Hello everyone!

We hope that you’ve been enjoying RoboPass over the winter holidays. We have just one more month until our first season ends on the 18th of February 2019. So there is still time to unlock the new cosmetic items!

Last week I asked for your feedback and thoughts to aid us in locating what weapons were in need of a nerf or a buff. While the post is currently locked you can read through the feedback in the post below:

Weapon balance Feedback Thread

The data we received from this post has shown some areas where the community have come to a general consensus regarding certain weapon types. We will work with this data to implement decisions based directly from player feedback.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in providing feedback, it was very useful and I intend to create similar posts in the future to provide the team with better data which they can react to.

You may remember that a few months ago we discussed a plan to improve the physics within Robocraft to make building matter more. We mentioned Newton’s second law of motion F = ma to help provide some insight into the type of changes we wanted to make.

In summary, we want large, chunky robots to have some real weight to them and become a sturdy opponent with increased armour. While smaller robots can dart in and out of battle quickly at the cost of much lower armour.

As mentioned in one of our previous updates, this is going to take a lot of work to roll out across all movement parts. We are working on one movement type at a time, with the aim to release all of them together in our next major update.

The Rotors will have 4 variables that will adjust the agility of robot which are affected by the type of parts you place on your robot.

Light robots will see the following changes:

• Faster change in direction
  
• Faster strafing
  
• Faster turn speed (this also responds to turning on the spot to face your camera)
  
• Faster acceleration when moving forwards or backwards.

Switching directions quickly is better achieved with lighter robots. We anticipate that this will be a major update which will make robot building matter more.

We will need to make changes to the mass for various parts. Combined with weapon balancing we have our work cut out for ourselves as we balance weapon damage, movement and acceleration.

The current live build of Robocraft does not contain any of these adjustments.

To show you the sort of behaviour you could expect from heavy and light robots we’ve created a few gifs. Please note that in order to show these changes we’ve had to adjust the weight parameters of a single robot build. So while the two robots in these gifs look similar, their weight is the only thing that has been adjusted.

First up, here’s how the upcoming changes will affect turn speed



Here are the differences between a heavy and light robot accelerating forwards and backwards



Heavy Robots won’t be able to strafe as fast as lighter robots, but they’ll also be much slower in changing direction as seen from the strafing gif below



Giving lighter robots the ability to change direction very quickly also affects how fast they can switch between increasing and decreasing altitude too



We believe that the changes made will make each robot feel more unique in maneuverability and increase the quality of core game feel.

Thanks for reading, if you have any feedback on any of the info in this post, do let us know!

Build, Drive, Fight!
ReelBigKris

Hi everyone, I wanted to append some info which is based on early responses to this announcement.

Some players expressed concerns over inertia from the gifs that were shown, we do have a system that calculates inertia based on mass. The current work in progress gifs are the two extremes of light and heavy. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all think of these new physics changes once they go live. Thank you everyone for the initial feedback, continue to share more comments and I'll do my best to respond where possible.

Hello everyone! We have just left maintenance and the latest weapon balance changes are now live.

Projectile Speed: 260 -> 500
Energy Cost: 1500 -> 1250
Cooldown between shots: 0.5 -> 0.25

range: 226 -> 150

energy cost: 4000 -> 3250
Range: 50 -> 75
Base inaccuracy: 7 -> 5

These changes are not directly linked to our weapon balance feedback thread. I have yet to collate the data input here so please make sure to continue posting feedback in this thread:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/301520/discussions/2/1744482869755567871/

it is likely this thread will be locked down at some point later today, so do provide any feedback when you can. A great deal of you have given us some awesome feedback and I'll be collating the info to send to the team very soon.

All the best,
ReelBigKris

Hello everyone!

The first balance update is now live! It includes some nerfs, some buffs and weapon accuracy changes.

