Greetings commander,

Following your feedback from our Beta sessions we have added a number of changes and improvements to our latest build. Some of these changes include several improvements to the chat interface, methods to prevent spawn camping and enhanced matchmaking to ensure a more equal playing field and two brand new maps to battle in.

The full list of changes can be found here:

Social

• Functionality and messaging for the social radial menu and chat has been upgraded.
• All of the existing chat commands have had a review and there have been multiple updates and expansions.  Type /ch into the local chat channel to display a full, updated list.
• Typing / will open chat with /already written – giving you quicker access to chat commands.
• SHIFT + ENTER open chat with /all already written – giving you quicker access to messaging both factions in the current map instance.
• A number of new chat commands have been added as an additional method of broadcasting voice commands – /hi, /bye, /taunt and /cheer.
• A /quit chat command has been added to allow you to logout of the game.
• A /ui chat command has been added to allow you to remove the named player from your ignore list.
• The character limit for a single message in chat has been increased 140 to 170.
• The message history for chat has been increased from 50 to 75 messages.
• Chat messages from players in your Friends list will now be coloured green.
• Incoming group chat messages from your group leader are now pre-fixed with (leader).
• All HUD messages from your faction now only displays within the communications chat channel.
• Physical “Return” button has been added to the chat window. Mouse control is retained when clicking this button to allow you to carry on using chat (as opposed to pressing ENTER where control returns to the game camera).
• All Friend invites are now accompanied with a HUD toast pop-up. Once this has timed-out your pending friend invite will still be available via the Friends List.
• Any chat notifications that contain a player’s name can now be clicked on with the RMB in order to access the associated menu.

Matchmaking

• Skillscore now turns on dynamically based on the number of online players
• Commander levelling is now taken into account so players will never fight another player more than 10 levels above them

• More explicit messaging has been added to better communicate your progress in the queue – Looking for match, expanding search, reducing required players etc…

PvP

• New Map – Horizon Plaza (Meteor Storm & Elimination)
• New Map – Drummond Gorge (Meteor Storm)
• Participation system for rewards
• ‘One way glass’ allows players to shoot out of, but not into spawn points
• Team balance buff
• Updated Energon system

PvE

• New HUD for the missions in the exterior base maps. Displays the mission briefing, overall scores and includes a mission timer and a countdown to the start of the next mission.
• Terrorcons will attack Cybertronian structures and eventually destroy them, meaning that players will need to hurry to objectives and prioritize their targets.
• Terrorcons will attack wounded Autotroopers and Vehicons.
• Autotroopers and Vehicons will fight each other when they appear in the same mission together.
• The same mission type will no longer occur twice in a row.
• Improved radar map for both of the exterior base maps – Central City and High Grand.
• Added radar icons for all interactive objects – Medbays, Deposit Points and Hangar Uplinks.
• Added portals to the Central City and High Grand maps to allow you to queue for a random Crisis PvE map while in these maps.
• All missions that provided only a single target have been changed so that there are always multiple targets for players to engage. This puts the emphasis on co-operation rather than competition.
• Players earn XP for eliminating NPCs.
• Relic Rewards have had a balancing pass.

Hangar

• New item Notification system
• Knowledge Base
• Vehicle mode in the Hangar now shows the weapon and equipment
• New layout of the details panel in the Hangar
• Improvements to the power core system and layout in the Hangar
• Improvements to the repair widget in the Hangar based on user feedback
• New damage and ability icons
• New bot ordering on the carousel puts bots in order of most used
• Direct to purchase flow improvements – players are now shepherded to buy relics if they try to buy an item they cannot afford
• Reduction of the length of the death timer for players up to level 5 to 90 seconds. This means the chances of players now running out of bots are effectively zero.

UI

• Large hitmarks update changing colour, size, speed and shape.
• Team visibility – All 4 team members are now visible all the time in PvP games using the old grouping interface. Group members are still coloured differently but normal team members get all the advantages previously only available to groups whilst in-instance.
• Improved UI and handling for the AFK system
• Improvement to the level up notification system
• Improvements to UI anchoring meaning the game scales better at a variety of resolutions
• Visual improvement to the player X killed player Y notification
• Radar / Minimap update to now incorporate the new Energon system bar

Warriors & NPCs

• IK
• Vehicle boost lasts longer
• Vehicle handling improvements provide better handling and faster / smoother use of weapons and equipment
• New critical hit stat (FOCUS) added to the game – This gives DPS bots a dedicated stat to enable them to fully compete with Tanks at high levels
• S-tech and Transformation Actions can now be activated using middle mouse button OR the ‘Q’ key. (Mac user-friendly)

VFX

• New Decepticon battle map for interior base.
• Spawn point barrier VFX changes.
• VFX pass on Drummond Gorge map.
• VFX optimisation pass on Stillwater Wharf
• Extensive polish & iteration work on the 16 bots currently live in the game (based on feedback from combat team)
• Additional VFX on destructible props.

Character Modelling

• Decepticon Vehicon bot and vehicle refresh.
• Triage – Mesh adjustments to upper back.
• Autobot Trooper bot and vehicle refresh.
• Additional Resprays for the 16 bots currently in live.

Character Animation

• Hangar idle animation iteration and polish.
• Hangar fanfare animation polish.
• Hangar from wounded to idle animations (on-going effort)
• Hangar camera iteration.
• New Vehicon model rigged.

