Game version 3812

A hotfix to fix three additional bugs.

With kind regards,

BlackYps

Bug fixes

• (#6398) Fix a possible cause for a simulation freeze

It was possible to pass invalid numbers (NaN or infinite) as a ballistic acceleration for a projectile. This would cause the engine to freeze up. With these changes we introduce Lua guards to catch the invalid numbers and throw an error instead of passing the invalid number to the engine.

• (#6404) Fix upgrading units being duplicated when transferred after death.

• #83 Experimental units can now be attached to transports via script again.

Other changes

• (#6399) Document method chaining of projectile engine functions

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

@Garanas
@relent0r
@Basilisk3
@lL1l1

With thanks to the following people who contributed through binary patches:

@Hdt80bro

Game version 3811

Fixes various bugs and inconsistencies that were reported by players.

With kind regards,

BlackYps

Balance

• (#6339) Balance changes to the Fatboy

In general the Fatboy has been in an awkward position for a while now. With these changes we try to mitigate some of the perceived issues while preserving the identity of the Fatboy.

• The shield is improved to increase its survivability and durability on the battlefield.

  • ShieldRechargeTime: 120 -> 75
  • ShieldRegenRate: 100 -> 200

• The anti air guns are stronger and have more range to allow it to fend off stray air units.

  • Range: 45 -> 55
  • Damage: 20 -> 40

• The (collision) size is reduced by roughly 5% - 7% to make artillery less viable.

  • UniformScale: 2.22 -> 2.15
  • ShieldSize: 25 -> 24
  • SizeX: 5.5 -> 5.2
  • SizeY: 1.5 -> 1.4
  • SizeZ: 8.0 -> 7.2

• (#6360) Increase the hitboxes of a wide range of units to fix them being able to evade torpedoes due to their hitbox being too shallow. Lots of units, such as ships or Cybran/UEF engineers, have part of their hitboxes below ground level to enable torpedo weapons to damage them when on water. Prior to this PR however, the hitboxes of many units were not submerged deep enough into the water, which caused torpedoes to not be able to hit them reliably. This was the case for almost 30 units, most notably the Cooper, but also all movable and immovable Sonars.

  • Change the CollisionOffsetY of all affected units from -0.25 to -0.375
  • Increase the SizeY of the affected units accordingly, to prevent their hitbox from becoming too short.

  This change does have balance implications, especially in the case of the Cooper, since the bug caused this unit to receive damage from torpedoes both later and less often.

Features

• (#6309) The movement speed of transports now changes based on how many and which types of units they have loaded.

  • Units slow down transports based on their TransportSpeedReduction stat. If a unit has a TransportSpeedReduction of 1, each instance of this unit will slow down the transport's MaxAirspeed by 1. The primary implication of this change is that the effectiveness of the currently too oppressive Zthuee drops is reduced in an intuitive way. The effectiveness of ACU drops via Tech 2 transports remains unchanged.

    • TransportSpeedReduction: 0.15 (Tech 1 land units)
    • TransportSpeedReduction: 0.3 (Tech 2 land units)
    • TransportSpeedReduction: 0.6 (Tech 3 land units)
    • TransportSpeedReduction: 1 (ACUs and SACUs)
    • TransportSpeedReduction: 1 (Tech 4 land units for compatibility with survival maps)

  • To prevent drops from being nerfed too much by this change, the speeds of all transports is increased.

    • MaxAirspeed: 10 --> 10.75 (Tech 1 transports)
    • MaxAirspeed: 13.5 --> 14.5 (Tech 2 transports)
    • MaxAirspeed: 15 --> 17.5 (The Continental)

• (#6309) Display the TransportSpeedReduction stat in the additional unit details displayed when Show Armament Detail in Build Menu is enabled in the settings.

• (#6363) When an army is defeated, transfer all unbuilt units instead of only Experimentals and T3 Arty.

  • When a unit fails to rebuild because its build site was blocked (for example a unit in factory), the mass invested is returned as a wreck.

