Let’s get straight into business! This latest patch addresses a number of bugs and quality of life issues from top to bottom.
The patch will be rolled out to PC players today, Thursday June 22nd.
Currently we predict that servers will be down at 1PM Eastern with up to 4 hours of downtime to promote the patch. We will keep you up to date on our official Twitter with any updates or changes to the process.
We pride ourselves on communication and while we would love to share specifics, we currently do not have a firm release date for the Xbox One release. As this is our first patch on the platform, we have some learning left to do and we’ll share info as soon as we have a clearer picture. We will keep you posted.
See you in the arena!
Changes and Fixes
<*>Reduced Stamina cost for sprinting
<*>Increased duration of stun when struck in the back by a thrown weapon
<*>Revised aim assist settings for controller
<*>Increased area where aim sensitivity assist applies
<*>Decreased area where rotational assist applies for ranged weapons
<*>Reduced maximum target lock-on duration
<*>Added Iron Sight sensitivity setting (controller and mouse) for aiming mode with ranged weapons
<*>Fixed a bug that could cause game audio to become distorted
<*>Added a detailed map of the Prison to the booth
<*>Fixed a bug that prevented toilets from periodically spawning items
<*>Fixed a bug where purchase prices for cosmetics sometimes failed to display
<*>Fixed a bug that allowed a gun reload to be initiated again before a previous reload action was complete, resulting in the reload sound playing multiple instances
<*>Fixed a bug that could cause the teammate highlight to fail to appear in some cases
<*>Fixed a bug where scoreboard would display incorrect player match rank
<*>Fixed a bug where bows would sometimes fail to fire a projectile
<*>Fixed a bug where players could become stuck in trees
<*>Changed settings to allow players to introduce more diagonal movement with the controller without incurring a movement speed penalty
<*>Fixed a bug where player names would sometimes fail to display correctly in a match (or on the scoreboard)
<*>Fixed a bug where player cosmetics would sometimes fail to appear properly in a match
<*>Revised all controller schemes to drop/swap inventory items by holding the X button (based on situational context), requires less time holding the button to drop/swap
<*>Fixed bug where players were sometimes unable to activate a Man Tracker
<*>Fixed bug where Match Summary and customizations menus could freeze if players pressed down on d-pad using controller under certain conditions
<*>Fixed bug where snare placement visuals were incorrect
<*>Fixed bug where Victory Celebration animation could fail to display properly based on player state at end of match
<*>Fixed bug where players that were slow to load into the match could result in certain gameplay elements failing to initialize properly
<*>Fixed bug that prevented Linux / SteamOS build from launching properly
<*>Coop is now defaulted to off in Quickplay filter. Players who wish to queue for teams matches should either team with a partner or remove the filter.
<*>Fixed a bug that could force players to replay the basic tutorial under some conditions
<*>Game now re-establishes a connection to game servers more reliably
<*>Fixed a bug that could allow brief flashes of nudity *GASP* on female character model
<*>Fixed a bug that caused aim assist and rotational assist to target teammates
<*>Fix for potential crash when accepting a teammate invite
<*>Fix for Chokening console sometimes failing to activate
Island Diary June 16, 2017
Greetings contestants!
Summer is unofficially here and it’s scorching hot. Weekly Diaries are our way of sharing what’s new and popping here in the office and giving you a little glimpse as to what can be expected in the near and distant future.
But, since it’s so dang hot, we thought we’d quench your thirst with a little bit of a more substantial leak. This week we’ll be giving you a sneak peek of what’s to come in our next patch which should be arriving very shortly. We expect the patch to arrive in the next couple of weeks on PC, followed by the Xbox version shortly after.
Until then, here’s a little extra to wet your whistle!
Patch Preview [list[
<*>Revised Aim Assist - We have heard tons of feedback regarding the aim assist on the Xbox One and we’ve made a few key changes: Rotational assist (where we snap the crosshair onto your target when you zoom a ranged weapon) has been reduced in both duration and sensitivity. You’ll have to be more closely aimed at your target before the assist kicks in and the assist will only last for a brief moment.
On the other hand, we’ve made the aim sensitivity assist (where we reduce your thumbstick sensitivity when your crosshair is close to the target) have a larger maximum area to help you manually aim your shots.
Most importantly, we’ve fixed the bug that made aim assist target your teammates, making coop a little more.. cooperative.
<*>New Sensitivity Option - Expect to see a new “Iron sight sensitivity” setting that works with both controller and keyboard/mouse. You can tune your desired sensitivity while in aimed mode with ranged weapons, giving you more control when you need it.
<*>Bug Fixes - Considered the meat and potatoes of the changes, the next patch will address key issues across both platforms including snare placements, freezing, repeated basic tutorial, saved controller settings, crashes, teammate invites, clothing errors, loading delays and more.
<*>Linux/Steam OS - After much investigation a solution has been found and will be implemented for a bug that prevented this variation of the build from launching properly.
<*>Filters - Coop will be set to off by default in filters. Most players who want teams matches join the queue with a teammate, so this will help ensure solo players get into the solo matches they prefer. Simple, but efficient.
New Match Events
We’re happy to share that there are several new Match Events currently in development.
Though we cannot go into specifics on the exact amount and variety of the events, many of the new additions include concepts and mechanics that have never been seen in The Culling.
One that we’re particularly excited about is Blood Moon, which sees the sky bathed in scarlet moonlight, which reveals red outlines on all contestants across the map. Despite what you might have heard, in Blood Moon there’ll be no hiding, so we recommend that you run, because every contestant is marked, no mantracker required.
Look to hear more about Blood Moon and other match events as we head towards future patches. It’s going to be an…. eventful future.
Closing
So that’s this week in the books. Fin. Complete. Done. We hope that you enjoyed the extra sample of what’s to come, because we look forward to sharing them each and every week.
Expect to hear more about diaries and patches very soon.
