Ok - we are trying something new! Update #19 (v0.6.27) is where we are going to pick up the pace to updates nearly once a week or faster. With the types and volume of changes we’re making, it is time to include some longform text along with the release notes bullets. There is *so* much changing in the game right now we can’t wait for you to check it out and it deserves more than just a huge, bulleted list.
Story and Progression
We’re 8 months into the alpha and our current goal is to expand and release more of the game’s strategy layer, story and character progression and difficulty systems to you as fast as possible.
This will be coming through multiple angles:
Increasing incentives to continue to play a single squad for longer (and avoiding save wipes)
Increasing ability to level up, equip and improve single squad
Adding more stories and missions to play
Allowing enemy and map challenge level to ramp up for harder missions
With Update #19, we’ve opened up character progression a bit more, increasing the max level to 14 and doubling the maximum turns you can play a single squad from 50 to 100 days.
A big part of progression is going to be finishing the release of all character equipment and cybernetic implants. The first step is to roll out more options for armor, which you can now purchase from Origami Joe, your starting Gun Runner Contact. To help with item shopping, we’ve changed how purchasing works so that you are always buying a pack of items (5 First Aid Kits for $3K) instead of buying one by one. This keep the pricing from smaller items reasonable and also reduces the overall purchase activations you need to complete.
We goofed with the last update and mistakenly added an unfinished short story about an E-Rifle. This update, we’ve fixed that and added instead a short Legwork tutorial story that explains the game’s Legwork concept as you do some work for a Gun Runner and allows you to see the resulting relationships start to form in the game. Legwork is a key part of the game's story system and your ability to complete risky tasks and activities that aren't represented on the main mission stealth-combat and hacking map, so we're excited to see more of these options showing up.
Purchase multiple levels of armor from Origami Joe
Purchasing items now purchases a pack (5 HE Grenades for $3K)
Update character detail page with better focus on loadout
Added Story: legwork tutorial from a local Gun Runner
Maximum level increased to 14
Doubled maximum turns of single game to 100 days (400 Turns)
Merc Pay Rates & Conditional Bonuses
Here’s another big change for you - mercs now take their own cut of every mission based on their individual pay rate, which defaults to 3%. Even those mercs who stay home on a mission - and even your Face - still get a cut of your heist payouts. In the future, a merc’s pay rate may also evolve throughout the game, going up or down based on story, loyalty, stress and Traits.
This update adds conditional bonuses from your contact on a mission offer, if the contact wants a mission done quietly (below a certain Security Level) or quickly (below a certain Turn). These conditions can add both extra payments (see Street Striker playtest mission) and XP (see Leverage Drop mission). These will be very useful in stories where contacts have certain stipulations that they want met but we want to avoid writing in a hard fail to the mission, instead you might just lose half the mission pay.
All mercs now use their Pay Rate (default 3%) and take this cut of every mission payout whether or not they leave the Safehouse - pay rate may change over time due to loyalty, stress, Traits
Improved Mission Victory screen to better group and display results (XP, Payment, Loot)
Mission Offers can now include conditional bonuses on speed and low Security Level
Street Striker and Undercutter Missions gain $10K bonus from contact if completed in under 8 Turns
Leverage Drop Mission gains a 20 XP bonus if completed with Security Level 4 or less
New Playtest Levels
We’ve added 2 new playtest levels with this update - “Hover Escape” and “Office Closer”. For all of the levels under the playtest menu, we would love as detailed feedback as you can provide us to help us improve any aspect of the level - size, flow, patrol paths, prop placement, difficulty, visual theme etc. Any feedback you can provide will be tremendously helpful to us and our 2 Level Designers! We would also just love to know how did you think about and tackle the challenges in the level? Where did you go, who did you fight, how did you escape?
We are gathering feedback in the #level_playtest channel of our Discord and we’d love you to post after-action reports, screenshots, text or even video recordings (the best!!!) as long as they are shared on an unlisted link somewhere (Dropbox, Google Drive, unlisted YouTube). These can help a great deal as we are working to refine levels and our level design process.
Hover Escape is a high-octane escape level where you've reached the top of a building and your escape ride is coming to pick you up. With security descending on you from every angle, you've got to reach your extraction hover pad in time.
