Author: Tom J Nowell

Congratulations to all Ascended and especially clan Valhalla led by ConTrust for winning PlanetWars season 8 – almost total victory this time despite heroic efforts of other factions. Details in http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/314

PlanetWars season 9 starts now! Can Ascended do it again or will they be stopped now?

= ChangeList =
* new galaxy
* improved trading and diplomacy interfaces
* trade with enemies is impossible
* local now buy influence at $15 instead of $10
* ships cannot engage other ships in orbit anymore
* you can only store ships up to fleet size (but you can have several fleets orbiting distant planets)
* shipyards produce 1/4 of ship per turn played only
* jumpgates only transport 1 ship and can be blocked by planetary defense grid (which is 1000 credits more expensive now)
* all structures except mines and wormhole cost 2% of their cost per turn as upkeep – lack of credits results in destruction of the most upkeep hungry structure
* influence of unclanned people is given to same faction clanned people on the planet after battle
* same faction clans share research by default
* repair only costs 50% of original structure cost
* ships only start ground combat if faction members of owner are present
* insurgents target all planets of strongest faction present (weighted by their influence – low influence more likely) and all empty planets linked to planets of faction present – weighted by influence (higher more likely)
* homeworlds can only be created on planets without artefacts where only your faction holds influence
* you can give influence to other faction clans and system tracks how much you transferred – and your ratio with them
* after battle, if your ally or ceasefire partner owns the planet where you fought, you give all your influence there to him – for ceasefire it happens only if balance of influence swapped this way does not exceed 150%

We’ve introduced some new models, and implemented a brand new (experimental) faction system for PlanetWars. Lots of other changes too, be sure to read the whole changelog!

—–
PLANETWARS NEW ROUND!
—–
New PlanetWars homeworld system:
* each clan can select one empty planet as their home (if they have enough influence spread through galaxy on unocuppied planets). Influence is moved from those spread planets to new home.
* at any point, clan can “consolidate” influence from spread unowned planets back to homeworld
* only clan founder or people with rights can perform this action
* free planets for clans after first battle removed

Factions:
* clans now belong to factions http://zero-k.info/wiki/PlanetWarsFactions
* clans inside factions are allied by default and share victory goal

Introduced taxes:
* influence generates $2 per 100 influence for owner

Introduced corruption:
* corruption reduces planet income (mines and tax). Corruption depend on ratio between first and second clan influence

Introduced decay:
* if there is a corruption on the planet,each clan loses 10 influence every turn

Changed fleet behavior:
* fleet capacity – it does not represent max total ships anymore, but ships you can deploy at one planet. This fixes issue with jumpgates etc
* bombing also reduces influence by 3% and 10% if there are no more structures

tweaks:
* clan domination malus decreased and capped at -70
* max clan size 8, no matter the player skill
* game can be started again even if composition score is not good
* mines nerfed

——
GRAPHICS
——
New Recluse, Venom, Tarantula and Weaver models. by CaptainBenz.

——
GUI:
——
* Added widget; Replace Cloak Con Orders (disabled by default). It turns repair and reclaim orders into move orders if given to a cloaked constructor. This is to prevent unfortunate accidental decloak when navigating a wreck field with Rectors or cloaked Commanders.

* Added terraform tooltip that shows hotkeys for each type of command when using that command.

* Tactical AI no longer activates when a unit is set to hold position and an attack command is given by the player (now it required fight to activate).

* Fixed transport AI wait bug (transported units were sometimes kept in “waiting” state)

* Added a new minimap icon for Pylon and adjusted the Geo/Fusion one. Some very small units, mostly mobile bombs, are now displayed as minimap icons at lower than default zoom levels.

——
GAME BALANCE:
——

Commander Modules:
* Sheild drain 6 -> 12 (to be equal to mobile shield)
* Energy cell back to correct value (+6e), cost reduced (250 -> 225).
* Removed range bonus from Nanolathe

Commander Weapons:
Dgun:
* 12% more damage
* 33% wider AOE
Gauss Rifle:
* Range 450 -> 415.
Riot Cannon:
* AOE 136 -> 128
* Damage 250 -> 240
* Range 290 -> 270
Shotgun:
* Range 320 -> 300

Almost all death explosions crater 12.5% less to make the terrain a bit more Vehicle friendly.

Faraday:
* Cost 170 -> 200

Hammer:
* Range 860 -> 820
* Speed 1.72 -> 1.62

Thug:
* Shield regen rate 12 -> 14

Dominatrix:
* Cost 420 -> 400
* Capture decay rate 5% -> 4%/s
* Delay before degrade 2 -> 5s

Dante:
* Missile range 520 -> 460
* Cost 3600 -> 3500
* Speed 1.7 -> 1.75

Tacnuke Missile:
* AoE 128 -> 192

Firestorm:
* Cost 350 -> 320

Shadow:
* Cost 500 -> 450

Behemoth:
* New model (Mr Bob)
* Damage 300 -> 600
* Reload 6 -> 10
* Range 1650 -> 1850
* Shot is slower and arcs

Krow:
* Flipped model (flys ‘forwards’), restricted arcs. Can now only fire 2 guns at any point on the ground.
* Damage increase 50% to compensate for arc loss.
* Health 17000 -> 17500
* Can fire missile storm below it every 20 seconds, manual fire.
* Removed gravity beam, missile storm replaces it.

Fixed slow weapon interaction with Stiletto and Krow burst weapons, the burst is now slowed.

Chicken:
* Spires do more damage
* Burrows should no longer spawn in lava

Congratulations to clan NC founded by Omygod for winning this round 🙂

http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/314

After a turbulent start tainted by recreation of Valhalla, Imperium seemed to be firmly on the path to victory.

However Noble Champion’s relentless activity push, paired with higher skill and alliance with reformed Valhalla caused Imperial forces to crumble and lose several key worlds. NC then went for artefacts and achieved swift technologic victory.

Imperium ended second, Valhalla third.

Next season will take some time to prepare due to upcoming faction system and other tweaks. Meanwhile, your feedback and suggestions are welcome!