Zero-K News

After a bit of a break, we have returned with an update based on much of the feedback from the past month. it has been especially nice to see new contributions on the development side from within the community.

In terms of balance, the Lobster nerf is by far the largest. Now that the launching mechanic is polished and usable it is time to balance the unit around its attributes rather than difficulty of use. The next largest changes are some tweaks to vehicle raiders to account for Bolas and the Kodachi changes.

Two notable infrastructure changes are the addition of personal map bans for the matchmaker and an experimental split of the teams host into clan-balance and non-clan-balance. The campaign also has a few more codex entries and there are numerous fixes to the consistency of the interface.
Repair costs less time and energy.

• 3/4 unit cost -> 2/3 unit cost.

Scorcher regains some of its ability to chew through health at close range.

• Increased DPS by 7.5%.

Kodachi is given the Locust treatment to make it less snowbally.

• Autoheal 10hp/s -> 5hp/s.
  
• Weapon Velocity 220 -> 240.
  
• Reduced upfront DPS by 10.7 to partially counteract fire fixes (see below).

Bolas instantly slows the opponent in fewer matchups.

• Slow damage 3x normal damage -> 2x normal damage.

Duck loses most of the torpedo range it gained in a recent experimental buff.

• Health 340 -> 360.
  
• Torpedo Range 210 -> 160.

Scallop has a bit less range now that it need not worry about Ducks

• Range 270 -> 260 (both weapons).

Lobster is due for some basic attribute nerfs now that the launch mechanic has been perfected. These numbers are similar to its initial implementation, prior to the slew of usability improvements.

• Cost 230 -> 340.
  
• Health 1040 -> 960.
  
• Range 680 -> 620.
  
• Reload 9s -> 12s.

Disco Rave Party is no longer countered by Funnelweb.

• Blue Shocker damage 12k -> 30k.

Cloaking has fewer bugs and inconsistencies, and area-cloaking is now worse than personal cloaking.

• Being hit by pure slow/disarm/capture weaponry now causes units to decloak (just like being hit by regular or EMP damage).
  
• Personal cloak is disabled for 3s after taking damage or performing an action.
  
• Personal cloak disabled by enemy proximity lingers for 1.5s.
  
• Area cloak is disabled for 5s after taking damage or performing an action.
  
• Area cloak disabled by enemy proximity lingers for 2.5s.

Previously cloak was disabled for 3.5s by most, but not all, actions. Proximity decloak linger has been broken for a while, causing units to recloak immediately upon an enemy leaving range. Units with personal cloak use the improved numbers even when under an area cloaker.

Other mechanical changes and fixes.

• Disarmed transports can no longer pick up units.
  
• Transports drop their cargo when they start crashing.
  
• Zenith stops functioning when its beam is blocked, such as by aircraft or water.
  
• Fixed Dante, Kodachi and Disco Rave Party being unable to set units on fire.

• Added Codex entries for the quadrants of the galaxy, as well as few for particular planets.
  
• Added the ability personally ban matchmaker maps (up to six for 1v1, fewer for teams). There is a link via the 'Map Selection' button in the Matchmaking menu.
  
• Added map size to the tooltip for map selection mult-polls.
  
• Added network connection settings under Settings -> Game that may be experimented with to fix potential Coop Campaign hosting issues.
  
• Split the big teams autohost into two hosts. One attempts to put players in same clan or party on the same team. The other ignores clans and parties.
  
• Increased the maximum Queen Health Multiplier option from 30 to 1000.
  
• Removed the non-functional play as chickens modoption.

• Added filter and selection hotkeys for loaded and empty air transports.
  
• Added a hotkey to select all Athenas.
  
• Fixed some inconsistencies with the stockpile interface and added initial stockpile to Settings/Unit Behaviour.
  
• Setting the energy stall minimum to zero or the metal excess warning to maximum now disables the warnings completely.
  
• Disabled tactical AI for bombs by default.
  
• Tactical AI now responds to Chicken Leapers.
  
• Added support that allows map-style mods to override tooltips.
  
• Fixed using ')' as a hotkey on AZERTY keyboards.
  
• The COFC camera now uses the usual camera hotkeys.
  
• Fixed some Global Build AI issues and added a hotkey.
  
• Cleaned up invalid entries in the cheat menu unit spawner.

• Impaler animation matches its reload time.
  
