Patch History/Archive/2018 Jul to Dec

On this page, recent patches for Vox Machinae may be found. Information is usually copied verbatim from the Steam News page.

This page is archived every six months. For older patch notes, please see Patch History/Archive.

## Summer Stylin'

June 25 - TonyDanza

File:VoxM Summer Update.jpg
With just a few days into summer, we at Space Bullet felt it was prime time to get things really heated up in Vox Machinae. Say hello to our **Summer Update**, jam-packed with new content to unload and lay digital waste on your fellow grinder pilots.

**Introducing Convoy CO-OP Mode**

To get things started, we're proud to finally unveil our first ever Co-op gameplay mode, Convoy. As the title suggests, you and up to 3 other fellow pilots are tasked with protecting 3 mining trucks making their way through our treacherous battlefields. Along the way you'll be greeted by the gunfire of enemy scavenger trucks and grinders, so stay sharp and protect those piggies. What's more, you'll have to keep a keen eye out for bigger foes and even competing enemy convoys attempting to cross your path as they chart their own course. Fear not though, as you may encounter optional opportunities in the form of dormant grinders and factories to capture and benefit from along your journey to the goal.

File:VoxM Overhaul.jpg
**Overhaul, The Flying Grinder**

People are always tell us that our signature jumpjet gameplay is one of the most compelling aspects of Vox Machinae. That got us to thinking, what if there was a grinder that could FLY? Well that's just what we did! Sort of. Introducing Overhaul, the double fixed-mount medium class grinder featuring hummingbird propulsion jets. What's hummingbird you say? It allows Overhaul to hover effortlessly over the terrain, surveying the battlefield below. With those 2 fixed weapon mounts, he can unleash a unique combo of weaponry on those poor pilots below.

File:VoxM Pulse and Hammer.png
**Pulse and Hammer your Foes into Submission**

Speaking of weaponry, the summer update once again delivers with our two new guns, **Pulsar** and **Hammer**. Pulsar adds to our roster of small weapons, doling out a triple shot of magnetically-charged projectiles that proximity explode near enemies to deliver splashy damage goodness. Meanwhile, Hammer delivers the goods in a dramatically different way. Available to grinder pilots in fixed-mount form, this giant homing missile can be guided by the pilot's cursor for targeted explosive glory. What's more, once a player commits to a target and lets go of the fire button, the missile sheds its casing and accelerates to expedite delivery of its payload. Oh and did we mention that it can be controlled via your scope monitor? Because it totally can!

So to sum things up, hovering grinder, guns, and co-op glory is the name of THIS game with our summer update, available **NOW!**

Here are the patch notes that list some other fixes, etc:

0.33.0 alpha

* New improved textures for grinders with more detail and paint decals and so on.
* New Grinder: Overhaul. Float like a butterfly, and sting like a missile-tossing nightmare.
* New co-op game mode: Convoy. Team up with your pals and see how high you can crank the difficulty!
* Enabled Remix options are displayed in the lobby for all to see.
* New small mount weapon: Pulsar. Toss some quarks or whatever at the enemy and make them Pul-sore!
* New fixed mount weapon: Hammer. When you've got a giant guided missile, you can really nail those baddies!
* Pressing any button on a controller (even if unmapped) will now cause that controller to become the active controller.
* Picking up/moving a motion controller will now cause that controller to become the active controller.
* When switching from motion controllers to an untracked controller (like mouse/gamepad), the hands will now snap to a default position.
* Fix training mission saying "there is no input mapped" to aim when using a mouse.
* Fix leg of Grinders kicking backwards after landing, resulting in getting moving again more quickly.

0.33.1 alpha

* Possible fix for some rare controller detection errors.

☠

Steam News page

## Tweaking the Graphics on Level 3...

June 17 - TonyDanza

On the path towards shipping any product, a development team will iterate countless times on assets/gameplay/code/pipelines for the game with the goal of increasing quality and fun while simultaneously improving their internal processes. So it’s only natural that at a certain point we run out of iterations we can cram in, and some aspects ship with room for improvement past Early Access release. Here are two examples of the things we always wanted to come back to, and how we are now working to improve them since our EA release.

