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Fallen Enchantress 0.76 changelog

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Fallen Enchantress 0.76 changelog

from Elemental Forums

 

  The beta is out, time to start fixing stuff.  :)

Patch 0.76 (released 01/26/2012)

Download:


Fallen Enchantress Beta 1 patch 1 (version 0.76) is available for download from the Stardock store.  You should find a patch update if you already have the game installed (so you don't have redownload the whole game).  Players installing for the first time will need to apply the "Full Beta" download and then download and install the "Beta Update".

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products


Features:

+ Added Edge Scrolling (defaults to on, can be disabled in game options)

 

Bugs:

+ Fixed an issue that kept players with captured drake and forest drake lairs from being able to train them

+ Added temp tile designs for Drake camps, Forest Drake camps, Mercenary camps, Naja camps, Ogre camps, Ophidian camps, Troll camps and Wilding camps

+ Naja, Ogres and Ophidians are now recruited as single units.

+ Fixed an issue that was causing swamps in the players ZoC to look like forests.

+ Fixed a lost device crash in desktop mode.

+ Fixed an issue with the arena tactical battle arena.

+ Fixed a crash attempting to fill the environment map if the sectormapper isnt initiated.

+ Fixed a bug with the Run Wild (Varkana's) quest.

+ Ring of Storms isn't available for unit design anymore.

+ Fixed a bug with Mantle of Oceans that was causing it to increase tactical spell cost instead of decrease it.

+ Fixed Throwing Knives.

+ Fixed the Powerful custom faction ability.

+ No more pauses when Air Elementals cast spells.

+ No more pauses when Troll Shamans cas spells.

+ Fixed bug where if a leader of an army was killed, their surviving sub units were not reformed into a new army, which was manifested as if you killed the leader in an army, but ended up losing the battle, the entire other army still died.

+ Fixed an issue that allows the build button to work on resources that are outside of your ZoC.

+ Fixed an issue with a conversation tag from Resoln to Yithril.

+ Fixed an issue with a conversation tag from Gilden to Resoln.

+ Fixed AI bug where pioneers would never look for a city unless they had escorts, even if the destination area is safe

+ Fixed bug where AI would declare war on players it has never met

+ Got rid of several repetiative debug messages.

+ Fixed crash bug that would occasionally occur on loading a saved game

+ Optimized load save game code to reduce big game loading times from >2 minutes to <30 seconds

+ Fixed crash bug where unit stats were being modified by multiple threads at once

+ Fixed crash bug where modifiers were being modified by multiple threads at once

+ Removed critical seciton around GetHarvestPerTurn() that caused deadlocks

+ ProcessEvents only occurs every other frame to improve framerate (this should be followed-up with more cleaning of the event queue)

+ Auto Saving now has a Debug.err message around it so we can easily tell if a crash occurred during autosave

+ Fixed bug that caused turns to get stuck on occasion

+ UpdatePioneerImpAssociatedCities() moved to a background thread so that late game animation remains smooth

+ Fixed crash bug related to Pioneer Improvements being reassociated

+ Fixed bug that caused AI to cast strategic spells from the main game thread

+ Fixed AI bug where it would send a pioneer unit to a location too close to a city and try to build there and get stuck

+ More cowbell

+ Fixed crash bug where background thread was trying to update the UI

+ Fixed crash bug related to a unit being added to a city in multiple threads at once.

+ Fixed crash bug related to a unit being clicked on in a city at the same time as a background thread was accessing the unit

+ Moved Increment Hitpoints to the top of the event list because it's one of the most common events (performance)

+ Rewrote OnEndGame() to clean up data more cleanly

+ Fixed deadlock related to GetCityByIndex()

+ Fixed deadlock related to GetCityCount()

+ Fixed AI bug where it would go to a quest location that has already been visited

+ Fixed a missing tile design for the clay quarry

+ Fixed the clay quarry so it correctly gives a material

+ Fixed the empty lairs on the Northern Waste wildland

+ Fixed some empty lairs on the Burning Lands wildland

+ Fixed memory leaks

+ Fixed the white particle effects in the Fog of War

+ Torax's head trophy will now correctly increase the gildar of your city

+ Fixed an issue that was keeping you from casting tactical spells if you didnt have the original mana cost (you couldnt cast fireball for 15 mana with bonuses if you didnt have 30 mana because its original mana cost is 30)

+ Fixed an issue that was keeping army bonuses form being applied unless it was from the armies leader

+ Fixed a hung tactical battle issue when an ai opponent couldnt get to an enemy

+ Fixed a hung tactical battle issue when an ai archer tried to make a melee attack

 

Balance:

+ Regeneration also works in tactical combat (instead of just on the world map).

