Forts News

Happy new year, Forts fans!

Players on the Official Forts Discord Server will know Romerolagus as one of the most helfpful, thoughtful and skilled members of the community. That’s why we are so pleased to start 2021 by announcing that he has agreed to join the EarthWork Games team as our new Community Manager.

As well as helping organise Forts tournaments, Romerolagus will now be your point of contact for help with Forts strategies and tactics, troubleshooting, as well as addressing any concerns regarding player conduct. We hope you will join us in congratulating him in his new role and work with him in continuing to make the Forts community as welcoming and constructive a place as it can be.

Welcome to the team, Romerolagus!

Cheers,
EWG

Seasons greetings, Forts fans!

Finally, 2020 is at an end, and to celebrate we are bringing you some festive cheers and a small update. We have brought back the holiday features with reskinned front end, holiday jingle and baubles, plus some tweaks and fixes.

[h2]2020 Retrospective[/h2]

We hope you have been enjoying escaping the real world by jumping into the Forts world, with the may additions we have brought to the game over the last year. Let's have a look back at some of the highlights.

[h3]Commander Update[/h3]

A few months back we released a huge free update for the commanders of Forts. This included huge rebalancing and a swathe of additional powers and abilities. As a result, we've seen the competitiveness of the fifteen commanders spread more evenly, with players moving away from the characters seen as traditionally strong, to see what the updated commanders have to offer. Click here to find out more!

[h3]Pro-HUD[/h3]

While the vanilla game and the Moonshot DLC had their own unique HUDs, we wanted to experiment with our first mini-DLC. This re-skin adds a new lick of paint to the main console, reactor readouts, commander gauge and replay panel, as well as adding unique versions of these for the Moonshot HUD. This was perfect for players who wanted to refresh their Forts experience with a slick visual overhaul, while also supporting us as developers, for which they also received an in-game medal. Click here to find out more!

[h3]Steam Trading Cards[/h3]

It only took three years, but Forts trading cards finally arrived on Steam, and boy did players enjoy them. Featuring a host of commanders, they were being traded immediately. Along with those, come emoticons, and steam backgrounds, my personal favourite. Click here to find out more!

[h2]Changelist 2020-12-22a[/h2]

Add: console Enter, Backspace, Paste and Quit (for cmdlist command) rebind-able keys
- found at end of input/all keys
Add: log time to load environment resources for dropout debugging
Add: CPU info logging for performance debugging

Improve: when auto recessing, don't consider devices being scrapped
Improve: Updated to latest fmod 2.01.06
Improve: use translated ReplayCorrupt string
Improve: some Chinese translations, mostly commander descriptions
Improve: rename English 'Toggle mute chat' to 'Mute chat'

Fix: crash when viewing replays of games with a timer
Fix: (Eagle Eye) laser sight tip can show twice in quick succession
Fix: (Warthog) Howitzer doesn't receive 2 second reload reduction
Fix: (Warthog) second chance icons aren't removed cleanly when weapons are deleted or disconnected
Fix: mute chat button sometimes fails due to double clicking
Fix: pressing keys while binding in input screen jumps within the list
Fix: the console will process some keys while the IME is open
Fix: players who re-join after elimination can't see the commander panel
Fix: 'Host 5 moonshot lobbies' awarded to non-owners through ranked hosting
Fix: (Pyromaniac) AI sometimes doesn't build delete the EMP, therefore not building the cannon
- Add DD_* result codes to DeleteDevice* script functions
Fix: logging of AI DESTROY_DEVICE actions incorrect for ground devices
Fix: AI instantly gives up trying to build a ground device if it's obstructed by an existing one
Fix: a period in the installation path will prevent some textures from loading, or cause a crash
Fix: timeouts when loading dlc environments due to decompression of dlc packs on slow computers
Fix: slow loading of environment packs can cause some players to drop out
Fix: smoke doesn't block machinegun AA in Moonshot campaign
Fix: Pack does not allocate enough memory in mTempFile to load the largest pack file
Fix: host chat is not logged to own replay
Fix: crash when double clicking maps, replays and training maps with missing required maps/mods
Fix: EnableDeviceUpgrade and EnableWeaponUpgrade doesn't handle * wildcard properly
Fix: multiple upgrade icons issue when first upgrade device is disabled
Fix: workshop screen doesn't cycle through map previews, shows cycle button for mods
Fix: uniform weapon spread is inconsistent
Fix: clicking on a checkbox fails to correctly check and uncheck many settings
Fix: (Drop the Bomb) buildable ground above bombs has non-buildable surface

