ALPHA CHANGELOG - 7.0 (BIG NEW THING)

[Abbysynth]

One of two updates for the next go-around. This one focuses primarily on bugfixes and a new feature for bridge officers.

First off, bugs squashed:

► Show Spoiler

M41A goes one handed when wielded.
Two handed fire axe has no sprite.
Can't put bible in armor.
You can't pull the coffins in the main dome chapel.
EVIL SHUDDLE
Closets built are anchored.
You can't deconstruct the stools in the main dome's bar on the colony.
Xenomorph corpses detonate proximity mines.
Can't pull body bags.
General listener is on the operating screen.
Can we please have a darker colour
Sulaco Medical lockers only give standard marine headsets
Cargo warehouse doors and lockers do not open.
the crates that arrive on the shuttle are 'secured'
You can't reinforce your grab on a dead xeno
certain lockers appear to be undraggable too.
Delta squad chat is way too light.
Resin doors seem glitchy
Doctors needs access to ladder leading down to genetics.
Corporate Liasons should have the code to their safe
Throwing a blood pack can deal an upwards of 75 brute damage. (I THINK fixed)
Med bay needs glasses
Bridge Officers should be allowed access to the security locker
Mechs unable to get down or up the sulaco levels via ladders
MP's belt can barely hold anything
RO does not spawn with a backpack
The RO still does not have access to the:
Morgue power fixed
SMG rail slot pixel offset tweaked
Commander glove sprite fixed
Various weirdness with mob overlays in general fixed (squad overlays and hugger damage in particular)

And the first slew of changes:

B18 Defensive Helmet increased to 3 huggers blocked
B18 Armor and Helmet are now unacidable
Sulaco basic comms no longer transfer between ground and ship
Predators spawn with headsets tuned to their own channel
Predators can claw open closed doors with wristblades
Predators can slash down tables with wristblades
Shuttles transition 20 seconds faster
Xeno tail attack has a small chance to miss
Predator trap has new sprites
Preds are no longer affected by security huds
Hivelords nerfed -- less plasma regen, slower move speed (but both still better than Queen)
Craptons of spray cleaner scattered around the Sulaco
Large fuel tanks scattered around all over
Neurotoxic spit should no longer miss due to accuracy (The neuro narrowly misses blah!)
Ravagers slight speed nerf
Telecomms and the SMES on lower level Sulaco are unacidable
Xenos slightly more stunned from explosions
Sniper rifle buff -- does slightly more damage and holds 7 shells instead of 6
Smartgun damage very slightly nerfed
All marine backpacks now spawn with empty boxes (jam yer ammo in there)
Medbay got some new supplies
Medbay area split into: West Medbay, Central Medbay, North Storage, East Storage, with their own APCs, to ease up the power drain
Brig has a lot of fun new toys (hailer, forensic scanners, fingerprint stuff, etc)
Cargo has a ladder going directly from cargo bay to hangar
Mechs now have a Climb verb that lets them use ladders
Supermatter no longer causes hallucinations when it asplodes (still causes rads though)
Chemist job removed.
Cargo tech job added! They work under the RO and are permitted to make deliveries to the planet surface.
Shuttle unpowered doors (the white ones) as well as shutters now automatically close and open during liftoff/landing
Carg Requisitions has a huge new pile of supplies they can order, including attachables crates
RO attachables vendor lost a bunch of their stored attachables (order it!)


Okay, so now you're wondering what the Big New Thing is.

On the bridge there are 4 shiny new consoles. They form the basis of the new Overwatch system.

Overwatch is a military term used for your guardian angels. It allows any bridge officer (or XO or CO) to claim a squad to become their Overwatch Officer.

A squad on Overwatch is MUCH more powerful. In effect the OO becomes their platoon leader, a step above the squad leader but below the executive officer.

So what can someone performing Overwatch do?

They have access to a wide variety of functions --
* Send non-radio messages to all squad members in their chosen squad, or specifically to the SL
* Set Primary and Secondary objectives for the squad, which show up in their Status pane
* View a list of all marines in their squad, including their status, job, and current distance from their SL
* Watch the SL via a helmet camera that is embedded in the new Squad Leader Helmet available in the SL vendor (so the SL should not be using a standard helmet unless they have nobody on Overwatch)
* Launch Supply Drops
* Fire Orbital bombardment strikes

The last two need a bit of explanation.
They work generally the same way -- the SL now has available two types of beacons -- supply beacons and strike beacons. The supply beacons must be activated outside on the ground-- ie. on a ground map turf like the grass, sand, or river. In Requisitions there are four supply launching pads at the west end of cargo bay, near the mechs--- the RO or Cargo Tech puts a crate on that square, and if the beacon is activated and on the ground somewhere, the Overwatch officer can launch the crate (and ONLY crates) at the beacon. The beacons are one-time-use and disappear after they are used up, but the SL gets 3 supply and 1 strike beacon (and more can be ordered in Requisitions).

