THE CHANGES SO FAR: Here's a list from Dylan Jobe (Incog guy) on what will be fixed in the final version of the game, which was influenced by the beta test up to this point (June 9th):
-Game Performance
(General improvements found in the BETA patch, optimized fully. See below for more info.)
* Game now runs in 480p, 720p and 1080i.
* If a player/client is removed, kicked, or gets an unexpected network disconnect while playing on a ranked server, that server will persist their stats, points and awards -- even if they had to leave the game for whatever reason. As you all know, stats are posted/recorded to the main database at the end of the round. *Now* at that time all data is posted -- including data for players that left the game unexpectedly. The key here is that players will *no longer* be robbed of their hard earned points, awards or stats!
* Of course there is still one other way that server-admins can ninja a player's hard-earned points and that is to wait until the end of the round, or near the end of the round, and yank their network cable of power-cycle their PS3. Only the biggest of greifers do this but...based on all of your posts, this *does* happen. So...we now track on the main server, a new statistic that is "the number of ranked games hosted that don't complete". This very topic was actually discussed on the forums here and its a good idea. In that same thread, some of you wondered if it would be linked to server name -- thus being very easy to avoid. What we do instead, is track it to the machine and login. If that person hosts too many ranked games that don't finish, their ability to host dedicated games will be disabled.
-WEAPON IMPROVEMENTS: .50 CAL
* Aiming assist has been added to both the .50 call turret *and* the turret on the back of the 4x4. Our internal testing showed a huge difference in players being able to defend against incoming ground troops *and* provided some really fun drive-by opportunities when player roll-out with their friends.
* Fixed Armor rating and Hit-points on the turret geometry. Once we made the changes to the aiming, and our testers starting using the 50cal turrets more, we noticed that the turrets themselves seemed too tough. So now, players that mount 50cals will have access to strong firepower but are more susceptible to grenades and rockets.
We have noticed that holding bases that are equipped with these heavy machineguns is a lot more fun -- now that player can actually get kills with those weapons.
I forgot we fixed that as well. Our level scripters went through and corrected the camera settings for all 50 cals. The cameras in the BETA were awful -- they got caught on stuff too easily. Now they pull in closer to the character for better control and predictible firing arcs. We fixed this too -- just forgot to include it on the 50 cal post!
-WEAPON BALANCE: Assault Rifle/"Halo'd" Pistol
* The damage of the Pistol has been reduced. In the BETA each pistol round did far more damage than the rifle rounds. This coupled with the other attributes of the Pistol caused it to be a dominant weapon -- even when Rifles *should* have been the preferred weapon. Each pistol round still does more damage than a Rifle round, but the Rifle’s ROF is so high that it makes up for it.
* MAX Pistol RoF is now 8/sec and the Rifle RoF is 15/sec.
* The target assist range on the pistol has been reduced. In the BETA, the aim assist had a pretty long range. This caused players to switch to pistol while we really wanted them to still be in the Rifle's "sweet-spot".
* The lifetime of the pistols projectile has been reduced. In the BETA the bullet from the pistol would last an incredibly long time, allowing players to rain pistol fire towards a target over too great of a distance.
* The accuracy spread on the pistol has been opened up, causing it to still be very effective at close range, but it's effectiveness drops off more quickly at medium range. In the BETA the accuracy delta between the Rifle and Pistol were not contrasted enough. This resulted in the Rifle not being accurate enough and the Pistol being too accurate.
* Rifle accuracy spread has been decreased (tightened). In the BETA the effective range on the Rifle was not as good as many players expected. This helps remedy the problem.
* Rifle accuracy spread while crouching has been greatly decreased. This adds more depth to the use of the rifle and further helps is combat effectiveness at longer ranges. This tight stream of bullets greatly increased the chances of head-shots while using the Rifle -- something that all of you requested.
With all of these changes, we are hoping to strike a better balance with the spectrum of range and weapon. In very close quarters, we want the Knife to the weapon of choice. The next ring out is the Pistol. We don't want the Pistol to be a weapon of last resort but rather, the preferred weapon that you use just outside of Knife range. Outside of Pistol band is the Rifle and it's range and overall effectiveness have been greatly increase. As I mentioned, the ability now to better control head-shots makes a big difference.
GAMEPLAY: Ladders
* Mounting Trigger volumes for all ladders in all levels have been adjusted. In the BETA, players had to be right up on the ladder to trigger the climb. This sucked in combat because no one has time to **** around with a tricky ladder. Now ladder are much more forgiving.
* Reverse Ladder mounting is more smooth and forgiving. In the BETA, mounting the reverse side of the ladder pretty much resulted in you getting a knife in the ass or worse. Now mounting a ladder from either side is smooth.
