Our apologies this monthly update has run a little late due to some team travel. April was a massively productive month with the entire team at work adding content, balancing, tuning and working hard on spreading the new UX across the game. We're getting closer to our big Alpha v2 return every day.
Another big month with lots of progress toward the next major milestone, Early Access release! So, let's check out some highlights from April!
Twitchy and Blendy!
Our animator has been hard at work improving and polishing the game’s animation as well as catching up on animation areas where we have been lacking. Three big categories that needed work were idle twitch, getting hit and dodging animations, which have now both been added to the game during April.
For idle animations, we’re excited to see how much it helps the natural feeling of all the turn-based actors in a level to have them looking around, checking their weapons and checking their corners.
For both hit and dodge, we’ve used a mix of additive animation layers which give us the ability to “add” the animation on top of any other animation. Characters or enemies running through overwatch fields can react to taking hits mid-stride or those who dodge can duck low and throw their hand up a defensive posture while sprinting across the field. In addition, for animations like taking hits we’re blending between 8 different animations depending on the exact direction of the hit to give the best-looking results.
Exciting Class / Talent Updates
In the latest iteration of the alpha, we had just 40 Talents spread across 5 classes. When we come back online, we’re aiming to have rewritten and added a total of 60 Talents to massively expand your build options and create more and more excellent options in your kit. The current plan for Early Access launch includes 6 classes and 90 Talents, averaging 15 killer abilities each. Here are some highlights we worked on in April --
A Knight can now spike the quantum countermeasure signal from their spinal rider to create an Atomic Stutter and stop a human or drone target in their tracks at range for a few seconds. This burst signal can’t be repeated rapidly but the Stunning effect at range is a powerful piece in the Knight’s kit.
In the case that your Vanguard is spotted by security, their passive Overdrive Talent will kick in to boost their Initiative. With a major Initiative boost, you’ll be the first to take action on the next Turn or if you’re slated to act later in the Turn you may “jump the line” and become first in the Initiative timeline and immediately it’s your turn to act. Surprise!
Soldiers are hardened leaders on the battlefield, and their Roll With It passive Talent allows them to automatically reduce incoming damage from a hit before it is applied to their armor. With extra level points dedicated to build up Roll With It, you can train this Talent to the point of negating a ranged hit completely.
There are multiple ways to cut IC when hacking the matrix but one of them is just to unleash devastating attacks, spinning out scripted mayhem in an all-out assault on the enemy network. Hackers who take this aggressive approach can now buy themselves some momentary cover from spiking Quantum Security Tally by using training up their passive Scapegoat Talent which allows them to reroute and cancel out some of the incoming Tally.
AI Testing and Simulation Tools
This month, we’ve been building out some additional simulation tools that let us play with the AI’s decision making and choice trees outside of the regular game context. This lets us test and iterate faster on these important decision points and also to drop these simulation tools into any level at any stage of production-- from basic block out to fully decorated and completed -- to see how the AI would react to different areas and scenarios. This is key as it allows us to embed the AI thinking into very complex 3D scenarios and understand what it might to do to both better tweak the decision making process or the level itself.
One such simulation tool just shows the sight range rules for any given position within a map.
Another simulation tool calculates how an AI will consider flanking depending, given its position and player position.
Another simulation plans an AI's hunting routine, the process by which it will approach a security event (looking for a dead guard, heard something suspicious, was that gunfire?) and how they will path back and forth across the area in question seeking enemy contact for a number of turns.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
We’re continuing to work on and refine the design of the Digital Artbook pages and push this reward toward completion. We are also working on the Lore Book and finding ways that more of its content can end up in the game’s Journal screens.
March Progress Update
Sometimes it feels like these late winter months go too fast. How is March over already!? It has been a very productive month with every team member hard at work on adding new features, creating exciting content, and polishing the game in preparation for the Alpha v2 return.
The biggest two internal projects - the UX implementation and L2 pipeline are chugging along. We’re definitely in the grind now, which is a heads-down “crunch” to the end but without the crazy overtime or deadline induced stress.
Another big month and a lot of progress - let’s check out some highlights!
New Game: Picking your Backstory, Origin Story and Team
This month we’ve made big strides improving the new game setup for the Cyber Knight’s alpha. Where previously there were few options and every game started the same, we’ve now introduced three sets of choices which combine to create very different starting points for each game.
The first is your Backstory, which tells the story of your life before you reached this point. Were you raised on the unforgiving streets of the Wards under a radioactive sky, were you brought up in the plush luxury of a corporate tower preparing for your aptitude tests or trained up as a milsec contractor? Your Backstory will define some of your initial Contacts when the game starts, your starting Attribute package and many of your character’s metadata tags describing their faction, connections, skills and more. There will be numerous backstory options.
The second choice is your Origin Story which answers the question of how you came to have a Cyber Knight’s quantum rider surgically and irrevocably spliced into your spine. The first Origin Story in the game will be Syndicate Debts, in which you and your friends have pulled together everything you had and taken a massive loan from a Syndicate financier to afford the installation of a Cyber Knight’s computer. The stretch goal “Valkyrie Zero” and the Kickstarter add-on “Horizon Cypher” are both Origin Stories. There will only be a handful of origin story options.
As well as explaining your new cybernetic, your Origin Story sets up one of the big story arcs for the first act of the game and this story will include a set of Contacts -- be they friends or enemies.
The final set of choices will be to pick your team from a list of available character templates. You’ll be filling up the slots for your team from a few locked slots -- your team needs a Face, a Vanguard and a Hacker -- as well as a few free slots -- your pick of Soldiers, Snipers, Cyberswords, another Vanguard, etc. There will be numerous character template options.
Each templated character you pick will have a starting name, character visual (both of which can be changed), their own Backstory, special starting equipment, optional cybernetics and at least one Contact that they know.
