Hey there Prospectors!

We've reached that time of the week where we give a peek into what is planned for the upcoming Season 3 content.

This time around we're talking about testing and how we'll be approaching gathering data or feedback about features that are planned for future releases beyond our smaller Focus Test Group testing sessions.

So what is our plan? Short answer: Public Test Server

Don't worry, this isn't the kind of test you have to study for so put your prep guides away. Our public test server will be a separate server where an upcoming version of the game (in work in progress state) is available to all players for a limited period of time to test some new features and gather feedback.
The PTS will be available to all players who have The Cycle: Frontier in their Library on Steam. To participate, just find the additional application "The Cycle Playtest".
If you do not see it in your library, then please go to the shop page and request access to the playtest from there.

You can then install the PTS version of the game and join the test with your normal platform account. You won't need a separate account and we encourage you to use the same account you use for the live game to receive the rewards afterward correctly. On the PTS you will start with fresh account progress, and this won't affect any progress on your live account. We have made several improvements to new user experience and tutorial simulation, and would like players to experience it on PTS so we can make sure everything is working as intended. Players on PTS will also receive a bunch of gear from Badum, same as new players do in the live game, which will help them with exploring new season content.

We want to collect feedback early and make sure that the version of the game that we will be releasing is fun and meets the bar for quality we have set for ourselves. This is very similar to what our smaller Focus Test Group currently sees and will operate in coordination with our FTG tests to maximize the amount of insight we are able to gather from a wider audience. The more feedback we are able to gather, the better we are able to judge whether features hit or miss the intended mark and make sure that potential issues with balance, performance, and playability can be addressed appropriately. In addition to increased feedback, a public test server with a wider audience will also help improve the quality of updates and limit the amount of technical issues or stability problems upon release of planned features in the live game.

You 100% heard that correctly. We will be rewarding all players who evacuate successfully at least 10 times during the Public Test Server with a special Banner on their live account with the release of Season 3.
The rewards will be credited directly to the account used on the playtest server after the release of Season 3, but not later than 1 week after Season 3 has released.
This is a big reason why we recommend using the same account on the PTS that is used for the live game.

No. Since PTS is a test environment, a lot of unexpected things can happen there, and we definitely don't want you to risk any of your hard-earned property there. So, purchases, as well as the in-game shop, have been disabled on PTS. We have to save some intrigue for the full release don't we?

The Public Test Server is available for an extended weekend, from 4pm CET / 10am EST / 7am PST on Thursday March 2, 2023, until 12pm CET / 10pm AEDT / 6am EST / 3am PST on Monday, March 6, 2023.

There will be a survey available for all prospectors who participate in the open PTS in addition to new channels in the Discord server specifically dedicated to feedback and bugs found during the test.
These survey results and feedback/bug reports posted in the Discord channels will be gathered and reviewed by the dev team following the conclusion of the test.

The playtest environment will include features that are a work in progress, so some issues can be expected and the playtest may not reflect the final quality of certain features. Any issues or bugs that you might (almost certainly will) encounter should be reported through the proper Discord PTS feedback or PTS Bug Report channel.
Also keep in mind that while this will be a test for Season 3 content, only content that we intend to gather feedback on will be included in the build.
The playtest version may not 100% reflect the features as they will be seen in the final live build version of the game that is released when Season 3 kicks off on March 29th.

We have not planned any more sessions beyond this playtest for Season 3 right now, but never say never!
Make sure to keep an eye out for further announcements on our official channels.
So with that, it is time to put on your lab coats, strap on your thinking caps, and get to testing. There is no such thing as bad feedback if it can help improve how the game feels, plays, and operates for future content and we look forward to reviewing your insights. You should be able to download the test right away.

Don't forget to join us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) and make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheCycleGame)

Take care Prospectors, and once again...Fortuna favors the bold!

Hey Prospectors!

Unfortunately, we have to disturb your time on Fortuna III with a small maintenance, starting at 2:35 PM CET / 8:35 AM EST.

The maintenance will most likely last for an hour / 1,5 hours.

Reason: Some anti-cheat adjustments.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Hey Prospectors!

A good day to you all and welcome to our usual meeting, the time and place for everything about our upcoming Season 3.

Today’s announcement will be taking a deadlier spin than usual, as we’ll be focusing on your favorite tools of destruction, your valuable vectors of devastation, your beloved mayhem contraptions. You’ve guessed it (I hope you have at least), today is guns galore!



