Game Update 13 (2013/07/24)

General Game Updates

Automated Server Recommendations

Recommended servers work well to funnel new players on to the servers that could use the extra population, but we need to make that process smarter and automated. We made some improvements in GU12, but there were still some more things that we thought would be useful to do. As such, we’ve made the following improvements to the way this works on the backend:

• The recommended server surfaced at character select is now automatically chosen based on these criteria, in order:
  • Empire Population – favoring the server with the lowest percentage average population for the empire selected in the last 24 hours
  • Server Population – favoring the server with the lowest overall population for the last 24 hours per region

These changes should have no direct impact on players beyond the effects that come from providing more responsive recommendation system.

Alert Experience

Alert empire rewards are now proportional to the amount of time you participated in the alert. Only characters that participate throughout the entire duration of the alert will receive the full empire reward. This participation time is specific to individual characters (i.e. it’s not account-wide).

Improved Respawn Logic for Lattice-Enabled Continents

Updated facility respawn options to fall in line with the following:

• All friendly facilities within one lattice-link to the region the player died/redeployed, including the current region.
  • If there are multiple friendly linked facilities then the player can respawn at any of them.
• Nearest Major Facility (Tech plant, Bio lab, Amp Station) by lattice-links, if not already satisfied by #1
  • “Nearest” is determined by lattice link distance from the player’s current region.
• The player’s faction Warpgate Facility

The above is in addition to any reinforcements needed, Sunderers, and squad spawn options that may be available. No changes have been made to those spawn options. No changes have been made to non-Lattice enabled continents.

These changes should allow players to always fall back to any linked friendly facility. It also allows players who have multiple access points to a region to respawn at any of those access points. All players in a region can always fall back to their nearest major facility (if they have one) as a local rally point or for access to vehicles.

Interactive Tutorial Changes

The following changes have been made to the Interactive Tutorial:

A few more seconds have been added before the Tutorial starts after entering the zone. This is to allow more time for loading and avoid situations where the tutorial skips too far ahead.

The equipment terminals have been removed from the mini-spawn room at the Redeploy step. These were unnecessary and distracted new players.

The spawn door shield has been changed to hostile and now blocks progress at the Redeploy step. This shield functions like the shooting range shield and will drop automatically when players respawn.

A teleporter has been added to the beginning of the Tutorial as a shortcut to the mini-spawn room. This teleporter only appears when players reach the Redeploy step. This is to give players who accidentally spawn at the start of the tutorial a quick way back to the mini-spawn room. If this occurs the tutorial will also direct the player to that teleporter and halt further progress of the tutorial until the player returns to the mini-spawn room.

The Redeploy and Instant Action toggles can no longer be cancelled while in the Tutorial. This is to prevent accidental cancellations of instant action and redeploy if a player happens to hit it twice so they can see it is a countdown and not instantaneous.

The Generator Overload and Warpgate terminal steps now detect when a player is in a vehicle and updates the floating help to show the Exit Vehicle keybind in case the player missed how to leave the vehicle in the previous vehicle driving step.

The Warpgate Terminal floating help text has been updated to provide better instruction to the player.

The ammo depot waypoint now points to the Ammo Depot itself instead of the road in front of it.

Improved the freshness of the continent population check at the Warpgate Terminal step. This should reduce chances where players are directed to a continent with a queue. The tutorial will highlight the continent with the highest population without a queue for that player’s faction.

XP Changes with Suicides

When an enemy soldier dies from a suicide or logs out, the last player to damage the player (within 10 seconds) will be awarded the kill. This also applies to characters inside of vehicles.

New in the Depot

New Weapons

• NS-7 PDW SMG: This SMG has a lower damage drop-off than all the other SMGs, allowing it to perform well at short and medium ranges. Its low recoil and very quick center speed (fastest in the class) allow those with good burst control to extend its range even further.
• NC LA3 Desperado Pistol: This 2x burst pistol has a fast burst but slower overall rate of fire. The fast burst mixed with moderate damage makes this pistol a solid choice at close range, though low accuracy will limit its effectiveness at range.
• TR TS2 Inquisitor: Equipped with an extended magazine by default, this pistol gives the TR a solid all-around option that has very high sustainability and damage output per magazine.
• VS Cerberus: High upfront damage mixed with an above average rate of fire for that damage class makes this pistol a good choice at close range. Low accuracy will limit the pistol‘s effectiveness at range.

