Patch: September 30th, balance adjustments + misc

[lamster]

Co-op map makers: the turret limit has been increased and there are a few more parameters to play with.

Custom server hosts: please check out the new custom commands (they should simplify life for coders and players).

This patch contains a few balance changes that I'd like to see tested before APL 4 gets going.
I'm especially curious about how the biplane buffs will impact plane choices / meta-game both for TBD and BALL.
Because afterburner potency has rarely been changed the impact on real games is hard to guess; expect a quick followup patch if necessary.
The Time Anchor adjustment is meant as a minor nerf: because zero-point-anchoring still exists (anchoring with less than the required energy results in a proportionately longer cooldown before the next anchor is allowed) all warp/anchor/shoot options and combinations remain open, however this change encourages more careful consideration of when anchor-spam is the right choice.
The Trickster buff is intended to mark a watershed moment in Miranda nerfing history; if the extra distance makes choke spamming too annoying I'll try something else.

September 30th, 2010

Biplane (Recoilless) afterburner effectiveness increased by 25%
Biplane (Recoilless) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 5%
Biplane (Dogfighter) afterburner effectiveness increased by 33%
Biplane (Dogfighter) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 5%
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon piercing second hit damage increased from 67% to 80%, added piercing third hit (50%)
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 10%

Miranda (Trickster) primary weapon (fully charged shot only) increased range by 10%
Miranda (Time Anchor) (only when carrying big bomb or ball) anchor energy usage increased by 30%

Level Editor:
Increased max turret count from 63 to 127
Added turret configuration options (note: competitive maps should not adjust these; customization is intended for use in co-op maps)
gun cooldown (seconds)
bullet lifetime (seconds)
bullet speed
bullet direct damage
bullet splash damage
bullet splash radius

Team Base Destruction: removed "wins this round" from HUD (wins are now shown on the scoreboard) and added numeric percentage display to health bar

Added flexible custom console commands. Define new commands by adding JSON-formatted entries (1 line per command) to the file ~Altitude/servers/custom_json_commands.txt (command definitions are loaded at server startup).

Each JSON entry defining a command should include the following components:
"name" (String) - the command name that players type into the console to invoke the command
"arguments" (Array) - Each element of the array corresponds to an argument for the command. Elements can be either one of 4 parameter identifiers ("string", "int", "player", or "map" -- in which case the parameter is of the type specified), or an array of strings (in which case the parameter must take a string value from the array)
"argumentDescriptions" (Array) - [Optional] Each string in the array provides a description for its corresponding argument
"voteThreshold" (int) - Controls the access level of the command: 0 = all users can invoke the command directly, 1-99 = non-admins can invoke the command only through a vote (to pass more than X% must vote yes), 100 = only admins can invoke the command

Example ~Altitude/servers/custom_json_commands.txt file:
{"name":"declareFavoriteColor","arguments":["player",["red","green","blue","pink"],"string"],"argumentDescriptions":["player","color","reason"],"voteThreshold":50}
{"name":"startLadder","arguments":["map"],"voteThreshold":75}
{"name":"queryStats","arguments":[],"voteThreshold":0}
{"name":"abusePower","arguments":["int"],"argumentDescriptions":["amount"],"voteThreshold":100}

Example usage:
/vote declareFavoriteColor DiogenesDog pink Pretty obvious IMO (will pass if >50% of players vote for it)
/vote startLadder ball_darkwar (will pass if >75% of players vote for it)
/queryStats (no vote necessary for "voteThreshold":0 command)
/rcon secretPassword (must log in as admin to access "voteThreshold":100 abusePower command)
/abusePower 999

The server should then use custom code to monitor the server log file and respond to custom command executions, for example when a line like this appears in ~Altitude/servers/log.txt:
{"port":27276,"time":526407,"arguments":["DiogenesDog","pink","Pretty obvious IMO"],"source":"de43a123-g795-3c51-a3c4-87bc84bd4210","command":"declareFavoriteColor","gr oup":"Vote","type":"consoleCommandExecute"}
[Note: your script should use a JSON-compliant parser to discover type=consoleCommandExecute, command=declareFavoriteColor, arguments, etc]

[A Nipple]

insta reaction: ZOMG YAY

[Wok3N^]

I love this patch for everything!

