Knights and mercs, we're back with another update in 2025 with more content - this time a new Power Play storyline, the first critical round of changes to the rules around Smoke / Smoke Grenades, and a really big number of minor tweaks to appearances to reduce small clipping and cosmetic appearance issues. Thanks to everyone posting up feedback, we are getting our engines going this year with big updates - story, missions, and the final set of features before launch - so stay tuned for some big hits!
If you are enjoying Early Access and our style of relentless updates and constant improvement, please take a moment to leave a review! You can always change it later :D
New Power Play Storyline
A new storyline has been added to the Power Play set - storylines that can attach to Contacts who have successfully executed a Limit Break to put themselves into the risky "Power Play" status. This new storyline sees you working closely with the dangerous Ricksham Syndicate - the masters of the UNA's train network, riders of the rails, train-hobos - to negotiate the flow of new and powerful combat and hacking drugs into the New Boston Zone.
The storyline contains multiple missions with new challenges - seeing cross-faction fighting in the middle of a mission map, challenging extraction objectives and more VIP hunters dropping in to mess up your day.
You can read more about the Power Play system at the holiday milestone update here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/516322831358755690
Smoke Grenade Reactions
For a long time, Smoke Grenades have been a powerful tool that deal in absolutes. The enemy agents stupidly ignore them, and the utterly baffle attempts at pursuit or detection. Update #199 takes the first step in softening the power of Smoke (Agent EX) and Smoke Grenades.
Our goal is to keep them fun, exciting and strong - they are a delay tactic, they sow chaos and confusion, they cover escapes and give you advantageous terms for a gunfight.
However, if its smokes - something must be on fire! Enemy agents in the Unaware state who see smoke will now report it to the Sec AI (+2 Tally, up to a maximum of +4 Turn for multiple agents) and become Suspicious (so they will not report Smoke again). Then they will proceed to hunt in the area, searching for the cause of the smoke or disturbance.
This is Step #1. Step #2 will be to make adjustments to how smoke affects detection and combat to remove absolutes (you cannot see through or into smoke) to instead powerful rules (your visibility is reduced to 2m inside smoke).
As we know this is a topic dear to many player's hearts, we will be putting up a preview thread to list all of the proposed rule changes in the next few days for everyone to comment on!
Fixing Appearance Clips
With Update #199, we closed over 25 F10s that referenced specific small issues with the cosmetic stacks - either clipping, odd placements, hair not covering the entire head and more. This was a great cleanup but there is always more to do in this area. Our next cleanup effort will be looking at specific cosmetics that are not "good" at taking colors, the colors don't affect them too much or (in the case of short shaves) go crazy.
v1.9.79 - 1/11/2025
- Added new Power Play storylines; high-risk negotiations with the Ricksham can bring new combat/hacking drugs into the NBZ - Enemy agents now react to Smoke (Grenades, Agent EX) by increasing Tally by +2 and hunting in the nearby area - Fixed model clipping at back of head for some characters wearing beret hats - Fixed model clipping at back and sides of head for ponytail and other hairstyles - Fixed reported typos, dialog clarifications
Update #198: Weekly Map Release: "Broken Highway"
Mercs and Knights - Update #198 is a short one with a focus on getting us back on track for our Weekly Map Release schedule! We have a new map - Broken Highway - and two other small improvements to deliver today with better objectives in your bodyguard missions, improved Sec AI rules about buffing their forces and a fix to how Ignore Recoil is formatted for armor and cyberware. Also, we fixed a huge number of minor typos and issues in story and lore text, so thanks for all of your F10s!
If you like the constant stream of new, improved, polished and added during your Early Access, please remember to leave a review!
New Weekly Map: Broken Highway
We missed a week over New Year's due to vacation and flu, but we're back on track now, and the maps will flow. Our 10th weekly map release is Broken Highway, a long stretch of open highway where warring factions constantly trade hands and soak in blood. A warning—the highway is wide, cuts through the map, and provides no cover! Stay off the road if you can, working its edges and crossing it quickly when you must. With all the new maps - and Broken Highway - we are dedicated to supporting every proc-gen objective (all 8) with absolute maximum variation inside each option (there are more than 32 ways to play this level!!) The new 8 proc-gen combos offered with this map brings the total to 121 proc-gen combos and represents another 6% increase in map variety. Broken Highway also includes support for the Assassinate VIP objective which brings the mission maps supported for that objective type up to 10 and is no longer really an underserved objective type (victory day!).
Objective Update for Bodyguard Missions
The bodyguard missions needed a small update to their objectives to properly indicate when the escort had successfully Extracted from the map. This tweak is now delivered to all bodyguard missions, present or future.
Ignore Recoil Bonus Correction
There was a mistake in the display of the Ignore Recoil stat when it was shown on Armor or Cybernetics, where it would read as +0.3 which doesn't make sense in the Recoil system. When properly formatted, it should read as Ignores Recoil +3 which means that the armor or cybernetic grants an immediate 3-point reduction to Recoil all the time - making moving or firing a little less impactful to your next shot.
