Boo! Surprise update!

Originally the next planned release was Beta 8, but 1) I already had a bunch of confirmed RIF features-to-be, 2) did the whole Roguelike Celebration trip which is going to push back the Beta 8 release date, and 3) really wanted to start streaming a new dedicated bot-hacking run and would prefer that it be fairly different from the one last month.

So early this week I suddenly decided to put out a quick 7.1 and give you all the RIF features now. Better than keeping them on hold for a bunch of other unrelated content, eh?

Beta 7.1 has technically been available since Tuesday, though we're just getting the release notes now. Let's see what's up...

• NEW: RIF adds precise real-time alert level readout to HUD
  
• NEW: RIF automatically detects nearby Garrison Access points
  
• NEW: Garrison Access automatically open for Cogmind with RIF upon stepping adjacent to door location
  
• NEW: If RIF installed, alert level no longer increases passively while inside a garrison
  
• NEW: Garrison exits automatically open if Cogmind has RIF installed
  
• NEW: Manual indicates BRIGHTNESS renderFilter can be used to increase brightness as well
  
• NEW: Weapon cycling (' or [CYCLE] button) treats all guided, melee, and datajack weapons as separate options
  
• MOD: While RIF installed, Unlock Access hack at Garrison Access always has a 100% chance
  
• MOD: -8/Materials Garrison Access is always lowest security level
  
• MOD: Relay Coupler [Swarmer] base value increased 40%
  
• MOD: Operator purge_threat hack cost dropped from 20 to 10
  
• MOD: A certain 5-letter bot that starts with a G (spoiler) now has the Disruption immunity
  
• MOD: Non-hostile Researchers are not alerted by distress calls
  
• MOD: Researchers ignore Datajack attacks against both self and allies
  
• MOD: Thermal Generator effect description adjusted so it's harder to mistake for a type of heat sink
  
• MOD: Tactical HUD mode energy readout displays both values separately even when stationary and movement turnwise deltas are identical
  
• MOD: Non-zero ambient heat display is shown outside Tactical HUD mode as well, if applicable
  
• FIX: Enumerate(Coupling) terminal hack gave no results [Valguris]
  
• FIX: Dropped salvage would not remain in map knowledge if Cogmind stepped out of view prior to any FOV update [Valguris]
  
• FIX: Melee sneak attacks were impossible against Researchers [GJ]
  
• FIX: Loading a "Fragile Parts" run wouldn't apply the rules in subsequent sessions beyond the first [GJ]
  
• FIX: -exportRobots command line argument inaccessible in release build [Raine]
  
• FIX: Tactical HUD mode energy readout failed to show inventory-stored energy when stationary and movement values are identical [Trione]
  
• FIX: Easiest difficulty mode didn't reduce the number of Garrison Access machines by 1 as intended
  
• FIX: Drone Bay info in parts list sometimes didn't reflect correct number of remaining drones

The Relay Interface Framework was only just added in Beta 7, bringing with it dozens of new hacks to pave the way for new playstyles. But the initial design focus there was primarily to expand the robot hacking system, with only partial thematic integration with the rest of the world.

7.1 gives a RIF-installed Cogmind some new capabilities that really help highlight the fact that you sorta become part of Complex 0b10. Strategically speaking, the RIF buffs tie the framework even closer to alert management and Garrisons. RIFfing was already connected with these elements since hacking bots has no effect on alert at all and you can hack Operators to lower alert, plus you get Relay Couplers (and the initial RIF) from Garrisons themselves. But as you can see in the changelog there are now even more Garrison connections.

For one, you can now "sense" nearby Garrison Access points (essentially like Zion-integrated terminals when you're imprinted), and when you approach them the door automatically opens.



While inside a Garrison, you'll also no longer cause passive alert increases over time. As long as you can deal with the locals, Garrisons almost become a safe spot for you! This is doubly true once you have the RIF installed and can use couplers to take out bots relatively silently via hacking.

It's also easier to leave whenever you want to, since none of the Garrison exits will be remotely locked when you try to use them.

Outside Garrisons, one of the major new features is that with RIF you get the precise alert level updated in real-time! A new red entry appears on your HUD, as you can see at the top of this screenshot taken from my stream this week after raiding several Garrisons :P



"Influence" is the specific number usually converted to a more understandable (and mechanically meaningful) alert level. You've always been able to see this mentioned in your scoresheet ("peak influence"), but this is the first time it's shown in game alongside the alert level conversion. Every action you take which affects it is reflected here. (I can smell the cheese now...)

Halving the cost of the purge_threat hack on Operators is yet another alert-optimizing buff for RIF users :D

Taken together, all these new mechanics could make RIF even more desirable for a number of hybrid builds, not to mention simply make pure bot-hackers much more reliable. Whole new strategies will be born from this.

Oh yeah, and by request the lone Garrison Access usually found on -8 is now forced to security level 1 so that RIF is that much more accessible early on (like other interactive machines at that depth it used to have a 15% chance to be SL2, which could be hard to hack open).

If you want to see how a pure RIF build is put together and deals with challenges, this week I started that new stream and it's been great so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVEW7CkOYDA

There's a summary of the run here. Part 2 will be streamed next week.


Another hacking-relevant issue to tend to was Researcher behavior, as they didn't much like you datajacking them or their friends, which is unnecessarily harsh if you're going to go through the trouble of using RIF over other strategic options that doing so closes off. So they'll now completely ignore datajack use and are fair game for manipulative hacks.

On a related note, non-hostile Researchers won't be alerted by nearby distress calls, which could similarly have pretty disastrous consequences when a Researcher just sitting behind a wall suddenly pops out and scans you without warning.


Weapon cycling is the main related UI feature that got an overhaul (the partial implementation included with Beta 7 was apparently broken anyway). For Beta 7 Remote Datajacks became solo-fire weapons, so there was a greater need for the weapon cycling command/button to do something other than simply toggle everything off and on. Now it'll actually cycle through projectile, guided, datajack, and melee weapons, also treating each datajack and melee weapon as a separate option.

The system built for 7.1 is a lot more robust, as you can see here ;)



There were a number of other things in recent weeks I've told people are coming "next release," but note that means the major release that will be Beta 8, not this little surprise release xD. I did include a number of fixes with 7.1, stuff that I just happened to have already done, but there's still plenty more on the docket, as well as a backlog of other feature requests and basically tons of stuff to do overall!

Beta 7.1 saves are not compatible with previous versions, but even if you're on Steam and have autoupdates enabled, Beta 7 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.

I'm back! It was well worth taking the break to participate in this year's Roguelike Celebration, which was awesome as always. You can read (and see!) all about the event in the summary on my dev blog.



I gave the opening talk, "How to Make a Roguelike," which touches on most of my roguelike-related projects, but more importantly should help guide you down the path to creating one of your own, plus it talks about (and shows!) a bunch of other neat roguelikes as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jviNpRGuCIU

I'm now super energized and ready to get cracking on Beta 8. This past week I've already started chipping away at the next release, but that was just debugging a few rare new issues. Next week it'll be time to add fresh new features :D

There's always more to be working on, that's for sure. PlasticHeart has illustrated what that's like :P



That said, we'll get to requests a little later--the next couple weeks of work is top secret stuff no one knows much about ;)


Now that I'm home again, it was also time to fire up the stream and smash some bots. Quite literally this time as we did a melee run! It was my first serious full melee run and *gasp* we won \o/

I wrote up a summary on the forums (w/images) and VODs are available on Twitch if you want to have the chat commentary, or you can also see them on YouTube.

The route for the part 1 was pretty circuitous as we headed into the caves to get some benefits to make surviving the late-game easier:



Anyway, that was a victory by randomly pieced together melee build, and it was already pretty deadly (we got the Melee Specialist achievement!). More focused players can build out their selection of utilities with a bit of fabrication and become practically unstoppable (melee is a reliable strong way to deal with the extended end game).