[A Nipple]

I'll try to get TC to scrim fLb asap and any other clans that might be interested so people can give you feedback asap! we just recruited MONXY FIST who's arguably best recoilless. Hopefully he can shake the rust!

much thanks niperella

[adjahe]

biplane piercing buff seems a bit heavy handed but nice work

[KaWZzR]

How do we update editor to allow more than 63 turrets?

[lamster]

Run the game -> game updates. Run the editor -> should allow more than 63 turrets now.

[KaWZzR]

I already had editor open when I updated. Is there somewhere to download the editor program?

[Kuja900]

I'll try to get some games going to test these changes.

[tyr]

I do not understand why biplane was buffed.
It was fine.
I honestly believe it's a bit too strong now, after playing a few rounds.

If people suck at this game it's not grounds for changing a plane.

[lamster]

tyr -- I tend to agree. I am curious to see the impact of the afterburner buff in particular, but after playing a couple rounds a significant rollback is very likely.

[Disilord]

Originally Posted by lamster

The Time Anchor adjustment is meant as a minor nerf: because zero-point-anchoring still exists (anchoring with less than the required energy results in a proportionately longer cooldown before the next anchor is allowed) all warp/anchor/shoot options and combinations remain open, however this change encourages more careful consideration of when anchor-spam is the right choice.
The Trickster buff is intended to mark a watershed moment in Miranda nerfing history; if the extra distance makes choke spamming too annoying I'll try something else.

September 30th, 2010

Biplane (Recoilless) afterburner effectiveness increased by 25%
Biplane (Recoilless) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 5%
Biplane (Dogfighter) afterburner effectiveness increased by 33%
Biplane (Dogfighter) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 5%
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon piercing second hit damage increased from 67% to 80%, added piercing third hit (50%)
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 10%

Miranda (Trickster) primary weapon (fully charged shot only) increased range by 10%
Miranda (Time Anchor) (only when carrying big bomb or ball) anchor energy usage increased by 30%

Biplane reaction: This is going to make life a little more difficult... especially against other bi's in 1dm.
Trickster reaction: oooooooo ahhhhhhh I like it, more lucky sniping ability.
Time anchor: Good job on just nerfing when TA has the bomb!
Overall Grade: B+

[lamster]

KaWZzR -- just restart the editor and the changes should take effect. If you've updated, restarted the editor, and trying to export a map still tells you the max turret count is 63 then you may need to reinstall Altitude.

[Wok3N^]

Maybe 20% afterburn or something. I think it needed the afterburn buff to make it a good runner again.

Oh btw lam, the base has 100 base health so it would make sense that each percentage would equal the base health. Why is it that when I do a partial of 5 damage, the base drops 6% but when I do a full hit of lets say 31 damage, it actually drops 31%? This happens consistently.

[KaWZzR]

Thanks Lamster.

I noticed a problem with the new patch. Existing maps that had turrets with a long range are no longer working correctly. Their range is much less than what was originally set.

[Ajuk999]

Awesome patch/update guys, all of its good!



Thanks

[lamster]

Originally Posted by Wok3N^

Oh btw lam, the base has 100 base health so it would make sense that each percentage would equal the base health. Why is it that when I do a partial of 5 damage, the base drops 6% but when I do a full hit of lets say 31 damage, it actually drops 31%? This happens consistently.

The damage shown is rounded down (you might have done 5.6 damage) -- whereas the overall health is rounded to the nearest integer (94.4 = 94%).

[A Nipple]

you can stall with a biplane to the top of the map vertically lol! probably best to see how some scrims go first, maybe if it was increased after burn with bomb to 20% and 10/15% have to see how the scrims go!

