If you haven't watched the teaser yet, go ahead and give it a look! This was an experimental teaser, and the general public response is that it was hyped up too much - we'll be keeping this fact closely in mind for future reveals.
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
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!
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.
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
Restrictions
Submissions may not contain:
Offensive Material
Discriminatory Material
Sexual Material
Excessive Gore
Excessive Violence
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
This Saturday: AMA on the Official Subreddit [CONCLUDED]
Attention all personnel:
On Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, our lead gameplay programmer, Ava, will be taking questions on our official subreddit throughout the day. If you've been wanting to know about the development process, code work, or anything else about the game, now's a great opportunity to chat with us and learn the answer!
Questions will be open all of Saturday and will be closing Sunday morning. Hope to see you there! https://www.reddit.com/r/SCPSL/comments/ep9njx/ama_with_ava_saturday_18_2020/
Christmas C.A.S.S.I.E. pack! - Version 9.1.3
This update includes a few Christmas voice phrases for the C.A.S.S.I.E. system, including a new MTF entrance announcement. Happy Holidays!
~ Northwood Studios
B̶u̶g̶f̶i̶x̶ ̶-̶ ̶V̶e̶r̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶9̶.̶1̶.̶1̶
We have just released version 9.1.1 of SCP: Secret Laboratory. It contains a few minor server-side bugfixes concerning anticheat, permissions loaders and AFK kicking (eg. you shouldn't be now kicked for AFK after getting killed).
We have experienced a problem on the building process, a hotfix should appear in less than 30 minutes.
~ Northwood Studios
Megapatch Minipatch - Version 9.1.0
Megapatch 2's launch has been very successful, and with the continued hotfixes, we've gotten it to a stable spot. Now that the patch has had a few weeks to ferment, we'd like to release a "postmortem" patch - a small update with tweaks, balancing, and features based on what we didn't have time for as well as what we feel would be healthy for the game to cement the new features.
Enter the Megapatch Minipatch - our postmortem for MP2. Over the past few weeks, we've decided on the following changes, and we're eager to see how they play out.
Map Updates
While we're happy with the current map setup in MP2, there are some small flaws that have persisted due to the age of some rooms, as well as some rushed things that we didn't have time to polish out. As part of Minipatch, we wanted to iron out those kinks for a smoother game experience.
Tweaked the lighting and font on the MicroHID armory's ticker sign
Added some new furniture in the MicroHID armory
Hired a technician to finally fix the flickering light in the MicroHID armory
Moved the workstation in the T-cross armory
Ammo in the T-cross armory now spawns on a table
Added elevator music, the most important feature of the year
Procedural Decoration
One of the lesser-known features that shipped with Megapatch 2 is the "clutter system." In short, the system allows certain props and static objects to generate under certain conditions - such as during a holiday. Using this system, we're able to implement holiday decorations throughout the map that will intelligently spawn during the correct time frame, and won't spawn when they're not needed.
Halloween decorations exist in the game code, and will spawn during October - but for Minipatch, we've also implemented recurring holiday decorations that automatically spawn throughout December. If you're feeling festive, hop into a match and take a look around! While we like to do larger events for holidays too, these recurring decorations let the holiday spirit happen in-game - even when we aren't able to make a unique event for it in time.
Balance
While MP2 has been fermenting, our feedback team and developers have been keeping a close eye on the continued balance of the game, and how the new changes have affected the meta. With that in mind, we've decided on the following changes to the game to try and make it more fun for everyone.
Developer's Note: Hey, remember me? I'm the developer's note guy! This is where we put our design insights and thoughts concerning what went into balance changes. If you're curious about our rationale, look for these blocks.
SCP-173
* Base movement speed increased from 10 m/s to 12.5 m/s * Movement speed now increases more linearly from lost health
173 didn't get touched in the balance wave of 9.0.0 - this was because we couldn't decide on how best to balance it out, or how 173 would interact with the new items or SCPs. As it stands, 173 suffers from a lack of consistency, largely in part due to its predictable movement and lack of proper power increase.
