It's finally here, PDXCON Remixed! We have lots of panels and exciting things scheduled for you this weekend so let's jump straight into it; the events:
Friday May 21st 15:55 CEST - DRESSED TO THE 1930S - Twitch Hey Cosplayers, lookin’ to win some slick prizes? Well, lucky for you, pal, that we’re here to help! Trust us when we say that when it comes to copyin’ their style, we can walk the walk and talk the talk. So join us as we share our insights on how to make your threads look good. So good that no one will want to mess with you, Boss!
16:40 CEST - EMPIRE OF SIN QUIZ- Twitch Are you married to the mob? Let’s see how well you know your Empire of Sin trivia and gangster knowledge! Have you got what it takes to come out on top?
23:00 CEST - BUILDING A BESPOKE BRAWLER - Twitch Work alongside John Romero and Ian O’Neill in an interactive workshop in character design!They will walk you through the process of creating a new character profession in Empire of Sin with YOUR input on the final design. This new profession will be included in the game later this year!
Saturday May 22nd 19:00 CEST - INQUIRE OF SIN: Q&A WITH ROMERO GAMES - Discord The Romero Games mob are waiting to take your questions about Empire of Sin! Join us on Discord and find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about our favorite bootlegging bosses – and about what’s coming up next.
Sunday May 23rd 10:30 CEST - MAKING A MOBSTER: CREATING CHARACTERS FOR EMPIRE OF SIN - Twitch Watch an underworld criminal come to life from the masters behind the mobsters! The Empire of Sin creative team walk you step-by-step through the process of character creation, from building their backgrounds all the way to final concept art.
11:30 CEST - FROM GALWAY TO CHICAGO: MAKING EMPIRE OF SIN - Twitch Join Romero Games and Paradox for a look at how Empire of Sin came to be, and where the journey leads next! See all of the changes that have come to the game since its launch, and which ones are coming next.
See you soon, bootleggers!
Dev Diary: The Precinct Update Sneak Peek
Hey bootleggers!
We’ve got something you might wanna see. One of our moles has been working double-time and has some exclusive information that few people have laid eyes on. It was just too good to keep quiet, so we had to pass it along. You didn’t hear it from us, but here are some things you can expect to see in The Precinct update!
Precincts - Painting the Map
Bosses are planning to get a lot more territorial within their neighborhoods. It’s no longer a case of setting up shop wherever you damn well please. Borders of blood have been drawn and those willing to cross them better come equipped because neighborhoods aren’t what they used to be. In The Precinct, each neighborhood will be split into smaller precincts that are controlled by you and other major factions. Some precincts will be held by thugs, much in the same way some rackets are now. Take the depot and clear the thugs, and the precinct is yours.
Like the bosses that run them, precincts can be friendly, neutral, or hostile. You are free to move about precincts, but if you like the look of one and want it for yourself, you must declare war on the faction who owns it. When it comes to faction relations and precincts, it’s all duck or no dinner, so choose your battles wisely.
Each precinct has set boundaries, so they stay the same every game. When you own a precinct, it’s painted in your boss’s colors to let everyone know who’s running the show in that part of town. Precincts have rackets as they do now, but ownership of them flips entirely to whomever owns the precinct depot.
What’s the depot? This is the precinct control building: own the depot, own the precinct. You can still attack rackets within the precinct, but it doesn’t result in you taking over the precinct. That being said, if you attack the depot, open rackets will send in reinforcements, so it could be worth your while taking out a few rackets before setting your sights on the depot.
Major factions still have their Safehouse within a neighborhood and as always, this is where you fight the enemy boss. Take them out and the war is over.
Not only that but after hearing feedback from you, our dedicated Sinners, we are happy to say that you will no longer automatically acquire rackets when you take out an enemy boss. Their remaining precincts and rackets crumble and fall under thug control.
Supply Lines
Beyond marking your territory lines and painting the neighborhood in your colors, precincts serve another very important purpose. They set you up with supply lines, which if not managed strategically, can have adverse effects that ripple throughout your empire. Adjoin two or more of your precincts and you set up a supply line. This provides all the rackets in your precincts with booze, while also ensuring your money has a safe path to get back to you. No supply line between your precincts and your rackets are in trouble, and in prohibition Chicago, that’s not something you want to happen for too long.
Supply lines must form an unbroken line of contact back to your Safehouse for them to work, so you’ll have to think carefully about which precincts deserve your attention, and which ones are worth starting wars over. Of course, you can play this to your advantage too. There’s nothing to stop you from claiming a precinct between two of another boss’s to break their supply line. This is still Empire of Sin we’re talking about. If you see an advantage for yourself, take it.
Precinct Screen
With all this radical change coming to Chicago, you’re going to need somewhere to get acquainted with your new precinct layout. Thankfully, you’ll have to look no further than your precinct screen. Things have been streamlined!
Everything you need to know about your precincts is gathered in one place: precinct name, the number of rackets, their type, police presence, and all your financial information. You can also do all your upgrades in one place; there’s no need to individually upgrade every racket in a precinct.
What’s more, you’ll notice there are improvement slots. Every precinct has improvement slots for virtual buildings that enhance certain aspects of your empire. Improvements work a bit like hotels do now and will always better the state of the precinct they are in, though they don’t come easy. Many improvements are gated by rackets, neighborhoods, or factions, so you will have to put in some work to reap the benefits.
Another thing to remember is that there are more improvements available than there are slots. So, you’ll have to carefully consider how you improve parts of your empire.
Police
You may be wondering how George MacDonough and his law enforcers are reacting to the news of precincts. Well, there are many factors that influence how active police are in a precinct. The more rackets there are in a precinct, the harder it is for them to turn a blind eye. Similarly, if there have been a lot of recent ‘unexplained’ deaths in a precinct, the police simply cannot ignore it. Still, as a precinct owner, you can build improvements that can blunt the effectiveness of Chicago’s crew in blue.
Another big factor is your relationship with the police. Unlike the other factors, this affects all the precincts in your criminal empire. Send a generous donation to the chief of police’s retirement fund and his officers will make sure their vision gets poorer when they walk the beat through your part of town.
One last thing...
For many of you out there, we’ve reached a moment you have been waiting for: we have begun preparations on introducing modding to Empire of Sin. It’s early days for this particular racket, but starting from The Precinct, we will be gradually rolling out modding support starting with phase 1.
You will be able to subscribe to mods through the Steam workshop and Paradox Mods and manage them through the Paradox launcher. In the initial stages planned, the modders among you can work on text-based assets like Lua gameplay scripts, with more modding capabilities planned for the future.
So, that’s all our source could bring us on The Precinct for now. The good news is that while you’re still wrapping your head around all the new features, you won’t have to wait long before you hear more. Word on the street is that Capos and Dons are eyeing up PDXCON as the next Sit-Down location to share even more news about future updates. Make sure you don’t miss out, it’s going to be big!
Until next time, Happy Sinning.
