View source for 2022/12/12 Patch v15.0

v15.0 (aka the "Sanctuary Worlds Arrival!" release) has been released to the installer. This is a smaller patch but there's some fun toys in here so let's take a look: 

'''**IMPORTANT AS HELL READ THIS DAMN YOUR EYES**:''' This patch is a SAVE BREAKING UPDATE. Your old saves are *not* compatible and you *will* need to restart your career. This is necessary for a bunch of internal reasons. It is our fourth ever in more than 3 years, I think you'll agree it is worth it for this patch, just read on to see what this patch contains (it's a whole lotta nuggets).

'''**LESS IMPORTANT BUT READ IT ANYWAY DAMN YOUR EYES AGAIN**:''' We have a new installer released alongside this patch. This new installer is **absolutely mandatory** in this case. We have updated to a newer build of ModTek, which installs in a different fashion than old ModTek and requires a new installer to function. *The old installer will not work for this patch, period, you must get a new installer from the wiki!*

'''**THE BIGGEST NEWS**:''' This patch introduces four completely new, non-canon, totally custom factions to BTA. These factions are collectively called the Sanctuary Worlds factions. I have put extensive work into making these fun to play with and against and making all their new weapons and gear interesting and fun. There will be an FAQ post discussing the factions in-depth as well as a Dev Blog post talking about the behind-the-scenes of the factions for those who are interested in knowing more about them (spoilers will apply to the Dev Blog). These notes will discuss the new factions in relatively light detail, as a large aspect of their introduction is as a mystery. Further, keep in mind that this is just the *initial* release, more content and story will appear for them as time goes on and I have more time to work on the factions (assuming folks like them), so if they feel slightly anemic in plot right now, that's why. Much of it is still on the drawing board.

'''NEW FACTIONS:''' The Dane Sacellum, Jacobson Haven, and Mallard Republic have come to BTA. These entirely new, non-canon, completely custom factions exist in a hidden area of space called the Sanctuary Worlds. They have their own little plot that will unfold over the course of a career, between 3062 and 3064, so keep an eye out for new timeline events! All three of these factions can be worked for and allied with and have unique faction stores. 

'''NEW FACTION:''' The Sanctuary Alliance has come to BTA. This entirely new, non-canon, completely custom faction will perform an invasion of a major power on the starmap during 3062. Keep your eye out for their attacks and help the major power they attack, if you're so inclined (if not, just hang back and watch the timeline events and the starmap to see how the war goes). This faction cannot be worked for or allied with and serves only as OpFor.

'''SPECIAL NOTE:''' All of these mechs have new-to-BTA models (i.e. models from the CAB that BTA is not using anywhere else). They have their own quirks and affinities and all are equipped with the finest Sanctuary Worlds technologies.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Embrasure, a 100 ton monster, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Dane Sacellum's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Crusher, a 95 ton winged jumping machine, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Dane Sacellum's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Swooping Falcon, a 60 ton winged weapons platform, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Dane Sacellum's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Pixie, a 45 ton descendant of the Phoenix Hawk, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Dane Sacellum's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Lithobolos, an 85 ton weapons testing platform, has arrived with the Mallard Republic specifically. Only they field it, no other Sanctuary Worlds powers do, though they also sell it in their faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Scrapper, a 35 ton light trooper mech, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Mallard Republic's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Liquidator, a 40 ton heavy scount, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Mallard Republic's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Leaper, a 50 ton winged jumper, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Mallard Republic's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Taranis, an 80 ton line combat design, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Lambda, a 45 ton trooper mech, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Screecher, a 40 ton winged jumping design, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Blaze, a 30 ton super-fast flame-based skirmisher, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Cheetah, a 25 ton insanely-fast super-scout, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECH:''' The Rashnu, a 90 ton ranged bombardment behemoth, has arrived with the Sanctuary Worlds powers. Get it from any of them in battle and from the Jacobson Haven's faction store.

'''NEW MECHS:''' The Wasp II, Stinger II, and Locust II have all arrived. They are all 25 ton descendants of their original Inner Sphere designs and they all have distinct unique models. The Locust II can be found in the Mallard Republic faction store and the WaspII/StingerII can be found in the Dane Sacellum faction store. All three are also fielded by all the Sanctuary powers in the field.

'''NEW MODEL:''' The Word of Blake-exclusive Nagual LAM has had its model changed as the model it was using has been reused elsewhere for something more appropriate (the Pixie, mentioned above).

'''NEW TECHNOLOGY BASE:''' The Sanctuary Worlds use an entirely custom, entirely new, set of weapons and gear. They share almost nothing with the Inner Sphere, beyond the tube artillery (Thumper/Sniper/Long Tom). The entire rest of their kit, every weapon, ammo, engine, heat sink, armor, structure, and special gear such as electronic warfare and movement technologies, is new. It has all been extensively tested and balanced, though of course more balancing will occur after community feedback. Their tech is meant to be strong, though not overwhelmingly powerful, and is meant to provide more *interesting* gameplay via new choices in both mech building and combat options. They have a lot of weapons with new behaviors, weapon modes, and fun visual effects. 

