Tiny Combat Arena News

0.17.1.1 Testers Patch Notes

There aren't many gameplay changes, but this work touched a lot of systems across the game, so I want to make sure that this all still works correctly before pushing it to main.

For modders: The mod tools are forwards compatible, so the mod tools will stay on 2020.3.30f1 for the time being.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

New Features:
- AV8B flight stick, throttle, nozzle lever, pedals, gear lever, and gear lights now react to player input
- New HUD options in settings: Authentic, Imperial, and Metric
- HUD rounding depends on the unit system
- Updated all AV8B cockpit MFDs to use the new unit system (cockpit displays are still locked to Imperial)
- All relevant HUDElements updated and reformatted to use the new unit system
  + Altimeter
  + DLZBar
  + Distance
  + FuelWeight
  + Airspeed
- Units adjusted instantly when the HUD settings are applied
- DLZ auto-ranging happens immediately when a new range increment is reached
- Radar/Threat Warning Display auto-ranging happens when furthest object is 80% of the distance to the next increment

Improvements:
- Added "ATGM" filter to munitions
- Polished formatting used for the Database categories and filters
- Updated to Unity 2023.2.20f1 from 2020.3.30f1
- Rewired updated 1.1.44.0 -> 1.1.58.4
- Rewired binding screen is now fullscreen due to changes in Rewired
- Many development packages updated, added, or removed
- Removed old unused scenes from the build
- Player can look down further than before in the AV8B cockpit 15 degrees -> 45 degrees

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed error when a loadout overwrites another
- Nozzle needle in the AV8B cockpit no longer flickers
- Fixed rare issue where aircraft might lose flight lead while dying and throw errors before death

JSON:
- "ATGM" can be used as a filter in the "Munition" category for the Database entries
- Added "UnitSystem" property to the "Avionics" property with values "Imperial" and "Metric"
- Added avionics entries/units for all aircraft in game.

0.16.3.2 Workshop Tags

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

- When mods are uploaded/updated, they also automatically set tags on the Workshop page

0.16.3.1 Workshop Bugfixing and Optimization

Hello! This patch is all bugfixes and improvements to the way Steam Workshop was integrated into the game. I wasn't happy with how slow the game had become to start up, and there were both bugs and complications in how the mod load order worked that was getting in the way of development, and also people who might have more unusual uses cases which involve multiple installs.

For the majority of people, these changes should be transparent. If you play TCA through Steam, and that's the only place you ever play it or have it installed, you shouldn't notice any differences aside from having to reconfigure your mod load order.

The important takeaways are:

The mod load order is now stored per install
Workshop mods are no longer accessible or loaded if you run the game without Steam
Steam download/deletes Workshop mods only when the game is not running
If a mod has asset paths that collide with another mods, the mod will disable itself to prevent bugs

[h2]Info for modders[/h2]

The game is a lot more strict now about asset name collisions (the paths which appear in a mod's assetlist.txt), because collisions between these paths can cause some pretty annoying and difficult to track down bugs. I've checked all the mods currently released on Workshop, and there's zero collisions between all of them so as of writing there shouldn't be any issues.

This is an issue that can basically be 100% avoided by just having your mod's root asset folder be something like "why485_a10" or some other unique name. The mod tools already made a big deal out of this, but it's not enforced by the game.

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

- Pages should no longer be skipped in the Dogfight and Strike menus on repeat openings of the menu
  + Might fix other strange and obscure bugs related to the instant action UI
- Pages should no longer be skipped on any of the Map, Wing, and generic "Multi-Selector" dialogs if closed on a page greater than 1
- Double loading of mods on startup should no longer happen
- Mods should no longer be downloaded if they are already installed
- Mod load order no longer shared between different installs of the game, causing confusing conflicts
- Mods should no longer be missing from the load order if you don't go into the Modding menu and click Save
- The game no longer redownloads every Workshop mod on startup and every time the game tries to reload data
- Game no longer pauses when going back to the main menu with the Cancel button from the Modding menu

The full changelog has more technical details, and can be found here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1347550/view/545605572912743253

