Update #217: New Proc-Gen Objective and Enemy/Story Rebalance
Mercs and Knights - we have a big one hitting the streets tonight in New Boston! A new proc-gen objective has been added along with +15 new proc-gen combos tied to it, we've rebalanced the enemy spawning sets across every faction and the entire game, tweaked the speed of storyline starting at the beginning of the game to give just a little more breathing room, now allow the results of minting a File Set to add +20% influence, improved the Limit Break UI and more!
The relentless pace of updates will not stop during Early Access. If you are enjoying the game and/or the updates, please take a moment to leave a review!
New Infiltrate and Download Proc-Gen Objective
For a long time, we've been focusing on the weekly map release. We have now more than doubled the catalog of available proc-gen maps, much to the benefit of the game's depth of content. We are going to continue to add new maps, but we're going to shift some of our time and focus in a new direction - to proc-gen objectives.
With Update #217, we've released a new proc-gen objective - the Infiltrate and Download File Set objective, in which you need infiltrate a location and work on finding from 3 to 4 Files that are resident in matrix hosts on the premises. These missions are definitely a new type of challenge and as they are just harder, they only show up at Power Level 4+.
This new objective is now linked to 15 maps, which adds a total of +15 new proc-gen combos, bringing the game's total of combos (map X objective) to 174.
While we will be doing map releases, they may start to slip from the weekly goal for a while, as we have 5 other new objective types to roll into the game and we'll be hammering through those over the next 5 weeks.
Enemy Variety Improvements
With Update #217, we've adjusted all of the reinforcement spawning groups in the game as well as some of the starting spawn groups. This has gone along with a consolidation and refinement of the underlying enemy catalog, which is going to help us add more enemy variety in more places more easily. In addition, the underlying improvement is going to allow us to add more fine-grained scaling to the enemy catalogs, where specific enemies can start appearing only after certain Power Levels, which will be important for balancing hard-hitting enemies, enemy Turrets and the upcoming drones as well.
This set of changes will have the biggest impact on reinforcement groups, which have a much wider and more pleasing range of variety for all factions. There are also a few levels - like Haven Smokeout and Loophole Heist - that have also benefited from better starting enemy variety due to the changes.
Along with this change, we've added a new Brave Star sniper known as a Star Longshot. More enemy types will now be easier to add, so we expect bringing a few more on in the next few weeks to keep increasing variety.
Story Speed Tweaked
With Update #217, we've completed a minor rebalance to the speed at which story gets started out of the gate in the game. This does not affect the pacing of Syndicate Debts, but affects the pacing of all the other follow-only story event types (proc-gen, proc-gen legwork, vignettes, recruit offers).
The first change was to push the threshold for any story to start proc'ing back by 1 entire day, from 9.5 days to 10.5 days. It is small, but in the compressed timeline of the early game, it makes a difference. The second was to change how the other types of stories were calculating their starting chance to proc every Turn, which was based on Turn 0 instead of the story start point of 9.5 days, meaning all of the stories were very likely to immediately fire at 9.5 days.
Finally, we've made minor 5% adjustments to the speed at which new vignettes and recruit offers will roll up a new story.
All in all, these are minor changes, and we're going to be very careful with adjustments to story pacing to make sure we're always homing in closer and closer to the perfect pace.
File Set Mints Grant +20% Influence
While Blueprints and Accounts have both offered ways to grant Influence to your Contacts, there has not been a path through Files. With Update #217, we've updated the rules around the File Sets - any File that is minted from a File Set will now add +20% Influence to any Contact who purchases it. This gives extra motivation to collect and mint File Sets at any Rarity.
Limit Break UI Upgrade
We're excited to push an updated Limit Break UI for both Contacts and Characters. This helps the character pop so it's really clear who you are looking at. In addition, you can now hover over the Contact name and details at the top of the windows to get the full hover with all of their Trust, Services and more - which can be a big help in making your choice. We're working on getting a similar hover wired up for mercs too.