Until next week,
See you in the Arena.
Weekly Island Diary June 2, 2017
Greetings contestants! First off - HAPPY XBOX ONE LAUNCH!!!
Wooo, yayyyy, ahhh!!!! (that’s us in the office making excited crowd noise)
From its inception, The Culling has always embraced the spirit of Battle Royale and has helped pioneer a genre that has grown to heights that we’re not sure anyone could have predicted. It’s an absolute honor to usher Battle Royale to console via Xbox One.
The response so far has been overwhelming. The Xbox community has smashed our expectations, going so far as to bring down our servers as a flood of new contestants entered the fold. As of writing this, we’re still actively working on the issue but are confident that it will be resolved soon.
We think that it goes without saying that the Xbox launch is exciting, but in the arena there’s no chances to to relax and it’s to get back to the nitty gritty. After missing last week’s journal, we have some juicy updates to share with you that all contestants will really enjoy.
One thing to note, however, is that many of the topics this week are subject to change as in many cases they’re in the earliest stages of development.
With that out of the way, let’s talk shop!
Airdrop-Exclusive Weaponry
Combat in The Culling is aggressive, in your face, and deadly. When fights are this intense and visceral, it’s paramount that they have a degree of predictability. At a glance, you should be able assess your opponent and be prepared for most of the potential outcomes.
At the same time, too much predictability can make encounters feel stale. We’ve utilized modifiers such as perks to help spice up gameplay and to introduce a variety of ways to approach each match. While we’re continuing to expand upon perks, Airdrops are another avenue we’ve been pursuing.
Many of our match events bring in Airdrops, but those drops pull from the pool that players can select. What if there were weapons you could only get your hands on by contesting a match event drop? Not only would that make the match events more enticing, but it would spice up the combat encounters that involve those weapons.
We’re currently in the early stages of working on an arsenal of new Airdrop-exclusive weaponry that are part weapon, part perk, and all awesome. These new tools of destruction are like nothing you’ve seen before.
Truthfully, we’re slightly hesitant to expand on this too far at this point of development, but here are a couple of conceptual examples which are currently being discussed as templates of these special items that can only be acquired through airdrops:
Spirit Knife - A blade for the ninja at heart. Not only is it deadly, but the Spirit Knife allow bestows its master with the ability to double-jump, allowing you to get to traverse the arena with quickness and grace.
Vampire Bat - A baseball bat imbued with the power to drain your opponent’s life force, stealing health with each hit.
Infected Hatchet - We’ll be honest, the arenas aren’t sanitary. The Infected Hatchet is riddled with bacteria. Bacteria which can be used in your favor as you slice open your enemies and infect them with a violent and immediate sickness effect on each hit.
Keep in mind that these are both currently works in progress and though they may make final cuts, they may also endure some changes. But we do hope that you got the idea and we hope that you’re as excited as we are to see these new concepts come to fruition. We know that competition is the pillar of The Culling, but we also know that we all crave excitement and new items such as these will expand upon your abilities as a player while remaining airdrop exclusive and having a limited impact on how the base game functions
Closing
That’s just a taste of what we have in the works and rest assured that there’s more to come. While you wait for our next update, we would love to hear your constructive feedback and suggestions. This week’s journal was very forward thinking and there’s still a lot of runway for new ideas or concepts.
Whether you’re new player on Xbox or have been here with us since day one - thank you for being part of the Cullmunity. We’re excited for wild ride that awaits us and we’re thrilled to have you with us as we map out the road ahead.
Until next week,
See you in the Arena
Quality of Life #102159
Greetings Contestants!
We are officially less than a month away from Summer. And you know what they say: sun’s out, guns out.
Unlike some secret agents we’re not licensed kill, but we do have a license to patch, which is nearly as cool.
[Servers will be down on Thursday May 25th at 8AM EST and maintenance will continue for up to four hours.]
Since our last update, we’ve made great strides in improving various aspects of gameplay and addressing key issues that have come to our attention. By utilizing feedback from within the community, we have been able to address many quality of life items that simply make the moment-to-moment, match-to-match experience better overall.
Players can expect to see changes to hot-button items such as attack queuing, matchmaking, tutorials and more. We look forward to hearing the response to this update and we will see you in the arena!
Major Changes and Fixes.
<*>Matchmaker now heavily favors Classic matches, generally will not include solo players in teams matches under normal circumstances. The result is that without applying filters, solo players will generally see classic solo matches and pre-made teams will see classic teams matches
<*>Fixed bug that allowed multiple attacks to be queued simultaneously under certain conditions
<*>Fixed a bug that prevented certain actions from being interrupted when taking damage (i.e. applying a Med Kit)
<*>Fixed a bug with input system that would sometimes queue an additional action when it shouldn’t
<*>Fixed multiple bugs related to control input on end of match screen
<*>Fixed bug where teammate highlight would not always appear
<*>Bows are less accurate when fired while airborne
<*>Fixed bug where Man Tracker would sometimes fail to function
<*>Improved network connection flow to better communication connection status and automatically reconnect when necessary
<*>New Player Experience Improvements (based on Free Weekend feedback)
<*>New players are loaded directly into basic tutorial when starting the game for the first time
<*>After exiting a tutorial level, players are returned to the Training menu rather than the main menu
<*>Added Jump Start perk - new default where players will start the match with a random Tier 1 weapon
<*>Lightning Round airdrops are automatically delivered at match start to avoid players disregarding the Airdrop landing pads
Changes
<*>Tweaked gas iris speed slightly to attain Standing Room Only as countdown timer expires
<*>Bridge airdrop landing pads removed in Lightning Rounds
<*>FUNC piles no longer occasionally spawn weapons
<*>Polished start of match flow
<*>Updated Holo Spawner art assets
<*>Revised low-stamina state screen effects
<*>Drop Your Bridges now automatically delivers a random airdrop rather than giving you free access to your own
<*>Increased Chainsaw damage
<*>Several adjustments to clothing colors
<*>Fix for bug where Loot PInata would fail to spawn its drone
<*>Gold Rush event occurs less frequently
<*>Reduced damage slightly for fast weapons
<*>Facial hair once again reflects selected hair color
<*>Adjusted match pacing: Adjusted settings for player attrition triggering late-match phase. Gas closure begins 5 minutes after Late Match phase initiates.
