Patch Type: Minor
Patch Number 1.1.7
PTR Date: 7/28/2022
Release Date: 7/31/2022

We're excited to announce Minor 1.1.7 has a variety of fixes and improvements that address player feedback and bug reports.

The patch includes quality of life improvements, numerous bugfixes, stability and performance improvements, tweaks to the Celestial Throne climb, an improved Matchmaking experience that's more informative for queued players, plus new Drift animations and voice lines.

Say hello to Drift popping out in various regions now! 🤖

Edit - We're actively working on issues reported by the community here: Player Top Voted Issues. Added links to related issues below. Fixes made are also based on feedback/reports from multiple sources (Discord, bug reports, etc).

• New Drift animations and voice lines for regions
  
• Improved Matchmaking UI/UX that includes:
  
  • Icon indicators for queued players
    
  • Matchmaking status in the mini map text pop up
    
  • New "Instance Ready" pop up with a countdown to join [[url=https://feedback.zenithmmo.com/boards/player-top-issue-vote/posts/message-pop-up-when-queue-is-ready]source 1
  [/url], source 2]
  
• Players time out when queueing for more than 15 minutes
  
• Crafting stations are disabled while queueing and crafting ingredients get refunded

Changes to the Celestial Throne climb:

• Moved some platforms to show a clearer path forward
  
• Moving platforms pause for longer before moving again
  
• Added safety rocks beneath dangerous sections
  
• Fixed colliders on moving platforms and vines
  
• Added mines in some sections and adjusted the timing for explosions

Dungeon updates:

• Minor improvements to the dungeon boundary system
  
• Added previous action completion requirement for boss to spawn in Forsaken Reliquary
  
• Added previous room completion requirement for bosses in Seething Depths and Infernal Core
  
• Increased laser damage for traps in Forsaken Reliquary
  
• Improved wording on Terms of Service buttons
  
• Sound polish for the Celestial Throne content

[/list]

• Reduced crashes and other stability and performance improvements [[url=https://feedback.zenithmmo.com/boards/player-top-issue-vote/posts/game-crash-after-instance-dungeons]source

[/url]]

Fixed the Amara's Tear counter to display the correct amount in some regions

A further fix to repeatable quests to resolve an issue where they could show up as available but be unselectable

When a player dies, the revival tether will always appear above the ground now

Fixed a duplication bug for the Cloak of Amara flower [[url=https://feedback.zenithmmo.com/boards/bug-reports/posts/purple-flower-bug]source

[/url]]

Party markers on the map no longer pop when a party member is moving

Fixed a bug that allowed turning in the same items more than once when completing certain quests

Fixed lasers not activating in the Defiled Gardens sometimes

Fixed a bug where players could rejoin already completed instances

Players prevented from switching characters while matchmaking

Fixed item level requirement bug for roulettes and raids

Made Essence Mage thrown abilities more reliable [[url=https://feedback.zenithmmo.com/boards/bug-reports/posts/em-ball-disappears-into-the-ground]source 1

[/url], source 2]

Visual improvements for armor like the Gothic Raven

Visual bugfixes and upgrades for various dungeons

Fixed network sync and collision bugs in various dungeons

General backend system improvements

[/list]

• Made projectile launcher release code more robust to prevent issue that holding the trigger while letting go of the blaster would cause the blaster to get stuck in the world [[url=https://feedback.zenithmmo.com/boards/bug-reports/posts/blaster-glitch]source

[/url]]

Fixed low-resolution texture on the tree in the center of the Defiled Gardens

[/list]

Hello everyone, hope you enjoy the new update!

This update comes with a new map, bug fixes, and a simple, but new rock! Also, we are still working to continue to optimize Rock Life: The Rock Simulator from all GPU related issues.

Here is the list of changes in this new update:

- Added Volume Slider

- Brand New Map (River)

- Optimized/Fix Full-screen using too much GPU bug!

- Updated Achievement System (Especially for Giga Rock)

- Added Translations (French and German)

- New Rock, 'Small Rocks'

- Updated VR with the new rocks, scenes, and updated VR Menu!

Thank you everyone for the continued support, and as always, stay rock!

I made decent progress earlier this week, but then got swamped with non-game work, including this weekend, so I haven’t managed to write a post this week.

As a quick reminder before a more detailed post next week, I am now working on bugs, sounds, and art (which I will mention next week).

Until next week!