A couple days ago I realized that as of this week Cogmind has already been on Steam for one year! Time flies when you're doing releases :)

That brings us to a total of three and half years of major public releases, five of which have happened since the EA launch last October. Ever since I first wrote it, the Early Access notice on the store page has always indicated "at least six months" of EA, and that fact has yet to change so I've never updated it.

It's still true today :P

There's plenty more to come, though one general trend I've noticed which might still affect pre-1.0 development is that despite the early discussion we had here about whether or not to change the default difficulty setting, I'm starting to think it'd be a better idea to not completely scare off some potential new players with the way things are now.

By default Cogmind is meant to be a challenging game, one that can be learned and very reliably won by those who get good at it. It's done that job well, and for others there are always lower difficulty settings to get more out of the game with less experience, although there is also a separate group of players in the middle who would probably enjoy the game a lot more if they didn't play on the default difficulty, but refuse to change the settings because actively lowering a difficulty setting is not something as many people are willing to do in video games!

At this point it's probably worth experimenting with a lower default difficulty, forcing players to make a choice to raise the difficulty only if they consider it too easy. This change would be accompanied by renaming the difficulty levels as well. Merely changing the feeling of those settings and how players interact with them will probably be better for everyone.

There are alternative approaches that can work well, like having no default and making the choice part of an explicit menu before the first play (or before each run), but that's not compatible with Cogmind's hyper focus on immersion.

On a similar note, we could even add some sort of so-called exploration mode? (Even easier than the current easiest mode, not really meant as much of a challenge at all.) I mean we're almost certainly going to get a form of Wizard Mode eventually anyway, a feature found in many traditional roguelikes, and that's no different from having a dedicated mode where combat is even easier and the world is much easier to explore. This could somewhat lift the veil of mystery surrounding portions of the story by expanding the number of players who experience its intricacies, but technically at this point pretty much everything has been discovered by at least some players who've explored every nook and cranny...

Well that was a bit of a diversion...

Anyway, back to the main idea (the duration of Early Access in case you forgot xD), we should probably try to hit 1.0 sooner rather than later so that there's still some money left for post-1.0 updates. Although with Cogmind the distinction between Beta and "released" is almost arbitrary at this point, we'll probably get a new batch of of players for 1.0 and they'll naturally be hoping for more updates in the now-typical "games as a service" environment. Heck, I'm certainly happy to keep at this for years to come. Sadly I don't think we'll hit the review threshold I announced earlier as a way to indirectly fund the new faction and its maps and mechanics, but maybe we'll find another way. I've been considering alternative ideas for funding down the line, but that's definitely a topic for the future.

Thank you all for your continued support during this year on Steam, here comes another one :D

Beta 7 Notice: Following the release, Phragmented has updated the PDF manual in both standard and booklet form. The latest can be downloaded from the forum thread.

A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example with Beta 6 and Beta 7.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

As usual following a major release, it's again time to review player stats from the previous Beta. The full summary is on the forums here, where you can read a breakdown of the 462 wins in recent months, how players fared with achievements (Beta 6's flagship feature), and check out some of the new stats recorded by score sheets.



Now that there are a number of ways to "change" your Cogmind, PlasticHeart has kindly put together an realtime graph showing which approaches players are taking leading up to a win, conveniently obfuscated with abbreviations so that you're not spoiled if you haven't made these discoveries yet :P



I've added links to both that graph and Ape3000's player progression graphs from the bottom of the leaderboards for easier access. (If you recall from earlier SITREPs, the latter graphs are a great way to see how your runs are changing over time.)


So the leaderboards were reset to go with the new version. New beginnings for all!

As expected, we immediately saw an increase in the number of Garrisons deaths, those being optional areas a majority of players avoided before whereas now at least one visit is now required for those seeking access to the best robot hacking potential.



Later Garrisons are quite challenging, but if you enter one of the lower ones around -8/-7 in good shape and having made preparations like having a full inventory, spare propulsion, and decent weapons (preferably backed by a launcher, too, especially EMPs), they'll fall pretty easily to a systematic attack.

Since the release I've streamed two runs on Twitch, both of which installed a RIF inside the -8/Materials Garrison. The first run last week was to get to know the potential of a full-on high-inventory robot hacker build. The latest one was more of a combat-oriented run with RIF for intel support by hacking non-combat bots (the mid-game relied mostly on allies, and propulsion was all over the place, sometimes using wheels, hover, and later treads). I'm looking forward to doing more streams during Beta 7; one of my plans I've yet to get to is a melee run.

A quick note about robot hacking (before it gets brought up too much :P): There are currently a number of duration-based hacking effects that having no reminders of their AOE or whether not a given robot is affected. I'm waiting on this until the hacking system is settled, and also until we have even more hacks, as other factors will affect how that is handled. As is it doesn't have a huge impact, but is definitely a QoL issue that needs to and will be addressed later, so yeah I'm aware of it!

It's been fun seeing players take advantage of other new features, including sharing a lot of neat map exports. Most would be spoilery so I can't share them here, but this one by Mojo in the Factory turned out pretty cool:



When he's not working on stats or doing hacking runs to the end game, PlasticHeart has been sharing some fun "cogmics" as he calls them. My favorite shows some of the main alignments and by extension ways to play Cogmind. The color of each panel is... fitting :)



In other recent news, Armchair Robotics discussions have been combined into a single pinned thread on both the forums and Steam, to avoid clutter since most of the replies are happening in the corresponding r/Cogmind threads anyway. Feel free to reply in any of these composite threads, though, with questions or anything else to add. New topics will keep coming.

Also, tamagotaso has updated Cogmind's Japanese manual translation to Beta 7. Many thanks for that!


I can't get into the details of Beta 8 yet, since there are still a couple of fairly different routes it might take. Although I haven't made a final decision on that, the roadmap which lives on the FAQ is kept up-to-date and does publicly list some hints...

As always there are tons of plans. Yet more robot hacking will be coming eventually--the system is working nicely with its 65 hacks, and it's only going to get better with more options. (First the dust needs to settle on Beta 7, but already there are more plans for RIFfers, even outside pure hacking.) In any case, the next few releases will be working to add content to the first half of the game as well.

I really can't wait to get into working on Beta 8, but there are other plans for the near term. As mentioned before I'll be going to San Francisco for this year's Roguelike Celebration, where you can find me if you want to stop by and say hi :D. I'll also be giving a little talk there, for which I still need to do some preparation. Roguecel is a chance to meet lots of other well-known roguelike devs, too, so if you're in the area it's probably worth coming. I mean, you can actually meet other people who play roguelikes, actual people in the flesh! xD



I'll be pairing that with a trip to see family, so I'm heading out to the US next week and taking a bit of a break from development. That means a hiatus on SITREPs for probably a few weeks, until we're on the other side of the Celebration. Then I've gotta deal with mega jet lag while trying to get back into the swing of things, yay my favorite.

Have fun with Beta 7, and see you around!

A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example with Beta 6 and Beta 7.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

Fat changelog? CHECK. Lots of new toys to play with? CHECK. It's time to hack the planet!

The all-new robot hacking system creates new ways to play, and is expansive enough to integrate with existing strategies. Plus Beta 7 comes with more combat buffs and a heavy dose of QoL features, requested and otherwise.