Bug fixes

• (#6321) Fix the Yolona's missile staying underground after being shared to another player.

• (#6329) Fix the selection box of the Uyanah (Seraphim T3 Lightning Tank) being unusually thin. Fix the life bar and selection box of the Vulthoo (Seraphim T2 Gunship) not lining up with its model. The Vulthoo was made physically larger in a previous patch.

AI - Fixed a bug with recording a platoon's plan and certain other platoon related logic

• (#6337) Fixed a bug where HotBuild keybindings did not reset to the first unit/building in the cycle when the key was pressed again.

• (#6342) Fix an error related to the blinking lights of structures

• (#6345) Fix a bug where the air-to-ground weapons of Bombers would break

• (#6345) Fix a bug where the Scorcher can freeze the simulation indefinitely

• (#6364) Fix the game crashing when enabling auto-overcharge with a non-Seraphim SACU selected.

AI

• (#6292) Create base state machine files for AI engineer utility machine, update state machine for tml.

• (#6390) Fix a bug in the navigational mesh that could significantly slow down the simulation

When we generate a navigational mesh the map is split into areas of terrain that units can walk over. This is done for each of the four layers (land, water, hover and amphibious). Heightmaps can be noisy, and therefore there can be thousands of tiny (the size of a wall) areas scattered across the map. These areas are to be culled, reducing the number of areas to take into account by a significant factor. Think in terms of going from 6000+ areas to (usually) less then 10. The culling did not work however.

Some computations of the AI take into account the number of areas. These computations would blow up with thousands of areas, significantly slowing down the simulation.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• @BlackYps
• @MrRowey
• @lL1l1
• @Garanas (Jip)
• @Basilisk3
• @maudlin27
• @ErikMekkes
• @relent0r

With thanks to the following people who contributed through binary patches:

• @Hdt80bro

Game version 3810

Because of the time and effort of a wide range of contributors we now have one of the largest game patches since a long time. In general there have been good and constructive conversations between contributors that brought us to this point. And I'd like to show my sincere appreciation towards those contributors for making this possible. This does not only apply to contributors of the game team, it applies to all contributors that took part in discussions.

As people come to help and contribute, so do people eventually go and move on. I've been the game team lead the past three years and in general I think my contributions have been a net positive towards the FAForever project. However, I could not have done it without the help of a wide range of contributors - whom I will not name in fear of forgetting someone. Just as I appreciate the discussions that brought us this patch, so did I appreciate the same welcoming environment between contributors the past three years.

And as my motivation to contribute towards the FAForever project dwindles I've decided to proceed to step down as the lead of the game team. This created a window for contributors to step up and eventually BlackYps decided to do so. He's been contributing towards the FAForever project for several years now. He's a board member of the association. In general he has the right character and intentions. And I am looking forward to what he'll do with the role.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to contribute,

Jip

Balance

• (#6073, #6094) Allow Mongoose to fire from transports.

• (#5895) After receiving several buffs, the Seraphim Tech 3 Submarine Hunter has become too oppressive, especially in larger formations. These changes aim to bring it back in line, while preserving its identity.

  • Yathsou: T3 Submarine Hunter (XSS0304):
    • Damage: 290 --> 380
    • RateOfFire: 0.25 --> 0.22
    • MuzzleSalvoDelay: 0.7 --> 1
    • MuzzleSalvoSize: 5 --> 4
    • DPS: 363 --> 338
    • Torpedo Defense RateOfFire (x2): 0.15 --> 0.1

• (#5883) Allow Chrono Dampener to fire immediately when a unit comes into range.

  Previously, Chrono was synced to game time to prevent stun locking. Now, units have a cooldown before they can be stunned by any Chrono, which prevents stun locking while allowing the new Chrono to be more responsive.

• (#5901) Increase UEF T3 MAA's damage and DPS, and swap its speed with Aeon's T3 MAA.

