Topic: Random assignments testing

-> How to access the test server.

The first public test of the new random assignments is now available on the test server.
Here's what you need to know about it.

Timeline
  • General mechanic testing.

  • Balancing pass. (Assignment payouts, relation rewards, objective difficulties including NPC rank/numbers, artifact radiuses, transport item quantities, etc.)

  • Once we determined that the random assignment structures have the right numbers and distances, place and block all of them into their final locations.

  • Populate/rework Attalica and Daoden. (Once we see that everything works right, this will go relatively fast.)

  • First live patch. (<- You are here)

  • Do the other islands. (Order is Alpha1, Alpha2, Beta1, Beta2)


New features and changes

Random assignments

  • Random assignments are generated specifically for you when you request one, and the actual objectives will be determined randomly based on the assignment template, the request location, the assignment level, and the surrounding facilities.

  • Currently we have 27 different assignment templates in 8 categories.

  • The old Combat, Industrial, and Transport categories have been split up into more specific ones, so you won't face enemies in transport assignments, or have to search for artifacts in pure combat assignments anymore.

  • There is a fancy new window when you complete an assignment, detailing the outcome.


Assignments in squads

  • You don't have to decide anymore whether you want to do an assignment in a squad or not. This happens automatically: if you are in a squad, the assignment will appear for all available squad members too.

  • The assignment owner/provider has to be online and present in order to do it. Otherwise the assignment will be put on hold and no objectives can be completed as long as this is the case.

  • Everyone present and in the squad can contribute to any objective and complete any assignment that is shared through the squad. Objectives that require multiple kills or multiple items can be cooperated on freely.

  • The "Complex production" assignment category is specifically meant for squads as it features objectives which can be done in parallel. (Though this is also true for some of the other templates too.)


Field terminals

Scattered around the islands, these provide the following services:

  • Secure, permanent, private storage, just like in a base. Their contents are also visible through the "all items" tab of your private storage.

  • Re-equipping your robot right there on the terrain. You can use modules both from your cargo or the field terminal's own storage. Can only be used while all of your modules are turned off.

  • You can request new assignments from them (which will start near them), so no need to return to the main base after every assignment.


Return teleport

A 5-minute return teleport option is provided after every successfully completed assignment, which will put you right next to the main terminal or outpost of your choice, within the island. It expires immediately when you enter a base or teleport to another island. You only get this after random assignments and training assignments. Old assignments don't give it due to exploit concerns.


Rework of teleport and highway networks

This is currently done only for New Virginia yet, but it should give you a good idea on how the other islands will look like.

The main guidelines behind the rework are:

  • Speed up traffic between main terminals, outposts, and teleports, by providing uninterrupted highway routes.

  • Practically you don't have to step off a highway if you're travelling between islands and their terminals.

  • Where possible, route inter-island traffic through outposts, which are currently underused.


Other new features and changes

  • Assignment specialist extensions have been reworked a bit. The old Combat/Industrial/Transport combo changed to Combat (Combat, Combat exploration), Fieldcraft (Mining, Harvesting, Exploration), Transport, and a new extension for Production (Production, Complex production). They also do not provide a bonus to relation rewards anymore, only for NIC.

  • Fixed the Contract negotiation extension, as it made negative bonuslevel bonuses even worse instead of reducing them. Increased the extension rank to 8. Reduced its prerequisite level in specialist extensions from 4 to 3. This and the specialist extensions will be reimbursed during the live patch.

  • Brought back the Diplomacy extension. It now reduces the negative relation hit towards competing megacorporations and when aborting assignments. (And only that, it does not increase positive relation rewards like in the past.)

  • Objective letter markings are now properly placed on and connected to NPCs and buildings, not just floating around somewhere near them.

  • Assignment NPCs and geoscanning targets now drop the required items into special separate blue-colored loot containers.

  • Your active assignment list has been split down from the assignment request window and the small assignment objectives window is now also available inside terminals.

  • This, and the squad window button have been moved under a dropdown button, so it is now more consistent with how it works outside.

  • Added a deliver button into the assignment objectives window and into the right-click menu of assignment items in a storage.


Island progress

  • New Virginia

  • Attalica

  • Daoden

  • Hershfield

  • Tellesis

  • Shinjalar


Known issues

  • *fixed* Deploying field containers doesn't work/gives server error.

  • *fixed* Can't exit the tutorial zone (server error).

  • *fixed* The assignment return teleport seems a bit random regarding the selected destination and where it actually puts you.

  • *fixed* Crash when you confirm assignment abortion while the assignment window is closed.

  • *fixed* Item volumes are wrong while they are in loot/field containers.

  • *fixed* Structure objective markers sometimes don't appear, rendering the assignment practically uncompletable.

