Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation News

Lobby Name: Metal Mayhem

Discord

Stream

This Saturday community manager Schism Navigator will be hosting community games for Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation.

Our events are open to all, with no minimum skill level required. All are welcome and all we ask is that you bring a good attitude!

For this game we will be playing with the opt-in build available on Steam.

Join our official discord before or on the day of the event.

Lobby Name: Metal Mayhem

Discord

Stream

This Saturday we are hosting a community games event.
Our events are open to all, with no minimum skill level required. So come and play some matches with us!

Join our official discord before or on the day of the event.

Lobby Name: Metal Mayhem

Discord

Stream

This Saturday we will be hosting a community games event. Our events are open to all, with no minimum skill level required.

We do prioritise people who are on Discord for voice chat. So join our official server before or on the day of the event.

The 3.0 update for Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation started off as just some visual tweaks to the benchmark early in 2020 (in what would have been 2.96). Little would we realize that by the end of 2020 we would be well on the way to a more major update.

This revision of the game came with two stipulations:

• Units must feel more differentiated and have a defined purpose.
  
• Armor Piercing needs to be either 100% or 0%, no more in-between states.
  

That sounds pretty simple on the surface. In most games, it would be fairly straightforward but Ashes is a different critter. Why? Simply because the engine is non-deterministic: put two enemy units in the same spot a few times and you can get a different result every time. Moreover, changing one stat tends to cascade balance in ways you may not immediately recognize. I could expound on this for paragraphs, but I'm getting off track.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2376795421

[h2]So where did we start on such a task? Symmetry.[/h2]
Everything in Ashes has some low-level commonalities: faction, unit tier, shields (for Substrate), sight range, etc. The first step for 3.0 was to take these factors and standardize them across units within the same tier. You'll see these in the next section in detail; this allows players to know (and for us to balance) tiers are certain strength levels, etc. No more guesswork at why a Tier 1 frigate can wipe out Tier 2 cruisers!

The second step was to look hard at each unit in the game and focus it. Previously, many units were 'squishy' - you could use them for anything. This is what some players felt turned into the mass wall of death - just build whatever, it doesn't really matter! Well, now it very much does. Just about everything now has a hard counter to it, forcing players to adapt and not rely on masses of whatever.

The third step was to recognize that there are many things in the game that are simply non-symmetric. The PHC and the Substrate each have their unique strengths and weaknesses, but they most definitely have unique units and buildings too (especially with Hunter / Prey). You have to accept that some of this stuff just can't be handled the same way.

[h2]Game rebalances, updated benchmarks/visual effects, performance optimizations, and much more[/h2]
[h3]For a detailed list of updates, view the changelog here.[/h3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV0fao1rRUs&feature=emb_logo

v3.0 is a complete overhaul of the game’s balance! Nothing is left untouched - this includes units, buildings, orbital abilities, and more. Our major focus during this update was to improve game balance and optimize performance. New maps, campaign adjustments, improvements to visual effects, and much more are packed in the update, so be sure to check them all out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/507490

[h2]Update Highlights[/h2]
[h3]Game Balance Adjustments[/h3]Both the PHC and the Substrate have had their units and buildings carefully balanced against each other, focusing on each unit having a unique role to play.

[h3]Improved Visual Effects[/h3]Many visual changes are present in the update, including unit size adjustments for better scale and visibility. Certain weapon and explosion VFX have also been updated.

[h3]New Benchmark[/h3]The benchmark has been updated in order to stay current with evolving technology. Redundant units and armies have been removed, more unit types are showcased, and new camera angles and views were added.





[h3]New Maps[/h3]Two new maps are now available! Desolation, a 4 player map perfect for 2v2 team matches, and Aetheon, an 8-player map that can play host to some wild free for all fights.

[h3]Performance Optimizations[/h3]Several back-end updates will make the game run more smoothly and look better than ever before.

[h3]Campaign Adjustments[/h3]To keep up with the rest of the game balancing, certain campaign scenarios have also been adjusted to accommodate. Challenge levels have been raised and lowered accordingly, and many miscellaneous fixes also went into several campaigns.





The v3.0 update is ready and waiting for you! Don't forget to check out the full changelog here.