Security Tally Visible in HUD
The last update included a bug where the tallies in the HUD disappeared and were replaced with a blue and yellow bar. We have fixed the bug and the individual tally marks are back.
v1.9.127 - #217: New Proc-Gen Objective and Enemy/Story Rebalance - 2/21/2025
- Added new proc-gen objective: Infiltrate and Hack where you hit a facility, reach terminals and search for files - 15 new maps available for Infiltrate and Download, +15 total proc-gen combos - Any File minted by a File Set will add +20% Influence to the Contact who purchases it if sold - Improved and rebuilt enemy reinforcement groups to have more variety, arrive with more specialists - Improved difficulty of Haven Smokeout mission with better spawning variety - Added a Star Longshot sniper enemy to the Brave Star faction (lightly armored, fast-moving sniper) - Adjusted pacing of early game story, pumping the breaks a little (~10%) on speed of start and speed of events - Improved secondary objective goals for Turns and Sec Level on certain levels where they were still too low - Upgraded Hype/Stress/Influence/Exposure Limit Break pop-up - Fixed issue where the Security Tally bar became a big colored bar without tallies
Update #216: Loadout Supreme
Knights and mercs, we've got Update #216 arriving on the New Boston streets this morning. This one is dedicated to the new Loadout system, which allows you to rapidly save your merc's equipment setup and then swap your equipment to another loadout (making big or small changes) or share that equipment set with another merc altogether. We dive into the details below and have included a demonstration video too!
We wanted to send out a big thanks to everyone playing, posting and sharing ideas for how to improve Cyber Knights: Flashpoint during Early Access. Your input goes into updates! Also, a special thanks to everyone who left a review this week.
New Loadout System
A loadout is a snapshot save of the current equipment that your merc is carrying - their weapon, the mods on those weapons, their armor, and their items. You can now save this Loadout so that you can swap back to it rapidly.
When you save a loadout, you create an equipment record separate from your merc. This is important as it means that (1) changing your merc's equipment afterward does not modify the loadout unless you save your loadout again and overwrite it and (2) you can use this loadout to rapidly swap another merc to that equipment set.
Once you have a saved loadout, any other merc can swap their loadout to that new equipment set. This means they will take the equipment required for that loadout (weapons, mods, armor, and items) from any other merc who is holding them to complete the equipment set. For items and weapon mods, the preference is to pull these off the shelf whenever possible (avoiding taking things from other mercs) but in the case that something does have to be taken, you'll get a list of what will be taken from whom at the bottom of the swap loadout screen.
Here are some common use cases we've seen being used in testing:
Swapping weapons for a single merc - one merc who keeps the same armor and items but swaps guns between mission types (e.g. close-range vs long, quiet vs loud).
Sharing same equipment between 2 mercs - with only one set of "best Vanguard gear" you are swapping that gear back and forth between your two Vanguards.
Stealth / Combat Mods and Items - one merc keeps their weapons and armor between mission types but uses different items and weapon mods.
Item Only Swapping - your merc's weapons, mods, and armor all stay the same but you are swapping between a Dazzler and a Liquefier versus two explosive grenades
As loadouts are tightly tied to the equipment in your current playthrough, they are not shared between saved games.
All Equipment Details in Mission Deploy
You can now see all of your equipment details for your team directly in mission deployment with helpful hovers. You can also quickly swap loadouts without leaving that screen, allowing you to make last-minute equipment adjustments without jumping to the roster. Still, you can jump out to the roster if you need to as usual, but we'd love for you to be able to do most of your tweaking right there.
Loadout Confirmation
There is a warning every time you're going to swap into a loadout - to remind you that you are going to make some changes to your EQ and there is no easy undo. If this warning is too much, you can disable it in options.
Fixed Stress Limit Break Negative Trait Text
We fixed a display only bug where the game text was stating that a Stress Limit Break reduced your negative Trait by 1 level when instead it increased it by one level.
End of Game Screen
In preparation for Retirement and Career Stats, we've now added an official end of game screen. You'll see this game if you try to load a game that has a dead Knight. It is completely empty at the moment, but you can click through to reach the safehouse and see your entire team in detail and use any library functions (saving appearance or training builds) that you'd like.
1.9.125 - #216: Loadout Supreme - 2/20/2025
- Added new loadout system - save and swap rapidly between loadouts on any merc - Loadouts are a definition of all your current Weapons, Weapon Mods, Armor and Items - loadouts only changed when Saving - Improved mission deployment screen to show full loadout, allow swapping of loadouts on mission deployment screen - Loadouts can be used to swap as much (all your EQ) or as little (add/remove Silencer) as you want - Fixed incorrect level in Stress Limit Break display when negative Traits get worse, improved display for Wounds specifically - Fixed incorrect icons in timeline for events sometimes - New empty Game Over screen if you load a game with a dead Knight, in preparation for retirement / career stats
Patch: F10 Round Up
Tonight, we did a run-down of the most popular current F10s that are jamming up the queues and tried to fix as many as we could. Some of these (like Nano-Stimkit being renamed to "rec") were generating silly numbers of F10s, so they just had to go, now ːsteamfacepalmː
As there are no new features or content, it isn't going to get an update number. Thanks to everyone playing and especially to everyone taking a minute to send in F10s, we are fixing them every day!
