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News

Read Press Releases

Achron version 1.7.0.0

Summary: This release features improved terrain rendering, which both looks better and increases rendering performance drastically in most situations. This release also features changes to cloaking and bug fixes for replays.

Achron changelog:

• changed cloakers to lose energy when under attack but are now perma-cloaked when energy is full
• removed cloak and uncloak controls
• added configuration option to main menu to Autohide Control Submenus (i.e., build submenu, pilot submene)
• added display of absolute and relative time when mouse is over timeline
• improved campaign 1 levels 4, 7, and 8 courtesy of ChronAberant

Resequence Engine changelog:

• bug fixed where if a shortcut action is activated on a unit in a unit list, all units in the list would show the activated command, regardless of whether or not the command was activated on that unit
• quick icons on unit lists now perform proper logic based on the unit that is displayed for
• added get_unit_attribute to skin language
• release action steps can now be used directly via scenario monitor or other units even if it is not carrying them
• fixed data corruption bug in client
• terrains now use VBOs and texturing to render transitions. Greatly improved performance in many cases, and terrain transitions look better.
• increased maximum number of usable terrain types to 255
• achronal command sharing now properly informs client so that unit controls can be activated
• achronal command sharing now retains commands from other players after revoked
• added variable NumUnitsSelected and commands get_selected_unit_number and get_group_unit_number to skin language
• minor performance improvement to timeline rendering
• extended Status by 2 bits to use previously deprecated bits
• timeline statistics can now each have their own independent textures, specified in ocs.xml
• fixed bug where reconnecting from client to engine (such as watching a replay and changing players) would not properly update all units if unit caching was enabled
• consume resource action step can now reduce additional parameters to negative values
• fixed bug where environmental condition transitions would sometimes not be smooth

 

Achron version 1.6.5.0

Summary: This release contains numerous bug fixes and adds new modding capabilities to Resequence.

Achron changelog:

• added reset warning to main menu when toggling slidable timeline and updated shadow map sizes
• fixed bug: clearing a congregation point could lead to spamming of error messages
• fixed bug: moving units would bank repeatedly over their destination instead of stopping
• fixed bug: comm hubs did not cloak properly

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where units would not show up when jumping to a time they did not exist and jumping back when EnableClientUnitDataCache is enabled
• separated performance counters for skin script and rendering HUD
• fixed bug where ValueResources were using incorrect values for animations
• added UnitResourceValue0...UnitResourceValue7, SelectionGroup0NumUnits...SelectionGroup9NumUnits to skin language
• added SKIN_UnitResourceValue0...SKIN_UnitResourceValue7, PLAYER_NUM, SELECTED_UNIT_NUMBER, and SELECTED_UNIT_NAME to front-end resources for condition checking (animation, controls)
• removed comparisons EQUALS_PLAYER_NUMBER and NOT_EQUALS_PLAYER_NUMBER, which are now checkable via comparisons to PlayerNumber
• fixed rare consistency bug if an area effect occurred between two identical visibility queries
• added SelectedPlayerNumber and PlayerNumber to skin language
• visibility radius of -1 now means can't see anything, whereas 0 can only see a point of overlap
• added unit->IsAffectable and unit->ClosestAffectablePosition to Rescript
• added U_DISTANCE_TO_CAMERA as unit resource - can be used for showing different animations or models at different distances (e.g., iconic representations)
• added IS_HIGHLIGHTED_UNIT, IS_NOT_HIGHLIGHTED_UNIT, IS_SELECTED_UNIT, IS_NOT_SELECTED_UNIT, IS_UNIT_IN_SELECTION_GROUP, IS_UNIT_NOT_IN_SELECTION_GROUP, IS_IN_CAMERA_VIEW, IS_NOT_IN_CAMERA_VIEW to front-end conditions in controls and animations
• fixed potential consistency bug if multiple visibility queries were called on the same unit with different height ranges
• added UnitListLogic to ocs.xml and migrated over all unit lists in skin language, so that all unit lists are generic and programmable
• made unit box selection allow for 1/2 of the unit radius outside of the center of the unit (makes box selection easier)
• added SelectPlayerNumber to skin language to allow menus to automatically select player numbers in lobby
• fixed bug where multiple conditions for an animation would not use the correct resource type for conditions after the first
• added SelectUnit to skin language
• commands in unit lists no longer automatically select a unit when list controls are activated
• visibility sharing of allies now shares queued commands
• fixed bug where undoing commands could sometimes be used against adversaries' units
• added ability to achronally share and revoke other players' ability to issue commands. Added SET_PLAYER_ACHRONAL_COMMAND_SHARING to Rescript and ShareAchronalCommandWithPlayer and RevokeAchronalCommandFromPlayer to skin compiler
• action step modifiers now use spatial index for area effect for efficiency, and units occupy the same tile no longer erroneously occlude one another for the action step
• unit selection groups are now stored on the server and saved and loaded with save files
• MOVE_NON_ROTATE now does not penalize unit for rotation cost of movement
• Skin variable SingleUnitSelected now set to selected unit's number
• synchronized skin variables are now fully bidirectional between host and all clients
• fixed bug where loading elevation maps in the level editor would sometimes crash

 

Achron version 1.6.4.0

Summary: This release contains numerous performance improvements, especially for rendering and multiplayer, as well as numerous bug fixes.

Achron changelog:

• added display of number of available orders on Chronoenergy bar
• fixed bug: printed error messages at start of MP games
• fixed bug: C1L2 kept spamming warning message at start of level
• fixed bug: C2L3 started level as dead
• fixed bug: patrolling air units would bank repeatedly into same turn and get stuck
• fixed bug: nuke explosion oriented relative to ground and not to cruiser
• added to Level Editor: Manual input of elevation height in terrain tab

Resequence Engine changelog:

• changed level editor unit list to use whether or not an object class has a model to determine whether or not it is displayed in the unit list, rather than whether the model has a nonzero height
• fixed bug where terrain objects with animations placed out of playable area would sometimes initialize with erroneous geometry for the first few seconds of gameplay
• added tris_to_billboards flag to .ers files and particle_scale to .as files to support particle systems as projectiles
• fixed bug where the say commands in Rescript would not properly advance the Rescript interpreter when applied to an inactive player, causing an incorrect error to be thrown.
• added PlayerChronoEnergy and ChronoenergyCommandCostAtCurrentTime to skin language
• fixed bug where environmental transitions (lighting, precipitation, etc.) would sometimes flicker
• added ability for scenario monitor to call unit->NextCarriedUnit on itself
• TAKE_UNIT action step now can take units even if it is being carried itself
• small reduction in interprocess bandwidth in games with large numbers of units and significant unit creation and destruction; improves latency and performance across all platforms in large games, primarily multiplayer and on slower computers
• added EnableClientUnitDataCache to configuration.ini. When enabled, reduces bandwidth for multiplayer and increases performance, particularly in games with many unchanging units or with slideable timeline enabled
• fixed bug where rendering quick controls for unit icons in unit lists would cause a crash if a unit in one of those lists did not have any controls
• fixed bug where rendering subordinate or carried unit windows would show erroneous units when no units are selected
• changed menu skin and campaign file naming to make Resequence more flexible with regard to new games, and also accomodate multiple Resequence engine games installed in the same location
• in Rescript, unit->Action is now accessible to non-allied units that can see the target unit
• added U_UNIT_NUMBER, U_UNIT_NAME, U_CARRIER, U_RANK, U_TYPE, U_PRIORITY_SELECTION_RANK, T_UNIT_NUMBER, T_UNIT_NUMBER, T_CARRIER, T_RANK, T_TYPE, T_PRIORITY_SELECTION_RANK to action precondition resource types and U_UNIT_NUMBER, U_UNIT_NAME, U_CARRIER, U_RANK, U_TYPE, U_PRIORITY_SELECTION_RANK to front-end resource types
• added ValueResource to ocs.xml for comparing dynamic unit values to other dynamic unit values (action preconditons, animation conditions, control conditions, etc.)
• changed to use more compact representation for texture coordinate data and surface normals (minor performance increase on certain platforms and reduced VRAM usage for object data)
• modernized rendering of shadow maps for terrain: significant performance improvements for shadow mapping across platforms and also fixes rendering bugs where moving the camera too low would cause terrain shadows to stop being rendered
• can now select units of zero size if have alliance from unit's owner and unit's owner has visibility sharing
• fixed bug where selecting a campaign using a touch screen device would cause a crash
• changed from Creative Labs OpenAL to OpenAL-Soft for Windows distribution

 

Achron version 1.6.3.1

Summary: This release fixes one critical bug and one minor bug.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: builder control submenu for building placement auto-clears unless player is holding enqueue didn't work when using hotkeys for placement

Resequence Engine changelog:

• Fixed bug where incorrect values were used for player resources in determining controls and animations.

 

Achron version 1.6.3.0

Summary: This release contains balance improvements, bug fixes, banking animations for flying units, and new modding features.

Achron changelog:

• added banking animation to some air units (lancer, frigate, tornade, cruiser, blackbird, sepiligo, teth tercher, shin tercher, shin pulser)
• added to Level Editor: Timewave Merge Interval setting to scenario parameters tab
• added to Level Editor: Time Window statistic buckets setting to scenario parameters tab
• added to Level Editor: display unit number when mousing over a unit in units tab with a unit selected
• added to Level Editor: boundary fog intensity slider in view settings tab
• changed TSS to not allow TSS on non-CESO buildings
• Pharo attack range increased by 2
• Shin Halcyon HP increased by 10%
• Teth Halcyon HP decreased from 420->300, ground/air DPS increased: 28/64 -> 39/88
• Increased build times for Turret/Dome/Bastion to 35/36/30 seconds respectively
• Increased Bastion's ground/air DPS: 45(+13)/60(+17) -> 59(+25)/97(+29)
• Decreased ATHCs ground range down to 14
• Decreased TwinMar's ground/air DPS: 191/20 -> 183/12
• Increased Blackbird's repair to match MFB, but drains energy 2x as fast
• fixed bug: Grekim chronoporting beyond max range did not send units to max range instead of cancelling command
• fixed bug: community/online id was overlapping with settings in pre-game lobby
• fixed bug: displayed engine error messages on various campaign levels
• fixed bug: builder control submenu for building placement auto-clears unless player is holding enqueue
• fixed bug: chronobomb would insta-chronofrag units upon arrival

Resequence Engine changelog:

• added rendering timing breakdown details to frames per second counter
• fixed bug where script errors were not always reported properly
• model compiler now indicates when an OCS has been loaded and automatically reloads the model
• removed deprecated PCX support
• reduced memory churn for strings in complex UI skins
• added setval_readable_absolute_time and setval_readable_relative_time commands to skin language
• added skin variables PresentTime, CurrentTime, TimeWindowStartTime, TimeWindowEndTime, MouseOverTime, EstimatedCompletionTime, TimeBlurEffect. Blur effect now only caused by TimeBlurEffect set
• MouseOverUnit in skin language now indicates unit number that it is over
• added PERFORM GET_PLAYER_NUM_UNDOS to Rescript
• broke skin variable IgnorePlayerInput functionality into IgnorePlayerChronalInput and IgnorePlayerMetaTimeInput and PERFORM FREEZE_ALL_INPUT and UNFREEZE_ALL_INPUT to DISABLE_PLAYER_CHRONAL_INPUT / DISABLE_PLAYER_METATIME_INPUT and ENABLE_PLAYER_CHRONAL_INPUT / ENABLE_PLAYER_METATIME_INPUT respectively
• added PERFORM GET_TIME_SINCE_LOAD to Rescript for scenario monitor
• fixed potential rare memory corruption bug for 3D models that have many animation attributes
• made time jump merge interval (interval at which the engine will attempt to merge a player's time jump to another timewave) configurable and added level editor skin variable ScenarioTimewaveMergeInterval
• added AllPlayersStatistic to action step modifiers in ocs.xml in addition to SelfStatistic and TargetStatistic
• added unit and objective details to error messages in Rescript
• improved logic for forcing player timewaves to move along with present when hit either end of the allowed time window
• added optional XOffset and YOffset to TerrainType in .til.xml files to change the terrain texture offset
• added BoundaryFogIntensity to skin language
• added MAXIMUM as a valid type for TimelineStatistic/AccumulationType in ocs.xml
• fixed bug where unit controls could be activated from quick icons even if marked as disabled
• granularity of timeline statistics is now customizable per level. Added ScenarioNumTimeWindowStatisticsBuckets to skin language
• fixed bug with logging of string data to print log file
• animations can now have more than one projectile as listed in the animation script (.as file), which is useful for multilayered explosions, smoke trails, etc.
• PERFORM UI_SELECT_*UNIT now allows scenario monitor to call the perform from any time on the timeline
• fixed bug where a unit calling PERFORM BESTMOVE on a unit other than itself would use an incorrect collision map for detecting collisions
• decoupled animations from actions, such that actions are selectable based on unit state
• added PERFORM UNDO_LAST_UNIT_COMMAND, UNDO_NEXT_UNIT_COMMAND, GET_LAST_UNIT_COMMAND_TIME, and GET_NEXT_UNIT_COMMAND_TIME to Rescript
• updated FreeType to 2.5.3

 

Achron version 1.6.2.0

Summary: This point release fixes two important bugs in the previous release, as well as several additional bugs.

