40K Source

Edited 8th Decemeber 2012, see below
Alpha 7.10 did not turn out to be a great build for a roll up, but there is never a good way to tell ahead of time.  That's why we test.  Alpha 7.11 aims to fix the bugs in 7.10 and tighten up the new features.


Download 7.11 (26,704 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.11.zip)
chromeangel.co.uk (http://www.chromeangel.co.uk/Exterminatus/Downloads/ex_alpha_patch_7.11.zip)

Download 7.11b (2 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.11b.zip)
chromeangel.co.uk (http://www.chromeangel.co.uk/Exterminatus/Downloads/ex_alpha_patch_7.11b.zip)


More downloads bellow

[Edit]
14:00 18th Nov 2012

Whoops! forgot to bump the version number and update the default map cycle.  Please download and apply the 7.11 "B" patch to fix.
[/edit]


Installation instructions

• Install 7.10 as described here (http://www.40ksource.com/common/smf/index.php?topic=2878.0).  
• Extract the 7.11 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Extract the 7.11b patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

Bug Fixes

• Canrifex player model ragdoll was broken (probably related to the recent model change).
• Screamer Killer world model is missing (probably just needs it's script updating).
• Jumppack particle effects go off flying away form the model in the wrong direction (turns out I was calling the wrong system from the code).
• Jumppack fire particles are visible through walls.  Tweaked the particles to use a different material
• Fixed a rather obvious exploit in ex_thunderhawk.
• Some players were reporting missing assault marine portraits. These missed being included in previous patches because they had been copied or renamed rather then edited, so they did not show up on my search by date changed.
• Some players were reporting missing weapon textures. These missed being included in previous patches because they had been copied or renamed rather then edited, so they did not show up on my search by date changed.
• Nqss fixed the broken control room spawn in ichar IV (everyone was spawning in the same room).

Tweaks

• Genestealer leap now work like AM and Lictor leaps.
• The VC is now hitscan, rather than projectile based.  Fexes no longer need to "lead" their target.  As a side-effect these will probably show as talon kills for now as they are both inflicted by the same entity.
• Updated the assault combo to use Stahlhagel's Chainsword world model.
• Replaced some of the old veteran animations that the assault marine was using with animations specificity for the assault combo.
• Tweaked the melee code to play "missed" sounds where available.
• Cleaned up the recent FGD changes a bit.
• I updated the media and help pages for the player classes to bring them into line as they were looking a bit haphazard.

Balance

• Buffed stealer claws by reducing the time between attacks
• Buff stealer claws by reducing the damage forces (knock back) to 25%
• Nerf psychic healing, by requiring much more "ammo" per heal

21st Nov 2012 - Alpha Patch 7.12
Fixes and tweaks based on last weekend's Alpha test were fairly quick to do, so here is Alpha 7.12 mid-week.  A test of this version is scheduled for Thursday the 22nd at 20:00 GMT, were we will be checking this updates and looking for ways to improve Nqss maps ( taris and ichar ).

Download 7.12 (17,553 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.12.zip)
chromeangel.co.uk (http://www.chromeangel.co.uk/Exterminatus/Downloads/ex_alpha_patch_7.12.zip)

More downloads bellow

Installation instructions

• Install 7.11 as described above.
• Extract the 7.12 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

Bug Fixes

• Venom Cannon was trying to give reward points to itself, rather than it's owner.
• The Bolt Pistol in the Assault combo was also giving reward points to it's self.

Tweaks

• Updated tarsis_ultra by Nqss
• Changed the Apothecary healing aura sound effect.
• We can now see the jump pack effect angle and size tweaked

Balance

• Nerfed Stealer talon speed it down from 4 hits per second to 3.
• Buffed VC damage to 90.
• Nerfed VC ROF to 1.5.
• Changed the VC, so the AOE does a greater proportion of damage than the direct hit, making near misses and firing into groups more dangerous.
• Nerf psychic healing to require 5/8ths of the thropes energy, up from 3/8ths.
• Nerf psychic healing to be only 25% effective for the thrope using the power (10 points down from 40).

Future
I am following up an Engine crash report involving lictor.mdl, although I don't expect to get much if any response from Valve.  My ISP is upgrading their Router in my area to IP V6, which may or may not disrupt my Internet access and ability to host a dedicated server, starting Friday the 23rd.  Flamers, loading screens and new objective icons are all in the pipeline.

25th Nov 2012 - Alpha Patch 7.13
All the bugs were fixed for the mid-week alpha, so this weekend Alpha is just tweaks based on feedback from that test.  The expected ISP disruption appears to have been a non-event.

