Star Conflict OBT v.0.9.15
When tweaking game balance, we follow player feedback as well as statistics of actual combat usage of both modules and weapons.
In this update we present a number of balance changes together with new features and bug fixes.
Weapons
Beam Cannon
Feedback has shown that this weapon is very hard to use at medium and maximum range due to the extremely low period of time when the target is being hit by laser beams. This is the reason the damage is fairly low at these distances.
Beam Cannon is meant to be used at medium range, which encouraged us to increase its damage and reduce firing range.
Maximum range reduced by 26%, from 4000 to 2950 m
Optimum range reduced by 26%, from 3000 to 2200 m
Weapon damage increased by 15%
Heavy Blaster
Heavy Blaster is a weapon with a unique and fun mechanic. Despite numerous complaints about ‘irritating’ barrel slowdown, statistics show that the weapon is very popular yet not effective enough.
Since this weapon is hard to use, we tried to amend this by increasing its damage output.
Volley damage increased by 5%
RF Blaster
Effectiveness stats for this weapon show that its effectiveness is not high enough. Pilot feedback analysis concluded that its major drawback is very high spread. We reduced this blaster’s spread and tuned other weapon characteristics.
Spread reduced by 35%, from 2 to 1,3 degrees
Heating time increased by 50%, from 6 to 9 sec.
Cooldown time increased by 50%, from 1 to 1,5 sec.
Gauss Cannon
Analysis shows that this weapon is not too popular among our pilots.
Changes have been made to make it better for fighting at long distances. Since we made the modules ‘Target Tracking Coprocessor’, ‘Infrared Scanner’ and ammunition type ‘Shaped Charge Shells’ somewhat weaker as part of other balancing changes (see below), you are now less likely to deal critical damage while using them. The following changes compensate for that.
Maximum range increased by 10%, from 3850 to 4250 m
Optimum range increased by 10%, from 2900 to 3200 m
Projectile speed increased by 15%, from 4750 to 5462 m/s
Firing rate reduced by 25%, from 60 to 45 shots/s
Damage increased by 47%
Heating time increased by 14%, from 7 to 8 sec.
Ion Emitter
This weapon is meant for close combat. Stats show that too many pilots find ways of using at at long distances. Emitter’s range has been reduced.
Maximum range reduced by 11%, с 2400 до 2150 m
Optimum range reduced by 11%, с 1800 до 1600 m
Assault Railgun
This is the most popular weapon. That’s why we’ve increased its ‘handling’: it’s more accurate but has a shorter range since it’s meant to be used at medium distances.
Spread reduced by 40%, from a range of 0.33-3.3 to 0.2-2.0 degrees
Maximum range reduced by 8%, from 3000 to 2750 m
Optimum range reduced by 8%, from 2250 to 2050 m
Positron Cannon
This weapon was too powerful since its balancing was still incomplete as of 0.9.14. The current update brings some final tweaks to this Cannon.
Initial spread increased, from 0.3-1.5 to 0.35-1.75 degrees
All weapons
Many players complained about ‘invincible’ interceptors without any sort of counter-measures to use against them. Besides, several types of weapons were less than optimal for dealing with fighters at certain ranges. We decided to slightly increase projectile speed for all weapons, but still allow fighters and interceptors to dodge them in flight.
Projectile speed increased by 10%
Modules
Our analysis shows that critical hit chance and damage are too high. Therefore, many pilots equip their ships with ammunition modules that drive these values even hgher. This introduces a serious imbalance in the gameplay and makes the game lopsided.
In this regard, we have weakened the modules and ammunition affecting critical damage.
Target Tracking Coprocessor
Critical damage bonus reduced by 30%
Infrared Scanner
Critical hit chance bonus reduced by 20%
Ammunition
Shaped Charge Shells
Critical hit chance reduced by 43%
Flat Reflector
Range bonus decreased by 20%
General
Corporations
_ Introduced the ‘CEO Assistant’ role _
Only the CEO can appoint and remove pilots from this position
CEO Assistant can:
Position flags on Sector Conquest map
Rename the corporation and change its tag
Appoint and remove pilots from the Officer position
Accept and fire pilots with lower corporate position
_ Corporate logo _
Logos can now also be bought with Gold Standards
Game window size
The ‘Maximize button’ is now active in windowed mode
Minimum possible window size is 1024*720 pixels
Added endorsement system
You can vote for one of the pilots from your team after each battle
Each pilot only has one vote
Total number of votes can be seen in the pilot’s profile
Translation assistance
This mode is now activated by pressing [Alt]/[CMD]+[shift]+[P]
The mode is available on PC and MAC
Sector Conquest
Influence points calculations are based on the number of captured beacons
Each captured enemy beacon costs 1 point
Each held allied beacon also costs 1 point
Points are awarded to each pilot on the team
PvP Battle
Improved shield restoration and hull repair mechanics
New mechanics are meant to remove the unfair advantage from fighters and interceptors when they are being repaired by allies.