  • Cougar: T3 Mobile Rapid-fire AA Cannon (DELK002):
    • Damage per volley: 1200 --> 1400
    • DPS: 176 --> 206
    • Speed: 3.3 -> 3.5
  • Redeemer: T3 Mobile Missile Anti-Air (DALK003):
    • Speed: 3.5 -> 3.3

  This brings its DPS closer in line with other factions. It can now take out a strategic bomber in 3 salvo's instead of 4. And with the increased movement speed it can better keep up to Titans and Parashields. Swapping the speed with Redeemer maintains a semblance of faction diversity. Redeemer was chosen because it doesn't really need its speed due to asylums being far too quick (4.0) to keep up with, and harbingers being relatively slow at 3.0 speed.

• (#6060, #6296) Make static shields absorb ACU explosions.

  Static shields absorb full damage from ACU explosions. For example, this prevents ACU explosions from killing all engineers inside shielded bases/firebases.
  Mobile shields do not absorb damage from ACU explosions because the ACU explosion is an anti-snowball mechanic and it would be very unfair for Aeon and UEF T2 to ignore it.

  The structure part of static shields still takes reduced structure damage from ACU explosions.

• (#6104) Reduce the hit points of stationary tactical missile launchers (TML) and make them volatile.

  • HP: 1500 --> 900
  • Death Weapon
    • Damage: 750
    • AoE (UEF/Aeon/Sera): 2
    • AoE (Cybran): 3

• (#6103) Greatly increase Othuum's maneuverability and slightly increase the range of its short range guns to make it better in early T3 rushes and T3 raids.

  • Othuum: T3 Siege Tank (XSL0303):
    • TurnRate: 75 -> 90
    • MaxBrake: 2.85 -> 3.55
    • Bolters' range: 20 -> 22
    • Bolters' yaw speed: 120 -> 170
    • Thau cannon yaw speed: 90 -> 125

• (#6179) Increase Ilshavoh's max turn rate from 75 to 90 and on the spot turn rate from 45 to 90.

• (#6107) Absolver can no longer damage shields while they are disabled.

  Shields can now recharge as usual.

• (#6125) Increase the hitpoints of the Aeon Tech 1 MAA so that it can survive the first salvo of a Seraphim Tech 1 bomber.

  • Thistle: T1 Mobile Anti-Air Gun (UAL0104):
    • MaxHealth: 250 --> 265

• (#5874) Reduce the costs of the UEF Bubble Shield Upgrade.

  • Energy Cost: 70000 --> 45000
  • Mass Cost: 2000 --> 1400
  • Build Time: 1700 --> 1500
  • Shield
    • HP: 7000 --> 5000
    • Recharge Time: 60 --> 45
    • Regen Rate: 67 --> 60

• (#6140) Slightly buff the Seraphim Tech 2 gunship to better align it with its intended role as a 'Tech 2.5-unit'.

  • Vulthoo: T2 Gunship (XSA0203):
    • Damage (x2): 19.2 --> 20
    • MaxRadius (x2): 22 --> 24

• (#6141) Slightly buff the Hoplite by increasing the muzzle velocity of its rockets.

  • Hoplite: T2 Rocket Bot (DRL0204):
    • MuzzleVelocity: 20 --> 25

• (#6150) Reduce Salvation's maximum reload discount adjacency bonus from 42% to 20%.

  After being fixed a long time ago, the adjacency bonus made Salvation more effective than Mavor as a game ending artillery as recently discovered. Since Salvation's purpose is to be spammed en masse after a Paragon, and not to be built independently as a superior artillery piece, the adjacency bonus that makes building Salvation without Paragon overpowered is nerfed.

• (#5874) Fine tune the balance of the Tech 2 naval stage.

  • Uashavoh: T2 Destroyer (XSS0201):
    • AntiTorpedo RateOfFire: 0.26 --> 0.3
  • Salem Class: T2 Destroyer (URS0201):
    • BackUpDistance: 5 --> 10
  • Cooper: T2 Torpedo Boat (XES0102):
    • Health: 1750 --> 2000

• (#6235) Tone down the Tempest, as it has become too oppressive and snowballed too quickly. Most importantly, its extremely powerful depth charges now fire once every 6 seconds instead of once every 5 seconds and have a reduced range. Additionally, the amount of mass required for it to attain one level of veterancy is increased from 12k to 18k.