Office Closer is a raid in the mold of Req Site Raid -- a self-directed mission where you can choose to loot as much or as little as you can before its time to go.
Added new playtest levels “Hover Escape” and “Office Closer”
Still asking for more playtest feedback on "Big Door" and "Street Striker"
Enemy Variety & Rules
With this update, the previously generic enemy spawns have started to form up into noticeable squads. This new squad composition mostly focuses on tactical groups with a captain or a commander but will be expanding and bringing more clear variety to the enemy squads.
As of last update, enemies are using Talents to help themselves and debuff your mercs, so we’ve added SFX and VFX with this update to make that clearer. Remember, for now, just bring up your merc’s status screen to see the exact effects.
A few updates ago, enemies went deaf to their own team and we’ve fixed that now - they hear each other’s gunfire again and you’ll see enemy squads being a lot more responsive.
New enemy squad composition including tactical groups with captains / commanders
Enemy Talents now fire SFX and VFX to make target and timing clear
Fixed regression where enemies where not hearing their team’s gunfire or reacting to seeing their team getting attacked
Reduced chattiness of enemy response to gunfire, grenades and being attacked
Outfits & Colors
On the cosmetic front, we’re pushing forward by adding 2 new hats and 2 new glasses as well as giving you the option to change the coloration on all of the pieces of your outfit including hats and glasses separately. More of these types and options will be coming soon.
Re-added missing legwork tutorial story from Gun Runner
Added 4 new cosmetics: noir hat, beret, deco glasses and aviators
Split out color panel from main design panel for easier color adjustments
Can now adjust colors for hats & glasses separately
Auto-Hunker
If you end your turn (not just delay) with at least 1 AP, your merc will now automatically use the Hunker Talent. You can still use Hunker during your turn for 1 AP and then delay if you need that early defensive bonus, just don’t move or it will cancel. the benefit.
Hunker Talent automatically executes if End Turn with 1+ AP
Removed confusing display of charges/recharge from Hunker Talent - like default Attack it is always available
Security Disable Talents
A rebalance of the security Talent disable set has been needed and this update rolls it out. The Knights, Vanguard and the Hacker now each a clearer theme to their Talent, for example the Vanguard has shorter range, the greatest number of charges and with investment in a high cost (and new) node in their class tree, can use their Talent for 0 AP cost.
Knight’s Security Dampen is themed “longer disable with fewer charges and longer range” now starts with 18m range, disables until end of next Turn and starts with 1 charge (until you train more nodes)
Vanguard’s Jamkit is themed “short-term disable with lots of charges and short range” now starts with 12m range, disables until end of Turn and starts with 2 charges (until you train more nodes)
Added new class node for Vanguard that reduces AP cost of Jamkit to 0 which costs 2 training points
Hacker’s Packet Loss is themed “short-term disable with mid-range charges and long range” now 25m starting range, disables until end of Turn (until you train more nodes)
Echo Jammer Item now only requires 1 AP, disables for 3 Turns and has a range of 24m
Beginnings of the Weapon Rebalance
There is a big package of weapon rebalance coming very soon based on all of your feedback, but we started a few smaller ones with this update.
All melee weapons noise is reduced to 0m instead of 2m - ultimate stealth kills
Rapid Fire rule (fire with last 1 AP) now correctly applies only to SS/SA/BF firing modes and not to Full Auto. This specifically effects SMGs.
Shotgun max range reduced to 10m, added Apollo M-Driver barrel mod option that increases max range by +2m
Bugs and Prop Fixes
This update fixes a lot of bugs, but here is a nice list from the tickets you submitted with F10!
