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NOTD Aftermath 1.5 is a major upgrade over the previous version. Given our longer development time, we have had more time to stabilize and refine new additions. Among the key things are significant balancing and improvement of the gameplay experience for both Survival and Deathmatch. 
The Rifleman has been given a K-9 pet at Sergeant rank and above to increase the unit's flexibility that more experienced players desire. The K-9 helps to absorb damage, provide forward reconnaisance and uses its bark ability to save friendlies or lure Zulus to a designated kill zone. Using the K-9 with the Rifleman effectively will require a greater degree of micromanagement, which has been tuned to match the accompanying benefits. One key update to the player's code system is the implementation of MOS Specialization. Gathering opinions and thoughts from two weeks' worth of feedback, we finally decided to utilize the last remaining free slot in our code system to give players the oppurtunity to reap rewards from specializing in a single MOS group. MOS specialization can only be set at the end of a game to prevent abuses. You set your MOS by entering '-mos x', where x is the MOS group you wish to specialize in. You can type '-mos' to view the MOS group list. We've also dealt with an issue of relative controversy - the Designated Marksman's Optical Scope. Our previous efforts of realism enhancement did not provide any meaningful gameplay improvements, as we were constrained by limited technology in the Warcraft III engine to produce the desired effects. Good suggestions such as turning the Optical Scope into a channeling ability while used could not be practically done in this environment. Hence, we resolved to return limited visibility while using scope and at the same time tune the level benefits to make it viable to branch into Level 5 Optical Scope. It's a step in the right direction and we've learnt some important lessons on gameplay vs. realism. I've made efforts to improve the dialogue that goes on in NOTD Aftermath, as well as to add on it where appropriate. It's a challenge writing up dialogue as it's better to have less of a good thing than too many cheesy or inappropriate lines. I'm always looking for suggestions to improve this aspect and we've incorporated several community suggestions. A number of ability issues and gameplay errors in Deathmatch have been fixed. We've implemented the '-dmclass x' command to allow players to participate in single MOS games, giving a different type of challenge. Apart from various fine tuning, the duration of Deathmatch games have been reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes. We've added a few new types of Zulus in NOTD Aftermath 1.5. Poppers are airborne Zulus that will explode after three seconds when fired upon. In the design of the Popper mechanic, which was inspired by X-Com 3's Poppers, we decided to implement the timed explosion to induce a different strategy in taking them out. If they were to explode on death, players would continue using the same method of grouping up and treating them as a normal Zulu. We wanted to create unique experiences and tactics that players were asking for, especially our veterans. We also kept in mind the utility of Optical Scope while designing Poppers. Optical Scope allows a Designated Marksman to spot and tag Poppers, making sure they explode a further distance away from the team. Prior to this, some players have argued that Optical Scope's greatest utility lied in Lost Cause and Deathmatch games only. Another new Zulu is the Parasite Mound, a 2500 range Zulu which moves slowly and fires slow projectiles towards the squad. The Parasite Mound's attacks are avoidable but become an increasing threat over time. Parasite Mounds represent the first real ranged Zulus in NOTD Aftermath. Again, we wanted players to have to take active action against this Zulu instead of the straightforward firing that other Zulus present. Squads will often have to go to Parasite Mounds instead of waiting for it to enter their firing range, due to the Mound's high range. SMAW rockets are a very useful and quick way of dealing with Parasite Mounds. There have been many more key changes to NOTD Aftermath which we have not listed here. Part of the excitement is stumbling across them as you play the game. Some of these changes may be subtle in nature, while others you can't miss. While we hope most of them pleasantly surprise you, please give us constructive criticism on the things we have not done well. Technical changes aside, we've been thinking of the role of NOTD Aftermath in the bigger picture. While I never like to admit it, NOTD Aftermath is coming closer and closer each day to our our view of what the right survival game could be. We've spent months refining the balance between gameplay and realism, while ensuring that NOTD Aftermath has a strong educational benefit to our players. Popularity ebbs and flows and our popularity as a game notably took a hit when we decided to revise our code system and correct a number of bugs. NOTD Aftermath is a much more stable game now and we'd like to think we delivered on all our promises. Ultimately, we hope NOTD Aftermath has made you ask a few more questions and see things in a different perspective. Sincerely, Azazel |
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