Sec AI is Picky
Previously, if the Sec AI ran an Escalation that buffed their team, these buffs could be applied to Head Hunters, any enemy faction on the map as well as the local faction forces. We have adjusted these rules to ensure that only the local faction that the Sec AI is supporting is buffed.
v1.9.77 - 1/10/2025
- Added new proc-gen map "Broken Highway": a wide open stretch of dangerous highway constantly contested by warring factions that supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate, Siege and Battle Striker - Fixed display for Recoil bonus on armor and cybernetics incorrectly using +0.3 instead of +3 - Improved objectives for all bodyguard missions to correctly mark when VIP is safely extracted - Sec AI buffs will not help enemy factions or Head Hunters - Fixed one missed controller guidance in the tutorial for Steam Deck
Update #197: Gleamer Polish
Before we release the next map, we've got an update fully focused on closing F10s and polishing the game. We've got so much cooking, it's good to take a moment just for bug fix and QoL at times before the next big release cycle starts. Update #197 fixes issues with armor, buff stacking, improves the tutorial for Steam Deck and controllers, improves the Benches tag in the safehouse, fixes mod attachment issues and makes Revolver's special rules about mods more clear.
Thanks to everyone playing, posting up F10s and leaving a review on the game! We're working on improving and adding to the game in large and small ways - so if you like what you're seeing, be sure to leave that review!
Armor Initiative and Move Speed
With Update #197, we've fixed some older issues with armor bonuses failing to join into the buff and debuff displays for your characters. Armor's Move Speed and Initiative modifiers were not being counted into these summaries for display and in addition, the Initiative penalty or bonus was not being used during combat missions when Initiative was rolled (while Move Speed was correctly used). Both the display issue and the rules issue are now resolved with Update #197.
Buffs Stacking Bug
In mid-December a regression crept into the codebase that allowed some buffs to stack. This has now been fixed, and buffs will no longer stack. You cannot have two copies of Coordinated Charge buff on you at the same time, offering double the bonuses, sorry! If you've been relying on that, apologies, this new reality will seem harsh, but it is fair. If you re-use a buff on an already buffed character, it will refresh the duration on the buff.
Steam Deck and Controllers in Tutorial
It was brought to our attention last week that the new tutorial has a major, glaring fault. It did not customize its text and instructions if you were playing on a controller or Steam Deck! We have hurried up to fix this, ensuring that all mention of controls (press this, click that) are now swapped over dynamically to provide controller keybindings, such as press (X). We've also added a few extra lines of helper text in the case of Steam Deck or controller to point out some of the basics right away.
Benches Built Tag
The tag in the safehouse over rooms that said "1/2 Benches" and was causing so many F10s has now been updated to read "1/2 Benches Built" as that is what it is showing you. You can build new benches if you want!
Mod Attachment Fixes
With Update #197, we've resolved the visual issues that were happening with the new Rook Prototype Weapons (see Power Plays) new shotgun model and new UAR model. Their scopes and barrel attachments will now correctly attach to the model and look cool!
In addition, we've changed the display for how Revolver shows mods that are incompatible. Previously, when you were trying to equip a new Scope or Body Attachment for a Revolver, we automatically hid all incompatible mods like Silencers and Ammo Extenders. This could be confusing, so now we've brought them back but when you select them, the Equip button switches to Incompatible and their special rules column includes the rule listing about Revolver limitations.
Map Fixes
There will always be more map fixes :D New maps are flowing so the fixes must flow too! We've fixed issues with Lockdown Station and the Gold Key room having objective files inside it, with auto-extraction zones in a few maps including - most popular - Wreckspire, and places in Urban HQ where Prox MInes were spawning in the walls.
v1.9.75 - Update #197: Gleamer Polish - 1/8/2024
- Armor Move Speed and Initiative Penalty correctly displayed in all status summaries, used in Initiative Roll - Fixed bug that allowed buffs to stack - buffs do not stack, using a second copy of a buff will refresh duration - Improved Tutorial with Steam Deck and Controller focused steps discussing defeault keybindings - Clarified safehouse "1/2 Benches" tag as "1/2 Benches Built" - Improved handling of Revolver mod limitations when working in inventory - now shown as incompatible with rule displayed - Fixed 3D attachment of mods to new Rook Prototype UAR and Shotgun models - Fixed issue where auto-extract was often not happening in Wreckspire mission map at elevator - Fixed bug where Lootbox Hunt files could end up in Lockdown Station's Gold Key room (bug with that specific map) - Fixed Proximity Mine starting inside barrier in Urban HQ mission map
Update #196: Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Knights! Things have run a bit slowly here at the start of 2025 with a third of our team on holiday, a third of our team sick and a third working away. But we're getting things moving again with Update #196, celebrating with new outfit options, new hairstyles, +15 new matrix host templates, improved Matrix host progression that includes the size of the host, boosted mission pay, tweaks to the balance of Truck Job and fixes for old F10s and reported bugs.
A huge welcome and thanks to everyone who is playing and joined up during the WInter Sale! We've had an amazing influx of input, feedback and reviews and we appreciate every bit, scrap and ːsteamthumbsupː
This will be a big year for Cyber Knights getting all grown up and launching on Steam, so let's go ːsteamhappyː!!