[KaWZzR]

Originally Posted by KaWZzR

I noticed a problem with the new patch. Existing maps that had turrets with a long range are no longer working correctly. Their range is much less than what was originally set.

This problem must be caused by the new "Bullet Lifetime" option for turrets. The default setting is 1.55 seconds? Does that mean we will have to go through all the existing co-op maps and fix this for long range turrets?

[mikesol]

I haven't really played any competitive games yet but from what I see biplane seems a bit op. I find it fascinating how you can reverse by using only the secondary from dogfighter across the map. I also find it interesting that you can lob as far as a loopy can now. You can also lob through the rocks on roids lol. You also can use afterburner to hold your position in a stall <.<

I guess we'll see what it's like in a competitive scene.

[sunshineduck]

the TA nerf works in that you can't double warp immediately after anchoring anymore and you now have to wait a second. otherwise it's entirely useless unless you were trying to get TA's to switch to turbocharger >_>

[mikesol]

Edit: Eh while the 30% is annoying it's really not too over the top. I definitely felt it but if it makes everyone happier I guess that's reasonable.

[Wok3N^]

Oh i see lamster! I didn't know that base damage and health had decimal values. I always assumed it was based on integers.

[lamster]

Originally Posted by KaWZzR

This problem must be caused by the new "Bullet Lifetime" option for turrets. The default setting is 1.55 seconds? Does that mean we will have to go through all the existing co-op maps and fix this for long range turrets?

EDIT: I see the bug -- I shouldn't have exposed lifetime, as this is already adjusted to achieve the "range" characteristic -- I will fix this in the next patch (probably tonight), no need to update maps -- they will work as intended after the upcoming update.

[KaWZzR]

Originally Posted by lamster

EDIT: I see the bug -- I will fix this in the next patch (probably tonight), no need to update maps -- they will work as intended after the upcoming update.

Sweet! I knew you would figure it out.

Oh, and I love the updates! The only thing missing with the turrets is the ability to set the health of the turret, or how much damage it takes to destroy it. It would be nice to have invulnerable turrets.

[Mt.Vesuvius]

fraaking awesome

[Evan20000]

When I saw this patch, I was really happy. When I saw the trickster buff, I needed new underwear. Thanks for rectifying that utterly obnoxious habit of shots disappearing just shy of their targets.

The TA nerf seems reasonable.

I have almost no knowledge of bip play, but I can say it looks good on paper.

[KaWZzR]

Wow. Biplane with flex wings and gold bars, my new corvette!

[jardanc@yahoo.com]

Great updates! one problem though. The server logs show that it is reading the json custom commands.txt but It doesnt exist in the servers folder. Is there a way that I can download the file?

[Evan20000]

Trick feels borderline OP now. You can snipe people from the bottom of Loco and Heights in ways you couldn't. I love the buff, but I understand if it gets toned downa little. ^_^

[lamster]

Originally Posted by jardanc@yahoo.com

Great updates! one problem though. The server logs show that it is reading the json custom commands.txt but It doesnt exist in the servers folder. Is there a way that I can download the file?

If you want to define custom commands for your server, you need to create your own json_custom_commands.txt file and place it in the directory ~Altitude/servers. There's no reason to download someone else's custom commands unless you've implemented the server back end for handling them.

[Pieface]

What Sin (evan) said - a small rollback might be a good idea. Also, if the base percentage is less than one percent can you display it as 1% instead of rounding it to 0 sometimes? Makes things less confusing when the base isn't actually dead.

Edit: Also, am I missing something? I put the json_custom_commands.txt file in the appropriate directory and wrote this command:

{"name":"slap","arguments":["player"],"argumentDescriptions":["player"],"voteThreshold":50}

When I start the server, it doesn't appear under the custom commands list. I've really only taken up coding as a hobby recently, so all this JSON stuff is sorta new to me. I'd eventually like to try some stuff in Python but first I need to figure out how to get people to call a custom vote ._.

