Build 141

[rob]

Welcome Brave Testers, to build 141! Here are the changes:

* Make Z/Esc work instantly on the client side for overworld
* Add Zetaplane dungeon complex
* Have teleporter objects show their destinations on mouseover

Client-side escape was much needed and pretty easy to do for the overworld. Dungeon Z closes and re-opens your connection instead of teleporting you, so that'll be a different project for another day.

Tim and I worked really hard this week to bring out the Zetaplane randomized dungeon complex. It's a collection of 14 (so far) dungeons that randomly connect to each other via exit teleporters. You can get to the Zetaplane via a crafted key item.

Once inside, you are in Zetaplane Prime, and depending on how well you fight, you'll have a choice of exit teleporters, each of which goes to a different dungeon level. (Even if two teleporters show the same destination, they'll lead to two different instances of it.) The idea is to not die and keep going, hunting for the Resource Containers which drop loot without putting up a fight, and the Commanders which drop three times as much but will punish you severely for trying to take it. Not every level has an exit!

The Zetaplane is meant to be a more roguelike experience than the dungeons we've had before. Every level is timed and there is no guaranteed content other than the initial Zetaplane Prime level. The idea is to pressure the players to find an exit fast, and if they have time left, hunt for another one that may lead to a better destination. We recommend going in groups! Some of the levels are really punishing and have no loot. Others give you lots of loot basically for free. Some levels give you all the rewards (loot & exits) at the end, while others give them to you in stages as you progress through the level. Not all of them are going to be successful & fun, but we thought we'd try a bunch of things and see what works best.

We are both pretty excited by this new system's possibilities, and we'd appreciate your feedback! Thanks so much!

Rob & Tim
Jetbolt Games

[Jelly]

Sounds like alot of fun! Also, better escape was much needed so thank you.

[nathan]

Sounds cool. I've been whining about the death in origin for a while now lol

[Crunch]

Found a 'safe spot' on the Spire boss:


It's no harder than a normal batman tower if you stick to either of these lanes. Any tank with moderate range and a forward gun completely trashes the boss. Basically, it's free loot. I would recommend patching this up at some point, as the excellent rewards don't match the required effort. I'm sure there are plenty of other campy areas for this boss, but this one is incredibly easy to identify and leaves an entire runway for avoiding the batarangs. 

[rob]

Just to be clear, you're exploiting the fact that the orbs never come down those lanes, right? The Zetaplane Fireships (come on people, I worked hard to come up with that name) still have to be dodged right? And so the fix is to make the orbs not use the same angles every time, right?

[Crunch]

May 8, 2015 9:25:27 GMT -5 rob said:

Just to be clear, you're exploiting the fact that the orbs never come down those lanes, right? The Zetaplane Fireships (come on people, I worked hard to come up with that name) still have to be dodged right? And so the fix is to make the orbs not use the same angles every time, right?

You are exactly right. Also, not apologizing for 'batman/batarang' ;P

[Crunch]

Display bug:
Vela equipped to a Minotaur causes the forward shield to be drawn incorrectly (I took some damage to show that they're drawn on top of each other):

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Edit for more Bugs:

1) Changing tanks while an enemy is destroyed (tested on convoy, small tower, and zetaplane foe) will dc you and all members of your party. 

To repro:
>Switch to any forward shooting tank
>Copy "/drive sil" to clipboard 
>While zoomed out on the map, set driving waypoint to nearest small tower
>While tank approaches combat, press Enter > Ctrl+V
>When tank is firing its final shot to kill enemy, press Enter once more
>Observe desync 

2) Pressing "Use" on dungeon keys, while another player is on top of you, removes item from inventory, but does not open dungeon.

To repro:
>Drive to open space
>Open inventory and select dungeon key (ensure the option to use is available)
>Have player drive to or teleport to your postion
>Press "Use"
>Item is removed from inv, but no entrance is spawned

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 Super edit: Oops! Just realized that I screwed up you link on this Trello ticket

[rob]

I think I fixed the server crash on tank change. Let me know if you see this again.

[whitebad]

In zeta, when entering another level, two times I got a red screen with message "You are logged from another computer".

[Crunch]

Not sure if this is a bug, or if by design, but rotating on dungeon portals/entrances prevents players from accessing the dungeon. Having to sit still, in a hostile environment, puts a tank in extreme danger. Being unable to utilize one of the fundamental defensive strategies (rotating shields) only increases the likelihood dying while waiting for the portal.

[rob]

There were two reasons for the "hold still to teleport" design. One was to make it harder to accidentally teleport. Another was to make it tough to teleport in combat. I'm willing to revisit the design, but it thought it would be helpful for the discussion to lay out the original thinking.