https://store.steampowered.com/app/2932030/Espire_1__Sydney_Sneakabouts_Mission_Pack/

ATTN: Espire agents our latest major update has just gone live on Steam. We've also releaed our first ever DLC, the Sydney Sneakabouts Mission Pack.

This 1.12 update includes A.I and gameplay improvements that were made during the development of the DLC, but which benefit the whole game.

Full Release Notes - 1.12 “Sneakabouts” free update

A.I Improvements

• We have adjusted the enemy AI behaviors during the ‘manhunt’ phase so that when the enemy sees the player, there is now a small window of time for the player to react / break line of sight before the enemy soldier triggers a base-wide combat alert. Also, when the enemy does lock-in on the player, the enemy will enter an “alarmed”state for 1 second instead of immediately triggering the alert. Previously, if an enemy soldier spotted the player during a manhunt phase, a base-wide alert (or virtual challenge failure) would be triggered immediately.
  
• We have improved the enemy AI’s ability to hear the sounds of the player’s footsteps when the player is sprinting on a floor directly above or below the enemy soldier.
  
• All weapons in the game have had their “Gunfire” sound event radius has been changed. We refer to the radius of sound that the weapon makes when fired by the player, as far as the AI soldiers are concerned. If an enemy soldier is within the radius, they hear the gun fire. Silenced weapons now have a radius of 1.5m, silenced shotguns have a radius of 3.6m and all other un-suppressed weapons have a radius of 55 meters. This changes the gameplay significantly in update 1.12. Enemies now hear un-suppressed gunfire far more often but will no longer hear suppressed weapon fire unless the player is very close to them. As part of this work, the sound radius of the guns has been unified - previously there were bespoke radius settings for each weapon which was more realistic but really hard to predict as a player.
  
• Upon hearing un-suppressed gunfire, AI soldiers will now instantly attempt to report in and initiate a manhunt phase. Previously, they would investigate if hearing 2 shots fired, and attempt to report after hearing a 3rd shot.
  
• As of update 1.12, when an enemy AI soldier is stunned, the ‘lure’ noise event is now smaller in radius. This means guards are less likely to hear a friendly NPC get stunned unless they are close-by.
  
• AI Guards will now correctly avoid walking into tripmine lasers - unless the tripmine has been disarmed by the player and then placed again in the path of the guard.
  
• Fixed an issue where, rarely, AI Soldiers would appear to stand still during manhunt phases. Their behavior tree could enter a loop condition that would stop them from moving to their next state.
  
• Fixed an issue where ‘bullet impacts’ would not be heard by NPC guards - for example, bullet impacts that hit a nearby wall. Enemy soldiers will now correctly investigate the location of the bullet impact, but will attempt to flee if too many bullet impacts are observed in quick succession of each other.
  
• Fixed an issue where it was impossible to hold up a ‘warning’ guard (a guard that has discovered an issue and is reporting it in via the radio)
  
• Fixed an issue where a guard’s body would occasionally 'pop' 1 meter into the air the moment they are stunned or killed
  
• Fixed an issue where If an enemy soldier observes the player dragging the body of a stunned ally soldier, but loses sight of the player and stunned ally, the guard could still incorrectly revive the stunned ally soldier from a distance, instead of having to walk up directly to the body of the stunned ally.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player could not hold up a heavy weapons specialist if this soldier was in a ‘patrol’ state.
  
• Fixed an issue where, very rarely, a nearby enemy soldier could be instantly lured towards the player the moment the player started a virtual challenge mission.

Gameplay improvements

• In Update 1.12, the ‘Espire charge cost’ for activating Espire Vision has decreased by 8x. The cooldown between each activation of Espire Vision has also been reduced. This means players are able to utilize Espire Vision much more frequently.
  
• Detonation of explosive tripmines will now cause nearby explosives canisters or other electronic threats to be destroyed - including cameras and auto-turrets.
  
• Explosive detonations now impart physics forces on nearby props, sending them flying throughout the environment.
  
• Fixed an issue where the intel laptop had strange collision issues which would make it difficult for a player to collect intel by dropping down onto the intel station and attempt to hack the intel while standing on top of the intel station.
  
• Tripmines and Turrets remaining in the environment are now destroyed at the virtual challenge Mission Summary UI.

UI Improvements

• We have increased the render resolution of the main menu, with tailored settings for Quest 2, Quest Pro and Quest 3.
  