The amount restored now depends on the size of the object being repaired
Interceptors receive 50% of the base value
Fighters receive 75% of the base value
Frigates receive 100% of the base value
These changes concern the following modules:
‘Autonomous Repair Station’
‘Autonomous Charging Station’
‘Mass Shield Generator’
‘Nanodrone Cloud’
Changed the way rewards for destroying ships are calculated
New rules are based on pilot feedback.
You can learn more about them in our latest [blog](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/22284-developer-blog-entry-from-january-22th-synergy-sector-conquest-and-hud/).
Synergy and effectiveness rewards for destroyed ships are now proportional to the damage dealt
All damage, from the time the enemy spawns to the moment he dies, is accounted for
When the ship spawns anew, the damage counter is reset
If the pilot that dealt damaged dies before its target does, he still gets the rewards
Effectiveness for assisting with modules is still calculated by the same rules
The rules deciding which pilot destroyed the enemy remain the same
Changed effectiveness and synergy reward values:
Effectiveness and synergy for destroying ships increased to 150 points
Effectiveness and synergy for assisting with damage increased to 100 points
Effectiveness for assisting by buffing an ally reduced to 20 points
Attention! Base synergy value for buffing an ally already was 20 points, we only synced the values!
Keep in mind that the final value depends on the pilot’s personal bonuses
Battle start
Added hints about the aim of each game mode
Hangar
General
You can now use a special button in Pilot Profile to change your name
You can see the number of corporations supporting each side in Sector Conquest
Notifications
Added notifications on installing already existing ammunition into the corresponding slots
Added notifications on removing ammunition from the ship
Added a notification on influence points gained during Sector Conquest
Added notifications on rewards after Sector Conquest battles
If you remove several modules from a ship, you only receive one notification
Profile
Added a button to change your name
Added a maximum achievement points counter
Titles
Added a ‘Developer Helper’ title
The titles also unlocks a unique sticker
The title is awarded to pilots actively assisting the development process, including:
Translation assistance
Searching for vulnerabilities and complex bugs
Streaming gameplay
Production of video guides, trailers and so on
HUD
Captain icon
Captain status icons in Combat Recon are now mirrored
Improved target indication
Target indication colour in chat now depends on the object’s allegiance
Allied objects use colour blue
Enemy objects use colour red/space]
Changed HUD settings window
The window now containts two tabs: ‘General’ and ‘Markers’, as well as a preview screen
General settings
Contains the basic HUD settings:
Target view window
Object direction
Ship direction
Group interface
HUD opacity
Enemy damage and effects
Targeting reticle type
Crosshairs type
Targeting reticle colour
Crosshairs colour
lead marker colour
Ship outlines
Dynamic frame size
Distance opacity
Hide targeting frames
Precise integrity indicator
Numerical beacon capture status
Marker settings
Contains ship marker settings for various situations:
Within sight
Within targeting reticle
Locked as target
Marker can display the following information:
Pilot name
Pilot status. For example, ‘Captain’
Ship name
Distance to object
Ship role
Ship technical level
Hull and shield integrity
Firing range frames
Sound
Added a sound for synergy transfer
Added sounds for buttons in Help section
Improved hangar sounds
Bug fixes
Improved attachments display in mail
Improved rank 15 implant icons
Improved matchmaker settings
Improved hint windows
Improved confirmation windows for operations with Gold Standards
Improved loot search points positioning
Improved Sector Conquest reward calculation (credits)
Improved graphical effects
Text improvements for all languages
Fixed a minor bug in PvE mission ‘Blackwood’
Fixed a bug with moving ships between combat slots with the mouse
Fixed a bug with module cooldown display
Fixed a bug with friend invitation logic
Fixed an error in the description of Beta-catalyst ‘Gigas II’
Fixed a bug with mail attachments display
Fixed a bug with incorrect module functioning while ‘Adaptive Camo’ is active
Fixed a bug with ammunition at the start of a new round in PvE missions
Fixed a bug with rewards in Sector Conquest
Fixed a bug with cut off role descriptions in some screen resolutions
Fixed a bug that allowed top-rank ships to enter battles with lower-ranked ones
Fixed a bug with pilot penalty messages not showing up in chat
Fixed a bug that caused infinite battle search after the end of the active phase of Sector Conquest
Fixed a bug with PvE turrets launching missiles from the back panel
Fixed a bug with Attack Drones destroying themselves
Fixed incorrect synergy reward calculations for the following actions:
Killing/Assisting the kill of the captain in Combat Recon
Taking/Planting a bomb in Detonation
Assisting the destruction of the bomb carrier in Detonation
Fixed pathfinding logic for Cruise Missile
Fixed several backdrop textures
Optimized a number of battlegrounds
[Update discussion](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/22296-star-conflict-obt-v0915-discussion/)