Fixed sight lines not going through wire mesh fence
Fixed sight lines around being too close around security pillars
Fixed bug where equipping weapons caused the weapon order to swap
Here is the full list without the explanations --
v0.6.27 - 8/17/2022
- Purchase multiple levels of armor from Origami Joe - Purchasing items now purchases a pack (5 HE Grenades for $3K) - Update character detail page with better focus on loadout - Added Story: legwork tutorial from a local Gun Runner - Maximum level increased to 14 - Doubled maximum turns of single game to 100 days (400 Turns) - Added new playtest levels “Hover Escape” and “Office Closer” - New enemy squad composition including tactical groups with captains / commanders - Enemy Talents now fire SFX and VFX to make target and timing clear - Fixed regression where enemies where not hearing their team’s gunfire or reacting to seeing their team getting attacked - Reduced chattiness of enemy response to gunfire, grenades and being attacked - Re-added missing legwork tutorial story from Gun Runner - Added 4 new cosmetics: noir hat, beret, deco glasses and aviators - Split out color panel from main design panel for easier color adjustments - Can now adjust colors for hats & glasses separately - Hunker Talent automatically executes if End Turn with 1+ AP - Removed confusing display of charges/recharge from Hunker Talent - like default Attack it is always available - All mercs now use their Pay Rate (default 3%) and take this cut of every mission payout whether or not they leave the Safehouse - pay rate may change over time due to loyalty, stress, Traits - Improved Mission Victory screen to better group and display results (XP, Payment, Loot) - Mission Offers can now include conditional bonuses on speed and low Security Level - Street Striker and Undercutter Missions gain $10K bonus from contact if completed in under 8 Turns - Leverage Drop Mission gains a 20 XP bonus if completed with Security Level 4 or less - Knight’s Security Dampen is themed “longer disable with fewer charges and longer range” now starts with 18m range, disables until end of next Turn and starts with 1 charge (until you train more nodes) - Vanguard’s Jamkit is themed “short-term disable with lots of charges and short range” now starts with 12m range, disables until end of Turn and starts with 2 charges (until you train more nodes) - Added new class node for Vanguard that reduces AP cost of Jamkit to 0 which costs 2 training points - Hacker’s Packet Loss is themed “short-term disable with mid-range charges and long range” now 25m starting range, disables until end of Turn (until you train more nodes) - Echo Jammer Item now only requires 1 AP, disables for 3 Turns and has a range of 24m - All melee weapons noise is reduced to 0m instead of 2m - ultimate stealth kills - Rapid Fire rule (fire with last 1 AP) now correctly applies only to SS/SA/BF firing modes and not to Full Auto. This specifically effects SMGs. - Shotgun max range reduced to 10m, added Apollo M-Driver barrel mod option that increases max range by +2m - Fixed sight lines not going through wire mesh fence - Fixed sight lines around being too close around security pillars - Fixed bug where equipping weapons caused the weapon order to swap
July: Alpha Update
This month’s update is a look at the Alpha -- how far we’ve come, where we are at, and what is in store next for the 1000+ alpha players helping us shape Cyber Knights: Flashpoint into a release-ready game.
Summer Checkpoint
The CK:F alpha started in early January of this year. Since then, we have gone through multiple major cycles of expansion -- new levels, new systems, new stories, hacking (!!), new classes -- followed by periods of rebalance and consolidation. The alpha backers have played thousands of games, submitted thousands of feedback and bug reports and pushed hundreds of thousands of events about levels, talents, and more into our analytics.
At this mid-summer moment in the alpha, we’ve been in another rebalance and consolidation phase. It’s been a good time for it; while the game is still getting a lot of play daily, we are seeing a clear summer vacation dip 😄 – hope you’re all enjoying them!
We’re currently preparing a major new content push of story, recruits and the Sniper class for our next expansion phase. With each passing month, the alpha’s scope is increasing to reach the game’s full scope; our pace of adding content will be rising. We are also continuing the push to bring all the major audio-visual elements of the game up to the quality level we know we need to hit for Steam Early Access. Our UX designer continues to iterate on and improve the UI design and the SFX team is prepping for a second project in August to add more variety and depth to the game's soundscape. At the same time we're working through the game's post processing, material design, color-grading and quality settings to get everything looking as awesome as possible.
Transitioning the Alpha from AppCenter to Steam
We did our first online public demo of Cyber Knights: Flashpoint this month for PAX Rising Online, focused purely on the stealth & combat tactical gameplay over a two-stage mission, expanded from our in-person PAX East demo. Not only did we get the game in front of thousands more players, with all the valuable feedback that comes with that, but it also accomplished an important dev milestone: completing our process for building and deploying to Steam.
This is very good news for the alpha backers, because we’ll soon be using Steam’s awesome “Playtest” feature (in private mode, not public signups) to provide you with alpha access going forward. That means shorter (and more reliable) downloads, quicker builds and faster bugfixes.
