A Hotfix Version 5.48525.0 was just released to SOS. This contains a number of Bug fixes as well as some tuning for the new Items that were released in Content Update 1.
Changes
Bug Fixes
SOS
Hotfix 5.48525.0 Just Released
A Hotfix Version 5.48525.0 was just released to SOS. This contains a number of Bug fixes as well as some tuning for the new Items that were released in Content Update 1.
Changes
Bug Fixes
A Full Moon Over the Island (Night Mode! Custom Matches! New Weapons! More!)
La Cuna After Dark
The full moon rises over La Cuna, illuminating the island in its hazy glow. Hupia have ventured out of their temples and surround bonfires performing arcane rituals to some ineffable force. In the moonlit skies above, the helicopter casts a massive searchlight as it scans the island for any surviving Contestants.
Night Mode is an alternate game mode that forces players to change up their tactics and turns the hunt for extraction into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. When you arrive on La Cuna at night, you’ll find a Flashlight waiting on the beach, and you’ll learn to cherish and respect the use of this tool in all-new ways. While it is invaluable in lighting your way and scouring the ruins of La Cuna for a means of extraction, it also serves as a beacon, alerting other Contestants of your location.
What new dangers do the shadows hold when night time falls on La Cuna? Grab a Flashlight and venture into the darkness to find out.
Custom Matches
Custom Matches have long been something we’ve experimented with in SOS, but now we are diving in head first. Custom Matches are an all-new feature that allows players to fully tailor the game parameters to their liking. With this first version of Custom Matches, we have introduced five new custom gameplay modes for Contestants to select: Last Contestant Standing, No Relics, Tracker, Helicopter Only, and First to Relic.
Each of these new gameplay modes puts a brand new spin on the classic SOS formula, but that’s only scratching the surface of what Custom Matches allows Contestants to fully modify to make La Cuna their own. We’ve included a full battery of settings including ones for loadouts, damage, Hupia, Item drops, speed, gravity, and a whole lot more.
Custom Matches allow for Contestants to make each match their own. Call some friends and get them to join you on La Cuna to see what customizable insanity you can come up with. We’ll be monitoring some of the favorite gameplay settings players use to inform future direction for the game, so don’t be shy about trying something new.
New Tools
How A-lure-ing
The Lure is the first new piece of your arsenal to land in Content Update 1. The Lure is a grenade-like canister that when activated deploys pheromones to attract nearby Hupia. Lures can be found throughout the island, and are also available as supply drops.
When brandished, the Lure can either be placed or thrown. A Lure can be placed on a target and stuck there while inactive. If it’s then struck (by any kind of damage), it will activate and deliver its scented payload.
If thrown, it will stick to any surface it hits and release its pheromones. If a Contestant is the unlucky recipient of this gift, it can only be removed by another Contestant. If you find yourself without a friendly face to help you out, your only option may be to start running and not stop until the canister eventually depletes.
Defibrillator
The second of the new tools due to land on La Cuna in this update is the defibrillator. If you are lucky enough to get ahold of one of these, you will find that you literally hold life and death in your hands.
The Defibrillator releases a powerful electric charge that can be used to either revive a dead character or one-hit-kill a living one. Yes, you heard that right: one. hit. kill. Revived Contestants return with reduced health, but in this case, being half-alive is better than being all-dead. The Defibrillator has a long charge up time that is visible to your competitors, so be careful and strategic if using it offensively.
New Found Objects
As you make your return to La Cuna Island, you may discover some new objects across the island. Don’t hold off on grabbing what’s available and using it to defend yourself from whatever dangers you encounter.
Coconut
Conch Shell
New Hupia Models
Hupia seem to have developed both a sense of modesty and a drive for fashion. You’ll find that The Hupia now are adorned in ceremonial garb denoting their stature and threat level. Does this mean that Hupia were previously cutting Contestants to ribbons in their birthday suits? We’ll leave that one up to the cultural anthropologists to uncover.
Bug Fixes
Whew, that brings us to the end of everything new that’s making its way into SOS for Content Update 1. There’s so much more that we are working on for the future of SOS, but our first goal was to empower you, the Contestants, to play the game the way that you want. Get lost in the dark on the island without a flashlight, lower the forces of gravity and jump your way straight to The Cradle, turn off weapon drops and start a good ol’ fashioned game of fisticuffs. We hope you all experiment with what these new features have to offer and as always keep giving us your feedback so we can continue to improve SOS!
SOS Patch Version 5.47810.0
Stunlock Changes
There was an issue surfaced by our players pertaining to melee combat where a player blocking a heavy attack could get stuck in place. This could effectively stunlock them, making for a nearly unwinnable fight.