Orbital strikes work roughly the same way, only there's no supply pad and RO is not involved. The SL just activates the beacon, tosses it on the ground, and then the Overwatch officer can call in an orbital strike on that general area. It CAN be used indoors (it's considered a wifi signal), but only on the ground map Z-level.

Both types of drops have an "offset" which can be set by the Overwatch officer or left at 0: this allows you to pretend the drop is up to 5 tiles away from the actual beacon. For example, the SL sees a big hive in ground telecomms, drops a strike beacon to the east of it, and can tell the OO to set the X Offset to -5 (west); the strike will attempt to aim 5 tiles west of the beacon. There's also a degree of randomization regardless of what the Overwatch officer sets.

Supply drops have a 5 minute cooldown and bombardment drops have a 20 minute cooldown.


And yes, I can hear the xeno whining already, but not to fret -- there's something already in the works that will even the score considerably.

Any ideas, comments, or suggestions, fire away!

[Surrealistik]

The support officer/Overwatch thing is really cool; love it. Another function I might consider adding to it is a special/custom supply drop where the CO can dispatch a crate of supplies loaded into a launcher to a location designated by their squad (unless this is already possible). Would love to be able to rapidly send a care package of my meds/pills to the troops in this way.


So glad you fixed the doctor cloner access issue; that was a total PITA for Medbay, as was the One APC To Rule Them All that drained stupid fast.


Also, Engineering needs a full set of fabrication machinery (protolathe, circuit printer, exosuit fabricator, chem dispenser) + the requisite consoles and access to keep it busy and useful after the supermatter is up and running.

[Feweh]

The orbital strike shouldnt work in the save system though? Kind of seems like a bonus to the caves. Wouldnt really make sense if it was hitting through the caves?

[Abbysynth]

The support officer/Overwatch thing is really cool; love it. Another function I might consider adding to it is a special/custom supply drop where the CO can dispatch a crate of supplies loaded into a launcher to a location designated by their squad (unless this is already possible). Would love to be able to rapidly send a care package of my meds/pills to the troops in this way.

That's what the supply drop beacon is for. RAPIDLY is a matter of debate but there's nothing stopping you from asking the RO to prepare some ahead of time.

[Surrealistik]

Oh, my bad, totally missed that part. Very nice. What's the capacity of a crate though? How much can you fit inside?


Do beacons provide the CO with a camera perspective? Deployable cameras for the SL to give command an eye on the situation could be a good idea.


Would also appreciate it if you could give Medbay/Sci and Engineering a tagger + wrapping paper and more disposals so we can deliver shit straight to Requisitions and vice versa.

[Sargeantmuffinman]

I CAN NOW BE A SUPPORT OFFICER YAY! CALL IN ARTILLERY YAY!

[Briankada]

Can larvae get a speed increase? In the movie that thing takes off quite fast but in-game they move slow..

[Screamingstar]

Oh come on we are having another test just as I board a Cruise ship.

[Abbysynth]

Oh, my bad, totally missed that part. Very nice. What's the capacity of a crate though? How much can you fit inside?


Do beacons provide the CO with a camera perspective? Deployable cameras for the SL to give command an eye on the situation could be a good idea.


Would also appreciate it if you could give Medbay/Sci and Engineering a tagger + wrapping paper and more disposals so we can deliver shit straight to Requisitions and vice versa.

Crates I think depends on the size of the stuff you put in, but it's a fair amount. Like 20 small items?

Beacons do not provide camera access, they're just temporary objects to mark an area for supply drop or bombardment. The SLs each get a camera installed in their helmet which the Overwatch officer can observe through, that's probably enough for the time being.

Disposals heading to specific departments is really obnoxious to set up and I don't really think it's worth the time to do. Just get a lackey to deliver it by hand.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention -- Ripleys now get a walking speed increase, roughly 50% faster.

[Feweh]

Abby what about the orbital strike hitting inside the cave system? Doesnt really make sense... I could understand colony buildings and saying it destroys the roofs... but the cave system seems a bit odd?

[Abbysynth]

I heard you the first time, it's being worked on.

[Feweh]

I heard you the first time, it's being worked on.

My apologies, I didnt really word it as a question so I didnt think you where going to respond

[TheCubscout]

Craptons of spray cleaner scattered around the Sulaco

Life is good.