Creator & Backstory Rewards
We’re excited to have embarked on the first major step to completing the Creator and Backstory Edition rewards. The surveys to gather data from these key creative tier rewards have gone out and include a wide variety of questions big and small. Cory and I will personally review each of the incoming responses and work on translating your creative ideas directly into the world of Cyber Knights and New Boston.
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. We sent out the surveys for the two recruitment reward tiers -- Creator and Backstory Editions -- so keep an eye on your email for those and let us know if you have any questions!
June Progress Report
June has roared by in a flurry of work and progress. The alpha’s received two big new updates, from which we are gathering piles of great feedback and play statistics. Our goal is to finish implementing the final feature sets in July, which will help get the entire team free to create content and polish for another big (months long!!) push – stretching for that 40+ hour goal for the game.
Launch Planning
We'll start with the most exciting news first: we’re closing in on a launch window! All of our backers' alpha participation has been hugely helpful in driving this forward – the gameplay feedback, rapid bug squashing, and clever ideas that have flooded into the Discord have been excellent. While we haven’t set a specific date yet, we can now say with confidence that Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will release to Steam Early Access in early 2023.
Security System Rebuild
A big improvement to the game this month was a rebuild of the game’s central security AI. The original security system was feeling too inflexible between levels and the security escalations being tested were limited to more enemy reinforcements arriving. With the rebuild, we’ve allowed every level to define its own security parameters – some levels can have lax security while others are touchy and quick to react; the worst can pop off escalations every turn. In addition to customizing the pacing of security escalations level-by-level, we’ve also greatly expanded the tools security AIs have at their disposal to make your life... interesting. Reinforcements are still a key event, but the AI now has the ability to reset all disabled security devices, to increase its own security escalation rate, to enable the lethal setting on some security features or to buff all its troops. This has opened up a wide area for future expansion that will help differentiate megacorps and street gangs, giving each their own escalation profiles and powers.
Started Official UX Design
We’ve put off diving into serious design of the game’s UX and UI for a while, primarily focusing on the most important part -- the gameplay. The UI is already complex and jammed full of functionality but as of mid-June we’ve started the official process of working through a from-the-ground-up assessment and wireframe of the game’s UX, style, colors, fonts and elements. It will still be a little while before any of these exciting results hit the alpha, but it is energizing to see these elements looking so good, even if it's only in design mockups right now.
Packing the Level Pipeline
As we’ve rounded the corner into summer, the focus is shifting from wrapping up the game’s system implementation and critical major reworks (thanks Alpha team!) toward full-tilt content production. We are now packing the game’s level pipeline with new missions. As this pipeline fills up, we’re starting to get an idea of how much content we can crank out for the game at full speed and it is looking very promising.
Steam Integration
We’ve completed integration of the Steamworks SDK; a quiet milestone for the engineering team but an important one! All the boxes are now checked to be able to make demos available for events like Steam NextFest and, eventually, to launch the game into EA on Steam.
Animation Expansion: Movement & Mantling
As part of the Animation Expansion stretch goal, we’ve completed a number of new animations that are helping movement around the level environments feel more natural. These include much needed animations to make sliding into cover feel more fluid and a skidding slide movement for characters ending their movement in the open field.
The most impactful new animation allows your characters to mantle (climb) over small obstacles like fences and barricades. This will be coming soon to the alpha and will greatly open up movement paths throughout levels. Especially sneaky characters are going to love this, as a way to get behind or around enemy positions. It is also highly useful in dynamic firefights where your characters need to switch to the other side of a barricade for better cover...
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.
The art team has started designing the concepts for the Omega Style reward. We will show off these unique concepts in the next update!
Our next big move in reward town is to gather details and backstory for the Creator and Backstory Edition rewards, where backers will create in-game characters who can be recruited to your squad.
May Progress Report: Mk2 Matrix!
Knights and Backers,
With the end of May, the start of summer is just around the corner and we’re excited that it comes with some big news on the Matrix Mk2 stretch goal. The alpha phase has continued at a great pace and we’re very happy with the feedback we’re getting and all the ways the game is improving daily. With 15 alpha updates under our belt, thousands of Knights have cruised the streets of New Boston in the early version of the game and really, we’re just getting started.
And a last-minute reminder: if you haven’t already seen it in Discord or from our Twitter or Facebook posts, we’re raffling off a Cyber Knights poster, featuring some of our favorite character concept art!
