Today marks the release of version 0.5.8!
After making it through the rounds of the snapshot build system, I feel it is stable enough to release as a general build.
This release has quite a few exciting features, so without further delay, here is the change list:
New Deployment Parts:
There are 3 new parts, under the AUX part section. These parts allow you to deploy different buildings to the battlefield. This replaces the old ‘building’ system that was only present in Siege mode. This means you can now equip the turret deployment system and deploy turrets in arena mode as well! It also addresses several of the balance concerns based around the old system, such as turret spamming, building massive amounts of walls, deploying a ‘wave’ of walls as you retreat, ect.. It also significantly improves the process of deploying the building, by giving you a nice color coded guide to show if the current location is valid for the deployment. The system for determining valid locations was also significantly revamped to make sure you don’t get placements that are invalid.
Multiplayer Arena Mode :
Yay! Arena is a full fledged game mode now, with working multiplayer support. While the multiplayer is still in it’s first public release, it feels fairly solid. There is now a kill limit and timer in both single player and multiplayer, along with a small stat’s leader board. The default kill limit is to 15 kills and it’s a great way to hone your skills now. You might be surprised at the competition the AI will give you 😉
Proper Windows Privileges Handling :
Before, I was a bad developer and I didn’t properly account for users that are not administrators on their user account. This caused some unusual bugs when you tried to update the game. This is all taken care of now. Now all game data for MAV, such as saved games, player settings, saved mech builds, ect. will be saved to your My Documents/My Games/Bombdog Studios/MAV folder. This seemed like a much better place and much easier and logical for the users.
Bug Fixes :
It wouldn’t be a proper update without loads of bug fixes! There were several UI bugs related the main menu and specifically the controls setting menu that are resolved in this update. Also, a bug that spawned some players floating high above the map is also resolved.
Well, that sums up the release for now. The next focus for updates will be with the garage and MAV building. There may even be some graphical updates as well, but no promises yet 😉