The Culling
The Cullclusion Pre-Qualifier Event - Play for a Chance to Win!
There are few things we like here at Xaviant more than a spectacle. As we have our heads down, spilling blood sweat and tears, nothing gets our creative juices going more than a good show.
Since our Early Access launch a special group of contestants have fed our blood lust, putting together exceptional Cullmmunity tournaments with big stakes and real-world prizes. We are proud to reveal that we will be helping to make their next event, The Cullclusion, the biggest and best event yet.
Running from November 18-20th, The Cullclusion will feature the biggest prize pool in a Cullmmunity event to-date and even more prizes are going to be revealed in the future.
Entry is only $2 USD, with proceeds will be going to the Texas Homeless Network, which means that each entry goes to a good cause, helping those in need during the holiday season and beyond.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
For the first time ever, we are announcing a Pre-Qualifier Event.
The Pre-Qualifier is an opportunity to join in for Cullclusion fun by paying in blood, not money.
Every weekend from now until the tournament, you will have a chance to lock down one of twelve slots for VIP entry into the brackets. That’s it. That’s all it takes. A spear through the heart here, an arrow to the head there, and you could be the next contestant on The Cullclusion!
Each weekend leading to The Cullclusion (November 5 & 6 / November 12 & 13) a window will open at 12pm EST and will close at 6pm EST. During this time period, the behavior of contestants who register for the Pre-qualifiers must meet the minimum requirements to be entered in the running:
Minimum Requirements:
-Play at least 10 matches during the time period
-Win at least 1 game
-Get a minimum of 3 kills in a single game
-Sign-Up here with your information
The top twelve performers each weekend will be notified that they have locked in a free entry to Cullclusion, and the dirty dozen will be formed. Just kidding, we know you’re mostly clean. Probably.
Register today, kill tomorrow, and don’t miss your chance to be remembered as a legend forever. The Cullclusion is here.
For more information and to purchase your ticket for The Cullclusion - Click here
To register for The Cullclusion Pre-Qualifiers for free - Click here
You Say “Caltrops,” I say “Cow Traps” #95482
Ghouls are lurking, ghosts are twerking, it’s that spooky time of year we all love and have come to know as Culloween.
After a series of big changes that have set the stage for the future of The Culling, this patch should feel like a gentle tropical breeze by comparison. The highlight of this week’s update is a shift into how caltrops operate. Rather than sending players into a bloody rage, we’ve increased their cost and decreased their bleed so that contestants aren’t screaming bloody murder.
The new patch will be released on Wednesday, October 26th. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for *up to* 4 hours.
Over the past few weeks we’ve made significant advancements with how The Culling plays at all levels and we’re adding several new changes in this week’s patch that continue to enhance the island’s competitive nature. Among other things, we’ve set our sights on improving the balance on ranged weapons, we’ve made Red Crates... crate again, and we’ve tweaked the economy to make sure that the island isn’t being hotboxed by smoke bombs. It can’t be 420 all day every day!
These may seem like small adjustments, but they’re positioning The Culling for bigger and better changes in the near future. Oh, and if you’re a glutton for Early Access punishment, don’t worry, we have big plans in the works for changes to the economy and match progression that aren’t quite ready to roll out.
As always, we are marching tirelessly toward the major update and we’ll let you know as soon as we have more concrete news.
We’ll see you on the island!
EXTRA BONUS SECTION:
The Culling is nothing without the Cullmmunity and we want to thank Amanduuuh38 and everyone who was involved with, and supported this past Sunday’s EU Culloween tournament. Seeing the incredible response to the tournament gets our adrenaline pumping almost as much watching some of The Culling’s top players go head-to-head.
If you missed the fun, you’re awful and you should be ashamed of yourself. BUT WAIT! You can redeem your transgressions November 18-20 when the Cullclusion tournament goes live.
You sign up and get more details on the Cullclusion here.
