RELEASE NOTES – Arena Commander V0.8

WARNING: This version of Arena Commander
will delete your Hangar’s “USER” folder. If you have stored screenshots
or other information, please move them before patching.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In order to take off in the dogfighting module, you must pick up the HELMET located on a pedestal in your Hangar. Once you have picked up the helmet, enter an AC ELIGIBLE SHIP
(F7C Hornet, Aurora or 300i) to take off. Note that if you have
additional versions of each eligible ship (ie, two 300is) only one of
them will allow you access to Arena Commander.

HORNET PILOT’S NOTE:
Please be aware that the Gatling guns on your Hornet can overheat and
explode! Be careful with the trigger to ensure you don’t lose your
weapons while in flight.

Known Issues

Global


No way to easily distinguish dogfighting eligible ships from ineligible ones.

There are multiple issues with the persistence system that can
cause ship loadouts to not appear and bugs with the helmet in the
hangar. Easy workaround for most issues is to delete your “USER” folder
inside the game client.

Having multiple input devices connected (I.E. Joystick + Gamepad)
will cause conflicts between the throttle settings when certain actions
are performed like changing flight modes or receiving damage with hit
impulses

Hangar – Art – X55 debug text appears in key bindings menu

Some combinations of computer hardware can sometimes experience graphical glitches and artifacts.

Ship collisions with environmental objects needs tuning and refinement for proper damage attribution.

All Maps – Gameplay / Weapons – The flare countermeasure doesn’t always cause missiles to miss and follow it

Player cockpit animations and enter/exit animations still need some improvements

Infrequent crashes still occur during gameplay in special circumstances and after extended periods of play

Issues with scoreboard display when awaiting respawn or in 3rd person perspective.

Radar and signature system still needs improvement for occlusion
handling and a balance pass to increase the variability of radar
effectiveness.

When ejecting from the ship after the character pulls the ejection handle he tposes for a few frames before ejecting

When ejecting at high speeds you go into the cockpit a little bit before impulsing up

Particle effect remains indefinitely after gatling gun is destroyed

Some users are reporting a bypassable “No Disk in Drive” error when updating

Render thread spikes could cause performance issues

Bitching Betty may announce ‘system overheating’ at incorrect times

Missing chair whilst the player is ejecting in first person view

Camera transitions between the three animation states of ejection have large glitching issues.

Some foot IK animation errors when walking inside Constellation

Camera spins wildly when third person is activated after ejecting

On the Aurora the fixed weapon aiming reticule turns green when pointing directly at the target or behind the target’s direction

Blacking out can happen too easily sometimes

Buggy can sometimes slide around and flip over

Buggy can sometimes not accelerate unless turbo is applied (Shift)

Badger Repeater weapon geometry becomes offset when fired from the firing range

Near impossible to navigate Arena Commander UI using Oculus Rift

Some users can experience an issue of falling through the elevator floor when using lower spec machines

The Outfit Changer has been temporarily disabled

Clicking the launch button on the Arena Commander UI multiple times can cause undesired behavior



Vanduul Swarm


All Maps – Vanduul Swarm – Gameplay – If pausing as the game loads
into the level, the player will be left on a black screen indefinitely

All Ships – Vanduul Swarm / DFM_Survival – Art – There is a green, occasionally graphically corrupt, bar present when the player kills an enemy

Vanduul Swarm / DFM_Survival – AI – The Ai controlled wingmen are too quickly overheating their own Gatling guns to the point of destroying them

Dying Star – Vanduul Swarm – Gameplay – Wave 7 didn’t spawn in during Vanduul Swarm (only once)

No HUD element to show remaining lives

Today’s patch adds the Freelancer variants to the Hangar and gives backers a first look at the two TNGS finalist ships! Vote for your favorite during the live TNGS broadcast, Saturday, June 7th at 3 PM PST.




PLEASE NOTE: Your Hangar has temporarily been updated to Deluxe to display the TNGS finalists. The ships will be removed and your normal Hangar returned after the finale.




Updates

Added upgraded base Freelancer and all variants to the Hangar Module

Upgraded all backers to Deluxe Hangars so we can add the TNGS finalist ships

Increased the size of production server and deployed servers with Google Compute

Added Four Horseman’s – Aegis Dynamics – Redeemer – to all backer hangars

Added Shard Collective’s – Origin Jumpworks – AX114 Boomslang – to all backer hangars

Light polish and hookup work on The Next Great Starship ships for display in the hangar

Add missiles to the freelancer_max

Adjusted power consumption and the speed of the laser bolt for the Klaus and Werner CF007 Bulldog






Bugs Fixed

Unable to access multiplayer with an account that contains the appropriate multiplayer game mode items

Resolved an issue in multiplayer where the pilot enter animation would play every time you respawn

Resolved an issue with the Hornet’s Gatling gun which would cause
it to begin taking heat damage prior to reaching a critical heat state

Resolved an issue with the AI firing their Gatling guns constantly until they were destroyed due to heat damage

Resolved an issue with pilot animations becoming offset in the 300i when viewed in 3rd person

Resolved an issue which caused the animations for pitching up and down in the cockpit to be reversed.