Download 7.13 (6070 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.13.zip)
chromeangel.co.uk (http://www.chromeangel.co.uk/Exterminatus/Downloads/ex_alpha_patch_7.13.zip)

More downloads bellow

Installation instructions

• Install 7.12 as described above.
• Extract the 7.13 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

Tweaks

• The Assault Combo (BP+CS) and veteran combos (PP+CS / IP+CS) do not auto reload any more.  So you will not be disarmed when you run out of ammo at close range.  You must manually reload when you empty your clip on these weapons.
• Made JP particles more blues and less pink.
• Rotate the JP particles as again to make them appear ro be coming out of the turbines.

Balance

• Nerf the range of all leaps from 384 to 288, so the performance is in-line with the original stealer leap.
• Nerf the AM down to 2 frags, his speed/fun seems to make him preferable to tactical.
• Nerf the VC talon damage from 60 (4 talons) down to 30 (2 talons).
• Buff the medithrope healing radius from 350 to 512.

Future
We need to find a better sound for the firing of the VC and adjust the impact effect to look more Tyranic.  The Flamer has progressed to the point were I can start coding for it, although it feels a bit like "feature creep" ATM.  Nqss passed over a Plasmagun model this week, so it looks like the Specialist could have a variety of options.  I am torn between adding more of these weapons and trying to rebuild the fun into maps like Thunderhawk and Spacehulk.

Making a Beta 8 release in time for Xmas is looking like a possibility, but i'm not going to have time to add, debug and balance more weapons and work on the maps.  Choices, choices ^^

2nd December 2012 - Alpha Patch 7.14
Decided to go for the big push to get a new beta out for Xmas, so i'm trying to get everything balanced and polished ready for a release candidate.  I might start doing more mid-week Alpha tests to help with this as the Beta player numbers are dwindling.

Download 7.14 (12,238 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.14.zip)
chromeangel.co.uk (http://www.chromeangel.co.uk/Exterminatus/Downloads/ex_alpha_patch_7.14.zip)


Download 7.14b (10,584 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.14b.zip)


[Edit]
18:00 2nd Dec 2012
New version of city_conflict from Dark Marine and a folder structure fix for the tactical marine model.  Please download and apply the 7.14 "B" patch to fix.
[/edit]


Installation instructions

• Install 7.13 as described above.
• Extract the 7.14 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Extract the 7.14b patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

Features

• New objective icons in the HUD contributed by Jake Coggins.

Balance

• Gave AM their grenades back and move them to tier 2.
• Buff Stealers by reducing the time between leaps from 7.5 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Buff Veterans by raising their melee damage from 50 to  85 (proof of concept for power swords).
• Buff Biovore by increasing their ammo reserve from 2 to 3 mines.

Bug Fixes

• Unable to afford anything from the class menu.
• Selecting too expensive classes using the number keys and getting locked out.
• Missing class menu instructions.
• Some weapons (grenades for sure) showing the wrong icon when picked up.

Tweaks

• New kill icons are for the VC and talons.
• Assault combo as alternative wargear for the tactical marine.
• Tweaked the servo skull model so it won't spam the server console.
• Moved the objectives around on ex_thunderhawk.

5th December 2012 - Alpha Patch 7.15
Small balance patch to tide us over while I investigate the bugs in 7.14b.

Download 7.15 (3,756 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.15.zip)

Installation instructions

• Install 7.14b as described above.
• Extract the 7.15 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

Balance

• Nerfed the lictor leap, reducing the range and increasing the re-charge time.
• Buffed the AM and Stealer leap ranges slightly.
• Buffed the VC by reducing the spread of shots by 1/6th.

Tweaks

• Removed the assault combo as a wargear option for tacticals. (can still be picked up)

8th December 2012 - Alpha Patch 7.16
Balances tweaks and a stab in the dark at bug fixing.

Download 7.16 (7,392 KB)
40ksource.com (http://40ksource.com/files/ex_alpha_patch_7.16.zip)

Installation instructions ( read carefully )

• Install 7.15 as described above.
• Delete sourcmods/ex_alpha/scripts/ex_weapon_vet_combo2.ctx and sourcmods/ex_alpha/scripts/ex_weapon_ltalon.ctx
• Extract the 7.16 patch to your sourcemods folder ( they should overwrite files in the ex_alpha folder ).
• Restart Steam.  You should now see both the Exterminatus Beta 7.0 and Exterminatus Alpha listed in your library.

