- When a secondary objective has been destroyed, it disables the associated spawn points and anything else tied to it.
- The defenders have a limited number of lives in a Stronghold match. This is tracked in a pool for the entire side where every time a character spawns they deplete a life ("reinforcement") from the pool. Defenders currently have a pool of 200 lives.
- If no lives remain, upon death characters enter spectator mode where they can view the battle from the perspective of other players on their team. If no lives remain and no defenders remain alive, the match ends after the round timer reaches 0, if the attackers have still not taken the final point. Life distribution:
- Lives are managed on a per-control area basis. At the start of the match, the lives are distributed evenly to all control areas owned by the defenders. When a character spawns at a control area, it uses one of the lives for that area. If no lives remain assigned to that control area, characters can no longer spawn there.
- It is possible for a control area to be disabled. In this case, if there are any lives left assigned to that control area then those should be added to the life allotment of the defender deploy zone, the control area at the back of the fortress. Defenders in a Fortress CANNOT spawn at Rhinos or Beacons. Respawn Penalties
- In addition, to prevent one character from draining their side’s entire lives pool, there is a system for making characters take longer to respawn if they respawn more frequently. This is determined by measuring their lifetime (respawn to death) and determining if it was carelessly short, then applying penalties.
- Whenever a character dies within 60 seconds after their last respawn, they skip the next 2 spawn waves, thereby taking longer to respawn.
- If the character dies AGAIN within 60 seconds of respawning, add 1 to their spawn wave penalty counter.
- For each 60 seconds a character doesn't die again after the last respawn, the system decreases their spawn wave penalty by 1 until it reaches the initial value. EX: a character has had 2 spawn wave penalties applied. If they last 60 seconds without dying, Remove 1 spawn wave penalty. If they last another 60 seconds, remove a second spawn wave penalty.
-The Traitor Assault has been given more Health for the time being.
-The Axe Melee attacks are now slightly faster and move further forward.
-The Tacticals will be slightly less able to spam their evades/rolls now.
- The weapon cameras are now tuned so that your reticule/crosshair is at the same level as your weapon. That way, it will be more unlikely to encounter weird “dead zones/angles” when shooting around certain maps with lots of different elevations, as your camera will have a vertical angle very similar to your weapon.
-The Apothecary Boltgun and Chainsword now have the same stats as the standard versions.
-Ailments can now be blocked by shields.
-Improved spotting parameters! Players can now spot enemies past 100m.
-Character head hitbox has been reduced in size.
-Body and leg hitboxes while crouching has been increased in size (they were almost non-existent before).
Weapon Tuning:
-Multi-Melta can now be equipped on either Devastators or Havocs!
-Power Maul can now be equipped on most melee characters (Ground Assaults, Traitor Assaults, Assaults and Raptors)!
Controls:
-Auto-lock can now be cycled with the keyboard using tab and the scoreboard can be opened with the Left Alt key. This can be changed if it doesn’t suite your needs via the custom keybindings!
Menu/UI/Chat Window Improvements:
-Update to front end menu art (still a work in progress, but getting there slow and steady!).
-Update to the in-game and end of match scoreboards.
-New crash reporter window has been included! Please go ahead and send us your crash logs!
Server/Matchmaking/Steam Improvements:
-Improved server performance (to help reduce lag) in prep for the 64 player mode!
Known Issues:
-As mentioned above, with the high volume of things being integrated in the build (in the background) for other future features, things are a bit rough at the moment. We're monitoring things in-game, via metrics and forum feedback and will react accordingly with HOTfixes when serious bugs or balance issues emerge.
- The Health HUD for the CSM MoN is a bit buggy, occasionally showing an Armor bar when it isn't in fact present. This patch added health to the MoN, not a regenerating Armor bar like the other classes have!
-There are some spawning issues in the Fortress level! We didn't want to hold back on releasing the Fortress, so please bear with us while get those fixed!
-The Shield break visual effect (the shimmering red square) remains visible in-game once a player's shield durability is reduced to 0. Don't mind those annoying red squares for now, we'll fix them soon!
-Objective icons (like spawn points, capture points) and vehicle icons have a grey box around them.
-End-of-Round Scoreboard, being new, is a bit buggy and can display inaccurate info (not the right players are shown, some players show up twice). Usually, by the 2nd round, the bulk of the bugs no longer show up. We're aware but didn't want to stop the patch because of that.