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- Zero-K
Zero-K v1.14.4.0 - New Music and Brawny Dante
This release includes an amazing new soundtrack by Vladislav Lapochkin (D.700). It is the new default, and all previous soundtracks can still be selected ingame under Settings/Audio. Big thanks to everyone who contribut…
Patch notes39 changes13 numericFix - Zero-K
Cold Take #39 - Special Abilities
A conflict has been brewing over the course of this series. Half the cold takes, those on general design principles, often imply that Zero-K avoids special abilities, while the other half shatter this impression by bein…
Announcement14 changesUI/audioMaps - Zero-K
Cold Take #38 - Avoid State Toggles
Almost everything players do in RTS is done by issuing direct commands or by toggling states. Direct commands give units a temporary goal, and include classics such as "move to this location" or "shoot at this enemy unt…
Announcement11 changesUI/audioGameplay - Zero-K
Cold Take #37 - Scouting Trouble
Most strategy games have tools for spying on the enemy, often at the cost of resources. This is known as scouting, and it is a tricky thing to design since its balance depends on the usefulness of information. Scouting…
Event8 changesBalanceGameplay - Zero-K
Zero-K v1.14.2.0 - Lobster, Magpie, Venom, and Engine
This release is mainly about tweaking a few overused units. Venom is slightly worse at stunning to counteract the overstun change, and other Spiders were buffed to compensate. Lobster now gives the enemy a little more t…
Patch notes59 changes18 numericFix - Zero-K
Cold Take #36 - Bounding the Strategic Triangle
Strategic freedom is a fragile thing, yet the feeling of devising your own plans is something that many games try to instil. The issue is that, as players explore and refine their strategies, the space of viable strateg…
Announcement16 changesBalanceGameplay - Zero-K
Zero-K v1.13.12.1 - Mostly Graphics Fixes
The Huge Graphics Update of last week was a huge success and only introduced a few minor issues. This update fixes the ones that we are aware of. Fixed a texture detail issue that made units slightly pixelated and a bit…
Announcement9 changesFixGameplay - Zero-K
Zero-K v1.13.12.0 - Huge Graphics Update
This update overhauls the tech behind drawing units, wrecks and map features on your screen. This has many advantages. To start with, it allows for more and better looking fancy unit rendering effects, many of which are…
Patch notes36 changesFixMaps - Zero-K
Cold Take #35 - Shields as Spherical Shells
Shield generators are a mainstay of sci-fi across mediums, and RTS is no exception. Games tend to use shields as an extra type of hitpoints, one that tends to have some advantage or is at least easier to replenish. They…
Announcement13 changesWorkshopGameplay - Zero-K
Cold Take #34 - Build a Navy
This is a guest post by Aquanim, who led the 2016 sea rework. Over two thirds of our own planet is covered by oceans. Therefore, strategy games which are played on planetary landscapes have some reason to consider how t…
Announcement15 changesFixGameplay - Zero-K
Cold Take #33 - Give It Slow
Slow damage is the more prolific, yet less dramatic, cousin of EMP and disarm. It is weaker than EMP in that it never fully disables a unit, but the effect gradually ramps up from the very first instance of damage, maki…
Announcement14 changesBalanceGameplay - Zero-K
Zero-K v1.13.9.5 - Hotfixes and Jump Stun
This update has tweaks and fixes for the update from two weeks ago. Detriment now responds to status effects while winding up its jump, and being transported cancels the jump entirely. Racketeer is also better at keepin…
Patch notes9 changesFixGameplay - Zero-K
Cold Take #32 - Stun and Lightning
Strategy games present players with an evolving set of problems and a selection of tools with which to solve them. The problems in RTS tend to boil down to the fact that the enemy has units, so a lot of the tools offer…
Announcement19 changesFixWorkshop - Zero-K
Zero-K v.1.13.9.0 - Shock and Awesome Jumps
This update is packed with unusual buffs. For starters, Detriment can now jump three times in a row, but every factory technically has some unit that was buffed. Most of the buffs are via a change to the stun and disarm…
Patch notes62 changes19 numericFix - Zero-K
Cold Take #31 - Terraform
I am a huge fan of terrain manipulation, even in real time strategy games. At its best, terraform is a supercharged form of map modification which belongs to nobody when built, allowing both sides to adapt to the new te…
Security20 changesFixMaps - Zero-K
Cold Take #30 - Base Building Blocks
Base building seems to be a mandatory part of the RTS genre and there are a lot of ways to go about it. Some games keep most structures confined to the main base while others encourage players to spread them all over th…
Security7 changesMapsGameplay
