SCP: Secret Laboratory
Scopophobia public beta announcement!
We are aware that you all have been patiently waiting for the Scopophobia update, and that we have missed our original estimate for its release by quite a long shot.
This is ultimately our fault, and we want to open by apologizing for the situation. We majorly underestimated both the problems that would occur as a result of the update and how long they would take to fix. What's important to know, however, the beta is playable, but very unstable if the servers are running for a couple rounds without a restart.
Going forward, we will be working to regularly update as development progresses and problems are solved. We are doing our best to get the Scopophobia update out to you as soon as possible, and are prioritizing it over all other projects.
We thank you all for hanging in there with us despite the delays — we couldn't do this without your support.
On May 29th, if we are not ready for public release, we will be releasing Scopophobia (Version 10.0) as a public beta on a separate branch. This allows you to play the content promised, while we iron out the problems. We thank you for your patience and hope to see you all in the public beta.
Thanks,
Northwood Studios
Stream Reminder!
https://twitch.tv/scpsl_official
- Northwood Studios
Scopophobia Presentation and Q&A Stream
We are going to have a presentation and Q&A about Scopophobia on our official twitch account. Feel free to join us this Saturday at 4 PM GMT (in 24 hours) and get all of your questions answered!
twitch.tv/scpsl_official
twitch.tv/scpsl_official
twitch.tv/scpsl_official
- Northwood Studios
[April Fools 2020] Patch Notes - Megapatch 2 Two
Because Megapatch 2 was so well-received, and because being able to wait more months before release lets us feed our enslaved monkeys more bananas from our funding, we’ve decided to cancel Scopophobia. Instead, we’re going to release a new update, and long-awaited sequel: Megapatch 2 (Two)! We plan to release this sometime in 2030, so make sure to keep an eye out! We see no way that this can backfire.
Of course, like the other megapatch, Megapatch 2 Dos will change nearly every aspect of the game. Hold onto your hats, because we’ve got a lot to get through! Unfortunately, there won’t be any screenshots; Unity now crashes every time we attempt to load into the game, so we were unable to get anything for you to look at.
New Surface Zone
Because the old surface zone is clunky and taken from Containment Breach, we remade it from the ground up in Megapatch 2 两. It has been fully revamped, and includes nothing from the original surface zone in it. In fact, it doesn’t include anything at all. Once you exit the facility, you’ll emerge into a giant, empty field with just the elevators in it and the warhead console standing in the middle. CI and NTF will spawn at ends of the field respectively. Because making maps is hard, we used a stock Unity texture for the grass so we could focus on more important things like arguing about which sounds to use for doors.
We think that this new surface zone will promote skill-based gameplay by opening up sightlines and allowing good players (or people with aimbots) to shine, while mercilessly crushing anyone who would dare to not be an expert shooter player who can hit a flea across the map. We hope you like it! If you don’t, sucks for you!
MicroHID Rework
The new MicroHID was great, but you know what’s even more great? Spending development time to change features that don’t need to be changed! For that reason, we decided to rework the HID again by turning it into a sidearm. The new and improved Very MicroHID is now a pistol-sized object that can be wielded like a normal weapon, with iron sights functionality. By firing, you instantly shoot off a high-energy laser, which melts through any doors it strikes, instantly kills humans, and deals severe damage to SCPs.
The Very MicroHID must be reloaded after every shot, because otherwise it would be unbalanced. Not enough guns use 9mm ammo, and so we felt like it was a good idea to make the Very MicroHID use it. That way, it fits within the existing gun dichotomy, despite not even remotely resembling a conventional firearm in functionality.
You can now also get a new Very MicroHID by putting a COM-15 or USP into SCP-914 on Very Fine. To make it fit better with existing weapons, you can now also put plenty of fun and balanced attachments on it, such as the Gyroscopic Stabilizer, Heavy Barrel, Drum Magazine, Release Delayer, Shotgun Lens, Confetti Gun Adapter, and more!
You’ll have to wait until the patch releases to see any of this in-game, obviously, so settle in for the long haul, bucko. If you thought you were going to see an update any time soon, you haven’t been paying attention!
