After an exciting launch weekend and with the Early Access tag removed last Monday, we're now ready to deploy our first patch to the live build, where we tried to realize as much player feedback as possible. All hail build 1.01. Let's take a look at what we did here:
01: SC (SKILL CLASS) FILTER FOR SERVER BROWSER
People complained about not being able to find SC matching servers quickly in the server browser, but had to browse through the whole long list. We now included an SC filter which allows to display only servers with matching SCs. Simply click on MY SC in the lower right of the server browser to list all matching servers.
02: IMPROVED CONNECTIVITY FOR FREE EDITION
We had some reports about FE players not being able to Quick Join. Please bear with us... the whole setup is very new and will need adjustments over time. However, connectivity on Quick Join should've much improved now.
03: PREFER STEAM FRIENDS ON QUICK JOIN
Free Edition Players complained about not being able to play with friends and about not having a server browser at all. The Quick Join mechanism was now changed to always prefer servers with friends. Also, you can use Steam's server browser to connect to matches or the external server browser from our Steam Workshop.
04: MAP CALIBER/TUTORIAL IMPROVEMENTS
We had complaints that Caliber (the tutorial and time trial map) could not be completed. We've now improved the in-map documentation and also pointed out the alternate route to complete the tutorial using the Phantom assault bomber vehicle (which needs to be repaired first, to open the hangar cage).
05: MATCHMAKING IMPROVEMENTS
Matchmaking should now be a lot smoother process as we re-adjusted the algorithms a bit. We're now looking for servers with Steam friends, changed the priority of the ping and also made sure you're not be thrown into a server that was already almost at capacity.
06: BLACK SCREEN AFTER MAP TRAVEL
Occasional black screens after map travels should no longer appear (fingerscrossed). If you still encounter any of these, please report them on the forum.
07: FREE EDITION NOT MARKING MAPS AS LOCKED
Not included maps of the Free Edition were not visibly marked in UI. This has now changed and you can clearly see what maps you can join and what maps are unavailable. This should help avoid confusion, why sometimes players of the FE were disconnected seemingly random.
08: SERVER BROWSER UI FIXES
The server browser used to act a little strange when the mouse pointer hovered over servers that were filtered out. This should be fixed now.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON BUILD 1.01
The overall experience should be a lot smoother now than directly after release (especially for players of the Free Edition). We also promised 16 slot CC servers with this update, but I learned that they are not a direct part of the update, but a server configuration thing (which is going to happen soon).
That's it for now. Have fun... and let us know what you think.