We’ve reduced the stun duration after blocks are broken or strong attacks are interrupted. This should prevent players from getting rooted in place permanently, and give them a small window of time in which they can escape from the next strong attack.
We’ll continue monitoring the health of melee combat in SOS and making improvements based on your feedback. This is a first step and there is more to come in refining these systems, so keep letting us know what you think!
You Behave
There’s been some confusion around our player policies in SOS. Outpost takes moderation extremely seriously - thousands of player reports are filed each week, and each is manually reviewed at an average of 6 minutes from filing.
Out of those reports, fewer than 3% result in warnings, and only 1.2% in 1-day bans. Seven day and perma bans are far more rare.
To clarify our stance on appropriate and inappropriate behavior in the game, we’ve decided to share this absolutely true and definitely not made up chat log with one of our players.
Some background: Steve bought SOS and he loves it. However, Steve is concerned. He read some stuff online, and he now wonders if he won’t get banned or suspended for “some bullshit reason” (Steve’s words, not ours). Let’s take a look:
Hi Steve! Welcome to Outpost! How can we help you?
Hi.
So, we’ve heard you had some concerns about SOS and its community. Tell us a bit more about this.
I see tons of crazy shit being posted online about how SOS treats its community. Outpost is not responding to any of it. Does it mean it’s all true?
Ha. No.
Okay well, what about KOS and killing streamers? Are we gonna get banned for that? Because people say that you guys ban anyone who kills streamers.
No we don’t ban players for killing players or streamers. Killing other players is a part of the SOS experience.
Like, you’ve never done that? Banned players for killing?
No.
Good, cause I like killing other players.
Do your thing, man.
I’m not sure I believe you.
Believe it. I mean, there’s guns in the game for a reason.
Okay... but what about calling people names? Sometimes I get into it, you know? I get on a hot streak, my hands are sweaty, and then BOOM I get the asshole and I can’t control what I say. Will I get banned for that?
That all depends on what you’re saying and if you get reported for it. We don’t actively surveil our servers. We rely on our community to report bad behavior based on our Code of Conduct. So if you say something that’s against our rules and you get reported for it, we’ll take action against you and you may get suspended. Note the italics there. That adds emphasis. We say may because it depends on what the violation is. We want people playing, so it’s not like suspending players is something we want to do.
Wait. What’s that Code of Conduct thing? First time I’ve heard about it.
It’s like the first thing you see when you play the game, dude. It’s also online. Here, take a second and read it. It’s not long.
Alright, hold on.
….You done?
Not Yet. Geez.
Okay.
So what do you mean by “hate speech”? Like...what if you pissed me off, then I can call you names, right? You deserved it at that point! Plus, you were totally cheating.
A good rule is: As long as you don’t actively harass people because of who they are in real life, you should be fine. But if we receive multiple reports (with video evidence) that you’ve been harassing people for their race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, etc. That won’t fly. SOS is a community oriented game, and no community can prosper if we allow people to attack each other for who they are.
Ha! So you do protect streamers! I can use italics too!
Huh?! What? No, they are subject to the same guidelines as anyone else. But before we implemented our video evidence feature, it was easier for them to report other players since everything was caught on their video. Now that we’ve been experimenting with video reports, it’s better.
What do you mean video evidence?
It’s cool! We buffer capture all our games, and when someone reports you, it sends us a clip of the last 20 second of their game.
Wait what? You can see what I do in a game?
Yeah, if you get reported. It’s better for everybody because then it’s not one person’s word against another. We want everyone protected. I’ll be honest, we still have ways to go before the technology is perfectly implemented. But we believe it is super important to make sure the rules we enforce are being enforced fairly.
Okay... but what about this “harassment” shit? I don’t even know what that means anymore!
You’re right, it could be made more clear what we mean by it. We are about to introduce a better version of our reporting system which will call out exactly what we mean when we say harassment.
Care to share that now?
Harassment is:
Offensive or abusive comments about other Contestants, threats of real-world violence, sexual advances, choosing to attack a Contestant based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, etc.
Harassment is not:
Killing on sight, betraying another Contestant, threats of actions limited to the game world.
I think I get it. What about “hate speech?”
Hate Speech is:
Any use of derogatory language in reference to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. Including, but not limited to, threats or slurs directed towards specific groups of people.
Hate Speech is not:
Using general swear words.
Oh cool so I CAN swear! Shit! Fucker! Asshole! Dickhead! Pissdonkey! Buttmunch! Scrote! Tosser! Choad! Prick!
