Attention Survivors,

2024-7-10 8:30A.M. CEST Update:
The maintenance for July 10th has been completed. Thank you for your patience throughout.
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We're going to perform a regular maintenance today, July 10th 2024, at 4:00 A.M. CEST. All servers during this period will be unavailable and we are anticipating the maintenance to conclude at around 8:30 A.M. CEST. Please refer below for more details on the maintenance.

• Wednesday, July 10th, 2024
  
• SEA (UTC+7): 9:00 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.
  
• CEST: 4:00 A.M. – 8:30 A.M.
  
• ET: 9th, 10:00 P.M. – 10th, 02:30 A.M.
  
• PT: 9th, 7:00 P.M. – 9th, 11:30 P.M.
  
• Note: Please note that the estimated length of time for each maintenance is subject to change without notification.

• New Content & Events.

Thank you for your understanding and support in advance.

- The CSN:S Team

Add winner data.

Our fully ray-traced renderer has been completely redone.
The structure has also been tweaked to take into account AMD's limitations and a driver bug, in a way that we can run in a degraded mode while still fully playable.
The performance of this new renderer is better overall, but we've taken advantage of that to slightly increase the rendering fidelity.
Underwater performance and quality should be significantly better.
The new structure also allow the renderer itself to be moddable.

What's changed in the renderer:

• Refactored to be modular, adding ability for new modules to add their own hit shaders or to change the default renderer without changing all hit shaders
  
• New algorithm using a single recursion so as to support AMD driver on Windows and allow for simpler hit shaders
  
• Removed old unused buffers and images to improve performance and VRAM usage
  
• Greatly improved underwater visual realism with ray-marched volumetric fog instead of a simple falloff curve
  
• Added a new graphics option for Underwater Volumetric Fog, enabled by default with preset Low+ but disabled for AMD
  
• Added a new graphics option for Underwater Light Rays (extending Underwater Volumetric Fog), enabled with the High and Ultra Quality presets
  
• Tweaked glass refraction so it's a little bit less cumbersome and less prone to visual artifacts
  
• Fixed underwater screens (was not taking the water's tint)
  
• Fixed plasma was not visible underwater

• Ray-tracing Performance is lower than on NVIDIA (we recommed a RX 7800 or 7900 XT)
  
• FSR2 is less powerfull than DLSS, causing more ghosting and blurryness (will update to FSR3 soon)
  
• Graphics options "Underwater Volumetric Fog" and "Atmospheric Shadows" disabled due to a driver issue

• New renderer that is faster, looks better, and runs on AMD
  
• Made crosshair scale along with the Ui Scaling option
  
• Bugfix XenonCode max() was not working with negative numbers

Hi!

I have some really, extremely bad news.

As some of you may know, this game is being worked on by two people; I, Dizzie, and Arachne, my wife. Previously we attempted to collaborate with more people, but long story short, we couldn't afford anything anywhere near full-time because the game just doesn't make that much money. Today, aside from some VA, all responsibilities are split between the two of us.

About three weeks ago, Arachne had a major surgery. Everything should have went well and we were planning on resuming production at a slower pace about a week and a half later, with me taking over some of the more demanding responsibilities as she recovers for the rest of the year. That is no longer happening. She has had multiple complications from the surgery and had to be hospitalized in the ICU two days after being released from the surgery center. We've been bouncing around between different departments and hospitals for about a week now. Long story short, she was very ill and almost died but is now stable and has been released home into my care.

So, yeah, this is a pretty big deal and it changes everything for us. Her health is now the priority. If you've been paying attention, you'll know that in order to deliver content on time, we've been doing crunch constantly for the past 3 years. That can't be happening anymore. She's my priority and I'm going to have to push back all the deadlines since I'll be working much less and by myself in the foreseeable future.

