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B872 – Nice spectator camera + arrows lag fix

This build hopefully (we need to test with this release) fixes the choppiness of arrows and other projectiles. It also should improve performance significantly when there’s lots of arrow rain action.

SPEC CAM INSTRUCTIONS
Use mouse cursor or WASD to move it around
Left Click – to change view to first teammate to the left

Right Click – to change view to first teammate to the right

Changes 870-872

[removed] dinghy damage (again, hopefully correct)
[re-added] minimap (but wont show for maps smaller than 128 width)
[fixed] archer camera twitching on triple arrow shot
[modified] some significant delta sending changes/improvements/fixes
[modified] smoothed and fixed singelplayer issues
[modified] projectiles don't use box2d bullet physics
[fixed] camera not set in the middle on join game
[fixed] snapping when team member near edge of map
[removed] post processing with uncapped framerate (and fixed related bugs)
[added] smooth mouse scroll for spectator + swapping team mates RMB/LMB
[fixed] bots not doing anything unless they see enemy
[fixed] difficult bots double slashing badly
[fixed by Furai] typo in console logs when receiving server's list
[fixed] builder can't break own workbench

Have fun!
MM

B870 – Block Hitting Fixed and others

Quick one so that I can work on CTF tonight.

Block hitting has been fixed (meaning you can break doors again), that annoying archer “jammed” arrow after spawning has been fixed, and some console spam is gone.

Full Changelog:

[fixed] cannot "hit" map blobs with hitinfos
[fixed] knight can hit through doors, boats
[fixed] archer "jammed" shoot for a while after spawn
[fixed] type mismatch in vehicleconvert (spam in console property type wrong)

There have also been some behind the scenes changes to improve the stability of the build server by FliesLikeABrick.

Max/Geti

Something broke

Shadlington here again.
We’re not quite sure what happened yet, but when Geti pushed B869, something broke in our build system. As a result, the windows build is no longer working (linux/mac are fine). We’re trying to resolve that now.

EDIT: Fixed it. Restart to update your game and it should all be fine. If you’re still having any issues please post in the forums, as usual.

B869 – Fixes and Tweaks

Mostly just fixes for the biggest “sore thumb” type bugs of Friday’s release, with some tweaks for archer as well.

Archer now charges his legolas shot a little faster, but takes longer to ready his arrow. Major bugs with the grapple have been fixed. Hitting through walls has also been sorted out. A troublesome map has been taken out of the default cycle. A few graphical bugs have been sorted out too.

Enjoy, more changes to come throughout the week as the debate continues about what to do about archer overcharge :^) See you on the forums to discuss it, I’m sure.

Be sure to patch your servers.

Full Changelog:

[fixed] archer can grapple into red barrier
[added][script] red barrier makes a map sector for blobs to read
[fixed] knight (and others) hitting through tiles
[fixed] archer stays in air when structure/tree collapsed
[fixed] gibs load wrong sounds
[added] sound file not found warning
[modified] archer charge times (a bit faster, but longer ready time)
[modified] archer doesn't decharge before legolas shot
[fixed] sparkly layer left over when someone dies with an overcharge left
[removed] voyager.png from TTH mapcycle by popular demand - maybe it'll be back with changes later.

Max/Geti

Forum maintenance

Shadlington here. Just letting you guys know that the forums will be down for the next hour or so whilst we perform essential maintenance.
Hopefully that won’t cause anyone too much trouble! I’ll be on IRC for the duration if you have any questions.

Thank you for your patience 🙂

EDIT: All done now. Probably a few issues kicking around, but its mostly working again!

Build 866 – Interim Patch, Lots of Changes!

This is quite a big one, a bit scary to get it out over the weekend but Tom and Ryan need it out to be able to do some API work, so here it is 🙂 (As soon as the build server can bring it to you)

Summary of some major things that have changed, similar to last post:

Archer changes: Legolas shot, grapple hook, more fragile health among others! Pew pew, swing swing. It’s a whole new feel for the class, and it’s just getting started. We’ll continue tweaking and hopefully adding a bit of power after its had some more thorough public testing!

