Please report any bugs below. One server is currently up with the new version. Empires 2.9.0 "Battery" July 16, 2016 * Features: Linux client and server, including easy installation using LGSM Building upgrades are now split into their own script definitions which allows values to be overridden when a building upgrades. For example turret damage can now be set when it is upgraded. Removed various code restrictions that meant only turrets could be upgraded. This means that new building upgrade definitions are now a possibility. Maximum carcass health is now defined in scripts, defaults to vehicle health. Concussion grenades re-added. Resource income now displays total income from all captured refineries and flags without using averaging; this should make it easier to notice when your income changes without random fluctuations. Resource deductions will display as and when they occur. Resources and wages will now display as rounded figures. This helps to make sure all the information stays visible without overlapping or going off-screen. Removed hardcoded layout for hud ammo indicator. Standing near an unbuilt refinery point shows a hint that you have to move away. * Bugfixes: Made walls placable in Hammer. Fixed the bug causing players to spawn in Barracks facing East; players will now spawn facing the nearest exit. Fixed a bug where an engineer could place small walls even though they hit their limit. Fixed persistent wall ghosts when holstering engineer tool. Fixed a bug where the start position of a wall would be the map origin, meaning players would be unable to place a wall until they right clicked. Engineer recycling no longer gives more resources when recycling without repair upgrade. Turrets upgrade instantly after turret upgrade research. Fixed scout class being named assault at the end of a round. Removed unused emp_sv_refinery_interval cvar. Made default class on start of game engineer instead of scout. Fixed guard order drawing outline with an extra side. Fixed gui images becoming blurry on low graphics settings. Intro video has been fixed. Hints should no longer show when inside a vehicle; destroyed vehicles show their own hint. Engineer buildables no longer block building placement for commander. Fixed news panel in menu. * Non-code changes: Added emp_money_2016 with prebuilt walls on the entrances. Fixed third flag on emp_escort giving Brenodi reinforcements multiple times. Added ocean water material for use in mapping. Improved NF jeep VGUI images. Hud style updated. Updated some collisions for old Brenodi props. * More detailed balancing changelog: NF SMG3 Damage 40->38 MinimalDamage 30->28 StandingSpreadMax 0.3->0.25 DuckingSpreadMax 0.2->0.17 ProneSpreadMax 0.2->0.14 StandingSpreadIncrement 0.009->0.0082 DuckingSpreadIncrement 0.006->00055 ProneSpreadIncrement 0.005->0.0046 Sticky Grenade Damage 150->175 Commander vehicle InfantryStickyResist 0->0.25 Advanced Coolant Engine Heat Output At Max 6->5 for AFV/LT 7->6 for Medium 6->5 for Heavy GL Gravity 1->0.92 Cycle time 3->2.5 Total Ammo Clips 2->4 Reload Time 10->6 UGL Gravity 0.9->0.88 Total Ammo Clips 3->4 Reload Time 12->8 Bio MG Vehicle Bio Damage 3->4 Plasma MG Damage 4->5 Cycle time 0.4->0.35 Heat to Target 1.6->1.8 HEMG Projectile Spread 0.015->0.025 DUMG & DUHMG Projectile Spread 0.03->0.02 Guided ML Heat 7->7.5 Cycle Time 1.0->1.2 Reload Time 6.0->5.5 Salvo ML Weight 50->60 Plasma CN Heat 20->15 Heat to Target 10->7 Explosion Radius 350->325 Artillery tank Base cost 1000->850 180mm arty cannon Gravity 0.7->0.55 203mm arty cannon Speed 1800->1900 Gravity 0.6->0.57 Scout Ranged arty resist 0->0.1 Other arties resist 0->0.15 Rifleman Other arties resist 0.1->0.15 Grenadier Other arties resist 0.3->0.4 Engineer Ranged arty resist 0->0.1 Other arties resist 0->0.15 Capacitive Armor Damage To Heat Absorbed 0.06->0.045 Regenerative Armor Health 70->72 Deflective armor Health 72->75 Angle Modifier 0.95->0.88 Absorbant Armor Health 66->67 Speed to Damage Modifier -0.00011->-0.000112 Bio Modifier 0.3->0.45 NF Heavy Rifle Clipsize 12->10
is a whole version jump necessary for a couple changes and some nice map/server tools? not to be negative as i love some of these additions. ill download the beta in a bit and see if theres problems
We jump a minor version when the server needs to be updated to keep playing. The changes made it necessary to do that.
There were a couple of things missing from the change log so I've made an edit to add them. Happy testing!
>"Battery" Awaiting "aggravated assault" and "fraud", lol. >Engy ghosts fixed Much rejoicing was had >Concussion grenades re-added. With or without blind? Not looking foward to infantry maps if its the former. >Other small fixes Cool >Research to double wall hp Literally what? Walls were nerfed because they held up heavies too well lategame and and you make them even better than before? What the fuck am i reading here. >Yet More Armor Buffs Kill me.
