Weekly update 249 – Nominate Gloria Victis for the Labor of Love Award!
Greetings Warriors!
Here in Black Eye Games Studio, we are thinking about Gloria Victis MMO as a labor of love, and we are proud of what the game has become and achieved since the Early Access launch in June of 2016.
We set the bar high, and since releasing the game, we delivered 248 weekly updates and made over 500 server-side updates in 227 weeks, and we would not have been able to do that without our precious Community! We are happy to be close to and actively cooperate with you to make Gloria Victis engaging, addictive, and delivering a lot of entertainment.
It is heartwarming to see what we've accomplished, so if you love Gloria Victis, please nominate us for the Labor of Love Award. It would be an honor.
We are going to leave the alpha stage of the project next week, on update 250. After that, we are moving to beta, which will last a few months and prepare us to leave Early Access. In that time, our programmers will focus on using the tools given to us by the recent engine upgrade to improve stability, performance, and optimization of the game to be ready for full release and new players. Of course, part of the team will work on bug fixes and new features, and we would like to address players' demands as well as take some time to prepare new mount colors and skins. Do not be scared - the game is and will remain fully playable during the process, which is best proven by the players with thousands of hours in-game!
We introduced three hotfixes in recent days, making a lot of improvements in Freebuilding, Combat, and User interface, and for today, we prepared another portion of fixes and advancements, in large part reported or suggested by the Community. Thank you for your feedback and cooperation!
Another important announcement is that the current Glory Season will end on Thursday, December 3rd. Also, we’d like to remind you that the last day of the season – Wednesday – will be a dedicated day of the season's end. It will not be possible to earn or lose the Nation Points on this day and the scoreboards of other season-based rankings (Glory and Arena) will be frozen then. However, it is the last chance to donate your NP to your guild as the Guild Points. When the new season starts, the Nation Points collected by a player will count from 0 as the new season will begin.
A little explanation for the new players: Glory is a season-based ranking which rewards you for activity in the faction v faction v faction PVP. The seasons last around 2 months (depending on the current updates schedule) and the top players are rewarded with unique titles and gold. Also, every Thursday night you’ll get Contribution Points – an in-game currency used to purchase special items from the Glory Quartermasters. The amount of earned CP depends on your position in the leaderboard, so climb up!
Last but not least, Tomorrow will start a Sales Weekend, starting with Black Friday tomorrow and ending with Cyber Monday in 5 days from today. Because of that occasion, you are receiving a huge discount for every Skin, Skin set, and usable item in our ingame Supporter Shop. Discount will be available just for a few days so do not miss the occasion and get yourself a nice skin set or complete your collection!
See you in battle!
The screenshot's authors have been awarded. akaROTHY & shadow – check your Ambers!
[h2]Freebuilding:[/h2]
– Fixes and visual improvements of new Freebuilding walls, gates, and towers models
– Another iteration of Twinfall bridge and terrain changes. Smoothed out the terrain and cut it around the Castle grid around the ravine
– From now on scaffoldings of destroyed buildings will be shown automatically after the State of War, which will save players a lot of time that had to be given to set up scaffolding manually after defending a siege
– Fixed an issue causing Fortification Points for destroyed upgraded buildings were not given back properly, Points that were used to upgrade the building has been returning after a server restart, and now are given back instantly
– From now on, using ballista will turn the view to FPP by default to make aiming with it easier and to prevent any visual issues that TPP could lead to
[h2]Quality of Life - User Interface:[/h2]
– Fading out health and stamina bars when they are full
– Better visibility of text on the sky and snow background
– Flickering of the health bar when we are receiving damage
– Flickering of the stamina bar during an attempt to make action consuming stamina (i.e. sprint or attack) when we do not have enough stamina to perform that action
– Fading out target bar and target name after removing cursor from it and until aiming cursor at another target, what will give more information about target health status and reduce flashing of mentioned bar
– Improving the visibility of the target name over its health bar
– Removing "level" word from NPC target name leaving only the level number ("14" instead "level 14"), which will make UI more clear
– Separation of text information of the target into two separate ones - Name above target bar and Information under it
– Rework of ping indicator - from now on the color of the indicator will change smoothly and will give a better idea about the network state
[h2]Fixes:[/h2]
– Leaving the construction view trough teleport to arena or event will not block the controller, attempting to teleport or unstuck will now close the construction view first
– Removed the unnecessary collider in the area of Mereley that could lead to small snapping in some places
– Fixed an edge case issue that could lead to receiving negative Glory Points under specified circumstances
– Fixed an issue leading to improper behavior of 2-day cooldown of Guild Castle /home command
– Fixed an issue causing NPC spawners in castles were not counting current Bastion Efficiency level properly and were spawning less or weaker NPC's than they should
Thank you for reading till the end! Remember about Steam Awards Nomination and Supporter Shop sale. Let us know what do you think about UI improvements, and as always - See you in battle!