<*>Weapons obtained from random Airdrops now show the player’s equipped weapon skin
<*>Updating UI to not display unneeded elements in Survival Mode
<*>Big Boned reward perk is now based on total accumulated FUNC rather than current FUNC
<*>Holo Spawner in Survival Mode now properly deducts 50 FUNC when used
<*>Removed Impact Grenade from Slugger Lightning Round Airdrop
Bug Fixes
<*>Fixed bug where compass marker would not disappear when event ended
<*>Fixed bug that allowed players to attempt to spectate after match ended
<*>Fixed bug related to controller interaction on customization screens that could potentially lose UI focus
<*>Fixed bug that allowed game control inputs to function while menus were active
<*>Fixed tooltip that showed incorrect weapon speed for Survival Axe
<*>Fixed bug where FUNC barrels spawned in Lightning Rounds on Prison map
<*>Fixed Airdrop description text to properly indicate armor values
<*>Fixed bug where UI lost focus when exiting queue using controller
<*>Fixed bug where controller inputs would sometimes double-fire in menus
<*>Fixed bug where Advanced Survival mode would stop spawning waves instead of being endless, increased difficulty of later waves
<*>Fixed bug where Iron-4-Skin found in Lightning Round airdrop could be used multiple times
<*>Fixed bug where player would not play death animation if they died to suicide
<*>Fixed bug where players could get stuck in a loop if they failed to login properly
<*>Fixed bug that prevented blood splatters from appearing
<*>Fixed bug that sometimes prevented players from seeing their equipped cosmetic items in online matches
Known Issues
<*>Our last update introduced some stability issues that we’re continuing to investigate
<*>We’ve addressed an issue where the Linux / Steam OS build would fail to launch, but we have a persistent problem related to the controller that we hope to address soon
<*>Some players are unable to join custom lobbies consistently
Weekly Island Diary: May 19, 2017
Hello fellow contestants!
It’s Friday, which can only mean one thing. More inside info from the team here at Xaviant.
Last week we kicked off our weekly edition of the Island Diaries and we have been excited by response it has gotten. You’ve made it clear that you truly appreciate a peek behind the curtain, and there’s plenty more to come.
Obviously we can’t exactly let you know what has happened to Frank… for legal reasons… but there’s plenty we can share as we move forward. Did you know that our Communications Manager, Brian Sharon, smells like old pierogies? That’s the kind of hard-hitting info that you’ve come to expect.
Joking aside, updating you on what’s going on here in the Xaviant office is not only a great opportunity for you to know what’s on the horizon, but for us to pick your brains and to hear feedback as we develop new content.
So without further adieu let’s get right into the meat and potatoes!
…
Is anyone else hungry all of a sudden? No, we aren’t either..
Matchmaker Changes
Over the past several weeks we’ve been observing a ton of discussion surrounding both queues and Lightning Rounds. It’s clear that for most players, the tried and true Classic game mode is still the major draw. At the same time, many players also appreciate the diversity of play that Lightning Rounds offer.
Additionally, we realize that most players who want to play teams matches queue with a partner. Signing solo players up for frequent teams matches by default isn’t providing the desired experience for many.
Knowing the above, we will be making some overall tweaks to how the matchmaking process operates.
Moving forward, the matchmaker will have weightings. What this means is that regardless of your filter selections, the matchmaker will prefer Classic Matches over Lightning Rounds. The matchmaker will also prefer Solo Matches unless you queue with a teammate.
This means that leaving your filters alone will give you mostly solo classic matches, unless you queue with a teammate, which will give you mostly teams matches. Leaving all of your filters active will mean that under certain circumstances, the matchmaker will periodically place you in a teams or lightning round (think once every 5 or 6 matches instead of every other match).
New Perks
Last week we introduced you to our newest perk in production, Jump Start. While we have other perks currently in production that we will share with you in the future, we thought we’d share a little bit more behind some of the concepts behind their construction.
One of the most unique aspects of The Culling in the world of Battle Royale is the ability to outfit yourself with bad ass airdrops and perks that allow you to shape how you play. At the same time, introducing so many new wrinkles and modifiers has the opportunity not only to unbalance the game, but to create “go-to” perks that render an entire field of options all-but useless.
We’re currently playing with some ideas for perks that could be described as “double-edged swords”. A non-specific murdered uncle once said, “with great power comes great responsibility”. He was probably wrong, but we are still willing to run with the idea.
We still have a long way to go and we’ll be sharing more information on perks in the near future. We’d love to hear what you have to say on this topic so please do jump into our Discord and let us know
Xbox One
If you read the previous Island Diary you know that we revealed that The Culling was in the process of Xbox Certification. The team couldn’t be happier to give you a quick and concise update on this situation:
We are thrilled to announce that The Culling is officially out of F.U.N.C.’ing certification and is officially on it way to Xbox One.
“That’s awesome, but what’s the release date?! I had a feeling you’d ask that question.
You can expect a release date next week.
That’s right. We’re going to be revealing the release date in less than seven days!
So be sure to stay tuned because you won’t want to miss it.
Closing
That’s two weeks in a row. That makes this an official streak.. That can only mean one thing…
We’re going streaking!!!
Seriously though, thank you for returning to our diary and for supporting all things Culling. There are exciting things ahead and we can’t wait to tell you more. But, that will have to wait until next time.
Until next time !
Wait.. didn’t we just say that? Is that, like, grammatically incorrect or does it just make us sound less cultured?
