Version/2.30.x

2.30.4

Release: (2021/01/22)

Bug fixes

• Fixed a networking issue causing the player icon on the mini-map not updating when swapping the revive skill on/off.
• Fixed some bugs relating to the recent additions to the tank cannon penetration checks (System that prevents firing when cannon is inside something other than vehicles/players)
• Fixed vehicle exits being able to be blocked by players on your team
• Fixed various possible crashes relating to weapons (and 1 with wall placement)
• Fixed some mini-map icons appearing for the wrong team. (An example is being able to see the enemy squad leader icon in some circumstances)
• Fixed some mini-map icons displaying when they shouldn't. An example is the star on spotted enemy squad leaders, this information shouldn't be given to players of the opposite team.
• Fixed a bug with squad aura being applied to squad leaders 100% of the time

Other changes

• Removed request/revive icons from drawing above yourself and on your own mini-map icon
• Repair icon on the crosshair now only displays if the engineer is actually in range to build, rather than building health display range.
• Changed the ordering of BE rifleman's pistols to match the other classes in the class menu.
• Enhanced senses is now disabled if the player dies, previously a dead player could continue to receive extra info.
• Squad aura icon now only displays if the local player is actually receiving the benefits of the aura, previously it only checked if the player was in range but that didn't mean they were receiving the aura. (If they were dead for example)

Script/Game Balance

Changes to homing/guided

• Added a max distance from player that RPG missiles will continue to guide, after this distance they switch to dumb-fire. (15000 units)
• Removed vehicle missile guidance from seat 2, this didn't make any sense to keep. Missiles should only by guided by the driver if he is in seat 1.
• Changed RPG missile guidance to work slightly differently, this should fix situations where just pressing the attack button throws the missile off-center.
• Changed vehicle guided missiles to be influenced by vehicle turret's rotation rather than using a "Laser guided" homing effect.

Infantry Weapons

• SMG1/2 Melee damage change reverted (Was 70, changed to 50, now back to 70 again)
• BE Pistol 2 Headshot multiplier increased from 2x -> 2.5x
• SMG1 spread increment decreased (33% standing, 50% crouched, 65% prone)
• SMG1 damage increased from 17 -> 18
• Improved BEAR - Base spread improved by 25%, Ironsight spread multiplier decreased from 0.83 to 0.6
• Tweaked scout sway values in reflection of last update
  • Base Sway pattern size reduced very slightly
  • Sway speed is slightly faster
  • Maximum sway speed increased (This is mostly for jumping/sprinting to cause more inaccuracy)
  • Accuracy upgrade sway reduction changed from 25% to 10% (25% proved to be too much so dropping this significantly)
  • Squad Accuracy Aura now affects scout sway, reduces sway by an additional 10% (This will rarely be used, however for consistency with the aura affecting other weapons this has been added.)

Research

• Advanced Machining
  • Changed Cost from 240 to 360
  • Changed Time from 60 to 90
• Composite
  • Changed Cost from 360 to 480
  • Changed Time from 90 to 120
• Gas Turbine
  • Changed Cost from 240 to 360
  • Changed Time from 60 to 90

Engines

• APC
  • Gas Turbine
    • Changed Cost from 20 to 40
    • Changed Heat Output at Idle from 3 to 2
• LT/AFV
  • Gas Turbine
    • Changed Cost from 30 to 50
    • Changed Heat Output at Idle from 3 to 2
• Medium
  • Gas Turbine
    • Changed Cost from 40 to 60
    • Changed Heat Output at Idle from 3 to 2
• Heavy
  • Gas Turbine
    • Changed Cost from 60 to 100
    • Changed Heat Output at Idle from 3 to 2
• Artillery
  • Gas Turbine
    • Changed Cost from 60 to 100
    • Changed Heat Output at Idle from 3 to 2

Vehicle handling

• Changed skidallow from 1 to 0 on all tracked vehicles

2.30.3

Release: (2020/12/20)

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where infantry weapon spread wasn't decrementing when going to iron-sights.
• Fixed a bug with squad aura effects not being reapplied properly. (Most noticeable with squad accuracy upgrade as it wasn't consistently being applied, using cl_dynamiccrosshair it appeared to cause spread to pulse)
• Fixed an issue where players would appear to be hovering when entering a vehicle while in mid air. (The sitting animation wasn't being set properly)
• Fixed an issue with the scout rifle sway being able to be disabled if the player turned off prediction. (Sway speed will be slightly different than before given that it had to be re-implemented using a different method.)
• Fixed the "Grenade Timer" script variable not being set for vehicle grenades, previously they were hard-coded to a 3 second detonation time.
• Fixed an issue with "BioResist" script property not being set properly for Bio DoT damage on players. (Bio damage was using the wrong resist type)
• Fixed some issues with the buildings script file which caused issues with the commander selection box display. (When selecting some engineer build-ables the selection box size was wrong or missing.)
• Fixed an issue with concussion grenades being able to damage vehicles.