We’ll ship this 18” x 24” poster anywhere in the continental U.S., just join our Discord and enter to win. It’s the last day to enter, so act quick!
Now, on to this month’s progress update!
Hacking the Matrix Mk2
Last week, we released the Matrix Mk2 system to the alpha team in update v0.6.1. This major milestone completes our second biggest Stretch Goal for the Kickstarter project -- introducing a Hacker class and allowing Hackers to infiltrate networks in mission maps to gain key control over the map including security devices, doors and the alarm level. And these server hosts are also gleaming with valuable data and secrets -- from blueprints (used in the future release of crafting) to straight paydata (value with your Contacts) to the Loot Manifest (revealing the contents of all loot boxes in the facility).
In addition, Hackers can run hacking-only missions from the Safehouse which will allow them to steal valuable paydata, or hack to gain pre-heist advantages like the facility’s loot manifest or a forged security key.
For now, all of our efforts have focused on the game design, balance and integration of the Matrix into the larger game. The UI is clunky but serviceable but it isn’t inspiring at the moment -- something we’re working on over the summer as it punches up into isometric 3D and gets some glitz, shine and polish.
Backer-Only Studio Chat
To celebrate and share the Matrix Mk2 release, we’re holding a Backer-only Studio Chat on Thursday June 2, 2022 at 9pm EDT. Studio Chats are our version of a Reddit AMA -- post your questions in advance and we'll answer them live that evening! Cory and I will be chatting in a voice channel on our Discord to answer your questions, showing off the Matrix Mk2 and hanging out and talking about hacking, its challenges and inspirations or anything Trese Brothers.
If you’re able join us, the voice channel will open shortly before 9:00 pm Eastern. The Studio Chat will run about 1 hour and will be recorded so we will post a link in a future Kickstarter update.
If you have a question you’d like answered during the chat, post it in the #backers channel on our Discord beforehand (start it with “studio chat q:” please, and feel free to add react emojis to other questions you like).
Hope to see you there!
Late to the Alpha?
If you haven’t joined in yet but backed at the Alpha Tier ($60 or higher), let us know! Reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (type max!addrole after joining if you included your Discord username in the Kickstarter survey, or DM @Liviana for help getting set up).
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we include the progress bar infographic in each and every update. The big news for this month’s progress update is that the Matrix Mk2 stretch goal and the major addition of the hacking layer to the game is now complete and available to all alpha players.
If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
April Progress + PAX East Report
We’re back from the PAX Rising indie showcase at PAX East, where we had a pleasure to meet a number of you in-person and show off an exciting heist demo. Thanks for stopping by, checking out the game you’ve funded or in some cases, stomping the demo with your alpha know-how :D
We’ve been ripping along, adding content, maps and wrapping up implementation of the game’s systems throughout April. Let’s get into this status update!
Check Out Latest Studio Chat
We just held another live Q&A Studio Chat on our Discord, sharing our experiences, funny stories and demo tales from PAX East, plus answering hard hitting questions like “coffee or tea” lol --
Thank you to everyone who joined us during the Studio Chat and we hope that everyone enjoys the recording. We will be doing more Studio Chats in the future, so keep an eye out for the announcements.
PAX Feedback & Results
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint did really well on the show floor. The art style and clear turn-based tactics vibes caught a lot of attention. Our demo stations were going non-stop, with over 250 players playing through the demo. It was a great chance to watch so many players who have never heard of the game give it a try (and sharpen our how we describe it to get people interested). If you’d like to hear for yourself and see some of the demo, check out this interview we did (and give the video a thumbs up / leave a comment to help more people see it):
We’ve come back from PAX riding on a huge wave of energy, and have dived right back into development and story writing -- we have so much more to show you all, and every month we’re getting closer to bringing the full game to you.
Soon: Hacking!
The next phase for the Alpha was delayed a bit to get the demo ready, but alpha players are benefiting from the work done on that demo. Both in behind-the-scenes improvements on camera work and animation debugging, and on cool new mission objectives (like rescues and squad member rendezvous) we hadn’t planned to add until later. And we’re back at our desks now working away toward the next big addition to the alpha builds: hacking.