Balance and Gameplay
Crafted Caltrops
<*>Bleed applied by Caltrops is now * instead of **
<*>Crafting cost is now 6 FUNC (from 4 FUNC)
<*>Crafted Snare cost has been reduced by 2 FUNC to compensate, Blowgun cost remains the same, effectively increasing its total cost by 2 FUNC
<*>Individual caltrops now have 5 hit points (previously 15 hit points)
<*>Caltrops can now be destroyed by stepping on them, even if the player is in the brief immunity period after triggering one
<*>Reduced individual caltrop count to 12 (from 15)
Dev comments: We love that players love using caltrops, but they are frustrating to deal with in certain situations. We’ve made several adjustments with the expectation that they will remain useful, but won’t pack quite as much punch and will be easier to clear from an area.
Red Crates
<*>Adjusted placement of some Red Crates and Explosive Barrels to prevent cases where they could spawn extremely close to each other
Red Crates now contain the following:
<*>Tier 3 melee weapons
<*>Guns (with half a magazine of ammunition)
<*>Compound Bow (with no arrows)
<*>Reinforced Crafted Armor
<*>Hemo Blast stim
Dev comments: Although finding a Tier 4 melee weapon in a Red Crate was rare, it had the potential to dramatically change a match. We’ve guaranteed that the minimum time needed to open one will be a bit longer (requiring you to search farther for an Explosive Barrel). The contents will always be useful (especially if you open one early in a match), but the small chance of a Tier 4 melee weapon has been removed.
Guns
<*>Zoom of Rifle increased in aimed mode
<*>Rifle hip fire accuracy increased slightly
<*>.357 Magnum aimed accuracy decreased slightly
<*>All guns have a base recycle value of 30 FUNC, but the value is increased if the gun contains ammunition when recycled
Dev comments: We’re pleased with the small bump in popularity guns have seen since the last patch (they are up to an average of 4% of damage dealt in a match, compared to 2% previously). These changes represent minor tweaks for consistency and aren’t meant to have a major influence on gun use.
Bows
<*>Crafted Bow Crafted Ammo costs 3 FUNC for 6 arrows (previously 5)
<*>Compound Bow Crafted Ammo costs 10 FUNC for 6 arrows (previously 5)
<*>Auto Bow recycle value reduced to 20 (previously 25)
<*>Compound Bow recycle value reduced to 25 (previously 30)
<*>Zoom of Compound Bow reduced in aimed mode
Dev comments: Bows have also enjoyed a small increase in use since the last patch. We’ve made a few economy changes related to bows so that recycle values are consistent across tiers of weapons and to reflect the relative firepower of a bow in its arrow crafting cost.
<*>Crafted Smoke Bombs cost 10 FUNC (previously 5)
Dev comments: Increased crafting cost will force players to think a bit harder about making one of these, and will substantially limit their ability to fill a backpack with them.
<*>Alarm Gun ammo can be crafted from rocks (previously explosive barrels)
<*>We have bigger plans in the works for the Alarm Gun, this change is just the tip of the iceberg!
Bug Fixes
<*>Fixed a bug that prevented blocking from being effective against certain ranged weapons
The Battle of the Bowstards #95183
The Major Update is Coming.
As our forefathers have ...fore..told, The Major Update is Coming. As we prepare for its impending arrival, we continue our crusade to address major aspects of the core game, setting the bloody stage for greater things to come.
Last week we overhauled our Perk list. This week we’re casting our gaze on a weapon that has been rumored to be found in different area codes. Bows. That’s right. We’ve got bows, in different area codes.
The new patch will be released on Wednesday, October 12th. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for *up to* 4 hours.
Over the months since launch, we’ve learned a lot about the role bows play on the island. Bows makes up a small but significant percentage of the damage done in The Culling. Just like traps, explosives, and guns, bows can help you gain an advantage before the axes start swinging and the fur starts flying.
A problem we’ve identified is the steep learning curve for bows that prevents many players from using them effectively, while making them an extremely powerful combat tool for those who are able to attain master status.
Our goal with this patch is to close the gap somewhat by making bows easier, more rewarding, and ultimately more fun to use, while preventing them from being the only weapon in a player’s arsenal and maintaining a skilled level of play for experienced players.
