Latest experimental features

Coolthulhu · 2016-09-10T13:16:31.000Z

Big update to mainlined blazemod. Tested automatically, so may have subtle bugs, but should have less of them than old one.

Coolthulhu · 2016-09-12T17:48:15.000Z

Rather big change to aiming just landed.
Experimental, meaning it may be adjusted a lot until we figure out the correct way to do it.
At the moment it makes aiming take a lot more time at low skill levels. Expect to fire a lot more “snapshots”. On the other hand, snapshots are much better and you can expect to actually kill things with hip-fired rifle shots and gangsta-fired pistol shots.
Sniping is also much more useful. With a good rifle you can snipe things from level 0, especially if you have good perception. I tested it with the overpowered Rivtech sniper rifle thing and got semi-reliable "good hit"s at 30 range. Currently there is a hard cap of 30 range, because the accuracy formula “explodes” near that, meaning that anything that gets a reliable 35 range shot is also likely to get a reliable 100 range shot.

Shopkeeper · 2016-09-13T13:36:05.000Z

Holy crap, you can like actually use guns legitimately now. I don’t really like the five digit volume change, but that takes a backseat to being able to hit the broadside of a turret shaped barn.

Snaaty · 2016-09-13T13:52:43.000Z

For those of you who like to use filthy clothing, the spawn of soap has been drastically increased. Still needs changes to make it more viable, but imho a very good obstacle for the early survivor.

mugling · 2016-09-17T16:29:29.000Z

Shopkeeper:

Holy crap, you can like actually use guns legitimately now. I don’t really like the five digit volume change, but that takes a backseat to being able to hit the broadside of a turret shaped barn.

Next up is sensible recoil so that automatic fire is more than just a liability

hexman · 2016-09-20T04:20:28.000Z

Looks like the guns have been heavily nerfed. My survivor-carbine doesn’t even seem to hit a hulk which is 20 tiles away.

Coolthulhu · 2016-09-22T20:59:08.000Z

Electric engines got buffed.
Currently this means electric conversion is more than 100% efficient, but this doesn’t allow any exploits more severe than improving fuel efficiency by driving a hybrid.
Fixing the >100% efficiency is low priority since it allows no perpetum mobiles and will probably happen later, when we try to combine vehicle and item power scales into one.

mugling · 2016-09-23T10:13:32.000Z

New burst fire mechanics. Gun mods are now much more relevant and strength is required for effective us of the heaviest weapons. Bipods are partially implemented, you need mountable terrian to use them (window frames etc count for this). Some interface cleanup is likely to follow.

BorkBorkGoesTheCode · 2016-09-27T18:22:57.000Z

Boulders (small and medium varieties) now have the MOUNTABLE flag, so you can use them as a base to fire heavy machine guns.

noname1208 · 2016-10-08T17:14:45.000Z

On topic, I adore the newer sharp font. I play on ASCII and it looks terrific, though to my eyes it does make a couple letters hard to distinguish.

Also, the new feature where using the emergency console to find the refugee centre lets you know where it is /and/ highlights the nearest road to it is great. Makes finding where the centre is alot easier and adds a nice little touch.

mugling · 2016-10-09T17:52:53.000Z

Vehicle tanks are now generic and can be loaded with any liquid that doesn’t rot. Soon to follow are upgrades to the water cannon which should allow for some interesting emergent tactics.

Coolthulhu · 2016-10-09T21:15:56.000Z

Big changes in hit vs dodge formula.
Should prevent skeleton dogs and manhacks being unhittable, high level dodge granting immunity to any single enemy but stopping working against 2+ enemies, weapons’ to-hit bonus not mattering except for crits and very early combat and low dodge enemies being equally un-dodgy after very early game.

Side effects include a bit of “Morrowind combat” where you miss targets that you would expect to hit, like regular zombies. Think of it as glancing strikes.

jaked122 · 2016-10-10T23:28:16.000Z

So now you can search for the vehicle part you want to install on the vehicle part installation screen.

I’m happy with it.

Coolthulhu · 2016-10-12T23:56:00.000Z

New battery mod that allows using vehicle batteries directly in items.
Kinda weird to haul a flashlight with a car battery strapped to it, but we don’t have small batteries and battery chargers yet.

Craft search prefixes should work now.

Pthalocy · 2016-10-13T06:34:34.000Z

So how long ago was lighting requirements for crafting overhauled? It’s nice to see things described by how much dim lighting slows construction, rather than yes/no binary I seem to recall it being previously. Man I’m so far behind lol!

noname1208 · 2016-10-14T21:25:58.000Z

Went to change a keybinding and was stumped for a minute until I found our new ‘Main Menu’

The new descriptions under ‘?’ are pretty nice and the main menu is really cool but still a bit odd to me just because there has never been one even when Whale ran the show. I do really like it though

Coolthulhu · 2016-10-18T02:41:52.000Z

Construction menu now has search, by jaked122

mutability added time display on “do you want to disassemble x”

mugling removed weapon sticking, as it was rather complex but without impact on the game.
This is a small buff to machetes and axes and rather big nerf to spears (they lose the undocumented move draining ability).

Me and mugling have added a tool mod that allows loading car batteries into tools. It is supposed to be a step towards making batteries items rather than “liquids” and making vehicle power and “handheld power” equivalent in scale.
Currently kinda clunky, because attaching a whole car battery to a flashlight is weird, but it makes more sense to power things like welders with vehicle power instead of AA batteries meant for a talking doll.

Some critters now pathfind. Notably mi-go and master zeds. This means that they will not blunder into shrubs and cars, but will try to go around, like expected of thinking beings. They can navigate small mazes.

Pthalocy · 2016-10-18T05:30:34.000Z

There is a move convo button. I had to delay using it due to the insane workload I’ve been handed irl, and it’s resulted in the off-topic posts steadily piling up to the point where moving it is becoming actual work in and of itself. Gimme like half an hour to figure out all the posts that need to be shoved into a blob elsewhere.

The elsewhere has occurred: http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=13488.0

BorkBorkGoesTheCode · 2016-10-18T08:38:21.000Z

THanks to debate and mugling, ammo can have multiple types. .357 with .38 cartridges when?

Pthalocy · 2016-10-20T01:07:37.000Z

Latest forum feature: this thread is now finally back in Announcements where it belongs. I promise I’ve gotten the hang of this site’s format finally.