• The “Virtual Challenge selection” UI no longer paginates when there are 8 or more challenges in a category. Instead, the UI will grow vertically and the player can scroll the list up or down using a scroll bar or their controller’s thumbstick.
  
• On the virtual challenges category select screen, the order that challenges are presented in has changed to: Combat, Stealth, Objective-based, Weapon. Combat challenges are more approachable to the first-time player compared to the Stealth challenges.
  
• The “Swap left / right thumbstick” option has been removed from the Gameplay settings menu. For players that wish to swap thumbsticks, the Quest OS now offers this option via the Meta OS System Accessibility Settings.
  
• Fixed an issue that was introduced to the game due to a recent Meta OS update. Rarely, upon launching the game, the player may initialize in the wrong location - Instead of being in the center of the control theater, the player is in the corner. ‘Recentering’ would not correctly work.
  
• A UI has been added that allows players to view and purchase our “Sydney Sneakabouts” DLC. This can be found in the virtual challenges menu.
  
• The UI has been modified to display DLC levels within the challenge
  
• Across various virtual challenge categories, we have adjusted the order that certain Virtual challenges are presented to the player in order to better reflect their difficulty - with easier challenges shown first.

Localisation improvements

• As of version 1.12, Espire 1 is now localized in Simplified Chinese
  
• We have done a localisation pass of various UI menus that were added in recent Espire updates. These menus were previously only localized in English and are now localized in all supported languages, including the newly added Simplified Chinese Language.
  
• Please note that we are aware of some German localization bugs where text may overflow their intended size within the UI, and we intend to fix these issues in a future update.

Visual improvements

• We have made a new texture + material for the non lethal E1416 Rubberized Rifle so that this weapon is more distinguishable from the similar looking “Lethal” E1416 Rifle.
  
• Fixed an issue where, throughout the game, certain explosive actors would not render. The explosives were placed in the world, could be ignited or interacted with, but would not render - they were effectively invisible. This issue was exclusive to the Quest version of the game - these explosives would render correctly on the PS4 and PC versions of Espire 1.
  
• Fixed an issue where the “handcam” did not correctly render certain parts of the environment-in game, specifically HISM meshes (a certain type of optimized Mesh). HISMs are used frequently in our new DLC levels, but less so throughout the core game’s content, so this bug was evidently not observed until now.
  
• While fixing the related “HISM” issue, we have Improved the rendering quality of the hand-cameras to include reflections, better anti-aliasing and other visual effects.
  
• Fixed an issue in Mission 1: Espire Labs where various props in the environment were not rendering correctly on the Quest hardware.
  
• Fixed an issue in Mission 1: Espire Labs where some lights were casting low quality shadows.

Weapon Improvements

• On the Quest and Rift platforms, The grip alignment has been improved for the E1416 Rifle, Supernova Shotgun and sawn off shotgun. These weapons previously un-naturally pointed upwards when gripped. Please note that this particular fix has already shipped on the Steam version of Espire 1 as part of the 1.11 update.
  
• The player can no longer pull the magazine out of pistols. Players overwhelmingly want to grip at the bottom of the pistol to dual-grip it, however Espire 1 treated this action as wanting to remove the magazine from the gun in order to throw it as a distraction tool. This caused great frustration as players would pull out the magazine and then have only 1 bullet in the chamber of the pistol without realising it. Our sequel Espire 2 has correct dual-grip logic for pistols, weapon steadying, recoil reduction and grip animations. This solution of ‘blocking magazine grips’ was the best we could do for Espire 1 at our current capacity.
  
• Fixed an issue where, if the player was gripping a weapon, but had no ammo left in reserve, and then picked up some more ammo from the environment, the hip-mounted Readymag would not appear until the player dropped and then re-gripped the weapon.

Audio improvements

• The “Shotgun fire” sound effect that plays when enemy shot-gunners fire at you is now correctly spatialized with occlusion. It was discovered to incorrectly be a ‘2D sound effect’.
  
• Audio Volume for the mounted Security camera was reduced while the camera is “idle patrolling”.
  
• Audio Volume for the Automated turret was reduced while the turret is “idle patrolling”. On the Quest platform, we also added additional SFX variants for turret’s start / stop actions and for destroying turrets. These variants were already present on the PC platform.

