Patch: April 4th, bug fixes

[lamster]

April 4th, 2012

Miranda (All Forms) - energy required to begin charging primary weapon increased from 130 to 150 (reduces efficiency of quick-fire uncharged shots)

Fixed a bug with native libraries affecting Steam-Mac players

Updated ball_skylands (thanks Nikon)

Update April 9th: increased mute limit to 200, fixed issue with outdated maplist

Update April 5th: fixed a bug affecting a few Steam-Windows players

[Mt.Vesuvius]

niiiiiice first

[Inofaith]

Y randa nerf again

[CmdrNoval]

Those of us who fly bombers and explodets... thank you profusely.

[soccernamlak]

As always, thank you lamster for fixing the Steam / Java bug so quickly!

[Juin]

y u no leave randa alone

[Clapon]

I like it, should help balance even more.

[lamster]

We're open to more Miranda adjustments and/or rollbacks -- we had to rush this patch out for the Steam-Mac issue so I just wanted to make sure we tried something. There should be another balance patch before the 15th. The main issue right now is how completely Miranda dominates TBD, to the point of shutting down many other plane options (perhaps a TBD-specific nerf is necessary) but at the highest levels Miranda does great in Ball and other modes too. We just want to find a tweak that prevents Miranda from dominating certain modes.

[CmdrNoval]

Not to say that I want to see the randa nerfed... But I want to feel less like a flying brick when they are around... lol.

[King!]

Real men balance by buffing all the other planes.

[elixirwithani]

Reduce Miranda HP. Watch a laser fight a bomber, loopy, etc...the laser always gets away with a fraction of health because they can pop off their gun/warp/pew combo more accurately (gg mouse control) and more efficiently (Miranda reverse, zero degree 360...) than any other plane can hope to achieve. If a laser wants to go head to head, they should lose. Same with Trickster and Time Anchor...the problem is just most noticeable on Laser.

As it stands, a Miranda that isn't pre-emptively EMP'd or mined/rocketed by a whale has a huge advantage over their opponent.

Reducing health is the most obvious solution.

Of course, this then imbalances the Miranda vs Heavy Cannon, which will be able to 2-shot Mirandas.

[Slender]

Originally Posted by elixirwithani

Reduce Miranda HP. Watch a laser fight a bomber, loopy, etc...the laser always gets away with a fraction of health because they can pop off their gun/warp/pew combo more accurately (gg mouse control) and more efficiently (Miranda reverse, zero degree 360...) than any other plane can hope to achieve. If a laser wants to go head to head, they should lose. Same with Trickster and Time Anchor...the problem is just most noticeable on Laser.

As it stands, a Miranda that isn't pre-emptively EMP'd or mined/rocketed by a whale has a huge advantage over their opponent.

Reducing health is the most obvious solution.

Of course, this then imbalances the Miranda vs Heavy Cannon, which will be able to 2-shot Mirandas.

nerf heavy cannon
gg

[Radium]

Originally Posted by elixirwithani

Reducing health is the most obvious solution.

they already have the lowest hp
getting shot by stray loopy missiles as a miranda suuuuucks because it drains like half your health

[andy]

Originally Posted by lamster

We're open to more Miranda adjustments and/or rollbacks -- we had to rush this patch out for the Steam-Mac issue so I just wanted to make sure we tried something. There should be another balance patch before the 15th. The main issue right now is how completely Miranda dominates TBD, to the point of shutting down many other plane options (perhaps a TBD-specific nerf is necessary) but at the highest levels Miranda does great in Ball and other modes too. We just want to find a tweak that prevents Miranda from dominating certain modes.

Just curious, why would you patch right before APL finals? I think not giving teams the time to adjust to a possible new metagame is bad. I like this nerf for now but i really would like it if you kept the randa like this until after this APL.

[Fellow]

Originally Posted by andy

Just curious, why would you patch right before APL finals? I think not giving teams the time to adjust to a possible new metagame is bad. I like this nerf for now but i really would like it if you kept the randa like this until after this APL.

Good point!

[Arcanecat]

I'am gonna eat u lam,
might wanna increase the Mirandas turn speed.


