Apr 25, 2024

Halo Infinite - misplacedyank

Our preview of Halo Infinite’s next content update continues with a closer look at the sandbox tunings, mode and playlist updates, and additional gameplay improvements ahead of Operation: Banished Honor’s arrival on April 30.

Sandbox Updates

Halo Infinite’s sandbox is getting some tuning updates based on community feedback and overall player usage, so let’s kick things off with some exciting news that’ll make your Plasma Pistol hum!

Plasma Pistol

The return of the king! We’ve heard your feedback, desiring the Plasma Pistol’s ability to temporarily EMP (“Oh, you mean an emp!”) vehicles with its overcharged bolt, and we are giving you just that.

Restored EMP functionality on vehicles

Mk50 Sidekick

We know the rapid-fire functionality feels great and is core to the identity of the weapon, but we wanted to address player feedback on the time-to-kill when on the receiving end of a Sidekick encounter.

Rounds per second decreased 6.6 >> 5.6

S7 Sniper Rifle

A common theme in feedback from the community has been that the sniper’s ready-up time after being picked up felt a tad too lengthy. To help the sniper feel snappier, we wanted to address this by decreasing its ready-up time. We hope this will allow for more sniper highlights that we can’t wait to watch.

Ready initial playback speed scale 1 >> 1.2 (shorter ready-up time)

Cindershot

The Cindershot is a fun and powerful weapon to use, but we acknowledge it can be frustrating to be redirected by the impulse of the explosion. To eliminate that frustration and address player feedback, we eliminated the gravity effect that would pull players around and slightly reduced the rate of fire. We hope this will improve both sides of the combat experience while still maintaining the Cindershot’s effectiveness as a power weapon.

Remove inverted impulse effect
Rounds per second decreased 1.33 >> 1.1

Gravity Hammer

We felt the range in which the Gravity Hammer can fully eliminate an enemy was too far, so we wanted to address this in the slightest of ways.

Slight decrease of elimination range
Radius low 1.25 >> 1.75
Radius high 2 >> 2.5

Spike Grenade

Spike Grenades have been underperforming in the core gameplay loop, and we felt a change in detonation behavior may improve its viability. The first step we took was to ensure the Spike Grenade reached its intended target by preventing its detonation midair. Additionally, once the Spike Grenade does reach its intended target it will detonate more quickly—similar to other grenades in the sandbox.

Detonation timer starts changed from immediately >> when at rest
Timer decreased (low & high) 1.8 >> 1.2 seconds

Modes

In addition to the above, further adjustments have been made to Firefight, Ranked, Custom Games, and more.

Firefight

Folks have been loving Firefight: King of the Hill and we have been looking to identify places to continue improving that experience as we review player feedback. A particular area we focused on for this update centers around Personal Score—if you’re driving a Warthog while your gunner mows down enemies, or you’ve been putting in the work to bring down an enemy’s health bar but don’t necessarily get the final shot, your contributions should be honored.

As a result, we have made the following additions to Personal Score and Medals:

Regular assists on all AI units = 5 points
Driver assists on AI units = 10 points
Adding higher priority to Land Stand announcer voice over lines to make the feedback more reliable
More Medal support when playing against AI Units

Added medals include: Blind Fire, Bomber, Boxer, Breacher, Grenadier, Gunner, Gunslinger, Heavy, Marksman, Mounted and Loaded, Pilot, Rifleman, Scattergun, Sharpshooter, Tanker, Wheelman.

Ranked

Along with the launch of Banished Honor, Ranks will be reset as we enter a new ranked season.

Additionally, with this update, we’ll be implementing a new feature to improve the Ranked experience. Starting on April 30, if you load into a match and the server detects that there are uneven teams at the start of the match, the game will automatically end and send everybody straight back into matchmaking so players can get a back into a quality match.

Neither team is rewarded nor punished for matches that automatically end as a result of this, your CSR will remain the same—you will jump straight into the matchmaking menu so you can queue for a new, fair match and keep the good times rolling!

Custom Games

Match Score Override is a new feature where, in the event of a game crash or disconnect during—for example—a tournament event, the match can be restarted and its previous state recreated with a set score and timer.

Also, if you’re jumping into some customs and want to give your friends an advantage, you can simply give them whatever number of points you want rather than having to suffer the timely indignity of having to find each other on the map to get killed multiple times over.

Respawn Cameras

After our latest update to respawn cameras, we saw feedback around how we could improve them even more. Now, when you swap between your teammates while waiting to respawn, the camera will always start pointed at where they are looking. When you fall in battle after the update, you will also be able to rotate around your own body. Additionally, the speed that you can rotate your camera has also been increased to help provide even more control over what you’re able to see as well.

Weapon Drills

Added the Bandit EVO to the standard Bandit weapon drills, which should help players who want to warm up using the weapon.

Deadlock Pelican Drops

Players gave us feedback that the Pelican vehicle drops on Deadlock did not feel good when dropping off Scorpions and Wraiths. We liked the focus on tanks, but agreed that the power of the Scorpion was too much and noticed it could dominate matches. To help address this, we’ve updated to vehicle drops on Deadlock to only bring in Wraiths, while the rest of the vehicle pads still spawn in their normal vehicles.

