Eliminate the enemy and win dive matches in our fight against cyber terrorism! Total max reward is 25,000 GP.

Objective: Win 5 Dive Matches
Cumulative Reward: 5000 GP

Objective: Win 10 Dive Matches
Cumulative Reward: 10000 GP

Objective: Win 15 Dive Matches
Cumulative Reward: 15000 GP

Objective: Win 20 Dive Matches
Cumulative Reward: 20000 GP

Objective: Win 25 Dive Matches
Cumulative Reward: 25000 GP


STARTS: May 12th 11AM PST/ 2PM EST/ 8PM CEST
ENDS: May 18th 11AM PST/ 2PM EST/ 8PM CEST

*Total max reward is 25,000 GP.
*Rewards will be issued the following week after the event ends.
*Player must join a dive match from the start and complete the match for the win to count.
*Win count is accumulative throughout the event.

Stock up your arsenal while these select weapons are on sale!

Type: AR
GP Price: 237,250
Sale Amount: 50%
Amount Saved: 118,625
Sale Price: 118,625

Type: AR
GP Price: 224,750
Sale Amount: 50%
Amount Saved: 112,375
Sale Price: 112,375

Type: SMG
GP Price: 212,250
Sale Amount: 50%
Amount Saved: 106,125
Sale Price: 106,125

Type: SG
GP Price: 199,750
Sale Amount: 50%
Amount Saved: 99,875
Sale Price: 99,875

Type: SG
GP Price: 19,600
Sale Amount: 25%
Amount Saved: 4,900
Sale Price: 14,700

Type: MG
GP Price: 42,800
Sale Amount: 25%
Amount Saved: 9,240
Sale Price: 17,160

Type: SR
GP Price: 34,200
Sale Amount: 25%
Amount Saved: 8,550
Sale Price: 25,650


STARTS: May 12th 11AM PST/ 2PM EST/ 8PM CEST
ENDS: May 18th 11AM PST/ 2PM EST/ 8PM CEST

We will be performing a scheduled maintenance on May 12, 2016 at 6:30 AM Pacific (9:30 AM Eastern, 3:30 PM CEST). We anticipate the maintenance to last approximately 4.5 hours, concluding around 11:00 AM Pacific (2:00 PM Eastern, 8:00 PM CEST).

Please note that the estimated length of time for each maintenance is subject to change without notification.

TIME:
Thursday, May 12, 2016

Pacific: 6:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Eastern: 9:30 AM – 2:00 PM
CEST: 3:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Thank you for your patience during the update.

-The First Assault Team

Greetings, Operatives! Join us this week on our community livestream to celebrate the release of the prototype map, Underground Base.

Community Manager – Lumos
Production Coordinator – Disrespect

Tune in this Friday for community games, prizes, and general shenanigans with Lumos and Disrespect. We’ll also be showing off the new prototype map, Underground Base!

Prizes will include:
- 1x weapon of your choice
- 1x weapon skin of your choice
- 1x character skin of your choice
- Plenty of base access codes!

Friday, May 6, 2016 at 2PM PST/ 5PM EST/ 11PM CEST

http://www.twitch.tv/firstassault
Be sure to follow our Twitch channel to be notified of when we go live!

Simply log in to the game during the time periods listed below to receive XP and GP Boosters!

05/07/2016 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST
to
05/08/2016 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST

Reward:
2x 100% XP Booster

05/08/2016 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST
to
05/09/2016 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST

Reward:
2x 100% GP Booster

STARTS: May 7th 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST
ENDS: May 9th 10AM PST/ 1PM EST/ 7PM CEST

*Rewards will be issued the following week after the event ends.

Greetings, Operatives! Welcome to our second Dev Sync Up, where we answer hot topics and address major concerns within the community. Through these Developer Sync Ups, we hope to provide more clarity and transparency between the dev team and you, the community. As always, thank you for your support!

How is shotgun damage calculated with spread / pellets etc. and the damage number listed on the gun?
Shotgun Damage Calculation Method
- Primary damage is calculated by multiplying that with the number of fired bullets.
- From the primary damage value: “while not moving” (crosshair size) -> “Final effective range”->”Body damage”-> AP deduction = Average Damage Value

Weapon Stat Info
- Damage: Determined in the same way as the above shotgun damage calculation.
- Stability: Determined by calculating the fire rate // upward recoil upon firing // return speed after shooting.
• Upward recoil upon firing -> Value of about how much the camera moves vertically (there are 5 levels of values, and it is calculated by the average of the pertinent value)
• Return speed after shooting -> Value of the time it takes for the camera to reset to its resting position.
- Accuracy: Determined by calculating the size of crosshair while not moving // Size of crosshair while spread upon shooting 1 time using hip fire // Size of crosshair that is spread upon shooting 1 time while ADSing.
- Fire Rate: Value quantifying the time for one bullet to leave the gun
- Effective Range: The distance at which the weapon’s damage value is applied 100%. Beyond the effective range, damage is reduced based on distance (there is a minimum range).