New Camos

Seven new camos now available, including the Grey Scales Camo in the Early Access section.

New Bundles

Our most popular camos are now bundled together at a reduced price

Get our most popular loadouts for each vehicle and infantry class with new Pro Bundles

New Vehicle Cosmetics

• 3 new Vehicle Decals
• Glow in the Dark ESF cockpit glass decals
• Hood Ornament and Decal Price Reductions
  • Hood Ornaments are now 50 SC, except for the FX versions which are 100 SC
  • Armor Decals are now either 100 SC or 300 SC
  • Vehicle Decals are now either 300 SC or 500 SC

Infantry Updates

VS Audio Overhaul

VS Infantry Weapon fire audio was redone based on community and internal feedback. This includes audio for the Assault Rifle, Carbine, LMG, Sniper Rifle, Pistol, Rocket Launcher and Lasher, as well as suppressed variants for each weapon type.

IFF Reticule

The hip reticule will now turn red when hovered over an enemy that is within 8 meters.

The above color change will not happen on cloaked Infiltrators.

Pistol Balance Adjustments

• NS-357 Underboss
  • ROF increased from 200 RPM to 220 RPM
• NC4 Mag-Shot
  • Minimum damage increased from 100 at 65 meters to 112 at 60 meters
  • Long reload time is now faster at 1.9 seconds, down from 2.0 seconds
  • Short reload time is also faster at 1.6 seconds, down from 1.7 seconds
  • Fixed FB variant having a slower projectile speed than the normal version
• LA8 Rebel
  • Maximum damage range increased from 10 to 15 meters.
  • Minimum damage increased from 125 at 65 meters to 143 at 60 meters
  • Long reload time is now faster at 1.8 seconds, down from 2.0 seconds
  • Short reload time is also faster at 1.5 seconds, down from 1.7 seconds
• TX1 Repeater
  • Max damage now starts scaling at 8 meters, decreased from 10 meters
  • Minimum damage is now reached at 50 meters, down from 60
• TX2 Emperor
  • Maximum damage range increased from 10 to 15 meters
  • Minimum damage increased from 84 at 65 meters to 112 at 60 meters
  • Long reload time is now faster at 1.8 seconds, down from 2.0 seconds
  • Short reload time is also faster at 1.525 seconds, down from 1.7 seconds
  • Aimed accuracy loss per shot increased from 0.1 to 0.12
  • Hip accuracy loss per shot increased from 0.2 to 0.24
  • Fixed stand hip accuracy and crouch-moving hip accuracy being swapped
  • Projectile speed increased from 375 to 390
• Beamer VS3
  • Stand hip accuracy improved from 1.5 to 1.0.
  • Crouch-moving hip accuracy reduced from 1.25 to 1.5.
  • Minimum damage increased from 84 at 65 meters to 100 at 60 meters
• Manticore SX40
  • Minimum damage increased from 100 at 65 meters to 112 at 60 meters
  • Long reload time is now faster at 1.9 seconds, down from 2.0 seconds
  • Short reload time is also faster at 1.6 seconds, down from 1.7 seconds
  • Fixed stand hip accuracy and crouch-moving hip accuracy being swapped

Optics Alignment Pass

• VS Carbine scopes used to be slightly off center to the right in iron sights. They should now be dead on.
• All SMG scopes had the same issue, but to the left. Corrected these as well.
• NC Mag Shot and Rebel iron sights have also seen minor corrections.

Ammunition Cert Line Adjustments

All classes other than HA and MAX should have the following costs on the Ammunition Belt cert lines across all factions:

• Rank 1: 1 CP
• Rank 2: 10 CP
• Rank 3: 100 CP
• Rank 4: 1000 CP

Heavy Assault should have the following costs on the Ammunition Belt cert lines across all factions:

• Rank 1: 50 CP
• Rank 2: 500 CP

Cloak Shader Changes

The low graphic settings cloak is now less grey and more transparent.