Wow.
Yeah….
Can I say faggot?
No. Never.
Nah I’m kidding. You guys seem cool.
Thanks. You too.
I want more stuff in the game.
Yeah we know. We’re on it.
Okay, well go back to work then!
Okay. Thanks Steve. See you in the game.
Yeah. Better give me more weapons soon.
I said we’re on it.
K bye.
SOS Patch Version 5.46990.0
Changes
Bug Fixes
And that’s it for the latest SOS Patch! Remember, we’ve got a big Content Update coming in the next few weeks. Check out our Papaya Talk discussion of all the changes due to hit La Cuna Island soon!
SOS Launch Week Update and Version 5.46308.0
We intend to release patches on a semi-weekly basis with new content, bug fixes, balance tweaks, and quality of life improvements. This is in addition to larger Content Updates that we hope to deliver on a monthly basis. Join us Friday afternoon on Hero as we sit down and discuss what’s coming to SOS over the next month and beyond.
With all that said, what’s new in this week’s Patch?
Unchecked Aggression
In SOS, your actions have consequences. Our badge system draws attention to the patterns of behavior you and your fellow Contestants engage in while on the Island. If you consistently stab your friends in the back, you may find yourself branded a ‘Betrayer.’ If high fives are your primary greeting for new players, you’ll end up seen by other Contestants as ‘Friendly.’
In today’s update, we are introducing two new badges: 'Loyal' and 'Aggressor.' Players who tend to engage in combat with others very early on in matches will slowly be labeled with the 'Aggressor' badge. Players who repeatedly sacrifice their seat on the helicopter for their teammates will gain the ‘Loyal’ badge.
Unstuck on You
During earlier playtests of SOS, we included a command for players to use just in case they got stuck inside part of the level. Unfortunately, upon launching in Early Access, some Contestants used the command as an exploit to bypass certain gates in the environment. We have since removed the unstuck command.
If you do find yourself in the sad predicament of getting stuck somewhere, take a screenshot, submit a bug report, and shake your fist in the air as you curse the ancient gods of La Cuna.
Bug Fixes
This week’s update comes with a number of bug fixes as well.
Thanks to each of you who has joined us so far and we can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve got brewing over here!
SOS Early Access Launch Dev Update
Contestant Contract
Upon booting SOS for the first time after purchase, players will be asked to agree to our Contestant Contract. This is a shortened version of our Code of Conduct, highlighting the pillars of good behavior that will lead to the most entertaining experiences for all Contestants.
Evidence-Based Reporting
We remain committed to enforcement of our Code of Conduct. SOS is a game that challenges players in new ways, and that meant new challenges for moderation. We teamed with one of the makers of OBS and current member of Lightstream to develop technology for SOS that would allow for the game to clip the preceding 20 seconds of footage and submit it every time a Contestant reports someone.
This will allow our team to strictly crackdown on inappropriate behavior while at the same time reduce the amount of false reporting that goes on, as all reports will be backed by some form of video evidence. With SOS, we aim to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for all Contestants and to do that we need to be ahead of the curve regarding moderation.
Ghosts No More
Dead teammates in Duos will no longer be able to spectate Contestants other than their partner. Once both members of a team are dead, they will be free to spectate any Contestant in the match. This should prevent dead teammates from “ghosting” and passing along tactical information to their still surviving partners.
New Character - The Scoundrel
Fans with good memories may remember the sneak peak we gave of this character some time ago, but the Scoundrel is finally here. Looking for the perfect character to live out your swarthy deserted island fantasies? Look no further than this unscrupulous individual.
Landmarking
Each starting beach has a defining characteristic to it now to help players easily identify when they spawn and to better navigate to each other in Duos. We’ll let you discover each of the unique spawn landmarks for yourselves, but we’re going to continue to use landmarking on La Cuna Island to help players navigate more fluidly.
Axe Me No Questions
The Wood Axe has been modified to reduce exploits with its swing animation. It’s also easier to aim and more accurate when busting through doors and other obstacles (living or inanimate).
Map Update
The map of La Cuna Island is now updated to match all the changes that have been made over the past year of development. You may notice that some of the names of major locations have changed or that each beach now has a number associated with it. This new map might just be your best friend as you are setting out on La Cuna.
Body Hair
It may not seem like much of an alteration, but body hair was the piece to The Slacker puzzle that you didn’t know was missing until right now.
It’s Coarse and Rough
Thanks to our new materials artist, we have been redoing the surfaces on La Cuna Island. The first of these to get this update is the sand across the island. Those of you not spending their time staring down at the ground may not notice the change, so stop and smell the sand when you return to La Cuna.