Before we go into any details, we’d like to have a few words about why we felt a change was necessary. While the game currently boasts a decent array of weapons, we’ve realized there are still a few spots worth filling. For instance, we’re still lacking Uncommon snipers and Rare SMGs, while there’s a clear absence of Shotguns and Pistols of higher quality. We thought those spots were worth looking into.

Meanwhile, we’ve also noticed through data analysis that a lot of players seem to be suffering from a good ol’ “too good to use” syndrome. What’s that? It’s when some items are deemed so valuable that players can never find a good situation that would justify their use. In more familiar terms perhaps, it’s when you finish a roleplaying game with 99 copies of the ultimate healing item that you could have used at any point but decided not to, just in case.

The result of these observations is that players are mostly stuck with Rare quality equipment and that some weapons, like the KARMA or Zeus Beam, are so rare and valuable they end up seeing very little play on the surface. Which is a bit of shame, considering these are some of our coolest weapons.



So how do we fix this, or at least try to widen our weapon enthusiasts’ horizons? Our answer to this one is: MKII weapons!

Basically, several of our currently existing weapons have been looked at and will receive a new variation, the so-called MKII version. MKII weapons will be generally stronger than their classic counterparts. This can translate into a different power level, more attachments slots or possibly a bigger magazine size.

MKII weapons will be of a higher quality tier than the current versions. They will also have a specific caveat in that they can only be found on the surface, either looted from a hidden stash or grabbed from the clammy hands of a foamed Prospector. No crafting or purchasing also have the added benefit of increasing the chances a random crate will have you go “oh wow, jackpot!”, which is always a nice feeling.



Saying we’re adding those stronger versions would only be a partial answer to the problem established above. After all, you might think the mention of MKII weapons implies the existence of MKI weapons, right? Well, you would be right on the money there!

The “too good to use” weapons we’ve mentioned definitely don’t need a power boost, as they’re already pretty high on the power scale and we don’t want to develop a new “way too good to even consider using once in a blue moon” syndrome. Instead, we will be introducing weaker and, more importantly, more common versions of these guns to the pool, in the hope we will start seeing them a bit more often in the field.

As an important note, the current versions of those weapons will de facto be considered MKII weapons, which means they will become surface-only plunder, while the new versions will replace them on the station.




Well, guess that’s already it! More details on these new weapon variations will be made available very soon. In fact, you might even get the chance to try them yourselves much sooner than anticipated...

Until then, stay tuned for next week, take care of yourselves, don’t cross the Zeus Beams and have fun on the surface.



Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Hey Prospectors!

If you were looking for our weekly update about Season 3, then look no further: today is Thursday and we have another batch of information to share with you all!

Last week we left with a few words on architecture. It’s not necessarily a tough clue to decipher, but there’s definitely a few options out there. Let’s narrow them down a bit through a series of fun questions:

• Do you like space?
  
• Do you like stations?
  
• Do you like space stations?
  
• What is the average velocity of an unladen Leafling?
  
• Are any of these questions related to the subject at hand?

The answer to that last question is yes – well, mostly yes. By now, our next topic should be obvious enough, but just in case, let’s just spell it out for you: today, we will talk about Prospect Station and what improvements we have planned for Season 3!

First things first, let’s talk a bit about the station, what it currently represents, what feelings we want it to convey and our overall vision of this marvel of architecture.



Back in the days of yore, early in the old version of the game, everything not directly taking place on the surface was done through a series of menus. However, we thought those lacked personality and decided players deserved a place to call home. Thus did Prospect Station come to life.

Today, the station is still our signature hub, the place where players get to do their shopping, chat with faction leaders and kick back in their private quarters. It’s neat, but the place does look more like a giant mall than an actual space station drifting at the edge of known space. And we’re looking into changing that.

To sum things up, the station currently looks neat, proper and shiny. This isn’t what we want. We want the place to look busy, dirty, a bit seedy even. We want players to feel like they’ve moored into a dangerous port, a place that’s focused on day-to-day survival and where Spring-cleaning isn’t quite a priority.

But we don’t want the station to come out as openly hostile either. Prospecting careers open up many windows of opportunity and offer a chance to start anew. Prospectors are willing to stake everything on success and make the best out of their new life. The place sure looks rough, but at the end of the day, it’s still home.

