There's a lot going on under the hood right now and 1.1.6 and Outer Reaches are still a way off, so to keep you updated with some of the work here's another beta release for 1.1.6!
This build has a preview of what to expect from the liveries in Outer Reaches. G-Tek, Wyvern and Hyperion have been updated with their new liveries and for the time being are unlocked from the get go.
Important Notes
1.1.6 is not compatible with 1.1.5 for multiplayer. If you plan to play with others who are on the 1.1.5 release then please see the information directly below this.
With this release the multiplayer versioning now also uses the game's version instead of an internal multiplayer version, so from now on everybody needs to be playing on the same builds for multiplayer to work.
1.1.5 and 1.1.6-d20 code mods are not compatible with 1.1.6-d33. For best stability you will need to disable them.
Joining the beta
We strongly recommend that you make a backup of your 1.1.5 install that you can run separately. Once your UserData folder has been upgraded to the User folder there is no option to downgrade it back. If you want/need to return to 1.1.5 for any reason you will want your old UserData folder or backup of the entire build ready to use.
Right click the game in your library, head to properties, the beta tab, select beta from the dropdown and then close the window. The game should then begin updating. If it doesn't then restart Steam.
Issues? Please share!
If you run into any issues with this beta, especially with the UserData folder upgrade and new input saving, please let us know!
The easiest way to tell us is on Discord via our bug reports channel. You can find that here:
https://discord.gg/ballisticng
Also see this thread for info on the game's output log and how to send it our way:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/473770/discussions/1/3561682880005430079/
Notes From Beta 1
File Path Upgrader
Make sure nothing in the UserData folder is open, including the folder itself or any sub folders in your operating systems file browser. The game needs permission to move folders and having anything open will deny it access. If something goes wrong then the game will report the issue to the debug console (ctrl + backspace) and the log file.
When you first launch 1.1.6 it will perform an upgrade of your UserData folder. This moves everything into the new User folder which has a different folder structure to better organise settings and mod content.
All data is first moved into a backup folder (UserData_BCK), so anything the game doesn't recognise will need to be manually moved from this folder into the new User folder.
If custom tracks are manually installed instead of through the workshop the game will need to generate new menu cache files.
New Settings Backend
1.1.6 introduces a total rewrite of the game's settings and user preferences management. Previous settings will be migrated over but preferences won't.
Preferences are settings that are automatically saved. These used to use Unity's PlayerPrefs backend, but it's consistently broken on Linux so we've implemented our own. The following things will be reset in this update:
- First startup check
- Multiplayer name
- Ship/track selections
- Time looking at stats stat
- Music playback index
- Campaign hard mode toggle
Unity Tools
There are many new features coming to the Unity Tools that will allow people to make mods that aren't compatible with 1.1.5. For this beta we've decided not to provide the current tools
so we don't start introducing beta specific mods.
Major changes for Beta 2
Marina Rush
Marina Rush has been remade based on community feedback. Check out the previous Outer Reaches announcement for more details.
Team Race
Team Race is a new gamemode where you work with a team mate to build up score through good positioning and combat.
Custom Race Menu Remade
The custom race menu has been completely remade to consolidate it down to a list that adapts itself to only show what's relevant to the mode you've selected. The tournament menu has also been merged with this, exposing all options from custom race to tournaments.
On screen keyboard
An on screen QWERTY keyboard has been added. Select an input field with a controller then press menu submit to bring it up.
Advanced content selectors
Folder based content selectors with a search function have been added. Press the toggle leaderboard bind on a turntable to bring it up.
Full Beta 2 Change List
Input
Inputs are now saved to the local running instance of the game instead of to Unity's player prefs backend. The new read/writing also strips out a lot of unnecessary data that the game doesn't need to improve read/write performance.
You can find the new files in User/Config/Controllers.
