AI War Beta 5.031, "Harvest Of The Unloved," Released!

[x4000]

Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/03/ai-war-beta-5031-harvest-of-unloved.html

This one is just rebalancing, but some of it's pretty significant.  The main thrust is to bring some of the consistently-least-loved units back into the "interesting choice" range.  It also has a few bugfixes and some changes to both harvesters and harvester exo-shields, hence the macabre-sounding nickname for the release.

Enjoy!

This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 4.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time.  If you don't have 4.000 or later, you can download that here.

[zoutzakje]

woohoo awesome. Been waiting for this one. A whole lot of nice stuff in here.

[vortexion]

Sweet, I've been waiting for this one! 

[TechSY730]

Yes!

Sad there is no MRS buffs, but I look forward to everything else.

[Volatar]

Thanks for this guys. We know how busy you are with AVWW. 

[x4000]

You bet!

[Shrugging Khan]

NOW SHALL THE DAYS OF GLORY COMMENCE!

[Xeph]

Appreciate this guys, thanks. Mine tweaks were much wanted! xD

[Nodor]

Time to get 9K Knowledge.  those harvesters will be mine.

[TechSY730]

My internet connection is being really shoddy right now, enough so to throw of the auto-updater of AI war.
Does anyone have the link for the xml file or whatever AI war checks for the latest version download location?

[Diazo]

Alright, Wiki updated.

I assume the EMP mine can paralyse 10 targets max?

D.

edit: Am I reading these data files right? I'm showing no changes to the Nanoswarm when the patch notes say the damage changed.

[keith.lamothe]

I assume the EMP mine can paralyse 10 targets max?

No, that's still a true aoe-effect, but it's never done damage to any more than the ship that actually hit the thing, and that's still true.

edit: Am I reading these data files right? I'm showing no changes to the Nanoswarm when the patch notes say the damage changed.

Oops!  Thanks for noticing that, will fix for the next version.  Sometimes when balancing I write out my notes first and then make the changes to cut down on the amount of back-and-forth in the code itself if I change my mind.  I make a habit of checking the notes against the code line by line before committing for this reason, but I forgot this time, it seems.  Anyway, with the buff to reclamation efficiency I don't think you'll notice much of a drop in their actual reclamation effectiveness (rather the contrary) but I will make that 400=>800 change for 5.032.

[TechSY730]

How are people feeling about the new reclaimer "spread" mechanic?

I love it, but right now, it might be making high attack powered reclaimers a bit OP.

With just a single parasite starship, I can pretty easily reclaim a third to a half a ship cap of ships. Although cool, this seems a bit much for a single parasite starship.

[keith.lamothe]

How are people feeling about the new reclaimer "spread" mechanic?

I love it, but right now, it might be making high attack powered reclaimers a bit OP.

It is likely they'll need a power reduction, yea.  But at least now whatever rate of output they wind up with will be at least relatively reliable

With just a single parasite starship, I can pretty easily reclaim a third to a half a ship cap of ships. Although cool, this seems a bit much for a single parasite starship.

How many ships were you facing, how many ships were on your side, and how many did you reclaim?

[TechSY730]

With just a single parasite starship, I can pretty easily reclaim a third to a half a ship cap of ships. Although cool, this seems a bit much for a single parasite starship.

How many ships were you facing, how many ships were on your side, and how many did you reclaim?

Darn it, I wasn't keeping track of numbers. However, the things I was facing may explain it. The AI was throwing space planes (not known for their durability), teleporter battle stations (they teleportation tends to make them rush up to target, often making them the first target), and shield bearers (which soak up the damage that would of gone to many ships, including reclamation damage).
So, maybe my game is a bad sample of the new "spread" effectiveness.