If you haven’t joined in yet but backed at the Alpha Tier ($60 or higher), let us know! Reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (type max!addrole after joining if you included your Discord username in the Kickstarter survey, or DM @Liviana for help getting set up).
Wrapped Naming Surveys
The final naming survey went out last week, bringing the total to 5 surveys and over 50 names for backers who pledged at the Ultra Edition or higher. A final reminder email will go out soon with a link to all the surveys. They will stay open for the foreseeable future if you haven’t had your chance to add your names yet.
While we couldn’t use every name that was submitted, we wanted to highlight some hilarious and clever submissions that cracked out team up Drones:
4 Whom the VTOLs
Corp Names:
Death & Taxes (funeral home/lawyer/accountant, surprisingly successful)
Security Devices:
WHACKSpoetic's DictAttack Algorhythm
Big Red Button
Fr8Train
Explosives:
BECAUSE (we have no plan)
A Dubious-looking baseball with fuse
Tech Devices:
Optimal technically attuned device-ma-bob
Neo Pocket-Pets (interactive audio of hunds/cats. Audio bluffing tool.)
Healing Items:
Delicious Life Juice - 100 % vegan
GoodVibes Defibrillator Mk V
Sniper Rifles:
Ma Bell AT&T Special, for when you need to reach out and touch someone.
Swords:
Slashy Mc Slashface
Ol' Pokey
Shotguns:
Rock'Em Sock'Em
Guy-B-Gone Double Barrel
ARs:
PerappaTheBrappa
Woodpecker (rat-ta-tat)
Code Names:
Justin Case
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we have included the progress bar infographic in this update. The Naming Reward is now complete and next up is Encoding Your Legend. It is always exciting to see motion on this multi-year delivery plan!
If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
New Cyber Knights demo and exclusives at PAX East 2022!
We're thrilled to be headed back to PAX this year, selected by the PAX team for a featured spot in the PAX Rising Showcase.
Even if you're not going to PAX, this means more in store for you, including a new studio chat in Discord next week, and a giveaway of one of these awesome Cyber Knights posters:
Your Knight has been captured! 😬 You'll get to choose from three versions of the Vanguard in a tense rescue and extraction mission.
We're looking forward to seeing all the ways players make it through (or crash and burn) this heist -- if they get all squad members (you'll be up to 3 by the end) out alive, and which of them will be needing emergency cyber-surgery by the end. The alpha crew has already provided some great feedback, and we're hoping PAX will be the perfect place to get the game in front of a whole new set of strategy RPG fans.
We'll also have at least two more chances for you to win a Cyber Knights poster, plus a photo opportunity you've already been asking for without even knowing it.
Going to be there? Find us in the PAX Rising section, booth #13091:
Have a great weekend, Knights!
March Progress + Featured in PAX East Rising Showcase
It has been a busy 3 months since we launched the alpha in January. With 5 Phases and 12 updates under our belt, hundreds of Knights have tested out these early versions of the game. We’re getting daily input, suggestions and bug reports and are working constantly to improve Flashpoint. Now, on to this month’s progress update!
Public Studio Chat
We are excited to announce that we will be doing a public “Studio Chat” Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 at 9pm EDT. Studio Chats are our version of a Reddit AMA -- post your questions in advance and we'll answer them live that evening! Cory and I will be chatting in a voice channel on our Discord to answer your questions, hang out and talk about CKF, STF and all things Trese Brothers.
If you’re able join us, the voice channel will open shortly before 9:00 pm Eastern. The Studio Chat will run about 1 hour and will be recorded so we will post a link in a future Kickstarter update.
If you have a question you’d like answered during the chat, post it in the #studio_chat channel on our Discord beforehand (start it with “studio chat q:” please, and feel free to add react emojis to other questions you like).
Hope to see you there!
PAX Rising Showcase at PAX East
Speaking of “hope to see you there!” -- we’re going to PAX East 2022! We are thrilled to announce that we’re one of 12 indie games being featured in the PAX Rising Showcase at PAX East this April. We’re very excited to be back at PAX again. It’s been too long!
We'll be in the PAX Rising booth and you can come and play the demo any day of the show. Come hang out, we can't wait to see you there. You can learn more about the PAX Rising Showcase and all of the games that will be a part of it at http://www.paxeast22.com/Rising
Alpha Phase 5
Over 3 months, we’ve cranked through 5 major phases of the alpha -- initial gameplay, training your mercs, buying and modding weapons, death and recruiting and finally with Phase 5 we added a new class the Cybersword. We’ve received hundreds of in-game bug reports and thousands of pieces of feedback from the community of players.