How does Armor Points / Health work together? Does AP reduce bullet damage?
This is a defensive power concept that reduces damage value. (Ratios for weapons and grenades are applied differently.)
- Weapon: Deduct (Based on weapon) 40% of the final damage value from AP first
• Deduct the remaining 60% from the HP value.
• If you don’t have enough AP when deducting 40% from AP, the insufficient amount will be taken out of HP.
- Grenade: AP deduction ratio differs depending on distance (15% if damaged within 1m // 75% within 5m) – (Meaning you can survive if you are damaged from far away because of the low HP deduction but a large amount AP will be removed)

Are you currently working on new weapons? Weapons from Stand Alone Complex?
We are aware that that many players are waiting for more Seburo weapons. They are in the development phase and we are working hard to make them look their best!

Is the design team creating any unique fictional weapons specifically for First Assault?
We have agreed to stay away from developing weapons that get ahead of the Ghost in the Shell universe. However, we are open to delving into different ideas for sci-fi-esque weapons if we feel that it is compelling enough.

Will you guys ever implement a way we can test out weapons and mods we haven't purchased yet in the shooting range? Will you implement a system for reselling guns/attachments for half price?
We have heard the community’s concerns regarding this issue and are thinking of variety of ways to tackle it. We do not have any concrete details to share at this time but it is in the works.

Some people feel like the game is moving away from its original feel (that of a fast paced cooperation based team shooter) and is becoming much slower paced. What is your response to this and will you address this in future updates?
Fast paced combat has been our objective from the start and will probably not change going forward.
We are trying to revamp map size/skill balance/mode rules to further enhance the strategizing aspect. For example, this includes methods of putting in features of retrieving installations and thus allowing you to move, or making maps bigger. Keeping appropriate balance while maintaining fast-paced combat is something that’s been a challenge but we will continue to work on it.

Will a form of universal sensitivity be introduced so that there isn't a discrepancy from using different weapons with different levels of zoom magnification? For example, sensitivity while scoped in to a sniper scope is way more sensitive than looking down a 1.8x sight on an AR with the same aim sensitivity in the current game.
Yes, development of this feature is complete and we are internally testing it. We will be updating this soon and apologize for how long it has taken!

What is your opinion on the balance between the different abilities of the operatives? Is there anyone that is more useful than others and are there plans to make further balance changes to them?
Based on data, we believe that operative skills are generally balanced at this point. However, basing it off of data is does not necessarily mean it’s perfect when it comes to the “fun” aspect. Finding the middle ground between balance and fun is always the hard part. We will continuously improve this as we go forward. This is where your feedback is crucial – so keep leaving us your feedback on the forums!

Are there plans to add a 3rd female character soon?
It seems like the players really like Maven. FYI, actual play time for Maven isn't very high according to data, but skin purchases for Maven were much higher than for other players. Our dev team plans to add female characters hereon forth as well. However, rather than creating female characters only for commercial reasons, we will make efforts to create awesome characters that the players will love.

Will Maven's Barrier garner her skill points (post game score board for GP/XP) after her rebalance or will she still receive nothing for utilizing her skill? If her skill does produce points, how are those points going to be calculated?
Maven's Barrier is intended for defending terminals. Consequently, you earn bonus points when your ally kills an enemy from behind the Barrier. Meaning, if another player uses your Barrier, you will earn bonus points.

Any updates on PVE? What is the direction that PvE is taking?
In the PVE survey, we received suggestions for a mode that included story-based team cooperation.
We value your opinions and delved into designing based on this. We are headed towards a mode that shadows the original anime, but we cannot provide concrete details at this time.

Are there any new fun maps in works? What are they based on? Anime, real word inspiration, other fiction?
All of the maps that appear in the game were mostly designed based on the background theme of the original anime, but there were also elements that we had to design from scratch due to FPS characteristics. Since we've had a lot of anime based materials until now, we haven't composed new themes. We are planning for more creative maps within the anime universe as well, so please look forward to that.

