Spring RTS Engine

Well, that was embarassing.
As many of the players have noticed, round 10 of PlanetWars...did not go quite as anticipated. Besides the persistent difficulty in creating balanced teams, the rule setup also resulted in the Synthetic Front achieving a runaway economic victory.

As such, we've ended the round and will be going back to the drawing board for the round 11 design for a while. The SynthFront victory will probably be recorded in the Hall of Fame, but not incorporated into the running story. It's not yet clear whether the two-faction system can be salvaged, or written off and PlanetWars restored to five factions.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to see you again in the next round!

Zero-K updates to Spring Engine 83!
At last, we are switching to the latest engine version which features many improvements (performance, visuals) and fixes (vehicle pathing).
Full changelog is here https://github.com/spring/spring/blob/m ... ngelog.txt

ATTENTION:
TO UPDATE SMOOTHLY:
* on windows, restart Zero-K lobby 2x and join the game
* if on linux, wait for package update and follow links at http://springrts.com/


Note that this engine is a major update and it will certainly contain new bugs too. We will be addressing those asap.
Enjoy!

New Zero-K trailer by Antero
Antero (Sprang) made a great trailer for Zero-K
Check it out here:
http://vimeo.com/31613242

PlanetWars round 11
After some hiccups, we're finally launching the eleventh round of PlanetWars!

After the Empire Reborn conquered the galaxy, for a while there was a great peace. But gradually, the carefully formed unity of the empire began to crack under racial tension and anti-Imperial feelings.

Many common humans, chafing under the rule of authoritarian central government, revolted in the cause of Liberated Humanity. On the other end, the genetic nobility sought to reassert their lost power under the banner of the Dynasty of Earth. In between them were the Cybernetic Front, augmented humans suppressed under the new human-purity society, who now fight to be treated as they deserve. And amidst the chaos, the once-enslaved miltary AIs of the Free Machines rose in revolution once more.

All five factions want control of the galaxy, but only one will seize the day. Who will it be?


Rule changes
* When offering a lower diplomacy state than currently agreed on (e.g. declaring war), the other clan's diplomacy offer is lowered to match.

Zero-K adopts Spring engine v84.0 + new game version
After the abortive engine update to 83.0, we've formally adopted the new Spring version 84.0 with its numerous fixes. Concurrently, we're also releasing a new game version, v0.9.

= CHANGELOG =
Engine
* Linux desyncs should be fixed
* Vehicles maintain speed on turning properly
* Reduced pathfinding lag and improved "flow"
* Heightmap changes (e.g. terraform) invisible outside LOS
* Radar plane LOS not based on ground position
* Players are no longer defeated if they lose all units (including /take) as long as their allyteam is alive.
* Units target things that they can no longer see for a lot less time
* Units no longer attack recently captured units
* /advshading command replaced with /advunitshading; analogous /advmapshading command added (try this if you're experiencing lag or graphics-related crashes)
* /dynamicsun command added - toggles dynamic sun shading. May be buggy, recommend disabling.

Large blocky map texture and extreme CPU drain from the start of the game are known issues that affect a few players. Try to fix these with '/advmapshading' and '/dynamicsun'. Otherwise update graphics drivers and if problems persist create a ticket.

Lobby
* It is now possible to set "Data folder" where all content is stored (maps, games, engine, configs, logs) -> for people who run c: on small SSD
* Fixes to default configs

General
* Fixed Spidermonkey egg issues
* Commanders which forgo a weapon at level 1 can keep the free peashooter at level 3
* Pylon locked

New unit, Felon. A heavy shieldbot walker which uses shield charge to power its fun.
* 700 cost
* Slow speed
* Shielded
* Accurate LLT range
* It uses shield charge to fire, use with Thugs and reduce it's damage output by shooting it.
* Discharge from full shield does 1600 damage in 2.4 seconds
* DPS is 27 when drained and reliant on regen.

Balance
* On-fire effect from Firewalker, Inferno and corresponding commander weapons much shorter (so it expires quickly if you leave the burning area)
* Moderator does 33% less slow damage
* Slow effect capped at 50%
* Merl cost reduction (800 -> 700) and damage increased (650 -> 700)
* Puppy range increase (145 -> 155) and health increase (60 -> 80)

Modules:
* Hellfire Grenade burns a much larger area; reloads more slowly and costs more
* Disruptor bomb does 25% more slow damage
* Kodachi AoE down to almost what it used to be
* Gauss rifle a bit stronger
* Missile launcher range down (450 -> 415) - now requires two range modules to outrange LLTs
* Standoff Rocket a bit cheaper

GFX
* Fixes to VR grid; disabled on all default settings except maximum
* Improved large napalm effects

GUI
* Fixed many playerlist issues
* Core selector should work in spectator mode
* Fixed incorrect values reported by resource bar
* Fixed randomness in music player

Zero-K v0.9.4 + Spring engine 85.0 dual christmas release!
Christmas comes early for good boys and girls! Santa's bringing a new version, with lots of bugfixes and an awesome increase in framerate!