Ahhh give it time, it'll cool off *tear*.
Let me quickly insert a sentence from the wiki on the miranda
"The glass cannon of Altitude, Miranda is the most fragile but also the most agile plane in the game"


Arcanecat
(Likes miranda a bit too much)

ps: I'am rambling, just ignore my comment as best as you can, I'am a bit thrown off with this patch

[lamster]

Originally Posted by andy

Just curious, why would you patch right before APL finals? I think not giving teams the time to adjust to a possible new metagame is bad. I like this nerf for now but i really would like it if you kept the randa like this until after this APL.

Forgot about that -- we'll try to make any follow-up patch no later than the 7th, or after the 15th. Miranda (and non-Miranda) players, please post feedback regarding the Miranda change once you've had a chance to play with it for a while.

[mikesol]

Feedback:

This nerf doesn't do a HUGE amount - but it still hurts. It's definitely more of a trickster / ta nerf than it is a laser nerf. Laser rarely needs to worry about pews or anything of that nature. (I'm fine with keeping this nerf although it doesn't really fix the issue)

I still think trick and ta are op - but I think laser needs some definite addressing as many of these nerfs aren't really hurting it in any way.

[elxir]

The most obvious thing I noticed is that a Trickster can no longer kill an Explodet with 1 round of energy (without warping).

[evilarsenal]

yea, this nerf might be a bit too much... 130 to 150? maybe 140, but 20 whole energy sort of takes away a whole strategy of playing the randa

[Air Jordan]

I keep getting 'Steam is not running' error after this patch. Anyone else with the same problem? I tried reinstalling Altitude without luck.

[wolf'j'max]

I don't see a HUGE difference, but i don't play a lot of trick/TA so I'm sure others will have a better opinion on this.

Laser though, basically no difference. can still do my usual routine etc. The only real nerf i can see working for randa is to nerf it's mobility, maybe even roll it's damage back and just nerf the 2nd weapon.

[Stormich]

Originally Posted by Air Jordan

I keep getting 'Steam is not running' error after this patch. Anyone else with the same problem? I tried reinstalling Altitude without luck.

Originally Posted by lamster

A fix for the Steam-Mac version is now available. It may take some time for the Steam crew to push this update out so we put together a patch you can apply manually in the meantime. You will need to extract the zip file http://nimblygames.com/altitude/test...o_altitude.zip directly to the Steam altitude folder, e.g.

/Users/<user>/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/altitude

It should overwrite a few files including game.jar

You should now be able to launch Altitude without any error messages.

This if you have mac

[Ribilla]

Originally Posted by mikesol

Feedback:

This nerf doesn't do a HUGE amount - but it still hurts. It's definitely more of a trickster / ta nerf than it is a laser nerf. Laser rarely needs to worry about pews or anything of that nature. (I'm fine with keeping this nerf although it doesn't really fix the issue)

I still think trick and ta are op - but I think laser needs some definite addressing as many of these nerfs aren't really hurting it in any way.

Laser is countered pretty well by the trick and HCs atm.

TBH the patch previous to this one did exactly the opposite of what it should have done: It nerfed laser at the highest level of play, but kept it easy to be half decent with at lower levels.

As you know I pretty much exclusively kill in TBD, and I found it hard to maintain a 1:1 ratio against the Sammich (which generally fielded tricksters, HCs and a remote), using laser.

I'm of the opinion that laser nerfs should make it harder to use, but without damaging it's overall effectiveness in the hands of a skilled player.

[IstanBull]

Originally Posted by Air Jordan

I keep getting 'Steam is not running' error after this patch. Anyone else with the same problem? I tried reinstalling Altitude without luck.

I have vista 64 bit but i get the same error.

edit: i verified the game cache, it says 8 files are missing and it re-downloads the files. Then when i open the game it starts to download patch again, after it completes download it says i need to restart the game, after restart it just gives the same error message.

