News: Update Notes 06/26 Continent Locking and Hossin

[Ruffdog]

https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...-06-26.191225/

The notes in italic parentheses are additional information from your Community Manager and may not be representative of the intent of its preceding patch note.

New Continent! Hossin:

“------//// Deputy Director’s Journal, June 26th, 2859 ////--------

With some unfortunate losses, our mission to Hossin was a success. As expected, the swamp was totally devoid of any humans; NC or otherwise. We experienced some unforeseen setbacks after helplessly watching our pilot transferred into a Galaxy that spawned- and instantly exploded- into the unkempt overgrowth of the swamp. Without the resources to recalibrate the spawn matrix for the terminals, I made the decision to proceed to our given location on foot. Unfortunately, the Vanu apparently left their entire stock of proximity mines at every chokepoint leading up to the manual override for the Rebirth network. With two of us down from stomping on proxy mines, EOD Hud was mandatory in loadouts until we got out of the place.

Resetting the system was surprisingly uneventful finish. No big generator spooling up, massive explosions or anything of note. The Board contacted us moments afterwards confirming that Hossin’s Rebirth indicator was back online; mission successful. Just a quick redeploy after confirmation and Sigma Squad managed to finish our only a few hours into overtime.

The day was wrapped up with a pat on the back (verbal, of course) from my bosses and the beginning of a new chapter in Auraxis’ history. Witnessing the first actual deaths on Auraxis in nearly a decade was rough, but hopefully the loss of their lives was not in vain. When The Board activates the warpgates tomorrow morning, the NC can begin taking back what was once our home.

Alyss Rodriguez, Deputy Director, New Conglomerate”


Explore a brand new continent with over 80 new bases in a brand new biome.
This is an Early Expedition. Read about what that means in this post from Creative Director Matt Higby:

Continent Locking:

• Continents can now be locked to a conquering empire in one of two ways:
  • Dominate the continent by owning at least 94% of the territory
  • Win an alert
• When a continent locks, the conquering empire automatically captures all remaining regions on the continent
• All players on the locked continent will be prompted to redeploy to another continent.
• A maximum of 2 continents can be locked at any one time.
• Whenever a continent is locked the oldest existing locked continent will automatically unlock.
• A Continent Benefit is now only active while the continent is locked.
• Continent Benefits have changed:
  • Amerish gives -50% Infantry Purchases (up from -10% Aerospace Purchases)
  • Esamir gives -50% Mechanized Purchases (up from -10% Mechanized Purchases)
  • Indar gives -50% Aerospace Purchases (up from -10% Infantry Purchases)
  • Hossin gives +25% XP (new) (It's almost like we want you to play there!)
• To accommodate continent locking, Global Alerts have been removed from the game, meaning every alert is now specific to a continent
• When a continent is unlocked the warpgates on that continent will rotate, and territory will be reset to a default starting configuration for each warpgate. (Tired of your warpgate location? Now you can fix it)
• Warpgates will no longer rotate every other week and are now exclusively rotated via continent locking.

Outfits Recruiting:

• Do you run an outfit? Looking for some new blood? List your outfit in the brand new recruiting system.
• Are you looking to join an outfit? Want to meet some new friends? Find an outfit to join in the brand new recruiting system.
• To list your outfit go to the outfit screen and there is a Manage Recruitment button.
• To view recruiting outfits, go to the outfits button on the social tab. On the main page is a button to find an outfit.

Outfit Decals:

• Your outfit can now select a decal to represent yourselves.
• Purchase Infantry or Vehicle Outfit decals in their Depot categories for 100 SC or 250 Certs
• Equip like a normal decal. If you’re in an outfit and the outfit has a decal selected, the decal will display as the selected decal. (How many times can we say decal? You'd be surprised!)
• If you’re not in an outfit, the decal will not display. (So just join and stay in an outfit already)

Outfit Base Capture:

• When your outfit captures a base your outfit’s decal will be displayed on the faction banners at the base, on the scoreboard, and on the map. (We got tired of some of you "marking" the map. Infantry are provided latrines).
• An outfit is recognized as being the captors by being the highest scoring outfit during the base’s capture
• For now, this score is simply the cumulative score of the outfit members that participated in the base capture (i.e. the scores that are displayed on the scoreboard). (If you are bad at math, just have everyone try harder ok?)

