Frogboy Frogboy

Sins v1.02 Changelog

▼

Sins v1.02 Changelog

Coming soon...

from Sins Forums

Sins of a Solar Empire v1.02 is coming...

We hope to get this out this week. Ironclad has been working hard to make v1.02 available as soon as possible but we also have to finish testing.

Updated info at bottom:

Here is what will be new:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gameplay / Balance:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tutorials moving into bad states at random fixed.
-Siege frigate survivability decreased.
-Pirate raid frequency decreased.
-Later stage missions to destroy ships and structures have had their expiry times increased.
-Clairvoyance: duration increased from 30, 45 60 seconds per level to 50, 100, 150 seconds.
-Guidance: cooldown changed from 20, 15, 10 seconds per level to 20 seconds at all levels.
-Guidance: ability cooldown rate changed from +20%, +35%, +50% per level to +40% at all levels.
-Guidance: duration changed 20 seconds at all levels to 15, 30, 45 seconds per level.
-Reverie: friendly units will no longer auto-acquire enemies under the effects of reverie as attack targets.
-Reverie: duration increased from 15, 20, 25 seconds per level to 20, 30, 40 seconds.
-Gravity Warhead: range decreased from 7000 to 6000 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: cooldown increased from 18, 16, 14 seconds per level to 25 seconds at all levels .
-Gravity Warhead: antimatter cost raised from 80 to 100 at all levels.
-Gravity Warhead: duration changed from 12 seconds at all levels to 12, 15, 18 seconds per level.
-Gravity Warhead: Speed reduction changed from 15%, 30%, 45% per level to 30%, 45%, 60% .
-Gravity Warhead: Acceleration reduction changed from 20%, 40%, 60% per level to 60%, 80%, 120%.
-Nano-Disassember: range increased from 4500 to 6000 at all levels.
-Nano-Disassember: antimatter cost decreased from 85 to 75 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: antimatter cost increased from 65 to 85 at all levels.
-Ion Bolt: cooldown from 9, 11, 13 seconds per level to 10, 12, 14 seconds.
-Shield Projection: radius of effect increased from 2500 to 5000.
-Game update rate change hooked to - and = buttons (singleplayer only).
-Two new pirate-less maps.
-First tutorial now handles players spending their ability point before they were intended to and thus not being able to spend it when instructed.
-Phasic Transmissions research is now effective even at max fleet supply research.
-Reduced Phasic Transmissions supply bonus from 20% down to 15%.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Shield projection's bubble less opaque.
-Various new ICO art.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Networking / Multiplayer:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Games in progress causing "Rejected by Host" error fixed.
-Multiplayer lobby screens now have Map Designer tab.
-Whisper functionality for ICO
-Refactored join game screen.
-Fix for not seeing friend's games.
-New chat friendly ICO font.
-ICO user names are now sorted.
-Self and friends are colored in ICO channel player list.
-Events for players entering and leaving channels.
-ICO nows preserves history when changing channels.
-ICO logged in user count now displayed. This number will only update when you change channels or login.
-Added some default lobby names.
-Reorganized numbered lobbies to increment sequentially as they fill.
-Added notification of what channel you are in.
-Fix for rare multiplayer lobby crash when host leaves a game in ICO.
-Various new ICO message strings.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UserInterface / HUD:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Added counter descriptions for all frigates and fighters.
-Game menu now mapped to F10 by default instead of Esc so people can repeatly press Esc to close any submenu they may-Fix rare bug in group selection.
 be in w/o going all the way to the escape menu.
-Various strings cleaned up.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modding:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Loading mods supported

Might be ready by Friday. Maybe.

Update:

Some people are complaining that we're simply catering to "whiners".  I would remind those people that Stardock has many many years of experience in putting together lists based on user feedback and making its own judgments on the matter.  The GalCiv series, for instance, has evolved plenty over the years and it's unlikely you're going to find any reasonable person who would say that we simply make changes based on who is loudest.

