After fighting through a swarm of bugs we are ready to release a version of Zero-K compatible with Spring 94.1. We’ve been hard (and slow) at work fixing compatibility issues and working around new engine bugs. There are many important fixes in this engine version so hopefully it has been worthwhile.

Non-ZKL users will need to update their engine but with the appearance of Weblobby and static builds for Linux this should be easy.

Engine

Pathfinding around terrain has been significantly improved. This is most noticeable for units with low slope tolerance and large turning circle. Units get themselves stuck on terrain much less often.

Plane related bugs have been fixed. There should no longer be an occasional plane which misses the airpad and has to be reclaimed. Bombers can be given orders after an attack ground order without messing up their queue.

Area of effect damage is now based on distance to hitsphere instead of distance to the center of a unit. This makes a lot more sense and fixes issues involving large units not take damage unless hit directly.

Apparently the whole game should run significantly faster.

Other Changes

Bertha, Tremor, Pillager, Disco Rave Party, Behemoth, Warlord and Catapult no longer avoid terrain when aiming. This is either because they are good at knocking down walls or because they are too inaccurate and high trajectory for terrain to matter.

Gauss weapons deal predictable damage based on the footprint of the unit they are targeting. Scrubber damage has been increased from 90 to 110 to counteract this.

Chicken Swarmers can form writhing masses which packed densely enough. Watch out, they can flow over small barriers.

== Fixes==

• Modified overall mex values for Evergreen_Haven-Redux-v02, MountDustmoreV3, Riverbedv2
• Reduced center supermexes for FolsomDamFinal, Deadlands, Motkottava_Nakkivahvero-v01
• Moved metal spot from on top of geo spot in AquariusCrossing
• Fixed missing metal spots in Atuminoa, Quoth v1
• Fixed some structure hitvolumes which were large enough for attackers to hide inside.
• Outlaw vibrates when firing.
• Fixed crash while placing Missile Silo caused by some graphics cards.
• Fixed some small, rare crashes or bugs (as always).

Major changes for this version are the ability to use priority for stockpile and morph, a Stiletto nerf and changes to the way keybinds are handled. There are also a lot of code changes a fixes.The keybinds change has reset all keybinds. Players which …

Forget the new engine version, we’re going in! New graphics, some long-awaited balance changes, and even a funky new GUI skin await in this February’s stable.

Graphics

• New models for Crane, Rapier, Valkyrie and Vindicator by Exit_Wound
• New EMP missile trails
• New slowbeam, Halberd & Buoy impact FX
• Add flashing effect when a unit is resurrected
• Fixed Dominatrix beam position
• Fixed Detriment triple gun animation
• Fixed normals on amphibs and some jumpbots

Units

Annihilator:

• Cost 1500 -> 1800
• Reload time 8s -> 10s

DDM:

• Main cannon range 700 -> 650

Phoenix

• No longer deforms ground

Starlight

• Fixed divergence between continuous and pulse beams at long range

Firefly (companion drone):

• Health 160 -> 200

Newtons are less effective against gunships.

Valkyrie accelerates and ascends/descends much faster (general buff, nerfs transport launchers).

All aircraft can be ordered to manually land at airpads, not just bombers.

Anti-air missiles can be fired at much higher targets depending on the missile’s flight time.

Sumo:

• Jump reload time 18s -> 15s

Disco Rave Party:

• Yellow shot damage 0 -> 800

Wreckages for Flea and Gnat. Now all non-suicidal units (not Claw, Tick, Roach, Blastwing, Puppy, Skuttle) should have wreckages.

Fixed some impulse values for weapons (in particular, this includes a buff for Leveler, commander Riot Cannon and Concussion Shell, Disco Rave Party and Zenith).

Commanders

Singleplayer (non-modular) comms can morph to higher levels.