Resolved an issue which caused AI who were destroyed when the
player blew up their engine and reactor to register as having committed
suicide.

Resolved an issue in multiplayer that would often cause a crash of the server and clients at the end of a round

Corrected an issue with cooling on the 300i which could cause unintentional overheating under normal operating conditions

PLEASE NOTE: You must now press tab to show the cursor when the Arena Commander menu is open in the cockpit.
New Features/Fixes
Vanduul no longer show as committing suicide when defeating them with missiles
Added “Invert Flight Mouse” and “Invert Flight Controller” options to game settings screen
Helmet animation plays when putting on the helmet now
Ejection now counts towards player death
Added an expanded X52 mapping
Lighting fixes for AMD machines
Improved Aurora mount/dismount/idle animation
Increased fuel tank capacity to allow for longer afterburner use
Improved Thruster Animations
Improved Holoship destruction
Player is now able to access the scoreboard whilst waiting on respawn
Improvements on overlapping ship audio SFX
Fixed crashes when match round ends
300i seat animations now added and improved
Entering 300i and Aurora with your helmet now displays the HUD on the helmet
Removed debug text from X55 HOTAS in key binding menu
Known Issues
Hangar:
Buggy can only move when using boost in the business hangar
Audio missing from legacy Aurora control panels when sit/standing in pilot seat
CF-117 Badger repeater geometry becomes offset when fired from firing range
Red replace me ball shown beneath DFM Trainer Hornet
Texture z-fighting appearing in DFM Trainer Aurora cockpit
Third person camera view can roll using Q and E
Vanduul swarm
Aurora boost level decreases when not using boost
Boost level not shown while flying 300i
Multiplayer
Aurora boost level only shown as decreasing after first death
Other ships can appear to rotate when they actually are not
Scoreboard info not shown if round ends while outside of ship

New Features/Fixes


Arena Commander

Arena commander menu now accessible through options menu

Proper score awarded when an enemy is destroyed in Vanduul Swarm

All ballistic weapons now use ammo boxes

Frozen effect no longer appears for everyone after ejecting

Command pp_rebindKeys layout_joystick_spacesim now properly works

HOTAS X55 Joystick is diplayed under controller options menu

Run no longer toggled off when user interacts with something

Cockpit and ship should now despawn after ejecting

All ship controls now have smoother animations

X-box right joystick can now be inverted

Countermeasures should now be more effective

Hornet chaingun audio should no longer cut out

No longer stuck unable to respawn if chat open while killed

Spawn warping audio no longer heard by everyone in the match

Broadsword when equipped now has ammo and properly overheats

Ship debris can no longer pass through cockpit

Improvments to zero-g movement

Various performance improvements

Various server and client crash fixes

Switched spawn points so that players respawn next to their own bases in CTC

Match end after reaching over 100 points.

Helmet Animations

Various matchmaking tweaks (public matches were requesting private ones)

Reduced texture sizes on the 300i

Implement new win mechanic into Team Deathmatch. Fixed up next kill wins mode, audio and HUD alerts.

Item Balancing

Shield energy reallocation does not loose energy but realloc existing energy

Loading screen remains on screen after the level has loaded

Pausing the game as DFM loads from hangar sticks on a black screen

Added directional indication for shield impacts not in view (similar to an older verison of the shield) for gameplay feedback.

ReExported LandingGear_deploy animation

Player is able to enter ship while he is also able to ‘press X to
respawn’. Ship now correctly rez’s out when landed after ejection.

Improved lighting but for real this time

If a Vanduul becomes sufficiently damaged they disappear from the
map and their name in-game becomes “undefined”. Need to be destroyed to
progress. Added missing return to fix.

Allow custom user CFGs to be specified in cmd line.

When one player ejects from their ship, the frozen visor FX may appear on all player’s screens.

After destroying another player their body will float in space in a t-pose.

MP Fix – Player is now hidden following a vehicle destruction death as in SP.






Hangar

Buggy can now drive properly in the Business Hangar

Turrets no longer mountable on missile racks hardpoints

Third person camera no longer rotates using Q and E

Replace me ball no longer present under Hornet Trainer

Improvements to Trainer Hornet rear landing gear geometry

No longer able to place 325a engine on other ships

Hornet Ghost engine no longer able to be equipped on other ships

Resolved issue of no ammo when chaingun removed and added back to ship

Fix for third person camera rotating when pressing Q or E when not in zero-g

Created basic mapping for Logitech G940. Fixed up a number of asserts it caused in the Joystick device handler.

