New version .803 now out!

[x4000]

Back to the regular schedule. http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=The_Last_Federation_Alpha_Release_Notes#Alpha_Version_.803

Restart steam to force a redownload if you like.

This one has a whole slew of bugfixes and balance fixes that folks have reported -- thanks for that, all!  It also addresses the WASD key controls.  Let me know how those feel for you.  This also substantially shortens a few specific contract types to having only one stage rather than multiple (no sense stringing that out, anyway), and it also fixes some key bugs with some contracts that were unwinnable in certain circumstances.  Also shortwave virus actually works now.

I added the first 23 of 40 achievements tonight as well, because I was feeling kind of mentally dead but still wanted to do something productive.  So there we go.  That wasn't remotely pressing, but it's one more thing off the list for 1.0.

Combat practice is gone, and the reasons are explained in the release notes.  And then, awesomely, there is now flagship ability category differentiation by racial flagship.  This is super interesting.  If you like the operational abilities, you'll want to be Skylaxian or similar.

More tomorrow.  Have a good night, all!

[Cinth]

I've watched the .803 list grow all day.... kinda like an AIW fleet blob... awesome and horrifying.  Dis one got huge!!

[keith.lamothe]

I've watched the .803 list grow all day.... kinda like an AIW fleet blob... awesome and horrifying.  Dis one got huge!!

134 MkIII Changes (AI 2) to Your Face in 0:54

[Cyborg]

I cannot play this until you fix the jitter.

[x4000]

I cannot play this until you fix the jitter.

It's still doing it for you?  I have no way to repro this at all.  I mean, I've seen your video, but that doesn't tell me anything except that it's jittering for you.  I understand what it's doing, but not how it got there.  Any clues at all on things you might be doing that trigger it?  Do you have a savegame you can upload, with then instructions on what we should click or press, in what order, on what screen resolution, on what OS?  I would desperately love to fix this, but it seems rather niche whatever is wrong.

[Misery]

Only had a quick go to have a look, but a couple of things jump out at me:


The new controls..... yeah, already wanting to turn that off.  Precision movement is utterly gone with that.... particularly at higher difficulty levels, the combat pacing (of everything, including enemy attacks) would need to be dropped dramatically for this to really work.  Density/number of both enemies and bullets would have to go down dramatically as well.   As it currently is, the bizarre movement is going to lead to players eating alot of shots that they dont need to.  Creates a lazy, sluggish feeling.    Me being not very patient with control issues, I'm likely to either play with the difficulty as low as it'll go to get it over with quicker or skip battles entirely.   This also makes avoiding things by reaction nearly impossible;  even if your reflexes are quick, the ship itself doesnt even come close to being able to act on that quickness. 

On lower difficulties this may not matter so much;   higher ones will be near impossible (and exceedingly frustrating) with this on.


Player shots also dont seem any faster at all.... I can still move almost as fast as my own minigun shots, which was the case before.   As best I can tell, there's no active change here.


Also.... where did the combat practice option go?  It appears to have gotten lost....


EDIT:  Oh.  It was removed.   That would likely explain why I could not find it.  I should point out then that one of the scrolling messages at the bottom of the screen in the title screen still points out the combat practice as being there.

[PokerChen]

lol, maybe combat practice can be an unlockable once you've finished a game.

[Castruccio]

Only had a quick go to have a look, but a couple of things jump out at me:


The new controls..... yeah, already wanting to turn that off.  Precision movement is utterly gone with that.... particularly at higher difficulty levels, the combat pacing (of everything, including enemy attacks) would need to be dropped dramatically for this to really work.  Density/number of both enemies and bullets would have to go down dramatically as well.   As it currently is, the bizarre movement is going to lead to players eating alot of shots that they dont need to.  Creates a lazy, sluggish feeling.    Me being not very patient with control issues, I'm likely to either play with the difficulty as low as it'll go to get it over with quicker or skip battles entirely.   This also makes avoiding things by reaction nearly impossible;  even if your reflexes are quick, the ship itself doesnt even come close to being able to act on that quickness. 

Totally agree with the point about the new WASD controls.  The mouse is just the way to go now because it's most precise.  In general I find the controls (even with the mouse) to feel slightly less "tight" than they should.  It doesn't have to control like Super Meat Boy in space, but the combat controls should feel roughly as precise and "tight" as, say, the controls on a MOBA like LoL or DotA 2.  Maybe they don't feel that way now because it takes the ship so long to turn.  Perhaps that's part of "movement in space," but action combat needs action!

[x4000]

I hear you guys.  I've made some substantial changes in the next version to the feeling of tightness in turning, so let's hear what you think on that after.