The Repopulation End of July 2012 Update Released

Posted by: on 1st August 2012 scifi-mmo-games-the-repopulation-wasteland-screenshot

The Repopulation is a SciFi Sandbox Hybrid MMORPG by developer Above and Beyond Technologies. One month in to alpha testing, the developers have been hard at work improving and fixing their game. After what the developer is calling a very productive month, the devs have had a huge focus on combat and functionality. With improvements to double tap movement, action mode, and postures, The Repopulation now has received a lot that was missing. Combat wasn’t the only improvement however, the developers have released an end of July report detailing everything that was done, check it out.


MMO Games The Repopulation Screenshot

Abilities
  • Abilities underwent a massive overhaul with each ability being given another quality control and balance pass. 
  • Abilities now support spread damage which will spread around the target, rather than requiring AoEs to be targeted at a specific spot. Both modes are supported, and it can be specified on a per ability basis. 
  • We can now specify certain abilities to not be auto-slotted when learned. This allows us to not auto-slot Stand/Prone/Kneel but to allow users to drag them there manually if they desire.
  • Sentry Alarm is now a tier 1 Trap Knowledge ability.
  • Explosive Trap is now a tier 4 Trap Knowledge ability.
  • Toggled abilities can now give skill gains when they tick. They have a lower chance to increase than active abilities, however, and are subject to diminishing returns and anti-AFK code.
  • Revive is now functional and there is a new tier 1 First Aid ability to Revive players. We’ll be adding this into the tutorial system soon, but for now you can acquire by doing missions and earning the training card randomly. 
  • Added the Bladed Weapons ability: Bleeding Slash.
  • Fixed a major flaw in combat damage calculations. This was causing weapon speed to be incorrectly calculated and resulting in some very odd damage reduction numbers. This was causing many abilities to do far less damage than intended.
  • Removed Laser Tactics and Laser Defense skills. This is in preparation for an upcoming change that will be moving other weapons to be energy based, and removing this line.
  • Fixed a bug in that code that checked to see if your hands must be free for Unarmed combat abilities. Some kicks can be done with weapons equipped, but most unarmed abilities will require you to free your hands.
  • Added a new tier 3 Shotgun Tactics ability: Manial Rampage. This attack blasts at everything in the area near the user, but consumes Momentum.
  • Added a new tier 4 Shotgun Tactics ability: Debilitating Shot. This attack utilizes a spread around your target and aims at the legs. 
  • Added a new Blunt Weapon Tactics ability: Wild Swing. This ability trades accuracy for damage.
  • Added a new tier 10 Shotgun Tactics ability: Maniacal Kill Spree. This attack blasts two attacks at everything in the area near the user for heavy damage, but consumes a high amount of Momentum.
  • Added the Shotgun Tactics ability: Melon Shot. This is a tier 5 ability which aims at the head, with a chance to stun and knock down your target.
  • Stunning Blow has been changed from a tier 1 to a tier 2 Blunt Weapon ability and had its damage and accuracy slightly increased.
  • Disarming Pummel is now a tier 7 Blunt Weapon tactics ability with a chance to disarm your opponent. 
  • Puncture (Bladed Weapons) had its damage increased and its energy cost significantly reduced.
  • Springing Thrust (Bladed Weapons) had its damage and accuracy increased, but now consumes energy when it is used.
  • Clicking the Tracking ability while the window is already open will now refresh the window, rather than closing it.
  • Open Wound is now a tier 5 Bladed Weapon Tactics ability.
  • Bleeding Slash has been changed from a tier 3 to a tier 4 ability.
  • The Blunt Weapons ability Head Blow has had its damage increased and has a new icon.
  • Lunge (Blunt Weapons) has a new icon and fixed a scaling effectiveness bug with it.
  • Increased the accuracy of Overpowering Attack (Blunt Weapons) and gave it a new icon.
  • Lowered the skill requirement for the Roll ability to be a tier 2 Acrobatics ability.
  • The following abilities will now use the range on their weapon instead of a hardcoded range: Dizzying Shot, Focused Fire, Flanking Attack, Penetrating Shot, Burst Fire, Leg Shot, Shield Shot, Crippling Shot.
  • The Defensive Knowledge ability Second Wind has been changed from a tier 6 to a tier 4 ability.
  • Mind Over Matter has been changed to a tier 9 Leadership ability.
  • Balance Shot (Shotguns) is now target based rather than being Cone of Fire. Its accuracy has been boosted, and it now uses your weapons range rather than a preset one.
  • Impact Shot (Shotguns) has had its tier lowered from tier 3 to tier 2, and is now target based rather than cone of fire based. It also had its accuracy slightly increased.
  • Scattering Shot (Shotguns) now has a spread AoE centering on your target. Its accuracy was also increased.
  • Verbal Lashing is now a tier 2 Diplomacy ability.
  • Quick Slash (Bladed Weapons) no longer consumes Momentum, and has had its accuracy increased, but has had its damage slightly reduced to compensate.
  • Sneaking Thrust (Bladed) had its recharge time and its damage increased.
  • Rapid Strikes (Bladed) had its recharge time and accuracy increased.
  • Just a Scratch is now a tier 7 First Aid ability.
  • Burst Fire (Handguns) now requires endurance, in addition to its Momentum requirement. It also had its damage increased.
  • Cure Wounds is now a tier 8 First Aid ability.
  • The Automatic Weapons abilities Spraying Assault and Spraying Fire had their ranges increased, but their radius decreased.
  • The Automatic Weapons ability: Focused Fire now has had its damage and range boosted slightly, and its cooldown time and activation times significantly decreased.
  • Treat Ailment is now a tier 3 First Aid ability.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Rapid Shot has had its accuracy decreased, its damage increased, and now uses slightly more Momentum.
  • Reduced the damage on the Kick ability.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Knee Shot now uses the range of your equipped weapon, and also features a new icon.
  • Increased the range on the Handgun Tactics ability Scatter Shot.