  • *fixed* Fixed spawn NPCs on NV are still dropping the items for the old assignments.

  • *fixed* Despawn timer for assignment NPCs might be too long now. - Set to 15 minutes, which is reset when you aggro them.

  • *fixed* Mass-aborting assignments in a squad might be used for griefing. - Fixed by giving negative relations and bonus level decrease only to the assignment owner.

  • *fixed* The visibility of assignment structures is currently too low. - Masking reduced from 450 to 200.

  • *fixed* You get the "Can't use this while modules are active" error when trying to unstack or destroy items in your cargo, even when not near a field terminal.

  • *fixed* When you complete assignments at field terminals, the "Private storage" and "Assignments" buttons will get cut off. The more assignments you complete, the more gets cut off. http://i.imgur.com/uTKyGq5.jpg

  • *fixed* "In progress" assignment boxes appear only at the location where you requested them.

  • *fixed* Completing the last delivery objectives in an assignment might sometimes wrongly tell you that not all objectives have been completed yet.

  • *fixed* The base/terrain version of the assignment objectives window currently store their status/position/size separately. We're working on this to give them a common status.

  • *fixed* Assignment artifacts don't have proper names yet.

  • *fixed* Manufacturing objectives will always require you to do exactly 1 production cycle, regardless of the number of items that have to be produced. This is intended, but not apparent on the UI yet. - Products per cycle is now shown in CTs and in the factory.

  • Random assignment structures and field terminals don't have blockings yet.

Updates

Feedback is welcome in this topic, or feel free to make new ones if you want to discuss a larger issue separately.


Last update: 2015-07-19 23:25

Re: Random assignments testing

http://i.imgur.com/Z5r8yuS.png

That is a whole lot of Text in one little area that looks confusing as hell.

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Dev Zoom: I think its time to confess, Ville is my alt
Dev Zoom: Ville can be sometimes so sane it's scary.

Re: Random assignments testing

Ville wrote:

http://i.imgur.com/Z5r8yuS.png

That is a whole lot of Text in one little area that looks confusing as hell.

Yeah, we need to do something about that.

Re: Random assignments testing

Why can't we still LOOK at a mission first before it automatically accepts it?

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Dev Zoom: I think its time to confess, Ville is my alt
Dev Zoom: Ville can be sometimes so sane it's scary.

Re: Random assignments testing

Ville wrote:

Why can't we still LOOK at a mission first before it automatically accepts it?

Because we'd need to do a whole penalty/whatever system around what would happen if you don't like what you are given. (This is what aborting does now basically.)

Re: Random assignments testing

DEV Zoom wrote:
Ville wrote:

Why can't we still LOOK at a mission first before it automatically accepts it?

Because we'd need to do a whole penalty/whatever system around what would happen if you don't like what you are given. (This is what aborting does now basically.)

Fair enough.  And I am having some serious lag on the test server too, sad

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Dev Zoom: I think its time to confess, Ville is my alt
Dev Zoom: Ville can be sometimes so sane it's scary.

Re: Random assignments testing

Well, it's still in Budapest and it's not a beefy machine either.

A quick addition to the previous issue: we don't want you to cherry-pick missions, but I hope once people get to know the new system they will realize that there is no need to. The new categories should be specific enough so you won't get missions that you wouldn't really like.

8 (edited by Inda 2015-05-31 09:57:50)

Re: Random assignments testing

1) NPC's spawn top on you:
I just tested the combat missions, and the NPC's are spawn on you, that is not acceptable to me, you cant do much if you have NPC's on your neck. 500 m away from the point. Maybe better if you use the bigger "red circle" to activate the spawn, and they spawn at the "letter" (A), so it dosent matter where you come from.

2) bugs:
2.1) activate missions sometimes dont show where you need to go, the red letter (A) is missing.
2.2) TMA hometeleport goes to Cadavria

3) graphics:
3.1) the private storage icon is dont show properly after 1 mission completed
http://pasteboard.co/RRWQdkH.png
3.2) the downgrade arrows also dont show properly in the reward window
http://pasteboard.co/RS011yD.png

4) mechanics:
4.1) combat mission window is disappear when you reach the 5 mission completion, I think would be better just grey it
4.2) how I can teleport back? I didnt find out (found it)
4.3) highways, +36 km/h is not that, something different with slower robots or faster (This is problem on the live server also.)
4.4) I acquared some old Data consoles, Nemesis IV
4.5) rewards: it will be PITA to collect all your loot and all your rewards, I think we need to think about something. At least somewhere you could check where was your last reward.

Energy to Earth!