Mouse/Keyboard Rotation Fully Restored
We've also fixed a bug that prevented rotation by mouse or keyboard if your mouse was over any UI element. Sorry that this snuck in, and glad to see it resolved.
Ricksham Drips Storyline
We've made some improvements to the Ricksham Drips missions - the first mission will no longer allow secondary objectives related to Security Level (I won't spoil the reasons those are unfair) and the second is now more clear that your team extraction is locked until Dakota is dropped off.
And a host of other F10s, but check the list below for more details!
v1.9.123 - Patch: F10 Round Up - 2/17/2025
- Fixed issue with mouse and keyboard rotation not working if mouse is in HUD - Fixed bug preventing Proximity Mines from exploding in most cases (oops!) - Improved objectives in Ricksham Drip missions - team extract is now shown as locked until you extract Dakota - Prevented Ricksham Drip first mission "Coyote Hotdrop" from allowing secondary objectives for min Security Level - Fixed Nano Stimkit being named "rec" - Fixed inability to upgrade Street Weapon Mods service to Level 4 - Improved a number of matrix host templates including some with incorrect long diagonal connections - Fixed issue with good Contact Trait Calculating being considered negative - Fixed a few faces on which some of the piercings were invisible or badly placed - Fixed typos in Cybersword Preempt Talent
Update #215: Stress Below the Street
Welcome to Sunday evening, mercs and heisters! Let's do Update #215! With this update, we've pushed Stress Limit Breaks into the light so you can't miss them anymore, we've increased the variation of what you can get in a Stress LImit Break including some new temporary negative Traits, added a new negative Trait ability to cause ripples of Stress through your team, fixed a longstanding bug with how Passive Talents could double-activate and waste charges, and improved 2 Talents at the start of a larger Talent polishing project.
If you're enjoying the game or the relentless pace of progress, please take a moment to share Cyber Knights: Flashpoint with a friend or leave a review!
Merc Stress Limit Breaks Visible
With Update #215, we've pushed the previously quiet and easy-to-miss Stress Limit Breaks for your mercs into a pop-up window just like Hype Limit Breaks. You don't have any options here other than to acknowledge the unfortunate change in your merc's status. As always the result is written to the timeline event log as well, but this helps promote these important moments in your merc's career with more visibility.
We've got some nice changes coming to the Limit Break windows in a near-term release, but they are pending testing and merging, so the window is not the cleanest-looking thing right now, but that's where we are right now. Iterate, improve, go fast!
Updated Stress Limit Break Options
Along with making the Stress Limit Breaks visible, we've improved the list of options that could apply here. First, we've expanded the conditions under which results like increasing Pay Rate or Reducing Loyalty can occur. But we've also added temporary negative Traits to match those temporary positive Traits you can get in Hype Limit Breaks.
The new Traits - Disgruntled and Checked Out are options at any point you get a Stress Limit Break while Malcontent and Run Empty are much nastier but will only appear at 6 or more Discontent.
Both Disgruntled and Malcontent have a new possible effect on Traits which is to cause Stress ripples within your team. If a merc with these Traits suffers a +10% Stress, they have a % chance to cause another merc in the safehouse to suffer a similar Stress rise.
Fixed Passive Talent Double Up Bug
We've fixed an old bug with how Passive Talents worked. For those Passive Talents with common conditions to activate (Critical Hit, killing a target, etc) they might activate once in a Turn and then later activate again. This lead to the "re-buffing" ruleset which states that if you have a buff and the same buff is used on you again, the duration is extended as if you were just buffed the first time now.
For Passive Talents, this is a bad rule set - so we've enforced a check with all Passive Talents. If you have the buff (if you have the Savagery buff up) and you activate the Passive Talent (you kill an enemy which would usually fire Savagery's charge) then the buff doesn't fire. That's nice.
Talent Rebalance - More Coming
As we sprint like a wild band of jackals toward our release date, we're polishing every aspect of that game. A huge shout and thanks to @Phreak who has provided some very useful analysis today about the 145 Talents that are in the game. It is a great prompt to do a full scrub down of the list, improve where we can, focus where we can, and make sure everything is delivering fully.
So - more Talent changes, rebalance, buffs and nerfs are going to be coming in the next months. Hold onto your favorites!