As a sum total -- your Backstory, Origin Story and team picks will give you a strong starting foundation for your covert merc team and aims to deliver on classic tabletop RPG feels -- you’ll have friends and enemies, faction connections, a variety of skills and abilities and trouble already knocking at your door.
Cont. L2 Mission Pipeline
The L2 pipeline is going to roar onward from here for... well, possibly years from now. We’re working every day to design new levels, challenges, and improve and refine the ones we have while also beautifying everything. Levels are now assembling into awesome heist storylines full of surprises and complications and it's feeling great.
In a new and exciting development, we’ve added new tools for the level designers to be able to add, move, or remove key elements such as enemy spawning locations, patrol paths, security devices, and loot boxes in any map based on the storyline it is being played in. This is a huge boost in replayability for the levels; when combined with the existing ability to change entry, exit, and objectives based on the storyline, now these level spaces can be reconfigured to have completely different objectives, challenges, and rewards, such as a raid to steal loot, an escape route out of a heist, or a kidnapping mission, to name a few examples.
Cont. UX Implementation
March saw major progress across the UX implementation project, we are now nearly complete with the mission map UX with only less than 10 items still kicking around needing attention and of course, some bug hunting to wrap up. That has allowed us to move on to the Matrix UX where progress has been rapid so far. The Matrix Mk2 HUD has taken shape, we’ve completed the addition of missing features for hack-only missions and we’re closing in on starting the big central node map which is the core of the work and the key part to beautify.
A very ugly WIP Hacking screen with some of the HUD elements replaced -- there are nice things starting to gather in the corners but the main of the screen is not pleasing
The final visual designs for the Safehouse screens are being handed off for review on a daily basis now, and we’re building up a growing style library of shared components that will help speed up the implementation once we get into the more menu-focused tasks in the safehouse.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
We’re continuing to work on and refine the design of the Digital Artbook pages and push this reward toward completion.
We have also started work on the Lorebook in earnest now. It will be quite a process -- gathering the lore notes from many sources, paper and separate Google Docs from all these years working on this game world and pulling them together into a single, well-organized tome of lore.
February Update
We are excited to share February’s progress and development with you. The team has been hard at work ensuring that the game meets the high standards of Trese Brothers for quality, depth of systems, replay and world building story.
The UX project is moving along smoothly and the entire feel of the main stealth-and-fight mission gameplay is hugely improved. As reported last month, our level designers are working daily on the L2 Mission Pipeline to create compelling stories spread across impressively challenging and beautiful areas of New Boston.
Overall, it’s been another big month and we’ve made a ton of progress. Let’s take a spin through some of the highlights!
Alpha v2 Update
In late February, we shared a private stream with the Alpha team to show off some of the finished progress, some of the work-in-progress and some things we are planning to work on in the coming months. This stream update really focused on the UI improvements to the game and the upgraded levels.
It was great to get together with the backers and get live feedback on what we've been working on. The new features that are bundled into the UX implementation got a lot of attention and positive vibes from the crew.
Cont. UX Implementation
The UX implementation project is continuing -- it’s big and will go on for months now. Critically it includes major feature improvements, so it is not just a reskinning. The gameplay aspects -- easy of play and quality of feedback/hints presented to the player -- are improving dramatically with the project, all of which are key to providing the strategic planning experiences of a heist that is so key to Cyber Knights: Flashpoint.
We are closing in on finishing the main mission map changes and the next step will be to tackle the Matrix.
Cont. L2 Mission Pipeline
The L2 pipeline is roaring along daily. New stories are assembling and each demands that the levels it needs sign up with their 17-point checklist, ready to be reviewed in depth. In this L2 pass on levels, we’re focusing heavily on quality in every single level, being really picky and turning on our perfectionist cyber-eyes. It is paying off!
Improving Controller and Keyboard Support
The Alpha included enough control binding features and basic support for controllers for us to test what we needed, but it was far from finished. This month we have implemented a system we call control glyphs that are capable of representing any bound control in Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. A glyph could be a keyboard key, a controller axis, a complex multi-key binding with modifiers or mouse click. The controller glyphs can communicate the accurate glyph for your controller, mouse or keyboard and blend into a game’s overall UX. It has not been a simple feat to get the game to display your customized keyboard bindings, hot swap those to controller bindings based on your type of controller or handheld -- XBox controller, Dual Shock, Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch -- and back again if your hands wander back to the keyboard and mouse.
Ignore our ugly controller glyphs, the nice ones are coming!
In February, we have cracked this one as one of the last major hurdles in first class controller support for the game. As part of the UX reimplementation project, we’re also streamlining controls, simplifying the way controllers work and reducing overlap between bindings.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us. We’re continuing to work on and refine the design of the Digital Artbook pages and push this reward toward completion.
January Progress Update
This month passed fast! With Alpha updates on pause and the workshop doors locked up tight, the entire team has been heads down working madly on everything from technical memory management to visual effects and level polish.
As we arrive in 2023, there are now 7 team members working on Cyber Knights: Flashpoint across design, coding, UX, animation and level design - so let’s take a spin through some highlights of the month!
As the team grows, so do the branches in our source code control
UX Implementation
We’re excited to have welcomed a new Unity engineer who is focused on the UX implementation to the project in December. With his help, we’ve been accelerating the conversion of the UX to the new design, adding UI features and improving the data flow to the player and also making it look great.
Still the project is massive - spanning the tactical mission map, Matrix Mk2 hacking and the safehouse with all of its interconnected systems. This is no small mountain to climb! The final piece -- the extensive set of safehouse wireframes -- just entered the final stages of visual design last week. However, the results are looking awesome; the design includes considerations for controllers and multiple screen sizes (TV, PC, mobile). We are getting nearer to completing the implementation of all the tasks for the main tactical mission map which would be an exciting milestone.
