Deployment 13 - Patchnotes & Known Issues - 26 September 2008 [PTS]

D13.2 was implemented onto the Public Test Server and you will now be able to test the following features:

• Series 3 Laser Pistols: AFS personnel are now authorized to dual wield a modified version of the Series 2 laser pistol. Each pistol contains a clip of 30 rounds, and these weapons are fired in alternating sequence to allow an extended firing pattern before needing to reload. (These items may be found rarely on bosses throughout the game world.)
• Additional item sets have been added which will drop off all creatures in the game.  Some creatures have a higher drop chance then others.
• PTS ONLY: Players will now have access to a basic suite of commands for Bot Construction, Clone, and Spotter.  These will be assigned by default to the function keys, or players can use the new /cmd.  We encourage everyone to try these out on PTS and submit feedback on their functionality.
• Mimeogel has been renamed to Mimeomech
• Many high end junk loot items are now salvageable for mimeomech.  Items should say in the tooltip if it is salvageable. 

Maps and Missions

• Added a new logos obelisk to the Concordia Divide map, near the entrance to the Corman Tunnel.
• AFS intel has intercepted Bane transmissions suggesting some stepped-up Bane activity on Torden Plains is imminent. No other information is available at this time.
• Atta grubs have begun spawning in the Avernus Outpost instance.

• Ability tooltips have been updated:
  
  • Clearer description of the function,
  • Changed from roman numerals to english,
  • Consistent layout of data on each pump,
  • Consistent naming across all abilities and skills.
• The Prestige cost of items at the Grey Market Vendors has been adjusted. Greens and Blues have had their costs lowered significantly. Purples have also seen minor adjustments at lower levels. The current Prestige Values are
• Listed as Item Level (Green/Blue/Purple):
  
  • Lv 11 to 14 (70/400/1250)
  • Lv 15 to 19 (90/500/1500)
  • Lv 20 to 24 (110/600/1750)
  • Lv 25 to 29 (130/700/2100)
  • Lv 30 to 34 (150/850/2500)
  • Lv 35 to 39 (180/1000/3000)
  • Lv 40 to 44 (210/1200/3500)
  • Lv 45 to 49 (250/1400/4200)
  • Lv 50 (300/1750/5000)
• The Caretaker’s Noxious Burst will now only do virulent damage.
• Series 3 Laser Pistols: AFS personnel are now authorized to dual wield a modified version of the Series 2 laser pistol. Each pistol contains a clip of 30 rounds, and these weapons are fired in alternating sequence to allow an extended firing pattern before needing to reload. (These items may be found rarely on bosses throughout the game world.)
• Series 2 and 3 Fire Shotguns: Corrected a timing issue which was causing a much faster rate of fire than originally intended.  At this time, each shot from a progressive shotgun will still do the same damage as it previously did, however the pace at which these weapons fire has been slowed.
• Additional item sets have been added which will drop off all creatures in the game.  Some creatures have a higher drop chance then others.
• Drop rates on most creatures have been adjusted to be more consistent.

• Players will now have access to a basic suite of commands for Bot Construction, Clone, and Spotter.  These will be assigned by default to the function keys, or players can use the new /cmd.  We encourage everyone to try these out on PTS and submit feedback on their functionality. The commands are:
  
  • Go
    
    • Subordinate will move to the location idicated by its owner’s reticule.
  • Stay
    
    • /cmd stay
    • Subordinate will stop following or moving to a location and use the current location as a home position.
  • Follow Me
    
    • /cmd follow
    • Subordinate will follow its owner.
  • Follow Target
    
    • /cmd follow
    • Subordinate will follow the specified player.
  • Target Me
    
    • /cmd target
    • Subordinate will target its owner.
  • Target
    
    • /cmd target
    • Subordinate will target the specified player.
  • Assist Me
    
    • /cmd assist
    • Subordinate will assist its owner.
  • Assist Target
    
    • /cmd assist
    • Subordinate will assist the specified player.
  • /cmd passive|defensive|aggressive
    
    • Subordinate will assume the specified temperament.
  • Multiple commands may be issued at the same time.
    
    • For example: /cmd follow assist defensive

• Incapacitated players now have an overhead indicator on them
• Starting a match only requires 2 players now
• Cover has been added for the area near the southwest encampment
• Team buffs have been made active for both defenders and attackers
• Due to map imbalances, assaulting team can now be reinforced by accessing a special teleportation pad in the Northeastern base.

• All maps and radars have been transitioned to the new art style.
• ‘Show helmet’ is now available on the character attribute screen in the top right corner.
• In order to make keeping track of armor damage easier, durability for equipped armor will now appear to the left of the icon on the character attribute screen.  The color of this text will change to reflect the state of the equipped item.
• Players may now increase the amount of space available in AFS footlockers by purchasing more space.
  
  • 4 additional tabs are available for purchase
    
    • Tab 1 free
    • Tab 2 100000 credits
    • Tab 3 1000000 credits
    • Tab 4 10000000 credits
    • Tab 5 100000000 credits
  • Items may be moved between tabs or from the backpack by dragging the item over a purchased tab slot, which will then open that tab after a brief pause.