Unlockables & Achievements

• Fixed an issue where Achievements related to ‘Flashback progression’ could no longer be unlocked after the 1.10 Convergence Update - the update which removed flashbacks from the campaign. Our fix is to perform these achievement checks in the main menu and unlock them if the player has progressed beyond the relevant points in the campaign.
  
• Virtual challenge completion tracking has been adjusted to ensure that players only ever need to complete ‘base game’ challenges in order to unlock relevant cheats and achievements - there is no requirement to purchase the DLC. However if players purchase the DLC content, the “% completed UI” will adjust to account for the newly added DLC challenges.

Attention Espire Agents!

Developer Digital Lode and Publisher Tripwire Presents are proud to announce the immediate availability of our v1.11 "New Recruits" update. Espire’s 11th major update delivers a suite of improvements for newcomers and veteran Espire operatives alike!


This update includes native support for Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro. To make the most of the increased visual fidelity and compute power of these newer headsets, we’ve done an uplift pass to the game. Espire 1 now features higher quality assets, effects and rendering features. As part of this work, we’ve also done a polish pass of the game’s Campaign and Virtual Challenge Missions.

We have also finally ensured correct compatibility with the HP Reverb G2. We apologize again for breaking support for this headset in our previous update. We did not have a device on-site to test with so were trying to add support speculatively.

This update also includes a host of input + orientation improvements for all supported headsets.

Espire 1 now features higher quality assets, effects and rendering features. These improvements scale across every single supported device. As part of this work, we’ve also done a polish pass of the game’s Campaign and Virtual Challenge Missions.

We’ve addressed various exploits that allowed some players to obtain cheat times on the leaderboards. As part of this work, we are now removing these ‘unobtainable’ entries from the various leaderboards across the game.

We have made several updates to the official "SteamVR Controller bindings" for Espire 1. We recommend that you use the "Default" bindings supplied by Digital Lode. If you experience control alignment / input button issues, you may be using a custom community binding. Follow this guide for instructions on how to ensure you're using the default bindings.

We are aware of the following issues with Espire 1 and are working on fixes.

• If playing Espire 1 using SteamVR, when you use the 'artificial crouch' button to make the Espire unit crouch, the HUD will incorrectly lower out of view. This issue was already present in the game before this update.
  
• If playing Espire 1 using "Meta Quest Link", the controllers in-game will look like the Meta Quest 2 controllers, even if your Meta headset is not the Quest 2.
  
• If playing Espire 1 using Rift CV1 or Rift S and SteamVR, the headset will be reported as a Quest 2. To workaround this, please ensure the Meta Link app is the "Default XR Runtime" and close SteamVR.
  
• In the "Gameplay Settings" menu there is an option to 'swap left and right thumbsticks'. This option is broken.
  
• When using the HP Reverb G2, the 3d models of the controllers do not line up with your real world controllers. There is a discrepancy of ~3cm.

We hope to include these fixes in our next "1.12" update - scheduled for May 2024. This 1.12 update will include various AI feature improvements, and will coincide with the launch of our first ever Espire 1 paid DLC; a series of challenge missions set in 2 new environments. We will share more news in the coming weeks. Share your Espire feedback and join the community at https://discord.gg/EspireVR

Thanks!

LODE + Tripwire

• Espire 1’s XR device Initialisation logic has been completely rewritten to better support existing headsets and more easily add support for devices that may be released in the future.
  
• Espire 1 has been updated to support Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 3
  
• Official support for HP Reverb G2 has been added. Previously support was implemented by Microsoft / HP with a custom binding. Please note: Reverb G2 users may need to ensure they're using the "Default Bindings" that we have created. See notes above.
  
• Improved grip orientation / weapon alignment for Valve Index and HTC Vive controllers.
  
• We have added support for Quest 2, 3 and Pro users via "SteamVR Link"
  
• We have fixed an issue where the grip alignment for the E1416 Rifle and various shotguns was incorrect on all supported VR devices.
  
• Additional logging is added to the game to make it easier to add support for future devices in the future

• NPC guards now have much higher resolution meshes and higher quality BPR materials applied to them on the Quest + PC platforms.
  
• NPC support staff including IFA scientists and security staff now render with higher resolution meshes and higher quality BPR materials.
  
• Mesh + shadow resolution has been increased for many assets throughout the game. Key meshes include primary weapons, Espire cradle units, cradle panels, cradle podiums, doors, large Espire Batteries, Pallets and other common environmental cover.
  