What's going on survivors! I've been working on this update for the last month and am really excited to bring these changes to my game. Shoutout to PoppiePlays, who gave me a ton of feedback in a YouTube video early this month that went into this update. I've implemented all of his feedback plus a few other things in the update as well. The changes are the following:

- Code cleanup which resulted in significant performance boosts.
- Fixed bug causing Graphics Settings Menu to not work as intended.
- Fixed bug causing Audio Settings Menu to not work as intended.
- Troubleshooted and improved screen tearing that some users were experiencing.
- Improved opening mechanism of the closets to be more responsive to the player.
- Remade the credits menu to look better from a visual standpoint.
- Added trigger warnings for flashing lights and loud noises to the main menu and steam page.
- Made flashlight no longer flicker until the endgame. I've received some feedback that the flashlight flickering doesn't really add anything to the game as it stood before the update. In order to make it feel like it does add something, the flashlight now only flickers for the last 3 levels of the game, which really heightens the tension in the endgame.
- Made flashlight dim as the player moves through the first few levels. Wanted the game to still somehow feel harder visually as you progress through the early levels even after the flicking change. I feel that this accomplishes the goal but we'll see if people like it.
- Troubleshooted and improved directional audio. I've received some feedback that it's still hard to pinpoint where the demon and doll are using audio so I spent countless hours troubleshooting and improving how it works in game. It's at the point know where I can pretty much always figure out what room the demon / doll is in just by the in game audio. I'm hoping that other players of the game have a similar experience. I've also sped up the footsteps off the demon so you have a more constant stream of information as to where it is.
- Added the Tutorial UI Feature which is essentially a visual representation of where the demon and doll are when they are moving across the map. This will inform new players that they should be paying attention to where the doll and demon are. It will also help people get used to the map and better pinpoint where the demon and doll are as they play. Note that this UI disappears in the endgame so you will have to rely on your listening skills to actually win the game!

I've worked really hard on this update and I hope that you all like it! This game has come so far since launch and I have all the awesome feedback from the community to thank for that. Enjoy the update and keep sending me your feedback!

Best,

CampinCarl

Today's patch introduces the "Artillery" resource and ability:

Winning a battle will earn you 1 artillery, and 5 artilleries can be used to activate an ability during combat. For now, this ability will simply give you some shields and damage. In the future I might change this ability to be unique and interesting for each character. I think it might also be interesting to have cards/tech which interact with Artillery in various ways.

Other changes:

- The last boss has been made easier on lower difficulties
- Enemies are selected more randomly now
- A few new cards have been added for Storm. Some of these are still missing an artwork. Some minor balance changes are also made.
- A "Reset" button has been added. This button will remove all game progress, and make it as though you are starting up the game for the first time. It can be used if you want to delete a corrupt save file, or if you just want to start over. The Reset button replaces the "Browse local data" button.
- For low difficulties, there is now an improved visualization of the planet's travel range. Keep in mind that on the low difficulties, you still can't travel to consumed stars.
- It used to be that enemies' attack values could not change immediately after you press "end turn". This mechanic was intended to make the game more approachable. Unfortunately, with the introduction of stuff like Weakener, this mechanic is becoming harder to maintain in a reasonable way. Therefore, I'm removing this feature for now.
- Of course there are other minor changes, such as bugfixes and steady UI improvements.

Some great new updates to Auto Fire this month. The UI got another level up with some improved screens and a more lived-in look. You can now go to the citadel and help those people out, building renown with that city. Citadels are a little more solid in their representation also, with one of only a few corporations keeping control of the populace across the country. Finally, the visuals took an uptick with better lighting, new desert terrain visuals and cleaned up foliage. Excited to be preparing for revealing to players this fall!

• Sectors now have a renown level that gates new sector quests.
  
• Tutorial also now uses renown sector quests.
  
• Cleared up the skull rating and show it on the challenge tablet app.
  
• Cleaned up factions signficantly. At campaign generation there are only four corporate factions, two military factions, one citizen and one duellist faction.
  
• Set up each sector now with a consistent resident and enemy faction.
  
• Changed enemy and sector definitions to be able to be controlled on a per sector basis, allowing for better channeling of content across the overworld maps.
  
• Quests now have a clearer faction reward and renown award for sectors
  
• Fixed up sector leader quest arcs. The player can eliminate an enemy entirely from the overworld of a sector.
  
• Quests now have a goto step or a load cargo step.

• Each citadel is run by one of the 4 corporations.
  
• The mayor or citadel leader will dole out a quest for you, which gives you an opportunity to increase your sector renown
  
• The player can now abandon cargo in a citadel and it will be returned to the quest list
  
• The player can even abandon sector quest cargo and it is returned to the sector quest list.
  