[h2]Changelist hotfix 2020-12-29a[/h2]

Improve: additional lobbies can be shown in the lobby select screen (from 50 up to a theoretical 150)
Improve: reduce automatic lobby refresh from 5 to 10s to reduce chance of mis-click

Fix: open lobbies are displaced by closed lobbies when there are more than 50
Fix: in TDM players can see reactor health of team mates
Fix: (Pyromaniac) Cannon sometimes fails to build
Fix: (Rhino vs Tiger) Error: loading unknown effect mods/dlc1/effects/forcefield.lua at run-time; it must be pre-loaded

[h2]Changelist hotfix 2020-12-29a2[/h2]

Improve: log last memory file separately to last store file for better crash debugging

Optimise: file select screens (replays, maps, mods) don't progressively update their dynamic layout, reducing load time significantly
Optimise: don't look for cladding triangles to remove when the destroyed node is a projectile or an orphan

Fix: the menu hangs for several seconds when updating the lobby select screen at busy times due to progressive dynamic layout updates
Fix: crash in DestroyDeviceById when device not found
Fix: (Tutorials) speech bubbles are stretched every time the mission is restarted
Fix: (Ranked) on timeout and disconnect while loading, crashes on filename construction in OnStartNewReplay
Fix: cladding triangles could remain after the associated node is deleted

[h2]Changelist hotfix 2021-01-08[/h2]

Add: report button to player disconnection messages so they can still be reported after they leave a lobby
Add: minimum and maximum running average frame rate statistics (only at 1x speed)

Improve: video recording in replay while paused will resume, then pause at end
Improve: ignore effect spawned with invalid directions, and log add error message
Improve: support for Wine on Macs

Optimise: remove event functions for AI when operating in human assist mode

Fix: (ranked) deliberate disconnection can result in a win when Steam caches the change
Fix: (ranked) players can easily win by minigun rush then disconnecting
Fix: crash when upgrading device and platform is not found
Fix: crash on ranked scoring when local player times out
Fix: crash when selecting missiles of background team in Sandbox and Map Editor
Fix: crash when attempting to group a device that was destroyed in the same frame
Fix: crash when damage is applied to background structures
Fix: "Select" button does nothing in replay/file select after downloading required workshop items
Fix: crash when subscribing to items with % characters in some circumstances
Fix: output special characters correctly in player names and chat lines when sending reports
Fix: mods which don't set the fire speed and max fire radius create invalid positions when fired
Fix: crash when triggering context menu on a device that was destroyed in the same frame
Fix: attempts to record video at the end of replays sometimes succeed
Fix: crash in DeleteNode when deleting orphans
Fix: error message in BreakStructure when one of the nodes is deleted in the process
Fix: team Commander selection not updated when a player disconnects
Fix: (EnumerateLinks) PhysicsManager::VisitLinksFrom leaves struts in a marked state, causing destruction in unrelated code
Fix: if weapon min fire speed is zero it can create invalid speeds & positions
Fix: weapon max fire speed can be less than min fire speed
Fix: modded device capacity can be unreasonably large, causing overflow of UI elements (limited to 100k)
Fix: MinWindEfficiency not clamped to [0,1]
Fix: MaxFireClamp not clamped to [0,1]

Happy Holidays from all of us at EarthWork Games, and we'll see you in 2021 with more vaccines for your boredom!

Cheers,
EWG

G’day, Forts fans!

The Forts ranked multiplayer Season 8 has just wrapped up, and it's looking to be dominated by the DFC clan. In third place, we have [DFC] EtaN. Second goes to [DFC] Geiger. In first place, and the new Forts ranked multiplayer 1v1 champion is [DFC] M4r0x! Congratulations!

[DFC] M4r0x, who is a long time Forts player and supporter, will be recognised with the awarding of the season 8 gold medal, with the second and third placed players receiving silver and bronze medals respectively. As usual, all players who finished in the top 20 will receive a medal to reflect that. Well done to all the following participants...