If you haven’t joined in yet but backed at the Alpha Tier ($60 or higher), let us know! Reach out to us here, on Kickstarter or on our Discord (type max!addrole after joining if you included your Discord username in the Kickstarter survey, or DM @Liviana for help getting set up).
Matrix Mk2 Prototype
As we approach Alpha Phase 6, we have completed the first Matrix Mk2 prototype. This prototype hits a number of our key goals for Matrix Mk2:
Digital Battleground -- a completely new tactical challenge awaits your hacker in the matrix. Terminals across the RL map lead to small and large computer hosts, tasked with everything from controlling a door to storing trade secrets. Your hacker must load up their programs to scan, search, slice through quantum nodes, override security and battle potentially deadly IC to find the target -- priceless paydata, control over security systems, doors or even the AI’s Alarm system.
Extensive Hacker Build Options -- your hacker will be building out a deck, hand-picking programs, installing cyberware add-ons and training on a class tree that compliments and improves their use of entire families of programs. Mix programs and class training to build a hyper-aggro hacker who smashes enemy IC or an ultra stealth hacker who ghosts through quantum nodes unseen. Decks are linked in loadouts, allowing multiple decks per hacker and multiple hackers per team.
Multi-turn hacks -- Hackers may slice into a terminal and hack across the Matrix while their meat body sleeps. If the hack is hard enough it will take multiple turns so it is up to the team to keep the hacker safe by distracting or fending off security in a gunfight. Your Soldier may be screaming, “Jack out now -- We can’t hold them!” but does the slumped hacker even really hear him?
The UI is clunky and you have to know exactly what you are doing to get through it right now, but that is rapidly improving as we approach Phase 6 of the alpha, which will be the debut of the fully operational Matrix Mk2 system!
Ultra Edition: Naming Surveys
For those backers who pledged at the Ultra Edition or higher, you’ve been receiving emails including surveys to add your names to the game. While we initially thought we’d source 10 names from each backer, we’ve increased our ambitions to 50 names by breaking it out into 5 surveys focusing on a wider range of name types, such as characters, codenames, drones, dogs, cats, weapons, items of different types, locations and more. We’ve sent 3 of 5 surveys so far and will wrap this reward up in a few weeks.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we have included the progress bar infographic in this update. The Matrix Mk2 Prototype is now complete and the Naming Reward is on-going and will soon be wrapped up. Always exciting to see motion on this multi-year delivery plan!
If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
Our Art Team is in Ukraine, Stand With Us in Supporting Them
Backers and Friends,
While we continue on pace with the alpha, we’re skipping a detailed breakdown of progress this month to instead focus on something much more important…
Help Us Support Ukraine
My brother Cory and I have worked closely with amazing partners in Ukraine to dream, design and create the art of Cyber Knights: Flashpoint over the past 3 years. Over that time, our partnership has grown to friendship as we spent countless hours working with these wonderful and talented people.
The entire Trese Brothers team is heartsick and worried to see the invasion and wanton destruction of their country – missile strikes hitting hospitals, apartment buildings, even kindergarten schools. We are scared for our friends, their families and their children. They need our prayers, our monetary support and our voices raised in solidarity.
Their country and thousands of refugees already need food, water, shelter and medical supplies. We hope you will join us in giving to some organizations trying to ease the suffering in Ukraine.
The Cyber Knights: Flashpoint alpha launched very successfully. Several hundred of you have started playing and providing feedback. This starts a massive new phase of the project -- the march to Steam Early Access release. We’re hearing so much daily about the fun & challenge, surprises, and ideas for improvement; it’s amazing. This is a huge step forward for the project and another moment to look back and thank all of our backers who helped make this possible.
Alpha Backer? Check your email!
If you backed at the Alpha Tier ($60 or higher), you should have received both an invitation email from App Center and an instructions email from andrew@tresebrothers.com. If you do not see them in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you have questions or didn’t get the email, reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (type max!addrole and then check out the #alpha channels).