Tier 0 - 10,260 Damage
Tier 1 - 14,364
Tier 2 - 18,468
Tier 3 - 22,572
Tier 4 - 24,480
Tier 5 - 26,163

Tier 0 - 48,510
Tier 1 - 62,370
Tier 2 - 76,230
Tier 3 - 90,090
Tier 4 - 103,950
Tier 5 - 117,810

Tier 1 - 70,200
Tier 2 - 85,800
Tier 3 - 101,400
Tier 4 - 117,000
Tier 5 - 132,600

Tier 2 - 6,458
Tier 3 - 7,896
Tier 4 - 9,335

Tier 4 - 15,750
Tier 5 - 22,050

Tier 3 - 7,088
Tier 4 - 76,388
Tier 5 - 103,950

Tier 4 - 210,000
Tier 5 - 282,975

Tier 4 - 8,663
Tier 5 - 12,863

Mortar Weapon Changes
Tier 5 - 236,250

Tier 2 - 54,600
Tier 3 - 68,250
Tier 4 - 81,900

Do try out the latest build and once you've had a few games, get in touch with us and let us know your feedback. We've created a pinned post in the Steam forums where you can give feedback to weapon balance changes.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/301520/discussions/2/1744482869755567871/

We'll be sharing more juicy content in the coming weeks, but until then, Build, Drive, Fight!

All the best,
ReelBigKris

Below are the patch notes after the maintenance today 21/12/2018

- AI enemies Health Boost reduced in Challenge mode.
- AI enemies Damage Boost reduced in Challenge mode.


BALANCE CHANGES (applies to all game modes):

Important: Please remember these values can change based on your feedback and our own data we collect.

T4 Laser - Damage reduced to 27200
T5 Laser - Damage reduced to 29070
T2 Nano - Healing increased to 6150
T3 Nano - Healing increased to 7520
T4 Nano - Healing increased to 8890
T4 Aeroflak - Energy cost reduced to 1500
T5 Aeroflak - Energy cost reduced to 1500
T4 Ion - Damage increased to 200000
T5 Mortar - Energy cost reduced to 3600

Hello Robocrafters!

RoboPass has officially launched! Make sure to hop in to Robocraft right now to begin unlocking new cosmetics as part of this major update.



RoboPass is available in two flavours, RoboPass Free and RoboPass Plus. check out the GIF below to see the full content unlockable from grade 1 to 30!



Those with the free version of RoboPass will unlock the bottom row, Whilst players who purchase RoboPass Plus will unlock items from both rows!

RoboPass Plus will cost just $9.99, or your local price! Owners of Premium For Life will be given a 50% discount and will also progress through the grades much faster due to earning double EXP

One of the changes we made during this update is to change the naming of Campaigns to Challenges. We felt that this better represented the current game play. In addition we've also created a brand new challenge called "Sleigh Ride" where you'll face waves of Christmas themed robots on a Christmas themed map previously seen at the end of 2016.



We’ve created several new holoflags for players to unlock. To celebrate our very first season of RoboPass there will also be a very special season 1 HoloFlag which will unlock at grade 11!



The Season 1 HoloFlag will be available for the free version of RoboPass and RoboPass Plus.

Over the last week we've been sharing news every single day, for those who missed these here are just a few of the new pieces of content which will be available with RoboPass:















So without any further ado, The RoboPass update is live right now! It will be available to purchase in game for $9.99. Premium For Life players will receive a 50% discount! So go play it, give us your feedback!

Below are the full patch notes for the RoboPass Update; to find out more information about some of the new features and content, please read the accompanying post here.

• RoboPass Season 1 is live! Earn XP to unlock free cosmetics, or buy RoboPass Plus to get lots of extra rewards from this Season. Premium For Life players get 50% off RoboPass Plus!
  
• Boost removal and associated weapon rebalance. Full details here.
  
• New Christmas Challenge “Sleigh Ride” available to play at all difficulty levels!
  
• New flaming exhaust blower and flaming exhaust stacks cosmetic cubes obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Death & Spawn Effects! Unlocked effects can be set in the “Customize” screen for each robot in your mothership.
  
• New Present spawn and Firework death effect obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Black hole spawn and Black Hole death effect obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Royale Lander spawn and Feather death effect obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Christmas Present (Large and Small variants) obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Neon Cubes obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Fairy Light cosmetic item obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New T5 Seeker variant: Firework Launcher obtainable via RoboPass. Please note: This requires the unlocking of the T5 Seeker Launcher on the tech tree to use.
  
• New Holoflags: Snowflake, Candy Cane, “Santa Cray”, 2019, & “RoboPass Season 1” obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New Vapor Trails: Snowflake and Firework obtainable via RoboPass.
  
• New native real money store. A cleaner and clearer user interface for making in-game purchases.

• Obtaining multiple Tech Points in a single battle (via gaining more than one level) will now only display one screen.
  
