Tonight has seen the latest patch onto the Titan retail server, patch Retail#181!
Patch notes: Technical changes:
Fixed several exploits
Used an approach similar to splines to smooth interpolation
Several further tweaks to the interpolation
Fixed rubberband bug
Fixed hacknet mobs not dealing damage
Fixed parsing of default options for several NPCs
Fixed a buffer overflow when updating world actors
Raised Neocron's bandwidth limitations
Fixed several reasons for invisible damage
Fixed an error which lead to items dropping from the trade window back into the player's inventory
Music should now play independent of the windows compatibility mode setting
The damage of beam weapons should now be calculated correctly
Fixed beams not showing on several weapons
Gameplay changes:
Added the techlevel of the item to construct to blueprints
Law enforced players are now buffable by non law enforced players, but not vice versa!
The existing speed cap has been adjusted so speed tapers off more dramatically at higher livels of agility and athletics. Players with extreme speed setups will see a reduction of speed.
Last week, Patch 179 was released, followed by patch 180 to address some stability issues introduced. You can discuss the patch here.
Technical changes:
Reworked netcode (see known issues)
Window mode now supports very high resolutions as well (numbers must be multiples of two)
Fixed a number of exploits and critical security issues
Fixed a number of bad world data causes
Fixed an issue with the loginserver
Fixed a number of gameserver crashes
Fixed incorrect team money distribution
Team money distribution is now calculated at once instead of receiving all money first, then paying a share to teammates
Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to retreat from combat
NPCs now use a line of sight for targeting that is comparable to that of player characters
Fixed drones not launching in a number of situations
Reduced wait time between drone launches, in case a launch failed
Appartment passwords may now contain the ' char
Account passwords may now contain the chars . and #
Slightly tweaked/increased overall performance
Content changes:
High level Plasma Pistols can now be obtained from the Canyon Smuggler.
Misc. smaller fixes
Known Issues:
Netcode/Clipping: The reworked netcode is much more accurate than any previous version. While this is great in many ways and will reward good movement in PvP, it also introduces a problem: With player movement not being the soft pulp it used to be, the uncapped Evol 2.2 runspeeds can now make it very difficult to keep lock on your target. We feel that it may be benefitial for PvP to tone down ultra fast runspeeds even before we get to the greater balancing. Of course, we appreciate constructive feedback regarding the matter and will continue to observe how things pan out on retail.
Server stability: The patch introduced a number of new issues of which we have contained many, but not all. Naturally, a fix for the known issues will be provided at the soonest possibility.
Well hopefully you have all have a Merry Christmas, and are looking forward to a Happy New Year celebration!
Despite this holiday season, the Neocron Support Team have still been hard at work.
The IRC server has now changed, from irc.neocron.info over to the new domain for both the forums, the micro-site, and IRC server.
If you use the online web-chat from the Neocron Forums, then this will be updated accordingly. If you use your own IRC client, then you will need to update your server to: irc.neocron-game.com
The channels are the same, so hop onto the new IRC server, and join #neocron channel!
In other news, the team have also released on the PTS Patch #177, and there is a pretty good rumour that work into the next retail patch is also under way!
This resolved most of the serious issues that came with patch 175. There was also a rollback to the start of 175, which was unfortunate however we do now have a patched and working game again.
Patch notes are here and please discuss the patch in this tread
Technical changes
Implemented a fallback inside the D3D9 driver, older cards should work again Enlarged horizontal field of view to 110 degrees Fixed several possible reasons for server crashes Fixed issues with the netcode causing packet loss
Gameplay changes
Fixed issues with terminal missions in several HQs
It's here Patch 175 has been released. There are a couple of important things to remember with this patch.
1. The first few days of the patch is an evaluation period.
"The evaluation period means, that should something go terribly wrong we can perform a rollback (to the prepatch state) so we can restore the Neocron service. Nevertheless, we encourage players to continue playing as normal and follow their every day life, while we monitor the situation in the background to ensure everything is alright. Obviously we hope everything will go smoothly and after those two days, the testing status will be revoked and there will be no rollback. "