+ Magical Bows are more common as loot drops.

+ You can recruit more darkling and wilding warriors from those lairs

+ You can design units with Ignys Bows now with Arcane Weaponry (and archer will upgrade to them).

+ Giant Form and Growth can only be cast on sovereigns or champions.

+ Berserker's Axe reduced from 20 Attack to 10.

+ Berserker's Broadsword reduced from 22 Attack to 11.

+ Made the following level changes to monsters:

Abeix: 15 -> 18
Ashwake Dragon: 10 -> 15
Clambercoil Dragon: 7 -> 12
Delin: 15 -> 19
Drake: 8 -> 11
Fell Dragon: 9 -> 13
Forest Drake: 6 -> 9
Giant Rock Spider: 6 -> 8
Hoarder Spider: 8 -> 10
Morian: 15 -> 19
River Slag: 5 -> 9
Sarog: 12 -> 17
Shrill Lord: 9 -> 12
Slag: 7 -> 10
Storm Dragon: 9 -> 13
Torax: 15 -> 18
Vetrar: 15 -> 20

+ Might now gives +3 Attack instead of +1 Attack per Level

+ Discipline is now a custom sovereign ability

+ Verga starts with Discipline instead of Might

+ Increased the XP needed between levels

+ The Hallowed Rite trait is only available to Resoln (or custom factions using the Wraith race)

+ Caravans are limited per city.  2 become available with Trading, an additional one is added with economics

+ Road Warriors faction trait is renamed Legacy of Serrane and it also grants an additional Caravan per city

+ Champions get injuries if they fall in combat (even if you win the battle)

+ Warrior Temple and Warrior College are both 1 per Faction

+ Late game tech costs reduced

+ Many Mid/Late game Improvement costs increased

+ Ice Elementals can cast Slow

+ Apothecaries produce 3 research per material instead of 1

+ Lightning Pike doesn't require metal to produce (crystal cost increased)

+ Boreal Blade doesn't require metal to produce (crystal cost increased)

+ Maul gives -4 Accuracy per strike instead of -3

+ Merchants reduced from +3 Gildar per season to +2

+ Added a Research cost modifier by map size (tiny is 0.7, small 0.9, medium 1.0 and large 1.1)

+ Town Hall moved form city level 3 to 4

+ Almshouse produces Diplomatic Capital instead of reducing Unrest

+ Hedge Walls and Wooden Walls require city level 3, Forts and Castles requires city level 4, Fortresses require city level 5

+ Theater is limited to 1 per Faction

+ Arena is limited to 1 per Faction

+ Watermills only give +2 Production per Material instead of +5.

 

Cosmetic:

+ Added a description tag to the Adventurer ability

+ Added icons for the Horn of Sarog, Fist of Vetrar and the Eye of Abeix trophies

+ Fixed a minor word wrapping issue with the civics ability

+ Tarth males cant wear the ladies satin shirts anymore

+ Fixed a missing cloth map icon with the Rats Nest

+ Made the prisoner quest text more clear.

+ Fixed a text overlap issue on the Unit screen.

+ New shield idle for the equipment screens (so it doesn't obscure the characters face).

+ Clarified the description text on the infirmary.