• The Hand-mounted “HandCam” and throwable “RemoteCam” holographic camera feeds now have a higher resolution and refresh rate, depending on the current Quest device you are using.
  Espire 1 now renders more spent bullet casings and empty weapon magazines on all platforms.
  The holographic waypoint that guides the player to their next objective renders at a higher resolution on the Quest platform.
  
• The User Interface across the title renders at a significantly higher resolution.
  
• The User interface across the title has been scaled down and repositioned - much easier to read and navigate.
  
• Various Scientist, security and support NPCs have been added to the main menu environment.

• For NPC soldiers, a significant amount of previously unheard lines of dialogue have been added.
  There are now various versions of the main menu background music that will play.
  
• Fixed an issue where an NPC guard’s spoken dialogue may not “slow down” when the player slows down time using Espire Instinct.

• Automated Turrets will now trigger a combat alert the moment they detect the player. Note that the automated turret at the very start of mission #1 Espire Labs is configured to not cause a combat alert when detecting the player.
  
• Security cameras will now trigger a combat alert far quicker than before and this detection time is again halved in Hard difficulty.
  
• Security camera damage logic has been re-written. It will now take multiple shots to destroy the camera. The lens is a weak spot, with a 1 hit destroy for any bullet - including tranq darts. Explosives and other ‘damage causers' are now able to damage security cameras. The player can only destroy a security camera with a tranq dart if the dart hits the camera's lens.
  
• The “venting” behaviour for all explosives in the game has been improved - with more random movement and hecticness, based on the explosive mass
  
• Green-variant explosive canisters have been removed from the game, replaced with red canisters.
  Blue explosive barrels are now red.

• All campaign missions have had a significant polish pass, focused on improving lighting & shadow quality, while addressing collision issues & rendering issues.
  
• More bodies of fallen IFA security staff and personnel have been added throughout the campaign.
  
• All 53+ virtual challenge missions have had a significant polish pass, focused on improving lighting & shadow quality.
  
• The Mitrata virtual challenge is now a ‘shared’ mission between PC and Quest platform with various fixes applied to the environment.

• Fixed a rare issue causing Espire 1 to crash on launch on some PCs
  
• Various animation issues for guards have been found and removed.
  
• Fixed an exploit allowing players to cheat in a virtual challenges.
  
• Fixed an issue in Mission 2: Reech Division where players are able to glitch through a wall and finish the mission early.

• Espire 1 key art, launch splash screen and icons have been refreshed as part of this update.
  
• Added a 1.11 news page to the main menu.

We've prepared these guides to help players with controller bindings + Windows Mixed Reality support
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3209743872
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3209707906

We're excited to announce our next major update for Espire 1 is now in development for SteamVR + the Rift PC platform. Espire update 1.11 "New Recruits" update focuses on modernising Espire 1.

• Support for newer VR headsets like Quest 3 and Quest Pro will be added. We will be FINALLY ensuring full HP Reverb G2 support with this 1.11 update.
  
• To make the most of the increased visual fidelity and compute power of today's PCs, we’re doing an uplift pass to the game. Espire 1 will now features higher quality assets, effects and rendering features.
  
• As part of this work, we’re also doing a polish pass of the game’s Campaign and Virtual Challenge Missions.

Our update has just launched on the Meta Quest platform, and we're now focused on completing the SteamVR + Rift versions of the update. We will ship our "New Recruits" update on the PC platform before the end of March 2024.

Attention all VR lovers! We hope you're enjoying the Steam VR Fest! Espire 1 has received a 1st hotfix for our recent "v1.10 Convergence" update. This hotfix will shortly be live for all players.

Our v1.10 Hotfix #1 includes the following fixes and updates:

• Fix for an issue where users with the Valve Index Controllers or HTC Vive wands would find the controllers are pitched too far forward.
  
• Fix for an issue for users with the HP Reverb G2 would find their controllers are not being detected by the game.
  
• Fix for an issue where rarely, when playing the 2nd mission, "Reech Division", the game will crash while the player equips a tranquilizer gun.
  
• New audio track. We have included a remixed version of the Main Menu music, titled "Droid Cowboys". This remixed track will play in the main menu once a player completes the campaign on any difficulty.

Thankyou to the players that reported the issues above via our Steam Community forums https://discord.gg/EspireVR. Particular shoutout to Ueki_168 for helping us troubleshoot the HP Reverb G2 issue, Khalaris for logs regarding the "Reech" issue, and TOX1N for helping us troubleshoot the Index controller issue.

