2022/4/14 Patch v13.3

v13.3 (aka the "Rain, Reduction, Rarity, and Resupply!" release) has been released to the installer. This is a chunky patch, so let's waste no time.

NEW FEATURE: EnvironmentalDesignMasks has been created and then incorporated into BTA. EDM creates an entire weather system for BTA missions, complete with mechanical effects. Clear days do nothing, of course, but if you drop and there's a hurricane, you're gonna have some effects. Ye be warned. Every weather that does something has a status icon you can hover over for details and each time you drop and there's weather one of your crew will pop up a dialogue box reminding you of the weather and its rough effects, so don't skip over those boxes!

NEW FEATURE: Damage Reduction and the cover system has been completely overhauled. For details, please see the blog post that accompanies this patch, a full break down is beyond the scope of this post. Evasion is unaffected by these changes and remains as-is.

NEW FEATURE: In-mission ammo resupply and armor repair systems have been implemented! You can now get access to the J-27 Resupply Truck and the Mobile Field Base which permit you to perform these functions. The J-27 Resupply Truck permits ammo resupply and the Mobile Field Base permits armor repair (not structure or component, just armor). There's also a dedicated truck for resupplying the Kalki Cruise Missile Tank (in WoB faction store). See the FAQ post that accompanies this patch for details on how the system works!

NEW FEATURE: Airlifting units has been implemented. This system allows you to pick up an allied unit (such as a mech or tank) and fly around with them. Only one unit is capable of performing this function, the Horskr Airlift VTOL. See the FAQ post that accompanies this patch for details on how the system works!

NEW FEATURE: There is now a unit "rarity" system implemented in BTA. Previously, every unit had an equal chance of spawning (once it was selected as a valid target for spawning that is). Now, units have variable chances of spawning based on unit tags. Some units are extremely rare (because they should be, such as LAMs and Superheavies). Other units are very common (such as the most-produced mech of all time, the Archer-2R). Rarity isn't on the wiki yet, we're still workshopping a solution for that, but what you need to know is that general decent level technology (ER/Pulse lasers, gauss, streak SRMs, Artemis IV, this sort of thing) is the most common tech now. Basic level tech (such as 3025-level stuff), real Periphery shit (rifles, rockets, etc), artillery, and really super cutting edge experimental stuff (VSPLs, Bombast Lasers, anything you'd see at Solaris VII) is all rarer. Clans have their own version of this (regular Clan tech and the Omnimechs are most common, second-line designs are less common, real cutting edge stuff like ER Pulse Lasers and Streak LRMs are fairly rare, etc). That should give you a little bit of a feel for things.

NEW UI FUNCTIONALITY: Now, next to the unit's name in-mission where you normally see the evasive pips, you'll see a little breakdown of the unit's Damage Reduction at that moment as well as their evasion pips given in both number and pip count. As a warning, there is occasionally a disconnect in the displayed pips and the displayed pip number. The number is always correct, the pips are wrong, trust the number (it's an obscure HBS rounding error, we're working on fixing it).

NEW FACTION: You asked for it, you got it! Generic Mercenaries are now an available OpFor faction. You can fight against them essentially anywhere at any time. They have a reasonable spawn list, you can see it on the wiki: any mech that says "Local Mercenaries" is this faction.

UPDATED PLANETS: The Chaos March has arrived. This is a spread of about 14 planets in the heart of the Inner Sphere right around Terra that are independent worlds. Everyone fights over them, everyone fights on them, it's a chaotic mess (see: they're called the Chaos March). Have a blast.

UPDATED BIOMES: Historically, getting Lunar or Martian missions has been tricky. Well, tricky no longer! If a planet says "Lunar" or "Martian", it *means it*. Lunar and Martian missions are significantly more common now. Even some normal planets have the biome, there's planet tags for "Colonized Moon" that indicate a planet can have Lunar or Martian missions even if it's not a Lunar or Martian planet.

NEW MECH: The Rifleman III, a NullSig-equipped ambush sniper created by Stefan Amaris in the Amaris Civil War, has burst from a building into combat. Good luck! You can get the Rifleman III from the Rim Collection (who found it in a bunker somewhere in the Deep Periphery) and their faction store. It also comes with two extra variants (one LB-2X variant, one Binary Laser Cannon variant).

