1.4 NOW AVAILABLE!
Expanding Fronts 1.4 is now available! This update adds a new, unique architecture set for the Confederacy civilization, alongside numerous improvements to performance, and balance. The update also contains multiple new Random Map scrips. You can download the 1.4 update from the link below!
CHANGES
BUILD SPOTLIGHT
New CIS Buildings!
Since their initial split from the Geonosians, the Confederacy has been using placeholder graphics for their structures. The 1.4 update adds a totally new architecture style for the civilization.
GAME
Performance & Stability
- Wall construction now functions properly on XL maps.
- Made improvements to unit pathfinding on XL maps.
- Fixed view-centering on gather points not accounting for elevation.
Graphics & Audio
- (CF) Improved Artillery and Cannon sprites.
- (CF) Corrected the projectile firing height of the Providence-class Destroyer (Editor unit).
- (FO) Changed Jet Trooper projectile effect.
- (GN) Corrected the attack animation of the Gungan Piranha Interceptor (editor unit).
- (GN) Removed stray red pixels that appeared on the Gungan Transport Mech.
- (GO) Corrected Geonosian Warrior shadows from black to transparent.
- (GO) Changed Geonosian Warrior's death animation from a fiery explosion to a brown goo explosion.
- (GO) Mech Destroyer graphic size has been reduced slightly.
- (RP) NTB-630 has been given a new graphic set.
- (RS) Mech Destroyer graphic size has been reduced slightly.
- (RS) Command Center graphic size has been reduced slightly to fit within its selection box.
- Fixed graphical artifacts on various units.
Interface
- Corrected instances of inconsistent use of hyphens and apostrophes across various text entries.
- Removed references to Hvy Attacker and Hvy Interceptor from extended unit descriptions.
- Changed the names of many landed aircraft in the Scenario Editor for better consistency. All landed craft start with "Landed" in the name so they are all listed together.
- (FO) Worker carry capacity bonus now listed on the Tech Tree.
- (GN) Automatic stealth detection bonus for military ships now listed on the Tech Tree.
- (RA) Command Center and Laser Turret Ore discount now listed on the Tech Tree.
CAMPAIGNS & SCENARIOS
- Battles of the Galaxy - Jakku Demo:
- Made slight adjustments to map layout.
- Fixed typos in the Recon menu.
- Added an Animal Nursery with several Nerfs to the Imperial Research Facility.
- Battlefront - Endor - Bunker:
- Made slight adjustments to map layout.
- Corrected pricing for unit classes.
- Blast League:
- Implemented new props and terrains.
- Added additional random events.
BALANCE & UNIT STATS
General
> UNITS
- Mounted Trooper: Reduced damage bonus against all wall types by 20.
- Adjustments to various Editor units and heroes.
> BUILDINGS
- Light Wall: Increased base Armor from 2/2 > 2/6
- Mine: Mines now have 40 base Attack Strength, have a +10 Bonus vs Troopers, and their Blast Radius has been increased from 0.6 > 0.8
Confederacy
> UNITS
- Magnaguard & Elite Magnaguard - Increased Speed to 1.05. Unit is now classified as a Mounted Trooper and is affected by War Center infantry technologies. Elite Armor reduced to 8/3.
First Order
> CIVILIZATION
- Worker bonus carry capacity reduced from +5 > +3
> UNITS
- Scout - Unit now properly receives automatic upgrades when advancing Tech Levels.
Gungans
> UNITS
- Monitor & Hvy Monitor - Unit is now classified as Biological and has been given Detector abilities to be consistent with other Gungan ships.
> TECHNOLOGIES
- Potent Plasma - Now gives Gungan units individual bonuses ranging from +1 to +3. Units are also given the corresponding attack class at 0 where needed.
Resistance
> UNITS
- Scout - Unit now properly receives automatic upgrades when advancing Tech Levels.