Will we see bigger maps like Neon Ruins? What rate will we see maps being added to the game?
As you all probably know, a lot of time goes into developing large maps. We are working on them, but cannot provided concrete release dates at this time.

Any plans to release more game modes? Bots?
We are planning new modes and PVE. We do not yet have plans for a bot mode needed for learning the game. The reason for that is that FPS is already a popular game genre and the learning curve of players is high. And so, although bot mode can be helpful in the initial learning process of the game, we do not think that it will provide "fun."

Will you implement vehicles or mecha in any new game modes?
The AI Tachikoma currently appears in the TC Mode, and going forward, we plan on providing various, more advanced forms of game mechanics.

Netcode improvements?
We are putting in a lot effort in synchronizing packets between the server and client. Since we have a lot of players from the U.S., Europe, and from various continents coming together and playing, it is true that we face difficulties in packet synchronization due to the effects of physical internet environments. For example, information regarding the movements and shooting of a player has to reach the location of the host in order to transmit this to all the players in the room. But since the internet environment is different for everyone, it is not very easy trying to synchronize this aspect. However, we are thinking about continuously creating more elaborate/detailed prediction systems on movement, shootings, and etc.

Do you acknowledge server side packets loss / desync / hit registration issues? If yes, are there any plans for future updates to improve reliability?
In order to prevent packet loss, we are switching into TCP environment without using UDP as much as possible. On the contrary, if we switch to TCP (relay), player synchronization goes even more awry.
We are trying to control this sort of environment as much as we can. The hit reg issue is a problem regarding the synchronization of the shooting position on the player's screen and on the host. For this also, we are putting in a lot of effort to improve the packet sync and prediction system.

Has there been any difficulties involved with attempts at improving the game's performance, and does the team foresee any chances of improving performance before the release of open beta?
There are 2 issues for optimization. One is frame rate, and the other is a player's physical memory management. For factors that drop the frame rate, we are checking them one by one and making improvements. Sudden drops is a big issue in an FPS game. For this issue as well, we are making improvements regarding various elements (Effects, sounds, UI, Shader, etc.) that are output momentarily. The process of finding and fixing these issues during our creating process was actually quite strenuous. Regarding memory, in order to allow low-spec users to enjoy the game too, we are continuously making implementations so that they can load and use low-spec resources.

How big is your team and what are their tasks?
The Design team is in charge of system designing and designing content to make the game fun. The Graphics team produces everything that you can see on your screen. It is divided into areas of Background / Character / Effects / UI / Animation. Programming is in charge of implementing features that runs/operates the game so that we can enjoy it. QA is in charge of examining the game quality for servicing. The Director is in charge of managing/communicating to the employees throughout game development.

Describe the daily/weekly tasks of a Game Director.
From the Game Director Jung Eik Choi: “My main duty is decision making. I guide the direction of the game, gather thoughts/opinions on things that the respective teams can't decide on, and make decisions when prompt decisions are requested. My weekly tasks comprise of discussing the tasks for the direction of the work with each team leader and thereafter making decisions, monitoring whether that decision is going well, and thinking about mistakes/problems we might expect and trying to minimize them.”

Do you employ any objective controls for gameplay/content testing that removes random elements for data collection, or do you rely on purely subjective methods?
The fun aspect is subjective, but subjective judgments can be dangerous for developers. We go through countless repeat developments in order to find that “objective” fun.

Why did you choose GameBryo as game engine?
The first people who got together to make this game have an experience of about 8 years developing together. We used GameBryo at that time, and are using the same engine today. The reason for this is that GameBryo suited us best and was a dev tool that we could handle skillfully. We feel that that we were able to create this game so well only because it was GameBryo.

Will a gacha system will be implemented?
We want a monetization method that allows purchasing directly from the shop. The gacha we are thinking about aims at the fun factor. Even if gacha is implemented, it should be FUN, first and foremost. Neither the publisher nor the dev team wants gacha for the purpose of sales.

What is the Hideouts tab going to be used for?
Sorry, we can't reveal that yet!

Will cyberbrain implants/chipsets and/or their distribution to players undergo any changes in the future? In their current state, players cannot dictate which chipset they can unlock as they are given out at random at the end of matches.
Our current body modification system was more for testing purposes. Body Modification that we wanted was one to optimize player tactics. So we asked questions like, "What functions would we need?" and "Which functions would pose a risk to balance?" We now have plans to provide a way to allow players to make selective purchases so that they can optimize their tactics.

