Patch: June 22nd, biplane buff, miscellaneous improvements

[lamster]

This patch contains some significant buffs for the biplane. The consensus among high-level players is that the old biplane was never an ideal choice at the highest levels, and league and ladder play have supported that conclusion. Neither is the biplane generally overpowered among newer players, nor heavily played by any player segment. These buffs may very well be too extreme -- in that case they'll be partially rolled back in short order. Please post your balance feedback once you've had a chance to test out the changes.

================================================== ===============
June 22nd, 2010

Updated graphics for tbd_asteroids

Miranda's Reverse no longer temporarily disables Repair Drone
Miranda's Reverse and Time Anchor now reduce Repair Drone's recharge rate by 50% (time between repairs is doubled for the 1.35 seconds following Reverse/TimeAnchor activation)

Biplane (All Forms) reduced afterburner energy usage by 5%
Biplane (Dogfighter) secondary weapon increased range from 80 to 90, added piercing (second hit deals 80%, third 50%), increased damage from 27 to 28
Biplane (Recoilless) secondary weapon increased range from 80 to 90, added piercing (second hit deals 70%, third 40%)
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon increased piercing second hit damage from 50% to 67%

Improved "Offline Mode"
* Plane configurations are saved between sessions
* All downloaded maps (not just official maps) are available for play
* FFA and TDM games end after 7 minutes

Added friend count to friends list window

Added account creation date to Hangar Deck

Added "Local Time" and "Altitude Time (GMT)" to bottom of in-game scoreboard (hold TAB to view)

Adjusted "Mouse Navigation" trigger to prevent accidentally entering mouse mode when switching to Altitude from another application

Servers that are running an outdated version are automatically filtered from the server list

Fixed a few bugs

[Evan20000]

These patches are amazing. O_O

[tgleaf]

Added friend count to friends list window

Added "Local Time" and "Altitude Time (GMT)" to bottom of in-game scoreboard (hold TAB to view)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Greekjr14]

This is now one of my favorite patches ever :D thank you thank you thank you!

[thatdarnedbob]

Yeah, the buffs to Dogfighter and Recoilless especially are great. This gives the Biplane a large advantage in the safe, short range, crowd control department. Though since I usually fly DF loopy or one of those two setups, I may be biased in liking it. :P

[ufo]

will a trickster bounce shot buff ever be implimented? or will it remain a wishful thought because not enough vets play trickster/know how to bounce shots effectively.

[XX1]

Hmm, well i don't think the TA's repair droned worked at first until i waited like two seconds or so then it started repairing. I think that the Trickster, Laser, and TA should have the same repair time to be fair for the setups. if you have to Anchor multiple times to get away from your enemies, the repair wont really start taking much effect until you really ran away from them.

not so sure about the Biplane buff.

-XX2

[[Y]]

Oh Jesus christ why did I ace now I won't be able to play buffed HC D:

still, +9001 to Lam and Karl for this patch

[lamster]

Trickster/Laser/TA do have the same repair time now: upon activation of Reverse or TA, the drone's recharge rate will be reduced by 50% for the next 1.35 seconds. So if you were 0.2 seconds from your next repair tick going off, and you hit TA or reverse, it will now take 0.4 seconds for the repair to go off. By default, repairs occur every 1 second -- with constant reverse/TA spam they should take 2 seconds. Let me know what you think after more testing.

[Distraction]

Another update?

[wolf'j'max]

Thank you thank you thank you! Best patch ever!

[nobodyhome]

tbd_asteroids: looks ugly imho, but i'll probably get used to it pretty fast. the bigger problem is that hitting the ceiling = megahurtz! no good.

[lamster]

Oops - will fix ceiling damage in the next patch.

[XX1]

Trickster/Laser/TA do have the same repair time now: upon activation of Reverse or TA, the drone's recharge rate will be reduced by 50% for the next 1.35 seconds. So if you were 0.2 seconds from your next repair tick going off, and you hit TA or reverse, it will now take 0.4 seconds for the repair to go off. By default, repairs occur every 1 second -- with constant reverse/TA spam they should take 2 seconds. Let me know what you think after more testing.
Ok thank you for that TA repair knowledge now. i will continue using repair but, i feel that heavy armor will work better now for the TA because of the long repair wait.