Achron changelog:

• changed Comm Centers/Hubs to always stay cloaked when not moving/relocating
• removed requirement to have a Comm Center/Hub for building Carriers/Incepters
• changed chronoporting beyond max range to send units to max range instead of cancelling command
• increased energy recharge rate for Ceso and Vecgir TSS breakers (down to 87 seconds for recharge)
• fixed bug: resource processors would randomly idle for short spurts between processing cycles
• fixed bug: Vecgir power did not fall with building death
• added toggle for hearing sounds through fog of war to pre-game lobby
• added more anisotropic filtering options to graphics settings in menu

Resequence Engine changelog:

• added orient_to_model option to Model Compiler animation script
• further OpenGL modernization
• fixed bug where loading a saved game would not allow time jumps until it had been played for a substantial amount of time
• object selection (whether via UI, PERFORM GET_UNIT_AT, etc.) now obtains the tallest unit at a position rather than any unit; improves unit selection in many edge cases
• updated library versions: libogg to 1.3.1, libvorbis to 1.3.4, and FreeType to 2.5.2
• fixed bug where undoing the next command would sometimes jump to the wrong command backward in time
• improved quality of random numbers in Rescript and actions
• number of lights specified now indicates number of point lights (instead of including global lighting)
• fixed bug where rerendering minimap would yield a solid black image
• fixed rendering bug with move_with_source model compiler flag, where projectiles would still jump from location to location
• improved load times by a few seconds on some machines
• fixed bug with anisotropic texture rendering: improved texturemapping accuracy at steep angles when enabled
• fixed bug where unit would sometimes be rendered as in an idle state for a short time when performing back-to-back actions
• fixed bug where long profile names would sometimes cause campaign levels to not load properly (e.g., engine stopped error message)
• added PlaySoundsBehindFogOfWar to skin language
• improved fog of war rendering: no longer has artifacts when SSAO is enabled and now blends appropriately with very large objects
• added RenderModelExplode to action animation properties - units can now be specified whether to render the destruction explosion shader independent of action number

 

Achron version 1.6.1.1

Summary: This point release fixes two important bugs in the previous release, as well as several additional bugs.

Achron changelog:

• fixed initial settings in main menu
• fixed bug: fog of war was not rendered in multiplayer games
• fixed bug: menu and help and replay control buttons were not available in multiplayer UI
• fixed bug: Level Editor reset values to default in Player tab did not set the correct LC value
• tweaked ambient occlusion blur factor
• included an updated configuration file for new installations

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed replay issue where engine would crash on replay loading
• fixed two replay which improves replay accuracy with respect to timing
• fixed bug where maximum chronoport distance would be incorrectly rendered on timeline (blocking out the whole thing) once the timeline had sufficiently advanced

 

Achron version 1.6.1.0

Summary: This release includes rendering improvements, new features for mod editing, and numerous bug fixes.

Achron changelog:

• added button to UI that dynamically reloads all scripts when in debug mode
• changed Comm Centers/Hub/Mound to not auto-enable autohierarchy when they are first created/built
• fixed bug: vecgir pilots sometimes ignored orders to pilot vehicles in depot
• fixed bug: infantry slow to respond to a move order immediately after/during an attack
• fixed bug: progenerating units would detach hierarchy when arcticus relocated
• fixed bug: newly progenerated units would not connect to arcticus hierarchy if rally point was not set
• fixed bug: Advanced UI unit death timeline statistic was not showing up for some units
• fixed bug: occasionally the start level attack on C1L4 was not effective
• added to Level Editor: SSAO settings
• added to Level Editor: volume sliders to settings tab
• added to Level Editor: 'delete all __ of selected type' buttons for units and terrain textures and objects
• added to Level Editor: hotkeys , and . to decrease and increase brush size respectively
• updated Level Editor to remember user's Fog of War setting
• added experimental hotkeys [ and ] to multiplayer skin: for selected unit(s) Undo just the previous or next commands respectively and jump to that point in time. Note: only with Advanced UI enabled and does not show expected CE usage

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where changes to the timeline made during a time wave overtake could result in a mixed game state for one time wave
• fixed precipitation rendering issue on Linux and Mac
• fixed bug where perf_ret_float was not set properly for PERFORM GET_GLOBAL_TIME_RATE
• added ShowPresentTimewave to skin language
• added MarkUnit to skin language for debugging, added pause key to list of recognized keys
• fixed bug where in certain situations the previous completed action would remain indicated on a unit when another unit acted upon it in a way that required the unit's timer
• fixed bug where setting dynamic or static tick marks on timeline to 0 would cause a crash
• increased console buffer size to 64 lines
• added displacement map scale: in .til.xml file and displacementmap_scale to .as files. Both default to 0.05 if omitted.
• fixed displacement mapping rendering bugs
• increased allowed resolution of player timewave time change events to individual time tick
• fixed bug where chronoport arrived action would not be run
• improved accuracy of time rate in certain areas in the engine
• fixed rendering bug where units would sometimes flicker to idle state on first rendering frame when animating class morphs and unit constructions
• added live reload of scripts to game, adding both PERFORM RELOAD_SCENARIO_MONITOR_SCRIPT to Rescript, as well as the debug-mode-only ReloadAllScripts to skin language
• fixed bug where a unit created in proximity of another unit would destroy it even if the collision maps overlapped in a way that was not colliding
• added action step SET_ACTION_PARAMETER
• corrected action step MOVE_NON_ROTATE to not snap its rotation but to strafe
• added LevelEditorDeleteAllOfBrushType to skin language
• removed previously deprecated CampaignCompiler - all campaigns must be created using the newer XML Resequence campaign format
• more OpenGL modernization - updated more code to modern OpenGL calls and removed some redundant state changes (minor decrease to frame rendering time relative to the affected code)
• added screen space ambient occlusion effect to engine and added control AmbientOcclusion to skin language
• fixed projectile blending bug where semitransparent surfaces perpendicular to the camera would did not have intended visibility reduction
• added ScenarioAmbientOcclusionThreshold, ScenarioAmbientOcclusionBlurRadius, ScenarioAmbientOcclusionSampleInnerRadius, and ScenarioAmbientOcclusionSampleOuterRadius to skin language to edit ambient occlusion settings
• added DeleteNextCommandAndJumpToTime and DeletePreviousCommandAndJumpToTime to skin language
• player's selection and control activation are now directed by command sharing flags rather than just player owner; makes controlling units of other players easier when a player has access to issue those controls
• added PERFORM GET_META_TIME to Rescript
• added move_with_source flag to model compiler
• fixed bug where precipitation had incorrect fog and lighting blending

 

Achron version 1.6.0.0

Summary: This release includes precipitation effects such as rain, snow, ash, and sand, a new level editor user interface, and numerous bug fixes, experimental Intel HD Graphics adapter support, and modding SDK improvements.

Achron changelog:

• new level editor UI
• added various new controls (light intensities, precipitation settings) to Environment tab in Level Editor
• fixed bug: LevelEditor ignored camera rotation speed and list scroll speed modification
• fixed bug: CESO and Vecgir RPs would start in open configuration at start of multiplayer games
• updated Vecgir RP to not be limited to 4 orthogonal spots near crates when auto-skipping
• updated campaign levels to include precipitation effects where appropriate
• fixed bug where AI player would not build armory

Resequence Engine changelog:

• added action step TRANSFER_CARRIED_UNIT_FROM
• fixed bugs where inserting new commands or other control changes during the same tick as an action concluded had a chance of breaking forced action chains (action number reset prematurely)
• fixed action step TRANSFER_CARRIED_UNIT_TO where if it were the first action performed on a unit within one tick it would cause consistency issues
• added object class attribute AlwaysHighlightUnitUnlessNoOwner
• added StatusIconSize to skin language
• fixed bug where a carrying unit's capacity indicator would not be recomputed properly if a unit is destroyed while being carried
• sounds played by carried units now are heard by players if owner, second owner, or sharing vision/data
• pathfinding now takes into account terrain-specific speed modifiers
• fixed bug control sharing bugs where control sharing would not work properly or controls would be automatically shared when not desired
• model compiler now shows numerical value for animation progress
• unit damage shader is no longer invoked if unit's health is hidden or it has no health field
• added dynamically adjustable global light intensities to level environment. Added to Rescript scenario monitor attributes AmbientLightIntensity and DirectionLightIntensity and PERFORM SET_DIRECTION_LIGHT_INTENSITY and SET_AMBIENT_LIGHT_INTENSITY to Rescript. Added ScenarioAmbientIntensity and ScenarioDiffuseIntensity to skin language
• units can now read another's second owner field if it is equal to the unit doing the reading
• added custom fields 7 and 8 to player
• added carrying amount and capacity to unit gauges and ability to hide them with object class flag HideCapacityField
• fixed bug where units set to appear as no owner would not show details to second owner
• second owners can now access all attributes that previously required an alliance to access
• fixed bug where current unit capacity would be shown for no owner units
• PERFORM SET_OTHER_
• now works for second owner units
• unit->Owner now always returns the proper owner if second owner matches unit inquiring
• added iterator unit->NextVisibleUnit to Rescript, which can be used to replace QUERY VALUE and QUERY UNIT
• improved consistency of visibility checking for unit list controls
• fixed bug where if a single font character was wider than the entire line it was allowed to render on, it would freeze up the rendering
• added carrier and commander as possible targets for action steps (in addition to target unit and self)
• fixed bug with chronoenergy gauge where texture was stretched incorrectly for chronoenergy cost
• added PreferredTextureCompression to configuration.ini for tuning video card compression. Enables a workaround for stripe issues on Intel HD Graphics: set to "none" to work around the issue.
• modernized OpenGL calls in timeline rendering, fixed bug where timeline overlays had incorrect color and transparency
• fixed bug where self-splash damage yielded maximum damage, even when the unit causing the splash was not near the center of the attack
• fixed bug where minimum radius sometimes did not work when the splash size was nonzero
• improved precipitation rendering
• added to skin language: ScenarioNumPrecipitationParticles, ScenarioPrecipitationLength, ScenarioPrecipitationMaxVelocity, ScenarioPrecipitationXVelocity, ScenarioPrecipitationYVelocity, ScenarioPrecipitationZVelocity, ScenarioPrecipitationStartRed, ScenarioPrecipitationStartGreen, ScenarioPrecipitationStartBlue, ScenarioPrecipitationStartAlpha, ScenarioPrecipitationEndRed, ScenarioPrecipitationEndGreen, ScenarioPrecipitationEndBlue, ScenarioPrecipitationEndAlpha, ScenarioPrecipitationEmission
• changed Linux and Mac to appropriately use ALT keys instead of MENU operation
• fixed shadow rendering size bug when shadowmapping is disabled
• fixed bug where terrain would black out on certain NVidia drivers when missiles were fired
• fixed bug where software mesa rendering would error with an invalid rendering state after certain commands were issued
• added wetness parameter to scenario monitor for snow, rain, sand, ash, etc. rendering on other objects, as well as ScenarioPrecipitationWetness to skin language, and ParticleWetness and PERFORM SET_PRECIPITATION_WETNESS to Rescript
• renamed particles terms to precipitation in Rescript

 

Achron version 1.5.3.0

Summary: This release fixes many bugs and improves balance, especially for early game multiplayer. It also includes new features for sharing control in multiplayer and for creating new types of mods to time manipulation.

