Aug 17, 2022

The Cycle: Frontier - Katsu

Hello Prospectors!

We have an update that will tackle a handful of issues directly affecting our players, while also making a fair amount of internal changes that shouldn't affect the players directly. This will also be the first iteration of Victim Compensation, a system that will refund players of items or loadouts that have been lost due to interactions with cheaters.

With that said, let's take a look at what this new patch will bring to the game.

Changes

Victim Compensation has been added to the game and we will now begin to refund players their items if the person who killed them gets banned for cheating.
- Because this is a brand new system, there are some limitations. Currently, this system is in place for cheaters who are banned by our own internal system, and is not currently set up for Battleye's automatic bans. This will be addressed in an upcoming update. The victim compensation system is automatic and reporting players is NOT required for this system to function. You will receive compensation packages regardless of whether or not you were the one who reported the cheater. Similarly to Insurance Packages, players will be notified if they have a victim compensation package waiting for them at the generator.
- This system will return the most valuable items to the player, and convert lesser-valued items to its K-Mark equivalent.
- A small note has been added to the in-game report tool in regards to compensation of loadouts.
Grenades: Reduced Damage by 20%
Removed direct offer to "leave tutorial" in tutorial death UI box
Additional adjustments have been made to our anti-cheat system to prevent false positives in certain areas.
The Login Bonus screen now includes information regarding the Season's end and wipe.
A price increase is on its way in the upcoming 1.6 update for DLCs and Aurum in certain regions in order to adjust the prices for affected markets which were far more discounted than originally intended. Players using the affected currencies will have 1 week to purchase these at their current price if they would like to.
- This increase will only affect the following currencies: RUB, IDR, MYR, PHP, SGD, VND, TRY, MXN, CNY, INR, CLP, PEN, COP, ZAR, HKD, TWD, SAR, AED, ARS, KZT, KWD, QAR, and SASIA countries.

Bugs

Fixed an issue where players were unable to start trio Squad matches if their NVR was too high.
Fixed an issue where Contract progress was lost when the game is forcefully closed or when using "Exit to Station" during the match.
Login Bonus UI: Remaining days in the season will not display as intended.
Fixed an exploit that allowed players to kill players almost instantly over long distances with the mining tool.

Make sure to join our Discord server ( https://discord.com/invite/thecycle ) and our subreddit ( https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/ )

Do not forget – Fortuna favors the bold!

Aug 10, 2022

The Cycle: Frontier - Patch 1.4.0

The Cycle: Frontier - TC_Roderick

Hey hey Prospectors!

Do you have some time on your hands right now? ‘cause we have some new patch notes hot out of the oven ready to be perused! And because we didn’t have an update last week, these ones will be a bit lengthy, as we’re striving to strike out a good game balance and iron out all of our remaining issues.

As a quick heads-up, the maintenance for this update will be a bit longer than usual as well. Remember the infrastructure changes we mentioned in our last notes? We’re applying all those right now!

But before moving to the main course, let’s start this show with an, er, apologetic appetizer (alliterations are cool).

Server Issues & Compensation

If you’ve been playing The Cycle: Frontier lately, you may have noticed that we’ve been running into several server issues lately. While those will be put to rest with this update, we’re aware of how much trouble they may have caused you. That’s why we have decided to offer a small compensation to every player out there.

As such, every Prospector who have logged into the game since July 1st will receive the following for free after the update:

150.000 K-Marks
1 Scarab
1 Advocate
1 Malestrom
2 Shields
1 Helmet

We apologize once more for the inconvenience and thank you all for your patience and support.

With that out of the way, time to dive in the patch notes proper!

Changes

Improved general fluidity and responsiveness of the heavy melee strike, so delivering very hard head bonks should be a smoother experience.
Changed the text box on timer skips to make clear that you can use either K-Marks or Aurum, not both.
Tweaked the looting tables for the different creatures of Fortuna III.
Reworked the icons for some weapon attachments so they should be easier to differentiate from one another.
Various improvements to our general UI.

Balancing & Economy

Tweaked some crafting requirements:
- Orbital Cannon Beacon
  - Derelict Explosives needed reduced from 6 to 3.
  - Faction Scrips needed reduced from 200 to 80.
- Laser Drill Beacon
  - Faction Scrips needed reduced from 200 to 80.
- Oil Pump Beacon
  - Faction Scrips needed reduced from 200 to 80.
Increased the Faction XP & K-Mark rewards of hard jobs by 50%.
Reduced the repair costs of most gear:
- Repair costs of Uncommon items reduced by 10%.
- Repair costs of Rare items reduced by 20%.
- Repair costs of Epic items reduced by 60%.
- Repair costs of Exotic items reduced by 75%.
- Repair costs of Legendary items reduced by 85%.
- Reduced the overall “availability” of grenades.
Grenades have been removed from the shop and are now available in the Crafting Station for 300 K-Marks, 2 Copper Wires and 2 Hardened Metals each.
Grenade rarity level changed from Common to Uncommon.
Overall reduced the amount of Grenades found as loot on the surface.
Reduced the amount of Grenades received as mission rewards.

