Balance

Racketeer is a bit of a problematic unit so we’ve reduced its ability to keep two units disarmed. Two raiders fighting a Racketeer tended to be ridiculous.

• Rackteer reload time 5s -> 6s

The Plasma Artillery for Battle Commander was not just working out so it has been removed. Massive earlygame health and a Leveler sidearm remove the usual counterplay to artillery.

• Removed Commander plasma artillery weapon.

Interface

Newton launcher widget:

• Increased accuracy of impact location with interpolation between the impact step and previous step.
• Applied impact prediction to all units launched by Newtons. Not just those affected by firezones.
• Added transport drop location prediction.
• Added menu options for controlling when either type of prediction is displayed.

Other features:

• Added a new Skydust UI. Press B to toggle height mode. C and V change height (much like Z and X change spacing in normal mode). The height selected in height mode is persistent per-unit type. Height does not work with line build.
• Zenith now obeys fire stats. Defaults to Hold Fire for new players. Defaults to Fire At Will for current players.
• Added an option to make clicking on construction tabs activate their hotkeys.
• Added an option to disable Ping and CPU display on Deluxe Player List.
• Added an option to show decloak ranges of units. Configure through Settings/Interface/Decloak Ranges.
• Ferry and Set Retreat Zone now appear as a minimap button. Not on the command menu.

Fixes

• Terraform cost tooltip now shows its estimated cost.
• Fixed a Build ETA bug which can appear while spectating and using /specfullview.
• Energy and metal income graphs now include reclaim.
• Fixed Cloak State hotkey and tooltip.
• Restored marker placement hotkey for German keyboards (dev engine).

Balance

Gunships now have their own constructor: Wasp. Crane is unchanged and is now restricted to Planes. It compares the Crane as follows:

• Cost 220 › 300
• Speed 180 › 93 elmo/s [?]
• Build Power 4 › 7.5 M/s
• Health 240 › 600

This change fixes the inconsistency dual-factory nature of Crane and is also is meant as a nerf to earlygame Gunships. The new constructor is slower and bulkier so is a better fit to the theme of its factory.

Claws (Wolverine mines) now spawn if their Wolverine died before impact. Previously they did not.

Target Behaviour

There are a lot of target behaviour improvements/fixes in this version so we’ve given them their own section.

• Heatrays now have a significant preference for nearby targets. They previously had a preference but it was weaker than most other factors. Heatrays still target armed units before unarmed ones.
• Gravity guns no longer target nanoframes. Gravity guns never affected nanoframes so this is a fix. Note that gravity guns have never targeted structures, regardless of whether the structure is a nanoframe.
• All weapons now prioritize identified radar dots as if they were a full health unit of their type. Previously all radar dots were given uniform priority.
• Spectre, Annihilator, Penetrator and Impaler now have an additional priority penalty to target radar dots of mobile units.
• Outlaws move closer to their target when firing.
• Slashers now target everything with a fight order. This is to make them stop and fire at things which other units consider not worth stopping for (Razor, Solar and Dirtbag).

Interface

• Tooltips now have an option to make them larger, for larger screen resolutions.
• Many menu categories and subcategories now have icons.
• All menus have a consistent size, left justified category text.
• Changed HUD Skin and Gesture Menu paths.

Misc

• Freaker is now called Constable.
• Improved Crane, Rapier and Vindicator wingtrail and jet effects.
• Fixed CAI artillery production.
• Added startbox to Seth’s Ravine.
• Fixed ATI error with map edge extension.
• Fixed aircraft constructors turning around when construction is initiated.

Highlights from v1.4.5.0

We missed the release notes from the previous version so here are some highlights:

• Swifts now pull up near the end of their strafing run. This is a buff against low ranged ground units, especially those with AoE weapons.
• Smoothing weapons (Quake, Big Bertha etc..) now have smoother terrain at the edge of their smooth radius. This makes tanks more likely to be able to climb a Quake ramp. In addition, Quake impacts now jiggle units and can cause them to fall off cliffs.
• Double pressing ‘L’ with a mixed selection of transports and units will cause the transports to load the units. This command is an action which can be rebound through ‘Game/Command Hotkeys’.
• Right clicking a geothermal vent with only constructors selected will queue a Geothermal Plant.
• Geothermal vents now have a tooltip.
• Added a toggle to make cloaked units (exept Gremlin and Spectre) automatically hold fire when cloaked. [?]
• Endgame graphs now have a toggle between individual players and entire teams.
• Commander initial unit state now works for priority.