+ Fixed a typo in the Vetrar conversation

+ Fixed a typo int he Slave Lord ability

+ Added a "+x research" to goodie huts that give you research, before it was hard to tell what they were doing

+ Notification stay maximized for 15 seconds instead of 3

 

AI:

+ AI less aggressive in dealing with trespassers on its territory

+ AI more aggressive about recruiting champions

+ AI Scouts will now move towards unrecruited champions that it finds to recruit them

+ AI less cautious about going on quests

+ AI will defend its bigger cities better

+ AI handles strategic spells much more intelligently

+ AI sovereign will cast spells that only can be cast on champions

 

Hot Patch (streams automagically):

+ Acrobat ability gives +4 dex instead of +1 dex / level

+ Fixed the Lucky faction ability

+ Added a cost to the Endless Legion faction ability

+ Reduced the likelihood of getting Path levelup abilities

+ Fixed the Quick faction ability

+ Fixed the Vulnerable faction ability

+ Fixed the Weak faction ability

+ Corrected the description on the Wealthy faction ability

+ Telescopes aren't available for unit design anymore

+ Fixed a type in the growth potion description

+ Salted pork now correctly heals 8 damage

+ Corrected the description on the Blight scroll

+ Fixed an issue allowing Csilla, Irdael and Norak to get Acrobat twice

+ Increased the amount of XP required per level (especialy at higher levels)

+ Halved the amount of the players Dexterity that feeds into Dodge

+ Increased Tech Cost Percentage Increase Per Tech from 5% to 10%

 

104,425 views 136 replies
Reply #76 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting mqpiffle, reply 55

I retract this request because I have seen the other side of the coin.  It shouldn't matter if the AI forces you split your armies for defensive purposes.  Splitting xp can cause the player to save/reload to find the "happy point" which could get tedious. 

For now I will wait and see.

Maybe some middle ground would work. For example, if you battled baddies worth 100xp and won, you could get:

100xp per unit for a 1 unit army,
75xp per unit for a 2 unit army,
66xp per unit for a 3 unit army, etc

That way, battling with more units still gives an overall xp bonus, but there is incentive to keep the army size low if you want to level up faster.

Reply #77 from Elemental Forums Top

Lots of good stuff here... I'm looking forward to this release. 

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #78 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Derek, reply 75


Quoting DsRaider,
reply 74

+ Fixed a typo int he Slave Lord ability

lol
You just had to point it out. 

DsRaider - k1 for helping Kael see the humor in running a Beta!

Reply #79 from Elemental Forums Top
Yay for edge scrolling! The update is looking good :-)
Reply #80 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Barrynor, reply 64

Quoting Vaul_Darkhour, reply 63
Quoting Frogboy, reply 48
Quoting StevenAus, reply 33But having the full unassisted AI in difficulty levels normal and above is an option for the first patch.  Whatever the AI we've got at a certain time, we've got to have a mode where the AI is playing the best it can at that time, without any bonuses.  So we have a baseline, and we can hopefully help the unassisted AI gets better.

That level is currently "Challenging". Challenging uses a little more CPU without getting bonuses.

Every time I play I work to make it better.  However, the monster "AI" (if you can call it that) is working as designed. They'll attack if they think they can take you out and they tend to avoid attacking cities (especially early game).  Their behavior is controlled via the World Difficulty setting.  Note that world difficulty has nothing to do with the player AI's which are set on a per player basis (I've seen debug logs from people claiming they're beating the AI players on high difficulty only to see that the AI is set to normal but the world difficulty was set to hard).

To be blunt Brad, and I'm sure you've read all the threads on AI in the forums, but people want FE to be a success and be fun and challenging and a good AI is crucial for this to happen. The way FE works at the moment, everyone plays with crippled AI unless playing on ridiculous with bonuses. That is simply not the best way to present difficulty. People want 'ridiculous' level AI (i.e. normal)(with increased level of CPU or whatever) and no bonuses, or sliders so we can set it ourselves. The AI right now on normal is at a level my 6 yr old can beat..

 

Like Brad said, if you want to play against the AI without bonusses, set it to "challenging." That's what he's developing. It has no bonusses ( ignore the faulty tooltip).

 

That the AI is not clever enough to beat you, or at least put up a struggle, is because the Evil Mastermind behind the AI is still programming.