L2 Mission Pipeline
Throughout 2022, the level design team planned, designed and crafted over 70 levels (fun fact: that’s more than in our previous squad tactics game, Templar Battleforce). These levels were brought up to the playable stage and many of them were loaded into the game in the Alpha’s “Mission Playtest” menu while others have just been played by the internal team.
At the start of January, we engaged the “L2” mission pipeline. This second pass on level design includes a review of each level’s themes and its location within New Boston, integrating the level into the larger scene and surroundings, final level lighting, volumetrics and VFX, a close review of the level’s security, matrix and reinforcement flows, and finally optimization and performance testing.
In addition to all these improvements, during this phase levels are also being plugged into story missions — finalizing its scripting, special cut-scenes, complications and secondary objectives. We’re in a good place with levels; the L1 pipeline, with thanks to all of our alpha players’ feedback, has produced a vast trove of well-constructed “raw material” for this L2 pipeline to refine. Now that the L2 pipeline is up and running, it will keep running straight through Steam Early Access, loading more and more content into the game.
Fuzzier Stealth
Stealth mechanics are tough! They’ve been getting better throughout the Alpha as we’ve soaked up the feedback from our players, studied other greats in the genre and worked hard to figure out how to achieve the right feeling in Cyber Knight’s turn-based gameplay.
Our latest improvements makes our stealth systems “fuzzier,” adding much-needed padding to the concept of being spotted by the enemy. This style of AI alertness is used by some of the best stealth games in the genre and has greatly improved the feel for Cyber Knight’s stealth. Where previously, a single raycast from a mile away could get you spotted by an enemy (so frustrating!) being spotted is now a function of your distance from the enemy and the exact time exposed to the enemy’s view. The farther you are away, the longer you need to be in their view to be well-and-truly spotted. This creates a few key scenarios that didn’t exist before -- (1) if you dodge between some crates at a distance from the enemy, they might not see you or they might just become Suspicious and investigate that area (2) if you’re in a decent hiding spot and the AI moves past you, sweeping over you with their sight cone, you need to be in a more exposed position to be truly spotted.
This gives all your mercenaries more room to wiggle in the stealth system, which is important. Starting mercs also now all come with stealth weapons equipped (silenced pistols, silenced SMGs, blades) and even classes like Soldier now have at least one stealth-capable Talent in their class tree. Going hand-in-glove with these improvements is the upgrade to the UI to warn players about detection when they are planning their movements. Removing the guesswork from moving in stealth changes the nature of the gameplay, rarely are you now failing stealth due to a simple mistake (“Ah crap, I shouldn’t have run that close”) or miscalculation (“I didn’t think he’ll patrol that way!”) but instead as a forced sacrifice (“I’m out Talent charges and time, I have to run for it”) or due to a strategic planning failure (“I shouldn’t have split the Vanguard off the other way...”).
Basic bounds help keep the game camera in the playable area - there is a heist here, pay attention ;P
Continued Alpha Pause; a Fresh Start Coming
We’re continuing our pause on alpha updates for now, aiming for an “Alpha V2” fresh start that will give you a big package of improvements and new content all at once. When the time comes to resume the Alpha, we want to get every Alpha player back to the game for a big V2 hurrah and playtesting bash as we march to Early Access.
Everyone who’s participated so far has given us a ton of great feedback, bug reports, playthrough data to work with. So hang tight for now; when we welcome you back it’ll be to a game that’s taken a big leap forward, and your feedback will be that much more valuable in determining any changes we still need to make before launching to EA.
Creative Surveys Closed
Per the deadline we shared in November, all created reward surveys (except Encode Your Legend, which is not yet available) have now closed. If you have any questions, we’re in the #backers channel in our Discord to help.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us. We’ve completed about half of the pages that are planned for the Digital Artbook, including character, faces and cybernetic concept art and are working toward wrapping up that project.
Happy New Year!
Wow, what a year! Cyber Knights: Flashpoint launched into its alpha phase January 4th, 2022. It’s such a natural time to reflect on everything that’s happened in Cyber Knights this year and to look forward to the next year.
So, let’s do it!
1 Year of Building With Our Alpha Backers
A scroll back through this year’s monthly updates will show you just how many milestones we’ve hit since starting the alpha. Players have helped us shape nearly twenty heist levels, over 100 class talents and hacking programs and a good 75% of the game’s intended features at launch.
Alpha players’ feedback & gameplay have led us to add a few new features to game as well. Some have been small but fun, like being able to hurdle fences. Other additions have been more core to what makes Cyber Knights unique, like the pre-heist legwork system that allows you to build your relationship with contacts, earn pre-mission advantages, and flesh out storylines taking place beyond the tactical gameplay.
On the tactical maps, feedback from the alpha has led to numerous quality-of-life changes and a major revamp of the combat/weapon rules, helping us iterate the gameplay to its most-fun. We even got the chance to make a public stealth & combat demo available on Steam a couple of times this year, particiapted in the first TactiCon and were featured in the PAX East Rising indie showcase (an interview from the PAX floor is included below).
Current Content Pause; a Fresh Start Coming
Now, during the months of December and January, we’re holding off on Alpha updates so we can integrate a few overhauls too large to roll out incrementally.
We’re aiming to resume regular updates in a month or so, with a big package of changes and new content for the game. It’ll be a fresh starting point for all Alpha players, a chance to come back and check out the latest and greatest with revamped core systems and a fresh UX and one of the last major milestones on our way to Steam.