18.01.2014. [12:57:58] <BeastmodeGuNs> after that i remembered all those warning about 1v1 you lol, and i found out why xD

Re: Random assignments testing

first question:
why did you place 4 teleports around TMA, instead of placing one that allows you to telport into the four directions? with the current robot travel speed, the higway boost - its not much difference between running 1km or waiting 1min for the molecular instability to wear off.  just that the travel part does not work with the lowest level pathfinding (no priority for highway)

second question:
whats that "status windows" button in the top left - such an relative unimportant button in a place where you had 5 years long the private storage button.

third question:
ambush mission npcs - will you make them despawn somehow faster? i have undocked from TMA and felt like i spawned into someone doing beacon farming, but no player seen anywhere. and they all have been loot-flagged for someone.

about the mission travel distances: you have placed lots of "random points", shown in that last screenshot you have posted. Am i wrong when i say that you could estimate the travel distances for each mission by calculating and storing the distances between those random points/mission terminals (wavefront algorithm) and the mission generator does a pathfinding algorithm along this ultra-simplified mesh with weighted (travel distances) connections to figure out the travel distance multiplier?

i mean, thats a matter of a few seconds doing the wavefront algorithm for all those random points, and milliseconds for the mission generator then.

*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear

Re: Random assignments testing

Inda wrote:

1) NPC's spawn top on you:
I just tested the combat missions, and the NPC's are spawn on you, that is not acceptable to me, you cant do much if you have NPC's on your neck. 500 m away from the point. Maybe better if you use the bigger "red circle" to activate the spawn, and they spawn at the "letter" (A), so it dosent matter where you come from.

We can increase the range at which they spawn, but 500m would be too much I think.

2) bugs:
2.1) activate missions sometimes dont show where you need to go, the red letter (A) is missing.

This can also happen when some other mission is selected in the objectives window (accepting a new one will not select it).

2.2) TMA hometeleport goes to Cadavria

What does hometeleport mean here?

3) graphics:
3.1) the private storage icon is dont show properly after 1 mission completed
http://pasteboard.co/RRWQdkH.png
3.2) the downgrade arrows also dont show properly in the reward window
http://pasteboard.co/RS011yD.png

We'll check these, thanks.

4) mechanics:
4.1) combat mission window is disappear when you reach the 5 mission completion, I think would be better just grey it

Sorry I don't understand what you mean here. The training missions?

4.2) how I can teleport back? I didnt find out (found it)

Green teleport button on top of the screen, like always.

4.3) highways, +36 km/h is not that, something different with slower robots or faster (This is problem on the live server also.)

I'm thinking about increasing the highway bonus, but slightly decreasing robot speeds after we'll have the new highway/teleport network complete.

4.4) I acquared some old Data consoles, Nemesis IV

Yeah old NPCs will still drop them, we'll take them out.

4.5) rewards: it will be PITA to collect all your loot and all your rewards, I think we need to think about something. At least somewhere you could check where was your last reward.

We have plans for a service that sends items from field terminals to main terminals/outposts for a volume-based NIC fee.

Re: Random assignments testing

- Not sure if intended, but field terminals have no collision
- I've done combat missions up to level 3. Like every bot spawning has gazillion demobs, neuts, ECM. Feel free to add normal combat mechs, not just ECM stuff.
- I agree with Inda. Trigger distance of NPCs spawning should be a little higher.


The following missions didn't work:

Mission name: [missiontemplate_random_combat_04_desc]
Mission level: 0
Assignment requested at: Field Terminal NVI-09
Bug: There’s no objective D (activate switch) shown on map. Cannot complete.

Re: Random assignments testing

Annihilator wrote:

first question:
why did you place 4 teleports around TMA, instead of placing one that allows you to telport into the four directions? with the current robot travel speed, the higway boost - its not much difference between running 1km or waiting 1min for the molecular instability to wear off.  just that the travel part does not work with the lowest level pathfinding (no priority for highway)

I think it's more immersive this way. If you look at the north-east corner of the island, we could have left out that short highway strip and directly connect those teleports, but I feel like a short walk between different teleports adds to the "I'm going far away"-feeling, without being a nuisance. At least in my opinion it's better than waiting for a timer to expire.

second question:
whats that "status windows" button in the top left - such an relative unimportant button in a place where you had 5 years long the private storage button.

This is mentioned in the OP, this is now consistent with the menubuttons while on the terrain. But yes it might take some getting used to.

third question:
ambush mission npcs - will you make them despawn somehow faster? i have undocked from TMA and felt like i spawned into someone doing beacon farming, but no player seen anywhere. and they all have been loot-flagged for someone.

I'll need to check the despawn time for them, might be an hour now, which is indeed too long.

about the mission travel distances: you have placed lots of "random points", shown in that last screenshot you have posted. Am i wrong when i say that you could estimate the travel distances for each mission by calculating and storing the distances between those random points/mission terminals (wavefront algorithm) and the mission generator does a pathfinding algorithm along this ultra-simplified mesh with weighted (travel distances) connections to figure out the travel distance multiplier?