On Dec, Valve released Steam Link for Meta Quest, a very exciting development!! We've encountered an issue where if Quest users (Quest 2, Pro or 3) play Espire 1 via the new Steam Link for Quest app, their headset is incorrectly detected as a HTC Vive. We are working on a fix which we will ship as soon as its ready. in the meantime, a workaround is to bring up the Steam VR UI, open the "Controller bindings" menu, switch your controller manually to "Oculus Touch".

We hope you are enjoying Espire 1's v1.10 Convergence Update. If you've enjoyed the game, we'd appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a review. if you have any feedback, please leave it in the Steam community discussion forums https://discord.gg/EspireVR.

Cheers!

Hello Operatives, since releasing our 1.10 Convergence update last month, we've received reports from users with Index controllers. For users with the Valve Index controllers (with Index Headset or other SteamVR headsets, the controllers are pitched too far forward.

We're working on a hotfix to address 4 known issues reported by users. We are aiming to release the hotfix in mid-December. We have a beta build available today which should resolve the issue with the index Controllers.

If you'd like to switch to the hotfix beta now, ahead of our public release, follow these instructions:

1. Right-click on Espire 1 in your steam Library and select Properties
   
2. Navigate to the “Betas” tab
   
3. For the “Beta Participation” drop-down menu, select "public_beta_1.10_hotfix_1"
   
4. Steam will now download the hotfix.

If at any point you wish to play the currently live 1.10 update, use the above process and set “Beta Participation” to “None.”

Please note, we are also aware of the following issues reported since the 1.10 update last month:

• For users with the HTC Vive wands, the controllers are also pitched too far forward. (this issue is partially fixed in the current beta build).
  
• For users with the HP Reverb G2, the controllers are not being detected by the game. (2 user reports)
  
• Rarely, when playing the 2nd mission, "Reech Division", the game will crash while the player equips a tranquilizer gun (1 user report)

The current beta hotfix does not yet fully address the issues reported above.

We hope you are enjoying Espire 1's v1.10 Convergence Update. If you've enjoyed the game, we'd appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a review. if you have any feedback, please leave it in the Steam community discussion forums, https://discord.gg/EspireVR

Hello Operatives, since releasing our 1.10 Convergence update last month, we've received reports from players who've encountered the following issues:

The following issues have been reported since the 1.10 update last month:

• For users with the Valve Index controllers (with Index Headset or other SteamVR headsets), the controllers are pitched too far forward. (10 user reports)
  
• For users with the HTC Vive wands, the controllers are also pitched too far forward.
  
• For users with the HP Reverb G2, the controllers are not being detected by the game. (2 user reports)
  
• Rarely, when playing the 2nd mission, "Reech Division", the game will crash while the player equips a tranquilizer gun. (1 user report)

We're working on a hotfix to address 3 known issues reported by users. We are aiming to release the hotfix in mid-December. We aim to have a beta version of this hotfix available within the next few days and will create a new announcement when this beta hotfix is ready.

Until our beta hotfix is available, there is a workaround to adjust the controller orientation angle. The workaround is detailed here in our community discussion forums.

We hope you are enjoying Espire 1's v1.10 Convergence Update and apologise for the issues above. if you have any feedback, please leave it in the Steam community discussion forums, or at https://discord.gg/EspireVR.

Dear Espire Agents! We are excited to announce our biggest update ever for Espire 1: VR Operative. This update includes everything from our 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 updates, alongside PC-centric fixes.

• Crassipes - Sneaking
  
• Cicurina - Hostage
  
• Horcotes - Elimination
  
• Furcata - Hostage
  
• Mangua - Takedown

• Coober Pedy

• Spectre (Silenced SMG)
  
• Sawn Off Shotgun

• Main Menu redesign
  
• Expenditure summary

Removal of the 'flashback sequences' in the campaign
Support for newer VR Headsets
In particular Meta Quest touch controllers

• Fix for the game not launching on some newer PCs.