In addition to bow rework, we’ve made some tweaks to a few Perks based on the behavior we’ve observed and feedback we’ve received in the last week. We have a couple more big areas to address before we’re ready to devote all of our attention to the exciting new features we have planned for the major update.
Upon its arrival people will tell tales of cold water and chemical combustion.
Until then: Stay tuned.
We’ll see you on the island!
Balance and Gameplay
Bows Balance Changes:
<*>Crosshairs turned on
Dev comments: Some players were already using external means to enable crosshairs, which gave them an advantage that we were unable to mitigate. Rather than leave the rest at a disadvantage, we’ve enabled crosshairs for everyone! Note that crosshairs no longer expand/contract based on movement. This was not an accurate depiction of accuracy.
<*>Arrow velocity increased by 66%, with increased projectile drop from gravity
Dev comments: This change supports the general goal that short- and medium-range targets will be easier for most players to hit. Bow users will not have to lead moving targets as much, but will have to increase elevation compensation at greater range.
<*>Removed bow accuracy penalties
Dev comments: To be Frank, our accuracy system for bows was somewhat disjointed. There was a baseline accuracy modifier, which was intensified by low Stamina and hip fire, making bows somewhat unpredictable. We didn’t have a good way to communicate any of this to players. Since bows rely on projectile physics, they already require more skill than a hitscan weapon does. As such, we have removed all of the artificial accuracy modifiers. Note that built-in animation sway has not been changed.
<*>Blocking reduces damage from arrows by 50%
Dev comments: We’ve effectively made bows more accurate, but our goal is not to shift the focus of the game to ranged combat, so we’re giving players a skill-based method to counter bow users.
<*>Ammo capacity reduced to 12 arrows (from 18 arrows)
Dev comments: To further limit the overall firepower of bows, we’re reducing the maximum arrow capacity to 12. Committed bow users may choose to carry an additional bow, but this requires the sacrifice of an inventory slot, which we think is a fair trade.
<*>Bows no longer apply Bleed wound
Dev comments: The power of the Bleed wound meant that landing a single arrow against a melee opponent could give a bow user a distinct advantage in an ensuing melee fight. Removing bleed means bow users will need to land more hits to deal equivalent damage, which should be easier to accomplish with the accuracy measures we’ve taken.
Bow Damage Changes:
<*>Crafted: 5-10 (from 4-12)
<*>Recurve: 7-14 (from 5-16)
<*>Autobow: 5 (from 6)
<*>Compound: 9-18 (from 7-20)
Dev comments: Uncharged bow damage gets a slight boost and charged damage gets a moderate reduction. We’re now consistently scaling bow damage from from 1-2X based on level of charge, which supports our goal of spacing the tiers a little more clearly.]
Perks Changes:
<*>Removed Stealthy Perk, replaced with Stealthy Shot stim. The stim behaves like the perk did, lasts 2 minutes, and spawns in lockers
Dev comments: with the changes in the last patch, Stealthy distinguished itself with the advantage it offers in terms of sneaking up on your enemy unawares and successfully escaping a fight that isn’t going your way. We like the gameplay Stealthy brings to the table and didn’t want to water down its effects, so we’re moving it to a stim. It requires the Stealthy player to acquire the stim and use it situationally, rather than having it permanently.
Angry Octopus Perk Changes
<*>Smoke Bomb procs once per match (previously 60 sec cooldown)
<*>Smoke Bomb procs below 20 HP (previously below 30 HP)
Dev comments: Angry Octopus also jumped to the top of the perk list along with Stealthy, meaning the island was often difficult to see because of the all the smoke. Based on how effective Angry Octopus is at turning the tide of a fight (offensively or defensively), some rebalancing was in order.
<*>Removed Immunity Perk
LEAN, MEAN CULLING MACHINE! #95035
We’ve entered the month of October, which means running around in the woods wearing a mask is practically a normal thing to do. We know it’s a bit early, but we already have some tricks and treats up our sleeves and we can’t wait to share.