Prior to release, our internal testing of the game has produced a lengthy list of suggestions for future updates (1.01, 1.02, 1.03, and so on). Stardock and Ironclad get together, discuss what things we would like to change, and then prioritize it. The only thing that was "rushed out" for this release was some additional maps that don't have pirates so users have a choice.

It is not hard to defend against siege units.  But that is irrelevant. No counter to a given strategy should require more effort than the initial strategy. Throwing a swarm of siege units, takes virtually no effort. Defending against it requires considerably more. Similarly, the strength of the pirates is fine.  It's how OFTEN they strike.  The changes are not drastic, however.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Stardock, we can understand your concerns.  For those of you who have GalCiv II,  I would hope you all know better than to think that we make changes on a whim based on who posts loudest on a forum by now.  Ironclad shares the same views as we do on this matter. It's their game and we get together and discuss these things at length.

 

231,141 views 260 replies
Reply #226 from Sins Forums Top
our internal testing of the game has produced a lengthy list of suggestions for future updates
End of quote

the other great things its turned out are upper limit caps, excuse me for being skeptical.
Reply #227 from Sins Forums Top
I like that those who don't like the pirates are savaged by the designers and loyalists in this thread as whiners or new players who can't possibly have a valid complaint about how a group called "Pirates" shouldn't amount to a fourth faction and a more dangerous opponent than the AI (especially in the early portion of a game) in a serious space strategy game.

Ironclad and Stardock have a fanatical fan base, but constant catering to that small fan base does not necessarily make someone receptive to criticism or the best at reading and reacting to concerns of people.

The Pirates are a controversial CONCEPT as well as being controversial in their implementation. People who dislike the Pirates are not necessarily poor players at SINs who simply can't deal with the 12 minute raid cycle. I can see that Pirates are so integral to this game that I will never enjoy as much as GalCiv II or Europa Universalis or anything in between and that's sad. Pirates . . . in a serious space strategy game . . . I still can't believe this nomenclature or even concept made it out of very early betas.
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #228 from Sins Forums Top
Stardock is a class operation.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of playing GalCiv, the Stardock people love the games they produce, and they listen to the players as well as themselves. Their heart, soul and care are in the software under their aegis.

SOASE is no exception.

Remember Master of Orion 3? Many people, like myself, hated the gameplay and many aspects of the game as presented. I recall some defenders of the game responding to criticism by saying "get used to it. Learn to like the game as it is."

Stardock does not subscribe to that philosophy. I suspect that if enough people DO dislike the speed levels as presented, they WILL add faster speeds in the end.


Stardock and its designers and programmers are only human, in the end. But they do listen and do try. How many game companies really,truly give a damn once they get the product out of the door?


Reply #229 from Sins Forums Top
lol nice work...pirates aren't too tough and honestly if you aren't ready to defend them then you should be winning the bid

They really aren't that mean. The AI complaints are simply from people that can't accept a learning curve.

I appreciate your hard stance and pllleeaaasssse don't dumb this game down for those who forget that strategy is important. Planet defences are quite effective actually.
Reply #230 from Sins Forums Top

Stardock is a class operation.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of playing GalCiv, the Stardock people love the games they produce, and they listen to the players as well as themselves. Their heart, soul and care are in the software under their aegis.

SOASE is no exception.

Remember Master of Orion 3? Many people, like myself, hated the gameplay and many aspects of the game as presented. I recall some defenders of the game responding to criticism by saying "get used to it. Learn to like the game as it is."

Stardock does not subscribe to that philosophy. I suspect that if enough people DO dislike the speed levels as presented, they WILL add faster speeds in the end.


End of quote


Well, I dont see the damage to add 1-2x slower and 1-2x faster option to the game, as long as they continue to develop the game as the 4X-RTS it has been promoted as, and not the RTT-RTS some average RTS fan wants it to be. No one who knew what they where buying did buy this game to play the average RTS, so they cant just throw the 4X elementary functions out (empire tree, managable game speed and etc.).