• NEW: 65 new robot hacks
  
• NEW: Garrisons now contain an RIF Installer (required for most robot hacks)
  
• NEW: 12 Relay Couplers (available from numerous sources), required to execute better robot hacks
  
• NEW: 1 more brute force hack (secret)
  
• NEW: 3 new items (new mechanic)
  
• NEW: 75 new score sheet entries (total = 772)
  
• NEW: Added several encounters
  
• NEW: Info window for part types that cannot be repaired precedes the maximum integrity value with a *
  
• NEW: Derelict Logs that give an exit location for the current map when Cogmind already knows it explicitly indicate that in the log
  
• NEW: Blue '@' marker appears to indicate the direction of Cogmind's position when offscreen
  
• NEW: New kind of squad dispatch under certain conditions
  
• NEW: Standard robot hacks also accessible via manual entry
  
• NEW: Manual robot hacking UI includes autocompletion and fully-featured command buffer (data stored in /user/buffer_robot.txt)
  
• NEW: Option to alphabetize coupler-based robot hacks instead of based on cost (advanced.cfg: alphabetizeCouplerHacks)
  
• NEW: Option to not have map center on Cogmind with every move, requiring manual panning instead (advanced.cfg: viewFollowsCogmind)
  
• NEW: Option to disable mouse-based movement in mouse mode (advanced.cfg: disableMouseMovement)
  
• NEW: Vi-keys (j/k) can be used to change selected entry in item/robot info page
  
• NEW: Datajacks can be used on any bot
  
• NEW: parse_system robot hack is an additional way to add items to gallery collection (and won't aggro friendlies)
  
• NEW: Lower difficulty modes give Relay Couplers more uses
  
• NEW: Additional lore giving the new robot hacking system a background
  
• NEW: Shift-Alt-m exports PNG of entire current map, showing explored areas
  
• NEW: Worker latching onto a disabled bot now has its own sfx and color
  
• NEW: Assign text tags to inventory items (Shift-Alt-t + inventory item number)
  
• NEW: Kinetic cannons can cause knockback, where the chance is a function of damage, range, and target size
  
• NEW: Kinetic and Impact weapon knockback that causes one robot to hit another can damage and displace the second robot
  
• NEW: Additional Garrison layouts
  
• NEW: Export robot data with the "-exportRobots" command line argument (massive spoilers!)
  
• NEW: Explicit log message for failure to rewire disabled bot via Datajack
  
• NEW: Tutorial message reminding that items held in inventory do not themselves add to total mass
  
• NEW: Explicit interface message about large part non-swappability when using dedicated swap mode ('/')
  
• NEW: "Part Auto-Replacement" manual section expanded with an explanation of why the rules list is fairly short
  
• NEW: "Volley" manual section expanded with description of resource cost timing
  
• NEW: Non-forced melee attacks while flying require confirmation (toggle in advanced.cfg: ignoreFlyingMeleeConfirmation)
  
• NEW: Numpad '/' behaves as regular slash, activating part swap mode
  
• NEW: Heat flow errors due to corruption temporarily block movement (like part rejection)
  
• NEW: Hit chance modifiers due to attacker/defender recent moves reset on ramming and knockback
  
• NEW: Deploying ARCs list robots in message log
  
• NEW: Active ARCs engage emergency deployment system just before destruction (effects vary)
  
• NEW: Watchers can always jam sensors as long as Cogmind within their sensor range, even if using inferior Sensor Arrays
  
• NEW: Fully modal part management system (in addition to existing systems), press 'p' to open new menu for part toggle/attach/info/remove/drop
  
• NEW: Z-terminal access has limitations on each map
  
• NEW: All 0b10 bot calls for reinforcements that didn't already have one now display that notification as an on-map ALERT message
  
• NEW: Garrisons activated in response to calls for backup also display that notification as an on-map ALERT message
  
• NEW: All Alpha supporter names registered since Beta 6 added to in-game list (see Credits menu)
  
• MOD: Destroying Garrison Relays has a different effect
  
• MOD: Hacking Suites no longer apply to robot hacking; chance-based robot hacking system removed
  
• MOD: No longer any benefits from hitting target with multiple Datajacks
  
• MOD: Target corruption no longer a factor when hacking a robot
  
• MOD: Programmers no longer assimilate other Programmers
  
• MOD: Less garbled text results from brute force hacks, just enough to more or less fill the window
  
• MOD: PARSE/LINK/REBOOT/OVERLOAD/ASSIMILATE robot hacks removed
  
• MOD: Rewrote Hacking Robots section of manual
  
• MOD: Engineers far less likely to get stuck in groups when many of them try to to repair the same area
  
• MOD: Disarmed Researchers won't trigger an attack warning
  
• MOD: Machine hacking uses a new kind of RNG
  
• MOD: Borebot weapon once again a prototype (since it can be discovered via parse_system)
  
• MOD: Datajack hits against any robot are not considered an attack
  
• MOD: For now the "Factory Defaults," "Error 47," and "Assimilation Complete" achievements refer to the hacks reboot_system, overload_power, and formatsys_
  
• MOD: Robots assimilated by Programmers no longer immediately activate, require some reboot time
  
• MOD: Updated offensive and defensive hackware effect descriptions to reflect changes in mechanics
  
• MOD: All Datajacks always have a 100% to achieve system access (i.e. penetration mechanic removed)
  
• MOD: All melee Datajacks' attack speed increased by at least 50%
  
• MOD: All Remote Datajacks' stats adjusted, including significant reduction in matter cost and an increase in speed
  
• MOD: Dirty Datajacks don't deteriorate as quickly
  
• MOD: Remote Datajacks work like guided weapons in that they must be fired solo
  
• MOD: RIF Installer incompatible with Super Gauntlet challenge
  
• MOD: Removed some pieces of lore related to obsolete hacking mechanics
  
• MOD: Robot info window no longer also displays speed as a percent in Tactical HUD mode
  
• MOD: Robot hacking UI no longer closed by RMB
  
• MOD: Shift-cursor method of panning map now ignored while robot hacking UI open
  
• MOD: Robots with temporarily disabled weapons more readily return to fight once weapons reactivated
  
• MOD: Executioner loadout improved
  
• MOD: Desublimator now a prototype
  
• MOD: Inventory scrolling keyboard commands under advanced help displayed as "]/[" instead of "[/]"
  
• MOD: No turn progression or input allowed during special CRM and conduit interface animations
  
• MOD: itemLabelRelativeRatingCutoff option no longer applies to any items that aren't placed randomly (always labeled)
  
• MOD: Zhirov profile reduced from 7x7 to 5x5
  
• MOD: Dedicated mapshift mode (`) no longer automatically recenters on completion (Enter is another option)
  
• MOD: Mouse-based movement and other map commands disabled while cursor hidden in keyboard mode
  
• MOD: Devolution challenge scoring formula now purely depth-based rather than slot-based
  
• MOD: "Executioner" achievement description reworded for clarity
  
• MOD: Updated "Turtlemind" achievement icon
  
• MOD: "Hit/Miss Streak" score sheet entries changed to "Robot Hit/Miss Streak," and only shots targeting robots count towards them
  
• MOD: "Crack Shot" and "Storm Trooper" achievements only count shots targeting robots, and exclude melee attacks
  
• MOD: "Adventurous" achievement renamed to "Ooh, Shiny!"
  
• MOD: Mines cave-in event can no longer kill low-integrity Cogmind
  
• MOD: Melee follow-up attacks incur no additional time cost aside from the weapon's halved time delay
  
• MOD: Exit labels for offscreen exits not shown if any part of the primary label for that exit is showing
  
• MOD: Message on inapplicable use of '>' command refers to traps and drone bays as well, rather than just stairs
  
• MOD: Secondary targeting (gunslinging) by guns is now guaranteed wherever applicable (100% chance)
  
• MOD: Follow-up attacks when multiwielding melee weapons will always automatically switch to the next available target if any in range (100% chance)
  
• MOD: Materials Terminals no longer list direct hacks for robot or item schematics
  
• MOD: Field Recycling Units operate on purely turn-based checks rather than an action- or wait-based counter, so take effect faster if moving more slowly
  
• MOD: S7 guaranteed to contain 1x TR
  
• MOD: Core Expanders more rare
  
• MOD: Part Auto-Activation feature active by default on a fresh install (still available in options menu)
  
• MOD: Part Auto-Activation hotkey switched to F10
  
• MOD: Tutorial messages involving part activation updated
  
• MOD: While a modal input label is visible across top of map simultaneously with an interface message, the latter is pushed down to avoid overlap
  
• MOD: Alert level decay from passing turns has diminishing returns over time (except in easier difficulty modes)
  
