13 Feb 2018, 01:57

EP 4.2.0.0

EP: Fixed Tomahawk's ability to build after sending Battlefield Construction.

A message from the balance team

disallow

Dealing with the orchards

Dealing with the hackers

Expanding on convenience features

Thank you!

Getting the update

Hello everyone! Following up on ESOC's birthday , we've got another special treat in store today. About three months after the last huge patch is coming out with a wide variety of changes; we've got balance updates, bugfixes, map changes, security improvements, more features for your convenience... a bit of everything! This release was also the first one with all of its development iterations released in public Betas , which were tested over the past two months and a bit. See the Beta FAQ if you would like to participate in future Betas, it's easy and we value your feedback!Now, let's get to the list of changes.changelog since EP 4.1.0.0- EP: Added required placement distance of 15 between individual teepees. This distance is visually indicated when placing a new teepee.- EP: Teepee initial build limit reverted to 10 (up from 6).- EP: Nomadic Expansion card reverted to increase teepee build limit by 10 (up from 6).- EP: Mustangs card now decreases cavalry cost by 15% (up from 10%).- EP: Wakina speed reverted to 4 (down from 4.5).- EP: Adjusted Cherry Orchard and Mango Grove placement obstruction radius to make them replaceable on the same spot. Added visual indication of obstruction radius.- EP: Improved obstruction error message for buildings with crops/gatherers around them.- EP: Docks now respect the restricted build radius during the treaty period.- EP: Fixed a bug that caused Iroquois War Hut Big Button tech Lacrosse to not increase the range of Tomahawks.- EP: Fixed a bug that caused Mountain Warrior card to not double the amount of resources gained from treasures.- EP: Caravel, Galleon, Galley default attack range reverted to the correct value 20 (from 18).- EP: Fixed Veteran Abus Gun tech to increase range properly for Stagger/Defend mode.- ESOC Malaysia: fixed an issue where the homecity water flag would not spawn for a player. Adjusted resource balance.- ESOC Wadmalaw: fixed an issue where livestock would not spawn for a player.- ESOC Paralel Rivers: adjusted resource balance, removed gold mines from the map.- ESOC Great Basin: slightly increased number of treasures on the map.- EP: Added custom images for ESOC maps to easily distinguish them while in a game room. Custom ESOC map images are also installed for use outside of EP.- TRP: Adjusted Cherry Orchard and Mango Grove placement obstruction radius to make them replaceable on the same spot. Added visual indication of obstruction radius.- TRP: Docks now respect the restricted build radius during the treaty period.- Upon opening the EP Launcher, compatibility flags of all custom game executables are now automatically configured. For some users, this should solve all of performance issues, bugs in game settings, and the occasional "Application Not Responding" alerts. The default configuration will be set to WINXPSP3 DISABLETHEMES DISABLEDWM HIGHDPIAWARE RUNASADMIN, however, a different OS compatibility flag will be respected and not reconfigured to Win XP automatically. Additional flags will also be respected and not removed.- The launcher will automatically remove voobly's injected d3d9.dll file upon launch. Voobly uses this file to inject its own code into the game, but this code doesn't run properly in compatibility mode and causes all versions of the game to instantly crash.- The auto-update process will now automatically copy all ESOC and Blitz maps for use on the official RE patch as custom maps (this will only work when updatingEP 4.2.x onwards).- Improved detection of when the game is already running and cannot be currently launched, also improved some error messaging.- Various anti-cheat improvements, fixed a security issue that would allow players to send free shipments ( https://eso-community.net/viewtopic.php?f=399&t=13032&p=274273 ).- "Zoom mod" is now detected as a cheat (except from within the Observer UI).- Expanded logging functionality.- The exe installer setup now automatically attempts to activate DirectPlay, which is a legacy component required for any version of AoE3 to run, but disabled by default on most systems with OS Windows 8 or newer.- The installer will automatically remove voobly's injected d3d9.dll file upon install. Voobly uses this file to inject its own code into the game, but this code doesn't run properly in compatibility mode and causes all versions of the game to instantly crash.- The installation process will now automatically copy all ESOC and Blitz maps for use on the official RE patch as custom maps. Custom ESOC map images are also installed for use outside of EP.That's it for the changes, but let's expand on some of them a bit.In order to garner more feedback, we have decided to go live with certain changes to the Sioux, to explore our options for the civilization well in time before the release of EP5. Please note that these changes are subject to testing and may be changed in the near future, depending on such response. This is merely an iteration to allow for better grasping their impact on balance as well as gameplay, and ultimately whether they are a worthwhile option – none of the changes are definitive.Don't be fooled – these changes constitute a significant nerf to the effect(s) of teepees, since it reduces the ability to stack auras. As such, while the reverted build-limit will allow for teepee expansion—a buff in another sense—it will in fact result in a weaker effect, and will insteadfor stacking several teepees in an overpowered cluster. Adding to these changes, we will also be reverting the Wakina Rifle speed buff, due to its non-essential nature, controversial reception within the community, and potential abusability.Almost everyone who's played Japan a couple times before probably had this happen. Your orchards run out, you ship new ones, and suddenly — huh, why can't I rebuild my orchard on the same spot as before?There's been a longstanding issue with the orchards having an inconsistent obstruction radius vs other buildings, and this update not only brings it in line, but also adds a visual indication of the radius for extra convenience.We've unfortunately seen several new forms of hacking arise recently. This patch expands the anti-cheating protection and fixes security issues which were exploited during the Autumn tournament . At the same time, we've also improved our tools to find out new forms of hacking more effectively.Another addition to detected hacks is the "zoom mod", allowing a player to zoom out further than normally possible, thus gaining an unfair advantage. This was especially a concern for the upcoming Treaty tournament . Note that this detection does not affect the zoom console command of the Observer UI We're also aware of the recent problems involving invite attacks on ESO and working hard on possible solutions. It is not an easy task as the issue ultimately lies with the ESO platform itself, which is controlled by Microsoft.This patch includes a substantial batch of convenience features and improvements. These are aimed not only on regular EP users, but also at newcomers, and even at those who do not currently wish to play on our patches at all. The idea is that simply installing the EP is enough to "fix your game" and provides a player with several useful tools to utilize, even when such player continues to play solely on the official RE patch.Looking to level up your homecities quickly? EP Launcher's XPMOD tool has got you covered.Downloaded some recs, but you can't watch them? Use the EP Launcher's Recorded Games Recognition tool to play through recs played on any previous version of EP, or on RE.Does your game not even launch? A mere install of the EP will now fix most common problems with running the game in general and give you the full arsenal of latest ESOC maps to play as custom maps on the official RE patch. And now with some cool images as well!Thank you, the balance team and everyone else who's helped us test changes on Beta. Credit goes to Buckethead for contributing the new ESOC map images.1. If you have a previous version installed, you can simply run the launcher and auto-update should have you covered. However, this time it might be worth downloading the exe installer in order to get ESOC maps installed as RE custom maps.2. If you're installing for the first time, download the exe installer 3. If you cannot do either of the above for some reason, download the zip package and unpack it manually into your AoE3 installation folder.