**Terrain Tech 3 (TT3 for short)**

File:VoxM Terrain Tech 3.jpg
This one is a doozie. For starters, internally we have gone through many more than 2 versions of the terrain system of our game. There was a time when everything was going to be procedural, then everything was going to have unique textures everywhere, and finally we landed on a combination of the two. We went with procedurally designed textures that get tiled and combined at runtime to give the illusion of uniqueness. Ultimately the solution we chose, while serviceable, came at the cost of video memory.

The terrain solution at launch was working, but ultimately push came to shove when we started running out of memory and file size to cram new content the game as we patched and improved it. So the lion’s share of memory use, which was still taken up by our terrain system, needed to be readdressed in order for us to improve the game further. Enter TT3.

Taking cues from megatextures along with our own Space Bullet innovations, TT3 is being built to shave down on memory use and drawcalls (# of objects displaying to the player) while also boosting texture fidelity. And heck, while we’re at it let's fix our long-standing terrain seam/gap issues and throw in support for new stuff like ambient occlusion textures and glowing objects. It’s a tall order, and one that needs time in order to get it looking just right. So while it’s still several months from its debut, on the screenshot you can see the kinds of improvements to expect when its done (distant visuals are not yet working atm).

**Grinder Visual Improvements**

File:VoxM GDR Visual Improvements.jpg
While our grinders have always had a unique look to them, one element that didn't make the EA release was armour panelling on grinders. Now you’re probably thinking we’re being nit-picky, and you’d be right! But, when 95% of the grinder’s surface area IS panelling, wouldn’t it make sense to give it the love that it deserves? We’re talkin’ bolts, little hatches, lettering/numbering, logos, markings, and of course, more rust. Also new with this update are dynamically paintable accents, which can be used by the game to give the grinders some added colour variety. Click the thumbnail below to check it out, oh and it’s coming in our next content update.

So there you have it, some deep under-the-hood work being done to elevate our visuals as we continue to work feverishly to take VOX closer to Version 1 release, one element at a time.

We're also working on finishing up a new content update for y'all and there will be more info to share about that very soon.

Steam News page

## Patch Notes - 0.32.0 alpha

May 13 - TonyDanza

Hello, Pilots!

Today's patch brings you a bunch of improvements to hosting matches, tweaking your cockpit, and some weapon adjustments. Be on the lookout for a future article to learn about some of the new content coming up in the next major update.

* Host can adjust Match Config settings such as Duration and Remix toggles after match has started.
* Dedicated Server launched without a playlist will become a player-controlled server. The first player to join will become host. Look for servers labelled "FreePlay" to take advantage of this new feature.
* Add support for CH Fighterstick.
* Add support for CH Pro Throttle.
* Add support for Saitek X45 Flight Control Stick.
* Hands will no longer fly into the air when tracking is lost on some motion controller types.
* Revamped explosive weapon damage. New method takes into account surface area of the component, volume of the explosion, and other factors when calculating damage. In general, smaller components take less damage, and larger ones more damage.
* Reticle can now be offset both horizontally and vertically. It can also be offset in smaller increments.
* Remove "DISABLED" aim speed, add "2.0" aim speed choice.
* Head-tracked aiming on the scope for VR users. (Default is the old manual aiming. Look in the menu under Controls > Aiming to change to the new style.)
* Eject handle position can now can be offset forward/back and up/down.
* Fix JOIN menu freezing when trying to connect to a server you are already connected to.
* Fix some cases of radial menus not fading out properly.
* Fix Space Bullet splash screen timing and fading issues.
* Skyjacker requires targets to be moving slightly faster than before to detonate. Damage dealt is much more consistent per shot.

It's gettin' hot! 🍧

Steam News page

## Patch Notes - 0.31.5 alpha

April 18 - TonyDanza

Grab bag of improvements and fixes.

* Add support for X52 Pro HOTAS. Note that some buttons on the throttle will not be available for mapping currently due to an engine limitation.
* Mission briefings now play automatically during warmup or when joining an already started match.
* Instead of a radial menu, weapon group picking in the loadout editor now shows controller graphics and prompts to press a button (like before the Spring Update).
* Fix scavenger beams not rendering on Stockpile mode.

