Hi everyone! It seems like only yesterday that we released update 288, wait a minute?!? It was :) (almost). Hot off the heels of one update comes yet another. This time there is even more under the hood adjustments and tools for us to make the deployment of new features easier. The team has been discussing and debating many suggestions by the community on ways to adjust lifeforms and new player traps. We will continue to discuss and evaluate these over the next couple weeks. For now there are some minor adjustments you will see listed in the changelog, plus a handful of fixes and map repairs. See you all on the servers! CHANGELOG Tweaks / Improvements

• Added the ability for UWE to apply hotfixes to the main menu without releasing a full steam patch
• Added the ability to spotlight mods in the main menu
• Removed excessive padding from the rookie-nag popup and removed the “Remind Me Later” option
• Discord button will now drop people in #general, to get them talking
• Swapped Gorge and Skulk positions in the evolve menu so new players are less likely to think the Gorge is “better”
• Added quick-link to Community Market in Customize screen
• Revamped the scoring numbers:
  • Each entity gives now about half of its resource costs as points
  • Primary game objectives like Command-, Resource Structure and Power Nodes give a bonus of 10 points
  • Secondary game objectives like Gorge Tunnels, Observatories, Phase Gates, Infantry Portal and Alien Upgrade Structures give a bonus of 5 points.
  • Player give a bonus of half the points they have collected in their current life.

Fixes

• Play Now window now only reports having found servers that it will actually try to join
• Sped up initial welder animation after purchasing at an armory
• Welder will no longer play its initial animation if you picked it up off the ground
• Fixed initial welder animation playing multiple times if you switched weapons before it finished
• Reaper Gorge now works with the correct item (it was unlocking with the Reaper Skulk before)

Maps Awesome QoL changes, brought to you by Zavaro (send him thank you cookies)! ns2_docking Retooled CollisionGeometry in Courtyard to better accurately portray props ns2_veil Corrected minimap names from appearing in less than ideal locations Changed collidable wires in Topographical to non-collidable for consistency Fixed an issue with Skylights location bleeding into Command Removed tiny duplicated orphaned Cargo forcefield face Added new shader-based proximity material to Cargo forcefield, making it more forcefield-y. Shiny ns2_descent Added new shader-based proximity material to Shuttle Bay forcefield, making it more forcefield-y. Also shiny Added prop lights to better differentiate room from external area beyond forcefield ns2_tram Fixed missing faces in Ore Processing allowing players to see through the floor ns2_derelict Fixed a few missing faces in Turbines from previous build (Whoops!)