Bugfixes

Improved general performance, especially regarding foliage and rendering distance.
Fixed an issue where members of the same squad would drop on different server instances.
Similarly, fixed an issue where players with a very high matchmaking rank wouldn’t be able to drop as a trio. Guess sometimes you’re just that good.
You will now be able to claim your cosmetic items even when your stash is full. There’s always room for more swag after all.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Crusher Caverns from resetting properly.
Tweaked waterfalls a bit so they can be their actual planned pretty selves.
Research in your Private Quarters shouldn’t take one second longer than indicated anymore. Think of all you’ll be able to do with that whole second.
Fixed some issues that would prevent players from completing the tutorial.
Fixed a small graphical artifact when using 2x optics with a Basilisk.
Fixed several instances of rain pouring through ceilings, windows and otherwise seemingly solid objects. Sure, the weather sucks on Fortuna III, but come on.
Fixed a weird issue where weapon charms seemed to have a mind of their own on the preview screen.
Tweaked the maps a bit further: floating objects, misaligned buttons, inescapable pits, etc.
Corrected some pathfinding issues for the confused wildlife.
Fixed some containers being invisible until approach. No more stealth field generators for boxes!
Bullets will now pierce tarps from both sides.
Weapon attachments will now be fully visible from the Crafting Station.
Fixed an issue that prevented equipping a new spray.
The Comm Wheels will stop breaking if too many people try talking at the same time. To be fair, cutting off people is rude.
Equipped weapons won’t poke their head out when throwing grenades.
The Thrill Seeker is now fully usable and ready to scout the surface once more.
Foaming an enemy Prospector right as they foam you should now count as actual progression for related missions. Double KOs never get old!
Fixed some visual issues with the Crusher’s ranged attack.
Also, killing a Crusher with a heavy melee attack won’t send it into outer space anymore.
Fixed more issues with Marauders teleporting around, dealing damage to Prospectors way out of their reach or attacking opponents while turning their backs on them. Super Jeff has been nerfed.
Fixed a visual issue where accepting a new mission would seem to reset progress on existing ones.
Fixed an audio issue where the sound of crumbling mineral nodes would play over and over and over and over and over again.
Fixed more audio issues where natural traps like bird flocks would emit their sound at the wrong location.
You should know properly see the outlines of your squad mates while on the surface.
Fixed an issue that would trigger an infinite loading screen when purchasing items in a shop or claiming rewards from the generators.
Fixed an issue where the ramps of a Laser Drill would disappear when moving too far away.
Pressing the Esc button should now work in every menu. It seems there is in fact an escape.
Fixed an annoying issue where an Osiris campaign mission wouldn’t grant the Orbital Laser Beacon it’s supposed to, making the next mission a bit harder to complete.
Using the “Return to Station” option should now properly update mission progress when applicable.
Fixed a visual issue that would show the “Average Match Time” as 0 in the player stats. No, you’re not that fast.
Fixed an issue where backpacks couldn’t be moved to the stash despite the latter not being full.
Prospectors on the character selection screen after the tutorial shouldn’t appear as foamed anymore. This if not “Return of the Living Foamed” after all.
Fixed an issue where insured items wouldn’t appear properly in your Private Quarters after being foamed.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from interacting with Dead Drops.
Changed a couple of spawning points for drop pods. You shouldn’t start your exploration session right next to angry locals now.
Fixed an issue that would also apply a weapon coating when trying to equip a weapon charm.
That grid visible around the evac ship? It’s gone. You’ve seen nothing.
Various writing changes and localization fixes.

Misc

Starting the game in Admin mode will now create an error. Please make sure you’re not launching the game in Admin mode.
The Biker Queen is now called the Monarch. All hail the new paragon of badassery!

Make sure to join our Discord server (https://discord.com/invite/thecyclehttps://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/)

Do not forget – Fortuna favors the bold!

Jul 20, 2022

The Cycle: Frontier - Patch 1.3.8

The Cycle: Frontier - TC_Roderick

Hello Prospectors!