Intro Video
The lead-in to the intro of each match has been updated to further bring the reality show that is SOS to life.
Though we are happy to finally be launching in Early Access, this is just the beginning of the next step of our development journey with SOS. We remain committed to absorbing feedback from each and every one of our valuable Contestants to continue making SOS the best game it can be.
These are just the changes that made it in for Early Access launch on the SOS side. To see what we’ve been cooking for you over on Hero, check out our blog post.
Announcing SOS Early Access
Papaya fever has broken out across the world, and we know our Contestants are eager to find out when they can set foot back on La Cuna Island again. Outpost Games is happy to announce that SOS will be launching into Steam Early Access on Tuesday, January 23.
You can purchase SOS for $29.99 beginning on launch day, so start packing your bags and sharpening your knives in preparation.
We’ll be going into more detail about our launch plans over the coming week, so check here and follow us on Twitter @playsosgame for all the latest info!
SOS Closed Beta - Dev Update
Environmental Activism
Although there are many out there that call La Cuna Island home, our staff has been hard at work on a near complete renovation of the Island. We have already and will continue to add environmental polish to La Cuna Island, making each and every area on the Island into the perfect location to film your best performance. We have scattered more loot temples around the Island and have brought new life to some of the environmental details.
That’s So Random
In our efforts to make the flow of matches of SOS less predictable, we have continued to increase loot randomization. If you thought that you knew exactly where each and every Item spawned on La Cuna Island, guess again.
Most loot containers can now spawn in a variety of locations. You’ll have to search like never before for medical cabinets, ammo boxes, flares, and other weaponry.
Bullet Slowing
While intended to help balance out melee and ranged combat, bullet slowing was in great need of an update. Just in time for the SOS Closed Beta, we have decreased both the duration of the bullet slowing and the amount of slowing that occurs.
Character Updates
Not only have we added a new suite of distinct facial animations to accompany our gestures, our animators have been hard at work creating three all-new gestures for you add to your repertoire.
As always, we are also continuing to add polish to the facial sculpts and hair of all of our characters. We have also added support for Faceware to allow for even more dynamism in our facial expressions.
Time To Say Goodbye
We’ve seen it happen all too often — the lone surviving contestant in a match grabs onto the rope with relic in tow and only seconds to spare and… the time runs out. This had the tendency to diminish some of the feeling of accomplishment for surviving so all the way to the end of a match.
In the SOS Closed Beta, the game timer will now pause if you are on the rope with fewer than 15 seconds left on the clock. This allows Contestants one final shot at survival.
Follow the Leaderboards
Leaderboards have gotten a complete overhaul for the SOS Closed Beta. The most immediately visible of these is that we removed the Survival Leaderboard altogether. Instead of having a survival ranking weighted against other players, you will have a Rating that will go up and down depending on the results of your matches. . You’ll be able to see how your Survival Rating changes at the start and end of each match.
Not only will you have a Survival Rating, but also a Fame Rating. Contestants will have to finish five matches before they receive their Fame Rating. This will allow us to evaluate skill level before throwing new players in with other experienced Contestants.
The Fame Leaderboard still exists. In fact, we’ve added a Trending Leaderboard that is also focused on Fame, but only displays the Top Performers from the last 24 hours. On either of these Leaderboards, you will only ever see the top 100 Contestants, so you won’t know your rank unless you make it into the upper echelon of performers.
There’s also been some other minor improvements accompanying the new systems. Feedback that you or your viewers give to other Contestants will never cause them to surpass you in Fame, so Spectate away without fear!
Live Grenades
Grenades were newly introduced in our previous Alpha, and after reviewing the results of that playtest, a number of changes have been implemented:
Other Changes
Bug Fixes
Want to see what changes we’ve been working on for Hero? Check out our blog update!
Announcing SOS Closed Alpha 2
In the months since the June Closed Alpha , we’ve been hard at work improving SOS based on your feedback and the data we gathered from your time with the game. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect to see when you return to La Cuna Island.
Enter the Intro
Consistently throughout the June Closed Alpha, Contestants dazzled us and their audiences with their antics during the Intros. The Intro sequence already made for a great show, but we knew we had to give Contestants the ability to express themselves fully.
Along with a brand-new setting and presentation, we have added a host of animation improvements including head tracking based on cursor movement, a suite of gestures, and expanded facial animations. Our hope is that this newly revamped Intro should allow every Contestant the chance to shine during the Closed Alpha 2 weekends.
