Two things:

1) SKINS: existing skins will not work properly with the new PDA interface. You'll need to update your skins with Ray's new skin pack, which I assume he'll.. post.. somewhere.

2) PROXIMITY WARNING: you have to hit enter to get the distance setting to stick. Ray is going to change this in the next release, probably next week. So if you want it to be 2000, change it from -1 to 2000 and hit enter. Then close the window.

The new darker look is freakin SWEET. Awesome!

Downloading now, if this is what I think (the lighting), then you guys just addressed one of my biggest issues with this game (aesthetically anyway)!

edit: DAMMIT!!! http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/2/13795?page=#173962

Bot AI on Hive Guardians, Station Guards, Pirates seems to have been radically changed.. Perhaps that should be in the notes?

Anyway I think they are TOO hard to hit now.. If they are going to stay like this then they really need to give a lot more XP per kill, since it has essentially hexdruplied the time it takes to kill one and the damage you take in doing so..

I can understand making the Station Guards better, but the Hive Guardians possibly need to tone down a bit..

GO INC! The PDA rocks, (will post suggestions later)!

And about the bots: anything that makes the bot AI better is great. Giving them better and better ships is the wrong way to go, and youguys avoided that perfectly.

Better AI = better game

-Calder

The bots are harder now, and space looks great!

Only downpoint: being blinded by the 'u' screen.

We need them files, or at least their names!

"And about the bots: anything that makes the bot AI better is great. Giving them better and better ships is the wrong way to go, and youguys avoided that perfectly."

Except, in the case of hive bots, they already have better ships to compensate?

With the unbots in their numbers and with their perfect aim, I fear the worst...

I like the new lighting system and the new bot AI...

PDA is a good idea, but needs more functions to be truly cool...

And that's about it from where I'm sitting...

lighting = awesome

PDA = very good, but needs some method of closing when you select a ship. Not always though, so maybe make it only close when you *double* click a ship...

New ai code = BLIMEY! Those bots are about 20x harder now, i was actually finding them harder to kill than human opponents due to their near-perfect dodging, aim, and persistant backrolling. This is cool, but will probably mean that balance needs to be reexamined - eg border patrol is really hard now lol.

So all the bots are improved? The lower level bots should, IMO, still have the old AI to make them more n00b-friendly.

Collectors are still rock-stupid, don't worry.

i don't think they're so much stupid, as have really poor maneuverability. Even the hive assaults aren't terrifying, its the in the BP where the bots get given cent mk III's that they become something to worry about :P

The "new bot AI" is me fixing a bug I introduced a while ago; I had a backwards distance comparison. Oops! So they'd dodge when they shouldn't have and didn't dodge when they should. Zig when they should zag, etc. This is probably about the 20th time I've fixed one little thing for one reason which had wide-reaching consequences for the bots that I didn't want, exactly, although the old behavior was clearly wrong.

And you're right, Soulless1. Most bots in the "easy" category have insanely large masses or underpowered engines; they use the exact same code.

Ok, I'll have to retune the bots again. It's good that they're *capable* of being challenging though. That'll make it easier to make missions which actually are somewhat difficult.

Must say , I rather like the new bot AI, they really are a challenge to hit . Hive hunt is no longer a bug shoot ; you really feel as if you are up against an advanced intellegence rather than blasting at a target connected to the front of your backrolling ship by a length of string .
It may well go aginst the grain , but I want VO to be a hard , vicious challenge to play .
My vote would be leave the AI set as it is and I'll try to improve my skills even if I have to boil every roid in the universe to pay for my progress......

cheers

Ecka

I admire the persistence of those who like the improved AI, but I know it isn't shared by all. Some bots need to be killable or we won't be able to get new players into the game.

I think the Sedina bots are actually DUMBER. If you have FA on at about 50%, and head right for them, strafing randomly in very tiny amounts while firing at them with autoaim, they die quickly. Even Valent Assaults, which I thought were the most "quick" bots.

I liked it when the guardians would get all up in your face with the AGT and gauss. Make the guardians want to get 50 m from you, and have them hold off firing until they see the whites of your eyes. THOSE would be scary.

If you could take the "jousting" AI from the Deneb bots (I think it's the same style used for observers), and put it into the Sedina Hive bots (Valent Assaults specifically), we'd have a challenge.

Now, the Deneb bots - Heh. I was lazily shooting gauss Mk. II at the border patrol bots in Deneb and MAN they would dodge those gauss shots REALLY well. They'd stay pretty much at 200 m and energy spam.

However I then switched FA off to make them come AT me instead of my usual thing where I'm aggressively charging into their face, and they became much easier to hit when you fight defensively.

I switched to N2's and PhaseBlasters and they were actually EASIER to hit as well, which made absolutely no sense.

I'm logging in to do more research.

3 things about the update:

1)LIGHTING: I'm not sure what happened, but I think what happened is that this update turned Full Scene Glow Effect off on my comp. I've tried turning it on, but when I do and click apply, nothing happens. When I click ok nothing happens. When I click OK and then go right back into the screen FSGE is off again. Did this update make it not work?

2)BOTS:
A) This probably isn't the place for this, but in response to people saying bots should be easier for n00bs, no and I'll tell you why. It's called combat PRACTICE for a reason, right? Not MINDLESS BOT KILLING FOR HOURS ON END PRACTICE. COMBAT practice. I've thought this should be done forever, but now that the bots are better and have had their AI upgraded, the devs finally have an excuse for making combat missions give more reward and be less tedious and more fun. Advancement through levels would be based on the SKILL you've aquired at dealing with multiple opponents, not at the time you've been chasing retarded bots around.

VO is a bit incongruous at present. Leveling is based on time-grinding just like any other RPG, but once you have enough levels your PvP skill, (which is what really matters) all depends on just that: your skill. Making the combat missions increase in HARDNESS would be a great way to even these odd ends out and make leveling also based on increasing skill rather than time.

B) Now that all bots don't use the same tactics, assaults should DEFINITELY be converted to the jousting tactics to make them harder than guardians. Assaults are SUPPOSED to be harder than guardians, but before, they weren't because they did the same thing. They ran to 100m and spammed without dodging. Because guardians had more armor to stand up to attackers with, and more guns to shoot attackers with, they had the advantage. Now on the other hand, manueverability actually comes into play.

3)PDA: I know more stuff is coming, so I won't even bother to suggest anything more about it until I see it actually in production. I will however point out a small bug in the sector list PDA. It resets your proximity alert every time you log off or quit. This is only a little bit annoying, but... please fix when you have the time...

-Calder

If you make the beginning bots too hard new players will be unable to get accustomed to the fighting system before they get frustrated and leave.

Calder:

1. Full Scene Glow requires Shaders to be turned on in the Video options page. That's not what changed in the update though. FSGE creates "light blooms" around objects which are radiating or reflecting light (blaster bolts, engine trails etc).

3. See Inc's first post in the thread about how to make the Prox Alert settings stick.