Gameplay Tweaks Update

Hello all,

We have released a new patch for GunColony that contains a new weapon leveling system as well as various gameplay tweaks.

Summary:

• All-new weapon leveling system!
  • All weapons go up to Level 100
  • You unlock all mods at Level 70
  • Your existing inventory will be automatically converted to the new levels
• Gunplay Changes
  • More intuitive hipfire mechanic
  • Nerfs to ADS while sprint-jumping
• Balance Changes
  • Snipers are now higher risk & higher reward
  • DMRs got a massive buff
  • Battle Rifles price increased
• Weapon Mods
  • Shotgun Chokes were nerfed
  • Added new Ammo Conversions and Extended Magazines
  • Sniper scopes added to more weapons
• Normal mobs in Mob-Arena are now easier to kill
• Longshots in PVP are now easier to obtain
• Improved some messages around the server
• Performance improvements

Changelog:

GUNPLAY CHANGES

Hip fire has been adjusted to lower the learning curve for new players interested in close range fighting.

• While hipfiring, 20% of base sway is now converted to spread, and 100% of sway from firing is now converted to spread
  • This makes bullets more consistently cover the entire spread cone
• Weapons now have 70% less recoil while hipfiring to prevent bullets from going too much above where you aim

Aiming down sights has been adjusted to lower the effectiveness of firing before being fully scoped in, making a fast ADS Speed more important.

• Most weapons (except shotguns) are now significantly less accurate while hipfiring
• While aiming down sights you now gain accuracy slower than before (it is determined by the square of the ADS percentage – halfway into ADS, you have 75% of hipfire spread and 25% of ADS spread)

Movement accuracy has been adjusted to lower the effectiveness of aiming down sights immediately after sprint jumping.

• After you stop moving, the accuracy penalty while moving will now always reset in the same amount of time it takes to aim down sights
  • This was previously the case for LMGs and Snipers, but other weapons had their moving accuracy reset instantly after stopping. Now, all weapons share the same behavior
  • Weapon mods that affect ADS speed will also affect the move penalty reset speed
  • Sprinting will still make the penalty take longer than normal to reset
• Sprint jumping will now count the player as sprinting until they land
  • Aiming down sights during sprint jumping will no longer begin to recover movement penalty until you land
  • Normal jumping is not affected

GENERAL BALANCE CHANGES

• In General: range & damage dropoff rebalanced – damage dropoff now starts at a significant distance rather than right away, but it happens much quicker than before. In addition, hipfire accuracy has been reduced for most weapon categories as aforementioned.
• Battle Rifles (M14, M14 EBR, M1 Garand, SVT-40, SR-25, RFB, FAL, SC-2010): they are now more expensive (by $250-800; SVT-40 has not been changed), but more effective at penetrating blocks, and they have a new advantage in their high range before damage begins to drop off.
• SMGs: they are now less advantageous in hip fire accuracy and have faster damage dropoff than before. There is now about 30% more recoil but less sway movement (1.4 -> 1.1) from firing while aiming down sights to allow for more skillful gunplay at medium range, and to encourage the use of more accurate, less powerful SMGs.
• LMGs: high caliber LMGs like the M60 can now penetrate thicker walls than before just like battle rifles, but their price has been increased. Also, all heavier MGs now have slightly lower aim down sight speed.
• Shotguns: headshot damage in Mob-Arena reduced (1.3x for auto shotguns and 1.5x for pump shotguns)
• Bolt Snipers: they are now much more powerful but have much worse handling, slower aim down sights speed, and more sway. Think the call of duty formula instead of battlefield.
• Auto Snipers: they are now way more controllable and predictable than before, but also got an increase in sway and aim down sight speed.
• Starter Pistols: they now have fairly low range to encourage the use of more expensive pistols.
• Pistols: they now aim down sights significantly faster than before (except auto pistols).

SPECIFIC BALANCE CHANGES

Some weapons have been redesigned to have specific strengths and fit specific niches better.

