Thanks for an exciting first week of Early Access! Bring on the feedback, swing by the Discord, and if you want to help the game succeed, please consider leaving a review.
Today's Build
Audio pass on death sounds and some of the music.
More fixes for Combinator errors.
Enemy grenades no longer occasionally move twice per turn.
Here's what's coming up next.
Phase 1
Critical bug fixes (some of which went out today) Save and Load working. Not sure if this is going to be one of those F5-F9 games, but at minimum you'll be able to save at the start of a level, and save+quit to go do boring real life things.
Target: 1 October -- next Tuesday!
Phase Sooner
Iterate on new ways to play the game, but with the same content.
* New commando actions * Dodge roll, has a cooldown, allows you to move two spaces and ignore damage during the move. * Commando Knife, no-action short range throw attack, or a melee attack maybe - Maybe. Maaaybe. This isn't really a melee game and there's no stealth yet.
* New weapon choices * Bigass machine gun: Longest range, good damage. * Shotgun: Shorter range, higher damage. * Pistola / Uzi: Medium range, least damage, turning is free.'
Target: Late 2024
Phase Later
New content!
* New crafted areas * Similar to missions 1-6, but different. * Some existing missions may get extended (like Sewer)
* New enemies * Bosses that can placed in areas. * New mooks too.
* Procedural Content?!? * Do people want this? Do they want it more than crafted areas?
Target: Early 2025
Phase Latest
Ideas that are the most flexible and amorphous.
* Skill trees for the Commando * Wide variety here, but lots of new work required.
* Level Editor!? * Do people want this? Do enough people want this?
Hello everyone! I’ve been looking at how players have been enjoying the game so far and I came up with a list of improvements that could help with most of the common issues I’ve noticed players have been experiencing.
The most notable issue being the game struggling to convey to the user how it is supposed to be played and the fact the player only has a limited amount of lives at their disposal.
I also got to add a gameplay feature that I’ve been wanting to implement into the game for a long while now!
I hope you will enjoy the changes to the game!
New Features:
A new “Rogue-lite” subsystem called “carryover items” has been added to the game.
The player can now preserveup to 5 items from their previous play-through into the next one so long they were stored inside theinventory storage box, the first 5 valid transferable items will be selected (this items will be marked with a blue tag on the top left side.)
The number of transferable items varies based on the selected combat difficulty, with the minimum of 2 items on the “King of Shades” difficulty and the maximum allotted of 5 on the “Normal” difficulty.
The system is currently restricted to healing items and ammunition and it will also include weapons in the near future (puzzle items are still under consideration.)
The global pool of transferable items gets updated whenever the player completes a play-through or reaches the game over state, the items can be found on the inventory storage box from the start of the game.
An interface context bar has been added at the bottom of the screen whenever the player is interacting with any form of UI.
The context bar contains a list of the four most relevant inputs and their names for the given context, the input icons automatically update based on the current input device (keyboard & mouse or controller.)
The context bar is intended to aid players to navigate the interfaces with added expanded descriptions for each interaction.|
Full overhaul of the player inventory screen:
Added health, stamina regen and mana status bars at the bottom of the interface, a “sand clock” icon that functions as a vertical bar is also added to represent the state of the “speed boost buff.”
Added usability validations for certain items (for example, blocking the player from using a healing item when they are already at full health.)
Added an “equipped” status icon to the item that is currently equipped by the player.
The inventory screen doesn’t “blink” anymore whenever certain operations are performed, this is both a visual and playability improvement since the input capturing could sometimes miss a player input in that split second when the interface would reset.
Added a dark background to the units display on item slots for improved readability.
Added a secondary highlight color (green) whenever the player is in the middle of an inventory operation that involves a second item slot (swapping, combining or taking items out of the storage box.)
The player item slot that would contain the item about to be taken out from the storage box is now highlighted for better readability.
The manual combine operation (activated through the item action menu) now disables all the items that the player cannot combine the selected item with and highlights those that can be combined.
The process of combining items aims to expand player agency and the discovery of new possibilities, going through a trial and error process of clicking every possible item wasn’t part of the intended experience.
Merged all the confirmation inputs tocomplement each other, for example the swap operation (“Left Shift” by default) used to be only finalized with the same input that started it, now it is also possible to confirm the operation with mouse or the dedicated confirm button, the same applies to all other operations like “drag & drop” with mouse.
You can now confirm item actions by clicking the inventory slot instead of only being able to press the respective item action button.
The swap and combine operations are not meant to interact with the storage box, therefore its item slots will now disable themselves whenever the players starts any of these two operations.