• MOD: Revision 17 never spawns in Scrapyard if using the quickStart option
  
• MOD: "SW" no longer much more likely to die from impact damage
  
• MOD: Super Gauntlet challenge Garrison Access cannot have traps next to their interactive section
  
• FIX: Under default config settings, faulty/broken unidentified prototypes excluded from mass labeling, revealing their state [zxc]
  
• FIX: Attached faulty power sources still contributed to energy storage capacity [zxc]
  
• FIX: Guided weapon waypoints were retained between maps [zxc]
  
• FIX: Crash on destroying a machine as first action on entering a new map before machine-relevant Derelict Log data displayed [zxc]
  
• FIX: "Spaces Moved" entry in score sheet didn't account for robot jumping by flight propulsion [zxc]
  
• FIX: "Average Speed (%)" entry in score sheet included stasis escape attempts [zxc]
  
• FIX: Derelict intel could ID the L exit [zxc]
  
• FIX: Opening world map in keyboard mode unable to select a map if just left Waste or Garrison and previously visited another on the same route [Joshua]
  
• FIX: "Watch This!" achievement couldn't be earned [Joshua]
  
• FIX: "Oh No You Don't!" achievement could be earned if Cogmind last damaged Saboteur later destroyed by another non-specific attacker [Joshua]
  
• FIX: "No Explosion For You" achievement also earned when your missiles shot down as well, not just those fired by hostiles [Joshua]
  
• FIX: "Just Shoot The Terminal" achievement awarded if a hostile bot achieved the same effect via misfire [lsend]
  
• FIX: "Fragile Parts" challenge was only applying rules to subsequent runs after game start, not the first [lsend]
  
• FIX: Adjustments required to accommodate a certain possibility during special Z+M@C event [lsend]
  
• FIX: Scrolling map view away from certain NPCs prior to dialogue skipped their dialogue, affecting the results [lsend]
  
• FIX: Sticky Parts challenge also blocked inventory parts from dropping [Raine]
  
• FIX: Sticky Parts challenge increased inventory contents beyond capacity if using get-attach shortcut on an already full inventory [Raine]
  
• FIX: "Executioner" achievement wasn't obtainable by way of normal evolution [Raine]
  
• FIX: Several typos in various messages and context help [Mhorre, Tzan, Rumbl3, Raine]
  
• FIX: "Collateral Damage" achievement couldn't be earned [Mojo]
  
• FIX: Certain late-game special event message might be shown globally even though it should require line-of-sight [Mojo]
  
• FIX: As of Beta 6, prototypes in gallery info didn't show their full name at the bottom [Mojo]
  
• FIX: Particular garrison layout could spawn any random disabled drone type, should be N-00 Fly [Mojo, GJ]
  
• FIX: Ally distance warning before level exit may report incorrect number for some at edge of radius [Valguris]
  
• FIX: Hacking bonus from allied Operators counted first Operator against the total, starting it at +5% instead of +10% [Valguris]
  
• FIX: Central database lockouts in Recycling would still cause investigation dispatch [Valguris]
  
• FIX: Full-sized evasion readout still listed Cloaking as a bonus, renamed to Phasing to match new corresponding utility name [PhenomPhear]
  
• FIX: Unique swords weren't playing any hit sfx [PhenomPhear]
  
• FIX: "Cya!" achievement was earned by flying over only two bots [PhenomPhear]
  
• FIX: Tutorial messages about gallery and lore collection still mentioned old key commands [b_sen]
  
• FIX: Drag-swapping parts with between 19 and 30 energy would only complete the first half of the action instead of giving the low-energy warning [b_sen]
  
• FIX: Simultaneously using any Thermal Generator and Cryofiber Web dropped energy reserves, allowing them to even go negative [IrishDemon]
  
• FIX: In rare cases an unknown open cell within ally transfer range may be highlighted while leading allies and standing adjacent to exit [DDarkRay]
  
• FIX: Quickly pressing an up/down arrow key after closing a robot's part info window in keyboard mode would place the cursor incorrectly [Jivya]
  
• FIX: RMB on hidden doors wouldn't enter targeting mode, revealing their presence [Malthusis]
  
• FIX: Fleeing Workers continue pushing previously disabled bot even if bot rewired while fleeing [Laida]
  
• FIX: Reaction Control Systems dodging a trap could jump Cogmind into a neighboring phase wall [Pimski]
  
• FIX: Individual Researchers normally only call reinforcements once, but after a run save/load could call again immediately
  
• FIX: <x2> consecutive message counters would not appear if not enough room remaining in the previous message log line
  
• FIX: "Missiles Intercepted" score sheet entry tallied all instances rather than only Cogmind's
  
• FIX: "Batter Up" achievement could be earned if an enemy Brawler knocked any bot into an exploding machine
  
• FIX: Due to earlier changes, world map unable to display both a Waste and Garrison visit from the same map, or current Garrison marker
  
• FIX: Multiwielding impact melee weapons allowed attacks to continue even after target already knocked away

Today the years-old, mostly marginalized placeholder robot hacking system is finally history. Now things get real, with a proper huge range of options for stealing data, influencing AIs, or otherwise getting creative. With over five dozen hacks there's something in here for everyone, and twice as many non-combat hacks as combat hacks means plenty of AI-specific hackery, especially outside of combat when sneaking around trying to accomplish various goals.



Although serious hacking works only on non-prototype 0b10 bots, datajacks can still be used on any bot, an important need for parse_system which'll help you fill out your gallery faster (all parsed components are identified and added to the item gallery if not already there), especially if you meet up with any NPCs you'd rather not antagonize.



Even more importantly, using a Datajack isn't considered a hostile action, so you can pull off all kinds of shenanigans from the shadows completely undetected if you like, or otherwise sit around ordering 0b10 bots to do stuff like give you info without repercussions.

To take full advantage of the new system, however, you'll have to visit a RIF Installer... and doing that requires entering a Garrison! The first and probably easiest opportunity is in -8/Materials, so hack open the entrance and dive in. Hopefully prepared to blow away the inevitable unwelcoming defenders :). The RIF Installer isn't too hard to find, it'll be by the entrance or one of the exits. While you're in there, make sure to destroy some relays, as what you'll get is better than the usual stuff and this'll make the trip extra worth it. And remember to pick up at least one Datajack early, that and maybe a decent amount of storage capacity to help carry all those couplers.



Most players avoid Garrisons so aren't too well-versed in dealing with their challenges, and at first I imagine we'll see a fair bit more deaths there than usual, but lower Garrisons aren't too dangerous when you're prepared. If you are keen to start robot hacking but unprepared for a Garrison dive by the time you hit it in -8, there are a bunch more Garrisons to be found in -7/Factory.

The manual robot hacking UI has gotten an overhaul to include autocompletion and a fully-featured command buffer, too, for those who prefer typing for that extra hacker feel. (Data is stored in the new /user/buffer_robot.txt file.)



Check out a large collection of hacking demos and read about all the hacks on the blog, where there's also an in-depth introduction to the system and its design.





Note there are no bothack-related achievements being introduced for now. Those will come later when the system is finalized, in case there are some tweaks down the line. The existing handful of robot hacking achievements do still apply, though, as per the changelog.

A small sampling of fun stuff you can do with hacking:

- map_route -



- generate_echo -



- map_earth -



- overload_power -



- link_fov -



- link_fov + show_paths -



- ignore_targets -



If you're not sure what a hack does, right-clicking on it (or shift-letter) opens context help with a description.




Well the new robot hacking system is basically a big collection of unique buffs itself, but we already covered that... No wait, there's more! Datajacks themselves all got massive stat buffs, making them much faster and cheaper to use. As the key to hacking bots, they'll be much more flexible and reusable now, allowing you to pull off numerous hacks even in a combat scenario. (Note that Remote Datajacks can only be fired solo now, but that's not a drawback, just a way to prevent cheesing the delay system :P)

For a new buff unrelated to hacking we turn to GUNS. Since Beta 1 we've had the somewhat useful gunslinging mechanic, which allowed gun-only volleys to attack additional targets if the first target is destroyed, but it only took effect half the time, or more frequently if using targeting computers. Now it always does that--no computers required, so stock up on guns. This makes a gun-heavy play style even more reliable and effective in the early game, and gives another reason to consider evolving weapon slots over utilities.