• Fixed Ultimatium attempting to fire up cliffs from too far away.
  
• Chickens can no longer be reclaimed.
  
• Fixed Shieldbot Factory being categorised as 'Other' by endgame stats.
  
• Constructors count towards 'Economy' instead of 'Army' in endgame stats.
  
• Fixed a bug with preselection circles.
  
• Fixed some Gunship Plant geometry.
  
• Cleaned up the unit replies system.
  
• Dominatrix leash is no longer obscured by terrain.

Here is a small update with a few fixes.

• Fixed a problem with the tutorial button.
  
• Venom 1-shots Flea.
  
• Transports cannot be Lobstered.
  
• Added a more generic attributes system to fix Zero Wars.
  
• Fixed patrol orders being forgotten when given as part of a factory queue.
  
• Added Tweak Defs modoption.
  
• Added nine more Tweak Units and Tweak Defs modoptions for use in battlerooms (they are not on the UI).

With an expanded narrative for the campaign, numerous balance tweaks, AI fixes, and improved latency, this update has something for everyone.

The campaign codex has been added, ready to be filled with history and rumours from all over the galaxy. As you explore, you'll learn about its inhabitants, the events that transpired, and how it relates to you. The codex entries for already explored planet are added to ongoing campaigns, or you might prefer to start afresh (perhaps on a higher difficulty?).

The balance tweaks are focused on toning down Bolas and on evening up the relative appeal of Planes and Gunships in the early to mid game. Dominatrix has been moved back towards the anti-heavy role, submarines have better behaviour, and Merlin may be less dominant late game. There are also some changes to move transports away from bomb tossing and to make the prefire widget obsolete.

Other notable changes include a new Hunter model, polish for the main menu, and configuration changes that should result in reduced latency. Report changes in latency so we can assess their effectiveness.


Some units now aim and fire when their target is predicted to be within range. The affected units are Reaver, Pyro, Venom, Recluse, Dart, Ripper, Kodachi, Blitz, Ogre, Nimbus, Dante, Stardust and Faraday. This is a cheap and seamless replacement of the prefire widget and will affect balance, so further tweaks will be required.

Dagger is slightly slower.

• Speed 4.8 -> 4.75

Bolas is slightly worse at combat.

• Health 780 -> 720
  
• Range 230 -> 225

Ronin can lose a hindrance now that Cloaky is not so powerful.

• No longer slows down after firing (was slowing to 80% speed).

Dominatrix is now much better against heavy units. This is likely to need walking back.

• Doubled damage.
  
• Doubled the fixed capture buffer intrinsic to all units.

Blastwing is better at scouting.

• Sight radius 450 -> 500.

Locust requires more infrastructure to repair and reuse.

• Regen 10/s -> 5/s

Transport carry speed no longer depends on mass. This is a relative nerf for their ability to throw bombs.

• Charon speed 321 -> 345
  
• Charon transports at 70% speed. This is about how fast it moved while transporting Reaver/Ravager weight units.
  
• Hercules transport light units at 100% speed.
  
• Hercules transports heavy units at 50% speed. This makes it a bit slower for transporting Grizzly/Dante weight units, but about twice as fast for Detriment.

Raven can be cheaper now that energy drain for rearming has proven to be so effective.

• Cost 320 -> 300

Raptor is more manoeuvrable.

• Acceleration increased 10%.
  
• Aileron increased 33%.
  
• Rudder increased 33%.
  
• Elevator increased 50%.

Merlin no longer has above-average health/cost for artillery.

• Health 4000 -> 3140

Submarines (Seawolf and Scylla):

• Dive deeper in open water, reducing their depth when the sea floor requires it.
  
• Can traverse shallower water, but become vulnerable to surface weaponary.
  
• Take full damage from all weapons.

• Added the codex, a repository of logs uncovered as you explore the galaxy.
  
• Added 40+ codex entries. The plot thickens.
  
• Added a friendly Stinger to Cygnet as this planet is a bit of a difficulty jump.
  
• Added tips to Kirdipan regarding the heavy turrets.
  
• Added more Thunderbirds to Fel Diacia.

• Updated font.
  
• Added icons for friend invites.
  
• Fiddled with and fixed the campaign planet window to display better on smaller screens.
  
• Added a brief loading delay so that the menu does not try to draw without textures.
  
