Hello all,
Welcome to the Mob-Arena classes update, delivering a large overhaul to our Mob-Arena weapon content! With 12 classes and significant balancing and improvements to existing classes, you now have much more room to strategize what loadouts to bring into a Mob-Arena map and which to buy as an Additional Loadout.
The update also contains 3 new maps by our builder team, including a beautiful Workshop map by Mohorowe as well as two quirky additions to spice up the PVP mode!
We have also included a note about the donation store and the development progress for new features at the bottom of the changelog, meant for the interested reader.
NEW MAP: WORKSHOP
Workshop is a small-sized PVP map built by Mohorowe, featuring a workshop full of lumber and a destroyed truck. Available in TDM, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Mine-Spades (KOTH).
NEW MAP: GULAG FACTORY
GulagFactory is a reimagined version of the classic Gulag layout by our new builder, Tarakan2003. It features a slightly larger layout with improved aesthetics compared to the regular Gulag.
Considering that it is quite similar in layout to the existing Gulag maps and is missing some movement opportunities seen in the existing maps, it is currently only available in the Gulag arcade scenario mode, but we may add it to the regular rotation if there is demand!
NEW MAP: POLUS ඞ
Polus is a funny amogus map built by MontanaMob, available on Zombie Siege. There are plenty of spots for humans to hide in and try to survive, but beware of the lava and the giant cliff! It comes in two versions: normal loadouts, and one for Hoth scenario where you can enjoy an authentic sci-fi horror experience (TM).
MOB-ARENA CLASSES
Classes tied to primary weapons are a central part of your Mob-Arena playstyle, both when you first spawn in or when purchasing an Additional Loadout. This update brings a host of new Mob-Arena classes into the mix!
Starting with new classes for regular, non-Legendary weapons:
- IDF: the Israel Defense Forces possessing a very strong iron helmet. Available on Galil ACE and Negev.
- Bundeswehr: a class that comes with strong armor with additional toughness but limited healing, making for a good starting pick. Available on the G36, MP5, MP7, and MG3.
- BundeswehrElite: a version of Bundeswehr with multiple long duration splash potions and slightly upgraded armor. Comes with no healing and is best suited for supporting roles. Available on the G11 and MP5SD.
- HeroicDefender: defending against an aggressive enemy, this class comes with Molotovs, special potions, and knockback resistant armor. Available on the Lahti L-39 and Fort-224.
- Clownfield: a class that makes a statement about a certain shooter game. Comes with a A10 airstrike marker and some armor with “unique” stats. Available on the MP9 and ZH-29.
- Minecraft: includes vanilla-inspired items, including full iron armor and a vanilla-style axe. Available on the Crossbow.
- Cowboy: A cowboy, that’s it. Has access to a special “Dynamite” explosive. Available on the Henry.
Many Legendary weapons have also received an exclusive class with unique items to better correspond to their legendary status!
- Trickster: a resourceful survivor with various exotic potions and items, unique Thorns enchantment, and a movement speed boost, but low armor protection. Available on the MP5K A4.
- Phoenix: a fire-themed kit with a Totem of Undying and fire resistance potion and armor. Available on the ASh-12.7 because… it has ash in the name?
- Commando: a unique class that comes with a special HK69A1 Buckshot launcher, which contains 10 devastating 40mm buckshot rounds! Available for the L86 LSW.
- TechSniper: A very powerful sniper class that includes Strength II potions and the “Exo Chestplate” which increases melee damage of all vanilla-style melee attacks. Available on the M40A1.
- ArmsDealer: A unique class with several powerful special weapons, but no healing. Available on the M24A3.
We have also changed some existing classes:
- Trench: Added 3 gas grenades & reduced number of soups by half (8 instead of 16)
- CQB: Reduced amount of “Tactical Shield” potions from 3 to 2, and Armor Toughness on chestplate from 4 to 3, but added one extra grenade (overall slight nerf – this class was a bit too strong even considering its movement speed tradeoff, but we have kept its original uniqueness as a Legendary kit!)
- Fallschirmjager: Boots feather falling increased from IV to V. MP40 now uses this class alongside MP18, but all other weapons no longer use this class
Finally, we have greatly buffed all “extra weapons” granted by kits, which were universally quite weak before, to make them more worth using in Mob-Arena:
- Spetsnaz: The shadow dagger is now a unique melee weapon! It now has two attack types just like the Knife, but the main attack is completely different than the regular knife with a much faster attack speed, lower range and damage, and vertical slash direction.
