Release of Tiberium Dusk 1.23!
Released earlier than I wanted, but still relatively complete; this is version 1.23 of the mod which contains many new features, rebalances, changes and music.
PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR CHANGELOG AND EXTRA INFORMATION.
Tiberium Dusk version 1.23
(relatively) Comprehensive Changelog
Global Defence Initiative (GDI)
- Conqueror Supertank (GDI Marv) now renamed to "Pacifier" Supertank.
Steel Talons:
- Addition of the "Support Factory", uses a modified War Factory model and provides access to different units compared to the "Heavy Weapons Factory". Costs 1000 credits and offers only 1 repair drone and less armor.
- "Heavy Weapons Factory", providing access to heavy ground units; this factory is essential for fighting with Steel Talons. Does not produce utility vehicles (Expansion units, light support vehicles etc) but can produce Heavy Harvesters.
- Rebalancing of the "Titan", costs 1500 (from 1600) credits; is slower, adaptive armor is nerfed to 20%, base armor slightly increased.
- Mammoth Mk.1 tank overhauled, now functions as a late game budget heavy tank. Features 2 heavy missile pods and standard mammoth tank guns. Weaker than the GDI mammoth tank, but still heavily armored.
- Mammoth Mk.2 tank adaptive armor nerfed (20%), Autoloaders fire roughly 30% slower.
- Mastodon cost increased to 4500 credits. Now costs minimum 6500 credits to fully equip.
- Mobile Repair Transport (MRT) receives armor buff (around 30%), now has a 2nd drone and has a large heal radius (2-3x larger), costs 1000 credits.
- Wolverine armor buffed considerably (similar armor to Predator Tank) and price upped dramatically to 1200 credits. Now has two burst fire miniguns which do collosal damage to infantry, however has a long reload.
- Steel Talons Harvester fixed. Now no longer has Garrison Pods (was causing issue with docking) but actually fits the name, being heavily armored.
ZOCOM
- Goliath Predator reduced to 1400 credits, Veteran Status on purchase removed.
- "Sonic Shatterer" reload time rebalanced, now fires (?) at the same speed as regular Sonic Emitter.
NOD Legion
- Nuclear Demolitions Truck - Truck armed with small nuclear bomb, detonates when nearby to enemies or can be set to detonate on target if user selects "non-aggression" stance. Leaves behind a pool of radiation after use. Costs 1700 credits.
- Avatar now costs 1750 credits, has had small reduction to speed and armor tweaked.
- Reckoner "battle APC" is a Nod Legion exclusive reckoner that can be fired out of on the move, there are also small defensive bonuses for when this Reckoner is deployed. (Armor is around 15% stronger than the regular reckoner)
- Militants fixed - Voices weren't registering before.
- Attack Buggy now costs 400 credits.
- Attack Bike now costs 500 credits.
Black Hand
- "Chieftain" warmech (Black Hand Redeemer) is now renamed to "Liberator".
Marked of Kane
- New Marked of Kane laser turret, features classic sound effects; shorter laser duration and instant damage. Range has been reduced, but overall performance is better.
- Marked Attack Buggy has changes, now costs 600 credits. Has "classic" burst fire machinegun similar to the Wolverine, slightly improved armor but lesser speed. High damage output in numbers.
- Marked Attack Bike has been nerfed, being slower than before.
- Marked Obelisk of Darkness nerfed, now has less range (similar to Mastodon) but improved fire rate matching the Obelisk of Light.
Scrin
- Annihilator Tripod now costs 2850 credits. (Due to forcefields)
Reaper 17
- "Hunter" seeker nerfed, now can only fire at ranges greater universal tank cannon range (about 300 units) making it easier to approach, damage remains the same. Rate of fire slightly nerfed.
- Reaper Tripod base armor buffed, now costs 3000 credits.
- Reaper Devourer Tank buffed, now actually functions like a unit costing 1600 credits. Very powerful early game featuring strong shields and improved mobility.
Traveler 59
- Annihilator Tripod now costs 2750 credits. (Lacks forcefield)
NOD Faction General Changes
- Cyborgs now classified as "Vehicle" type. Can be hit by any tank projeciles, 100% of the time. Cyborg Armor strength buffed to compensate.