I really dont understand what is so hard to comprehend. Whether challenging is without bonuses or not (faulty tooltip or not), it is still crippled AI. Ridiculous level difficulty has the hardest AI (but with bonuses attached also) and thus the AI that everyone should be experiencing at Normal difficulty, not a crippled AI.

Reply #81 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Vaul_Darkhour, reply 80

Quoting Barrynor, reply 64
Quoting Vaul_Darkhour, reply 63
Quoting Frogboy, reply 48
Quoting StevenAus, reply 33But having the full unassisted AI in difficulty levels normal and above is an option for the first patch.  Whatever the AI we've got at a certain time, we've got to have a mode where the AI is playing the best it can at that time, without any bonuses.  So we have a baseline, and we can hopefully help the unassisted AI gets better.

That level is currently "Challenging". Challenging uses a little more CPU without getting bonuses.

Every time I play I work to make it better.  However, the monster "AI" (if you can call it that) is working as designed. They'll attack if they think they can take you out and they tend to avoid attacking cities (especially early game).  Their behavior is controlled via the World Difficulty setting.  Note that world difficulty has nothing to do with the player AI's which are set on a per player basis (I've seen debug logs from people claiming they're beating the AI players on high difficulty only to see that the AI is set to normal but the world difficulty was set to hard).

To be blunt Brad, and I'm sure you've read all the threads on AI in the forums, but people want FE to be a success and be fun and challenging and a good AI is crucial for this to happen. The way FE works at the moment, everyone plays with crippled AI unless playing on ridiculous with bonuses. That is simply not the best way to present difficulty. People want 'ridiculous' level AI (i.e. normal)(with increased level of CPU or whatever) and no bonuses, or sliders so we can set it ourselves. The AI right now on normal is at a level my 6 yr old can beat..

 

Like Brad said, if you want to play against the AI without bonusses, set it to "challenging." That's what he's developing. It has no bonusses ( ignore the faulty tooltip).

 

That the AI is not clever enough to beat you, or at least put up a struggle, is because the Evil Mastermind behind the AI is still programming.

I really dont understand what is so hard to comprehend. Whether challenging is without bonuses or not (faulty tooltip or not), it is still crippled AI. Ridiculous level difficulty has the hardest AI (but with bonuses attached also) and thus the AI that everyone should be experiencing at Normal difficulty, not a crippled AI.

Nope, AI on challenging is the same AI as on rediculous, except that on rediculous it has bonuses. Always been that way with stardock games.

BTW patch notes are really looking good. Lots of bugs fixed already and a first attempt to get the balance going. Looking forward to my next game!

Reply #82 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting LordTheRon, reply 81


Nope, AI on challenging is the same AI as on rediculous, except that on rediculous it has bonuses. Always been that way with stardock games.

BTW patch notes are really looking good. Lots of bugs fixed already and a first attempt to get the balance going. Looking forward to my next game!

No, challenging is currently \/

Regardless of bonus or no bonus, the AI is 'increased level of intelligence' versus 'ridiculous level' of AI on ridiculous difficulty.. That would mean the AI is better, i.e. using more CPU or whatever, on the harder level than normal or challenging.. i.e. crippled AI.

Reply #83 from Elemental Forums Top

That tooltip is incorrect. I think there was some miscommunication internally.  :borg:

Reply #84 from Elemental Forums Top

Well, I'd be the one to set the tooltip. I just didn't know there was one to change.

Basically, challenging is the same as normal except I have it (and everything above normal) use some nastier (read: CPU intensive) algorithms.  This will be more significant later on.

Case in point: I say MyArmy->SetDestination(x,y) and right now, there might be very bad things between where it is now and where it wants to go. You'll see the AI do stupid stuff because it's expensive for it to calculate every unit every turn.

So on Challenging, Cari wrote me an API CheckPath(x,y) that will let me look at every tile between source and destination for problems.  This will stop things like seeing pioneer units just standing around when they finally get to an obstacle that they won't pass or an army going to its doom because half way there it went through the wild lands or something.  But it is CPU intensive.

One nice thign about the API is that it could potentiallyl be used for real-time path displays ala Civ V before you send a unit off.  Whether that'll make it into 1.0 remains to be seen but it's something we hope to put in there.