With Update #215, we've improved the level point costs for Agent EX's Talent, Armor EX. The ending nodes on this Talent were both 2 point cost which was not intentional. And second, we've helped focus the Cyber Knight's Lookahead Talent solely on predicting enemy movement and then slowing down their Move Speed, so the -Initiative debuff that was there has been removed and the Move Speed debuffs have been punched up to -15%.
v1.9.121 - #215: Stress Below the Street - 2/16/2025
- Merc Stress Limit Breaks now pop a confirmation window to show the timing and result of the LB - Stress Limit Breaks can now add 30 day negative Traits: Disgruntled and Checked out (or 6+ Discontent), Malcontent and Run Empty - New negative Traits can "ripple" Stress to other mercs - when a Malcontent Stresses, they make others Stress - Increased conditions in which a merc can Stress Limit Break for Less Loyalty or Pay Raise - Added Trait description to all temporary Traits (negative and positive) - Fixed issue with Passive Buff Talents firing when they are already active on your character (Recoup, Savagery) and wasting charges - Improved Cyber Knight's Lookahead Talent to focus on -Move Speed (max -30%) and not -Initiative (now removed) - Reduced level point cost of Agent EX's Armor EX upgrades 3 and 4 (-1 AP, +1 Charge) to 1 pt instead of 2 - Fixed reported map bugs
Update #214: Underworld Fences
Knights and mercs, we heard a rumor that you like updates with new stuff! So, here we go - Update #214 adds 5 new cosmetics to a new facial piercings category, adds a powerful new filter to all Cold Storage tabs, makes some key balance improvements to the Eleventh Hour mission and fixes some old Legwork bugs that have been plaguing the F10 streams and fixes other F10s as fast as we can go.
Thanks to everyone sending in feedback, playing the game and especially to the players who left a review since the last update (yesterday)! If you're enjoying the game and the relentless update pace, please take a moment to leave a review to help our small team carry forward.
New Cosmetics: Facial Piercing
WIth Update #214, we've added 5 new cosmetic options and opened up a new style category with Facial Piercings. The first wave of piercings includes an underlip stud, underlip spikes, a center nose ring, and a nose ring on either side. We'll be adding more variations up the nose and to the eyebrows as well, and since you can mix and match within the category you can already start to do some cool things.
A huge thanks to everyone sending in F10s with ideas and improvements we could make - we've got more cosmetics coming your way!
Buyer's Filter
We have added a new and helpful filter for your Cold Storage digital items (Accounts, Blueprints and Files). This filter can only be used from the individual lists (we are still working on the ALL support) but can help you see the list of all Contacts who will buy something and rapidly filter down to the Contact of interest.
This can be really helpful if you're fishing for Favors (filter to Origami Joe, look for high-value things to sell) or Influence (filter to Potato on Accounts and sell off your high Rarities).
The Buyer's Filter was one of our prerequisites for the Bulk Sell feature which will let you get a purchase offer for any item in the list. So now that we've got Buyer's Filter in the wild, we're moving toward the Bulk Sell next to help you rapidly empty your inventory.
Eleventh Hour Balance
In the Eleventh Hour storyline, we had written a branch where the enemy holding the prisoner could be either a Syndicate or Warner-Braun megacorp. For an early game storyline, the difficulty of running into the (RNG selected) Warner-Braun was too stiff and has continually made this mission a tough spot for some players. We've resolved this, ensuring that unless the storyline is added at Team Power Level 5+, the enemy will always be a Syndicate.
Mouse Wheel in Talent Scroll
If you're hitting a point in the Matrix where your Programs, Talents, and Items are rolling off the edge of the screen you'll be either using your mouse wheel or keyboard to scroll the list. The mouse wheel was setup to go in the reverse direction than expected (up should go left). We've fixed this one.
Fixed Legwork Bugs
There were two lingering Legwork bugs that #214 catches up on. There were still some older games suffering from a bug long fixed but the data was still corrupted - in these rare cases, there was a merc who was forever stuck on Legwork. The second bug was on older saved games as well where you might get into a situation where one merc was always stealing credit for another merc's Legwork.