"The Gangster Update" - Patch Notes
Hey there, bootleggers! Hey Crew, it's 1920 and changes have been made to the streets of Chicago! We are grateful to all of you for sending us bug reports, suggestions and feedback as we go. As always, do keep that feedback coming! :)
Please note that this patch in open beta was titled 1.05.
Changelog - "The Gangster Update"
The Highlights
New weapon proficiency system introduced
Controller overhaul and improvements
Major mission improvements
Maria Rodriguez and Grover Monks have realized their value and raised their prices and notoriety requirements. They still welcome your business.
More gangsters are available to you at the start of the game.
The bug which allowed you to hire people that a current crew member hated has been fixed. You cannot hire a new person unless you fire the person who hates them.
Combat
Animation speed improvements when peeking/leaning
Added a fade after auto resolve
Fixed an issue in Basic Move that could cause a softlock
Resolved issue with console logs and action bar prompt showing up in combat when they shouldn't
Added chance for gangsters to escape combat if they lose when attacking in autoresolve
Fixed a softlock that could occur after autoresolving several combats in quick succession
When there are multiple different targets you can execute, the system will now order them by distance, so it auto-targets the closest one and will then cycle through
Fixed thugs not attacking after you enter and exit ambush mode before opening a loot crate
Change color of dice and win percent in combat autoresolve screen to reflect chance
Fixed an issue where pain killers could cause overwatch or suppressing fire to softlock during their trigger
The AI has been asked to stop throwing grenades through walls
Ensure the correct amount of damage is applied to the defenders when the defenders win in an autoresolve
Armor damage now gets applied once per ability activation, not once per attack (burst fire weapons have between 3 and 5 attacks when shooting.)
Selecting a target, whether they are valid or not, will now always select the first action in the action bar. If the target is not valid, the info panel will telegraph why
The Melee ability is only valid as a first action if the character does not have a primary or secondary weapon equipped
Healing items and actions should now target the active character as default
Fixed issue with starting position of vehicle combat tween sometimes being incorrect
Fixed issue where a car on curb was on world map and got pulled into street combat
Ensure guards who hate the player do not start combat outside of max combat range
Strike and Move should work with all abilities. Updated ability description
Rapid Reload now affects all guns, not just handguns. Any gun will cost zero AP to reload
Break Shot no longer breaks melee weapons
Fixed "Exit Ambush Mode" prompt button showing up in combat in tutorial
Allowed highlighting characters while in combat
Fixing Break Shot and weapon repair at end of combat, so old saves where melee weapons could have been broken now load those weapons correctly
Preventing displaying possible combat effects on character HUDs when outside the player's turn
NPCs not attacking independant npcs who are fighting on the player's side and vice versa
Fixed issues with Unleash Fury's AP usage and cooldown reset
Fixed an issue with Melee NPCs having the Doctor's Heal ability
Fixed an issue with Tier 1 Melee characters having no equipped weapon
Fixed an issue where the Meat Hook weapon used in the Meat Hook ability did not have a valid critMod value
Made characters affected by Knockback to trigger other combat-cell-aware abilities like Overwatch or Poison from Death Blossom Bombs
Stampede and Bull Rush ability rework, stampede and bull rush now move along a movement path to their targets and are melee selection abilities
Fixed execution blood splatter not appearing on camera
Allowed the player to take two single pistol shots against different targets again
Shooting a pistol doesn't end the player turn anymore but after the player has shot their pistol they can't change weapon until their next turn.
Fixed error thrown when opening and closing pause menu on combat auto resolve screen
Fixed bug where weapon proficiency requirement was ignored and gangsters could equip higher tier weapons
Fixed an issue that could cause cover to disappear in the middle of combat
Camera now lingers on characters that are dying from the Bleeding Out or Deep Wounds states
Stop the player from spawning in the middle of interiors
Fixed issue with Genna dying and throwing an error
Increased strength of Faction AI squads
Removed duplicate gangster death responses
Fixed an issue where an error would be thrown when trying to deselect certain area of effect abilities
Fixed an issue where combat could fail to start when a group of moving guards tried to initiate combat
Fixed issue with bosses stepping out to shoot someone, then if they were hit by overwatch and put into the bleeding out state, they could still finish their attack and re-enter cover
Fixed softlock with the Action bar when player left clicks after using a hotkey to select an ability
Shoot First should now only work if Overwatch has not been selected manually in ambush mode
We now stop melee weapon damage types being added to the player's primary weapon when they use an execution.
Extra thugs will no longer spawn if the player loses combat or flees from a derelict building without leaving the world map. Thugs will replenish after a certain amount of time
Added a new target filter applied to all AI to give them at least some baseline desire to target enemies. Fix a situation where the AI could decide not to attack a valid target
Fixed a situation where an AI might not move from their current position and continuously pass their turn
Fixed a softlock when using flush against a character who has no valid moves
Ensured Faction AI attackers do not start a building attack too far away from the door position
Fixed issue with moles that were told to leave the location and could stay in the location if combat was started while they were nearby
Updated Stampede to use the bull rush animation for 1.05
Changed all Boss abilities to cost 1AP and end the character's turn when used. This will help to keep boss abilities consistent across the board
Fixed softlock in combat after timebomb explodes
Increased the range within which the AI cannot spawn when attacking safehouses. Better randomize the starting positions of enemy safehouse guards
Increased the speed and add transitions to rain of fire and sweep to stop a timeout error
NPCs were healing too frequently in combat. Reduced the amount of healing items equipped to NPC characters
Enemy characters should no longer peek the wrong way, when targeted by a character that is not their current primary focus
UI
Action Bar highlighting boss abilities
Full refactor of Action Bar
Made sure the equipment tutorials don't fire when the game menu is open
Made the resource summary buttons non-interactive when ui is blocked
Various new tooltips
Existing tooltip improvements
Fixed highlight not deselecting on Action Bar
Fixed callout lines on controls screen
Fixed restore defaults button showing up on controls screen
Prevented shop UI from breaking when item doesn't have an owner
Adjusted highlighting on Purchase Racket UI
Fixed issue where game menu could not be navigated after pressing "start" on combat autoresolve UI
Show "A" button next to combat action when using controller
Fixed issue with showing event outcomes above options in event window
Fixed issue where sometimes certain ammo would not be visible when equipping in the character screen
Hide movement indicators when moving characters with the left analog stick
Refactored Game Alerts
We now hide income button for hotels in racket overview screen
Prevented switching to sell mode if the player inventory is empty
Character attributes will now no longer be shown as over a 100 on the character sheet
Prevented Cinematics from blocking notifications
HUD improvements
UI marker improvements
Show the size of the racket on world map and on popup
Show player hp/max hp on new character tooltip
Select first button in conversations, as well as in a few tutorial steps
Owner portrait on Ward Info panels now refreshes correctly
Made neighborhood owner name truncate with ellipsis to prevent overflow, uses last name instead of full name
Stop mission resolution screen, alerts and game alerts from showing on the End Game screen
Adjusted the command cursor to accurately reflect whether or not a command is valid
Character sheet relationships will always show the real name of other gangsters rather than unknown character
Fixed UI audio for notifications
Rapid Reload description was outdated on the talent tree screen
Made all morale notifications proper case and in the past tense
Weapon proficiency screen
Upgrade cost now in red when the player can't afford the upgrade
Implement gangster tier colors on crew screen and rap sheet
RemovedFire and Call from the command wheel
Fixed an issue where the interactable highlighting could get stuck enabled
Fixed a performance issue when interactable highlighting is enabled
Added right click to unequip item