New Cosmetic Options
To ring in the New Year, we've added 2 new outfit options for your characters as well as 4 more hairstyles. It's always exciting to see this catalog grow - and it will keep growing - so a few more of the looks shown in the game's concept art have stepped out into the game world.
Look sharp, mercs!
+15 Matrix Hosts and Host Size Progression
There have been a lot of ways that Matrix Hosts scale along with the Power Level of the challenges you are facing - upgrading their Color and their Q-Sec AI until they are Red Pit Vipers or worse. Also, the IC that spawn into matrix hosts increase in threat and toughness as the challenge level goes up and the Escalations that the Q-Sec AI get more and more threatening as well.
One area that has not been affected by the current challenge level (which your Team Power Level modified by all difficulty and mission specific settings) is the matrix terminal map itself. These maps could be generated large or small regardless of your point in the game, which has been a weak spot for the Hacking subsystem and the game.
After a deep analysis and talking to a lot of players, we've realized that some of the players who have hit the Matrix and skid to a full stop did so because their first hack was a 25-node sprawling monstrosity of a system.
With Update #196, we've connected another set of systems - plugging the Matrix Host's Power Level into the matrix map generator to ensure that we are getting hosts that make sense in size as well as power for your point in the game's progression.
We are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this big change!
Mission Pay Bump
As a gift for the holidays (j/k, because of balancing) we've bumped the pay for Missions from Power Level 1-5 again by a slight margin, from 8% to 15%. These pay raises in missions can help fund a little extra EQ for your mercs, help you squeak out a safehouse room or save up for that Cyberdeck with a ribbon on top -- but all in all, they help the cash flow in the early game and make it a little less depending on looting. Happy heisting!
Truck Job Balancing
With a big influx of new players, we've heard a lot of great feedback about balancing, progression and difficulty spikes. With the last update, we made some adjustments to the Dead Drop Hit job that was an unexpected spike and have made some (more minor) changes to the Truck Job with Update #196. We'll follow up with update to starting enemy layout and counts with some additional changes to the introductory dialog to make your options and the timing pressure more clearly emphasized by your Face at the start.
Weapon Crafting Bugfix
There was an old and odd bug in crafting weapons with the NanoFab where the exact placement of your weapon mod blueprints could reduce the number of Intrinsic rolls that were made. Specifically, if you locked in 2 blueprints for weapon mods in the first 2 spots of the craft, you wouldn't get a 3rd intrinsc. This oddity has been resolved for future crafts!
Other Bugs and F10s!
No saved game is left behind and no F10 is forgotten. Thanks to everyone for sending in F10s, last week fixed bugs and made improvements off F10s that were submitted in March and July of 2024 to improve the game. So keep sending that feedback, thank you!
v1.9.73 - #196: Happy New Year - 1/5/2024
- Added 2 new outfits options for characters - street and corp style - Added 4 new hairstyle options - Adjusted rules for generating matrix hosts to take size into account in comparison to challenge Power Level (lower level hosts are smaller) - Added 15 new matrix templates for hosts across a variety of size and complexity - Bumped Mission Payment for Power Level 1-5 by 8%-15% roughly - Improved balance of Truck Job with better starting enemy layout and counts - Minor tweak to Nuke II (HOT), reduced Connection Dmg to -6% - Fixed old bug causing some Weapon crafting configurations to not roll Intrinsics due to placement of mod blueprints - Fixed rare old issue with possible dead character in legwork - Fixed misleading program files in Code Compilation Files sets that create Nuke II (HOT)
Update #195: Influence Flows
Happy New Year, Knights of New Boston! Thanks to everyone for a great year of playing, improving and expanding the game. Early Access would not be any fun without you and your feedback, so thank you for showing up and sharing so much with us this year - your time, your energy, your encouragement and your bugs.
What better way to round out the year than a new update? Update #195 opens new critical pathways to gain Influence with your Contacts to help them Limit Break, fixes issues with the Rook Prototype Weapons Power Play service, adds some new awesome weapon models and looks to the game, improves the Power Slice bonuses for the new high-level blades available through the Fadelight Blades Power Play storyline, and makes some other smaller improvements to the display of Glancing Hit rules and fixes an ancient and odd "why do I have 20 Favors with my enemy?" bug.
Happy New Year! We hope you'll leave a review as we roll into 2025.
High Rarity Blueprints Boost Influence
As a Cyber Knight in the New Boston underworld, you're ability to execute your high-risks heists are highly dependent on your network of Contacts being able to source and sell you the right gear, equipment, medical services, cybernetics and more. So, it is just as important that you pick and chose allies among the underworld Contacts and help those Contacts climb in power, Influence and reach.
There are multiple ways to help your Contacts grow in Influence - including running missions they offer, completing additional secondary objectives on these missions, completing Legwork they offer and selling them Epic or Legendary Rarity Accounts.
Accounts has been the only flow from looting to Influence but Update #195 expands the pathways in new ways to connect a lot more of the world's valuable loot to your Contact's Influence. Accounts are basically locked to the Matrix, so getting these to "feed" your Contacts required Hacking. Now with the addition of Epic and Legendary Blueprint sales adding +10% to the buyer Contact's Influence, there are new options stemming from both the matrix and regular lootboxes.