The Logitech G940 completely changes if you install the correct
drivers. Updated the mappings to work with those drivers rather than the
default windows ones.

AC menu can be navigated using a gamepad





Known Issues:


HUD target indicator arrows can be missing

Graphical issues can occur while using SLI/Crossfire

It can be possible to sometimes load into a black screen when choosing an Arena Commander match

Hornet gatling guns take heat damage when not being fired

Fixes

Players able to connect to Broken Moon

Performance improvements when targeting enemies in single player

Chainguns firing sounds and animations no longer cut out

Matchmaking and server stability improved:

Reduced rotational and positional errors of players in multiplayer

Resolved issue with players returning to hangar in the middle of matches

Bandwidth optimization improvements – a case where less is more

Session token authorization added

Improved sync between instance manager and matchmaker

Improved matchmaking queue functionality



Here are some of the crash fixes:

Attempting to zone into a multiplayer match is fixed

Choosing “Return to Hangar” is crushed

During multiplayer matches – stability FTW

No longer crashes when round ends

After running out of map border – you die, but you don’t crash
[Well your ship crashes, and explodes, but the game doesn’t crash or
explode – Ed.]

You can now alt-tab on the loading screen, without crashing



Sounds no longer stutter on missile lock sounds

Freelancer model no longer flickering

Missing textures on the calendar are found

Animation issues:

Reintroduced y-bobbing on character movement

Cleaned up freelancer bed animation



Source file corruption issues are improved

Metafile launcher errors are improved





Balancing

Balanced ballistic weapons ammo – no longer unlimited





Additional Features

Shield indicators added to ship model on HUD

Added Control Mapping for the G940 HOTAS

Improved weapon fire sounds that have more guts and punch

The whoosh of other ships flying close by you

The whizz of other players’ ordnance as they fire at you

New explosions

Improved sound mix

Additions/Improvements

Added subscriber jukebox

Adding cockpit shaking and sounds from damage and impacts

Missile sounds polished and improved

Additional shield sounds added (power down, power up, taking damage)

Added new Vanduul ship designated [REDACTED] by UEE Naval Command

Added Victory/Defeat/Draw message on end of round scoreboard

Added voice over announcement to denote which team has won the round

Added additional Hornet top bar warning lights

Freelancer bunk beds now interactable

Freelancer bathroom and toilet now interactable

Revised the Aurora interior to increase fidelity

Added Aurora warning indicator lights





Balancing



300i

Power plant charge reduced

Thruster power drain decreased

Shield HP increased

Shield regen delay decreased

Hull piece health increased







Aurora

Shield HP reduced

Shield regen delay increased

Shield changed from bubble shield to a front/rear shield

Shield face power allocation rate reduced







Hornet

Thruster health increased

Shield regen delay increased

Health values for shield and ship parts modified to impart a sturdier feel







Mantis Gatling Gun

Damage decreased

Heat per shot increased







Bulldog Repeater

Power recharge rate has been decreased

Repeater fire rate increased







Badger Repeater

Increased rate of fire







Behring M3A

Rate of fire decreased

Damage increased







Omnisky VI

Damage decreased

Rate of fire decreased

Bullet mass increased (to knock around ships with more force)







Missiles

Damage decreased

Missiles now properly deal damage to the shields instead of going straight to the hull







Vanduul Scythe

Decreased shield regeneration





Networking Improvements

Fixed issues that resulted in being kicked back to hangar during match load

Positional correction fixes to reduce rubberbanding

Failed connection attempts to HubServer will now timeout after 10 seconds

Removed socket disconnections due to login timeouts

Networked physics is now independent of frame rate

Reduced server load caused by console logging

Creation of http interface to capture server statistics

Fixed players not connecting to matchmaker

Added a handshake system to guarantee the correct initialization of servers

Server-to-server connection improvements

Adjusted ship network packet priorities

Fix for disconnections while in the hangar

Reworked network correction to use network sync’d packets and direct physics pushes instead of IFCS system

Greatly reduced hitching and performance issues associated with players joining or exiting a match





Fixes

Mantis cannons no longer takes damage without overheating

Player can no longer zone into a match standing in the cockpit

Helmet is no longer invisible

Fixed 300i landing gear placement

Fixed rare crash when loading into Vanduul Swarm

Fixed crash when receiving connection error

Fixed crash caused by players spawning on top of each other at beginning of map

CPU optimizations to improve client performance

Gatling gun audio stops when no longer firing

Destroying an asteroid no longer counts as a final kill

Energy bolts now scale properly when fired to the side

Winning music no longer plays at match end for losing team. You get nothing, you lose, good day sir.