-XX2

[Evan20000]

I'm still a HA purest. I think that this patch is amazing. Bip seems to fit right in with the games I've played since the patch.

[Kuja900]

I really got to give props to the devs, to not only see such quick response to the community's suggestions but to see some of my own ideas on the list I am just lost for words.

[DryBone]

<3 the patches :D
bip's buff was the best xD

[sonicking917]

Not listed in the updates is that offline mode also gives you custom layouts 11-15 that you get from going Ace.

[Esoteric]

Nice stuff.

Will need to get some solid play in to see how biplane is looking but I think we can safely say it is more viable than before.

[Radium]

Oops - will fix ceiling damage in the next patch.

Was having fun throwing people into the ceiling in ladder today with my remote :(

[innerlyte]

Just curious -- why the asteroids update? The graphics look so-so, but more importantly, the rock spacing has now changed, which will likely affect the play on that map.

[Greekjr14]

just tried out biplane in some ladder games and i must say biplane has finally got what it deserves:cool:

[mlopes]

Damn, and I will be unable to try it for about the next 3 hours.

Thanks for the buff, we, biplane fans were really needing this.

EDIT: I managed to try it for 5 minutes. In the only server were I could log, the 20 minute ball football, I got 3x the kills the rest of my team had, I got 3 golden bars at least twice in 5 minutes, all this without farming and in a map where loopy spam makes sure no one stays alive for long.

Biplane now is sweeeeeeeeet <3<3<3<3<3

[sonicking917]

I agree, my main is Biplane, I feel this is a great buff to it.:D So far it doesn't seem OP, but I have yet to try it in TDM or FFA yet, though...

[A Nipple]

I really got to give props to the devs, to not only see such quick response to the community's suggestions but to see some of my own ideas on the list I am just lost for words.

lol kuja my idea damit!! =P but tbh all kudos is really owed to devs =] gj

nipnip

p.s. bip!!! so sexy!

[Greekjr14]

p.s. bip!!! so sexy!

Psshhhh biplane was always sexy, it just needed some war paint to show how great it is, if you know what I mean:p

[Kuja900]

Hey so uhm who gave asteroids cancer? It seriously looks like all the rocks grew tumors, I do not find it at all visually appealing :(.

[Kuja900]

lol kuja my idea damit!! =P but tbh all kudos is really owed to devs =] gj

nipnip

p.s. bip!!! so sexy!



I was just discussing planes and balances with kuja and it mentioned how the only OP plane it thinks is the anchor.


ahem mr nip!

[A Nipple]

ahem mr nip!

8d .

[Zombi]

Yay!! I love the bip and randa changes and asteroids looks much better now so great work :P

P.S. thx for this awesome support

[eth]

Thanks for the patch!

I want to try and give some constructive criticism regarding the biplane buff:

Biplane viability in TBD 5v5(or anywhere) wasn't really related to killing power, but more utility. Biplane was a damn strong killer before this buff, but even if it is now slightly better at killing, it still has zero utility. The bomber has about equal killing power, but since the bomber can use its DPS to lock down areas of the map, it will always be the better choice. In the usual standoffs in TBD, biplane becomes useless in comparison to other planes, and that's the real problem imo. The afterburner buff is a nice touch for bombrunning, but even so.. I don't think it's enough to make it a plane you would want to pick for your comp.

My suggestion would be giving it some sort of utility and decreasing its killing power as necessary. Maybe replace the long range gun with a smoke cloud for AoE damage reduction and buff the short range gun significantly. I don't know. But I know that if you want to make biplane viable in competitive TBD 5v5, it has to have some sort of utility. Short range DPS just isn't worth it, no matter how good.

End note: this just relates to dogfighter and recoilless - not sure how HC plays out - before it used to be just a weak bomber, maybe it's a better choice now.

[A Nipple]

Thanks for the patch!

I want to try and give some constructive criticism regarding the biplane buff:

Biplane viability in TBD 5v5(or anywhere) wasn't really related to killing power, but more utility. Biplane was a damn strong killer before this buff, but even if it is now slightly better at killing, it still has zero utility. The bomber has about equal killing power, but since the bomber can use its DPS to lock down areas of the map, it will always be the better choice. In the usual standoffs in TBD, biplane becomes useless in comparison to other planes, and that's the real problem imo. The afterburner buff is a nice touch for bombrunning, but even so.. I don't think it's enough to make it a plane you would want to pick for your comp.