Advanced Shield Capacitor Delay

Advanced Shield Capacitor’s delay reduction improved to -4.0 seconds at max rank.

• Rank 1: Recharge delay reduction increased from .5 to .8 seconds
• Rank 2: Recharge delay reduction increased from 1 to 1.6 seconds
• Rank 3: Recharge delay reduction increased from 1.5 to 2.4 seconds
• Rank 4: Recharge delay reduction increased from 2 to 3.2 seconds
• Rank 5: Recharge delay reduction increased from 2.5 to 4 seconds

Infantry Explosives

• Improved explosives so they perform better against nanoweave equipped players
• All faction Frag & Sticky Grenades
  • Increased inner max damage radius from 0.5 to 1.0 meters.
• NC Bouncing Betty & VS Proximity Mine
  • These now animate and play audio before detonating.
  • Internal maximum damage radius increased from 0.5 to 2.0 meters.
  • Minimum damage now drops to 200 at 6.5 meters, up from 10 at 6 meters.
  • Activation time after being placed increased from 1.5 to 2.0 seconds.
• TR Claymore
  • Added audio when claymores trigger.
  • Maximum damage increased from 1275 to 1300
  • Internal maximum damage radius increased from 1.5 to 3.0 meters.
  • Minimum damage is now 350 at 6.5 meters, up from 10 at 6 meters.
  • Activation time after being placed increased from 1.5 to 2.0 seconds.
• NC Bouncing Betty, VS Proximity Mine, TR Claymore, & all faction Tank Mines
  • Throw time increased from 0.250 to 0.650 seconds.

Spotting

Enemy explosives can now be spotted.

Added new spot icons for the following:

• AV Turret (both facility and Engineer deployed)
• AI Turret (both facility and Engineer deployed)
• Facility AA Turret
• All Vehicles
• Tank Mines

Bug Fixes

• T7 Mini-Chaingun will no longer display 1st person animation issues when moving around while aiming down sights
• Fixed a bug causing 1st person firing animations to stop if the player paused firing while moving
• Fixed an exploit allowing medics to revive players that suicide for experience
• Corrected an issue preventing fire mode selections from persisting through death
• Red dot scopes will no longer reset position on the rail after resupplying
• Fixed a bug causing the first C4 explosion of a gaming session to not play any audio
• Fixed an issue causing all scopes that mention: “Hold Sprint key to steady aim” to display text errors in the tooltip
• Fixed a bug causing incorrect footstep audio to play for all surfaces
• Underbarrel grenade launcher projectiles should no longer penetrate spawn shields

Vehicle Updates

Empire Specific Fighter Updates

Default cannons have been re-tuned. Some adjustments have been done to the empire specific characteristics and some are across the board.

New Descriptions:

• “The Saron Laser Cannon is the standard air superiority nose cannon for the VS Scythe. Its specialized rounds can be reloaded quickly and travel faster than standard rounds.”
• “The M20 Mustang is the standard air superiority nose cannon for the NC Reaver. Its high caliber rounds allow it to do more damage up close and at range.”
• “The M18 Needler is the standard air superiority nose cannon for the TR Mosquito. Its small caliber rounds allow it to sustain fire for longer and at a higher fire rate.”

Fire rates have been slowed. Mosquito retains the fastest fire rate.

• Saron Laser Cannon: Fire Rate reduced from 732 RPM to 706 RPM
• M20 Mustang: Fire Rate remains at 667 RPM
• M18 Needler: Fire Rate reduced from 800 RPM to 750 RPM

Magazine sizes increased. The sustained fire of these cannons should be longer than before. The Needler gains a larger clip and can sustain fire the longest.

• Saron Laser Cannon: Magazine size increased from 50 to 60
  • Magazine Size certifications reduced from 6/9/12/15 to 2/5/7/10
  • Ammo Capacity Increased from 600 to 720
  • Ammo Capacity certifications remains 60 per rank
• M20 Mustang: Magazine size increased from 50 to 55
  • Magazine Size certifications reduced from 6/9/12/15 to 2/5/7/10
  • Ammo Capacity Increased from 600 to 660
  • Ammo Capacity certifications reduced from 60 per rank to 55 per rank.
• M18 Needler: Magazine size increased from 50 to 75
  • Magazine Size certifications reduced from 6/9/12/15 to 2/5/7/10
  • Ammo Capacity Increased from 600 to 900
  • Ammo Capacity certifications increased from 60 per rank to 75 per rank.