(Unfortunately, we also had to reset your widget settings and keybinds. Sorry about that. You should back up Documents/My Games/Spring/uikeys.txt if you modified it manually.)

Engine
Should no longer crash on default settings with Intel cards
Implemented a new terrain rendering system (much much faster)
Improved pathfinding


General
Added awards for building mexes and doing damage with commanders


Modules
Added a torpedo module


Balance
Felon: HP 1000 -> 1400, cost 700 -> 650
Dominatrix works faster on damaged units; cost 400 -> 420
Typhoon (corvette): HP 2400 -> 2200, damage per shot 11 -> 10
Shipyard HP increased 50% (4000 -> 6000)


Graphics
New Welder (tank constructor) model
Fixed missing subs and precision bomber weapon effects when hitting underwater targets
Improved Skeeter, Pillager and Crabe weapon FX
Krow corpse scaled down to fit unit


Interface
Fixed crashes in player list and unit XP display
Added Map category to widget list

Zero-K patch version v0.9.6
Several fixes for important bugs in this quick post-Christmas update. Changelog includes v0.9.5.1 changes.

Fixes
* Fixed bombers trying to attack with no ammo
* Fixed "Hadron collider" unit launching exploit. Buildings can no longer be placed in open factories.
* Fixed Strike Commanders always having cloak
* Jumping resets a unit's velocity again
* Chicken: Fixed resetting of tech timer to its lowest possible value each time a burrow was killed
* Slowing weapons now affect construction speed
* Fixed Storage description
* Healthbars cannot show negative health values.

Interface
* Fixed Ctrl+C selection of commanders with more than one commander
* Commanders can now have their initial fire and move state set through the menu. Game -> Unit AI -> Initial States -> Misc
* Command menu tabs can be scrolled with [,] and [.]

Balance
* Flamethrower weapons now lead their targets more reliably (as a side effect, they may look odd with LuaShaders off)
* Catapult: cost 4000 -> 3500; AoE 96 -> 128; HP 4500 -> 4000
* Thug beefier: HP 800 -> 850; Shield 1000 -> 1100; Shield regen 14 -> 15
* Tick: Param time 30s -> 25s; Damage 4k -> 3.5k
* Behemoth: cost 3000 -> 2500
* Firewalker is more accurate
* Bandit turret turns 55% faster

Graphics
* Pyro has a new model/texture
* VR Grid no longer obscures weapon effects and the like
* Behemoth has a flashier weapon effect

Zero-K v0.9.7
Yep, another fast update - this time with a new feature, voice commands. This one also contains a gameplay change though, so those who use ships or striders should take note.

General
* Added a voice command widget (Windows only)
* Implemented the Strider hub. This builds all the units previously exclusive to the Athena (from which they have been removed), as well as the missile sub, battleship and carrier (no longer buildable at the shipyard).
* (Re)added the Surfboard, a transport from which land units can fire
* Fixed Missile Silo not working properly

Modules
* Fixed aiming/firing issues with torpedo module

Chicken
* Fixed excessively fast teching in chicken
* Fixed chickens inappropriately going after human/CAI players on their team
* Chicken/burrow count rises less dramatically with playercount in large games
* Speed Queen has more health

Interface
* Playerlist is much slimmer now; uses icons instead of text for ping/CPU indicators. A numerical reading is still available from the mouseover tooltip. Also fixed some bugs with player display.
* Core Selector: default number of buttons reduced from 8 to 6 (can be changed in settings). Comm selection hotkey more responsive.

Zero-K v0.9.8
Hurray! No more need for pausing - intelligent lag monitor is here.
Laggy/afk people will be given to the most skilled person on team, and when they come back, their units will return instantly.

Gameplay changes:
* destroyer morphs to warlord
* hovercon brakerate and builddistance improved
* behemoth has high trajectory
* banisher 2x rog 1/2 dmg

Other changes:
* voice commands improvements
* new pyro texture by smoth

Fixes/tweaks:
* endvote button to votes
* small nuke effects for water
* terraform slope detection fix

Licho wrote: * banisher 2x rog 1/2 dmg

banisher twice the rate of Fire, half the damage?

Licho wrote: Hurray! No more need for pausing - intelligent lag monitor is here.
Laggy/afk people will be given to the most skilled person on team, and when they come back, their units will return instantly.

that is very nice indeed!

BaNa wrote:

Licho wrote: Hurray! No more need for pausing - intelligent lag monitor is here.
Laggy/afk people will be given to the most skilled person on team, and when they come back, their units will return instantly.

that is very nice indeed!

I never thought about inserting empty user_comand_missings into the packages... just to get noobcontroll... i swear by Mod!

why the banisher nerf?