If you have problems installing or running this patch visit the Steam Community Game Group, chat room on Steam.  I'll be there to offer advice during testing times (please be patient, I will be in-game, participating in the test at the same time).

Balance

• Buffed Warp Blast from 66 to 70 damage
• Nerfed Warp Bolt from 40 to 35 damage.
• Nerfed Stealer movement speed to see if it balances their previously improved DPS and leap.
• Buffed Screamer Killer talons from 60 to 80 damage.
• Buffed medithrope heal by reducing the cost from 5 bolts to 3 bolts
• Nerf the rate at which Lictors can leap.

Tweaks

• Modified marine player model ragdolls (may have been causing some client crashes)
• Fixed the warrior player model ragdoll's left thigh bug
• Added a new "Grenadier" wargear option ofr the tactcal marine at Wergild's request.
• Modified the plasma pistol combo to use Farseer's UM powersword and HL2 crowbar sounds.
• Flattened the arc of biovore spore mines and added a "fuse", so they cannot be detonated straight out of the launcher.

After Action Report Alpha 7.11
First of all apologises for missing the start of the test ( I was playing STALKER:CS while I waited for the event to start and missed the notification).  Folks managed to get on the server and start playing without me anyway.    I also forgot to include the updated tarsis_ultra for the second weeks running, for which I have no excuse.   However it sounds like all the attempted bugs were fixed. The new assault marine animations looked badass.

Bug Fixes

• Venom Cannon is not giving reward points to it's owner
• The Bolt Pistol in the Assault combo is not giving reward points to it's owner.
• Nqss got a CTD caused by the Lictor model (more info might help)

Tweaks

• We can now see the jump pack effect is being emitted at an angle
• We can now see the jump pack effect is about 3x too big
• Stealer talon rate of fire was too fast, tweaked it down from 4 hits per second to 3 hits per second and it seemed fine.
• Players wanted a slower, but more powerful VC.  Buffed the damage to 90 per hit and Nerfed the ROF to 1.5. Should also make the radius damage higher and the direct hit lower.
• Nerf psychic healing, by requiring much more "ammo" per heal (again), reduce the effectives on the Thrope too.

These should be quick changes.  Mid-week alpha anyone?

-i got crashes because of the lictor model
that is 100% i had engine error pointed at this model

-the apothecary healing aura got sound of NACT healing for everyheal it made

-the animations of veteran is not changed to the new ones

-there is some strokes of animation during grenade change with AM and Combo equip (for a second it stays up as it was)

the hieght of FEX's COLLISIONBOX seems to be aligned to its claws , not the actuall spine
not sure , but AMs on the back of Fex seems to be floating above it.
Am is annoying for Venom Fex , thats interesting

I would like to have more feedback for the new maps (i made , so i can do changes now and not after i finish it)
Lack of feedback is actually makes me shrugs , im pretty sure there is more complains then i think or have atm

As reported by Spawnof2000 on the community group discussion board.   Does this look like what you got Nqss?

yes

Is it possible to remove auto-reloading when a specific weapon runs out of ammo or is that tied to the engine? As it really hinders the effectiveness of both the Assault and Veteran in close combat while using chain swords.

It should be possible, pretty much all the weapon behaviour is in the game code somewhere. 

Alpha Test 7.12 After Action Report
That was a bit of fun, even with a few players.  The bugs seem fixed.  Terminators seemed to have an easier time against VC fexes, but still got players asking for more ammo.

Ichar IV
The tyranids can defend their last point more easily then the marines can.  Maybe when the tyranid end is displacement mapped this will change.  Marines seem to be dominant in the middle objective.  The cave tunnel does not see much action until tyranids have the middle point.  this displacement technique (http://www.halfwit-2.com/?page=tutorials&id=98) might make better looking cave tunnels BTW, I noticed the edges weren't stitched.

Tweaks

• Make JP particles more blues and less pink.
• Rotate the JP particles as much again.
• Nef the range of all leaps by 25%
• Nerf the AM down to 2 frags, his speed/fun seems to make him preferable to tactical.
• Nerf the VC talons, so the SK is noticeably better up-close.
• Buff the medithrope healing radius, he seems the lesser choice now.

Also investigate the auto-reload on imperial weapon combos.

-apothecary healing aura and his healing doesn't have sound now
Maybe they do , but it is still the same sound

-VC is the choice of the t3 now , so i would suggest nerf the damage of VC to 75 maybe

-Marines t3 is not as effective now as they used to be , this is the time when you can give termies additional ammo back , about +2 clips
Missles suppose to get buff , missles were nerfed to the 20% less damage , now i suggest to rise it 10% more

If this is possible , i would make screaming fex to be as it is , goodly armored and nerf some armor of VC fex , but since it harder to do , lets try suggestions above.