Achron changelog:

• changed Vecgir Foundation to count as a production unit for player lost heuristic
• changed start game to 'even' start game, where every species starts with 3 RPs and several base level units
• increased CESO Tank's speed by 1/6th
• added Level Editor toggle to player tab: Player Forward Jumps Instantly Update Timeline (CPU intensive)
• added Level Editor toggle to player tab: Player looks like 'no-owner'
• added Level Editor toggle to 'super size' the maximized minimap, display on half the screen
• added ability to toggle sharing control with other players in multiplayer games
• fixed bug: C3L6 end level logic would not be executed if certain conditions were not met
• fixed bug: vecgir vehicles would sometimes ignore order to repair in depot
• fixed bug: recover-capable units would not clear nanites from buildings
• fixed bug: undamaged vecgir vehicles would enter depot to be repaired leading to other behavioral inconsistencies
• fixed bug: vir would not enter depot to pilot vehicles in certain situations
• fixed bug: TSS'd importers would not allow their Reserve Soldiers to be utilized
• fixed bug: chained actions (i.e., attacks, upgrades) could be interrupted in certain situations

Resequence Engine changelog:

• removed deprecated 2D-only model format and legacy rendering code from all of Resequence
• action precondition U_TERRAIN_TYPE now uses center of unit
• added unit->OverTerrainType to Rescript
• fixed bug where Rescript compiler would crash if a line feed character followed an include statement prior to newline character
• projectiles now leave from the same location of the unit regardless of unit's orientation relative to terrain, etc.
• further OpenGL modernization improvements (potential increased compatibility)
• shadow definition rendering improvements
• fixed bug where when continuously changing time is enabled, chronoporting commands would cause the player to jump to the destination time prematurely
• fixed bug where fragments of heirarchy and chronoportee lines would be rendered where they shouldn't be
• added scenario option for player to propagate the timeline forward with time jumps, but can be expensive with respect to CPU. Also added ScenarioPlayerPropagateForwardTimeJumps to skin language for level editing and PERFORM ADVANCE_TIME_WAVE_TIME to Rescript.
• OpenAL now properly cleans up on exit (removes error on Linux)
• engine now disallows rotations around the zero vector (and no longer causes crash on Linux)
• added ability to show fixed ranges (e.g., attack or special effect radius) for specified units via DistanceIndicator and AlwaysShowDistanceIndicator fields to classes in the ocs.xml and UnitDistanceIndicator in skin language
• moved AnimatedHierarchyLineSpeed, AnimatedChronoporteeLineSpeed, AnimatedControlActiveLineSpeed, CameraRotationSpeed, and ListScrollSpeed from configuration parameters to skin variables so they can be changed dynamically
• fixed rounding bug for absolute time indicator when mouse is over timeline
• added ALWAYS as an option for flashing timeline statistics
• added TimeCloudEffect togglable variable to skin language
• improved rendering performance of large projectiles when shadowmapping is enabled
• improved compatability of UPnP on different network adapter configurations
• added ability for player to share ability to command units with another player. Also added ShareCommandWithPlayer and RevokeCommandFromPlayer to skin language, and player->CommandSharing and PERFORM SET_PLAYER_COMMAND_SHARING to Rescript.
• numerous minor bugfixes to Rescript compiler
• added ISSUING_PLAYER_NUMBER as option to PARAMETER_INPUT in ocs to allow the unit to know the player that issued the command
• added U_SECOND_OWNER and T_SECOND_OWNER to resources types in ocs
• added EQUALS_PLAYER_NUMBER and NOT_EQUALS_PLAYER_NUMBER to comparison types in ocs
• evaluation types ONE and SET_TO_VALUE now use integers instead of floating point values
• added attributes AppearAsNoOwnerUnlessVisible and AlwaysAppearAsNoOwner to object class type
• added ScenarioPlayerUnitsAppearAsNoOwner to skin language, and ability to set a players' units to appear as if they had no owner for a particular scenario
• Past Event Chronoenergy Drain scenario parameter re-enabled in the engine
• fixed performance bug where a player being paused in time would use significantly more bandwidth in multiplayer
• fixed bug where action number would be sometimes cleared before forced actions could be run if a unit was a target of an action at the same tick as the action completed

 

Achron version 1.5.2.0

Summary: This release features numerous performance improvements, as well as more (optional) timeline statistics, bug fixes, and numerous functional improvements.

Achron changelog:

• added additional statistics display on timeline when enabling Advanced UI
• improved unit responsiveness by 56ms for dispatch orders (move, attack, patrol)
• added 'disable player color' toggle to Players tab in Level Editor
• added 'Perfect accuracy vision' to settings in Level Editor
• reduced patrol hold distance from 6 tiles to 4 tiles

Resequence Engine changelog:

• added team color viewing options to Model Compiler
• reduced number of rendering state changes considerably (major increase in frames per second on certain platforms and graphics settings)
• fixed bug where units that were moused over would not show highlight underlay
• full functionality behind skin variables ___ListShowQuickIcons now implemented
• skin variable ShowFogOfWar can be used to enable perfectly accurate rendering of all units' visibilities (but is very slow to compute, so is only enabled in level editor)
• fixed bug where terrain objects and terrain-based obstacles would not always obstruct units' attacks and visibility
• removed last remnants of deprecated weapon parameters from OCS
• fixed several bugs with quick icons, and quick icons now display active objective
• cleaner fog of war edges (fog of war no longer rendered using extra vertex data, less redundant data passed to GPU)
• added logging of player commands to detailed logging options
• added keepalive messages to replay files so that an approximate total time of the replay is maintained. Resequence now exits when playing replay if replay is complete (waits for all commands to fall off the timeline if a timewave is enabled at the furthest possible past) and no players are connected
• added ability to disable individual team colors and skin variable ScenarioPlayerDisableTeamColor for the option in the level editor
• fixed bug where units with no HP would not display progress indicator overlays
• replays now store configuration parameters, which are used only when the replay is running
• fixed bug where PERFORM GET_TIME_WINDOW_START was off by one tick
• fixed bug where furthest possible past timewave would get started 2 ticks late
• fixed bug where carried units' attributes were not accessible as they would if they were seen on the map
• updated FreeType to version 2.5.0.1
• added LogPrintDataToConsole and LogPrintDataToFile to configuration that control if the print statements from rescript are logged

 

Achron version 1.5.1.0

Summary: This release adds a continuous sliding timeline position (for single player and high-bandwidth multiplayer), more statistics kept for players for replays, as well as numerous bug fixes.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: vecgir buildings attempted to attack targets out of range
• fixed bug: invisible game replay slider
• fixed bug: octo splash size visual
• fixed bug: QP crate explosion animation
• added Slidable Timeline and Time Jump Delay options to main menu settings

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where WindowOpacity value interpretation was inconsistent - now 0.0 to 1.0 works properly in all situations.
• improved accuracy and precision for QUERY VALUE in Rescript
• Value and unit queries in Rescript now set perf_ret to the number of units that matched on the query
• added DisplayDepthBits to configuration.ini, defaults to 24-bit depth buffer
• improved bloom filter
• fixed bug where ScenarioSelectorCurrentDirectory would not work if a trailing / was not included
• added SET_OTHER_ADDITIONAL_PARAMS2-4 to Rescript
• fixed bug that would cause rare crashes with units that had projectiles that spawned at the target if the target turned invalid (destroyed between two split action steps)
• added max_move_search_nodes to Rescript
• Skin variables indicating that more of the list is up or down (e.g., ListMoreUp and ListMoreDown) are now are set to the number of rows above or below (0 if none), rather than just binary flags
• added PERFORM GET_PLAYER_NUM_COMMANDS_ISSUED, GET_PLAYER_NUM_TIME_JUMPS, and GET_PLAYER_AVERAGE_RELATIVE_TIME to Rescript
• object class action areas are not outlines rather than filled-in
• PERFORM IN_REPLAY now returns a separate value if in a replay but the replay commands are exhausted
• added PlayerTimeChangeTimeoutOverrideInSeconds and ContinuousPlayerTimeChange to configuration.ini. If set to a small value (e.g., 0.1) and 1 respectively, then the player can drag the temporal position around on the timeline, but it requires either a locally hosted game or a high-bandwidth multiplayer connection to work properly.
• fixed some minor OpenGL bugs when setting texturemap parameters
• added checks for making sure that uninitialized scenario files (or bad scenario files) do not display corrupt information in pregame lobby
• Windows build now prefers TrueType fonts, increasing compatibility when many additional font variations are installed
• added SelectedUnitsListHideUnitIcon, SelectedUnitsListShowQuickIcons, SelectedUnitsListShowBackgroundTriangle, SelectedUnitsListNumColumns, CarriedUnitsListHideUnitIcon, CarriedUnitsListShowQuickIcons, CarriedUnitsListShowBackgroundTriangle, CarriedUnitsListNumColumns, SubordinateUnitsListHideUnitIcon, SubordinateUnitsListShowQuickIcons, SubordinateUnitsListShowBackgroundTriangle, SubordinateUnitsListNumColumns, PrioritySelectionUnitsListHideUnitIcon, PrioritySelectionUnitsListShowQuickIcons, PrioritySelectionUnitsListShowBackgroundTriangle, and PrioritySelectionUnitsListNumColumns to skin language
• fixed bugs related to post-process effects using the back buffer instead of a properly initialized buffer (caused compatibility issues)
• eliminated dependency on legacy OpenGL GLU library
• fixed bug with overly tight action step restrictions on action distance which caused some actions to erroneously fail

 

Achron version 1.5.0.0

Summary: This release features a major update to Achron's underlying Resequence engine, enabling many modding improvements. It also features some balance improvements to Achron and additional timewave and chronoenergy gameplay settings.

