AI War 2:Zenith Onslaught Patch Notes

This is for alpha testing for the Zenith Onslaught. I'm using this to keep patch notes.

Version 2.049

Dark Zenith

• Some nerfs so it's not quite as stupidly OP

• DZ fireteams will start as Defensive for a brief time you a chance to respond to the invasion

Zenith Miners

• Zenith Miners have improved notification hovertext
• Zenith Miners no longer vanish instantly

Nomad Planets

• Nomad planets can't be hacked to crash if an AI Overlord hasn't been found. If you've only found some of the Overlords it will use the closest visible Overlord
• Nomad Planets don't have the crash hack available after being hacked
• Nomad Planets always take about 6 minutes to crash into the AI homeworld, regardless of where in the galaxy you hack it. Also the AI now actually sends some responses to this.
  • All thanks to Strategic Sage for the bug reports

Version 2.047

Dark Zenith

• Give the DZ some units when they invade

Version 2.045

Dark Zenith

• Add some unique units. Much more to be done, but it's a start

Version 2.045

Dark Zenith

• Fix a bug where the DZ was friendly with the Hunter Fleet/Instigators/etc...
  • Thanks to Oval for reporting

• The C# to support a DZ that is minor-faction allied is in. I don't intend for this to be available in the base game, but I intend for the modding support to be just a little bit of XML

• Add DZ Pirates! Some Epistyles are Pirate Epistyles.
  • Pirate Epistyles are outcasts. Transports won't give them resources. So Pirate Epistyles build Privateers to go attack Transports and steal the resources.
  • Once a Privateer has stolen resources it will return back to the Pirate Epistyle.
  • Pirate Epistyles build unique combat ships as well
    • TODO: there should be some chance that an Epistyle "turns pirate", or that the DZ "attacks" a pirate epistyle and turns it back into a regular Epistyle

Beta 2.044

Zenith Architrave

• The ZA actually has some unique ships and defensive structures now
  • They are themed based on roman gladiators

• The ZA has a budget for building defenses over time, and it can replace killed defenses, instead of the old rather hacky approach

Zenith Miners

• There are now more hacks for the Zenith Miner probe
  • You can move the probe to a random adjacent planet, so the miner will attack that planet instead
  • You can cause the Miner to modify the planet to permanently speedup or slowdown all ships on that planet. If this option is chosen then the miner will vanish after its time is up. The miner will still attack everything though.
    • Potential use case: the Probe is on a planet adjacent to a heavily defended AI planet that has an Ark you want. You can reprogram the Miner to speedup all units, then try to move the probe and hope it goes to the defended planet. Then the Miner will do your dirty work for you.

Beta 2.043

• Dark Zenith
  • Can now actually invade the galaxy. "Open" for stability testing. No attempt at balance or unit creation has been made.

• Zenith Miners
  • Now have notifications

• Nomads and Zenith Miners
  • Planets should now be properly destroyed

Beta 2.042

• Zenith Architrave
  • Give them a few new defensive structures
  • Remove some mentions of the militant dyson from notification tooltips. Thanks to Starkelp for reporting
  • Fix a bug where Golems weren't going to spawn

• Dark Zenith
  • Dark Zenith now actually spawn new planets
  • First pass at DZ economy done. Can be turned on for testing, though they only do economic stuff right now

Version 2.031

• Nomad Changes
  • Fix a null reference exception in the nomad planet notifier, and minor text tweaks there.
  • Don't let an AI homeworld be placed on a Nomad planet
  • Faction-specific stuff can't seed at game start time on a Nomad planet. This prevents the Dyson or ZA from being on a Nomad
  • Nomad Planets that are also player homeworlds can't be crashed into the AI
  • Nomad Planets now spawn exos in a reasonable fashion once the Nomad Planets are en route to crash. Balance levers in XML

• Zenith Architrave
  • Give the ZA some actual units (stolen from the Dyson for now).
  • Give the ZA some golems that spawn only during the Civil War.
  • Some buffs to the ZA

• Dark Zenith
  • New planets should now spawn when the Invasion Starts. Planet locations need work, and debugging code is still enabled for it
  • Planets can now have varying initial amounts of science. Used to make Dark Zenith planets worth extra science.
  • Start the XML for dark zenith economy.

Version 2.029

Factions open for testing: Zenith Architrave, Zenith Miners, Nomad Planets

• Add a debug setting (in the game lobby) to make Nomad Planets move more often
• Fix a null reference from clicking on the nomad planet notification
• Don't let the AI homeworld be placed on a Nomad planet

Things that need testing right now

• Multiple ZAs for the civil war
  • Test that they spawn golems

• How does ZA balance feel? Do they feel impactful?

• Zenith Miners are open for testing! No restrictions. Turn em on and see what happens! Please try the various hacks.

• Nomad planets are open for testing. No restrictions. Turn em on and see what happens!

• DZ can be turned on and they will invade the galaxy. Please turn these on and watch for exceptions

Known Issues/Bug reports

• Architrave can spawn close to each other (in one case, on adjacent planets). While not necessarily a bug, its not very interesting when they fight.
  • Should add a minimum hop distance between multiple.

Links to Faction descriptions

AI War 2: Zenith Architrave

AI War 2: Zenith Miners

AI War 2: Nomad Planets

AI War 2: Dark Zenith

Bug Reports/Feedback

This section is to give an easy place for people to mention problems they are having

• Version 2.048 (Strategic Sage) - Zenith Miner Golem disappears shortly after showing up for unknown reasons.
  • Nomad movement when heading to homeworld is probably too fast - suggest at least doubling to 30s if not 45s to give the AI exo attacks time to have an effect. Also, I think AI response should be based mostly on AI difficulty. It's always going to be best to try to hack a planet close to the homeworld, which means there's not going to be much time for the AI to get the job done. An intense, short-term response (not Imperial Spire exo level, but severe) is IMO appropriate given the variability there. Other factors such as AIP I recommend to be minor, because this is best done as a late-game tactic and it should assume a strong player fleet/turret presence.
  • You can do the Crash hack after it has already been done, which is pointless and should probably be disabled.
  • Weird exo unit behavior as well, Chimera ignoring key targets and hitting FF frigate repeatedly as an example. I was able to hold it at bay indefinitely just by having that frigate in-system.
  • Suggest Crash hack not being available until all planets have been scouted. I didn't know where the AI homeworld was until it told me by heading there.

• Forcefield Variations (Starkelp)
  • • For both the Architrave and players in the form of a rare GCA drop
    • Optionally as a potential Architrave hack?
      • Layered: Reduced damage the farther away a target is.
      • Hardened: Heavily reduced damage while above 50% Shield strength.
      • Impact: Radius (substantially) increases in Radius as it takes damage, starting small.
      • Fortified: Much higher shield value, but much lower shield Radius.
      • Glue: Also acts as a Tractor Array; does not decrease in size with damage.
      • Corrosive: Also comes with a built-in Aoe Acid effect.