Commanders! We are delighted to announce the long-awaited new engine update is live! This one is absolutely massive so be sure to grab some snacks! The big highlights of the update are improved pathing (both in terms of performance and quality) and various improvements to unit behaviour. See the breakdown of player facing changes below:

New pathing algorithm - introducing QTPFS!

The QTPFS (which stands for Quad-Tree Pathfinding System) has received a large overhaul and becomes the default with this engine. There are major improvements in both quality and performance (processing speed, memory use, even disk usage). Every facet of QTPFS should generally work better than legacy pathfinder. Try it out!

• The new system dynamically decrease/increase pathfinding resolution on demand, which makes pathfinding more accurate!
• Factories should no longer trap units.
• Improves unit movement for direct orders along non-straight paths, reducing the tendency of fast vehicles to zigzag.
• Enhances unit pathfinding in intricate terrains, preventing them from unnecessarily taking longer routes.
• Units following complex paths will exhibit more natural movement, avoiding obvious 8-way patterns.
• The /debugpath command now provides clearer visibility into unit pathing restrictions.
• Units are expected to experience fewer instances of getting stuck.
• Units will no longer force their way into or through buildings.
• Grouped units should exhibit slightly improved travel coordination.

Unit behaviour improvements

• Sharing units with allies no longer results in the engine issuing a stop command to those units.
• Enhanced projectile aiming for units, increasing accuracy and reducing instances of friendly fire.
• Units will now maintain a safer distance from buildings they are attempting to construct. The build range test now factors in the building’s collision radius. Subsequent balance adjustments will be made to account for the extended build range.
• Fast-moving units are no longer at risk of getting trapped when entering an area where a new building is about to be constructed.

Graphics & Quality of Life Features

• Improved Ambient Occlusion rendering system for better performance and higher quality visuals.
• Unit selection is now more reliable.
• Builders and Factories now employ a more reliable method to clear units from their designated build areas, avoiding random directions.
• Screenshots now feature a UTC timestamp instead of a numerical identifier (Press F12 to capture a screenshot).
• The engine now supports playing with fixed and random start positions, accommodating more teams than specified by the map. This enables new setups previously impossible, such as a 12-way FFA on Gehenna Rising.

Other fixes

• Resolved a bug that allowed the construction of structures in prohibited locations.
• Failure to load a model now results in a crash instead of a potential desync in game.
• Improved stability when using AMD GPUs.
• Improved stability of sound/music.
• Fixed sun shadows.

Big kudos to all te testers that participated in making this release waterproof! Good job everyone <3

For a complete list of changes including non-player-facing ones see the Running Changelog