And of course, we want the place to look awesome.

Now that context is out of the way, let’s dive straight into what changes to the station you can expect to see for Season 3 and beyond:

• Most buildings have been reworked and remodeled to make the station feel more claustrophobic yet barer, showing both a lack of space and resources.
  
  
  
  
• Added a building on top of the store that directly connects to the landing pad.
  
• Osiris HQ should feel a lot more, uh, “sciency”, holograms included. It’s also easier to access, for all of you field scientists.
  
  
  
  
• Reworked the exterior area that leads to your Private Quarters.
  
• The central stores got a bit of a facelift as well, to fit in with the rest of the station. Windfall is happy as can be.
  
  
  
  
• Changed the whole structure of the... roof? Ceiling? How do you call that in a station? Anyway, look up, things are different!
  
• ICA HQ was rehauled as well and the area was reshaped a bit, so it’s clear to everyone the station keeps going after that.
  
  
  
  
• Overall, the place is a lot grimier and dirtier than it used to be.

That’s for our architectural changes. But that’s not all we wanted to rethink. We wanted to the station to feel more real, more alive. Here’s what should help with this:

• Sprinkled a lot of faction NPCs going about their business throughout their station. You can see them repair stuff, load ships, scan their surroundings, operate machinery, patrol the area or just chill, as is their birth-given right.
  
• More Prospector NPCs can also be seen around the station, preparing their next drop, checking out what they’ve brought back, having a drink at the Lucky Leafman or, again, just plain chilling.
  
  
  
  
• We added a few cages here and there and filled them with Fortuna III creatures. Oh don’t give me that look, you’ve been working with Osiris for ages by now!
  
• Speaking of which, Osiris scientists can be seen analyzing weird, giant bones, eggs and nest parts. We did mention a big baddie was coming to the planet, right?
  
• A new crafting station is being operated by droids. I’m sure they know what they’re doing, but I wouldn’t hang too close, just to be safe.
  
  
  
  
• The landing pad we’ve mentioned earlier is busier than ever, as crew members shuffle around while ships keep landing and taking off towards the surface.
  
• Added some traffic and random drones flying around, pretending to be busy.
  
• NPCs generally feel more realistic, as we’ve reworked their lighting and presentation.

Guess that’s it for the Prospect Station upgrades. The rest is up to our architects, ready to deliver a revamped hub for the start of Season 3.

Next week, we’ll talk about everyone’s favorite tools of the trade, best friends in survival, vessels of death and destruction: GUNS.

Until then, take care of yourselves, have fun on the surface, don’t eat raw Brightcaps, and catch you all on Fortuna III.



Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Greetings Prospectors and welcome to, you’ve guessed it, another quick update about the upcoming Season 3.

Last week, we wrapped up with a bit of a cryptic conclusion about being more technical next time. If you’re wondering what we meant by that, it’s quite simple: today, we’re literally going to talk about technical updates and upgrades to the game since our first betas last year.

So, unless you have good reasons to not read the following paragraphs, in which case I would recommend closing this tab right away, let’s get this show on the road!

Let’s start with a highly important topic and an issue we faced when we released the game: cheating and hacking. We’ve talked about that on several occasions before, but we figured this day would be as good as any to do a full sum-up of how we tackled the problem and significantly reduced instances of unsavory gameplay.



First thing on our list is our Cheating Victim Compensation system, arguably our most important addition in helping to reduce overall player frustration and prevent unfair happenings. The system logs every kill and every death from every Prospector out there. It triggers when a player is banned for cheating, scanning every one of their kills and automatically resending what their victims lost on death.

Next is the inclusion of Shielded Matchmaking and, along with it, Trusted Status. Introduced around the start of Season 2, these systems prevent banned cheaters from immediately creating another account and cause further havoc in our community. Basically, whenever a Prospector drops on the surface, the system takes a good look at their account history (stuff like creation date, time played and even purchases) and decides if they should be thrown into trusted queues or not.

By default, most players out there are identified as trusted, and others can reach that status rather quickly. The feedback we’ve received from those updates has been tremendously positive so far – apart from a couple of unfortunate blunders that really sucked – and we’re making sure to keep a close eye on our criteria at all times to make sure the systems are performing optimally.