Added a confirm dialog to selling in the shop
Show why weapons can't be used when you don't have the relevant proficiency trait yet
Mission POI tooltip and Wandering Gangster tooltip updated to provide more information
Replaced Out-Of-Combat Character HUD with new Combat Character HUD
Added setting for virtual cursor sensitivity
Hire button on character sheet is greyed out if you're missing the notoriety or the character is angry
Added wraparound to pause menu and combat action bar
Show building size in racket attack confirmation
Stopped showing underboss notifications
Patch Message from Sal is shown in a loaded save
Fixed Main Menu buttons not displaying button bullets
Fixed case where relationship lines on crew screen could get misaligned
Fixed character management highlighting issue
Added new street cursor and map cursor sprites
We now only show a single POI over a building despite multiple POIs being inside
Show warning on Characters who have their weapons unequpped as a result of the weapon proficiency change
Made UI navigation with shoulder triggers work better at lower framerates
Added "Babies of Empire of Sin" to credits
Missions
Stopped bodybag prop from being a navmesh obstacle so it doesn't block players from reaching an NPC
Fixed issue with jumping from alt CMA line to main
Added in checks to help improve mission pacing
Fixed softlock happening after clicking on NPC quickly after conversation in Mock mission
Fixed mission marker not reappearing for POI targets who leave a location with the "LeaveBuilding" scenario
Fixed O’Banion mission not completing if you kill Yale and not the squad
Some characters in Tommy Biscuits' mission "Fate" were not displayed correctly on PS4
Rigged tables now has penalty for removing tables
Fixed Charitable Donations event not firing
Fixed Bernie Barnes mission throwing error if you attend a sitdown during it
Mission journal is now split into into 3 tabs
CMA are considered main missions now
Fix for ensuring derelict buildings are no longer gifted
Dyer mission fixes for issues highlighted by autoresolve
CMA missions will fire only after completing/failing boss mission
Remove the range requirement from the Begin Sitdown command
Missions now give out rare weapons at a minimum
Mission NPCs should no longer cower out of combat
Made the set focus mission appear as the first mission rather than obtain 5 rackets in the tutorial
Romy mission fixes, stopping multiple Romys from appearing, allowing player to select faction to improve relationship
Fix for getting 2 wallets from Stolen Wallet mission
High Class house boss will now ask you about the money regardless if he lends it to you or not
Setting mission to complete if you upgrade by 1 instead of fully, changing time limit from 1 to 2 months
Fix for unresponsive button in StClairs first mission, Bumpy fights with StClair in Queenie Says mission
Time between boss missions for Mock, Ragen Capone and Donovan have been shortened
Fix for unlocking mission building after it is invalidated for Frankie's First Step mission
Fixed issue with Booker Jones and Police interrogator for CMA mission
Take over racket screen now waits until combat is resolved before opening in St Clair mission.
Rosie appears in a set location in Nosey Nellie, rather than appearing close to the player once they are far enough away from Jacques
Giving the player more time before being ambushed in Bloody Brew mission
Fix for Taking The Bait mission ending early
Fix for Same Game Different Team completing during combat
Fix for POI not moving when mission racket changes in To Your Health
Wrong dialogue fix for Maria Dish Best Served mission
Fixed Trashed Room modifier not being removed after Who Care's mission
Added Protestor modifiers at the beginning of Protestor mission instead of after and removing at the end of the mission
Fixed to deal with player taking over the Two Brew racket early
Changed first mission shown to be Sowing Seeds instead of Brick By Brick if player has no focus set
Fixed gangster still fading to void if you free them from jail immediately after combat
Fixed the doctor not appearing in the right location in The Doctor's In mission
Fixed error appearing when combat happened before Bruno was spawned in Genna mission
Fixed issue with POI not updating when derelict racket is taken over in Who Cares mission
Fixed issue where both Sowing The Seeds and Brick By Brick with start in tutorial
Fixed A Sticky Situation getting softlocked if it couldn't find a brothel placement
Updated objective text when building is changed during To Your Health mission
Added code to get a new building if stolen syrup derelict gets taken over
Set base mission NPCs to be the hired gun profession rather than citizen
Fixed killing Dutch first in Round The World softlocking the game
Fixed Zee leaving a location after it was deactivated throwing multiple errors
Fixed Two Brew
Fixed High Class House autocompleting without returning to worker
Updated objective name in To Your Health when the mission is moved to another racket
Fixed combat softlock in Bon Fortuna mission combat against Dutch
Fixed David and other customers appearing out of bounds in Paid In Gold
Fixed Son I Never Had mission breaking if you don't own any rackets for Raul to go to
Fixed Better To Have Loved And Lost not completing Clear Out The Derelict objective when racket is taken over before talking to Bumpy
Fixed Grover mission auto failing if casino for mission is upgraded
Fixed In The Trenches mission not updating bar name and not completing enter racket objective if building with mission in it changed
Removed building lock from Lawmaker mission
Fix for player not being able to enter racket for Lawmaker mission and removing the auto equipping of the gun which can cause a softlock
Fix for player not getting correct reward in Pineapple Primary after passing persuasion check
Replaced Candace and Brittny in brothel after take over in In The Trenches mission
General
World map visual improvements
Memory improvements on the PS4
Cancel the equip ammo tutorial if the player doesn't have a primary weapon equipped when it starts
Fixed issue with assigning to safehouse with group selected
Changed Black Market health item quantities to 6
ChangedNorah Quinn's notoriety gate to 0
Increased loot tables for health items by 10%
Fixed issue with triggering the Neighborhood Summary tutorial
Updated localisation
Taxi use polish
Ensured Diplomatic states are removed if not removed through proper channels
Don't show tutorials for equipping items if the player's already equipped those types of items
Fixed an issue with a specific thug model which caused its ragdoll to begin in a T-pose
Reworking Synergy to make it less abstract and more manageable
Changed starting cash amounts based on difficulty
NPCs stop moving when you click to talk to them
Fixed bureau models t-posing while ragdolling
Fixed hair clipping with hat on Mission NPC
Fixed P looking like an F in Police Patrol on Police Wagon
Safehouses use name to prevent accidentally using the wrong faction name
Stopped characters from getting stuck in the swap weapon animation when pre-combat is cancelled
Prevented moving squad actors from skipping path destinations
Ensured that "Load Latest Save" on Game Over screen can only load moments from this current session
Fixed game paused movement clicks
Fixed issue with the controller where zooming out limits the space the controller cursor can be moved
Fixed a truck spawned driving across sidewalk
Disposed of unnecessary loading screen after taking over a racket and turning it into a safehouse
Updated bar interior art
Updated brothel art
Updated safehouse art
Fixed issue with camera angle getting too horizontal when talking to NPCs underbridges
Added 40 seconds time to the sitdown warning
Derelict buildings are no longer able to be added to weekly income/expenses. Income/Expenses set to 0 value are cleared
Factions will improve their alcohol types being served, even if they can't quite hit the preferred target
We now make sure minor factions pay expenses correctly, allowing protection treaties to time out
Change movement speed
Genna's move audio needed more variety
Fixed characters making move sound too often
Added specific VO for thugs
Remixed the volume of West Loop Gate underscore
Adjusted character talent unlock duration
Fixed issue where you would be unable to close virtual cursor
Moles accuse screen no longer corrupts the player's faction data
Moles can be used by AI multiple times
Fixed issue with pausing the game and calling moles after assignment
Remove the rush option from racket upgrade
Automatically demote crew member from lieutenant if arrested without the frustration penalty at losing rank
Ragdolls tint correctly, characters clothes don't change to white on dying
Adjust take floors for gangsters
Made all tier 5 gangsters have 0 notoriety
Adjusted starting talents to match gangster tiers
Various blinking fixes in select screen & sit downs
Saltis hat tip issue fixed
Fixed foot mispositioning in shot miss anims
Fixed the one-armed effect which sometimes occurs in combat Idle due to IK snapping
Replaced boss-sitdown with a new song, see if you can spot it
Gangster rebalance - made Norah start with the Heal talent already learned.