Both are now quietly resolved the next time you load your saved game.
v1.9.119 - #214: Underworld Fences - 2/15/2025
- Added new appearance option: Piercings! Pick from below lip stud, spikes or 3 of nose ring positions - Added new Cold Storage Filter for Buyers when looking at Accounts, Blueprints and Files tab - Fixed balancing mistake in Eleventh Hour where the enemy faction could be Warner-Braun far too early in the game (way too hard) - Improved text format for Pure Dmg in Full Auto column to be more clear - Updated icons and graphics for all combat and matrix drugs - Reversed mouse wheel scrolling in Talents on Matrix/main HUD - up goes to the top of the list (left) and down goes bottom (right) - Added more hovers to the Matrix HUD - Fixed bug where a merc's Legwork might feature success/fail dialog in which another merc pretends they did the work (the nerve!) - Fixed bug for some old saved games where merc might be stuck in endless Legwork - Fixed issues with Influence/Exposure display on widescreens
Knights and mercs, the New Boston zone has been too quiet lately. And you know that means heisting. Bob hasn't checked in on the radio? Probably trouble. Joe didn't take his last smoke break? Probably an update. Yep - it is Update #213 with a new and exciting map set in the Boston Harbor, a very powerful new Talent unlocked for Cybersword (Preempt at last!), fixes to how Vanguard's Blend shows movement notifications and some player-requested improvements to overwriting existing entries in your appearance and class bulid libraries.
We're hard at work improving the game from every angle - so please take a moment to leave a review and share the game with a friend.
New Weekly Map: A12 Sea Platform
The Boston Harbor is often referred to as the Black Soup, but there are still megacorporate installations on islands and deep sea platforms dotting the dangerous water's surface. Near the infamous Work Isle A12 that was once owned by now demolished Knight Horizon towers the A12 Sea Platform. This tower of metal and neon rises out of the thick, perpetual fog. It is out into these dangerous waters that your next heist might take you!
The A12 Sea Platform is our 15th weekly map, pushing the total proc-gen maps up to a grand old 28. This multi-level deep sea platform is split by 2 bridges and features roughly an upper and lower deck. While the Sea Platform offers wide open sight lines for an enterprising sniper it has precious little good cover in open fire fights, meaning you may want to stick close to some of the topside buildings and enclosures.
We're hard at work pushing up the variety of mission map content as we march toward release, and the the total proc gen combos (map x objective) now total 159 as this new map adds +8 new combos.
Unlocking Cybersword's Preempt
The Cybersword is getting a major power boost with Update #213 and the unlocking and unleashing of Preempt. This melee Overwatch Talent allows you to cover a solid chunk of territory near yourself an interrupt enemies who might try to move and shoot. This is the deadly one-two punch that a Cybersword can deliver, once they are close enough they can setup to Preempt and because melee attacks are guaranteed to at least land a Glancing Blow, they are sure to stop any enemy in their tracks.
Unlike other variations of Overwatch, Preempt will move your Cybersword up to your target's position (like they Slashslid) and you can only get a single reaction attack regardless of the number of AP you have at the time of using Preempt. This balances out Preempts brute power of always hitting, limiting the number of times you can use this devastating ability to lock down an enemy.
When completely upgraded, Preempt gives significant range! See below - With the next series of updates, we're going to be wrapping up the remaining unfinished Talents (Vanguard Taunt and Hacker Stemlocker) and making a few final adjustments to the class trees.
Fixing Blend Movement Alerts
For a long time, the Vanguard's Blend Talent was failing to put up any movement alerts. That was pretty sneaky because Blend cancels the second you start moving, which means you're going to be seen, heard, and shot! We've stopped Blend's lying spree and now all of the movement alerts are correctly included when you're Blending and stationary.
Hey, if you get spotted, just Blend again when you get where you're going ːsteamhappyː
Overwrite Library Entry
If you want to overwrite an existing Library entry for a class build or an appearance, you can now easily do so by simply typing the name again into the text field and clicking Save. Previously, if a duplicate name was detected, the UI prevented saving. Now it will pop up a confirmation to overwrite the existing entry. This can make updating appearance, and class builds a much smoother experience.
Minor Story, Map and Text Issues
With #213, we've also continued the constant fight against the incoming F10s. Over 40 F10s reporting little mistakes in our storywriting or dialog, typos, and minor map issues have been cleaned up with this update.
- Added new proc-gen map "A12 Sea Platform": a neon-lit fortress in the perpetual fog of the Boston Harbor, supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate VIP, Battle Striker, Siege) - Unlocked Cybersword Preempt Talent - melee Overwatch is short range, only 1 strike, but clamp down your enemy's ability to move/shoot - Fixed issues with Vanguard's Blend Talent not showing correct movement alerts (you will be seen!) as it cancels immediately upon moving - Easy overwrite saved item for Appearance and Training Library by using the same name and clicking Save - Fixed typos, reported map issues and minor story bugs
February (and March) 2025 Limited Roster Community Challenge
Hello, Knights! It's time for another CKF Community Challenge. We did something different in December with the Giving Gifts event, but we are back to our more "regular" challenges that change up gameplay. This time we want to challenge you to run with a limited roster. This will make injuries and wounds more impactful and lead to some tough decisions on what missions to take, when to take them, etc.