The Road to Launch
This is the year Cyber Knights is coming to you and to Steam! Upfront, we want to let you know it’s not going to be this quarter. The wide scope of the UX & design project has turned out to be a much more extensive process than we anticipated – the payoff in how intuitive and enjoyable the game’s deep, complex systems will be immense, but it does take time to create, iterate, and get right across the entire game.
Although that’s taking more time than we anticipated, it is going very well. As you’ve hopefully seen in the previews we’ve shown, we’re feeling this will be the best-designed Trese Brothers game to date.
Wireframe design for pre-heist planning
Visual design of mid-mission status page
Wireframe of the Knight's revamped class tree
Another area that has expanded beyond our initial projections is the iterations on the stealth systems and related enemy AI improvement. We set quite a challenge for ourselves creating a game that seamlessly mixes tactical combat, stealth and hacking into one mission experience. Getting the balance right of just one of these pillars is hard enough. It’s been essential for us to spend extra time on in the alpha on stealth, increasing the variety of security device challenges, making sure enemy units behave intelligently and convincingly as they hunt for your team, and tweaking stealth so that it feels fair and fun is a broad balancing act.
We’re not ready to share the specific launch timeline yet, but we will continue to keep you updated here and in Discord as we close in on it. We know you want the game; as a small indie studio I can’t tell you how much we want to hurry up and release it! 😅 But the game only gets a single launch. That launch significantly impacts its lifetime success & future, and so we’re making sure the game we deliver is the game that’s ready for you to have a blast with.
An Update on Our Team in Ukraine
With all of the hype for this game’s UX quality and while looking at the progress behind and ahead, we need to take a moment to mention our amazing art & design partners based in Ukraine.
It’s now over 10 months that Ukrainians have had to defend their country from Russian invasion & bombardment, enduring loss and horrific war crimes with perseverance and determination. While so many of us enjoy the escape and entertainment of games in the warm safety of our own countries, people just like us are dealing with tremendous hardship and worse so that we can have that luxury.
We continue to stand in support of our colleagues and peers and ask that you do the same. Project HOPE, Direct Relief, and The Kyiv Independent are all worthy non-profits our team has donated to and recommended. Most of our colleagues are relatively safe in Lviv at the moment, though Russia continues to target energy infrastructure across the country to try and create a winter of suffering. Even with everything going on in their lives, these folks regularly go above and beyond for us; we really hope that soon this year their country will be able to return to peace.
Creative Surveys Closed
Per the deadline we shared in November, all creative reward surveys (except Encode Your Legend, which is not yet available) have now closed. If you have any questions, we’re in the #backers channel in our Discord to help.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us. We have continued to work on the Digital Artbook and are cutting new pages weekly.
November Progress Report
Another month! The last quarter of the year always goes by in a flash. During November, we’ve had a special focus on wrapping up the UX design process, implementing lessons we’ve learned throughout the alpha process and adding new storyline content to the game.
There are always way too many dev milestones to list them all here, but let’s check in on a few!
UX Design Goes Safehouse
The UX design phase is beginning to truly wind down as our implementation phase is rapidly ramping up. We have a huge amount of UI work to do to make the game as beautiful and flowy as the designs but it is going to be very worth it. Most recently, the UX design time has been focused on the Safehouse and here are some of the latest drafted wireframes (not the visual design, just design of elements, spacing, organization, flow -- that is, this is not intended to be beautiful at this stage).
Cleaning out your safehouse for expanded operation
Shopping and comparing weapons
It's just Business with Origami Joe, an underworld contact
Planning your next heist
A plan comes together - paying bribes, calling in favors, running legwork and more
New Storylines
The game is growing daily and is a voracious beast for more content. Storylines, recruits, and new maps are coming online as fast as we can handle them. We’re very excited to be passing through some major milestones and assembling the most complicated story and heist content yet this month. November saw the addition of a new “Deaddrop” storyline from your Gun Runner and if the month had another day or two left in it, November would also see the “Carnivore” storyline about a corrupt cop (the update is in final tweaks and testing now...). The “Undercutter” storyline can proc with a friendly Gun Runner who pitches you a hard to beat one-time deal to acquire a powerful E-Rifle weapon (more below).
These new storylines are also seeing your squad’s Face coming into their own as a powerful player in the strategy and story layer. The team's Face now appears prominently in your Roster, can access their Training and cannot multi-class. The Face is your team's negotiator, fixer and voice on the comms during missions. Their special skill tree is dedicated to the strategy layer and has no tactical abilities on it. In this new storyline, you'll have the option to use your Street-focused "Razor Bargain" ability to force the best deal even if it cuts a bit too deep. The new “Carnivore” storyline will introduce and see the first use of Milsec-focused “Hardliner” ability.
The old UI is functional but not great or pretty
E-Rifles and IO-Chargers
One of the latest storylines added introduces the first chance to get your hands on an E-Rifle. This hi-tech class of weapons are mid-ranged armor melters with limited full auto capability (3 shots) and a penchant for Pure Damage and killing drones. However, E-Rifles have a limited number of reloads on a mission (all stages of the mission, not just one) so carrying one is a known trade-off and puts a lot of weight on your other weapon to work in more situations than not.
Tagging along with this new type of limited-ammo weapon, the new IO-Chargers went up for sale at your local Gun Runner which shakes up the item meta for Cyberswords and anyone planning to carry E-Rifles. The IO-Charger is a mobile battery unit capable of filling the current ammo bar of your weapon. For a blade with an IO-Batt, this completely recharges the blade and enables you to use another round of Talents which rely on these critical charges. For an E-Rifle or any other reload-limited weapon, the IO-Charger will refill the current ammo bar only. If you have 2/3 reloads for the E-Rifle, you can empty the first magazine and then reload it with IO-Charge to stay at 2/3 reloads.
For anyone carrying a blade (Cybersword or not!) or an E-Rifle, an IO-Charger is very likely to be a requirement in your limited item carry.