The amount of units the player can transfer in or out of the storage box is now mouse scroll-able without needing to hover the button during the process.
Updated the item description fonts.
The life counter is now blue by default and turns red once the player has 0 extra lives (game over on death.)
Adjustments:
The ‘support item’ classification has been added to the game with the intention of better reflecting the purpose of certain items.
All the recovery items have been rebalanced to heal a percentage of the current maximum health pool and the modifier combination now also heals and permanently increases the maximum player health pool.
The SM solution’s effect has now been transferred to the concentrated stamina solution (S2) and it now heals and increases the maximum stamina pool instead.
The amount of damage melee weapons apply is now affected by theplayer stamina, the further down the stamina is from its starting point the lower the damage becomes but the opposite applies as well, amplifying the maximum amount of stamina grants the player the opportunity of inflicting a lot more damage than they would otherwise.
A great amount of widgets now have proper framing and padding to better distinguish them from one another.
The life counter is now displayed on the screen whenever the player respawns post-death (shown in color red) or gains a new life (color coded blue.)
Optimized the performance of all the widgets in the game (Tick related.)
Added descriptions for all the combat and puzzle difficulties when the player is on the new game difficulty selection screen.
The “Controls” section in the settings menu has been restored, you can now customize the game’s input mappings to your heart’s desire, it works the same way as it did before but with the addition that the keyboard & mouse inputs are now represented with icons.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a rare bug that would cause the game to improperly load a previous save.
Fixed an issue with the “pause menu” input triggering in the main menu screen.
Fixed a visual bug where the player animation pose could get stuck on the “blocking” state if stunned by an enemy right after the melee weapon breaks.
Crash Fixes:
Solved an issue where the game could crash while on the main menu screen on Linux systems.
Reaching the upper echelons in MapleStory requires dedication and effort, so there's no time for slacking around! It's time to powerlevel like a champ, by sitting around in the park and floating around like a bee while you just soak up all the EXP! Get your EXP Pouch from Cassandra and gather up EXP over time, even if you're offline. Collect Star Candies as a honey bee to make your EXP Pouch fill up even faster!
Event Duration:
PDT (UTC -7): Tuesday, September 24, 2024 5:00 PM - Tuesday, October 8, 2024 4:59 PM
CEST (UTC +2): Wednesday, September 25, 2024 2:00 AM - Wednesday, October 9, 2024 1:59 AM
AEST/AEDT (UTC +10/+11): Wednesday, September 25, 2024 10:00 AM AEST - Wednesday, October 9, 2024 10:59 AM AEDT
Event Details:
I'm craving some serious downtime and relaxation! Rumor has it there's a method to gain experience without exerting much effort. Is this legendary tale true?
Requirements: Lv. 101 and above. (Zero characters must have completed up to Chapter 2).
Talk to Cassandra and accept the ‘(I Haven’t Done Anything) Mysterious EXP Pouch’ quest to obtain the EXP Pouch. You can only accept the EXP Pouch once per account.
The EXP Pouch automatically accumulates EXP that matches your character's level for every 10 seconds up to 24 hours.
EXP continues to store even when you are not online, and will store the same amount as when you are online.
You can earn EXP Acquisition Time Rewards based on the amount of time you accumulate.
Once full, the EXP Pouch will not accumulate any more EXP until the stored EXP has been claimed.
There’s also a way for you to accelerate the EXP collection time! You can enter the special Peaceful Park map by accepting the ‘(I Haven't Done Anything) Go to the Peaceful Park’ quest from the event notifier on the left of the screen.
Talk to Busy Honey Bee to help transform you into a honey bee and collect Star Candies. This will accelerate the EXP collection time for the Mysterious EXP Pouch.
You can obtain Cumulative Star Candy Collection Rewards based on your collection of Star Candy.
Hidden mission alert! Complete the hidden mission to obtain the Diamond Honey Pot Coupon.
Rewards:
Cumulative EXP Acquisition Time Rewards
50 hours: Dreamy Flower Chair: Tradeable within account, permanent.
We heard somebody say that all of September was Halloween eve, and we’re inclined to agree! But while cutesy jack o’ lanterns and smiling plastic skeletons have their place, this one’s for those of you who prefer your spooky season a bit more… scream-worthy. So if you’re the type to RSVP ‘yes’ to a week-long slasher flick marathon, then how about a daily login to earn a darkly delicious reward?