Engine
- Added the option to set which eye will be drawn in the game window for VR
- The game now shows a message when the race starts if cheats are enabled
- Model B tracks are now always available
- All ships are now available on model b tracks
- Drift ships are now available everywhere
- Removed the high pass filter from the music in 2280 (linux compatibility fix)
- Fixed controller vibration not being stopped when the game pauses
- Improved spawn tile ordering so using 16 racers with the standard ships now spawns each teams ships side by side
- Spawn positions are now calculated in section local space instead of world space, now enabling upside down start grids for maglocks and in floor hugger
Campaign
- Campaign progress can now be saved when debugging is enabled
User Interface
- Added an on screen keyboard. When using a controller and you have an input field highlighted, press menu submit to bring it up
- Added navigation between the lobby title bar and lobby chat
- Added advanced track and ship selector menus
- The gamemode description in the campaign menu now has a scroll view
- The file browser interface bookmarks now point to the new modding folders
- The dead zone and sensitivity calibration sliders for controllers now round their values to the nearest 2 decimal places
- The progress loading DLC files is now shown
- The position hud now updates every 100ms instead of every frame to stop the readout rapidly jumping between positions when two ships are close to each other
- The race lap readout now keeps the perfect lap highlight updated for the active lap
- You can now select the ship class and physics mode in the records menu
- Fixed the race lap readout page being offset after 10 laps
- Fixed the multiplayer turntable show stats out of 5 instead of out of 10
- FIxed csf ships being viewed in the ship turntable being unloaded when a network peer changes ship
- Fixed an issue where custom ships not being enabled/installed would require a double tap to move past the last category of ships
- Fixed the ship selection turntable using player 1s inputs for player 2
- Fixed the mouse having an influence on highlighted elements when it's not visible
Custom Race Menu
- Rewritten from scratch to consolidate everything into a single, context sensitive list
- Added options for disabling weapons
- Merged tournament menu into custom race menu, exposing all options available in custom races to tournaments
Tracks
- Fully remade Marina Rush
- Updated Europa and Yala Outpost with changes to the terrain shader
Ships
- Added Outer Reaches liveries for G-Tek, Wyvern and Hyperion
- Added support for flares rotating with the ship (exposing to mods in final 1.1.6 release)
- Updated drift ships with animated airbrakes, new engine effects, reflections, lowered top speeds and altered handling
- Ship shadows now project onto scenery floors
- Secondary thrusters now fire when start boosting
- Caliburn now has its own engine sound
- All ships have been manually upgraded to the new engine effect backend and now have their own unique, thicker player trails
- Increased the width of the AI trails to match the width of the players
- THe AI trail is now used when using the reverse camera in the legacy reverse mode
- Moved hyperions contrails points to the back of its hull
- Updated Tenrais engine colors so they better match the teams primary color
- Ai ships no longer make bump sounds when bumping into other AI ships
- Fixed scrape sounds continuing to play if a ship is scraping when eliminated
Gamemodes
Eliminator
- AI now respect the no fly backwards section flag on their current section when determining if they should combat spin
- Ship collisions are now always disabled
- Increased difficulty in the higher AI levels
- Drastically reduced the points given for ship eliminations
- Doubled weapon impact scores so events are now shorter
- Double tapping the afterburner will now give you a boost when the combat spin finishes
- Added easing to the combat spin animation to add a greater sense of weight
- Added a 200ms cooldown before you can combat spin again
- The direction of combat spins is now determined by the steering input
- Fixed combat spin not working for player 2
Race
- Added the option to switch between the afterburner, turbo pickup or both for the boost mechanic
Weapons
Cannon
- Fixed the fire rate being framerate dependant
- When a ship has a damage stat of 0, the fire rate now defaults to the base fire rate
- Ai now have a stop delay so they fire it more realistically
- Destroying mines with projectiles/tremor will now give you the points the owner would have recieved if you had collided with them
- Fixed mines lifetimes being framerate dependant
Shield
- No longer auto deploys when the ship already has another active
Mines
- Now spawn with the ships full rotation
- Fixed impact scores being based on a projectile impact and not ships
- Projectile impacts now give the score the mine owner would have gained from a ship colliding with it to the ship that fired the projectile at it
Plasma
- FIxed no score being given on ship impacts
Missile
- Ai can now fire them backwards if they don't have a forward lock in the higher AI difficulties
Rockets
- AI now use a sphere cast for ship detection to accommodate for the rockets spread
- Improved AI accuracy around corners
Music
- Added Vonsnake - Caliburn
- Added Vonsnake - Out There
- Added Vonsnake - Orbitronix