Script/Game Balance

• Scout rifle sway is now affected by the accuracy upgrade skill. (At first this will be a 25% sway reduction, this might be change based in the future if it needs balancing)
• Increased explosion force to vehicles slightly as the previous change reduced it too much.
• Tanks are no longer able to fire if their cannon is penetrating an object. (The exception to this is other vehicles/players)
• Changed BEHR iron-sight zoom to match the other rifles, previously it had less zoom than the other rifles in the game.
• Increased APC cost by 50
• Reduced all turret costs by 25
• BE Heavy Rifle
  • Reduced recoil for all stances
• BE Assault Rifle
  • Significantly lower recoil for all stances
  • Reduced base spread and spread increment, slightly slower spread recovery for all stances
  • Increased maximum damage from 20 to 22
  • Increased minimum damage from 10 to 11
• BE .44 Pistol
  • Firing cycle time increased from 0.25s to 0.3s
• BE Machine Pistol
  • Faster firing speed
  • Lower Spread Increment
  • Clip size reduced from 18 to 15
• NF 50cal
  • Damage reduced from 43 to 40
• NF Heavy Carbine SMG
  • Melee cycle time reduced from 0.55s to 0.45s
• All SMGs (excluding SMG3)
  • Melee damage reduced from 70 to 50
• All Armors
  • Increased Seismic Grenade Resist from 0.95 to 1
  • Increased Concussion Grenade Resist from 0 to 1
• Deflective Armor
  • Increased Biological Damage Multiplier from 0.75 to 1
  • Reduced damage resistances from 0.1 to 0
• Absorbant Armor
  • Increased Infantry Missile Resistance from 0 to 0.1
  • Increased Plasma Resistance from 0 to 0.1
  • Decreased AP Bullet and Explosive Bullet Resistances from 0.15 to 0.1

2.30.2

Release: (2020/12/11)

Bug fixes

• Fixed a rare crash that was caused by weapons
• Fixed a networking issue related to rotating the command view
• Fixed a bug causing spawns to appear blocked by team mates
• Fixed a bug that caused player movement to be slowed down when leaving the command vehicle
• Fixed an issue where players could be launched into the air by vehicles
• Players that get stuck inside enemy vehicles are now killed instead of attempting to apply force to get them out (Fixes roadkill not working 100% of the time)
• Player ragdolls now have some initial force applied to them when the player dies, previously the ragdoll would just fall to the ground.
  • Since these are client-side, you would actually see your own ragdoll have some initial force in some situations (Like roadkills); this just makes the behaviour more consistent for everyone

Script/Game Balance

• Reduced the total explosion force applied to vehicles
• Vehicle wheel road-kills are now triggered when the vehicle is going over 5MPH, previously 2MPH. (2MPH turned out to be too low)
• Seat 2 of BE medium is now standing stance instead of crouch
• Reduction in cost for AFV/LT (-50) and APC (-100)
• Increase in cost for commander turrets(+25)
• Reduction in cost for Armouries (-25)
• Re-introduction of the BE Burst Rifle and Machine Pistol, damage and magazine sizes increased to compensate
• Head-shot multiplier on all weapons reduced to 2x (3x for Scout rifles)
• Bullet damage falloff distance on all weapons changed from 5000 units to 10000 units, minimum damage changed from approximately 75% of max damage to 50% max damage
• Concussion grenade damage increased from 20 to 40
• Shotgun damage per pellet increased from 15 to 20 (all 3 shotguns)
• Increased Command Vehicle's Armor damage multiplier from 0.75 to 1.

2.30.1

Release: (2020/12/05)

Features

• Added a new particle effect for turrets disabled by concussion grenades.
• Changes to how re-equip functions:
  • Re-equip will now restore the previously active weapon, provided the player still has the same weapon.
    • NOTE: Previously the active weapon would be changed to the weapon in slot 2 regardless of what the player was previously holding.
  • Re-equip now saves the reload state of a grenadier's RPG & Mortar and restores the original reload state of the weapon, provided the player isn't swapping to be a grenadier. In which case they would both be provided requiring a reload before use.
    • NOTE: Spawning as grenadier is unchanged, both weapons will be provided already loaded.
  • Re-equip now saves the engineer kit charge and restores the original charge, provided the player isn't swapping to be a engineer. In which case the engineer kit would be provided empty.
    • NOTE: Spawning as engineer is unchanged, the engineer kit will still be provided with full charge.
• Sabotage progress will now reset after 2 minutes.
  • NOTE: Previously sabotage progress would persist forever, this wasn't ideal behaviour given some rounds can last over an hour.

