Multi-threading, Performance and AI Improvements Updates 112176 / 112209 / 112214

WE'RE BACK BOIS

F YEAH!

Pelican buff, stingray and Typhoon buffs <3

HYPE!

AWESOME! Will check those later tonight!

Been testing the Linux version on Ubuntu 18.04 64bit, still seems to run really well.

Big thank you for rolling out updates across systems at the same time, it really is appreciated after backing you guys on the original Kickstarter (then upgrading twice afterwards to give you more)

cool stuff for sure

minor nitpicks

what about icarus buffs? making it either a antiraiddefense or fabberhunter, maybe a compromise between the two?

what about wyrm speedbuff?

The balance changes the game a lot. I don't think many players will be happy. I haven't seen the game change this much since before Titans.

1.) Pelicans will be everywhere in competitive games. They have way too much armor now.Pelican micro is so strong now that I think the skill ceiling will increase quit a bit as pros push themselves to send out all sorts of pelican drops. You can now drop units successfully in range of a galata aa turret. I actually think this is a cool concept but it's very disruptive to the state that the game has been in for years. I think it will end up annoying most players.

2.) Making T2 factories more expensive is a major change as well. Different, aggressive strategies will emerge I think. This change is tolerable and I think we could get used to it.

3.) I like how the bots have changed, but I'm not sure the slammers needed the nerf.

4.)All other changes are nothing compared to 1 and 2

1, 200 armour is nothing, may be able to take a single extra shot from a galata. there still going to be tricky to use, easily countered and not always a good option. I cant see it doing anything really. If anything it will just make players interested in using them again, pulled a lot of good wins off with pelicans not too long ago.

2, I changed the cost of tr2 to a few 1000 more and still found a 2-3 factory tr2 to work best, not enough tr1 early enough to make a difference aslong as you can defend an expansion or 2, get tr2 units and a fabber first your sorted. Any "advantage" gained through tr1 and expansion is lost.

3, Could be right. Spaghetti vs tanks though, dox slammers, might slow down that sh'@ and make people have to use those forces a little better.

4, They're not big changes.

Good to see you guys back at helm PA inc. This game is a real gem.

This is definitely a step in the correct direction with t2 factories and both slams and levellers costing more individualy as well. Hmmmmm The Nosebreaker suggests the factory out put be lowered by five metal as well slowing the amount of levellers and slammers coming out.
Every one The Nosebreaker has talked to has been shocked that t2 was so incredaberry cheap to begin with.....
The Nosebreaker thinks a further 25 percent to 7500 metal cost is seriously considered.
This may bring back some of the epic epic battles so many of us old timers miss and the young guns, Know nothing about. All any new comer knows is t2 rush rush rush.. gota have t 2 by 2 minuets.... Increasing the metal cost of t 2 factories will definitely lower the skill gap between players. Making a fairer game for the casual player...
Perhaps a dramatic increase in the cost of air units or slower factory output will see less of them on the battle field and more emphasis put back on to the ground. Currently who ever wins the first air battle wins the game ..........

Great work for this team Fantastic that your still smashing away on this unique game. hope to see you guys do an expansion soon to generate some dolla bills.

Yo

All these changes seem very solid and well thought out. You have been awarded the Tick of approval.

Great as always to see more bugs getting squished and improvements introduced. Big thanks to all involved.

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I'm sorry to say but this balance is another all time low.

These things clutter the view of the planet. They need to be expensive and super efficient.

This change breaks static defences and makes the game even more air focused. The formation change only makes it easier to pick them off.

The Squalls are also no longer controllable. So over all this is a nurf to an already un-viable unit.

Why? There was no issue with the Kaiju. But now every path counters it. There is little reason to grab ponds around the map anymore.

Can go either way, its perfectly ok to have them be cheaper since that lowers the entry cost of orbital economic investment by quite a lot: if you can secure that factory it will start paying for itself significantly sooner

I agree that to some extent it counteracts galatta, but if anything, that is a good thing. Pelican drops only work at the expense of a lot of micro, metal, and become way less viable when scouted. Furthermore, the buff removes the total safety that galatta creep can provide right now, and employs the use of dox and other mobile AA as defensive AA (a group of 10 dox can hard counter pelicans because they have to slow down to drop units, but dox are countered by bombers -> more complexity and less reliance on shitty turtle AA strats) It has no impact on army AA safety, and presents the trade-off between more fighters, or a risky bomber alternative. (every shot pelican costs 60% of hummingbird when empty, or 160% when carrying an inferno)

I'm yet to test that sufficiently, but I agree that the typhoon buff is insufficient. The lifetime of the squall may increase range and damage output vs static/naval AA, but air still largely destroys them. One solution that can improve their guaranteed damage output is further increasing mobility and maneuverability (acceleration, speed, breaking speed, turning speed) which means that it takes longer for missiles to hit them (or sometimes just keep on missing). Another solution would be to allow them to target subs to introduce some sort of a function for them. Now that the stingray is stronger, the typhoon might be even less viable

Kaijus are very overpowered in the current meta, check some of my or n1_rvd's games on Amplus, Meso and Clutch: the moments kaijus are on the field its over. They have a higher DPS than a leviathan, are faster and outrage levelers with its beast of a range and vision, and if it wasn't for the bluehawk buff, in practice it wouldn't have a good mobile counter (shellers can do the job only to some extent since their DPS and alpha damage are really low) Furthermore, the AoE of the 2 main guns combined with the RoF of the small ones make them immune to all T1 bots. I fell like this nerf is a good start, but may be insufficient, everyone will keep on making impenetrable strongholds in every little pond that can spew out these beasts


Two additional comments: Sonar right now is largely useless: every unit can see subs. Hopefully we can see some tweaking of naval when that is addressed.

Second, I really like the idea of making the slammer slightly more expensive to prevent immortal slammer +gill-E + Bluehawk armies that kite around dodging sheller shots, but i feel like the change is too minor to account for any real impact to gameplay.

-200 health for a t1 air unit is ridiculous, that's more than a fighter and double a bomber. It means you are able to drop a unit right on top of 2 ant air turrets, get a com snipe with 10 infernos or 3 vanguards in a drop, or simply use pelicans as a slightly cheaper meat shield in your air force.
This breaks the game by creating an almost indefensible form of cheap, fast raiding and sniping. It just forces players to build even more air then they already are. You can now drop an inferno directly on a storm or 3 spinners, no fabber is safe and I think this will turn a lot of new players away from the game.-

Thing is its scoutable, making the pelicans will reduce their air prod, its going to take attention to effectively use them, it will take longer than straight up bombers to pick off fabbers. Air drops prior were already very potent to think of it though, its just how you execute such a maneuver, ive used a single pelican and leveller to quell people before. But I had the opening//time to do it effectively. Will have to see how it plays out, I cant see it being viable if scouted, a few land mines or assisting infernos on the com to counter an early drop is all it would take if you had no chance in the AA game but given they would be producing the units for the drop and neglecting other units a scout should fix the opportunity. Thinking of this pelican stuff is giving me classic sweats.