Reply #231 from Sins Forums Top
To the person asking about ICO artwork, maybe they mean IronClad Online artwork? Things for the lobby or the "theme" and "character" artwork you can pick to represent yourself.

Reply #232 from Sins Forums Top

I like that those who don't like the pirates are savaged by the designers and loyalists in this thread as whiners or new players who can't possibly have a valid complaint about how a group called "Pirates" shouldn't amount to a fourth faction and a more dangerous opponent than the AI (especially in the early portion of a game) in a serious space strategy game.

Ironclad and Stardock have a fanatical fan base, but constant catering to that small fan base does not necessarily make someone receptive to criticism or the best at reading and reacting to concerns of people.

The Pirates are a controversial CONCEPT as well as being controversial in their implementation. People who dislike the Pirates are not necessarily poor players at SINs who simply can't deal with the 12 minute raid cycle. I can see that Pirates are so integral to this game that I will never enjoy as much as GalCiv II or Europa Universalis or anything in between and that's sad. Pirates . . . in a serious space strategy game . . . I still can't believe this nomenclature or even concept made it out of very early betas.
End of quote


Actually in earlier betas we had the ability to turn off pirates as an option when starting the game if you didn't want them. Pirates are a fourth faction in a way, but they are the "mercenaries" of games such as Lords of the Realm 2. You hire them to dispatch against your foes with no loss of lives (ships) to yourself. Many of us like them a lot, many people don't. Simple fix is to just make a toggle or even better some sliders to control various options.

What you will find is that IronClad is probably already working on adding such a feature based on feedback (I saw a poll on here that Craig or Blair one put up asking about what people wanted re: pirates). IronClad and StarDock are *very* responsive to customer thoughts and I think you will see a solution implemented to let us choose how much pirates affect our gameplay within the next month or two.

Reply #233 from Sins Forums Top
And notably I will defend the siege spam. The Spam tactic should be viable when used cleverly... the tactic is not a problem, and many of you think the AI is abusing it as a result of some bug. The AI is purposely designed to take advantage of this (90% certain on that) because it is effective.

The problem is the siege spam can kill one planet, and then keep going... it is fast and armored enough to deflect fleets long enough to escape. The issue would not be such a problem if the spam succeeded in killing the planet, but the siege fleet was utterly wiped out (by not too great defenses and fleet)... more importantly pursuing ships/fleets should be able to catch and destroy them.

The tactic should exist because undefended worlds should be attacked in such a way, and it is a desperate 'terrorist' sort of strategy which no doubt would occur to some admirals when their balls are to the wall. Spam strategies are only a problem when they are significantly or incredibly more potent to a combined arms tactic.

Even currently the siege spam is not superior to combined arms, but it is disproportionally effective in a strategic nature. Thus why the devs are changing it.

But the idea that spamming units in and of itself is somehow 'poor-play' or even 'immoral game design' is foolish. Certain extremes have counters, and are easily dealt with... the Siege Spam just hasn't had its counter strategy fleshed out yet.
End of quote


You guys keep refuting those who claim the Siege Frig is being spammed, yet keep ignoring the fact that the people responsible for complaints have continuously stated that the planets that were attacked were well defended, fully upgraded, and were still entirely decimated. Better yet, how can you claim that someone is fabricating a claim, particularly when the developers themselves acknowledge it? Is it a mere coincidence?

Another thing, that has also been continuously stated by the way, I thought this game was about combined arms and diverse tactics? So, essentially, you all are saying that this game is no different from C&C in terms of tactics? And that this is actually a good thing that should be advocated? That's good to know...

And, I can assure, if it's problematic in singleplayer, it will easily branch over into multiplayer. And let remind you again, spamming is supposedly the antithesis of this game. But who cares, right? You all essentially think it's okay.



Reply #234 from Sins Forums Top
I have nothing against the pirates. It's just that when time is flashing red, I have to open the bidding screen and keep looking at it while couldn't do nothing else. The bidding screen covers quite a big portion of the main screen. Other than that, I don't mind having mercenaries do my biddings or getting experience for my fleets. I'l keep some colony ships in reserve just in case though.