[h2]Hotfix 2020-11-27:[/h2]
In response to the feedback/reports received from players:
Shield Bash tweak:
Last week, we received a few reports from the players who have been "stunlocked" due to Shield Bash stab being spammable faster than the Stun damage could get down. We have confirmed the issue and made a hotfix to prevent players from abusing it. Yet, the fix which had to be done "asap" due to the severity of the issue was not done exactly the way we wanted to do it, as because of it, it was almost impossible to land a successful strong hit after landing a Shield Bash and stunning the enemy.
Now, we did a change that from the Shield Bash release to starting another Shield bash there is a minimal one second time to start the Shield Bash. We are not counting the time between the end and the start of the attack, but from the release to a new attack, and for that reason this change won't be really visible unless someone would be trying to do "stunlock", as the real cooldown depending on the attack side is between 200 to 500ms between attacks, but this should be enough to make "stun lock" not possible [This only affects the next Shield Bash!]. To make it clear for players, it gives a chat notification when we try to Shield Bash too fast, and if we hold the button, it will start the Shield Bash at the first moment possible.
At the same time, as we already had to do changes on the Shield Bash, we made use of knowledge that only Shield Bash Stab was a reliable technique of shield bashing due to others having a too long time to start the next attack. For that reason, Shield Bash timers of getting "back to idle" state have been adjusted, to be closer to Shield Bash stab.
To make it clear, no Shield Bash will be landing faster, so players will have the very same reaction time to counter it - what we did is to lower Shield Bash attacks "back to idle" time closer to Shield Bash Stab timers, to make them also viable attacks.
Training NPCs on Global Arena
Added training NPC’s to Global Arena. Those NPCs have levels 30, 60, and 100, have statistics and skills scaled to their level. From now on you will be able to train your fighting skills on NPCs without leaving the safezone or putting a lot of time to travel. Fighting an opponent on a fixed skill level will also give you a better feeling and knowledge of your progress in learning the combat mechanics.
Fixes:
– Fixed an issue causing wrong bars position after the relocation of doorways in gatehouses models
– Fixed an issue causing arrows of ballistas could be stopped on the ballista building model and was not reaching the target
Here in Black Eye Games Studio, we are thinking about Gloria Victis MMO as a labor of love, and we are proud of what the game has become and achieved since the Early Access launch in June of 2016.
We set the bar high, and since releasing the game, we delivered 248 weekly updates and made over 500 server-side updates in 227 weeks, and we would not have been able to do that without our precious Community! We are happy to be close to and actively cooperate with you to make Gloria Victis engaging, addictive, and delivering a lot of entertainment.
It is heartwarming to see what we've accomplished, so if you love Gloria Victis, please nominate us for the Labor of Love Award. It would be an honor.
We are going to leave the alpha stage of the project next week, on update 250. After that, we are moving to beta, which will last a few months and prepare us to leave Early Access. In that time, our programmers will focus on using the tools given to us by the recent engine upgrade to improve stability, performance, and optimization of the game to be ready for full release and new players. Of course, part of the team will work on bug fixes and new features, and we would like to address players' demands as well as take some time to prepare new mount colors and skins. Do not be scared - the game is and will remain fully playable during the process, which is best proven by the players with thousands of hours in-game!
We introduced three hotfixes in recent days, making a lot of improvements in Freebuilding, Combat, and User interface, and for today, we prepared another portion of fixes and advancements, in large part reported or suggested by the Community. Thank you for your feedback and cooperation!
Another important announcement is that the current Glory Season will end on Thursday, December 3rd. Also, we’d like to remind you that the last day of the season – Wednesday – will be a dedicated day of the season's end. It will not be possible to earn or lose the Nation Points on this day and the scoreboards of other season-based rankings (Glory and Arena) will be frozen then. However, it is the last chance to donate your NP to your guild as the Guild Points. When the new season starts, the Nation Points collected by a player will count from 0 as the new season will begin.
A little explanation for the new players: Glory is a season-based ranking which rewards you for activity in the faction v faction v faction PVP. The seasons last around 2 months (depending on the current updates schedule) and the top players are rewarded with unique titles and gold. Also, every Thursday night you’ll get Contribution Points – an in-game currency used to purchase special items from the Glory Quartermasters. The amount of earned CP depends on your position in the leaderboard, so climb up!