When Closed Beta 2 dropped and cheating suddenly became the main subject of conversations, we realized we had to step up our game on that front. Our first course of action was to create a new team, entirely devoted to researching and developing anti-cheat solutions. At that point, several of our engineers became 100% focused on that goal, and we’ve recruited additional brain power to muscle through the task.

Yes, this is when our beloved Toast, pièce de bread extraordinaire, joined the adventure.



On the more technical side, we’ve worked with several third parties so far to integrate new software dedicated to the fight against cheating through data encryption. It doesn’t actively prevent cheaters from showing up but makes it so creating cheats for our game is suddenly a way more daunting and difficult task.

Meanwhile, we keep tweaking and adjusting our automatic cheat detection systems as we go. Almost every update since the start of Season 1 included changes to those, to ensure we’re able to catch newly created cheats as they come. It’s a never-ending battle, but we’ve still got a lot of fight left in us.

Because there’s always more strength in numbers, we’re also counting on other external help to support us in our endeavors. The Cycle: Frontier uses BattlEye, a software that contributes to the fight by detecting cheats directly on user computers (as opposed to our own solutions sifting through game activity). We’ve been working closely with them since release, and they’ve been incredibly helpful making up for our own shortcomings. Huge kudos to them!

Last but not least, as we want our players to be part of the brawl, we’ve completely revamped our report system in Season 2, by reworking the whole interface and making reports provide us with much more useful data than before. Reporting a suspicious Prospector became a lot less tedious than it used to be and we’ve noticed a sharp increase in the number of players using this function, allowing us to track down and remove cheaters even more efficiently.

Keep those reports coming, Prospectors. The battle rages on!

By now, we’ve made clear that cheating was a huge topic for us, as it is for most online games out there. But there’s many other ways for players to get frustrated to the point of ragequitting. Since we don’t want to annoy players too much, we’ve made a few other technical improvements since our official release.

One thing we really wanted to improve is the overall game experience for newer players. The beginning of a prospecting career can be harsh and difficult, and it’s just not fun when it feels like a confusing slap in the face – after all, there are countless other games out there, why stick to this one if the first hour is already annoying?

To help with this, we’ve made substantial improvements to our tutorial and general early experience with the game. This includes better explanations on basic mechanics, like how to sell items and how important PvP is to the game. We’ve also added several explanations to the tutorial itself, on top of giving new blood a better loadout, allowing them to discover more interesting weapons and giving them something to look forward to.

Past those first steps, green Prospectors can expect a much smoother and fairer experience than around release. Matchmaking has been fully reworked to make player encounters a lot more balanced. On top of the aforementioned shielded matchmaking, new players also enjoy a bit of protection, preventing them from running into grizzled veterans. Finally, we’ve made our first map a bit friendlier, and made sure shielded Prospectors dropping alone on Bright Sands find themselves in a fully solo lobby. Better than running into a full squad of hardened killers on your lunch break!

Last thing we wanted to mention, stability was also a very important topic for us. We’ve mentioned frustration earlier and let me tell you there’s no greater joy and bliss than losing all your loot and loadout after being booted from the game’s servers. As a response, we’ve greatly improved our infrastructure stability over the course of Season 1 and significantly reduced the lag and frequency of disconnections experienced by players.

For those few remaining oopsies, we've introduced a reconnect feature with the start of Season 2. This change was largely requested by players throughout Season 1 and allows those who find themselves kicked out of the game to log back in and pick up right where they had left. This further helps mitigating frustrating losses, especially on long trips or when taking along high-quality equipment.



With that, I think that’s all we had to share about technical updates. Overall, we want to say the game currently provides a much smoother and more enjoyable experience than ever before.

Next week won’t be technical but more mechanical, as we’ll be talking about a famous piece of architecture that will be getting quite the facelift in Season 3.

Until then, take care, have a great day, and catch you all on the surface.



Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Hey hey Prospectors!

Today is Thursday and, by now, we’re gonna go ahead and assume you already know where we might be heading with this. So, let’s check all together: why are we here right now? That’s right, today we’re gonna talk about the latest arrival in the Fortuna III monstrous roster: the infamous Howler!

(What do you mean the giant pic kinda gave it away?)



In a word, the Howler is a new big bad monster that’s set to land on Season 3, adding another layer of danger to the already hostile world of Fortuna III. It flies, it roams, and it screams so loud your ears will be ringing for a couple of days. Want to know more? Yeah sure, why not, let’s do just that!