Fixed ships in holotable no longer showing hologram model

Notifications, points, scoreboard and timer should now show in third person

Player movement prevented when interacting with helmet stand

Friendly killed audio no longer plays Hostile Eliminated, Target Destroyed or Enemy down

Removed use icon on ladder

Correct game mode descriptions added in Arena Commander UI

Adjusted bloom of objects on radar

Projectiles scale properly when firing in decoupled mode

Particle emitters now properly destroy themselves, reducing lag

Ship Energy system optimizations

Fix for sound velocity/speed being calculated incorrectly if its position is changed multiple times per frame.

ADDITIONS

Added the M50 to the Hangar

ADDITIONS

Adding poster flair items to hangars

Adding new Constellation and variants

Adding additional sounds and Constellation audio

Server improvements to address issues regarding being kicked back to hangar

Features

Added Cooperative Vanduul Swarm game mode

Added Classic Race game mode

Added Private Matches

Added Friend Codes

M50 is now Arena Commander Ready

350r is now Arena Commander Ready

Added New Horizons Speedway level

New Hangars:

Discount is now Self Land

Business is now Aeroview

Deluxe is now Revel & York

Addition of VFG Industrial Asteroid Hangar



Added backend support for Leaderboards

Added ability to boost maneuvering thrusters by consuming fuel

Additional controls for Six Degrees of Freedom in both coupled/decoupled mode

Added various control schemes

Added fuel gauge to HUD of all ships

Greatly improved pilot g-force animations

Added scalable directional pilot animations for hit impacts

New game/pause menu

Updated and improved a plethora of sound effects

Added sounds for catwalk doors

Updated countermeasure sounds

Added response sound for hitting target

Updated Character Animations

New Sound effects for Vanduul wave spawns

New ship flight sounds

Updated Aurora paint jobs

Updated 300-series paint jobs

Added lead target indicators

Added sound effect for failed missile lock

Added sound effect for hit confirmation

Fixed a multitude of ships bugs for hangar ships

Double tapping throttle up/down on gamepad and keyboard sets throttle to full/zero

Added spectator cam after you are destroyed

Added support for Track IR

Added support for players to select their active hangar on the website

Updated HUD, revamped HUD controls, and greatly improved functionality

Added slight head movement to look where you are flying





Balance/Tweaks

Increased top speed of ships to previous max boost speed

Afterburners now increase thruster power instead of top speed

Removed automatic lead shooting by ITTS. Training wheels are off.

Rebalanced all weapons

Improved weapon damage due to ITTS changes

Improved weapon heat dissipation

Boosting now overrides G-Safe

Improved control sensitivity for finer control on joysticks and thumbsticks.

Revised shield recharge rates and health

Revised health of all ships and their discrete pieces

Throttle now proportional to acceleration for more precise throttle control on gamepad and keyboard

Revised missile speed, damage, and signature requirements for lock

Updated flight performance characteristics for all ships

Balanced energy consumption on weapons and items better.

Updated and improved art and visual effects in Broken Moon and Dying Star

Improved AI flight behavior





Fixes

Sound no longer plays while the loading screen is still active

CTC Core radar icon changed to be more visible

Fixed an issue where targeting reticles were still present after target died

Fixed the performance issues with CTC Cores

Fixed orientation of targeted ships on HUD

Respawn message no longer shows when you eject on your final life in Vanduul Swarm

Loading of ship hud no longer cancels lock-ons

Memory optimizations for sound

Missiles no longer pass through geometry

Various Animation and IK fixes

Freelancer door animation fixes

Fixed an issue with the crab escaping its tank and wandering out of the hangar

Fixed missing textures

Fixed up ejection issues

Fixed misaligned decals on ships

Various crash fixes

Fixed issue where player was able to exit ship while respawning

Fixed an issue where player would sometimes die immediately when spawning during Free Flight or Vanduul Swarm

Lighting adjustments

Fixed a lot of animation issues throughout

Fixed an issue with players falling through elevators

Fixed an issue with character appearing to fall after loading

Fixed camera angle issues in third person

Fixed character missing eyes in some situations

Fixed issues with audio cutting out

Fixed collision issues with walls

Console no longer displays user information such as username

Adjusted landing pad to be easier to land on

Fixed various server crashes

Track IR adjustments

Fixed issue where 300i could sometimes fail to eject the player

Fixed 325a control panels missing

Enabled Hornet volume trail

Fixed avenger geometry, animation, and texture issues

Fixed collision on the Cutlass

Fixed issues with damage states and visual effects

Fixed a potential security issue present when accessing the console

Fixed various issues with throttle and stick pilot animations in the Hornet

Fixed an issue where the Aurora’s cockpit camera was cutting off important HUD information