Last but not least, Tomorrow will start a Sales Weekend, starting with Black Friday tomorrow and ending with Cyber Monday in 5 days from today. Because of that occasion, you are receiving a huge discount for every Skin, Skin set, and usable item in our ingame Supporter Shop. Discount will be available just for a few days so do not miss the occasion and get yourself a nice skin set or complete your collection!
See you in battle!
The screenshot's authors have been awarded. akaROTHY & shadow – check your Ambers!Changelog v.0.9.5.1 Alpha
[h2]Freebuilding:[/h2]
– Fixes and visual improvements of new Freebuilding walls, gates, and towers models
– Another iteration of Twinfall bridge and terrain changes. Smoothed out the terrain and cut it around the Castle grid around the ravine
– From now on scaffoldings of destroyed buildings will be shown automatically after the State of War, which will save players a lot of time that had to be given to set up scaffolding manually after defending a siege
– Fixed an issue causing Fortification Points for destroyed upgraded buildings were not given back properly, Points that were used to upgrade the building has been returning after a server restart, and now are given back instantly
– From now on, using ballista will turn the view to FPP by default to make aiming with it easier and to prevent any visual issues that TPP could lead to
[h2]Quality of Life - User Interface:[/h2]
– Fading out health and stamina bars when they are full
– Better visibility of text on the sky and snow background
– Flickering of the health bar when we are receiving damage
– Flickering of the stamina bar during an attempt to make action consuming stamina (i.e. sprint or attack) when we do not have enough stamina to perform that action
– Fading out target bar and target name after removing cursor from it and until aiming cursor at another target, what will give more information about target health status and reduce flashing of mentioned bar
– Improving the visibility of the target name over its health bar
– Removing "level" word from NPC target name leaving only the level number ("14" instead "level 14"), which will make UI more clear
– Separation of text information of the target into two separate ones - Name above target bar and Information under it
– Rework of ping indicator - from now on the color of the indicator will change smoothly and will give a better idea about the network state
[h2]Fixes:[/h2]
– Leaving the construction view trough teleport to arena or event will not block the controller, attempting to teleport or unstuck will now close the construction view first
– Removed the unnecessary collider in the area of Mereley that could lead to small snapping in some places
– Fixed an edge case issue that could lead to receiving negative Glory Points under specified circumstances
– Fixed an issue leading to improper behavior of 2-day cooldown of Guild Castle /home command
– Fixed an issue causing NPC spawners in castles were not counting current Bastion Efficiency level properly and were spawning less or weaker NPC's than they should
Thank you for reading till the end! Remember about Steam Awards Nomination and Supporter Shop sale. Let us know what do you think about UI improvements, and as always - See you in battle![h2]Hotfix 2020-11-27:[/h2]
In response to the feedback/reports received from players:
Shield Bash tweak:
Last week, we received a few reports from the players who have been "stunlocked" due to Shield Bash stab being spammable faster than the Stun damage could get down. We have confirmed the issue and made a hotfix to prevent players from abusing it. Yet, the fix which had to be done "asap" due to the severity of the issue was not done exactly the way we wanted to do it, as because of it, it was almost impossible to land a successful strong hit after landing a Shield Bash and stunning the enemy.
Now, we did a change that from the Shield Bash release to starting another Shield bash there is a minimal one second time to start the Shield Bash. We are not counting the time between the end and the start of the attack, but from the release to a new attack, and for that reason this change won't be really visible unless someone would be trying to do "stunlock", as the real cooldown depending on the attack side is between 200 to 500ms between attacks, but this should be enough to make "stun lock" not possible [This only affects the next Shield Bash!]. To make it clear for players, it gives a chat notification when we try to Shield Bash too fast, and if we hold the button, it will start the Shield Bash at the first moment possible.
At the same time, as we already had to do changes on the Shield Bash, we made use of knowledge that only Shield Bash Stab was a reliable technique of shield bashing due to others having a too long time to start the next attack. For that reason, Shield Bash timers of getting "back to idle" state have been adjusted, to be closer to Shield Bash stab.
To make it clear, no Shield Bash will be landing faster, so players will have the very same reaction time to counter it - what we did is to lower Shield Bash attacks "back to idle" time closer to Shield Bash Stab timers, to make them also viable attacks.
Training NPCs on Global Arena
Added training NPC’s to Global Arena. Those NPCs have levels 30, 60, and 100, have statistics and skills scaled to their level. From now on you will be able to train your fighting skills on NPCs without leaving the safezone or putting a lot of time to travel. Fighting an opponent on a fixed skill level will also give you a better feeling and knowledge of your progress in learning the combat mechanics.
Fixes:
– Fixed an issue causing wrong bars position after the relocation of doorways in gatehouses models
– Fixed an issue causing arrows of ballistas could be stopped on the ballista building model and was not reaching the target