Metagalactic Blitz News

Physics Engine Rework

• Turns out the physics engine had some non-deterministic edge cases, causing desyncs on some machines. So for this patch, I rewrote most of the game's physics code. You shouldn't notice much difference in gameplay.
  
• Added many physics optimizations, to compensate for some slower performance after the rewrite. As a result, you will actually see an increase in performance from the last patch.
  
• Reworked Zomborg's shotgun physics for better performance. It is now a single hitbox that instantly deals damage the frame you use it. It will penetrate targets, and simulates a number of bolts hit. The closer the target is to Zomborg, and the closer to the center of the blast they are, the higher the number of hits. As a result, it is no longer completely useless at mid-range, and the damage falls off more smoothly over the hitbox's range.
  
• Reworked the code that manages Cyber City's laser push mode. This fixes a number of bugs, and increases its performance. (This also fixes the bug with no-centerline matches in this mode).
  
• Increased the stun length of Zandra's whirlwind hits from 100ms to 200ms. This will prevent characters from acting while caught in it and cancelling her ability.
  
• Prevented debuffs like max's poison from damaging Veronica's turret health before damaging the shields.
  
• Since this work has all been on the coding side, we had some art bandwidth to create a new skin for Zomborg:
  

Physics Engine Rework

• Turns out the physics engine had some non-deterministic edge cases, causing desyncs on some machines. So for this patch, I rewrote most of the game's physics code. You shouldn't notice much difference in gameplay.
  
• Added many physics optimizations, to compensate for some slower performance after the rewrite. As a result, you will actually see an increase in performance from the last patch.
  
• Reworked Zomborg's shotgun physics for better performance. It is now a single hitbox that instantly deals damage the frame you use it. It will penetrate targets, and simulates a number of bolts hit. The closer the target is to Zomborg, and the closer to the center of the blast they are, the higher the number of hits. As a result, it is no longer completely useless at mid-range, and the damage falls off more smoothly over the hitbox's range.
  
• Reworked the code that manages Cyber City's laser push mode. This fixes a number of bugs, and increases its performance. (This also fixes the bug with no-centerline matches in this mode).
  
• Increased the stun length of Zandra's whirlwind hits from 100ms to 200ms. This will prevent characters from acting while caught in it and cancelling her ability.
  
• Prevented debuffs like max's poison from damaging Veronica's turret health before damaging the shields.
  
• Since this work has all been on the coding side, we had some art bandwidth to create a new skin for Zomborg:
  

Another tiny patch to fix some issues that have been brought up:

• added cursor clip option, set to "fullscreen only" by default. Also has always on/off options. This restricts your cursor to the window, so you can't accidentally unfocus your window by clicking on a second monitor.
  
• possibly fixed a crash on startup caused by the settings file.
  
• added a message for connections timing out, to make it more clear.
  
• reduced the impact of some instant-disconnect bugs. Currently working on a more thorough fix for the next patch.
  

Fixed a client crash when an opponent's steam name has an alt code in it.

Quick patch to fix two CPUs alone being able to earn the 5x reflect achievement.

Please let us know if you come across any other bugs, happy to fix them for you guys.