Dev App 1.3.6 (350)

[Watchmaker]

As you might have noticed, we're now testing what will become the 1.3.6 patch.

Major new functionality (some of which is still having the bugs shaken out...):
- Cosmetic ship customization!
- Clan system!
- Revamped social/clan/store UI
- Revamped main menu
- Revised tutorials

There are also a LOT of bugfixes accumulated since the last patch.  An incomplete sampling, with focus on ones you as players might notice:
- Buffing no longer increases rebuild time
- Fixed broken flamethrower hit detection
- Tar Barrel: can no longer avoid damage by toggling it rapidly (or with good timing)
- Cloud particles are positioned consistently across clients
- Collision issues (invisible walls) on Anglean Raiders and Canyon Ambush
- FOV resets properly when dieing on the helm
- Fixed jerky/choppy falling speed
- Added Wilson's Notes for the Mine Launcher

Plus assorted other rendering, networking, UI, etc fixes.

If you've been on the dev app recently, you may notice the absence of matchmaking.  We don't feel it's ready for release yet; it won't be live in 1.3.6 and has been temporarily disabled on the dev app while we get the patch ready.

I'll update this thread when we push new builds/changes; please make other threads if you need to report issues or give feedback.  Or email us at feedback@musegames.com (just make sure to mention that you're talking about the Dev App!)

[Watchmaker]

Known obvious issues in 312, you don't need to report these:
- Figurehead attach positions are not correctly configured; they're not supposed to block guns and such

[Watchmaker]

Build 314
- Assorted rendering glitches fixed
- Assorted UI improved/fixed
- Fixes to ship assets (themes, dye regions, team colors)
- Figurehead positions are correct now
- Maps updated: new tutorials have them, Canyons updated to match fixed collision shapes

Known obvious issue: junker dyes don't show properly at a distance

[Watchmaker]

Build 317
- More UI fixes/revisions
- Fixed Junker paint issue
- Revised ship customizer background and lighting
- Fixed sound skipping on some guns
- Updated store descriptions (particularly for ship decoration items)

[Watchmaker]

Dev app build 336 (don't ask where the other 19 went...) contains the following:

- A workaround for Steam authentication failures after a user has logged in once successfully
- A potential fix for a suite of networking-related bugs including missing hit markers
- Visual improvements to several theme/ship combinations
- "Achievements to next level" no longer displays an absurd number* when a class is max level


* the absurd number was 2^32-1, the maximum value of a 32-bit int.  Fun Fact.

[Watchmaker]

1.3.6 (338) contains the following bugfixes:

- Fixed a bug that could cause the game client to crash in certain terrain collision situations on Linux
- Fixed a bug that caused broken UI when accepting a match invitation while already in a pregame lobby
- Fixed a shader bug that caused decals to sometimes be visible through clouds
- Fixed a shader bug that caused the Royal theme to sometimes be visible through clouds
- Fixed a shader bug that could cause nearby clouds to fade away when viewed through the Spyglass (or high-zoom guns)

[Watchmaker]

1.3.6 (341) is a potential hotfix, primarily addressing some major performance/stability bugs:

This additionally includes the build 338 fixes mentioned above, which have not yet been rolled out to production.

Client
- Fixed fires creating too many light sources (should be a major performance improvement on low-end machines in particular)
- Fires emit fewer particles when Light Quality is set to Low
- Fixed some text issues/typos in tutorials

Lobby
- Fixed: crew formation considering almost all matches ineligible (and either not showing them or creating a new one, depending on if you pressed Match List or Quick Join)
- Fixed: crew formations showing up in the match list
- Fixed a bug that allowed non-novice loadouts to be used in novice matches
- Fixed some bugs with clans and persistence that could cause lost data

Server Stability
- Practice and Tutorial matches now start in a selected server region, defaulting to the one with lowest ping (formerly they always started on US servers)
- Fixes to several cases where servers might not create or clean up matches correctly (contributing to general load issues)

Networking
- Fixed a networking prioritization issue that could cause certain messages (notably hit events and "snap character to position" events) to be lost or delayed for long periods of time.
- Fixed a networking bug that could cause all position updates to be lost for several seconds at a time under loaded network conditions
- A number of small improvements to networking stability and bandwidth usage

The networking fixes in particular should cover a number of strange bugs: "lag spikes", "missing hit markers", "falling through ship/map", "ships freezing and then catching up", etc.  While we can't guarantee perfect results in the face of the vagaries of the Internet, it should be greatly improved over the original 1.3.6.

Also note that the hotfix is not intended to include any data changes.  I've left the dev app configuration (new ammo types and such) untouched, but none of that is heading to production as part of this.

[Watchmaker]

1.3.6 (342) includes a few additional fixes:

- Fixed a networking bug that could cause significant traffic spikes for a period of time after respawning
- Shadow options are no longer reset by entering the ship preview screen in any of its forms (customizer, store, lobby preview)

[Watchmaker]

Latest build is now 1.3.6 (350.)  Some fixes to look for (some of these were also in the last matchmaking test, but I didn't post release notes, oops):

- Tar Barrel clouds are affected by wind again
- Flares and the spyglass play nice together again (silhouettes no longer disappear when zoomed in)
- Holding the mouse button to rebuild, buff, or repair should now fire as quickly as rapid-fire clicking
- Captain's Priority marker now disappears immediately when the target dies
- Match-end sequence should no longer sometimes be missing crewmembers or ships
- Fixed buffed hulls not granting achievement progress for repairs
- Fixed some cases where camera shake would be applied for spectators
- Avatars animate properly when looking through the Spyglass
- Expanded the respawn bounds of ships slightly to prevent fade-to-black while standing on the edge of the deck
- Restored specular highlights to player costumes (this has been broken for an incredibly long time)