Plenty of new features! In the campaign we have a new exploding guard type who alerts nearby enemies, we have a fun new kill combo system, and the skill penalites have all been removed as well! In multiplayer we have a massive rework to how barrier works, and maps that resize based on the number of players in the server.

Exploding Guards

Some guards will now walk with a red backpack filled with explosives chemicals. If you kill them they explode in a dazzling fireworks display, creating a sound that alerts nearby enemies. This new guard type is currently only in the first 2 stages of the campaign, but will allow me to create a variety of awesome puzzles and high adrenalin sequences where the shit hits the fan the moment you explode one of these guards.

New Kill Combo System

The gif above also shows the new kill combo system, showing a new "Double Kill" type as the grenade kills both guards simultaneously. Double Kills (along with Triple, Quad and Multi Kills) are a new kill type that rewards you with extra cash. This is done with the new cash multiplier system, which goes up when you perform "skillful" kills. The cash multiplier stays at x1.0 unless you do something cool. If you get a double kill, it will jump up to x1.2. If you then get a road kill it will increase futher to x1.3. This means that any kill you get will pay out $130 instead of $100. You are rewarded with more cash for killing in awesome ways, and there are other new kill types as well, such as Skill Kills, Quick Kills, and Stealth Kills.

Resizing Maps

Maps will now resize based on the number of players in the server. When there aren't many players in the server, blue electricity will cover the ground the outsides of the map and kill anyone who walks into it. This forces players to stay in the centre, effectively shrinking the map size and resulting in far more active and fast-paced battles when playing in a smaller server.

Jumping Indicators

In the screenshot above you can also see some blue highlights on the boxes to the right. This new feature indicates if a box is of a jumpable height or not, and makes it much easier to jump in a 3D environment with a top-down view.

Barrier Rework

Barrier is a fundamental part of combat, especially multiplayer combat, and so this rework changes a lot. Barrier no longer absorbs damage into your mana pool. Instead it has been simplified to a simple 25% damage reduction at the price of slower movement and -3 mana/s. This change makes barrier more useful as you'll no longer lose all of your mana in an instant when damaged. It also ensures that you never die with "unused mana" which was a kinda silly way to die with the old system.

No Skill Penalties

In the campaign there are no skill penalties. This is pretty huge, and should make it a lot more exciting to discover new skills and mutation vials, as they are nothing but 100% benefit now. I've also made this option available for PvP servers for shits and giggles (though it will probably be pretty unbalanced).

Change Log

General Changes

• Skill Penalties are now optional in PvP servers.
• Blood is a lot more gorey.
• The game now uses a new default font, instead of boring ungamey arial.
• Dedicated campaign servers now reset to standard difficulty if the server is empty.
• Neutralizing is no longer required by the Newbie Checklist.
• Spectating will default to a player instead of free-look mode now.
• Cash bubbles now occur where you kill your enemy rather than floating above your head, making the cash rewards easier to see.
• Capturers now display with a blue smoke instead of red.
• Text bubbles now animate the text, instead of displaying it all at the same time.
• There's now a little bit of screen recoil whenever you shoot.
• Sprint speed is now 160% instead of 150%.

Campaign Changes

• Skills no longer have penalties in Stealth mode.
• Guards now show a little exclaimation mark above their heads when they're first alerted.
• You will take a $200 penalty whenever you die.
• The bomb explosion can't destroy a vehicle if player is inside it.
• Dying in co-op during a zombie phase switches you to zombie (instead of just sitting there watching).
• Guards turn speed is now a bit slower.
• Guards typically now only engage you once they get direct LOS to you, but after this they keep chasing you.
• Guards prefer not to jump over boxes now if it's possible to run around it instead.

Skill Changes

• All skills that used to cost 15 mana now cost 20 mana.
• Regeneration max mana is now 80/70/60/50/40 instead of 90/80/70/60/50.
• Self Repair mana cost is now 30 instead of 20.
• Self Repair range is now 2.5/3/3.5/4/4.5 instead of 2/2.5/3/3.5/4.
• Self Repair regen is now 15/20/25/30/35 instead of 10/15/20/25/30.
• Self Repair burn is now 6/9/12/15/18 instead of 3/6/9/12/15.
• Energize no longer awards cash.
• Energize ammo burn is now 130/140/150/160/170% instead of 140/150/160/170/180%.
• Static Charges required damage is now 8/7/6/5/4 instead of 14/12/10/8/6.
• Static Charges removes the barrier burn penalty on your victims.
• Lasing Orb won't suffer from the 3 mana/s barrier burn penalty.

Weapon Changes

• Super weapons now do 50% more damage vs zombies.
• USP damage is now 13 instead of 16.
• Deagle damage is now 20 instead of 24.
• Flare Gun flame duration is now 3s instead of 4s.
• Taser damage is now 20 instead of 24.
• UZI damage is now 16 instead of 20.
• MP5 damage is now 16 instead of 20.
• Nailgun damage is now 16 instead of 20.
• M3 damage is now 108 instead of 112.
• M3 rpm is now 90 instead of 100.
• M3 now does x1.05 damage vs guards.
• SPAS damage is now 60 instead of 77.
• SPAS now does x1.05 damage vs guards.
• Blast Cannon damage is now 44 instead of 52.
• AK47 damage is now 20 instead of 25.
• M4A1 damage is now 15 instead of 19.
• Seek Rifle damage is now 18 instead of 24.
• M249 damage is now 19 instead of 23.
• M60 damage is now 26 instead of 32.
• Minigun damage is now 16 instead of 20.
• Ruger damage is now 40 instead of 45.
• Ruger movement speed is now 0.90 instead of 0.95.
• Barrett damage is now 60 instead of 65.
• Photon Beam damage is now 50 instead of 60.
• Flamethrower damage is now 7 instead of 8.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where the mouse was too sensitive.
• Fixed a bug where mini-checkpoints wouldn't always trigger in coop.
• Fixed a camera zoom issue with rotating vehicle camera.
• Fixed a bug with smoke bomb view ranges.
• Optimised netcode performance a bit.

[ 2017-09-27 08:46:45 CET ] [ Original post ]