Misc:

• The descriptions on the Medical Applicator now list the hotkeys required for healing and reviving. (Some of you were just mashing 5 keys and getting lucky).
• Adjusted ranges of “Enter Vehicle” and “Equipment Terminal” interactions on Sunderer.
  • Change reduces overlap and is intended to reduce the chances of accidentally triggering the interaction you don’t want.
  • When the vehicle is deployed, you will need to get closer to the terminal and closer to the vehicle.
  • When the vehicle is undeployed there should be no change in the enter vehicle interaction.
• A lattice link has been added between TI Alloys and Ceres Hydroponics on Indar.

Bug Fixes:

• Desynch fix for multiple situations. (This should improve a number of issues some of you have been reporting but poor accuracy is still in your hands)
• Fixed focus issues with the chat window after hitting escape.
• Fixed an issue where thermal optics for the Dual-75 Duster were not set up like other belly guns.
• The TR Honeycomb camo will now scale correctly.
• Updated the descriptions for Liberator belly weapons to be more accurate with recent changes.
• The unpurchasable magazine size certification should no longer appear for the Hyena Missile Launcher. (In this particular case, size didn't matter)
• Camo will now apply correctly to the Bruiser Plating and Scrapper Vanguard attachments.
• Kills caused by explosions will no longer grant double experience. (This doesn't mean you should stop doing it because come on...it's entertaining right?)
• Equipping the Ammunition Package during a weapon reload will no longer skip the reload animation.
• Adjusted the Ammunition Package so that it it less likely to continuously shake when thrown on uneven terrain. (See? You thought you were just really nervous.)
• Fixed an issue where tank reverse turning speed would change when toggling the ‘Invert Reverse Steering for Tanks’ option. (We really can't make this stuff up....)

Oh my nanites.

[Gimpylung]

Please put your seat in its upright position and assume the brace position, oxygen masks will be provided, life jackets are available under your seats.

[Canaris]

Originally Posted by Gimpylung

Please put your seat in its upright position and assume the brace position, oxygen masks will be provided, life jackets are available under your seats.

I checked there was only a MCG under my seat, still I suppose it's a type of life preserver... right?

Still WOOOOOO Swamp Thing cont!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H5zXh6MVvg

[Edfishy]

Awesome update! Higby had said maybe on the outfit banners being displayed on bases this week... is this actually in? If so I have some more incentive to play!

[Ruffdog]

The update is now available
1581 mb

Known Issues:

• Outfit Recruiting and Decals: We are working on an issue where permissions for setting the recruiting up and selecting a decal can’t be set.

• Outfit Base Capture: The outfit decal won’t show up on the large faction banners at some bases.

• Hossin: Some objects can sink below the waterline and will not be able to be destroyed

[War Barney]

The bases don't seem very good from what I've seen a pain to navigate and very attacker orientated from what I saw. Hopefully its just a few of them if not hossins going to be a continent designed for never defending and just constantly attacking instead

[Crator]

Originally Posted by War Barney

The bases don't seem very good from what I've seen a pain to navigate and very attacker orientated from what I saw. Hopefully its just a few of them if not hossins going to be a continent designed for never defending and just constantly attacking instead

This was explained a couple days ago. They are calling Hossin an "Expedition" approach. What this means is that there is some copy/paste stuff to allow them to release the continent quicker. They will eventually fix all the copy/paste stuff. https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...status.190580/

[BlaxicanX]

My body is ready.

Luke. You must go to the dagobah system.

[Babyfark McGeez]

Tried it out, hossin looks really good. Gives off a very nice jungle feeling, i dig the fog and the trees. The only downer was the rather pathetic "water" (texture). Still, i definetely liked being there.

"Continent Locking" seemed very WIP, and not a bit like i read about what they were planning there, so can't say much about it. It felt unnatural and not smooth and definetely not finished. Had a huge fight on indar going on, VS hits the threshold, *poof* continent locked, suddenly everyone is gone - in the middle of a heated battle. Thresholds just suck guys.
Also i couldn't figure out the "unlocking" conditions (didn't really try to though), and when a continent did get unlocked it just reset to a kinda even state. So i don't think there is any kind of intercontinental connection there yet.