After talking with some of our community members about the best way to implement this challenge, we have one specific requirement to ensure that you run with a limited roster:
- Your barracks must be no higher than level 2
Depending on where you are in your current game, having a limited roster may require starting up a new campaign if your barracks is already upgraded to level 3 or above. You are not required to start a fresh game though if your barracks meets the requirement above.
As always, most of the fun of community challenge is what you all share about how your tackle them! Here are some ideas for what you could share:
- Who you prioritize (what jobs, etc) when your roster is limited - Your strategies for juggling injuries, etc when you have less mercs - How your playstyle changed from your 'normal' to accommodate this challenge - Any other creative ways you want to share to tell us about your team: memes, interpretive dance, gifs, etc
No matter what you choose to share, please share screenshots of your barracks showing us that it is level 2 (or unupgraded)!
We’ve opened up a discussion here on Steam in the General Discussion forum for aIl of your posts. If you post in our Discord, head to #limited_roster_challenge to join in on the conversation!
Look forward to seeing how you all tackle this challenge! As always at the end of the challenge, we'll be back with a wrap up and a few highlights!
Update #212: Options and Hotkeys
Knights and mercs! We've got an update that is dedicating to batching a bunch of hotkey and options requests from the player base! With Update #212, we've added middle mouse panning, a swap weapons hotkey, fixed the oddity in End Action hotkey behavior, added a Zoom Sensitivity option, fixed Ricksham Drips bugs with the end of the second mission, completed a wave of balance improvements and refocusing of Contact Traits and renamed the Loadout tag to the Under Equipped to be more clear about exactly what it means.
This is a big package of changes all directly linked to community requests - so thanks for playing, posting feedback to help us improve during Early Access and especially a big thanks to everyone leaving a review!
Middle Mouse Button Click to Pan
We've added the often requested feature of click-and-hold for camera panning. We've bound it to middle mouse button as a default as that is most common request. If you've already customized your hotkeys, you'll need to set this manually it in the Options > Controls > Keybindings - Mission screen.
You can bind this to any key or mouse button if you'd like to use it like "hold V to pan" etc.
There is also an option that helps control the speed of panning when using this click-and-hold mode, as your mouse sensitivity can have a big impact on how fast you go flying across the screen ;) We've set the starting value pretty low, which works for the widest set of configurations but you can crank it up or down even more.
Zoom Sensitivity Slider
Under Options > Gameplay, you can now adjust the sensitivity on zoom in and out. Go fast, go slow - up to you!
Swap Weapons Hotkey
We've added a new hotkey for swapping weapons. By default it is bound to J. If you've already customized your hotkeys, you will need to set it manually if you want to use it in the Options > Controls > Keybindings - Mission screen. Thanks to everyone who F10'd this request!
End Action Hotkey Behavior Change!
We've made an important change to how the End Action hotkey works. To put it simply, if you used the hotkey for End Action (not the HUD button, only the hotkey) AND your merc could possibly Delay Action, then the merc would delay. The hotkey would only End Action if you had no AP left. This oddity leads to a steady stream of F10s and can lead to wasted time if you wanted the merc to End Action (and therefore pushed End Action hotkey, not Delay Action hotkey) ... but you delayed anyway and had to therefore finish their action again later.
However, we know this is a pattern that some players really like. In order to support players who like the old pattern, we've added an option to the Options > Gameplay section that allows you to enable this "legacy" behavior for that one specific hotkey. By default, we've upgraded everyone to having End Action and Delay Action hotkeys work exactly like the buttons in the HUD instead of having separate functionality.
Rickshamp Drips Coyote Drop Off
There was a bug in Ricksham Drips Power Play's second mission that has been coming in hot on so many F10s. If the VIP extracted at the terminal and the next character in the Initiative Timeline is a merc instead of an enemy, this could cause a screen lock up. This is now fixed!
Our apologies to everyone who was stuck with this last week.