- P.S. we may consider adding it to normal loadouts in the future, but we want to see how what you think about the weapon in Mob-Arena first!
- SpaceMarine: Slightly increased damage of the “Berzerk” item, now it can one-shot mobs when critting
- Heavy: CreepaBusta(TM) now grants 10 extra armor and armor toughness when held, and still provides knockback resistance, but no longer grants speed. This allows you to play this class like a tank (like the “Heavy” name implies), but while taking advantage of the extra protection, you can only attack by right clicking and exploding Creepers! Also, the extra protection will not apply to fire and fall damage.
- All classes with bows: Significantly increased “Power” enchantment on all bows that come with classes. They can one-shot regular mobs now and also keep their original special effects, and should therefore now be a more desirable item in classes. Crossbows have received “Quick Charge V” and “Multi-Shot” enchants instead.
- Stun Bow slow duration reduced from 30 to 20 seconds because during playtesting this bow is a bit too strong against bosses
BALANCE CHANGES
- SPAS-12: reload time 0.5 -> 0.6s
- This was a highly requested balance change which decreases the ability of SPAS-12 to be used in a spammy way.
- Lee Enfield: supply cost reduced by 1
- SIG556xi: increased rate of fire in-game to 545RPM, from effectively 383RPM (the rate of fire is also accurately displayed now)
- This should make the SIG556xi significantly more viable considering its more expensive price than the M16A4 (which has recently been buffed).
OTHER CHANGES
- Added ~10 new tip lines for Mob-Arena players
- The previous Workshop map (Christmas themed) has been renamed to SantaWorkshop
- Removed July 4th fireworks
DONATION STORE NOTES
You may have seen that the donation store for GunColony has not been working for a while.
While this is an unintended breakage, it is very likely that I will simply remove the donation store rather than spending time to bring it back online. The donation store and the “donate” NPC in-game will likely be removed in a near-future update, making GunColony a completely free server for everyone.
In case you are wondering, the reason is not at all related to the recent Mojang enforcement saga. Instead, I simply expect to no longer need any monetary support from players to keep the server alive for the near to medium-term future, and so I will no longer ask for any. I will reveal the details in a future announcement.
DEV PROGRESS UPDATE
Welcome to the bottom of the patch notes!
This update was mostly content-focused and may not be as large as you are used to, and that is because we are working on a big refactoring of the server’s code in the background!
We are currently working in a new codebase to convert the GunColony server gradually to the new standalone engine. To that end, our first aim is to rewrite the player data system on the new engine. This includes storing player level, tokens, XP, inventory, quests, and stats, as well as global data such as the current Endless map.
Technically, our system uses strict locking and a dynamic source-of-truth system. This means that player data storage will now be extremely reliable even across multiple servers, and so performant that a single database instance could handle 3 orders of magnitude more players than what we get currently. This is great because with this system, we will not have to worry about data reliability and performance ever again, so we can focus on building the best gameplay we can on top of this data layer.
The new system also comes with other benefits. First, it is built to handle a fully multi-threaded player logic which we have planned for the standalone game. Second, it cleans up technical debt in our existing code – we currently have 3-4 different ways to access player data from the database, which will be unified to one. Third, it is easier to work with in the codebase as the dynamic source-of-truth means that saving is done periodically rather than on each write, allowing us to simply access player data directly by reading/mutating objects in a special code block.
As for the current progress: despite the data system itself being nearly completed, the bulk of the work is integrating it with the existing GunColony codebase, which we are starting to work through. For example, we are rewriting the entire data backend of the inventory system and hooking it back up to existing GUIs and interfaces. Since the inventory system consists of extreme legacy code from ~2017, this is a challenging but much-needed step. The new refactor will open the door to adding new features such as weapon renaming and cosmetics without slugging through mountains of old code.
Expect to see the result of this work in a new update coming out over the next few weeks. There may not be many flashy in-game features at first, but the impact for future updates and content will be enormous. After the player data system, the next step is a code generation project to ensure that Minecraft block and item types are accessible from our new codebase, which will allow us to implement UI and eventually other game systems on the standalone engine.
