Distension Beta Suggestions/Bugfix thread

[Mjollnir]

So, I became a little concerned about the high rp rates I needed to level up at early 30's (36k rp from 29 to 30 and 47k rp from 30 to 31) and was wondering how many rps I'd need to level up one level at the "higher" levels.

Well, I asked dug about the formula and he said it's 1.3x the amount needed to level up in the previous level (makes sense: 36k*1.3=47k). Anyway, I just pulled out the windows calculator and started to calculate.

31-32: 47k*1.3=61.1k
32-33: 61.1k*1.3=79.4k
...
...
38-39: 383k rp
39-40: 498k rp
...
...
45-46: 2400000 rp <- ok, that's 2,4 million rp already....
46-47: 3.1m rp
47-48: 4.06m rp

at level 48 I get blue bombs
i'll never get blue bombs

To gather 4 million rp, I would have to kill 100k people worth 40rp (without the beta beta bonus that'd probably be about the average of rp per kill I'd get at level 47, maybe a bit more if being optimistic). 1000-2000 kills can be achieved in one day if played a lot. To get 4m rp, I'd have to play distension 50-100 days without getting bored of being at the same level.

Something's wrong.

If the numbers are correct and they seem to be, the required RP amounts seem way too big. There was some discussion about this at the beginning of the beta and it seems the 1.3*prev_level was put in place and it has worked out OK so far. I think it's clear that it will not work on later levels though and something needs to be done about it.

[Mjollnir]

The javelin seems a bit too weak atm. Most of the problem is in it's speed of leveling which is very slow and that makes playing it pretty boring. It really doesn't rack up that many kills either compared to the other ships and the multiple TKs it gets sure doesn't help the problem.

I know people whine about the amount of bombs it can shoot but it really isn't that huge an advantage and you should try to play the jav yourself to see what it is really like. I also realize, it is meant to be weaker early on and get very good later but it still needs some work in my opinion.

Other things that bother me about the ship are the huge cost of multifire and the first 3 shrap upgrades that both take 3 upg points. I don't think anyone will use the multi with that cost. Also, the first 3 shrap upgrades still seem pretty useless as they almost never kill anything.

[gdugwyler]

I'll agree that the amount of RP required for next level in the higher ranks is a little ridiculous. To curb that slightly, the following has been done:

- The increase rate of to-next-rank amounts has been reduced to 1.25 for level 25+. It has also been reduced for 50+ and 70+, though nobody's yet seen those ranks.
- Leviathan "base" RP rate has been reduced from 17 to 16. This puts it equal with the spider's base rate; however it's still not going to make nearly as many kills as that ship, so it should still take a good bit of time.
- Javelin base RP rate reduced from 18 to 16.5. 18 was just too much for how often it makes kills, even if it becomes strong in later levels.
- Terrier base rate increased very slightly, from 10 to 10.2.


Also noted is that things are costing quite a bit. This results in people generally just sticking to standard upgrades, and not a whole lot of variety popping up. In order to change this:

- WB Decoy cost reduced from 2 to 1.
- Jav Multi cost reduced from 3 to 2.
- Each level of Jav shrapnel now gives 2 pieces of shrap instead of 1. However, only 2 levels are available early on, with further levels available at rank 30+.
- Spider Multi cost reduced from 3 to 2.
- Levi Multi cost reduced from 3 to 2.
- Terr profit sharing costs reduced for levels 2 and on.
- Weasel Multi cost reduced from 3 to 2.


Anyone with the above upgrades will no longer have them and will have their UP refunded (this was the easiest way for me to do it). You'll need to re-upgrade your ships if you want the upgrades at the cheaper costs. This didn't cost any RP as !scrap would, of course.

[FarScape]

fix rotation
Cant you just cancel the rotation upgrading at all and make it as it is in normal TW?

I know I'm Bugger about it, but I find myself do my kills more by lining than flying around. oh, and catching up high level warbirds is hard, smoother rotation can help a bit also.

Playing spider of course.

[Zeebu]

fix rotation
Cant you just cancel the rotation upgrading at all and make it as it is in normal TW?

I know I'm Bugger about it, but I find myself do my kills more by lining than flying around. oh, and catching up high level warbirds is hard, smoother rotation can help a bit also.

Playing spider of course.

so upgrade the rotation instead of speed/thrust/energy/whatever else?