I'm trying my best to make sure we can continue working on the game to some degree because this story is very personal to the both of us and we want to see it through. It's not just a question of delivering the EA promises, we're talking about things that we've lived and that matter to us a lot. It would be very difficult for us to somehow leave these things unsaid. But that's very optimistic! You may expect more depressing announcements in the near future where I set new, less ambitious goals for the project.

In the meantime, I'll be working somewhat part timely on content and still trying to ship the August deadline, but starting from today, all deadlines are fully optional. Some of the content will be missing since Arachne can just not finish it. I'm not sure what the release will look like yet, it's likely to not be the tip top professional affair you guys have been habituated to by our incredible standards, ha ha! But it should be something; it's important to the both of us that we deliver something.

So, that's it guys. Long story short, we're alive but going through some stuff. Game is not cancelled, but game is being probably delayed some significant amount. We'll continue posting updates, we're always on Discord pretty much 24/7, especially now that Arachne is bedridden ːsteamsadː so if you have any questions, go on and ask. Just know that we, as usual, don't like talking about our personal lives that much, so we probably will want to avoid specific gory details about her health and so on. But we can keep you guys in the loop as to what we're doing with our lives, since that's relevant to what you bought.

Doing our best to continue not dying,
-Team Fortune

Hey folks,
just a small update today responding to some feedback in reviews.

• Added safeguards to prevent cards from disappearing from your hand
  
• Fixed the resolution dropdown to properly display available resolutions for your monitor

Jamie Sullivan-Phillips

Another patch introduces quality of life improvements aimed at enhancing the overall gameplay experience, making it more convenient and enjoyable for players. These changes do not affect the core gameplay, but are designed to elevate the overall level of comfort.

Enjoy your day and play with pleasure,
Neon Flamingo Games

It is with heavy hearts and teary eyes (insert dramatic sniffle), we come bearing news that we wish we didn't have to share. Our highly anticipated official release, just two days away, has hit a snag. Steam, in its infinite wisdom (and seemingly infinite review process), has yet to give us the green light. Despite our countless emails, pleas, and offerings of cookies, we're still stuck in the purgatory of "under review."

How long will it take? Your guess is as good as ours. It could be a couple of weeks, or it could be over a month. We're currently at the mercy of the meme gods, hoping they can help us conquer this final boss and bring our game to your screens.

We know this is a bummer of epic proportions, and we share your disappointment. We were just as hyped to share the official version with you all.

Thank you for sticking with us through this rollercoaster of emotions. We promise to keep you updated with any news as soon as we hear back from Steam...or at least from someone who knows someone at Steam.

Much love and memes,
The Meme Mayhem Team ❤️

The Sunderer has been updated with new modules! Learn about the new changes to the Sunderer including new powerful modules, certification changes and more. Read about our vision and plans for the new sunderer experience in our December Dev Letter here.

• All descriptions have been rewritten for clarity and to update stats/functionality
  
• The Havoc status effect has been improved
  
• The duration of grenades, mines, ESF Missiles, and launcher has been increased from 6 to 8 seconds
  
• The duration of Haywire ammo has been increased from 4 to 5 seconds
  
• The full, level 3, stat boosts from both the previous performance certs (Rival Combat and Racer High Speed Chassis) are now rolled into the base stats rather than level 2 from each

Deploy dome

• When deployed the dome now starts with a low amount of health and must charge to full
  
• It takes around 34 seconds to completely charge depending on level
  
• The size and shape of the dome now much more closely matches that of the Sunderer, making it much less likely to undesirably protrude through geometry
  
• The dome visuals have been updated to make them easier to see

Point Defense

• Many of the point defense modifiers were not being correctly applied, leading to the cert performing far better than intended
  
• These modifiers have been fixed, and also the bonuses reduced, bringing it more in-line with its intended power and use

Enhanced Plating

• The mitigation bonus of Enhanced Plating has been reduced at the top end from 40% to 30% and the range between levels narrowed