Damage has been adjusted to offset the fire rate reduction and to make the TTKs more even. Reaver retains the highest damage but also kills slightly faster.

• Saron Laser Cannon: Max damage increased from 325 to 340
• M20 Mustang: Max damage remains at 400 (as fire rate was not changed)
• M18 Needler: Max damage increased from 300 to 315

Damage fall-off has been added. Fall off for the Reaver starts at a farther range.

• Saron Laser Cannon
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 200 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 325 meters
  • Minimum damage is 255
• M20 Mustang
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 225 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 350 meters
  • Minimum damage is 290
• M18 Needler
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 200 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 325 meters
  • Minimum damage is 245

Cone of Fire has been normalized to 0.3 degrees:

• Saron Laser Cannon: CoF reduced from 0.4 to 0.3 degrees
• M20 Mustang: CoF remains 0.3 degrees
• M18 Needler: CoF remains 0.3 degrees

Time to reload reduced on the Scythe.

• Saron Laser Cannon: Reload speed reduced from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds
• M20 Mustang: Reload speed remains at 2.5 seconds
• M18 Needler: Reload speed remains at 2.5 seconds

Projectile speed has increased for the Saron, but remains the same for Mustang and Needler:

• Saron Laser Cannon: Projectile speed increased from 600 mps to 800 mps
• M20 Mustang: Projectile speed remains at 750 mps
• M18 Needler: Projectile speed remains at 750 mps

Rotary cannons have been re-tuned. Some adjustments have been done to the empire specific characteristics and some are across the board.

New Descriptions:

• “The Hailstorm is a high damage, close range cannon that can unload rounds quickly. Its specialized rounds can be reloaded quickly and travel faster than standard rounds. VS use only.”
• “The Vortek Rotary is a high damage, close range cannon that can unload rounds quickly. Its high caliber rounds allow it to do more damage up close and at range. NC use only.”
• “The M18 Rotary is a high damage, close range cannon that can unload rounds quickly. Its small caliber rounds allow it to sustain fire for longer and at a higher fire rate. TR use only.”

Fire rates have been slowed across the board. Damage increased so TTK remains near the same.

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Fire Rate reduced from 1200 RPM to 857 RPM
• Vortek Rotary: Fire Rate reduced from 1000 RPM to 750 RPM
• M18 Rotary: Fire Rate reduced from 1500 RPM to 1000 RPM
• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Damage increased from 308 to 360
• Vortek Rotary: Damage increased from 388 to 500
• M18 Rotary: Damage increased from 237 to 315

Magazine sizes were adjusted to make the ‘Time Until Dry’ near the same duration. Mosquito retains the fastest fire rate and gains an advantage of a slightly larger magazine.

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Magazine size reduced from 40 to 35
  • Amount per certification rank adjusted from 2/5/7/10 to 3/5/8/10
• Vortek Rotary: Magazine size reduced from 35 to 25
  • Amount per certification rank adjusted from 2/5/7/10 to 2/4/6/8
• M18 Rotary: Magazine size remains at 50 rounds
  • Amount per certification rank adjusted from 2/5/7/10 to 3/6/9/12

Damage fall-off has been added. Fall off for the Reaver starts at a farther range.

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 125 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 250 meters
  • Minimum damage is 300
• Vortek Rotary
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 150 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 275 meters
  • Minimum damage is 425
• M18 Rotary
  • Inflicts maximum damage up to 125 meters
  • Minimum damage inflicted beyond 250 meters
  • Minimum damage is 270

Reload speeds adjusted to be empire specific. The Hailstorm has the quickest reload.