Alpha Lessons: Downed becomes Bleeding Out
We’ve learned so much over the 11 months of the alpha and are constantly reapplying that learning back to systems, features and content in the game. In November we had time to come back to an important system - what happens when one of your characters takes a deadly hit. Previously in the Alpha, this would knock you into a “Downed” state that required healing before you could take action again (you could heal yourself). We heard a lot from the alpha player about the reasons this wasn’t fun and were excited to roll out the new Bleeding Out rules this month. If you take a hit that would potentially kill you (reaching 0 HP), you get a surge of HP (up to 30% of your total) but also a nasty debuff, naturally called Bleeding Out. As soon as you receive any healing, Bleeding Out is purged.
Bleeding Out costs you 20 HP a Turn and will kill you if you are not healed - it is only a matter of Turns. The debuff also slaps you with a -2 AP and -2 MP penalty but most importantly allows you to take any action or use any Talent. You can run, shoot, Overwatch or throw a grenade. Our mercs go down fighting, thank you very much. Fun!
But consider healing yourself quickly or calling an ally for help -- if you take another wound that brings you to 0 HP while you are Bleeding Out, you roll your Death Save and are likely to die (see your chosen Difficulty here).
Creative Surveys Deadline
We have set a deadline for the completion of the creative reward surveys. We will be sending a private Kickstarter update next to be sure everyone sees this.
Throughout 2022, we have sent out Google Forms surveys to collect information for your Kickstarter rewards. Depending on your backer tier, you will have received naming surveys, recruitable character surveys, and/or Ally, Villain, and Heist surveys. If you have not received a survey, you believe you should have, please message us here, email andrew@tresebrothers.com or reach out to Liviana on Discord so we can make sure you get them.
We want to do everything we can to make sure that your characters and stories are integrated into the main story beats of CKF as much as possible. To ensure this can occur, we will be closing all of these surveys at the end of the year 2022. If you have not yet filled them out, please do so before the end of the year. If you have any questions about how to fill out the surveys, did not receive your surveys via email, or need clarification on what we are looking for, please email andrew@tresebrothers.com or contact Liviana on Discord.
This deadline does not include Encode Your Legend reward which has not yet been started and is slated for 2023.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us. We’re continuing to work on Digital Artbook Assembly.
Update #30: Quick Fixes!
In a fast but necessary hotfix to Update #29, we fixed some bugs with money, XP and the Matrix! The hotfix is out for Windows first and will be out for Linux and OSX tomorrow.
Game on! Read about the omnibus major update #29 update is below > https://steamcommunity.com/games/2094560/announcements/detail/3410940946599927034
0.6.53 - 11/9/2022
- Fixed bug where missions were not giving out XP or $$$ - Fixed issue with overlap in new Matrix Sec Lvl UI preventing use of some buttons - Fixed Contacts getting very small Power Level boosts for missions (+0.08) - Fixed bug where E-Rifle ammo visualizaton could get out of date - Fixed continous chirp SFX when hovering over a Matrix terminal
Update #29: New Origami Storyline
Some weeks, it really feels like the true shape and form of Cyber Knight's is just out there, obscured by the mist. With big updates like this, sharp corners and clear lines come into view for a second before melting back into the fog. But the shape and silhouette are there and each week they are a little more visible.
This update is a big one, starting the long march of storylines that are tied to missions, special rewards, the advancement of your underworld contacts and your Face's unique place on the team as the sole source of story/strategy/meta abilities.
New Gun Runner Storyline
Update #29 releases the first storyline that is directly tied into a mission! It's a big milestone but there are more crowding the pipeline right behind it. This new storyline can proc with a friendly Gun Runner who pitches you a hard to beat one-time deal to acquire a powerful E-Rifle weapon. In the currently Contact setup, you'll get the storyline from Origami Joe once your team has achieved Power Level 1, so run a few missions first.
E-Rifles are a new weapon released into the game that are mid-ranged armor melters with limited full auto capability (3 shots) and a penchant for Pure Damage and killing drones (more about that soon). However, E-Rifles have a limited number of reloads on a mission (all stages of the mission, not just one) so carrying one is a known trade-off and puts a lot of weight on the other weapon to work in more situations than not. For extra ammo, you can look into the new IO-Charger item (below).
This story also sees the first of the Face's story and strategy abilities coming online. Your team's Face now appears prominently in your Roster, can access their Training and cannot multi-class. The Face is your team's negotiator, fixer and voice in your head during missions. Their special skill tree is dedicated to the strategy layer and has no tactical abilities on it. In this new storyline, you'll have the option to use your "Hard Bargain" ability to drive a sharp bargain.
IO-Charger and Looting
Update #29 adds a new item type which will shake up the item meta for Cyberswords and anyone planning to carry that powerful E-Rifle you now have the chance to earn. The IO-Charger is a mobile battery unit capable of filling the current ammo bar of your weapon. Keep in mind that if you use the IO-Charger when the ammo bar is not empty, you're being wasteful.
For a blade with an IO-Batt, this completely recharges the blade and enables you to use another round of Talents which rely on these critical charges. For an E-Rifle or any other reload-limited weapon, the IO-Charger will refill the current ammo bar only. If you have 2/3 reloads for the E-Rifle, you can empty the first magazine and then reload it with IO-Charge to stay at 2/3 reloads.
We've also generally improved the list of lootable items in game maps. The changes are not overly exciting because you will only find items that you could already purchase but you will now find more items than just First Aid Kits along with the sellable chips and blueprints.
Downed becomes Bleeding Out(!)
