Change History:
v1.06.00 – 19th May, 2020
This update adds new units for each faction through the Assault Pack DLC, adds a free new terrain feature and brings Steam Workshop support to Gladius, along with enhanced modding and multiplayer connectivity improvements.
## New Units (Assault Pack DLC)
* Chimera (Astra Militarum) [Tier 1] - Amphibious transport unit with manned weaponry and communication equipment.
* Razorback (Space Marines) [Tier 1] - Tank unit that transports infantry.
* Flayed Ones (Necrons) [Tier 1] - Close combat infantry unit that ignores enemy overwatch.
* Warbiker (Orks) [Tier 1] - Fast skirmish unit with high fire power.
* Scythed Hierodule (Tyranids) [Tier 10] - Agile gargantuan creature unit that shreds entire armies.
* Chaos Land Raider (Chaos Space Marines) [Tier 9] - Massively armoured and heavily armed transport unit.
* Tidewall Gunrig (T'au) [Tier 4] - Heavily armed fortification that can be moved by transporting troops.
## New Terrain Feature
* Skull Altar - Special feature that provides a recurring reward to units entering the tile and increases the influence output of the city when acquired.
## Steam Workshop Launch
* Mods can now be downloaded directly through Steam, simply subscribe to a mod through its Steam Workshop page and the mod will be automatically installed for you for the next time you start Gladius.
* To upload a mod, follow these 4 easy steps:
(1.) Create a directory that represents your mod under "My Documents/Proxy Studios/Gladius/Mods/". To include a preview image, add a "Preview.png" or "Preview.jpg" file to that directory. The preview image must be smaller than 1 MB.
(2.) Restart the game and the mod will appear in-game under Extras > Mods.
(3.) Press the "Upload mod." button next to your mod. You will be required to agree to the modding terms and the upload will begin.
(4.) After a successful upload, the mod will gain an additional button to open the mod's details. This opens the Steam Workshop page for the mod in the Steam client where the player has to agree to Valve's Steam Workshop legal agreement and can then change the description, add additional assets and make the mod public for everyone.
* In addition to mods fully overriding game files, blueprints and world data files from mods can now be loaded as extensions to the game's files through .ext files. For example, Guardsman.xml.ext will load after and in addition to the game's Guardsman.xml so it is no longer needed to copy values from the base game.
* From now on, greater care will also be taken with changes to the engine to preserve mod support.
* Save games now display mods with which the save was made on hover before loading.
* Multiplayer server list now display active mods and if world data or revision differs from local.
* Hero cost scaling is now implemented with `<duplicateTypeCost mul="1.0"/>` in the Hero trait xml.
* Added `<onUnitEmbarked>` and `<onTransportEmbarked>` trait triggers.
* Added `<cargoSlots>`, `<cargoSlotsFree>` and `<cargoSlotsTaken>` trait value conditions.
* Added `<movedThisTurn>` and `<notMovedThisTurn>` trait conditions.
* Added `<explorable>` tile conditions.
* Added `exploreCooldown` attribute to features.
## Improved Multiplayer Connectivity
* Multiplayer connections that cannot be established directly between clients and servers now route data through a relay as fallback. This should guarantee multiplayer connectivity as long as the relay servers are up, albeit at a higher latency.
* Multiplayer game list now shows friends-only games of your Steam friends.
* Game list now shows when a player is disconnected or a spectator.
* Improved multiplayer performance.
* Ping times now include application processing time to better reflect actual latency.
* Fixed connected players sometimes losing connection when new players connect.
* Fixed ping messages sometimes preventing a NAT traversal from completing successfully.
* Fixed a crash that could occur after being kicked from a server.
* Fixed a crash that could occur after being disconnected from a server and then hosting a new game.
## General
* Cargo is now affected by experience gain and death morale.
* Fortifications in general (instead of only Headquarters) now have an increased height for calculating sight lines.
* Fortresses of Redemption can now capture outposts from allies if those do not have an adjacent fortification.
* Added advanced setting to disable ai-control of disconnected players.
* Added additional content available prompt to the bottom left of the main menu screen.
* Added world seed and version info to the menu while in a game. Many were asking how to find a world seed for a game that has already been started.
* Added currently active city traits to the tile hint. This makes it possible to see how long city abilities such as edicts, sacrifices and subvert city are still in effect outside the city view.
* Added restore defaults button to the game lobby screen and the settings screen.
* Increased drop list height cap to show more information at a glance.