Lowered the machine guns to hip height, and raising the hip height idle to avoid half cover collisions
Made sure that stampede and bull rush work correctly with cover and step out
Doubled the amount of time it takes for gangsters to form relationships
Healing outside of combat feature improvement
A bug preventing some modifiers from updating was resolved. "A Penny Saved" trait works correctly now
Minor factions accurately reflect what they can afford when setting up standing orders
Fixed missing Animator transition for certain machine guns to use the Sweep ability
Made sure crit damage never goes below a weapon's base max damage
Added sitdown Skip Prompt. Any key presses will show a skip prompt, which on pressing will skip that portion of dialog
Gave most gangsters primary weapons, adjusted take floor for all gangsters, changed relationships for gangsters so that all gangsters hate two other gangsters
Time limit added between "end war with" requests, so the AI doesn't keep bothering you about it
Updated remove building sequence to ensure the income and expenses are removed correctly, resolving money exploit
Fixed softlock in accuse screen
Updated the Radial Menu so that LB closes the UI. Moved Wars/Notifications to LT/RT
Exterior safehouse guards should no longer respawn on top of each other after saving from a new game
Fixed Madeline Dunbar not saying a line
Fixed alert SFX playing every time player moves between menu screens
Added a new time bomb landing sound so it doesn't make a grenade explosion when it lands
Fixed police baton out of sync + all other melee weapons that were out of sync
Fixed Rain of Fire SFX being too loud
All selected characters are teleported to the sitdown location
Allow talent re-speccing from the talents tab
Fixed error thrown when character leaves due to lack of loyalty
Made injured gangsters not take wages
Fixed audio errors sometimes thrown when declaring a War on an enemy faction with a boss
We now allow players on controller to switch between nearby interactable objects using DPAD Up and Down
Removed "Switch Character" prompt from action bar when using controller
Reset patron walk speed when moving between locations and correctly reset the speed of patrons after their drunk status wears off
Adjusted the cost of Deflect Level 5 on Brothels and Casinos
Added a common shotgun and rifle to the black market store
Hide tall world map buildings when camera is zoomed in
Applied discount to the number of kills required by higher tier gangsters to reach the next tier
Adjusted required kills for each weapon proficiency tier
Fixed issue where the crew screen mini tutorial couldn’t be skipped using a controller
Autosaves now wait until all characters enter or exit the building before saving
Fixed a Nullrefrence error thrown if the player loads a game while in a sitdown cinematic
Made Bosses adhere to new weapon proficiency system
Showed weapon proficiency trait names in new tooltip
Updated controls screens to reflect new input mappings
Known Issues
In order to fix an issue with moles and the sabotage events (send a mole after a faction, save/load then that event is reset to default)we have had to cancel Mole missions for any moles on older saves as their data was corrupted. You can just send them off again and it will all work just fine.
The Chicago News Stream #6
Hey Crew! Tomorrow join Maezza and Fiona as they (and Goldie!) continue to take over the streets of Chicago. We'll be chatting about the new changes in 1.05 and what's this... I wonder what we're all dressed up for?
Stream starts tomorrow, at 5 PM CET, on https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive
(psst, sorry, Boss, I'm bad at keeping secrets, we're all dressed up for excitement for the Cosplay contest, which you can enter here: https://www.empireofsingame.com/news/get-all-dressed-up-win-grand-prizes Loads of swell prizes to be won!)
Public Beta for Patch 1.05
It’s time for another preview of what’s to come, gangsters! Today we bring you the Beta Branch of Patch 1.05, giving you a chance to test out some of our upcoming features and fixes, such as our new weapon proficiency system.
To join the Beta:
Open Steam.
Go to the Library and right-click on Empire of Sin > Properties > Betas.
Choose the beta branch available in the drop-down menu.
You should then be able to download the beta build. No password needed!
As usual, we welcome any and all feedback you might have on this patch! You are all part of Chicago after all, crew.
See below for a full list of Patch Notes for Beta Branch 1.05.
Changelog - Beta Branch 1.05
The Highlights
New weapon proficiency system introduced
Controller overhaul and improvements
Major mission improvements
Combat
Animation speed improvements when peeking/leaning
Added a fade after auto resolve
Fixed an issue in Basic Move that could cause a softlock
Resolved issue with console logs and action bar prompt showing up in combat when they shouldn't
Added chance for gangsters to escape combat if they lose when attacking in autoresolve
Fixed a softlock that could occur after autoresolving several combats in quick succession
When there are multiple different targets you can execute, the system will now order them by distance, so it auto-targets the closest one and will then cycle through
Fixed thugs not attacking after you enter and exit ambush mode before opening a loot crate
Change color of dice and win percent in combat autoresolve screen to reflect chance
Fixed an issue where pain killers could cause overwatch or suppressing fire to softlock during their trigger
The AI has been asked to stop throwing grenades through walls
Ensure the correct amount of damage is applied to the defenders when the defenders win in an autoresolve
Armor damage now gets applied once per ability activation, not once per attack (burst fire weapons have between 3 and 5 attacks when shooting.)