Some important changes have arrived for what was "Downed!" -- it is now "Bleeding Out!" Not only is the verbiage clearer, this is a much more fun take on same system. If you take a hit that would potentially kill you (reaching 0 HP), you get a surge of HP (up to 30% of your total) and a nasty debuff, naturally called Bleeding Out. As soon as you receive any healing, Bleeding Out is purged.
Bleeding Out costs you 20 HP a Turn and will kill you if you are not healed - it is only a matter of Turns. The debuff also slaps you with a -2 AP and -2 MP penalty but most importantly allows you to take any action or use any Talent. You can run, shoot, Overwatch or throw a grenade. Our mercs go down fighting, thank you very much. Fun!
But consider healing yourself quickly or calling an ally for help -- if you take another wound that brings you to 0 HP while you are Bleeding Out, you roll your Death Save and are likely to die (see your chosen Difficulty here).
New Market Tab
The new Market tab in the safehouse allows you to quickly access all sellers by category (guns, armor, etc). You do not need to (but still can) go to a Contact's page to see what is for sale in the market. Note, if you do go to a Contact's screen, you are still take to the global market and can see all the items for sale, not just the current Contacts. So, whenever you're shopping items, you're shopping all items. Filters for individual Contacts will appear in due time.
UX Upgrades: Sec Level
With each update now, there are always going to be UX updates. This will be a creeping process that slowly takes over the game, each time things looking a little better and better. We've improved the highlights on the custom cursor, it's now wiser about HUD elements specifically like Talents, weapons and the Init timeline.
So, we've updated to the new security level widget to both the main mission map and hacking. It needs some hovers (woops!) but you can see the Tally per Turn in yellow with the + above the bar and you can see the Tally this turn shown in yellow on the main bar.
While for the main mission map, it is functionally pretty close to the older copy the new addition to hacking makes the gameplay there immediately more understandable. As things are fast in the Matrix, the Quantum Sec Lvl escalations don't wait for the end of Turns like the physical world and the yellow Tally is added every action not every Turn. Escalating in the Matrix gives the host an immediate chance to strike back by drawing a security card from its deck -- perhaps summoning IC, waking disabled IC, changing the node's stats or all sorts of other nefarious moves. Here you can see the major effect of the IC, adding +5 Tally per action in bright yellow
After knocking the IC out with Deception, I've paid the high Tally per action cost but have cleared the yellow Tally back down to reasonable
In smaller changes, we've hid the Firing Mode toggle if the weapon doesn't have it and improved the listing of filters when shopping for Weapon Mods so it is more clear what combinations you need for each weapon type -- for example an SMG shares Barrels and Body Mods with Pistols but Scopes with AR / UA.
Mission Abort Option
For the Alpha, we've added a Mission Abort option to the game menu. This is a quick way to pull a defeat. At the moment, there are no repercussions, you simply are considered to have lost the mission. We'll get into more complicated Abort scenarios a bit later.
Strategy Layer Refinements
We're continuing to refine the Contact relationship part of the strategy layer, which will be a key aspect of the game -- who you know in the New Boston underground and illegal circles is big. We've adjusted some important labels -- the personal relationship between you and your Contacts is "Trust" now instead of "Reputation" -- Rep is something you have with Factions. The Contact's Influence has been renamed Faction Influence for clarity as well. We've adjusted the Contact display for Power Level to match your personal Power Level an include decimal points, so a 2.32 PL is no longer rounded off to just 2.
The victory screen on a mission is now more detailed -- specifically calling out any team and Contact Power Level, Trust or Influence changes that are the results of your win.
Everything in the game needs a tag so we can remember and use it :D So, we've added new tagging for Dr. Ashe and Origami Joe to indicate that they are associates you had from before the surgery that turned you into a Knight.
Mission Bugs
We fixed a huge host of mission bugs reported by your F10s! The door in Biospike is now really a Blue Key Door and not a red key door hiding in disguise. The exit in the Three Switch level can now be reached and isn't blocked by the large hovercraft. The movement paths in the Hover Theft level have been improved. The Initiative score free-for-all going on in levels like Dock Trouble and Ward Run has been smoothed out -- your Knight always goes first, most of your mercs go next but they might mingle with a few fast enemies.
We also fixed a series of issues that could cause corporate guards to show up at random during levels where you're clearly facing off against gangs or street-level enemies.
And there is more ... so, check the list!
v0.6.51 - 11/9/2022
- Added new story - Power Level 1+ merc teams can encounter special story offer from Origami Joe for rare E-Rifle - E-Rifles are short-range melters against armor and all enemies but have limited reloads during a mission - Added new item for sale, IO-Charger which will reload the current ammo capacity of a Sword, Railgun or E-Rifle - Cyberswords carrying IO-Chargers can now double down on their special talent use - Added 2 new Charge Pack weapon mods for E-Rifles - Upgraded rules for "Downed" to "Bleeding Out": deadly debuff that will kill you over a few turns, -AP, -MP but allows you to act normally - Added new Market Tab, options presented their focus on shopping (don't need to go to Contact) - New UX for Security Level, Tally and Escalation in main mission map and hacking - Change Weapon Firing Mode toggle is hidden if weapon has one firing mode - Improved listing of Weapon Mods in Filter to be clear what mods go with what classes of weapons - Added Abort / Fail button to mission menu, at least for alpha. Immediately retreat to safehouse, no further losses - Added better tagging for Origami Joe and Dr. Ashe, "Old Associates" who were with you since before the Knighting - Improved labels in Contact screens, "Reputation" is "Trust" and "Influence" is "Faction Influence" - Contact Power Level now shows 2 points of precision (2.42) like team's PL - Improved post-Mission to include specific Power Level gain for the team - Improved post-Mission gains for Contact to list Power Level, Trust, Influence and Favors individually when applicable - Improved item looting variation to include other items for sale (not just First Aid Kits) - Fixed Vanguard Jamkit, default duration is now "until end of next Turn" but only starts with 1 charge - Fixed bug with Biospike Mission where the exit door was still really a Red Key door instead of Blue Key - Fixed bug in weapon comparison for Full Auto Optimal Range sometimes incorrectly showing equals - Fixed exit area in Three Switch playtesting level to be easier to access - Fixed issues with Clinic Expansion storyline, fixed double events and double Traits - Fixed sometimes faulty hovers over Matrix / story terminals - Fixed bad links in Hacker Class tree for Attr Booster 1 & 2, missing description on Attr Booster 4 - Fixed Damage estimates were not taking +Dmg % Buffs into account - Removed nonsense -2 Initiaitve from Domeshot Talent boosters - Fixed issues with starting Initiative on first turn of Dock Trouble / Deaddrop Job - Fixed issues with corporate guards spawning into street / gang levels randomly
October Progress Report
What a spooky month! We’ve been busy with 4 major Alpha updates to Steam and hit some major development and balancing milestones for the game. Throughout the month we’ve worked on a major rebalance to all of the game’s weaponry to help all the gunfighting options have enough character and exciting strategic differences, extending the game’s scaling and Power Level system so longer games are continually challenging, refined the stealth gameplay, added story and dialog to improve the context of the game start. Now at the end of the month, we’ve officially started the massive UX overhaul project.