Unlike Accounts, either high Rarity of Blueprint sell for +10% only but you have a lot more chances to draw these Blueprints, so it easily makes up for the difference.
If've you been sitting on a cache of high-end Blueprints, it might be time to flush the ones you don't want and help some of your best allies LImit Break a few times.
Our next step here will be to introduce additional Epic and Legendary Item Blueprints into the game, as those are very hard to find and limited mostly to combat drugs. This will add additional ways to get Influence to harder to reach Contacts like Doctors.
Rook Prototype Power Play Weapons
The major Power Play milestone that recently went live included the Rook Prototype Weapons storyline. The result of this storyline was unfortunately a service from your Contact that was disconnected from any weapons being sold! This is now fixed with all service levels and weapons now correctly connected.
We've also updated the 3D models for a number of the higher-end weapons being sold with new shotguns and UARs appearing in the game.
Improved Blade Power Slice Abilities
For straight blades - and especially the higher Power Level blades sold in the Fadelight Blades Power Play storylines - some of the Power Slice abilities have been oddly weak compared to lesser blades. This is now resolved with Update #195, giving a powerful upgrade in Pure Dmg delivered with each new blade you can afford.
Glancing Hit Rules - Easier Read
We've adjusted the Glancing Hit rules shown in your weapon's detail block to include the % in the title so that you don't need to look into the text block to know if its 80%, 60% or 0% (melee).
v1.9.71 - #195: Influence Flows - 12/31/2024
- Selling Epic or Legendary Blueprints to an interested Contact increase their Influence +10% - Fixed issue with Power Play "Rook Prototype Weapons" service not offering weapons - Improved some of the Rook Prototype Weapons, improved 3D models - Improved Blade Power Slice balance - Nine, Zero, Nightsong, Tigerfang and others all gain better Power Slice Pure Dmg - Improved display of Glancing Hit rules for weapons so that the % is shown in the title for easiest read - Fixed very old bug that could grant enemy Contacts +20 Favors inexplicably - Fixed minor map issues with recently released maps
Update #194: New Map Release "River Street Bridge"
Knights! We're here to wrap up the weekend and almost the year with Update #194 which includes a 9th weekly map release, major rebalance to Dead Drop Hit, a ton of improvements and critical fixes to Leverage, better UI for Contact buy and sell services, map fixes and more.
Every week the game is growing, gaining features, improving balance and progression and getting a little more QoL polish. We hope you're enjoying the Early Access process we've got going - relentless updates, never invalidate a saved game.
Please consider leaving a review - our small team needs your help to spread the word!
New Weekly Map: River Street Bridge
Here we are on our 9th week of our weekly map release goal with the new map - River Street Bridge. This new map has a central, large bridge splitting the street district. The river cutting the district, the central bridge and the other ways across it will play key roles in all of your missions.
With the River Street Bridge, we are dedicated to supporting every single proc-gen objective (all 8) with absolute maximum variation inside each option (there are 32!! ways to play this level). The new 8 proc-gen combos offered with this map brings the total to 113 proc-gen combos and represents another 6% increase in map variety. River Street Bridge also includes support for the Assassinate VIP objective as well, which brings the mission maps supported for that objective type up to 9.
Dead Drop Hit Rebalance
The storyline where you attempt to recover some E-Rifles leads you to the Dead Drop Hit job which has become a bit infamous for being unbalanced and too hard for the point in the game it appears. We've made some helpful changes to get it where it needs to be - a nasty, fun fight instead of an unexpected and crushing spike in difficulty.
The changes include upgrading the mission to allow 4 mercs to go, adjusting the starting area to give some more cover options for your defensive position and tweaking the starting spawn counts on enemies.
Finally, we've pushed the minimum Team Power Level that this story will appear at up to 3. That is exciting because that also means we've pushed the E-Rifle rewards up to Power Level 3 E-Rifles instead of Power Level 2. This is a change that will benefit all saved games - new and old - so enjoy your bumped up E-Rifles, Knights!
Major Leverage Fixes
With Update #194, we've fixed a widespread set of issues with Leverage where they were often actually running for 1 Turn less than they promised. This hit a wide range of Leverages, including both passive and active Leverages. Now all the Leverages will run as long as they promise!
We've cleaned up the language and game terms used throughout the set to really get consistency and be sure the Leverage is using all the right terms to match the rest of the game.
In addition, we've improved Alarm Malfunction so that it simply removes an amount of Sec Tally equal to one Escalation and drops the Sec Level by 1, which means the next time the Sec AI would usually Escalate, it is skipped. This is equivalent to Spiking an APU in the Matrix, so its pretty powerful delay action.
Finally, we've fixed an issue where a Leverage that disabled security systems might also cause the sleeping security devices to wake up when the duration ended. This was a big issue in some levels using sleeping devices, so this is a critical bug to fix to push Leverages to their most useful slot.
Contact Buys and Sells
With this update, we've split a Contact's services into two groups for clarity - what they Sell and what they are willing to Buy. This helps us cut down on repetitive words ("Buys ...") and also show the dual nature of some services (if a Contact sells any type of weapons, they always buy all used weapons back).
