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We have been working on CC14. There is a preview version up on Slayer if you'd like to help test and here's the link:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21458077/cc_14.igc

Here's what we are thinking of - suggestions, comments most welcome.

*Shipyard revision, with a simplified structure. We are going to make SY cost effective so it'd make financial sense (not necessarily gameplay sense) to skip adv tech and get SY. teh basic structure is three types of ships, bombing, assault and support, with a std and adv version. These would be Frigate/Cruiser, Attack Carrier/Assault Ship and Destroyer/Devastator. There is more to it, but it's not implemented yet so details will follow.

*There won't be any changes to SY this release, postponed to CC15.

*Asteroids can now be nanned and be damaged by Lancer (that means they can be damaged by HKs too but the damage is very low)

*More points for non-DM activities

-Miner kills=20 pts
-Constructors=40
-Carrier=30
-Base Kill=50
-Base Capture=75
-Rescue=10
-Player=8

*Rix starts the game with light ints.

*Rix energy generator signature increase have been reduced from 900% to 300% to avoid use in deprobing

*The following techs have been boosted:
SRM Seismics (75% more damage), MRM Seismics (50% more damage) Killers and SRP Killer (25% more damage), Minepack 2 (20% radius and duration increase, also MP1 floats), MRM Seeker (mk 2 has 1400 range, lock cones wider, less mass)

*The following ships have been boosted:
Patrollers are faster without boosters (speed 110->140, thrust 930->1200, fuel 6->5), Light-sfs are not as crippled (same energy as std sf, lead indicator, more hp for TF light sf)

*TTs can now capture ops more easily: 4 emp guns on board, emp damage increased 50% on minor bases. Realistically some int support or dual TT runs required. They cost 500 per.

*Interceptor fuel has been reduced 20% - ints and heavy ints will have same fuel as current light ints. We have debated this a lot back and forth, overall we think it'll benefit the game and it has been playtested before without adverse effects.

*Giga special mines redone so they are more similar and Si mines are no longer the easy choice. Si mine income reduced to 1500. U mines are stronger. Ca mines are stealthier.

*Fighters will find it slightly more difficult to gun down light bases. Ints will find it quite a bit easier to gun down light bases.

*Dreg He3 mines are now light so can be gunned down. They are also cheaper (7000->6000), just as strong vs bombing (50% stronger shields) and have improved scan range (2000->2400)

*Giga lux craft are no longer so obviously overpowered. Each retain 10% HP improvement. Figs have 4 guns and 33% extra ammo. Ints have 20 seconds ripcord capability. SF has lost the med shield and has 33% more missiles and 25% more energy. All other perks, including the lead indicator, have been removed.

*Lux patroller and lux scout are now obtainable if you have adv tech + starbase, and have 10% extra HP. Lux patroller adds med shield. Lux scout now has all the perks of a heavy scout + AC turret. All other perks removed.

*BIOS TP1/TP2 research costs have been doubled to slightly slow down BIOS TP2 rush.

*Unused GT techs have been slightly enhanced and reduced in cost: Rescue drones, Ion Booster, Solar Charger and LRM Anti Base are now half-cost. Ion Booster no longer uses any fuel. Solar Charger no longer increases sigs and charges 50% faster. Light cloak no longer drains SF energy.

*Other GT tweaks: GT can also mount and research MRM Quickfire. GT mining efficiency restored to 100% (.95->1).

*SS2 has been moved to sup. Also Med shield 2 and 3 HP has been increased slightly (350->375, 400->468)

spunky, that looks like a whole bunch of perking, but I did see some solid nerfs in there, and looking forward to trying it out

wow, nice! I really like to test that.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) We have been working on CC14.

I don't think some ideas are a concern for me so won't comment specifically on those.

Here's some a happy dance...

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *Interceptor fuel has been reduced 20% - ints and heavy ints will have same fuel as current light ints. We have debated this a lot back and forth, overall we think it'll benefit the game and it has been playtested before without adverse effects.

Good fraking job, I can't say how happy I am to see this and how long I've waited.


Below are some concerns...

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *Shipyard revision, with a simplified structure.

Without seeing the full look all I can say is please don't let it be boring and to somehow give it player scaling.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *The following ships have been boosted:
Patrollers are faster without boosters (speed 110->140, thrust 930->1200, fuel 6->5),

I can't really ever recall a major community request for perking patties (well without crono being funny). Giga certainly needs absolutely no perks whatsoever. Perhaps trading off the insane factions ability to win with a nerf here and there and if it really comes down to it give patties magic powers as needed.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *TTs can now capture ops more easily: 4 emp guns on board, emp damage increased 50% on minor bases. Realistically some int support or dual TT runs required. They cost 500 per.[/quote

I've always wanted TT's to get perks were they are playable, though marginal and really just something to have until HTT get out. I really have to stress that it should require a major team effort to make TT's sucessful. I do very much like the use of emp cannon instead of less srm emp for the TT.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *Giga special mines redone so they are more similar and Si mines are no longer the easy choice. Si mine income reduced to 1500. U mines are stronger. Ca mines are stealthier.

Read my thoughts on how giga needs a perk like the community needs another whole in the head. Also it seems you've said that the three spec mines are more similar, but go on to say they are more different, I presume you simply mean the Si income is reduced, which of course is good, as If I ever had a Si spec at home as giga it became a spec mine 3 minutes into the game. While the changes to Ca and Ur mines are nice for varieties sake, specs in general still need more of a nerf.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *Fighters will find it slightly more difficult to gun down light bases. Ints will find it quite a bit easier to gun down light bases.