This paint-splattered Ayeka pinup is yours for the taking by completing the Limited Time Event! Just don’t ask us why she’s using a boxcutter instead of a paint roller for this particular arts and crafts project.
Update #148 comes ripping out of the gate with a key UI change that helps demystify some of the results of weapon crafting, a nice change to the Roster UI, removes the Sec Tally penalty for using Vanguard's Lure, adds a new proc-gen map and objective combo, improves ability for controller players to see hovers, adds a nice matrix log when you scan the CPU and more!
It is Early Access - and all we know how to do is keep moving forward, fast. We're building, testing and pushing content at a pretty good pace (daily??) and we hope you'll take a moment to consider giving the game a review. Remember, you can always edit it later!
Crafted Weapon Mod Visibility
Update #148 finally reveals all game details about all weapon mods that are added by crafting, of any type, even in the high order slots (4-6). This update eliminates the mystery about any bonus Intrinsic mod that is rolled for the weapon, as well as making it easy to remember the stats of any Intrinsic Blueprint you crafted onto the weapon itself.
Up to a maximum of 6 mods are now shown for each weapon, if they exist. We hope this will answer so many of your questions about what booster Intrinsic mods do and more. The next major step is to add a crafting results pop-up for those complicated crafts that include booster Intrinsic rolls so that the results can be shown directly without having to go diggin in your inventory.
In order to make space for this larger loadout, we've moved the messages panel (which was kind of hard to find in the bottom right) into the top spot at the start of the Main Info tab, making it as front and center as we can.
Vanguard's Lure + Agent EX Shadow = 0 Tally
We've made a big balance changes to Vanguard's Lure and Agent EX's Shadow Talents, further allowing them to maintain their silent and stealthy approach even while working directly against the enemy patrollers and security. Vanguard's Lure Talent and EX's Shadow Talent always caused +1 Tally when used, which could be canceled by killing the guard or by K-Protocol, but it was a small, challenging cost to tamp down when you want to use Lure repeatedly to manipulate and soften enemy positions.
This moves empowers the stealthy aspects of these two classes for the better, especially when stacking up on multiple charges.
New Proc-Gen Battle Striker Map
We're now switching our attention to the 2 maps in the proc-gen rotation that appear the most rarely of all - Interchange H and Urban HQ. Before Update #148, these two maps only appeared for Assassinate VIP objectives, basically making them invisible in the larger rotation.
With Update #148, we've started assaulting their isolated position with new proc-gen combos - bringing Interchange H into the Battle Strike objective group.
This latest drive of proc-gen combos is also focusing on the two most under-served objective types - Bodyguard and Battle Strike - each of which had 2 maps each before. We won't rest until they're buried in maps - so let's go!
Gamepad Hover
With Update #148, we've added a global hover assist for controller players. If you leave an item selected for half a second that has a hover, then the hover will appear. This is a big help in areas like the character load outs in the roster that really need hover data to be truly functional.
Let us know how it feels! If it is too heavy for some players, we could add an option to disable the feature but it does show some critical information.
CPU Scanning Log
When you scan a CPU from a nearby node, the matrix UI gives basically no indication that you did something special. There is only one type of node that can resist a remote scan, so you don't have a bug, you have an obvious tell - that's a CPU. The important thing is that you have to go into the CPU blind (Scan 0/2) but it is intended to be a clear indicator that you've got a CPU on your hands. We're going to be working on the visual and UI feedback around this point, but we've completed the first step with this update - to add a Matrix log entry stating that you've hit the CPU and that it resists remove Scans.
Wreckspire Fixes
We've fixed a few issues with Wreckspire patrols, security devices and one important bug with the terminals appearing during the Kill 3 Captains objective sometimes not allowing a hack but instead freezing the hacker's turn.
T-Pose Blade
We fixed a very old bug with this update where a character wielding a melee weapon would go into a T-Pose instead of making an attack animation if the enemy was higher or lower elevation (on stairs, etc). This issue is related to aiming code and animation that helps those with guns point their weapon up or down but was causing a real mess with swords.