I wonder if the devs can make a check option for random map creation to turn on and off the pirate faction just like how they did that with the minor race map option in Galciv II or they can give an option to disable the bounty bidding while keeping the pirates as a minor race that just randomly raids the major races' resources.
Reply #235 from Sins Forums Top
Cool, this is Warcraft 3 in Space! I could test the game today and it was very good. :CONGRAT:

But it would be nice to have a "Slower" setting for Game Speed.
I played Master of Orion 2 a very long time with my brother and we usually prefer round based games and it is just to "fast" (especially if you dont know all techs and ships at the beginning) to take a look at everything and plan your next steps a while ahead (for my brother). I heard that there may be a "faster" setting in a future patch so maybe you could even add a "slower" setting, too - for the old, not-so-fast and round based players. ;)


btw: an option to disable bounties but keep pirates would be nice.
AND minor races (ships in orbit around empty planets) could make a colony there maybe? (like in GalCiv2)
Reply #236 from Sins Forums Top


the other great things its turned out are upper limit caps, excuse me for being skeptical.
End of quote


Sorry Schod but I like the current logistic setup!
Reply #237 from Sins Forums Top
Hi, I'm new. Not re-opening any arguments, just a quick 2 cents on comparisons.

"I'm sorry, have you ever heard of that little war known as WWI? how about WWII and germany with its lovely artillery? how about that giant-I-cant-remember-its-name-gun that shelled Paris from forests some 144 miles away? how about all of those medieval bickering-wars? how about the multiple sieges of Jerusalem? how about that little old nobody-knows-it battle of Gettysburg?"


The Paris Gun, Big Bertha and other large artillery is probably better compared to a Novalith Canon. It's not very mobile at all. They are still a type of siege engine. Just a bad comparison to a siege frigate.

Medieval siege weapons, like those used against Jersulem would have been trebuchets and siege towers and such. Stuff that is made out of wood, easily combustible, is dead slow and is absolutely fodder for your cavalry. Closer to a siege frigate I would say.

Gettysburg had lots of cannons, which are siege engines but pretty much useless once the cavalry or infantry get up close. Also not very mobile. Closer to a guass platform if you ask me.

Modern warfare doesn't really use siege engines because we have things like bombers (who usually travel escoted by fighters, this isn't a law or anything) and long range missles. Honestly, it's a game about technologically advanced space cultures, I think they can take license with the siege frigates as they see fit. Traditionally a siege engine should have armor weak as a kitten and never travel unescorted.


Oh and on the subject of those Tokyo bombers? They all knew they were going to have to ditch their aircraft ahead of time. They flew from the maximum distance out so there was no chance of return. Wouldn't make sense to take an escort for planes you intend to crash anyway.


I really don't care how they tweak the game. Unfortunately for my family they StarDock and Ironclad have hooked me for life.
Reply #238 from Sins Forums Top
A quick change is to be expected from Stardock... both GalCiv's were being updated within days of release and particularly for GalCiv1 the AI opponents were updated pretty much weekly.


for those not used to Stardocks philosophy, this is how it works...

Stardock continually reviews gameplay and tactics used by the top ranked players in the multiplayer/forum environment. they are very interested not only in the stability of the game but how players are using the features, tactics, exploits etc. What you'll find then is that you'll get comfortable with a tactic and then when you get the next update you'll follow your usual strategy/build order and quickly get your @$$ handed to you by the AI, cause in the intirim Stardock/Ironclad had update the AI behavior to mimic the tactics used by Joe-I-do-nothing-but-play-sins-all-day who happens to be at the top of the ranking ladder that week.

those of us who played GalCiv 1 and 2 are used to this...

the rest of you... welcome to Stardock.