And We’re Outro
To help bring the reality show presentation full circle, we realized that we had to expand the end sequence of each match. We never want to waste an opportunity to give facetime to an eliminated contestant or a triumphant victor. Our new outro sequence now includes confessionals where a few lucky Contestants get the chance to tell audiences what they really thought about each match.
As with many of the alterations and developments that have made their way into SOS since the June Closed Alpha, this Outro sequence aims to make player performance the focus and to deliver on the promise of putting Contestants center stage. Stick around through the end of the match you might get the chance to get in the final word.
Vote for Papaya
The final big addition to the game since the June Closed Alpha is a feature that’s been oft-requested (and for good reason): Audience voting. In our effort to always put the focus of the game on our Contestants’ performances, we felt that it was essential to create ways for our players to interact directly with their audience and for that audience to interact with them.
Starting now, whenever a flare is fired and the helicopter is able to see it, a vote will be initiated. This allows for spectators (both in-game and on Hero.tv) to choose between a series of positive and negative gameplay trade-offs. The winning selection will be air-dropped onto La Cuna Island to either help or hurt the remaining Contestants. So be kind to your audience; you might need their help!
Quality of Life
In-Game Reporting
We have added functionality to the game that will allow for reporting of players who are seen violating our Code of Conduct. Enforcement of this Code is imperative to our efforts to promote a positive and welcoming community, which will in turn make for more entertaining episodes of SOS.
Please remember that abusing this reporting system is itself a violation of the Code of Conduct, so refrain from making false reports of your fellow Contestants.
Audio Settings
We’re happy to announce that for our Closed Alpha Weekends, players will be able to adjust in-game audio levels to suit their needs. This feature was heavily-requested and we’re glad to support it in time for your latest trip out to La Cuna Island.
Keybinding
Keybinding is in place now, so feel free to make every button on your keyboard ‘Throw’ if that’s what you’re into.
Odds and Ends
Extractions
We made some small changes to some of the extraction points on La Cuna Island since the last time you may have played. Our aim is to make each extraction point offer balanced trade-offs, so we made some changes in layout and geometry based on data we collected during the June Closed Alpha. Your favored extraction point may no longer be such a sure thing, and one you may have ignored in the past could prove its mettle.
Visual Language
In our June Closed Alpha, many Contestants noticed the trails left by other players (footsteps, blood, grass, discarded items, etc.) and used them to make interesting decisions. However, we also saw that some Contestants missed these visual cues. We believe that this kind of in-game information is really important in bringing players together and creating interesting, dynamic scenarios, so we wanted to see what small changes we could make to increase awareness of these trails. Since then, we have:
- Lightened color of sand
- Darkened color of footsteps
- Increased prominence of sap trail from Relic
- Modified flag colors and designs
- Differentiated player blood from Hupia blood
- Increased noticeability of player blood trails
- Optimized grass trails to make them more visible
These changes touched on a number of different elements of the game, but in the end, the aim was the same: Inform our Contestants about the state of a match purely through the game’s visual language.
Throwing
Throwing was something that we added to the game close to the release of the Closed Alpha in an effort to provide Contestants with a combat option that wasn’t strictly melee or guns. However, after reviewing the data, we found that throwing didn’t seem to be competing well enough with other combat mechanics. It just didn’t seem to be representing a large enough percentage of kills.
Going into our Closed Alpha Weekends, we have increased the damage of thrown Items by 19% and their speed by 40%. We have already seen that this change has caused hits per match to increase significantly. Try lobbing some Papayas around this weekend and let us know what you think.
Temple Architecture
Some of you may notice that the layouts of our temples have changed slightly due to some changes on our end to how we construct our temple architecture. We have steadily been moving towards an architectural style that allows us to create structures with more chambers and cover along hallways between them.
Characters
As with the rest of SOS, our characters are a work in progress. Currently, we are still in the process of finalizing our cast of characters, but already you may spot some distinct improvements over their last outings.
We are in the process of updating the hair of each of our characters. Not everyone has been follicly blessed just yet, but here’s a glimpse of the progress we’ve made.
And it wasn’t just a facelift for some of our characters. They also were fitted with facial expression systems that can allow for them to display a wide range of emotions. In turn, we hope this brings out even more dynamic performances from our Contestants.
The Future
We have come a long way since our June Closed Alpha, but there is still a long way to go. We’re excited to share what we’ve been working on all these months with everyone over the coming Closed Alpha Weekends. Our goal is and always has been to offer every player the chance to put on their best performance. As always, please offer us feedback in our feedback portal and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest SOS news and updates.