NEW MECH: The Deva, the fifth of the Word of Blake Celestial Omnimechs, has arrived. This heavy omni comes with the usual WoB oddities such as a Small Cockpit and a Retractable Blade. You can get it from the Word of Blake and their faction store.

NEW MECH: The Liberty, a non-canon 65-ton Taurian Concordat Omnimech(!), has been invented and deployed. It's fast for its weight and comes with simple low-tech loadouts. You can get it from the Taurian Concordat and their faction store.

UPDATED MODELS: The Ostroc, Ostsol, Ostwar, Crusader, and Charger models are all updated to actually take paint properly now. They have some quirks (weapons don't take paint and the Crusader/Charger arms don't either) but it's largely a huge upgrade.

UPDATED FLASHPOINT: Prototype, the Raven/ECM flashpoint from Urban Warfare, has a new unique Raven as the prototype in question, the -4LX. It has a unique hard-wired Anti-Missile ECM that's pretty special, so it's worth using now. The Rotary ER Medium Lasers don't hurt either.

NEW VTOL: The Karnov Heavy Transport VTOL has hovered into play. This heavy transport can carry *two* squads of Battle Armor and can support any offensive using its battery of MMLs. You can get it in general Inner Sphere stores, much like the Dakota and the Utakke.

NEW VTOL: The Horskr Airlift VTOL has arrived in style. This is a unique VTOL that can airlift allied units around the map. You can get it from general Inner Sphere stores.

NEW TANK: The MRM Saracen is now available from House Kurita shops. MRM in style at high speed!

COMMUNITY CONTENT: Bunch of new CC this patch: the Shock Cannon and Shock Mortar ammo and the mechs that field them (the weapon and ammo are available from Mack's Dustball); the Battlehammers (Warhammer/Battlemaster hybrids, uses the Templar model); the LAC/10 and LAC/20 are available from Mack's Dustball; the Crosscut, Shootist, and Dervish IIC (and the Shootist IIC comes with an Improved AC/20)

• Battle Armor can garrison buildings now! Yay!
• The Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle can melee now. Whoops.
• The Preta got an affinity, Brawler.
• There are a handful of new mech variants in this patch: the Stone Rhino 4, the Kintaro 21, two Icarus IIs (-2M, -2T), and two King Crabs (-010, -000).
• The King Crab KGC-BD (bloodydoves's special King Crab in the BTA Calling event) has been significantly upgraded with much more dangerous weaponry.
• There are now Clan convoy vehicles that drop Clan components. Have fun!
• Shops were enhanced with a wider variety of basic mechs. Should be better uses for your c-bills now.
• The Juggernauts updated with their proper canon loadouts now that we can actually give a mech 18 MGs.
• Clan XL Engines and Clan Ferro-Fibrous armor now are worth less.
• Ultra Ferro armor has been significantly updated: it now takes 14 crits (not 21) and also adds CASE II functionality to the entire mech.
• The Nightstar Affinity has been updated to be more powerful.
• The "special" mech stores (Arc-Royal, Outreach, the Diamond Shark worlds) now offer more mechs for sale (not new ones, just more volume in stock).
• You can now bulk purchase items in the store (hold Ctrl and click to buy 5 at a time!).
• Blitzkrieg resized down a little, it was too chunky.
• The Ostroc, Ostsol, and Ostwar now have new icons that look much nicer! Yay!
• MRMs should be more common in stores now.
• MinRange accuracy boosts now work correctly. Whoops.
• The Gnome and Salamander Battle Armor suits have proper affinities now. Yay!
• The Chameleon Light Polarization Shield and Null Signature System have had their status icons clarified a little.
• VTOL armor plating has been nerfed somewhat (VTOLs were a little too free).
• The AI has been rejiggered to maybe laser focus VTOLs less and to actually properly evaluate targets now. Still in testing though.
• Lots of dll updates!

IMPORTANT: v13.3 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: v13.3 is not a save breaking update, your saves are compatible and will work fine.

IMPORTANT: You can see v13.3'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