The melee equivalent, where multiwielding follow-up attacks after destroying a target might switch to another adjacent target, is now also guaranteed. (Another related buff: All melee follow-up attacks incur no additional time cost aside from the weapon's halved time delay, making it quicker to get in more hits.)



Knockback has always been a thing with impact melee weapons, but now it's come to kinetic cannons as well! The chance of knocking a target back is a function of damage, range, and target size, and is checked for each projectile, so melee bots might have a hard time reaching you if you're sporting Flak Cannons :).



This pair of assault cannons does a nice job of implanting the target in an expoding reactor:



Knockback mechanics have also been updated to allow a bit of a chain reaction, where knocked robots can slam into other robots and both displace and damage them as well. This applies to both impact weapons and KI cannons, so firing a penetrating KI round down a busy corridor will make an even bigger mess than it already did :D. Technically knocking targets back will make it harder to hit them since it now counts as a "move", but they'll also have a harder time shooting at you while being knocked around, so with some targeting utilities you'll have a bigger advantage overall.

Among the new parts we have a new range of Kinecellerators, utilities for buffing your KI weapons. Entry level:



Kinecellerators are especially effective when combined with multikinetic volleys, although they could also be brutal combined with certain cannons. As with other weapon modification utilities, while active their effects are reflected in the info mode summary.



And technically this last one is a fix, but bringing it in line with the original intent is basically a buff compared to what it was before: Your first allied Operator will now give the proper full +10% to machine hacking, so \o/


The global alert level slowly decays over time as long as you're not causing trouble, and in the past you could repeatedly find places to hide and wait it out, eventually resetting it to zero. That won't work anymore, at least not forever, because alert decay now has diminishing returns. This will mostly be noticeable from the mid-game onwards for players who go through entire floors destroying everything. You'll have to use other methods of lowering alert, of which there are many, or just leave the floor, preferably into a more secluded floor.

That said, note the effects don't even start to kick in until after you've been on the same floor for at least 800 turns, and only if you've been causing mayhem, and even then the changes are quite minor and gradual. The main point of this change was to head off farming strategies.

In any case, it will probably still be tweaked again (alert has been tweaked in various ways throughout the years...), but let's see how the current settings play out. I'd like to do some typical combat runs myself to get more of a feel for it, but so far I've been more into playing with the hacking system since that's the Big New Thing.

Also these alert changes only affect the default difficulty level, easier modes behave as before.

Another change also meant to prevent farming is the addition of a sort of map-wise global timer for Z-hacking. You'll see. Don't worry, Z-terminals are still the optional OP crutch that system was built to be :P

The main true nerf of Beta 7 is to Sensor Arrays, and it's a situational one at that. If you use sensors you're probably aware that Watchers can jam them if close enough. Previously they had to have better sensors than you in order to achieve this effect, but now they can do it regardless of their sensor type, as long as they're in range. Sensors have always been an amazing utility, and still are, though the new rules will make certain areas more challenging. Especially in tighter late floors, players who like to rely on sensors will need to find some alternative strategies under certain circumstances (both machine and robot hacking can help here).

One-shotting ARCs was nerfed by letting them do an emergency deployment right before they're destroyed. Not many players are capable of fielding builds with enough firepower to reliably take out ARCs prior to deployment, but for those who do it won't mean an overly easy way to wade through assaults, since at least some of the bots will likely be somewhat intact to fight. The contents will generally not be in great shape, but they'll still be there :P


Putting the quality in life!

You'll now see a little glowing blue '@' marker indicating the direction of Cogmind when offscreen.



More ALERTs! All 0b10 bot calls for reinforcements that didn't already have one now display that notification as an on-map ALERT message. Even Garrison Access points which are activated in response to calls for backup will now also display that notification as an on-map ALERT message. These things existed in the message log before, but they're kinda important so making them flash and beep will make it extra obvious that Very Serious Things are happening.

The ability to tag an item with custom text as a memory aid is a rather common feature among classic roguelikes. Tagging is usually a part of the item identification process, and due to the nature of Cogmind's items and ID system it's almost never useful, hence the absence of a tagging feature all these years. However there are a handful of special cases towards the end of the game where you may know what a particular unidentified item is (based on where you found it) but not want to immediately attach-ID it. So now you can.

To tag an inventory item with a text note, press Shift-Alt-t followed by its inventory number. This feature is generally used to tag unidentified prototypes and alien artifacts that are known based on other factors or meta knowledge, so that they're not lost in the inventory later, indistinguishable from other unidentified artifacts. Erase an existing item tag by entering an empty tag for it. An example of tagging a serious item with a non-serious tag:



(Currently it's one of the rare keyboard-only commands, but we'll eventually get mouse access as well once there are enough of these rare commands so I can find a suitable UI scheme to include it.)

There are already a ton of methods for keyboard players to interact with items, but hey we can always use one more, right? This one is another feature found more often in classic roguelikes: modal item management. Some players prefer a fully modal approach to item interaction, rather than requiring the use of Ctrl/Shift/Alt key modifiers. The new 'p' key is the answer. It opens a menu that gives access to any part-related action, so [p] -> [action] -> [letter or number of part]. Here's the reminder that appears on entering the mode:



'p' was originally used to toggle the Part Auto-Activation feature, a key I'd always planned to replace when we needed it for something more vital, and it turns out 'p' for parts is perfect for the new modal menu :D (The old hotkey has been switched to F10 so it's still available if anyone really needs to toggle it in realtime.)

We have a number of feature requests in this section, too, which I'll point out here in case they'll help others as well...

Normally the map automatically pans during movement to keep Cogmind in the center, which is important for a number of usability reasons, but if you don't like that it can now be dectivated via advanced.cfg by setting viewFollowsCogmind=0. Here's a demo comparing the two methods using more or less the same scene:



There have been several requests to not autocenter on quitting mapshift mode because players who prefer scrolling with that method then can't follow drones very far. I've made that the default behavior and there's currently no option to change it back, as this technically brings it in line with all other scrolling methods--you can use either Enter key to recenter when you need to.

For fliers, non-forced melee attacks now require confirmation, since the intent may have been to jump a bot but you forgot to deactivate your melee weapon. (This can be turned off via ignoreFlyingMeleeConfirmation in advanced.cfg, though keeping it on will probably save you a facepalm or two in the long run.) Also mainly to benefit fliers, heat flow errors due to corruption temporarily block movement (as with part rejection), otherwise long moves could suddenly be hit with a heat spike and continue along happily until something burns out xD

A quick mention because I don't have anywhere else to put it: There were a few achievements that couldn't be earned in Beta 6, but now everything is available!


This section had to be cut because Steam enforces a character limit on posts :/. To get the full Meta Fun content see these Beta 7 release notes on the forums. Quick demos:

With a single command you can export a full-sized PNG of the current map as you've explored it.



There's a way to export all robot data from the game files. Here's a sample excerpt of the export, which in its entirety includes 179 lines and over 8,000 data fields o_O




Special thanks to all our Beta 7 prerelease testers, who helped iron out a few issues and also sparked some tweaks before today's full release.

And thanks to everyone for your Steam reviews! In case anyone missed it, there's a pre-1.0 medium-term goal you can help with which could affect the future of Cogmind development. Check out the original announcement for more info. Reviews are very helpful for increasing Cogmind's visibility on Steam and by extension make it possible to keep bringing the updates :D. So many plans...