'''SEARCH AND RESCUE:''' Ejection has been somewhat modified. Now, when you click the ejection button, your pilot will eject as normal. However, they won't always be retrieved properly as the battlefield is chaotic and finding one person on the field is tough. Pilots have a chance to be "captured" by the OpFor after ejection. If this happens, you'll be notified, they'll be removed from the barracks, and a limited-time Search and Rescue (SAR) contract will be generated in the Command Center. If you complete that mission, you get your pilot back. If you let that mission expire, they're gone forever (don't let it expire). The chance you get them back is pretty good, but it's not a guarantee.

'''UPDATED COMPONENT:''' If you're worried about losing your pilots, you can hunt down a Homing Cockpit. This is a variant on the Armored Cockpit that guarantees pilot retrieval after ejection and replaced the Armored Cowl+. The Armored Cowls have all been renamed as well: Armored Cockpit is the base model, Homing Cockpit is the + model, and the Hardened Cockpit is the ++ model (and still ensures the pilot cannot bleed out). Tonnages and costs have not been adjusted.

'''MAJOR DLL UPDATE:''' Mission Control updated. In addition to a lot of back-end stuff, MC 1.5.1 also provided us with some more maps for Solo and Duo Duel contracts. Now you can face duels on any terrain type, including the DLC biomes such as Jungle and Urban. Thank you, CWolf!

'''UPDATED FLASHPOINT:''' If you complete the Steiner Alliance Flashpoint, you'll get a new reward mech: the Hatchetman HCT-6X, a customized experimental variant using TSM and energy weapons for maximum effectiveness.

'''FUCK RAISING THE DEAD:''' After many, many, many used complaints about the campaign mission Raising the Dead, I've swapped Kamea's mech out. She now drives a customized Royal Ostroc with Hardened Armor, nearly 2000 points of it. If you get it killed now, you're officially bad and I can't help you any further.

'''FUCK AGAMEMNON:''' Thanks to a community member commissioning this, we now have a special contract where you hunt down and kill Agamemnon. Do a Tag Team mission first, then it'll unlock the new contract, Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold, where you can wreak your bloody vengeance on Agamemnon's ass. Fuck Agamemnon, all my homies hate Agamemnon.

'''UPDATED CONTRACT:''' Mystery Machine includes a one-off unique mech, it shouldn't be a mission you can do a dozen times to farm the Pallas. Accordingly, it's been edited such that once you complete it by destroying the Pallas the mission never appears again (because the unique prototype mech was destroyed/salvaged and ComStar no longer has it). If you see Mystery Machine, be sure you bring your salvage A-Game to the party.

'''IN-MISSION MINIMAP:''' Thanks to a CustomUnits update, we now have an in-mission minimap. It is located in the bottom left corner of the screen after selecting a unit. There is also a X button located on the minimap that will close the minimap until the next time you boot the game, if you find you dislike it. It has no real special functionality, just exists to give a different view of the map if you want it. Thanks, KMiSSioN!

'''COMMUNITY CONTENT:''' A new Dragon Engine and its special Unique Light Engine has arrived; a new Strafing Run contract has been released to Mack's Dustball: the Mechbuster Mary, which has a Light Gauss Rifle; a variety of mechs in the Midnight Moonbeam series has arrived (a Firestarter/Marauder/Grasshopper, to go with the existing Blackjack); the non-canon 70-ton Talos II has arrived; a new pilot named Soontide has been recruited.

* Swapped around a few weapons on the stock Timber Wolf Prime to maybe get the weapon models to behave properly.
* Fixed Arm AES to fix a crashing issue, sorry about that.
* Should have fixed the FrankenMech events so they'll fire properly now.
* Phantom was resized to be less silly huge.
* We fixed the bug surrounding the exploding power transformers on Urban maps. Now, they should just damage stuff in the radius instead of your own mechs too.
* Fixed the Anubis hero, the Taz.
* There's a new pilot out there for you to find, Amid! Thanks Amidatelion for your help with the wiki, enjoy the pilot!
* There's a new Cyclops variant, the CP-11-A-DC, which is a Command Console Cyclops. All the Great Houses, as well as ComStar/WoB, most of the Periphery powers, and Mercs/Locals field it.
* Omni actuators are now in the starting crate.
* Fixed a typo with Whirlwinds on Martian maps.
* Fixed some APCs, such that Heavy Wheeled APCs have better armor than standard Wheeled APCs.
* The AC/5 Schrek now has the proper number of MGs.
* Updated just about every core dll.

'''IMPORTANT:''' v15.0 is an "update" update. In this case, clear your Mods folder manually and then run the installer, it'll do the work for you.

'''IMPORTANT:''' v15.0 is a save breaking update, your old saves do not work anymore and are not compatible. They cannot be used in with this patch, don't waste your time with them.

'''IMPORTANT:''' You can see v15.0's patch notes, as well as any BTA patch notes, on our wiki on this page: https://www.bta3062.com/index.php/Patch_Notes

'''REMINDER:''' This update, and others like it, are made possible by my Patreon supporters. Without their support, updates would come slower and be less impactful. If you feel like being a part of the support for BTA, you can find me here: https://www.patreon.com/bloodydoves

'''REMINDER:''' Custom mod commissions are still available if you're interested. If you'd like to get your own community content added to BTA DM me, bloodydoves, and we can work something out.