- Ski Speeder & Hvy Ski Speeder - Reduced bonus damage against Assault Mechs by 2 (3); Increased unit cost by +10 Carbon
> TECHNOLOGIES
- Resilience - Technology now properly implemented. Lost Prefab Shelters, Command Centers, and Fortresses do not reduce population capacity.
Zann Consortium
> UNITS
- Defiler & Veteran Defiler - Unit is now affected by Grenadier Training and Explosive Yields Increased. Veteran Defilers no longer gain Cloaking.
RANDOM MAPS
New Maps!
- Alaris Prime
- Corvus
- Kordoku
- Nevarro
- Tython
- Wasskah
AI
Scripting
- Increased AI rule limit from 1,000 to 10,000.
Computer AI
- Fixed AI getting stuck in TL1 due to a refusal to build extra Farms.
- Fixed AI getting stuck in TL1 due to not meeting TL2 tech-up population requirements.
- Fixed an endless attack-now loop caused by certain rules playing together when more than one Computer is in a team.
- Fixed AI being unable to attack on Giant maps in 1v1 if player spawns were not close enough.
- AI will now release any escrowed resources when its civilian population drops below 20%. This should reduce the AI's tendency to stall in the middle of matches.
- AI will now utilize Shipyards more effectively on maps with fish.
Computer Expanded AI
- AI now features a 'Scenario Mode' that can be enabled in the Scenario Editor. By utilizing certain trigger commands, the behavior of the AI can be more reliably controlled in custom maps. Instructions for using this feature are included in the Game/AI folder.
- AI can now support an additional range of population limits.
- Easiest will no longer load goals pertaining to units it does not train.
- Fixed an issue that caused AI to not check for the number of Power Cores owned in TL1, resulting in them constructing excessive amounts.
- Fixed case of using chat to computer instead of player in a diplomacy message.
- AI will now maintain a minimum amount of Farms even if it has plenty of food so its Workers have something to do.
- Attempted to fix AI freezing due to out-of-range enemies.
- Fixed combat-arm AIR getting stuck by adding a rollback mechanic so switch-aircraft-type goal gets reset to FIGHTER if there are no Fighters.
- Fixed other combat-arm AA trooper training rule triggering in cases where said civ was combat-arm AIR, which has its own dedicated rule.
- Easy difficulty will now research first-tier economic upgrades.
- AI now properly considers Mounted Troopers and Bombers in siege-focused strategies.
- AI will be more reliable at building additional Food Processing Centers as needed.
- Fixed Moderate difficulty not having proper goals for Boomer personality Workers.
- Fixed AI tendency to overproduce Fighters due to missing population checks.
- Civs that prefer AA Troopers or Mobiles will now attempt to build Fighters if required resources for the preferred options are low, or if their preferred choice is outnumbered by enemy air.
- Fixed bug that caused combat-arm UNIQUE or combat-arm SUPP to not build Fortresses.
- Fixed instances of AI sometimes failing to train Elite unique units.
- Improved target prioritization when the enemy has Fortresses or Turrets.
- Improved Tech-Up rules for TL2 on Moderate and upwards. AI will now wait until it has a satisfactory number of Workers to advance instead of doing so at the first opportunity.
- AI will now attempt to build more Troop Centers and Airbases if militarily inferior.
- Adjusted prefab building rules so the AI doesn't remain housed for extended times.
- Combat-arms UNIQUE, MECH/HW, AIR, JEDI will always rush advancement to TL2.
- Adjusted TL3 gather rules.
- Corrected issues with buying/selling resources at Spaceports
- Will now train Workers with escrow food in TL2 if below the ideal amount.
- Escrow ore in TL3 for 2nd Command Center.
- Combat-arm/combat-supp UNIQUE will use escrow ore to get first Fortress if they do not otherwise manage to build it.
- Combat-arm/combat-supp UNIQUE will turn on escrow for ore in TL4 if they do not have a Fortress, and use the escrowed metal to build one.
- Fixed AI not building a Troop Center in TL1 when needed.
- Adjusted wall building rules. AI should no longer begin walling immediately in TL2 in order to focus Workers on economy for longer. AI should no longer attempt to continue building walls while under attack.
