Author Topic: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).  (Read 2979 times)

Offline x4000

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Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« on: May 15, 2015, 11:44:40 pm »
New one: http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Stars_Beyond_Reach_Beta_Release_Notes#Version_0.821

Okay this one is huge.  Not because it adds much in the way of new features -- I think the only actual new features are the ranged interception buildings, which I did not adequately test by the way.  Those are basically like "deflector dishes" in Star Wars, I think of it.  Anyhow.

Balance has been shifted on all the combat-related stuff like crazy.  Saucers are one part of that, but in general lots of changes for the better I think.  I may have made some mistakes in ways that will bite folks, though, so I made a new 0.820 branch in case you need to revert to that.

There are also a ton of bugfixes, and then there is a new graphics quality option because we hand't realized we had downed the general graphical quality of the whole game in order to suit the low-ram folks (oops).  Now everyone should be able to get the nice graphics for the most part, unless you have below the new system requirements (3GB of ram), in which case you'll get slightly artifacted elements but still better than last release.

All that stuff from the 5/14: Chris's thoughts on what comes next (yikes balance!), and blueshirts. thread still pretty much holds true as of this release.  A lot of the military balance has come into much closer form a lot faster than I expected, which is very gratifying to see.  That said, there are still a lot of intertwined balance issues that need to get sorted out in the next week or so, and then we should be blueshirt-ready.

Not that I think balance will be perfect after one more week, mind you, but I think we can get it much more in the ballpark and something that people can handle a lot better.  If today is any indication of the sort of progress we can make, we'll be all right. ;)
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Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2015, 06:11:17 am »
city centres being placed in centerless city's making a new city was a bug? if id been aware I would have reported my evuk game with its 3 city's in the same place to mantis. ps will edit this when I get a chance to try out the patch
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Offline Zebeast46

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2015, 09:27:40 pm »
Just a question, are the yali's building underground because I have not actually seen any of their buildings yet.
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Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2015, 09:38:55 pm »
Just a question, are the yali's building underground because I have not actually seen any of their buildings yet.
yeap every single one of them the only thing of theirs which isn't are their saucers.
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Offline Cinth

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2015, 02:20:16 am »
I did not adequately test by the way.

Constantly done by even AAA studios, though they will never admit it.

Said once by an ex-Blizzard employee.

 :D

Quote from: keith.lamothe
Opened your save. My computer wept. Switched to the ST planet and ship icons filled my screen, so I zoomed out. Game told me that it _was_ totally zoomed out. You could seriously walk from one end of the inner grav well to the other without getting your feet cold.

Offline x4000

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2015, 09:12:06 am »
Just a question, are the yali's building underground because I have not actually seen any of their buildings yet.

All underwater, yes.

I did not adequately test by the way.

Constantly done by even AAA studios, though they will never admit it.

Said once by an ex-Blizzard employee.

 :D

Haha, yeah.  Well, we try to make sure that official launches are super well tested, and that those in beta branches get fixed super fast if somethinig is up with them.
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Offline Cinth

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2015, 09:49:08 pm »
I did not adequately test by the way.

Constantly done by even AAA studios, though they will never admit it.

Said once by an ex-Blizzard employee.

 :D

Haha, yeah.  Well, we try to make sure that official launches are super well tested, and that those in beta branches get fixed super fast if something is up with them.
[/quote]
Just a touch of humor pointed back at developers in general.  I figured it would get a chuckle or two.
Quote from: keith.lamothe
Opened your save. My computer wept. Switched to the ST planet and ship icons filled my screen, so I zoomed out. Game told me that it _was_ totally zoomed out. You could seriously walk from one end of the inner grav well to the other without getting your feet cold.

Offline x4000

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2015, 08:57:24 am »
Oh indeed.  I take it as a point of pride rather than an insult.  Whatever we are, at least we're straight with you about it.  And quick, usually.
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Offline Cinth

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2015, 05:29:19 pm »
And quick, usually.

Reminds me of the AVVW beta.  Release a patch first thing in the morning and I happen to be awake and online to catch it going up.  Update, play and catch a game breaking bug and report it.  Less than 10 minutes later the fix is out!  Good times  :D
Quote from: keith.lamothe
Opened your save. My computer wept. Switched to the ST planet and ship icons filled my screen, so I zoomed out. Game told me that it _was_ totally zoomed out. You could seriously walk from one end of the inner grav well to the other without getting your feet cold.

Offline x4000

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2015, 06:58:10 pm »
That was both a fun and awkward horrifying alpha process for me, haha. Not that specific thing, just the whole process there. It was a long time and emotionally draining. That period put an enormous strain on my marriage, honestly.
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Offline Cinth

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2015, 05:25:26 pm »
It sure was a learning experience.  I think I'll leave it at that  :D
Quote from: keith.lamothe
Opened your save. My computer wept. Switched to the ST planet and ship icons filled my screen, so I zoomed out. Game told me that it _was_ totally zoomed out. You could seriously walk from one end of the inner grav well to the other without getting your feet cold.

Offline x4000

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Re: Beta 0.821 now out (wow holy balance Batman).
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2015, 12:13:11 pm »
Indeed.  :-\
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