Now , lets talk about players choice
rarely choosed classes:
stealer (after reaching t2 or after capping all points available , they are not the choice anymore)
vore (not touched collision of sporemines , slow , defenceless)
veteran (apothecary and specialist are much more usefull in t2 for team)

Solutions , which i can see:
vore - collision of sporemines , cut off thier tentacles , increase the number of "energy" so vore could shoot 3 sporemines or 2.5 on full energy.
veteran - well , seems that this guy can become a choice of tactical marine loadout as a sergant , with his inferno and plasma pistol and the veteran which already in game can become an assualt marine sergant with combos of veteran
stealer.....i dunno , you still can choose him , but he suppose to have cover and playground. They die fast on open field

id rather buff the cc fex health and nerf the vc fex health to make them more balanced.

we shouldnt mess around with the weapons now since they feel pretty much how theyre supposed to.

since you will nerf all leaps by 25% !!! , you should wait and see how it pans out instead of nerfing the AM.

remember when the stealer was wastly underpowered, people did still choose him because its fast speed made it still fun, even though in 80% of the cases you enocuntered enemies it meant your death and ended uo as marine fodder.

Looks like i've got calls for and against nerfing the VC.  As a compromise, I will nerf it, just not as much as Nqss wants.

The new leap system that was introduced with the AM turned out to be more effective than the stealer leap that it was supposed to duplicate.  The 25% nerf is just me trying to bring the leap into line with the original effect.  I never intended to have players jumping over the bunkers in  Thunderhawk for example.

IcharIV:
Some of the spawn zones in the garage are a little bit to near to the last Space Marine objective. Sometimes I spawned exactly in the entrance to this hall. From there the way is to short to the last objective.


The Lictor and the Stealer have different regeneration times for their stamina. If I count right the Stealer need 10 seconds for full regeneration and the Lictor just 5 seconds. Personal I think 5 seconds are to fast and 10 seconds to long for the next jump. Maybe they can meet in the middle. Both can have 7 or 8 seconds for full stamina regeneration.

My opinion to the balance of the two fexes is that the VC fex is the better choise atm. With the VC I have a chance against camping heavys and terminators. The CC fex is a waste of points for those opponents.
Like others I was asking for more ammo for the terminator. But we have to keep an eye to the CC fex. I think Stahlhagel is right and we should work with the change of health of both at first.

i feel somehow like the cc fex would do well with a health or maybe speed buff to help him against campy enemies. 2 camping heavies are a nightmare for any cc unit, but that again would screw around with the lower classes. but as a top tier class, wouldnt such a buff be justified somehow ?

counter to that could include termie ammo buff,
a higher burst ROF for tacticals with slightly more spread,
slight damage increase from melta weapons to fex armor,
and maybe warrior health buff to counter the extra bolter firepower

If the VC fex is OP we nerf the VC fex, we do not buff all the other 3rd tier classes.  The other 3rd tier classes were balanced already.  We just need to tune the VC fex to their level.

fex was also considered balanced as tier 2 class until recently fex trains became considered an issue, just saying.

Alpha Test 7.15 After Action Report
Good turnout for the test tonight, which I like to see.  VC fex felt a lot more balanced than in previous versions, even if his individual attacks felt weak.  Assault marine felt more problematic, the effects were looking great, but it was just too dangerous for tier 1.

I also got the bug where you have points, but the class menu wont let you pick anything (greyed out 1st tier classes).  Does anyone have a theory about what causes this?

Tweaks

• Kill icons are required for the VC and talons.
• Give AM their grenades back and move them to tier 2.
• Stealer leap is taking too long to charge up.

Future
OK, here's my new plan.  To be prepared for an Xmas beta I need to have a release candidate ready for December the 16th.  That will give me a week to nail it down, build installers and full zips, upload mirror copies and prepare media for a release on the 21st, 22nd or 23rd.

That gives us only 2 more weekly alphas in which to find a good balance, tidy up the place-holder assets and sort out some new loading screens.  The new specialist weapons will have to wait until after the new Beta, there is no way we can get them in and balanced in time.