Hellfire Grenade:

• Reload time 16s -> 12s

High Power Servos:

• Speed bonus 10% -> 15%

Interface

• Keybinds are now saved to LuaUI/Configs/zk_keys.lua, rather than being hidden in LuaUI/Configs
• Resorted many menu options to make the menu less cluttered. As a side effect, some options may be reset.
• New GUI skin: Twilight
• Any unit’s description window can be accessed through Help -> Unit Descriptions
• Binding a key to a unit command also binds Shift+key, if it was not part of the original keyset
• Camera mode selection uses radio buttons
• Construction priority has a floating icon (when Shift is held)
• Added option for selection window background color
• Fixed cursor transparency under certain hardware settings
• Fixed clickable areas on chat
• Fixed negative healthbars
• Auto Reclaim/Heal/Assist is now under Units category in list

CAI

• CAI checks for enemies near mex spots before attempting to mex
• Constructors with jumpjets will use them to escape enemies

Chicken

• Speed mode is now a modoption
• New chicken defense, the Rafflesia static shield

Missions

• Persistent messages are stored in history; look better in non-default skins

Misc.

• Advanced (COFC) camera handles more smoothly and reliably; resets state with just Ctrl+Alt+middleclick (previously Shift was needed as well)
• Widget settings are backed up at each run

Thanks to an intrepid inside source, we have access to previously-secret footage of the Zero-K developer team discussing the game’s story. Enjoy 🙂

Lots of improvements were made over the month. UI optimizations, bugfixes, a few new features. But not all the changes are good, for there’s something strange in the neighborhood…

New Halloween Ghost Possession gamemode (beta)

A galaxy is in danger, a new supernatural foe, ghosts possessing robots are stirring up trouble for it’s rulers.
In this gamemode, you are required not only to conquer the galaxy, but make sure not to fall to ghost possession and become a sword that kills your own allies!

The rules are simple, damage (lower health to 1/3) or emp (any amount) to unpossess any unit or structure. There are 5 difficulty levels. Just pick up one and play with or against your friends with this supernatural foe that picks neither side!

General

• AFK players transfer metal along with units.
• New set of loading screens.

Commanders

• Peashooter benefits from modules.
• Fixed Bombard Commander build power.

Units

Tick:

• Cost 100 -> 120

Sumo – Weapon replaced:

• Scorpion style weapon.
• 120 dps each
• 320 range

Moderator

• Damage 178 -> 220
• Health 550 -> 680

Outlaw:

• Pulse 8% slower

Stiletto:

• removed stealth

Jumping units retain velocity and trajectory on morph

Merl renamed to Impaler

GUI

• There has been a framework update which should dramatically increase performance. As a side effect some things look a bit different.
• Fixed a major performance leak.
• Set target command uses a circle instead of a rectangle by default.
• Added Newton defense range ring.
• Added persistent buildspacing widget. Buildspacing is now saved on a per-unit basis.
• Reverted A and F hotkey swap.

Fixes

• SetTarget commands are now lost within 10-15 seconds from mobile units which out of LOS/radar.
• Fixed tactical AI failing to jink on approach when set to hold position.
• Fixed Nuke Silo’s lack of self-damage.
• Fixed units getting stuck in factories when queued orders are completed.
• Fixed some labhax cases.

A new commander has been added with model by CaptainBenz. The effect of the energy investment reimbursement system has been reduced.Commanders

New Bombard Commander

Battle Commander damage bonuses halved; removed artillery options.

Strike Commander…

Happy new year!! Jeremy Gooch sent us a new awesome illustration for Zero-K:or if you want to get really high res (30MB) enjoy 🙂

Zero-K review has been published in a printed german magazine “c’t” (-> http://www.heise.de/ct/ ). It’s the second most popular German computer magazine.

You can read the article about us here: http://zero-k.info/temp/zerok_ct_26_colored.pdf

Thanks for the article and your interest!

Merry Christmas! Just a small update to keep your game experience in top shape for when Santa comes. Even for those of you who were more naughty than nice. Enjoy!

Balance

• Flamethrower units do not avoid shooting friendlies (prone to labhax)
• Djinn automatically deploys when idle
• Restore old vehicle slopemods. They are now better at climbing hills.

Graphics

• New heatray impact GFX
• Dante and Bantha have idle anims
• Fixed some irregularities with Dante’s flamethrower

UI

• Unit icons rotate to face camera
• Improved bomber dive tooltip

Misc.

• Optimizations for terraform texture handler and reclaim HP handler
• Image Preloader is always on; disables itself if running after game start
• Units are instantly transferred when a player resigns using the give-when-afk system
• Fix Thug error on death