Selecting a target, whether they are valid or not, will now always select the first action in the action bar. If the target is not valid, the info panel will telegraph why
The Melee ability is only valid as a first action if the character does not have a primary or secondary weapon equipped
Healing items and actions should now target the active character as default
Fixed issue with starting position of vehicle combat tween sometimes being incorrect
Fixed issue where a car on curb was on world map and got pulled into street combat
Ensure guards who hate the player do not start combat outside of max combat range
Strike and Move should work with all abilities. Updated ability description
Rapid Reload now affects all guns, not just handguns. Any gun will cost zero AP to reload
Break Shot no longer breaks melee weapons
Fixed "Exit Ambush Mode" prompt button showing up in combat in tutorial
Allowed highlighting characters while in combat
Fixing Break Shot and weapon repair at end of combat, so old saves where melee weapons could have been broken now load those weapons correctly
Preventing displaying possible combat effects on character HUDs when outside the player's turn
NPCs not attacking independant npcs who are fighting on the player's side and vice versa
Fixed issues with Unleash Fury's AP usage and cooldown reset
Fixed an issue with Melee NPCs having the Doctor's Heal ability
Fixed an issue with Tier 1 Melee characters having no equipped weapon
Fixed an issue where the Meat Hook weapon used in the Meat Hook ability did not have a valid critMod value
Made characters affected by Knockback to trigger other combat-cell-aware abilities like Overwatch or Poison from Death Blossom Bombs
Stampede and Bull Rush ability rework, stampede and bull rush now move along a movement path to their targets and are melee selection abilities
Fixed execution blood splatter not appearing on camera
Allowed the player to take two single pistol shots against different targets again
Shooting a pistol doesn't end the player turn anymore but after the player has shot their pistol they can't change weapon until their next turn.
Fixed error thrown when opening and closing pause menu on combat auto resolve screen
Fixed bug where weapon proficiency requirement was ignored and gangsters could equip higher tier weapons
Fixed an issue that could cause cover to disappear in the middle of combat
Camera now lingers on characters that are dying from the Bleeding Out or Deep Wounds states
Stop the player from spawning in the middle of interiors
Fixed issue with Genna dying and throwing an error
Increased strength of Faction AI squads
Removed duplicate gangster death responses
Fixed an issue where an error would be thrown when trying to deselect certain area of effect abilities
Fixed an issue where combat could fail to start when a group of moving guards tried to initiate combat
Fixed issue with bosses stepping out to shoot someone, then if they were hit by overwatch and put into the bleeding out state, they could still finish their attack and re-enter cover
Fixed softlock with the Action bar when player left clicks after using a hotkey to select an ability
Shoot First should now only work if Overwatch has not been selected manually in ambush mode
We now stop melee weapon damage types being added to the player's primary weapon when they use an execution.
Extra thugs will no longer spawn if the player loses combat or flees from a derelict building without leaving the world map. Thugs will replenish after a certain amount of time
Added a new target filter applied to all AI to give them at least some baseline desire to target enemies. Fix a situation where the AI could decide not to attack a valid target
Fixed a situation where an AI might not move from their current position and continuously pass their turn
Fixed a softlock when using flush against a character who has no valid moves
Ensured Faction AI attackers do not start a building attack too far away from the door position
Fixed issue with moles that were told to leave the location and could stay in the location if combat was started while they were nearby
Updated Stampede to use the bull rush animation for 1.05
Changed all Boss abilities to cost 1AP and end the character's turn when used. This will help to keep boss abilities consistent across the board
Fixed softlock in combat after timebomb explodes
Increased the range within which the AI cannot spawn when attacking safehouses. Better randomize the starting positions of enemy safehouse guards
Increased the speed and add transitions to rain of fire and sweep to stop a timeout error
NPCs were healing too frequently in combat. Reduced the amount of healing items equipped to NPC characters
Enemy characters should no longer peek the wrong way, when targeted by a character that is not their current primary focus
UI
Action Bar highlighting boss abilities
Full refactor of Action Bar
Made sure the equipment tutorials don't fire when the game menu is open
Made the resource summary buttons non-interactive when ui is blocked
Various new tooltips
Existing tooltip improvements
Fixed highlight not deselecting on Action Bar
Fixed callout lines on controls screen
Fixed restore defaults button showing up on controls screen
Prevented shop UI from breaking when item doesn't have an owner
Adjusted highlighting on Purchase Racket UI
Fixed issue where game menu could not be navigated after pressing "start" on combat autoresolve UI
Show "A" button next to combat action when using controller
Fixed issue with showing event outcomes above options in event window
Fixed issue where sometimes certain ammo would not be visible when equipping in the character screen
Hide movement indicators when moving characters with the left analog stick
Refactored Game Alerts
We now hide income button for hotels in racket overview screen
Prevented switching to sell mode if the player inventory is empty
Character attributes will now no longer be shown as over a 100 on the character sheet
Prevented Cinematics from blocking notifications
HUD improvements
UI marker improvements
Show the size of the racket on world map and on popup
Show player hp/max hp on new character tooltip
Select first button in conversations, as well as in a few tutorial steps
Owner portrait on Ward Info panels now refreshes correctly
Made neighborhood owner name truncate with ellipsis to prevent overflow, uses last name instead of full name
Stop mission resolution screen, alerts and game alerts from showing on the End Game screen
Adjusted the command cursor to accurately reflect whether or not a command is valid
Character sheet relationships will always show the real name of other gangsters rather than unknown character
Fixed UI audio for notifications
Rapid Reload description was outdated on the talent tree screen
Made all morale notifications proper case and in the past tense
Weapon proficiency screen
Upgrade cost now in red when the player can't afford the upgrade
Implement gangster tier colors on crew screen and rap sheet
RemovedFire and Call from the command wheel
Fixed an issue where the interactable highlighting could get stuck enabled
Fixed a performance issue when interactable highlighting is enabled
Added right click to unequip item
Added a confirm dialog to selling in the shop
Show why weapons can't be used when you don't have the relevant proficiency trait yet
Mission POI tooltip and Wandering Gangster tooltip updated to provide more information
Replaced Out-Of-Combat Character HUD with new Combat Character HUD
Added setting for virtual cursor sensitivity
Hire button on character sheet is greyed out if you're missing the notoriety or the character is angry
Added wraparound to pause menu and combat action bar
Show building size in racket attack confirmation
Stopped showing underboss notifications
Patch Message from Sal is shown in a loaded save
Fixed Main Menu buttons not displaying button bullets
Fixed case where relationship lines on crew screen could get misaligned
Fixed character management highlighting issue
Added new street cursor and map cursor sprites
We now only show a single POI over a building despite multiple POIs being inside
Show warning on Characters who have their weapons unequpped as a result of the weapon proficiency change
Made UI navigation with shoulder triggers work better at lower framerates
Added "Babies of Empire of Sin" to credits
Missions
Stopped bodybag prop from being a navmesh obstacle so it doesn't block players from reaching an NPC
Fixed issue with jumping from alt CMA line to main
Added in checks to help improve mission pacing
Fixed softlock happening after clicking on NPC quickly after conversation in Mock mission
Fixed mission marker not reappearing for POI targets who leave a location with the "LeaveBuilding" scenario
Fixed O’Banion mission not completing if you kill Yale and not the squad
Some characters in Tommy Biscuits' mission "Fate" were not displayed correctly on PS4
Rigged tables now has penalty for removing tables
Fixed Charitable Donations event not firing
Fixed Bernie Barnes mission throwing error if you attend a sitdown during it
Mission journal is now split into into 3 tabs
CMA are considered main missions now
Fix for ensuring derelict buildings are no longer gifted
Dyer mission fixes for issues highlighted by autoresolve
CMA missions will fire only after completing/failing boss mission
Remove the range requirement from the Begin Sitdown command
Missions now give out rare weapons at a minimum
Mission NPCs should no longer cower out of combat
Made the set focus mission appear as the first mission rather than obtain 5 rackets in the tutorial
Romy mission fixes, stopping multiple Romys from appearing, allowing player to select faction to improve relationship
Fix for getting 2 wallets from Stolen Wallet mission
High Class house boss will now ask you about the money regardless if he lends it to you or not
Setting mission to complete if you upgrade by 1 instead of fully, changing time limit from 1 to 2 months
Fix for unresponsive button in StClairs first mission, Bumpy fights with StClair in Queenie Says mission
Time between boss missions for Mock, Ragen Capone and Donovan have been shortened
Fix for unlocking mission building after it is invalidated for Frankie's First Step mission
Fixed issue with Booker Jones and Police interrogator for CMA mission
Take over racket screen now waits until combat is resolved before opening in St Clair mission.
