Absolute Annihilation: Spring 1.46

[Comp1337]

Bertha/Intimidator slope tolerance increased 30%

this will only promote bertha rushing :/ IMO kinda bad change..
Berthas should be restricted by terrain, so that you cant spam them everywhere.

Tactical nuke launchers (static) now cost 20% more and take 30% longer
to build; the missiles themselves now cost 25% more per "tick" of
game time, require 30 additional seconds to build, and move 25% slower

ther was nothing wrong with them...

Tremor energy cost increased 30%, metal cost increased 25%, build
time increased 20%

NOOO, my tremor is getting picked on even more... leave him alone.

[Caydr]

my beautiful level 1 fighters!! ;_;

other changes are great :)

well done to make gators stronger :) :)

btw: Why isnt the absolute annihilation unit guide on http://www.planetannihilation.com working anymore??

I always like to look up unit costs there

The site at PA is screwed up somehow. Something about a server move at gamespy. I'm not really inclined to fix it just yet... also remember that all those stats were for AA 6.0 for TA, not any spring version.

The bertha slope change is to compensate for them being made a lot bigger in one of the recent versions. They're just a little too hard to place as of 144.

The 10 unit decrease to flash weapon damage is from 115 to 105, something like that. Not much, but will make a bigger difference when they're used in groups.

[Comp1337]

The bertha slope change is to compensate for them being made a lot bigger in one of the recent versions. They're just a little too hard to place as of 144.

meh, thats a good way of restricting people from going bertha only on some maps.

[MR.D]

The problem with slope placement currently in 1.44 is that the ARM Bertha LRPC has a smaller footprint for placement than the Core Intimidator LRPC, so arm could build them where core could not.

[Egarwaen]

The problem with slope placement currently in 1.44 is that the ARM Bertha LRPC has a smaller footprint for placement than the Core Intimidator LRPC, so arm could build them where core could not.

But the Guardian also has a smaller footprint than the Punisher, leading to the same result. (I think?)

[jellyman]

Well if AAI's learning algorithm and combat micro management is to be trusted, then flashes are underpowered. And the overpowered units are Peewees, Thunders, Levelers and Nixers. This is based on letting it play itself repeatedly on altored divide and seeing which units it starts to spam.

I guess it has a bias towards Nixers and Thunders because its combat units are stationary when a target is in range, allowing more easy targets for these units then would be found against a human player. Nixers cost 330ish metal, so are much cheaper than other heavy rocket launching units (with a shorter range though). Levelers pack a punch, and with the lack of raiding ability of this AI, their lack of speed does not present a major drawback.

I wonder if the fact it likes peewees so much and only builds a few flashes reflects anything significant that us humans are missing?? Maybe AAI's habits of building mexes protected by one llt encourages this.

Interesting in their absence from use by AAI are level 2 air planes, and level 2 core kbots.

[submarine]

Well if AAI's learning algorithm and combat micro management is to be trusted, then flashes are underpowered. And the overpowered units are Peewees, Thunders, Levelers and Nixers.

keep in min that these values do not necessarily tell you something about how over/underpowered a unit is when a human player uses it - it just tells you how well aai could handle it when playing...

since aai doesnt do much micromanagement at all, "normal" assault units like bulldogs, goliaths and flashes will be more effcient than micromanagement-dependend units like sharpshooters or penetrators

[Caydr]

1.45 will be out really soon. I've decided to just make it a balance patch - all the units which were cut previously (and are wanted back) will be re-added, but the anti-air kbots (and some secret tweaks nobody's conceived of yet... muahaha) won't be in it.

Since this means the next version will only alter balance for the most part, I'll be able to make further adjustments where necessary for the version after that, which I'm hoping will have some longevity to it.

Good point about the slopes and unit sizes and all that stuff. Therefore:

bertha gets 20% increase to slope tolerance
timmy gets 30% increase to slope tolerance
punisher gets 10% increase to slope tolerance

If not "Aegis", I was thinking "Broadsword" or possibly "Adamant". "Defiant" would be great too, if not for the fact people would think I was talking about the star trek ship. "Defiance" would be alright, but that's more like something you'd name a single unit rather than a class of unit, you know? Meh. Any suggestions?

[el_matarife]

What about Damocles for the new Requiter name? As in sword of?

[Caydr]

Final changelog, here she is:

Hmm... larger text size for CODE blocks makes it easier to read but screws up my fancy formatting. Hmph. Here's a link to the changelog file instead: http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net/Changelog145.txt

Download link in the morning, assuming I remember. So, within a week.

[Egarwaen]

So, the total relevant changes for the unit guide (aside from any strategy changes that result) are:

Blade: Flak-resistant.
Blackdawn: Junked. (Doesn't this give Core a bit of a disadvantage at L2 air? Or do the Rapier buffs make up for it?)
Beamer, HLLT, Packo, Sam, Inferno added.

No other changes to the unit list?

[TradeMark]

What about increasing REPULSOR1 weapon range by 30% ? (it is the antiplasma shield)

[FizWizz]

what about north-exit factories? pretty please?

[Konane]

So aa kbot will be in 1.46 right? Happy with the changelog anyway, save for the blackdawn cut. Arm now has uber bomber, heavy gunship and emp bomber, so core has less variety in L2 air(2 planes less). Im not saying that blackdawn is a necessity(not a gunship fan anyway). Perhaps its role should be changed or something, because right now only vamps, hurricanes and krows are used most of the times.

[Egarwaen]

So aa kbot will be in 1.46 right? Happy with the changelog anyway, save for the blackdawn cut. Arm now has uber bomber, heavy gunship and emp bomber, so core has less variety in L2 air(2 planes less). Im not saying that blackdawn is a necessity(not a gunship fan anyway). Perhaps its role should be changed or something, because right now only vamps, hurricanes and krows are used most of the times.

I was curious about that too. But, IIRC:

- Hurricanes have a much bigger payload than Phoenixes.

- Rapiers are now nastier than Brawlers.

- Krows are just plain demonic.

So I think Arm has more variety, but Core has more raw power?

[Min3mat]

thats what i like to hear ,^^
<3EMP bombers<3

[Caydr]

As big of a jerk as I can be, I don't want to look like I'm trying to steal EE's thunder this weeekend. 1.45 on Monday morning. This might give me a chance to catch a nap or maybe have a private beta.

[j5mello]

good to hear. ive been waiting for another relase, after beta testing a mod for about 3 months u kinda need a change of pace, and since the intial shock & awe around E&E's release has lapsed, i need to spam some peewees

[FireCrack]

Gah, i need my packos to protect me from silly L1 gunships!

[Caydr]

Forgot to mention, I posted the Final-final, really-final changelog:

http://ta-aa.sourceforge.net/Changelog145.txt

A few changes were made less severe (like tacnukes), and a few were made moreso. I predict 1.45 will have a lifespan of approximately 2-4 weeks. Make sure to get in lots of reports on what you like, or don't.

I'm a little rusty from being away from Spring for so long, so it's possible I'll have to do a quick 1.46 in a matter of days... I don't really think this'll happen though.

I think you guys'll really like what I did with nukes

Oh, here's a link: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ta-a ... p?download

It's not officially released or posted anywhere until Monday, so enjoy if you find it first ^^