My suggestion would be giving it some sort of utility and decreasing its killing power as necessary. Maybe replace the long range gun with a smoke cloud for AoE damage reduction and buff the short range gun significantly. I don't know. But I know that if you want to make biplane viable in competitive TBD 5v5, it has to have some sort of utility. Short range DPS just isn't worth it, no matter how good.

End note: this just relates to dogfighter and recoilless - not sure how HC plays out - before it used to be just a weak bomber, maybe it's a better choice now.

I had an idea that the bip gun aims a little bit like the bomber tail gun fire?!

[B0T 2]

Roids new name is now: cheeseroids

[tyr]

Thats why I think these changes can be interesting eth
A bit more range (and since the rage is so small, this small increase is actually pretty significant) gives more flexibility and a shorter approach time and pierce actually can be pretty interesting during pushes or something.
I totally agree with what you said but I think we have to try it pretty extensively in ladder matches or something before stating that it is still useless.
I invite any skilled biplane players to try and play biplane in ladder to try everything.

[gemigemi]

Added friend count to friends list window

Added account creation date to Hangar Deck

Added "Local Time" and "Altitude Time (GMT)" to bottom of in-game scoreboard (hold TAB to view)
Awesome stuff! It's all about the little things. ;)

[Seadog]

Finger licking good :)

[Jayfourke]

New Asteroids is absolutely terrible. I keep panicking and avoiding the background asteroids. I know I'll get used to it, but frankly the old background was much nicer.

Bip buffs are nice though, thanks for those.

[A Nipple]

New Asteroids is absolutely terrible. I keep panicking and avoiding the background asteroids. I know I'll get used to it, but frankly the old background was much nicer.

Bip buffs are nice though, thanks for those.

I think its mostly a matter of us 'veterans' getting used to the change in asteroids, for me the scale is that part I am getting used to. But the only part i dont get is u die when u hit the top =S I dont think theres one other map with this, thats only thing I would change!

nip

[wolf'j'max]

Thats why I think these changes can be interesting eth
A bit more range (and since the rage is so small, this small increase is actually pretty significant) gives more flexibility and a shorter approach time and pierce actually can be pretty interesting during pushes or something.
I totally agree with what you said but I think we have to try it pretty extensively in ladder matches or something before stating that it is still useless.
I invite any skilled biplane players to try and play biplane in ladder to try everything.

will do, mlopes should too ^_^ (nobo and dio get back to biplane already >.>)

edit: not that i consider myself as a 'really skilled' biplane player, i think i am decent.

[Kuja900]

The biplane used to have a niche in competitive play as a bomb runner before the community metagamed out of it, I think thats a niche it could fill again. Perhaps some kind of unique feature like an advantage against emp (turning or thrust) or something else mobility related to help it regain this role would help its viability.

[andy]

Thanks for listening to the community so much, i hope the TA nerf is enough to balance it, and thanks for giving back a bit of repair to the other randas, i think its right to have 50% repair rate. The biplane buff could work.
Only thing i dislike is asteroids please bring the old version back, we dont like cheeseroids, its too dark.

[Kuja900]

Thanks for listening to the community so much, i hope the TA nerf is enough to balance it, and thanks for giving back a bit of repair to the other randas, i think its right to have 50% repair rate. The biplane buff could work.
Only thing i dislike is asteroids please bring the old version back, we dont like cheeseroids, its too dark.

It really just looks comical now and it loses the cool feel the old map had aesthetically, please bring old roids back :(.

[matrin]

tbd_asteroids: looks ugly imho, but i'll probably get used to it pretty fast. the bigger problem is that hitting the ceiling = megahurtz! no good.

it looks ugly imho also,lol but seriously it does

[mikesol]

My thoughts on the patch

1) My biggest complaint is asteroids. The background is horrific - especially to a color blind person. While I inherently know what paths are there and what aren't I sometimes find myself stumbling when it looks like I'm approaching an asteroid that's not really there. The asteroids themselves look pretty bad as well. I greatly preferred the old roids no offense.

2) Biplane's spam and damage is very noticeable. They are definitely amazing killers which makes lag that much worse as I can't avoid the attack at all. However, I still don't see them serving that much of a purpose in competitive play. As eth already said, there are plenty of other planes that are good for killing that would serve more points over the bip. Note that I've only played a few games, though.

3) Miranda time anchor repair is annoying in a few very select scenarios but overall seems reasonable.

[Wok3N^]

<3 <3 <3 Yes!!!

[nesnl]

I checked out the new asteroids and I have to say that the greyed out asteroids are a bad choice. They look collidable and if I hadn't played asteroids 100000 times then I would probably fly around them. I think if you are going to include asteroids in the background then you should have them parallax, but in my opinion you should just remove those ones.

[Stormich]

EDIT: I'm stupid lol

Thanks for the miranda repair fix though, and also please get asteroids back the way it was

[Demuyt]

thanks a lot for this!

[silent skies]

Need old 'roids back.

Liking the biplane buffs, but... yeah, what they said. Perhaps it would be appropriate to toy around w/ 'support plane' ideas on the biplane. eth's smokescreen idea is good.

and buff the short range gun significantly.

Give it a piercing shotgun. :O

[Fartface]

Miranda's Reverse no longer temporarily disables Repair Drone
Miranda's Reverse and Time Anchor now reduce Repair Drone's recharge rate by 50% (time between repairs is doubled for the 1.35 seconds following Reverse/TimeAnchor activation)


This update is amazing except, in my opinion, for this part. Now that you have reversed that update, players can once again reverse with trickster or laser over and over again in 1DM until they heal, which is pretty much cheap.

Otherwise, this update is amazing. thanks a lot :D

[B0T 2]

there is a bug in the new asteroids map. whenever u touch the sky (the top of the map) u die instantly.

[Evan20000]

there is a bug in the new asteroids map. whenever u touch the sky (the top of the map) u die instantly.

A little late to the party.

[KiAnXineki]

REAL GOOD Comunity!!
posible solvent --->http://altitudegame.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3873 ???

Impresionant!!!!

[DiogenesDog]

On Asteroids -

- Agree that the background asteroids are confusing.

- Feel like the foreground art is improved. The old version was so frickin ugly, god. Worst looking map ever.

- More importantly, quit dicking around with map art and fix the horrible, amateurish icons in the server list. They're so bad. SO BAD. And it's a bad impression that EVERYONE gets pretty much every time they open the game, plus the work to improve them is negligible. I'm really starting to think that Karlam secretly has a grudge against me and isn't fixing them just to thwart me.


EDIT: In a weird reversal from how things normally are, it was very distracting while testing but not at all while playing in ladder. Still though, apparently enough ppl find it problematic to ditch the background.

[elxir]

I checked out the new asteroids and I have to say that the greyed out asteroids are a bad choice. They look collidable and if I hadn't played asteroids 100000 times then I would probably fly around them. I think if you are going to include asteroids in the background then you should have them parallax, but in my opinion you should just remove those ones.

http://i46.tinypic.com/b54sa0.jpg

[Flight 666]

roof, fix it pls.

[Fartface]

The biplane used to have a niche in competitive play as a bomb runner before the community metagamed out of it, I think thats a niche it could fill again. Perhaps some kind of unique feature like an advantage against emp (turning or thrust) or something else mobility related to help it regain this role would help its viability.

That's a good idea. I don't think biplane has much of a chance in becoming extremely useful in any aspect of TBD except for bomb running, so changing it in this manner would encourage biplane runners.

Also, it would hopefully draw players away from playing loopies with their spam.

[Sarah Palin]

The new biplane buff is very nice. Bip is definitely viable in ball now (with good players, just like any other plane).

Please change the asteroids background back (but keep the foreground, it's more cartoony lookin which fits with the other maps).

[A Nipple]

Need old 'roids back.

Liking the biplane buffs, but... yeah, what they said. Perhaps it would be appropriate to toy around w/ 'support plane' ideas on the biplane. eth's smokescreen idea is good.