Rosie appears in a set location in Nosey Nellie, rather than appearing close to the player once they are far enough away from Jacques
Giving the player more time before being ambushed in Bloody Brew mission
Fix for Taking The Bait mission ending early
Fix for Same Game Different Team completing during combat
Fix for POI not moving when mission racket changes in To Your Health
Wrong dialogue fix for Maria Dish Best Served mission
Fixed Trashed Room modifier not being removed after Who Care's mission
Added Protestor modifiers at the beginning of Protestor mission instead of after and removing at the end of the mission
Fixed to deal with player taking over the Two Brew racket early
Changed first mission shown to be Sowing Seeds instead of Brick By Brick if player has no focus set
Fixed gangster still fading to void if you free them from jail immediately after combat
Fixed the doctor not appearing in the right location in The Doctor's In mission
Fixed error appearing when combat happened before Bruno was spawned in Genna mission
Fixed issue with POI not updating when derelict racket is taken over in Who Cares mission
Fixed issue where both Sowing The Seeds and Brick By Brick with start in tutorial
Fixed A Sticky Situation getting softlocked if it couldn't find a brothel placement
Updated objective text when building is changed during To Your Health mission
Added code to get a new building if stolen syrup derelict gets taken over
Set base mission NPCs to be the hired gun profession rather than citizen
Fixed killing Dutch first in Round The World softlocking the game
Fixed Zee leaving a location after it was deactivated throwing multiple errors
Fixed Two Brew
Fixed High Class House autocompleting without returning to worker
Updated objective name in To Your Health when the mission is moved to another racket
Fixed combat softlock in Bon Fortuna mission combat against Dutch
Fixed David and other customers appearing out of bounds in Paid In Gold
Fixed Son I Never Had mission breaking if you don't own any rackets for Raul to go to
Fixed Better To Have Loved And Lost not completing Clear Out The Derelict objective when racket is taken over before talking to Bumpy
Fixed Grover mission auto failing if casino for mission is upgraded
Fixed In The Trenches mission not updating bar name and not completing enter racket objective if building with mission in it changed
Removed building lock from Lawmaker mission
Fix for player not being able to enter racket for Lawmaker mission and removing the auto equipping of the gun which can cause a softlock
Fix for player not getting correct reward in Pineapple Primary after passing persuasion check
Replaced Candace and Brittny in brothel after take over in In The Trenches mission
General
World map visual improvements
Memory improvements on the PS4
Cancel the equip ammo tutorial if the player doesn't have a primary weapon equipped when it starts
Fixed issue with assigning to safehouse with group selected
Changed Black Market health item quantities to 6
ChangedNorah Quinn's notoriety gate to 0
Increased loot tables for health items by 10%
Fixed issue with triggering the Neighborhood Summary tutorial
Updated localisation
Taxi use polish
Ensured Diplomatic states are removed if not removed through proper channels
Don't show tutorials for equipping items if the player's already equipped those types of items
Fixed an issue with a specific thug model which caused its ragdoll to begin in a T-pose
Reworking Synergy to make it less abstract and more manageable
Changed starting cash amounts based on difficulty
NPCs stop moving when you click to talk to them
Fixed bureau models t-posing while ragdolling
Fixed hair clipping with hat on Mission NPC
Fixed P looking like an F in Police Patrol on Police Wagon
Safehouses use name to prevent accidentally using the wrong faction name
Stopped characters from getting stuck in the swap weapon animation when pre-combat is cancelled
Prevented moving squad actors from skipping path destinations
Ensured that "Load Latest Save" on Game Over screen can only load moments from this current session
Fixed game paused movement clicks
Fixed issue with the controller where zooming out limits the space the controller cursor can be moved
Fixed a truck spawned driving across sidewalk
Disposed of unnecessary loading screen after taking over a racket and turning it into a safehouse
Updated bar interior art
Updated brothel art
Updated safehouse art
Fixed issue with camera angle getting too horizontal when talking to NPCs underbridges
Added 40 seconds time to the sitdown warning
Derelict buildings are no longer able to be added to weekly income/expenses. Income/Expenses set to 0 value are cleared
Factions will improve their alcohol types being served, even if they can't quite hit the preferred target
We now make sure minor factions pay expenses correctly, allowing protection treaties to time out
Change movement speed
Genna's move audio needed more variety
Fixed characters making move sound too often
Added specific VO for thugs
Remixed the volume of West Loop Gate underscore
Adjusted character talent unlock duration
Fixed issue where you would be unable to close virtual cursor
Moles accuse screen no longer corrupts the player's faction data
Moles can be used by AI multiple times
Fixed issue with pausing the game and calling moles after assignment
Remove the rush option from racket upgrade
Automatically demote crew member from lieutenant if arrested without the frustration penalty at losing rank
Ragdolls tint correctly, characters clothes don't change to white on dying
Adjust take floors for gangsters
Made all tier 5 gangsters have 0 notoriety
Adjusted starting talents to match gangster tiers
Various blinking fixes in select screen & sit downs
Saltis hat tip issue fixed
Fixed foot mispositioning in shot miss anims
Fixed the one-armed effect which sometimes occurs in combat Idle due to IK snapping
Replaced boss-sitdown with a new song, see if you can spot it
Gangster rebalance - made Norah start with the Heal talent already learned.
