In the upcoming 14.0 Update ‘Heavy Duty’, SCP: Secret Laboratory will transition to Unity 6 due to licensing changes affecting older releases. To align with the engine’s modifications to system requirements, we are forced to drop support for some previously supported operating system versions.
As such, from Update 14.0 onwards, the game will require the following system versions:
Clients: - Windows 10/11 21H1+ (build 19043+) x64
Servers: - Windows 10/11 21H1+ (build 19043+) x64 - Windows Server 2022+ (build 20348+) x64 - Ubuntu 22.04+ x64
You can verify which version of Windows is running on your machine by opening the Start Menu and searching for ‘winver’.
While the game may continue to launch on older operating systems, players may experience instability or other issues. We will be unable to provide any support or guarantee the game’s functionality on these systems. Bug reports specific to unsupported OS versions will be closed and labelled as ‘won't fix’.
Additionally, running the client on Linux/MacOS using compatibility layers (such as Proton and Wine) will remain unsupported. We will attempt to avoid degrading the current experience for users who do use such tools, but we won’t be able to solve any external issues related to them.
Effective today, we will be reducing support for users on the affected versions. We will continue to offer workarounds where possible, but will no longer release updates specifically addressing issues for these versions.
Privacy Policy Changes
We would like to take this opportunity to inform you of an update to our Privacy Policy, which will come into effect on October 18th. Most notably, we've added a section about anonymous collection of hardware and gameplay data, which will help us improve stability and game balance. This data is anonymised and cannot be used to identify you personally.
In the future, we also plan to introduce an option allowing for the collection of game crash data from users (on an opt-in basis), as well as the ability to define server-specific keybinds. Both of these features are also covered by this updated policy.
Additionally, we've made several changes to improve transparency. Please review the updated Privacy Policy here. By continuing to use our services after the listed date, you acknowledge and accept these changes.
SCP: Secret Laboratory 2024 Art Contest
Hello everybody!
We are happy to announce the 2024 SCP:SL Art Contest. We are extremely happy that the time has come again and want to invite you all to join.
For this year's art contest winners, their artwork will be showcased in-game in the back of the Class-D cells and they will be given access to the upcoming 14.0 Patreon Beta. Good luck to all of our participants!
To participate in the contest, we kindly ask that you first complete the following Google Form to be registered for the Art Contest: https://forms.gle/tTSwLGgdSSvFEb2c9
This form will ask for some general information, to help us better streamline the submission process. Participants will have one week to register themselves as a contestant.
Once registered, you will need to login using your Discord ID to access the Art Contest website. When completed you will be able to access the Submit Art panel where you will submit your art. You should also include a title and a description of your art to let everyone know where it originated and what inspired it.
Our current timeline for the Art Contest is as follows:
Google Form sign ups will be open from 29 September 2024 14:00 CT to 6 October 2024 14:00 CT.
Submissions will be opened from 6 October 17:00 CT to 20 October 2024 17:00 CT.
Public Voting will be opened from 14 October 2024 17:00 CT to 31 October 2024 17:00 CT
Contest rules are:
NO NSFW content.
Keep ALL art related to SCP:SL.
NO art that would cause drama or toxicity.
Keep collaborations limited (2 person max)
NO AI creations.
We are extremely excited to see what our community can create. Remember, this contest’s objective is about having fun and building off of what you love about SCP:SL, so be sure to enjoy yourselves. We can't wait to see your masterpieces, and wish you all the best!
Remember, art is not meant to be confined.
See you in the dark. - Northwood Studios
Site-02 Transmissions #4 | Developer Log
SHOWCASE
“Would you want magically-generated waste entering the water table, the septic system, or even a deep, dark hole underground? You'd require a very specialised sewer indeed to ensure that your flushes don't come back to haunt you.
Welcome to the Acroamatic Abatement Section of Site-02. We are that sewer.
Site-02 houses several ectoentropic objects — objects capable of generating matter that violate the laws of physics. How does one dispose of materials touched by SCP-106? Is it safe to simply incinerate interdimensional corrosion? Where, precisely, would we be able to sprinkle the interspatial ashes? SCP-049, on the other hand, introduces a problematic number of necromantic remains. What does the facility do with the corpses? Not to mention the countless infectious anti-enthalpic hazards that the Overseers might one day arbitrarily decide to transfer here. Where would we even dump those xenospatial materials? These are the questions our department answers.