- Cyborg Commandos replaced by "Awakened" in Global Conquest. Fixes issue where player could overwhelm / be overwhelmed by Cyborg Commandos early in the match.
- Nuclear Missiles for all 3 factions feature radiation effect after explosion, causing heavy damage to infantry and vehicles in the vicinity.
Misc Changes:
- Blue Tiberium now worth more per load (900 - from 800)
- AI performance buffed slightly (this could still use work)
- 12 new songs added:
Song List:
- Packing Iron - CNC Renegade
- Stomp - CNC Renegade
- Iron Fist - CNC1
- Infiltration - TIBSUN Firestorm
- Elusive - TIBSUN Firestorm
- Deploy Machine - TIBSUN Firestorm
- 2nd Hand - Red Alert 1
- Backstab - Red Alert 1
- Shut it - Red Alert 1
- Smash - Red Alert 1
- Wasteland - Red Alert 1
- Soviet March - Red Alert 3 (Rare song, has roughly 1 in 28 chance of playing, compared to other songs having around 1 in 14)
There are various other changes that I can't remember (as usual) but these are the major ones I can list, this version may not be "perfect"; there may be issues but as I have tested it online with friends before release, it should be fairly stable.
Thanks to everyone that waited patiently for me to release this. :D
Looking forward to begin working on the next update hopefully. ^^
Good work, commander! :P
Haha, thanks. ^^
I've already been thinking of new ideas for 1.24, but that'll be some way off yet as I feel like 1.23 actually has a reasonable amount of polish compared to 1.22. Most of the bugs being fixed makes me happy to release it. :)
Cyborgs now classified as "Vehicle" type.
Hmm.....
Does this mean I can repair then from a vehicle factory?
Wow, I've not actually tested that... but it actually sounds like a good idea.
If its not implemented currently, I'll see about doing that soon, it'll be cool to be able to defend factories etc with groups of cyborgs and tanks.
Cyborgs were like "vehicle" infantry in Tiberian Sun, by the fact that they took more cannon damage than any other infantry, but were highly resistant to bullets. That's kinda where I was going by having them hit by cannon fire 100% of the time.
if user selects "non-aggression" stance
Hmm
In game there Hold fire, Hold ground Defence and Aggrression
If you look from in-game for what I say. Take the last sentence as 1 and the first as 4 in a row
So.....
A 1 D 2 HG 3 HF 4
What "non-aggression" mean....Hold fire?
Yeah, hold fire buddy.
The others still let the vehicle's "weapon" fire, which causes the truck to explode.
With hold fire you can select what specific target you want it to drive up to, rather than it exploding on things that are nearby.
Description to add
Note Inf unit "Awakened" can't no longer "bunker" in buildings
Yeah, thanks for the heads-up. Kinda forgot about that. Now that Cyborgs are classified as vehicles I might have to mess around with the logic to put them inside buildings again, (I might leave them like that for balance sake) but I'll add it to the unit tooltip / description. :)
Note can confirm Anti-Tank unit like Rocket troopers can kill Awakened easier than Machice gun unit But I think APC still have ability kill then if you have 2 of then. And as always you can always rely on Good-old Hammerhead for the job
Yep. xD
I didn't want anti-infantry to be completely useless against them, but rather providing a more "stubborn" barrier for anti-infantry tanks to break through.
If you pair cyborgs and rocket soldiers together the cyborgs often tank the bullet fire to allow your rocket troops to do more damage, they function like "tank" now, soaking up the damage so other infantry can live longer.
Also they can't be ran over by early game vehicles, which is a benefit.
Hmm.......A nitpick of Zocom
While I understand that the unit a costly for Veterancy. My problem is simple
I don't a unit that can scout and not costly to much money
If anyone say (Not you dev) Oh just get an MG squad....IT COST 600 money to make a unit
Hey, could you re-add the old specter to marked of kane faction? The new artillery doesn't work with the shadow squads drop beacon ability, and is too inaccurate to be safely used as a base defense.
Can you reduce max shadow and cybernetic soldier squad count to one? Right now, they can't get squad numbers back up after hitting max experience rank. Alternatively, let squads get numbers back and heal.
Can you reduce the damage cyborg commando takes from tank weapons, increase his damage output dramatically against all unit types, lower his rate of fire, give him back his EMP weapon, increase his health, and give him back the aesthetics of his beam weapon?