Either way…
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
Weekly Island Diary: May 12, 2017
Why hello there. Fancy meeting you here. It’s us, Xaviant - developers of The Culling.
How have you been? We’ve missed you. We’ve been so busy here in the office, which means that sometimes keeping up to date with our friends can get a little rough.
Actually, that reminds us - that’s why we’re writing this. We can be so silly at times. We were thinking the other day, what if there was a way that we could let you know was hip with us kids on a weekly basis? You know, what’s #trending in the offizle and what’s the latest shizzle that we’ve got going on!
Welcome contestants to a new chapter in The Culling.
Each and every Friday we’ll be updating this little blog of ours giving you a bit more insight as to what’s being worked on and what players can expect on the horizon. These aren’t patch notes (which will still exist). This is an extra look into the development of The Culling.
Obviously, we can’t spill all the beans, Frank needs to eat something, but this should open the valve to some of the leakiest leaks since the great Pump House leak of 2729.
We really wa… hmm… you know what? Screw it. No more intro, let’s get right into things.
Major Bug fixes
The last update brought a whole new version of our game engine along with a complete rework of the input system, so there were bound to be some bugs introduced. It has been our priority to deal with all of the reported issues head on and we’ve been making some major headway.
Among the most notable improvements are fixes for the Fatal Error/Crash bugs, as well more mechanical issues with input systems; such as attack queuing and more. This is a positive first step as we move forward and iron out any other lingering issues.
We’re also currently investigating a critical obstacle that has prevented many Linux/Steam OS users from launching the game. While we do not have an ETA at the moment, we value the Linux community greatly and we’re working hard to resolve this as soon as possible.
We can’t stress enough how helpful the community has been in helping us find and address many of these issues. We encourage you to continue reporting bugs on all of our official platforms, as well as sending in tickets to our support team directly at help.theculling.com.
Post Free Weekend
With the launch of the Combo Breaker patch we also ushered in a Free Weekend on Steam. This promotion, along with a significant sale, ushered in thousands of new players to The Culling. During this time we were able to gather valuable data, as well as helpful feedback from the community.
In response to some of this information, we have plans to make some significant changes in the future.
Arming New Players: One of the major lessons that we’ve learned is that even though we’ve added Survival Mode, Offline Matches and Tutorials -most new players jump directly into the action without arming themselves with the knowledge to make them successful. By making new players complete the Tutorial prior to playing online, new players will find themselves better equipped to both understand the basic mechanics as well as to compete with the other, more seasoned, contestants.
On the topic of competition, we will also be reintroducing skill-based matchmaking. The system will evaluate player skill and match players up accordingly, offering players a field of opponents who are in their weight class. With that said, we are aware that instituting a system of this type has the potential to slow down queues. So, with that in mind, we have also designed the system so that it will only kick in when there are enough players in queue to allow multiple matches at once. This means that Matchmaking should have zero impact on queue times.
Changes/additions: In previous iterations of The Culling, matches trended towards being slightly over-aggressive. With the latest update, new layers have been reintroduced to complement more varieties of play. We’re planning to expand upon this.
Soon, a delay will be added to the timing of the gas closure at the beginning of the late-match phase of a match. The concept behind this being to offer contestants more opportunities to call in air drops and to participate in late match events.
Additionally, we’re thrilled to reveal that we will begin to expand the perk set in the near future.
Jump Start is the first of these new perks. A utility perk, Jump Start spawns players with a random Tier 1 weapon. In the hands of a fresh Contestant it can act as an early leg up on some potentially fierce competition, as opposed to the sticks and rocks we’ve witnessed some new players using. Moreover, though it comes at the cost of a perk slot, having a Tier 1 weapon to begin a game can be a lucrative gamble for aggressive players as well. Some might even say, it adds a little Jump to the Start of your match.
Speaking of starts, we’re also going to be making a slight tweak to how Lightning Rounds begin.
Though it may seem somewhat straightforward to experienced players, a large portion of new players tend to miss out on the ability to call their free airdrop in the first moments of a Lightning Round. To help curb this, Lightning Rounds will soon begin to deliver airdrops immediately as you exit the booth. This is a small tweak that leads to a far better understanding of how Lightning Rounds operate and increases the efficiency of play overall. Because let’s face it, a Lightning Round without a free air drop is more of a static shock.
Combo Breaker: Stagger Returns
Greetings Contestants!
It’s April and we’re thawing from a winter freeze and feeling the excitement of sunshine and new potential. Earlier this month we leaked a little bit of info about what’s to come with The Culling, and we weren’t fooling.
What’s old is new again, and what’s new is newer than ever before.
Point blank: Stagger is back.
[Servers will be down on Wednesday April 26th at 8AM EST and maintenance will continue for up to four hours.]
But that’s not all! Along with the Stagger comes a host of new tweaks and variations to help improve the flow of gameplay and return some of the “show” in the game show that is The Culling. Heck, we even went in and threw in a new training mode for good measure!
Many of these changes are based on key feedback from the community and we’re excited to hear what you think about them once they go live!
Until then..
See you in the arena.
Changes
New Combat Mechanics <*>Return of stagger on block: Players are now staggered if they attack a blocking opponent (replaces Weakness and Feeble wounds)
Dev comments: The nature of Weakness/Feeble created scenarios where it was nearly impossible to overcome a HP disadvantage because the Weakened player was capable of forcing damage trades. We want players to have the opportunity to overcome any HP deficit through skillful play- Stagger creates that opportunity.
<*>Stagger duration is now 1.2s (previously 1.7s)
Dev comments: The original rationale for replacing stagger with Weakness was that at nearly 2 seconds, Stagger was disruptive to the flow of a combat encounter, making the action feel stilted and forcing players of all skill levels to spend too much time in a stunned state. Cutting the Stagger duration by half a second makes it feel more like a large hit reaction than an extended stun.