Bug fixes

• Fixed some issues with burst fire weapons that prevented us from implementing them.
  • NOTE: Previously you had to hold the primary fire button to fire all of the burst. This is no longer the case, burst fire should now work exactly as expected.
• Fixed a mismatch between the client & server relating to vehicle bullets effects. Vehicle MG tracers on the client had different angles than on the server for vehicles with offset MG model attachments.
• Fixed a small mismatch between the client & server relating to player bullet effects. This was an issue that affected bullet spread, essentially there could be a slight variance which was caused by differing player velocity values on the client/server. This mismatch should now be significantly reduced.
• Fixed a small mismatch in bullet spread caused by the Rifleman's squad aura accuracy increase. Previously the spread reduction was only applied on the server, this is now fixed.
• Fixed a visual bug where bullet tracers were slightly offset from where they were supposed to emit from.
• Fixed a client/server mismatch relating to player angles whilst in vehicles. (Hitboxes on server would differ from what was represented on the client)
• Fixed a bug with weapon spread, where if you tried to attack while out of ammo it would still increase your weapon spread.
• Fixed a bug where squad arty could collide with the map's skybox if the ray cast was exactly 4000 units.
• Fixed refinery starting health not using the value defined in scripts.
• Fixed the bounding box being larger than intended for BE AFV model. This would cause mines to trigger even if the afv wasn't visually over the mine.
• Fixed the research description for the top icon not updating properly.
• Fixed some particle effects being assigned to the wrong model attachment. (Previously particles could only be correctly spawned from model attachments 1-32 due to a network restriction, however models can have up to 512 attachments and some of our vehicles have ~40)
• Fixed some occasions where the Hit Tick HUD element could get stuck on screen.
• Fixed the width of HudMessage HUD element not spanning the whole screen. This is sometimes used by server addons. (Sourcemod plugins)
• Fixed a crash when trying to apply damage to tanks using server addons. (Sourcemod plugins)
• Fixed a bug relating to engineer charge not regenerating correctly whilst holstered.
• Dead players no longer emit the resupply sound.
• Fixed an issue with missile having the wrong death notice icon.
• Commander placed turrets no longer float in the air slightly.
• Fixed an exploit caused by wall placement:
  • Walls are no longer allowed to be placed if the preview model intersects with the local player.
  • emp_unstuck is now only called if the player is actually stuck inside a building. Previously an unstuck would be scheduled regardless of if the player was stuck. In some circumstances this was being abused.
  • This change is primarily aimed to combat an exploit that was frequently being used by some players to reach areas of the map that weren't accessible through other means.
  • NOTE: These changes can be a little restrictive in the heat of battle. Depending on how these changes work in the short-term this behaviour may be tweaked in the future if the placement becomes a bigger problem than the exploit it resolves.

Other changes

• Changed turret and wall gibs to last for 8 seconds instead of 15. They now fade out in the last 2 seconds instead of 3.
• Re-enabled the HUD hint element that is sometimes used by server addons. (Sourcemod plugins)

Changes to player collision

This deserved a section all to itself this patch since a lot has changed.

• Set default "sv_turbophysics" to 0 (This is the default in games like TF2 and shouldn't be changed back to 1 as it may cause unexpected behaviour)
  • This changes physical interactions between players and objects in the game.
  • Players can no longer push objects with the use button. (This was rarely used in Empires anyway.)
  • Players now have physical mass which will influence other physics objects. (For example standing on tanks will affect the suspension)

• In a previous update the player "surrounding bounds" were changed to be automatically updated based on player hitbox positions.
  • This had positives and negatives
    • The biggest positive is that it fixed a problem where bullets would miss hitboxes entirely.
    • However because sv_turbophysics was previously set as 1 by default for Empires, this meant the surrounding box determined player collision. As a result, players often got stuck in each other. (For example if you jumped on top of someone while they were moving)
  • So instead, with sv_turbophysics 0; the player collisions are separated from the "surrounding bounds" and resolves the player getting stuck.
    • As a result of this we can go back to using a static size for the player "surrounding bounds". Which resolves bullets hitting hitboxes, without the additional calculations for determining the size. (Prone is still automatically determined by hitbox sizes because of the large width of the player in that stance.)