[Stormich]

Originally Posted by IstanBull

I have vista 64 bit but i get the same error.

edit: i verified the game cache, it says 8 files are missing and it re-downloads the files. Then when i open the game it starts to download patch again, after it completes download it says i need to restart the game, after restart it just gives the same error message.

could try saving the files somewhere then put them back when the game updates, may not work though

[blln4lyf]

Originally Posted by lamster

We're open to more Miranda adjustments and/or rollbacks -- we had to rush this patch out for the Steam-Mac issue so I just wanted to make sure we tried something. There should be another balance patch before the 15th. The main issue right now is how completely Miranda dominates TBD, to the point of shutting down many other plane options (perhaps a TBD-specific nerf is necessary) but at the highest levels Miranda does great in Ball and other modes too. We just want to find a tweak that prevents Miranda from dominating certain modes.

Good first move but likely too small. Randa is the most "agile" plane and rightfully so, but given that it can't have a massive damage output as well because it will have the ability to have the best positioning due to the agility.

Randa needs to have one of the weakest if not the weakest damage outputs for it not to be broke in tbd imo.

I'd suggest something like quick pews doing less damage while keeping the charged shot the same. This way, to do the max. Damage you'd need to charge which will take away from your agility while holding the charge. Having the pew pews do more damage relative to energy than a charged shot is an issue IMO.

Also, when it comes to lazer, just make the length of the lazer shorter, maybe 35% shorter. If still not balanced after that, decrease the damage of it some so it's not an extremely good damage output. I think making it shorter will work though, since only the "top" players will be able to still dominate as they'll need to approach other players more.

In the end, the potential damage output for Randas should not match other planes, as they currently do.

[Shiro]

Have a longer cooldown for the 180 degree turn. Duh.

[blln4lyf]

Originally Posted by Shiro

Have a longer cooldown for the 180 degree turn. Duh.

That effects other modes like ball wayyyyyy to much. Randa is meant to be the most agile, it just isn't meant to be the best killer. The solution is definitely to make it deal less damage, not to make it less agile, imo of course.

[Ribilla]

Originally Posted by blln4lyf

Good first move but likely too small. Randa is the most "agile" plane and rightfully so, but given that it can't have a massive damage output as well because it will have the ability to have the best positioning due to the agility.

Randa needs to have one of the weakest if not the weakest damage outputs for it not to be broke in tbd imo.

I'd suggest something like quick pews doing less damage while keeping the charged shot the same. This way, to do the max. Damage you'd need to charge which will take away from your agility while holding the charge. Having the pew pews do more damage relative to energy than a charged shot is an issue IMO.

Also, when it comes to lazer, just make the length of the lazer shorter, maybe 35% shorter. If still not balanced after that, decrease the damage of it some so it's not an extremely good damage output. I think making it shorter will work though, since only the "top" players will be able to still dominate as they'll need to approach other players more.

In the end, the potential damage output for Randas should not match other planes, as they currently do.

Do you know what a glass cannon is? Having a plane with the lowest damage and they lowest defence is stupid, it doesn't matter if it's fast or not. There are no points for just avoiding people, unless you're running, which cuts down on both the former things anyway. If you nerf randa damage it will only ever be used for ball/bomb running.

[blln4lyf]

Originally Posted by Ribilla

Do you know what a glass cannon is? Having a plane with the lowest damage and they lowest defence is stupid, it doesn't matter if it's fast or not. There are no points for just avoiding people, unless you're running, which cuts down on both the former things anyway. If you nerf randa damage it will only ever be used for ball/bomb running.

No offense, but randa can still kill well while having low damage output because of the positioning etc. Superior positioning makes up for lower damage, and what we have now is superior positioning combined with very good damage, leading to an OP randa in tbd mode.

I play randa pretty much exclusively, and these changes I recommended wouldn't help me just like they wouldn't help you, but they would help balance the plane in tbd mode and 1dm, etc while keeping it near its current place in ball mode.

[lamster]

Originally Posted by Air Jordan

I keep getting 'Steam is not running' error after this patch. Anyone else with the same problem? I tried reinstalling Altitude without luck.

Working on this now, should have a fix soon.

[lamster]

Originally Posted by Air Jordan

I keep getting 'Steam is not running' error after this patch. Anyone else with the same problem? I tried reinstalling Altitude without luck.