This is what we're doing. Though I don't understand why you want pathfinding for this, it's a simple chain. Or do you mean using the random points as "checkpoints"? Because that would be sort of exploitable, you would send out your robot far away with the autopilot, take a break, come back, send it back to complete the mission, and collect lots of walking rewards.

Re: Random assignments testing

Jasdemi: please read the OP before testing.

For the missing letter marker, I have seen that bug myself too, not sure what that's about yet. (Happens randomly it seems.)

14 (edited by Ensireka 2015-05-31 13:28:04)

Re: Random assignments testing

Level 0 Combat Exploration Assignment - coding is showing in all areas : assignment window, assignment info, assignments selection window and event log.  Unsure if I missed reading that in the OP.  hmm  Sorry if I did.

http://i.imgur.com/8CKmJDJ.jpg

-Ensi

Re: Random assignments testing

You did smile

A lot of icons, assignment and item descriptions are still missing.

16 (edited by Ensireka 2015-05-31 13:38:30)

Re: Random assignments testing

Btw, are the assignments taking into account the players not online?  How are we supposed to fit for an combat assignment if we cannot see the type of npc we must obliterate (or is some cases vice versa)?  These level 2's are harder then they were before.  ha ha.  Need a fit change!  smile

Just got 341 Common Kernels from an Arbiter Ictus and only 14 Hi-Tech from an Hero castel.  Doesn't seem right on either account.

Is it intended to not tell us the possible completion results prior to doing the assignment or is that under the assignments descriptions?  (i'm just checking so we all know)

Can we have a way to turn off non-assignment npcs and be able to only have assignment npcs appear on theLandmarks window?

Thanks GM Zoom Zoom

-Ensi

Btw, pretty sure I clicked Lenworth and I ended up at Cadavra instead.

Re: Random assignments testing

Ensi:

This is a general mechanic test, which means that balance is still all over the place. Don't be surprised if you get only a few thousand NIC for a level 5 assignment or if you encounter a mech on level 1.

Ensireka wrote:

Is it intended to not tell us the possible completion results prior to doing the assignment or is that under the assignments descriptions?  (i'm just checking so we all know)

It's in the assignment description window. But the NIC reward is just an estimation, as the exact reward will depend on what you do during the assignment.

Re: Random assignments testing

Inda, Ensi: ok I see now what you mean with the return teleport. I selected Lenworth and it brought me to the main terminal instead.

Re: Random assignments testing

I didn't know titan was so large in size ... 386 titan was 3.72u.  That'll make titan mining interesting  smile 

http://i.imgur.com/IiLCYV6.jpg

-Ensi

I picked it up and it was only ... i dunno, but the 3.72u has the decimal in the wrong spot.

Re: Random assignments testing

Ensireka wrote:

I didn't know titan was so large in size ... 386 titan was 3.72u.  That'll make titan mining interesting  smile 

http://i.imgur.com/IiLCYV6.jpg

-Ensi

I picked it up and it was only ... i dunno, but the 3.72u has the decimal in the wrong spot.

Yes this seems to be a problem only in loot containers.

Re: Random assignments testing

DEV Zoom wrote:

Inda, Ensi: ok I see now what you mean with the return teleport. I selected Lenworth and it brought me to the main terminal instead.

My fault; will patch it later today.

[14:15:15] <Freya Sabbat> ...Dear god, the Devs are as bad as us

22 (edited by JetNexus 2015-05-31 16:11:39)

Re: Random assignments testing

But why you aren't mirrored the database?
My account is 6 months old, but it's doesn't have NIC for testing, and i can't complete a tutorial for a free bot because of the teleport bug... roll

Re: Random assignments testing

We didn't want to overwrite/destroy whatever the current test accounts had. But we can probably help with the NIC issue.

24 (edited by Jasdemi 2015-05-31 16:22:38)

Re: Random assignments testing

The game will crash when you confirm assignment abortion while the assignment window is closed.

To reproduce:
1. Request an assignment
2. Click "Abort"
3. Close the "Assignment Info" window
4. Click "Yes" on the "Confirmation" window

EDIT: Also happens on the live server.

25 (edited by Goffer 2015-05-31 16:27:13)

Re: Random assignments testing

Lenworth Outpost level 1 Combat assignment "missiontemplate_random_combat_04" has no place for objective "D" (activate switch). There is no D on map or radar and when opening info and click on objective D an empty map opens.

Edit: Maybe just testserver crashed while doing this assignment, as it seems sever died meanwhile (no login possible, no docking possible)