<*>New combo system — allows you to follow up any successful combat action (block, attack, or shove) with an additional action very quickly
Dev comments: Stagger times were previously set to 1.7 seconds in order to give players enough time to capitalize with an attack and avoid a jab-back when the stagger wore off. In order to reduce Stagger time significantly, we need a tool that allows players to avoid an inevitable jab-back.
The new combo system allows a skilled player to punish the Staggered player and transition quickly into a block if they expect a jab-back. This generally increases the skill ceiling for combat by requiring better positioning and timing to capitalize on a Stagger (a fully charged attack is no longer guaranteed), as well as creating new decisions where a players must quickly decide how to combo their actions. A side benefit is that skilled play is rewarded with faster and more responsive combat actions.
New Modes: Offline Survival (Basic and Advanced) Dev comments: This mode was born of a desire to give new and veteran players an offline space where they can develop their skills in an environment that concentrates the action into a fast-paced battle for survival against wave after wave of AI bots. This takes place in a brand-new arena with custom-tailored Culminators.
New Items <*>Lung Butter Stim: Increases stamina pool by 10 points
<*>Hemo Drip Stim: Recovers 5 HP instantly, and an additional 20hp over 20 seconds
Updated Economy for Classic Matches <*>Holospawner contents are now hidden until purchased
Dev comments: Though strategic, previous iteration of Holospawners made it too easy for a player to obtain a gun, with the result that guns were almost guaranteed to appear in most matches. We want Holospawners to represent a bit of a gamble rather than a sure-fire path to a specific item.
<*>Holospawner contents and costs update with each match phase (Early: 50 FUNC, Mid 100 FUNC, Late 200 FUNC)
Dev comments: We want Holospawners to have meaning for everyone throughout the match, rather than only being available to players who’ve accumulated several kills. With the new scheme, there are several viable Airdrop/Holospawner strategies, with a healthy dose of RNG thrown into the mix to keep things interesting.
<*>Airdrop availability is now based on accumulated FUNC (previously required players to to spend their FUNC to call an Airdrop)
Dev comments: The goal here is to encourage use of all economy sinks (Crafting, Health Stations, Holospawners) throughout the match, rather than requiring players to hoard their FUNC in order to access a Late-match Airdrop. The net result is that Airdrops will be more accessible and players will be free to spend their FUNC without worrying how that impacts Airdrop availability.
<*>Recycle values increased for many items
Dev comments: While it’s good to have systems that promote aggressive play (we don’t want everyone hiding in a bush until the end of the match), we think the early match scavenging process is an important part of the game that needs to offer real value in terms of pursuing an expensive Airdrop or Holospawner.
<*>Kills reward 45 FUNC (previously 60)
Dev comments: This goes hand-in-hand with the increased recycle values change. We’re shifting the balance of the economy to be more balanced in terms of rewarding all types of active play, not just killing sprees. <*>Airdrop Costs adjusted (75 FUNC for Utility, 100 FUNC for Mid-Match, 150-200 FUNC for Late-Match, 0 for Bait Crate)
<*>All Airdrops can now be called a maximum of one time
<*>10 Green Crates spawn per classic match (previously 20)
Dev comments: The goal here is to make Tier 2 weapons more valuable in the Early phase of the match due to scarcity. The only way to get a Tier 2 early will be to purchase it in a Holospawner (costs 50 FUNC, not guaranteed) or to find one in a Green Crate (few of them in the match, also not guaranteed).
<*>Green Crates are no longer found inside of buildings
<*>Tier 2 weapons no longer spawn in lockers
<*>Fewer duplicate items found within a building
<*>Buildings offer better consistency in terms of number of items per building, based on size
Updated Match Progression for Classic mode <*>Match events now trigger based on player attrition (with a timer as a backup)
<*>Mid-match event/airdrops begin when 25% of players have died (or after 6:00 elapsed)
<*>Late-match event/airdrops begin when 50% of players have died (or after 9:00 elapsed)
Dev comments: We are confident in our approach to match and weapon progression - every match gets more lethal over time and every tier of weapon is viable, depending on how far the match has progressed. This new system ensures that no matter whether a match is aggressive or passive, Mid- and Late-match Airdrops represent viable choices and the match events are guaranteed to to reward players who successfully participate.
<*>Armor now absorbs 10%, 15%, or 20% of incoming damage, depending on armor type (previously a flat rate of 50%), armor HP remains unchanged
Dev comments: The way armor worked previously almost guaranteed that it would be fully utilized in a single fight, meaning that if you survived a fight but encountered an armored vulture, your HP deficit was magnified. Armor effectively extended your HP pool by a large amount for a single encounter. Armor now has less impact on an individual fight by offering a maximum of 20% damage reduction, and will now typically last over the course of multiple encounters.
Kill Perks are now Reward Perks <*>Kill Another player: Ol’ Painless (+10% damage dealt)
<*>Travel 2000 meters: Big Lungs (+10 stamina pool)
<*>Collect 100 FUNC: Big Big Boned (+10 health pool)
Dev comments: In keeping with the economy changes geared towards promoting activity rather than only rewarding kills, Kill Perks have been refactored.
New Airdrops Added <*>10 new themed mid-match airdrops containing T2 weapons and additional items
<*>9 new themed late-match airdrops containing T3 weapons and additional items
<*>New Input System to provide consistently responsive controls and eliminate bugs related to state changes
Full Controller Support <*>All game menus support controller navigation
<*>Adjustable horizontal/vertical look sensitivity
<*>Horizontal/vertical look axes can be inverted
<*>Adjustable aim sensitivity assist
<*>Adjustable rotational aim assist
<*>Adjustable aim assist lock duration
<*>Dual-zone look sensitivity
<*>Multiple controller layouts
Updated Melee Weapon Balance <*>Damage has been updated for all melee weapons based on the following scheme (note that individual weapons deviate slightly from these values):
<*>Fists, Rocks Sticks: 4-8
<*>Crafted: 4-13
<*>T1: 5-15
<*>T2: 6-18
<*>T3: 7-22
<*>T4: 8-27
Dev comments: With the new combat changes, fights tend to be faster-paced, so this was a good opportunity to revisit weapon damage numbers. We tried to follow a few rules of thumb: Having a weapon provides a tremendous advantage vs. being unarmed. A manufactured T1 has a small advantage over crafted - otherwise crafted is always the go-to choice because it costs less (vs. the recycle value of a T1) and allows you to choose which weapon type you want (no RNG element).
