Zero-K News - Page 4

Zero-K News

A dynamic game undergoing constant development and refinement, that attempts to balance playability with fresh and innovative features.

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Karl
Panzerstahl Developer
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Karl »

Merl and Pillager? Wheres the Leveler?
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Anarchid
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Anarchid »

Iirc it needs the weapon blast fixed to work in mid-air
Google_Frog
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Google_Frog »

I thought that if you're going to fix Leveler to work as a midair blast there is little point confounding people with a new temporary effect.
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Licho
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Zero-K v1.0.4.9

Post by Licho »

Zero-K v1.0.4.9
= v1.0.4.9 =

== GUI improvements: ==

* new keyboard controlled main menu
* new button under minimap to turn on simplified color scheme (all alies blue, all enemies red)
* default interface skin is now carbon (you can change that in settings)
* game treats placing start position as ready -> its enough if people place start position, no need to click ready. When all people place position, game starts.

Minor GUI changes:
* removed "gesture menu" interference - added option to enable it for groups of units - default off
* scrolling with smoothscroll off is "apple style"
* there is now option to remember minimap mode (LOS/radar views etc)

== Gameplay: ==

* all "teams" hosts now balance clan-mates together. Join same planetwars clan to play with your friend there.


== Balance: ==

* Tremor has extra 100 range

== Fixes: ==

* default LOS/radar display has nicer colors
* units no longer fire at targets they cannot see
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Licho
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Zero-K v1.0.4.17 - Mex control and Gunship balance

Post by Licho »

Zero-K v1.0.4.17 - Mex control and Gunship balance
Today we throw off the shackles of broken metalmap layouts and confusing extractor incomes. No more will otherwise good maps be unplayable and no one can miss the clearly displayed power of super mexes. Mex placement now has a UI, is limited to specific spots and is entirely configurable game side on a per-map basis.

As far as balance goes Gunship roles have been extremified and Tremor has received quite a buff.

== Mex Placement ==

Mex placement is now limited to specific locations on the map.

Interface:
* Mex placement snaps to mex spots.
* Spot line width and I-Beam count indicates income.
* Spot colour indicates whether the spot is under allied control.

Mechanic Changes:
* Mex constructor no longer receives 5% extra base income.
* Metalmap view cannot be used to increase scout view range.
* Mexes now start as soon as they are built (previously there was a 3s delay to gather resource data).

Compatibility:
* Cloud metal maps with large extractor radius are not supported. Examples are Bazillion Battlefield and Castles.
* Those with small extractor radius still work. For example Duck and Speedmetal.
* Game-side configs can be added to completely replace a metalmap. This can be used to fix the few liked cloud metalmaps and to fix maps that look good but have broken metalmaps.

Widgets:
* Area Mex, Mex Snap and Prospector have been removed and partially merged into a single widget.
* If you disable this widget you're stuffed.


== Ready behaviour change ==

Start location can now be chosen at any time and there is no ready button. The game with start 4s after every player has chosen a start location.


== Balance ==

Tremor:
* AOE increased 11%
* DPS increased 23%
* Impacts smooths terrain.

Weapononised terrain smoothing is reduced for mid air explosions (as in when projectiles impact a shield high above the ground).

Seismic missile can shoot underwater.

Brawler. It should emphasise range and not being hit by most land units.
* Speed 4.7 -> 4
* Uses more of it's range while strafing.

Blackdawn. Should be hit and run with ground interaction.
* Speed 4.65 -> 4.5
* Health 2900 -> 3400
* Cruise Altitude 210 -> 150 (to compare Banshee is at 100)
* Range 450 -> 300

Rapier. If it is going to defend other gunships it needs to be able to keep up
with them and deal reasonable damage.
* Speed 3.8 -> 4
* Health 1300 -> 1100
* Damage 150 -> 200 (1 shot better vs Vamp)
* Range 300 -> 340

Banshee. This just needs to be a bit better.
* DPS increased 5%
* Range increased by 20

Gnat. Needs to be less extreme "completely win or die".
* Health 90 -> 120 (This is over the Defender boundary, am I mad????)
* Range increased by 20

Strider Hub:
* Costs 550 -> 600m (for consistency)

Bantha:
* Added laser overcharge special weapon.

== GUI ==

Structures in the build menu are ordered by cost.

Geo hightlight activates when build geo is selected. Geos are now drawn on the minimap with a big X.

Bombers now require repeat enabled to retain an attack command.