Crafting

• Old crafting system item changes:
  
  • Modification Recipes no longer function in the new crafting system
  • These items can now be salvaged in the New Crafting System to produce Mimeogel
  • If a stack of these items is placed in the Crafting Station, the entire stack will be salvaged in one operation
• Military Surplus changes
  
  • Item Category Changes:
    
    • Individual armor types no longer have “Upper Face” and “Lower Face” categories
    • There is a new subcategory under Armor named “Accessories” that has “Upper Face” and “Lower Face” subcategories
    • All existing and future sale offers for goggles and other Upper Face items should now appear in the new category
    • The Schematics category has been deleted
  • A new Crafting category now has four new subcategories:
    
    • Mimeogel (the only item appearing here is Mimeogel)
    • Salvage – a category for items that can only be salvaged for Mimeogel:
      
      • Modification recipes from the old crafting system
      • Junk Loot
    • Schematics – contains all Fabrication Recipes (armor paint, consumables, etc.)
    • Modules – for trading extracted Weapon, Tool, and Armor modules. Modules that have been extracted from equipment can now be sold on the Military Surplus
• Right-click of a module item now correctly adds the module to the second slot if appropriate, or swaps out the existing module if one is already in the main slot.
• Prestige vendors no longer sell module upgrade schematics.
• Modification schematics no longer drop as loot
• The four Engineering skills have been deleted
• Any item or recipe that had them as a skill requirement no longer have that requirement
• Any character skill points spent on those skills have been refunded
• Healing Discs and Repair Tools are no longer considered valid targets for modules that list their target as “Tools up to Level 50”
• Mimeogel now has its own icon and does not use the default cube icon
• All extracted module items now have unique icons and none use the default cube icon any longer
• Some extractable module types showed [+] in the item tooltip; that should no longer be the case
• The ‘Salvage” button will no longer be visible after performing a Salvage action and there is no longer an item in the input slot
• The Upgrade page now shows the correct item quality color for the upgraded module
• The left input slot on the crafting window now shows the correct item name, quality color, and modules
• Right-hand input slot on the crafting window is now labeled “Insert Module”
• The “Unknown Module” line item in the Integration and Extraction crafting submenus now displays a proper icon
• Mimeogel has been renamed to Mimeomech
• Many high end junk loot items are now salvageable for mimeomech.  Items should say in the tooltip if it is salvageable. 

• Added “Software Antialiasing” back to the graphics options.  This is the previous method where a blur filter is applied to the image in an attempt to smooth jagged edges.  This method may be faster than hardware antialiasing, especially the emulated hardware antialiasing under deferred lighting.  This option is mutually exclusive to the “Hardware Antialiasing” option.  Unlike before, “Software Antialiasing” is now available for all modes including deferred and non-deferred.
• Optimized terrain code so building terrain data is faster and causes less hitching.
• Added “Active Shadows” slider in video options.  This controls how many lights within a single frame can cast a shadow.  This will only make a significant difference in areas where many shadow casting lights are in vicinity of each other.  This situation is most likely to occur in outpost areas or interior spaces; Kardash Colony is a good example where this setting can make a difference in performance.
• All creature special fx have been optimized. Creature attacks and abilities have had the colors changed to better reflect the damage type that they are dealing.

Bugfixes

• Grey Market Vendor: Green level 11-14 items are now correctly priced (70 prestige.)
• Mission: Base Invaders (Plains) can now be shared with squad mates.
• MECH: Players controlling a MECH will properly transition out of the MECH after the match ends.
• MECH: When piloting a MECH, the correct tooltip/icon should now be displayed.
• MECH: Fixed a typo in the Ground Pound ability.
• The Juggernaut’s black hole ability will no longer freeze players in place.
• The trainer in the Irendas Penal Colony is no longer named “Error 23”.
• Crafting modules no longer use the default icon when displayed in the Military Surplus.

• Mission: Decent: Refuge: Race to the Finish: Timer does not sync for all party members.
• Mission: Open Says Me: Abyss: Ruins of Tampeii:  Restarting the mission after failing will result in Danaher giving you the “Mission Completed” text and reward after you restart.
• Squads: Inviting a player into your squad while you are in an instance will not initially allow the invited player to join the same instance as the squad leader.
• PVP CP map: Mech not correct team color when opposing player joins team after mech is enabled.
• PVP CP map: Force field for blue base is red.
• PVP CP map: Blue base is labeled “safety zone” and should be hostile zone.
• PVP CP map: It is possible to get resists up to 100% by taking the team buff repeatedly.
• PVP CP map: Allowing Sacrific to kill characters unlocks all respawn locations.
• Ability: Demolitionist: Explosive Nanites: pump 1, 2, & 5 do not show damage type vfx.
• Spy: Ability: Polymorph: Player can not enter AFS/blue force field when polymorph wears off or is turned off.
• Ability: Sapper: Crab Mines: Does not attack neutral-turned-hostile creatures.
• PVP: Ability: Spy: Traitor: Traitor does not work when you shoot the caster at the exact same time as when he starts casting.
• MECH: If a player dies when firing rockets in the MECH, he will get stuck.
• MECH: If a target breaks line of sight before the MECH’s rockets hit, he will get stuck.
• MECH: Hit points are too low.
• MECH: If a player crouches and fires missles in the MECH, he will get stuck.
• UI: Physical Crit Hit text is displaying and Error 23 in the debuff information.
• Crafting modifiers do not show the proper level, instead they show plus signs.
• Old Crafting Modification Schematics are being offered as mission rewards.
• Tools: Rare tools are able to have weapon mods placed on them.
• UI: RQS: Slider bar for setting frame rate does not display frame rate selections.