* Reduced stutter during gameplay and when saving a game.
* Improved unit order responsiveness.
* Improved startup speed and reduced memory usage.
* Higher difficulties now also increase the levels of cities and starting units.
* Moving units are now only shown while they are moving across sighted tiles.
* Updated localizations.
* Updated Vulkan headers.
## Balance
* Hive Crone Tentaclids now have a 3 turn cooldown.
* Neutral units no longer unleash due to reflected damage.
* Swapped Skyray Gunship and Hammerhead Gunship in the tech tree.
* Piranha, Devilfish, Skyray Gunship and Hammerhead Gunship now also cost energy.
* Commander, Crisis Battlesuit, Stealth Battlesuit and Broadside Battlesuit now have food upkeep.
* Increased Ghostkeel Battlesuit cost from 60 to 80.
* The Cadre Fireblade's Volley Fire and Break Composure now only affect infantry.
* Seeker and Destroyer Missiles now consume movement on firing.
* Reduced Shield Drone's Shielded trait invulnerable damage reduction from 33% to 17%.
* Increased maximum Waaagh level from 5 to 10, with the same amount of influence being required to reach max level.
* Reduced Waaagh attacks modifier from +/-5% to +/-3% per level.
* Changed Smash from min 6 melee armor penetration to +6 melee armor penetration. Adjusted armor penentration values for certain melee weapons in combination with Smash. Some upgrades did nothing due to the min modifier.
* Synapse Creatures dying now reduces the morale of linked creatures as per normal death. We want Tyranids to care more if their synapse creatures die.
* Changed Instinctive Behaviour from -10% to -1 morale per turn. A creature with higher morale should take longer to be break.
* Reduced Fire Team from +2 to +1 ranged accuracy. The condition is too easy to achieve to warrant a bigger accuracy boost.
* Reduced Networked Markerlight from +20% to +10% damage. The damage boost should not be higher than for the regular markerlight.
* Reduced Psychic Scream damage from 1.5 to 1.0 and max rank damage from +200% to +100% to be more in line with Shockwave.
* Increased Convert Auxiliary cooldown from 1 to 5. Converting neutrals as Tau should be a useful, but as an addition to other units.
* Jink now requires an action point, decreases accuracy by 33% and has a cooldown of 3 turns. Jink should require more thought behind its usage and not always be a 'good' thing.
* Warp Talons now cost food and ore instead of food and energy, with food instead of energy upkeep. Warp Talons do not fit the support role and the energy cost was too prohibitive.
* Added Blood for the Blood God trait to Khorne Berzerkers, increasing their attacks by 17%. Berzerkers were a bit on the weak side, so we're taking inspiration from 8th edition tabletop for a buff.
* Reduced the influence cost of Tactical, Assault and Devastator Doctrine from 80 to 40. These affect only single types of units so warrant cheaper cost.
* Apothecarion now grants +1 population limit instead of +1 loyalty. Population is much more useful to start off than loyalty.
* And They Shall Known No Fear and Stubborn units can now be broken but have -33% morale loss. We have found that not being able to break units creates an asymmetric interval of morale affects that do not play as intended.
* Increased Fearless and Zealot morale loss reduction from -50% to -67%.
* Champions of Chaos can now receive multiple Boons of Chaos in one kill with a chance of 25% per boon. The investement to research boons was too heavy with the chance of a unit never gaining a reward.
* Void Shield Generator damage reduction now has a 1 turn cooldown when constructed. The damage reduction is powerful so should require pre-planning and an additional round of upkeep before becoming operational.
* Reduced artefact density by 50%. Even on tiny maps artefacts were too common making them not feel special.
* Reduced Tau headquarters Pulse Rifle count from 5 to 3. Tau Headquarters did disproportionately more damage than other factions' headquarter units.
* Necron Tombs are now guaranteed to have 5 tile neighbors that are not ocean, cliff, wire weed or artefact (in addition to the existing minimum guaranteed resource output of the tile).
* Player starting locations are now guaranteed to have 5 tile neighbors that are not ocean, cliff or wire weed.
* Removed loyalty and food penalties to adjacent tiles for Fermentation Pool and Promethium Relay Pipes, since it devalued these two special features a bit too much.
* Reduced Thunderbolt cost and upkeep by 33%.
* Increased Thunderfire Cannon cost and upkeep by 50%.
* Decreased Sky Ray Gunship and Hammerhead Gunship armour by 1.
* Reduced Razorshark Strike Fighter cost and upkeep by 25%.