Nqss : You're either going to have to make some mad progress on the new Ichar or the next beta will ship with Loxn's version.

increase speed of AM jumps or of jumps in general
so it will tweak him for better , charge up in close combat faster , so enemy wouldn't have much time to react

tweaking vore for 7.15 is more then important , for such thing as 7.15 (public patch , right?) most of things must be tuned
moving veteran to t1 is also important if you are going to move AM to t2
vet and AM should never be in a same tier

Speed as in leap length or speed as in charge up time?  Do you even mean "leap" the AM/GS/L ability or the "Jump" most classes can do?

How can I tweak the vore?  I was thinking of giving it some armour (not as effective as the fex).

I've not settled on a version number for this Beta, it could be 7.15, 7.25, 7.5 or 8.0 depending on how different it feels to 7.0 when it comes time to package the RC.

I think the veteran can stay on tier 2, his combos are too good for tier 1.  At this point the veteran only exists for variety, rather than any sound gameplay reasons.  That and I don't want the contributors who worked on him to feel like their time was wasted.

speed of movement in the air
i already told you
basic energy allows vore to shoot 2 sporemines rapidly and then it slows down
i want you to give enough energy to shoot 3 sporemines rapidly , i already told so
Lack of speed / health / close combat for vore means that most tweaks suppose to touch its main weapon. This beast MUST be in covers and annoy enemy from there
It is not going to OP , trust me , this will help vore to defend self and be as good as thrope.

And cut off tentacle collision of sporemines (AKA MAKE IT SMALLER) so they would't stop by the touch of a pixel

NO
they are AS effective as boltgun
I cal kill same amount of enemies with boltgun or even more , since i can attack from cover. Veteran must be exposed due to the lack of the accuracy and he also got the chainsword , which makes him to be a close combat guy , who suppose to figh close combat race.
just give it a try , put the vet in t1 , im not saying about deleting him as class or anything
just leave him his combo weapons and grenades

veteran as tier 1 class... i like that. but give him boltpistol csword combo, the current weapons are a joke (any sound nid player will kick your ass to the stone age).

the vores main problem is the lack of range on maps. its a ranged support unit, supposed to be far enough away to not come under fire. however, on any map, you cant even shoot over a building. i guess there is really a need to buff the spore mine luancher either in ROF, or in damage since i doubt well get some battlefield like maps like digsite where its potential comes to a bearing.

also im sad to hear that im gonna have to wait that long for the flamer :(

Alpha 7.14 After Action Report


Today's alpha seemed particularly chaotic, it's very hard for me to draw any particular conclusion form such chaos.  All I know is that we played 4 maps and tyranids won every time.  I have no idea why.

New objective icons in the HUD contributed by Jake Coggins, were reported to be "too big" by play testers, despite being the same size as the previous set.  Jake I think we need to reduce the opacity on these.

AM seemed fine to me on tier 2, but not everyone felt this way.  Some want it nerfed slightly and added back to tier 1.  Nerfing the spread or ROF of the BP would be a problem for the other classes that now use the same combo.

Buffing the Stealers by reducing the time between leaps felt great, that's staying.
I did not see much use of Veterans to judge of the powerchainsword was doing the trick.
Buffing the Biovore by increasing their ammo reserve from 2 to 3 mines felt fine, but I feel it does not address is underlying vulnerability.

I had no reports of problems with the class menu or weapon icon, so it looks like those are actually fixed.

New kill icons are for the VC and talons. are looking good.  Assault combo as alternative wargear for the tactical marine felt fine to me, but you have to pick and choose the wargear for the situation, CC for confined spaces, Bolter for open ones.  Server skulls were clumping up on Digsite, I don't think it was related to the model update.  

Moving the objectives around on ex_thunderhawk, didn't make much difference.  The incidental changes made it much less frustrating for the nids, but they still struggle to get to the objectives before the marines.

Bugs

• Ragdoll related crash, must be related to a player changing team.  May be related to the tactical marine model.
• Client crash caused by melta beam particle system, nothing obviously wrong with the code.
• Spore mine kill icon seems to have picked up something extra (venom ?)
• Left thigh of the warrior ragdoll sticks out 90 degrees.

Tweaks

• Nerf the lictor leap, either un-cloak him when leaping or halve the range.
• Slight Buff needed to the AM and Steal leap ranges I want to be able to leap out of the firing range on the test lab.
• VC seems unpredictable, but it's only random aspect is the spread, try buffing the accuracy by 1 degree.

---

Stahlhagel's Report
Gameplay is better. thats the most important thing.  