GG let all break empries. Can you please turn concussion grenades into EMP grenades like there were meant to years ago please. I know i have a great idea lets re add concussion grenades the prime troll weapon of empires. Are you serious ? And the other changes i don't even want to comment about. But basically the changlog makes me cry.
Afaik you can't troll your own team with them, they won't do friendly fire. Not sure if you can concuss yourself with them, that might be a thing
so... I hope it takes a LONG time to get x2 wall health upgrade.... what am I saying... haven't played in a while... Spoiler Edit by Smithy: Large unnecessary image hidden behind spoiler tag.
Sorry, I misreported that. The research to trigger the wall upgrades hasn't been included in this version and when it is included the strength increase will be tuned beforehand. Luckily this is a testing release and not a final release. If the tests indicate it doesn't work for gameplay we can always remove it before release. If you have feedback on the rest of the changelog I'd like to hear it.
No fixes for the crashes? no fixes for the building placement being hindered by some kind of bug? No fixes for being stuck in the CV when exiting commander view, and having to killspawn? I wouldn't exactly call this a great release when some of the biggest game-breaking bugs we've ever had are still in. Also the walls only take more damage from tanks, they don't have more HPs. Giving a research to make walls have double HPs makes it even worse than it was before. That is a terrible research, remove it. Glad to see concussion grenades are back, we definitely needs more types of grenades, now to wait for smoke and EMP. Finally, Scar, stop with the blaming, the only release that broke Empires is 2.7. And while I still blame Tama for the current state of Empires (we still have a lot of game breaking bugs, see above) you can't complain about release breaking the game anymore as they're now being tested in Beta, so the only people to blame if we end up with bugs is those who didn't show up to test the beta (by the way, when is the testing? Let's put up an event!) If you have a problem with Security's balance then say so, I already told him I don't like his artillery, especially since only the base cannons have been modified, so it doesn't make any sense that the 2 base cannons have such a different firing rate than the researched ones.
The current release is missing debug symbols, the new release will allow us to use automatically uploaded crashdumps to fix errors. Do you know how to reproduce these bugs? I haven't encountered them before. It's not in the release.
Interesting, we'll see if that works. No, I don't, because I have no crash logs, or no logs at all, no access to relevant informations and bits of codes. In short no way to track it down and properly test it. You haven't encountered them before because you hardly ever play, and as far as I know you never command. Most if not all of those bugs are related to commanding. If there was a proper place to report bugs, it'd be much easier to track them down. The fact that it exists at all is bad. Delete it from the code!
I think for that one getting in touch with Scar may provide a tiny bit of insight? From what I've seen when playing he seems to crash ~3x as often as anybody else during any given time frame.
I would like to remind people that all work done towards making Empires better is voluntary. Some of the feedback in this thread is counter-productive. I understand that people are really passionate about the game and sometimes you won't agree with all the changes, but please; rather than outright dismiss things, discuss them. I don't want to sound negative, I really don't. But sometimes it can be discouraging to read a thread like this. In terms of changes - just remember that one of the biggest deciding factors on whether something works or doesn't work is the feedback received from you. It seem's like every time theres a controversial script change, someone throws a shit-fit. All that I can ask of you is that you be a little clearer on what you disliked and why? It simply isn't constructive to say "NOPE, fuck these changes I'm out. Later Empires, GG.", if you dislike something; present a counter argument about why you disagree with it. Back on topic with the crash discussion; as stated by @Thexa4, crashes will be easier to remedy now that the crash dump uploading has been fixed. We also get crash dumps reported from the beta branch on steam so the more people that try the beta build the better, this is the only way we can debug the crashes at the moment.
We have a subforum for bug reports. If you would use that and try to completely describe the bug (French would be fine, if that helps you be more precise) we could reproduce it and fix it. When I play, I usually command, but I've never been unable to leave the command view. Is the whole bug just that pressing the key bound to "exit command view" does nothing? When next it happens, could you try to remember how you entered command view, and anything else that you pressed just prior to the bug? Edit: also, upload your keybindings file with the bugreport, it might be needed for reproducing. You can write your current keybindings to a file by starting up Empires and running emp_save_binds from the developer console (Options > Multiplayer > Enable Developer Console > press ~, left of your number keys) It's not in the code at all! That's the beautiful thing; any research can be made to change any aspect of any building, all in scripts. What do you mean exactly? Do you mean that walls take more damage from tanks in the 2.9.0 beta? I don't understand what point you are making, but if you articulate it fully and it's true, we won't add this research. (and in any case, as said before, HP x2 was never the value intended) Is there another way to add a research that helps when turtling, or improves walls, without being OP, or do you just think that there shouldn't be any such research at all?