SCP-682
Another big star player of Megapatch 2 Dos is our brand new playable SCP, SCP-682! This has been one of our most widely-requested, despite it not even remotely having any semblance of being workable for SCPSL’s gameplay formula, but we put it in anyway like dumping a rotten apple into a perfectly fine pot of stew.
To start off with, SCP-682 has no health bar and can’t take damage. What did you expect? It can also destroy doors it sees by interacting with them, including heavy gates. In order to make use of our new status effect framework, it also applies the Dead status effect to any player it comes in contact with, creating a formidable, perfectly-balanced basic attack.
In addition to this, SCP-682 can survive the alpha warhead! Even if caught in the facility when it goes off, SCP-682 will simply be teleported to the new surface zone to wreak havoc on survivors who had the audacity to hope for a fun and interesting enemy to go against.
For SCP-682’s audio, we sat our lead game designer down and recorded his reaction to when we told him we were going to be adding SCP-682. Then we fired him.
We’re still working out the kinks for SCP-682, so expect more updates as time goes on, but we think it’ll be an addition that will NOT kill the game. Stay tuned for Megapatch 2: Epsiode 2, and Megapatch: Scientist, where we'll bring in even more commonly-requested SCPs!
Serpent’s Hand
Finally, after so many requests, we’ve added a new human faction: the Serpent’s Hand! Occasionally, they’ll spawn in instead of NTF or CI. They don’t have any inventory slots, and just have magic spells they cast at things, like throwing fireballs at people to kill them or teleporting through doors. SCPs also just like them for some reason and can’t kill them. Honestly, we didn’t really read the lore on Serpent’s Hand, so this is probably fine. You're welcome
Realism
This is a small one, but because having a realistic game is always more important than having a fun one, we’ve changed a bit of how human characters react to various events. For instance, if you get shot in a vital area as a human class, you have a 90% chance to die instantly. The other 10% of the time, you will collapse and writhe in utter agony on the ground for 30 minutes, unable to move or act as you slowly bleed out until you get medical attention from a trained professional and spend weeks in recovery. If you get hit by the new Very MicroHID, your head explodes like a baked potato wrapped in tin foil in a microwave.
This also extends to the SCPs too! If you get captured by SCP-106, you get moved to a separate game instance, where you spend two real-life days attempting to escape the Pocket Dimension and failing until you’re finally granted the sweet, merciful release of death. If you see SCP-096’s face in SL, you also die instantly in real life, to simulate what would happen if you had actually seen SCP-096’s face. We hope these changes are enjoyable!
Balance Changes
For Megapatch 2 2 2 2 2 2 2, we changed many aspects of the game’s balance. God help you.
SCP Changes:
- SCP-106
• Targets now cannot escape the Pocket Dimension, as stated in the realism section
• Now only takes damage from the Very MicroHID
• Can now activate noclip at will - SCP-049
• Can now speak over the intercom
• Is now instantly recontained when a player holds a sprig of lavender out; lavender spawns randomly in the new surface zone and must be picked by hand
• Can now combine SCP-049-2 instances into one giant SCP-049-2 instance that moves faster and hits harder
• Can now penetrate through the protection of SCP-714 - SCP-096
• Jaw now extends much farther, and is visible across facility levels due to its length
• Can now run at 500 m/s for lore accuracy reasons
• Greatly increased trigger range; you can now trigger SCP-096 by seeing only as little as four pixels of its face on your screen!
• Remains triggered indefinitely until the person who saw its face is dead - SCP-939
• Now wears crocs that make floppy sounds - SCP-079
• Now runs the latest version of Windows
• Edit: No longer runs the latest version of Windows
Human Class Changes:
- Nine-Tailed Fox
• Now tire after three seconds of running and must wheeze heavily to catch their breath because of all their tactical gear.
• Squad hierarchy is now enforced, and disobeying orders from a commander can result in a game ban.
• Removed disarmers from the game. Who used those things anyway, am I right?
• Can now time their blinks manually against SCP-173, which is perfectly fair for SCP-173 and allows Realism™ to thrive!