Bug Fixes

The following bugs across networks, modes, and Forge have been addressed in this update:

Weapon Dropping is faster than swapping to secondary weapon
Skewer should feel more responsive during online gameplay
Vehicles are able to play ‘Doom State’ audio without being in ‘Doom State’

You’ll be able to check out the full list of bug fixes and updates when the patch notes drop alongside the Operation launch.

BTB Heavies Refresh

Back in February, the Big Team Battle playlist was refreshed with some amazing new community maps. After that update, many asked to see those maps expand to other BTB offerings, and we’re pleased to confirm that the next time you see BTB Heavies (later this Operation), the map pool will have increased as we’re adding all the BTB refresh maps! You’ll be able to experience:

Expect more chaos thanks to increased vehicular carnage and heavy weapon spawns.

Additionally, the fan-favorite One Flag CTF mode has been added to Heavies so you’ll be able to play tug of war while you try to capture the flag.

The fun will arrive during Operation: Banished Honor so get those reflexes primed and ready to jump into the fray!

That wraps up our look at the gameplay sandbox, playlists, bug fixes, and additions coming with the arrival of Operation: Banished Honor on April 30!

To learn more about what’s coming in this update, be sure to check out these other blogs:

UPDATE OVERVIEW: Catch up on our latest community livestream for an overview of what’s coming when Operation: Banished Honor arrives
THE EXCHANGE: Take a deep dive into the new shop where customization items from the past return and can be purchased with free Spartan Points
FORGE OVERVIEW: Explore the new Flood and Alien World-themed object palettes coming to Forge, alongside additional updates
CUSTOMIZATION: Feast your eyes on the Banished-themed armor coming with a free new Operation Pass and further customization updates

Apr 25, 2024

FOREWARNED 1.0: Final Reckoning - Now Live!

FOREWARNED - Dreambyte Games

A note from the developers:

The time has finally come. In Early Access since September 2021, this Final Reckoning major content update launches FOREWARNED into its full 1.0 release! Our largest and most ambitious update yet, this release comes with a ton of new content, including the seventh Mejai, two new maps, a new tomb variation, a complete ritual revamp, and so much more detailed below.

We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your support and for being part of FOREWARNED's early development. Through your feedback, suggestions, bug reports, and sharing your experiences, you have improved and made the game what it is today. We love hearing about players encountering their first Ouphris, or about your first experience in the "nightmare room". This community and the love for FOREWARNED has motivated us throughout development, so we want to once again thank you!

As a final note, while we consider FOREWARNED to be a game filled with enough content at this point to launch out of Early Access, we're happy to share we already have more in development. This is not the end of content updates, but rather the finalization of the game's base foundation. Stay tuned in our official Discord to stay up to date on the latest and we'll keep you posted.

Stay vigilant during your future expeditions, as the resounding echoes of bones breaking heralds the arrival of the 7th Mejai, Ptahmes the Resilient. Close to death, Ptahmes gave in to temptations of blood magic for salvation. Enduring an endless cycle of agony and healing, this relentless horror will move in for the kill when you least expect...

Ptahmes is now an option to select when entering all ruins' inner tomb
The PDA has been updated to include Ptahmes' research notes as well as selection in the Evidence tab
10 new lore pages are available for collection which tell the story of how Ptahmes came to be
New inner tomb notes are available specific to Ptahmes' behavior
A new achievement is available when Ptahmes is banished for the first time

Two new maps have been added to the game.

Secret Temple of Ptah: A team of archaeologists discovered an ancient village thought to have been lost to time, with a mysterious temple at its peak. After much effort spent excavating the ruins and even installing a mechanical lift, the entire team of archaeologists seem to have disappeared. Discover what horrors lie within, but take caution to avoid the same fate as earlier explorers.
Royal Outskirts: Another team of archaeologists received word of a new ruin etched into the face of a hidden valley. Just as they approached the entrance, a sandstorm picked up, causing them to seek shelter inside. Believed to be where the Mejai Ptahmes first gained his powers, the outskirts hold mysteries worth unraveling...

A new procedurally generated tomb variation - Outdoor Ruins - has been added. This new tomb style can be found within the Secret Temple of Ptah and Royal Outskirts maps.