SOUND: Jeep Horns
* We added a horn to the 4x4 that is activated by pressing R1
* There is a different sound for Chernovan and Eucadia 4x4s
* There is a time limit tracked "under-the-hood" that prevents annoying horn abuse.
* The horn is played in full 7.1 surround *with* accurate Doppler simulation
Hey, just because it's a simple horn, doesn't mean that it shouldn't sound next-gen!
ONLINE RANKINGS: Functionality Changes
* Ranks and Rank requirements have been completely adjusted to create a better progression.
* The very difficult award requirements that showed up early in the Rank progression have been removed or redistributed. For example, there was an early rank that required the Joint Service Commendation (10 kill streak). This is a hard ribbon for many players to get -- especially as a requirement for such a low rank.
* Point requirements for the Ranks have been adjusted.
* Requirements for all Medals, Ribbons, and Badges have been adjusted.
This may seem like a small thing, but many players, myself included, really dig on collecting these. And nothing is more frustrating that trying to get an award that is simply too tough to get -- it breaks the whole collection system.
GAMEPLAY: Respawn/Camping Fixes
* Once a player has respawned, he will *not* be seen by any other player until the respawn invulnerability ceases. Currently in the BETA, all players see respawning players as ghosts as they respawn. This unfortunately allowed base-campers to line up attacks on players coming out of respawn limbo. Sadly, this actually put the players respawning at the disadvantage rather than provide them much needed protection -- Thankfully this has been resolved.
* A player will have 5 seconds of respawn invulnerability. At the end of which, he will become visible on all other player's viewports. Currently in the BETA, players have only 3 seconds of protection. This was found to not be enough time to allow players to get out of their base to assume safe positions if the opposing team was employing meat-grinder tactics.
* Players now can attack while in the respawn invulnerability, however, the respawn protection is immediately canceled upon execution of the attack. This action also makes the player visible to all other players. Currently in the BETA, respawning players are not allowed to attack. As a result, many players found it impossible to defend their base during heavy spawn-camp engagements.
* Players' respawn invulnerability is immediately canceled if they mount a vehicle or turret.
* Players *are* allowed to climb ladders during the respawn invulnerability.
* Players' respawn invulnerability is immediately canceled if they collect a pickup.
* All of the above applicable respawn rules now apply to Aircraft in Dogfight gameplay modes.
We all agree that the meat-grinder spawn-camping is pretty bad in the BETA right now and our internal testing with this new functionality shows a *massive* improvement in the defendability of bases and, a huge decrease in respawn frustration
NEW: Aircraft Co-Pilot
* When 2 players are in an aircraft, the co-pilot now has access to the enhanced mini-map that displays *all* blips. Eucadian and Chernovan troops, tanks, aircraft, etc. This allows 2 players to work together like a Fighter -AWACs plane.
We found that once this feature was fixed, players here in the studio would take on "eye-in-the-sky" roles -- helping call out attacks, incoming and coordinating teamwork from high above the battle.
Like I said, there are a lot of good ideas, but we're too late to add a tail gun
This was an easy fix to a feature that gives the co-pilot something to do.
(Again, all of this will NOT be released for the beta. It will be present in the final game.)
Now, an update on the Patch many of you are so eager about....
PATCH INCOMING...not this Friday. Incog has moved the patch to an unspecified date. Here's what it contains:
BETA Testers:
A patch file for the Warhawk BETA will be going live Friday evening. Our primary goal was to get the game more stable along with a few other changes. Once the patch file gets posted, you will simply launch Warhawk and select "online". You will be prompted to download an update for the game. After the patch has finished, Warhawk will ask you to quit the game using the PS button and then relaunch Warhawk.
Warhawk Public BETA ver 1.13
* Improved Stability: We made several changes to core systems to help our stability problems. While some of you may still experience some crashing, this build is *much* improved.
* Fixed Server/Client Release: Gamer servers now correctly release clients if they quit the game, unexpectedly disconnect, crash, etc. No more servers filling up with "ghost" clients.
* Push-to-Talk: Now players can activate the VOIP by pressing the L3 button. Press L3 to activate a voice chat channel, release L3 to deactivate voice channel. The graphics/HUD updates that I mentioned in a post the other day are not in this patch, just the PTT functionality.
I would like to stress again that the issues that were causing our instability were due to very small bugs in *our* code, not the 1.8 firmware. It just so happened that the frequency of the bugs increased when running on 1.8.
We have also made several balance and feature changes over the past week and I'll be posting an update for all of you. Sorry I have been "incognito" over the past few days -- I've just been too busy here at the studio to post any updates
As always, the team and I are very appreciative of your comments and bugs! All of your participation is helping to make Warhawk a great game!
