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The Alliance Open Alpha is open starting August 1st, and the skies will fill with new exotic ships, new lethal weapons, and new strange locations. It’s a dangerous new world and you’re going to fly in it.

Servers will go down at 12 am Eastern Monday and be back up at roughly 6 am Eastern. From 8/1 to 8/8, you will be able to experience 3 new Alliance game modes – Assault, Defense, and Retrieve – over six new maps. You’ll find yourself flying and crewing on four new ships with access to 4 new guns in the service of one of four factions. All of these new contents will be in service to the first war of Icarus. Defend a homeland, launch a daring attack, recruit mercenaries, and build defenses as you and other players attempt to dominate the world. Can you rally your faction and turn the tide of the war?

How to Fight a War

Every battle you fight will change the world around you as you apply points, recruit troops, and build defenses.

When you first start Alliance, you’ll pledge to one of the four available factions. The honorable Baronies, industrious Anglea, sage Chaladon, or devious Mercantile.

After you’ve chosen your side simply press Play and begin!

By pressing play, the matchmaker will find you a match, and points will be applied to your faction’s side, you’ll progress through your faction (up to rank 4 for the Alpha,) and earn points for your war chest.

To specify where you want to fight for and apply your earned points towards your faction’s war efforts, click World Progression on the main menu. From this map screen, you can spend from your war chest by click on a territory and then click on Reinforce to improve attacks and defenses of the territory. By click on the territory, you’ll also dedicate your next battle there. Your war chest will increase in size as you rise through the faction, earning the opportunity to horde and use more resources for your side.

Discover everything available in Alliance and full patch notes below!

Alliance Alpha Features (August 1st – August 8th):

Ships-

The Chaladonian Shrike

The Order of Chaladon have been known as peaceful and reclusive, but the pull of war and the planet’s dilapidated state are starting to change traditional Chaladonian values. Being the mad scientists, the Shrike uses heavily modified balloon gas technology in order to support the ship’s heavy armaments on such a small frame. If you look closely, you may see some of this gas leaking from various pipes on the ship—a common issue with this new substance. The Shrike’s movement is and durability comparable to that of the Squid’s but with additional firepower.

The Anglean Corsair

Like its creators, the Corsair is extremely rugged and is not easily budged. Based on ancient war machine designs, the Corsair is ideal for inserting itself into a fray of enemies and simultaneously dispatching them from multiple angles. Gameplay wise, the Corsair takes cues from the Spire in its layout. The Corsair has multi-tiered decks and a massive interior. Given the ship’s toughness, scurrying up and down ladders can be kept to a minimum for a skilled engineer.

The Fjord Baronies Crusader

Long, sleek, and painstakingly crafted, the Crusader plows its way through enemy lines in glorious charges. Stained glass and crisp design hide a hardened workhorse that has served the Baronies through many conflicts. More dangerous than its sturdy frame and protected balloon is its unique heavy weapon angles which give it an edge over opponents, catching them by surprise.

The Mercantile Guild Magnate

Luxury and violence have no closer merging than the Mercantile’s Magnate. Blistering with weapons on both its port and starboard the Magnate is invulnerable to flanking. While exquisitely cut sails and an aerodynamic design, has turned this heavily armed and armored ship into a nimble beast of the sky comparable to a Goldfish.

Maps-

Oblivion Approach- Retrieve

Similar areas like this one lay scattered across the world, but no route is more deadly than Oblivion Approach. Its deep ravine cuts a narrow passage that’s too risky for most traders to fly in. The low traffic and multitude of nooks makes it an ideal place for marauders to hide or even be used as an escape route. There have been tales of robbers successfully making their getaway through the approach, using the jagged terrain to lose their pursuants. Must feel terrible to get robbed and crash your ship in a single day. Hope that doesn’t happen to you anytime soon.

Voyager’s Cove- Defense

The Voyager’s Cove takes place off the coast of Chaladonian shores. Judging by the ruins, it was once a bustling coastal city that has since been reclaimed by the sea. Now, the cove is an important defensive location linking the Isle of Chaladon to the mainland. This new map follows the Defense mode ruleset and is designed for 3-4 player ships.

Seas of Alleron- Assault

It is known that the world has changed its face many times over. Now, Alleron wears an arid mask of sand and scorching heat. However, there is evidence that briny waters once bathed the obelisks that lay partially buried in the dust. Of course, this also means the seas left many valuables resources behind. Sifting sand and drilling through rock is a time intensive process, but a worthwhile enough endeavor that many parties fight over the production facilities that lie in the old seas.

Parous Glen- Assault

Raw materials drive conflict and Parous Glen’s unique location gives it access to material impossible to find anywhere else. Numerous refineries and outposts drill and process ores day and night. The sound of rumbling and grinding is only ever broken by the sound of raiders attempting to destroy this fortress of manufacturing. Attackers will be quick to find these bases more prepared for war than any stronghold.