Give it a piercing shotgun. :O

smoke screen sounds pretty cool, duno how it would work =S it coyuld be like gunpowder ash as a result of close combat fire which has radius smaller than loop acid like half to 3 quarters (just a random estimate) and causes damage! it would make sense a little to with the biplane being an old war plane!

[A Nipple]

This update is amazing except, in my opinion, for this part. Now that you have reversed that update, players can once again reverse with trickster or laser over and over again in 1DM until they heal, which is pretty much cheap.

Otherwise, this update is amazing. thanks a lot :D

thats true, but to be fair a strong majority of community play tbd/ball/coop etc!

nip a la nip

[pig_bomb]

It is still by far the best bomb runner and completely viable in 5v5 on any team bomb map.

I completely support the new asteroids. Nice work :) though making the background roids paralax is a good call. Would really like to see you guys make a new map some time.

[Herodadotus]

Very nice patch overall, thank you guys!

[Vania]

The new asteroids looks great.

I appreciate the buffs to biplane, but that wont make it viable for league TBD, except for HC.
(Dogfighter/Recoiless are completely different from HC, I dont understand why you keep treating them as the same)


The piercing damage for secondary is quite useless, the enemy planes would have to be stacked right on top of each other for that to be useful.

Buffing the afterburner is definitely the way to go, although just 5% isnt noticeable. I would get rid of all the other buffs and just make the afterburner a lot better.

[EspadaV8]

Since this patch I've been getting loads of lag spikes when the ping will go up to 999, as where before and normally the ping to the server is <100 and usually <50. I've asked in some of the games I've been playing and it seems that other people have been getting this too.

Any idea if it's related to the patch or if there's anything else to check what's going on (I've got no downloads or other computers using the network).

Thanks

[tyr]

The piercing damage for secondary is quite useless, the enemy planes would have to be stacked right on top of each other for that to be useful.


I have to disagree, I find the piercing quite useful in some situations, even in 5v5 tbd. You just have to find the perfect positioning to use it to the maximum. Biplane is even more about positioning than it used to be, but it definitely isnt useless.

[mlopes]

I have to disagree, I find the piercing quite useful in some situations, even in 5v5 tbd. You just have to find the perfect positioning to use it to the maximum. Biplane is even more about positioning than it used to be, but it definitely isnt useless.

Plus with piercing biplane is more of a kille, more kills = more health packs = increased map range.

We now don't need to go back to base so often, and not only have the advantage of beeing "deadlier" (do this word even exists?) but we also pick more health, so we survive longer. This buff has several implications outside of the pure weapon power on 1 vs 1 fights.

[Ctrl Alt Destroy]

This patch contains some significant buffs for the biplane.

Awesome!!!! Thank. You. Lamster. i love the biplane, and this should help.



Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon increased piercing second hit damage from 50% to 67%

I'm a HC/rev trust biplane user, and i originally thought this would do little to help, but I've got several double kills from HC hitting the next plane! Yay! xD

[protest boy]

Ahh, neat someone with artistic talent finally replaced the graphics. The foreground looks great, and so does the background for that matter...but just like others have said, the background is too distracting and needs to be adjusted somehow.

Love the biplane buffs. Personally I don't think it was necessary but I'm all for having my favorite plane pumped into a more effective killing machine.

I suggested a long time ago some sort of a "sky writing" perk for biplane. The biplane would release a trail of clouds behind it that would hang in the air and dissipate after a period of time. Enemy planes cannot see what is under the cloud. You could hide yourself, your teammates, or nothing! Enemies would not know whether to fire or when to fire into the cloud (use it as cover for a bomb push for example). I think it would be neat also if the cloud spreads wide enough to slightly overlap foreground objects.

I see a perk like this being very useful in all game modes.

[hurripilot]

I'd be down to replace Dogfighter's secondary with Protest's idea, sounds like an interesting game dynamic.

[nobodyhome]

Protest, the problem with such a effects-driven perk is that the biplane has always been the protoss of altitude: it is the plane for real men. Something so fancy schmancy does not fit in with the pure manliness that is the biplane, who's primary weapon's only purpose is to deal damage and the secondary weapon's only purpose is to deal even more damage.