As the services lists are getting more in depth and starting to change with Power Play options, it is important to make sure the UI helps clarify what you've got and what you might be working on. We'll keep improving these UIs to help cut down the amount of checking and screen transitions you need to get the most important info for strategic decisions.
Map Fixes Galore
With this update we fixed places in Slumroad Junction where doors in exterior buildings were blocking line of sight and we fixed and tuned up the rotation and placement of a ton of spawning locations for enemies and your merc team across a wide set of maps. Every release, we're improving, tweaking and tuning the map set so a huge thanks goes out to anyone sending in F10s that help us improve!
v1.9.69 - #194: New Map Release "River Street Bridge" - 12/29/2024
- Added new proc-gen map "River Street Bridge": a street region straddling a bridge soaked in blood of the last centuries battles that supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate, Siege and Battle Striker) - Improved Contact list and hover to separate Buys and Sells services more clearly - "Dead Drop Hit" mission now allows 4 mercs instead of 3 (it came from a simpler time...) - Improved cover positions and reduce enemy starting spawn counts in "Dead Drop Hit" to even its difficulty - Adjusted requirements for "Dead Drop Hit" (fetch E-Rifles) mission to not proc before Power Level 3 - Improved rewards - E-Rifles from "Dead Drop Hit" upgraded to Power Level 3 (all games, new and forever) - Further improved progression of maps via proc-gen to avoid harder maps on earlier Power Levels - Fixed Alarm Malfunction so that it correctly reduces Sec Level by 1 and prevents next Escalation - Fixed Leverage bug with disabling security devices that could result in sleeping devices being woken - Fixed duplicate dialogs at the end of Siege missions - Fixed tagging issue in Roster where damaged Cyberdeck ("Cyberdeck 90%") would cause "Loadout" to be shown as well - Fixed map issues in Slumroad Junction with doors blocking lines of sight from rooftops - Fixed typos in Hacking Tutorial
Update #193: Holiday Bug Smash
Tonight, it is a Winter Sale Bug Smash! With 34% off, we should kill 34 bugs, right? Well, we focused on some of the most popular F10s in the last month and went on a bug smashing spree! It's not quite 34, but we're hard at work polishing up the game and cleaning up small bugs so your play is smoother, faster and always fun.
A huge welcome to all the new Cyber Knights pouring into New Boston during this Winter Sale! Thanks for checking out the game, for your support, for your posts and for your reviews!
Hit F10 for Bugs or Feedback!
We have a wonderful in-game bug and feedback reporting tool, just hit F10 (or left stick click on controller) to send in your reports. These come with so much context, log data and an immediate screenshot that it greatly reduces the time we need to spend to resolve the issue and get it back to you in update.
So, thank you - especially during Early Access - for helping feed our fire of improvements. You'll see we are a constant update machine here, always improving. So help us do that with an F10 today!
So - what big bugs got smashed?
Reloading Games with Map Area of Effects
There was a bug that the movement of map areas of effect like Tox-Cloud, White Noise, Line Crawler and more was lost if you exited the game and reloaded it. Sometimes the areas wouldn't move or sometimes they would move but not like they did before you left the game.
This is now all resolved, with the movement being made at the end of a Turn and being committed to the saved game at that time. Now, reloading the game will restore these flawlessly.
Leverage Duration, Clarification, Bugs
We've fixed a highly reported bug that Leverages were widely misreporting their duration. Leverages would claim to do something until the end of next Turn and then expire promptly at the end of the current Turn. We've resolved this with all of the Leverages correctly adjusting their duration to run for the right amount of time - now, if it says until the end of next Turn, that's what you'll get!
We've also cleaned up a ton of non-standardized language in the Leverage descriptions and ensured that the descriptions shown during the mission and in the Field Ops Center are always synchronized and don't have the opportunity to drift apart.
Camera Range Discrepancy
We fixed a bug that was causing some cameras to actually have range to spot your mercs that exceeded the visual meta display. Just in that last meter beyond their red display, you'd still get spotted. Now fixed!
Secondary Kills Counting to Objectives
There was a class of issues for the kill count goal where "secondary" kills were not counted toward the goal. Secondary kills could be caused by Poison, any damage-over-time, corpse Detonation, Grenades, and anything else that wasn't a direct attack. These all now count toward kill goals.
Color Picking
We've compressed the color picker and fixed issues within it for controllers scrolling through the picks. This reduces all the scrolling that was needed to use this UI and helps ensure controllers can use the picker correctly.
Proc-Gen Legworks Prompt
We've improved the dialog prompt on the timeline for the proc-gen Legwork storylines, which were saying "I need a Favor" but now will say "I need a merc on a Legwork" to be really clear what they are asking about.
Wounded Tags on Skipped Recruits
If you decided not to take on a recruit - such as someone rescued from a prison break - and they had a Wound, this Wound would show forever on your Barracks as a red tag. Now fixed!
Map Fixes
We also fixed a huge host of map issues. The door that was stuck in Gated Enclave with "move closer" can now be reached. We fixed a ton of spawn locations, VIP locations, starting rotations, and issues to see over doorways from rooftops on Interchange H.