Lowered the machine guns to hip height, and raising the hip height idle to avoid half cover collisions
Made sure that stampede and bull rush work correctly with cover and step out
Doubled the amount of time it takes for gangsters to form relationships
Healing outside of combat feature improvement
A bug preventing some modifiers from updating was resolved. "A Penny Saved" trait works correctly now
Minor factions accurately reflect what they can afford when setting up standing orders
Fixed missing Animator transition for certain machine guns to use the Sweep ability
Made sure crit damage never goes below a weapon's base max damage
Added sitdown Skip Prompt. Any key presses will show a skip prompt, which on pressing will skip that portion of dialog
Gave most gangsters primary weapons, adjusted take floor for all gangsters, changed relationships for gangsters so that all gangsters hate two other gangsters
Time limit added between "end war with" requests, so the AI doesn't keep bothering you about it
Updated remove building sequence to ensure the income and expenses are removed correctly, resolving money exploit
Fixed softlock in accuse screen
Updated the Radial Menu so that LB closes the UI. Moved Wars/Notifications to LT/RT
Exterior safehouse guards should no longer respawn on top of each other after saving from a new game
Fixed Madeline Dunbar not saying a line
Fixed alert SFX playing every time player moves between menu screens
Added a new time bomb landing sound so it doesn't make a grenade explosion when it lands
Fixed police baton out of sync + all other melee weapons that were out of sync
Fixed Rain of Fire SFX being too loud
All selected characters are teleported to the sitdown location
Allow talent re-speccing from the talents tab
Fixed error thrown when character leaves due to lack of loyalty
Made injured gangsters not take wages
Fixed audio errors sometimes thrown when declaring a War on an enemy faction with a boss
We now allow players on controller to switch between nearby interactable objects using DPAD Up and Down
Removed "Switch Character" prompt from action bar when using controller
Reset patron walk speed when moving between locations and correctly reset the speed of patrons after their drunk status wears off
Adjusted the cost of Deflect Level 5 on Brothels and Casinos
Added a common shotgun and rifle to the black market store
Hide tall world map buildings when camera is zoomed in
Applied discount to the number of kills required by higher tier gangsters to reach the next tier
Adjusted required kills for each weapon proficiency tier
Fixed issue where the crew screen mini tutorial couldn’t be skipped using a controller
Autosaves now wait until all characters enter or exit the building before saving
Fixed a Nullrefrence error thrown if the player loads a game while in a sitdown cinematic
Made Bosses adhere to new weapon proficiency system
Showed weapon proficiency trait names in new tooltip
Updated controls screens to reflect new input mappings
Known Issues
In order to fix an issue with moles and the sabotage events (send a mole after a faction, save/load then that event is reset to default)we have had to cancel Mole missions for any moles on older saves as their data was corrupted. You can just send them off again and it will all work just fine.
Dev Diary: Economy
Hey Sinners!
We got word through a recent Sit-down - otherwise known as the live Q&A over on Discord - that it was high time we shared some insight into the economical aspects of the game. It seems some gangsters out there wanted a bit more information on where their money was going when they invested it in Chicago. Well, message read loud and clear, boss! We sat down with Senior game designer and Empire of Sin business mogul, Chris King, to pick his brain on prohibition, Chicago’s economy, and how to get the most from your empire. In the back corner of his favorite speakeasy, he laid it out like this:
Basics
In Empire of Sin, crime pays once a week. All your rackets (casinos, speakeasies, and brothels) make their revenue by getting customers through the door. Open a few breweries to supply those rackets with illegal hooch and you stand to make a lot of money. When it comes to speakeasies, in fact, serving alcohol is the only way they can make money. For some reason, dry bars didn’t take off in Chicago (who’d have thought, right?). The only rackets that can keep earning decent profits without alcohol are your brothels. That’s something to remember if the BOP comes along to shut down all of your breweries.
Racket earnings are calculated by the number of customers frequenting the place, multiplied by their average spend once they’re in there. The more customers you can maintain, the better your bank account is going to look. Casinos have a spending range that helps determine their profits. Be warned, at times they can be unstable. Sure, in the long run, the house always wins, but now and then people get lucky on the one-armed bandits and will take your week’s profits for the jackpot.
Neighborhood
Though it may feel like it sometimes, the game’s thirteen neighborhoods aren’t solely occupied by gangsters and mob bosses. There are also thousands of hard-working Chicagoans that make up the majority of your customer base. Each neighborhood has a certain amount of customers available to indulge in the vices you provide.
It’s on you to turn these customers into regulars that don’t stray from your establishments. With a limited number of customers to go around, things are going to get competitive with other factions. After all, there are only so many places revellers can go in one night.
That’s where Draw comes in. Draw determines how customers are spread out throughout rackets in the neighborhood. It’s why your Word of Mouth upgrades are so important. Word of Mouth directly impacts your racket’s draw and is essential in getting customers into your places before they find a favorite bar stool elsewhere.
If two rackets of the same type are close to each other, they can influence each other’s draw. If a run-down speakeasy serving swill and bar fights are right next to one that promises music and cold beer, customers are going to go with the second option. So, try to stay one step ahead of the competition.
Prosperity
Prosperity comes down to how affluent a neighborhood is and helps determine the number of customers you can get into your rackets. In general, the better quality of alcohol you serve, the more money you make. But, for those of you who like to maximize your profits, you can earn a little extra if you stick to the neighborhood’s specific tastes and serve their preferred alcohol type.
You may have the best whiskey distilled this side of the Atlantic, but that doesn’t mean every neighborhood instantly wants it. Some neighborhoods want a drink that pairs well with the sewer rats and street violence of their surroundings, and in that case rack or swill do just fine. Upgrading rackets help to boost prosperity in a neighborhood, and with it being the decade of wealth and excess, prosperity will naturally increase all over the city throughout the decade.
Too much violence in one neighborhood affects how many customers are willing to stay there. Nothing ruins a good night out more than open hostility and gang wars, and socialites will stay away from neighborhoods where all too often, gunfights ruin the mood. What’s more, violence gives a neighborhood a certain image, and prosperity tanks if a neighborhood earns a bad name for itself.
The decade has come to be known as the Roaring Twenties, and over the whole ten-year period it’s expected that the population will increase by 25%. It’s obvious when you look at Chicago. Every day it seems more people are moving into the city and the population is swelling.
Every month you should notice that the customer base in each neighborhood grows a little more. It will do this throughout the ten-year period of your game, which means more money for you, provided they go to your rackets and not your enemy’s.
Synergy
Synergies are a neighborhood-specific bonus that rewards you for having certain combinations of rackets. Rackets only count toward one synergy at a time and the combinations for synergies are based on poker hands:
Two Pair: Two pairs of different kinds of rackets (E.g. two brothels and two casinos).
Three of a Kind: Three of the same type of racket.
Full House: Three of one kind of racket and two of another kind.
Straight: One of every kind of racket - brothel, speakeasy, casino, and brewery.
Five of a Kind: Five types of the same racket.
Synergies help your empire in two ways. First, they boost revenue for all the rackets in the synergy, and who doesn’t like more money, eh? Second, having a synergy also means you can open a hotel and get more customers. A professional, well-briefed concierge does wonders to increase synergy income. They can discreetly mention where to find a good watering hole while they’re checking your guests in.
Starting advice
When it comes to starting strong, Chris offers two strategies to help maximize your starting cash so as not to bleed too much money in the early game. As the old saying goes: A good start is half the racket battle.