Reply #239 from Sins Forums Top

As the beta testers should know, no change is just tossed in with Sins. ;)  In regards to the Siege Frigates, we really have been debating their strength for the last couple months plus.  It's like being in a political debate! :P

Having played with the changes internally, I like it more than I thought I would so far (I was definitely in the camp to leave them alone).  Siege frigates seem better balanced to me:  they're expensive (in fleet points) so you can't spam them without suffering in other ship types, they're still deadly but they're not quite as godly. Anyway, we will be testing this more internally before releasing the update to make sure we're happy with it.

Reply #240 from Sins Forums Top
Just started to read this thread. I HAVE to throw my inane comments in:

The changes (in this weeks patch) aren't a knee jerk reaction by SD/IC, we were talking/bitching/fighting about most of them in Dec/Jan. While it WAS a small number of people, we probably made up for it in sheer number of hours played. (Eets probably wished you were there the most btw, he was usually the person in the barrel). There were a bunch of things that had to be tweaked, and the changes had to be prioritized to get the game out, the devs had to draw the line somewhere. That said, this is probably the most easily changeable games I've seen, so adding the options to include or exclude some things will be a cinch to get out in patches/updates. I forsee a lot of menu options to modify AI tactics to suit ones playstyle now that the game is out. A lot of things just couldn't be changed in the time they had. One of the things you have to watch out for in product/project management is "creeping elegance", making changes just because you can, that either increases the time or cost of a product/project.

As we go along, now that there IS a larger community to throw their $0.02 in, it will probably be a little harder to pick and chose what should be changed.

Overall, this is a hell of a game and it will just get better (except for changes you want, Schod, now you don't get any).


pek
Reply #241 from Sins Forums Top
Similarly, the strength of the pirates is fine. It's how OFTEN they strike

I am glad at least for the SP mode the Pirate Spamming is being reduced. I cannot believe I was whipped by the AI on medium by a several huge Pirate raids within 30 minutes, after all, the bounty could not justify that much of fleet so quick in session three time larger than mine (or I'm just plain not a good twitchy RTS player).

But it would be nice to have a "Slower" setting for Game Speed.

I agree, for us 'old dogs' with slow fingers out here! Alot of us are from the Master of Orion era (getting older).
Reply #242 from Sins Forums Top

I
The Pirates are a controversial CONCEPT as well as being controversial in their implementation. People who dislike the Pirates are not necessarily poor players at SINs who simply can't deal with the 12 minute raid cycle. I can see that Pirates are so integral to this game that I will never enjoy as much as GalCiv II or Europa Universalis or anything in between and that's sad. Pirates . . . in a serious space strategy game . . . I still can't believe this nomenclature or even concept made it out of very early betas.
End of quote


If you don't like economic warfare this is not the game for you. Try Empire at War where all that pesky "harvester" business is thrown out the window for free money every second. I for one am going to enjoy beating down my opponents by proxy.
Reply #243 from Sins Forums Top
"Having played with the changes internally, I like it more than I thought I would so far (I was definitely in the camp to leave them alone)."

Well thats some good news !!!


"Siege frigates seem better balanced to me: they're expensive (in fleet points) so you can't spam them without suffering in other ship types, they're still deadly but they're not quite as godly."

And that is what its all about for me- balance. Easy should be, well easy. Hard should be very difficult. Easy for newcomers should mean we can get started with basics of learning to fight and trade without dying before our 4th owned planet. Thats why there are different settings for each of us, so we can choose depending on our current skill with the game. I dont believe anyone is or has asked you to dumb down the AI. I sure havent. Balance is a whole nother thing however.

"Anyway, we will be testing this more internally before releasing the update to make sure we're happy with"

Cant ask for any more than that... Thanks ;)
Reply #244 from Sins Forums Top

I
The Pirates are a controversial CONCEPT as well as being controversial in their implementation. People who dislike the Pirates are not necessarily poor players at SINs who simply can't deal with the 12 minute raid cycle. I can see that Pirates are so integral to this game that I will never enjoy as much as GalCiv II or Europa Universalis or anything in between and that's sad. Pirates . . . in a serious space strategy game . . . I still can't believe this nomenclature or even concept made it out of very early betas.