Nanite

• Passive repair amount has been slightly reduced at the top end and its overall range tightened. The passive repair should now correctly persist through damage
  
• The burst repair now works correctly and should heal for the stated amount
  
• The passive and active repair now use a shared cooldown
  
• The burst heal amount has also been slightly increased to compensate for the increased passive cooldown

Reactive armor

• Reactive armor was interacting incorrectly with some damage types, causing it to be provide far more protection than intended
  
• The armor now behaves as intended, activating and blocking the listed damage types and ignoring all others completely

• The maximum number of simultaneous cargo deployables has been reduced to 1
  
• Cargo deployables now have their own notification strings
  
• Cargo deployables now have collision and can receive vehicle damage.
  
• Cargo deployables can now be disabled by EMP
  
• Cargo deployables can now be hacked
  
• Cargo deployables will now show how damaged they are via VFX
  
• Cargo deployables can now be spotted, each with its own icon

Repair Station

• A much weaker, passive version of the proximity repair has been added to the certification
  
• While the repair module is undeployed the sunderer will repair a very small amount around itself in a small radius
  
• This is intended to be comparatively weak and does not repair other sunderers, useful only for very minor, slow, damage
  
• The deployed version has been slightly buffed, its repair amount and range have been increased. Sunderers now receive reduced repair amounts from the station
  
• The repair from multiple repair stations will no longer stack, with the highest repair value being selected

Proximity/Scout Radar

• The Proximity Radar has been renamed to Scout Radar to more accurately describe its functionality
  
• A passive, version has been added with a small range that is active when the sunderer is mounted and no RADAR is deployed
  
• The deployed RADAR has been buffed with increased range

Ammo Tower

• The ammo tower range has been increased when deployed

• Some projectiles, such as from the Spitfire and Scorpion launcher, can pierce the Deploy Dome
  
• Cargo deployable audio is not correctly playing for players that enter the range after it is deployed
  
• Spotted cargo does not always show up correctly on screen or on the map
  
• The Stealth Module is not as competitive with its alternatives as it should be, we are looking into ways to make this certification more desirable

Independence Day Sales Event!

• The Stars and Stripes Contrails bundle, and the Liberation Bundle are available for a limited time in the depot.
  
• Enjoy contrail and Liberator cosmetics!

New and Returning Items arrive to the Depot:

• July's MEMBERS ONLY bundle hits the depot for the low price of 10 Certs! If you previously missed out on Prime Gaming rewards then here's your chance to grab them with your Daybreak Membership!
  
• Because this is offered for Certs, this will only affect the character you purchase the bundle on. If you would like this bundle to be accessed on other characters, you will need to purchase the bundle for those characters as well.

Independence Day Holiday Items return for a limited time:

• NC Patriot Flare Gun
  
• TR Patriot Flare Gun
  
• VS Patriot Flare Gun
  
• NS Patriot Flare Gun
  
• NC Triumph Flare Gun
  
• TR Triumph Flare Gun
  
• VS Triumph Flare Gun
  
• Patriot Camo
  
• Stars and Stripes Contrails Bundle
  
• Liberation Bundle
  
• Nomad-I Light Assault Armor

Summer holiday items and Bundles return for a limited time:

• Mega Soldier Soaker (Ballistic Blue)
  
• Mega Soldier Soaker (Imperial Purple)
  
• Mega Soldier Soaker (Riot Red)
  
• Mega Soldier Soaker (Electric Sky)
  
• Mega Soldier Soaker XP100
  
• Ares Helmet
  
• NSX-P Tanto
  
• Summer Fun Decal
  
• Summer Splash Bundle
  
• Amphibious Bundle

New Items

• Frogman Helmets arrive on the depot. These helmets are tailored to each factions aesthetic
  
• Heavy Assault Class banner, frame and decal are on the depot for 10 Certs each
  
• NS-44: "Primed Diamond" Commissioner. The final instalment of the "Primed Crystal" series of Commissioners