• M14 EBR & SR-25: designed to fulfill a long ranged DMR type role – they now have a very long range and slow damage dropoff, but the base damage of the M14 EBR has been reduced.
• IMI Galil: now has less hipfire accuracy than the Galil AR, but more range and more accuracy in aimed full-auto fire.
• M16A1 & M16A2: both now have pretty terrible hipfire and 10% greater recoil, but increased range.
• M4A4 CQBR & M4A1-S: positioned as short 5.56mm carbines – they now have subpar range but great hipfire accuracy.
• FAMAS: similarly has a short range and good hipfire. Price increased to $2850
• AK-47, AK-103, Groza, RPK: now have higher damage but shorter range – they are now much more viable and act as cheap battle rifle alternatives in CQB.
• AK-74M: slightly increased ranged damage to increase odds of getting a 5 hit kill at long range (now needs 2 chest shots instead of 3)
• G36: damage 28 -> 30.5 to honor the description “has a higher power than most other 5.56mm assault rifles”, but it has mediocre range and low hipfire accuracy
• MP9, TMP: now have an advantage in hipfire accuracy compared to other SMGs. This gives them a nice use instead of being a worse MP5.
• The MP5 family: now have the exact same damage values but range varies by weapon.
  • MP5: now has higher sway and lower hipfire accuracy to counteract the improved damage.
  • MP5KA4: set up as a gun that shines in the burst-fire mode as much as in auto. The burst mode gives it the best hipfire accuracy among all SMGs.
• P90: recoil further increased.
• UMP-45: burst mode somewhat buffed; rate of fire reduced to better differentiate with the Thompson (650 -> 620); now has a very high range for a SMG.
• Mac-10: range reduced; sway increased in ADS.
• Thompson: recoil and damage increased (35 -> 36). It also has a great hipfire accuracy.
• PPSh-41: now has significantly better range than the Vector.
• Honcho: is now intended as a fast pump shotgun, but watch out for the recoil caused by the increased fire rate. Spread +25%, damage reduced (31 -> 27), fire rate increased (80 ->95)
• KSG-15: armor penetration 67 -> 66
• M1014: hipfire spread +20%
• DP-12: hipfire spread +30%, sway/spread from firing increased by 10%, price 2300 -> 2400
• Double Barrel: pellet spread +10%; longer wait after shooting in burst mode before reloading (now it takes identical time as shooting 2 shots in semi mode)
• L86 LSW: tweaked the recoil to be a consistent upward climb, positioning the L86 to be a full auto weapon that can be consistently used at all ranges. Now also has a 40m range of rather consistent 4 shot kills. Price increased to $3500.
• Stoner 63: slightly reduced sway from shooting. Now should be a legitimate competitor to the M16A1.
• SSG 08: damage buffed (allows 1 shot to the chest at very close range), but rate of fire and hipfire accuracy reduced
• AWM: is now a very slow-handling weapon and takes a long time to aim down sights, but provides one hit kills from any range.
• M24/M40A1: can now get a guaranteed one shot at close range. The M40A1 reload has been slowed down slightly but is still quite fast.
• ZH-29: slight price decrease from $4100 to $3900.
• USP: slight damage nerf to remove 2 shot headshot to armor. In return it has a slower damage dropoff than other starter pistols.
• Five-SeveN: armor penetration reduced to 80
• PPK: range is improved relative to other pistols.
• Beretta 90two: price increased from $350 to $600 anticipating significant overpoweredness.
• Desert Eagle: hipfire accuracy and range (incl. minimum damage) reduced, rate of fire slightly reduced (180 -> 170)
• Colt Python: hipfire accuracy reduced
• R8 Revolver: min. damage increased, hipfire accuracy unchanged (increased relative to other handguns)
  • Now uses different internal code for delayed firing – this means that the R8 Revolver now properly respects rate of fire modifications.
• Colt SAA: increased damage (especially unarmored).
• QSZ-92: reduced damage (32 -> 29), armor penetration (91 -> 85), and rate of fire (400 -> 370)
• M1911: increased damage (40 -> 48), reduced armor penetration (82 -> 70) and rate of fire (350 -> 320)
• AF-2011: increased damage (35 -> 40), reduced armor penetration (82 -> 70)
• MP443: rate of fire reduced (450 -> 300), hipfire accuracy unchanged
• Rhino: damage 49 -> 50, hipfire accuracy unchanged
  • Same fire rate mods fix as R8 Revolver above
• Fire Launcher: now fires in bursts, and overall has less backup ammo

