Alpha 0.1.10 is now available! The focus for this week’s patch along with the next few weekly patches will be limited to primarily bug fixes as we finish up the upcoming Alpha 0.2.0 features. As always, keep the feedback and bug reports coming.
Patch Notes
General
Fixed: Fatal Error crash when using new retry button
Fixed: Interactive furniture and doors/windows can be picked up after quickly interacting with 2-hand carry loot
X/Y Axis sensitivity option has been added. Currently, this is only available on the Main Menu options, not the in-game tablet. This will be added to the tablet in the next patch. Until then, you can also use Numpad +/- keys in-game to adjust the sensitivity.
Fixed several AI pathing issues with pedestrians in Murky Meadows
Handyman widened bedroom door in House 809
New water material for Fragbound Farms
Multiplayer
Fixed arrest animations not triggering for clients
Fixed van disappearing when client disconnects while driving
Alpha 0.1.9 Release Notes
Vanoss & Delirious - Epic Break-ins: Episode 2
Youtubers Vanoss and H20Delirious have both posted new videos of their “epic” break-in attempts. The Meerkat Gaming team loved these videos, not only for the non-stop hilarity but also as an aid to help us reproduce and fix many of these issues. I’m happy to report that a majority of the glitches showcased in the videos are now patched but don’t worry, we’ve got a ton of big features in the works so I’m sure they will have no shortage of new material for an Episode 3.
Be sure to show your support by liking their videos and subscribing to their channels!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTkHywu-VKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_0F4doxWKA
Patch Notes
General
All new locomotion and arrest animations!
Players now ragdoll when hit by a car
Police now ragdoll when hit by a car - triggers level failure like hitting pedestrians
Added level restart option to lawyer scene
Fixed van headlights
Exiting vehicle too close to wall would cause players to pass through or get stuck inside wall - Fixed
Fixed vehicle camera angle displacement when looking straight down in first-person view
Fixed players sometimes being unable to move while crouched
Fixed issue causing 2-hand carry items to occasionally get stuck to player
Handyman fixed the stuck bathroom door at 707 Rosemar in Murky Meadows, repainted the meth house interior, loosened jammed windows and doors at 602, unblocked obstructed door at 801 and replaced the unpickable deadbolt at 821.
Scrolling through radio stations in van sometimes plays two stations at once - Fixed
Multiplayer
3 new player characters! Players will be automatically assigned a unique character. Character selection and customization coming later in Alpha 0.2.0.
Fixed issue causing passengers being unable to move after exiting vehicle
Getting shot now ends level for all players in co-op
Fixed issue causing headless thieves even though this was clearly not a bug, it was a Halloween feature...
Players should no longer be able to launch each other in the air (challenge accepted?)
Fixed inventory not displaying looted items in multiplayer
Fixed mission details not populating in multiplayer
VR
Oculus: Increased default graphics quality for shadows and post-processing - You can scale these back down to low via options menu
Vive: Fixed hand drift that occurred during player rotation
Vive: Added tablet interaction. Use right index finger to hover buttons and right trigger to make selection
Vive: Players can no longer use their superhuman strength to flip cars
Vive: Players are now visible to NPCs
Vive: Movement now locked when arrested
Vive: Adjusted hand collision size
Vive: Added vehicle controls to motion controllers
Vive: 2-hand carry items now attach to left hand
Vive: Adjusted hand mesh location
Both: Fixed camera root so VR players are no longer resting their head on the lawyers lap (I guess that was one way to cover the legal fees…)
0.1.8a/b Hotfix
We've posted two hotfix updates, one last night and another today to address a few minor issues.
-fixed constant van damage if you were standing right up against the van when entering
-when driving the van you now must be moving much slower to be pulled out of the van and arrested by police
-rain sync for clients in multiplayer sessions
-several fixes to ambient music and sounds such as duplicate or overlapping music tracks
Alpha 0.1.8 Release Notes
Alpha 0.1.8 is now available! This has been a really busy week for us following the release of 0.1.7. Since that last update, we’ve migrated the project over to Unreal Engine 4.13 to take advantage of all the great improvements, fixes and features added to the engine.
Unfortunately, this migration broke most of our UI interaction due to the new method Epic has implemented for 3D widget interactions. While we have things functional again, there’s still a lot of work and polish remaining.
We’ve also added the much requested fence climbing ability! At the moment, this feature is currently only supported in Murky Meadows. To climb simply press the jump button while facing the fence. This feature is still in its infancy and pretty experimental so you may run into a few quarks. We also intend on improving these animations in a future update.
Patch Notes
General
Migrated project to UE 4.13
Added fence climbing - This feature is currently “experimental”
Vive locomotion changes (see “Vive Changes” below)
Fixed textures for Telco Box
Multiplayer
Friends List added to Main Menu laptop. This should display any friends currently playing Klepto. Click their name to automatically join their session - This feature is currently “experimental”
Time of day selection has been fixed
LAN connections are now supported in Co-op game mode. Local co-op game mode has been removed.
Players should now spawn at the same starting location
Vehicle damage now in sync between players
Vive Changes
Although the full Vive support still isn’t scheduled to be completed until Alpha 0.2.0, we’re going to be incorporating these changes with our weekly(ish) patches to get some early feedback. Today’s patch includes the first pass at the new locomotion controls. For those of you who’ve played Onward, you should find this somewhat familiar.
Alpha 0.1.8 currently defaults to room-scale with motion controls when Vive is detected. Next week’s patch will include an option to play seated with gamepad.
Locomotion is controlled with the left motion controller.
Touch the top/bottom of the trackpad to move forward/backward
Left/right to strafe in those directions
To rotate, physically turn in the direction you want to move. The rotation is based on the forward vector of the left motion controller to allow the head look to remain decoupled from character rotation.
Press and hold top of trackpad to “sprint” - Please send us your feedback on both walk and “sprint” speeds.
Press bottom of trackpad to reset HMD position/orientation
Left trigger to interact
To break windows, switch to the crowbar and swing at the glass. Please be careful, I left a bit of a dent in the wall yesterday while testing this...
Vive Known Issues:
Rotating causes hands to drift from controls - Fix coming in 0.1.9
Hands are creepy (my option) - Reducing their scale in 0.1.9
Multiplayer not supported for multiple Vive users due to motion controller replication issues - Fix coming in 0.2.0
Desktop/Tablet interaction limited to gaze control of cursor - Motion controls as input pointer coming in 0.1.9
Desktop/Tablet cursor scale too large - Partial fix coming in 0.1.9. Full fix coming as we finish updating this based on recent UE4 engine changes
Interactions not fully setup - Full motion control support coming in 0.2.0 but we will continue adding new interactions as they are ready. Next week’s update will include new loot interactions to pick-up and inspect items rather than automatically placing them in your inventory.
Coming Soon
Due to the UI interaction impact from the UE 4.13 migration, I’ve had to push back the dev blog update on the Hacking v1.0 mechanics. I will be diving back into this work very soon. Until then, here’s a tease of the “Fences 9” operating system you’ll be able to interact with in homes across Klepto.
Dev Blog: New Oldtown
Welcome to the new Oldtown. We’re in the process of a full redesign of our city center where players will encounter a majority of their mission contacts and fences for their ill gotten gains.
This will be a part of the upcoming Alpha 0.2.0 content update. There’s still a lot of work to do but we’d like to share our current progress.
Mr. Castellano’s Pawn Shop
rePRO Joe’s Garage
Happy Cleaners
Dr. Dover’s Family Practice
Hastings Gallery
Cops & Robbers
In addition to being a key location for our mission system, we’re also setting up the end of level scenes for the upcoming Cops & Robbers multiplayer. When the Cops are on the losing team, they’ll find themselves reflecting on their mistakes at Joey’s Bag of Donuts while they see the other team slipping into Mr. Castellano’s Pawn Shop to offload their goods.
However, if they are victorious they’ll end the level inside the police station with the Robbers locked away in a holding cell.
Unfortunately, they have one of the best lawyers in town so don’t expect them to sit around too long. They’ll be back on the streets in no time.
Post-Alpha 0.2.0 Plans
Like the current version of Oldtown, the new Oldtown of Alpha 0.2.0 will have the robbery mechanics disabled. However, all of the buildings (excluding the low poly ones that surround Oldtown) are setup in a way where we can build out their interiors.
It’s our goal to eventually expand residential burglary to Oldtown by building out all of the interiors for the various apartment buildings. However, we still don’t have any plans of supporting commercial robbery in the release scope.
Be sure to check back for next week’s Dev Blog detailing the upcoming hacking mechanics being introduced in Alpha 0.2.0!
Alpha 0.1.7 Release Notes
Alpha 0.1.7 is now available! We’ve managed to pack in quite a few fixes and improvements into this update for multiplayer, animation, sound, lighting, etc. Be sure to check out the full list below.
Additionally, we’d like to welcome our new Community Moderator, Light Bringer (Pip) to the Klepto Team! His enthusiasm for the project and helpfulness on the community forums did not go unnoticed by us. We’re grateful for the time he’s volunteered to improve communication between the dev team and the community, freeing us up to spend more time actively working on the project.
He’s also proven himself to be a great QA tester. Here’s one of our favorite bugs he identified in an earlier 0.1.7 RC build earlier this week. This bug was caused by the new feature of physically destroying the alarm panels:
Be sure to check back on Saturday for our latest Dev Blog update!
HOTFIX UPDATE 0.1.7b (1:32 PM EST 9/16)
We just posted a small hotfix to fix some minor issues as well as include some extra improvements:
-fixed cop arrest sequence when in van, thief will now be pulled out of van when arrested
-fixed black screen when attacking pedestrians in oldtown
-improved vehicle AI obstacle avoidance
-vehicles will now drive through neighborhoods and not de-spawn in the middle of the road
Release Notes
General
Fixed issue causing lockpicking interaction to end early
Lockpicks now despawn after successfully picking or walking away from lock
Fixed headless shadow in first person view, changing view is now just an opacity change on the head mesh material, we no longer switch skeletal meshes
Fixed some surface collision issues in tutorial level
Residents should now just call cops once after they see thief
Added thief JUMP!
Fixed several IK bugs in thief including carrying objects
Updated collision and physics on painting so they shouldn't fall through floor
Flashlight on/off material now updates properly
Ambient light and shadows are now optimized on level load
Multiplayer
Local multiplayer Co-op support has been added.
Multiplayer tablet sync fix
Multiplayer flashlight twitching fix
Multiplayer lightswitch sync fix
Multiplayer interactive furniture sync fix
Backpack now attaches properly to multiplayer client players
Passenger door now opens on van
Dark shadows now fixed for client in multiplayer
Sound
Rain ambiance level has been lowered
Set ambient sound location to inside in main menu
Setup alarm panel disable event when using crowbar
Added new impact sounds to van and pedestrians. Impact sounds varies based on impact speed
Fixed main menu score to use stereo and not 3D surround
New sounds for telco box - ambiance and disabling
New AC unit sounds
Several new interactive furniture sounds (refrigerator, desks, drawers, etc)
New footstep sounds that are more subtle
Alpha 0.1.6 Release Notes
Alpha 0.1.6 has been posted and available for download. We have several bug fixes and improvement for you in this update.
UPDATE 2:04PM EST: We've just posted a hotfix to fix the parked van in Oldtown. You can now exit the city again by interacting with the updated Van. As a bonus we've included van disabling with excessive damage in the hotfix.
Residents
Players will now need to more careful when lurking around windows. Residents are much more alert and will react if you approach windows on their homes, so be sure to stay out of sight. You will also need to be careful with your flashlight at night.
Pedestrians
Pedestrians will now call police if they observe you performing criminal actions. Attacking them will now also result in an immediate arrest, similar to attacking the residents. Pedestrians are no longer super human and can now be hit by a player driven van. So be careful while driving around the neighborhood, hitting them with the van will result in the same penalty as attacking them.
Van
We've made several improvements to the van. It should now drive much smoother, especially in single player. We've added door animations and a damage system. So running into things will now do cosmetic damage to the van. We'll be continuing to expand on our damage system so it will also disable the van if you take too much damage. We will also be adding the damage system to car repo missions.
Additional Notes and Bug Fixes
-multiplayer bug fix, "flappy head"
-multiplayer bug fix, floating backpack
-floating objects outside van after entering is now fixed
-stuck chat terminal screen in main menu after navigating to join multiplayer, then going back to start a single player game is now fixed
-more houses have been furnished in Fragbound Farms
Dev Blog: Mission System v1.0
Intro
A major feature being added to the upcoming Alpha 0.2.0 release is Mission System v1.0. This includes a variety of mission types, some unique one-shot-only missions, reputation system and more.
Garrett’s List
Garrett’s List is the primary source for obtaining missions. The primary interface is accessed via the klept_os desktop before entering a neighborhood. Once you’ve accepted a contract, there’s no backing out. Your reputation is on the line.
Be cautious of the contracts you accept, especially if the contact is using a new account on Garrett’s List. You never know when it might be a police sting...
Once inside a neighborhood, you can use the Garrett’s List companion app on your klept_os Mobile to track your mission objectives.
Reputation
Reputation is gained from the successful completion of contracts on Garrett’s List. This includes an overall community reputation and contact specific reputation. Failing contracts can negatively impact your rep resulting in lower payouts and lower-tiered missions being available.
Contract Completion
Completing a contract often involve a physical exchange of an item. Sometimes this is a face-to-face, other times it's via a dead drop location. A waypoint for the destination will be available on the map when players exit the neighborhood.
Mission Types
Here’s a breakdown of some planned mission categories included in Mission System v1.0:
Car Repo
We’ve just added a vehicle damage system to the internal build. The new repo missions will require delivery of an undamaged vehicle for full payout. Delivering a highly damaged vehicle will likely result in negative reputation with the mission contact.
Happy Cleaners
Keep an eye out for unclaimed dry cleaning tickets. Stealing these tickets and returning them to Mr. Wong at Happy Cleaners in Oldtown will unlock the corresponding cosmetic item for purchase.
Data Theft
This missions typically involve locating and obtaining digital assets from a residents computer. Easier missions can be completed by stealing and delivering the entire computer while others rely on leaving no evidence behind by gaining access to the computer locally (or remotely with Hacking v2.0) and copying the files to your thumbdrive.
Fortunately, a majority of the residents are still running older versions of the Fences operating system. More details on this with the upcoming Hacking v1.0 article.
Vandalism
Sure, stealing is financially rewarding but smashing things is so much more satisfying. These missions involve inflicting physical damage to the target assets.
Newspaper reDelivery
Being a startup company for dying media can be tough and expensive but not when your competition is offsetting the expenses. ReDelivery missions involve stealing newspapers from subscribers of the big evil newspaper conglomerate and redelivering them to the more cost-concerned subscribers of reDelivery.
Item Theft
I shouldn’t have to explain this one to any reputable burglar. Someone wants something specific and it’s not for you to ask why. However, these missions may sometimes present some ethical dilemmas for the player.
Blackmail
Yes, I know it may be counter intuitive for you to break into a home and leave items rather than take them but I assure you, it’s for the greater good (for someone). These missions will vary between digital and physical evidence being planted with future plans to expand this category to also include obtaining photos of incriminating activities.
New Test Patch on Beta Branch
Happy Friday everyone! We uploaded a new test patch to the beta branch last night. This will potentially address several bugs including the multiplayer "flappy head" and floating backpack bugs as well as held objects floating outside the thief van after entering it.
Additional updates include fixes to residents being alerted when you are sneaking around windows. Pedestrians have also been updated to where they will call police if they observe criminal activity. They are no longer super human if you hit them with your van....and if you do so you will be severely punished....this ain't GTA! :)
Klepto on Vanoss Gaming!
It was a fun filled evening last night when we found that Klepto managed to stumble its way onto the Vanoss Gaming youtube channel! In an absolutely hilarious 12 minute video we watch 2 players wreak havoc in Murky Meadows in some buggy multiplayer fun.
We're thrilled to have Klepto get this exposure and build our community while we go through early access.
.....oh, and ya, don't worry, we'll fix the bugs. :)