• Added an incomplete language selector.
  
• Fixed popup clickthrough.
  
• Added a tutorial prompt that prompts newcomers start the campaign in a single click.
  
• Applied some network settings that show result in much better latency.
  
• Fixed a bug with loading multiple save files.

• Remodeled Hunter.
  
• Damaged underwater units bubble instead of smoke.
  
• Removed grass.

• Added hotkeys for state toggles to command tooltips.
  
• Lobsters set to block attack commands can now only be fired with their special weapon.
  
• Updated commander chassis descriptions.
  
• Optimised some widget that draws state (health, selection etc...) on units in worldspace.
  
• Fixed Cutter build icon.
  
• Added Bolas translation support and help text.
  
• Area cloakers that are enabled by default now default to medium priority.

• Fixed raider tactical AI attempting to avoid factories.
  
• Tightened velocity prediction for Scorcher.
  
• Tweakunits can now propperly change factory build options.
  
• Possibly fixed a rare terraform bug.
  
• Fixed Chainsaw animating while reclaimed.
  
• Fixed an error with repair pads.
  
• Fixed Chicken-related awards performance.
  
• Fixed Strike chassis centre of mass.

The engine developers are looking to drop support for the 32-bit builds so, after some testing and profiling, this update applies the 64-bit engine to everyone with a 64-bit system. Previous attempts to do this hit bugs and performance issues, but none of those were found this time around. The 64-bit build appears to be faster and able to run larger and longer games without apparent issue. Be sure to report any if you find them.

Lobster has been the focus of much experimentation in the past few days so it is time for some changes. The biggest issue is the lack of counterplay against units that spend all their time in the sky. To address this Lobster can no longer fire mid-air, removing self-sufficient clouds and flying Lobster abduction. They can still steal enemy units when on the ground, and have received a few more tweaks and consistency improvements. Related to the rise of Lobster is Scallop, which has been nerfed a little while its intended counters have received tweaks.

This patch also include a fix for campaign savegames and a tweak to energy distribution that makes make storages less bad in large teamgames. There are small nerfs for the Hover and Gunship raiders, Raptor is a bit more responsive, and land units are less slow in shallow water.

• Further improved terrain rendering performance.
  
• Fixed a save/load bug that is especially relevant for campaign missions.
  
• Fixed starting construction inside unseen enemy units and structures.

Storages no longer preferentially 'drain' energy shared from other players. The energy redistribution system treats everyone as having at most 300 free energy storage, provided that no energy would be excessed under this assumption.

Scallop:

• Range 285 -> 270
  
• Shotgun damage reduced by 11.5%

Lobster

• Only able to fire when on the ground or in water.
  
• Reload Time 8.5s -> 9s
  
• Increased aim speed.
  
• Simplified some flight logic.

Dagger

• Cost 75 -> 80

Bolas

• Slow damage 140 -> 105

Claymore

• Health 1320 -> 1260
  
• Damage 600 -> 620
  
• Speed 2.5 -> 2.35
  
• Range 280 -> 300
  
• Fixed tactical AI.

Siren

• Health 3750 -> 4000
  
• Range 355 -> 360
  
• Fixed tactical AI.

Locust

• Health 860 -> 800
  
• Range 270 -> 260
  
• Aim Tolerance 180 -> 150
  
• DPS reduced by 2.5%

Raptor

• Combat speed 50% -> 35%
  
• Combat turn speed 200% -> 286%
  
• Slowdown restore delay 250ms -> 150ms
  
• Acceleration increased 10%

Land units are faster in shallow water:

• Depth 3, 0.82 -> 0.92
  
• Depth 6, 0.70 -> 0.82
  
• Depth 9, 0.61 -> 0.71
  
• Depth 15, 0.49 -> 0.52
  
• Depth 21, 0.40 -> 0.38

• Cerberus no longer fires through terrain.
  
• Cockatrice spores no longer ignore shields.
  
• Fixed the values in the space+click information for shield damage boosters.
  
• Fixed Z-fighting on Gunship Plant.
  
• Moved the rotation-centre of most models to make them rotate around their centre of mass (instead of their feet) when flying through the air.
  
• Fixed Ripper suspension becoming confused while flying through the air.
  
• Fixed units repairing launched Missile Silo missiles.
  
• Fixed the sun on SailAway. Added support for overriding sun direction.