The magnitude of the step from one tier to the next grows with each tier, which helps incentivize going for the next higher tier despite the additional cost. The top damage-dealer of a given tier is never better than the worst damage-dealer of the next tier up, regardless of wounds (the last iteration had some issues with this).
<*>Added several new spots where players can find T1 melee weapons (replaces FUNC piles that randomly spawned with T2 melee weapons)
General <*>Framerate optimizations
<*>Load time optimizations
<*>Major lightning pass including a new filmic tonemapper
<*>Polish and improvements to Survival Island and Cul County Correctional maps
<*>New CHAS voice calls
<*>Increased number of bots in offline matches to 15
<*>Fixed bug where changing user settings would re-apply default settings - often resulting in <*>unintended/undesired graphics settings
<*>Headshots ignore armor
<*>Various bot AI improvements
<*>HUD UI refinements
<*>Crafted Explosives are no longer available in Lightning Rounds
<*>Fixed display bug with hours played on profile screen that caused it to reset after 24 hours
<*>Fixed several stability issues that could lead to crashes or hangs
Improved character hair visuals
<*>Drop My Bridges now awards a random airdrop (previously allowed a player to call their airdrop for free)
<*>Backstab bonus damage has been removed by default, Brutus perk now grants a +25% bonus (previously +50%)
Dev comments: With the new combo system, backstabs typically allow for multiple hits to land quickly, which serves as a built-in bonus.
<*>Lightning Mode Airdrops adjusted to remove guns and explosives from several drops
Dev comments: Lightning Rounds are meant to be a fast-paced alternative to Classic matches, with a few novelty Airdrops that really shake things up from time to time. A large proportion of the Lightning Airdrops contained a gun and/or an explosive, which meant that too many Airdrops had the “novelty” flavor. We’ve adjusted a handful of them so that the overall list is a little more traditional.
<*>Replaced temporary Airdrop landing pad music
Filters Hotfix #100052
Greetings Contestants!
We’ve just pushed a patch that enables filtering of game modes.
By default, “Quick Play” will queue you for all available modes, but the Queue Filters available from the Play menu will allow you to set preferences for Solo vs. Teams and Classic vs. Lightning. When options are Green in the UI it means you’re willing to queue for those modes. Black means those modes are filtered and you will not be put in those matches.
Be aware that the matchmaker will always respect your filters, meaning you will not be placed in games that don’t match your preferences. Fewer filters will generally mean faster queue times.
Changes <*>Queue Filters are now active - players can choose to filter solo/teams and classic/lightning
<*>Fixes to allow matchmaker filters to work properly with the new back-end matchmaker system
<*>Tanto knife now properly behaves as a ** speed weapon (previously behaved as a *** speed weapon)
<*>Classic matches will now start with as few as 8 players in the queue (previous minimum was 12 players to promote more timely queues.
Patch: Acquitted on all Charges #99828
Greetings Contestants!
Spring has officially sprung and new life is beginning to bud. That means that change is afoot, and The Culling isn’t excluded in nature’s plans. There are a lot of exciting things coming to the island in the near future and hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out the latest Roadmap Update.
This week’s patch is no exception. Contestants can look forward to a multitude of improvements at all levels of gameplay and we’re beyond thrilled to share them with the cullmunity.
Servers will be down on Wednesday March 22nd at 8AM EST and maintenance will continue for up to four hours.
With that said there is one thing we need to address. With any change comes a certain level of uncertainty. We’ve run into some last-minute bugs while implementing the filtering system. Rather than pushing these live in this state, we’ll be working on them for a little bit longer to make sure the system works as close to intended as possible once live.
This means that Filters will be released after this patch. We do not predict a long wait and we will keep you updated in the coming days as to the highly-anticipated feature’s arrival.
On the bright side, much like BShar at a donut eating contest, we were able to cram a few more items into this patch than we expected.
We’re looking forward to seeing the reception to these new changes and look forward to reading your constructive feedback.
See you on the island!
Changes
Combat
<*>Charged melee attacks can no longer be charged indefinitely. Charged attacks execute automatically. There is an Overcharge period during which an attack can be held after it is fully charged. This period varies based on a weapon’s speed rating:
<*>Fast (***) weapons execute the attack immediately after reaching full charge
<*>Normal (**) weapons have an Overcharge period of 0.2s
<*>Slow (*) weapons have an Overcharge period of 0.5s
Dev comments: The ability to hold a charged attack indefinitely led to stalemate situations where one player held a charged attack while the other held block. The charged attack state (coupled with the ability to quickly cancel into a block) was incredibly powerful - a brief mistake by a blocking opponent could be punished heavily. Why are we forcing the attack to execute once it has been initiated? Using the rock, paper, scissors paradigm, it’s important that players commit to an action when they take it. The system includes a minimum block time and a long shove animation so that players who take those actions are at risk if they made the wrong choice. Attacks are no different. If you choose to charge an attack, you’re taking a risk and your opponent deserves the opportunity to capitalize on a mistake. Our goal is for the neutral state to be the default during combat - forcing players to make predictive and reactive decisions based on their opponent’s patterns and actions. An added benefit of this change is to make weapon speed ratings more meaningful in terms of combat mechanics.
