Good day, pilots!
As many players have rightly pointed out on the forums, the previous update was a lull before some major changes in the game. Which ones? In this dev. blog entry we would like to tell you about the three major changes coming in 0.8.4:
- Changes in sector conquest
- Expanded custom game functions (Custom battle)
- Changes in Engineer ships.
Changes in sector conquest
Let's start with the first point. Now, to participate in sector conquest you do not need to choose this option in the game mode selection screen anymore — just click the PvP mode and you can join the fight right away! We have simplified this aspect a little, since Arcade and Standard were often perceived as “extra” options on sector conquest map. However, you can still play these two modes as usual, but launching them is a little bit different now.
Besides, in order to make the whole thing a bit more varied, we give our pilots the opportunity to try their hand in two modes. Sector conquest is an important part of the game, and to emphasize the importance of this (and make it a bit harder), the players will now fight in both Arcade and Standard mode. Those who like to fight and receive their rewards only in one particular mode, don't have to worry — in the next part of our blog, we'll show you how to play these modes on your own terms!
Expanded custom game functions (Custom battle)
Many players have been tasking for extended training opportunities in the game for some time now — they wanted to receive rewards for custom games or have a broader spectrum of settings. Moreover, going back to the first point, our pilots prefer to have certain rules in their battles. Based on your wishes, we have expanded the functionality of Custom battles! Yes, that's right — no matter what you want to play, whether it's PvP or PvE — now you can organize any battle yourself! Due to the expansion of this part of the game, the name has been changed — it is now called “Custom battle”.
Do you want to prove that your corporation is the best, but just can't get into a fight with the right enemy? Do you like to launch into PvE missions with your friends? Do you want to show what real hardcore is and defeat everyone in standard mode? Do you want to try to organize your own corporate championship? With the latest update this is no longer a problem — you can use the Custom battle extended settings and conquer the space the way you want!
As you know, Star Conflict is played around the world — in order to solve the problem of response time due to large distances we suggest you choose the most geographically convenient server location!
So, Custom battle gives you the opportunity to play in different modes and get a reward. Each mode can be further customized, but to prevent “easy wins”, where players set up the easiest modes and win effortlessly, we have added a condition that if you change the default rules, reward is not handed out to the team.
So what settings can the pilots choose? Below is a list of parameters that can be changed by the players:
- Password
- Autobalance toggle
- Rank restriction
- Role restriction
- Friendly fire
- Self fire
- Number of AI ships
- Difficulty of AI ships.
Please note that when you change these settings, your game will be considered a training fight, and you will not get any rewards for it.
One may ask, “But where is the standard mode?” — It is very easy to get into this type of battle, you just need to pick a map and its mode: Beacon capture.
The situation is similar in PvE — you can choose a map and a region, but you can't change any other options.
As you can see, this system allows you to not only fight the way you want to, but also get a reward for it. In addition, it can help you find out “Who is stronger?” or to practice in conditions as close to the original as possible.
Changes in Engineer ships
And now we come to the third point of the blog — the Engineer role. Players love this role, but for various reasons can't always participate in battle in this capacity. As we have already noted, we are closely monitoring the situation and working on this role!
In this patch, we reach the next stage. So, here goes.
Engineers will now be able to install some of their modules in space! You read that right, now two modules, “Remote Shield Generator” and “Remote Hull Repair” will act as separate devices installed in space.
Why was this done? This change had three reasons:
- Removing the focus of fire from Engineers.
Judge for yourself, why attack a ship, if its module is already placed in space and is in a different part of the map? - Solving the problem of “Frigate clusters”.
Now that these modules can be placed in space, the engineers do not have any reason to gather in clusters: the modules only recover one ship, the most heavily damaged one, and it's not repaired by all modules at once, only the best one. - Making the role closer to its original purpose.
This role must deal with not only repairing ships, but also with actual engineering - that will help the players who felt confined to only one task.
Below you can see a description and approximate figures for these modules:
Our internal tests have shown that this change should be beneficial to the situation on the battlefield, but as it happens, the “big game” often brings about changes, so we will continue to monitor the situation!
At this point we would like to summarize and reiterate that we are continuing to work on the game and we value your ideas! Your comments are welcome!