If you don't like economic warfare this is not the game for you. Try Empire at War where all that pesky "harvester" business is thrown out the window for free money every second. I for one am going to enjoy beating down my opponents by proxy.
End of quote


I see. So not liking Pirates is the equivalent of not liking the economic side of the game, including the gathering of resources and credits.

The straw men propositions put up by fans of this game are some of the most bizarre statements I have ever seen. If you like the Pirates, fine. Play with them. Revel in the silliness of a space age Long John Silver controlling a huge starfleet that regenerates and doesn't abide by the same rules of supply, production and finance that the AI and the player must abide by. But is there any point to coming onto the board and telling those people who don't like the Pirates that they are too incompetent to play Sins, don't understand basic economics, and fail to grasp the great innovation that a random, neutral faction called Pirates adds to a serious stratey game?

Reply #245 from Sins Forums Top
"But is there any point to coming onto the board and telling those people who don't like the Pirates that they are too incompetent to play Sins, don't understand basic economics, and fail to grasp the great innovation that a random, neutral faction called Pirates adds to a serious stratey game?"

Sure theres a point. In a nutshell and instead of just disagreeing with your whole pirate concept, it defines the "my way or the highway" livid arrogance some have combined with a highly unstable attiude in dealing with ANY kind of change, added to their own lifes little insecuritys about which car should they drive to the market- the Beemer or the Lexus. Other than that its just another opinion and I wouldnt sweat it... Back to the game... ;)
Reply #246 from Sins Forums Top

I see. So not liking Pirates is the equivalent of not liking the economic side of the game, including the gathering of resources and credits.
End of quote


Yes it is, because it's the only way a economy-focused player can survive without getting slammed a half hour into a game. I use pirates as a buffer to hit/delay other players for a thousand credits or so as I build up my economy and research, otherwise I would get steamrolled by some guy who decides to dump thousands of credits into fleet research and move in with two caps and twelve Cobalts and bomb the living crap out of my home world.

Sure theres a point. In a nutshell and instead of just disagreeing with your whole pirate concept, it defines the "my way or the highway" livid arrogance some have combined with a highly unstable attiude in dealing with ANY kind of change, added to their own lifes little insecuritys about which car should they drive to the market- the Beemer or the Lexus. Other than that its just another opinion and I wouldnt sweat it... Back to the game...
End of quote


This is absurd. I welcome the changes, I just don't like when someone comes and complains about a core game mechanic that I as a research/economy focused player rely on in EVERY SINGLE GAME OF SINS. Sure, you have people like schod who bitch about every single change made to the game as if it was heresy, but all I'm disagreeing with is the hypothetical "lol pirates suck maek a hueg flet in 20 mins *shoots space lazers at u*" that pirates should be removed or that the game should have not included them at all. Had you read my previous post you would have understood that, but generalizing is easier, I guess.
Reply #247 from Sins Forums Top
-It would be nice to choose where you started on any given map.
-Smarter AI. ( I hate that the enemy AI never attacks, except for the damned pirates)
-Stopping the enemy AI from running away from me would also be nice.
-re balancing of ship's HP and fire power

I think it would be nice if you could make the maps feel more alive. Everything feels so sterile. I'm not sure what you could do but it would be nice to see more background movements, asteroids, comets, and etc.
Reply #248 from Sins Forums Top
-It would be nice to choose where you started on any given map.
End of quote


Yeah, this would be really nice.

I'd like to see the planet-on-edge-of-galaxy scroll issue fixed as well as the HYPER-ZOOM that happens when zooming in to other stars (was fixed in Beta 3 IIRC) as well.

Also, change "civilian slot" to "logistics slot" in Development Mandate (TEC tech tree) right now it's indecipherable.
Reply #249 from Sins Forums Top
If it's not too late for this patch it would be great if you could also change the color of the progress bar in the action grid (yellow bar on yellow buttons can hardly be seen). I think either red or blue would do it :)
Reply #250 from Sins Forums Top
any news or ETA on the patch? :)