To try to improve consistency, 173's base move speed has received a significant buff — it now moves fast enough to go through tesla gates without taking damage, as long as it's not being observed. Previously, 173's movement speed increased in tiers - for instance, from 40% to 60% health, its speed remained the same. In 9.1, 173’s speed now directly increases with any lost health, which makes its threat level proportional to its lost health, rather than having empty chunks of health thresholds.
Painkillers
* HP regen now ramps up to 2 per second, up from 1.4 per second * Effectively restores 45 HP over its duration, up from about 30
Painkillers are the weakest medical item, and intended to be the most plentiful in lockers. While their intended niche was topping off minor wounds, it became clear that this was their only use, and that they were too weak in any other area. To compensate for this, their HP regen was buffed, which should give them more use in combat and when you're badly hurt.
SCP-096
* Time required to enter rage now varies depending on player count, with roughly triple current values at 1 player and unchanged from current at 20 players or above * Jump height is increased by 50% while in rage
096's backend changes meant that his values were constant - rage duration, time he had to be observed, and cooldown time. While this was better from a code perspective, it meant that 096 consistently terrorized low-population servers, where there aren't enough people to effectively take him down.
Increasing the time players can look at 096 in lower-population servers should make it less completely dominant on these servers while not affecting its balance negatively on servers of typical size. With the change to its jump height, 096 should also be able to pose a threat to targets hiding out of reach, which previously felt silly given 096's capabilities and lethality.
[EXPERIMENTAL] Sinkholes
This feature was originally intended for Megapatch 2, but due to time constraints and tough-to-fix bugs, it was cut from the final release. Since we haven't had time to extensively refine this feature, but have managed to get it working, we've included it in Minipatch.
Sinkholes are SL's first environmental hazard. LCZ intersections may appear with a large splotch of corrosion in the center. Moving around the edges of this sinkhole causes no negative effects; however, walking through the center will slow you down!
These are intended to spruce up chases and diversify the map by adding an occasional hazard that players need to be aware of. SCPs are immune to the sinkhole's effects.
Because these are experimental, they don't spawn by default. Server owners can change a new gameplay config setting, sinkhole_spawn_chance, that determines an intersection's chance to spawn a sinkhole. There's also a config setting controlling how much the sinkholes slow by, defaulting at 30 and ranging in config between 1 and 99, called sinkhole_slow_amount. These numbers correspond to a percentage chance - an entry of 25, for instance, corresponds to a 25% chance for each intersection to spawn a sinkhole.
Other Changes
Added an AFK kicker that will kick players from the server if they don't move from their spawn position within an allotted time period. This only affects spawn positions, and for 079, it checks selected camera rather than position. A new admin permission exists to grant exemption from the kicker - AFKImmunity - and the kicker's timeframe is controlled by a new config entry - afk_time - defaulting to 90 seconds; setting the time to 0 seconds will disable the kicker entirely
Added gameplay configs to configure the max amount of NTF or CI can spawn in a squad, ranging from 2 to 50 and defaulting to 15; the entries are maximum_MTF_respawn_amount and maximum_CI_respawn_amount respectively
Added a config option to place escaped players' items into their new inventory, respecting item limits and capacity; entry name is items_in_inv_after_escaping, defaults to false
Added an Easter egg to the animated menu
Fixes
Fixed item durability not carrying over when players escape, causing things like the HID to empty completely
Fixed some doors in Heavy Containment using the LCZ model - doors with access requirements remain with the model, as it appears visibly reinforced and more modern
Fixed a missing light in 4-way Entrance Zone intersections
Fixed the MP7's suppressor attachment erroneously reducing damage by 20% instead of 10%
Conclusion
That wraps up the patch notes for Minipatch. Let us know what you think - and stay tuned in the coming weeks. We're not done yet...!
~ Northwood Studios
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