The new patch will be released on Wednesday, October 5th. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for *up to* 4 hours.
This is the biggest patch we’ve done in a while, so we’re offering a bit more explanation than usual. If you’re a fan of brevity, we’re even throwing in a TL;DR:
<*>More than half of the perks have been removed from the game, including anything that has a major impact on combat effectiveness or movement speed.
<*>Melee combat has received an important bug fix for blocking, along with minor timing tweaks to blocking and shoving.
<*>The bleed wound can once again apply to armored opponents. You didn’t like the change in the last patch, so we reversed it.
<*>We increased your movement speed by 10% across the board.
<*>The X-plosive Runs stim now grants you +25% sprint speed, but lasts for 30 seconds.
<*>Your combat actions no longer cost stamina and the Stamina Shot stim has been removed.
<*>All Airdrops are unlocked by default (for now).
<*>Several Airdrops have been removed, and several more have been adjusted, including Sapper.
<*>It’s a lot easier to see things that fall on the ground.
The most exciting change here is to the perk list. We’ve strategically removed 25 perks from the game, including nearly all of the most popular choices.
Why? Frankly, because blanket offensive and defensive boosts are boring. Because a permanent 20% movement speed advantage is too strong to justify. And, because we want fights to be decided on the island, not in the Perk selection menu.
As the major update approaches (no, we don’t have a date to announce just yet) we want The Culling to be in lean, mean fighting shape. There are a few more areas we intend to revisit with upcoming patches, but in the meantime we’re eagerly awaiting the Cullmunity’s reaction.
We’ll see you on the island!
Halloween Hats!
<*>Jack-o-Lantern and Goalie Mask are available to all contestants for a limited time!
Balance and Gameplay
Perks:
Removed the following Perks:
<*>Armorer
<*>Big Boned
<*>
Big Lungs
<*>Bloodbath
<*>Blowhard
<*>Bomb Suit
<*>Chopper
<*>Dig Deep
<*>Disability Insurance
<*>Knuckle-dragger
<*>Leather Hide
<*>Leg Day
<*>Longshot
<*>Maniac
<*>Ol' Painless
<*>Recovery
<*>Red Gunner
<*>Runs with Knives
<*>Sneaky Poker
<*>Speedy Spear
<*>Stunner
<*>Submission
<*>Thick Skin
<*>Tough Mother
<*>Wound Less
<*>Chemist now extends the duration of stims by 25% (previously 100%)
<*>Golden Arm only applies to Spears (previously applied to all weapon types)
<*>Master Crafter no longer provides a damage bonus, but continues to reduce crafting time by 50%
<*>Trapper no longer applies Expose wound, but continues to reduce trap arm and disarm times by 75%
Dev comments: What we’ve found with our old perk list is that if you don’t make the “right” choices (according to whatever the latest meta is) prior to the start of the match, you will be at a disadvantage. Once you’re in a match, it’s difficult to know what advantage your opponent has or how to respond. We’ve concluded that the best thing for The Culling is to move away from perks that simply improve your offense, defense, or movement speed in all situations. Along similar lines, we’ve removed perks that affect stamina and wounds. The following perks remain:
<*>Angry Octopus
<*>Backpacker
<*>Basher
<*>Bow Flexer
<*>Brutus
<*>Cannibal
<*>Chemist
<*>Golden Arm
<*>Immunity
<*>Inhuman
<*>Load Dropper
<*>Man Tracker
<*>Mangler
<*>Master Crafter
<*>Moneybags
<*>Regenerator
<*>Stealthy
<*>Trapper
<*>Base player movement speed increased by 10% (affects all movement modes)
Dev comments: A large proportion of players were using at least one movement speed perk. With those perks out of the equation, the only available boost to movement speed comes from the X-plosive Runs stim. This left us free to increase the base movement speed to allow faster map traversal, which improves the feel of the game.
Stamina:
<*>Combat actions no longer cost stamina (but do pause stamina regeneration briefly)
<*>Reduced intensity of low-stamina screen effect
Dev comments: We like what stamina brings to the table in terms of chase situations (especially with the removal of run speed perks), but many players found it frustrating to try to manage stamina during combat. Stamina management is still a factor, but combat actions will no longer drain your stamina.