v1.8.107 - 9/24/2024
- Adjusted roster display - moved character messages to the top of Main Info tab - Improved weapon display in load out to show all weapon mods (up to 6) including all types added by crafting - Vanguard's Lure Talent and Agent EX Shadow Talent no longer cause +1 Tally when used - Added new proc-gen map and objective combo: Interchange H and Battle Strike objective - Adjusted UI to show hover for elements when using keyboard or gamepad after 1/2 second delay - Added a matrix log entry when attempting to scan CPU remotely "CPU located but resisted remote Scan" - Fixed broken terminals in some Wreckspire in Kill 3 Captains objective - Fixed animation bug where sword attack would not swing if target was above or below - Fixed mismatch in program name in warning when unloading a required program - Fixed error entering cyberdeck screen for the first time
v0.9.75 -Level Up Potion items added to the Cooking Bench and setup as a rare loot at the large Pirate Base. -Setup Nighttime Aggro enemy spawns depending on difficulty level and island you are on. -Created a Larger variant of Crabs. -Improved Ferry Boat spawn logic. -Fixed a world map icon cleanup bug when loading worlds multiple times. -Fixed a bug where animals might lose aggro after they get knocked back. -Fixed a bug related to playing in online, then playing in single player and how objects would spawn in the world.
In this update we've added the feature for multiple obstacle types to be active at once, a few balance changes (to account for both the more dangerous Obstacle Combos and a serious bug fix affecting how in-game time progressed during Autopilot), and we fixed a ton of bugs!
Patch Notes for Update 0.7.0.05:
• Clients:
Clients now offer 1.3 times more Units. This is to offset the longer in-game time it now takes to finish a jump due to fixing the Autopilot time bug.
• Crew Journal:
Edited "KTC CEO Defends Illegal Minefield After Fatal Disaster" to match up with the fact that Battleships can pursue the player through a Minefield.
• Damage:
Lowered the Hull Damage taken by the Chaser by 10%.
• Obstacles:
Radiation Storms and Stars can no longer appear together. (Hail Storms already could not appear with a Star.)
Added Obstacle Combos, where multiple obstacle types are active at the same time.
As you get further into the game, Obstacle Combos become more common, and you can get up to 3 obstacles active at once. This is part of the Tier system, so it does not affect the Ace, Voyager+, and Captain+ modes. Obstacle Combos are available from the start of those modes.
Stars cannot combo with Sentry Fields or Minefields.
• Sound:
Added minor randomized pitch shifting for most sound effects.
Increased the volume of the explosion sounds for when Asteroids, Debris, and Sentries get destroyed.
• Space Battles:
Added the destroyed Battleships found in the background of Ship Graveyards to the background of Space Battles.
• Bug Fixes:
Fixed a Quality Compression issue with the Difficulty Selection Screen's Background.
Fixed a bug regarding Storm chances in Tier 2. (Storms were slightly more likely to be chosen in Tier 2 than intended.)
Reduced the default scrollbar scroll speed when used with a mouse.
In the Voyager and Captain modes, Outlaw Scientists should no longer have the Empire nor the UGS as enemies when the player finishes the first batch of encounters before reaching the end of Tier 1.
In the Voyager and Captain modes, Clients should no longer offer Tier 2 payment amounts when the player finishes the first batch of encounters before reaching the end of Tier 1.
In Tutorial Scene 7, using the Jump Drive at full charge will now end whatever line is currently playing and start the end of the tutorial correctly.
The Pause Screen should now always slide in immediately when the Pause input is pressed.
The Day Timer and the Life Support gauge will now properly increase or decrease when using Autopilot, instead of progressing at half speed.
The Unlock Progress for the Corrupted Entry in the Crew Journal will now properly update.
The Voyage Updates Entries in the Crew Journal should now properly continue to unlock if you unlock some in a Voyage and then restart the Voyage.
Missiles and Ion Shots will now always spawn hit animations when they collide with an object.
Foreground and Background Battleships in Space Battles should no longer spawn with frozen explosions on them.
Background Battleships in Space Battles should no longer display explosions behind the ship itself.
Typos:
Added a space between "Dr." and "Xiima" in the Crew Journal entry: Article From “The Cartographer Issue #600: New Theory About the Ancients”
Added a comma to "Name’s Wolfe by the way." in the New Game Cutscene Line #35 .
Fixed pronouns for the knight in Defector to the Empire Client Story 19.
The "s" in "Imperials" in Client Stories will now also be purple when color coding is on.
Removed the extra l in traveller / travelling in the subtitles for the following lines:
Non-Event 20: Edwin: "We always dreamed about traveling through space, seeing all the stars and planets, but... I don’t think ever like this."
Merchant Fleet 6: Tai: "These merchant ships are pretty brave to be traveling all the way out here."
Pirate 3: Bargaining Success 2: "Draugmeer will take pity on you today. Farewell, travelers." / "Draugmeer will take pity on you... for today. Farewell, travelers."
Imperial Fleet: Neutral Landing 5: "It’s been a while since we’ve had a traveler. We’ll try to make your visit here comfortable."