I guess so? Though chances are, you’ll be the ones ending up as a clump of delicious foam.

The Howler is this relative beauty right here.



As mentioned above, the Howler has 2 main characteristics: it’s flying and it’s roaming.

The flying part should be pretty self-explanatory: the Howler is our very first airborne creature, which means literal death from above. You’ll have to keep an eye on the skies at all times and you’ll probably have a tough time getting a melee kill.

The roaming part is a bit trickier to explain. Other creatures may walk around a bit and pursue players as they see fit, but they’ll generally stay around their designated spawn points. The Howler is not restrained by such mundanities. It goes as a free mind will, travelling around the map as it sees fit, only stopping to make itself a comfy nest or rain misery on various Prospectors.

Fiercely, to say the least! It has its own array of attacks, some new, other more standard. Let’s start with the latter and move on from there:

• It moves around the skies in evasive maneuvers, throwing a barrage of projectiles at its opponents.
  
• Should Prospectors get close and personal, it won’t hesitate to swipe, lash, sting, and tear.
  
• It scatters special, explosive projectiles onto the ground, effectively acting as proximity mines. Don’t get close to those if you value your health!
  
• It lets out a deafening scream, disorienting every Prospector in the vicinity. This will directly affect your visuals.
  
• Once it has taken enough punishment, it will enrage and become stronger and even meaner than before. At this point, someone’s going down for sure!

Our advice for this one: bring big guns, friends with a similar loadout and get ready to dodge. The Howler is not as tough as a Crusher, but its flight capabilities will make it an interesting challenge for sure. Finally, do try to keep a second pair of eyes on the ground: the Howler may be sky-bound, but the rest of the planet are still using their legs!



A great sense of pride and accomplishment!

But I guess for those of you still burdened by material needs and cravings, we threw in a new batch of more traditional loot.

Like any other creature, taking down a Howler will reward you with pieces and materials unique to your prey. These can be handed out to the factions to complete new missions, used in some crafting recipes or just plain old for a fat load of cash.

As an alternative, killing a Howler is not the only way to enjoy its spoils. The sneakiest among you can try to stay on its tracks as it roams around and pick up whatever it drops, while the boldest can infiltrate their nests and grab their hoard (and you know what they say about Fortuna and the bold). Just try to avoid upsetting their eggs.



Okay, we’ve been trying to paint a scary picture there, but Howlers are not always in full bloodlust mode. They will usually just move around the skies of Bright Sands and Crescent Falls minding their own business. If you don’t feel ready for a big fight and happen to spot one, just keep a low profile and wait for it to move on. And if you see one randomly screaming into the sunset, don’t move an inch: that’s them trying to echolocate some prey!

Worst case scenario, you can always try to disengage should you end up in a kerfuffle with the beast. The Howler is territorial and will defend its nests to the death, but it most likely won’t chase you to the ends of the surface – assuming you didn’t already piss it off beyond redemption of course. A classic case of fiddling around and finding out.

If you’re careful, no, not necessarily. But you will probably want to at some point if you want to progress, on top of the materials mentioned above!

The factions are of course showing a particular interest in this new menace and are always looking for undaunted suckers to do their bidding. New faction campaigns and missions will require you to face Howlers head-on and will ask you to bring souvenirs from Howler nests. Some dangerous tasks ahead, but hey, don’t forget it’s literally your job!





And that will be all about the Howler for now. We are confident the inclusion of this new beast will keep players on their toes and create many new, exciting stories across the community.

If you want to know more about that flying horror, make sure to log in when Season 3 kicks in on March 29, 2023.

Until then, take care of yourselves, and see you next week, when things are gonna get a bit more technical around here.



Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Greetings and salutations, Prospectors!

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last announcement around Season 3 and, if you’ve been keeping an eye on our roadmap, you know it’s time for another article about what you can expect for the new season.

Let’s do just that then! And without wasting another second, we’re jumping straight into the thick of the matter, with another big change to the game.

Spent all your cash on some fancy attachments? Ended up one too many times on the wrong end of a gun barrel and struggling a bit to properly resupply? Wanna try out new weapons without spending resources on them? Then Free Loadout Runs are made for you!