Stims:
<*>X-plosive Runs grants +25% movement speed for 30s (previously +15% for 2 minutes)
Dev comments: Enhanced movement speed is extremely valuable in The Culling. We would rather see players use bonus speed strategically in short bursts rather than for sustained periods, so the intensity of this stim has improved to allow for the same max movement speed we had previously, but the duration has been significantly reduced).
<*>Stamina Shot has been removed
Dev comments: To better assess changes to perks, stamina, and X-plosive runs, we’ve removed the Stamina Shot. We never had a properly funny name for it anyway.
<*>Orange Juice improves movement speed for 30 seconds (bonus damage and damage mitigation last for two minutes after OJ is applied), is no longer found in Airdrops.
Dev comments: Orange Juice still offers the benefit of all the other stims at once, but the movement speed element is limited to 30 seconds, just like the revised X-plosive Runs stim.
<*>All Airdrops are now available by default
Dev comments: Our upcoming major update will see changes to Airdrops and how we award them. In the meantime, we know some players are struggling with the current scheme, which can make it very difficult to unlock that one drop you’re looking for. In the interim, we’re allowing all players to access all Airdrops without unlocking.
Airdrop Changes:
<*>Juggler, Pothead, and Hoodlum have been removed
<*>Medic now contains Iron-4-Skin instead of Orange Juice
<*>Stamina Shot has been removed from Survivalist, Lumberjack, and Archer
<*>Sapper now includes 1 Dynamite, 1 Explosive Mine, 1 X-plosive Runs stim (previously included 3 sticks of dynamite and Iron-4-Skin)
<*>Bait Crate now costs 150 FUNC and deals 50 damage (previously 50 FUNC and 25 damage)
<*>Archer now costs 75 FUNC and contains Crude Crafted Armor instead of stims (from 125 FUNC)
<*>Hawk’s Eye now costs 225 FUNC (from 125 FUNC)
<*>Demon Hunter now costs 125 FUNC (from 175 FUNC)
<*>Slugger now contains Crude Crafted Armor instead of X-plosive Runs
Dev comments: Juggler and Hoodlum have been removed, as they were targeted at specific perks that have been cut or modified. Pothead was removed because we no longer offer Orange Juice in Airdrops. Sapper also lands a step down after inspiring rage with its previous dynamite-heavy loadout. We’ve heard several suggestions that we increase the damage done by Bait Crate, so we’re giving that a try as well. It's worth noting that we've decided to start treating the Recurve Bow as a Tier 2 weapon, Auto Bow as a Tier 3, and Compound Bow as Tier 4. This is reflected in where these items spawn and what their Airdrops cost.
<*>Armor no longer blocks application of bleed wound
Dev comments: Prior to the latest patch, blades were dealing far more damage per match than any other weapon type, so we looked at several options to bring them closer in line. We decided to allow armor to block the application of the bleed wound, knowing that bleed is a major factor contributing to the value of blades. While blades have settled comfortably into the #2 position (behind bludgeons) in terms of average damage per match, the community has not embraced the change, so we’re reversing it. We expect that the new changes to perks will have an influence on weapon selection, so we’re eager to see the outcome.
<*>Blocking: Minimum duration increased to 0.5 seconds (from 0.25 seconds)
Dev comments: When we removed the vulnerability to shove during the exit from your block animation in the last patch, it became much harder to shove a player who was repeatedly tapping the block key, which in turn made the “block baiting” tactic more effective. By extending the minimum block duration by a fraction of a second, it will now be possible to react to an opponent’s block with a shove, making block baiting more risky.
<*>Shove: “Time between shots” increased to 0.2 seconds (from 0.1 seconds)
Dev comments: This change effectively extends the overall time of a shove by 0.1 seconds. Shoving an opponent who is not blocking has never been terribly risky because there is very little time for your opponent to punish a missed shove with a jab. By extending the shove time slightly, we extend the window in which an opponent can recognize your failed shove and counter with an attack.
