Zero-K - Bronze Donation ($10) · build 22749951 · published
This release includes an amazing new soundtrack by Vladislav Lapochkin (D.700). It is the new default, and all previous soundtracks can still be selected ingame under Settings/Audio. Big thanks to everyone who contributes music, eventually we will have enough to give each factory its own theme.
The contributions don't stop with an hour of new music. This release also has some Gunship tweaks by Ixzine and a Dante rework based on a mod by StiofanKingofAwoo. The Dante changes are designed to turn it into a brawler, rather than a standoff missile platform, and will require feedback. There are even a few Planetwars balance changes that have come out of our ongoing live testing.
This release also includes an unknown number of unintentional balance changes. It all started when some units were found in violation of a few subtleties of weapon design, which let them fire early at targets entering their range. This was hard to overlook because triggering this behaviour involved a bit of fighting the UI. The fix resulted in general aim improvements, might affect some unit interactions. Please report any issues.
Dante is better at brawling and leans less on the range of its rockets.
Constable is slightly more efficient.
Fencer no longer responds to Set Target or Force Fire commands near the edge of its range. To compensate it now targets the edge of units, rather than their centre.
Stinger also now targets the edge of units, giving it slightly more effective range.
Locust can see a bit further and is easier to use.
Harpy survives more Tarantula shots.
Nimbus is better at using its range.
Planetwars is undergoing live testing, which has revealed a few issues to do with units and systems that are relatively new to Zero-K. The balance changes are aimed at bringing Odin in line with other means of rushing the secondary objectives. This update also has some interface tweaks, and the match aborting and excess player count issues have been resolved server-side. We expect to make a server update and unpause the current round within a few hours of this release.
The command structure is much cheaper so that it can be repaired at a faster rate. This lets it survive an Odin shot provided there is 10 BP nearby.
Each side now has two command structures.
Increased to health of some structures so that they survive an Odin rush.
Generally reduced planetwars structure cost by around 25%, to make them a bit easier to repair.
Units are now better at leading their shots. This is a new engine feature that uses precise calculations rather than a rough approximation. Units would previously predict how long it would take to hit their target at its current distance, then project the position of the unit, without taking into account that the projected location could be closer or further away.
Most units with homing weapons no longer lead their shots at all. Leading causes units to shoot before their target enters range, which for homing units can cause them to hit units that never entered range. Homing weapons were always designed to not lead, but many weapons slipped through the cracks.
Units are now better at acquiring targets beyond their weapon range. This is useful for units that lead shots, because they can shoot as soon as the projected position of the enemy is in range. We thought this was capability working correctly, but certain commands were found to boost target acquisition range significantly, while particularly long ranged units (mostly anti-air) required manual Force Fire commands to acquire targets beyond their range. Locking smart unit behaviour behind specific commands is bad, so the general target acquisition range has been boosted.