Can you let marked of kane build suicide trucks?
Can you make it impossible for the AI to see engineers that approach their buildings while stealthed? Right now, the AI sells everything, even if the engineer is cloaked by a deployed shadow emissary or a stealth tower.
Can you make the shadow squad's gun attack not be able to be fired at vehicles? This allows shadow squads to be garrisoned without opening fire on passing vehicles giving themselves away. It makes shadow squads into extremely efficient engineer assassins.
Can you give marked of kane a solid counter against the MARV, The redeemer and the eradicator ultimate units? I feel the cyborg commando could shine here, but not sure. I like not having a redeemer in a way, because it forces me to use lower level units but its hard to counter the enemy units.
Can you let the nod mobile bunker unit have a passive health regen once it is deployed?
If you make these changes in next iteration of mod, and post a bitcoin donation address, you will get $50 in bitcoin from me.
Hi mate, I'm planning on redoing the Marked Spectre. When I make changes I tend to to things in "iterations" where I improve upon changes made in the next update. :)
I don't plan on it returning to its original state (as other Nod factions benefit from this, but I agree with the state of its accuracy and inability to long-range fire; I'll aim to address these)
The "inability to repair infantry / replace infantry" is something I aim to address at some point eventually. It actually REALLY bothers me as well when playing as Nod. lol
I might just put a "Universal" hospital effect. (like how GDI can heal their crap in the armory, but for all factions infantry structures)
Cyborg Commando? See latest news. The next update is based entirely around him, he's actually had some decent work put towards him. He wont be receiving his EMP weapon back though, that's used for another purpose now. :)
I'll look into a Marked of Kane suicide vehicle if you really want it, I wont likely give them nukes though, but a large explosion. (have to save something special for Nod)
The part for the engineer, its a yes / no situation. I SHOULD be able remove the AI paranoia that makes them sell buildings on higher difficulties, but as its hard-coded, I wont be able to do anything about the engineers being stealthed: The AI actually sees right through Stealth in Kane's Wrath since its "waypoints" for attacking are based on targetting specific structures / units.
I can make the Shadow's gun "ineffective" vs vehicles, which will prevent them from firing on vehicles entirely, if you want. The only reason why they still currently fire is because "sniper" damage units do 1% damage versus everything except infantry (dumb EA thing, could just set it to 0%).
Marked Cyborg Commando is the "alternative" counter to Epic Units. It can't take them on in a 1v1, but it can do the same amount of damage in a small package. He's REALLY beast in the upcoming update. :)
Passive Health regen on the Nod Reckoner actually sounds like an awesome idea... you've sold me. xD
From a thematic standpoint should the marked of kane have suicide squads? I can see black hand or nod having fanatics, but I can't see a person strapping suicide vests on themselves by the order of a computer. Removing suicide squads from marked of kane gives nod and black hand more thematic differences.
Having passive regen on the Reckoner should be a late game tech. There is actually a base defense strategy against ai that involves placing 4 reckoners full of troops next to a factory and letting them tank incoming hordes and get free repairs.
If you do put in a hospital, maybe tie it into the secret shrine? Also, what if the secret shrine had its own stealth field kind of like the shadow emissary?
The no selling buildings when engineers are near part is a must have. The AI being able to sell stuff makes engineers kind of pointless. On the topic of engineers, it might be interesting to give them some abilities. For example, the lay small minefield ability for both nod and gdi engineers.
The most important thing to fix with the specter is the lack of being able to synergize with nod shadow squads beacon ability. Let them do that when not deployed, and I will be happy.
On the topic of powers, some powers are downright annoying, and some of them are never used. For example, the orca bombardment power seems to be nothing more than a spam ability designed to make the player click the repair button on their power plants. At the same time, tiberium vein detonations are too expensive to use, its better to spend the tiberium on troops. What if you reworked powers so that they used energy from power plants while on cooldown, and could not be used if they would put your energy budget below 0? This effectively means that people would start using them whenever possible, and the counter is to harass the enemies power plants. Prune the powers that all factions have access to as well, and mix/match what powers each faction gets. For example, does nod really need both tiberium vein detonation AND the vapour bomb? I could see them getting their access to the vein detonation removed because they have their redeemer and marked of kane does not. Just balance ideas! :P