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Time required to reload increased from 1.5 seconds to 1.75 seconds
• Vortek Rotary: Time required to reload increased from 1.5 seconds to 2 seconds
• M18 Rotary: Time required to reload increased from 1.5 seconds to 2.25 seconds

Projectile speed has been increased for the Hailstorm, to give it an empire distinction, but remains the same for Vortek and M18:

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Projectile speed increased from 550 mps to 700 mps
• Vortek Rotary: Projectile speed remains at 650 mps
• M18 Rotary: Projectile speed remains at 650 mps

Ammo Capacity

• Hailstorm Turbo Laser: Ammo Capacity changed from 400 to 350
  • Amount granted by certifications reduced from 40 to 35 per rank
• Vortek Rotary: Ammo Capacity changed from 350 to 250
  • Amount granted by certifications reduced from 35 to 25 per rank
• M18 Rotary: Ammo Capacity remains the same at 500 rounds
  • Amount granted by certifications remains the same at 50 per rank

Other Vehicle Weapon Tuning M20 Basilisk

• Damage fall off now begins at 75 meters instead of 50 meters
• Minimum damage increased from 175 to 200
• Minimum damage range increased from 100 to 200

M20 Drake

• Damage fall off now begins at 150 meters instead of 100 meters
• Minimum damage increased from 175 to 200

AP30 Shredder

• Fall-off damage starting range increased from 50 to 75.
• Fall-off minimum damage range increased from 150 meters to 175

G30 Vulcan

• Changed to Armor Piercing Bullet Resist Type
• Max Direct Damage increased from 120 to 250
• Minimum Direct Damage increased from 90 to 175
• This should make the Vulcan less powerful against Aircraft
• This should make the Vulcan more powerful against infantry

G30 Vulcan

• Changed to Armor Piercing Bullet Resist Type
• Max Direct Damage increased from 110 to 220
• Minimum Direct Damage increased from 85 to 165
• This should make the Vulcan less powerful against Aircraft
• This should make the Vulcan more powerful against infantry

Sunderer Changes

Sunderer resistance to armor piercing bullets increased from 70% to 75%

Harasser Tuning

• Stock resistance to small arms fire reduced from 85% to 80%
• Composite Armor bonus reduced from 6/12/18/24 % to 5/10/15/20%
• Adjusted the pitch angle on several of the Harasser weapons so that the player could aim lower to the ground

Proximity and Scout Radar Changes

Proximity Radar

Old Description “Hostiles near the vehicle are revealed on the minimap for all vehicle occupants.”

New Description “Detects the movement of hostile soldiers near the vehicle and reveals them the mini-map for all vehicle occupants.”

• Proximity Radar range increased from 20/30/40/50 to 30/35/40/50
• Proximity Radar now updates every ½ second instead of 2 seconds
• Proximity Radar now detects cloaked infiltrators, like the recon tool
• Proximity Radar now only detects moving players, like the recon tool

Scout Radar

Old Description “Enemies near the vehicle will appear on the map of nearby allies for up to 25 meters.”

New Description: “Detects hostile enemies near the vehicle and reveals them on the mini-map for all nearby allies. The vehicle must be occupied for scout radar to function.”

• Scout Radar now detects cloaked infiltrators, like the recon tool
• Scout Radar now only functions if the vehicle is occupied
• For the Flash version:
  • Scout Radar range increased from 25/50/75/100 to 40/60/80/100

Bug Fixes

• The Mosquito should once again have glass in place to showcase cockpit decals
• Players in the rumble seat for the Flash or Harasser will no longer appear to be playing the running animation to remote clients
• AMS Sunderers should now be able to deploy in friendly No-deploy zones
• A2A missile launchers stats now display “Lock-on” as their fire mode.

UI Updates

Added Chatbox to the Fullscreen UI

We’ve added a toggle button to the upper left corner of the fullscreen UI that will bring up a re-sizable chat window.

Additional Platoon Leader Waypoints

For every additional squad in the platoon, the platoon leader will now have access to one extra waypoint:

• Alpha Waypoint
• Bravo Waypoint
• Charlie Waypoint
• Delta Waypoint

The HUD indicators are colored to match whatever color you’ve selected to represent that squad.