<*>Melee attacks can no longer be canceled by blocking.
Dev comments: While many players enjoyed the ability to cancel an attack into a block (and subsequently into a shove), this mechanic contributed to the power of the charged attack state. Attacks can still be canceled by switching weapons, but that leaves the player vulnerable. This change improves the value of blocking and makes charging an attack against a neutral opponent more risky.
<*>The duration and intensity of the “micro-stagger” imparted at the start of a Weakness or Feeble wound has been increased
Dev comments: In the previous iteration of Weakness/Feeble, a blocked player could reliably turn and run from the blocker without taking damage from a follow-up attack. This meant that successfully blocking an attack did not create an adequate window of opportunity for the blocking player. Our goal with Weakness and Feeble is for the blocking player to have a meaningful advantage - they can disengage from the fight, they can land a charged attack (that partially bypasses the Weakened player’s block), or they can read the opponent’s actions in the hopes of successfully shoving or blocking them again.
<*>Volume of melee attack charging sound has been reduced
Dev comments: Without the ability to hold a charged attack to pursue a backstab against an unaware player, we chose to reduce the volume of this sound effect. If a player is crafting, looting a FUNC barrel, or recycling, it should be possible to charge your backstab in close proximity without giving away your presence.
<*>Being struck with a thrown item causes a brief stun
Dev comments: This functionality was present for quite some time but was removed several patches ago. Based on community feedback we’ve reintroduced it - the goal is to allow a chasing player to have a skill-based method (i.e. picking up a rock or stick and throwing it) to gain ground against a fleeing player.
<*>Being struck while shoving no longer results in a mini-stagger
Dev comments: This functionality was introduced some time back to combat a trend where players would shove repeatedly. With the current state of combat we do not expect shove spam to be a problem and the mini-stagger was confusing when it happened.
Perks
<*>Leg Day has been removed
Dev comments: Movement speed perks are tricky when so much rides on your ability to maneuver, give chase, or escape. Ultimately we felt that Leg Day was too appealing compared to other Movement Perks and at the same time put players at risk if they chose not to take it.
<*>Speedy Spear now increases sprint speed by 5% (previously 7%)
Dev comments: We’ve brought Speedy Speer’s bonus down to match where Leg Day was previously. Since Spears are relatively weak in the early game (when many players don’t have armor) and carrying a spear gives opponents a clue that you might have a speed advantage, we feel that it’s in a good place.
<*>Dig Deep provides 10HP (previously 20), properly plays sound effect when it triggers
Dev comments: Dig Deep’s ability to mitigate a massive amount of what would have been killing-blow damage and restore player's’ health to the point where they could sustain multiple additional jabs made it compare favorably to the other Survival perks. It is still valuable, but players should now feel extremely vulnerable after Dig Deep triggers.
Airdrops
<*>Early Match Airdrops have been removed (Bait Crate is now treated as a free utility airdrop)
Dev comments: As mentioned in the big picture update, we have several bigger changes coming to Airdrops and match progression, but the removal of Early Match airdrops represents an important first step. The primary goal here is to make scavenging and crafting viable and necessary during the early stages of the match.
Networking
<*>Optimized several systems in terms of the amount of network traffic they were generating
<*>Increased server tickrate from 36 to 65 updates per second
Dev comments: Finding the right balance between new features, bug fixes, and optimization is always tricky, especially for a small team during Early Access. These changes should improve responsiveness of the online experience. It is difficult for us to thoroughly test these changes under the wide range of network conditions experienced in a live environment, so we’re interested to hear from users about their experience with this change.
Misc Changes
<*>Fixed several bugs related to taunting during other actions
<*>Changed default mouse sensitivity to 100 from 200
<*>Changed default FOV to 90 from 74
<*>Fixed discrepancies with wound intensity on throw for some weapons
Big Picture Update: Birthday Edition
Greetings Contestants!
Earlier this month we reached a big milestone: The Culling has been in Early Access for a full year! It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in the last twelve months. With endless hard work from our talented team and unwavering dedication from the community, The Culling has really grown up. Mom would be so proud! Even after 365 days of murder and mayhem, our passion for The Culling hasn’t dulled in the slightest, and we’re thrilled to share a few of our plans for year two.
Without further Mountain Dew...
Xbox One Perhaps the biggest item on the list for 2017 is the Xbox One launch.
Bringing The Culling to a new platform means a whole new audience will get their hands on the game and we couldn’t be more excited to see people bring BR, into the LR. That’s Battle Royale into the living room.
We’ve dabbed. We’re Hip.
Although UE4 makes it relatively easy for us to add a platform, it’s true that some of our attention will be divided moving forward. With that said, we remain dedicated to the PC and continuing to make smart development decisions that benefit the game’s global audience, ensuring that Xaviant team can continue lavishing the community with updates for a long time to come across both platforms.
At this moment we’re still weighing whether to support cross-platform play due to the implications of competing with a controller vs. keyboard/mouse, but full controller support is a feature we know many PC players will be happy to receive. As you can imagine, making the game feel good on a controller is more than just mapping buttons and we think we have a handle on how to let players enjoy both ranged and melee combat using a gamepad.
Invert-able thumbsticks? Check. Dual-zone look sensitivity? Check. Aiming sensitivity and rotation assist? Check. Selectable control scheme presets? Check.
Combat We have a few important changes coming to combat - and they’re coming with the next patch.
The first change addresses the weakness/feeble wounds. After observing the latest combat iteration, we’ve found that skilled players are able to consistently avoid taking damage after receiving a weakness wound, which means blocking still doesn’t offer a significant advantage in combat. We’re upping the intensity of the micro-stagger that accompanies weakness, so that blocking a player’s attack creates a true opportunity to capitalize.
The second change slightly more intense(and still subject to change based on internal playtesting before we put it out in the wild).
