MMC v0.2.x "Loadouts Part A" Status Report (and news on next update contents)

[Mini Militia Classic Alpha Force]

We're going to put out another round of hot fixes and some tweaks for Part A (shooting for this week). What will we call this? "Part A Part 2?" "Part A.5?" No? Ok ok ok, just v0.3.0 then. :) This new version will be incompatible with old versions of the game so everyone will need to update. We've got a few more items to finish up and then we can test and push v0.3.0 out. Part B will be at least two weeks after finishing this next update. Read on to get a list of what's been fixed now, what is still being worked on for later, and some additional information to help answer some frequently asked questions.

A big thank you everyone that has managed to stay positive and supportive throughout our Alpha development journey. There are a lot of bumps and pitfalls to being a tester so early in a game's development. We've got a lot of ground to cover before this game is ready to go to market and we really appreciate all your patience and constructive feedback. This game is going to be so great when it's done thanks to your help!

-Hunter 

Fixed: Update v.0.3.0

This fix list may not be final. There are some more things being worked on but are not checked in yet.

• Fixed Flame doesn't pull target toward shooter
• Fixed Phaser doesn't push target to right only
• All weapon forces adjusted (tweaked/toned down, maybe needs more/less, testing feedback will tell)
• Tweaked weapon drop forces. Grenades and weapons should not fly off "as far" on death
• Spawning logic (on the server) is not doing what it needs to do (i.e., spread enemy players out, spawn them near teammates, don't spawn too soon in the same place, etc.) It is doing a good job avoiding gas and mines as no one has reported that occurrence to official channels yet. We're working on this now, a solution eludes us.
• Fixed the starting position spawn issues in Survival, Training, and as a LAN player in Spectate Mode
• Fixed logic error that was drawing the player too early when spawning (making them appear to jump, fly through walls, or fall off a map briefly without their spawning gear/loadouts.)
• Fixed password bug on custom servers
• Add COOP mode as a game type on LAN game creation (not compatible with older clients)
• Sorting the Loadouts menu by Battle Coin cost
• Fixed player name display bug (there may be more, let us know when and where you see more)
• Fixed Survival and Training TMX so they could be used correctly in our new game engine architecture.
  
• Fixed Survival death related bugs (menu and spawning)
• Fixes for crashes introduced with Loadouts regarding memory usage (more aggressive solutions to avoid out of memory errors on older devices.)

New Features?!

Surprise! In this next hot fix patch you will find new things that finished while we were releasing Part A. These were to be part of Part B but the code has been incorporated so we can test these new features now too. 

• Custom gets a new game configuration menu and new ways to alter the game (this is just the beginning of what will be possible here folks). Choose settings, player count, game type, and set spend limits for loadouts. Set it to 0 to ignore all loadouts that are not cost 0 (this will be default).
  
      
• Custom and LAN "Unranked" games won't use Battle Coins.  Currently all of Custom/LAN is unranked, and Quick Play is ranked. Set your limits EVERYONE has these amounts to pull from for that entire game. Use them up frivolously and likely you will suffer at the hands of the Map Drops cruel RNG.
  
  
• Custom and CTF are now ONE server, there is NO difference. Three cheers for the new game mode architecture we've been working on for months now! There will not be a server named CTF, it will be a configuration item per game. This will help cut our server costs down too, which is important for a long life in the long tail.
  
  
• A Germany (EU) regional server will reappear when we launch v0.3.0 and it will support any custom game mode now and now the CTF game modes.

Not Fixed: Known Issues

• Survival Coop final scoring is not operational (has remaining bugs) - Fix Later
• Map Loading issue - Still looking for steps to reproduce this (v0.2.x new map loading system did NOT fix this as hoped, I fear we made it worse. Please report how often you see this. it's our only indicator it's occurring.) It looks like cheating to other players, if you see weapons spawning in walls (basically it's using Outpost to spawn weapons. After we change item management to the server it will be off for anyone not on the right map
• Zoom, is this actually fixed or not? Or is it the old store item that is going away.changing?
• v0.2.1 didn't get patch notes, I will post them on the web/news pages asap.
  
• There is a visual issue where it appears your avatar is holding a
  third weapon. It's not actually true, it's a client side error, the
  server doesn't think you have 3 weapons.
  
• There are probably more things buried in our notes but this is what's off the top of my head.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What happened? Why are there so many issues with Part A?

