Guns Of Icarus Online

Info => News and Announcements => Release Notes => Topic started by: Keyvias on November 09, 2016, 01:54:02 pm

Title: Version 1.4.9 Release Notes
Post by: Keyvias on November 09, 2016, 01:54:02 pm
New contents:

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

Special Ability System
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/eOJpU8zoZQLnTMfaTK93-3AOICVkvUIEi0R0eIo6DZdmWAhkNeENhiXoXNCdWyiF0X8BsMd79ZGqzmjFaOSvNkHBYMj13W3FCmyAcIO10l3O2Jo5FAaRjBBjGKPgZX9D9q7qbjN_)
Special Abilities (official name TBD) are new class specific unlockables designed to give each class more strategic options and create impactful gameplay moments.  Normally unlocked via playing Alliance matches as each class, we’ve unlocked all of them for your perusal.  Like the ultimates in other games, careful strategic planning and usage of these abilities can dramatically change the tide of battle.  Emit an electrical blast to disrupt enemy components as an Engineer, trigger ship mechanisms to speed reload all the weapons with larger clips as a Gunner, unlock the engine’s true power for a devastating forward ram as a Pilot, and many more.
If you go to the Character Loadout screen, you’ll find a new ability slot for every class. Once you equip one, you can use it in match like you would use other class specific skills with the 5 key.  The ability has long cooldowns, so use it wisely!


The Stormbreaker
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RZtqSeXBTD-K5Z7Ha2SedmRZjuWz57440YerrCNGUY7cBBlJBx533BfCZe1kxzy1LI7-7aR08Wjcg4D25fROlDSYH1gv4CK2cFGwvDuWz5_cbtmnkrw_9ygmev-b0iNXuamNdGaJ)
The Arashi faction is not in the game yet, and we have our own ideas of what changes need to be made for the next iteration of this ship, but we’d love to hear your feedback as we embark on the next iteration.  The Stormbreaker’s engines, scavenged and retrofitted from larger ships, provides extreme acceleration that’s perfect for skirting enemies.  The asymmetric design speaks to Arashi’s make-it-work philosophy and finding gems in the rough.


Infiltration
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/JPpBceljXDbh3w6axANw4tNd61n8F3_1-7Y5A91SXlrVVx-rAXfzZZruPk8S2398fK-m-uYYRxzvKO74OET5x8RzWQ7kwNrOtD9q_CjoLWnOQ-4f7YoApG9jaaQFz_kV8bLZqQdH)
The ship in the first match lobby slot is the VIP.  The VIP must survive at all costs and is the only one who can infiltrate enemy refineries that are scattered through the map.  Infiltrate each refinery by flying near it while teammates defend the infiltration process.  After all refineries have been dealt with, the VIP, escorted by teammates, must escape at the very end of the map.

Survival & Survival Mini
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/nm0G2dm1ogZNupYfj1K1I893t5d01k6XW38udyzg0TpePDeYdMJrfkXARKF_N__cihVWuImu7lh_qyERtBA3Qxzp9rLHZvcr42xg6pilD6etcVi5mPSu4-IOwlZzBz9s6W8ZVywi)

Basic but vicious survival lives up to its name. Go through 8 or 5 waves of objectives ranging from drill destruction, VIP targeting, boss battles, and more!

Defense 2.0
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/lB8ud-i02P5R9DoIQkDsD5iJI5A-EyQaRniwye8sehTUNfRbWJtWOW5N6JT9JF8GnusQKCc8U35TlJNx6Ojp8_ly1g7qIDWZXMWh5gGCRVMuLvlVJO3hmFWTrxvkuxW3vwqU01ti)

The primary objective now is to destroy the enemy resource drills.  Barges will heal your base, but they are not required for victory. After  you destroy the last drill, you’ll need to wipe the remaining enemies off the map or survive and defend your base for 5 minutes!  Good luck.

Alliance Tutorial

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/4qWEYqBiopznXehz-M8FEi_hhT0TYB7W6nM6vJjGL7T1ugkLWhTNUl0AjkEI_CbN7PdUj8G8Nf0BaUpYgxhqjPj1CNrfTVL-3WfLcxyjJgin0MW0c1Mn5g45OzAR50el-RQo1VJj)
With all the new objectives and ways to fight in Alliance, we created a new tutorial segment specifically designed to illustrate new the Alliance mechanics, such as destroying the drill, capture barges from enemy ships, depositing barges, and battling the enemy outposts.  Captain Morrison returns to guide you on this new training mission.


New Faction Leader Influence

Players that earn the most efforts over a period of time will become leaders of their faction. We’ll be using an accelerated version of this time period for testing purposes.  Leaders unlock the ability to set Rally Points at the location they are currently deployed at.  As more and more leaders coordinate to rally at the same territory, their faction gets War Effort buffs.  These buffs range from a few percent to pulling all players who have not made a choice on which location to deploy at (it can be a lot!).


New Unlock more attacks on the world map

Factions can coordinate to spend their well earned Coins to unlock additional attacks against factions of their choice.  When enough Coins are invested, the system will choose a new location to unlock.  Be careful!  The more actions you have on the world map also means your efforts will be spread thinner as well so make sure to coordinate.

War!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gpo4N1L4RjXfgbtZb0Dz-ftufAYD58V2W9klb8LlKjmMwOLAatwocfhH8_J1zqiv1EJx4kYiLZl-J205nf5HM4n1NNBmzjVL-t4X9-NWtmQUua6n9IWSTpMzA-VYrm672UiLmtYC)Resources will now come into play.  Each territory has a set number of resources.  Conquering a new territory will add that territory’s resources to your factions’ coffers.  Each faction has a Resource Goal, and once a faction has reached their goal (aggressor) a War will be initiated.  The factions will be split into two alliance, the first is seeded with the aggressor and the second will be seeded with a faction of the system’s choosing.  Remaining factions can then vote for which alliance they want to support.  The faction with the highest % of votes towards an alliance will win the vote and go to the alliance of their choosing.