[Sebro]

Life is good.

Indeed. This will help hide the blood when I kill someone kill all the aliums in a last stand.

[Tetsip]

Angry homicidal Sulaco Medics can now clean up their leftovers.

[Surrealistik]

Haha, I doubt whether the Medics will even have time to use all this space cleaner anyways.

Osteodaxon please; fractures are the ultimate in Medbay bogdown; if we're gonna keep typical marine to doctor ratios at 15 to 1 or worse, at least give us the tools to cope.

[Clayton_Kelly]

Sounds great. So the orbital bombardment can only offset west and east, not north and south?

And the over watch officer controls everything from the bridge, correct? In that case I think he'd be better termed as a support officer as an officer can still be sent to the planet to form the function of platoon leader.

[Abbysynth]

There's both X and Y offsets, negative and positive. So if you wanted to do full southwest, the OO could set -5 X and -5 Y offsets. It goes:

NW (-x,+y)     North (positive Y)      NE (+x,+y)
                       |
West (Negative X)   -- @ --            East (Positive X)
                       |
SW(-x,-y)      South (Negative Y)     SE (+x,-y)

Where @ is the activated beacon.

The consoles are all on the bridge, yes. They are still not permitted to go to the ground, I used the term 'platoon leader' only to explain their role in between the Commander and the Squad Leaders. They are Bridge Officers; they work on the bridge.

[Abbysynth]

New update:

Embryo burst time has been normalized slightly, it shouldn't be possible to see 10+ minutes without bursting anymore.
Ground map has been rearranged, with Science now where the dorms were, and vice versa.
New Quartermaster's room in the main complex, replacing one of the Science labs.
Hangars on the Sulaco now have a small emergency Medbay.
Squad Engineers now have access to Sulaco engineering, including maintenance doors. The CE is still the boss of Engineering, and if they want in they should ask permission.
Similarly, Squad medics now have Medbay access.
Sulaco Medics now have Research access.
After careful study of [redacted], Weyland Yutani have developed robotic battlefield [redacted] which MAY be rewarded to good RPing Liasons from time to time. Or it may be removed entirely, who knows.
A few new setpiece buildings on the ground map.
Ground map has been seperated into areas; while it doesn't mean anything to you, it MAY have effects on stability and performance, so it's something we'll be closely monitoring.
In adding areas we can do some fun stuff - notably, ambient jungle noises! Hurray!
Bombardment beacons can't be activated inside the caves, thanks to the above areas. You can still drop a beacon outside and have the Overwatch officer try to land an offset shot inside.
Severed limbs now bleed profusely.
Xeno tail attack unreadies your tail attack if you run out of plasma.
Larva movement speed increased.
New clothes for many officers.
New armor for MPs.

[Sargeantmuffinman]

After careful study of [redacted], Weyland Yutani have developed robotic battlefield [redacted] which MAY be rewarded to good RPing Liasons from time to time. Or it may be removed entirely, who knows.

Are they Robotic battlefield marines?

Sent by the company to help us?

[Sebro]

The ravagers just get more and more useless.

[Surrealistik]

What about updating the lighting system? Seems like it'd help a lot with performance.


Also do the staff not feel Osteodaxon merits addition? The code is tested and ready to go; it literally requires nothing more than copypasta into the chemistry reagent and recipe files.

[Abbysynth]

Personally I'm really against every ailment being curable with an injection. There's a reason there's things like splints in the game.

[Surrealistik]

On the flipside, splints can't be manufactured and are finite, not every body part can be splinted (most notably the chest and head which are easily the most likely to suffer fractures due to being most commonly targeted, and the feet and hands, which are also commonly targeted over arms/legs due to experienced aliens metaing knowledge of this) and splints don't fully offset fracture penalties in terms of traumatic shock and mobility loss which are still pretty considerable.

I can understand not wanting fractures being easily fixable in the field though; in that case you could easily just make Osteodaxon a cryochem that only works if the subject's body temperature is sufficiently low, or give it some nasty albeit curable side effects so that you'd normally want to be in an adequately equipped medical facility before being subject to it in order to get a follow up shot of dylovene and the like. Either way, it's badly needed given how common fractures are, and the overwhelming ratio of marines to doctors.

[RoswellRay]

Please don't add a bone healing chem,what's the point of even having a medical system then. I've had my best fun in alpha being strapped to a wheelchair with a shotgun,guarding the hanger due to being crippled.
Injuries add story to the game and being helpless sometimes is what makes ss13 great,if we get this next it'll be just old school shooter medkits,pick up to heal everything.