|
|
Post by rob on Apr 3, 2013 13:10:09 GMT -5
Hi all, After a break induced by GDC we present build 44! Changes include: * A new test client produced by the Flash Builder 4.7 compiler (details below) * Adjust Silver shields * Buff Mustang shields * Buff Corsair damage * Reduce Wildfire lightning range while buffed; reduce rate of fire * Increase Wolverine shield regen trigger cooldown; decrease DoT damage * Attempt to improve server performance by ticking offscreen objects less frequently * Adjust width and height of healthbars based on amount of health and minion vs building * Remove lenses * Recolor some loot bags * Log Stage3D driver info to chat at startup We made many balance changes based on previous feedback. We welcome more feedback on this subject. We also started experimenting with a new Flash compiler. To use the test client built with this new compiler, go to grid12.com/test1/. We are interested in any differences you notice, in terms of performance or bugs. Also, we've noticed that the test client sometimes displays a different Stage3D driver. We hope to release more invites later in the week to test the server performance changes. Please post your thoughts below. Thanks for playing! Rob & Tim |
|
|
|
Post by hypevosa on Apr 3, 2013 15:53:07 GMT -5
Love the new healthbars, however when they're changing sizes it seems to induce a little lag.
Overall my laptop is playing the game much more smoothly, your little tricks seem to have paid off for my performance at least.
Jumped in with my wildfire and destroyed 2 drills in a matter of 2 minutes with no help, but I assume I was getting the lone wolf bonus to all my stats and can't make a fair judgement of balance.
|
|
|
|
Post by hypevosa on Apr 3, 2013 16:29:33 GMT -5
Stress testing on test1 and normal by driving to a triple drill in my wildfire and going crazy with triggers resulted in the same exact lag, and there was no discernable difference between them during normal play for me either.
I cannot justify the spectre for use anywhere in this game over other tanks. Its low DPS, only half decent shielding and half decent health, make it a very poor choice in comparison to any other 1k vp tank. The issue here is not in the idea that it is for long range, but the fact that all enemies with short range are quick to chase you down and kill you, and all enemies otherwise can just shoot you from the get go anyways.
The Phantom might be useful if its shielding and HP weren't paper thin for a tank that's supposed to literally be surrounded on all sides to be effective - a few seconds of stealth once in a long while does not quite compensate for that.
|
|
|
|
Post by gingerbear on Apr 3, 2013 17:45:09 GMT -5
Do we need another passcode for the test server or the main works too? (I forgot to save my code so can't register there unless ocud remembers which one he gave me, heh.)
|
|
|
|
Post by rob on Apr 3, 2013 18:30:53 GMT -5
There is no test server. The test is for the client. Log in with your same user name and password.
|
|
|
|
Post by tim on Apr 4, 2013 10:33:40 GMT -5
(I forgot to save my code so can't register there unless ocud remembers which one he gave me, heh.) Codes are one-time use as well. |
|
|
|
Post by quicklite on Apr 4, 2013 12:21:14 GMT -5
I'm a little bit less fond of the new health bars tbh. I mean, they are a lot clearer, and they don't lag me, but they are a little too stand-out-ish and seem to fit in with the game less well than the old ones, but that's just an opinion. Maybe add an option to toggle between the two kinds of health bars or something? Couldn't hurt.
As for the test1 client, I find that that client takes a really long time to load, but once loaded is significantly less laggy than the other client.
|
|
|
|
Post by gorigami on Apr 4, 2013 18:14:46 GMT -5
Upon logging in it says that I'm using OpenGL so the baseline is restricted. Then the game freezes if I get within half a screen of any enemy.
All my inputs still work and the arrow pointing to the town changes as if I was moving (which I guess I am) but my screen shows me staying in place.
|
|
|
|
Post by gorigami on Apr 4, 2013 18:35:40 GMT -5
Happens on both URLs of playing. Also on any ship I use. Sometimes with hornet range I can shoot enemies without freezing.
|
|
|
|
Post by amitp on Apr 4, 2013 19:09:38 GMT -5
If you see "software" for the driver, there are at least four different types, explained here. I get "OpenGL (baseline constrained)". I'm not quite sure what this means; I see “constrained mode” described here. It doesn't seem like any of the constrained mode restrictions would affect Grid12's graphics (relatively simple). |
|
|
|
Post by rob on Apr 4, 2013 21:00:50 GMT -5
Upon logging in it says that I'm using OpenGL so the baseline is restricted. Then the game freezes if I get within half a screen of any enemy. All my inputs still work and the arrow pointing to the town changes as if I was moving (which I guess I am) but my screen shows me staying in place. What OS version are you using? Does this happen on all browsers? What is the driver info that is printed on startup? What framerate are you seeing before the crash, and what memory usage? |
|
|
|
Post by tarbomb on Apr 7, 2013 10:52:32 GMT -5
Haven't seen much of a difference with Silver.
Corsair is now a decent, usable tank, especially in Ionic regions.
Mustang is thoroughly a pleasure to use. It's become one of my favorites.
Wildfire nerf is undetectable for me. It remains an above-average but not unbalancing tank, mainly limited by the cooldown of its cloak and main gun buff.
Wolverine is balanced, finally.
I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the server changes or not, but I'm getting the buildings don't show up in town bug more frequently.
The new healthbars are a vast improvement over the old one, but now that they're variable-size I don't see the need for different colors anymore. Just have red bars for enemies and green ones for friendlies.
I did some testing running the test client and the normal one side by side. The performance, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is identical.
|
|
|
|
Post by gingerbear on Apr 7, 2013 11:45:04 GMT -5
Tested both the test1 client and the "main" client on Chrome and Firefox, couldn't percieve much difference in perfprmance. Both showed DirectX9 (baseline constrained), and FPS got generally capped at about 30/60 (with an average of 20 on sprite-intense scenes).
|
|
|
|
Post by gorigami on Apr 7, 2013 14:43:24 GMT -5
rob I'm at this point unable to recreate the semi-crash but if it happens again I'll make sure to look. I do know that the little graphs on the top left maintained their usual progress, which I assume means that fps is constant. The arrow pointing to the town was moving just fine at I assume 60 fps. Mac Mini OS 10.7.5 Intel Core i7 thingy
|
|
|
|
Post by hypevosa on Apr 7, 2013 17:51:02 GMT -5
I'm getting baseline constrained on my gaming pc, which doesn't make sense since I'm running dual 560 ti gtx cards. What on earth do I need in order to not have my performance limited? O.O
|
|