Boat changes: No more bashing team-mates with stolen boats before they convert! Dinghies don’t crush stuff! All sorts of good things.

Hall Changes: Halls can be flooded to turn them neutral again! We’re working on a way to work units into the mix, but it didn’t stand up to testing so at the moment it’s turned off.

Princess Mode: Currently in a half-finished port between the old huge huge map and the new level format there are some bugs (scores dont save or display properly properly) and some annoying map layout issues that will be fixed asap. Fortunately once the bugs there are ironed out the co-op challenge mode will be ready to rock in multiplayer!

Death camera: Also currently work in progress, MM didn’t quite complete it before he left :^( very sorry to those stuck looking at trees over the weekend! We’ll be evaluating weather to keep some form of this or not in the next few days, it will need a lot of changes if it’s to keep though.

Drill Changes: Doesn’t work particularly well under water, cools a bit slower, still doesn’t heat up when actually digging materials. This is to encourage using it for breaching and gathering instead of digging under the map for 20 hours in waist high water.

Walljump Changes: You can now wall run vertically for quite some distance, and only jump if you aren’t pressing towards the wall. This means overhangs are mandatory on any wall you dont want people getting over, and means getting out of pits and over ledges is much simpler. We’re considering making this a hold jump option (and will be toning down the height you can make with it).

Server Browser Changes: The server browser has been pre-emptively split into co-coperative and competitive tabs that sort on gamemode. This will be more relevant once the challenge multiplayer is released.

Starter changes: The starter now looks nicer and doesn’t have an inside-out twitter feed.

Please note: we’re fully aware there will be a few balance issues (likely in the favour of knights) this build! These will be addressed as soon as possible, likely with a patch Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately we’ve got to push this one out either way so Tom and Ryan can get good API work done while they have some crossover time. Hopefully the added variety and fixes to known issues make up for the new issues that are sure to arise :^)

There have been a lot of changes and working this quickly it’s more or less inevitable that some bugs and other issues have snuck in without us noticing. Calmly report bugs and issues in the build thread or in the bug reports forum if you know how to use it.

Full changelog will be added either tomorrow night or on Sunday. I’ll keep my eye on the forums over the weekend but need some time to rest and recover, so don’t fret if I don’t get back to you right away.

Max/Geti

Plan for the Rest of the Week

While MM is away I’ve been faced with a bit of a decision – do I work on CTF and delay the release of the current stuff further, or shelve it and try to get a patch out for TTH?

I’ve decided to go for the latter so that the archer changes can be trialled, the performance optimisations can be measured in practice and the larger map and angelscript issues (if there are any) can be identified.

To recap, the major changes that’ll be patched in are:

Archer changes:

• Archer has no knife
• Archer has grapple hook on right mouse button instead
• Archer can overcharge his bow to shoot 3 arrows in quick succession. Holding the overcharge too long
• Archer spawns with 30 arrows in almost all cases
• Archer arrows have implicit knockback (eg even on boats, shielding knights, siege machines)
• Archer arrows stun actors they hit if those actors are forced against a surface and the arrow is at full speed (allows combo shots if you manage to jump over a knight and full-speed shoot it downwards)

Large Engine Changes

• Angelscript version increase to 2.27.1 – might make some old scripts not work as intended or break some mods, check the console for errors and the behaviour of anything, especially anything using angelscript classes. This was actually quite a pain to do, it broke the linux build for a while.
• Tilemap underlying structure changed quite a lot – this one will only really matter to modders, it should be quite a bit faster CPU-wise though. Mods working with setting up tiles will need to pay attention to API changes.