<*>Blowgun
<*>Reduce blowgun damage to 1
<*>Reduce max ammo to 3
Dev comments: We’ve seen some abuse of blowguns by skilled players, so the Blowhard perk has been removed (it allowed the blowgun to deal significant damage). We've also reduced base damage and ammo count.
<*>Increased visibility for all dropped items, including some items that were not receiving any highlight when dropped, such as the Crafted Bow and Crafted Bandage
Dev comments: By popular demand, we’re making it easier to find stuff that falls on the ground. The effect might be a little too intense, but we wanted to err on the side of visibility for this pass.
<*>Compound Bow no longer appears in Holospawners
<*>Default character presets have been updated to reflect changes to perks and Airdrops.
Bug Fixes
<*>Fix for Reinforced Crafted Armor not visibly disappearing after it is destroyed
<*>Fix for issue where First-person block animation can appear to drop before the block has completed in an online match if the block button is tapped briefly
Dev comments: After hearing strong community feedback from the last patch regarding the change we made to blocking, we investigated the mechanic more closely and found this bug. The net effect was that a player who quickly tapped the block key would see their block drop almost instantly, even though the other player would see their block come fully into position for 0.25s and then drop. This bug was leading to situations where players felt they were being staggered by a shove, despite their block not being up.
<*>Fixed cases of explosive barrels that were floating above the ground
CULLMUNITY SECRET - NEW BALANCE PATCH #94599
Change is in the air as the sun begins to set on summer and Speedo season comes to an unfortunate end. But on the island, it’s always Speedo season and the party never stops.
We here at Xaviant know how much the Cullmmunity love gruesome mur...The Culling, and since day one of Early Access we’ve leaned heavily on your feedback.
Like the most well-constructed of banana hammocks, your support goes a long way, that’s why we recently reached out to you to find out some of the key areas that needed addressing, putting together our “top 10 community fix requests” list. Rather than use our own string theories, we opened a direct dialog and hear exactly what you want.
Like Liam Neeson or Santa Claus, we love making lists, we make them all the time. Yet, this one, this list, this one was special because it came from you. And we love you for all of your gruesome gorgeousness.
The new patch will be released on Wednesday, September 21st. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for *up to* 4 hours.
Though we’ve only been able to floss out a few of those issues with this patch, rest assured we’ll be wedging in ever more fixes with future updates.
That covers what’s happening this week, but what about the future? Unlike Frank, when we make promises we keep’em. We’re committed to delivering new content and features throughout Early Access, and we’ve got some very special buns in the oven.
We can’t wait to show you what’s in our drawers.
Until next time!
See you on the island.
Balance and Gameplay
<*>Players are no longer vulnerable to a shove when transitioning out of their block state
Dev comments: Not long ago we removed the “mini-stagger” that would be applied to players if they were shoved as they transitioned into and out of their block state, instead dealing a full stagger. We’ve found that this feels punishing during the outro transition, so players will no longer be vulnerable to shove as they exit their block.
<*>Golden Arm’s bonus scales based on distance from target, with maximum damage applied at 20 meters
Dev comments: Although Golden Arm hasn’t exploded in popularity the way some predicted, it’s still capable of dealing massive damage. To increase the skill requirement, point-blank throws no longer benefit significantly from the bonus. Instead, the bonus damage scales to a maximum of 100% at 20 meters.
<*>Armor prevents bleed wounds from being applied
Dev comments: Blades have been comfortably on top of the heap in terms of melee weapon popularity for several patches. While there are many contributing factors here, one key element is that blades have been nearly as effective against armored opponents as spears as the bleed damage completely bypasses armor. With this change, we’re giving spears a clear advantage against armor. This will also have an impact on bows, but we are working on plans to give more love to bows in the future.
<*>Crafted Smoke Bomb and Angry Octopus no longer apply bleed wound
Dev comments: The blind wound is strong enough (perhaps too strong?) without the additional benefit of bleed.