• Players below level 76 in Tiers 1 & 2 playing in Bronze or Silver ranks will be match-made in a different lobby to improve new user experience.
  
• Item shop now has notification badge on top-bar UI when new items are available for purchase.
  
• Added “Quick Purchase” buttons to currency UI to make it clear where to add more Cosmetic Credits and Premium.
  
• Updated pricing of real-money items to make local currency exchange rates more consistent.
  
• Item shop improvements.

• Tesla blades properly animate to open when active.
  
• Windowmaker Module no longer highlights team mates when activated.
  
• Ghost Module effect no longer removed when another robot in battle is destroyed.
  
• 2000 CPU robots with additional cosmetics now display as T5, not TM in mothership UI. This also addressed an issue that prevented users queueing as a party if one member’s robot was considered TM due to cosmetic parts.
  
• Chaingun fire rate at 0 energy fixed to work as intended.
  
• Fixed T3 Cross Strut connection point issue.
  
• Robots downloaded from CRF are no longer given keyboard controls by default.
  
• “Go to Tech Tree” button now correctly opens Tech Tree UI.
  
• ESC now closes the language selection screen on login UI without throwing an error.
  
• If the party leader changes robot within the same Tier as the rest of the party, party members will no longer be kicked from queue.
  
• Windows firewall popup no longer triggers on first connection to multiplayer match.
  
• AI Players now show loadout correctly in pre-battle UI summary screen.
  
• Protonium core “shimmer” VFX properly disappears after protonium core is damaged but not destroyed.
  
• Custom avatars no longer removed for users without active Premium when dismissing the avatar selection dialogue with ESC key or “Cancel”.
  
• Premium bonus now correctly messaged as +100% not +25%. This awarded 100% bonus to Premium users correctly but messaged the premium bonus incorrectly.
  
• Item shop purchase confirmation text now correctly swapped with post-purchase “thank you” text.
  
• Brawl daily quest will not be drawn while Brawl mode is set to inactive as it cannot be achieved.
  
• Fixed issue where the Hover/Rotor daily quest “Hover Over” could not be completed.
  
• Custom Game UI now correctly renders on 4:3 resolutions.
  
• Glass Cube Health and Mass details now correct on tooltip UI
  
• Missing audio effect for when rolling over UI elements in Campaign details fixed.
  
• Fixed problem where users who haven't logged in for a long time would have their robots disappear from the CRF until their next login.
  
• Campaign restrictions now accurate across tiers. Previously there were exceptions where a part may have been permitted within the rules as written but excluded due to tier restrictions.
  
• “Top 100” Holoflag missing texture fixed.
  
• Addressed edge case where a user with a pending completed quest confirmation pop-up would be stuck on a blurry screen when logging in.
  
• Addressed rare account corruption issue that prevented users from logging in.

As always... Build, Drive, Fight!

ReelBigKris - Comms Manager

Hey everyone! We are just one more day away until RoboPass launches!

Today we wanted to reveal another Cosmetic item. The T5 Firework Seeker!



The T5 Firework Seeker is based on the T5 Seeker but has a much more festive skin equipped with pre-lit fireworks which are used as projectiles! These projectiles also explode into a colourful firework display!



Last week we shared some details on the balance changes that were coming to Robocraft in combination with RoboPass. Based on feedback from the community, the Seeker, Chaingun and Mortar have had their health reduced just a little bit. so the health per CPU is consistent for all weapons.

Once this update goes live. We will follow the data very closely to see how players respond to these changes. Based on feedback we will change the numbers. Of course, once you play the latest update, do let us know your thoughts!

To prepare the game for RoboPass and our other changes we will need to go into maintenance beginning from 10:00AM GMT and will last approximately three hours.

Tomorrow we’ll reveal the very last piece of content that will arrive as part of the RoboPass update as well as a full ChangeLog. Until then, Build, Drive Fight!

ReelBigKris - Comms Manager

Hello Robocrafters!

It is but two days until RoboPass launches! Some of you may have been pretty eagle eyed during our first content tease drop for Robocraft! During the Spawn announcement, we shared an image of the customisation window.



You may have noticed an additional tab called “Destruction Effects”. These are special effects that play when your robot is destroyed by enemy players. There are three Destruction effects available to unlock in Robo Pass.

The first is the feather destruction effect. This effect is available to unlock for players for the free RoboPass and RoboPass Plus.



The second destruction effect is the firework!