Achron changelog:

• increased nanite infect range from 16 to 20
• changed RPs to autoclose when below 200HP
• changed base and pod class Grekim to only use hierarchy for auto-progen if Auto-Hierarchy is enabled
• fixed bug: C1L6 Shin Vir did not properly utilize their weapon causing them not to attack
• fixed bug: pod-level progen units attacked unkillable enemy buildings
• added toggles for timewaves at Furthest Past and Unplayable Past in Level Editor (Scenario Params)
• added chronoenergy usage distribution editing to Chronoenergy settings in Level Editor (Scenario Params)
• added manual camera focus settings to level editor
• minor terrain texture improvements (human capital ship, Moore's Point, lava)

Resequence Engine changelog:

• removed movementDelayMultiplier from weapons - functionality can be accounted for using action step restrictions
• weapon AttackSplashRadius and AttackSplashEffectiveRadius maximum values both increased from 255 to 32767. If AttackSplashEffectiveRadius is 0, then the attack is uniform over the area (no reduction over distance)
• added built-in window SKW_PRIORITY_SELECTION_UNITS and attribute PrioritySelectionRank to object classes (that indicate if a unit of that type should be included in that window)
• added MouseWheelPositionDelta to skin language
• added HideHealthField option to object class
• added action step AS_CONSUME_RESOURCE_PARAMETER that consumes the amount of resources specified by the action parameter
• fixed bug where ClosestAttackablePosition and valid attackable code would yield different results due to a collision map flag not being checked properly, yielding a rare edge case where units would get stuck trying to attack when they couldn't. Also fixed other rare edge case visibility bugs
• added new set of options to collision map such that each location of a unit can be designated as sensing or not (where a unit can see or shoot from)
• CREATE_UNIT_ANYWHERE and RELEASE_UNIT_ANYWHERE action steps now work even if the performing unit is carried
• added PERFORM GET_MAX_ACTION_RANGE_RADIUS and GET_MAX_ACTION_RANGE_HEIGHT to Rescript
• changed weapons to action step modifiers
• added PERFORM IS_TARGET_WITHIN_ACTION_RANGE and GET_CLOSEST_TARGET_POSITION_WITHIN_RANGE to Rescript and removed unit->IsAttackable and unit->ClosestAttackablePosition
• added built-in window SUBORDINATE_UNITS and skin variable ListFocusSubordinateUnits
• fixed bug where AdditionalParameters3 and 4 were not properly cleared to 0 on new unit creation; bug could have caused inconsistent replays / saves
• fixed bug where Windows 8 would sometimes load incorrect versions of fonts (e.g., bold when regular selected) due to a change in Window's registry key ordering
• added SingleUnitClass to skin language
• fixed bug where showing all units' status bars would sometimes erroneously omit some units' status bars
• CONSUME_RESOURCE action step now checks to make sure that a unit can fit properly if the unit's class is altered
• can now rename health/HP field
• added RenderCircleMap to skin language to enable circular map rendering
• fixed bug where units created by the scenario monitor would have undefined owner numbers
• fixed bug where units belonging to uninitialized players could not access own data fields
• added TimelineStatDisplayBitmask to allow the skin to change which stats are displayed on the timeline
• added emission textures to terrain (-e in filename)
• switched from 24-bit to 32-bit depth buffers
• added HideArmor field to ocs
• added ContinueActionOnStepFailure to action step modifier in ocs
• fixed bug where action step EVAL_SET_TO_VALUE would not work properly for non-zero values
• added built-in variable target_is_position to Rescript
• fixed bug where units could not walk on collision maps where a unit had a clip through but screening tile, and certain collision map tiles could not be properly selected in level editor
• added MinEffectRange and MaxEffectAngle to OCS action step modifiers
• removed action step range (now action step modifier property)
• removed WeaponVRange, WeaponVRange2, WeaponHRange, WeaponHRange2, WeaponVSplashRange, WeaponHSplashRange, IsPermeatingWeapon, from Rescript as they were made obsolete by action step modifiers system
• renamed to IS_POSITION_ATTACKABLE_DIRECTION to IS_POSITION_WITHIN_ACTION_ANGLE and changed parameters
• added additional parameters to consume resource action steps
• added PERFORM ACCUMULATE_STATISTIC
• added action step ACCUM_STATSISTIC
• added accumulate statistics attributes to action step modifiers
• added DepthOfFieldManualFocus, DepthOfFieldFocusDepth, and DepthOfFieldApertureSize to skin language
• improved accuracy of depth of field effect
• added ScenarioSelectorCurrentDirectory and ScenarioSelectorUpdate to skin language
• added Chronoport Arrived built-in action to units
• added optional timewaves at furthest past and at unusable past, added ScenarioTimewaveAtFurthestPast and ScenarioTimewaveAtUnusablePast to skin languge
• added chronoenergy redistribution mechanism (so spent chronoenergy can be redistributed to other players) on a per-level basis. Exposed via the level editor skin variables ScenarioCERedistributed and ScenarioCERedistributionWeightAlly
• fixed bug where level editor map cursors would be rendered when skin variable HideUI was set
• added to_object casting operator to Rescript
• added check so that if fonts return an invalid size, they will be errored out and not loaded
• increased maximum Resequence control message size to 32kb to accomodate larger timewave data chunks
• changed bloom to a 2-pass effect
• made bloom strength inversely proportional to ambient light term and phi angle
• improved depth of field rendering to be closer to a uniform mix of samples and also improved performance of depth of field

 

Achron version 1.4.0.1

Summary: This release fixes numerous bugs, especially for assassin mode and single player campaigns, and also features minor balance changes to resource processing and Grekim healing.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: player without any attack/production wouldn't be defeated if Achron is alive in Assassin Mode
• fixed bug: C1L4 start units didn't appear
• fixed bug: updated info popup in C1L6 regarding cloakable units
• fixed bug: removed (unused) energy attribute from ATHCs
• fixed bug: bug in C1L10 made end-level situation difficult
• fixed bug: oasis demo level was broken due to increased vis and attack ranges
• fixed bug: playing in assassin Mode would change the color of the fog in a level
• fixed bug: clone challenge level was unplayable
• fixed bug: edited replay view snaps to present after several minutes of gameplay
• increased RP process rate, decreasing process time down to 12 seconds for LC and 15 seconds for QP
• increased Reaph heal energy consumption by 3x
• reduced visibility for some buildings
• reduced heal range of Reaphs to not work on targets at edge of Reaph's visibility
• fixed several bugs where errors in multiplayer pre-game lobby would move players to quickplay lobby
• fixed surrender heuristic to ignore non-players

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where units were not detectable on the south and east edges of the playable map (and same with terrain objects on the visible map) for most spatial index cache values
• damage dealt and received on timeline now are measured in HP as opposed to attack counts, for better relative comparisons
• weapons with no additional attack delay no longer update total action time (formerly problematic when a unit attacks with a zero-tick attack when performing another action)
• fixed bug where scenario monitor accessing player data via -> command in Rescript would not work if unless the variable "player" was the same player being accessed
• fixed bug where an action by the scenario on an invalid target would overwrite the fog color to white
• bloom filter now downsamples the screenbuffer for increased performance and blur quality

 

Achron version 1.4.0.0

Summary: This release contains assassination mode for multiplayer, major improvements to pathfinding performance, increases to unit visibility, improvements to balancing, and numerous minor improvements and bug fixes.

Achron changelog:

• increased visibility area and attack ranges of all units by an average of 33%
• significant increase in path-finding strength (1.5-2x) on all single player levels
• changes in prices for most units due to the updated attack ranges and visibility changes
• added Assassin Mode for multiplayer where each player has a non-attacking Achron unit
• fixed bug: teleporters would ignore units not in direct line of sight (most notable with infantry)
• fixed bug: damaged open CESO and Grekim RPs would not stop blinking on the minimap
• fixed bug: C1L10 was very hard to beat with the given units after previous balance changes
• fixed bug: C3L8 locked screen if killing off all enemies prior to 'protecting' objective
• fixed bug: newly deployed units rallying on attack-moving commanders wouldn't actively follow the commander's objective
• fixed bug: using $GO_ATTACK macro in a scenario monitor would prevent hierarchies from speed matching smoothly
• fixed bug: Idle Octos would move close to but not attack enemy Macrofabs
• fixed bug: units would try to attack indestructable enemies
• changed base multiplayer scripts to turn losers into spectators
• merged absolute and relative time displays
• changed "Timewave Colors" option into "Advanced Timeline UI". This setting enables timewave colors and the merged absolute and relative time display. When off, only absolute time display is shown
• fixed many tooltips to keep the text within the boxes on Linux
• tweaked profile creation menu to be easier to use
• changed "Save Replays" setting to be on by default
• made spectator statistics display grey out player stats when they have lost

Resequence Engine changelog:

• major improvements in spatial index algorithms via caching. Added configuration parameters UnitSpatialIndexCacheBlockSize and TerrainObjectSpatialIndexCacheBlockSize to tune performance. Values closer to 1 rely more on CPU cache and will likely yield better performance on higher-end CPUs. Larger values will use less CPU cache less intensely and will recompute more often. Values between 1 and 30 are recommended, and the optimal value will depend on your particular computer. Defaults to 6.
• improvements in pathfinding core algorithms (~2-4% reduced CPU cost for scenarios with a large number of units moving)
• upgraded FreeType library to 2.4.11
• removed FreeTypeFonts from configuration.ini
• added casting to int & float in Rescript: trunc and to_float functions
• removed dependency on OpenGL DisplayLists and custom line widths which have been deprecated by OpenGL (may improve compatibility on certain video cards)
• fixed bug where sharing vision with another player would allow an opponent to see a nonally's visibly-ranges (e.g., teleporters' source range)
• split point_width into normal_line_width and indicator_line_width in skin language
• added timeline_statistic_image to skin language to allow custom texturing of timeline statistic bars
• added UNDO_UNIT_COMMANDS to Rescript
• Resequence no longer opens up a server port if the command line port is 0; useful for running automated testing in parallel on machines with prompting firewalls.
• holding in the enqueue commands key now shows amount of time to complete current actions on timeline
• added flags for players having unit controls and timeline controls.
• added PLAYER_ENABLE_UNIT_CONTROLS, PLAYER_DISABLE_UNIT_CONTROLS, PLAYER_ENABLE_TIMELINE_CONTROLS and PLAYER_DISABLE_TIMELINE_CONTROLS PERFORMs to change the unit and timeline controls flags. These PERFORMs take a player bitmask as parameter.
• added GET_UNIT_CONTROLS_PLAYERS and GET_TIMELINE_CONTROLS_PLAYERS PERFORMs to get a bitmask of players with unit and timeline controls enabled.
• added StartScenario skin variable for creating a pregame lobby for quickplay, while SpawnScenario simply starts the game with the StartScenario-loaded scenario.

 

Achron version 1.3.0.1

Summary: This release includes a number of map and balance improvements, as well as a number of bug fixes.

Achron changelog:

• fixed Vecgir vehicle chronoporting costs to account for the pilot, average of 9 QP increase
• fixed starting unit rotations on some SP levels
• increased capacity of crates
• removed artillery damage reduction for ATHCs
• fixed bug: species selector remains after choosing a species
• modified MAR and TwinMar:
  - MAR's ground attack is now a direct projectile and NO anti-air weapon
  - MAR's speed increased by 16%
  - Merge time increased back to 10 seconds
  - TwinMAR is now long range artillery with large AOE (splash)
  - TwinMAR's speed reduced by 16%
  - TwinMAR's ground attack DPS reduced from 218 down to 191
• added new pre-game lobby option to clear order queue after chronoport
• fixed bug in pre-game lobby for non-widescreen monitors that displayed 'toggle AI' buttons during the settings view
• Fixed a bug in multiplayer pre-game lobby where the initial settings weren't always displaying properly
• Fixed a bug where choosing Grekim would make an invisible and selectable "Species Selector" unit remain
• Fixed a small bug with win handling in the tournament statistics display
• Changed crates to 120 energy for LC, 100 energy for QP, and 400 energy for large QP
• Proper set of multiplayer maps included
• Minor improvements to single-player level environment settings and ice/snow textures

Resequence Engine changelog:

• ResetCameraOrientation in skin no longer lowers camera to default height
• energy field is now set to max > 255 if set to -1 or 255 in editor (previously could not have been set higher than 255, even though 1023 was allowed as max)
• fixed if_indextoname error on some configurations of Windows XP
• Improved Bloom efficiency

 

Achron version 1.3.0.0

Summary: This release includes numerous improvements to graphics, pre-game lobby, game balance, as well as a number of important bug fixes. Special thanks to Dominic "Shadowfury333" Renaud for his coding efforts contributing to this release!