I've not seen a outpouring of demands for this, and why on earth do you need to perk ints, certainly crazy.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) *Dreg He3 mines are now light so can be gunned down. They are also cheaper (7000->6000), just as strong vs bombing (50% stronger shields) and have improved scan range (2000->2400)

I like the he3 mines being light, that will go a long way to making them killable for sure, and I've been wanting forever to see them get a perk so they go from being desperate emergencies only (and even then they pretty much sucked) to being slightly less expensive so they can be used more often as a trade-off. I think that while now less expensive the light base change makes them still for desperate emergencies only (and still sucking), perhaps reducing the cost or increasing the income a little more is a good thing.

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 04:00 AM) GT mining efficiency restored to 100% (.95->1).

GT doesn't seem to need a perk to it's economy, they are pretty smooth sailing to being rich.





Thank you CC team for continuing to advance the core.

GIGA PATTIES IT WILL BE!

Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Jan 25 2012, 03:00 AM) *Lux patroller and lux scout are now obtainable if you have adv tech + starbase, and have 10% extra HP. Lux patroller adds med shield. Lux scout now has all the perks of a heavy scout + AC turret. All other perks removed.

So now lxy pattie only has 2 gat slots?
WHAT HERSEY IS THIS?!
On a more serious note looks like a solid changelog for CC14, look forward to playing on it.

Thank you for the feedback. Some clarifications on Giga:

RoyBrown wrote:QUOTE (RoyBrown @ Jan 25 2012, 08:40 AM) Read my thoughts on how giga needs a perk like the community needs another whole in the head. Also it seems you've said that the three spec mines are more similar, but go on to say they are more different, I presume you simply mean the Si income is reduced, which of course is good, as If I ever had a Si spec at home as giga it became a spec mine 3 minutes into the game. While the changes to Ca and Ur mines are nice for varieties sake, specs in general still need more of a nerf.

This is going to be a net nerf since everyone has been going for Si mines in the past and now there is 25% less income, but the core idea is to make it equally feasible to go Si, Ur or Ca mines. So Ur and Ca mines need to be attractive alternatives to Si mines. The current strength and sig perks to Ca and Ur mines are almost insignificant. So we are seeking parity by lowering the magnitude of Si mine perk and increasing that of Ca and Ur mines.

RoyBrown wrote:QUOTE (RoyBrown @ Jan 25 2012, 08:40 AM) I've not seen a outpouring of demands for this, and why on earth do you need to perk ints, certainly crazy.

The idea is to make light bases equally weak to ints and fighters in the pre-galv phase. This is of course not total parity - fighters will still be stronger due to more firepower and to compensate for weaker hulls, but it'll be a lot closer. So if you go exp, you don't need to sit and watch or have to resort to int bombing to stop specs.

Regarding patties, it's a small perk - the increased thrust and reduced fuel means they'll benefit much less from the booster. In fact, the overall distance covered with boosters is the same. We tried to make them more of a cross between fighter and scout, rather than just a @#(!ty fighter that happens to carry prox and probes.

I understand where the team is coming from on those changes, and on the points you made in the last post have no real issues other than to say, any perk to expansion is a horrible idea. Which is not to say that in that point on ints and light bases I'm ok with it and it makes sense in principle, if there was some equitable nerf to go along with it. Along with the other perk expansion is getting vis a vie the TT bonus, which again I like other than to say that expansion getting perks is a really bad idea, no matter how small, it's the number one tech path and played probably in ( a guess ) 95% of games.

Hopefully the fuel nerf should compensate.

For CC15 we are also considering moving the He3 yield into SY, but then that will have to go along with more expensive Sup tech as the combination of lost of floating + half price tech may tip the scales towards sup.

Nerfing ints boosters is always nice, I'd be happy to continue seeing slower ints myself with limited boost capability so they can't fly 4 sectors at 250ish mps.

For that matter with the ship accel fixed exp got an added perk, it's worth considering to slow down ints base speed by 5-10%.

Moving He3 yield (and speed for that matter) into sy is a great idea.



Now on the topic of the GA's...

I remember a discussion about moving rip ga from sup to tac.

Another discussion about exchanging the shield ga and hull ga that tac and sup have.

Interest in moving the missile tracking ga to tac.

Currently GA are set out like;

SUP; 6 GA (Ripcord, Sensors, Ship Hull, Agility, Missile Damage, Missile Tracking)
TAC; 3 GA (Ship Shield, Energy, EW Range)
EXP; 8 GA (PW/EW Damage, PW Range, Signature, Acceleration, Station Shield, Station Hull, He3 Yield, He3 Speed)
SY; 1 GA (Ship Speed)


How about shaking things up a little bit to;

SUP; 5 GA (Ripcord, Sensors, Ship Shield, Missile Damage, Missile Tracking)
TAC; 5 GA (Ship Hull, Energy, EW Range, Station Shield, Station Hull)
EXP; 5 GA (Agility, PW/EW Damage, PW Range, Signature, Acceleration)
SY; 3 GA (Ship Speed, He3 Yield, He3 Speed)



Or radically*;

SUP; 6 GA (Sensors, Ship Shield, Missile Damage, Missile Tracking, Missile Range1*, Missile Speed2*)
TAC; 6 GA (Ship Hull, Energy, EW Damage*, EW Range, Station Shield, Station Hull)
EXP; 6 GA (Agility, PW Damage*, PW Range, Signature, Acceleration, Endurance3*)
SY; 6 GA (Ripcord, Ship Speed, He3 Yield, He3 Speed, Prosperity4*, Ammo Capacity5*)



* Code Change.
1 Missile Maximum Range.
2 Missile Maximum Speed.
3 Endurance of boosters.
4 Increased Paydays.
5 Ammo Capacity.