• Tides of Summer Alpha Event Directive: 9th July - 6th August 2024
  
• Tides of Summer Bravo Event Directive: 7th August - 6th September 2024

Tides of Summer Alpha 2024 (Operation: Lightseeker) Directive Rewards
Tier 1
250 Certs
Title: Corsair
True North Decal

Tier 2
500 ISO-4
True North Banner
True North Banner Frame

Tier 3
500 A7
Starscape Camo
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 4
True North Contrails (Galaxy)
Deluxe Implant Pack

Tides of Summer Bravo 2024 (Operation: Groundbreaker) Directive Rewards
Tier 1
250 Certs
Title: Nascent Envoy
Nascent Expeditions Decal

Tier 2
500 ISO-4
Nascent Expeditions Banner
Nascent Expeditions Banner Frame

Tier 3
500 A7
Nascent Expedition Camo
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 4
Sky Whale Intake (Galaxy)
Sky Whale Exterior (Galaxy)
Deluxe Implant Pack

New long term Directives under the Strategic category have been added:

• Conquest - Hossin
  
• Conquest - Indar
  
• Conquest - Amerish
  
• Conquest - Esamir

Tier 1
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 2
Hossin Postcard Banner

Tier 3
Deluxe Implant Pack

Tier 4
Hossin Stamp Decal
Title: of Hossin (suffix)

Tier 1
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 2
Amerish Postcard Banner

Tier 3
Deluxe Implant Pack

Tier 4
Amerish Stamp Decal
Title: of Amerish (suffix)

Tier 1
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 2
Indar Postcard Banner

Tier 3
Deluxe Implant Pack

Tier 4
Indar Stamp Decal
Title: of Indar (suffix)

Tier 1
Basic Implant Pack

Tier 2
Esamir Postcard Banner

Tier 3
Deluxe Implant Pack

Tier 4
Esamir Stamp Decal
Title: of Esamir (suffix)

• Increased the effect time of the Havoc grenade from 6 to 8 seconds

• Fix an issue where NSO tank turrets had no reload sound
  
• Fixed a bug with the Chimera's Cyclops where sometimes shots in first person were muffled
  
• Fixed a bug with the Chimera's CT-102 Satyr, where you would hear an extra shot but no extra shot was fired
  
• Fixes made to the mute/ignore in chat and voice communication systems
  
• Fixed an issue where you could accidentally add someone to your friends list multiple times due to spam clicking multiple friend requests
  
• Fixed an issue with the M20 Basilisk's disappearing sound when changing a view while shooting
  
• Fixed Sunderer and Prowler M18 Palisade-S issue with disappearing sound when changing view whilst shooting
  
• Fixed an unnecessary fade when changing the camera with Palisade weapons
  
• Fixed an odd sound when tapping the Galaxy's A30 Walker's fire button and disappearing sound when changing view and as well as Tail gun audio reworks
  
• Updated the weapon audio for the Valkyrie's G20 Hellion
  
• Lightning Skyguard audio has been redone. It no longer sounds like someone beating on sheet metal with a spoon
  
• Fixed an issue with G40-F Ranger for the Harasser, Ant, Sunderer and Prowler where sound disappeared when changing view while shooting
  
• Quality of life fixes for key tooltips for abilities

• The Directive "Point Control" on the "Objectives" Directive Tree updates "Oshur Point Control" on "Conquest - Oshur" Directive Tree

The fifteenth boss has been updated, and a quest room bug has been fixed.

Most of GSG is on summer vacation right now, and we're moving into our new office at the end of the month. Things will be a bit quiet around here for a few weeks. In the meanwhile, here's a look behind the scenes: we're going a few months back in time, and stepping into the sound studio with Robert Friis -- the voice of Mission Control. Enjoy!



It’s a delightful sunny Tuesday in May, and Mission Control is in the recording booth.

The order of the day is recording the voiceover for the Season 05 Narrated Trailer. We’re in the only meeting room in the entire office, which doubles as the makeshift sound studio. In the corner, tucked in a blocky bunker of sound insulation panels, stands Mission Control – or as he’s known in real life, Robert Friis, co-founder and Art Director of Ghost Ship Games.

Robert’s got his back toward the room, standing in the corner in front of a t.bone SC 600 microphone. A snare of black AV cables pools at his feet and snakes around the room, covering papers from previous meetings. He strikes a confident wide stance to record: one hand on his hip, the other holding his script up close at face level. He knits his brow as he speaks and leans back at a slight angle, his deep voice filling the room.

Seeing him speak in person feels strange when you’re so used to hearing the voice through a gaming headset. You forget it belongs to a real person.

Today’s recording session for the Season 05 trailer is the last one in this office, which is where Ghost Ship Games has been for the past five years. In July, we’re moving to a new office, with space for a better recording setup. In a technical sense, it’ll be a complete upgrade: better equipment, more room, no sound leaks from people eating lunch outside. Still, it’s a bit sad to be leaving this old improvised setup. Slapdash though it may be, it’s served us well.

It’s not to say this is Mission Control’s last ride, but something about the occasion still feels significant. Like moving out of the home where you grew up.


Robert records a take in GSG's makeshift sound studio.



Robert might be most widely known as Mission Control, but that’s far from his only role at Ghost Ship Games. As it turns out, he never really expected to become Mission Control in the first place.

When Ghost Ship Games first started up in 2016, Robert was the team’s only artist. Largely self-taught, he was the one responsible for all animation, editing, modelling, character art, and concept art. Now, as GSG’s Studio Art Director, he guides projects’ overall visual development, involved in both Ghost Ship’s own games as well as their publishing projects.

And of course, when needed, he’s Mission Control.

Robert is Danish, not that you’d necessarily guess it by his accent. His real-life speaking voice is pretty much the same as his voice as Mission Control. “It probably stems from the fact that I loathe the sound of the Danish accent in English, so I’m doing my best to eliminate it,” he says. “I know it’s probably still in there somewhere, but at least it’s not at the level of that guy from Gladiator.”

Robert’s role as Mission Control is his first-ever foray into voice acting. It had always been on his bucket list, thanks to an interest he traces back to developing characters during Dungeons and Dragons campaigns in high school. But as he explains, he didn’t start working on Deep Rock Galactic expecting to lend his voice to the game.

“The funny thing about Mission Control is that it was never on purpose for it to be me. We just needed something in a hurry, needed someone to just do whatever. I did maybe three different takes, had the voice, and that was good enough. And it just got established as we went with it.”

Like with so much else in Deep Rock Galactic, an “Eh, this’ll work” solution grew into a big part of the game’s identity. And since those first recordings, Mission Control has found his own identity, too.


The S05 narrated trailer, the final result of today's recording session.



If the dwarves have a friend in Deep Rock Galactic, it’s Mission Control. Not that he’s a close friend, of course. But at least he’s not Management.

The initial idea for Mission Control came from Mikkel Martin Petersen, co-founder and Game Director at Ghost Ship Games. From a game design perspective, Mission Control’s job is to direct the action and tell players where to go. Because of DRG’s nonlinear, occasionally chaotic cave generation, Mikkel felt the need for a ‘foreman’ role to help explain what’s going on, and to put everything in context.

But Mission Control’s personality comes from Robert.

“I had this vision of a world-weary dude who was kind of bored with his work, trying to lead and steer the dwarves as they went through the same things again and again,” he says. “[Mission Control] likes the dwarves well enough, but he’s also seen enough of them disappear down in the caves that he tries not to care.”

The very first placeholder for Mission Control’s character icon was a professional headshot of Søren Lundgaard, Ghost Ship Games’ co-founder and CEO. But it wasn’t long before Robert whipped up some rough character art to put a face to the name – resulting in Mission Control’s hexagonal, green-tinted icon you see in the game today. In that sense, the picture is a self-portrait.

