After getting approval for our VAF grant we\'ve been very busy making plans and managing employment changes, so this update ended up being delayed and a bit too large. Nevertheless we\'re happy to finally get a big wave of much needed bugfixes out the door, enjoy!

Bugfix sweep

• Fixed major network consisency issues

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• Fixed an issue where a player could sometimes end up controlling multiple bots, the game will now explicitly check for this and despawn older bots if a new spawn is requested. This seems to happen on servers with laggy conditions if there a lot of triggers such as level loading and match start happen in short succession

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• Fixed an issue that would sometimes allow the player to be in spectate mode while they have a bot spawned in, this would happen because a bot fails to be deleted properly and sticks around in a half-alive state

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• (Ive not been able to replicate part-state desync issues which may still be around, any info on this is most welcome!)

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UI update

Design of the main menus and tech tree has been overhauled, this is still a work in progress and some new bugs may have been introduced due to this changes, we are working to finish this and resolve any bugs ASAP.

• Tech tree has been overhauled

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• The shop now works with a shopping trolley system that can be manually resolved or cancelled

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• Main menu has been changed to accomodate log out and quit in a less confusing way, this is still being worked on

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• Added a disclaimer for beta versions of the game to the main menu

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• Tier icons have been replaced by neutral symbols that dont depend on color

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• Added localization support to the game

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• Localization is not yet complete and will be expanded on later

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• Default language has been chosen as US english

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• Dutch translations are being added

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Minor changes

• Added new connector bar pieces that make for neater long thin connections

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• The project has been seperated into assembly definitions which will speed up compile times and with it general development, it also allows us to start writing unit tests to improve stability of the game

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• When a player calls for a vote the server will now send back a confirmation if the vote is succesfully passed on to the other players

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Matchmaking represents another big step forward towards release!

Note there are some known server stability issues were working to fix ASAP!

Official game modes & matchmaking overhaul

The way official matches and matchmaking works has been overhauled completely, as the player you now only need to set some basic preferences and a builtin matchmaker handles the rest.

• Official matches can now have any combination of gamemodes and tiers

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• The allowed tiers in a match will dynamically change to make sure all players stay within 2 tiers of eachother, i.e. a T2 restricts a match to T1-T4, if then a T1 joins the range becomes T1-T3 etc.

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• When an official match ends the players get to vote on the next map and game mode, the game creates a selection of repeating the same match or 2 randomly generated alternatives.

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• A player can now override an empty dedicated server into their preferred game mode, that means we dont need seperate servers for seperate game modes anymore.

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• Although not yet implemented the game is now compatible with a future matchmaking service that will take skill level into account

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Minor changes

• Defined new achievements and their icons, functionality is not yet complete

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• New graphics for end-of-match win state

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• Players will now get half the win reward for ending a match in a stalemate. Win rewards will be removed for matches shorter than 3 minutes and halved between 3 and 6 minutes.

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Bugfixes

• Fixed problem with UI anchoring of the first play / tutorial start overlay, also added a vignetted background to make it slightly more interesting

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• Tutorial getting blocked by the dialogue window blocking the shop buy button; the window is supposed to snap to another position to make room but this feature broke at the last second

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• Tutorial getting stuck if a person unlocks rocket tech or buys a new core before clicking trough the dialoge first, players will also start with 3 vouchers in case they accidentaly waste one e.g. by unlocking the wrong tech

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• Another attempt at making steam login more reliable (this is a bit hard to debug since the problem is hard to reproduce)

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• Resolved conflict with right-click hold to orbit the camera and right-click to delete parts, which overlap when using (the now default) simplified builder controls.

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• Fixed problem where the physics clone for a mesh collider would not be scaled and flipped properly leading to bad physics shapes for plain plates

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• Removed the Pinkwall AI build since hoverblade balance changes have made the design too difficult to control for the AI pilot

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• Fixed problem which caused raycasts to almost always miss on allies when they have their bubble shields up, making it difficult to continue healing them

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Hi all, another small patch since we wanted to fix a hairy issue ASAP, more stuff coming soon!

Tutorial revamp

When playing Diode Arena for the first time the player will be directed more cleanly into a more comprehensive tutorial which starts with controlling the starter bot in the practice environment. This should help new players get a better feel for the game mechanics before building. The player will also be directed into making an account at the end of the tutorial. Previous FAQ info is now integrated into the tutorial.

CP game mode and map overhaul

The snow pass map has been overhauled along with the checkpoint game mode, the map is not 100% finished but we wanted to get the changes out of the door to start collecting feedback. We removed the speed highways in favour of a system of multiple respawn hangars, as a team captures control points, spawning hangars further towards the centre will activate and allow them to continue push the objective. The map itself has been made smaller and is outfitted with new 3D models made by Cybernetic Walrus.