• Now possess SCRAMBLE gear for use against SCP-096, which doesn’t prevent triggering 096 because it was canonically designed to fail - Chaos Insurgency
• Logicers now have infinite ammo, getting rid of pesky things like “ammo economy”
• Screeching “CHAOS” over voice chat now heals you for a small amount, with the heal becoming stronger depending on spoken volume
• Addendum: Saying “CHAOS” over the intercom instantly converts all Class-D to Chaos Insurgency
• Now have smoke grenades back - Class-D
• Now have a chance to spawn with a janitor keycard and a mop they can beat people with
• Are now immune to headshots, owing to the power of their beanie - Scientist
• Can now be beaten up by D-Class who press E on them; after falling below 50% health, they will collapse on the ground and drop their keycard and lunch money - Facility Guard
• Unchanged. Facility guards are fine as-is.
Miscellaneous
- Added 10 new keycard varieties, because we hate people who make flowcharts
- Replaced all the existing rooms with Containment Breach rooms, because we don’t want to make replacements
- SCP-096’s screams now play at 300 decibels
- Added workshop support*
- for SCP-018 texture replacement only
- Added VR support
- Removed VR support
- You can now find the room where we keep our enslaved monkeys, and you can feed them bananas you pick from the surface zone to make the next update come out faster
- SCP-914 recipes are now randomized each round
- Gave lockers glowy particles and a whoosh sound when they open to adhere to AAA standards of getting randomized loot from crates and other containers
- Added a findable wave pool that you can swim in; talking about SCP-999 in this room will cause you to die
- Fired all the staff who didn’t play the game enough
- Rehired all the staff after we had no more developers left
- Killing yourself as SCP-049-2 now uninstalls the game
- Prepared a full rework of SCP-173’s kit, making it a lot more consistent and fun to play as and against!
- Removed SCP-173 due to legal issues
- Removed SCP-055
Conclusion
We’ve worked very hard on making Megapatch 2 Two the best update it can be. We hope that these patch notes can give you an idea of what you can expect in the coming times. Megapatch 2 II will be releasing very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very soon.
And remember…
Happy April Fools!
~ Westwood
Important update regarding Scopophobia!
Hello, everyone
With the global pandemic continuing, we have an important announcement: Version 10.0.0, "Scopopobia", our newest update, will be getting delayed until April 2020.
For context, we're an international studio, and we work all around the world. With COVID-19 being a worldwide issue, some of our staff are now in quarantine or self-isolation, with a few of them living in Italy. Because we work remotely, this hasn't affected us too much, but a lot of our developers have shifted their focus towards keeping themselves healthy and safe.
Because of the slowdown in development, coupled with 096's rework not being as polished as we'd like it to be, we've made the very difficult decision to delay Scopophobia's release to early April. After how long the wait was for Megapatch 2, we wanted to push hard to release more consistent content updates so as to not repeat the situation, and our March has been very productive, but COVID-19 interrupted our workflow and slowed things down. We're sorry about having to delay this update, especially when it comes with such a big rework, and we hope that we can get it out as fast as we can. It also means that we won't be able to release a special version for this year's April Fools Day.
Thankfully, however, further delays are unlikely. All features except for 096 have been finalized and tested thoroughly. Patrons have had access to a beta version featuring everything except 096's rework for about a week or two now, and we've been further refining the update based on feedback from those tests. Although SCP-096 abilities are subject to change based on playtesting and feedback, we've released an early showcase for Patron supporters a week ago and we decided to share it with you now:
[previewyoutube="cPF-FlEE_uo;full"]
Stay healthy, remember to wash your hands often, stay at home, and if you think you have been exposed - get tested if your locale has testing readily available. We're all in this together.
~ Northwood Studios
Coming this March - Scopophobia
Since Megapatch 2, we've been working hard on the next content update to SCP:SL. Now, we're finally ready to tell you about what we've been working on.
Scopophobia is Secret Laboratory's next major update. Assuming no delays, it'll be releasing this March as soon as it's ready. Featuring the return of old faces as well as a huge overhaul to one of our existing SCPs, it's one of our largest updates yet, and one we hope will improve the game in every aspect.