Here in DSS-08 (that's ‘Disposal System Section’, for the curious), our vast, cutting-edge subterranean facilities churn endlessly in the dark, transmuting toxic insanity into toxic mundanity. Come, and witness the fruits of our labour as we work tirelessly to neutralise the noxious esoteric slurry which threatens our world with an ecological catastrophe like nothing seen before.
Mind your step, though. Diving into this river of liquid miasma could be detrimental towards one’s health.
While your duty is above, we stay below, battling the ever-increasing load of supernatural effluence we’re deluged with day by day. If we don't clean up its mess, no one will.”
Excerpt from “Welcome to Acroamatic Abatement” seminar by Professor R. Keane, PhD. Applied Occultism / Acroamatic Abatement Section
DEVLOG
Hi there, I’m the editor, and the above was a short introduction to one of the hallway variants that our level designers and artists are hard at work bringing to life. These new environments will be explorable in our upcoming update, ‘Heavy Duty’, and feature unique geometry that will provide a more exciting gameplay experience.
In this half of the post, I’ll be guiding you through an abridged version of the studio’s pipeline of completing a new room, from start to finish.
But before that, let’s discuss the elephant in the room.
Why are we working on the Heavy Containment Zone?
Many have inquired as to why we’ve funnelled many of our resources into the development of HCZ and not other zones such as the Entrance Zone.
The HCZ update initially started as an experiment to see if we were capable of handling a full-zone overhaul in the first place. Results of those experiments seem to lead to a resounding yes.
Our work into the new Heavy Containment Zone has laid out the benchmark for all our future plans related to zones. We’re proud to say that this will be our standard for environment design moving forward.
Still, why HCZ?
Aesthetically, Heavy Containment Zone is a very industrial area. Most of our creations were made with reusability in mind, which could potentially expedite the development of future projects by integrating the new textures, props, and mechanics. These include concrete textures, weathering effects, cleaning supplies, fire extinguishers — to name a few.
Procedural Concrete Damage (August 6th, 2024)
We’re very happy with how the Heavy Containment Zone is looking so far. The most valuable takeaway we’ve gotten from this venture would be experience. With the experience we’ve gained, on top of the time, effort, and passion we pour into our work, we’re certain that we can deliver something that we can truly be proud of. And, who knows? Perhaps our future zone updates will look even better.
First ever screenshot of the Heavy Containment Zone update. (January 15th, 2024)
LEVEL DESIGN
Quotes from Soup (Level Designer) and Cross Conception (Lead Game Designer)
While creating a new room, level designers follow a well-established pipeline in order to innovate, improve, and find creative opportunities to provide unique experiences for players. A group effort is required to create a room, involving not only level designers, but also environment artists, sound designers, game designers, VFX artists, narrative designers, quality assurance testers, and more.
The first step of the level design process is conceptualisation. A level designer may have an idea for a brand new room they wish to create, whether from a stroke of genius or inspiration from playing Mirror’s Edge for eight hours straight. Once an idea is formulated, the level designer will consider what kind of gameplay or visual benefit this room could contain, which will greatly affect the final product. This usually involves a certain specific goal in mind, which could range from “I wanted to make interesting SCP-specific paths,” to “I think it will look pretty cool.”
When building a room, very simple geometry is used. This is a process typically known as a greybox. This approach allows for the quick establishment of important environmental pieces that will be carried over to the final room. Considered in this step, among other variables, are how sightlines are presented, hiding spots, and traversal opportunities.
The Acroamatic Abatement Section (or the ‘Waterfall Room’, because Acroamatic Abatement is a mouthful) is designed to reduce the routes available to the player to one linear path that passes all 4 doors. This means, upon entering a room, a player does not have an equal (or near equal) distance to travel to every other door in the room. This layout creates opportunities for more interesting gameplay, as a player may need to decide whether they wish to pick a closer door that could lead to an unfavourable position, or choose a much further door at the risk of being exposed for longer.
During the greybox phase, the room is assessed through several iterative processes by the level design team in order to receive feedback and establish any required changes. For example, the Waterfall Room used to be absent of any cover, creating a massive sightline across the chasm. Through iteration, a series of pipes were installed at the railings in order to create sightline blocking geometry.
“One of the most important aspects that I considered when designing the room was the unique linear pathway through the room. While with a normal X intersection you can hug the closest wall, in this room, you are forced to cross the entire length of it in order to reach the other side. From there, I focused on implementing micro shortcuts for skilled players to utilise, such as jumping up on the railing to then jump over the gap onto the bridge. After that, I made sure that the generator in the room was out in the open, making it as difficult to camp as possible for both Humans and SCPs. Finally, one of the most important elements of the room was the cover, making sure that it blocked line of sight into the opposite room by using the pipes. Obscuring unfun sightlines is a huge factor that is taken into account when designing rooms.
