PTE Build 76412-pte now live (updated with new build 12/16/14)

I don't think it was an intentional change (eg., I think it might be a bug). Certainly nothing changed in the unit blueprint to indicate it should only build 6 (although I can confirm that it does only build 6).

The unit blueprint still suggests 12:

Code:

  "factory": {
    "deploy_projectile": "/pa/units/land/unit_cannon/unit_cannon_deploy.json",
    "hide_deploy_projectile": true,
    "hide_stored_units": true,
    "spawn_points": [
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build",
      "socket_build"
    ],
    "store_units": true
  },

I don't have blender handy to check the model itself for changes to the bones though.

I did see the following error in the log, which explains why it's not aiming correctly:

Once I go back to advanced edit mode, I can not go back even when creating new planet.

Just encountered a new bug with the unit cannon. Was working OK for invasion on one planet, but when fired at a second planet, the unit pods land but no units come out. Tried 3 or 4 shots and then the game crashed (disconnect from server). Also as others stated, only 6 units seem to be built.

I had a look at the Unit Cannon model. The bone structure has changed significantly, but there is still just one "socket_build", so I don't understand why only 6 get built.

As for the aim error, unit_cannon_anim_tree should have the following as it's x rotation skeleton control:

Code:

    {
      "child": {
        "rotation_axis": "x",
        "rotation_bone": "bone_pivot02",
        "type": "procedural_aim"
      },
      "lerp_func": "not_being_built",
      "type": "fader"
    },

Note "bone_pivot02" instead of "bone_pitch02".

Also, in the node_aim_up:

Code:

        "node_aim_up": {
          "anim_name": "aimUp",
          "type": "playback"
        },

Note "aimUp" instead of "aim_up". With these changes, the Unit cannon aims correctly:

Short feedback to the latest PTE:

- I like the new ui style but just one small suggestion: for me the position of the main menu feels too much up in the corner. Somehow I'd liked it to be a bit lower. In this case the placement in the old version was better.

- Very good to have the comeback of the tutorial. Probably soon it should be organized by topics, as I guess it will become quite a long list of elements. I read it should be very basic, but for me it's really important to see especially the more advanced points in, too. That's the place where many people struggle in game. Some important topics:
- how does the eco work and how do fabbers/production influence it (for me the point where most of new players struggle that never played a similar game before)
- orbital gameplay & unit transportation (including the use of teleporter)
- superweapons (how to use halley, nukes and the laser)
- ...

- Playing 1vs1 test matches vs AI on random maps I encountered the problem that there is no spawn point to select in a few matches. Even after 2 min in game, nothing happens and the game counter stops at "Game Starts in 1sec".

Okay so I have two ideas regarding the unit cannon....

Firstly is the more practical one

If we take the design more closely to the original Kick starter video, and make the pods line up behind the cannon. That way you're far less restricted on storage count, and also better display of pod storage. (It doesn't need to be a single straight line though)

The second, less practical but more entertaining suggestion is a mix of Metal storm: a type of gun where the ammo is stored in the barrel. Also, have it multi barreled.

I was thinking that in order to promote a more streamlined rapid firing, we could have the pods stored behind the launcher and fed in, or have the pods stored in the barrel or a mix of both.

On top of that, have 3/4/5/6 barrels, and have them fire in rotation. This will also allow a better visual representation.

Maybe have nits constructed behind the unit cannon barrel/s, and loaded down into the rear feed, and the pushed up into each barrel until they're full, and then continue loading in some kind of configuration (like a folded belt feed as in with contemporary military machine guns).

Finally, by increasing the firing rate, and maybe allowing/not allowing units to fire while in air.
You allow better invasion/survivability by simply having more to shoot at.

Metal Storm video
10-15 seconds in

Yep, they are! But they cannot handle beeing OP, that´s why a group of ten hornets often sends in ten rockets on the same target when one would have dealt with it!
Anyways this looks like beeing a nice update, espacially when it comes to UnitCannon and Naval!

Bug: Game broken. PTE 76262
1 mod then no mods.
AI FFA game.

No spawn circles to choose from, and count down never goes below 1. Commander never spawns.

Out of 2 consecutive reproductions, the first one had 1 explosion (UI only) mod, It took a couple of minutes before the auto selection of spawn point and count down started.

The second reproduction of the bug with no mods, took only a few seconds for countdown to start, it still stopped at 1 second remaining.

No new bug; did also happen to me in the last build!

The uber UI allows people to send me invite requests for games when im already in one, causing me to look like I am ignoring people.

sadpanda.jpg

Did you just fix Uber's own code for them?

Bug?
In the player guide, the video for the "Energy Resources" and the "Metal Resources" is actually the video for the "Camera Controls".

(Also you may want to mention the Uber Cannon in the "Commander Basics" )

Suggestion: In the main menu you have to click on single player or multiplayer to expand the submenus. Why not just open the submenus on hover? Saves a click.

