Major AI Overhaul, New Maps & Massive Gameplay Improvements

Hello Everyone,

A new update is rolling out including many features improving your experience:

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From improved AI pathfinding and vehicle handling to new maps, major UI improvements, Sandbox upgrades, multiplayer additions, and dozens of long-standing fixes.

Units now move smarter and more naturally, vehicles navigate terrain reliably, air units behave correctly, and alien pathfinding has been heavily optimized for more aggressive and responsive combat. On top of that, we’ve added two brand-new maps, victory screens, loading screens, RTS notifications, team-specific Sandbox objectives, and a wide range of balancing and graphical improvements.

This patch is focused on making the entire experience smoother, more stable, and far more polished whether you're commanding armies in Strategy mode, experimenting in Sandbox, or fighting alongside friends in multiplayer.

You can find the full patch note here:

AI:

• Added: Multi-waypoint support for units
• Changed: Overhauled alien navigation mesh, allowing shorter path to target for aliens
• Improved: Complete overhaul of collision avoidance for vehicles
• Improved: Pathfinding for all units (wheeled vehicles no longer keep swerving, air units fly correctly)
• Improved: AI unit target prioritizaion (no longer target only weakest unit)
• Improved: AI vehicle push-back onto navmesh algorithm
• Improved: AI Infantry movement is less jumpy and more fluid
• Fixed: Infantry getting stuck in Sol Barracks
• Fixed: Strange teleportation behaviour with infantry on occasion
• Fixed: When a structure was placed, it could take several seconds before units could be ordered
• Fixed: When air units were high up they would not be able to pathfind
• Fixed: Phantom orders when hopping in/out of a stationary unit
• Fixed: Human air units often missed their target point and kept spinning there and back
• Fixed: Units incorrectly targeted some turrets
• Fixed: Navmesh was not recalculated when loading a save
• Fixed: Numerous NULL AI group errors in FPS commanding
• Fixed: Vehicles getting stuck driving into obstacles that were on their navmesh
• Fixed: Navmeshes for vehicles (light and heavy) were generated incorrectly on slopes

Optimization:

• Added: More options to texture memory budget
• Fixed: Flickering on lights when there were a ton of them

Gameplay:

• Added: New map Industrial Quarter (industrial zone on Earth)
• Added: New map The Citadel (mega-fortress with city on Baltarus)
• Added: Support for team-specific objectives in Sandbox
• Added: Detected target highlighting in Alien, Sol and Centauri vision modes
• Changed: Centauri Harvester turns on the spot now (like a tank versus 6-point turns)
• Improved: Human structure placement by auto-snapping to nearest valid points
• Improved: Sandbox game mode features polished significantly
• Improved: Collision damage to crystals and trees increased
• Fixed: Automatically disable structure decay when unlinked in Sandbox mode

UI:

• Added: Loading screens (first version)
• Added: Map cycle voting at the end of a Strategy match
• Added: Server name to scoreboard
• Added: Victory screens for all 3 factions including stats
• Added: Entity browser to Sandbox (for changing properties of selected objects)
• Added: RTS notifications in top-right corner (unit lost etc)
• Changed: Overhauled RTS unit icons for better readibility and control
• Changed: Overhauled player tag UI elements
• Improved: Construction previews of turrets spun and made it difficult to place in correct direction
• Improved: New unlinked structure indicator and notification
• Fixed: HUD Objectives not being cleared when resetting scenario in Sandbox
• Fixed: FPS commanding UI being in wrong spot on Ultawide resolution
• Fixed: Main menu and in-game menu being stretched out on Ultawide resolution
• Fixed: Error when leaving direct control due to rapid saving and loading of layouts
• Fixed: Resource area Indicators of other factions stayed visible when changing teams in Sandbox

Graphics:

• Added: Sounds and FX for tree destruction
• Improved: Monument Valley terrain details
• Improved: Centaurus sky visuals overhauled
• Fixed: Decals did not show on some structures
• Fixed: DecalData shader error (renamed UnpackNormalmapRGorAG function)

Technical:

• Added: Anti-flip to human air units (no more stuck upside down Gunships)
• Fixed: Numerous holes in terrain in various maps
• Fixed: Sol Harvesters flipping extremely fast
• Fixed: Anti-flip failed on some small wheeled vehicles that were stationary for some time
• Fixed: Look vector could be zero when projectile impact direction matched their forward vector

Multiplayer:

• Added: Option to lock all players to one team in Startegy game mode
• Added: Options to vote for surrender and kicking of players into the in-game menu
• Fixed: Players could jump into vehicles claimed by other players

Balancing:

• Changed: Reduced damage and range of Shocker slightly
• Improved: Spawn locations and resources on numerous maps

That's it for today!
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