A good tac will hold against a stealer. a good dodging stealer might kill the tac, so it seems balanced enough.  Warrior is kinda meh due to unpredictable gun. sometimes you just die without a kill sometimes you kill 3 marines alone.  

veteran... depends on situation, it can kick ass for sure. but if youre unlucky you just get wiped due to low health and very fast melee combat. apoth is good so far, melta... dunno , dint use it at all.  AM.... not worth it in tier 2 somehow. rather use medic or veteran now, maybe melta if fex rush occurs.

The heavy kicks ass as always, like it should.   Termie... dies too fast to those damn thrope bolts instead to the warp blast!  ( ed: this may just be an example of me picking the right counter class ).

stealer is excellent at the moment. it can kill stuff, and be easily killed if you dont aim properly.   warrior is meh

thrope... not my thing , dies very fast with its low health and poor accuracy and slow travel of the warp bolts,  as a thrope you better hit you target, or youre dead meat quickly.  vore... sucks due to slow speed, self killing with splash, health is ok , but spore mines just never hit their target because they explode wherever they scratch the ground.  I actually prefer laying mode so the damn things don't blow up mid flight, i can kinda hit a marine somehow that way.  the rof buff was a good decision.   lictor needs a nerf. stealth and jumping just dont go together well. id remove the recoil from the claws like on stealer, nerf its jump range. also make clear where the hell those claws hit when used. still too unpredictable in close combat.

fex... currently my favourite al rounder. the vc is way unpredictable though, sometimes you kill a marine with 2 hits, sometimes a lone tac just drops your health to half until you kill him.  cc fex... not using it anymore, the numerous issues and gettign stuck all the time is too much when every second you lose to get to the enemy means you're closer to death. i think something needs to be done about this.

my opinion

vore , a bit of ROF increasing
Lictor jumps can become much rare
As i jumped around in cloak all over the place , nerfing the regeneration of energy would do the trick , to have one escape
vet is working as i expected , i even cut some fex during tests
behavior - stay with your mates or sneak around , as expected
you may delete his boltgun and start working with powersword as i think
AM is fine , killing t1 and t2 with similar attitute , melta bombs and longer leap (and change the ARCH of the leap to be more like a strieght line)  would be nice
stealer longer leap (and change the ARCH of the leap to be more like a strieght line)
specialist uhhhhh...well , replacing his boltpistol with spare clips of meltagun would be nice and flamer / plasma for future
Close combat tacts was a bad idea , i agreed with you
Thrope is fine
Fex everyone prefer VC fex , huge amount health and heavy damage on the range
Termies - they can have their ammo back , +2 clips additionaly , they are need it now actually

I vote that the AM should go to T1. He was a good counter part to the stealer. The Tyranids have atm the advantage at the beginning of a round to catch the objectives faster than the marines with the stealer. The other thing is if the tac. Marine have the same weapon option like the AM then I ask me whether the AM is be worth with his 75 points to choose. Just the jetpack as a gain is a little bit to less for T2 and the vet is current the stronger cc fighter.

With the other classes Iam happy. Especally with the healing Thrope. Its nice to heal myself. :D
Ok one exception is the Lictor. He is really to strong in his current appearance. Slower stamina regeneration or uncloaking while jumping could be a good solution.

P.S.: Gratz to your 1000th post, Chrome. :)

i think removing the jump , buffing its stealth

or bumping refresh time of the jump to ten seconds so you have to really think forward

Can we decide propertly with the AM tier?
it is the 4th or 5th time it will be changing tier
Lets think , DEEPLY about that , is he actually need that?

Compare to VET

Unlike VET he can jump around and kite the CC enemy , shooting with boltpistol and then jumping to the enemy to manage final hits with sword
Unlike VET he can easily escape (even jump to apothecary) or close up with enemy
Unlike VET he can dodge projectiles
Unlike VET he can reach unreachable enemies

VET can slice t1-t2 in close combat easily now
Since VET attached to the ground and doesn't have much speed tweaks , only longer running , he can help dealing with close combat attacks , but really weak againist ranged tyranids

Should i also mention that t2 of nids got artilery / ranged support / ultimate CC with ability to sneak and jump and marines got healing close support / ultimate CC with no jumps / and firepower support
I can see VET being counter for lictor
I can see support marines being usefull at defence and certain situations
but , who is going to counter vore and thrope? Assualt Marine , dodging projectiles and reaching them faster or even jumping around a corner before they notice
and if AM is available for everyone , nids of t2 would be mostly spammed with those guys

i think all the dodging you talk about is a bit overrated. the only ability that makes the am so special is the jump, but thats pretty much it. hes not constantly travelling at the speed of light or something like that.