Thornholt Crest- Retrieve

A fractured church sits at the heart of Thornholt, surrounded by a broken crown of rails from before the age of air. The crest it sits on provides a natural bastion for numerous outposts and refineries. Unfortunately this also means it is a natural target as well. Numerous factions attempt to plunder the resources tucked away in the crest following the now broken rails to rich targets.

Devil’s Eye- Defense

The Hot springs of Devil’s Eye are beautiful and pristine, but the smell of sulfur nearly suffocates any near. It is this sulfur that brought giant refineries and loading docks. Tucked within a crater the Devil’s Eye Citadel can only be reached from 3 angles of attack. These lanes are littered with the wreckage of many who believed they could make it through dangerous paths.

Weapons and Tools-

Seraph Tempest Missiles

The Fjord Baronies have always had a distinct flair to every aspect of their culture from their attitude, dress, and even weaponry. Taking a cue from this tradition, the Seraph Tempest Missiles not only provide a spectacle to behold but also excellent support capabilities. The missiles’ movement are known to trick enemies into thinking that shots have been missed, but with a guided aim the missiles will travel to its intended target despite taking a few detours along the way.

Use its unique aiming mechanic to dodge obstacles and hit enemy mechanical components to disable them. If the enemy’s armor is down, the Seraph Tempest Missiles also do substantial damage to hulls.

Charybdis Gas Mortar

Even though Chaladonian researchers tend to not exclusively focus their work on war applications, many of their experiments have unintended side effects. When trying to find new ways to disperse aerosols, and new environmentally safe pesticides, something went awry. The dispersal method worked fine, but the pesticide didn’t work as intended. Instead of killing deadly insects, it was better at corroding metals and gunking up intricate mechanical parts.

When the specially designed shells make impact, chemicals are released in the form of a deadly green cloud that will slow down any ship that gets caught. The cloud will slowly eat away at metal armors, engines, and weapons. There’s even a handy early detonation function on the shells too.

Februus Weaponized Coil

Reverse engineering parts unearthed from the frozen tundra, the Anglean Republic has reconstructed methods to temporarily store an electrical charge. At first, they were disappointed by their inventions’ instability but soon realized that it could be weaponized to devastating effect.

The gun fires an electrical charge that arcs between multiple enemies. Hold the trigger to charge up to 6 seconds. The damage and the number of jumps increase with charge time. It has a minimum charge time of 3 seconds.

Aten Lens Array

Harnessing the power of the sun via a series of carefully crafted lenses, the Mercantile Guild is able to burn its enemies with a focused beam of light. Only the Guild is able to procure such valuable diamonds and crystals that make up the weapon’s intricate lens array. The armament’s devastating effectiveness easily justifies its costly construction.

To operate the Apollo, hold down mouse to start shooting. The longer you train the beam on an enemy ship, at the expense of less turning arc and movement, and the the more damage the gun would inflict.

[NEW ENGINEER TOOLS] Armor Kit and Fail-safe Kit

Both kits are buff tools, bringing the total buff tools to 3. Buffs can only be applied one at a time and cannot be stacked. Armor kit will apply armor to any component for a set duration of time, or until armor has depleted. Fail-safe Kit applies a rebuilder automaton for a set duration of time. When a component with the Fail-safe buff/automaton is downed, it will begin to rebuild itself. Normal assistive rebuilding still works. Once rebuilt, the buff/automaton is removed.

Changes:

Engine updated to Unity 5.x (5.2.5)

Director budgeting improvements

Tuning reflection/ambient balance in metalmap shaders

Tweaks to have correct teamcolor sails on shrike

Gun Particle Update

Protection map lightmapping

HUD typeface overhaul for clarity

Red sandstorm skies redone

Stronger Boss Weakpoint Material Coloration/Animation

Moved defeat camera from the Parous Glen Lava



Alliance Fixes:

UV mismatch on triplanar effects

Newly registered accounts can’t choose a faction

Smoke or trail stucks

Display issues for “inactive” assault bases

Visibility shader issues

Players collide with other ships/bases

Mobile drill damage shatter is not consistent in game

Issue with smoke on Small Bases

Very bright spotlights

LOD issue on cannon

Baronese Boss gun animation

Gun Handles are not animating on the laser gun

Flare collision is zeroed out in transform

LOD problem from resulting double mesh

Assorted fixes to postprocess-less outlining

Meshes overlapping issue on merchant boss ship

Wrong EndMatch Camera placements on player ships

LOD checks and tweaks for player ships and boss ships

Dark Lighting on Faction Selection Page when using “Low” settings

Boss and cloud bug

Background music cuts out whenever another sound is played

Lens flares make terrain see through

Closet room adjustments for properly showing costumes’ color

World Progression Battles disappear after playing match

Skirmish Fixes: