More news direct from the Last Year Development team & Brother Justin:
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!
We are pleased to announce that Last Year Patch 1.0.7 is now available! If you do not see the prompt to update, you may need to restart your Steam client.
With Patch 1.0.7, we’ve made more improvements to your Last Year experience:
1 - Parties: We’ve fixed the issues related to parties being split up or having difficulty getting into matches. As always, we’d appreciate the community’s help in stress testing this feature and your patience as we continue to monitor this feature.
2 - Optimization: We’ve done a first pass of optimization to help improve performance and reduce drops in FPS. We’ll be continuing to see what other improvements can be made without sacrificing quality of experience.
3 - Balancing: We’ve begun to adjust the balance of the game to reduce player pain on both sides of the experience, and to ensure new players are having the most positive experience of the title as possible. Here is a list of the most impactful changes we’ve made:
The cost of re- purchasing Spells in the Arcanum has been lowered to 425 for Tier 2 Spells and 600 for Tier 3 Spells.
Traps now break after the Classmate trapped has received a total of 40 damage.
Fiends can only lay 5 traps instead of 6.
Disarming un-sprung traps takes less time, but sprung traps take more time.
The “slow” effect on the Spider Venom has been reduced.
Two Spider ambushes have been removed from the Gym basement, prioritizing those that were nearly impossible to avoid, even if detected.
The damage over time on the Flamethrower has been reduced.
Cryptids that spawn from nests are limited to 3 at a time. This change helps with both balance and performance.
Added Hit Marks to UI for both Cryptids and Nests for better player feedback.
Fiend respawn time during the escape sequence has been increased slightly.
4 - Bug Fixes: We’ve begun to address certain bugs, prioritizing those that have an effect on gameplay and balance. Here is a list of issues we’ve resolved:
Sprint is no longer disabled when hit by The Spider.
Classmates can now move while crouched in The Spider’s venom.
Shotgun hits now register more frequently. This is the first in more planned improvements to this item.
Cryptid Nests no longer spawn indefinitely in The Library Map.
Molotov Cocktails now damage Cryptid Nests.
We’ll continue to monitor matchmaking, performance, and balance after this patch is released to see what changes are needed next. These are just the first planned changes for balance, and we’re hoping to implement a few more important changes that the community has identified very soon.
We thank you for your continued support and patience. Everyone here at Elastic Games remains committed to improving this title we all care so much about, and we'd love to hear your feedback!
We are pleased to announce that Last Year Patch 1.0.6 is up!
If you do not see the prompt to update, you may need to restart your Steam client.
With Patch 1.0.6, we’ve made more improvements to your Last Year experience:
Matchmaking: We’ve addressed some of the “Fatal Error” crashes related to match-making, and will continue to investigate the remaining cases. We’ve also improved lobby filling time for all players, and we’ve reduced the amount of time it takes to start a round should someone not “ready up.” We’re hoping the combination of these changes can ensure players are getting into games faster with fewer errors.
Parties: We’ve reduced some cases of dropping people from parties, but will continue investigating once this patch goes live to identify other cases to completely fix this issue. As such, we’d appreciate the community’s help in stress testing this feature and your patience as we track these bugs down.
We’ve also eliminated the “Progression Disabled” pop-up bug. The only person who will get this pop-up is a Fiend who is inviting their friends into a Lobby. If you accept an invite of this kind, you will know that you are in an “Unranked Match” by looking at the currencies in the top corner. They will be red, and will display the text “Unranked Match.”
We thank you for your continued support and patience. Next, we’ll continue to improve Matchmaking and our Party system, but will also begin to tackle Performance Optimization, as well as Balance and some gameplay related Bug Fixes!
Everyone here at Elastic Games remains committed to improving this title we all care so much about, and we'd love to hear your feedback! Feel free to head over to the Review Section on our Steam page and let us know how you feel about Last Year.
Sincerely,
Brother Justin
Last Year Patch 1.0.6 is Live!
More news from Brother Justin:
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!
We are pleased to announce that Last Year Patch 1.0.6 is up!
If you do not see the prompt to update, you may need to restart your Steam client.
With Patch 1.0.6, we’ve made more improvements to your Last Year experience:
Matchmaking: We’ve addressed some of the “Fatal Error” crashes related to match-making, and will continue to investigate the remaining cases. We’ve also improved lobby filling time for all players, and we’ve reduced the amount of time it takes to start a round should someone not “ready up.” We’re hoping the combination of these changes can ensure players are getting into games faster with fewer errors.
Parties: We’ve reduced some cases of dropping people from parties, but will continue investigating once this patch goes live to identify other cases to completely fix this issue. As such, we’d appreciate the community’s help in stress testing this feature and your patience as we track these bugs down.
We’ve also eliminated the “Progression Disabled” pop-up bug. The only person who will get this pop-up is a Fiend who is inviting their friends into a Lobby. If you accept an invite of this kind, you will know that you are in an “Unranked Match” by looking at the currencies in the top corner. They will be red, and will display the text “Unranked Match.”
We thank you for your continued support and patience. Next, we’ll continue to improve Matchmaking and our Party system, but will also begin to tackle Performance Optimization, as well as Balance and some gameplay related Bug Fixes!
Everyone here at Elastic Games remains committed to improving this title we all care so much about, and we'd love to hear your feedback! Feel free to head over to the Review Section on our Steam page and let us know how you feel about Last Year.