close up trope bolts are a real pain, and will likely get you killed before you kill the vore off

biovore is frankly not a danger to anyone, even a tier 1 is more likely to kill a vore than the opposite

actually, im thinking something must be done about the warrior. i prefer to play stealer, since i know if i play it right i have a good chance to show up in a marines face and kill him in close combat.

id prefer warrior for its good alround capability, but i hate the unpredictable main weapon. i rarely know if i do actually any damage to a target and if i should close in before the bolters chew me up... just some thoughts about that. not sure how people feel about it in general now that every class excells at what it does when used right and - with skill.

my opinion:
-the bolter of veteran is not needed anymore (not used in the first place , proved by several players)
-the vore still need that collision tweak
-lictor was pain because he could jump alot , you added him ability to jump around even more often and reduced the range. This , what i can not understand.
-new objective icons needs to be reduced in sizes , maybe by2 at the maximum size. and become more transparent(50%maybe).
-terminator can have the additional ammo back(he is not game breaking , with new VC)
-VC must have splash damage (which is not down to zero , the lowest line is about 20), but less overall damage

-wating for the specialist weapons , flamer and plasma , expecting plasma specialist to counter thrope on range in t2


wierd , i killed 2 tyranids (t1 and t2) with AM before i died and could get much points (had about 40)

Alpha 7.15 After Action Report
A little more stable at my end this time.  The server still felt the need to give everyone a "full client update" at one point which caused everyone to time out.  But the server and my client managed to stay up for a full hour without crashing.

Lictors were less rampant than in previous builds.  The leaps all felt good to me.  VC was not noticeably more deadly ( at least not when I was using it ).  No-one lamented the loss of the chainsword tactical.

Tyranids are still winning most rounds.  I still don't know why, but I suspect it may be due to Stealers claw speed buff.

Gunguy's HUD messed up an put the ammo floodbar next to the health floodbar "making a heart shape", shortly before crashing.  GG also reported a case where he could not respawn or change teams.

ChromeAngel wrote:

This could be true. With the old stealer I never got so much kills like with the new one. :P
But I like him how he is now.

There is a little problem with the Thrope. If you have the healing ability, then you always loose your "heal power" independent whether a teammate is in range or your own health is full. I tried often to heal some teammates, but I got no feedback that Iam out of range, because I loose the power anyway. This shouldnt happen. To fix my mentioned problem would be helpful to know whether I heal something or not.

I have to agree with NQSS about the Lictor nerf. Chrome why did you do the opposite of what made the Lictor leap useful?   The leap recharge should be several seconds longer and the range changed back to what it was. The Lictor already has invisibility, a skilled player shouldn't mind waiting in the shadows for it to recharge.

Also agree about the bolter for Veteran as it's usefulness is limited to having a long weapon when the plasma pistol runs out of ammo.(I don't last long enough as Vet to run of ammo) Get rid of it for now and give more reserve ammo to the plasma pistol. It should be the long range option when Vet gets future war gear like the relic blades and thunder hammers,etc. Assuming that the Vet is meant to be a Vanguard Veteran.

Genestealer does seem a bit overpowered compared to the Tactical as damage per second was high enough already by lowering the re-fire the delay in melee.

If your going to nerf Thope warpbolt the Warpblast should do more damage or at least make it take less energy. MediThrope should be hanging back with his team anyways so he shouldn't need anything to compensate.

Assault needs more than just the jump pack to put him on par with Teir 2 classes, such as melta bombs suggested earlier. As he is still very little threat to Warriors, at least to me because I have a mouse that can make my shots more accurate or make mouse sensitivity higher and turn faster than my enemy. If he's going to be tier 2 make him an Assault Sergent with plasma pistol combo with the same damage as Vet's old chainsword had or at least change his ranged weapon to a relic bolt pistol with a higher damage per second.

Biovore needs a flatter trajectory and the projectile slightly faster as it's impossible to predict where your spores will end up as he's still inferior to thrope when it comes to long range attack power. If it gets too spammy nerf the damage slightly.

Suggestions for future updates:
You should really implement the Crushing claws damage boot or dps(ie faster refire) in the next patch, as Venom Fex is still a better choice. I'd also suggest a speed boost ability(tie it to reload) that the Venom Fex doesn't get.

If we already have Vanguard Vet, the Special could be renamed as a Tactical Sergent or a Stern-guard veteran when the Plasma gun and Flamer are implemented. He already has one weapon that both types of Space Marine's use.


Pyrovore tier2 tank if your unable to make Tyrant Guards since the lone Lictor is currently the only Tyranid melee class that is on the second tier.