• Cargo cannot be returned for salvage profit unless it doesn't have a quest attached.
  
• The player cannot accept a cargo quest unless they have room to haul it.

• Dashboard elements now have schmutz on their frames as well as the glass
  
• Sped up zooms and added functionality to make any panel zoom, plus zooming recenters the view based on the visible portion of the screen.
  
• Improved the Travel and reward tablet app visuals
  
• New Challenge popup when entering a combat area
  
• Fixed up the quote panel in the upper right.
  
• Quest steps now read out as crossed out if completed in quest list

• Mayor feed in the citadel ticks out like the quest panels do.
  
• Revised automap and travel panels to use the same look
  
• Menus and screens also have some schmutz added for a bit more lived-in look
  
• Added macros for if the player chooses the gender "they", so we can say "who [is] [he]?" as "who are they?"
  
• Added a feed to the loading screen so we can have a colorful quote from the populace on the current situation.

• Fixed up quality settings in the settings panel, as well as setting the default quality to high.
  
• Revised all desert terrain textures to something a bit more stylized and cleaner (Deep Desert Pack asset)
  
• Fixed up all terrains to properly display grass again (broken links abound)
  
• Adjusted lighting to not overbright, and made sure all views use deferred lighting so that VFX lighting shows up more effectively.
  
• Put dirt decals under shacks so as to make them a bit clearer as obstacles.
  
• Zoom makes a whoosh sound

• Fixed improperly LOD'ing models by a windmill
  
• A courier quest to a combat area now can complete and the combat quest continues properly.
  
• Fixed bug that if I killed the sector boss, the game would eventually crash
  
• Boss camera on encounters now zoom into the proper target again.
  
• Fixed several bad citizen tweets, some of which sounded extra dumb and others crashed the game(!)
  
• Fixed crashes based on occasionally building battlegrounds.

• Adjusted night lighting settings (to be used in the future) for some experiements.
  
• Updated to Unity 2020.3.33f

Ahead of this week's event we have continued our rebalancing of the game and made some map fixes reported by the community.

Recently added were capture stages. Progress is now divided into stages, which once completed are saved even if the capturing player is killed. This is intended to improve the attackers vs. defenders balance and encourage defenders to defend objectives more closely, as attackers can can make progress without completing the capture.

We will post the patch notes on Steam ahead of the event. Keep an eye on the game news feed on Steam.

Regular fortnightly community event OPEN TO ALL. Play with your friends, meet the devs and fellow community members on the battlefield.

You can also optionally sign-up at https://discord.g g/vanguardww2 in the #events channel where you can also sign up for notifications of future events and get a 30 minute reminder before the event starts.

Note: This event will run on Saturday 6th August from 7:00PM UTC+1 to 8:30PM UTC+1. The event time on the Steam page should be displayed in your local time

This event will be on the latest pre-release beta of the upcoming "REINFORCED" Update on the '0.6-beta' branch.

You can change branch by right-clicking the game in your library, selecting properties, opening the betas tab and entering the password 'slowrampdrop' before clicking 'check code' (important). Then select 0.6-beta from the dropdown menu.

• challenge rooms now have a slightly different theme depending on which floor you are on
  
• added a sound for the poison spitter enemy
  
• drastically improved the way objects are being thrown. Potions and food can now be thrown further and take the movement velocity of the player into account. This means that throwing an object up in the air while walking, will not result in the object snapping backwards because of no velocity anymore.
  
• fixed an issue with the world generator sometimes generating a softlock
  
• fixed spectator camera not smoothing the movements
  
• fixed an issue with being able to go into the main menu when in the "run starting" animation, softlocking the player
  
• fixed insight getting awarded when using the console
  
• fixed an issue with alchemist marks potions not being able to be picked up when spawned
  
• the screen now turns completely black when inside a wall instead of showing a few close objects
  
• fixed dungeon start music sometimes cutting off when too many sounds are playing
  
• fixed item highlight info sometimes staying in mid air (again)
  
• fixed some layering issues for UIs during fadeout
  
• trap rooms now lower their barriers when the player is outside them (failsave)
  
• fixed enemy alert sounds not playing for most enemies
  
• fixed potion effects not showing when climbing a ladder

Today's patch has some fixes and improvements:

• Alt+Enter now toggles between full screen and windowed mode
  
• F11 full screen toggle hotkey now works at the profile selection screen
  
• Rules can now be shown in the game window or in a separate window (new setting)
  
• Added a column to the free play grid that shows whether or not a variant has an in-progress saved game
  
• Drastically reduced memory usage of game