  • Tempest: Experimental Battleship (UAS0401):
    • Oblivion Cannon Damage: 8000 --> 10000
    • Oblivion Cannon RateOfFire: 0.1 --> 0.08
    • Harmonic Depth Charge MaxRadius: 80 --> 65
    • Harmonic Depth Charge RateOfFire: 0.2 --> 0.1667
    • Harmonic Depth Charge DPS: 420 --> 350
    • VeteranMassMult: 0.5 --> 0.75
  • Atlantis: Experimental Aircraft Carrier (UES0401):
    • TurnRate: 12 --> 18
    • VeteranMassMult: 0.5 --> 0.75

• (#6252) A bug fix reverts a 1.2 -> 1.3 second reload time increase for the following unit weapons:

  • Megalith proton cannons, CZAR AA missiles, Pillar cannons, and Cybran cruiser AA.

• (#6202) Increase the energy maintenance cost of the Barracuda (Cybran T2 Sub) from 30 to 45. This makes it more of a choice to enable the stealth, similar to how it is for the Cybran ASF.

• (#6211) Increase the velocity and lifetime of the Wailer's AA-missiles, since they often expired before they were able to reach their target.

  • Wailer: T3 Heavy Gunship (XRA0305):
    • MuzzleVelocity: 13 --> 22
    • ProjectileLifetime: 2.0 --> 2.4

• (#6043) The BuildRate and BuildTime stats of all Radars and Sonars are updated to be more streamlined. The build time of Tech 2 Sonars is corrected to ensure it is not longer than that of Tech 3 Sonars. Tech 3 Sonars get their very low build time increased, to compensate for their Tech 2 counterparts being much quicker to build and providing more build power.

  • Tech 1 Radars:
    • BuildRate: 14.08 --> 13
  • Tech 2 Radars:
    • BuildRate: 21.46 --> 20
    • BuildTime: 845 --> 780
  • Tech 3 Radars:
    • BuildTime: 2575 --> 2400
  • Tech 1 Sonars:
    • BuildRate: 14.08 --> 13
    • BuildTime: 127.5 --> 125
    • BuildCostEnergy: 1275 --> 1250
  • Tech 2 Sonars:
    • BuildRate: 15 --> 20
    • BuildTime: 1680 --> 780
    • BuildTime: 2120 --> 1040 (Seraphim)
  • Tech 3 Sonars:
    • BuildTime: 750 --> 1200
    • BuildTime: 900 --> 1400 (Cybran)

• (#6082) The BuildRate and BuildTime statistics of several shield generators are updated to be more streamlined. The Seraphim Tech 2 Shield Generator gains build power, as it previously had a very low amount. The Aeon Tech 2 Shield Generator loses its build power, as it cannot be upgraded.

  • Tech 2 Shield Generators:
    • BuildRate: 13.66 --> 0 (Aeon)
    • BuildRate: 12.98 --> 20 (Seraphim)
    • BuildRate: 19.95 --> 20 (UEF)
  • Tech 3 Shield Generators:
    • BuildTime: 5841 --> 5800 (Seraphim)
    • BuildTime: 4988 --> 5000 (UEF)

Features

• (#6282) The unit viewer that appears when you hover over a unit now shows decimals for mass/energy consumption/production, which helps show adjacency bonuses and other small numbers.

• (#5948) Introduce a reticule for displaying the capture cost and duration when in capture mode.

• (#6095, #6312, #6317) Implement a new area attack order when you left click and drag while issuing an attack command. It issues extra orders within the radius of the command which you can then distribute to spread out the attacks.