Sincerely,
Brother Justin
Last Year Dev Stream (and Giveaway!) on Friday the 13th
Join us on Friday the 13th for a Dev Stream of Last Year: Afterdark!
Watch the Last Year Devs play & share their protips - TONIGHT on Twitch from 7-9pm EST. twitch.tv/LastYearGame
PLUS if you share a clip from the stream on Twitter with the hashtag #LastYearGame and follow @LastYearGame, you’ll be automatically entered to win TWO Steam keys for Last Year: Afterdark; one for you & one for a friend! Enter by Sunday December 15th at 3:00am EST. Winners will be selected on Monday December 16th, 2019 at 9am EST.
Dev Stream on Friday the 13th
Come join us for a Friday the 13th Dev Stream of Last Year: Afterdark!
Come watch the Last Year Devs play & share their protips - TONIGHT on Twitch from 7-9pm EST. twitch.tv/LastYearGame
Want the chance to WIN a copy of the game for you & a friend? Share a clip from the stream on Twitter with the hashtag #LastYearGame and follow @LastYearGame, to be automatically entered to win TWO Steam keys for Last Year: Afterdark! Enter by Sunday December 15th at 3:00am EST. Winners will be selected on Monday December 16th, 2019 at 9am EST.
Patch Patch 1.0.5 HOT FIX
I bring you more news from the Dev team & Brother Justin!
Greetings Brothers and Sisters!
We’ve just pushed another update to improve matchmaking. You should restart your Steam client to ensure the update is working. We’ve optimized the fix that went out yesterday, and the community should be seeing even quicker matchmaking results, as well as fewer “hangs” or long loading time for entering lobbies.
There are two known issues with this update that we're currently looking at:
Canceling and restarting your lobby searches in rapid succession could cause the game to crash.
If you are in a party and are experiencing long load times into a lobby (especially when your party-mates are not), you may be stuck in a hang. The only solution is to quit the title and restart.
We’re diligently observing and listening to the community and are committed to improving the Last Year experience. However, the kind of issues we’re facing right now are only discoverable and testable when tons and tons of people test the system simultaneously. Our Dev and QA teams are small, and are doing everything to ensure the fixes we’re pushing out work, but it’s only once the community engages with the title that we can be 100% sure the issues are fixed.
As such, we ask for your help, support, and patience as we work through these issues. Your support has always been what makes this game and community special, and this is even more important now that we’re on Steam. Every issue we identify and tackle together takes us all one step closer to having the best possible Last Year experience.
We’re prioritizing matchmaking for now, as this is the most important issue: making sure players get into the game.
However, we have identified other concerns from the community, and will be tackling them in the following order over the next few days and weeks: - Matchmaking - Optimization/Performance - Balancing - Bug Fixes
We’re going to keep communicating with all of you to ensure you’re up to date on all the latest progress.
As always, we thank you for your love, support, and faith in our team.
Sincerely,
Brother Justin
Patch 1.0.5 is here.. with VOIP!
I bring good tidings from the Dev team!
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!
We are happy to announce that Last Year Patch 1.0.5 is up!
With Patch 1.0.5, we’ve made two major changes to improve your Last Year experience:
1- Matchmaking: We’ve increased the range of available parties, ensuring that players will be able to join more available lobbies than before. Additionally, we’re prioritizing fuller lobbies first, which means that lobbies will fill up to completion before beginning to populate another. This should result in quicker matchmaking and more matches for everyone!
2- VOIP: We’re adding our V1 version of VOIP. This will allow players to enable VOIP in the Audio Settings, allowing them to communicate directly to other players in their match. There is also an option to Mute players in both the “Tab” and “Esc,” in case you’re stuck with a screamer.
There are two known issues with V1 of VOIP: - Fiends will be able to hear/speak to Classmates - It will not function if the user unplugs and replugs while in the application, or if they plug their mic in after entering party/lobby/match.
If you do not see the prompt to update, you may need to restart your Steam client.
We thank you for supporting Last Year, and your patience while we worked to resolve these issues! This is but the first in improvements to the game to come.
Sincerely, Brother Justin
Update: Launch Issues & Solutions
Hey everyone! We've identified the causes of game issues that some players are having, and are working on fixes.
Amazon Game Services is our backend, and it's currently blocking more users from playing together. We've reached out to Amazon Game Services about this, and they've assured us they're working on increasing the number to accommodate our community. This should resolve some of the long load times.
Once this is done, we'll be able to create a patch for the matchmaking issues. We'll be finessing the lobby prioritization to account for both region and current size of lobby, so people should be placed in closer lobbies with more players in them first. This should resolve the matchmaking concerns we've seen.
We're hoping to have this resolved today, ASAP, but are currently blocked until the issue is resolved on Amazon's side. We appreciate the patience you're showing, and will keep you updated on progress throughout the day.
Thank you!
IMPORTANT: Launch Notes + Patch Coming
Thank you all so much for participating in our launch yesterday! We're blessed to have such an active and engaged community.
We're aware of the matchmaking issues many of you are experiencing at the moment, and we are working on turning around a fix today.
We appreciate your patience in this matter, and will continue to update the community as to our progress.
Stay tuned for further updates!
In the meantime, one of our community members, @Pappus, has found a temporary workaround that should alleviate some of the issue until the fix is in place:
Open your steam settings and go to downloads.
If you are near the US, select US - New York.
If you are near Europe, select UK - London.
If the problem persists, keep cancelling the search and re-queue.
Thank you! We're working on a permanent solution ASAP.
