A less Heavy X6 (Patreon)

So I put out a couple updates very shortly after the initial X6 release to fix some major bugs that had slipped through, but this new update definitely deserves its own post...

Last Friday I wanted to rush the first X6 build out the door without enough time to do more than an hour or so of testing it in actual play scenarios, and surprisingly during my time doing that I did not have a chance to notice a couple of really nasty bugs that meant Heavies were totally imbalanced.

I only slowly started to realize something was off due to player reports, and additional reviewing of the code discovered an increasing number of issues (this was a lot of complex stuff added all at once xD), so although Heavies were meant to be a challenge, they were not meant to be anywhere near as crazy as they ended up--oops :P

So now that you've all had an opportunity to smash your face against some pretty overwhelming odds, we've now got a proper build which should offer more realistic challenges and tradeoffs.

Changelog

Differences from X5:

• MOD: Heavy effective sensor range adjustments
• MOD: Heavy ally alert range reduced to match Sentries
• MOD: Security rotations less frequent
• MOD: No security rotation during High/Max Security or Sterilization
• MOD: W/R Research events exclude Heavies
• FIX: Heavies now actually obey the intended restrictions on how quickly they can call for reinforcements
• FIX: Heavies were spawning wrong number of non-fast bots per reinforcement
• FIX: Heavies replaced during security rotation now come from a proper source rather than spawning directly on their target
• FIX: Something related to cargo convoy events
• FIX: Dirty Datajack (and GAL) did not work on Heavies
• FIX: Heavies could be posted at inaccessible/special exits
• FIX: SR and CM that failed to be consumed on use would invisibly occupy a utility slot and prevent interaction with it

Get Beta 11 X6 210720a

This is a minor version update, but in order to properly handle one of the fixes I had to break saves, so those are not compatible and it's on a new Steam branch, "beta_11_x6_2" accessible with the code "LighterHeavies". Email updates are being sent out to those patrons using FastSpring.

Things Will Get Heavier Again

Heavies might even be on the lenient side now, compared to where they'll eventually end up, but note this is not the end for them.

Aside from further refining their behavior after more playtesting and I also get a chance to test them in one or more real full runs myself, they'll actually likely be getting some more significant changes later, including the ability to call a wider variety of reinforcements, other bots we don't normally see as much of, or even new bots (?).

For now we're just using Swarmers, Grunts, and Hunters because 1) they're a known quantity to work with and 2) that's what the built-in systems are more easily capable of handling for now while all the other aspects of these new features are being tested.

Heavies will be even more interesting if their responses include bringing in other types of bots, especially since you may often have the option to circumvent the entire area if you like, or decide it could be bots/an area worth attempting to loot.

Anyway, that's for a bit further down the line, and in the near term I'll be putting some of the recent writings on the blog, playtesting X6 (expect a stream!), and continuing to play through and share analysis of this year's top 7DRLs while also helping run the ongoing r/RoguelikeDev tutorial event.

Update 210729

The build on that branch has been replaced by a new one with compatible saves and a few fixes and adjustments:

• MOD: Heavy blocked from starting within sensor range of player on non-branch maps
• MOD: amplify_resonance hack effect removed after affecting a single active power source on target
• FIX: Non-allied bots sucked down a chute would follow player if you jumped in after them, even though not an ally [Valguris]
• FIX: Allied Programmers could hack N-00 Fly and N-01 Spotter [Vectis]
• FIX: Heavy could still detect hostiles via sensors even if out of range in some scenarios
• FIX: Tagged identified resource containers in inventory with names exceeding available width did not properly show their contents