  • Increased the AoE range on the Handgun ability: Warning Shot.
  • Slightly increased the damage of Pistol Whip.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Head Shot now uses its weapon’s range and has a new icon.
  • The Automatic Weapons ability Flanking Assault now properly takes your weapon range into account.
  • The Bladed Weapons ability Hamstring Slice now does moderate damage, in addition to its debuff.
  • Feign Stab (Bladed Weapons) is more accurate than was previously the case.
  • Target Wounds’ (Bladed Weapons) bleeding effect now does increased damage.
  • The Bladed Weapons ability: Puncture now has increased damage and a new icon.
  • The Handgun Tactics ability Shield Shot now does a small amount of damage, in addition to its debuff.
  • The Automatic Weapons ability Panicked Spray now has a longer range and is more accurate.
  • Rifle Fire Storm is now a tier 10 ability has had its range and damage increased significantly.
  • Arm Shot is now a tier 7 Rifle Tactics ability which has a 30 second reuse and can injure your opponents arm.
  • Got Your Back now requires you to be behind your opponent, its reuse time increased, and its damage increased significantly. It is now a tier 6 Rifle Tactics ability.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Flesh Wound has a new icon, uses your weapons range, and had its reuse time increased.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Butt attack now has a higher chance to knock down your opponent.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Head Shot now has a longer reuse time, but is more accurate. It is now a tier 8 ability.
  • Backstab (Assassination) now requires a bladed weapon and has a 2 minute reuse time.
  • Hurricane Slice (Axes) had its recharge time doubled, but its damage and accuracy increased, as well.
  • Cry of Rage (Axes) has had its Momentum cost slightly reduced, and its buff duration reduced from 45 to 30 seconds.
  • Twirling Trip (Axes) has had its accuracy increased and has a new icon.
  • The Berserk and Rage combat effects have both had their effects taken to further extremes than was previously the case.
  • Face Shot (Axes) had its accuracy increased and has a new icon.
  • Cripple Legs (Axes) had its accuracy increased and debuff duration reduced.
  • Axe Flurry (Axes) has had its damage and accuracy increased, as well as having a longer reuse time. It also received a new icon.
  • Slicing Blow (Axes) now does immediate damage, followed by the chance of bleeding.
  • Whirling Axe (axes) has a new icon, less accuracy and a longer recharge time.
  • The damage on Phalanx (Axes) has been slightly reduced, and it has a new icon.
  • Axe Trip (Axes) has a new icon, and had its damage and knockdown chance reduced.
  • Cleave (Axes) has had its recharge time increased.
  • Sundering Strike (Axes) has had its damage slightly increased, and has a greater chance of knocking your opponent off balance.
  • Pummeling Slash (Axes) has had its damage and recharge time increased, as well as getting a new icon.
  • Fury now has a yellow icon to reflect it being a self only ability.
  • Fixed a bug that was causing Thrusting Pell (Axes) to never do any damage.
  • Increased the damage and accuracy of Blind Hack (Axes).
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Knee Shot now requires you to be kneeling or lying prone to use.
  • Blade Fury (Bladed Weapons) had its Momentum Cost increased significnatly.
  • Lethal Penetration (Bladed Weapons) now deals more damage, and has a new icon.
  • Break Defenses (Bladed Weapons) now deals some damage, in addition to its debuffing properties, and has a new icon.
  • Kidney Puncture (Bladed Weapons) requires you to be behind your opponent now and requires more Momentum and Endurance, but had its damage and accuracy improved. It also always procs its bleed and energy sapping effects on a successful hit.
  • Back Slash (Bladed Weapons) has had its timer slightly increased, and has a new icon.
  • Phantom Strikes (Bladed Weapons) had its damage, Momentum Cost, and recharge time slightly increased. It also received a new icon.
  • Increased the damage on Double Shot.
  • Aimed Shot should now do significantly more damage.
  • Kidney Punch (Unarmed) had its damage reduced, and its recharge time and Momentum cost increased.
  • Leg Sweep (Unarmed) had its damage reduced.
  • Shin Shot (Unarmed) had its recharge time increased and damage decreased.
  • Body Blow (Unarmed) had its damage reduced and its recharge time increased.
  • Power Shot (Unarmed) had its damage reduced and its recharge time increased.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Arm Shot now requires you to be kneeling or lying prone.
  • Roundhouse Kick (Unarmed) has its damage reduced and its recharge time increased.
  • Assassinate (Assassination) has had its damage reduced and can now only be done with a Bladed weapon.
  • Bloodletting (Assassination) now does some initial damage instead of only doings a bleeding effect. It can only be done with a Bladed Weapon however, and only immediately following a successful Assassination.
  • The Rifle Tactics ability Head Shot now requires you to be kneeling or lying prone to use.
  • Blindside (Assassination) now has a 2 minute reuse time, and has had its damaged reduced slightly. It can be used with any melee weapon, so long as you are behind your opponent.
  • Slice Throat (Assassination) now has a new icon, requires a Bladed Weapon, and must be used from behind your opponent. It also has a 2 minute reuse time now.
  • Open Wound (Bladed) now uses Momentum, but has increased damage. 
  • Tame Animal (Animal Handling) can now be used at tier 1.
  • You should no longer be able to obtain the Bow Tactics abilities, as the skill has been removed.
  • Hold now has a 30 second recharge time.
  • Set Bone in Place, Blind Hack, Sundering Strike, Pummeling Slash, Axe Flurry, Rage, Cry of Rage, Whirling Pummel, Instill Rage, Fury, Evasive Manuever, Disarming Shot, Treat Ailment, Power Shot, Jab, Trade Blows, Pistoleer, Double Shot, Sneaking Thrust, Backstab, Disarming Slash, Evade, Feign Stab, Puncture and Overpowering Attack have new icons.
  • Deleted the Repair Items ability as it was obsolete with the Repairing changes.
  • Fixed a bug that was allowing Bludgeon to permanently stun a mob.
  • Fixed a bug that was causing Broken Left Arms and Broken Left Legs to not have the appropriate status effects.