At the upper levels of competition, players are taking advantage of the fact that being in a fully charged attack state is tremendously powerful, leading to stalemate scenarios (i.e. one player holds charged attack while the other player holds block) that aren’t fun to play or spectate.
TL;DR: Good players do this weird dance combat that’s as awkward as watching your dad try to both whip AND nae nae.
To address this, we’re no longer allowing players to hold a fully charged attack. Once a melee attack reaches full charge, it will execute automatically. Further, players will no longer be able to cancel an attack by blocking. While this technique can create some interesting moments, it doesn’t fit our overall vision of combat. Charged attacks should be very powerful for capitalizing on an opportunity (i.e. against a staggered or unaware opponent), however, they should also be risky under normal combat circumstances due to a likelihood of being blocked.
Finally, we are removing the non-obvious mini-stagger that occurs if you are struck by an attack while you are shoving. This was implemented some time ago to discourage players spamming shove, but we don’t think it has a meaningful place in the current combat system.
Balance <*>There are a few more balance changes that will be finding their way into the next patch:
<*>Dig Deep will restore 10 HP (instead of 20), properly play SFX when it procs
<*>Leg Day is being removed
<*>Speedy Spear now improves movement speed by 5% (previously 7%)
<*>Duration of the expose wound (imparted by Axes) is now 4 seconds (previously 6 seconds)
Economy and Progression We have quite a few changes planned for the economy and match progression.
<*>Early match airdrops are being removed (this will be included in the next patch)
<*>Airdrop purchasing will be based on FUNC accumulated, not current FUNC balance, meaning you can spend FUNC on crafting and healing without impacting your ability to call your Airdrop
<*>The Airdrop list will be revised heavily to include fun themed options as well as vanilla choices similar to the ones that currently exist
<*>Mid- and Late-match events and airdrops will be triggered primarily by player attrition. Mid-match begins after 4 contestants die, Late-match begins after 8 contestants die. Timers will still be used as backups for slow-moving matches.
<*>Tier 2 weapons no longer spawn in lockers, only found in green crates.
We believe these changes will make Airdrops more accessible and desirable (regardless of the pace of the match) and also ensure that each match has two match events to spice things up.
Under the Hood Although we’re continuing to work on shiny new features and balance work, there’s a lot going on that won’t be visible to the naked eye. We’re upgrading to the latest version of the Unreal Engine (4.15), which brings with it a host of optimizations that should improve load times, memory footprint, frame rate performance, and networking efficiency for many users.
We’ve also done quite a bit of targeted optimization of our client-side network behavior, resulting in a major reduction in the number and size of messages being sent to and from the game servers. This has allowed us to increase our server tick rate substantially, and should provide a better online experience for everyone.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a block or taking an action you didn’t intend? We’ve rewritten our input system to be more robust and eliminate the types of bugs that occur when you switch weapons or change states during combat. Hopefully you won’t feel much of a difference, but you’ll find the controls to be consistently responsive and reliable, just as you’d expect.
New Features The Big House update brought with it lots of new features, and throughout 2017 we hope to introduce many more. Two of the most critical are matchmaker filtering (allowing you to specify teams vs. solo and classic vs. lightning if you choose) and seasonal ranked play.
Matchmaker filtering will be coming with the next patch and ranked play will follow soon after the Xbox One launch. We are also excited to expand our private match feature set to allow more customization and better support of community tournaments.
We’re also excited to experiment with new game modes. We’re even working on a fast-paced offline horde survival mode that’s intended to let novice players hone their combat skills against waves of mandroids and provide veteran players with a challenging diversion.
As we knock out the big features on our list, we’re looking forward to engaging the community about what you’re hoping to see next.
Leaving Early Access The Culling will be exiting the Early Access program in 2017. We don’t have a date to share just yet, but our goal has always been to officially launch the game when it’s ready. For us, Early Access isn’t a permanent label, it’s a phase of our project that we’re using to release The Culling in the best possible form.
That means that the coming months will see lots of polishing and bug fixing as we strive to attain the level of fit and finish we think the game deserves. To that end, we’re working to build a small in-house QA team to help us discover issues, vet community bug reports, and verify our fixes to provide our future updates with a higher level of quality and stability.
Once we exit Early Access we’ll continue to patch and update the game, but those updates will be geared towards adding content, features, and variety, rather than fixing bugs or iterating core features.
The community has been invaluable so far on our Early Access journey and we will continue to rely on your feedback and support as we move forward.
Live Streams In the year that we’ve been in Early Access, we’ve seen the cullmunity create some incredible content. On platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, players have put together montages, hosted tournaments and have even held regular roundtable discussions centered entirely around the game.
Now it’s our turn to return the favor.
We’re excited to announce that starting next week we will be launching weekly Official live streams. Viewers can expect to not only learn more about The Culling as a game, but also get to know the developers behind it and the community that supports it.
We will have more information on this very shortly, so make sure you’re following us on Twitter, Facebook and Twitch for the latest!
Update Schedule So when are all of these changes coming?
The next patch will include matchmaking, combat changes, removal of early airdrops, and a few other balance changes. It should arrive next week (March 22nd). Look for official patch notes as that date nears.
There will likely be one more patch after that before the Xbox One launch. That patch will bring the live PC version up to date with all of the under the hood (Unreal Engine 4.15) and economy / Airdrop / match progression changes detailed above. We’re not ready to estimate a date for that yet.
We will patch the PC again to coincide with the Xbox One launch, and from there we expect ongoing updates every 4-6 weeks, with smaller hotfixes as necessary.
Conclusion The Culling had an amazing first year. Our little team never imagined the response we would get when the game first launched, nor did we fully grasp the magnitude of the task that still lay ahead. This journey has been a wild ride, an unparalleled learning experience, and an absolute joy. You, the cullmunity, have made it possible. We thank you for your passion, your feedback, your kind words, and your uncanny ability to smash, shoot, poison, and slash each other to death.