The first strategy he calls ‘The Tycoon’, which is all about buying up the available real estate in your starting neighborhood before you go and hire anyone. This option means you can avoid hiring gangsters for a while, who can be pretty expensive in the early game. Once your racket investments start turning over a profit, you’re in a more stable position to hire some crew and start taking rackets by force.
For those looking to get right down to blood and bullets, the second strategy involves getting a gangster or two on your roster right away, but don’t go crazy on an entourage. Keep it small and hit every small racket you can find early and quickly. This will help to boost income and start you on the path to a solid empire, though you stand to make enemies a lot faster.
That was all the information Chris could spill this meeting. He had to leave pretty quickly to meet his builder. Sounds like he’s planning to complete some upgrades before you read this and steal his customers. We’ll be sure to check back as soon as we get more updates. In the meantime, if you’d like us to cover any other aspects of the game, let us know in the comments below!
Until next time, keep Sinning!
Get all dressed up, win grand prizes!
Your threads speak volumes; you want everyone in Chicago to know who you are, the power and money you hold. So don your best clothes and get out there, Boss. This competition waits for no one.
To participate, you must dress as one of our powerful mob bosses or black book gangsters and send it in before 19:00 CEST, June 14, 2021.
Once the competition is over, a jury consisting of the Community team for Empire of Sin and one developer from Romero Games will choose the 10 most promising cosplays and then randomly select 6 winners, who will then be contacted via email.
Rules:
The cosplay must be an original work created by you, specially for this contest.
The topic of the cosplay should be related to the general theme and tone of Empire of Sin (prohibition, Chicago, gangsters).
Acceptable file formats are: .jpg, .png or gif. You are allowed to send multiple photos in one mail. The total size of the files sent cannot exceed 20MB.
All entries must be sent in before 19:00 CET, June 14, 2021.
6 lucky winners will receive:
Microphone: Razer Seirēn Elite
Mouse: Razer Mamba Elite
Keyboard: Razer Huntsman Elite - Clicky Optical Switch US
Mouse Mat: Razer Goliathus Extended Chroma - Black
Headphones: Razer BlackShark V2 Special Edition
Speakers: Razer Nommo Pro
Camera: Razer Kiyo
Read the full terms and conditions for the Empire of Sin Cosplay Contest here: [url=https://s3-eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/pdx-campaign-wp-data/uploads/sites/6/2021/05/06131152/EoS_Cosplay_Contest_Rules.pdf
Good luck, boss!
The Chicago News Stream #5
Hey crew! We're back in the city with another edition of The Chicago News stream.
We’re back with another bulletin from Chicago’s underworld. The city has blown up with some new changes and our sources have been working double-time to get you some updates. Fresh from the dark corners of the dingiest speakeasies, here’s what’s new on the streets of Chicago.
Auto-Resolve
Starting with the big one, this is the change you have all been waiting for. The rumors are true: gangsters in Chicago have redefined how they fight, adding new layers of engagement. Whether you’re out to pick a fight or another gang is out to pick one with you, the Combat Alert screen appears before combat breaks out, and offers you the option to Auto-Resolve the fight. Although, Auto-Resolve doesn't necessarily mean life is going to be easier for those in the business of booze and blood. The Combat Alert aims to give you reliable information about every scrap you’re getting into, but victory is never guaranteed. As a mob boss, the choice on whether to engage or Auto-Resolve is ultimately up to your intuition. The color-coded dice are a helpful guide though!
At the top of the Combat Alert screen, you’ll see who’s attacking and defending, as well as the balance of power which gives you a rough idea of your chances of victory. Either side of the screen shows who’s fighting, their profession, and the weaponry they’re slinging. From here it’s pretty simple. Click the ‘Fight’ option to wade in there and take care of things personally, or click the ‘Auto-Resolve’ option and sit back as the fight settles itself based on the odds at the top of the screen.
Now you may be thinking that your boss and gangsters are more skilled and better equipped than a few small fry thugs and racket guards. While that may be true, you should be warned: they’re made of the same squishy stuff as everyone else, and that means they can take critical damage or even die if Auto-Resolve doesn’t go as planned. If your boss dies it’s game over, so play the odds with caution. Auto-Resolve lives by Chicago rules, and Chicago is a fierce and ruthless place at the best of times.
Used to your strength, Auto-Resolve is a handy time-saver to deal with the smaller scuffles that break out around the city. When you win, you’ll see the victory screen, complete with the Combat Report and the loot you’ve won in battle.
Combat Changes
We know what it’s like in the thick of a fight when bullets are flying everywhere and adrenaline hits critical mass. So, we’ve added Hot-Key numbers to the different options on the action bar. It’s a fast way during the heat of battle to perform your move without cycling through all of your options, and it helps your gangsters keep their cool and react quickly.
A useful tactic after taking heavy flak in combat is to hightail it back to your Safehouse to restore your health. It used to be as simple as walking over the threshold of home ground to restore your full health, but that’s no longer the case. Safehouses have lost some of their potency and instant heal has been removed. As of 1.04, returning to your Safehouse to heal grants you passive healing at 2x the rate of passive healing in the street.
That doesn’t mean you have to hang around your Safehouse all day. As a mob boss, you don't have time for that anyway. That’s why the Black Market vendor has cut the price of healing items on the market by 30% so you can heal more on the move. Also, the chance of finding healing items in combat loot has doubled to help keep you in peak health without having to flee to your Safehouse every time you eat a few bullets.
For those that like a challenge, at Lieutenant difficulty and above, passive healing has been removed completely - including in your Safehouse - leaving you to rely solely on healing items in your inventory.
General Changes
With the Roaring Twenties in full swing, Chicago is enjoying an economic boom that everyone is benefiting from. For starters, bosses are now providing health insurance for their racket guards. Well, kind of. Major faction guards are now equipped with healing items and have primary shotguns in place of short-barrelled ones. That ought to keep them alive a little longer, right?
Property is more affordable now, so opening a racket has never been cheaper. Thanks to the boom, there are more tradespeople on offer too, all willing to cut you a deal if you hire them, slicing the original cost of upgrades and rackets by 50%.
We’ve gotten word about Frankie Donovan’s boss ability. He was hoping people wouldn’t find out about this, but Frankie’s been so hell bent on becoming Chicago’s top dog that he’s overdone it with Unleash Fury and Mo Chara Beag. Plagued by an old injury he got while hurling (y’know that sport he played in Ireland?) for his county team back home, he’s been forced to reduce the attack count of his ability from four to three. If he didn’t, Frankie would have to hit his own supply pretty hard for pain relief, and we all know that’s bad for business.
Once you’re on the 1.04 patch, keep a close eye on the Black Book. Each month, one gangster from every tier becomes available to hire, regardless of your notoriety level. On game start, you have the chance to employ some of Chicago’s most notorious offenders, so long as you have the cash to cover their salary of course.
Well, that covers most of the highlights for 1.04. We’ll be sure to report back as soon as our sources dig up more dirt. In the meantime, you can check out the patch notes for an extensive list of fixes and changes in Chicago.