There are always way too many dev milestones to list them all here, but let’s check in on a few!
UX Implementation Begins!
The UX project has been a real beast -- it officially started in July 2022 with study of reference games, before launching into an exploration phase that resulted in large-scale wireframing of every screen, hover and interaction in the game. Now the beautiful visual design is complete for 2/3 of the game and with the latest Alpha update, we’ve officially started rolling in the first changes including a custom cursor that highlights nicely over clickable map elements.
This will be a long road to the animated, beautiful vision outlined by the project but the stone has started rolling!
Major “Gunfight” Milestone
After months of studying player feedback and reviewing all the combat rules and systems, we were excited to roll out a Major Milestone “GUNFIGHT” in mid-October to the Cyber Knight’s weapons system.
The goal of the design update was to further develop marked functional differences in weapon types which enable teams to push those weapons into niche roles based on the mods you install. We had been chipping away at this update through September but it was time to finish the rest in one big sweep. In this major update, we made major changes to the rules for:
Accuracy, including adding Glancing Hits
Full Auto, including ability to surge damage on single targets
Well, pretty much all the weapon stats actually :D
With changes to the fundamental rules for Accuracy, Full Auto and major stat rebalances including ranges, shot volume, recoil rates, Armor Crit %, reload AP, it was an exciting moment for players to re-evaluate their load outs and see how the new system fit their play style. A lot more weapons are exciting and viable for a lot more reasons now and the field of smart tactical choices is much wider.
Controller Support
With the alpha now running officially on Steam, we’ve been excited to be working with players across the spectrum of controllers on testing out the game -- XBox, Playstation, Steam Controller and the Steam Deck as well. With the help of the alpha community, we’ve already made some configuration tweaks on the Steam end and are preparing to improve the smoothness of our controller support throughout the game as part of the UX project.
Stealth, Auto-Duck, Projection
Stealth is a key component of many heist team’s strategy and we’ve continued to refine and improve the stealth game throughout October.
Some big rule changes have been put in place, including a rule that states that Suspicious enemies (they’ve heard something but aren’t really aware there is an intruder) are still considered Surprised. It may sound small, but it’s a +25% Accuracy boost and enables weapons like Blades, Sniper Rifles and Pistols to use their Stealth Critical rules
We’re also working to phase out any need to manage your running / crouched state. This is a hassle and only really matters when you are moving, which is control you can exercise when setting and confirming a movement destination but not something you should ever need to otherwise worry about. To ensure that being crouched has no impact on combat or stealth, your team members will now automatically duck if an enemy is about to see them and being crouched would keep them hidden. With a hiss of something like "Head down!" they just drop out of sight. Ah, simplicity!
Finally, we’re catching up more and more to visual style and polish, so it was exciting to make the Vanguard’s Projection Talent look very cool.
Creative Surveys All Sent
Last month, the final major creative survey went out to invite the Power Broker and Heist Edition backers to start their creation process for allies, villains and heists. This concludes the round of survey offerings for 2022, which have covered adding names to the game, Recruitable Characters, Buffed Recruitables, and now the Power Broker and Heist. The final major survey will be for Encode Your Legend in early 2023.
All of these will be on-going projects as our team sorts through the raw creative input, reaches out if we have questions and then imprints those ideas into the game for all to enjoy.
If you haven’t received a survey email but should have, please reach out to us here or email andrew@tresebrothers.com
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us. This month, we’ve started working on the Digital Artbook as we have finally gathered all of the concept art and 3D renders needed to assemble the final product. We can’t wait to share that one with all of you!
Update #28: Framedump
This time we managed to pull of the weekend update! It's Update #28, Framedump, and its the fourth major October update. This one is packed full of improvements to make the game play smoother, better, faster. We've officially started the UX work with this update -- lots more to come! -- did some house cleaning to make Class trees easier to read, added missing rules for Revolvers, improved Full Auto, nerfed Marker Sights down to -15%, pushed enemy scaling for all corporate enemies out to PL 6, added a new a savage type of Matrix node and smashed some CPU performance issues by reducing the game's raycasts per frame by 75%.
You do not need to delete old saved games for this update as well, so you can keep playing your higher Power Level groups!
UX Project Begins!
We're starting small but the very first steps of the UX project implementation have officially begun. Update #28 includes a custom cursor for the game which nicely highlights golden when your mouse passes over anything in the UI or the 3D game map that can be clicked for interaction. It isn't 100% good at that part yet, mostly in HUD and different UI tables it is still not highlighting but it does correctly highlight on everything in the 3D game map, buttons, tabs, checkboxes and the works.