Improved Linking and Default Sorting in the Depot

Allows us to do cool things like:

• New items can be listed at the top of categories
• Sale items can be listed near the top of categories
• Link to specific bundles when clicking on a billboard

Spawn/Deploy UI Usability Improvements

• Added a squad spawn locations category to the deployment list
• Un-squaded players will be able to autojoin a squad directly from the new squad spawn category in the Deployment list

HUD Indicator Clean Up Pass

• Destroyed vehicles and turrets now remove their indicators
• Empty ally vehicles will now show an indicator if you target them
• Platoon members no longer show all names and extra info for up to 70 meters
  • Range-wise, they’re now treated like other allies
  • Squad mates still show as before with no range limit
• Medics will now see the “needs heal” indicator when an ally is at less than or equal to 50% HP
• Dead squad members will now show the dead icon no matter how far away they are.
• Spotting while zoomed or while in iron sights should no longer be harder to do than spotting from the hip.
• Dead squad members will now show the dead icon no matter how far away they are
• Ground vehicles will only see HUD indicators for ground vehicle depots, air vehicles will only see indicators for air vehicle depots.

Other Miscellaneous Changes

• Loadout tooltips on the vehicle and class screens now show the custom name and description
• Added tilt to the platoon screen panels to better imply the functionality of the screen
• Added waypoint type names (ex: “personal waypoint”, “squad waypoint”, etc.) back to waypoints if you aim at them
• Added unique feedback messaging for when a name is taken, invalid, profane, reserved, or unavailable when creating a new character

Bug Fixes

• We think we fixed an elusive bug causing /regionsay to randomly stop working. If you still see this happening, please submit a bug report via the in game tool.
• Corrected an issue causing the squad dropdown menu for the bottom two players in a squad to be cut off
• Fixed a messaging error when non-members attempted to purchase items from the Premium Early Access category of the Depot

Faclity/Environment Updates

Facility Capture Time Tuning

• All Amp Stations and Tech Plants on Indar, Esamir, and Amerish, cap in 7 minutes instead of 10
• Biolabs on all continents will cap in 7 minutes if you own the majority of the cap points (2/3 or ¾). If you own all CPs, it will cap much faster

Esamir Lattice and Facility Enhancement

• The lattice system already in use on Indar is now active on Esamir.
• Nearly every facility and outpost was been enhanced or in some cases completely replaced to help create better gameplay flow and support the addition of the lattice connections on the continent.
• Added two new outposts, The Rink, and Rime Analytics

Esamir Deployable Turret Restrictions

At warpgates and facilities on Esamir, jump pad landing pads, tunnel exits, and vehicle pads will destroy any deployable Engineer turrets that are placed on them to help prevent griefing.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed some exploitable collision near the Stronghold on Indar
• Corrected some exploitable collision inside the Esamir Biolabs
• Fixed malfunctioning gravity pads at the following installations:
  • Andvari Barracks
  • Andvari Frozen Reservoir
  • Eisa Mining Operation
  • Elli Barracks Complex
  • Freyr Geothermal Plant
  • Freyr Substation
  • Mani Fortress
  • Apex Genetics
  • Bridge-Ward
  • Echo Valley Substation
  • Everett Supply Co.
  • Geological Survey Camp
  • Grey Heron Shipping
  • Haven Outpost
  • The Traverse
• Fixed a texture seam on the ground near Eisa Tech Plant
• Removed clipping terrain from the spawn room stairs at Freyr Amp Station
• Removed terrain piled up in front of a ground vehicle pad at Jaeger’s Crossing
• Removed terrain clipping through the forward spawn room at Mani Bio Lab
• Fixed a collision issue at Esamir’s Northwest Warpgate allowing players to get stuck beside stairs in multiple locations
• Fixed a gap in the Biolab vehicle shields that allowed infantry to slip through
• Addressed clipping terrain in several areas around Aurora Materials Lab
• Addressed a crate clipping into the roof of the spawn room at Grey Heron Shipping
• Removed flora clipping through the floor of Mani Tower and Nott Amp Station
• Fixed the missing SCU shield at Mani Bio Lab
• Removed excess terrain from in front of both ground vehicle pads at Northpoint Station
• Removed a texture seam on the terrain near Echo Valley Substation
• Fixed an issue with the wrong audio callout playing when the SCU shields are restored