Action Mode
  • Action Mode’s is now able to better detect which targets you intended to strike in the event that you didn’t quite click them.
  • Abilities that are ground targeted in RPG mode will now automatically be placed while in Action Mode, based on what you clicked on.
  • Action Mode now properly supports targeted (Head, Body, Arm, Leg) shots. 
  • Action mode can now detect Area of Effect, Person Based Area of Effect and Group Buff abilities. 
  • It should no longer play firing effects if you click a friendly NPC in action mode. 
  • When action mode lands a body shot, it now has a random chance (only 10% of the time) to switch that to a random Arm, Leg or Head shot instead. This is as compensation for mobs who do not have head, leg or arm nodes. 
  • Shotguns and Unarmed combat should now perform much better in Action Mode.
  • Fixed a range related bug with Action Mode.

Combat
  • Rifles and Automatic Weapons now have increased range. We discovered a bug that was causing their range to cap lower than the values we had set. 
  • Armor skills can now be increased. 
  • Integrated some new NPC combat speed functionality. Without this fix many NPCs were using the same actions repeatedly because they were always clear of the combat timer, allowing them to spam you more with special abilities more than they should have been able to.
  • NPCs now regenerate much more quickly when out of combat. This also kicks in if you attempt to kite them and they break following.
  • You can now crawl forward and backwards while lying prone. You can also fire while lying prone without being taken to a standing position.
  • Reduced NPC grenade damage.
  • Double tapping the forward, back, left or right action keys (remappable) will cause you to dive in that direction. Diving is tied into and can increase your Acrobatics skill, but consumes a high amount of Endurance. It gives a bonus to your defensive skills while you are diving though, and that bonus is improved based on your Acrobatics skill and some random elements. So higher acrobatics makes these more effective. The bonus ranged from 10-100% damage reduction and avoidance. 
  • Adjusted weapon ranges across the board. Most weapons have increased range, with the exception of Sniper Rifles which have remained the same.
  • NPC rogues can now backstab more often.