== Fixed ==

* Rector repair speed was too high.
* Mex, wind, carrier, HLT, defender, LLT aimvolume tweaks. Allied units are better at shooting past them.
* Fix Dante script error.
* Initial state "hold position" preset should work reliably.
* Fixed Archangel DPS
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Licho
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Zero-K v1.0.4.20

Post by Licho »

Zero-K v1.0.4.20
Metals spots has been tweaked slightly for automatic compatibility with more maps. In some cases a map was too broken for this so an override has been added.

Anti-gunship AA has been nerfed slightly in the continued attempt to make gunships more useful. Jethro is now a cloaky AA unit and hopefully some sort of Veh AA can fill Jethro's old role.

The main UI changes are grid hotkeys for factory units and Outlaw has a button to constantly fire as well as an improved effect.

=== Metal Spots ===

UI:
* Size of minimap circle now independent of map size.
* By using larger metal icons the income visualisation can handle income up to 1000.

There are now configs for:
* Azure Rampart
* Charlie in the Hills v2.1
* EE-RiverGlade-v02
* Lava And Two Hills
* Porky_Islands
* TheBeachBeta

Fixes:
* May have fixed desync in finder algorithm.
* Fixed metal mult modoption.
* Slightly reduced spot merge detection range.
* Mexes with less than 0.2 income are discarded.

=== Balance ===

Jethro (cloaky AA):
* Now cloaks (0.1 static, 0.5 moving)
* Cost 100 -> 150
* DPS increased 50%
* Range 760 -> 700
* Speed 3.5 -> 2.9

Archangel (Jump AA):
* EMG dps is back to what it was before the XP change. This is a reduction of 30% from last version.

Cobra and Copperhead (flak cannons):
* DPS reduced 10% (to try and make Gunships better).

Quake (seismic missile):
* Cost 500 -> 400

=== UI ===

Factory build options now have grid layout hotkeys. These work a bit differently to structure grid hotkeys.
* Unit creation only requires one key press.
* The hotkeys are always active when Units tab and a factory is selected.
* Modifiers Shift (5x) and Alt (insert at start of queue) modifiers work with these hotkeys.
* These may conflict with how some current people like to use the UI so there is an is an option "Settings/Interface/Integral Menu/Disable Units Hotkeys" to turn it off.

Set Target and Cancel Target are now bindable through the menu Game/Commands tab.

Outlaw can be toggled on/off to constantly fire. Improved weapon gfx to be cleaner and more accurately depict the AoE speed.

=== Fixes ===
* Fixed some wreck names.
* 'Anti-Armor' units are now called 'Anti-Heavy'
* Gauss now shoots through wreckages (it was suppose to and has done so in the past).
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Licho
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Zero-K v1.0.5.1

Post by Licho »

Zero-K v1.0.5.1
May's first stable version brings with it both gameplay and interface improvements.

== Gameplay ==
* Added a resurrection award
* Added rising lava, controllable with modoptions

== Units ==
Slasher
* Cost 125 -> 140 (12%)
* HP 500 -> 560 (12%)
* Damage 32 -> 50 (56%)
* Speed 2.5 -> 2.8

Angler
* Missiles fire over 2.8s instead of all at once (Shadow will drop its bomb before being killed)
* Reload time 8 -> 10

Bantha
* Missiles are exclusively EMP; can be fired in a volley
* Loses the super optic blast

Leveler
* Doubled terrain smoothing effect

Dirtbag
* Leaves a smaller mound

Felon
* Range 450 -> 440

Licho
* Missile slower, turns better

All vehicles, tanks, hovers and ships accelerate 3x faster

Fixed some building yardmaps

Terraform costs half as much

All units prefer not to fire at unarmed targets (including Dirtbag and Razor's Kiss)

== Graphics ==
* Changed comm teleport effect
* Tweaked sumo texture

== Interface ==
* Added progress bar for midgame join/rejoin
* Fixed a bug where mexes could be placed off their spots
* Float and Fire at Radar can be hotkeyed
* Pause screen no longer closed with right-click; Space-click for options instead
* Kamikaze units aren't counted for resign on self-d
* Minimum weapon reload time for healthbar display can be changed
* Build ETA can be set to display only on holding down Shift
* Fixes to pylon circle drawing
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Licho
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Zero-K v1.0.5.7

Post by Licho »

Zero-K v1.0.5.7
Some long-awaited balance changes in this one - whether they work as intended remains to be seen ;)

== Game ==
* Autoforce waits 75 seconds for missing people (instead of 30) and will not act unless at least two teams have at least one connected player each
* Admin muting applies ingame as well as in lobby (but only if mute was applied before game started)

== Units ==
Krow
* Acceleration 0.154 -> 0.08
* Replaced pulse lasers with beam lasers
* Replaced cluster bombs with Independence Day-style laser

Sumo
* Cost 1900 -> 2000
* Range 430 -> 400
* Normalized sight distance to weapon range (was too high)