Free Loadout Runs allow you to drop down to the surface with a full pre-defined loadout graciously granted to you by one of the three factions. You are not restricted in any way once on the surface and can do whatever you usually do down there. If you manage to evac successfully, you get to keep all that gear and whatever you’ve found on your deadly trek.

Oh, and we’re using the name “free” because that’s what the loadout is. Free. But you’ve probably figured that out already.


First of all, it’s free stuff. Free. Stuff. We’re gonna go ahead and assume no further explanation is needed.

Second, this allows you to drop and go through a proper playing session without having to risk any of your own gear. Sure, you might not be deadly enough to take on an army of Jeffs or another unspecified big monster (wink wink), but you still get to run around and take a shot at your missions with, worst case scenario, zero losses.

Third, it’s a great opportunity to test some stuff out. The Free Loadouts are randomized and might include a weapon you’ve never handled before, so you get a chance to try it out without regret or worry.

Fourth, and that’s a very important point, did we mention free stuff?

Very simply: go to the drop terminal, choose a map, select whatever free loadout is available at the moment and drop to the surface. No further strings attached!



We’ve worked out a few more details on what you can expect to be handed out:

• Every free loadout will include at least 1 weapon with a bunch of ammo, 1 shield, 1 helmet, 1 backpack and a few health consumables.
  
• Loadouts may include additional items, like attachments or other types of consumables.
  
• Gear rarity will vary from Common (gray) to Rare (blue). Specifics will vary, but every loadout will amount to roughly the same total value.
  
• Free Loadout Runs will be available several times per day, with a cooldown timer between each run.
  
• Loadouts offered to you will stay the same until you drop with them. You get to reroll them once every 24h though, in case there’s something you really dislike in there.
  
• You can’t bring any of your own gear if you’re picking a free loadout. Nothing preventing you from evacuating and piecing out your own loadout afterwards though.

One thing we really wanted to introduce is a way for players to enjoy a quick gaming session here and there without fearing for their progression every time. Free Loadout Runs allow for a more carefree experience, as getting foamed won’t incur any loss.

We also wanted to offer newer and more casual players an easier way to get into the game, understand its mechanics, and explore the surface without being constantly punished for being green. It will also limit the chances of going bankrupt early on and having to rely on knife runs to recoup.

All in all, Free Loadout Runs will make the experience smoother and allow you to quickly drop again in just a few clicks, without fear or worry. We hope you will enjoy these freebies: the factions are doing something nice for once, so make sure to milk them for all their worth!


Season 3 should also bring additional improvements to our matchmaking system. When we first worked on The Cycle: Frontier, we didn’t think matchmaking would matter too much, as it doesn’t for most extraction shooters. We quickly realized however that, simply put, we were wrong.

We want every player out there to have the best of times when playing our game. They should experience a good mix of tension and excitement, but also make sure progression remains somewhat fair and linear. Moreover, we want to show every type of player that we value and respect their time, no matter their skill level. And we want our game to reflect that.

We’ve mentioned matchmaking several times in the past months and have made significant improvements to the system throughout the seasons to make the experience smoother and fairer: preventing new solo players from running into squads of three juggernauts, ensuring unexperienced Prospectors don’t get to face pro PvP players and trying to fill every server with players of a similar skill level.

This was done through data analysis, feedback collection, internal testing and, sometimes, pure experimentation. We believe matchmaking criteria are currently in a much better place than they ever were, but there’s still more we want to bring to the table.

With Season 3, we might change additional parameters, to make sure everyone's trip on the surface remains a fair yet tense and exciting experience, especially for newer players still trying to get their bearings.

Of course, fairness doesn’t mean every drop will be a walk in the park. If someone manages to sneak up on you and serve you a face full of shotgun pellets, that’s entirely on you!



That last enticing scenario brings us to the end of this announcement. We hope you’re getting excited for what’s to come so far, as we can’t wait to bring all that to you.

Don't forget to join us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) and make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheCycleGame)

Next week, we’ll be talking about another monstrous addition to Season 3. Bring a lot of insect repellant. Until then, take care of yourselves, have a wonderful day and see you all on the surface.

Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Greetings, Prospectors!

As you’re well aware by now, surviving on Fortuna III is no easy task, and every successful evac is an achievement worth celebrating. Now there’s several ways for a Prospector to celebrate victory: go for a power nap in their Private Quarters, order a gigantic Brightcap stew at the Lucky Leafman or slip into fresh new clothes that just scream hey, I’m a survivor y’all. Today, we’re mostly gonna talk about that last one.