General Changes

• Halls have units in them – this hasn’t been properly tested yet and will need some work, but the basic idea is that a hall will become easier to take for a time if people are spawning out of it faster than tickets regen.
• Halls drown when they have 2 or more layers of water in them – this state can be reversed with sponges. Drowned halls are for all intents and purposes the same as a neutral hall but you cant convert them until they are cleared.
• You can buy an extra migrant at a hall for 100 gold! The migrant is bound to the hall, not the team, so you can still take the enemy stronghold with 10 military supplies factories :^)
• Builders and archers start with the basics they need to survive and do good – 30 wood for ladders or blocking a door in the builder’s case, 30 arrows in the archer’s case.
• The starter has been cleaned up a little, the layout improved, twitter feed fixed, and it has manual resolution entry for those with non-standard resolution screens like on netbooks.
• Builders get materials when breaking solid constructed tiles. Short but sweet, makes forward building a little more feasible, and also less of a pain in the rear to “clean up” team constructions that honestly suck.
• Dinghies do no damage. “Sorry” to those that have been abusing this. Much sorrier for not patching it sooner :^)
• Servers are now split into competitive vs cooperative – we’ll make this a little more mod friendly asap but basically the modes are split based on how much fighting other people you’ll do.
• Save the Princess mode is now several separate levels, using the new “Challenge” Framework, which will be finalised soon to allow for campaigns to be built for cooperative servers.

That’s it, off the top of my head. so, quite a lot of changes, which is why I want to get it out before they keep piling up and another week goes by with you guys stuck with old bugs.

Feel free to give your thoughts in the thread, some of these are somewhat debatable and most of the game flow related ones have easy to tweak variables in the scripts for those that want to revert them – the archer knife being a notable exception to that rule.

More info coming soon, it’ll mostly just be cleaning and testing until friday though!

Max/Geti

“Challenges” days 2-4

MM:

We aimed to make a release Friday but unfortunately this is the nature of software development. I stumbled on some major road blocks, couldn’t release a test version until today. So only today did we have a chance to playtest a bit.

There are 4 types of Challenges working. They use a pretty convenient map + config file format. They can be sorted pretty easily in campaigns, just by dropping them into a folder. I still need to make a GUI in the main menu to select the campaigns or individual missions.

I split “Save the Princess” mode into 7 separate levels. Making it more fun and convenient to play in multiplayer. This should also make it easier for people with performance issues. I also made some significant lighting optimizations, so the next patch should be really good at addressing FPS issues.

Last but not least we played a bit of TDM today with the following changes:

• new archer grappling hook
• a new archer “charged shot” aka Legolas shot
• knight shield slide knock/stun
• improved wall climbing and running

We played for a couple minutes but I have to say I’m pretty stoked. The combat is MUCH more interesting for BOTH classes. I especially like the archer changes and the new trick movements you can do on walls and corners. These changes make KAG remind me more of Quake, which is pretty funny but cool.

This is the last bit of summer here in Poland and I decided to take a break for the rest of the week. Pretty unusual because I don’t like taking breaks from what is – a dream job. I’m sure this will help me rest a bit and kick more ass in the upcoming weeks before releasing the game on Steam.

See you next week. Geti should have CTF ready in the meantime. Have fun!

MM

CTF Day 3 – Nostalgic sounds and General Progess

I was sick yesterday, sorry for the delay. Counting it as a write off and calling today day 3. On with the show :^)

Today I added the old CTF sounds to the mode for things like getting the flag, capturing it, it returning to base and so on. I also had to add things like it returning to base to test these, so that’s done too. There’s also a nice blinking HUD nag for any flags trying to return to base:

(…yeah I might work on the blinking some more, haha)

Some fun bugs were fixed, like the flag base getting killed in a collapse and the flag trying to get trees to pick it up because they aren’t the same team as it. Fortunately the trees couldn’t actually pick the flag up, but it sure spammed the flag pickup sound.

I realised I hadn’t shown the tents yet, so here they are (significantly closer than they might be on a real map)

One of the testers remarked “Tents are now a palace” – palace or not I think they certainly look much swankier than the old ones. Your feedback will of course be appreciated though!

Max/Geti