[protest boy]

Protest, the problem with such a effects-driven perk is that the biplane has always been the protoss of altitude: it is the plane for real men. Something so fancy schmancy does not fit in with the pure manliness that is the biplane, who's primary weapon's only purpose is to deal damage and the secondary weapon's only purpose is to deal even more damage.

Oh, I agree. And I would add that the manliness of the biplane is also enhanced due to the simplicity of the weaponry (i.e. no homing, splash, bouncing, etc.). Either you aim well and survive, or you miss and get punished!

I am totally fine with the biplane the way it is now. I personally believe it has utility in TBD as not only the best bomb runner but also for its damage/agility combination.

However, there are some nancy boys who are incapable of taking a grenade to the face, dodging several explodet mines, and then still manage to take out the bomb runner and diffuse the bomb. It's for these, less battle hardened flyers, that a smoke screen may be of some utility.

[Vania]

I'd be down to replace Dogfighter's secondary with Protest's idea, sounds like an interesting game dynamic.

Hurri, you mean replace Dogfighter's primary.

The long range gun is the primary. (F)
The short range machinegun is the secondary. (D)
:)

Also, Tyr, I guess I would have to see you play. The secondary "kill-zone" is so short and narrow that I have no idea how it could hit multiple planes, unless they're stacked like mutas.

[hurripilot]

No I meant secondary, but w/e. For the record, I agree with both Protest and Nobo. Bipe is the man plane, but the little sally-boys want to QQ about it because they lack the mental and testicular fortitude to use it appropriately.

[A Nipple]

Protest, the problem with such a effects-driven perk is that the biplane has always been the protoss of altitude: it is the plane for real men. Something so fancy schmancy does not fit in with the pure manliness that is the biplane, who's primary weapon's only purpose is to deal damage and the secondary weapon's only purpose is to deal even more damage.

I'd have to disagree, the plane is just on the cover of pictures. For noobs and potential people who might buy the game they're not going to know anything about history etc etc and i think they wouldn't be all to bothered either. Whatever makes the game more competitive and exciting is what I am for!

[hurripilot]

Biplane is a great playstyle to have in this game because every other playstyle is gimmick driven. Explo pushes planes around in ridiculous ways and heaves floating mines out it's ass, Loopy shoots little balls of electricity that magically cripple any plane, etc. Biplane is just a straight-forward, no-nonsense way to play the game, that's what it's appeal is. Honestly, if Biplane wasn't in the game or it's playstyle was changed to something gimmicky, I would stop playing. For some of us, Biplane's simplicity IS fun, nip

[Greekjr14]

Biplane is a great playstyle to have in this game because every other playstyle is gimmick driven. Explo pushes planes around in ridiculous ways and heaves floating mines out it's ass, Loopy shoots little balls of electricity that magically cripple any plane, etc. Biplane is just a straight-forward, no-nonsense way to play the game, that's what it's appeal is. Honestly, if Biplane wasn't in the game or it's playstyle was changed to something gimmicky, I would stop playing. For some of us, Biplane's simplicity IS fun, nip

I feel the same way %100

[Vania]

Biplane is a great playstyle to have in this game because every other playstyle is gimmick driven. Explo pushes planes around in ridiculous ways and heaves floating mines out it's ass, Loopy shoots little balls of electricity that magically cripple any plane, etc. Biplane is just a straight-forward, no-nonsense way to play the game, that's what it's appeal is. Honestly, if Biplane wasn't in the game or it's playstyle was changed to something gimmicky, I would stop playing. For some of us, Biplane's simplicity IS fun, nip

I know, if there was no biplane altitude would be sooo bad.


BTW, I was playing dogfighter today and the damage increase is noticeable.

But I would still prefer an afterburner buff, to make non-HC biplane viable in open areas. I mean, what you see in WW2 movies are planes chasing other planes, and thats exactly what biplane cant do (non HC), it cannot chase, It has to rely on ambushing lone planes.

[CCN]

but you got an afterburner buff by reduced energy consumption >_>

[tyr]

BTW, I was playing dogfighter today and the damage increase is noticeable.


Yeah it now is +2 damage than recoilless, which can be pretty significant considering dogfighter uses less energy so you may in some circumstances get one more shot as well.
Yeah, Dogfighter does some pretty serious damage.