Alpha Phase 1 Recap
From our in-game analytics:
Total Games Played: 1500
Total Missions Completed: 300
Loot Boxes Looted: 1,122
Turns Processed: 5,535
FPS Checks Performed: 186,000+
Total Alpha Events Recorded: 298,000+
Phase 1 focused on the core tactical gameplay experience — the mix of stealth and combat — and your team’s ability to pull off its first heist. Phase 1 was limited to:
A team of 3 mercs — armed to the teeth and ready to go
One multi-stage mission to attempt
A tiny slice of the game without any leveling, recruiting, healing, story, contacts, etc.
No built-in replayability (had to start a new character)
Now after running for 10 days, Phase 1 is over and it’s time for --
Alpha Phase 2 Launches!
With each phase, the scope of gameplay will increase and more systems will be available to the alpha players. Alpha phases help us put a spotlight on different areas of the game; phase 2 is all about training your team and trying out new angles of stealth and combat gameplay. With a new heist mission available, the option to repeat missions, and the ability to level up your squad -- Phase 2 is significantly bigger than Phase 1.
Skill trees for your three mercs are now available
Two multi-stage missions to attempt
Replay missions with the same squad to level up (up to level 6), try new ways with new abilities
Alpha Phases and Duration
With each new Phase, we’re providing new prompts in Discord for gameplay areas where we are specifically seeking feedback. Thank all of you for the thought and care you’ve been putting into your feedback! Everyone has been doing great staying on topic and focusing on the core goal of each phase.
From our previous alpha experiences, this entire process will take 6-12 months, will include many Alpha Phases and possibly 100+ updates. This is a marathon process that includes you in the game’s development, not a quick sprint or stress test. Your feedback shapes the game as it grows from the central kernel of tactical missions to the full game experience by the end of the alpha.
If you haven’t yet: join us and help shape the game!
If you can’t find the invite emails but know you backed at the Alpha Tier ($60 or higher), let us know! Reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (type max!addrole after joining if you included your Discord username in the Kickstarter survey, or DM @Liviana for help getting set up).
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the game!
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we have included the progress bar infographic in this update. We are excited to see a big white checkmark next to the Alpha! If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
Alpha Has Launched!
Happy new year and we wanted to shoot a quick note to share our excitement -- Alpha Phase 0 launched last night on January 4th as planned. 🎉 We wanted to post a quick update in case anyone missed the email.
Check Your Email for the Invites!
If you are in the alpha team, you should have received both an invitation email from App Center and an email with instructions at the email address you used for Kickstarter. If you do not see them in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you have questions or didn’t get the email, reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (run the “max!addrole” command and then check out the #alpha channels.)
This initial phase is a tech demo build -- it is NOT the game. It contains and tests everything required (graphics, sound & music, game engine player, all the code libraries, bug reporting, analytics) to play the game on your computer. Starting with this allows us to find any critical bugs in our new game engine on your platforms immediately while we can still focus solely on fixing these issues. It will also allow us to give priority to supporting everyone through sign up and download before we are also supporting the game.
Please take a few minutes today to at least:
find your invite email and sign up through App Center.
join the Discord - it’s our hub for all alpha feedback!
use the max!addrole command in Discord to make sure you can get access to the #alpha channels.
We’ve already had over 200 of you run the tech build; more is helpful but if we could at least get everyone set up in the App Center and Discord it will help us get a playable version to you sooner and keep things running smoothly while everyone’s playtesting. 🙂
Alpha Phases and Duration
The Alpha is a series of Phases and the first is Phase 0, a “tech demo” which is currently available for download to help us identify bugs on different hardware combinations. Next, we’ll move on to Phase 1 which will start with a limited version of the game that is completely focused on the core player experience (tactical missions). We will provide prompts and seek feedback on this core gameplay loop, then start the process of expanding the available content and systems in the game with new Alpha Phases. With each new Phase, we will provide new prompts and gameplay areas where we are specifically seeking feedback.
From our previous alpha experiences, this entire process will take 6-12 months, will include many Alpha Phases and possibly 100+ updates. This is a marathon process that includes you in the game’s development, not a quick sprint or stress test. Your feedback shapes the game as it grows from the central kernel of tactical missions to the full game experience by the end of the alpha.
Reward and Stretch Goal Progress
For completeness, we have included the progress bar infographic in this update even though nothing much in it has changed. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