Reply #85 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 84
Well, I'd be the one to set the tooltip. I just didn't know there was one to change.

Basically, challenging is the same as normal except I have it (and everything above normal) use some nastier (read: CPU intensive) algorithms.  This will be more significant later on.

Case in point: I say MyArmy->SetDestination(x,y) and right now, there might be very bad things between where it is now and where it wants to go. You'll see the AI do stupid stuff because it's expensive for it to calculate every unit every turn.

So on Challenging, Cari wrote me an API CheckPath(x,y) that will let me look at every tile between source and destination for problems.  This will stop things like seeing pioneer units just standing around when they finally get to an obstacle that they won't pass or an army going to its doom because half way there it went through the wild lands or something.  But it is CPU intensive.

One nice thign about the API is that it could potentiallyl be used for real-time path displays ala Civ V before you send a unit off.  Whether that'll make it into 1.0 remains to be seen but it's something we hope to put in there.

 

What if instead of checking each path you just generated a kind of danger/obstacle heat map that the AI could use for all their units. The heat map would project out for dangerous armies according to their strength and move speed and then an AI could look for a path that is not too 'hot' for it's own armies strength. Only calculating it once per turn would certainly cut down on the CPU intensiveness right?

Reply #86 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 84
Well, I'd be the one to set the tooltip. I just didn't know there was one to change.

Basically, challenging is the same as normal except I have it (and everything above normal) use some nastier (read: CPU intensive) algorithms.  This will be more significant later on.

Case in point: I say MyArmy->SetDestination(x,y) and right now, there might be very bad things between where it is now and where it wants to go. You'll see the AI do stupid stuff because it's expensive for it to calculate every unit every turn.

So on Challenging, Cari wrote me an API CheckPath(x,y) that will let me look at every tile between source and destination for problems.  This will stop things like seeing pioneer units just standing around when they finally get to an obstacle that they won't pass or an army going to its doom because half way there it went through the wild lands or something.  But it is CPU intensive.

One nice thign about the API is that it could potentiallyl be used for real-time path displays ala Civ V before you send a unit off.  Whether that'll make it into 1.0 remains to be seen but it's something we hope to put in there.

Well as I and others have posted Brad, it would be good if we had the option to use the highest level and best AI possible, i.e. ridiculous level AI without the bonuses attached. I would argue that that difficulty level was called 'Normal', but if you disagree, can we not have a difficulty level that gives us access to the best ridiculous cpu eating AI possible without the bonuses!? If not, or as another option, can we please have sliders in the difficulty screen so that we may set the AI and bonus combinations we would like? Is that not too much to ask?

Reply #87 from Elemental Forums Top

Frogboy, did you realise that you are in the same situation that was in 2010? In 2010 you thought that you will create good AI in couple month, that was funny. Now, as i see, you have the same thoughts. That is not funny :). 

I see the AI changes in 0.76 and to tell the truth there is almost no changes. This is absolutly similar situation that was in WoM! Just read your older posts and WoM patch notes and think about it.

Reply #88 from Elemental Forums Top

Also, "Maul gives -4 Accuracy per strike instead of -3" - and thats all??!!!! Oh, come on!

Reply #89 from Elemental Forums Top

Except the intention is that FE will be released when it's ready.  So there will be a long beta period which will test everything in the game, multiple times.

Reply #90 from Elemental Forums Top

When can we expect the 0.76 to be launched? I'm eager to try it. I have discarded EWOM since the failure at the launch after a fez updates, had download it again, its awful. But FE is on the right track...

So please, when can we hope to put our hands on FE 0.76?

Reply #91 from Elemental Forums Top

AFAIK, it will be coming out when the new beta participants will be allowed in, ie. 3pm EST.  But Stardock can correct me if I'm wrong. =)

Reply #93 from Elemental Forums Top

AI is probably the least transparent development process. Let's wait a few weeks before getting concerned about its progress. Since the beta has no end, I am sure that more people/resources can be allocated here to keep it at pace if there is a problem down the line. So far, .76 looks like a good first week of fixes. Of course I would enjoy a nice long dev journal about improvements once you guys get that sorted out. It is the weakest area of the game right now. 