And the final destruction effect which is the very last grade for RoboPass Plus is the Black Hole destruction effect



Not only do these effects look great, but each of them will play a sound effect when used!

RoboPass Season 1 will release on the 18th of December 2018! We know you’re going to have a lot of fun with the content planned for this major seasonal update. But there is still more content to share. So until then, Build, Drive, Fight!

ReelBigKris - Comms Manager

RoboPass Season 1 will arrive in just a few days and we’ve already revealed a number of cosmetic unlocks… Today we’re revealing another new type of cosmetic!

https://steamcommunity.com/games/301520/announcements/detail/1723087600601888693

In today’s post we wanted to share with you a new cosmetic piece which will behave just a little differently compared to previous types of cosmetic items. The Exhaust Blower



Once you’ve placed the the Exhaust Blower, your robot will look awesome. But once your robot starts moving, the Exhaust Blower will begin to function!

The flame effect that plays from the exhaust blower will only emit once you press the W key. This is the very first cosmetic item in Robocraft which will react to a button press from the player. In the future we’d love to give players even more actions which are performed with a button press. Let us know what you think of this type of cosmetic item which react to button presses!

In just a few days all of our players will be able to experience the first ever RoboPass! Stay tuned to tomorrow's new content reveal. Until then, Build, Drive, Fight!

ReelBigKris - Comms Manager

Hello Robocrafters!

We are a few days away from the launch of our first ever RoboPass, currently set to go live on December 18th 2018!

RoboPass is a seasonal event where players can unlock new cosmetic items during the two month active period; RoboPass Season 1 will end February 18th 2019.

You can read more about what RoboPass is exactly by following the link below:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/301520/announcements/detail/1723087600601888693

There’s a ton of content coming with it that we’ve already announced which includes:

Players will be able to choose how they enter the fight with three awesome spawn effects.



The fairy lights were revealed as a new type of cosmetic item.



Available in large and small!



Making their first appearance in Robocraft, these neon cubes debuted in Robocraft Infinity on the Xbox One.



And today we are revealing another pair of cosmetic items:

Vapour trails allow players to set an effect which will follow their robot’s movements. As part of RoboPass season 1, there will be a couple of new trails which you’ll be able to place on your robot. The first one is the snowflake vapour trail.



Our second vapour trail effect is the firework vapour trail!



RoboPass is scheduled to go live on the 18th of December, but we still have more content to reveal! Check back tomorrow for more info! Until then, Build, Drive, Fight!

ReelBigKris - Comms Manager

Dear Robocraft Community,

For those of you who follow us on Twitter, you would have seen our announcements for our upcoming RoboPass feature that will be released alongside the Boosts removal update. We’ve announced tons of new cosmetics that will make their way into the game through this RoboPass which will be released next week. A couple of you have inquired about the balance of the parts with this update, so this DevJam hopes to answer some of those questions.

The community asked us to remove the Boosts, and so we are removing them with this RoboPass release. Removing Boosts brings with it a huge change to the TTK (Time To Kill), so in order to compensate for this, we’ve had to make some changes to the DPS (Damage Per Second) of the weapons. These change are reflected in the table below.

With such a big change to the balance of the game, we felt it would be a good idea to also make some adjustments to the weapons stats, to make them feel similar to how they were in the early Robocraft days.

When Loot Crates were introduced, weapons were balanced so that a T0 Laser could be as effective as a T5 Laser, as robots were not split by Tiers any Tier of Laser could be used on your robot. They were balanced to be fairly equal when it came to DPS, however, after RoboPass T5 Lasers will be more powerful than T4 Lasers and this pattern will be true for all weapons.

NB: The cooldown (time between shots) and Energy cost per shot have been normalised across weapon Tiers. This makes the firing rate the same for any Tier of that weapon, with Damage per shot, CPU Cost and Health being key differences as you go up the Tiers.

• Cooldown (time between shots) and Energy per shot is the same for each tier of weapon
  
• Damage and health increase the higher the tier of the weapon
  
• CPU values of parts are not changing
  
• TTK(Time To Kill) is going to decrease due to the boost removal
  
• 20% reduction in speed boost
  
• Movement part health is getting a 10% increase
  
• Health and Damage boost are removed
  
• Laser projectile speeds at low Tier have been increased, so now they are slower as you progress to Tier 5 (meaning a higher skill with Lasers is required at higher Tiers)

Thanks for reading!

BlameJosh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