During development, one of the aspects which was changed the most was the lighting. Originally, when I was designing the room, the lighting and mood of the room was much darker and gloomier. However, after consulting the art department, we made the room brighter to make it easier to plan around and to make the room feel more “worked in.” The art department has been amazing throughout the room’s design process, from creating the water shaders for the waterfall to making the room fit the theme of Heavy Containment.” - Soup
“I was the one who originally designed the layout of the room, which included the U-shaped linear layout as well as the deep pit in the centre. However, due to more important concerns, I had to shelve the room. When we started hiring new level designers for the Heavy Containment Zone Overhaul, I tasked one of the new level designers to work on this room, giving them the general gameplay principle and then leaving them free to work on it however they pleased. It was only a few days later when I checked on the project, and saw the room on a 45 degree angle with a waterfall and river. The room had taken on an entirely different vision, and after some feedback and iterative development, we ended with what we have now. While the final product is vastly different from my original expectations, they did an absolutely excellent job, and I am glad to have more designers on the team.” - Cross Conception
For those curious about the earlier room design that Cross mentioned, here’s what it looked like:
It has indeed gone through a lot.
IMPLEMENTATION
Quote from Moranatol (Art Supervisor)
Once the greybox is complete, it — alongside a design document — is relayed to the art department to undergo an art pass. The design document contains information pertaining to the specifications that the art team may need knowledge of while populating the room. In the art pass, the greybox is decorated by the art team through the addition of textures, props, and visual effects where required. Here, environmental artists go back and forth with the level designers in order to ensure consistency that reflects the level designer’s initial vision of the room.
Sometimes, new rooms call for new props. This room necessitated a new prop in the form of a control panel for the bridge connecting the two halves of the room. Then followed the usual art process of conceptualising, modelling, refining, and texturing. Thank you, Art Team, for your stellar efforts at making the game look pristine.
Once the art team is finished and the room appears nice and polished, it’s moved over in-engine and worked on by a programmer for implementation. Implementation involves inserting the new room into our facility generation system, as well as ensuring the collisions work as intended.
Lastly, a build with the fully implemented room is made and sent to the Quality Assurance Team for testing. QA Testers ensure that the room is bug-free, void of any scummy exploit spots, and that everything is working properly so as to not allow players to fall through the floor into the depths below. When a bug is found, the programmer will immediately be notified to squash the bug.
“When a room's level design is confirmed, I take their layout and I start correcting the main mesh. I fuse, divide some polygons, connect some edges,then I implement it inside the engine, and I'll add rough lighting based on the global HCZ look. I then apply UVs and choose the textures to be applied on the walls and all. Once this step is done, we work closely with the Level Designer responsible for the room and apply props based on the lines of sight and objectives the Level Designer was aiming for. Sometimes, it's also a way to revisit some parts of the room, since theory doesn’t always work, so we move some props and lights in order to adjust obstacles, lines of sight, or indicate specific areas of the room to the player. The room gets revisions and goes through several iterations. Finally, we start adding subtle details to it such as particles, light animations, and very specific props to the room. It's a huge team effort with LD to stick to their original vision for their room, and with Acroamatic Abatement, while we did deviate from the original design over time through iterative development, we are all very happy with how the room turned out.” - Mora
Narrative Design
Quote from x3j50 (Lead Narrative Designer)
“Hi everyone, I’m x3j. You might recognise me from a Memorandum post or my work in the marketing department.
I’m not a writer in the traditional sense. While I indeed write, most of my time on HCZ has been spent ensuring ludonarrative harmony, a state of synchronised interaction between gameplay and in-world context. In order for an environment to feel like it belongs, there needs to be an effort in ensuring that whatever gameplay purpose a room serves is also complemented by story-telling that cements the room to be a believable part of the world. A hyperbolic example would be how the Heavy Containment Zone would not have a shopping mall inside of it.
The Acroamatic Abatement Section was a fun challenge to complete. What started out as only a water management plant, became something much greater and more representative of the insane world of SCP.