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat? 🍖

Steam News page

## Patch Notes - 0.31.4 alpha

April 12 - TonyDanza

This update consists mostly of controller fixes.

0.31.4 alpha

* Vive/Knuckles: Fix bug which could cause menu forward/back to not work if the Steam overlay was open when the controllers were turned on.
* Clicking "Connect to server" or "Join Game" in the Steam server browser now properly launches and connects to the server if the game is not currently running.
* Motion controllers now stop vibrating when switching to another controller type.
* 3dRudder: Fix not having a default mapping for Jets Up.
* Saitek X56 Rhino: Fix inverted throttle, combined rotary inputs and swapped joystick axes.
* Fix controller name text on remapping menu staying visible after closing the menu.

Steam News page

## Patch Notes - 0.31.3 alpha

April 7 - TonyDanza

* Fix bug which prevented input remapping from being accepted on some HOTAS controllers with a throttle input. 🤦

Steam News page

## Patch Notes - 0.31.2 alpha

April 5 - TonyDanza

We've fixed some bugs that came along with the Spring Update. We are closely watching for any other issues that pop up and will fix them promptly.

0.31.1 alpha

* Fix Vive wand not having a default mapping for aiming on the scope. If you have not modified your controller mapping, the fix will be applied automatically. Otherwise you will need to either reset the mapping or manually assign the right trackpad to the aiming actions in the controller remapping menu.
* Fix Arid Oasis not showing on the map selection menu.

0.31.2 alpha

* Fix Vive wand having invalid default mapping for moving the camera in spectate mode. If you have not modified your controller mapping, the fix will be applied automatically. Otherwise you will need to either reset the mapping or manually assign the left trackpad to the spectator camera actions in the controller remapping menu.
* Fix incorrect axis assignment on T.Flight Hotas 4 and One.
* Possible fix for some players with controllers not being detected in Steam VR mode.

Steam News page

## Spring Update

April 4 - TonyDanza

File:VoxM Spring Update.jpg
Welcome to the "Update Formerly Known as Polar Vortex".

In this update we introduce some new weapons: the Scattershot which rewards those who like to get in close with a high damage close range weapon without splash damage, and the Skyjacker which is a specialized anti-air weapon that only triggers on fast-moving enemies.

We also have a new map to play on, the Cryptic Tundra, a snowy place to blast each other to scrap. You will also find a wider variety of pilot models to choose from!

One of the big under-the-hood changes is the control system, which now supports remapping. You can remap keyboard/mouse, gamepads, assign actions such as steering and jets to motion controller inputs, and even use your joystick and/or throttle controllers. For a list of the initially supported joystick/HOTAS controllers, see the patch notes below. If your device is not in the list, we encourage you to join us in our Discord channel, where you can help us out in adding support for more controllers.

We would also like to thank you for sticking with us while we took a little break to organize moving our office so we can ramp up development. Look forward to many more updates to come. You'll be seeing more weapons, Grinders, and game modes in the coming months!

Patch Notes - 0.31.0 alpha

* Support for Thrustmaster T.Flight X, 4, and One HOTAS.
* Support for Thrustmaster T.16000M joystick.
* Support for Thrustmaster TWCS Throttle.
* Support for Saitek X56 Rhino Stick/Throttle.
* Controller Mapping menu allows all gameplay functions to be reconfigured.
* Fix incorrect top-left menu option hotspot for mouse and motion controller input.
* New close-range weapon "Scattershot".
* New level "Cryptic Tundra".
* New anti-air weapon "Skyjacker".
* Fix AI getting stuck when walking through tunnels/underpasses.
* More pilot model options. They real good, the artists worked real nice on them.
* Fix conflict with Citrix Workspace software.
* Native controller integrations for Oculus and Steam VR. This should resolve issues with some uncommon controllers not being detected through Steam VR. It also allows for some previously unusable buttons such as A and X on Oculus Touch to be used in Steam VR, and mapping the WMR trackpad.
* Fix game not shutting down completely through the Steam overlay when playing a tutorial or offline match.
* Grip on Knuckles controller now properly detected.
* (Maybe?) Fix some euro players not seeing any servers listed in the browser.

Steam News page