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue where some terrains were not using instancing, which inflates build times (via shader variants) and slows down graphics performance

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• Fixed a ghost button from the onscreen keyboard blocking UI clicks landing on a specific rectangle on the screen interfering with other UIs in the game

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• Fixed a bug where the new mouse lock feature would interfere between different players connected in the same match and break mouse behaviour when 2 or more players played together

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• Fixed a bug where creating a second account on one machine would break the login menu

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A bit of a small patch, since we were slowed down by marketing, funding and administrative burdens, but were keeping up some interesting changes

Virtual garage slots

The game now features so-called virtual garage slots that allow players to build with every part and module in the game, but only use those builds in practice. A given virtual build can be upgraded to a real build, if the needed tech has been unlocked and enough parts/cash are available.

Virtual builds can also be imported from a blueprint code, although the usual import fee still applies.

Virtual garage slots can be earned trough play, and will also be included in the playtester package.

Social functions

We are building out social functions to help build out the community around Diode Arena and to help you play with your friends, currently we just have a basic framework although concrete functions will expand quickly

• Friends list

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• Steam friends who have also logged into Diode Arena are automatically in you friends list

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• Friends can be added in game

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• Friends list shows last login date

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• Currently this list serves no other purposes, functions such as forming parties and inviting friends to ongoing games are coming soon

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Minor features & changes

• Replays have been repaired back to basic functionality, although there are still a lot of bugs to address.

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• The mouse will now by default stay constrained in the play window, helping players to play in windowed mode or with multiple screens

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• Added additional control options for builder and UI quality of life

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• Can zoom in/out with the scroll wheel while holding ctrl

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• Can rotate the camera by right-clicking on empty space

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• Changed edge-scroll so that mouse remains locked into the screen and pushing further out pushes the camera in that direction

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• Tab key can be used to cycle trough input fields on screens that have multiple inputs (login and account creation)

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Bugfixes

• Modifications for Steam login which should make it more reliable

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Hi all! We\'ll be starting to keep patch notes on Steam since we want the development activity to be clearly visible to all. Patch 0.11.5 is just a small update with some notable updates to the damage, heal and shield mechanics that we would like to get out to get some balancing data. Apart from that just another batch of QOL updates and bugfixes, enjoy!

Damage system update

Damage types in Diode Arena have been split in different types:

• Penetration: damage propagates in a straight line

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• Creep: damage passes via connections to neighbouring parts

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• Explosion: damage fans out in semi-random directions around an impact point

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Plasma guns now use creep damage in stead of penetration.

Also made some overhauls for healing and bubble shields:

• Added an overheal mechanic where all bots can receive temporary bubble shields. These shields decay naturally over time.

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• Heal guns can apply overheal, a new bonus spec will increase the maximum allowed overheal

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• Bubble shields can now regen when active (when the relevant module is equipped) but only after not taking damage for 5 seconds. They can still immediately recharge when de-activated

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• Team base heal will now apply temporary bubble shields

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• Removed spawn invulnerability mechanic (which was also broken), in stead a bot will receive 100 overheal on spawn, decaying at 15/sec. These values will be balanced in the future!

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Minor features & changes

• Introduced simplified builder controls, where the mouse remains free and you use the keyboard to orbit the camera around a center point. This is enabled by default but can be disabled in the options to restore the old builder controls.

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• Added a feature where you can hold down a key to lock camera aim in place and move the aiming reticle over the screen with the mouse

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• Updated models for flight and yaw gyro

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• Added option to add username/password to an existing Steam based login

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• Added option to trigger a password recovery e-mail from the login screen

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• Added a slider to display tech tree zoom level

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• Post-match reward screen will now be displayed for 20 seconds iso 8.

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• Added the ability to send pings on the mini-map

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Bugfixes

• Fixed problem with exploding number of shader variants bogging down build times; full build time has been reduced from 3 hours to 8 minutes

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• Modified team-color reveal to work better with the new free painting approach, i.e. a player with a red paint job in team blue wont be revealed behind walls to enemies in the red team.

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• Avoid displaying tier twice in the shop

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• Fixed problem with calculation of the reward bonus factor, leading to an almost universal 200% bonus

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• Added a small delay to triggering auto ready since it was so fast it could break level transitions

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• Visibility checks for revealing mini-map arrows and player info tags will now be blocked by smokescreens

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• Name tag sort-order is now based on distance and can change in stead of being determined by join order

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• Fixed bug where activated bubble shields would remain visible after self-destructing

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• Fixed bug where your own heal beams became invisible while in first person view

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