[HateTheFake]

Hate The F> !lagout
DevPurePub> Please !return before you try getting back in.
Intergalactic Planetary, Inc. will win the battle in 30 seconds.
Hate The F> ~
DevPurePub> HATE THE FAKE authorized as a pilot of INTERGALACTIC PLANETARY, INC.. Returning you to HQ.
Hate The F> !lagout
DevPurePub> There's no record of you having lagged out, or your lagout is in effect and you will be returned to the fray soon.



After being disconnected it wont let me !lagout

[FarScape]

so upgrade the rotation instead of speed/thrust/energy/whatever else?

its the problem when you start rotating slow and then the actual speed, so you got a small delay when you change rotation side.
Upgrading rotation only make it worse, it has nothing to do with the upgrades, but rather the game itself.

[gdugwyler]

Rotation: it's a known problem and it's going to be fixed. I've been putting it off, but I think I have a reasonable solution. If it doesn't work, rotation will probably be removed as an upgrade (or have only 1 level that costs a good bit).

!lagout will not work if you get DC'd and you take longer than 2 minutes to get back. So far I've seen it work most of the time, but it might not work 100%. This is a known issue.

For those having negative RP to next level, this is a consequence of now using floating point variables rather than integers -- we were truncating a remainder before rather than keeping it. In more simple terms, the amount to rank up is now very slightly higher for levels under 25, but a good bit lower for 25+. So: don't freak out if your progress looks odd.

My mom's coming into town for about a week, so there will be no testing next week. With better news, I think we're looking pretty solid again, and may be able to return to TW soon (rather than using the test server) -- if today's test doesn't cause any problems, that is.

See you the week after next.

[FarScape]

Thanks gdugwyler.

[gdugwyler]

Distension testing will continue this Monday the 17th. Sorry for the wait.

I'll have to implement a message queue to slow down the rate of normal messages being sent, which might take some time to verify, so it may be up only after 12 noon EST or so. After that it will continue running in the present "stress test" fashion we've been doing in an attempt to either crash the server, or to force the server to disconnect the bot ... this problem has unfortunately put all other testing (bugfixing, feature additions, ship balances) at a standstill, and it has to be fixed before it's even worth doing any more work on less critical parts of the game.

[Mjollnir]

The warbird is still overpowered. It can currenlty own every ship with ease. It's crazy how it can improve it's manuverability to a point that it's impossible to kill without luck or a lot of teammates. That combined with it's very good energy and recharge it's almost unstoppable.

Just watch Zeimonster in the ship to see what I mean. I actually asked him about this and he also agrees that the wb is currently overpowered.

EDIT: I forgot to add that the jav seems pretty good atm. I still have to test it a bit more tho.

[Epic li]

I also agree that wb is overpowered.
that's all=p

[Zeimonster]

not going to be a long post, just saying that the rates are still fked up.

To level from 31 to 32 i need 39k rp in a levi -> quick calculations: 49 to 50 i need 2,17 million rp. U can check my last post to see how long it takes to gather millions of rp (hint: pretty long :fear.


Oh and mj insisted me to say that wb is overpowered. Which it is.

[gdugwyler]

Hmm... and 2.17m (you're using the new x1.25 rate to calculate that, right?) means 44,000 kills of players of the same rank, 49... a bit less if you throw in some round wins and special circumstances such as BT kills. But: still a little ridiculous. I would expect that up around 70, when essentially players are being encouraged not to level ... yet 50 should still be doable. 10K kills, maybe. Does that mean shooting for 500K? Not sure...

Re: warbird, to me it seems its tanking is the most annoying aspect. It's meant to be an agile ship with one hit kills, but remain at least somewhat vulnerable after a shot. A ship of equal rank should be able to take it at least some of the time without too much trouble if the WB fires and misses and the ships are close. The WB should be forced to run and snipe most of the time, using its speed and dodging skills to stay alive. Perhaps what needs to be done is simply forcing the bird into this option by having fewer/less significant/more costly recharge and energy upgrades with more stringent rank requirements, though possibly compensating by reducing firing cost. Thoughts? I want it to stay maneuverable; invincible is where I draw the line.

[gdugwyler]

Changes (birds will have UP refunded):

- WB initial energy reduced.
- WB UP costs raised for energy upgrades >5.
- WB single and multifire energy costs raised.

This should keep the warbird moving, but not be able to tank as it once was.

Also:

- Leviathan multifire widened slightly.
- Spider multifire now allows rapid fire, draining all of your energy quickly but unloading quite a barrage. Beware spiders with multi and super!
- Terr next rank cost upped very slightly (noticed that of all ships, terrs by far had the most over 30)