SEGA's Universe at War: Earth Assault is a combat-intensive RTS game enlisting players in an epic struggle to prevent total alien domination of planet Earth. Petroglyph has released details on the upcoming second patch including 4 new skirmish/multiplayer maps, bug fixes, and the usual gameplay/balance tweaks.
General/Gameplay Changes
Four brand new skirmish/multiplayer maps have been added:
Washington D.C. (1 vs 1)
Atlatea (1 vs 1)
Arecibo (1 vs 1)
Grand Canyon (8 players)
Atlatea, Arecibo, and Washington D.C. have been added to the Ranked game map rotation
Most Abnormal Game Exit crashes should now be a thing of the past (oh man am I glad to type that)
That occasional invulnerable walker thing? Fixed.
Walker hardpoints are now always customizable after loading a saved game
Camera distance increased by 22%
Map transfer support added (maps go in DataCustomMaps)
Mod support added (full mod tools coming soon)
AMD driver and detection issues resolved
UI response time and behavior has been improved
DirectX 10 performance improvements
All shadows should now touch units’ feet
Miscellaneous AI improvements
Quick Match should now be more responsive when matching
Players can no longer modify their settings in a Custom session once the host has started the countdown
Outdated replays now appear in red to indicate that they were recorded with a different version
Replays no longer quit at the point another player leaves the game
Newly recorded replays should behave better in general (alternate universe replays should no longer happen)
The camera view can now be rotated via the keyboard (left and right arrows)
Removed 5 cows from Appalachia southwest starting area
Several Russian and Korean language audio/text fixes
General terrain and map beautification. Also, more crushing!
Civilian pathfinding optimized for better performance
The Inverter shield is now lowered upon being EMPed
Conquerors no longer pass through buildings while using Vortex
Masari Knowledge Vault upgrades are no longer cancelable by attacking the upgrade in progress
Altea’s Peace now shuts off Saucer foo behaviors
Allies can no longer be taken over by Mind Magnets
Phased units are no longer targeted by Mind Magnet
Avengers no longer spawn when Masari vehicles are uploaded by Vertigo
Vertigo can no longer upload other Vertigos in multiplayer games (the ramifications were just too confusing)
Midnight basketball league for at-risk youth added
Masari balance changes
Figments no longer require Knowledge Vault Tier 1 upgrade for production
Figment damage vs infantry increased by 50%
Figment damage vs vehicles, walkers and structures reduced by 60%
Figment health reduced by 15%, DMA pool reduced by 50%
Figment cost reduced from 55 to 50, and build time reduced from 50 to 45
Figment Light Mine damage vs infantry increased by 50%
Figment damage vs vehicles and structures reduced by 30%
Peace Bringer Disintegrate damage reduced by 30%
Peace Bringer Tractor Beam range reduced by 20%
Peace Bringer Tractor Beam speed modifier reduced from 90% to 30% (Mirabel can now flee!)
Peace Bringer global damage increased by 50%
Peace Bringer range reduced by 40% in both Light and Dark mode
Sentry DMA Pool reduced by 50%
Skylord range increased by 18% in Light mode
Skylord damage vs vehicles and structures increased by 15%
Skylord price increased from 160 to 175
Disciple damage vs infantry reduced by 50% in both Light and Dark mode
Disciple damage vs vehicles, structures, and aircraft increased by 40% in both Light and Dark mode
Conqueror Light mode range reduced by 10%
Conqueror Light mode FOW reveal reduced by 10%
Guardian Turret FOW increased by 10%
Guardian Turret rate of fire increased by 10%
Knowledge Vault Tier 2 upgrade build time reduced from 100 to 85 seconds
Oracle range reduced by 35% in both Light and Dark mode
Oracle cost increased from 60 to 80
Oracle build time increased from 40 to 45 seconds
Oracle beam weapon min range increased by 10%
Sky Guardian price increased from 50 to 60 credits
Sky Guardian build time increased from 35 to 38 seconds
Sky Guardian upgrade price reduced from 75 to 50
Sky Guardian upgrade build time reduced from 50 to 40 seconds
Sky Guardian range in Light mode reduced by 15%
Sky Guardian min range properly set
Dark matter weapons now do 25% less damage vs dark matter armor.
Hierarchy balance changes
Gravitic Turret now has a minimum range of 40
Gravitic Turret price increased from 300 to 400
Radiation Spitter Turret Cost increased from 450 to 475
Monolith Stealth reveal refresh timer updates more often
Walkers now bring all turrets to bear on targets
Walker Foo Chamber healing amount increased by 10% per second
Nufai Phase Claw damage vs vehicles and infantry increased by 20%
Brute damage vs infantry increased by 15%
Brute charge ability now does 100% damage to all unbuffed turrets
Brute Death from above damage vs all vehicles reduced by 15%
Lost One damage vs aircraft increased by 20%
Walker Arc Turret damage increased by 20% vs aircraft
Monolith Beam weapon damage vs infantry increased by 10%
Mass Drop damage vs Aircraft increased by 100%
Defiler popcap increased from 2 to 3
Defiler build time increased from 24 to 26 seconds
Defiler Project Radiation Ability recharge increased from 20 to 28 seconds
Novus balance changes
Amplifier spin-up time per damage stage reduced by 3 seconds
Corruptor stealth reveal refresh timer updates more often
Corruptor damage vs all infantry types increased by 10%
OHM damage vs heavy infantry increased by 15%
Blade Trooper damage vs all infantry increased by 60%
Dervish Death Blossom range reducedby 30%
Redirection Turret FOW reveal increased by 15%
Redirection Turret projectile chaining damage reduced by 10%
Petroglyph’s next project; Universe at War: Earth Assault, is an epic sci-fi RTS set in the year 2012, as powerful alien forces bring their galaxy-spanning war to our planet’s doorstep.
Save the world or consume it as you take charge of three unique factions with awesome powers and spectacular units. Command the massive alien walkers of the Heirarchy, control the sentient machines of Novus, or unleash the epic powers of the Masari. With Tactical Dynamics, Universe at War’s customization system, you can dynamically swap out weaponry and reconfigure units on-the-fly to thwart your foe and seize the advantage.
Universe at War: Earth Assault features large-scale environmental destruction in a persistent world – level a city and when you come back, the area will still be a smoking ruin. Here, though, the environments you are fighting for are close to home, as you wage war across familiar Earth landmarks and cities.
The entire globe is at your command, as you manage resources, armies, and territories in the real-time strategic mode. As your heroes lead your forces into enemy territory, you will be taken into fast-paced tactical battles where the emphasis is on combat and action.
Universe at War: Earth Assault features innovative new multiplayer features inspired by today’s top MMOs and competitive online environments, giving players achievements, rewards, and medals but in a balanced environment. As the first third-party game to support Games for Windows Live, Universe at War will feature full player achievements and PC vs 360 cross-platform gaming, allowing players from around the world to battle it out in persistent-style online “campaigns” for ultimate faction and platform supremacy.
Features :
- Tactical Dynamics lets you customize your armies on-the-fly to overcome any challenge or opponent
- Unique multiplayer achievements and modes that are new to the RTS genre
- Cross-platform play pitting PC vs 360 gamers
- Environmental destruction and manipulation in a persistent world
- Dual layer of tactical and global gameplay
- Special hero units
- Massive-scale units that dwarf conventional RTS units
- Real-world, modern-day environments
- Three unique factions, not including the introductory military faction, which players can control as they learn the game
- On-demand UI that doesn’t clutter your view of the battle
Universe at War: Earth Assault is currently scheduled for Dec. 10, 2007
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