The Fortuna Survivor Pack contains a stylish outfit, a cool knife and a bunch of Aurum. Best part is, it's currently available for free on Steam! Just go to the store page or follow the link below and click "Claim" to, well, claim your prize!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2089570/The_Cycle_Frontier__Fortuna_Survivor/


The Fortuna Survivor DLC pack includes:

• Survivor Outfit Set
  
• Survivor's Blade
  
• 250 Aurum

The offer will remain available until February 7, 2023. Players who already own the pack won’t be able to claim it a second time.

What are you waiting for? Go grab it right away! Until then, take care of yourselves, Prospectors. Stay safe, keep surviving, and see you all on the surface.

Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Hey Prospectors!

Time is ticking, days keep flying by, and if our Lunar calendar is right, it looks like we’re approaching the start of a new year on there. It’s something to be celebrated, which is one fine coincidence actually, ‘cause we do love celebrations.

So, what are we gonna do about it? I don’t know, wish you all the best for this new year I guess? Maybe take this opportunity for another cool event? Something with, uh, free stuff maybe? Prospectors love free stuff, right?

Then it’s settled: an event we shall have!


Welcome to the 2023 Lunar Fest everyone, a special event we’ve created in honor of this Lunar New Year 2023! The goal of this event is to enjoy life as much as you can, and to do so, we will reward you for staying alive and making it back to the station safe and sound. Manage to evac every day in the span of a week to get your hands on the full rewards!

Here’s the full list of rewards we have prepared for you:

• 1 day: 50 Aurum.
  
• 2 days: 110 Aurum.
  
• 3 days: 180 Aurum.
  
• 4 days: 260 Aurum.
  
• 5 days: 350 Aurum.
  
• 6 days: 450 Aurum.
  
• 7 days: 1000 Aurum.

Disclaimer:

• Note that you can only unlock new reward thresholds one day at a time by evacuating successfully at least once per day for the duration of the event.
  
• Rewards are not cumulative; you will only receive the amount of Aurum specified above depending on the amount of days with at least one successful evac. For instance, if you’ve had successful evacs on 4 different days, you will receive a 260 Aurum reward.
  
• Rewards will be sent to your accounts roughly 1 week following the end of the event, once we’ve had a look at all your accounts and checked how many limbs you’ve left on the surface.

The 2023 Lunar Fest will run from Saturday, January 21st at 00:01AM CET / January 20th 06:01 PM EST until Friday, January 27th at 11:59 PM CET / 05:59 PM EST. We will also be running a special promotion and several items will be on sale in the in-game shop. Make sure to check it for additional booty!


May this new year be kind and gentle to all of you. Until then, have a wonderful day and never forget: Fortuna Favors the Bold!

Hello Prospectors!

Welcome to our first patch of 2023. We have a lot of bug fixes for you and started our work on Patch 2.8.0. Hunter Vision will remain disabled until further notice.
For the upcoming Patch 2.8.0 we are taking another look at the current performance of weapons... looking at you there Basilisk.

If you missed our communication around Season 3, take another look at this: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/868270/view/5252919611947036646

If you login you will receive your rewards from the Holiday Monster Bash:

• A Coating that can be used on all of your weapons
  
• The Rattler Gingerbread Charm

The login reward is available until patch 2.8.0!

We have implemented a fancy news system in the game that we will start using with the next patch. Everything that is important surrounding The Cycle: Frontier will be visible after you have logged into the game. We will have to run some final tests with the feature in the live build before we can properly use it. Additional information will follow in the patch notes for 2.8.0, so stay tuned for more info and screenshots in the next update!

• Strider
  • Health reduced from 40 to 35
• Rattler
  • Health reduced from 150 to 140

We have rebalanced our loot tables. This means there is always a slight chance to find higher-tiered items in the containers you loot. Make sure to leave no stone unturned!


After a discussion between the Game Designers and Community Managers we have changed a bunch of the healing items in the game. Medkits should be viable in and outside of combat, depending on the scenario of course. (Not everyone is a capable combat medic) and the changes should give you more freedom of choice.

