Beta 11 X11 Prerelease - It's Special

This is it, folks, the last version before Beta 11. How fitting that it's X11 :P

There is one more prerelease to come, but that'll be the actual Beta 11 put out shortly before public release for last-minute testing. This one includes the Special Commands interface I wrote about last time, as of which I've now completed all the major features to come with Beta 11--the remainder are smaller bug fixes and QoL stuff.

Changelog

Since X10 we have the following changes:

• NEW: 4 new sound effects
• NEW: 5 new lore entries
• NEW: 2 new prototype robots
• NEW: 1 new part
• NEW: Unique new late-game build type with special access conditions and effects on some major NPC interactions
• NEW: Seismic Analyzer renamed to Seismic Detector, converted to Device and given new functionality
• NEW: Seismic Analyzer activation animation and sfx
• NEW: Additional major NPC data core available for retrieval (special effect)
• NEW: Alternative non-assault response due to rising alert, depending on reasons behind alert increases
• NEW: "Analyses" button in Status window to access known list
• NEW: Special Commands window accessed via Spacebar, allows context help and alternative keyboard/mouse access for many special Shift-Alt commands
• NEW: Item selection for tagging supports LMB on inventory in addition to regular hotkey
• NEW: Message log limits number of saved records to 30,000 by default (advanced.cfg: messageLogLimit)
• NEW: Combat log limits number of saved records to 200 by default (advanced.cfg: combatLogLimit)
• NEW: Option to automatically enable keyboard mode on entering examine mode via keyboard (advanced.cfg: examineEntersKeyboardMode)
• NEW: Option to automatically toggle keyboard mode off on exiting examine mode if entered via examineEntersKeyboardMode (advanced.cfg: autoExitKeyboardMode)
• NEW: DM redirect counts recorded in scoresheet
• MOD: Adjusted guard frequency (affects Sentries, Heavies, Behemoths)
• MOD: Convoy frequency and other settings adjusted (some have been broken since originally implemented)
• MOD: Adjusted ITN heat conversion ratio
• MOD: Adjusted shear weapon stats
• MOD: Increased minimum damage of maul-type melee weapons
• MOD: Impale critical strike delay effect reduced from 1~3 to just 1 turn
• MOD: Added some restrictions on LC part compatibility
• MOD: Authchip-less successful fabrication lockout cannot cause feedback
• MOD: Access lockdown response slower, less potential for bunching up
• MOD: Criticals immunity also confers immunity to core exposure effects of Core Analyzers and piercing damage
• MOD: Mapwide scenario following a particular major NPC death ends more quickly
• MOD: Zionite followers given somewhat more freedom during engagements
• MOD: Controllable allies completing a DROP order are switched to FOLLOW rather than ROAM
• MOD: "Clear/Previous message" keybind switched from Spacebar to 0
• MOD: "Go naked" command now referred to as "Purge all parts"
• MOD: Spacebar no longer listed as a run/path-cancelling key
• FIX: Multitile guard AIs may never return to post if left while partial spotting hostiles in some situations [aoemica]
• FIX: Non-large robots targeted by Workers for holding could still struggle to move when not adjacent to Worker [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: Workers instructed to hold a larger target were generally not dragged correctly when target moved [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: Crash on gaining a 677th controllable ally of a single robot variant on a single map [Azken Zutik]
• FIX: Manual Attack Resolution had not yet been rewritten to reflect changes to Core Analyzer behavior
• FIX: CL-ANK's Mallet damage was not yet updated as per spreadsheet
• FIX: Cargo convoy dispatch limits were being ignored
• FIX: Many context help entries were being applied to the wrong mechanic (comma accidentally missing from X10 code)
• FIX: Forgot to apply the Metafield Generator energy upkeep X10 mod
• FIX: jsonStatDump advanced.cfg option wasn't working

About half of the time spent working on this release went into a single entry, "NEW: Unique new late-game build type with special access conditions and effects on some major NPC interactions." I wonder what that could be!

But regardless of when players discover that, there's already all the new QoL features in there, plus the alert changes which will have a much broader impact. Alert is now split into two types of sources, which determines what the response will be at higher levels of alert, i.e. not always assaults anymore.

Get Beta 11 X11

On Steam, Beta 11 X11 is located on the new beta branch "beta_11_x11" accessible with the code "MoreThanMeetsTheChangelog", or if you don't have Steam and bought through FastSpring and would like to try the DRM-free version, send me an email at gridsagegames@gmail.com to be added to the Beta 11 cycle notification list. (Anyone already on the list will receive an email with a new link.)

Saves are not compatible with previous releases.

There's always the chance of another one or two small updates in the near term (for example if something goes wrong), which will be otherwise unannounced except to append a notice to this announcement on Patreon, and via an announcement on the #patron Discord channel. It's not uncommon due to the experimental nature of these releases, and if saves are compatible then the same branch is simply updated, otherwise a new branch is created and announced here.

Addendum: More Wizardry

For those of you using Wizard Mode, we have a new "remove_slot"/"rs" command to remove a slot of the designated type, working just like the existing "as" command, but in reverse. Note that it can only remove empty slots of that type, so you'll have to empty enough of them first.

"as" also now obeys the 26-slot cap to save you from yourself.