- Fixed issues with Tox-Cloud, White Noise, Line Crawler not correctly restoring their movement from last Turn when game is reloaded - Fixed all Leverage duration mismatches - where buggy, the Leverage lasted 1 Turn too short, now fixed to last correct number of Turns - Improved consistency of terms and rule descriptions in all Leverages - Leverages offered in Field Ops center area now sorted by Power Level - Fixed issues with secondary kills (poison, damage over time, Detonation, etc) not being counted toward final kill secondary objectives - Fixed bugs with some Camera and Long-Range Camera overlays on map being shorter than the actual range of the camera's detection - Shrunk size of color box for appearance color customization, more colors visible at once and improved controller/keyboard support - Timeline prompts for proc-gen Legwork are now clearer (stating need for Legwork, not a Favor) - Fixed issue where Wounded tag could appear on Barracks if you ignored a recruit who was wounded (usually a recruit from a rescue mission) - Fixed enemy reinforcement and VIP spawn locations, inoperable door, starting rotations and more in Gated Enclave - Fixed issues with inability to see over doors from rooftop on Interchange H mission map
Major Milestone: POWER PLAY
Welcome again to the Winter Sale and now the drop of the Power Play storyline system! We're amped to roll out this new piece of the story engine which pushes the strategy layer and Contact simulation another big step toward completion. The new Power Play storylines begin to deliver on Contacts changing of their own accord, becoming unique due to the events of your career and truly becoming different in each playthrough. We've also more tightly bound Contact Traits to secondary mission objective offerings. Let's dig into Update #192!
(If you enjoy all the work we're putting into the game, there's no better present you could give us this holiday season than leaving a Steam review!)
Risky Power Plays
As power shifts in the underworld, your Contacts have chances to make risky Power Plays to open up new opportunities, change their place in the world, or crush a rival.
Until now, the Contacts in your network have been relatively static. They could only upgrade existing services, raise or lower their existing Traits, or go into hiding if they're under heavy pressure.
Contacts surging in Influence may now attempt a Power Play, which means they will match with a special type of storyline that offers a chance to majorly expand their underworld footprint. These Power Plays (and later, their mirror: Compromised) will offer some of the storylines that allow Contacts to change and become unique in each Knight's career.
The first wave of Power Plays make new types of services available depending on Contact's backstory, the services they offer now, and their Traits. Contacts with Traits like "Gun Nut" or those already involved in smuggling weaponry might ask for your help to access new megacorp prototypes or develop a new smuggling network with a contact in the near orbit. These services coming through Power Plays raise the roof on the maximum level for weapons you can purchase, going as high as Power Level 8 through some of the Power Play storylines. Power Play storylines come with a lot of risk, regardless of the outcome. The Contact is always going to take on Exposure (a lot more if the Power Play flops) and failed missions may damage your relationship.
New Challenges: VIP Hunters and Second Wave Bodyguards
We're excited to roll out some new mid-mission challenges with these Power Play missions. We've now introduced the capability of VIP Hunters and second wave Bodyguards.
VIP Hunters have some strong similarities to Head Hunters, except they are weaker and are specifically hunting an important VIP you are bodyguarding. Like Head Hunters have a lock on your Knight, VIP Hunters have a lock on the VIP you are bodyguarding and will move rapidly and aggressively in pursuit of this character. Unlike Head Hunters, they are a part of the local faction so they will not be slowed up by an ongoing firefight with existing security agents.
Second wave Bodyguards are late spawning bodyguards who will join the map and move rapidly and aggressively to defend their VIP. This can often create a new vector of fast-moving and dangerous enemies rushing to the center of the conflict. It may put your stealth presence under threat or may force you to open up a second flank. Or if you let them, they may reach the VIP first and bolster their defensive encirclement.
Contact Traits Driving Secondary Objectives
With this update, some Contact Traits are now taking a front seat in driving the secondary objectives they are interested in offering. Those Contacts who have the Impatient Trait are significantly more likely to want you to hit Turn limit goals while Contacts with the Ruthless and Bellicose Traits will be interested in punctuating their heists with high kill counts and Contacts with Calculating or Paranoid Traits are most interested in low Security Level thresholds.
This system will continue to grow as we can offer more types of secondary objectives for missions, but even with only Speed, Low Security Level, and Killing for now, it feels very impactful and helps to make your Contact Traits stand out.
New Contact Traits and Tags
In addition to gaining new services, Power Plays often result in Contacts gaining new Traits and backstory Tags as they adjust their way of thinking about how to deal with the New Boston underworld. This will further impact the next steps in their story and open them up to new possibilities from the Casting Director story engine that weaves your contacts and squad members into storylines.
Negative Reflection: Compromised
Once the Power Play storyline set is rounded out, we will swap efforts to its negative equivalent, Compromised.
Whereas Power Plays originate from high Influence and positive Limit Breaks, a Contact can fall into the Compromised state due to Exposure Limit Breaks and altogether struggling. While Compromised storylines haven't been released yet, they will be a negative reflection of what can happen when on a Power Play. Contacts will be at risk of being killed, imprisoned, or forced to reduce their overall clout and position in the underworld.
And, depending on how you feel about this Contact, if they are an ally, you may be the one trying to prevent their death or free them from prison, or if they are an enemy, you might be the last face they see.
