Version 10.0 Changelog

v10.0

A new version has been released just in time for the Holidays! Play it and have fun!

Major Additions:

-Kerrigan has gone on holiday. She made a new type of Zerg to replace her; she calls it a "Bane Lord".
-Added a new final event that occurs after the last Zerg wave. If you can beat the Bane Lords, you'll get to see it.
-Added a new ending that occurs if you survive every enemy wave in the game. Build lots of defenses, you'll need them.
-Added a rare type of protoss building; the robotics bay. If you can find and power a robotics bay, you'll be able to train two very powerful units.
-Small numbers of Corruptors will now show up at night.
-Scanner Towers have been removed from the game. (The related objectives have been changed accordingly)
-The Scanner Sweep ability has been moved to the Rescue Beacon, and now has a 30 second cooldown.
-Survivors can now build Tesla Coils.
-"Under attack" alerts should now occur much less frequently, especially those warning you about allies.
-Pylons will now power the structures of all players (For example, Player 1 can build cannons next to Player 2's pylons)
-Resource Stockpiles now act as drop-off points for all players (for example, Player 1 can return minerals to Player 2's stockpile. Player 1 still gets the minerals). The same is true for Pylons and planetary fortresses.

Balance Chances:

-Resource Stockpiles now have 400 health (was 200)
-Leviathans will now use a powerful Bio-Plasmid Discharge (single target nuke, deals 500 damage, prioritizes dangerous targets first)
-Big Berthas are now considered both air and ground units (like colossi)
-Basic auto-turrets are no longer flagged as structures (this was done to reduce the damage banelings deal to turrets)
-Increased range on Restoration Field and Restore (the transport ship should now be able to heal anything on then starting platform)
-Aberrations will now randomly spawn on the map. You can kill them for a small resource boost.
-Wrecked Transport now restores energy much faster
-Queens are now flagged as "Armored"
-Bosses can now see up cliffs
-Reduced cost of Spider Mines from the factory to 5 (was 15)
-Idle Zerg will now be much more aggressive (will attack as soon as they see a target, will chase for much longer)
-Bosses (aberrations, brutalisks, etc) can now walk over cliffs
-Reduced range of infested Terrans
-The cannons defending the Obelisk now have a slightly longer range

Minor Improvements/Bugfixes:

-"Mineral fields exhausted" alerts will no longer have a sound (vespene ones still do)
-The map will now revert to being hidden 45 seconds after the transport ship ending
-The default music now stops during the transport ship ending
-Removed a lonely swarmling stuck in a lake.
-Fixed some small issues with placement models when playing with low-quality graphics
-Changed placement model of big bertha again (detailed explanation for Blizzard engineers: I missed a data field your editor is fantastic much <3 to everyone in the tools department)
-Perdition Turrets should now have no problem unburrowing when they need to.
-added a visual effect when the transport ship is charging up for a Warp Jump
-Drones now attack on sight
-Idle probes will now defend themselves when attacked
-Changed the music when starting on normal mode
-Lowered the acquire range for Predators to 3 (was 5). This means predators will not engage targets unless the target comes very close or attacks it from range.
-The Big Bertha tooltip showed an incorrect attack speed - it now shows Bertha's real attack speed (0.1). This (slightly) increases its acquire speed, so bertha should now attack (slightly) faster.
-Fixed a VERY elusive bug where units damaged by the leviathan would continue taking damage forever even after the leviathan died. If you do run into this bug, please let me know.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy!

-Nagnazul

-Removed a lonely swarmling stuck in a lake.

I swear I saw this swarmling before loL!

Thoughts:

The Zerg REALLY want you dead now. You have to run FAR to get away. Once, I was going for a building positioned under a cliff. As I tagged it, Broodlings landed all around me from the high ground! I ran like hell, and as the building I had found floated after me, I got a great view of four Brood Lords wallowing after me.

The removal or the scanner tower makes it much harder to scout, which is a GOOD thing. Instant map reveal removed much of the excitement from Krydon. Now the planet is mysterious again! This combined with the aggressive Zerg make it MUCH harder to explore, as it should be. Before, you pretty much went where you damn well pleased, Zerg presence or no. This also makes it harder to snipe Creep Tumors, but I still do it anyways with a Missile Turret.

Following on that, here is my view on SCV exploration: the map worked on a "gate" system. Each type of enemy had a certain "cost" to pass. Swarmlings and Drones cost 20 energy each, zerglings cost 40 energy, mutas cost 100 energy, and Roaches cost 40 minerals up-front and 10 long-term. But there was never a major penalty for not being able to "pay" the energy cost. Just run. Now, running wastes a sigificant amount of valuable time. The Zerg are much more aggressive, making you think carefully about advancing, and sometimes making it worth your while to drop a turret when you think several Zerg are ahead, instead charging in and hoping you have enough energy to pay the "passage cost."

Yay for harder bosses! Before I welcomed them because the meant an income boost.

Aberrations put a a major wrench in your plans when you need to get somewhere fast. A pain, but I like it.

I like the Corruptors showing up. What exactly prompted that change? Oh, I guess they can shoot Big Berthas now. All I know is it means I can Mind Control them to squeeze past the Brood Lord wave without a Fusion Core. THAT was a close call. EDIT: They also work surprisingly well against the Leviathan.

Thanks for buffing the CCs health. It needed it, plus it now can be a legit wall section early on.

The CC and pylon sharing are great. No more being unable to mine a rich patch because your allies landed all around it. (or, more often, you leaving a player out because you got there first)

Tesla Coils look weak. To be honest, I never got one, but they seem like cheap Siege Tanks that only work against Queens, Roaches, and Ultras. MAJOR EDIT!!!: I OVERLOOKED SOME IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT TESLAS. They are very cheap at 40 mins 20 gas, and because they take only 1x1 space they are INSANELY massable. AND, UM, THEY CAN HIT BROOD/BANE LORDS! They also have no "travel" time like cannons so they don't all fire at one target. Mass Teslas with Restored=WIN?

Spider mines might get some use now, it all depends.

Infested Terran range nerf will be nice I suppose, and the longer range cannons will be even more deadly.

No comment on the Predator change, Robotics Bay, Bane Lords, or survival ending, as I have not gotten them yet.

EPIC patch!

Question: did the patch change the amount of minerals gathered from rich patches from 20 to 15? I thought it used to be 20.

Starke wrote:Question: did the patch change the amount of minerals gathered from rich patches from 20 to 15? I thought it used to be 20.

I don't remember what the exact value is, but I do know I didn't change it from the previous patch.

ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

we have reached full popularity. 100games=full meter. keep playing boys, this translates to one less click of Show More

Although I love this patch and the new ending, there is one thing dragging it down: it's way to easy to win the new ending. Once you reach a critical mass of Big Berthas, about five or six, and support them with Tesla Coils, or Ravens, or mind controlled Zerg, it is an auto-win.

In one game, we had three SEPARATE bases breeze through the Protoss assault. We would have had four, but the fourth player had poured all his money into a Raven fleet.

It needs to be reworked. I'm thinking more ground units. The Big Berthas that make this ending so easy are weak to swarms of units because of their lock-on time, however short. I would allow both Carriers and Motherships to deploy ground units, make carriers come in packs, give the Purifiers some support ships that attack with them, and allow both carriers and purifiers to deploy troops without as much delay. Make sure there is a supply cap so that it cannot get completely out of hand.

Another observation: Tesla Coils are too good for their price, taking the role of the Siege Tank and doing everything else at the same time. For my extensive thoughts, theoretical solutions, and debate, I have a thread in the Feedback and Suggestions Section, or just click here. Warning, gigantic post!