Site-02 produces a large amount of anomalous waste that needs processing. From SCP-173’s faecal matter, to the processing of amnestic gas from SCP-939, to the dead SCPs that require safe disposal… Integrating a waste disposal facility into Site-02 makes the entire facility feel more grounded and functional, allowing the player to see the facility as an actual place that exists instead of a maze of hallways. We communicate that through a myriad of different methods, from simple signs for world-building, to trailers like the recent 14.0 teasers.” - x3j50
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a myriad of conditions involved in making something as seemingly simple as a new room for the game. It’s a collaborative effort that requires several developers working together in unison to deliver only the very best to our players. When all is well and the Game Engine wills it, the room can then be declared as complete and ready to be packaged for release in an upcoming update.
This is, of course, not the only project we're working on, as there are far more developers throughout the studio all hard at work bringing other features to life — from the human models, to the experimental weapons, and the respawn overhaul. We're all working in tandem to ensure that 14.0 will be the best release it can possibly be for you, the players.
Let us know if you have any further questions for the teams behind the Acroamatic Abatement Section. We’ll try to get some dev replies out!
Otherwise, take a look at our Patreon for more updates regarding our new and improved Heavy Containment Zone. We just released an exclusive post a few weeks ago showcasing another new room being worked on, as well as some fascinating level generation we’ve been experimenting with. Join in on the discussion on our official Discord or the Steam Forums! We’d love to hear your thoughts.
One final point: ‘acroamatic’ means ‘esoteric’. I could have told you that right at the start, but, well, you might not have read the rest.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Stay tuned, and until next time, we’ll see you in the dark.
Based on “Acroamatic Abatement” by “HarryBlank”: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/acroamatic-abatement
14.0 Teaser | Acroamatic Abatement
Hello everyone.
We have recently released a teaser trailer for the upcoming 14.0 update.
Be sure to check it out, as it features in-game footage of our brand new level design!
Stay tuned, and see you in the dark.
- Northwood Studios
A new Patreon Post has been published
Hello everyone!
We would like to share some news regarding our latest Patreon post, as well as make public our previous Patreon posts concerning the updated human models and the new Heavy Containment Zone Overhaul.
We are releasing a new Patreon post, showcasing some of the exciting level design and map changes included within the new HCZ overhaul. This post is available to all of our ‘Scientist’ tier ($5) and above Patreon subscribers. To read all about it, check out our Patreon.
Last month, we released a post covering the upcoming Human Models Rework, which presented all of our new human character models as well as a Q&A with the Art team about their inspirations and goals for the project. This post has now been made public, and can be viewed through the link below.
Lastly, this post from June offers a first impression of some reworked Heavy Containment rooms, and presents our progress on the animations and base statistics of the reworked revolver model. While we have released public teasers for both of these in the past, we are now making the full Patreon post public. We have also updated some images to better exhibit the new Heavy Containment Zone. You may view this post through the provided link below:
But until next time, see you in the dark. - Northwood Studios
Site-02 Transmissions #3 | Developer Logs
Intro
Hello again, everyone!
Welcome to the third installment of the Site-02 Transmissions. This post, however, is a special one. Celebrating the return of the Site-02 Transmissions, this month is a double feature where we’re releasing two separate Transmissions — spotlighting Community Highlights and the Dev Commentary sections. We will then be returning to a once-per-month schedule, starting in September, using this new separated format. This Site-02 Transmissions post, as the extra one this month, comes out soon after our previous post, released three days ago. Be sure to check it out here on Steam to see some curated SCP:SL art from the community, including an extensive real-life recreation of the Jailbird!
However, this extra post isn’t merely a stocking stuffer. In this installment, instead of covering very general activities of different departments, our Lead Game Designer, Cross-Conception, or ‘Cross’, is going to take a deep dive into the Game Design (GD) team’s actions and beliefs regarding the latest updates, as well as a few specific issues they believe the game currently faces. Additionally, this post features a special appearance from Lead Programmer, Beryl talking about the process of creating 13.5.1 and updates resembling it.
Here is a summary of this Developer Log Transmissions’ contents:
A commentary/retrospective on 13.5 and 13.5.1. Discussing the goals and reasoning behind SCP-1853, SCP-207, and Anti-207’s recent balance changes. A small Q&A with Beryl, giving a programmer's perspective on the update planning and implementation process.
A discussion concerning the Game Design team’s opinions regarding SCP-079’s Door Locking ability.
Elaboration on the goals of the ‘Reinforcement Overhaul’ spawning system as discussed in a recently-made-public Patreon post.
13.5 and 13.5.1 Retrospective
Quotes by Cross and Beryl
Cross believes that, overall, 13.5 was a great success — especially SCP-1853’s rework. She states it achieved everything the team set out to do involving 1853’s effects on gunplay and its escalating benefits, and that the Game Design team is happy with how SCP-1853 works now.