Also, we've improved the direct clickability of some of the game's actions. if you have a security device or an enemy selected as the potential target for a Talent or attack, simply clicking again on that target will execute the action.
Class Trees for Faster Read
With Update #28, we've made some coloration and iconography changes to help make reading the class trees to make it easier to know which nodes are in a group and what the sub-nodes of a Talent add as bonuses. First, Talents now have a special node icon which differentiates them from other bonus nodes -- it's larger and has a distinct shape. Second, the Talent and any of its booster nodes all share the same outline color so that it is clear where one Talent stops and another Talent ends. Finally, the booster nodes all have representative icons for their main type of boost -- increasing duration (hour glass with a +), or range (range circle with a +) or increasing the effect (up arrow with a plus).
This is not the final UX for this screen or even the final layout of the trees themselves but it is a nice step forward in making them more useable in the current state of the game.
Revolver Rules and Full Auto Tweaks
Revolvers slipped under the radar for a while but we've finally caught up to them. Revolvers share mods with pistols and SMGs but there are two types of mods that simply don't work with revolvers and can no longer be installed -- those mods which add ammo capacity and all suppressors. This opens a gulf between regular stealth-focused Pistols and booming loud Revolvers which can no longer be crossed. The weapons have found their home and their separate purpose.
Full Auto was not as exciting as we had anticipated, and we've seen that it hasn't been pulling its weight. The first major cause of that is likely a bug that would cause a target to take 0 Dmg if the first Full Auto shot against the target missed, regardless of what happened with the other shots. This led to a lot of really bad feeling whiffs and some confusing combat logs. Second, the damage potential for stacking that many shots on a target and taking such high Recoil was just not quite right, so we've increased Full Auto damage on the weapons that support it by about 10%.
Market Sights and Anti-Overwatch
Marker Sights has finally been hit with the nerf hammer, dropping from a massive -25% Evasion to a starting -15% Evasion. It is still highly effective and with some node boosts from the Class tree, you can reach a maximum of -25% Evasion if you invest more points in it.
Also, Marker Sights and Interference Spike, which both can cancel enemy Overwatch, now clearly state that in their description. More ranged debuffs will be coming for other classes that help allow them to play roles in knocking out OW as well.
Power Level and Balance
With this update, all corporate enemies now scale up to Power Level 6 where before it was only the AR toting guards. There is more work to do to make these enemies and their advancing power levels really stand out, but the framework and the basic data is now in action. Street scaling is next.
We've increased the prices on all Power Level 2 and 3 items to make sure the power jump matches the price jump.
When it comes to your team's Power Level, just like completing a mission, attempting a Legwork regardless of a success or failure outcome gives a minor bump to your team's Power Level and infamy.
Matrix Incinerator Node
A new type of Matrix node is beginning to appear in host maps - the Incinerator. Beware of these and be sure to plan your paths and your Hacking AP carefully because if you end your Turn in one of these fiery nodes, you'll be Hard Disconnected with all the joys of Dump Shock!
Performance Smash
We took some time with this release to profile, analyze and improve the game's raycasting which is a major component of its CPU time per frame. Overall, the work paid off and we've seen a 75% reduction in raycasting which should hopefully let some of your devices breathe a little easier each frame.
Along with this, we fixed a number of cases where enemy sight cones could get on screen or end up moving with the enemy but not getting updated correctly.
Piles of Community QoL / Fixes
A huge thanks to everyone punching F10!
In the Safehouse, we've improved the antialiasing setup and also fixed the roster's subtitle to list Mercs and Recruits separately (6/10 mercs, 2 Recruits).
We've fixed an issue that was causing reinforcements to skip the Turn they arrived. Boo, that made them awful and weak, now they are dangerous again. Listening Posts now only report a single gunfire attack per Turn, making them a difficult element to fight near but not an unexpected security armageddon if you got in a gunfight too close to one.
We removed that pesky halfway marker in all Talent and attack ranges which has always confused everyone.
0.6.47 - 10/29/2022
- Improved Revolver mod rules - can no longer install mods that increase Ammo or any Suppressors - Improved Full Auto Dmg on all weapons by +10% - Fixed Full Auto attack bug that could sometimes cause 0 Dmg if the first attack rolled missed (1/3 hits but 0 Dmg) - Nerfed Marker Sights, starts at -15% Evasion maxes at -25% Evasion - Debuff Talents that cancel enemy Overwatch (Marker Sights, Interference Spike) now state it clearly in description - New matrix node type "Incinerator" will hard disconnect hacker if they end turn in the node - Added custom cursor which highlights on clickable UI / 3D objects, not 100% highlighting correctly in tables, HUD etc - Improved LMB clicking for activating Talents on enemies and security devices - Improved scaling of enemies for Power Level, all Corporate enemies now scale on Power Level - Added better icons and Talent-based color coding to Class tree for easier reading - Repriced Power Level 2 and 3 Items, improved Talent rule descriptions - Completing Legwork (success or fail) has minor impact on team Power Level - Fixed bug causing enemy reinforcements to not take action in the Turn they arrive - Fixed bugs with attacking enemy target after being interrupted by Overwatch reaction fire - Fixed bugs with enemy sight cone sometimes getting stuck on screen - Safehouse Roster now shows count of Mercs / Max Mercs and Recruits separately - Listening Post security devices now only report one gunshot per turn to Security AI - Removed extra ring in Talent and attack targeting that was unexplained "halfway" marker - Improved antialiasing in Safehouse - Improved performance, reduced CPU time per frame, 75% less CPU Raycasts per frame