[A Nipple]

Biplane is a great playstyle to have in this game because every other playstyle is gimmick driven. Explo pushes planes around in ridiculous ways and heaves floating mines out it's ass, Loopy shoots little balls of electricity that magically cripple any plane, etc. Biplane is just a straight-forward, no-nonsense way to play the game, that's what it's appeal is. Honestly, if Biplane wasn't in the game or it's playstyle was changed to something gimmicky, I would stop playing. For some of us, Biplane's simplicity IS fun, nip

8O u directed this at me 8O what if the smoke clouds were optional?!
nipalip

[andy]

just something i noted which isnt a great issue: with the 5% less energy usage on afterburning, the afterburner graphics is a bit strange/different from the other planes when at 0 energy. All the other planes when at 0 energy have the smaller flame which goes on and off while biplane now has a medium flame which is always on (maybe im wrong but i think its like this). It also seems less fluid on the afterburn graphics. its a really small issue i dont really care if it stays like this..

[Tosconi]

don't know if it was posted by anyone (I haven't read the thread)

In the field "time played" it stands "Created on 2009 ??? 22" - i guess there're some problems with codification, because the month is not a number, but 3 question marks.

[andy]

it says it in letters on mine..

[Karl]

don't know if it was posted by anyone (I haven't read the thread)

In the field "time played" it stands "Created on 2009 ??? 22" - i guess there're some problems with codification, because the month is not a number, but 3 question marks.

It's suppose to be yyyy MMM dd in whatever your locale is. For example, US-English looks like 2010 Jun 26.

I bet we can't render characters for your locale (I.E. your locale would use non-ascii characters for the month)... I'll just switch it to always encode using US-En locale.

[gameguard]

thanks for hte patch looks interesting.

lamster i ocasionally play offline mode skirmish and the game seems to run at like 2x speed.

[eth]

thanks for hte patch looks interesting.

lamster i ocasionally play offline mode skirmish and the game seems to run at like 2x speed.

Some servers run in 2x speed as well Oo

[Stormich]

I think the servers are modded

[Nikon]

Hey everyone! I am still not back from my music festival but I can get on every once in a while. I haven't tried this update yet but the biplane buff is great and the offline mode updates are the BEST!! good job!

[SWN FIllichio KGB]

This patch contains some significant buffs for the biplane. The consensus among high-level players is that the old biplane was never an ideal choice at the highest levels, and league and ladder play have supported that conclusion. Neither is the biplane generally overpowered among newer players, nor heavily played by any player segment. These buffs may very well be too extreme -- in that case they'll be partially rolled back in short order. Please post your balance feedback once you've had a chance to test out the changes.

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June 22nd, 2010

Updated graphics for tbd_asteroids

Miranda's Reverse no longer temporarily disables Repair Drone
Miranda's Reverse and Time Anchor now reduce Repair Drone's recharge rate by 50% (time between repairs is doubled for the 1.35 seconds following Reverse/TimeAnchor activation)

Biplane (All Forms) reduced afterburner energy usage by 5%
Biplane (Dogfighter) secondary weapon increased range from 80 to 90, added piercing (second hit deals 80%, third 50%), increased damage from 27 to 28
Biplane (Recoilless) secondary weapon increased range from 80 to 90, added piercing (second hit deals 70%, third 40%)
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon increased piercing second hit damage from 50% to 67%

Improved "Offline Mode"
* Plane configurations are saved between sessions
* All downloaded maps (not just official maps) are available for play
* FFA and TDM games end after 7 minutes

Added friend count to friends list window

Added account creation date to Hangar Deck

Added "Local Time" and "Altitude Time (GMT)" to bottom of in-game scoreboard (hold TAB to view)

Adjusted "Mouse Navigation" trigger to prevent accidentally entering mouse mode when switching to Altitude from another application

Servers that are running an outdated version are automatically filtered from the server list

Fixed a few bugs

what about this rumor about the new ace ranks and planes is that true or what :confused::confused::):confused:

[Boko]

what about this rumor about the new ace ranks and planes is that true or what :confused::confused::):confused:

You're the origin of that rumor, you should know.

Don't make me send santa @ u again!

[mlopes]

You're the origin of that rumor, you should know.