The project has been upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.25 and with it brings some minor visual & performance improvements. This also fixes a critical issue where the game fails to launch some PCs due to OpenSSL incompatibility with new Intel CPUs. See Espire 1 Steam - OpenSSL launch crash fix.
We’ve added support for newer VR headsets & controllers via Steam VR. We also fixed various binding issues with older headsets. This includes:

• Meta Quest 1, 2 and Quest Pro
  
• Rift, Rift S, and Rift CV1
  
• HTC Vive
  
• Valve Index
  
• Windows Mixed Reality
  
• HTC Cosmos
  
• Pico 3 and 4

Visual Enhancements

• Major UI changes to the Main Menu and the Expenditure summary
  
• Improved shaders and materials - with roughness and reflectivity added to many more surfaces in the game
  
• Added higher mesh resolution for the guards and other characters
  
• The game’s end-credits have been updated to credit the team members and testers who have worked on Espire 1 since its initial release.

AI Fixes/enhancements

• Fixed an issue where enemy Soldiers no longer reacted to the player's hands. Now, guards will correctly spot the player’s hands if you’re using the hand-cams around a corner at close range to a guard!
  
• Fixed an issue where enemy guards would not update their ‘perception component’ correctly. This reduces situations where enemies may spot the player at a glancing angle when they should not have
  
• Fixed an issue where Enemies would say an incorrect voice line when discovering a knocked out ally, reporting the incident to their unit commander, and then waking up the ally.
  
• Fixed an issue where dead/stunned hostages would appear to stand back up again after a period of time.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could fall on the Jacobson (Destroyer) drone and ‘knock’ it out!
  
• AI fix in mission 1.6: Sometimes the guards on a different level of the hostage side mission will not load in.
  
• Unique Bullet impact Sound Effects for each surface type that the bullets hit
  
• Added ricocheting bullets for player and guards

Crash Fixes

• Crash Fix: Fixed an issue where the game would become unresponsive if the player possessed an Espire unit while holding a weapon in their non-dominant hand. Thanks to the users who reported this issue and allowed us to narrow down the repro-steps.
  
• Crash Fix: Fixed an issue where rarely, the game would crash during a ‘loading’ sequence in an airlock.
  
• Crash Fix: Fix for the game not launching on some newer PCs

Achievements, Espire Trials, Completion-related

• Fixed an issue where an achievement related to collecting badges and trials will not be unlocked correctly. The player would have to replay a mission a 2nd time for the badge-count/trial-count achievement unlock to be reflected.
  
• Fixed an issue where if the player completes every trial, the associated achievement would not unlock correctly.
  
• Increased the time limit requirement for the "Feet don't fail me now” Espire Trial in mission 1.6 to reflect recent changes to the map that made it very, very difficult to complete under the original time limit.
  
• Fixed an issue in Mission 1.5 where pistols were missing in the level, making the ‘weapon procurement’ badge for that mission unobtainable.
  
• Fixed an issue where rarely, In one of the takedown challenges (Cinnamon), a particular enemy would spawn inside a wall, and the player would be unable to shoot them, making the challenge impossible to complete.
  
• Fixed an issue where In mission 1.5 “Ventilation System”, there was a case where a major cinematic will not play and the player would have to restart the mission.

General Issues

• Added plenty of ammo for the 2 secret cheat weapons "Golden gun" and "Silver Serpent", ensuring that if you use them in a campaign mission, there will be enough bullets.
  
• Fixed in issue in mission 1.4 Data Centre where a weapon rack right near the start of the mission incorrectly had 3 copies of every pistol placed on it.
  
• Fixed an issue in the game's first mission where, under certain circumstances, an area of the environment appeared jet black (not loading in).
  
• Fixed an issue in the campaign where some weapons would sit at an incorrect orientation on the weapon racks found in airlocks
  
• Fixed an issue where players would not correctly possess a new Espire unit if they happened to possess the unit while in the middle of climbing with their old Espire unit
  
• Bullet logic (fired by the player and by enemies) was rewritten, improving performance
  
• Enhanced Audio: When the player crouches down, the game’s soundtrack dynamically submixes the music down, and increases the sounds footsteps and voices of the guards
  
• Fixes have been made to ensure all cutscenes throughout the campaign are working.
  
• “Flashback sequences' have been removed in the campaign
  
• Increased performance & loading times across the board
  
• Fix to prevent players cheating by completing parts of a challenge before hitting 'Begin'
  
• Fix to prevent players cheating by walking through walls before hitting 'Begin"
  
• Fix to prevent players cheating by un-crouching through air vents and skipping parts of the level

Level Changes

• Fixed an issue where tripmines in the Militaris Intel challenge were not being activated correctly
  
• Fixed an issue where a corpse in the Militaris environment did not render correctly
  
• Fixed an issue in the Militaris challenges where a player could ‘throw themselves’ out of bounds.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Militaris environment where players could climb so high that they could see’ out of world’
  
• Missing door in Mission 1.4 has been added into the environment.
  