Other changes made as a result of the above

• Implemented various improvements to prevent players from getting stuck.
  • This includes an automatic check to fix a player stuck in a building.
  • New and improved system which should prevent players from getting stuck inside each other
• Some small changes to player movement to make things a little smoother.
  • Eye offset positions for the player stances now transition a bit better and should feel a bit more polished.
  • Prone now triggers on button press rather than release.
  • Transitioning to prone is now slightly slower from the crouched position (Roughly 10%). (This is because it now maintains the same speed as transitioning from standing)
  • Fixed some issues where eye angles would not be at the correct height. (An example of this is spamming crouch whilst transitioning to prone)
  • Holding prone whilst in the air will cause you to start proning when you land.
• All projectiles now have a 0.25s grace period where they will not collide with players of the same team. (This includes grenades/missiles/shells for both players and vehicles)
• Fixed a potential client crash caused by console command "physicsshadowupdate_render"
• Tweaked player physical bounding box for the prone stance (Slightly taller than before)
• Tweaked player eye positions for the standing & prone stances to better reflect the actual position of the players head on the model.
  • The idea behind this is to prevent situations where enemies could shoot you but you couldn't see their head. (Like shooting over walls)
• Implemented a new system to prevent players from going prone under vehicles that are low to the ground.
• Vehicle road kills are now driven by the game engine's VPhysics system instead of the previous system which use raycasts to check road kills based on an timer/interval.
  • Using this new system any vehicle collision that occurred with the vehicle travelling over 15MPH will be a guaranteed road kill. If less than this the physics system will determine the damage. (Slightly scaled up for vehicles compared to other physics objects)
• Shooting physics objects previously didn't apply any force to them, this is no longer the case.
• Lowered force applied to players from taking damage (bullets/explosions etc)
  • MG Turrets now apply a small amount of damage force but this shouldn't be game altering.
  • Melee now applies a small amount of damage force, essentially the same as bullets already do.

Script/Game Balance

• Scout hide is no longer removed when taking damage.
  • This was added as part of a previous bug-fix but the behaviour isn't really ideal.
• Bullet spread distribution for players & vehicles is now circular rather than square.
• Tweaked fall damage distances to be more forgiving. (HL2 values were in use but Empires uses a higher gravity amount by default)
  • Also tweaked the distance that the landing recoil effect triggers as this was too low and was being triggered when crouch jumping.
• Infantry Weapons' Kick has been changed to push the player's view up instead of to the top right.

Hardcore Empires Scripts

Hardcore Empires changes have been merged into the base game. They will be used as a new foundation to build upon.
The changes below are a comparison with pre-2.30 vanilla Empires.

Economy

• Reduced Wages rewarded for performing various actions.
• Disabled Player Refinery Multiplier.
• Adjusted Resource Node values for several maps.

Research

• Researching now cost resources.
• Adjusted the time it takes to research new chassis.

Vehicle Engines

Vehicle Engine Spreadsheet

• Implemented Horsepower Health Penalty, your vehicle will now lose horsepower as your chassis gets damaged.
• Several changes to Heat Dissipation have been made to give each engine a more defined identity.
• Adjusted the engine prices for all chassis.
• Adjusted the weight of Armored Personnel Carrier engines to be in line with the other chassis.

Vehicle Armors

Vehicle Armor Spreadsheet

• All Vehice Armors now have a small Angle Modifier.
• All Vehice Armors now have a small Damage to Heat Absorbed.
• Plain Armor health has been significantly increased, it shall henceforth be known as Cardboard, Paper no longer!

Vehicle Weapons

Vehicle Weapons Spreadsheet

• Missiles have had their speed increased.
• Buffed High Explosive Cannon.
• Upgraded Missile Launcher is back to its original form.
• Standard Artillery Cannons are back to their original form.
• Anti-Tank Machine Guns have been adjusted to be better balanced.
  • Biological Machine Gun's Damage Over Time has been reduced significantly.
• Grenade Launchers now have their own Damage Type and have had their damage against Buildings increased.

Vehicle Chassis

Vehicle Chassis Spreadsheet

• Jeeps can now have a single plate of armor. Their cost has been increased.
• Armored Personnel Carriers (APC):
  • Cost has been increased to better match their impact on the game.
  • Weight has also been slightly increased to compensate for the engines' weight.
  • The 8th seat is back!

Buildings

Buildings Spreadsheet

• Increased Buildings resistance against Biological Cannons.
• Increased Buildings resistance against Plasma Cannons.
• New Resistance against Grenade Launchers (see Vehicle Weapons).
• Increased Turrets resistance against Biological Cannons.
• Increased Turrets resistance against Plasma Cannons.
• Decreased Turrets resistance against Concussion Grenades.
• Missile Launcher Turret have had their Missiles' speed and accuracy increased.
• Walls cost has been reduced.
• Walls' resistance against Seismic Grenades has been reduced.
• Walls resistance against Infantry Missile has been reduced.

Infantry Weapons

Infantry Weapons Spreadsheet

• Headshot Multiplier has been significantly increased across the board.
• Leg and Arm Multipliers have been increased.
• Falloff Damage has been tweaked.
• Fixed multiple inconsistencies with weapons' accuracy.

Infantry Resists

Infantry Resists Spreadsheet

• Reduced Rifleman's Infantry Bullet Resist.
• Decreased resistance against Depleted Uranium Machine Gun.
• Increased resistance against High Explosive Machine Gun.