Another important change in 13.5 were the adjustments to SCP-207. The team believes they achieved their goal of making SCP-207 less abusable, however, they agreed with the mixed reception and concluded that SCP-207 “is far more fun when it’s increasing your speed, even if the damage is high,” resulting in the speed increase, which occurred in 13.5.1.
Whilst SCP-207 received feedback indicating its nerf overcompensated for its previous strength, Anti-207 (or, O-207-914) received — fittingly — opposite feedback that stated not enough was done to improve it. It still wasn’t useful enough, and rarely appeared due to requiring both the use of SCP-914 and the sacrifice of an instance of SCP-207 to acquire it. Because of this, it got the buffs it received in 13.5.1. Additionally, one instance of Anti-207 was added to the pool of pedestal SCP items to unchain it from SCP-914 whilst retaining the rarity that the Game Design team wants it to have.
We hope you enjoy its new Operational Guide entry, and we also feel a duty to remind you that matter and antimatter do not like each other.
To round out this section on 13.5.1, below is a short series of questions and answers about the 13.5.1. update, the process of creating it, and creating Hotfix/Patch updates such as this one, as answered by Beryl, Lead Programmer for Northwood. Please tell us what you think of these insider perspectives of the update process; if it’s well-received, we might touch more on our development process in a future Transmissions entry!
Why make a 13.5.1? What stopped you from putting these changes inside 13.5?
“There’s always plenty of features we want to implement, and, whilst we would like to ship everything we have planned all at once, the sad reality of development is that everything takes time. Because of this, we sometimes have to make the decision to leave some features out of a release. This is where hotfixes come in, giving us the opportunity to push said features out of the oven, alongside solving issues the community may find after an update is out.”
“Keeping this in mind, we make it a common practice to always have a plan prepared for a possible update after the last one. For 13.5.1, it originally meant pushing bug fixes or changes for the custom main menu music, SCP-1853, or SCP-207.”
“As programmers finish their tasks and projects, more helping hands are available to work on the big list of changes we would like to make for the game, which is why you saw unrelated changes making it, such as role colour touch ups, or consumable item improvements.”
What does the process of making smaller Hotfix/Patch updates look like? How does something like changing the speed boost granted by SCP-207 end up from your computer to the live game?
“As simple as something like changes in numbers may seem, the reality of game development (and more specifically, programming) is that sometimes, things don’t go as you’d expect, and a large majority of time it's due to things out of your control as a developer.”
“There’s no such thing as a perfect game engine, and sometimes you may implement a new feature or system, only for the engine to not react properly to it, forcing you to create workarounds that account for its limitations to make your vision a reality.”
“Alongside these limitations, we also have to account for our development procedures, which tend to include multiple iterations of quality assurance, solving as many bugs and issues as we may find, and maintaining the integrity of our codebase.”
“For example, during the making of this update, we implemented the O-207-914’s Operational Guide page in our in-development branch, but upon trying to bring those changes to the 13.5.1 development branch, everything broke completely. So we were forced to re-do the entire page from scratch for the release for it to function.”
What is it like to implement new items/item abilities and new systems — such as Anti-207 being the first item to not be guaranteed to spawn in pedestals? Is it difficult?
“With O-207-914 being in the spotlight, we’ll continue using it as our primary example. Although most of its recent changes may seem simple in hindsight, it required us to revisit some of our old-ish systems to make the changes that we wanted.”
“The SCP locker spawning system did not expect items to be added under specific conditions (such as a random percentage), which meant we had to make adjustments to our spawning & distribution system. So that you can get an idea, here is everything that needed changing in order to add said 10% spawn chance:”
“The AHP stat modules were also not particularly fond of a regenerating mechanic for them, primarily as it was not designed with it in mind. So we had to come up with a solution for this to occur in a timely manner, without compromising our programming standards. These are processes that take time to implement properly.”
SCP-079 and Door Locking
Quotes by Cross
In a Game Design meeting after 13.5's release, the team discussed SCP-079 and the feedback they gathered from the SCP's changes in 13.5. Cross says the changes achieved the team's goals of making SCP-079 less oppressive and unfair against civilians, as well as improving its ping range — but it also came with its fair share of valid criticism. Taking that feedback to the meeting finalised an opinion a long time coming — in Cross' words: "After a meeting with the other game designers [...], we concluded that no matter how you change door manipulation, the ability is fundamentally flawed."
She takes specific aim at SCP-079's Door Locking ability as a problem feature for the SCP. Below are five problems with the ability as provided by her, which are "only a few of the problems door locking causes."