• (#6169) Shoulder pods (ACU drones) now track the focus of their parent unit more closely and will automatically switch to any engineering task their parent starts. Additionally, pods can now be properly assisted by other engineering units, and assist commands targeting them will persist when the pod attaches/detaches from the parent.

• (#6160) Show the division of players in the default scoreboard instead of rating in matchmaker games

• (#6079) Make various structures easier to plac...

Game version 3809

Fixes various reported issues.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Balance changes

• (#6099) Decrease rate of fire of the Cybran TML

It can now fire a tactical missile every 3 seconds instead of every 1.5 seconds. Other factions can fire a tactical missile every 6 seconds.

Bug fixes

• (#6099) Fix a bug where the lobby would reject players with a nickname of just 2 characters

• (e4e5568) Fix a bug where the UEF ACU would get confused and steer away from targets right outside the attack radius of the primary weapon

Other changes

• (#6099) Add basic anti-spam protection against taunts

• (#6079) Make various structures easier to place to help with base building.

  • All Tech 3 Power Generators, Tech 3 Mass Fabricators, Tech 3 Artilleries, Shield Structures, Land Factories and Air Factories:
    • MaxGroundVariation: 1.0 --> 1.1
  • All Game Enders except for the Scathis:
    • MaxGroundVariation: 1.0 --> 1.2

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• @Garanas
• @Basilisk3

And, last but certainly not least - with thanks to those that took part in constructive discussions:

• @Sheikah45
• @Brutus5000
• Sladow
• Farms
• Tatsu
• Melanol
• @relent0r

Game version 3808

A small hotfix because it appears we finally managed to get achievements working again.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (#6058, a132700) Fix another bug with achievements

Preliminary data in the server logs show that achievements are being processed and updated again for players on the FAF Develop game type! With this release we make the current state of our hunt on bugs surrounding achievements available to the player base. We'll use that data to determine whether we finally found all the issues.

AI

• (#6052) Remove rounding performed on AI unit threat level calculations to improve threat assignment and variation between units.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• Relent0r
• lL1l1
• Jip

Game version 3807

Fixes various reported issues and removes the 1st april pranks from the game again. They are still available as separate mods. You can find them here:

• Nyan cat Overcharge
• W I D E ACUs

Again with thanks to @Deribus for his extended effort and time in creating the initial implementation.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (#6044) Fix Seraphim experimentals not appearing in the Notify settings window in normal games after having played Nomads.

• (#73) Fix a memory leak where weak tables are not deallocated by the garbage collector

Balance

• (#6040) Make veterancy requirements equal for presets and normal SACUs

Previously, the cost of enhancements for an SACU preset was added to the veterancy requirement of the unit, making it much harder to gain veterancy with them than manually upgraded SACUs.

Graphics

• (#6036) Add custom 'foot fall textures' for the Ythotha

Previously the Ythotha would use the same texture that the ACU does, but scaled up. It now uses a custom made texture that better fits the shape. It's not perfect, if you're interested in improving it then do get in touch with us!

Other Changes

• (#6037) Various smaller improvements to the additional unit details displayed when Show Armament Detail in Build Menu is enabled in the settings.

• (#6036) Reduce the lifetime of foot fall textures

They are now inline with tread marks, reduced from roughly 120 seconds to 4 - 8 seconds.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• @lL1l1
• @Basilisk3
• @Garanas (Jip)

With thanks to the following people who contributed through binary patches:

• @4z0t

With thanks to the following individuals who contributed through model, texture, and effect changes:

• @Garanas (Jip)

And, last but certainly not least - with thanks to those that took part in constructive discussions:

• @Deribus
• Aranei (Discord user)
• RarePleasure (Discord user)

Game version 3806

Fixes various bugs and visual inconsistencies that were reported by players.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (#6021) Fix the teleport reticle crashing when using a modded scoreboard

• (#6021) Fix the teleport reticle not working on maps not aligned to the top left corner

• (#6022) Fix a bug where the Seraphim Air Factories are more sensitive to the terrain than the air factories of other factions.