It wasn’t long before the placeholder character grew into one of the game’s most prominent personalities.

“I’m really proud of what the character’s become, and how he contributes to the tone of the game. A lot of DRG’s narrative comes out through Mission Control,” Robert says. “It’s up to him to relate to the dwarves the severity of a situation. To the dwarves, that danger is never really apparent, they don’t care. Bulk Detonator approaching? “Yeah cool, shoot it!”. They’re not aware of just how dangerous everything is.”

Mission Control might not be Management, but it is his job to manage. He might not be at the dwarves’ level, but he’s on their side. He can’t save the dwarves from dying, but he knows they’re not expendable.

And thanks to the DRG community, Mission Control has become a lot more than Mission Control.


A few of many fan-made spins on Mission Control. Credit given on each individual image.



When asked about AI versions of Mission Control singing cover songs, Robert takes a deep, wincing breath.

“It’s both awesome and terrifying at the same time.”

When he recorded his first lines as Mission Control, Robert never imagined the many memes the character has spawned since. For him, it’s uncanny to hear his own voice (and yet, not his own voice) singing an AI cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” But Robert appreciates it in the greater context of people’s enthusiasm for Deep Rock Galactic.

“It's really amazing. I mean, we started from basically nothing with this game. Now we’re at a point where we see people doing cosplays for conventions, getting tattoos, making art and memes and stuff like AI song covers,” he says. “Regardless of what it is, it’s amazing to see how the game inspires all these forms of creative investment. It tells me we’re doing something right – and that feels very good.”

Deep Rock Galactic doesn’t do a whole lot of lore-dumping. We prefer to drip-feed details and let fans’ imaginations fill in the rest. This is by design, and Robert is one of the main forces behind this strategy. Being the voice of Mission Control also tends to make him the primary conduit for these bits and pieces of DRG lore.

He also happens to be one of the biggest enjoyers of everything that fans come up with.

“I’m extremely happy to see how much people care about the little snippets we give out, and how much lore people come up with themselves. That’s super cool to me, and I always make a point of reading it and commenting on it, if I have the time,” he says.


Joachim (Sound Designer at GSG, foreground) supervises the technical bits as Robert records his lines.



By the time this story comes out, Ghost Ship Games will be moving into a new, larger office space. The crew’s excited for the move. But there’s a bittersweet note in saying goodbye to the workspace where this game, including Mission Control, really grew into its own.

The team is hoping to build a proper recording studio in the new office, to move away from the jerry-rigged setups that we’ve used so far. As Robert records in this slapdash studio, he’s often interrupted by the creaking floors, rattling mechanical keyboards and scattered laughter floating in from the office.

It might not be a dream setup, but it’s been good enough so far. As the old proverb goes: if it’s stupid and it works, it ain’t stupid.

“We’ve always been able to find some kind of little closet we could use for our recording setup. It’s always worked, but it’s always been kind of janky,” Robert says.

Just like the setup where Robert records, the character of Mission Control was born out of improvisation. You could say Robert himself followed the same pattern, being largely self-taught throughout 20 years in the games industry.

If there’s a lesson to be had here, it’s probably about not overthinking things.

“If there’s one thing being an art director has taught me, it’s to combat the artist’s inclination toward perfection,” he says. “There is no perfect. Just get it good enough, get it on screen, and then fix it later if it needs more detail. If you get it to 80 percent, the only one that notices flaws after that is you.”

Soon, we’ll be in a studio with a more sturdy setup, away from creaking floorboards and clacky keyboards and laughing lunch-eaters. But for all the challenges of our slipshod setup, there's still something significant in saying goodbye to the place where Mission Control really found his voice.

Given that this is the last recording session ever in this office, the final line Robert records seems like a perfect fit.

“This is Mission Control, signing off – for Rock and Stone.”