Achron changelog:

• lowered HP of buildings:
  Macrofab 1200->1000
  Factory 1000-> 700
  Armory 900-> 800
  Importer 450->300
  Reaph 900->800
• reduced cost CESO units as follows: SOP by 2LC, all air units, MAR, Tank, and MFB by 3LC
• moved Cloak from ATHC to Blackbird
• changed ATHC to be a cloak Detector and reduced cost by 4LC
• doubled MFB repair/heal rate
• increasee Octo RP morph time to 8s
• increased cost of all RPs to 80LC
• decreased RP processing cycle for LC by 3.3 seconds and QP by 4.2 seconds (increasing rate)
• derceased cost of Importer down to 50LC
• decreased Importer Reserve Soldier capacity to 3
• changed Grekim Chooser to start Grekim with 1 RP and 1 Sepi
• fixed bug: Mar tanks would ignore the merge order when in a hierarchy during an attack
• improved hierarchy skip teleport to reduce unnecessary skips by subordinates when close enough
• updated grekim units to ignore commands from Arcticus while moving to make building and to disconnect on morph
• updated teleportation to not depend on the unit's sight radius, only on that of the gate's
• updated Slipgates to properly repel units near the map border, flipping the repel direction if necessary
• updated Slipgates to not consider dead units possible targets
• updated Slipgates to ensure that they repel outside their sphere
• updated unit description and tooltip text
• added more configurable graphics settings to settings menu
• added community chat to level editor
• updated unit textures and models, improving visual differentiation in Vir and other vecgir models
• updated hierarchy line visual
• Increased visibility of in-game community chat
• Added UI hiding functionality to level editor, defaults to ';'
• Added in-progress advancements to advancements display, icons are halved diagonally when in-progress.
• Opened control flags to be editable in editor. First three control flags have set meanings, last three are script configurable
• Set up lobby settings to be visible to all clients
• Added ability to toggle AI in lobby

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where replays could not be unpaused
• fixed bug where cached timeline data would not be flushed immediately in certain rare cases when total damage was reduced
• fixed bug where Resequence would repeatedly send world state data to Achron clients prior to game start (would sometimes clog up connections on slower machines and slower network connections, causing a variety of issues)
• added LevelEditorBrushIgnoreCollisions to skin language
• added screen (S - occludes unit vision but not space) and nonblocking (N - occludes neither vision nor space, but still selectable and effectable) location attributes to collision maps. NOTE: Requires all previously custom models to be recompiled
• fixed bug where jumping to a new spot on the timeline would not always synchronize all units properly
• fixed primary bug where replays were corrupted
• added synchronized modifier to skin variables to synchronize variables across the network
• skin variables now populated with scenario properties when player enters the multiplayer lobby
• added PlayersConnected to skin language
• upgraded miniupnpc to version 1.7.20120830
• resetting the camera now also recenters the camera over the mouse position
• improved gracefulness of failure when OpenAL cannot be initialized - will continue to read in proper skin data
• Added new shader effects for construction, birth and morphing actions
• Added more detailed configuration options for graphical effects
• Added Depth of Field blur effect. 0 is off, 1 is on, 2 (in game settings as "HQ") is on and maintains sharpness of in-focus objects.
• Reduced strength of fullscreen sepia effect when away from present
• Changed fog to have a maximum height, defaults to the maximum height level the camera can reach
• Increased strength of specular highlights by a factor of 5
• Increased strength of bloom on bright areas, but increased the brightness threshold for blooming
• Added Bokeh-respecting Bloom when looking at bright blurry areas.
• Changed cloak effect to be more visible when detected
• Added and tags to select effects for ACTION_CREATE actions and actions with MorphWithActionParameter set
  -Vertex Shader Effects are:
  NONE: no shader effect (best for when there is a custom build animation).
  CUBE_CLAMPED_SCALE: Object grows out in all directions, but is softly clamped by a growing cube. This was the old effect for all units.
  XZ_PLANE_CLAMPED_VERT_SCALE: Object starts as a flat plane and grows upward, clamped by a rising plane parallel to the ground.
  INV_QUADRATIC_SCALE: Object grows uniformly in all directions proportional to the square root of the current progress [0,1].
  -Fragment Shader Effects are:
  NONE: no shader effect (best for when there is a custom build animation).
  TELEPORT: Same effect as teleportation and chronoportation.
  TELEPORT_BUILD: Similar effect to teleport, but rises from the ground over time. Works best with XZ_PLANE_CLAMPED_VERT_SCALE.
  BEIGE_TO_COLOR: Object starts out as a semi-transparent beige and transitions smoothly to its own colours. Works best with INV_QUADRATIC_SCALE.
• Added Bloom and DepthOfField as skin variables for runtime configuration
• Added PlayerCustomControls variable for in-progress advancement display
• Added ScenarioFogHeight and ScenarioPlayerControlFlags variables for editing

 

Achron version 1.2.0.1

Summary: This patch release fixes an important bug in level 2, as well as two other bugs and includes additional sandbox levels. A video highlighting the changes for 1.2.0.0 can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny5YRJiwjD0.

Achron changelog:

• fixed C1L2 vecgir skip timing, previously affected by improvements to skip logic
• fixed default keybinding for Dome's Fire Beam
• included additional sandbox levels courtesy of Shadowfury333

Resequence Engine changelog:

• improved resiliance against disconnects in pre-game lobby

 

Achron version 1.2.0.0

Summary: This release improves balance, improves unit aesthetics, and fixes numerous issues including the font loading issue. A video highlighting the changes can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny5YRJiwjD0.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: game crashes due to unsupported font usage for users without Anklepants font
• fixed bug: self-skipping units would not continue skipping after using a teleporter/slipgate
• fixed bug: self-skip with some Vecgir vehicles wouldn't show objective line to destination
• fixed C4L5 bugs preventing end level and speeds remaning locked out in specific situations
• fixed several minor keybindings
• fixed bug: ACC would not enable air units in adjacent Depots during auto-defence attacking
• fixed bug: slingshotted units would automatically return back to slingshot after the teleport
• fixed bug: some air units wouldn't attack ground units while patrolling
• fixed bug: Level Editor clone brush wouldn't set destination if minimap was clicked first
• updated main menu skin layout with an always displayed community chat window
• updated repair script to repair any damaged unit, even if it's only 1 hp of damage
• decreased creation time of all Grekim base units progenerated by Arcticus by 7 seconds (down to 9 sec)
• decreased range of Sepiligo weapon by 2
• increased range of anti-air weapon by 1 for Mech,Sepi,T-Vir,T-Pulser and by 2 for Heavy Tank, Octoligo and T-Halcyon
• changed right-click to auto-select target only for normal units right-clicking on other allied units
• changed unit creation buildings to produce units on button release instead of button press
• changed single-unit progen to take destination, unit automoves then morphs; group progen works as before
• improved RP movement logic when approaching crates for processing from the right side
• increased speed of Grekim RPs by 22%
• updated closed RPs to allow conversion of resources
• changed RPs' Move shortcut to R (Relocate) to be consistent with other buildings
• added display of outline at destination for RP relocate and teleport controls
• updated RPs to not auto-close when attacked until they have less than 60% health
• increased RS import time from 39 to 47 seconds
• increased LC and QP Crate capacity by 50%
• decreased RP process yield by 20% from 10 to 8
• increased RP process time by 11%
• lowered HP of large buildings:
  Spyre 800->600
  Annex 1200->900
  Armory 1400->900
  Reaph 1000->900
  Factory 1200->1000
  Depot 1600->1200
  Macrofab 1700->1200
• increased cost of CESO SOPs and Marines by 2 LC and piloted CESO vehicles by 3 LC
• included improved unit texturemaps (and one terrain texture), courtesy of Shadowfury333
• updates and changes to included community map list

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed PERFORM GET_ENABLED_PLAYERS to return correct mask for enabled players (previously returned all as active players up until max player number)
• changed gloss mapping from linear on 0-255 texturemap values to quadratic on 0.5-255.5 to make the most widely used glossmap region
• minor improvement to bloom filtering
• updated FreeType to 2.4.9
• fixed bug where if one player shared vision with another, but the first player was allied with a third player, the second player would not see allied units within visibility range of the first player's units
• global time rate changes stored in replays are now ignored when viewing replays
• updated to TinyXML 2.6.2
• added SelectTarget control property - selects target of control only if checked. now programmable instead of just automatically selecting if right-clicked on allied unit.

 

Achron version 1.1.1.0

Summary: This release improves balance and fixes a number of minor bugs in Achron and Resequence Engine.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: units going into progen in a heirarchy would order additional unecessary units to go into progen
• fixed bug: armories and factories attempted to acquire reserve soldiers from chronofrozen importers
• fixed bug: removing hierarchy on cancelled out of progen units would attack-move old rally point
• fixed bug: no achievement in C3L7/L8 if death of guards fell off timeline
• fixed bug: incorrect ETAs for Grekim base-class unit creation
• fixed bug: incorrect weapon damage multiplier for Shin Tercher caused it to be too strong vs air units
• removed Marines' weapon damage multilpier as counter to the MAR
• made fast hovercraft (ATHC & Z-Tercher) counters to Long Range Artillery units (MAR & Z-Pulser)
• reduced MAR vs Ground weapon strength by 13% and removed multiplier vs Octos (Octos now soft-counter MAR)
• increased Sepi vs Air weapon strength by 21%
• increased Sepiligo into Gargantuan morph time from 10 to 20 seconds
• increased price of all air units (except carriers) by an average of 15%
• changed Human and Vecgir buildings to gain HP during construction instead of starting with full HP
• improved key binding configuration in main menu settings
• updated Level Editor to respect custom UI key bindings
• decreased creation time for base Grekim units by 20% (down to 16 seconds)
• decreased creation time for Arcticus and Spyre by 50% (down to 5 seconds)

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where chatting in the pre-game lobby would sometimes cause a crash
• fixed bug where PERFORM ENQUEUE_OBJECTIVE would exit a script early
• fixed bug where engine would not save current level when writing out a save for levels that start at time other than t=0
• improved internal timing code and consistency of replays
• hash marks in Steam user names now converted to underscores to prevent errors
• fixed bug in Rescript compiler where an error message on a line > 512 characters long would cause a crash
• replays no longer re-save games
• fixed bug where cinematic sounds could be disabled in certain cases
• fixed bug where chronoports would be achronally undone if the destination time was changed (required time progress to be paused)

 

Achron Demo and Reduced Price

The public Achron demo is finally out! If you've been waiting to give it a try before you purchase, download the Windows demo here: torrent (fast), http(slow). The demo includes two levels. One is a longer tutorial level that introduces much of the time manipulation mechanics, including a time traveling adversary. In the other, you send units back through time to reinforce their previous selves to destroy a much larger army.

Along with the demo, we're dropping the price of Achron to $19.99, and with your purchase you get a code to give a full copy of Achron to a friend.

 

Achron version 1.1.0.0

Summary: This release includes a prehosting multiplayer chat, ability to change game and replay speed, a performance improvement for long games, and numerous bug fixes and balance improvements.