- Made adjustments to gathering percentage rules.
- Implemented Mounted Trooper rush strategy for combat-arm/pre-unique-arm TROOP.
- Will now train Workers with escrow food until at 5% of maximum pop at TL1.
- Combat-supp MECH/HW will now train Mech Destroyers.
- Added rules for Spaceport to buy resources for Wonder in cases where relevant resources have run out on the map.
- Added safeguard in combat-supp repicking logic so map type is checked, AI should not repick combat-supp SEA on RIVER, ISLAND, or WATER map types.
- Added safeguard rules to TL2/TL3 escrow so resources released if the AI player has spent over 8 minutes(TL2) 5 minutes(TL3) in the Tech Level.
- Removed AI's willingness to waste military units exploring if TL2 or higher when the AI player does not have military parity.
- Attempted to fix AI's call for help behavior so it actually triggers.
- Adjusted combat-arm TROOP mechanic for training Mech Destroyers so it cares for the presence of enemy Strike Mechs rather than being militarily inferior.
- Altered team game resign conditions to less than 8 own workers & 8 allied workers from 0.
- AI is now more reliable when playing Commander of the Base, and will make more aggressive attempts to capture and hold Command Bases
SCENARIO EDITOR
- Change Unit Data/Change Unit Property Object - properties Unknown098, Unknown099, Unknown09A renamed to Resource1StoreMode, Resource2StoreMode, Resource3StoreMode respectively.
- Change Terrain effect - Fixed terrain list.
- Minor changes to what information is shown in Condition/Effect descriptions.
- Changed the civilization assignment of some hero units:
- Tann's Transport -> CF
- Slave I (Jango) -> CF
- Slave I (Boba) -> GE
- Moldy Crow -> RA
- Aurra Sing -> All
- Mother Talzin -> All
- Changed the names of many landed aircraft in the editor for more consistency. All landed craft start with "Landed" in the name so they are all listed together.
- Added various new units, objects, and buildings to the editor.
- Multiple new Terrains added.
MISCELLANEOUS
- (FO) Corrected issue that caused the increased Anti-Air missile speed gained from Advanced Torpedoes to be lost after researching Homing Sensors.
- (GO) Corrected issue that caused Geonosian Anti-Air missiles to lose their sounds after researching Homing Sensors.
- (RS) Jedi Masters now have access to Master conversion abilities when accessed using the Editor or in All Techs mode.
- Corrected issue that allowed the power element of Resistance Fortresses to be convertible by enemy Temple units.
- Implemented store mode 8: type 80 - give on completion, stay after destruction, types 10-70 - N/A
- Corrected the internal resource value of Mines that led to earning excessive score for destroying them.
- In windowed mode, the cursor is now locked to the window by default. This can be removed by changing to "UseCursorClip=0" in the wndmode.ini file.
KNOWN ISSUES
- (CF) Does not have unique Shipyard graphics yet
- (CF) still uses Geonosian databank images
- (RP) NTB-630 still uses old Icon
- (RS) and (FO) Civs are currently missing Tech Tree entries for various units
THANKS AGAIN!
Once again, we'd like to thank everybody who has supported our project over the years. We hope you enjoy everything that Expanding Fronts 1.4 has to offer, and we look forward to bringing you even more content very soon.
Great update as always! 😺
The repeater trooper is still not a separate troop. When is going to be fixed? (Yes it is a bug on my book).
Aside that tiny detail, AWESOME work.
Not a bug. This is from our FAQ:
"How about making the Repeater Trooper a different unit from the Trooper line?"
What role would they serve? What situations would you build a Repeater Trooper instead of a Trooper? Repeater Troopers would just be a more expensive Trooper with a faster rate of fire, but that already serves the purpose of an upgrade to the Hvy Trooper. Even if we came up with something, we would have to make a replacement for the Tech 4 Trooper upgrades. So that's now 12 "Elite Trooper" units we would have to model and animate for all the factions. It would also be difficult to precisely match the graphics of the original game's Troopers that we don't have models for. Additionally, the Troop Center has no available slots left to add any more units.