"Door Locking is an extremely oppressive tool." Whilst SCP-079 can't sustain a door lock when the ability is freshly unlocked, the AP drain in higher tiers is easily managed by many players. So easily managed in fact, that the drain is inconsequential compared to the benefit it gives.
“Currently, Door Locking acts as SCP-079’s primary offensive tool, but relies solely on player cooperation between him and his team. This punishes players who are unable to use their microphone. SCP-079 has a general lack of offensive capabilities beyond this, resulting in players feeling that SCP-079 is too far a cry from the standard SCP-monster gameplay. Whilst you could, in theory, use a Tesla Gate on a player, this is extremely limited and occurs quite infrequently.”
“On the receiving end, players have reported that SCP-079’s door locking is too abrupt and unfair, compared to stressful or thrilling. There is no sense of surviving a threat — solely annoyance at being effectively cornered.”
“There is little counterplay or gameplay depth against SCP-079’s Door Locking. SCP-079 can press one button and result in the death of a player. This is neither engaging nor fair. While SCP-2176 exists, its availability heavily limits the anomaly, with it never having been designed for that purpose anyway. SCP-2176 is unable to be considered a fair solution to the problem at large.”
“In terms of future development, having an SCP wholly reliant on doors severely limits us from a Level Design perspective. It forces doors to be a necessity, instead of alternative options.”
The team feels that there is no way to clearly resolve the issues mentioned above by merely tweaking existing mechanics: "As a result, we have decided that a replacement for this ability is something worth pursuing in the future. Whilst we’re still working on a more permanent solution, we’d like for players to know that we acknowledge the issues at large with this character, and that we love the computer. Any solution we propose will need to solve all five of these issues, and once completed, the game will be far healthier for it."
P.E.A.R.S. 4 and the Reinforcement Overhaul
Quotes by Cross
Over a year ago now, we hosted our fourth Patreon Early Access Rebalancing Session (PEARS). These PEARS events are used to test more experimental or crazier features for the game — things which we aren't sure about, or things that will have high development costs, but also a risk of failure. Our fourth PEARS event was a respawn overhaul; it was a massive and fundamental change in how the game selects team respawns and when.
Upon creating the new system, The GD team set out with three main goals:
It needed to finally make the Chaos Insurgency (CI) part of the game’s family of factions, instead of the ‘cleanup crew/round end-er’ role that was the CI's original purpose before the GD team realised they loved the dynamic the team created in the round. The respawn overhaul made the entire CI team valid targets for the SCP team, and made them directly compete with the MTF team in order to respawn — both teams having to earn their respawn waves from a single, limited pool.
"Allow the game to come to a natural conclusion on its own, so that no matter how determined a player was to stall or camp, it wouldn't ultimately matter." That goal was achieved by creating an autonuke system called ‘Dead Man's Switch’ — an automatic protocol instated by the O5 Council to be used if Foundation personnel couldn't re-secure a site. It triggered when both teams ran out of available respawn waves and forced all remaining players onto Surface Zone for a final battle.
Another, smaller goal of creating a system like this was to create a more predictable and consistent round structure. Making sure rounds can't go on forever makes the game easier to balance. Factors like SCP balance can be fine tuned to have the right amount of strength for their job, instead of the GD team having to worry about balancing for potentially infinite players.
Ensure that players are consistently engaged with the game. Dying, then waiting for five minutes in the spectator screen to respawn with nothing much to do except Alt-Tab or yell at fellow spectators is a well-known problem. To address this, players in the respawn overhaul system are allowed to lower their own team's respawn timer through specific actions in-game, and players who die quickly after respawning are given a second chance through the implementation of respawn mini-waves shortly after the main one.
The system was very well-received back when it first debuted in PEARS 4. However, it was heavily flawed, and not just because it was somewhat buggy. One serious problem cited by Cross was the sheer overwhelming amount of things occuring at any given time, making the game exceptionally confusing and hard to understand. It also came with a host of smaller issues, including but not limited to:
The mini-waves had overpowered loot relative to what they were intended to do.
Respawn waves were too hard to earn. It was unbelievably difficult to earn enough points as a Class-D to earn a respawn wave before MTF, even for experienced players. The respawn timer for the Chaos Insurgency was also multiple minutes longer than MTF, making things worse.
The point scoring system gave points for killing uncuffed enemy civilians, incentivising killing Class-D on sight.