There is currently a 10% discount on Cogmind to coincide with the Beta 7 release. As a heads up, this is the largest discount Cogmind will have during Early Access unless at some point Valve decides to again offer exposure for a larger discount like they did in December 2017, in which case I might take them up. (But I wouldn't count on them doing that again, there being so many games out there these days :P)

For Linux users, Cogmind may now be installed through Steam. Read more in the last section of SITREP #35.

As usual, this weekend will not have a SITREP so soon following a new release. The next will come the week after when we'll take the usual look at player stats from Beta 6, our first release with [256!] achievements.

Now that Beta 7 is out I will, however, start streaming again, in fact starting shortly after this release announcement--let's play with these new hacks!

Beta 7 saves are not compatible with previous versions, but even if you're on Steam and have autoupdates enabled, Beta 6 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.

Less than a week until the giant collection of robot hacks will be at your metallic fingertips :)

I've played the first few real runs to ever actually use the system and it's been a lot of fun, can't wait to share it with everyone! Here's the very first run of a hacker-to-be after having raided the first garrison you can find (-8):



The Beta 7 release date should be about 9/4-ish.

This week in particular I worked on a variety of little last-minute features and fixes...


"Gunslinging" is now guaranteed. It's the ability to attack multiple targets in succession if using a gun-only volley (and the first target is destroy), and it used to only happen 50% of the time, further modified by utilities.



Guaranteeing this effect was already possible later in a run with some targeting computers, but now it'll be a reliable tactic even early on, and make a difference for builds that start out by adding extra weapon slots. In the background I've always been working on plans to increase the value of non-utility slots, especially weapons, so this is one way to achieve that (although it took a player request to point this one out, thanks Jivya :D). This change also has the nice advantage of simplifying the whole secondary targeting thing.

For consistency (and because giving melee builds extra situational buffs is a long-term trend :P), multiwielding melee builds are also guaranteed to switch to additional targets after taking out the first, assuming there are follow-up attacks.



On the topic of melee combat, it turns out that some knockback code I added earlier made it possible to push robots back multiple spaces while multiwielding impact weapons, which doesn't make much sense so I had to do something about that xD. It was pretty funny, and suddenly "safer" to knock targets back into explosive machines.




While technically I think the 'a' key rules them all since it handles lots of part management automatically, you can never have too many optional ways to manage your inventory! Some players would prefer a fully modal approach to item interaction like that found in other roguelikes, rather than requiring the use of Ctrl/Shift/Alt key modifiers. (Yes we're talking keyboard play here--mouse users who can do everything with the almighty cursor you can skip to the next section :P)

The new 'p' key is the answer. It opens a menu that gives access to any part-related action, so [p] -> [action] -> [letter or number of part]. Here's the reminder that appears on entering the mode:



Along with this update, the menu and other modal state identifiers that have always appeared across the top of the map view now displace the temporarily interface message if there is one, like so:



Earlier any message would temporarily overlap with the mode name, making it harder to tell which mode was active, or if one was active at all. It didn't seem to bother anyone, but then once familiar with the functions you won't be in any given mode for long at all anyway (plus there are sound cues). Still worth polishing up, though.


With everything pretty much in order, this week it was also time for automated testing. This is where bugs (especially weird emergent stuff) can be caught simply by having a large volume of random actions play out, more specifically in this case by pitting random robot factions against one another.



You can divide bugs into two main categories: Those caused by player interaction with the world which can be identified by observation upon doing XYZ, and those caused by some unknown source who-knows-where on the map. Automated testing can catch some of the former, but most important to catch before release are the latter type because inexplicable crashes might result in a lot of misdirection when it comes to players trying to report bugs without having anything to go on (as long as it's a crash the logs will include a trace to shed some light on the issue, but that might not always be enough).

Of course, that's not to mention if something can be caught right here and now via automation it's way better to let the computer do the work than bugging players! (and later me with reports that distract from progress elsewhere xD)

With so many bots and systems out there on any given Cogmind map there are tons of things going on behind the scenes, so the chance for hidden emergent bugs is high. I used to always find lots of stuff via automated testing before each update, although with Beta 7 this is the first time ever that autotesting turned up zero issues. That was nice :). It's likely because a huge chunk of the upcoming release is player-initiated hacks rather than automated systems, and thus outside the scope of autotests. Myself and others have tested all the hacks and resolved any known issues, but there's probably still room for emergent craziness to show itself. If we really need it I'll be releasing a 7.1 to correct anything serious.

For testing I generally just run four instances at a time, one for each physical core on my laptop, but this time I upped the instance count to nine just for fun. That's about 90% CPU usage right there.



I also recently added yet more on-map alerts for Beta 7, so while these tests are going on there sure are a lot of red messages piling up as turns race by.

Be with you in a few days for Beta 7, which has of course been dubbed "Hack the Planet" :D

Cogmind will be 10% off next week for the new release.

A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example Beta 6 here.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

Beta 7 is around the corner! We're heading into the final phases of development for this cycle, and with all the major features done, as usual I spent a good hour organizing and prioritizing a list of what else I'd like to pack in. Looks like it'll be ready for you within two weeks.

Probably the coolest feature to show for the week is map exporting. With a single command you'll be able to output a full-sized PNG of the current map as you've explored it.



Images are placed in a new /screenshots-maps/ directory and named with the map's name, depth, and the number of turns spent on that particular map when the export was made. This process may take a few seconds because it needs to sequentially render numerous frames across the entire map, compiling them together into a single huge PNG.

Being a collage of screenshots, image exports use whatever font and size you've currently set. The example above shows an export using size 20 tiles, and here's the same map instead using size 12 ASCII:



This was originally a debug-only feature I added years ago specifically for creating images for game media (desktop wallpapers, image backgrounds, etc), though now everyone will have access to it and I'm sure it'll come in handy.

I'm interested to see what people do with it, and I imagine it'll be useful for things like certain types of guides, creative endeavors, and strategy research.


The top priority for late-cycle dev is to clear out Beta 6 bugs, and this time around we have more than usual since it's been a while since the last release--more obscure things to report! :P

I noticed on a recent playthrough that Waste and Garrison markers couldn't both appear on the same floor on the world map, and also that it was no longer showing the Garrison marker if currently inside one. Fixed that:



Also I finally addressed the fact that two labels for the same exit can appear when it's right off the edge of the map. I've known about this for years but that section of code is really complicated and doing anything about it was problematic (not to mention that behavior did have its advantages sometimes) so I mainly ignored it, but recently got two reports about this... May as well do something about it to save everyone some time. Here's a before and after comparison:



Although most of this week was spent resolving bugs, before release I'll also be spending some time slipping in smaller new features and QoL stuff.

I got a request from someone with vision issues to make it possible to play without automatically scrolling the map as you move, so that's a new advanced option. Here's a comparison of that and normal behavior:



This mode would basically require manual scrolling, or using the recenter command manually.

Like map exports this was something I could already do on my side, originally added specifically for convenience when recording certain types of demo GIFs.


If you're looking to up your speedrunning game, zxc has put together a new spreadsheet analyzing the top runs among those participating in the weekly races.



You can find that and more speedrunning resources in the new repository thread on the forums.


In case you haven't heard, Valve has launched a new opt-in beta program that allows Linux players to install and play Windows games via a built-in version of Wine.

Cogmind in particular has undergone extensive playtesting under Wine (including fixes for all known issues) and the experience is on par with the Windows version, so if there are any issues it'll be on Valve's side, but even though it just launched it already seems to be working more or less okay.

For now Valve is manually whitelisting games and only has a few, but you can get around that restriction by changing this setting:

Steam -> Settings -> Steam Play -> Enable Steam Play for all titles

For reference there's a huge community-organized chart of games and their compatibility under the new system, where players can contribute their experiences with different games.

Anecdotally it would seem that so far Cogmind works normally with Valve's version, except there have been two cases where users with PulseAudio didn't have any sound (restarting seems like a way to get that problem to correct itself). In any case, if there are any other issues Valve will probably fix them down the line, and Cogmind's system requirements are quite simple so in general once they come out of beta Cogmind will be as smooth for everyone as it is using external Wine solutions. Valve's new thing seems to already work fine for most players though, so that's nice :)

A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example Beta 6 here.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

All 65 robot hacks are done :D

I've put together a giant post over on the blog covering every single one of the hacks, including lots of demos.