Crafting
  • Added many new Cybernetics recipes. These recipes center around the creation of implants and the fittings related to them. 
  • Added the Pharmaceutical Recipe: Implant Casing. This allows you to make implant casings that can be used in Cybernetics. There are three types of casings, and the grade determines the result.
  • Added a new Chemistry Recipe: Sterilizing Agent. This is a subcomponent required by Pharmaceutical and Cybernetic recipes. 
  • Added the Trap Knowledge recipe: Motion Detection Trap. This recipe allows you to create different types of traps. Currently Explosive Traps and Sentry Alarms are supported by mixing the ingredients. 
  • Hackers can now create Metal Casing, which can be used for creating other devices by multiple professions.
  • Added the Hacking recipe: Motion Detection Sensors. This is a sub-component for Trap creation.
  • Added the Carpentry recipe: Wood Board. This creates a wood material that is used by other trade skills.
  • Added the Chemistry recipe: Wood Treating Agent. This creates a sub-component for Carpentry.
  • Culinary Arts specialists can now create Raxin Soup, Fish Stew, Fish Fillets and Arrvor Stew.
  • Added a new Culinary Arts recipe: Tenderize Meat. 
  • Soups now use Purified Water as an agent.
  • Added many new Crafting Components and numerous Crafting Branches.
  • Opening the Crafting Window by clicking on a Workstation will automatically open the Inventory window, as well.
  • Many store bought crafting components now come in stacks.
  • Reduced the cost of store bought crafting components.
  • Refined Leather can now be crafted. 
  • All crafting materials that were not yet craftable or harvestable should have a store bought version available. If you find any that are missing please report it on Mantis.
  • Reduced the number of steps required by some recipes.
  • Purified Water can now be learned from both the Chemistry and Culinary Arts manuals.
  • You can no longer create food from the meat of humanoid mobs. 
  • Added a new tier 2 Cybernetics Manual which is not store bought. This features additional implant recipes. 
  • Tradeskill missions should no longer require you to craft uncraftable items. 
  • Pet Food can now be crafted using the Veterinary Medicine skill. The recipe can be found in the Pet Care manual. 
  • Fixed a bug that was causing players to craft unoptimal results due to a sorting issue with crafting branches. 
  • Refined Leather can now be crafted.
  • Sterilizing Agent can now be crafted. 
  • Power Infusors can now be crafted. 
  • Fixed an issue with the Refined Metal recipe that was preventing Chromium Sulfate from Auto-populating.
  • Heavy Power Distributors now have a proper icon.
  • Removed “Balanced Fitting Recipe” from the Armor Crafting 101 manual as this recipe was deleted.
  • Metal Casing Molds are now properly set as a Casing Mold rather than a Repair Kit Mold.
  • Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate and Sulfur Dioxide can now be purchased in stacks and had their price reduced.
  • Fixed a bug in the Armor Fitting Mold recipe.

Engagements
  • Added a new “Ambushed by Bandits” engagement to multiple areas. These are sprinkled on roads and will occur now and again when you walk near them. Some NPCs will be ambushed by bandits and you will have the opportunity to rescue them. Depending on if you succeed or not you can obtain an achievement which can be tied into the mission system later for spin off opportunities. 
  • Added a new engagement to Plymouth City: “Bombs in the City”. This engagement involves a terrorist plot which has planted many bombs throughout the city. Players must find these bombs so that they can be disabled within a challenging time limit. There are also terrorist NPCs who have taken city hall but they are a bonus and not a requirement. You receive achievements based on your participation or if you allow it to fail, and those achievements will be tied into future mission templates. 
  • Upper Oasis Valley now has a functional “Are Those Commandos?” engagement. This engagement was there previously but did not work. It has you stumble upon some OWON commandos who are in trouble.
  • You can now receive medals for completing the Oasis Watch engagements.
  • Engagements now have improved rewards!
  • Engagements with protection goals will now complete instantly after completing all other goals, rather than waiting for time to expire.
  • The harvesting requirement engagements in areas should now recycle if noone completes them in a few hours. 
  • The Oasis Watch engagements should be easier to complete. 
  • The training grounds engagement should be easier to complete now. NPCs deal less damage, and the spawn rate has been slowed.
  • Added more items as Engagement rewards.
  • Adjusted the drop percentages on Engagement Rewards
  • Adjusted the spawn frequency of many engagements. 
  • Reduced the amount of resources or items required for collection engagements, as well as their maximum duration.
  • Bombs in the City now has a chance to spawn a new rare mob which will drop an item which starts a new mission. 
  • Engagements that offer bounties per kill will now notify the player when they receive a bounty.
  • Terrorists from the Bombs in the City engagement will now drop FPR insignias which can be turned in to the Bounty Collector in Plymouth City.
  • Reduced the bounty for Malagion Infestors in the Malagion Infestation engagement.
  • Large Malagions in the Malagion Infestation engagements will now reward a credit bounty.
  • Malagions from the Malagion Infestation engagements should now be harvestable via Corpse Extraction.
  • Fixed some bugs in the Lesoo Invasion and Lesoo Occupation engagements in the mine. They were not properly reacting on a failure. 
  • Fixed a typo at the start of the radio transmission in the Bombs in the City engagement.

