Build Version: 1.1.4.5.2f2c56e
Release Date: 29/08/2018
Known Issues
What’s New
Combat
Agent behaviour
We’ve spent a lot of time improving the Agent behaviour in this build. We want combat to feel diverse, realistic, fun and above all tense. Each encounter should be a challenge with different Agents employing different tactics, and likewise the player should need to approach each fight with different strategies. Here’s what we’ve been working on:
- A major overhaul of enemy AI: improved tactics, new aggro rules and tweaks to enemy movement.
- Enemies can now drift and use lateral thrusters.
- Enemies are more manoeuvrable and less likely to collide with terrain, if they do they can extricate themselves.
- New ramming behaviour for Cantankeri, Grievers, Chorister Bees, and Star-Maddened Explorers.
- Tells (animations and sounds) to alert the player that an enemy is about to launch a particular attack.
Knockback
Knockback is now in place on all player and Agent weapons, including area-of-effect type attacks. When you fire your weapons your locomotive will recoil, and all projectiles cause knockback to player locomotives and enemies alike, making combat feel more weighty and realistic. Many Agent projectiles also deal blast damage so try not to get too close!
N.B. Knockback has not been added to small asteroids and space debris. While it would look amazing, we are not sure at the moment whether it’s something we are going to implement. It may have an impact on performance for example and we’ll need to assess that first.
Turrets
All Dreadnoughts and the Empyrean Outriders now have turrets mounted to their locomotives. Their turrets will cease to operate at a certain level of damage, but they are no longer an easy target from behind, and close range combat with them is not such a good idea. Their turrets will rotate and fire at you or any other beastie that the Agent is feeling wrathful towards.
Arcing
We’ve implemented arcing on Agent weapons. The Empyrean Outrider’s turret uses powerful homing missiles which will relentlessly hunt you down unless you are nimble enough to get out of their range. Arcing has only been implemented on Agent weapons so far, we didn't have time to balance this feature on player weapons. This will go out in a later update.
Auras
Aura attacks are a new type of Agent ability. Unlike weapons, they apply an effect over an area without producing a projectile. Empyrean Outriders for example, will drop a barrel bomb which will tick down and explode. If you are within the blast radius when it goes off, you will take damage.
It’s not just Hull that can be affected by these AoE attacks, the Outriders bomb will kill Crew for example, and the Scrive-Spinster’s scream attack will also grant Terror to anything in its range. Aura attacks can be foreseen by their warm-up visual Tells, so a sharp sky-captain will have time to react and get their locomotive out of harm's way.
Headlight awareness and wrath crescents
We introduced the wrath crescent in the Threat build and with Eleutheria we saw the arrival of the first Agents that react to headlights (Dousers become wrathful when headlights are on, Outriders are angered when it’s off, Grievers don’t like a light shining in their face when they are trying to catch forty winks)
In the Combat II build most enemies are now aware of your headlight. Aggressive Agents will be able to sense you from further away when it’s on. Turning it off will allow you to get closer to them, or enable you to run away before they attack, though at the cost of increasing your rate of Terror gain.
The Wrath crescent has been improved and will start to indicate the direction of potentially hostile Agents much earlier, allowing you to react accordingly. Will you turn tail and run or will you head into the fray?
New Agents
This update sees the release of three new enemies: the Undeparted, Bull Cantankeri and Senior Scriveners.
Player movement
We’ve made further adjustments to player locomotives - all player vessels are now more manoeuvrable.
Engine Problems
Now when your stats drop and you are no longer eligible for an item you have equipped, your locomotive will start to suffer from Engine Problems. Your engine’s heat value will be halved, hampering your ability to take on enemies effectively. When you next dock, your equipment will be removed along with any boosts they confer.
Vessel Names
When you illuminate an enemy with your headlight you will now see its class, e.g. Tackety Scout, Cantankeri, Douser, etc. This information will disappear after a few seconds and you'll not see it for that individual Agent again. If you encounter an Agent of the same type, you won't see its name until a full two minutes has elapsed since sighting the first one.
If the Agent is a Tackety Scout, or an Enduring or Glorious Dreadnought, then you’ll also see one of our Kickstarter backer’s vessel names. These backer names will also be seen on transient Wreck discoveries.
Updates
- The new Traitor’s Wood content is fully in place.
- The content for the Wreck of the Berrenger is now in game.
- The Incautious Driver’s storyline can now be completed.
- Headlights now flicker and cut out when entering extinguishments - sail carefully!
- Agents spawns have been reduced in Eleutheria and some segments of the Reach and Albion now that their behaviour has been tweaked.
- The Vala now has a quality requirement 50 Mirrors.
- The Pellinore and Moloch have had their Hull value increased. The Parzival, Bedivere and Agravain have all had their Hull reduced.
- The Agravain has been replaced with the Medea at the London engine yard.
- Balancing to Agent and player damage, as well as Agent HP.
- Hull repairs at Pan now cost Eleutherian Mysteries rather than Sovereigns.
Known Issues
Below is a list of known issues for this build. For a full list of known game issues see our Known Issues page.
- Arcing does not currently work for Agent to Agent combat.
- Audio cannot currently be attached to Auras so these attacks currently have no sound effects.
- The final audio is not yet in place for all Agent attacks. Placeholder SFX have been added in some cases.
- When docking after suffering from Engine Problems, if you have a full Hold the jettison interface will trigger twice (just press cancel each time to close it).
- Additional Hull and Crew are not removed when items are automatically unequipped on docking after suffering Engine Problems.
- Agent names are missing from Curators.
- Agent names for Glorious and Enduring Dreadnoughts do not display correctly in Albion.
- Agent health visuals (smoke, fire, blood particles) are not removed as Agents heal.
- Bull Cantankeri do not yet have a bespoke storylet.
- If a wrathful Agent loses wrath towards a player and subsequently regains it in another encounter, the wrath crescent will not display.
As always, if you find a bug that's not on the Known Issues page then send us a quick Bug Report.