Many of the demos I've shared in previous SITREPs as they were developed, though there are a few new ones, too, that and you can check out a bunch of graphs breaking down hacks by various categories, as well as see the design spreadsheets used to assign costs.

Whew, that was a big system, and of course it's not even out yet and there's already a forum thread about how to expand it xD


Speedrun races continue, having now gone through two weekends of the new format with simulcasting hosted by b_sen. Week 1 is up on YouTube. Week 2 hasn't been exported yet, but you can find it on Twitch here. In it Valguris breaks the Cogmind world record, long held by zxc, with a win in only 635 turns.

I don't have a chance to spectate these because time zones, but b_sen commented that Valguris' win during the race was doubly impressive, because "he was using consistent speedrun strategies instead of 'throw many many runs at the RNG's mercy' strategies." I heard he was using some interesting indirect hacking techniques to find exits, and Malthusis pointed out that he was throttling flight units for max speed, running fairly hot.

These runs are generally organized over weekends on the Discord if you're interested, and there are more participants than just those streaming so everyone's free to just join in on the side and share results.


Armchair Robotics threads continue to provide an outlet for topical strategy advice. We've got two so far:

• Week 1: Propulsion Type
  
• Week 2: Movement Tactics
  
• (The third should be coming up soonish)

Even if you don't have anything to add yourself, stop by if you have any relevant questions since lots of the best players participate in these discussions and are happy to provide input. That and just from browsing the posts you'll probably learn some helpful new tactics to improve your game :)


Development recently passed the 9,500-hour mark, and is set to hit 10k by the end of the year!



The monthly hours graph is decent, if not nearly as stable or high as before my concussion last year (arrow).



This has been slowing down Beta 7 a bit, but at least I'm staying ahead of the head issues which is good for the long term!

On that note, with robot hacking complete there's just the usual fixes and little features to do before preparing to release it into the wild. I have a massive list of other things I wanted to do with Beta 7, but as usual aside from fixes (which always get top priority) I'll just have to pick and choose some of the other items and push everything else into future releases. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you build a literally endless TODO list, one that gets longer rather than shorter as you work on a game xD

Still can't give a date for it, but I'll probably have a pretty clear idea come one week from now, and prerelease testing will likely start within two weeks.


I'm not the only one making stuff around here.

Azimet the Banished has shared an electronic composition, a tribute to Arc Projectors. Azimet says:

Arc projectors are weapons that deserve some more attention. I really love the idea of heavy disruption, which can lead to new allies. Because of this, I made them sing a song.

And Zyalin created a fun mashup of hand-drawn art and ASCII item art from the game:



A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example Beta 6 here.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

And that's what happens when you combine the new overload_power hack with squads lured through some explosive machinery :D

Their power source won't go critical immediately, but it happens pretty quickly and as you can see there's a visible timer to help you plan your next few turns before the fireworks begin.

The explosive potential matches that of EM-caused chain reactions, thus it's greater for more powerful power sources. In the same way it also just destroys their power supply, which technically may not destroy the bot entirely, so it doesn't need to be a hugely expensive hack like outright destruction or assimilation. This makes it both a fun, useful and fairly frequently usable hack.

Aside from overload_power, this week's robot hacking progress can't compare with last week in terms of flashiness, but I did get close to the end of the list. So far 59 hacks have been implemented, with just a few more to go. After that there's still more related work to do in terms of lore, balancing datajacks, and more, but the entire robot hacking system will be completed next week. (No this doesn't mean Beta 7 will be ready next week xD)


One of the bigger new hacks completed just yesterday is parse_system, the replacement for the old PARSE option.

Through Beta 6, parsing a robot is a regular old hack with a percent chance to succeed. Though easy to pull off, it's still not guaranteed.

The new parse_system for Beta 7 is not only guaranteed (as are all robot hacks), it's also practically free--no RIF, no couplers. (See the overview of the robot hacking system if you're not sure what that means.) Just like the manual hack 'z' entry, 'a' will always be parse_system for any bot you can jack, appearing as the first listed option. Here's a series of demonstrations parsing various common targets:



In the past it's also never been very useful--I added it mainly for fun. But now it also serves some purposes!

First of all you can see there that parse_system gives more info than it used to, including details about the AI and whatnot.

The most tangible advantage, however, is the fact that it both lists all parts attached to the bot, identifies them all even if unknown or prototypes, and even adds them to your gallery if not already there! This will be a new non-evil method to get records for some of those cool parts your friends and/or NPCs are using without, you know, murdering them :P

By extension, as part of this update, jacking a friendly will no longer be considered a hostile action.


A couple weeks ago for SITREP #31 I mentioned the birth of a speedrunning community among Cogmind's players, with semi-regular contests. Those have continued, and are getting bigger and better...

This weekend we'll have simulcast races on Twitch with commentary by b_sen, along with anyone else who wants to hang out in stream, or participate in the races themselves! Full info in the announcement here (also on r/Cogmind).

Sadly I won't be there because over here in Asia it'll be 2 AM or so, although I sometimes participate in races at other times. But there'll be experienced Cogminds around if you want to learn the art of speedrunning, or perhaps about other mechanics you can put to use in your regular runs!

The simulcast even includes its own layout and everything :D (the following image is a WIP mockup, layout work by b_sen)



The latest scoreboard:




The community has started weekly topical strategy discussion threads!

Ever since a couple years ago the core community moved from the forums to Discord, we've been having a ton of insightful strategy discussion there, but it gets interspersed with and buried under lots of other conversation, so it's not easily accessible to the majority of players. This new format will be a lot more accessible, have long-term reference value, and also provide ongoing content for the still-under-construction Cogmind Community Guide.

The first topic was just announced today: "Propulsion Type." See the full prompt and discussion in the following locations:

• Discord
  
• Official Forum
  
• Reddit
  
• Steam Forum

Visit your community of choice to contribute!


The annual Roguelike Celebration is coming up! If you can make it to San Francisco in early October, get your tickets now for a discount (the price is just to cover the costs of running the event).



This is the third one. I missed the second due to that annoying concussion-that-still-won't-go-away, but was at the first the year before. It was so much fun, I wrote about it here. Got to meet a bunch of great people I only knew (or knew of) online, and then it was only a one-day event--this time we get two!

I even gave a talk about how I became a developer and how Cogmind came to be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJflbg0V38

Oh yeah, I guess I've only implied it so far, but yeah I'm going again :D. (You might notice me on the speakers list there, I'm going to be doing a non-Cogmind-centric talk this time around.)

The next SITREP will likely be in two weeks instead of one. Development will continue as normal, but I'll mostly likely be working on a lot of non-showy internal stuff in the short term so there won't be as much to talk about.

A note about SITREPs: These are regular progress updates where I share features coming to the next release, but aren't actually in game yet. Public releases get their own dedicated news announcement and changelogs/release notes, for example Beta 6 here.

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

Last week and in other recent SITREPs we've seen map_earth, map_walls, locate_traps, find_shortcuts, and more, but as far as information warfare hacking is concerned, these are small-time benefits compared to the potential of this week's selection!


If you've got your RIF, datajack, and [NC] relay coupler handy, Watchers can be a gold mine of info when you map_route them. Rejoice as you steal all the scan data from their entire patrol route, including terrain layout, machines, items, and exits.



That's my favorite animation from the batch--I spent a while polishing it (okay, spent a while getting it to work xD). It'll trace the route starting from its nearest node to both ends, as you can see here going in two directions (followed by calling up labels for discovered items):



Here's another sample in Storage, where the route happens to come around in a loop:



And the same sample in tiles mode:



It's not often you'll find a Watcher inside a Garrison, but if you do it's an easy way to see a lot of corridor networks and other potentially hidden areas behind the walls.