Somewhat recently, the Game Design team completed a rewrite of the system for its full implementation — something that Cross notes "cost me massively in terms of caffeine consumption" — and now they've been ready to start work on its full development. "We believe we have ironed out most, if not all, of the problems we were presented with. It's going to take a while to fully implement as it's a huge change with a lot of variables, but you can expect to hear more about it as time moves on."
Outro
This concludes our third Site-02 Transmissions post. We hope you enjoyed the return to the series. Starting next month, Site-02 Transmissions will return to a slower, yet hopefully more-timely-than-previous release schedule. We also hope you enjoy this new separated format for the series, as it allows us to make longer posts dedicated to showing more community creations and developer insight per post than the combined format from the first version. Be sure to look at the previous post on the Steam page to get a good look at some of the great art that community members make about the game.
If you would like to contribute to the discussion and send ideas or feedback to the team, feel free to engage with us on our socials! The Game Design team often looks at community suggestions on the Steam forums, the official Reddit, and the SCP:SL Discord. Whilst the team can’t respond to everything, due to the sheer quantity of suggestions, Cross says they try to read as much as possible.
Expect further news about the game on the Steam and X pages, as well as exclusive news on upcoming features or updates accessible on our Patreon — alongside posts now made public, such as the Reinforcement Overhaul post. Thank you for reading, and as always…
See you in the dark.
~ Northwood Studios.
Site-02 Transmissions #2 | Community Showcase
Hello everyone!
It has been quite a while since our last Transmission, and we are revisiting this concept to provide more consistent community interaction. From the feedback we received concerning our last Transmission, we have made some changes to the presentation by dividing the original format into two individual categories. One focuses on the art and creations made by the community, whilst the other is dedicated to developer insight regarding the state of the game and ‘behind the scenes’ showcases. We will be releasing these posts on a monthly basis, alternating each month, except in the event of something particularly important we wish to share.
This post is dedicated to the community, and showcases some of the art, animations, and 3D models found all across our social media platforms that were created by talented members of our community.
Art:
First, we have a 3D printed vial of SCP-1853 from Enderpearl20013, with a functional removable lid!
Here, we have an illustration from Kasi of two Nine-Tailed Fox waiting to be dispatched.
To close off the art section, we have a squad of MTF being dropped off by helicopter, by Bad.nic.aro.
Videos:
To kick off the videos section, we have this animation by Windop, showing a guards perspective of a containment breach. https://youtu.be/LpVumFARn3M Next, we have ‘Happy Nation’ by StudioHexyne, a short video showing multiple different perspectives of our game, with a bonus set of behind the scenes shots to show how it was made. https://youtu.be/wuyVm7cY5kg?si=dr65jb3eQhawL5a3 To conclude this Transmission, we have a fan-made Jailbird prop by Liu Studio, featuring both working sounds and lighting, weighing 1.68 kg and able to generate electric arcs! Powered by three 18650 lithium batteries, “For safety reasons, imitation is not recommended”. https://youtu.be/eJWL_7sW15M
Conclusion
We would love to hear your feedback concerning this new format of community highlights, as well as ‘Transmissions’ as a whole. It is our aim to continue these, and your feedback is vital in setting the standard for community content and to express what you would like to see from us moving forward.
Be sure to tune in within a few days for our third Transmission, featuring a developer commentary with our Lead Game Designer on some of the key concerns we have with our game and our goals for future updates.
But until next time, see you in the dark.
- Northwood Studios
New Steam Avatars are Here!
Hello everyone.
Starting today, you can find a selection of SCP: Secret Laboratory Game Avatars, which you can use by going into your profile settings on Steam.
Let us know what you think, as there may be more additions as time goes on!
We are currently still hard at work on the next update, and we’re eager to soon show you what we have in store!
Stay tuned, and see you in the dark.
~ Northwood Studios
What are your Development Questions?
Hello everyone,
Some of you may remember the Development FAQ Channel which was displayed on our Discord. This was where we listed and answered Frequently Asked Questions about the game.
Examples of such questions were:
Will you update/overhaul the models in the game? (Chaos Car, D-Class, Scientist, etc.)
How do you pick which SCPs will be added?
Will we ever see new guns or attachments?
Will there be crouching or proning mechanics in SCP: Secret Laboratory?
As the game has evolved and changed direction over time, many of our answers to these questions have since grown outdated. Due to this, the FAQ was archived.
To revitalise this channel, we've decided to collect and compile a list of new questions from our playerbase, relevant to the present development of the game. Through this, we hope to update both the channel and our general FAQ — which will later be posted on our other social media platforms.