Big Bertha
* Cost 6000 -> 5000
* HP 4200 -> 4800

Goliath
* Normalized sight distance to weapon range (was too high)

Slasher
* Weapon no longer craters

== Interface ==
* Unit selection screen displays unit reload times
* Comm selection screen should no longer appear when spectating
* A warning appears at start of game if lava is enabled

== Chicken ==
* Redid defenses - now they draw from a common pool which fills with PAR and burrow kills
* Base tech penalty for each burrow kill is 40 seconds (from 60)
* White Dragon no longer stomps
* Tweaked aggro coloring in panel

== Misc ==
* Fixed Crabe script errors
* Modified Venom and Crabe map icons
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PicassoCT
Journeywar Developer & Mapper
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Re: Zero-K v1.0.5.7

Post by PicassoCT »

Licho wrote: == Units ==
Krow

* Replaced cluster bombs with Independence Day-style laser
This how did you archieve that? I had the problems with the sniper laser - it always was glued to one point, not really shooting straight.
Google_Frog
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Google_Frog »

That last changelog is wrong. You can still see laser implementation in r6559.
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hoijui
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by hoijui »

Licho wrote:* Comm selection screen should no longer appear when spectating
nice! :-)

one other thing when speccing (i think this happens wiht all spring games, but i did not find the respectve message string in engine source code, so i guess it is a gadget):
when speccing, you sometimes get message that says: "You received 1 unit" or the like.
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Licho
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Licho »

Thats fixed too! (At least in theory )
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Licho
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QuickMatch/Juggler neutered

Post by Licho »

QuickMatch/Juggler neutered
Because people apparently cannot understand how it works and try to fight it and complain, juggler was mostly disabled now.

- it wont split any game (you can have 32ppl small teams now)
- it wont auto enable if you join managed host (with star in ZKL)
- it wont try to put clan members together
- it wont divide players be elo
- it wont try to save "too small" games by sending people there who like this type same as their current game

If you still want to play proper small teams, you have to manually enable quickmatch (click on quickmatch button and set your preferences).

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Forboding Angel
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Forboding Angel »

Juggler wouldn't be so ridiculous if you would just limit the amount of players per autohost.

Speaking of, could you set the max player amount of the evo autohosts to 6 total (so 3v3 is the largest matchup)?
luckywaldo7
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by luckywaldo7 »

The problem is that people are generally more inclined to spec a full game then go sit in an empty host and wait for more people to join.

Which is silly because as soon as someone starts seeding, more people will join. I can go join an empty zk autohost and have a nice 1v1/2v2/3v3 in 10 minutes or less. The issue is that person willing to be the first to start seeding.

So the idea with juggler is that it will let autohosts grow with players and then split them off, so seeding empty hosts is no longer required. If it grows up to 6v6 and splits off into two 3v3, now there are more games for people to join with more room to grow.

The idea is really good. Theoretically you could be exponentially increasing the number of hosts for people to play with instead of having the same one or two hosts recycle the same 16 players each over and over again. An extra bonus even is splitting by elo ranking, which means new players won't get so silly steamrolled and experienced players won't get so frustrated.

The idea is fantastic, the problems mostly come from not all lobbies having juggle support (really messes with the workings when some people aren't getting moved), and a general unwillingness of the playerbase to put up with a still imperfect work-in-progress system.
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Forboding Angel
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Forboding Angel »

Does weblobby support juggler? If so, then why not on zk only hosts, tell any lobby who doesn't support it to gtfo? (Just don't pull the same shit as last time with sending spam to people on non-zk hosts).

I find it hard to believe that having individual settings for the zk only hosts would be that incredibly difficult.
Google_Frog
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Google_Frog »

Cue kibitzing by Spring people who have no idea about juggler....

Forb are you interested enough that it is worthwhile for anyone to divulge all the background information on why certain solutions would not work and what the real problems are?
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Forboding Angel
Evolution RTS Developer
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Forboding Angel »

Don't let them join the game, and give them lobby alternatives to zk (So that there is more than one choice int he matter -- zklobby runs like crap and spouts script errors every minute -- fyi this is why it's bad to rely on IE renderer... Not everyone has the same version of IE installed and some people have IE disabled entirely). You could also have other non-juggler hosts open as well. It's not THAT hard of a solution to come up with.
Google_Frog
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Google_Frog »

I really don't want to explain why all that doesn't work again. I have explained it enough times already.
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Forboding Angel
Evolution RTS Developer
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Re: Zero-K News

Post by Forboding Angel »

I'll take your word for it. Damn shame though. Juggler is an excellent idea. It just seems to suffer from implementation.
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