Better Contact Traits
We've made a first big pass at improving Contact Traits with Update #212. We've hit 8 big Traits that needed it the most but we'll be working through the entire Contact Trait list. The goal here is to increase their focus - Contact Traits will have less overall bonuses and penalties but will have bigger values for the ones that they do have. This helps makes Traits cleaner and clearer and have more hefty impact. This also means that Traits that had a mix of positive and negative impacts are going to often be shifted more toward either fully positive or fully negative, and the ability for a Contact to get an interesting "mixed bag" of effects will be driven by multiple Traits and not single (overloaded, spaghetti) Traits.
With this update, we've adjusted Greedy, Impatient, Generous, Calculating, Uninspiring, Easy to Please and Fast-Splice. All are now focused around their key concept. Impatient used to modify sale prices, mission prices, cause the Contact to prefer secondary objectives around speed and shorten mission deadlines ... now the Impatient Contact just prefers speed secondary objectives and shortens all their mission deadlines.
In addition, we've also rebuilt Steady Hand Trait from the ground up as a new Fast-Patch Trait that matches Fast-Splice. Each one now focuses on a single aspect - the speed of medical recovery for Fast-Patch and the speed of cybernetic surgery recover for Fast-Splice. All other confusing counter effects (such as reducing cost while increasing time required) have been removed.
Under Equipped Tag
As the full loadout system is coming quite soon, we've renamed the tag "Loadout" to "Under Equipped" so it is more clear what is going on. This has nothing to do with a loadout (which is a set of equipment that can be easily traded between mercs) but instead is just a warning that you are missing mission critical equipment (like a weapon, armor or cyberdeck).
v1.9.115 - Update #212: Options and Hotkeys - 2/8/2025
- Added click-and-hold to pan camera, defaulting to middle mouse button and sensitivity slider in Options > Gameplay - Added new Swap Weapons hotkey, defaulting to J - Changed behavior of hotkey for End Action (ENTER) to simply End Action. If you want End Action hotkey to Delay if allowed, added new Option > Gameplay for this "legacy" behavior - Added new Camera Zoom Sensitivity Slider in Options > Gameplay - Fixed bug in Ricksham Drips that could cause the game to lock up if the VIP extracted and another merc was the next to act - Simplified and focused Contact Traits (less buff/debuffs by count but bigger buff/debuff): Greedy, Impatient, Generous, Calculating, Uninspiring, Easy to Please, Fast-Splice - Replaced Steady Hand Contact Trait with Fast-Patch which focuses solely on reducing medical recovery time - Improved "Loadout" tag to now read "Under Equipped" to be more clear and accurate - Fixed Salvage Job Leverage for CCAC Hover Drop to correctly require a High-Risk Transporter - Fixed description of "Big 6" megacorporations incorrectly including KEMCO - Fixed Sniper dialog line being attributed to the Face
Update #211: Weekly Map Release: Restricted Fab
Knights and mercs, we are back with another weekly map release for Update #211. Here at Trese Brothers HQ, we are grinding up a number of the big boulders in our roadmap, so the updates are coming a little slower and more of the hours are on big stories, retirement, translation and other key roadmap goals. Still - we've got good stuff coming to ya! Update #211 adds a new map and another +8 proc-gen combos as well as fixing issues with the Ghoul storyline, improving a number of maps and fixing some bugs with Contact services.
If you're enjoying the relentless pace of updates and improvements, please take a moment to leave a review. It is a full team effort form our small studio to keep an Early Access going this fast and to try to be constantly present to chat, listen and improve!
New Weekly Map: Restricted Fab
A devilish purple glow, pools in the shadows of the corporate fabrication sight, its lights casting the facility in an eternal and utterly unnatural twilight. Yep - it is another week, another map as we continue to the march to endless content from the proc-gen engine. Some really big moves are coming in this space to blow up the amount of available content again, so stay tuned.
The Restricted Fab is our 14th weekly map, pushing the total proc-gen maps up to 27. This tightly wound but highly interconnected industrial zone allows for some very creative routing and pathing as you strike out for your objectives or to avoid security and patrols. The Restricted Fab was designed with an asymmetrical panopticon stronghold in the center, provides a foil for its sister map, Decommissioned Core. Both maps feature a central stronghold but work very differently.
It is very cool to see the total proc gen combos (map x objective) now exceed 150 as this new map and the +8 brings us to 151. We were looking back on the original ENDLESS milestone update where we released proc-gen and found this nice piece that reminds us just how far we've come in a year (there were 7 proc-gen combos!):
... While the catalog of options is still small today (3 maps + hacking map) and objectives are limited (2 total today) ...
Ghoul Appears
We've fixed the story issues where Ghoul never appeared in the Contact list no matter how much you might have hated or worked for him. This is now resolved and he will appear pretty early on, once you're aware of him through the different Origin story branches.