When War starts, each alliance has a new Resource Goal to complete.  Once that is reached, the War will end with a winner and a loser.

To supplement territory resources, Missions are still available.  Each Mission has different objectives (e.g. conquering specific faction’s territories) and has different rewards.  Look through the Missions and attempt to complete those are that are beneficial to your faction, or block others from completing from theirs.

Wars could be won and lost with Missions!

Integrated World and Faction Progression

The world and faction menus are one click away, and with the new UI, you’ll be able to access these menus from the lobby! Apply war loot, devise strategy, and talk to your faction from any lobby or menu.


Compiled History and Lore

After the war, we will be compiling everyone’s actions and using the information to create unique lore entries for a player-wide history book.  Flip through its pages to find the exploits of factions, clans, and players.

Here is a snippet of the previous alpha test, a short tidbit of what to expect:

From the compiled records of the Traveling Historian—

There are days when the people can relax without fear of conflict, but those days are often few and far between.  The power in the world are shifting and the new factions are arising to take it for themselves.  The rugged Anglean Republic gained tide after tide of supporters and began to wreak havoc in the central plains against the Fjord Baronies.  The Baronites were overwhelmed by the incessant onslaught of sure numbers and had no choice but to defend their territories by the teeth.  After losing many lands to the fur-cloaked marauders, the Fjord Baronies managed to hold their ground and stem the tide of defeat as the Angleans lost their momentum and by investing in fortifications like armored walls and bulwarks.  The Anglean Republic had spread itself thin.

Across the narrow channels to the east, a small but extremely well organized contingency of Chaladonians led their forces against the Mercantile Guild in the south.  The Order of Chaladon was able to break into the mainland due to their superior leadership to contest on Anglean and Baronite lands.  The islanders continuously assaulted key locations in all surrounding factions.  A push like this may have tipped the scales to war but the unexpected happened.

In the 11th hour, the Mercantile Guild managed to scrap together their weakening forces to retrieve valuable caches of weaponry, coin, and information from enemy factions.  The Guild was once again rich with their regained their lands.  They advanced back into the mainland to challenge the Angleans, Baronites, and Chaladonians.
When the war broke…

The last few pages of this account were lost so we’ll never know how the war played out (okay, there was no war in the alpha but let’s play pretend).  We’ll have to wait for the next installment to see who wrests the seat of power this time around.


Skirmish

King of the Hill: Frostbite Occupation
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/HrhSJlxAI0gscST3CRs_CegZMC6CxD4XFKoGW0cJrlk6JI1ZpKAwi1PHJDi9PLhtVWeB4pcYvo-PqIhqJ49KBX_bz9hx8rQL9kBVS4esn7HKKsI8SHDR47wYdVS_zkGownSXVdeG)
The call to adapt the maps was made, and we’ve heeded the call. First up is a KotH of Anglean Raiders. Dive into the breach and try this brutal capture point map.


Vs. AI in Practice

Novice AI made a huge splash during our last patch with many vet players wanting to fight against our in-human captains and crews. We’ve unlocked the ability to fight these AI ships in practice mode.  Please note that matches in Practice will not count towards player progression, as Practice is a safe zone for people to learn and hone skills. Enjoy the destruction of AI!



Skyball 2.0
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/zjm2Y_d513h3SC3MffYS7O8O5K96AW87Xj4AE4Ihl3st3fcjcjczusK1Wi9UUkc62ZgjapKMgJf1flvbuw61ZYksUqGvzCFt7jPL0l4rQ_iwmIYbhL12P9G6Dn_q93ZsCHnzXEHQ)

Removed defensive spawns to combat easy turnovers that turned into incredibly long matches, and revised spawn locations overall

Increased winning points to 3 (from 2)

20 minute timer for all matches.  Team with the most points at the end of 20 minutes will win (if less than 3 points).  If there is a tie between the two teams at 20 minutes, a 5 minute sudden death round will commence.  During sudden death, the first team to score wins.  Furthermore, captures are instantaneous during sudden death.


General

New Alliance & PS4 Compatible UI (Work in Progress)

In this beta period, we’re testing a new UI that spans across all Guns of Icarus products (Skirmish and Alliance) that have allowed us to increase information density and functionality, and will allow us to have full controller support and target new platforms in the future.  We’ve streamlined primary and secondary navigation, incorporated a number of ease of use changes that you’ve requested, and audited navigation for controller ease of use and compatibility.  We’ve also made information hierarchy clearer.  For example, on the main screen, people would only have to make a selection between the PvE Alliance and the PvP Skirmish, and they can enter the play screen right away.  With the new design, we were able to place map and mode objectives on the lobby, so people will have clearer ideas of what the mission objectives are before they start the match.  The chat display is also cleaned up, making identification of different statuses and channels hopefully easier.


The UI is still work in progress, in that it has not gone through a final Steampunk embellishment pass.  The alignment of chat and social panels is also shifted from left to right to accommodate the updates we’ve made to the navigation scheme.  We’re looking for your help during this open period to test drive the new UI and give us lots of feedback, so we can work on remaining issues and continue to improve upon it.  Thanks!


(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/2QmKmqGas2Lhn55JNlLNXM5A8DNpqn5eOYYE055zrElVBvOBaHT7uxCED0_phN54ROgMzLI0Q4duZuau0Rp9HU7-2dvVcg5e0gDYuEsbIaF9cf0sC-bfXT4cx5DDRRSyISNV6C7w)Birthday Goggle giveaway

Celebratory Fireworks

Birthday cakes provided in our birthday theme


 


Changes:

General