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We are on track for a patch tomorrow (during the NZ workday). It contains a number of changes, including various improvements to areas, balance and features. I won't provide an exhaustive list, but I will discuss some highlights.



This article should not be interpreted as patch notes. It is intended to be an explanation of some of the changes. There are many other miscellaneous changes.



Deterministic Lockstep



This patch includes an early version of the Deterministic Lockstep system that is designed to solve desync issues for low-latency players. It also includes dozens of bug fixes to regular Predictive sync.



For more information on what Deterministic Lockstep is and how it differs from the Predictive sync system,



Our implementation allows players using both modes to play with each other. Your choice of mode won't affect other players. Currently, you can only change modes while you're on the main menu. You can't do it while logged into the game world.



Please note that:

Deterministic Lockstep is intended for users with low latency.

Any bugs in the implementation may result in sync issues, even in Deterministic Lockstep mode. These are being fixed aggressively.

If you get real internet lag, the simulation will just freeze, as there's nothing to draw. When the lag clears, it'll try to catch up quickly. This can look strange. We are working on improving how this looks.

Gem Vendors



When we changed gem rewards to provide a more directed experience, we knew we needed a secondary way to make skill gems available. Racers, experienced players and more experimental new players will now have access to skill gems at vendors. Nessa, Yeena, Clarissa, and Petarus and Vanja have a second tab in their shops.



This tab offers various gems at very cheap rates. For example low level gems cost a Wisdom Scroll. These gems come with experience (8% of your current experience, up to a maximum of 8 million experience).



We have also dropped the price of gems sold by Forsaken Masters to be the same as the new price offered by other vendors.



Highgate Voice Acting



The NPCs of Highgate have had their voice acting added.



Jewels



We have reworked the mods on rare Jewels. Your typical Jewel should be much stronger than in the last version.



We have reworked which mods appear as prefixes and suffixes. We have changed their values considerably. We also put in the system for excluding various mods from appearing together. For example a Two-Handed mod won't appear with a Shield mod. A Dagger mod won't appear alongside a Claw mod.



We have changed rare Jewels to be able to drop with three or four mods, instead of just four.



While we have improved rare Jewels considerably, fewer unique jewels are available in this version because we've disabled some while fixing them.



Other Content



The new skill gem Ice Crash is included in this patch, as well as two unique items which have been shown recently.



There have been some small changes to the passive tree. Some in preparation for upcoming leech changes and some for traps and totems. There are many more changes to come for the passive tree.



What Isn't In?



We have several balance changes yet to be added. For example we have a few big improvements coming for leech. We think you'll like them. We'll discuss them in a



We will be completing the Mines and Dialla quest content by adding the Rapture Device to the beta in around one week.



Act 4 areas and bosses past the Rapture Device are currently scheduled to be added in three weeks.



Several skill gems are still in the pipeline and will be added during beta.



As noted above there will be further changes to the passive tree.



Are We Still on Track?



So far we are still on track for the end of June or beginning of July. A lot will depend on whether the lockstep changes go as smoothly as we hope.



We are currently on track for content being added to the beta. Balance changes are still happening, but very soon we'll be heading towards refinement rather than large changes. Earlier State of the Beta posts:We are on track for a patch tomorrow (during the NZ workday). It contains a number of changes, including various improvements to areas, balance and features. I won't provide an exhaustive list, but I will discuss some highlights.This patch includes an early version of the Deterministic Lockstep system that is designed to solve desync issues for low-latency players. It also includes dozens of bug fixes to regular Predictive sync.For more information on what Deterministic Lockstep is and how it differs from the Predictive sync system, read this article Our implementation allows players using both modes to play with each other. Your choice of mode won't affect other players. Currently, you can only change modes while you're on the main menu. You can't do it while logged into the game world.Please note that:When we changed gem rewards to provide a more directed experience, we knew we needed a secondary way to make skill gems available. Racers, experienced players and more experimental new players will now have access to skill gems at vendors. Nessa, Yeena, Clarissa, and Petarus and Vanja have a second tab in their shops.This tab offers various gems at very cheap rates. For example low level gems cost a Wisdom Scroll. These gems come with experience (8% of your current experience, up to a maximum of 8 million experience).We have also dropped the price of gems sold by Forsaken Masters to be the same as the new price offered by other vendors.The NPCs of Highgate have had their voice acting added.We have reworked the mods on rare Jewels. Your typical Jewel should be much stronger than in the last version.We have reworked which mods appear as prefixes and suffixes. We have changed their values considerably. We also put in the system for excluding various mods from appearing together. For example a Two-Handed mod won't appear with a Shield mod. A Dagger mod won't appear alongside a Claw mod.We have changed rare Jewels to be able to drop with three or four mods, instead of just four.While we have improved rare Jewels considerably, fewer unique jewels are available in this version because we've disabled some while fixing them.The new skill gem Ice Crash is included in this patch, as well as two unique items which have been shown recently.There have been some small changes to the passive tree. Some in preparation for upcoming leech changes and some for traps and totems. There are many more changes to come for the passive tree.We have several balance changes yet to be added. For example we have a few big improvements coming for leech. We think you'll like them. We'll discuss them in a manifesto post soon.We will be completing the Mines and Dialla quest content by adding the Rapture Device to the beta in around one week.Act 4 areas and bosses past the Rapture Device are currently scheduled to be added in three weeks.Several skill gems are still in the pipeline and will be added during beta.As noted above there will be further changes to the passive tree.So far we are still on track for the end of June or beginning of July. A lot will depend on whether the lockstep changes go as smoothly as we hope.We are currently on track for content being added to the beta. Balance changes are still happening, but very soon we'll be heading towards refinement rather than large changes.

Last edited by Qarl on May 18, 2015, 7:52:10 AM

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Qarl

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