I can imagine map_route will be one of the most commonly used robot hacks, although it's rather expensive. May your hacked Watchers have decently long patrol routes and not just a short little jaunt through a few rooms ;)


This next hack is even more of a wildcard, because while it can be quite valuable it's not easy to find the right target and much of its information is time-sensitive: show_paths.



What that does is show the current paths of all patrol squad leaders across the entire map, but you have to specifically hack a patrol leader in order to get this info. Sometimes figuring out which is the leader is easy because they'll be a better variant, but other times you'll have to spot which one seems to be followed by the others (easier to figure out with sensors). At the same time, not all squads out there are patrol squads...

Normally the paths will glow intermittently, but when panning the map they stay visible (presumably you'll want to be able to more conveniently follow them).

Here's a sample from a different scenario in tiles mode:



Although the path data will become meaningless after a while since the patrol leaders select new routes when the current one is finished, on the good side any known paths are also permanently revealed as valid open spaces, including even pointing out hidden doors along the routes, so that can have some value in the long run.

I noticed it's kinda fun watching the ASCII<->tiles swap animation after a map_paths hack, as it traces the revealed spaces.



While working on all this stuff I also discovered A* lightning :P



Here's a path animation outtake, a little bug caused by me relying a bit too much on copy-pasted code: The paths should render directly to the console every frame, but instead I'd copied code from another blocking animation that creates stationary particles that fade with time:




What's better than one set of visual sensors? Two sets! See exactly what's up ahead, around the corner, or in that next room with a little help from link_fov.



You can merge their field of vision with your own, as if they were a drone. In some ways this is inferior to a drone because you can't control them, but better because they won't be attacked by 0b10 forces, and willing participants can be found all over the place :)

Why stop at two sets?



The blue circles appear for convenience so you know when the connection will be lost due to range--the link can only be maintained from up to 20 spaces away.

When you combine all these new indicators, robot hackers can have some pretty sweet map UI going :D




All robot hacks also come with context help right in the UI via right-click or shift-letter.



This explains exactly what the hack does, which unlike machine hacking is pretty important to know immediately because robot hacking often has real consequences while facing off against enemies (I talked about this same principle before when covering robot hacking's switch from a percentage system to a finite counter system). Obviously it's also good for learning the mechanics, and having easy direct access to what hacks do so that infrequent players don't have to remember their effects.

The question is, should this same system be applied to machine hacking? From a general QoL perspective, probably--in addition to the above reasoning, it's one of the few systems in the game which doesn't already have in game help.

But there are a few drawbacks as well... Machines are encountered very early in the game, and I don't want to overwhelm newer players with stuff they don't really need to know, and infrequent players won't really be able to get much out of hacking anyway. Having context help at machines both removes a bit of the intrigue and exploration aspect of the experience while simultaneously giving players access to all kinds of detailed information that won't mean much when starting out. The details of machine hacking are not so useful compared to robot hacks. Machine hacking effects are also much easier to guess from their names, and the hacks don't generally take place under duress, so a bit of trial and error is fine there.

I'm open to input here if you all have any perspectives to add.

Here's a bonus hack: ignore_targets, Method #6 (or so?) for dealing with Crushers.



There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums or r/Cogmind.

Another week, another batch of robot hacks for Beta 7 :)



Pretty much every bot has at least some function relevant to their job, as you can see above with the map_earth hack. Same thing below in tiles mode.



As one might expect, there are quite a few hacks that target Operators, given their access to so many systems...



Almost any combat bot can be hacked to find emergency access doors over a pretty wide range.



In general I haven't been working on combat bot hacks yet--I'm mainly going straight down my internal list, on which non-combat hacks come first, but based on some code I was working on it was more efficient to jump ahead and do a few search-based hacks like this one at the same time.

Back to non-combat hacks, how about forcing Haulers to both drop their inventory and safely identify all the contents for you?



And normally a Mechanic's special inventory of backup parts can't be accessed/retrieved, but there's also a hack to decompress those if you really want to :P



Lastly, a fun still shot from a very WIP animation that's a bit more involved.



More on that one next week.

A lot of these robot hacks also tie into AI behavior in some way, so I've been messing around in that bit of the code and making occasional related updates.

For example you may have noticed that a group of Engineers repairing lots of walls in close proximity might end up getting stuck, and the cluster of Engineers can grow larger and larger as there are incomplete projects in the queue but they're all waiting for each other to get out of the way. I left it that way since it's not too common, not all that important, and kinda funny when it happens (stupid Unaware!), but an easy fix popped into my head with the new behavior update that probably won't happen anymore.

Here you can see a group of very eager Engineers, unperturbed even by an eventual Scatter Rocket Array :P




I didn't get quite as far along with robot hacks I would've liked this week, because an entire day's worth of work was spent switching the website over to HTTPS. For a basic website there are pretty simple ways of going about this, but my site includes a separate blog, wiki, and forums, all with content dating back years, so altogether it was a time-consuming operation.

There weren't any major hitches, it just took a while to go through all the different settings and required file updates to avoid "mixed content" warnings from browsers (where you are set up for HTTPS but still have bits of content that aren't secure).

In the end we're green across the board :D



The main mistake was forgetting that the game itself targets an HTTP address to upload scores, but that address no longer existed after the update, so until our Discord community pointed this out and I fixed it we lost a few leaderboard uploads--sorry about that xD

The r/Cogmind responses to the news this week were pretty amusing :)

Amphouse: Wow, I had no idea the "hacking update" would be this thorough. :P

The past few weeks there's been a new community activity among the active Discord players: Malthusis is hosting seeded speedruns (by turn count), with most everyone also playing at the same time and reporting their rate of progress to the surface. These have been a pretty fun challenge, and force you to approach the game quite differently.

The speedrunning match records so far, recording the number of turns for each player to reach their final depth (or win):



As you can see it takes around 2,000 turns to win, or closer to 1,000 if you really know what you're doing (and/or also get really lucky :P). This is more or less in line with the relevant achievements, Speedrunner and Expert Speedrunner at 2k and 1k, respectively.

I've only joined in twice so far, the first time practically oblivious to proper speedrunning strategy (as a combat player, to me wheels are "fast," haha) so I got trashed. But at least reached the surface on my second attempt. I did a full writeup with images on the forums. The matches will continue off and on in the future (there are more planned for this weekend), so stop by the Discord if you're interested.

In other community news, I've decided to stop weekly seeds for now. There's more about this in the forums announcement, though since it is relevant to game design, I'll copy some of the discussion here:

It's worth noting that Weekly Seeds are fun in a lot of roguelikes but I don't think the straight up "everyone play the same seed and do whatever you want" approach works very well for Cogmind.

Where in other seeded roguelike runs players will generally be up against a lot of the same opponents on the same small maps with the same set of tools at their disposal, Cogmind maps are huge, not to mention all the different routes one can take through the world, and access to completely different strategies, so instead of players being forced to compete on a fairly level playing field, what you come up against can vary greatly depending on a lot of factors. (And that's even before we start adding in the effects of a rising alert level!)

In that light, we can why weekly seeds won't have all that much appeal, and how Cogmind is more suited to special/focused challenges with greater restrictions. We'll have to keep that in mind when thinking about how to approach any future activities :)

ChromaticGray has put together a cool Cogmind wallpaper for Wallpaper Engine:



As shared on r/Cogmind:

I made it for a ultrawide 2560x1080 monitor, but it should work fine on 1080 also.

Background map moves in parallax with the mouse, the Cogmind flickers and the weapons lights up in color on mouse over (that's why you only see top right colored).

Pretty awesome! Wallpaper Engine users can get it here.

I'd really like to put together some more wallpapers myself, but despite all the ideas and potential resources to draw from, I just don't have the time right now. So many other higher priorities and it's just little old me doing everything xD. The current wallpaper set on the website is the same I introduced over three years ago with the first public alpha!

There may be other relevant discussion of this SITREP on the GSG forums.