Forts Update 1.36

G'day Forts fans!

After a well earned Christmas break we got back to work. We hope you got to enjoy time with friends and family too.

This update features some much needed bug fixes and improvements. The context menu has received some attention, as well as ranked play and various gameplay bugs and exploits.

Ranked Improvements

To make the season rollover more predictable, fair, and to make an event of it, we've automated the process. The new season starts at midnight UTC on the first of every second month.

Also, when there are technical issues such as disconnection or desyncs, there will be no score change unless a player appears to have manipulated their connection.

There are some bug fixes too, which we hope will improve the ranked experience.

Context Menu Modding

We've added some functionality to allow organisation of ammo and material conversion buttons into rows. Some mods have an ungodly number of items. This is a small effort to help tame them.

They can have optional localised labels and icons to the left of the row.

Just add the AmmoRows table to your weapon or ammo device configuration script, then assign each ammo an appropriate RowName value.

[c]-- Name is used to identify the row, Label and Sprite are optional[/c]

[c]AmmoRows =[/c]

[c]{[/c]

[c] { Name = "HarpoonRow1" },[/c]

[c] { Name = "HarpoonRow2", Label = "Weapon.ammo_high_explosive", Sprite = "warmup" },[/c]

[c] { Name = "HarpoonRow3", Label = "Weapon.ammo_acid", Sprite = "device-ammo"},[/c]

[c]}[/c]

Rows to make large item selections more manageable.

For material conversion buttons, create and add to a MaterialRows table:

[c]MaterialRows =[/c]

[c]{[/c]

[c] { Name = "Row1", Label = "Weapon.ammo_high_explosive", Sprite = "hud-play" },[/c]

[c] { Name = "Row2", Sprite = "hud-pin" },[/c]

[c] { Name = "Row3", Label = "Weapon.ammo_acid"},[/c]

[c]}[/c]

Then set the appropriate RowName value in the material.

In addition, we've allowed mod scripts to add to and modify a new layer of the context menu. While the built-in controls are off limits for now, they can be hidden with the call HideContextMenu(HIDECONTEXT_BASE) for complete replacement.

Cheers,

EWG

Change List 1.36.0 r20849

Add: FRAME_CONTEXTMENU used with SetControlFrame script function to allow custom controls to be added to context menu

Add: HideContextMenu script function taking HIDECONTEXT_BASE or HIDECONTEXT_ALL constants

Balance: (Scattershot) Shotgun maximum projectile density is consistent with the base weapon

Improve: (Machinegun) Reduce ClearanceAngleStdDevFactor from 1 to 0.4

Improve: Ammo can be organised into rows in the context menu using AmmoRows table and ammo table RowName

Improve: Desyncs, timeouts, and hangs cause ranked games to be voided unless network manipulation is detected

Improve: Fort Select no longer locks up the UI for a few seconds on large maps

Improve: Increase memory limit of scripts to 200MB

Improve: Material conversion buttons can be arranged into rows in the context menu using MaterialRows table and material RowName

Improve: Ranked season ends automatically at midnight UTC of the first day of every second month

Improve: Reduced ClearanceAngleStdDevFactor from 1 std dev to 0.8

Improve: Reduced GravityToClearanceAngleFactor by 50%

Improve: Show 'technical issue occurred' message when game ends in a desync, hang or timeout

Improve: Surviving reactors are considered to be at full health for the purpose of breaking ties

Fix: (Beams) Smoked, reflected or teleported Plasma Lasers destroy Warheads in one hit

Fix: (Machinegun) ClearanceAngleStdDevFactor set for campaigns, potentially affecting balance

Fix: (Map Editor) Crash cycling to the next block when there are no blocks

Fix: (Phantom) Moving a weapon causes it to recloak after reloading

Fix: (Phantom) 'Recloaking weapons' is missing from description

Fix: (Seep) 'Narrow silos' is missing from description

Fix: (Seep) Starting neutral silos have sprite of side 1

Fix: Apparent hang while loading during long file validation

Fix: Commander can be self-charged by shooting the platform of a device

Fix: Crash when repainting during long file validation

Fix: db/rules.lua missing from checksum

Fix: Desync at start when a client selects a fort while another client does not have the map

Fix: Desync when building devices on neutral structure

Fix: Desync when using keys to adjust weapon power mid fire

Fix: Devices can be built on recently neutral structure

Fix: Game doesn't update when user moves or resizes the window

Fix: Missing mod script causes crash during join

Fix: Population caps can be exceeded using barrels in team deathmatch

Fix: Population limited device construction can be accelerated using a neutral device of the same type

Fix: Report button is sometimes missing from the 'player disconnected' notification

Fix: Scoring on timeout incorrect when disconnection happens during ranked loading

Fix: ScreenMode in Options > Video is not translated

Fix: Season is not matched during the ranked lobby alert search

Fix: SetControlFrame doesn't validate input

Fix: Terrain rendering

Fix: Unable to connect to ranked lobbies using alert popup

Optimise: Rendering performance

Change List 1.36.0 r20914

Fix: Crash calculating teleport when a node is missing

Fix: Crash when a fully built weapon is disabled, deleted, and restored

Fix: Crash when queueing for ranked play after casual match

Fix: File validation sometimes fails

Fix: Ranks are missing from the lobby

Make Sure To Join Our Discord

If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

Cheers,

EWG