Achron changelog:

• changed hierarchy attack-move to break formation if issued order is to a nearby destination
• added toggle to pre-game lobby: subordinates can chronoport with commander using hierarchy
• added toggle to pre-game lobby: morphing during rechronport delay
• added toggle to main menu graphics settings: os-drawn mouse
• added toggle to in-game settings and main menu gameplay settings: unit gages display values
• increased range of chronofreeze area of effect from 13 to 17
• reduced cost of all comm center/hub/mound buildings by one third
• reduced cost of Sepi by 3LC and Pharo by 9LC
• fixed bug: Octo would make RP on edited timeline if given cancel-progen-for-all order in original timeline
• fixed bug: RPs approaching crates from the diagonal would not move 1 space closer to automatically start processing
• fixed bug: subordinates continued to stutter-move after arriving at destination if ahead of commander during attack-move
• fixed bug: chronobombing a research building mid-upgrade would leave the building stuck in upgrade mode
• fixed bug: reaphs and foundations would attempt to repair TSSd units
• fixed bug: HELP window keybindings did not update when user changed the key bindings
• minor fixes to incorrect tooltips and keybindings
• minor fixes to campaign levels
• removed weapon damage multipliers for Shin Vir vs Zayin Pulser and Octo vs Zayin Pulser match-ups
• added built-in community IRC chat for multiplayer
• added game speed slider to replays and single player
• added visible placement outline to the move command for mobile buildings
• included additional maps and tile sets (courtesy of Shadowfury333)

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where sound effects would not be set to proper speed on reloading a save or reconnecting to a server
• added DefaultGlobalTimeRate to configuration.ini, GlobalTimeRate to skin language, and PERFORM SET_GLOBAL_TIME_RATE and GET_GLOBAL_TIME_RATE to Rescript
• file lists now sorted case insensitively across all platforms (also fixes unsorted issue on Linux)
• fixed minor memory leak when reloading engine configuration settings
• fixed bug where overriding the window opacity would not change the color of fonts to white
• removed redundant command tracking history (no longer needed since replays were introduced) which saves 2-5% basis memory in the server for a typical 20-30 minute game, and accompanying minor performance improvement
• improved accuracy of core timing code
• added PERFORM GET_CHRONAL_FIELD and SET_CHRONAL_FIELD to Rescript for 4 global chronal fields (selected via target variable)
• fixed Rescript compiler bug where chronoenergy retrieval performs were not properly specified as floats (were attempting to set integers instead)
• Apostrophes in name in Steam are now changed to underscores in multiplayer for compatibility
• added EngineReady indicator to skin language
• double-click selection now includes all units that match type, rank, and highlight (instead of only exact class)

 

3D Models in DLC

Today we've released the 3D models, image files, etc. for all the units, terrain objects, and weapon effects in Achron. To create an importable model, follow the instructions in the model compilor document in the Achron release. You'll need to generate a .robj file for all of the 3D modelers before you can import them though (outlined in the instructions); we didn't include them because the intermediary .robj files would have made the download huge and would need to be regenerated anyway for any mod. There are many in the community who want to start making some serious mods to Achron, and we want to enable that as best we can!

We've also released an example mod template which we call "Kinablu". It's perhaps the simplest template for a 2D d-pad like game. There are a lot of things that could be done to improve it, such as making the controls much more responsive by using a set of flags to indicate the movement of the character and having the scripts set and clear those flags (rather than just changing scripts as it does now). We kept it simple for instructive purposes. Remember to extract the XML from kinablu.ocs by dragging and dropping kinablu.ocs onto ResequenceXMLCompiler.

If you already have a copy of Achron, you can download the DLC here.

 

Achron version 1.0.2.0

Summary: This release significantly improves pathfinding performance and improves a few balance and usability issues.

Achron changelog:

• changed Octopod's weapon ranges: vs ground: 15->19, vs air: 18->17
• increased Octoligo's anti-air weapon strength by a factor of 2.67
• increased Octoligo's price by 16.7%
• lowered cost of Reaph from 7LC to 2LC
• changed chronobombs to ignore units during their rechronoport delay
• changed Reaphs and Foundations to repair units of any species
• added behavior: commanders will slow down when in front, until at least half of subordinates move ahead of them
• changed behavior of grounded air units to auto-rise up when attacking an enemy
• fixed bug: Octos would not attack foundation-based buildings unless manually moved closer
• fixed bug: commjammed and frozen teleporters were not ignored when trying to teleport
• fixed bug: damage multiplier between shin tercrher and sepiligo
• fixed bug: Level Editor crash when switching between opening files of different types
• fixed bug: 0-hp vecgir vehicles could jump into Depot to be repaired instead of blowing up
• marines and SOPs now exit a tank and join in battle if the tank fires an attack
• numerous campaign fixes and improvements

Resequence Engine changelog:

• significant improvement in pathfinding efficiency
• improvements to pathfinding heuristics
• fixed bug where could sometimes see enemy units' objectives, etc.
• increased number of achronal fields in Rescript to 4096
• added unit->ClosestPosition to Rescript
• improved random number source for rendering effects (eliminates patterns sometimes observable on large units' active camo)
• improved double-click unit selection logic (only counts as double-click if on same unit, and less stringint criteria on selecting units outside of hierarchy)
• changed cursor clipping code to attempt to reduce situations where cursor can move outside of window
• mouseover now shows unit highlight
• added ignore_collision_with_unit to Rescript
• added WindowOpacity and WindowColoredByPlayer to skin language
• removed dependency on ALUT for Windows and Linux platforms
• improved edge of fog of war rendering for slopes

 

DLC and Source Code for 1.0.1.0

Summary: The free DLC for 1.0.1.0 is now available or download.

This DLC includes all the source code for Achron unit AI scripts as well as the source code for the original 5 demo tutorial levels and the user interface skins. The ResequenceXMLCompiler that comes with the base release can be used to de-compile the official Achron object set file into the full source XML file (on a command prompt> ResequenceXMLCompiler achron.ocs).

The full XML with the unit AI source code from the DLC provides modders full access to all the source code behind the game enabling creation of total conversion mods. If you already have a copy of Achron, you can download the DLC here.

 

Achron version 1.0.1.0

Summary: This release improves pathfinding considerably, contains numerous improvements to the single-player campaign, and fixes many bugs.

Achron changelog:

• added cinematic volume toggle to volume settings
• added toggle to enable/disable autosaves for single player levels
• disabled quick (radial) controls by default
• changed guards to be a little looser (campaign 3)
• improved scrimmage AI start game logic
• fixed bug: Clone Challenge would not unlock Achievement when condition was met
• fixed bug: in main menu, immediately changing profile post menu load would return to active profile the first time
• fixed bug: Loading save games would play start-level cinematic
• fixed bug: moving Slingshot did not stop properly
• fixed bug: tooltip for weapon strengths for Incepter and Carrier
• fixed bug: Incepter creation would not account for missing foundation Power amount
• fixed bug: teleporting Vecgir RPs long distances would not work via Slipgates
• fixed bug: exploding Vecgir air vehicles could get stuck in permanent explosion if pilot failed to eject out
• fixed bug: performance degredation on some C3 levels when controlling a lot of units in proximity of main character
• fixed bug: incorrect unit is created in a progen triad where one of the triad is low on energy
• fixed bug: autohierarchy would create circular heirarchies
• fixed bug: skip torpedo could get stuck perma-teleporting if it couldn't get to destination
• fixed bug: grekim units would ignore initial arcticus dispatch after setting the arcticus as commander
• fixed bug: Incepters would not attack air units directly above them
• fixed bug: RPs wouldn't auto-process large QP crates when approaching from certain directions
• fixed bug: Incorrect logic to set speed key bindings for Steam install
• numerous campaign improvements

Resequence Engine changelog:

• major performance and behavioral increase on pathfinding
• added AdditionalParameters 3 & 4 to Rescript
• stop action step now clears target's current action
• fixed bug where private game servers would frequently say that files are mismatched
• added goal_distance to Rescript for BESTMOVE queries
• BESTMOVE query now sets perf_ret to goal position as packed position
• improved bloom filter

 

Achron version 1.0.0.0

Summary: Achron!

Achron changelog:

• Campaign 4 included
• campaign improvements
• fixed chronoclone challenge to disallow stasis
• Mac & Linux builds no longer enable antialiasing with different graphic settings (due to driver issues)

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where levels would sometimes be skipped
• added CinematicVolume and SetCinematicVolume to skin language
• manual rotating the camera with the mouse now centers on the location last pointed to before rotating began
• added MoveCameraMouse to skin language

 

Release v0.9.7.0

This release fixes some bugs and adds some minor features to the Resequence Engine. Other than Campaign 4 and minor multiplayer coordination improvements, this is a release candidate for 1.0.0.0.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: chronofreeze vertical range did not match Pharoligo's vertical range
• fixed bug: placing Foundation with Vir could display "can't build" error instead of the correct "use nearby foundation"
• fixed bug: idle subordinates would walk away from commander after a fight with nearby enemies
• fixed bug: performance drain when attempting to place buildings on nearby blocked off areas
• fixed bug: performance issues when idling near walls with enemies on the other side
• changed foundations to repair all mechanical units, including human units
• improved consistency in campaign cutscene visuals
• campaign improvements

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where saved games would not always remember campaign information to resume campaign
• added EnginePlatform to skin language
• clone brush now clones terrain blending
• added MostRecentVersion to skin language
• added PERFORM IS_REPLAY to Rescript
• replays now show non-allied units through fog of war

 

Release v0.9.6.0

This release contains rendering improvements, numerous bug fixes, and improvements to single-player campaigns.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• updated the model for Teth Halcyon
• changed Undo functionality to be tied to a single button, defaulted to Z.
• changed slipgate repel animation from using a light sources to an animated gate
• slight improvement of performance on levels with a lot of air units
• added toggle for Terrain blending to level editor, can blend and layer two terrains on top of each other
• added ability to set default player profiles in main menu, skips profile selection screen
• fixed bug: repairing a commander unit inside a Depot would cause subordinates to move far away
• fixed bug: MFB wouldn't automatically heal biological units
• fixed bug: hover units on non-ground terrain would not be fired on because of incorrect air-ground weapon assignment
• fixed bug: hitting the hideUI key while typing on the console would hide the UI after exiting console
• fixed bug: making RP when not enough resources with Grekim triad caused waypoint for triad to reset to failed RP location
• fixed bug: Closed RPs would not always auto-move/teleport towards manually selected different resources
• fixed bug: Arcticus leaders that weren't subordinates themselves wouldn't speed match with the rest of the hierarchy
• campaign improvements
• included more rock terrain objects

Resequence Engine changelog:

• improved team color rendering visuals. team colors may need to be adjusted to improve visibility (don't use too dark team colors or team colors that have extremely low values for any channel, like 0,0,255 - use something like 10,10,255 instead)
• streamlined terrain shaders and removed alpha channel (reduced VRAM usage)
• added overlay terrain channel and added LevelEditorEnableTerrainOverlayPaint to skin language
• fixed bug where OpenProfile, when passed a string, would not use the correct profile name
• progress bars of units are now shown when being carried or selected
• fixed bug where progress bars and animations would not be updated properly for long actions when jumping back in time

 

Release Date, PAX, and Anachronism

We have three exciting pieces of news today!

First is we have finalized a release date of August 29th for Achron.

Second is that I will be speaking at PAX on Saturday, August 27th at 9:00pm in the Raven Theatre. I'll be talking on strategic thinking in gaming, from game theory, to foundations of trust and reputation, to strategic revelation of information, to how others' beliefs affect your best strategy.

Finally, we have a new anachronism story up. Check it out!

Are you going to PAX? Thoughts on the new anachronism? Discuss on our forums: http://www.achrongame.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=3691.