I've coded it up to test it out and I like it! Here's the diff:

Code:

diff -ru start.orig/start.html start/start.html
--- start.orig/start.html   2014-12-12 21:08:52.000000000 -0500
+++ start/start.html   2014-12-13 10:36:46.570149180 -0500
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
  <div id="navigation_panel">
  <div id="navigation_items">
  <div class="nav_cascade_group">
-  <div class="btn_std_ix nav_item nav_item_text" data-bind="click: toggleSinglePlayerMenu, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowNewOrJoinGame(), btn_std_ix_active: showSinglePlayerMenu }">
+  <div class="btn_std_ix nav_item nav_item_text" data-bind="event: { mouseover: enableSinglePlayerMenu }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowNewOrJoinGame(), btn_std_ix_active: showSinglePlayerMenu }">
  <loc data-i18n="start:single_player.message" desc="">Single Player</loc><div class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right nav_carat" aria-hidden="true"></div>
  </div>
  <div class="nav_sub_item" style="display: none" data-bind="visible: showSinglePlayerMenu">
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@
  </div>
  </div>
  <div class="nav_cascade_group">
-  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: toggleMultiplayerMenu, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowNewOrJoinGame() , btn_std_ix_active: showMultiplayerMenu }">
+  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="event: { mouseover: enableMultiplayerMenu }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowNewOrJoinGame() , btn_std_ix_active: showMultiplayerMenu }">
  <loc data-i18n="start:multiplayer.message" desc="">Multiplayer</loc><div class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right nav_carat" aria-hidden="true"></div>
  </div>
  <div class="nav_sub_item" style="display: none" data-bind="visible: showMultiplayerMenu">
@@ -224,22 +224,22 @@
  </div>
  </div>
  </div>
-  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToArmory, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowUbernetActions() }">
+  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToArmory, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowUbernetActions() }">
  <loc data-i18n="start:armory.message" desc="">Armory</loc>
  </div>
-  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToReplayBrowser, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowUbernetActions() }">
+  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToReplayBrowser, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default', css: { nav_item_text_disabled: !allowUbernetActions() }">
  <loc data-i18n="start:replays.message" desc="">Replays</loc>
  </div>
-  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToEditPlanet, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
+  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToEditPlanet, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
  <loc data-i18n="start:system_manager.message" desc="">System Designer</loc>
  </div>
-  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToGuide, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
+  <div class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToGuide, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
  Player Guide
  </div>
-  <div id="nav_settings" class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToSettings, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
+  <div id="nav_settings" class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix" data-bind="click: navToSettings, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
  <loc data-i18n="start:settings.message" desc="">Settings</loc>
  </div>
-  <div id="nav_quit" class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix"  data-bind="click: exit, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
+  <div id="nav_quit" class="nav_item nav_item_text btn_std_ix"  data-bind="click: exit, event: { mouseover: disableSubmenus }, click_sound: 'default', rollover_sound: 'default'">
  <loc data-i18n="start:quit.message" desc="">Quit</loc>
  </div>
  </div>
Seulement dans start.orig/: .start.html.kate-swp
diff -ru start.orig/start.js start/start.js
--- start.orig/start.js   2014-12-12 21:10:32.000000000 -0500
+++ start/start.js   2014-12-13 10:34:18.450145340 -0500
@@ -783,17 +783,21 @@
  };
  self.showSinglePlayerMenu = ko.observable(false);
-  self.toggleSinglePlayerMenu = function () {
+  self.enableSinglePlayerMenu = function () {
  if (!self.allowNewOrJoinGame())
  return;
-  self.showSinglePlayerMenu(!self.showSinglePlayerMenu());
+  self.showSinglePlayerMenu(true);
  self.showMultiplayerMenu(false);
-  };
+  }
  self.showMultiplayerMenu = ko.observable(false);
-  self.toggleMultiplayerMenu = function () {
+  self.enableMultiplayerMenu = function () {
  if (!self.allowNewOrJoinGame())
  return;
-  self.showMultiplayerMenu(!self.showMultiplayerMenu());
+  self.showMultiplayerMenu(true);
+  self.showSinglePlayerMenu(false);
+  };
+  self.disableSubmenus = function () {
+  self.showMultiplayerMenu(false);
  self.showSinglePlayerMenu(false);
  };
  self.galacticWarMode = ko.observable('');
Seulement dans start.orig/: .start.js.kate-swp

(I've also attached the new start.js and start.html for 76262-pte)

If you ask me, I don't think they are OP.

Just broken as all get out

The hornet is just a bad unit design IMO. Too much damage and range and too little HP. Rapiers in TA were useful because they could take a beating. A paper-thin mobile tactical missile launcher in the air will never work well.

the problem with making air units have a large amount of hp means that they can be used to kill just about anything they can shoot.

Bug:
Clicking the link "head on over to the forums" in the patch notes in the new main menu will open the forum inside PA instead of the default browser. Opening the forum inside PA makes PA act like a browser without any navigation buttons, so you can't get back to the main menu anymore.

That assumes that they are fast. The hornet is horribly slow and has low hp. A unit usually should either rely on speed or thick armoring to survive, but the hornet apparently was designed to be a glass cannon on air level, which doesn't really work in the presence of fast and rather high hp air fighters.

Yeah I really don't like the fighter HP in vanilla.