WEAPON MODS IMPROVEMENTS

• Unertl 10X scope has been added to the M14 EBR, M16A1 and M1 Garand at Level 50, as well as the M82 at Level 30
• Unertl 10X scope now uses the Sniper K98k reticle
• PU scope has been added to the SVD at Level 50
• Conversion kits such as .30 Carbine on Thompson now count as ammo modifications
• Rebalances to existing shotgun barrel modifications
  • Modified and Full Choke now reduce weapon damage by 2% and 6%, respectively
  • Full Choke now reduces movement speed, but has less penalty on moving accuracy
  • Sawed-Off Barrel now increases damage by 4%, but has less bonus to moving accuracy
• Added the Rifled Choke to Shotguns, which makes pellets more consistently follow the spread pattern.
• Added the 14.5x114mm ammo to the NTW-20, which massively increases bullet velocity at the cost of fire rate.
• Added the .300 Blackout ammo to the M4A1-S, M16A1, M4A4, M16A2, AUG, and Tavor X95R, which increases unarmored damage at the cost of recoil and bullet velocity.
• Added the .300 Blackout Subsonic ammo the M4A1-S and M16A1, which increases unarmored damage and removes bullet tracers at the cost of a very slow bullet.
• Added the .40 S&W ammo to the UMP-45, which increases bullet velocity and magazine capacity at the cost of unarmored damage.
• Added the 10mm Auto ammo to the MP5, which increases damage and range at the cost of fire rate.
• Added the 9x18mm Makarov ammo to the Skorpion, which slightly increases damage but also increases recoil.
• Added the Alpha Magazine, a 30-round extended mag to the SCAR-20.
• Added the STANAG Conversion, a 30-round extended mag to the FAMAS.
• Added a 24-round extended magazine to the FAL, G3SG1, and MSG90A2.
• Added a 25-round short magazine to the UZI.
• Added a 17-round short magazine to the Vector.
• Added a 13-round short magazine to the XD.
• Added the EMAG Magazine to the L86, which provides a handling and reload speed bonus but reduces backup ammo.
• Added extended magazines to the M9A1, Beretta 90, P250, P2000, M1911, and AF2011.

WEAPON LEVEL CHANGES

• Weapons can now be upgraded to level 100 regardless of rarity
• Modifications will stop being unlocked after level 70, similar to COD MW
• It takes much less EXP to upgrade a weapon to level 70 in the new system than to max out a weapon in the previous system, meaning that weapon mods are now easier than unlock
• Rare weapons take 25% more EXP, epic weapons take 50% more EXP, and legendary weapons take 100% more EXP to gain each level than common weapons
• Weapon level will now be divided by 10 in the inventory screen to avoid exceeding the limit of 64 (for instance, a level 25 gun will show a “2” in your inventory)

MOB ARENA CHANGES

• Damage Absorption has been removed for non-boss mobs in Mob-Arena.
  • This will especially make the block head mobs much easier to kill.
• The ongoing matches viewer has been improved.
  • A few messages have been changed.
  • When a map is on the final wave, it will now say “(Final Wave!)” to let players know that they might not be able to spawn in before the game ends
• Added a message when players respawn into the arena
• Added a message when players spawn into the arena for the first time after joining in progress

PVP CHANGES

• The Longshot award now occurs at 30m (from 50m)
• The Marksman award now occurs at 60m (from 100m)
• The Sniper award now occurs at 100m (from 200m)
• Added sound and message for both players when a player dominates or takes revenge on another player

QUALITY-OF-LIFE ENHANCEMENTS

• /loadout stats has been improved.
  • You can now key in weapon level and modifications in the /loadout stats command to view weapon stats with specific mods on them
  • The damage text now only shows the start and end of the damage dropoff point, as well as the max range of the weapon
  • Added a third decimal point to weapon inaccuracy to allow showing small numbers like 0.025 degrees accurately
  • Added display for Armor Penetration percentage, Block Penetration, Entity Penetration, and Aim Down Sights Time
• Improved the tooltip for the Epic Vote Crate.
• Improved the message when you receive Weapon XP in crates and after a game.
• Temporarily turned off ViaVersion connecting blocks fix to improve performance while players teleport
  • We are currently investigating other issues that cause join or teleportation lag, including the Mob-Arena respawning code and permission groups

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a glitch where certain staff members could get a glitch that gave them access to weapons above the max level
• Fixed a glitch where Heavy Spring had more rate of fire reduction and less recoil reduction than intended
• Fixed a glitch where Lightened Bolt was not available on the Fire Launcher
• Fixed a glitch where Nemesis Kill (taking revenge on a player dominating you) did not work
• Removed Cartographer from server dependency completely to reduce memory leak requiring frequent restarts
• Fixed a room in Blackgold where players could get stuck