Reminder: this is our last big Early Access discount!
With the game entering its home stretch of EA on our road to a spring 2025 release, we thought we should give wishlisters a heads up that this will be our last sale at 34%-off for quite a while.
The game has grown tremendously throughout EA and has an incredibly packed pipeline of content, final features, and launch polish coming in the new year. With over a hundred hours of playtime already available today, we think it's well worth the full price we've set for the game. Of course, we all love a good Steam sale, so that's not to say you won't be able to find Cyber Knights on sale anymore; but after this sale, we intend to keep it to a more modest discount up to and for some time after launch.
I know the EA journey is not for everyone, and while I do think that we offer one of the best versions of it 😄 (with a ton of opportunities for your feedback to directly shape the game), I wanted to at least make sure that those of you who have been waiting eagerly for the game to be fully ready -- but are also on a budget -- know that this is the last, best discount for a while.
But regardless of when you purchase or at what discount, please know my brother and I truly appreciate your support. Happy holidays!
v1.9.65 - Update #191: Major Milestone: POWER PLAYS - 12/23/2024
- All new Power Play storylines are high-risk moves by your Contacts in the underworld that can have major impacts - The first set of new Power Play storylines allow Contacts to gain new services, such as selling higher Power Level weapons (4-8 PL) - New Power Play missions are risky for your Contacts, failing the multi-part legwork/missions will result in major Exposure - More Power Play storylines and Compromised storylines (the bad mirror image of Power Plays) will be coming online soon - Added new mid-mission challenge types: VIP Hunters and second wave Bodyguards - Added new Contact Trait (Bellicose) and Tag (Near-Orbit Smuggler) as results of storyline options - Contact Traits can have a direct impact on Secondary Objectives for all missions (Contacts with Bellicose Trait are 300% more likely to Kill secondary objectives)
Update #191: Deck Sweeper
Tonight's deck sweeping update is a quality of life update focused on cleaning up F10s and reports coming in from the community. We've got a great set of fixes and some improvements including flipping all disabled security devices outlines gray, making items hidden by filtering obvious, adding +8 new matrix host templates, improved Matrix HUD controller support and more.
A big welcome goes to all the new Knights joining us in the New Boston zone! We're here every day, working to improve the game, so please say hi here or on Discord :D Thanks to everyone playing, posting, sending in feedback and posting reviews!
Outlining Disabled Security Devices in Gray
With Update #191, we've updated the visual distinction for disabled security devices. They now outline with gray when disabled as opposed to staying outlined in red. This helps them stick out when outlines are toggled on and just makes the map easier to read.
My Vanguard has knocked out the camera and the laser wires in the screenshot above - now outlining as gray - they fall more into the background compared to the red, living guard I need to deal with.
Filtering Indicates Hidden Item Counts
As more filters come online for more types of things - Contacts, Best in Class, characters who need training - it has been too easy to realize that a filter is on and that some of the items are hidden. With update #191, we've improved the filtering UI to include a designation of how many items are currently being hidden by a filter in the filter button.
In addition, if everything is hidden then the text that is shown will specifically state that the list is empty due to filtering.
Added +8 Matrix Hosts
We're constantly working to expand the list of matrix host templates that are used throughout the proc-gen level set. Update #191 has added another 8 new matrix host templates that are focused on giving more variation to the hosts that control doors and security devices at the same time. These new hosts provide cool and odd formats, include the latest new Access Gate node and offer both SCU and RCU targets.
Matrix HUD Updates for Controller
A big thanks (again!) to @Brian for so much very specific feedback about how to improve controller support in the Matrix HUD. With this update, we've improved the toggling capability, fixed issues where toggle would skip the IC List if the only options were Nuke or Spiking, improved the highlight on the matrix log button and more. We've also fixed an issue with toggling back to the matrix tree would take you back to the node where you started the turn, not the last node you had selected.
Big List of F10 Fixes!
There is always a lot to wrap up in a sweeping of the decks quality-of-life update!
If a mission had a stage with a "No Hacking" tag it could appear in the summary incorrectly even if there was a different stage that had Hacking. Now fixed!
Power Slice (the special Talent added for carrying a sword) was not working very well with reloading games. Spent chargers were re-appearing. This is now all fixed.
We've fixed rare issues with both inability to swap weapons and equip some items after a mission.
The Underworld Hub High-Risk Transporter should finally be available for real.
The Heartbreak Rush mission in the Warner-Braun Treaty '31 Era did not have any Q-Sec Tally ... this is fixed!
v1.9.63 - Update #191: Deck Sweeper - 12/21/2024
- Filter UIs now show "(X hidden)" in the filter button so that it is clear how many items are being hidden - All disabled security devices have a gray outline to make their state more visually obvious - Added 8 new Matrix host templates for expanding RCU and SCU matrix options - Fixing issue with "No Hacking" flag that could appear at the same time as "Hacking (Loot)" for a mission summary - Improved controller support in Matrix HUD - Fixed loading game issues with Power Slice Talent refreshing charges - Fixed issues with inability to equip items or equipping items like Sigma 6 Sploitkit that aren't meant to be equipped - Fixed rare issue that could prevent swapping weapons during a mission - Fixed second level bug preventing High-Risk Transporter from being available in Underworld Hub (if you had already met Dr. Knife) - Fixed bug with Heartbreak Rush storyline hacking mission now having any Q-Sec Tally
Update #190: New Map Release and Our Last Big EA Discount!
