Update 64 is focused on providing more options for ground forces to counter air, factional balance, and quality of life.
Each faction is receiving a new Light Tank with dedicated AA mounts, available in the early war: The Colonial HA-1 “Sagaris” and the Warden Sharkey-Devitt Birdeater Mk. I. Their twin flak cannons fire a new magazine-based light AA shell that deals moderate damage at mid to high elevations. Their main advantage is providing mobile AA coverage capable of protecting a moving frontline.
These new tanks are buildable from a Garage, making them as accessible as possible. They can also be used in direct-fire mode to eliminate large clumps of exposed infantry.
Each faction will be getting a second scout plane that is designed to be a close match to the mirrored equivalent on the opposing faction. These aircraft should bring symmetrical balance for attributes such as maneuverability, turn rate, climb speed, and more.
The new Colonial Scout Plane, the A59 Venti “Perdix”, launches miniature Torpedoes and is very maneuverable for air-to-air engagements. Its low profile and narrow tail will make it a difficult target to hit.
As for the new Warden Scout Plane, the Luminary Mk. VI Emissary, it's able to drop surface mines directly on enemy ships, into the water to create obstacles for small ships, or block vital water-based logistics routes.
Any mounted Machine Gun can now enter Anti-Aircraft mode to attack targets in the sky. This will work with any mount, including Tripods, Half-Tracks, Gunboats, and Train Cars. This provides players with an item that can be produced both at the Mass Production Factory and Facilities that can act as an immediate deterrent for aircraft directly on the frontline.
A significant amount of time was spent optimizing the networking code for aircraft to make their movement more smooth, especially for players observing them from the ground. This will make it easier for ground based players to track and hit planes more precisely, giving them improved agency to counter aircraft. These improvements will also benefit the air-to-air combat experience.
Squad leaders are now visible on the map to squad members when they’re in the same region, improving squad cohesion and positioning.
Map tooltips can now be pinned across play sessions and display stockpile deltas. Pinning a map tooltip will keep it open without the need to hover over a structure's icon, and stockpile deltas show logistics players what supplies have been added and removed from a stockpile since the structure was pinned.
Refinery and Assembly Stations' map tooltips now display their on-going production status. This allows logistics players to monitor progress remotely, allowing them to plan and operate more efficiently.
A new alert is sent to warn users when their reserved stockpile is about to be released to public.
Certain valuable vehicles now have a new parking mechanic. Similar to anchoring a Large Ship at a safe location, Battle Tanks, Super Tanks, Locomotives, and Tempest Cannons can now be anchored in place for safe storage. When a vehicle is reserved and anchored by a Squad, it is immobilized and its inventory cannot be accessed.
A vehicle's remaining Squad reservation time is now shown in its UI. This removes the guesswork out of knowing when the claim needs to be refreshed.
Another notable change is that vehicles produced in an MPF can now be re-crated in stockpiles, allowing for a more streamlined method of equipment retrieval.
The player context menu of commenters in map posts can now be opened, allowing for better coordination and communication with your team members.
When repairing a vehicle or structure, the on-screen notifier shows the name of what is being targeted for repair.
Several issues that contributed to the RPG aim line being difficult to use have been resolved, making the interface more predictable and consistent.
There are many other quality of life improvements included in this update, here are just a few:
The changes below are just one stepping stone in the process and the intention is to continue to improve Aircraft gameplay in the coming months.
Aircraft assembling and disassembling is another topic we have tackled in this update. Small Aircraft Parts can now be submitted to and retrieved from Aircraft by hand. Wearing an Engineer Uniform reduces the time needed for assembly and disassembly.
Weather now has a greater impact on an Aircraft's flight performance; flying into high intensity storms will reduce its lift and maximum speed, making flying more difficult and dangerous. The higher the intensity of the storm, the more an aircraft will be negatively impacted.
A height indicator has been added to aircraft elevation lines: Players can now quickly tell whether another plane is above or below them by looking at the elevation circle: if only the bottom half of the circle is visible, the aircraft is above; if only the top half is visible, it’s below.
Hit detection has been improved for Aircraft. The same network rewind approach used to improve infantry combat has been adapted to Aircraft. This means hit-scan weapons should be able to hit these aircraft without needing to lead the target as much as before.
The position of the Heavy Bombers and Rocket Site on the tech tree have been adjusted, with Bombers coming later and Rockets coming sooner. Additionally, Rocket fuelling and launch times have been reduced. This provides a window of time where rockets can be constructed, armed, and fired before Bombers arrive to counter them.
As part of the continued effort to improve the fidelity of the world of Foxhole, a detailing and refinement pass on the new north-western hexes have been made, including Palantine Berm, Pari Peak, Olavis Wake, The Gutter and Kuura Strand.
New points of interest have been added, foliage has been polished and balance passes have been made to help these maps better reflect their original vision.
There are many other balance changes and bug fixes in this update. Read the full release notes for the details.
For a more comprehensive walkthrough of news and changes in Update 64, here are some community videos highlighting the update.
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