Update 1.3
Update 1.3 is live with the usual slew of tweaks and fixes plus a couple of bigger changes addressing some relatively common grumblings about the game.
First, some of the main difficulty modes have been redesigned:
Second, I've added a brief text-based intro to provide some more explicit context about the premise of the game. This is something that I considered implementing before launch but at the time discarded because a) since Dead Hand is a game of repeatedly dying and playing again I wanted to have as little friction as possible when starting a new game; and b) since you play as a simple rule-based AI controlled drone whose only concern is to carry out its directive, it felt out of place to have any kind of lore dump. The intro is, of course, skippable.
And without further ado here's the complete changelog:
[h3]Full Patch notes[/h3]
That should be all, have fun!.
First, some of the main difficulty modes have been redesigned:
- EASY mode now has been made considerably easier, giving the player a damage bonus, double the starting supplies, longer times before the H/K spawn and lower enemy density on top of the usual enemy damage reduction.
- NORMAL mode, which used to be that enemies dealt 75% damage has been replaced by what was previously easy mode, where enemies deal 50% damage. The rationale for this change is that, on one hand, a 25% damage reduction didn't give you that much more survivability over taking full damage, so the previous normal difficulty felt somewhat redundant as it overlapped quite a bit with hard mode. And on the other hand the previous easy mode was a bit of a misnomer by not being particularly easy, since it was the developer intended way to play the game until first clear and thus it posed a significant challenge to newer players.
- HARD mode remains exactly the same, with enemies dealing full damage.
Second, I've added a brief text-based intro to provide some more explicit context about the premise of the game. This is something that I considered implementing before launch but at the time discarded because a) since Dead Hand is a game of repeatedly dying and playing again I wanted to have as little friction as possible when starting a new game; and b) since you play as a simple rule-based AI controlled drone whose only concern is to carry out its directive, it felt out of place to have any kind of lore dump. The intro is, of course, skippable.
And without further ado here's the complete changelog:
[h3]Full Patch notes[/h3]
- Rebalanced difficulty: "Hard" stays the same, previous "Normal" is removed, previous "Easy" becomes current "Normal", "Easy" becomes easier.
- Added a brief text intro on game start to provide a bit more context.
- Added a "Destroy (3AP)" option to items in the loot menu, so the player may dispose of crates and scrap piles without having to attack them or pick all the contained items up.
- Fixed some memory leaks on inventory item destruction.
- Log is cleared when entering a new level.
- More descriptive log entries.
- Armor Piercing and Overpressure bullets now erode 20% more terrain than their FMJ/Match counterparts.
- Minimap now immediately updates on changing chassis size.
- Fixed issue where the 1st level very rarely would not have a clear path from player spawn point to exit.
- Fixed issue where mid-flight projectile models could continue existing after the player being destroyed.
- Fixed issue where an enemy armed with a Tank Gun could favor AP shells over explosive ones when player is in cover.
- Fixed issue where corridors could dig too deep into connected rooms.
- Added a "Free storage after destruction" counter when destroying stacked items from the inventory.
- The Command Console now has a custom minimap icon.
- Tweaked actor's front light position so it's less likely to be blocked by front hardpoint mounted weapons.
- Overhead actor lights now stop casting terrain shadows when they intersect with the terrain.
- Parts found in supply crates may now come with preinstalled modules.
- When starting a new game as an Assault class AWP the Light Machine Gun is now selected by default.
- When interrupting an enemy that's charging you, the combat log will note that the enemy is mid charge.
- Higher tier ranged enemies now favor slightly longer ranged engagements.
- Shortened the particle appearance delay when digging with the Mining Drill and the Mole.
- Increased the height at which a Drill or Mole equipped actor may dig so they have an easier time digging an upwards path.
- Charger type enemies now try to avoid ending their turn too close to charge the player.
- If a charger-type enemy has no path to the player, it will now attempt to seek cover even if it has a suicidal-type brain.
- Added a "Not enough ammo" indicator to the crosshair, it takes precedence over the "No Line of Sight" one.
- Hovering the mouse over the "Continue Game" main menu item now displays the saved game player AWP, if there's one.
- Added a workaround to fix most instances of the pathfinding library issue where paths might snap at a navmesh vertex instead of going in a straight line.
That should be all, have fun!.