A: Part A was too rushed. It's what happens when you cram 4 weeks of work into 3 weeks. We were in a hurry to get Part A out so we could put more effort into Part B and we were eager to see if Part A as a technical demo would work. Remember, this is an Alpha version of a game and EVERYTHING IS A TEST. We write code, test it on our end, and then send it out for all the Alpha TESTERS to find the broken things and give us feedback to make the next batch of code better. In this case, we moved too fast and should have done another day of testing before posting the release to you all. Honestly though, some of these bugs we still may not have been caught without a lot more eyes looking for issues. We've got a lot of major changes coming down the road. We are destined to have more releases like this along the way. We do our best to make the releases smooth, but it can't always be helped. 

Q: Why did weapons go crazy in Part A's release?

A: A physics bug was found and fixed that incorrectly applied force in random directions and this was never intended. When removed, all the issues around force direction and shots being fired became apparent. This bug predates some of our players' earliest years of life. v.99. The effect as you can see was so widespread that our simple small arms weapon tests on the last day were simply not detectable. 

Q: Was melee altered in v0.2.x? 

A: No, there is just a perception of it. Things should be better now that the forces are tuned down and there is a uniform equation producing forces (even melee) away from the direction of attack (as opposed to the occasional random direction of forces). The random force might have felt like you were getting jerked about and now it might be smoother. This might lead to more floaty interactions. We'll see how it feels and then adjust as we deem necessary.

Q: When will older Android phones be supported?

A: We've been busting our brains over here trying to figure out how to best pull off adding back in the older phones. The current tools settings we're using don't support it out-of-box. Android Studio has abandoned the old NDK that our engine runs on making it almost incompatible with the NDK our engine uses now. To fix this could cost 1-3 months of crazy code refactoring to potentially gain just older phone support and add no other features. I don't think we can afford that kind of time right now. We haven't given up but we will continue to kick it down the roadmap till we either give up or figure it out.

Q: What happened to zoom?

A: We're still investigating this. It was an old store item to configure zoom, however Loadouts isn't set up to honor it. We're still trying to narrow down where the issue is being generated. Specials will replace some function of the new zoom management system in Beta Phase 0 (very soon.) There will be a reworking of the zoom config down the road. We're just not there yet.

Q: Where is the new updated roadmap?

A: What? You want ANOTHER wall of text? Since we are doing another hot fix release, we will wait to update the roadmap after that. We will send out the updated roadmap before sending out Part B. 

How Loadouts work in Quick Play

For anyone confused about the Part A release, here is an overview of how game play works with Loadouts in Quick Play.
1) The old "Store" interface is no longer accessible. In the future, access to items will be transformed into Specials (where we can) and incorporated into Loadouts in later releases (Part B and beyond). There will not be an exact 1:1 duplication of everything that was available in the Old Store in the new Loadout options. (The reasons include lots of technical game balancing talk and can be discussed in another forum.)
2) Begin Quick Play game. Everyone is equipped with a primary (magnum) and secondary (desert eagle) gun plus two granade. Note: If a player had some old Store items (health, boost, laser site, etc.), they may have them equipped when they join the game. This is part of the old system that hasn't been fully removed yet so it is a transitional situation for the old Store items that were in a player's profile to be available. In the future, Specials will completely replace these items when Part B fully releases.

3) Weapon drops have not changed. You can play and pick up new items in the same way as before.

4) When you die, you now get the option of a Loadouts picker screen of a pre-configured set of weapons. This is where you will spend your Battle Coins to change your weapons configuration to start your next life. Right now, the Loadout options displayed will be based on your current total of Battle Coins and what you can afford to buy. Any options that you can't afford (at that moment) are stripped from your view. In the future, Specials will be incorporated into the pre-configured Loadout options. 

5) Select your Loadout. The Battle Coin cost (if any) will be deducted from your total after you spawn and if the server agrees with your selection. If you choose "Default" you will stay with what you started the game with. If you don't select a Loadout (time runs out) you will spawn with Default. The server should pick a 0 cost build for you (this needs to be confirmed with testing). 

6) The Loadouts menu isn't an option in the last 30(?) seconds of the game. If you die in that time you will be told to respawn and no Loadout option will be presented.

7) Play is over and the game ends. The server calculates end game scores and the score screen is displayed. The screen will show you how many Battle Coins you have earned in the game. Your Profile gets updated and the Battle Coins are available for the next game.