Oooh! New 1.04 Changes!
Immacolata
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2140Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2140Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
<div class="IPBDescription">Me likes!</div> altered changelog for 1.04. That's nice, just saw it on announcements. They're still testing so we have to wait a bit longer again.
<i>- Aliens without any hives no longer take damage when the server is in tournament mode</i>
Nice.
<i>- Reduced radius of acid rocket splash from 200 to 165
- Alien respawn time reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds</i>
Another "nice". Splash is old, but respawn quicker is good for aliens.
<i>- Reduced shotgun cost from 20 to 16</i>
Even cheaper again. I hope to see more of them...
<i>- Reduced welder damage from 10 to 7
- Armory can now give out ammo while upgrading to advanced armory
- Increased cost of infantry portal from 15 to 22
- Increased cost of phase gate from 20 to 25
- Decreased health of phase gate from 3500 to 2000
- Increased scan cost from 1 to 3
- Increased grenade launcher damage back to 200 (back to v1.0 value)</i>
That's .... great! Perhaps we shall see nade fights again! it is certainly nastier now. I long to test it already.
<i>- Umbra now blocks 5 out of 6 bullets instead of 6 out of 7</i>
A fair nerf. Should make solo lerking more dangerous, but still be valuable supprot for sieging skulks or fades.
<i>- Arms lab reduced from 50 to 45 points</i>
Minor, but it means we're 5 pts closer to upgrades ... compensates a bit for more IP cost also.
<i>- Reduced siege cannon range from 1250 to 1100
- Siege cannon targets now must be sighted to be hit (in view of friendly player or scanned by commander)
- NOTES:
- The green circle that appears when the siege cannon is selected by the commander is using the old range, but this will be fixed in v1.1.
- This is the value siege range was for most of our internal playtesting (hence the bast and hera issues that suddenly arrived with v1.0)</i>
I still think that LOS to siege gun itself should be sufficient. And why the shorter range? oh well, I guess to fix map exploits on bast...
<i>
....
- Aliens donate only half their points back to their team resource pool when they leave the team (less exploitable, but this will be revisited in v1.1) </i>
Ok thats fair isnt it?
<i>- Removed gibbing of corpses (off by default, but some servers had enabled it). This means death animations always play, so no more disappearing models when using high-powered weapons.
- Alien health circles seen by gorge now take armor into account (so gorge knows when player is fully healed) </i>
Both very nice changes. I hate when enemies disappear.
<i>- Morphing resets your health again (preserves percentage of armor when evolving carapace too)</i>
Hm?
<i>- When hive is constructed, have it check to see if technology should be supported automatically (exploit for getting extra upgrades after a hive is killed and rebuilt)</i>
Fair fix I guess.
<i>- Observers can hear other observers and players on the screen, and can chat with each other
- Fixed various problems with holding mines while building or using command station
- Changed cloaking so it deactivates when a player moves faster then a certain speed, fixing an exploit. Moving very slowly should still allow an alien to remain cloaked.
- Phase gates now must be +used instead of just touched (less frustrating when trying to attack them or fight nearby)</i>
THANKS!
<i>- Grenades and mines are now enhanced by arms lab damage upgrades</i>
Oh? I never realized they didnt. Hot diggity dog I think the nade is back into being trendy.
whoopee. Me likes a lot. What do you think? This looks to become a great fix, lots of small balance changes, but yet important ones.
<i>- Aliens without any hives no longer take damage when the server is in tournament mode</i>
Nice.
<i>- Reduced radius of acid rocket splash from 200 to 165
- Alien respawn time reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds</i>
Another "nice". Splash is old, but respawn quicker is good for aliens.
<i>- Reduced shotgun cost from 20 to 16</i>
Even cheaper again. I hope to see more of them...
<i>- Reduced welder damage from 10 to 7
- Armory can now give out ammo while upgrading to advanced armory
- Increased cost of infantry portal from 15 to 22
- Increased cost of phase gate from 20 to 25
- Decreased health of phase gate from 3500 to 2000
- Increased scan cost from 1 to 3
- Increased grenade launcher damage back to 200 (back to v1.0 value)</i>
That's .... great! Perhaps we shall see nade fights again! it is certainly nastier now. I long to test it already.
<i>- Umbra now blocks 5 out of 6 bullets instead of 6 out of 7</i>
A fair nerf. Should make solo lerking more dangerous, but still be valuable supprot for sieging skulks or fades.
<i>- Arms lab reduced from 50 to 45 points</i>
Minor, but it means we're 5 pts closer to upgrades ... compensates a bit for more IP cost also.
<i>- Reduced siege cannon range from 1250 to 1100
- Siege cannon targets now must be sighted to be hit (in view of friendly player or scanned by commander)
- NOTES:
- The green circle that appears when the siege cannon is selected by the commander is using the old range, but this will be fixed in v1.1.