* Added missing Aura of Fear to Marauder Bomber.
* Added missing Jink to Marauder Bomber, Doom Scythe, Night Scythe, Razorshark Strike Fighter and Sun Shark Bomber.
* Reduced Vespid Stingwings group size from 6 to 5 as well as cost and upkeep by 33%. They are now in line with the other neutral units that spawn closer to a player, while conversion is still viable due to the reduced cost.
* Increased Gloom Prism witchfire damage reduction from +25% to +33%.
* Removed the second twin-linked heavy bolter from the Land Raider (it doesn't exist on the model).
* Moved Land Raider tech from tier 10 to 9.
* Moved Krakstorm Missile Silo tech from tier 9 to 10.
## Bug Fixes
* Fixed Special Delivery achievement unlocking by using a Tau faction ability.
* Fixed some flavor typos.
* Fixed cities not gaining hitpoints bonus from abilities like Mobile Holoprojector artefact.
* Fixed cities getting damaged after losing Mobile Holoprojector artefact.
* Fixed Veterans of the Long War not increasing current morale.
* Fixed several T'au weapon effects.
* Fixed being able to use Subterranean Assault to move into transports, crashing the game.
* Fixed already queued actions' hints saying there are not enough resources available.
* Fixed Lord Commissar Iron Will visual effect.
* Fixed T'au spellings: shas'el instead of Shas'El etc.
* Refactored action blocking system to make it more robust under laggy conditions.
* Fixed being able to embark artefacts on transports, causing artefacts to die when the transport dies, resulting in potential crashes.
* Fixed Jokaero Digital Weapon not doing the same damage across heroes.
* Fixed disabling Sleeping Sentry returning action points to the Obelisk.
* Fixed performance info label not having a shadow.
* Fixed a graphical glitch that could occur when changing display modes.
* Fixed a crash that could occur on quit.
* Fixed servers not reconnecting to the master server on disconnect.
* Fixed cities not gaining the correct amount of hitpoints when constructing a building while their max hitpoints are increased.
* Fixed crash if the same building order was cancelled twice in the same frame.
* Fixed player pings not updating consistently.
* Fixed headquarters units showing as having x0 weapons.
* Fixed bombers potentially disappearing when bombing targets on the edge of the map.
* Fixed attack estimate sometimes showing old target after releasing alt.
* Fixed a crash that could occur on quit.
* Fixed a crash that could occur when starting a new game.
* Fixed Helhaunted Eyrie description.
* Fixed scaling issue when taking a screenshot and then changing display mode.
* Fixed save / load screens' "../" entry returning two directories back instead of one.
* Fixed weapons in the compendium showing x8 attacks.
* Fixed Soul Blaze doing less damage if the source unit is dead.
* Fixed Soul Blaze damage being dependent on the source unit.
* Fixed old attack estimate showing when pressing alt without a unit selected.
* Fixed Subvert City decreasing the loyalty of a city more than intended.
* Fixed Subvert City affecting units on the tile after a city is destroyed.
* Fixed Subvert City affecting the next city after the affected city is destroyed.
* Fixed a crash that could occur when confirming to disband a unit.
* Fixed teleport sounds not being audible when a unit teleports into an unsighted tile.
* Fixed teleport visual effect showing on an unsighted tile.
* Fixed teleport crashing when teleporting to the edge of the map.
* Fixed Wire Weed not doing damage in the first turn.
* Fixed auras that apply an affect every turn always stacking.
* Fixed AI being able to research technologies locked under disabled DLC.
* Fixed Psychic Maelstorm effect not being displaced by terrain height.
* Fixed setting a mouse button as a control binding crashing the game.
* Fixed a crash that could occur during the AI turn.
* Fixed a crash that could occur after a city is destroyed.
* Fixed a crash that would occur when completing the last objective of Chapter 3: A Palace Fit For A Priest by founding a new city while auto-cycle units is turned on.
* Fixed Bound Coalescent missing visualization.
* Fixed Bound Coalescent not blocking the Obelisk.
* Fixed a bugged Warboss Attack Squig idle animation.
* Fixed AI not using Instinctive Behaviour Override.
* Fixed crash when closing the game while it's starting up.
* Fixed crash when closing the game while it's loading.
* Fixed issues that could occur while saving the game twice in quick succession.
* Fixed being able to keyboard- and edge-scroll while not in the main world screen.
* Fixed a crash that could occur when loading during certain quests.