 

Release v0.9.5.0

This release contains campaign 3, bug fixes, decreased jostling during group pathfinding, unit-specific chronoportation costs, and increased range for anti-air units.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• changed chronoporting costs to be custom per unit
• changed Domes to have individual Beam upgrades to enable Beam firing
• added animation to Dome and Turret upgrades
• reduced cost of Arcticus generating each base class by 25LC
• changed Grekim to start with 2 RPs
• changed stop/activate control in mobile buildings to take a position w/ building's outline where it should activate
• reduced fall-off rate of splash damage of Tornade, Pharopod and Shin Tercher's weapon
• increased ground-anti-air units' anti-air weapon range
• changed progen units to use 50% more energy per unit for progeneration
• fixed bug: carrier capacity was being miscalculated when picking up tanks carrying troops
• fixed bug: keyboard shortcuts displayed in campaign tutorials tooltips did not reflect customized keyboard bindings
• fixed bug: changing the status of species selector would cause errant behavior when making a selection
• fixed bug: slipgate could get stuck in a state where it won't chronoport units
• fixed bug: Teth Vir's weapon impact damage was mistimed
• fixed bug: human and Vecgir builders wouldn't move to far away build locations on levels with high pathing values
• fixed bug: performance degredation caused by blocked locations for Grekim morphing on levels with high pathing
• fixed bug: foundations could ignored order to make building without erroring
• updated minimap appearance in LevelEditor to match in-game minimap
• added warning to loaded Replays if the current game files do not match original Replay files
• added Hide UI shortcut, hides the entire UI while the key is being held down
• improved weapon lighting effects
• minor tweaks to Vecgir team color maps
• campaign improvements

Resequence Engine changelog:

• enhanced functionality of OpenProfile in skin language to be able to open profile names from string
• updated library versions: Freetype to 2.4.6, libogg to 1.3.0, and libvorbis to 1.3.2
• improved pathfinding in groups; reduced amount of back-and-forth jostling
• fixed bug where levels with apostrophes in the name would not load properly
• added Warning to skin language
• added check for engine version mismatches for replays
• fixed bug where saved games would not show up in list if had previously played multiplayer game

 

Release v0.9.4.0

This release contains a number of unit behavioral improvements, improvements to the single-player campaigns, numerous bug fixes, and new Resequence Engine functions.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• improved autohieararchy selection to reduce the number of heirarchy levels
• changed behavior of idle units under attack - will return to their original spots after attacking
• tightened up formations, units will try to catch up to commander if lagging behind earlier
• fixed bug: idle damaged MFBs would not repair themselves
• fixed bug: subordinates may behave oddly if commander was first to teleport and immediatelly changed objectives
• fixed bug: creating an Annex or Depot earlier than original creation created different orders for that structure
• fixed bug: Grekim units' remove from hierarchy control did not disconnect from non-Grekim subordinates
• fixed bug: responder air units would sometimes land on the ground when responding to repair/recover/break tss requests
• fixed bug: skip torpedo wouldn't skip en route to target
• fixed bug: destruction of original Annex could cause incorrect power consumption
• fixed bug: missing morphing animation for Spyre->Pharo and Loligo class split down
• fixed bug: teleporter wouldn't teleport units on the edge of teleport radius if teleporting into a crowd
• fixed bug: subordinates of a patroling commander would attempt to teleport without a teleport order
• fixed bug: carriers can't fit inside other carriers
• lowered energy consumption by Clear Nanite so it can be used 5 times by a clear-nanite unit
• added option to display chronoport alerts to multiplayer, global alerts of arrivals and departures at player's time
• updated ai surrender heuristic with current balance values
• improved single-player campaign levels
• tweaks to octoligo collision map

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where config_property_int and config_property_float would crash when used on an uninitilaized variable
• fixed bug on Win32 platform where replays would not work if hosted on a different drive letter
• improved random number generator
• fixed bug in computing distance for vertical movements (on rare occasions, air units would bounce vertically)
• fixed bug where extremely fast units visible behind fog of war would skip as they moved
• team color rendering improvements
• added HideUI to skin language
• players that nanite infected others' units now have access to all of the capabilities of the nanite-infected unit
• vision sharing and nanite infection now properly show hierarchy and objective information; hierarchy and objectives are now only shown with vision sharing, not just an alliance
• server network code is now more robust against sending messages to closed connections
• added say_from_config to Rescript
• added get_player_name to skin language

 

July Tournament

The Achron Beta Tournament was a success and a lot of fun. The champion was Kytin, but there were many fascinating strategies employed. Commentated video casts of the final games on July 17th are now all available to watch online here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=FF40C181F3D00A60, courtesy of Shadowfury333.

Also, our winner of the "guess 3/4ths of the average guess in the range of 0 to 100" bonus competition was Neveras, who guessed 32. There were two others who guessed 32 as well, but Neveras was the first. Information about your opponent is a major component to the game Achron, and this challenge was for people to try to figure out what is going on in the heads of other strategic thinkiers.

More Achron tournaments are on their way through the upcoming launch! Check them out on the Achron forums.

 

Release v0.9.3.1

This release fixes a few important bugs from the 0.9.3.0 release.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug: self skipping units would desert the rest of the skipping group if hierarchy-skipping into a battle
• fixed bug: medium and large sized units may get stuck if enqueueing coordinates on the edges of the map
• fixed several bugs in C1l8 related to achronal commands and air units getting stuck
• fixed crash on C1L8
• Included credits on main menu

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where air units at maximum height could try to go up, receiving corrupt map position data

 

Release v0.9.3.0: Campaign 2 Beta Preview Released

This release contains campaign 2, as well as numerous bug fixes, improvements to campaign 1, and balance improvements.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• hierarchy groups no longer retain formation when told to move to a location within the hierarchy
• changed behavior of Arcticus chronoport dispatch, ignores older subordinate chronoclones, prevents auto-clone-reinforcement
• changed behavior of Arcticus chronoport dispatch, no longer creates self-contained stable-loop chronoclones
• added green highlight circle to display range for progeneration control
• added auto-resuming of current objective to cloak/uncloak, works like priority dispatch
• added splash damage to Tornade and Shin Tercher
• increased splash damage of Zayin Halcyon by 2x
• reduced fall-off rate of splash damage of Marine's weapon
• fixed bug: patrol would hold position if enquing two spots next to each other
• fixed bug: teleport-skipping subordinates could skip to incorrect location if commander attacked a target mid-skip
• fixed bug: pilots of skip-upgraded vehicles would retain their skip upgrade when switching into a different vehicle
• fixed bug: grekim units wouldn't clear commander after morphing into a building
• fixed bug: modifier keys (e.g., shift, ctrl) would not be cleared at the same time as chat console was enabled
• fixed bug: units in hierarchy wouldn't switch to attack commander's target
• fixed bug: shooting a mid-construction Grekim or Vecgir RP would insta-interrupt construction, creating a completed RP
• fixed bug: carrier commanders wouldn't speed match with their subordinates
• fixed bug: chronobombing Importers would not consume and return Reserve Soldiers correctly
• fixed bug: chronobombing Vecgir building would not consume and return Power correctly
• fixed bug: destroying an Annex after a power upgrade would not consume correct Power amount
• fixed bug: display continuous errors when enqueing units in a factory that can't deploy due to lack of space
• fixed bug: chronoclone challenge wouldn't work
• changed Grekim and Vecgir RPs to start in closed mode and with non-zero fuel/teleport energy
• improved autodefense capable foundation heal+attack logic, will heal units between attacks
• improved Sepiligo's Gargantuan position-creation logic
• increased range of Nanite Infect casting by 23%
• reduced Dome's beam: range from 250 to 100, damage from 150 to 110, recharge rate by 12.5%
• reduced price of TSS to be 34QP, but increased energy usage to 110
• reduced Mar merge time into Twin Mar down to 5 seconds
• updated unit rotation speeds to match speed and size of unit
• fixed bug: 0-HP chronofrozen upgraded Vecgir buildings would not die
• included campaign 2 and campaign 2 heroes and tile sets
• minor improvements to some terrain alpha channels

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where PERFORM SET_OTHER_OBJECTIVE and SET_OTHER_OBJECTIVE_PARAMETERS could be called on enemy units
• changed ENQUEUE_OBJECTIVE parameters and added ENQUEUE_OTHER_OBJECTIVE, DEQUEUE_OTHER_OBJECTIVE, and CLEAR_OTHER_QUEUE to Rescript
• added AllowActionWhenStopped attribute to Action in Resequence OCS XML
• units that have a progress bar are not included as active units when box-selecting
• changed BESTMOVE query to expect distance squared rather than distance
• numerous pathfinding performance improvements
• added unit->NextUnitOfSameName to rescript
• added AlwaysHighlightUnit flag to Resequence OCS XML (to better find hero units)
• fixed bug where terrain objects that were partly off of the playable map area would sometimes allow units to pass through them
• fixed bug that could cause Achron.exe to crash when sending a message to a recently disconnected network connection (e.g., chatting in pre-game lobby)

 

Release v0.9.2.0: Campaign 1 Beta Preview Released

This release contains a beta version of campaign 1 of single player, improved sound effects, balance improvements, bug fixing, and improved fog of war rendering.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• incorporated new weapon and non-weapon sfx
• added toggle do show/hide subtitles in main menu settings
• added minus icon to minimap in place of plus when the map is expanded
• fixed bug where Cruiser wouldn't die as expected during nuke deployment
• fixed bug where a builder in motion would delay changing direction if directed to build elsewhere
• fixed bug where Carrier units would land to unload cargo if there was an air unit in the way
• fixed bug where Chronobomb wouldn't dissapear if it didn't send something
• fixed default values in LevelEditor's reset-to-default buttons
• fixed bug where some control icons that did nothing consumed chronoenergy when clicked
• fixed bug where recover units would ignore buildings
• fixed bug where progen units wouldn't enqueue while in pause-time
• added species-specific tech tree images under Help for all three species
• updated vecgir multiplayer to start with 1 of each type of Vir unit
• increased price of ATHC by 9%
• decreased price of power upgrade by 12.5%
• decreased price of Foundations made by Foundations and by Shin Vir by 2LC and 5LC respectively
• added Stop control to teleporting Vecgir RPs. All species' closed RPs can re-open by Stopping
• updated Sligates as the only gate to teleport carrier-type units (unlike Slingshots and Teleporters)
• decreased price of Teleporter by 35.5%
• decreased price of Slingshot by 10%
• changed self skip-teleport upgrade to take 30 seconds and costs 25LC/10QP but is available from the start
• changed all Vecgir vehicles to automatically enable self-skip when gatetech is upgraded
• fixed bug where progen units would not properly display available units for progeneration
• included campaign 1 and removed demo campaign

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where Resequence would crash on load from saved state where players are moving through time other than normal speed
• fixed bug where saved player times would not always be loaded correctly
• added version checking so that differences in maps or object sets will be caught
• added PERFORM GET_MAX_NUM_COMMANDS_IN_PAST and GET_PLAYER_CHRONOENERGY_SPENT to Rescript
• added ability to zoom on minimap
• fixed bug where units with 0 visibility (e.g., target locations) would still see through a point of fog of war
• fixed rendering bug where double-sided projectiles would not return rendering state after rendering was completed (caused flickering tree shadows during shots)
• improved fog of war rendering

 

Release v0.9.1.0

This release contains bug fixes and balance improvements, as well as new terrains.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug where chronobomb would not dissapear after it hit
• fixed bug where sometimes grekim units wouldn't morph into buildings
• fixed bug where Reaphs would try to heal TSSd units
• fixed bug where teleporters/slipgates could get stuck in permanent spin mode
• fixed bug where troops could get stuck inside their deployment structure
• fixed bug where air units would repeatedly bounce-land when targetting blocked-off ground targets
• updated some unit creation contrtol icons for Vecgir and Grekim
• decreased HP of ordinances and area of affect strength
• removed visibility from ordinances
• added 3 second delay to nuke drop
• set advancements to always be visible and removed display advancements toggle from settings
• added cloak detection to basic Foundations
• merged Shadowfury333's observer stats into the baseline multiplayer UI
• included new tile sets Asteroid_Mining_Vessel and Drasil_Forest_Valley, and a couple updated textures
• included Naomi Winters hero model

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug in Rescript where scenario monitor saying to a nonexistant player would sometimes cause a crash
• fixed bug where camera would sometimes jump high above terrain objects
• fixed bug where loading saves would sometimes not yield a playable game
• added level name to autosaves and removed recursive timestamps in file names
• loading a save game now restores players' time positions
• upgraded miniupnpc to version 1.5.20110618

 