2. Please report all bug to this forum and please discuss the patch in this thread.
3. Make sure you install the latest version of Direct-X and the C++2010 runtime.
4. Click the "Configuration..." Button in the launcher and select "Configure Hardware..." then update your settings and press "OK" (ensure your neocron.ini is not set to read only please)
5. Enjoy the patch notes. :)
Technical changes:
Dropped support for DirectX 7
Changed FoV, therefore players seem to be slower
Fixed numerous exploits and vulnerabilities
Fixed several possible server crashes
Fixed a bug that stopped Neocron from launching when certain applications are open ("Chrome Bug")
Fixed a crash on alt+tab in wastelands in fullscreen mode
Fixed the main menu going black on alt+tab in fullscreen mode
Fixed a crash caused by neocron.ini not being writable
Changed the way interpolation is handeled ("clipping fix")
Tweaked the netcode to always include y updates and update more frequently
Fixed a bug that caused the HUD not being rendered on screenshots
Screenshots are now saved as .jpg
Fixed a bug that caused the HUD to reset to default state after a crash
Removed legacy elements from the HUD (e.g.: recover backpack)
Fixed misalignment of worldmap at widescreen resolutions (fullscreen mode)
Fixed culling problems with widescreen resolutions (fullscreen mode)
Fixed misaligned outpost signs
Added widescreen resolutions to the launcher configuration panel
Added Anisotropic Filtering, configurable via the launcher configuration panel
Fixed truncation of entries inside error.log
Added timestamps to the damage log
Fixed Venture Warp returning players to appartment
Content changes:
Turned around the CopBot staring at the wall in Plaza Sector 1 (after 8 years, the wall wins)
Temporarily removed outpost turrets
Added TL92 Tangent Assault Pulselaser Pistol to high level tech pistol vendor
Added TL63 Gatlin Cannon to high level low tech cannon vendor
Added permenant spawn for the Outzone 2 High Tech Cannon Smuggler
Added entrance to the Drone Racetrack
Added RN Terminals to Crahn HQ
Replaced Outzone Station ambient sound
Removed OOC advertisement from the Plaza area
Fixed a conflict between Reza's Calling & Regant's Faith Missions
Fixed spawn of Heff in TG Canyon.
Fixed spawn of Malfunctioning Warbot Prototype in the MIRL-600 Warhammer Mission
Fixed drop rate of fragment from Tacholytium Titan Warbot for Crahn Epic mision #4. Now always drops for those with the mission.
Fixed a large number of wrong object types (e.g.: CityComs being tagged as chairs)
Fixed position and alignment for a large number of static objects and NPCs
Fixed many more miscellaneous gameworld issues
Added a new loading screen
Gameplay changes
Fixed an issue with team xp calculation
Fixed combat rank not always being updated
Fixed a bug that allowed overcasting of stronger shields.
Fixed low level drones being very hard to use
Reduced the intensity of visual interference when Drones are being damaged
Fixed several issues and exploits concerning casting
Changed the way combat ranks are being calculated
Fixed AI not being able to target drones in special cases
Fixed a reloading bug
Known Issues
Entering wildcards in the player search does not work anymore, in case you want to know how many players are online, have a look at the front page of the official fansite Tech Haven Network
Sometimes after zoning the screen becomes grey/blue/whatever, to fix it press alt+e twice
The word has gone out, via Alduin that retail patch 175 will be released to the servers on Wednesday 28th November at around 1800 UTC/GMT (1900 CET).
The first two days of the new patch will be a "stress testing" period, during which server stability will be closely monitored. Any major issues will see a rollback to the complete pre-patch state of the server. Sucsess will hopefully mean a better, more exciting Neocron for all.
A bit of test server news. First of Alduin just tweeted that Release Candidate 2 will be released later today (About 7pm UK time), and there will be some test events. So please help out with the testing and Mokio asks that report any problems to the BugTracker forum so that 175 can be released sooner rather than later.
"As many of you may know we are approaching a new retail patch and we would love to get this out the door sooner than later...
... BUT: the Testserver has crashed a couple of times today with players on the server who did not report the crash and the circumstances. We absolutely need to know what is causing these crashes. So whenever you have issues on the Testserver, report them ASAP and with detailed information on your most recent actions.
A server crash may not immediately look like one to you - often you will only be thrown to the login screen and wil be able to login again (the server gets back on its feet rather quickly). Thus, again, ALWAYS report ANY issues you experience.
The alternative is patching retail with this server issue left open - however, we do not like the idea of turning Titan into a de-facto Testserver, neither should you.
Neocron Game News 
