Build 41

[rob]

Hi all,

This is a big build, because if things work properly, it marks the end of the pre-alpha testing -- we'll be in closed alpha. Changes include:

* Add invite codes, which are required to make an account; accounts are required to play
* Require 5 region conquers to win the map
* Record fortress kills and gridshard deposits by player and region
* Divide up 2000 VPs at region conquer, based on who killed fortresses and deposited gridshards there
* Award 100k gridshards to all the killers of the last fortress in a region
* Increase town connection bonus to 50k gridshards
* Remove blue dots and the 1k bonus for "conquering a gridpoint"
* Make regions differ more: some are all circle fortresses, others more square than circle, others with larger enemies
* Rewrite all trigger tooltips
* Add Avenger triggers: Positronic Overcharge, Tripolar Induction, Transfrictional Burst & Sigma Pulse
* Fix multi-loot-drop bug with Wolverine DoT
* Double cooldown on Wolverine shield refill

Please give us a few days to verify that the invite code system is working. Once it's confirmed, you'll be free to post any info, screenshots, movies, anything you like, about Grid 12. We'll then give you all some invite codes so you can invite friends.

We'll also put an announcement on the jetbolt.com blog introducing Grid 12. We're not looking for a huge amount of publicity; we just want to end the secrecy. I'm hoping that people who want to alpha test with us will post in these forums asking for invitations, and that the pre-alpha testers will help them out.

We continued shifting toward a more region-centric strategic game. The goal is now to conquer 5 regions, and conquering a region rewards those that did the work. "Killing a fortress" means being nearby when it dies -- if you are eligible for the loot, you get the kill credit. Right now there is no way to see your kills and deposits so far in a region, but we'll have that in build 42 most likely.

As ever, please post issues and opinions here. Thanks for your help!

Rob & Tim

[rob]

Some issues noticed already:

* Sometimes the connection or login/register screens hang on "connecting..."; refresh browser to work around
* Disarm triggers don't work

[tarbomb]

First off: new triggers for avenger is cool, but immobilize remains useless until enemies become more aggressive. I particularly like the "gun modifier" way that the new disarm works (despite the disarm trigger not working) - modifying yourself as an ability is cool.

The new names are slick but are kind of disorganized right now. Examples: blink, depending on the particular tank we're talking about, is called "spacetime fold" (the general one), "zeta discontinuity" (trailblazer), "spatial extrapolation" (spectre), "temporal duality swap" (predator), or "blackbody displacement" (hornet). All of them are variations on the same theme, and I think they should have names that reflect that too. Perhaps all of the blinks, for instance, could have "fold" in the name, e.g. "spatial fold", "spacetime fold", "temporal fold", "zeta fold", etc. That would make the names much more coherent.

I'm excited about the new region-based endgame goal. It's much more natural than the rather arbitrary "amount of towns leveled up" and encourages some order in the map. The 2000 VP bonus should make reaching endgame a desirable goal rather than just a coincidence.

Anyway, I ran into a rather odd bug today. The game locked up on me and the HP bar partially refilled twice spontaneously when I was going deep on a delta refinery. Here's a video of the bug: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dALwZ8X0etY

[vikingmilo]

How can we get an invite code? I'd like to play this.

[tarbomb]

[vkm]

I tried reloading and the whole shenanigans but It won't let me past this

[sven]

Very refreshing to try out different goal course on this build! Towns are just as important for serving as check point to save time from long travels and support clearing/ plowing enemies throughout the regions.

Bugs:

• After dying a few times, I stumble upon this error where I shouldn't encounter it at all. (I don't even have an extra tab of the game running at the time) So I refresh and then it show up in the screen the second time after by passing the main screen) Refresh the second time, I manage to get back into the game-play. i.imgur.com/QGOYeG7.png
  
• This incident occur while the timing of the death teleports the same time as the user press the teleport back to town simultaneously. Thus left the game screen froze in one place leaving it unplayable after a refreshing page. i.imgur.com/I9dUmDA.png
  
• Clearing a region leaves a message of confirmation lefts out a one line spaced, can't tell whether this is intentional or not. i.imgur.com/XtGfpbL.png
  
• Seeing user on screen who teleports to a town causes a delay for the user icon interface to remain stuck within the parameter for short period of time for it to sync back.
  

[a]

I'd love an invite code. Thanks.

[Lux :3]

I would like an invite code as well ^^, btw The game looks amazing!

[pickleface]

This game looks amazing! I would really like an invite code.

[cryophile]

A few things I've noticed:

When I die, the game will reset, but my chat box will disappear and I need to refresh.

When I teleport to a person, it should zoom in closer (Maybe 20-30 tiles across) so I can see the battle going on. Teleporting to an existing firefight and keeping a region wide view will cause a bit of an FPS hit, and by the time I can recover and zoom back in, I'm half dead. Alternatively, we could have a hotkey for multi-level zoom.

The /drive command still fully heals/shields and replenishes triggers. Really easy to abuse while clearing near towns.


We were discussing immobilize not being particularly useful, and here's a situation where we might find some more use: A fortress with minions that move slowly, but have a burst of speed while near you. You wouldn't be able to effectively lure them away or kite them (kind of like the GCT) and you'd want to either blink across them or immobilize them away from their fortress.

My favourite course of action for GCT at the moment is to lure them off a bit while moving backward, and then blink to the far side of the tower and use my boost for some quick, hard damage. I can usually take out a GCT with a couple runs like that.

[z]

I would appreciate an invitation code. I'd love to help test the game and play it!

[cryophile]

The invite codes aren't quite ready yet, and just for the sake of cleanliness, could we move the invite code requests to one of the other new threads?

It would be nice to keep this thread solely for Build 41 or "current" notes and issues.

[vkm]

Its still unable to play...

[tarbomb]

I got greenscreened. To other players it appeared as if I had left the game. (not a death - still had my prisms when coming back).