Fixed Anti-Security Service Stuck
There was a bug preventing the Anit-Security Item service on Contacts from upgrading to its max at level 3. Every time you tried to upgrade, it would just stay at Level 2. Now fixed for next LImit Break near you!
Proc-Gen Fixes
With this update, we've fixed the recurring double dialog trigger for assassination missions again. We're continue to work on how to fix this permanently so that it won't pop up every time we make a certain type of mistake adding a new map. We're improving our process to double-check for that mistake, so notably, Restricted Fab doesn't include this bug again.
We've also fixed a ton of "open field" spawns where enemies could appear farther away from a door or elevator than is expected. Reinforcements always arrive with a reason, so if you see an issue where they seem to drop in without one, please F10.
v1.9.111 - Update #211: - 2/5/2025
- Added new proc-gen map "Restricted Fab": a interconnected industrial area that supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate VIP, Battle Striker, Siege) - Fixed issue with Ghoul not appearing in Contact list after appearing in the story - Fixed issue with Anti-Security Item service refusing to upgrade to level 3 (max) - Fixed open field spawn issues in multiple maps - Fixed double trigger of assassination dialog
Update #210: Shader RIPs
Knights and mercs, we're here with Update #210, which is a really good one - fixing Power Play issues, optimizing the game and improving character Attributes plus fixing some F10s. Thanks to everyone playing and posting feedback, we're hard at work expanding the game (new Syndicate Debts storylines and map just this week) and are running headlong for the next story and map expansion already.
If you're enjoying the game and the relentless pace of update, please take a moment to leave a review to help us keep rocking this Early Access.
Improved Attribute Bonuses
With Update #210, we've tuned up Will and Strength bonuses where their ratios were too weak to make enough of a meaningful difference in character build. Attributes are one of many sources that build up your character, and are provided by your class tree, Traits and by some cybernetics.
For Update #210, we've improved Will by increasing its ratio to 2% Stress Res per 1 Will (from 1% per 1 Will). For Strength, we've improved the ratio to -2% Recoil gen per 1 Strength (from -1% per 1 Strength).
Fixed Power Play Hang Ups
Up to now, there have been a few well-hidden snags in the story system that were limiting the appearance of Power Play storylines in Limit Breaks more than they should be limited. We've now removed all of the ones that we could find and that were pointed out in F10s with Update #210, and now the Power Play storylines should flow.
Part of this fix is to resolve an issue with how proc-gen storylines were "hanging on to" Contacts way longer than needed. This kept them assigned to the proc-gen story and prevent them from joining another storyline (such as Power Play). We've also fixed a few state checks that were just reducing the changes that Fadelight Blades and Ricksham Drips Power Plays could possibly attach to your Contacts via the Casting Directory. A big thanks to everyone who provided F10s to help us resolve this!
Shader Optimizations
We are excited to have completed a big batch of optimization within the game and are pushing it live with Update #210. Shader variant compilation is a big part of the time of building an update and are what the game need to load into the GPU to render all of the 3D assets. With some clever changes, isolating some expensive parts of shaders into new more limited shaders - we have been able to reduce the total number of compiled shader variants needed by the game by over 75%. On one such shader type, we went from over 25,000 shaders variants to 3,300.
This will both speed up the build time for updates (we can go faster!??!) and has some positive impact on memory footprint and load time for the game.
Other F10s!
With Update #210, we hit a few more F10s. We've continued to clean up the new Syndicate Debts content, rewriting some confusing dialogs, fixing a few more misattributions and of course, typos.
We also found an odd bug in the animation stack for feminine characters carrying shotguns. This made their faces squeeze extra skinny. Very odd but now fixed!
And we fixed a confusing fail clause that had gotten accidentally attached to the Thumb on Snitch Legwork.
v1.9.107 - Update #210: Shader RIPs - 1/31/2025
- Increased Will bonus to give +2% Stress Res per 1 Will - Increased Strength bonus to give -2% Recoil gen per 1 Strength - Fixed bugs that could prevent Fadelight Blades or Ricksham Drip Power Plays from connecting to a Contact - Fixed issues with proc-gen cleanup holding on to Contacts too long and preventing them from Limit Break or Power Play - More Power Play and story missions give improved XP over other missions - Major shader optimization - reduced shader variant count by 75%, faster load times - Fixed confusing fail clause in Thumb on Snitch Legwork - Fixed animation bug that was squishing some characters heads by 10% when carrying a shotgun