General
  • Inventory size has been increased from 30 to 50 slots.
  • Integrated an LOD change which should help in situations where there are many players or NPCs on the screen.
  • You can now send tells using the /send command. The format is: /send , . If the player name has no spaces you can omit the comma. 
  • Added new bank vaults to city hall.
  • Adjusted the text of some tips from the tutorial, to make them easier to understand.
  • Server side performance improvements.
  • You can use the /playerfinder command to view what other players are online. This can be filtered by area, as well.
  • Improved performance on the character selection screen.
  • Trap and lava damage has been re-enabled.
  • Falling damage has been enabled, be careful falling from long distances, it can be fatal. Your acrobatics skill is checked when you fall and will help reduce the damage taken.
  • The character selection screen now features Depth of Field and Fog effects.
  • If you log in and your character is dead, it should properly pop up the revive window for you.
  • Fixed a bug that was causing players who killed themselves (either by falling or environmental damage) to not apply death properly.
  • Fixed a bug that was allowing characters to go into higher instance numbers than they should have been able to. 

GM Functionality
  • GMs now have access to full metric data on any player online.
  • GMs now have improved access and metrics to skill data tables. 

Groups
  • Due to a bug group commands were only previously accessible to GMs. This is now corrected. 
  • /decline can be used to decline a group invitation (or you can use the GUI).
  • /disband will disband the entire group. (only useable by the group leader)
  • /dismiss can be used to dismiss unwanted group members. It is only useable by the group leader.
  • /invite will now invite players to join your group.
  • /join will join a group invite (or you can use the GUI).
  • /leave will leave your current group.
  • /promote can promote another member of the group to be the leader. It is only useable by the group leader.

Harvesting
  • Gurthnium can now be harvested and is a stone. This has a slightly higher skill requirement than other mining nodes and produces a different result. Stone will be used in Installations recipes later. 
  • Harvesting should now require the proper tool and should no longer lock you out of harvesting the same node if you switch tools. 
  • Corpses which do not have loot will now dissolve in one minute instead of thirty seconds. This should give players a wider window to use Corpse Extraction on them.
  • Added new Abandoned Bundle nodes to many areas. These are Wilderness Gathering resources that do not require a tool or any skill. They are similar to treasure chests in some other games, and often contain some good stuff, but are very rare. 
  • Added additional harvesting nodes throughout the world. 
  • Numerous tweaks to the value and functionality of rare harvested results. 
  • You can no longer harvest meat from humanoid mobs.
  • Modified how Calibrite nodes work.
  • Added Lumber resources to Timbertoc.
  • Added Gurthnium resources to Timbertoc.
  • Added a Calibrite region to Western Timbertol.
  • Added new Chromite spawners to Upper Oasis East and Western Timbertol.
  • Fixed an issue with the Plymouth Lumber nodes, that was causing some of them to spawn underground.
  • Calib Parasites are now a bit more common.

Items and Fittings
  • Implants can now be equipped. There are some for sale from vendors, but better variations can be crafted, as well. In general the implant itself is a mere shell item that has a varying number of fitting slots. The fittings give all of your stats on implants.
  • Implants are now split into four categories: Arm, Leg, Body and Mind.
  • Added several new collectible items. These can be turned in to NPCs in town for good rewards. 
  • Base items should no longer be damaged on death. Fittings will be though.
  • Added many new vendor sold items and several new types of vendors. There is a greater selection of armor, weapons and miscellaneous items, as well as having new types of items such as Implant and Fittings being available for sale.
  • Starting armor is now soulbound. 
  • All Issued items (from the tutorial) should now have 5 fitting slots. 
  • Grenades are now sold on Firearm and Weapon vendors and have had their prices reduced.