- This is the value siege range was for most of our internal playtesting (hence the bast and hera issues that suddenly arrived with v1.0)</i>
I still think that LOS to siege gun itself should be sufficient. And why the shorter range? oh well, I guess to fix map exploits on bast...
<i>
....
- Aliens donate only half their points back to their team resource pool when they leave the team (less exploitable, but this will be revisited in v1.1) </i>
Ok thats fair isnt it?
<i>- Removed gibbing of corpses (off by default, but some servers had enabled it). This means death animations always play, so no more disappearing models when using high-powered weapons.
- Alien health circles seen by gorge now take armor into account (so gorge knows when player is fully healed) </i>
Both very nice changes. I hate when enemies disappear.
<i>- Morphing resets your health again (preserves percentage of armor when evolving carapace too)</i>
Hm?
<i>- When hive is constructed, have it check to see if technology should be supported automatically (exploit for getting extra upgrades after a hive is killed and rebuilt)</i>
Fair fix I guess.
<i>- Observers can hear other observers and players on the screen, and can chat with each other
- Fixed various problems with holding mines while building or using command station
- Changed cloaking so it deactivates when a player moves faster then a certain speed, fixing an exploit. Moving very slowly should still allow an alien to remain cloaked.
- Phase gates now must be +used instead of just touched (less frustrating when trying to attack them or fight nearby)</i>
THANKS!
<i>- Grenades and mines are now enhanced by arms lab damage upgrades</i>
Oh? I never realized they didnt. Hot diggity dog I think the nade is back into being trendy.
whoopee. Me likes a lot. What do you think? This looks to become a great fix, lots of small balance changes, but yet important ones.
Comments
Good work I reckon, lets see if that good work has paid off <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
-Lee
My worry too, but then I think that perhaps the patch will reduce the odds of a succesfull double-lock down by the marines. A GL is still expensive though. Need to upgrade to advanced armory and then pay the price for it as well. It is also slow and your nade man MUST have escort if he isnt to be easy skulk fodder.
We shall see, yes. They ARE testing it a bit longer also, due to this, perhaps they find out if the changes are too hard on the delicate balance.
[edit] OOOOOOOOH, my 2nd pip! I rounded 200 posts. How I waste my time here too much .)
Now if you start upgrading you have to remember the upgrade %. 10, 20, 30. At lvl 3 weapons your grenades will do 260 damage. HOLY ****. if that cant kill a fade in 1 grenade (not doing the carapace math) then it should in 2. Which is what the marines needed. That successfully kills the immediate fade threat at hive 2. It also will give the aliens more reason to go hive 3. So for a midgame weapon this is a great tool. Give the grenade guy HA so he lives past acid rockets and you have a very successfull antifade task force. This is obviously what the game has been lacking. Suddenly the marines have a midgame. Although it is severely based upon this 1 weapon with hmg possibly for backup.
My true concern for these 1.04 addition mainly lies early game as it might be to quick to get nades. It would be simple to do. Keep the pressure on so aliens cant expand and then get some rts. Upgrade and hand out a few nades. I cant wait to see how it works out. I could just be paranoid after all.
<b>Edit by Flayra:</b> Perhaps you don't command much, but the arms lab IS required for grenade launchers...
We <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/style_images/1/icon12.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'> you Flayra!
Changes from previous 1.04 version being worked on are interesting:
A number of exploits fixxed - great!
Umbra is a tad less effective (83.3~% instead of 85.7~%) which is justified IMHO.
Phase gates now must be used, which I wholeheartedly appreciate.
Grenades and Mines share the weapon upgrade love.
Grenade Launchers have become more powerful again (200 damage - double against structures as before probably).
Cloak can be left up indefinately if you walk really slow with it. (Probably walk, pause, walk, pause.) That should be handy.
Gorges take armor into account when observing team members health.
My estimation is that 1.04 should put some of the power back into the Marine's hands. However, even with increased infantry spawn prices and cheaper phase gates I worry that it may be too easy for them to rush hives.
anyone wish to direct me to where i can test this?
Eh, I suppose it's partially the alien's fault for going straight for the hives instead of fortifying them up a bit first.
Starting skulks may be little match for starting marines when they're trying to secure things, but starting marines have a hard time with offencive chambers too - especially with gorge support.
However, the fact you can upgrade armory for quick win is still there.
A HMG rush is very popular among clans, and now marines can get ammo and defend their base while waiting for HMGs... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
Ah that kinda sucks.
I really think that the arms lab should be nessesary before you can upgrade the armory.
No one will ever do a grenade laucher rush, simply because... skulks don't really have to worry about grenades.
Unless, you play as a skulk by sitting in the same spot for 20 mins.