[Fartface]

Amazing. Yes. I think that pretty much covers it. Yes.

Now to business. When are we gonna get individual red perk stats?

[innerlyte]

Originally Posted by lamster

Biplane (Heavy Cannon) primary weapon piercing second hit damage increased from 67% to 80%, added piercing third hit (50%)
Biplane (Heavy Cannon) secondary weapon energy usage reduced by 10%

I think I'm in love. How does this compare to HC pre-pre-pre nerf (circa March/April 2009)?

[jardanc@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by lamster

If you want to define custom commands for your server, you need to create your own json_custom_commands.txt file and place it in the directory ~Altitude/servers. There's no reason to download someone else's custom commands unless you've implemented the server back end for handling them.

oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I thought it was automatically generated :|

aw well, thanks Lamster

[jardanc@yahoo.com]

wtf...


WTF!!!



http://www.mediafire.com/?r22v1jjxr166gbh


this is the video link...

can turrets really do that?

[KaWZzR]

Yep. If you increase the turret's bullet splash damage and bullet splash radius large enough it would do that.

[Vi*]

Obviously the patch hasn't been out been long enough for me to comment too much on whether Biplane is overpowered or not. It was definitely buffed, which was, I think, the point.

I can, however, immediately say that I don't like the feel of some of these choices of buffs:

Making it easier for biplane to fly was a creative way to buff it, but this is Altitude, not Biplanes. The planes are already really easy to fly. Too easy, in my opinion. The addition of thrusters is cool in that you have a new choice to make-- between ammo and boost-- but I was never a fan of the extent to which the thrusters work, and how easy it is to recover from stall. Takes away the tough choice of whether to stall or not in the first place. Most recent buff gives biplane the "tap the up arrow to recover from stall" technique, rather than having to sacrifice ammo for control.

Buffing the range of trickster is also something that might have worked in Biplanes, but it doesn't in Altitude. The New England servers used to be someplace I could go to avoid getting hit by Miranda-balls-of-death randomly spewed into the night. Now I am no longer safe anywhere. Maybe if I zoom the view out even further, but really, try a buff that's less aggravating.

Could be that once again I'm trying to cling to the beautiful creature that was Biplanes, instead of embracing the new action-packed style of Altitude, but that's what I liked.

[CCN]

First impressions is I get carved up in any dogfight with biplane, maybe that's how it should be as a loopy but maybe a bit too much. I think the afterburner was an ice touch but that was already changed in a previous patch and made them quite manuverable. The damage increase I feel makes htem something to be wary of and from first impressions would likely of been enough. They all have some sort of multi plane stopping power, giving them a role that they can do better then a bomber (bomber can spam chokes and hit 1-2 but against 5 planes it can't damage many)


Also Anchor feels a bit too nerfed, 30% energy usage increase impacts the double warp. Anchor is unique, the ability to kite is strong, but 30% has changed multi kite > double warp to multi kite > single warp or multi kite > no warp. Feel a slight role back to 20% would shift the balance appropriately (but this kind of small check I can't really see until a high level scrim). Want anchor to still be anchor, not push it too far in the defenders favor. I believe if you can multi kite two planes you deserve the benefit.

Also Biplane runners have serious consideration before (with the afterburner medium flame upgrade) and now have much more serious consideration with the added manuverability (with secondary acting as a dodging thrust of sorts and afterburner being very effective).

[CCN]

Just checked some loopy biplane action. Biplane is faster with few intermittent afterburner bursts to a loopy full afterburner.
Loopy can't escape biplane anymore (when before to beat it half of it was running away and getting some distance).

Please decrease bip speed or increase loopy speed. Emp half fixes this if you can emp the biplane then run away, but forcing people out of acid.

Also, Dogfighter is now a valid choice as the afterburner helps it out of stall (and its 2ndary) very effectively.