• Invisible wall removed from Mission 1.2 that was preventing players from shooting through it.
  
• In Mission 1.2 a rock face the player could clip and fall through has been fixed.
  
• Fixed a number of locations in the game where players could break through terrain and fall through the map.

Dear Espire Agents! We are excited to announce that we are FINALLY updating Espire 1: VR Operative. This is our first update in 3 years, our biggest Espire update ever and it will include everything* we’ve shipped on the Quest platform in our 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 updates, alongside some new extras for PC. *Note that we are unable to support the Quest-exclusive “Oculus Challenges” feature on PC as that feature only works on the Quest platform.


This major “1.10” update is officially launching soon but you’re able to play it right now. We have set up a public beta channel here on Steam where you can opt-in to the update. We’d love your impressions and feedback. The release notes for this update are extensive. You can see a current draft of the full release notes here.

• The PC version of Espire 1 includes all content from the Quest 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 updates
  
• Due to popular demand, we’ve Removed the two 'flashback sequences' from the campaign
  
• Added Support for newer VR Headsets and addressed various user reported Headset/controller issues
  
• Fix for the game not launching on some newer PCs
  
• Major Unreal Engine Upgrade - 4 engine versions back to back
  
• 5 new challenge levels
  
• 1 new environment
  
• 2 new weapons unlockable in the campaign (Spectre SMG, Sawn Off Shotgun)
  
• Major UI improvements
  
• Many user-reported bug fixes for A.I, achievements, UI, gameplay and more.

We are still a few weeks from our full launch, but a release candidate build is available to play right now.

1. Right-click on Espire 1 in your steam Library and select properties
   
2. Navigate to the “Betas” tab
   
3. For the “Beta Participation” drop-down menu, select X.
   
4. The game will now download the 1.10 update.

If you wish to play the currently live 1.6 update, use the above process and set “Beta Participation” to “None.”

We sincerely apologise for the very long time it’s taken to get this update to you. When we did our 1.7 update in late 2020, it included a major Unreal Engine upgrade that broke many things in Espire. We struggled to allocate the time + resources required to address the issues on the PC version of the game. A small team @ Lode have been working on this update in short bursts to bring it to players. The team has been unable to address this sooner as we have been stretched thin on other projects. This is not the fault of the talented team at LODE (developers of Espire) but at the top leadership level. We thank those who have supported us and given us the opportunity to make these games for our dreams. We hope the update addresses the feedback raised and improves the first time experience playing Espire 1.

If you have any feedback, please leave it in the community discussion forums, https://discord.gg/EspireVR

PS: To coincide with the official launch of our 1.10 update, we will also be releasing the Espire 1 soundtrack on Steam, composed by Chris Lisati.

Regards,

- LODE

Hello Espire Agents! We are aware that a number of steam users have encountered a very frustrating issue where the game fails to launch. After a lot of investigation we believe we may have determined the issue causing it, and a potential fix for steam users.

A lot of games made with Unreal Engine are experiencing this issue. Newer CPUs automatically use a new version of OpenSSL that is unfortunately incompatible with older versions of Unreal Engine. The below launch options force the game to use a more stable version of OpenSSL.

STEPS

1) Open your Steam library, right click “Espire 1: VR Operative” and select “Properties”
2) Under “General” tab, copy the following into the “Launch Options” field

cmd /c "set OPENSSL_ia32cap=:~0x20000000 && %command%"

3) Close the Properties window
4) Launch the game
5) NOTE: A restart of your PC may be required

We encourage anyone who has had issues launching the game to try this fix and let us know if it works!

If you need any other help with the game, or this fix does not work, you can let us know in our Discord.

We apologise to anyone who has experienced this issue, and we hope that by implementing this fix you are able to launch Espire 1 successfully!

Greetings Espire Agents!

Espire 1: VR Operative is being featured as part of the Melbourne International Games Week on Steam from September 30th to October 7th!

You can watch the developers live streaming gameplay and they will also be hosting a Q&A!

The stream will be broadcast to the store page starting at 12PM AEST on October 1st.

You can also join our community discord where you can ask the devs more questions, get support for any issues with the game, and chat with other VR Agents!

We hope you enjoy the MIGW Steam Event!