Welcome to the Winter Sale and the drop of our latest weekly map release! We're excited to keep the streak of new maps for 8 weeks in a row, and this week hits hard with Gate Enclave, adding new Leverage that can allow you to purchase a Red Key in advance of a mission, continued rebalancing for Matrix hosts (by Power Level, rewards, faction and Q-Sec Tally thresholds) and finally fixing the new Contact to the Underworld Hub offering, the High-Risk Transporter.
We'll aiming to have another big update for you on Monday, ready for some great playtime over the holidays. If you enjoy all the work we're putting into the game, there's no better present you could give us this holiday season than leaving a Steam review!
Steam Winter Sale's here and it's our last big Early Access discount!
With the game entering it's home stretch of EA on our road to a spring 2025 release, we thought we should give wishlisters a heads up that this will be our last sale at 34%-off for quite a while.
The game has grown tremendously throughout EA and has an incredibly packed pipeline of content, final features, and launch polish coming in the new year. With over a hundred hours of playtime already available today, we think it's well worth the full price we've set for the game. Of course we all love a good Steam sale, so that's not to say you won't find be able to find Cyber Knights on sale any more; but after this sale we intend to keep it to a more modest discount up to and for some time after launch.
I know the EA journey is not for everyone, and while I do think that we offer one of the best versions of it 😄 (with a ton of opportunities for your feedback to directly shape the game), I wanted to at least make sure that those of you who have been waiting eagerly for the game to be fully ready -- but are also on a budget -- know that this is the last, best discount for a while.
But regardless of when you purchase or at what discount, please know my brother and I truly appreciate your support. Happy holidays!
New Weekly Map: Gated Enclave
We are now on week 8 of a streak for new weekly map releases and it has been so good for the variation and map count in the game. This week, we've got another new style of map challenge coming online with the Gated Enclave. This interior map straddles a Red Key Door that splits the map in two. While trying to hit your regularly scheduled objective, you'll also be hunting for the Red Key in security lockers, hacking terminals to open the door or considering a bribe in advance of the mission to remove that obstacle from your heist.
With the Gated Enclave, we are continuing to support every single proc-gen objective (all 8) with absolute maximum variation inside each option (there are 32!! ways to play this level). The new 8 proc-gen combos offered with this map brings the total to 105 proc-gen combos and represents another 7% increase in map variety. Gated Enclave includes support for the Assassinate VIP objective as well, which has gone from having an underwhelming list of mission maps a few weeks ago to have a bevy of options.
As usual, working on a new map comes along with fixing issues in the recently released maps. We've reconfigured a number of Siege combat missions, fixed issues in the Flooded Tunnels with enemies starting inside the walls (!?!) and issues in Sector 01 Interchange where you might start with your team entirely spotted by a camera.
Matrix Host Balancing
We're continuing the all angle press on Matrix host balancing. After the updates a few weeks ago to bring Matrix host Power Level scaling online, Matrix hacking got significantly more challenge and we've been working our way back to where it needs to be with a series of rapid-fire improvements.
This week, we're getting into more of the nitty-gritty of the progression. But its the detals that really matter here! Here is a list of things that we have improved:
We've adjusted the faction limits on Matrix host color - for example, Street Gangs should never rightly be deploying Red Hosts, it doesn't make sense they would have such powerful Q-Sec defenses
For Hack-only missions of any type, we've better improved the bonuses to your Turn Limit and mission pay based on the Matrix Host color. Previously you were getting a +12% pay bonus for going up against a Red host over a Blue ... which is not in any way reasonable.
We've improved the curve for host colors, ensuring that Red and Ultra don't accidentally roll in the 5-7 Power Level band.
The Q-Sec Tally thresholds for Escalations on Red Hosts and other really high-powere hosts were crazy low. If it only takes 10 Q-Sec Tally to cause an Escalation, you may be Escalating every single action.
A huge thanks goes out to all of our Hackers who are sharing feedback and encouraging changes, suggesting cool vectors on which to make the changes. Hack the planet!
- Added new proc-gen map "Gated Enclave": an interior map split across two areas where the action often requires breaching a Red Door that supports +8 new proc-gen combos (Heist a CPU, Steal 3 Files, Scavenger, Kill 3 Captains, Bodyguard, Assassinate, Siege and Battle Striker) - Fixed bug preventing High-Risk Transporter from being available in Underworld Hub (if you had already met Dr. Knife) - Price and Turn Limit increases more reasonably for high power hosts, such as Red Matrix Hosts - Matrix host color rating better balanced - Reds appear more rarely and later in Power Level progression - Matrix host color rating is adjusted by target faction - street gangs cannot get access to Red level hosts - Adjusted Q-Sec Tally for Escalation for all host colors, more than doubling - Fixed map issues with enemies spawning in walls, starting in camera field of view and more - Fixed mentions of Stress as 1%, fixed tons of typos