Any plans on being able to join (or queue) the game that a friend from the friend list is playing? Right-click -> join game. Any plans for spectate mode?
Yes. It is in development. We do apologize that it keeps getting delayed.

Greetings, Operatives!

In this patch, we have added a prototype map for Terminal Conquest Mode called Underground Base. We are in the process of creating this map due to the community’s need for a new map in the TC cycle. In addition, the goal of 1 million kills was met throughout our free weekend on Steam, which unlocked the map ahead of schedule!



Your feedback during the prototype phase is crucial and we would like to hear your thoughts as you play and explore the map. For the next two weeks, please leave your feedback focusing on 3 areas:
- Fun element
- Map size
- Balance of each terminal

Leave your feedback HERE: http://steamcommunity.com/app/369200/discussions/0/364040797993270676/

Thank you for your time and dedication, we are looking forward to hearing all of your feedback, ideas, and suggestions!

-The First Assault Team-

Operatives, with the arrival of the prototype map, Underground Base, comes a new wave of cyber terrorists. Dive in and complete your objectives for rewards. Review your mission below.

Objective: Capture Terminal
Count: 2
Reward: 2000 GP
Type: DAILY

Objective: Play
Count: 2
Reward: 1000 GP
Type: DAILY

Objective: Win
Count: 15
Rewards: 10,000 GP, Quick Skill (Tier 1) 200 min Chipset, Quick Skill (Tier 2) 200 min Chipset, Rapid Recharge 200 min Chipset, Smartsync 20 min Chipset
Type: EVENT

Capture Terminalist and Underground Player are daily objectives. Daily objective counts reset every day at 10AM PST. Underground Winner is an event objective.

STARTS: May 4th 11:30AM PST/ 2:30PM EST/ 8:30PM CEST
ENDS: May 11th 11:30AM PST/ 2:30PM EST/ 8:30PM CEST

*Objectives must be completed by playing the Underground Base prototype map.
*Play count is based on completing a full dive match.
*Win count is based on completing a full dive match.
*Max total reward for the event is 31,000 GP + Chipsets.
*Map is work-in-progress.
*Rewards will be issued the following week after the event ends.

Dear Operatives,

First Assault will be down for a period of approximately 8 hours, starting at 5:30 AM PDT (8:30 AM EDT / 12:30 PM UTC / 10:30 PM AEST) on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, while we perform essential upgrades and maintenance to our Nexon systems.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Pacific: 5:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Eastern: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Please note that the estimated length of time for each maintenance is subject to change without notification.

- First Assault game servers

- Nexon Launcher
- Game Servers
- Website Servers
- Game Forums
- Customer Support Section

- Perform essential upgrades and maintenance to our Nexon systems.

Social channels such as Facebook and Twitter will be unaffected by this maintenance.

We do not carry out these system-wide downtimes regularly, but in this instance we feel it is necessary to make much-needed infrastructure improvements to ensure the best possible service across all our games and services. To keep up to date on the latest information regarding this maintenance please follow the First Assault Facebook or Twitter channel.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playfirstassault/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/First_Assault

Thank you for your patience,

-The First Assault Team

Greetings, Operatives! Join us this Saturday and Sunday as Lumos and Disrespect will be playing GM Events LIVE on Twitch during our free weekend on Steam!

Community Manager – Lumos
Production Coordinator – Disrespect

GM EVENTS
Celebrate Steam Free Weekend by playing alongside or against First Assault Game Masters and Developers! We will be playing across all servers during both days of the event. Look for Game Masters with the GM tag on their name. The winning teams will receive 10,000 GP. On top of that, the top scoring player of all matches played will receive an extra 30,000 GP! Don’t miss out!

Participating GMs:
CM Lumos*
Disrespect*
GM Panthiro
GM Radrodo
GM Ulodese
*Will be part of the event but no GM tag.

REWARDS
10,000 GP to the winning teams
30,000 GP to the top scoring player
*Prizes to be issued the week or following week after the GM event is over. Players may only be able to win prizes once during event.

Other prizes to be given away during the stream:
- 5x Weapon & skin of your choice

STARTS: April 30th 1PM PST/ 4PM EST/ 10PM CEST
ENDS: April 30th 3PM PST/ 6PM EST/ May 2 12AM CEST

STARTS: May 1st 12PM PST/ 3PM EST/ 9PM CEST
ENDS: May 1st 1PM PST/ 4PM EST/ 10PM CEST

http://www.twitch.tv/firstassault
Be sure to follow our Twitch channel to be notified of when we go live!