1. [DFC] M4r0x
   
2. [DFC] Geiger
   
3. [DFC] EtaN
   
4. [DFC] Firework
   
5. [DFC] Bowser
   
6. [CSC] Trekjeft
   
7. 寒karry
   
8. [DFC] LandPlanters
   
9. [DFC] CronkhinatorYT
   
10. [DFC] felixwoelmuis
    
11. [DFC] Bobereto
    
12. extlxu
    
13. [DFC] ShinyMoney
    
14. Overlord
    
15. [DFC] Rothes
    
16. MandalorianJedi
    
17. [DFC] Matteo
    
18. Not 4 Hire
    
19. FYFT-编号203
    
20. Kira
    

Season 9 has already kicked off, and ends Sunday January 31th. How well will you do this season?

If you haven't already, join our the Forts Official Discord server for discussions on weapons, strategies and modding with our friendly and helpful community!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day, forts fans!

On Sunday night we hosted the Forts Invitational Commander Tournament. Renowned community members partnered up to take each other on in a double elimination knockout competition. Each team committed to competing with a single commander throughout the tournament, to see which of the recently updated characters would come out on top.

After sixteen punishing battles expertly called by Incursus, Synergy and Nozehed, we had our champions. Congratulations to Samster Birdies and General Tanya, who took Eagle Eye to victory against second place Lancenshield and Felix, playing as Warthog. Matteo and 42 scientist's Armourdillo came in a valiant third.

Thanks go to all the competitors for their participation in the tournament and help with the commander update. Big shout out to Incursus and Synergy for their casting and commentating contributions, and to 42 scientist for helping us with the smooth running of the operation behind the scenes.

[h3]Streams[/h3]
Missed the action? No problem! Catch up with these links:

Project Incursus SynergyGamingTV

[h3]Discord[/h3]
If you haven't already, sign up to the Forts Official Discord to join our growing community of friendly, helpful and knowledgeable players and raise your game.

Thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG

A deadly mist now consumes this land
Where once a mighty fort did stand
Before haunted structures aged a thousand years
Sent shells and warheads to resurrect your fears

And fight as you might to remain standing
Cursed bullets and bombs on your base were landing
Until no repair work of any amount
Could save you from Sal Vaux, The Count...





[h2]Release 2020-10-28a change list[/h2]

Add: (Overdrive) separate key to trigger downgrades (Shift + U)
Add: FIREFLAG_EXTRACLEARANCE to avoid always adding 1000 clearance when using FireWeapon* from script
Add: mCancel bool to DestroyDeviceMessage to prevent unexpected response and log player intent
Add: SoundEventTimeToTrigger and SoundEventVolume to effect configuration for more flexible use of existing sounds
Add: required workshop item subscribe button/text to replay screen

Balance: (Armourdillo) match AP minigun damage to bracing with regular minigun (+50%)
Balance: (Phantom active) laser sights don't intersect with cloaked devices or forts

Improve: (Phantom) move 'start fully charged' to the top of passives
Improve: add RegisterApplyMod function to use instead ApplyMod to reduce chance of mistake
Improve: Chinese time limit mod names
Improve: German translation consistency
Improve: Hide truce/limit countdown when descriptions are visible to prevent overlap
Improve: increase initial mSortedEffects buffer to 3000 effects, with 1000 increments
Improve: sort downgrades to the end of the upgrades table
Improve: sort open ranked matches to the end of regular matches in lobby select screen
Improve: Various map and mod name capitalisation
Improve: (Phantom) hide device cursor details when moving a device
Improve: messaging for k_EResultBusy steam API error result