Over 30 new rooms, including several dangerous trap rooms
New spirit and horror events to keep you on your toes
New tomb lighting and style with sandy floors and open ceilings showing the sky
New variations of the existing ushabti puzzles fitting to the Outdoor Ruins theme, plus a special variation-specific puzzle
New, thrilling ritual chamber with unique effects and challenges
New ambience and sound effects
New creature lurking throughout

The Mejai banishment ritual has been reworked to introduce additional challenges and mechanics, and is now designed to feel much more like a final showdown between you and the Mejai you're banishing. The new ritual is best experienced first-hand, but here are some general notes on the changes:

The Mejai's spirit now has the ability to break out of the ritual cage and try to impede your progress
Each tomb variation has its own unique setup for banishing the Mejai, and the spirit can exhibit different powers in each variation (so be sure to check out each one!)
The ritual itself has been reworked into a multi-phase banishment, with several elements added to further excitement and replayability
Ritual Wards have been introduced to each chamber. The wards' activation must be performed in a specific way depending on the Mejai's weakness
All ritual chambers have received design changes to allow further spawn possibilities for creatures heading towards the altar
Ritual creature spawning has been optimized to better take into account the number of players in the expedition and the chosen difficulty, ensuring the challenge scales accordingly
All ritual intro sequences have been sped up significantly to avoid tedious delays before the ritual starts
Hostile mummies that have been lit on fire can no longer perform damage to the ritual altar
Players can now capture proof of the Mejai's existence using a camera while it's in its physical form in the ritual cage
Notes near the ritual chamber's entrance have been updated to reflect the new mechanics

To further replayability and make each expedition feel more unique, especially when banishing the Mejai, we've added eight brand new ushabti puzzles to the game.

Each tomb variation has a new, special puzzle found only within that particular map type
Additional puzzles have been added in each tomb variation, always with a randomly generated solution
While the original ushabti puzzles prior to this update may have presented a challenge, many of these new puzzles offer further excitement and horror unlike anything introduced before

The Hierodex (A.K.A. the Hierolens) is now available for purchase in the shop. Starting as default equipment and found in the Research Notes of your journal, this tool allows you to translate even the most cryptic of hieroglyphics on the fly! Useful for several puzzles and a component of the new banishment ritual. Once upgraded, it can even be used to transcribe lore pages in the shop for free.

For players that have seen the "relic acquiry" cutscene more than a few times, a significantly shorter cutscene will now play, reducing the time between grabbing the relic and the spawning of both the Mejai and blue escape lever
Increased the hitbox on reanimated mummies and sleeper zombies
Improved the network syncing of mummies burning
Slightly decreased the necessary range to ward off zealots and cobras
Slightly increased the torch's hitbox for igniting fire stands
Performed AI balancing and improvements to Mejai patrol routines
Improved the photo camera's ability to take photos of objectives
Tweaked the Mejai spirit's phenomena invocation timings to reduce spamming interactions
For new players, certain maps can only be selected once reaching a minimum required player level
Changed default frame cap to 120 down from 144 (you can still raise it if desired in Settings)
Given the increased depth of the game, FOREWARNED's reward system has been updated. Now, upon a player's demise, instead of forfeiting all XP, a penalty will now apply (scaling per difficulty) that deducts a certain percentage of total rewards, rather than clearing them entirely. This new logic also applies to gold and other collectibles, so long as at least one team member survives the expedition and collects anything you dropped upon death. Therefore, group play is encouraged to maximize your rewards in the case of your untimely demise!
• EASY = 40% Reward Deduction Upon Death
• NORMAL = 50% Reward Deduction Upon Death
• HARD = 60% Reward Deduction Upon Death
• BRUTAL = 70% Reward Deduction Upon Death

Over 30 new achievements have been added to the game, each with a newly designed achievement icon
An opening cutscene has been added. This only plays once by default, but can be toggled to always show via the Gameplay settings menu if desired
A torch hit confirmation visual effect and sound now occurs when successfully warding off a creature
Players can now cross out evidence they believe to be invalid in their journal when selecting observed phenomena
15 new loading screen images have been added
Performed minor design changes to the Mejai's spirit to make it more ghastly in appearance
Additional bobbing animations have been added to player hands when moving with tools
Archaeologist character crouching and other movement animations have been improved
Added an Easter egg question and response to the Transmitter

Fixed an issue in which pets could collide with the light ray puzzle's laser beams
Fixed an issue in which items were reactivating upon exiting the journal
Implemented logic to help re-sync tomb generation if the host disconnects during the round starting
Fixed an issue in which Dekan would not appear to face the player he was attacking
Fixed an issue in which AI would not target VR players' bodies when attacking
Fixed an issue with readable notes in the lobby area being unreadable at certain angles
Fixed an issue in which Mejais could potentially get stuck in one place and no longer move around
Fixed an issue in which zealots wouldn't spawn if the host disconnects
Fixed an issue that could cause the game's vignette effect to be too large for ultra wide resolution monitors
Fixed an issue with fonts not displaying correctly with certain special characters
Fixed an issue related to ectoplasm's radioactivity detection via the Geiger Counter tool
Fixed an issue related to shadow casts on rare treasures
Fixed an issue in which abominations could fail to behave correctly during variation #5's ritual
Fixed an issue related to leaving a game while underwater in the Oasis maps
Fixed an issue with the inner tomb door note not appearing in tomb variation #3
Fixed an issue with pet placement when first spawning
Fixed an issue in which players could navigate out of bounds in the Oasis maps
Fixed an issue in which the Animal Memory Puzzle pedestals were missing collision in tomb variation #1
Fixed a missing collider in Dread Valley
Performed significant performance improvements across the board
Performed translation improvements