It is time for the next update. Patch 1.3.8 is here, and we have a bunch of fixes and changes for you. Huh, 1.3.8? Didn’t we skip a few numbers? Yes and no.Some stuff is too small for a full patch, like quick hotfixes and ninja updates that don’t require maintenance. Those still get a version number though, hence the discrepancy between the last patch and this one. Hope that’ll clear up some confusion!

Anyhow, let’s just dive right into those patch notes!

Changes

We have reduced some of the PVP mission requirements.
Kills required in the adjusted missions now require 1 or 2 fewer victims.
A similar change to PvE: we have tweaked some of the numbers for mid and late-game hunting missions.
Epic Shield: Reduced Smart Mesh and Hardened Bone Plates requirement from 3 to 2.
Laser Drill Beacon: Reduced Smart Mesh requirement from 4 to 2.
After further analyzing our data on PvP encounters, the maximum number of players active on an instance has been reduced by 1, for both maps.
We have tinkered with our matchmaking to protect fresh players better and to increase the challenge for good squad players. This adjustment will also slightly adjust the experience for good solo players.
We’ve given Jeff, our beloved Marauder, a brand-new attack. Watch out for his antics.
Players in the tutorial will now wear blue armor instead of green armor. A dead recruit isn’t a great recruit after all.
Weapon Adjustments
- Bulldog: Increased spread by 30%.
- Advocate: Reworked the recoil pattern.
- Horizontal recoil does not go back and forth like a feral animal anymore.
- Kor-47: Reduced initial vertical recoil. Vertical recoil is more consistent.
- ASP Flechette Gun: Reduced horizontal recoil. Vertical recoil is slightly increased for the second half of the magazine.
- Voltaic Brute: Reduced horizontal recoil. Vertical recoil is slightly increased for the second half of the magazine.

Some additional words from our Creative Director Daze on the state of balancing:

"Where are we in terms of balancing at the moment? In general, we see that people are starting to use late-game gear increasingly, as we get further into the season (great!).We also see that the better the gun and armor, the more likely you are to win a fight (by quite a bit).This data is a bit tricky to interpret, as it is muddled, somewhat, by the fact that the better gun you have, the more experienced in the game you are likely to be - but:Overall, we are getting to a spot where guns perform roughly as we would want them to, where:
If you have higher-tier gear, you are significantly more likely to win a fight...
...but not by so much that a player with grey gear has zero chance even when outsmarting their opponent
What we are tuning weapons-wise for this patch is the recoil of late-game guns, making them slightly less "across the board unruly" (what we want is more of a mix in each tier of different recoil behaviors). When it comes to armor and pricing, we are making Epic armor slightly easier to craft. We want to be in a place (once again, it is a tough balance to strike!) where:
Late-game players do take their top-tier gear into raids...
...but not always (we do not want it to be a no-brainer either)
Basically: We want it to be a tactical choice, when and if to bring what gear, also at late-tier play.(Of course, a big deterrent from going in with the most expensive gear is getting killed by a cheater - more on that below.) Let us know what you think and keep the feedback coming!"

Bugfixes

We have fixed an exploit in the final area of the Crusher Caverns.
Fixed some specific cases where the audio profile of a player did not reset when exiting a cave.
Fixed an issue where a Crusher’s projectile would just remain stuck on them after being shot in their weak spot. The pain dishing will resume appropriately.
Fixed an issue with the pathfinding of Striders. They finally learned to read a map.
Fixed an issue that would appear when skipping Tech Tree upgrades.
Fixed an issue where sounds just disappeared, like the cries of a helpless Prospector lost in the vacuum of space.
Improved server performance and applied a fix for server crashes. Your overall experience should be smoother now.
A couple more fixes were applied previously, so just in case you’ve missed them:
Players who owned the Ronin in the previous version of the game will now have access to all their outfit pieces.
Players who owned the Troublemaker in the previous version of the game will now have access to all their outfit pieces.

MISC

After reviewing our data, we have reduced some detection thresholds for our internal anti-cheat measures. Reducing these thresholds means the security gets tightened.

Known Issues

The Biker Queen image shows black hair, though she has white hair.
A Player Quarter upgrade may take longer than expected, this can take up to 24h longer than usual.
We have changed the Player Support tool in the game already, but it is currently not possible to send us tickets on the website.

Finally, we’d like to share a quick update on something Daze mentioned above (you folks in here most likely have seen the cheater dev update video already):

https://youtu.be/BWqObcONL6w
We are currently working on a lot of improvements on the anti-cheat front, as outlined in the video below. We recommend giving it a quick watch if you haven’t yet. The compensation feature is on a good track and we are looking into some additional methods to provide an experience as tedious as possible for cheaters and RMT folks alike.

Make sure to join our Discord server (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/)

Do not forget – Fortuna favors the bold!