0.16.3.1 Changelog

Improvements
- Major revisions to how mods are loaded and the mod load order
- Mod load order file is now local to an install directory of TCA and put in the game's root directory
- Mod load orders are unique to every installed instance of the game on a computer
- The game will always try to load Steam mods when available (and load order says they should be loaded)
- Mod load order now stored based on mod names instead of absolute paths to a mod
- Load order automatically updated and saved when a new mod is updated
- All mods "soft-loaded" first, and only fully load their data if enabled by the load order
- By default, local mods are loaded, then Workshop mods
- If two mods of the same name are loaded, the second mod will be discarded from the load order and a log error thrown
- Newly detected mods will be automatically added to the end of the load order
- More error logging when a mod fails to load
- All mod downloading/deletion handled automatically by Steam when the game isn't running
- Steampath.json, which stored a hardcoded path to the Steam directory in persistent settings made obsolete
- Better logging notification when the game runs in Standalone mode
- Changed "Loading" to "Initializing" on game boot
- Generic Button disabled state is now red and filled
- When a mod fails to load, the Enable button is more clearly disabled
- Asset path conflicts between mods will cause a mod to be automatically disabled and an error logged
- Asset path conflicts are visible in the mod's content window
- Error messages when a mod fails to load are more uniform
- "Databases added" text hidden for disabled mods
- Updated credits
- Added 30, 40, and 50 mile settings for dogfight and strike

Bugfixes:
- Pages should no longer be skipped in the Dogfight and Strike menus on repeat openings of the menu
  + Might fix other strange and obscure bugs related to the instant action UI
- Pages should no longer be skipped on any of the Map, Wing, and generic "Multi-Selector" dialogs if closed on a page greater than 1
- Double loading of mods on startup should no longer happen
- Mods should no longer be downloaded if they are already installed
- Mod load order no longer shared between different installs of the game, causing confusing conflicts
- Mods should no longer be missing from the load order if you don't go into the Modding menu and click Save
- The game no longer redownloads every Workshop mod on startup and every time the game tries to reload data
- Game no longer pauses when going back to the main menu with the Cancel button from the Modding menu

Steam Workshop has been added to Tiny Combat Arena!

Hello! As a former modder, Tiny Combat Arena was always built with modding in mind. The layout of the game's files are plainly accessible, and tools were released a little over year to allow for importing of new 3D models into the game, which dramatically expanded what could be done.

[h2]The Modding Community[/h2]

It's been awesome and heartwarming to see a modding community build over time for Tiny Combat. However, mods had little in the way of discoverability, with no central location to download and share them, until now.

Workshop support was something I was putting off as a post-1.0 update, but at the insistence of, and with some programming support provided by, MicroProse, it was able to get done much sooner. In the long run I think that was the right decision.

[h2]Accessing Workshop[/h2]

The easiest way to access the Workshop is through the Workshop tab that now appears on the game's page in your Library. It can also be accessed directly through the Community tab.

[h2]The Mod Manager[/h2]

New in this patch is the Mod Manager. It's pretty self-explanatory, but it can be used to check the mods you have installed both locally and from Workshop. The mod load order can be adjusted, in case you need one mod to have its data loaded first so it be overwritten correctly by another mod. The Mod Manager will also tell you if you there is an asset conflict between mods.

Local mods can still be installed into the Mods folder the same as they used to, and this is something you will need to do if you want to create your own mods. Uploading mods to Steam Workshop is also done through this menu, as is updating your mods to Workshop.

[h2]Preview: Northern Germany Work Continues[/h2]

This patch was almost entirely concerned with Workshop support, so none of the convoy, helicopter, and terrain work that is being developed in parallel is making it in. I'm very excited about the variety of missions the new terrain will allow, but it's facing some challenges right now with regards to handling the scale of the map, with some pretty amazing optimizations as well.

In the meantime though, here's a few more WIP screenshots of the upcoming Northern Germany terrain!

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

New Features:
- New modding window to manage mods ingame
  + Set load order
  + See description with thumbnails
  + Enable/disable mods
- New Mod tools which export whole mods instead of just asset bundles

This is an abbreviated version of the changelog. The full changelog can be found in its own post here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1347550/view/605276452911318161