Because an antiswarmer that takes so long to ready its next shot is kind of worthless. Yes each banisher-missile obliterates a cluster of raiders, but when a continuous stream of raiders arrives the weapon is ineffective.

Either way, though, the tank lab generally needs a serious rethink.

BaNa wrote:

Licho wrote: Hurray! No more need for pausing - intelligent lag monitor is here.
Laggy/afk people will be given to the most skilled person on team, and when they come back, their units will return instantly.

that is very nice indeed!

+1
very nice!

Auto auto hosts and the mighty Player Juggler

Back with more infrastructure improvements in the quest to cut your game waiting times and improve satisfaction


There are now specialed managed hosts - they have a star in the lobby.
=====================================

* TEAMS - makes 2 team games,pick maps based on player counts

* 1v1 - for 1v1 battles,picks 1v1 maps

* FFA - for free for all - they pick ffa map based on player count, balance ffa

* COOP - for Chikens and CAI fights - pick chicken maps, balances for 1 vs bots and add its own normal chicken if players dont

All of those managed hosts auto balance on !start and are prefered way to play now.

Please use them instead of hosting your own, because only those participate in another addition:

The Player Juggler
==================
Player juggler is a way to merge classical matchmaking with normal battleroom based gaming.
Its a system that moves waiting people together based on their preferences.

Each person can set his/her prefences on home page.
Juggler takes into account things like player preferences, current battle, elo, clan to make suitable changes.

How to use it?
* First go and set your personal preferences. If you set something as dislike, juggler will never move you to disliked battle type.
* Next join the managed autohost of battle type you want to play - say FFA autohost.
* Wait,every 2 minutes juggler checks available people waiting on other managed autohosts (including those that joined running battle late) and if sensible games can be made from the people, it moves them together into games.

For details about inner workings check: http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/PlayerJuggler


Other minor additions
==========
* !map (no params) on autohosts picks next suitable map (managed only)
* TEAMS autohosts give extra comms to smaller team
* major springie rewrite with lots of changes

Sweet! (I wished BA had that - I'm getting more jealous every day.)

feature requests: ZeroK autocompletes them :D

Player juggler is really, really nice..
Its really hard to stop wishing things, because if the wish is good, it may come true, and then my own mod would be completely without right to exist :D

Zero-K v0.9.8.8
Quite a few balance changes in this version. Some nerfs to Kodiachi and Pyro which seemed to dominate the raider game. Thug and Outlaw tweaks to improve their role.

Kodiachi. Attempted to make it worse vs Raiders and Riots and a bit easier to use.
* Doubled turret turn speed.
* Turnrate 616 -> 750.
* Damage 300 -> 120.
* Groundfire duration 200 -> 300 (a static unit should receive the same damage
as before).
* Range 250 -> 225

Outlaw. More range and slow to make it better vs the longer ranged raiders.
* AOE: 512 -> 600 (this is diameter)
* Wavefront speed reduced 40%. This makes it worse against fast low hp things
so it doesn't completely WTFOMG them.
* Damage 100 -> 75
* EdgeEffectiveness 0.75 -> 0.95 (better damage at range)
* Reload Time: 0.9 -> 0.85
* Slow Damage: 36 -> 55

Pyro. Was probably accidentally buffed with engine and prediction change.
* Range 280 -> 260
* DPS reduced 15%

Thug. Increased weight by ~12.5%
* Cost: 160 -> 180
* HP: 850 -> 960
* Shield: 1100 -> 1250
* Regen: 15 -> 18
* Starting power 650 -> 850 (I think 2/3 starting sounds nice).
* Damage 150 -> 170

Felon:
* Starting power 600 -> 800 (for consistent 2/3 with Thug)

Firestorm:
* Health 580 -> 660 (to survive 1/2 Hacksaw)

Banisher:
* Reverted Double ROF
* Range 400 -> 460 instead

Zero-K v0.9.9
Version number++ because the number bloat was getting really silly.

General
* Fixed smart retargeting of slow weapons
* Fixed marker placement when units are transfered due to lag/AFK
* Fixed solars closing and "under attack" sounds playing when "hit" by a friendly Outlaw
* Aircraft factories float rather than resting on seafloor
* Chicken: Replaced egg AI selections with a single egg modoption


Balance
* Fixed an issue where missile cruiser had considerably lower stats than intended
* Fixed torpedo frigates not having sonar
* Fixed EMP missile homing when it should not
* Screamer missiles are free to stockpile
* Scorpion has a new multi-stunner special attack


GUI
* Jumpjet GUI is drawn for queued orders even if the last order in the queue is such that the start position of jump is not precisely known (construction, area orders)
* Removed the massively annoying blinking of point tracker
* Initial States includes gunship strafe


Graphics
* Bigger Jack model