• (#6026) Fix a bug where the build icons of the build queues of units would randomly pop up on screen when observing and/or watching a replay.

Balance

• (#6031) With the solid argumentation of Derp we decided to revert the revert of the revert that reverts the revert of the Tele Billy.

Other Changes

• (#6027) Attempt to fix odd behavior with the ACU when it gains veterancy.

With thanks to the community and specifically to @Deribus for investigating.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• @lL1l1
• @Basilisk3
• @Garanas
• @Deribus

And, last but certainly not least - with thanks to those that took part in constructive discussions:

• Derp
• Stormlantern
• @Sheikah45

And with special thanks to Derp and @Deribus for all their time and effort!

Game version 3805

Fixes various issues that were introduced in the past game versions.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (#6017) Fix a bug that prevents you from upgrading tech 2 mass extractors to tech 3 mass extractors

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

@Garanas (Jip)

Game version 3804

Fixes various issues that were introduced in the past game versions. The most notable issue is the bug where the fog of war is not removed when a game ends.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (#6002) Fix a bug where the map would not reveal at the end of the game

• (#6007) Fix Siren uselessly trying to repair units when assisting them

• (#6015) Fix a bug with capping extractors via the context-based templates feature

It was no longer possible to create the mass storage template for tech 2 or higher extractors with tech 1 engineers.

• (#6013) Fix an exploit with the copy/distribute orders feature

The exploit was that a player could assign attack orders to (mobile) units that you lack any form of intel of as long as you control one unit that has an attack order that you can distribute and/or copy.

Features

• (#6009) Add separate hotkeys to select all normal bombers and all torpedo bombers

  They can be found in the Selection category of the hotkeys as "Select all Bombers (Normal)" and "Select all Bombers (Torpedo)".
  Selecting normal bombers excludes the Mercy, as it is a kamikaze missile.

• (#6015) Extend the context-based templates feature

• (#6010) Add a hotkey label for the Attack Move button

• (#6015, #6016) Extend the context-based templates feature

The context-based templates feature generates and adjusts templates based on the context of your mouse. Globally speaking, this is one of two categories:

• (1) Mouse is over a unit or a build order

In this case the first template will always be the first buildable version of the unit that you're hovering over. Then additional templates may be introduced for common tasks, such as capping an extractor with storages.

The first 'template' acts like a color picker - it enables you to copy the unit you're hovering over and build more of them.

• (2) Mouse is over a deposit, land or water

In this scenario you can easily create mass extractors, hydrocarbons and/or walled point defenses.

Other Changes

• (#6002) Simplify the setup for moderator events

• (#6001) Add missing categories to units with Anti-Torpedo defenses

• (#6012) Add missing categories to the CZAR

• (#6005) Remove the BUILTBYEXPERIMENTALSUB category from all units that previously had it. As this category was unused, the Tempest still functions as you would expect.

• (#6006) Remove the MASSFABRICATION category from all ACUs, SACUs and the Paragon. Add the ANTIMISSILE category to the Seraphim Aircraft Carrier.

• (#6008) Remove the ANTIMISSILE category from the Brick as it does not have torpedo defenses

• (#6009) Add Mercy to the BOMB category alongside Fire Beetle. Remove Loyalist from the category as its Charge ability was removed.

  This allows category filtering to filter for Mercies.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• @Garanas (Jip)
• @lL1l1
• @apollodeathstar
• @relent0r
• @Hdt80bro
• @Basilisk3

And, last but certainly not least - with thanks to those that took part in constructive discussions:

• Sladow
• Babel
• Albert C
• Archsimkat
• Aranei
• @4z0t
• Shen

Game version 3803

Various small fixes for bugs that were reported by players.

With gratitude to all those who took the time to report issues,

Jip

Bug Fixes

• (520434e) Fix an edge case where the game would pause when a player is defeated.

Contributors

With thanks to the following people who contributed through coding:

• Jip

And, last but certainly not least - with thanks to those that took part in constructive discussions:

• Shen