Don't make me send santa @ u again!

Do I see a Futurama reference in here? ;)

And yes, the rumors were started by the same person who's asking, the only thing I saw about that was the suggestions he did in the suggestion area.

[pig_bomb]

you guys forgot the ceilling in the new version of roids.

[SWN FIllichio KGB]

i don't think so

http://altitudegame.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3967

P.S.
Added incentive for reaching Ace 100. Meet the Minerva, Spamcan, Flippy, Twinkeeguzzler, and Buyplane (only available with DLC.)

[Evan20000]

Does he still really not get it?

[Greekjr14]

Im ready to start placing bets on when he will finally get it.

[Herodadotus]

Im ready to start placing bets on when he will finally get it.

One month; you heard it here first, boys!

One, month, yo,u, heard,, it here first, boys,
(second comment provided by the UFO Association of Commas, "Putting commas, everywhere.")

[tyr]

You guys are so mean
Everyone knows the Flippy and the Minerva are already in the game for like 6 or 7 months, but can be only played on special servers that can be accessed only if you played more than 1000 hours on your account.
Seriously don't be so mean.

(2 weeks imo)

[hurripilot]

One month; you heard it here first, boys!

One, month, yo,u, heard,, it here first, boys,
(second comment provided by the UFO Association of Commas, "Putting commas, everywhere.")

Lol Hero, that was, my joke not, UFO's, :p

(lol357yearslol)

[Herodadotus]

Lol Hero, that was, my joke not, UFO's, :p

(lol357yearslol)

My, apolo,gies, Hurri.

(The Hurripilot Center of Punctuation, how's that?)

[hurripilot]

I like it :)

[SWN FIllichio KGB]

If you guys our lying to me this is what i think of you: http://vscorps.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/poop.gif

P.S. If the new planes are real show me a picture of them

[Herodadotus]

If you guys our lying to me this is what i think of you: http://vscorps.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/poop.gif

P.S. If the new planes r were show me a picture of them

Aw, I love chocolate pudding!

[hurripilot]

P.S. If the new planes r were show me a picture of them

English is fun

[Herodadotus]

English is fun

I didn't even notice! Wow, I'm glad I'm not majoring in English now!

[pig_bomb]

,I d,idn't ev,,en notice! Wow, I,'m glad I'm n,ot ,,majoring in Englis,h now!,

fixxed for you, your welcome.

[Evan20000]

fixxed for you, your welcome.

I see one correct comma usage in there. Bad piggy. :P

[ufo]

fixxed for you, your welcome.

you're* welcome

[sonicking917]

Not to mention fixed has only one X, not two. LOL

[poofighter24]

repair drone TA in ball sucks now.

:(

[Evan20000]

The repair/HA miranda ratio in TBD seems more balanced, but is still favoring HA. (I can see why; HA is a tactically superior choice most of the time.)

[iPlane]

Perhaps some kind of unique feature like an advantage against emp (turning or thrust) or something else mobility related to help it regain this role would help its viability.

I've long wondered about this myself. Granted that none of the planes conform to the real world, but biplanes controls are all manual, no electronics/hydraulics involved. Maybe emp could disable the futuristic afterburners and not affect turning, or just have a reduced duration?

[A Nipple]

that sounds like a pretty cool idea!

[silent skies]

That would at least have to apply to the bomber as well, which looks like it comes straight out of the 40s/50s. Then we might find ourselves on a slippery slope.

[elxir]

that sounds like a pretty cool idea!

sounds like a pretty OP idea

[evilarsenal]

biplanes need a buff still i feel like, randas need their god mode back from the old version, and explodets need to have mines that DONT MOVE

[DerRoteBaron]

biplanes need a buff still i feel like, randas need their god mode back from the old version, and explodets need to have mines that DONT MOVE

Or perhaps you try to adapt to the new style of play instead of dwelling on old ideas? Rather the explodet remote mine needs a slight buff. But dont be so quick to assume that balance is as easy as you just posted it. You just want your old game back, i'm not sure if what you want is in the best intrest for altitude

[Wok3N^]

Lol, the remote mine does not need any buff. The devs did a great job of actually making remote not OP like it was. It is quite effective now if used properly.