Without further ado, let's move onto what can be expected later this month.
Feature List
SCP-096 Rework
Scopophobia is packed with features, but the largest one is the namesake of the update: SCP-096's rework. Developed from the ground up for a completely new gameplay experience, SCP-096 has been given a full facelift, including a new model, new animations, new audio, and new gameplay.
096 isn't ready to see the public light yet and is still in testing, but is very nearly at a phase when patrons can expect to get their hands on it to see 096 in its terrifying glory firsthand. You can expect updates to come in the next few weeks as we iron out any final flaws and get it ready to be presented.
Because it would be rude to leave it off with no information about 096, here’s a small list of the new features:
- A full revamp of the rage system.
- Active abilities both in and out of rage.
- Original model, audio, and voice acting. No more old assets!
- Features fully-rigged first person animations.
- Is now the tallest SCP in the game.
The Triple S - Status, Stamina, and Spawning
As part of smoothing out the core loop of rounds in SL and polishing the game in areas that it's lacking, we're introducinga few new features into the game. The first of these is status effects. We've mentioned these a few times in the past - most notably in our second devlog - but we can give a more detailed rundown here.
If you've played RPGs, you'll be familiar with the concept of status effects. It defines any condition, permanent or temporary, that affects the player in some way. Some of these already exist in SL - SCP-207, for instance, applies an effect that increases your speed but drains your health. Scopophobia will include over a dozen new status effects, ranging from blindness and deafness to bleeding out as you sprint.
Different aspects of the game have been modified to include these new status effects in different ways, so keep an eye out for visual and audio cues to tell how you're affected! Admins and plugin developers will also be able to manipulate all of these new effects, so expect to see them in the unlikeliest of places.
In an effort to make movement more interesting, and to shake up the metagame regarding chases, we've decided to implement the stamina system, which grants a limited amount of sprint time before you have to slow down and catch your breath by moving at a normal pace. With default settings, one can expect to run for about 25 seconds before tiring out and having to wait for stamina to regenerate.
We've balanced the game in different ways around this to make sure it doesn't slow down the pace - humans sprint at a faster speed, and different items, such as adrenaline, modify stamina for a short period. Let us know how stamina plays in-game - we want to make sure it's the best feature it can be, and hearing your feedback is absolutely vital in making sure it's not an unfun mechanic.
Finally, we've introduced spawning tickets, a way to prevent stalemates that lock the round into place. Instead of having unlimited respawns, the NTF and Chaos Insurgency now draw from a team-wide pool of tickets in order to supply new squads. By default, the NTF starts with 24 tickets, with the CI receiving 14; each respawned player consumes one ticket from this pool.
Tickets can be earned in different ways; NTF might get tickets by terminating SCPs, for instance, while the CI can help D-Class escape. When a team runs out of tickets, it's disabled for the rest of the match! With luck, this system will force teams to at least play the game, instead of idling in a zone and waiting for a respawn wave so that they can get reinforcements.
Each of these systems is a big deal, and we think that they'll go a long way towards improving the game as a whole. They might not be perfect on the first go, so expect adjustments and tweaks to them as time goes on.
Facility Updates
For Scopophobia, we've also tried to make the facility a little more consistent. This is done in several parts: we've added different aspects throughout the map, while also adjusting old elements up to par. In no particular order, these include changes such as:
- The return of Alpha Warhead lights, which now exist in all rooms, including the surface zone;
- The addition of LCD screens in Light Containment Zone checkpoints that count down to decontamination;
- Allowing SCP-079 to lock down rooms in Entrance Zone;
- Allowing SCP-049-2 and SCP-106 to interact with windows.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it should give you an idea of what to expect in Scopophobia. Expect the facility to feel more immersive and consistent throughout.
UI Overhaul
Last, but by no means least, Scopophobia will feature a completely redesigned UI in many aspects. The most notable of this is the revamped main menu, which implements a redesigned server browser that features a favoriting system as well as a revamped settings menu to allow for easier changing of your options on the fly. (You can still use the old menu if you want, too!)