Really, this "mini" patch will help a lot, but there is still the HMG rush which despiratly needs to be changed.
However, the fact you can upgrade armory for quick win is still there.
A HMG rush is very popular among clans, and now marines can get ammo and defend their base while waiting for HMGs... <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
Ah that kinda sucks.
I really think that the arms lab should be nessesary before you can upgrade the armory.
No one will ever do a grenade laucher rush, simply because... skulks don't really have to worry about grenades.
Unless, you play as a skulk by sitting in the same spot for 20 mins.
Really, this "mini" patch will help a lot, but there is still the HMG rush which despiratly needs to be changed.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
ok TE is generally considered the 2nd best clan (no im not being conceited im using this to show you our experience in this issue) and i have seen a hmg rush ONCE. I dont know why you say its big in clan because it really isnt. It's not very effective. HMG marine with lvl 0 armor dies as fast as a lmg marine with 0 armor. I'm not saying this as though its a theory im saying this because we do it all the time. HMG does not make a rush work better. A good marine team can deflect any marine rush as of 1.03. right now i sadly only know of 3 teams that could do this.
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Ah, not really. Think about it. It costs 25 for the armory, 35 to upgrade it, 45 for the arms lab, and 33 for the launcher itself. That's 139 res. Factor in the building and upgrading time and the time it takes to get these resources, plus that the commander will almost certainly be building other stuff, like IPs, phases, turrets and all that, plus motion tracking is becoming popular (as I see it), and the aliens can easily have a second hive at the same time as a grenade launcher is dropped. Add the fact that a marine with a GL without HA is esstientially skulk-bait if caught with his pants down, and you've got a fairly balanced weapon (think of it as an easy-to-kill Onos <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> )
However, I'm still not seeing the one change that I've wanted desperately since 1.03... Namely:
"Removed inability to change teams."
or
"Switched inability to change teams to server-side variable (sv_allowteamchange 1|0)"
I want admin_alien and admin_marine to work again.
(and if you start out by chosing spectator, you can't join EITHER team. <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->)
just my $0.02. NS is a fantastic game and I see a great future for it. Thanks!
Well think about it. Im in a clan, and a good one at that. We rarely use turrets or TFs. Thats alot of resources you DONT need to spend. Second you dont need an arms lab to get grenade launchers so thats 45 res subtracted. Second for a grenade rush you dont get motion tracking. You assume the game of a pub when in clans you work toword a very specific goal. consider this. 2 ips, armory, (start rushing while the upgrade goes in order to hold the aliens at bay) upgrade, get a few nades, bam nade the hvie. Game over. Streamlined gameplay right there for you. In clan games you dont have time to screw around with other buildings at the beginning.
<b> Stop spreading the lies! </b> Arms lab IS (and always has been) necessary for grenade launchers.
what does this mean
Finally decided to decrease the alien respawn time, Flayra? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Any way, the grenade launcher change seems interesting, it is unlikely that people will use it as a early game rush because of its price, not to mention you will be skulk food with gl. Hmm now the marines actually have a midgame after all. I just hope the impact damage of the grenade is 200 as well, now fades have to actually fear gl marines.
Phase gate are to be used now, that is cool. Prevent unwanted teleportation, especially when biting it.
Gorge sees the armour as well as health now, another nice touch.
OH YES!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
Making phase gates and etc more expensive reduces the chance of pulling ofa marine rush.
The bug fixes are nice.
But we will all see.
no it doesnt. how does making respawn points more expensive stop you from making 2 ips, armory, and a observatory to find the hive and go kill it with lmg like TE does every rush. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->? explain that. If you can logically explain how that stops a lmg rush ill give you a cookie.
Also the phase doesnt stop anything either. If youa re doing a phase rush you are using an old strat that is easily redirected back at you. Aliens just jump in the phase and hit your base. No one should use a phase rush.
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actually, isn't that fixed by setting the siege range back to it's original radius when the maps were built?
making it LOS means the marines can't be lazy any more.
I like this set of changes, armor being taken into account for gorges healing is a nice touch, and so is +useing the phase gates.
Of course I'm assuming pubs. The vast majority of players play on pubs only, so that is where most discussions centre. And on a pub, you CANNOT rely on marines to hold positions forever. So you build turrets to replace them.
A well organised clan, however, can rush anything they want, because they know pretty much what to do straight away, and run to a set system. On pubs, you have to wait for what the com has in mind.
Anyway,... it's more interesting (for me) a marine spamming a hive than sieging it.
and they made 1.04 sound like a quick fix to a few exploits...
damn there goes my strat of building a wall of phases on Ns_nothing that lead up to a phase in teh toxic water in powersilo lol <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> ... alien comes in ... pffttt.. bang hes in toxic water <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
yea the ptch kiks azz
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