Looked still nice so far though, might check it out more when they worked on the cont locking / lattice part.

[Baneblade]

My Vanguard is on ice skates now. Yeah, not playing till that shit is fixed.

[Chewy]

One thing I do not like about Hossin, is the bloom. My god the bloom is so damn high on that map. EVERYTHING looks like it's the fucking SUN!

I keep a darklight on my CQC engie and I can't get close to walls with it or have a massive bright white burnt into my eyes. Also makes some spawn rooms hard as hell to see in with the shields, terminals, and darklights about.

Outside of that, Im finding Hossin to be very fun. Having problems with mass redeploys with a full platoon or more drop from nothing every time tonights 2 DVS squads attacked a base. But we have also been claiming just about every base we take no matter if there was a zerg or not. Out of the 7-10 bases we helped take (most had a zerg being zergy) DVS claimed all but 1-2. Having the QQ decal set for the outfit only makes it better till custom decals come and we can get the grin.

[Dougnifico]

Despite any problems... BEST UPDATE YET!

[BlaxicanX]

Every time I warp to Hossin, there's a big alert that says "THIS CONTINENT HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE NEW CONGLOMERATE" that sits right in the middle of my screen, and it never goes away.

I am apparently the only person in the VS who is seeing this screen.

[Canaris]

My thoughts on Hossin so far, WIP sure but it's one heck of a fun fight. During Miller primetime there was an Indar alert which the VS & TR went off to fight, leaving only those sick of that Continent to fight on Hossin against almost the entire NC faction who stayed and they really gave us a fight, managed to hold the line though.... in places

Proper jungle fighting, you never knew which direction the enemy were going to be coming from while fighting from base to base, the tree canopy limited the use of air cover which was as a ground grunt was great. (wasn't entirely useless as some claimed) I think the sky whales had the worse trouble trying to pick people up from the ground, most ended up upside down and in flames but meh it's a JUNGLE. People were utilising more ground transports, I saw loads of Harassers again.

I LOVE THE SWAMP FOG! Those luminescent red plants are great looking and scaling the big trees as a LA to get into new and vicious positions is a new fun hobby, heck I may have to even dust off my drifter jets for this place as they may actually work better *shock* *horror* *surprise*!!
There's some brilliant new terrain objects/props from just the hollowed out dead trees to the open sided containers in some bases, we need more of this stuff in game, makes great fighting cover.

Hossin really requires a new set of play/tactic books to adhere to from the other 3 continents which really sets it apart, don't know how others feel about it but great job dev's that's what I wanted in Hossin to feel like it was another world if you understand me, Indar, Easamir & Amerish are a little to samey in design. Can't wait to see this gem all polished up

my 2 cents

[Mordelicius]

Woo, this continent is so good!

But currently, Emerald Server is a mess. TR Emerald refuse to engage the VS. They are literally scared of the VS. They don't enjoy fighting the VS; they like fighting the NC because both faction is balanced against each other.

Normally, NC is fine getting gangpiled left and right (it's actually fun). However due to the new continent locking, the VS now has a free hand to lock whichever continent they want simply because the TR will only attack NC.

As a result, even NC players log out, giving VS massive population boost. One thing the NC and TR agree is both faction is balanced.

Vanu need to be calibrated to NC and TR levels. This is not sustainable. This is just the first day. Without the locking mechanics, the NC can hold TR and VS together (as what has happened the last couple of days being almost warpgated on both sides in Indar). Does NC mind? Not at all.

With the locking mechanics, the population easily swerve toward the VS. The developers have the data. And if you even play the game you know what's up.

Just a while ago, VS was trying to cap Hossin. TR left for the Amerish alert, even if it's basically just TR and VS fighting against NC at Hossin in the first place. That gave VS a free hand to cap the continent with 50% continent advantage to 15% TR and 35% NC. The funny thing is even with this, you get mosquitoes poking on NC bases because they simply don't want to engage the VS. This Hossin cap happened right after the Esamir Lock only about an hour or so ago.