Reply #94 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 93
AI is probably the least transparent development process. Let's wait a few weeks before getting concerned about its progress. Since the beta has no end, I am sure that more people/resources can be allocated here to keep it at pace if there is a problem down the line. So far, .76 looks like a good first week of fixes. Of course I would enjoy a nice long dev journal about improvements once you guys get that sorted out. It is the weakest area of the game right now. 

I agree with the poster above. The AI has been a concern all the way through Elemental from WOM to FE. Everything in FE has stepped up a notch but I dont see much point in playing the game or any will, need or impulse to build certain buildings and troops etc. when there is no challenge from the AI forcing me to do so.! I would say the weakest area of the game is undoubtedly the AI.

Reply #95 from Elemental Forums Top

Nice that you got what I meant. I accidently wrote improvements when I meant AI improvements. Damn this language!  :blush:

Reply #96 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting id_est, reply 87
Frogboy, did you realise that you are in the same situation that was in 2010? In 2010 you thought that you will create good AI in couple month, that was funny. Now, as i see, you have the same thoughts. That is not funny . 

I see the AI changes in 0.76 and to tell the truth there is almost no changes. This is absolutly similar situation that was in WoM! Just read your older posts and WoM patch notes and think about it.


The thing is that this is not true. When Brad was trying to put together an AI for WoM he was not a dedicated AI developer. He was also writing quest content, playing project manager, and many other things I don't remember. Anyone who has ever done software development knows the price of frequent context switches on productivity. Now that he is working as a dedicated AI developer I expect the situation to be much different. I have played Galactic Civilizations and know what he is capable of as far as AI so i expect great things.

Reply #97 from Elemental Forums Top

StevenAus

 

I did't understand your answer (sorry poor english)

Care to explain?

Edited so many times... Sorry... Falling asleep already...

Reply #98 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Sarudak, reply 96
The thing is that this is not true. When Brad was trying to put together an AI for WoM he was not a dedicated AI developer. He was also writing quest content, playing project manager, and many other things I don't remember. Anyone who has ever done software development knows the price of frequent context switches on productivity. Now that he is working as a dedicated AI developer I expect the situation to be much different. I have played Galactic Civilizations and know what he is capable of as far as AI so i expect great things.

What exactly is not true?

Anyway, i dont think Brad is dedicated AI developer, minimum - CEO && Developer. And i don't feel new AI in FE. 

What i feel is that history repeated. 

Reply #99 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting id_est, reply 98


What exactly is not true?

Anyway, i dont think Brad is dedicated AI developer, minimum - CEO && Developer. And i don't feel new AI in FE. 

What i feel is that history repeated. 

It's not true that the situation is the same as it was before.

Reply #100 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Sarudak, reply 96

Quoting id_est, reply 87Frogboy, did you realise that you are in the same situation that was in 2010? In 2010 you thought that you will create good AI in couple month, that was funny. Now, as i see, you have the same thoughts. That is not funny . 

I see the AI changes in 0.76 and to tell the truth there is almost no changes. This is absolutly similar situation that was in WoM! Just read your older posts and WoM patch notes and think about it.


The thing is that this is not true. When Brad was trying to put together an AI for WoM he was not a dedicated AI developer. He was also writing quest content, playing project manager, and many other things I don't remember. Anyone who has ever done software development knows the price of frequent context switches on productivity. Now that he is working as a dedicated AI developer I expect the situation to be much different. I have played Galactic Civilizations and know what he is capable of as far as AI so i expect great things.

Past mistakes aside, expectations are one thing we had with WOM. FE was meant to be different. You know.. worked on for more than a year behind the scenes to make sure it fixed the problems that plagued WOM.. (which it has to a large degree). Except the AI.. The AI is still behind the eight ball so to speak. When will it meet expectations? Because if it doesnt, then FE fails. Full Stop. I would have multiple people, or more than 1 person, working co-operatively on the AI asap for the Beta. Not after it. The other thing if I remember correctly is that Brad said the overall AI was different and more complex than GalCiv, so maybe more help it needed.