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Warrior Changes

General

• Spark now regenerates by 0.05% per point of Regeneration per second (down from 0.1%)o
• [Spark] Damage now deals 20% bonus damage against Spark, relative to [Omni] Damage (down from 29.8%)
• [Shield] Damage now deals 20% bonus damage against Shield, relative to [Omni] Damage (down from 29.8%)
• Robot equipment and S-Techs that grant speed increases are now removed when the user changes mode to vehicle
• The Critical Immobilizer power core, UC1, now immobilises for 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 seconds (down from 1.5/3/4.5/6)
• The Damage S-Tech Refueler power core UC7, now generates 1.3/2.6/3.9/5.2 ICR every time the user takes damage (down from 3.25/6.5/9.75/13)
• The benefit from stat points have been heavily reduced, in order to pull back some of the high level extreme builds. The difference between defensive and offensive benefits has also been reduced.
• Due to the Focus stat being added, all power cores that are affected by critical hit chances have been modified
• Weapon specific power cores now increase warrior performance by 15% at the highest quality grade (down from 20%).

Autobots

Catapult

• Sandmine’s damage has been adjusted so that the [Spark]damage remains unaffected by the [Spark] damage change
• Her vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks

Front-Line

• Dent Head’s primary damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Dent Head’s S-Tech now does a bit less damage, as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks, but its base has been slightly increased to lessen the effect
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks.
• Deflection Grid now also provides a 25% miss chance against incoming melee attacks

Meltdown

• Hot Heal’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• The vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks

Monsoon

• Deluge Bomb’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• The Wind Tunnel buff now wears off if the user changes to vehicle form
• Repairing Rain’s repairs have been reduced by ~6.7%
• Storm Front now attacks in a 90-degree cone (up from 60)

Overclock

• Stellar Rocket’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Repair Countdown’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Explosive Experiment’s [Spark]damage has remained unaffected, but its [Shield] damage has gone up by ~8.2%

Showdown

• Power Surge:
  •    It now reduces minigun recharge times by 80% (up from 70%)
  •    It now reduces hammer recharge times by 65% (down from 70%)
  •    It now reduces surge cannon recharge times by 37% (up from 35%)
  •    Miniguns and surge cannons should now get pretty much the same benefit from the buff (instead of surge cannons benefitting slightly more), to avoid ‘intricate maths benefits’
• Shield Flux and Energy Converter have had the following changes:
  •    Shield Flux now sacrifices a fixed 550 Shield (instead of 50% of maximum)
  •    Energy Converter now restores 12% of Showdown’s max shield (down from 14%) at the cost of 12% of his max Spark (up from 10%)
• Channel Charge’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• His [Omni] Damage stat is now 11 (down from 12)

Sparkscape

• Repair Reverser now repairs for 133.3% of repairing done (down from 166.7%)
• Napalm’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Fuel Ignition’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Nozzle Conversation now improves repairing done by 50% (down from 75%)
• Level 1 Static Storm now disables equipment for 3 seconds (down from 4)

Triage

• G-Remedy’s repairing per stack has been reduced by ~29.1% and the cooldown is now 35 seconds (down from 50)
• Hull Cure now reflects 40% of damage received (down from 50%)
• Hull Cure now has a 32-second cooldown (down from 35)
• Plasma Anger’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Repairing from Mobile Care has been reduced by 25%

Decepticons

Conduit

• Repairing done with Cyber Shot’s primary and S-Tech has been adjusted due to the [Spark]/[Shield] damage shift
• Repairing done with Pellet Patch’s primary and S-Tech has been adjusted due to the [Spark]/[Shield] damage shift
• The activation of Backfire Circuits now affects enemies within a 20m radius (down from 30)

Drive-By

• Steel Splitter’s primary damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Circuit Crawler’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Spark Uppercut’s primary damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• His Alt-Strike’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Metal Fatigue’s [Spark]damage has remained unaffected, but its [Shield] damage has gone up by ~8.2%

Duststorm

• Mesh Smasher’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Her vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• The DOT from Afterburn has had its damage adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Her Spark Strength stat is now 14 (up from 12)

Flatline

• The damage reduction from Trans Shift is now 30% for level 1 and 53% for level 2 (down from 40% and 71%)
• Flatline now does 21% increased repairing to allies inside Unified Field (down from 26.5%)
• Structural Shock’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• His Alt-Strike’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• The [Omni] Damage stat is now 13 (down from 15)
• The Dust Charge S-Tech has had its damage reduced by ~14.3%.

Hotwire

• Heist Healer now increases Repairing done by 50% (down from 75%) and the cooldown is now 30 seconds (down from 45)
• Damage Deceptor now reflects 40% of damage received (down from 50%)
• Damage Deceptor now has a 32-second cooldown (down from 35)
• Selective Vendetta’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Repairs from Sample Merchandise has been reduced by 25%

Mismatch

• Iron Scar’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks

Rampart

• Traffic Control’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• His vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• The Fugitive Pursuit buff now wears off if the user changes to vehicle form
• Repairs received from Fortified Repairer has been reduced by ~14.3%

Shellshock

• Bullet Burn’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• Sync Shield’s primary damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• Blade Fall’s primary and S-Tech damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• The vehicle weapon’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Spark]damage tweaks
• The Alt-Strike’s damage has been adjusted as part of the [Shield] damage tweaks
• The slow from Impediment Shells is now capped at 6 seconds (down from 10)
• Kinetic Extension now lasts 5 seconds (down from 8) and has an 18-second cooldown (down from 30)
• The passive now increases movement speed while firing a minigun by 50% (down from 100%)

Thank you for all your feedback so far. Your contributions are really helping to make Transformers Universe a stronger experience for all!