Optimise: (Spook) condition order in DiscoverTeams and Update

Fix: (Armourdillo) AP minigun not unlocked with Unlock All Weapons mod
Fix: (Hurricane passive) FastScrap is missing from description, FastBuild is duplicated
Fix: (Overdrive) fast-build doesn't apply to downgrades
Fix: (Overdrive) first level devices with upgrades receive build speed increase
Fix: (Phantom) can place a cloak effect at an invalid location
Fix: (Phantom) node snapping issue when dragging to move weapons/devices
Fix: (Phantom) context menu move button was displaying reclaim duration instead of move duration
Fix: (Phantom) moving upgraded ground devices
Fix: (Phantom) terrain glow for moving devices not drawn correctly
Fix: (Phantom) initial starting devices no longer appear cloaked
Fix: (Phantom) Upgrading cloaked weapons was uncloaking them (upgrading an uncloaked weapon does not re-cloak)
Fix: (resource capacity) desync
Fix: (Tanya's Moonshine) resource cap desync
Fix: (Warthog) 20mm gets second chance with duplicate icons
Fix: (Warthog) second chance icons show for enemy team
Fix: ApplyMod is called inconsistently in some circumstance
Fix: AP-sniper has drag, reducing AI accuracy
Fix: crash in ranked match screen when offline
Fix: crash in ReceiveUpgradeDeviceMessage when upgrading a ground device to a platform device
Fix: crash when node of selected portal is destroyed while sending connection command
Fix: crash when opening the ranked match screen during offline mode
Fix: crashes when no device selected
Fix: devices can be destroyed, repaired or upgraded by late commands after changing team
Fix: game can crash when constants.lua is missing, giving no change to show file corruption message
Fix: logging of mod id is incorrect for some mods
Fix: Moonshoot commanders can be randomly selected when host doesn't have Moonshot enabled
Fix: moonshot vars are nil in device_list.lua when pre-loading sprites
Fix: moonshot vars are not cleared when Moonshot mods are not active
Fix: nodes and links can be destroyed by late commands after changing team
Fix: obsolete SpawnCircle call when predicting missile position for AA
Fix: other commanders can place AP minigun when the "unlock all weapons" mod is active
Fix: Portals can be linked while under construction
Fix: pre-loaded sprites aren't loaded from commander common folders
Fix: projectiles can bounce on a platform indefinitely
Fix: reallocation of mSortedEffects creates uninitialised padding, triggering asserts
Fix: RestoreLinks can crash if campaign save is out of date (e.g. Demo Campaign)
Fix: structures desync when platform devices use a forced fire angle
Fix: uninitialised banned (kicked) flag in lobby constructor
Fix: laser pointer and weapon firing arcs are drawn for source weapon when moving weapons
Fix: upside down visual sprite glitch when switching weapon facings and drag moving with Phantom
Fix: returning to skirmish map select no longer clears currently selected optional mods
Fix: missing device/node/link command message parameters from script commands
Fix: visual loading progress for large maps (would show zero progress if the loaded assets exceeded int limit)

Remove: (Eagle Eye) mortar reload reductions

[h2]Release 2020-11-07a change list[/h2]

Add: system to cancel the commander's ApplyMod calls
- Store function in CommanderApplyModBase, CommanderApplyModWeaponPack, and CommanderApplyModDLC1Weapons
- Add built-in DeregisterApplyMod function to accept these
Add: error code logging to capture process failure

Balance: (Eagle Eye active) increase AP-sniper explosive splash damage from 18.75 to 41.25 to compensate for bug fix

Improve: remove flamingflak projectile by triggering FlakDetonation effect directly from impact with firebeam
Improve: Chinese translations

Optimise: lineSeg3::NearestPointToLine uses new IsZero2D instead of comparing with temporary vector
Optimise: TerrainManager::IntersectLineSegWithGround now applies basic bounds check in missing two directions

Fix: (Armourdillo active) AP sniper doesn't always penetrate two layers of armour
Fix: (Eagle Eye active) AP sniper can pass through densely packed struts and Moonshine shield-doors
- struts suffering splash damage are marked as 'already hit' and so aren't collided with in the same frame
- splash damage was applied by default in penetration effects
Fix: (Phantom) dummy weapons/devices were cloaked
Fix: (Warthog) extra damage icons appear for enemy when reconnecting structures
Fix: Alt-tab out and back while replay is paused and the clock starts ticking
Fix: LogCommand destroy_node shows client as unknown
Fix: missiles can miss openings when many are fired at once
Fix: ground devices' EMP effect are obscured by terrain
Fix: Auto-AA context menu option doesn't show up in TDM + AI mode
Fix: full ranked lobbies appear at the top of the lobby list
Fix: structure can collide with distant terrain when line segments are parallel
Fix: Flak projectile can detonate behind the weapon when intersecting the firebeam

Remove: Halloween theme


Wishing you a happy Hallowe'en,
EWG