Agreed. Medic thrope needs better feedback for both the healer and the patient. A new sound for the healing bolt might be the best thing as it shares it with the warpbolt.

If you are looking at your team mate it should be easy to tell if they are being healed since a sparse cloud of red particles will rise up around them and if you aim directly at them you can see their health level.

I know that you can see the health of a teammate if you are close enough, but I didnt notice the red particle. The thing is, what disturb me, that you alway loose your power if you try to heal independent whether there is somebody to heal.

The lictor leap was a bit of a cock-up on my part, I missed a file out of the patch.  It should have been requiring full energy to leap, rather than half, so it effectively ended up jumping twice as often as it should

I'm not feeling that warp blast is underpowered at the moment, but I will certainly buff it if you think it's really necessary.

Making spores faster will just make them bounce further and become even more unpredictable.  We'll be testing a "fuse" system for mines this weekend, which should stop them being exploded in the Biovore's face.

If the VC is OP we need to nerf the VC not buff the screamer killer.  Carnifex was balanced before the VC was added, so the VC should be tuned to that level otherwise we just get into a case of power creep (http://extra-credits.net/episodes/power-creep/), which is what i've been trying to manage in the 2nd tier.

power creep only occurs if the existing classes arent brought up to standard, which is completely different since the introduction of the new classes... screamer killer was only balanced if that thing wasnt in a fex train or facing a heavy bolter ( which means you will be eaten alive by that hb).

thats why i actually suggested a health buff for the fex, to make it on par with the vc, which doesnt feel op due to inaccuracy. the thing is , the vc fex is an awesome overall package , just like the termie. id rarely go for the heavy instead of termie for example if there are no spam o thropes around.
you can always make his walking speed slower, remove sprint, mess around with cc attacks, or health.
i wouldnt  kill the player experience with the vc, it feels kinda like the weapon should atm.

id suggest removing the bolt for the dakka thrope and give it the short range, but 1 hit death warp lance with a long reload. that way the thrope will be a slow firing, but extremely deadly opponent, dedicated as a second line support unit, while healer thrope can have the bolts, maybe nerfed if needed.

if stealer is seen as op, you can slightly nerf its jump range. it needs a good attack speed to hit in melee, its very hard for such a small unit to effectively deal damage in melee, compare it with the warrior and youll know why.

Alpha 7.16 After Action Report
Maybe i'm just hyped up on chocolate eggs, but todays build felt better.  Small turnout but that's not surprising since I only posted the patch 10 minutes before the test.

Can't say i'm a fan of the Thrope changes, but i'd like more opinions before I revert them.  Medithrope didn't not get a look in due to the small team sizes, so will need more testing tomorrow,  Nerfing the stealer speed slightly was not an effective nerf, I'm going to have to try something stronger.

Not enough examples of lictors or screamer killers to judge those changes either.

Marine ragdolls seemed to work OK, jiggled a bit more than they used to and pose slightly differently.  Grenadier wargear seem to prove it's worth.  The biovore changes worked well, it just needs a smidgen more buffing to bring him up to par.

Bugs

• Missed the warrior player model out of the patch
• plasma pistol combo was using the inferno combos world model
• plasma pistol did not get any spare ammo

Suggestions

• Smoke grenades for the grenadier
• Powersword only alternate wargear for the AM

Expect patch 7.17 tomorrow afternoon, to be a roll up of changes from 7.0 to 7.17 and fixes for those few issues.

Would it be possible to reskin the Power Sword to glow? Asking before I edit the vmt file  and end up with error texture(pink and black) sword.

probabaly

decreasing health again?

so , from powering up VET to be an actual t2 class we are having the AM powering up for once again say BYE to the VET?

I'm thinking of nerfing the stealers ROF again, but restoring his movement speed.

The thing about the powersword AM suggestion was that was his ONLY weapon, no pistol at all.

Behold my lazy and clueless attempt at making the power sword glow.
(http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/1100266671095222995/1DDBC4E9812838517D29DE493EF11E62C31C20D6/)

(http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/1100266671095218590/103E0AA76C9D9EBA4BC124145F660E6BCBAEA1FF/)

It's purple because I copied someone else's VMT file and truly have no idea what I am doing.

Chrome If you are going to give Assault the lone Power Sword (no gun)as wargear, rename him to an Assault Sergeant as standard Assault Marine doesn't get power weapons. However he can replace his bolt pistol with a plasma pistol(ie old chainsword plasma vet combo) or hand flamer according to Lexicaunum .