Build 83

[rob]

Hello Brave Testers!

We just pushed build 83. Changes include:

* Remove subcommanders and supply caches from maze regions
* Remove escape flotillas from "normal" regions
* Put 3 towns in each maze region, in the hallways
* Add Exterminator-class Missile Station for the maze halls
* Stop GCT minions from vanishing when GCT dies
* Reduce Trailblazer gun to 70 dps
* Add Desolation-class Security Post (medium square)

This week we again spend most of our time on internal work. Tim continued sprucing up the Maker, which helped me to get a couple of new fortresses done this week. I made the changes in subcommanders, flotillas and towns largely because it was now possible to do so, due to some internal refactoring I worked on this week.

I changed Blazer mainly because of the unexpected utility it had against convoys. If scouting becomes too hard, we can try to come up with a different buff that won't affect combat.

Please post comments and bug reports below. Thanks for playing!

Rob & Tim
Jetbolt Games

[tarbomb]

Desolation seems to be a well-designed, if bland, enemy following the "big gun building with mobile minions" design philosophy.

The exterminator missile stations are, simply put, brutal. I haven't yet found a way to reliably kill them without resorting to hit-and-run - one or two are ok, but since they have an enormous range it's not hard to draw fire from four or more of those beasts. Missiles are fired at a very high rate, travel quickly, and circling isn't an option due to the walls. My impression is that they need some kind of nerf (I would suggest having the missiles be blocked by the mini-walls surrounding the exterminators, and other exterminators - it would make for an interesting cover dynamic), but at the moment I haven't seen them enough to be sure about my opinion. They might very well be doable with more people (which is, unfortunately, something that grid12 lacks). On the plus side, the miniature walls are great at contributing a "maze feel" to the region.

I don't think the trailblazer's lost much of its scouting potential. Gun DPS is only useful during maybe 5% of a typical scouting run, and going from 100 to 70 DPS affects scouting minimally. This makes me wonder, though - why a single, sniper-style gun? Why not a short ranged hurricane style defensive lightning gun?

Finally, on escape flotillas: I frankly feel that they still need a substantial rework. Right now, they're effectively another kind of convoy, with similar loot drops, danger level, and time to kill. However, clearing a convoy route is good for 50 convoys, while clearing out a path for a flotilla is only good for one flotilla. Convoy routes are also typically around two to three regions long once fully cleared. In the best case, flotilla routes are half that much. I don't really think the work/reward factor makes sense; with the restriction of flotillas to maze regions only, I'd suggest making them follow the maze once non-wall enemies are almost clear.

Edit: sticky enemy client-side bug is still here:



Also, excluders drop tons of prisms and are pretty easy to kill. Exterminators are horribly dangerous and are stingier with respect to prisms than Ebenezer Scrooge. I think the drop tables should be swapped, at the very least. It's not worth it to kill exterminators right now. The danger is extremely high and the reward is miserable.

[rob]

Thank you for this feedback! Just quickly, not every enemy should be soloable, in my opinion. So I'm inclined to wait on adjusting Exterminator's difficulty until we discover whether groups can handle them. As for prisms, I'm starting to think that high-value enemies shouldn't drop them. That is, you should have to go find prisms as part of your punishment for dying.

We can do a new gun for Trailblazer. But the lightning guns currently always hit buildings and minions, which I don't think we want in a scouting tank. We could increase rate of fire (reducing damage to keep DPS constant) to reduce overkill, and reduce range. Mainly I want trailblazer to be useful in its role without stepping on other tanks' roles, as it was doing with its previous big gun. On the other hand, if the current gun is fine, let's not mess with it but work on other new stuff instead.

I agree that flotillas aren't fun. We'll revamp or get rid of them someday.

[delsy]

It's a real treat to find actual missiles in grid, now that I'm back from a period of bullet-hell games. More so for when I have to sneak between the gaps in the bullets with tank controls, of all things. In my experience, there's potential for a Viking or Predator to take out Exterminators in a reasonable amount of time, backing out only once, if you have the right footwork. Which may be due to the only-one-online damage bonus I've heard about. Just saying it's possible to solo, if not a cakewalk.

In general, I like the enemies I'm encountering, and I'm rediscovering a certain joy in working around the handicaps of tank movement and the attacks of the tanks themselves. Which has plenty to do with having physical bullets to dodge. An issue that I now see with the laser-dominated grid of yore is that lasers were so immediate. A degree of damage mitigation was possible by keeping distance, but there wasn't much visible to plan for. And with seemingly nothing to plan for, play was simplified to attacking if shields were high, retreating if low (unless you took time to learn and take advantage of various ranges). Status effects were much more meaningful, and damage was something that just happened if you parked your tank here or there. But with bullets, staying in to use your guns is not so quickly made into a simple endurance game. Avoiding bullets with a tank lets you stay in long after your life's worth of them have passed you by. If you do, you have the extra challenge of keeping your guns lined up the right way.

Which isn't to say that lasers are bad. The constant threat of immediate laser fire kept me to the middle of the path. If they weren't there, I could circle a quarter-ways around and only have to dodge their bullets from one general direction. I think it's a good dynamic.

More returning experiences to come.

[Duco]

I just tried out the Tormentor-class Missile Station.

On a weakened one (purple dot) I didn't take any damage at all after the minions died, and the bullets move so slow it won't even get close to hittng me.
You should slightly increase minion spawn rate, and the range at wich they are spawned to make you bump into the minions and get hit.

The full-power one was slightly more difficult, but still too easy.


Tested with Hurricane and Valkyrie.

EDIT: Avenger is easy too.

[Duco]

I really like the new medium square enemies. Desolation-class looks good too.

But you really shouldn't underestimate the power of bumping into minions. It was the main reason I ever died on the old drills.

[tarbomb]

Pane glitch is still around: vimeo.com/85219999.

This occurred right after I had died, and seems to be client side - nobody saw it but me.