We've also adjusted the in-game HUD, which features a new system for showing and hiding display bars as needed. This lets the stamina bar stay invisible when stamina is full, but become visible once you start using it, to ensure that your screen isn't covered with redundant visual clutter. Nearly every status effect also has visual feedback, covering your screen with a vignette or other visual effect to show you're affected by it, much like SCP-268 does.
Conclusion
This update is certainly going to be a large one, and this list doesn't include the full list of changes. Once it releases later this month, you'll be able to read the detailed patch notes, featuring every change we've made to the game. If you're a patron, we're aiming to have it in your hands in as little as a week, if everything goes well.
We hope that this update will show that we're dedicated to doing consistent updates now, instead of the slow update schedule we used to follow.
In the meantime, have fun with the game... and keep an ear out for crying.
Thank you for supporting SCP: Secret Laboratory!
~ Northwood Studios
SCOPOPHOBIA
Site-02 - 03-05-██ - 0300 hours
- - -
Coming soon.
https://youtu.be/v4SzBPUk8so
Youtube Banner Contest Winner!
Hello everyone!
As we come to the end of a wonderful week, your voices have been heard and you have voted for your favourite banner. But as we said, there can only be one true winner in this competition. So without further ado, congratulations to Zerindo#8750 for winning first place!
Their banner will soon appear on the Northwood Youtube channel linked below. Another congratulations to our second place winner, edde#0089, and our third place winner, Joseph#1337, for their amazing contributions which received hundreds of votes!
Thank you to everyone that participated and showed us your skills and beautiful artwork in this competition!
If you want to keep up to date on our newest video releases (like the new OST) or see the new banner, consider checking out our Youtube channel and subscribing;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_pcal-oQjes6vtrvpGteTg
Devlog #2 is now live!
We've just premiered our second developer log on our official YouTube channel, describing future plans, our new release schedule, and what's to come. If you'd like to know what our next steps are, come pay us a visit!
https://youtu.be/cM7OEU7LCuE
YouTube Banner Artwork Contest
Hello! We are holding an event where members can create and submit a banner that would be used on our official YouTube channel.
If you would like to participate, please post your submission to the artwork section OR some other image sharing website such as Imgur. Reply with a link in the announcement discussion to your submission. Submissions would then be forwarded to our discord and then be voted on by the community.
Please do not repost your submissions across multiple platforms.
Rules
Format
- Youtube banner image size: 2560 x 1140 pixels.
- Minimum dimensions to upload: 2048 x 1152 pixels.
- Safe area for text and logos: 1546 x 423 pixels.
- Maximum width: 2560 x 423 pixels.
- File size: 6MB maximum.
The above-mentioned dimensions have to be followed when
creating the banner.- Youtube banner image size: 2560 x 1140 pixels.
Context
- The banner has to be created within the context of Northwood Studios, SCP: Secret Laboratory and the SCP universe.
- ""Northwood"" or the abbreviation ""NW"" needs to be present on the design
- The banner has to be created within the context of Northwood Studios, SCP: Secret Laboratory and the SCP universe.
Restrictions
Submissions may not contain:- Offensive Material
- Discriminatory Material
- Sexual Material
- Excessive Gore
- Excessive Violence
- Offensive Material
Originality
Submissions have to be original and created by the person submitting it. Duplicate posts will be removed unless proof of creation can be provided. Submissions must also have a mild degree of quality, with clear effort shown.
They have to, in nature, resemble what a banner should look like.Reposting
Submissions should not be reposted across multiple platforms.
Our social media team will do that for you so it may be included in the voting process.
How the winner will be selected
- The community will vote on all submissions to determine 3 finalists.
- A second vote among the 3 finalists will be held to determine the winner of the event.
Northwood studios can apply discretion when choosing a winning banner as to prevent an inappropriate banner being used.
The winners will receive
- The 3 finalists will receive the ""Event Winner"" -role in our Discord and -tag ingame.
- The winning banner will be used by the Northwood Studios official YouTube channel. The appropriate credit for the banner will be given in the channel bio.
Good luck, we look forward to seeing what you create!
----------------
Best Regards,
Northwood Studios
Discord: https://discord.gg/scpsl
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HubertMoszka