And also this:
Please keep in mind that all units must fulfill a dedicated role. Changing a unit's role or a faction's roster because you think it would be more fun or cool or it fits the lore better doesn't necessarily mean it is a good and balanced gameplay change. Gameplay > Realism.
Repeater trooper could require deployment time, this would make them area denial for infantry like they are supposed to be instead of yet another trooper upgrade. For balance they could be expensive, slow to build but could be available earlier in the tech tree as a defensive counter to infantry and light mechs (which would still get the upper hand unless really outnumbered).
Give them large range and poor accuracy and presto.
At least consider it as a unit (with deployment time) for custom maps.
I absolutely second this
By deployment time, do you mean like cannons? Cause that is a hard-coded behavior for cannons only. Giving repeaters the cannon class comes with all the same behaviors, such as auto-attacking buildings.
And again, there are other issues I mentioned that make this a complicated thing to change.
I think he meant to make repeater troopers act similar to some units from dawn of war 2 or company of heroes. The equivalent of giving them a timer that only allows them to fire after a couple of seconds have passed.
Repeater Troopers are fine the way they are, game is already too fast for "area denial" units that would just get insta-nuked by Artillery and Fighters.
You have Turrets and Fortresses, for "area denial" purposes. Consider also building Walls and Shield Generators, if you really want to play entrenched.
As it is, Repeater Troopers being just an upgrade to the Trooper class, is the best role for them to fill. The game already has enough unit types, and the generic roster already has enough obsolescence as it is.
This is not CoH, you have no need for area control units, and the units this game DOES already have, would quickly stomp over such a kind of unit role.
The very reason why Mounted Troopers and Artillery exists, is precisely so turtling is innefective, much less the Fortress-trained Cruiser class, that kills stationary units by the dozens, with every attack.
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Are there any plans to add inferno squad units from the 2nd Battlefront 2.
Editor units that we generally add are just ones that we either need for our campaigns (WIP) or ones that we think the community would find the most popular. We have just one animator and he gets busy sometimes, so these days units that require animation are only done when he has the free time to do so and usually he works on high priority units like ones we need for civs.
Fantastic and unexpected! I know what I'll be playing for a while now. :)
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Are the Resistance and Mandalorian characters coming at some point?
Still going strong! :)
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How do I install this mod I have been having issues for awhile
Follow the directions from the "Expanding Fronts Manual Installation Guide.rtf" document included with the download.
Yayyy! I've been thinking about it lately. Great opportunity to come back once again.
Thanks for your work!
Hey I just discovered this site today, I have SWGB saga on steam, how do I add any of the content on this form?
It works for steam. Follow the directions from the "Expanding Fronts Manual Installation Guide.rtf" document included with the download.
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Thank you for the update. I have a question for this 1.4 update: Is there any method to avoid crashing in Standard game? For example, the game frequently crashes in large map with 4 players only (Moderate difficulty). None of the faction reached 200 units in population when the game was frozen, my faction was only 68. In previous updates, even with 8 players with Hard difficulty, I did not encounter this problem.
I followed the steps to install the mod and apparently everything happened alright, but when I launched the x2 file an error message appeared saying "Could not initialize graphics systems. Make sure that your video card and driver are compatible with DirectDraw."
What can I do? Thanks in advance
I just realized the buildings in the last image don't match anything in the current release. They look imperial, but the Empire has different buildings. New building set for the Empire or Republic? New faction?
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Hi all, I just discovered this mod recently and am delighted that it's got such a recent update. As such I'm curious as to how to install it, as there doesn't seem to be any guide to do so. Would love to play this mod and make a good game even better.
Many thanks in advance.
When will Repeater Troopers be either added as a separate unit or will Heavy Troopers be given Repeater Trooper stats?
i really enjoyed this mod but seeing Repeaters running around is very immersion breaking, reminded me of the reason why i slowed down playing the game back when i was a kid