Zero-K v1.6.12.0 - Archer fix and Constable buff

There is a tournament in 10 days, so it is a perfect time to fix Archer. The central issue for Archer was physics-based rather than attributes based, which makes solo testing difficult. Thankfully, rooks[vegan], Kingstad, raaar, noobula, and izirayd were nice enough to test it out in multiplayer. Kingstad decided that Archer should cost 180 metal to compensate for the changes.

It is also a good time to give Constable a little damage, because who are we to question the will of @Godde? Puppy and Moderator have also received a slight reduction in jank. In other news, the outline widget had its settings tweaked and is now enabled by default. Players already using the widget may want to revise their settings to take the changes into account.

Balance

Archer fires in pulses to remove its unintended ability to hold units in place. It is cheaper to compensate.

• Cost 200 -> 180
• Range 300 -> 275
• Continuous firing replaced with 0.66s reload time.
• DPS 104 -> 72

Limpet is apparently to be buffed until it reaches degeneracy.

• Cost 180 -> 150
• Speed 3.9 -> 4.1

Constable is now able to fend off two Fleas.

• Now deals 15 real damage per shot.
• Added tactical AI.

Puppy now aims at its target instead of simply firing forwards and putting its faith in homing alone.

Moderator no longer 1-hits itself, providing much-needed hope for the Jump vs. Jump matchup.

• Damage 500 -> 460
• Slow damage 1500 -> 1840 (matches Dart slow factor).
• Health 450 -> 480

Commanders

Commanders now start with a beamlaser and weapon costs have been moved to baseline morph costs (overall should be unchanged as long as you use both weapon slots).

Beamlaser compared to old red laser:

• DPS 120 -> 150
• range 300 -> 330
• projectile speed 880 elmo/s -> instant

Basic weapon cost 50 -> 5
Advanced weapon cost 150 -> 100
Morphing from level 1 to 2 base cost 25 -> 75
Morphing from level 3 to 4 base cost 600 -> 650

Features

• Improved amphibious unit selection sound.
• Added a subtle unit outline setting and enabled outlines by default (at the insistence of Drone).
• Widened the bounds on wave spawn interval and burrow spawn time for custom chicken games.

Fixes

• Fixed Kirdipan.
• Fixed economy panels not showing when spectating a FFA with the spectator resource bars enabled.
• Fixed Zenith targeting on high ground.

I dont get the whole outline stuff. Shouldnt things like economy overlay be default?

Atleast moderator v moderator got fixed. I have a feeling jj v jj will be very common now.

Added the following omitted changes to the post:

Commanders

Commanders now start with a beamlaser and weapon costs have been moved to baseline morph costs (overall should be unchanged as long as you use both weapon slots).

Beamlaser compared to old red laser:

• DPS 120 -> 150
• range 300 -> 330
• projectile speed 880 elmo/s -> instant

Basic weapon cost 50 -> 5
Advanced weapon cost 150 -> 100
Morphing from level 1 to 2 base cost 25 -> 75
Morphing from level 3 to 4 base cost 600 -> 650

i don't get why Constable would have the privilege of dealing damage. There's already one exception, but it's the heaviest con. Now there are two. It had slow already.

Constable was already like one of the best cons...

Will Constable be getting a cost buff later?

But either way, if this patch fixes archer lockdown then it is an awesome patch. :)

Just a question: why not using gravity guns with a water skin for Archer instead of this complicated impluse thing that must now fire intermittently?

I am very happy to see that you took to the heart the community aspect of balancing the game in this patch GoogleFrog . Let's see how it plays out :)

Not sure what to think about the format but that's to be seen how it goes.

(Also I would refrain from changing the game in 2 weeks before tournaments)

@[ffc]

quote: why does mason have no privileges

Armored mason to the victory!

quote: i don't get why Constable would have the privilege of dealing damage. There's already one exception, but it's the heaviest con. Now there are two. It had slow already.

I think it's good to experiment sometimes. There were a lot of votes to try that suggestion. If it feels wrong it can be reverted I guess.

Rocket propelled mason? I like it too :D But armor fits more its model.