We invite you to send in your questions via the link below: https://forms.gle/fAjaYRvCY2Nxjqh36
See you in the dark.
~ The Feedback Team
Update 13.5.1 is out now!
Hello everyone.
While we are hard at work developing 14.0, we’ve decided to release a quick patch to smooth out the changes made in 13.5. Additionally, we’ve included a section dedicated to developer insight at the end of the patch notes.
Enjoy!
Adjustments and Tweaks
Increased the speed bonuses granted by SCP-207. Health drain values have been left unchanged.
The first SCP-207 instance consumed now provides a 15% increase in movement speed (previously 10%).
The second instance consumed provides a 30% increase in movement speed (previously 20%).
The third instance consumed provides a 45% increase in movement speed (previously 40%).
Reduced the volume of Anti-SCP-207’s background audio.
Anti-SCP-207’s secret ‘life save’ mechanic now provides damage immunity for 1.5s (previously 0.25s). This effect is now audible to other players.
Anti-SCP-207 now saves a user’s life from SCP-939’s Lunge.
Anti-SCP-207 can now only be stacked up to two times.
When at full HP, Anti-SCP-207 now generates additional AHP, up to 75. This will decay upon removal of the effect.
Anti-SCP-207 now rarely spawns naturally within the standard No-7 lockers (a.k.a. ‘SCP item pedestals’).
Added an Operational Guide entry for Anti-SCP-207.
Jailbird now applies Flashed for 1.5s upon a successful hit.
Updated role colours for Chaos Insurgency classes.
Updated the role colour of the MTF Specialist class.
Painkillers, SCP-500, and SCP-1853 display progress bars and can now be cancelled before usage.
Adrenaline is now activated sooner after usage.
Bug Fixes and Technical Changes
Fixed an issue allowing players to damage 096 without becoming a target.
Fixed unlockable main menu themes having inverted locking criteria.
Fixed the Fog Status effect resetting when a different player lost the effect.
Fixed the Chaos Marauder and Chaos Repressor role names being swapped in Remote Admin.
Fixed some SCP-1853 danger events not unregistering properly.
Fixed some Discord Rich Presence events not unregistering properly.
Reverted changes to ICommand, removing ICommand.SanitizeResponse.
The Remote Admin console will now automatically attempt to close all unclosed rich text tags.
TCP_NODELAY option is now set on socket used for communication with LocalAdmin.
Made improvements regarding LocalAdmin to SCP:SL communication.
`snr` now takes an optional argument allowing server admins to redirect players to a different server upon round end.
Fixed `rnr` not working when fast restart is enabled.
Added the `nr` command, displaying any actions that will occur when the round ends.
Improved server console command handling.
Fixed predefined ban templates being duplicated when running `pm reload`.
Updated the PluginAPI.
Development Insight and Commentary
We wanted to offer additional insight concerning the ‘why’ of our recent changes to SCP-207 and Anti-SCP-207. No further gameplay changes will be talked about from this point forward.
We’ll start off with SCP-207. When we first implemented this item, features like stamina and prevalent medical supplies weren’t yet implemented, resulting in the item’s balance reflecting the then current state of the game. It was then left nearly untouched for years, despite the game evolving around it. Now, it’s hard to travel a few rooms without coming across some sort of healing item, be it medkits, painkillers, SCP-330 candies, etc.
SCP-207 was always designed to be a hazard to players. A ‘deal with the devil’ item that, while providing increased movement speed, would put your life on a short timer — use the item to run, escape, or die trying. Following the changes to speed and HP drain, we believe that we have achieved our goal of restoring the heavy risks provided. After receiving community feedback, we’ve decided to amplify the speed of the Cola across all tiers, providing a more fair trade for the health drain.
Moving on to Anti-SCP-207, this item was originally added as a low-cost development joke. It took a few hours at most, and didn’t detract from any larger projects that needed the time. It also allowed us to experiment with new systems that we could potentially pursue usage of in the future, such as the ‘life saving’ mechanic. Throughout recent updates, we’ve slowly improved the item such that we can integrate it into standard gameplay — this allowed us to make a low-cost experimental SCP item without needing to do all the work at once. According to the feedback forms we received, players felt the item was too difficult to obtain for it to be of any use. Now that we are more confident with the state of the SCP, we feel now would be a perfect time to implement the item as a rare specialty.
Thank you all! If you’d like to see further commentary sections in the future, let us know. Otherwise, keep an eye out for further changes to come.
Have fun, and see you in the dark. ~ Northwood Studios
