Initially, i said i wouldn't release a new version of the combat prototype, but i changed my mind. Why ? Because i had to test some gameplay concepts anyway, and making a separate prototype would have made no sense. Besides, there was a few things that i wanted to improve in the ICP ( combat prototype ) 1.1
The new version of ICP will be 2.0 and will ( likely ) be followed by a new serie of patch until balance is adjusted. The gameplay has seriously changed.
Here's a non-exhaustive list of the main changes.
- bloom effect added
- shield effect added
- textures added for ships. This includes: the hammerhead frigate, the interceptor, the varden, the gladius, the lancet, the carrier and the battleship.
- added new ships, some player-flyable, some not ( unsure yet until tomorrow ): the shuttle, the remora, the intrepid.
- seriously nerfed the amount of points given when destroying an ennemy "AI" ship, like the carriers.
- added mining. The process of mining involves the shuttle. You have to land on an asteroid, wait until minerals are extracted ( an icon is displayed on the top/left of the HUD ), then fly back to the battleship and dock on a landing pad. At this time, you and your team get points for every ton of mineral extracted.
- asteroids reworked. They're now spawned in groups that are far away from the battlefield. Shuttles have no weapons, so some players are expected to escort them. Mining is the most effective way to earn score points.
- the huge asteroid level is gone. Might be back later.
- new shields system. Shields are now ellipsoids surrounding the ship. If a fighter comes close enough inside the shield zone and fires at the hull, it does direct hull damage ( and can damage turrets ). The most effective way to win the battle, as a fighter, is to damage turrets of the battleships.
- various network bug fixes, like the bug that made some ships "backflip 180?" randomly for a short period of time.
- various optimizations, mostly cpu related. Unfortunately you will probably not feel them because of the next change:
- dynamic battles. All non-player ships are now controled by an A.I. and are no longer static, but move on the battlefield, attack or defend each other, etc..
- smarter turrets A.I., plus fixed a bug related to turrets no longer firing anymore.
- pushed very far away the battlefield limits..
- and of course, lots of balance changes.
- (probable) hangar doors
- (probable) spAce's explosion effects
- new musics from Helios and Yu Chen.
- (unprobable, unless i have enough time) missiles.
- new shader level option: low, medium and high. Bloom is only available in high mode.
- new graphic option: antialiasing.
- (probable) new font or font colors/sizes
- (unprobable, unless i have enough time, but will come in a patch anyway): turrets orientation network prediction (lacking at the moment, so sometimes turrets fire a bit behind you, while you're hit on the server).
- (probable) new asteroid textures by Betelgeuze
- and i probably forget quite a few ones..
Mandatory screenshots:
