Supreme Commander 2 PC patch 1.11 is a big one

4:40 PM on 04.16.2010   |   Jordan Devore

15 comments

Gas Powered Games hasn't been vacationing after the somewhat recent completion of Supreme Commander 2. And if they have, well, those cats know how to mix business with pleasure. Following last week's release of a hefty patch centered on ranked matches, the studio put out an equally impressive patch yesterday.

Patch 1.11, as it's so lovingly called, is all about tweaking Supreme Commander 2's AI. You'll want to read up on everything that's been tampered with by catching the patch notes after the break. I'm not currently playing the game, so I couldn't begin to explain what it all means.

Bless the man who invented patch notes.

New Features:

• New AI categories are now available via the Skirmish or Multi-player lobby menu:
  • Air: Focuses on Air units.
  • Land: Focuses on Land units.
  • Rush: Focuses on large amounts of land units and less on defense.
  • Balanced: Balanced between Land and Air.
  • Naval: Focuses on Naval units.
  • Turtle: Focuses on defenses and Experimentals.
  • Random: Chooses one of the above based on various factors.
• Added the Steam avatar for each player on the multiplayer summary screen:  This will let players click on the avatar image and access that player's Steam profile. From there, they can add that player to their friends list if they've had a good match
• Added Mic Icons display in game when bringing up the in game score menu (F2) allowing players to mute individual players

Improvements:

• Added anti-cheating code that will detect modified lua files and prevent playing with unmodified users. This also prevents achievement and leaderboard updates. Still permits playing with others who have identically modified their games.
• Disconnections in Ranked: The game now tracks the number of disconnects a player has during Ranked 1v1 matches. If you exceed a certain percentage of disconnects to games played, they will count as losses instead of wins.
• AI Improvements:
  • The AI will no longer get stuck in its startup build sequence if rushed or if there are build restrictions in place.
  • The AI will choose an appropriate archetype based on unit restrictions.
  • If a unit type is restricted the AI will act as though the unit does not exist in the game.
  • AI will now group units based on their target enemy's threat.
  • AI will now group experimentals based on their target enemy's threat.
  • If the victory condition is Assassination we are artificially inflating the Neural Net data to make attacking the ACU more desirable for both Land and Air units.
  • AI can now respond to being attacked my Nukes or Artillery, even if it cannot see where it is coming from.
  • Fixed a bug where threat build conditions were not being used.
  • The AI should no longer attempt to send attack platoons to unpathable areas.
  • The AI will hold back units until it thinks it has enough to make a push based on defensive intelligence.
  • Fixed an issue where the AI would constantly pull units back to attack an expansion base instead of pushing forward.
  • The AI will no longer build more than 3 transports unless it has land units and it is not a land map.
  • Added AI response to make a land AI get land unit AA upgrades if the enemy has air units.
  • The Naval AI will not build more than 3 subs unless the enemy has Naval.
  • If Research is disabled the AI will not build research facilities.
  • The AI will add a small amount of threat to all enemy start locations so it knows where to find them.
  • Platoons will try to only attack areas where they think they can do enough damage before dying.
  • The AI will react to enemy TML, artillery, or Experimentals by building more shields and placing them closer together.
  • The AI should send a more appropriate number of units based on enemy threat.
  • AI will build and use Mass Convertors.
  • If the closest enemy to the AI is a lot weaker than the other enemies the AI will focus on the weak enemy.
  • The AI's air units will wait longer before re-evaluating which target to attack.
  • The AI's NUC will now check for pathability before firing units.
  • The AI's Nuke Launcher will now check for pathability before firing.
  • You can now select which AI type you would like to play against from the dropdown in the game lobby (random is still an option).
  • AI will build factory shield upgrades more often, not just when the enemy has air.
  • Factory upgrades now have a threat value.
  • AI should react better to an enemy having nukes.
  • AI will not build research stations if it already has everything researched.
  • AI will not build a mass convertor until it has enough energy to convert.
  • Added bigger Air and Land platoons.
  • When a build item has a resource type of All the AI will use Slush first.
  • Added build conditions to check for current target enemy threat.
  • AI air scout platoons will now path around threat as much as possible.
  • Mass convertor research is now a higher priority for the Turtle AI.
  • Changed some threat evaluation when deciding where to attack.
  • AI will build fewer MMLs and Mobile Artillery.
  • Added a new function to store the victory condition for the AI.
  • When an AI unit dies it will add threat to the instigator's location to warn other units.
  • Added some anti-turtle measures.
  • Fix for units that were built outside of the AIs base not being used.
  • Fix for AI not using its full base radius.
  • Land AIs on Island maps should build Air factories to build transports.
  • AI should send platoons when it is at unit cap, no matter what.
  • AI will space out naval factories more to prevent blockage.

The Ranked maps have been updated to:

• Markon Bridge
• Clark Training Center
• Coalition Ship Yard
• Arctic Refuge
• Open Palms
• Finn’s Revenge

Fixes:

• Fixed units arriving from Space Temple teleport immunity to Magnetron effects
• Fixed Engineer pathfinding in crowded conditions
• Fixes for occasional crash if Client disconnects at the same moment Host launches Ranked game
• Fix for Crash / Soft Locked: Players can get soft-locked in the 'Starting Game' screen if other players disconnect when matchmaking begins 'Starting Game'
• Backspace will reveal all characters in the edit box when you have more characters than the visible section

Tuning and Balancing:

• Capturing units now provides the same experience as killing them