A fix for the all versions of Steam-Altitude is now available (until 5 minutes ago the fix did not work on a few Windows machines). It may take some time for the Steam crew to push this update out so we put together a patch you can apply manually in the meantime. You will need to extract the zip file http://nimblygames.com/altitude/test...o_altitude.zip directly to the Steam altitude folder, ex:

Mac:
/Users/<user>/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/altitude
Windows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\altitude

It should overwrite a few files including game.jar

You should now be able to launch Altitude without any error messages.

[trendy11one]

What if we lower turning speed while lasering? This will help dodge laser easier. With 2 last patches laser still take out 70-80% easily without taking any damage back. Like he can start shooting and if you at open area without corners only way to stay alive is rush out fully burning your energy and pray for him not have enough to warp and/or pewpew you.

There is no plane, who can save 100% of his hp if fighting vs laser. Even TA will be burned a bit. TA with bomb is trash vs laser because he turns too fast.

Only plane who suppose to hit you no matter how you try is loopy, but he cant rapidly turn back and warp. So we may want to make randa more vulnerable while attacking. Imagine any 1v1 vs randa. If someone loss 50% of hp, they have to run away, or laser will melt him down. But if you have enough time and energy to both dodge and counter attack, this will make randa think twice before engaging.

[Ribilla]

Originally Posted by trendy11one

What if we lower turning speed while lasering? This will help dodge laser easier. With 2 last patches laser still take out 70-80% easily without taking any damage back. Like he can start shooting and if you at open area without corners only way to stay alive is rush out fully burning your energy and pray for him not have enough to warp and/or pewpew you.

There is no plane, who can save 100% of his hp if fighting vs laser. Even TA will be burned a bit. TA with bomb is trash vs laser because he turns too fast.

Only plane who suppose to hit you no matter how you try is loopy, but he cant rapidly turn back and warp. So we may want to make randa more vulnerable while attacking. Imagine any 1v1 vs randa. If someone loss 50% of hp, they have to run away, or laser will melt him down. But if you have enough time and energy to both dodge and counter attack, this will make randa think twice before engaging.

I don't think it's OP that laser always does some damage, considering the penalties of charging up (time, energy) keeping charge (energy cap, energy regeneration) and being close the enemy. You could just as easily say that a HC and a trick are always going it hit from laser range, due to the fast projectile speed and they are always going to take away a big chunk of damage.

[trendy11one]

Originally Posted by Ribilla

I don't think it's OP that laser always does some damage, considering the penalties of charging up (time, energy) keeping charge (energy cap, energy regeneration) and being close the enemy. You could just as easily say that a HC and a trick are always going it hit from laser range, due to the fast projectile speed and they are always going to take away a big chunk of damage.

well, no.if you engage with charged laser, once you start, you either kill or take out 50%. both HC and trick relies on how good they aim, otherwise they have not enough energy to bring you down. So if you dodge 1 hc or 1 charged trick shot, you safe. If you dodge half of laser duration, you either dead, or damaged too much. And even more. If you dodge HC - you have 100% and lets say 80% of energy, 20% you spent on quick rush out from bullet. You ready to fight back. To dodge laser as i said, you have to burst all your energy to be semisafe.

And no chance for fight back. So if you in position to shoot plane back/bottom or top(in case of remote), none of them can do anything to. Even if they saw you coming. You will melt them and they have to quick retreat. Other planes relies on how good they aim, laser relies on how many times enemy will be luckily enough to run away. Like. You burn one guy to 40%. Your hp is 100%. Another guy to 50%. 3rd guy. You just warp back if they trying to hit you.

Projectile speed? Laser already there. 100% chance of hit.

[Radium]

I miss a lot with laser idk what you're talking about
or maybe I just suck

[A Nipple]

imo back date the updates to 2009/2010 with the exception of necessary nerfs e.g. anchor.
nipnip

[the bat]

What about the mac keyboard stuck bug? Still persistent :-(

[Slender]

My game updated AGAIN this afternoon even though I had already downloaded the april 4th update.

Any news on this?