Release v0.9.0.0

This release contains some important bug fixes, balance improvements, general polish, core functionality for in-game scripting, and skin sources.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• improved Bastion's anti-ground by 15% and target acquisition logic
• changed Zayin Vir weapon to be more effective against Octos
• reduced Pharopod's HP by 7.5%
• added toggle to settings to display player's tech advancements in the UI
• changed grekim units to not allow morphing during rechronoport delay
• increased cost of chronporting upgrade for all species
• reduced un-upgraded Domes' anti-ground strength by 20%
• fixed tooltip for Dome's Break TSS
• improved RP move-to-resource crate logic
• fixed bug where Grekim RP could delay starting to process once it was close enough
• fixed bug where Arcticuses wouldn't relay orders from other Arcticuses in a hierarchy
• fixed bug where RPs could process resources that are picked up by a carrier unit
• fixed bug where Vecgir RPs sometimes wouldn't use nearby teleporter gates
• fixed bug where Arcticus wouldn't enqueue dispatch of multiple buildings to be morphed
• fixed incorrect attack range highlight for autodefense buildings
• added 'cancel progen for all' control when multiple progen units are selected
• fixed bug where triad setting a rally point after completed unit creation would still order it to attack-move
• fixed bug where progen units would select closest match vs one that's already connected to a third
• Changed setting rally point on Arcticus for triad to also change commander to that Arcticus
• fixed bug where a destroyed Reaph mid-upgrade prevented other upgrades for that player
• fixed bug where Foundations got locked in a mode where they wouldn't make any more Foundations
• fixed bug with single player in-game menu that displayed menu when game was unpaused
• fixed bug in level editor where save as wouldn't always set the directory it was displaying
• added display replay's filename when mouse-over the edit replay button
• updated L-Crystal and empty LCrystal models
• full multiplayer UI (skin), Main Menu (skin), and LevelEditor (skin) sources available as free DLC
• updated main menu backgrounds
• changed costs of sepipod, frigate, teth tercher: decreased QP, increased LC

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where engine would freeze on rare conditions of jumping to a new point in time
• fixed bug where zero-tick actions would make an action seem like it had just completed to action preconditions
• fixed bug where cloaking capability would be ineffective when fog of war was disabled
• changed paging down behavior such that scrolling past edge of list is disallowed
• reduced CPU utilization of Resequence Engine when game is paused
• fixed bug where air position would be erroneously considered touching the ground on certain occasions for action preconditions
• added ReplayFileName, PlayerGlobalFlags, and PlayerAdvancements to skin language
• fixed bug where action timing would sometimes be cut short when under heavy attack
• added PERFORM CREATE_SAVE_POINT to Rescript
• added config_property_int and config_property_float to Rescript
• added error handling for missing replay or scenario files
• minor bug fixes related to game server list (fixed minor rendering and skin variable updating bugs, disallow joining an in-progress server through double-click, etc.)

 

Release v0.8.5.1

This release contains some important balance improvements, as well as a couple minor rendering and visual improvements.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• fixed bug where recover units with commanders would not auto-recover hindered units while idling
• fixed bug with several units not able to clear nanites
• fixed bug in level editor that would display waypoint line for placed buildings
• increased capacity of Depots by 40%
• reduced cost of Shin Vir placed Foundations by 70 LC
• increased cost of nukes to 150/150
• changes to the chronobomb:
  - requires chronoporting upgrade
  - doesn't discriminate among enemy/friendly units
  - reduced active radius by 1/8th
• fixed collision map for Shin Pulser
• updated unit projectile effects
• reduced cost of Foundations by 8LC, changed cost of Bastion to be 9/27

Resequence Engine changelog:

• projectile shader updated to make polygons on depth-blended models now fade out when turned toward a steep angle
• improved terrain blending algorithm

 

Release v0.8.5.0

This release contains some important bug fixes, balance improvements, and other unit functionality improvements.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• updated Macrofab and Lancer models
• added ability to join a multiplayer game by double-clicking it
• changed alliance creation in multiplayer games to automatically share vision
• added sliders to control strength of team-color and active-camo to in-game and in-leveleditor settings
• fixed bug where unit controls icons would spill over onto gauges on certain resolutions
• fixed bug where unit deployment would restart when interrupted by a pre-upgraded upgrade
• fixed bug where foundations sensed cloaked units
• fixed bug where failure to enqueue a second unit could prevent the first unit's deployment
• fixed bug where resources were not consumed for foundations built via ACC or other foundations
• fixed bug where the Reaph could get stuck with the upgrade controls greyed out
• fixed bug where Slipgates could teleport buildings
• changed Spyre: reduced time to morph by 50%, reduced cost by 35%
• changed Grekim Advanced Structures upgrade: reduced time by 25%, reduced cost by 37%
• increased cost of Grekim Chronoporting upgrade by 15LC 10QP
• increased prices of most air units by 2-8%
• increased rate of self-healing for progen units
• reduced Shin Tercher's and Tornade's attack range to 15
• added automated-defense firing to pod-class when in progen-mode
• added autohierarchy to Grekim; will connect to nearby similar ranks that have a commanding Arcticus
• added auto-beam fire to Domes: will automatically attempt to beam-snipe strong nearby targets
• changes to the chronobomb:
  - Reaph can launch 2 chronobombs at full energy charge
  - reduced cost by 40%
  - does not require Chronoporting upgrade
  - sends units 90-105 seconds into the future
  - only sends enemy units
  
• remastered music tracks

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where nanite infected units would not clear surrounding fog of war
• fixed bug where units would sometimes be erroneously chronofragged when they tried to walk into the position where a unit was being built
• added TeamColorAmount and ActiveCamoAmount to skin language

 

Achron Beta Tournament Sign-Up

Want to participate in our Beta Tournament? Sign up here: http://www.achrongame.com/site/achron-beta-tournament-rules.php

 

Release v0.8.4.2

This is a patch release that fixes a critical balance issue for the Vecgir species. It also contains new models for the Human factory and macrofab, and other minor fixes. Note that 0.8.4.1 was released on May 15th and had a flaw from the release process, so we fixed the release and updated it to 0.8.4.2.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• updated Macrofab and Factory
• fixed bug with vecgir pilots charging incorrect prices for vehicles while listing correct prices in tooltip
• fixed a multitude of typos, incorrect or missing information in control tooltips and unit tooltips

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where client would not be updated with a new unit number in certain rare circumstances involving a timewave overtake and new unit creation

 

Release v0.8.4.0

This is release is primarily to fix balance issues, but also includes a number of bug fixes, the ability to override a command without resetting a command queue, improved unit visible distinguishability with team color pseudo-outlining, and added two new tile sets.

If you have already preordered Achron, you can download it here.

Achron changelog:

• updated in game HUD interface to be less bright, bigger speed buttons and separate containers for the windows
• updated several old control icons
• fixed bug where smart idle recover responders would attempt to recover TSS'd units
• fixed bug where making an Incepter did not consume power
• fixed bug where Incepter displayed an unnecessary attack-unit control with missing icon
• fixed bug where pilots ejecting from self-skipping vehicles would try to teleport
• fixed bug where reserve soldier incorrectly errored when making multiple units at once
• fixed bug where RPs would point to incorrect units when processing resources
• fixed bug where Shin Halcyon would lower itself unnecessarily before nanite infecting
• fixed bug where some Vecgir vehicles wouldn't blow up when they reached 0hp during mid-attack
• fixed bug in Level editor where default path to Save-As was missing a /
• fixed bug where TSSd units could click the chronoport control
• fixed bug where turrets coludn't break TSS of enemies on edge of vision
• changed enemy finding behavior to ignore enemies out of weapon range on the edge of visibility
• changed Grekim species selector to place starter Sepi further from the resources than RPs
• added ability to preserve current order queue by holding 'insert' (eg: issuing priority during a queued move)
• added default parameters for creating new levels in level editor
• added ability to set rally point for Depot when in vehicle selection mode
• added light to slipgate chronoport
• changed base and pod class progen units to have 2x HP and 1.5x HP respectively
• reduced prices for almost all high-tech (some 'tier2' and all 'tier3' ) units across all species
• multiple balance changes to the following units:
GREKIM:
Octo - increased HP by 28%
Pharo - increased attack range from 9 to 12
Sepi - decreased vs ground attack by 11%
Pharopod - reduced range from 18 to 15, increased price
Sepiligo - increased flight speed by 25% and got rid of swift mode
Gargantuan - always flies in swift mode
Dome - reduce morph time by 50%, reduced price by 25%
CESO:
Lancer - takes 4 seconds longer to make, changed cost to be 14LC/28QP, decreased attack range from 15 to 12, decreased default vs ground attack by 40%, its attack strength doubles after aerospace upgrade, slowed down to be same speed as Frigate
Sop - heal 25% faster, increase vs ground attack by 16%, increased cost by 1LC
Importer - defaulted to start with no RS when newly built
Turret - reduced build time by 50%, increased vs air attack by 25%
Tornade - reduced vs air attack by 20%
Mar - increased price
VECGIR:
Bastion - reduced build time by 60%, increased vs air attack by 25%, reduced price by 4 QP
Foundation - heal/repair amount doubled
Shin Tercher - reduced vs air attack by 20%
Zayin vir - reduce build time to be same as Teth Vir
Shin vir - reduce build time to be same as Teth Vir
Teth vir - increased vs air attack by 20% , reduced vs ground attack by 5%

• included Drasil Human City and Human Capital Ship tile sets
• included new Boreal Cliffs and Shooting Range levels from mods (props to Shadowfury333)
• removed multiplayer Iced levels

Resequence Engine changelog:

• fixed bug where Resequence would sometimes crash when a unit was created at the very front edge of the time window
• increased resolution of statistics on timeline by approx 17%
• added PreserveCommandQueue to skin language
• attacks received and dealt out are now normalized to same relative magnitude on timeline
• if object is visible through fog, it is now shown on map
• added PERFORM SELECT_ADDITIONAL_UNIT to Rescript
• fixed bug where timeline would shift over and be misaligned in certain rare situations
• improved units distinguishability with team color pseudo-outlining
• fixed active camo bug where high-resolution surface normals were ignored on high rendering settings

 

Balancing Fixes

We've really appreciated all the feedback we've gotten on balancing since the 0.8.3.0 release. Performance improvements in the engine allowed us to increase the visibility and attack range, which by itself didn't introduce any new balancing issues, it did emphasize existing issues.

The good news is that this focus on balance has unearthed a number of bugs in our balancing process. One of the many benefits of treating balancing as a scientific process is that once you fix an issue once, it's usually fixed forever (unless you do something to change that part of balancing). Also, it helps us find the root cause of balancing issues. When we hear about the issues, we can then focus on exactly what is wrong rather than try some things and see what happens. This saves us a ton of time balancing the game. Sometimes it is a bug in the balancing algorithms, sometime it is a design flaw that we made when laying out units' strengths, weaknesses, etc.

The Grekim octo was the unit with the biggest balancing issue. When we ran the octo in our balancing tests, we did it in such a way that the octo's extremely short range was downplayed in the validation. The octo appeared far stronger in simulation runs than it really was in practice, which threw off its balance. Whenever there's a mismatch between the model and the actual game, that's an issue that must be addressed. However, because it was a flaw with the evaluation that we tuned the unit to, we didn't notice it until recently. This goes to show how validation is always important. The octo's HP has been bumped up. The Vecgir foundation healing rate was also improved to help early-game balance in the interrelated tangle.

The next biggest issue was the Human lancer. It was a bit too strong for its own good, which was more a design-level issue than a bug in the balancing, but the nuance was between upgraded and nonupgraded lancers. This issue is now fixed as well.

We also found some bugs in the way resources were related economically. There was a mismatch between the model and the actual game as to how quickly a resource processor or importer begins production. The balancing framework had the implicit assumption that a resource was produced instantly upon creation, which was only true for the importer. Now the balancing algorithm is correct and we changed the game so that the importer does not produce an RS immediately. This bug caused some units' prices to be off by about four percent. A four percent error in unit price of many human units may not seem like much, but when you combine it with other balancing bugs, it adds up.

While we are fixing the balance issues, we've also been doing another pass on emphasizing unit roles. For example, the tornade is now weaker versus air units to better fill the role of antiground air unit, and turrets in general are stronger against air units.

Because balance is such an important part of the game, we're planning on releasing a new build, v0.8.4.0, in the next couple days with these balance fixes. Before recently, we'd been spending most of our balancing efforts concentrating on mid and late game economies, because they're tractable for analytical techniques, versus early game where combinatorics is more prominent. Now we're putting more effort into the early game.

We've also noticed that there aren't many big maps out there yet. That affects balance as well, especially when teleprotation becomes important.

We're well aware of the balancing issues mentioned here and those previously mentioned on the forums. Have you seen any other potential balancing issues that haven't been mentioned yet? Discuss on our forums: http://www.achrongame.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=2827

 

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