• Common Stim
  • Application time increased 3s -> 4s
    
  • Heal amount increased 15 -> 20
• Uncommon Stim
  • Application time increased 3s -> 4s
• Rare Stim
  • Application time increased 3s -> 4s
• Common Medkit
  • Application time reduced 12s -> 9s
    
  • Weight decreased 20 -> 15
• Uncommon Medkit
  • Application time reduced 9s -> 8s
• Rare Medkit
  • Application time reduced 8s -> 7s
    
  • Weight increased 10 -> 15

Gravity, everyone's arch nemesis, felt a little bit too punishing. While you still should be scared of taking damage from falling, dying because of small movement mistakes is less likely. In the image below you can find the old calculation on the left, and the new calculation on the right.

• We have reduced the maximum amount of Prospectors on Bright Sands by 1.
  
• We adjusted the rarity tiers of some weapon skins.
  
• As announced on the 11th of January, we will adjust the shop prices for several countries across the world.

• We have fixed a small issue of our maintenance mode. You will not encounter the black loading screen of doom, but rather see the proper "Server Offline" screen.
  
• We have fixed the filters for repairing items, they will not appear empty any longer after filtering.
  
• Fixed a minor issue with the alignment of the Paladin Blade in the customization menu. Some players have an amazing eye for details.
  
• We have fixed an Backpack Insurance exploit! Carry on Prospectors, nothing to see here.
  
• The "Contracts" screen panels have stopped to overlap, as we have upgraded the terminals.
  
• The number "0000" was removed from the Fortuna Pass screen.
  
• The quest Item "The Tharis Files" can't be looted anymore without having the "A Deep Dark Hole" mission active. Don't get greedy and focus on your tasks!
  • Same for the "Osiris Engineer Scanner" from the mission "Race to the Bottom"
• We fixed the issue that made you unable to shoot your weapon after a heavy melee attack. While swinging your melee weapon can be exhausting, you will never be too tired to shoot your gun!
  
• We fixed a small issue with the beginner matchmaking.
  
• We updated the Woodcutter Camp to prevent an unintended spot from being reachable.
  
• An out of bounds area in the Woodcutter Camp got fixed.
  
• We fixed a climbing exploit near the South East Uplink on Bright Sands.
  
• Another climbing exploit was fixed close the the Lake / Parking Lot on Bright Sands.
  
• The Parking lot received additional attention as we fixed some clipping issues there.
  
• An out of bounds area close to the Lake got fixed.
  
• The Waterfall on Bright Sands also had a spot that was in need of fixing.
  
• The Lake area close to the Lakeside Building on Crescent Falls was made inaccessible, as intended.
  
• An unintended method of accessing the Root Rock Tunnel was removed.
  
• We have fixed an issue with the Crusher Caverns that could be exploited.
  
• The lighting does not flicker anymore when walking around the Crusher Caverns entrance area on Crescent Falls.
  
• A stuckspot between tree roots at the Nutrion Farms Processing got fixed.
  
• Another stuckspot encounter at a platform near Starport Admin got fixed.
  
• Some collision issues in the Favela buildings on Crescent Falls got fixed.
  
• Several out of bounds areas on Tharis Island got fixed.
  
• A rock wall in the Osiris Offices area will not clip through glass anymore.
  
• We fixed a collision issue near the Osiris Offices area.
  
• A part of the Sparkling Pool area got adjusted to fix a collision issue.
  • We also fixed a texture gap in this area.
• We fixed a stuckspot near Korolev Island HQ on Tharis Island.
  
• Fixed a stuckspot close to the Alien Forge.

• Hunter Vision will remain disabled for now as we're still trying to figure out issues with it.
  
• Weapons
  • There are multiple hit registration issues present at the edge of the AOE when shooting with the Komrad.
    
  • No-reg hitmarkers and kill markers reports are being investigated by the team.
• Fortuna Pass
  • Claiming an Archetypes displays duplicate body parts beside it (Chest, Gloves, Boots).
    
  • After completing one level purchase in the 'Fortuna Pass', the next consecutive purchase displays the icons of items from the previous purchase.
• Gear visibility
  • In match, you don't see your own Backpack (can be evident when emoting) but can see other Prospector Backpacks.

As usual, don't forget to join us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) and make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheCycleGame)

Keep the feedback coming as we always appreciate constructive suggestions as to how we can improve the experience of Fortuna III. Y'know the gig: Fortuna Favors the bold!