<*>Blowhard now increases duration of sickness wound by +25% (previously +100%)
Dev comments: Blowhard is now just enough to counter the effects of the recently rebalanced Wound Less.
<*>Blind wound now lasts for 10 seconds (previously 15 seconds)
Dev comments: Crafted Smoke Bombs have seen a recent surge in popularity, likely because it cannot be countered as effectively by Wound Less. We’ve reduced the duration of the blind wound to compensate.
<*>Disability Insurance now grants affected items (Smoke Bomb, Gas Grenade, Pepper Spray, Stun Gun) * Cripple instead of **** Cripple
Dev comments: The cripple wound applied by Disability Insurance was strong enough to guarantee that anyone affected by it was going to have a bad day. The lightest variety of cripple is more appropriate here.
<*>Players can only trigger Punji Sticks (Crafted and Steel) once every three seconds
Dev comments: After fixing several flavors of the “punji stacking” exploit, we’ve decided to approach the issue from a fresh angle.
<*>Teams mode now triggers map shutdown when player count reaches 4 (previously set to 3)
Dev comments: We love teams mode! This community request was straight-forward to address and we are happy to do so. There are more teams mode tweaks in the works.
Bug Fixes
<*>Private lobbies no longer allow more than 16 players to join, players receive a message when lobby is full
<*>Fixed crafting recipe for Backpack + Rock, it now grants Reinforced Crafted Armor instead of Crude Crafted Armor
<*>Tactical Body Armor no longer spawns in lockers
<*>Fixed an audio bug after player dies in poison gas
<*>Fixed inaccurate description of Alarm Gun
<*>Fixed inaccurate description of Stamina Shot
<*>Fixed issues with consistent naming for Crude Crafted Armor, Reinforced Crafted Armor, and Tactical Body Armor
<*>Performance optimization for one of the Cullmination versions, may have triggered framerate slowdowns in some situations
Putting the D in Defense #94107
Labor Day weekend couldn’t keep us from laboring over another exciting patch for you, even if we’ve accidentally gotten it sticky with barbecue sauce in the process.
In the past we’ve focused mostly on better ways for you to hack, stab, punch, and shoot your way to victory over your fellow contestants, but this time we’re taking a different tack. We’re giving you new tools that will let you withstand more abuse, without making early-match encounters last too long. Want better armor? Craft some if you’ve got the FUNC. Want more hit points? Take this pen thingy and jam it in your arm for a few seconds, it’s as easy as that! Want an armored tank you can drive around the island while you sip refreshing iced tea? We think that would be cool too, but we ran out of time.
See you on the island.
Balance and Gameplay
Armor Changes
<*>Crafted Body Armor now costs 15 total FUNC, provides 20 HP of protection
<*>New: Hardened Crafted Armor costs 45 total FUNC (recipe is Crafted Body Armor + Rock or Backpack + Rock), provides 40 HP of protection
<*>Body Armor now provides 60 HP of protection, found only in Holo Spawners, Air Drops, and Red Crates
<*>All armor now absorbs 50% of incoming damage
Dev Comments: We have a clear offensive progression in place, where players work to find stronger weapons throughout a match, but until now, defensive options have been limited. Basic crafted body armor is now a bit cheaper, but also less effective. A new tier of Reinforced Crafted Armor has been added, and Body Armor has been improved, but no longer appears in lockers or Green Crates. We hope this will also improve the popularity of Spears, which have stayed below Blades and Bludgeons for some time.
<*>New Hemo Blast stim: Increases health pool by 10 HP and heals for 10 HP when applied. Found in Holo Spawners, Red Crates, and medicine cabinets
Dev comments: Along the same vein as the armor changes, the Hemo Blast gives players another avenue to improve their defense over the course of a match. These are effectively Big Boned in stim form, and they can be stacked. They are fairly rare and it's unlikely you’ll find more than one in a match, if that.
<*>Expose wound for Axes now applies +10%, +20%, or +30% for *, **, and *** (previously +10%, +15%, and +20%)
Dev comments: Axes have spent a couple of cycles at the bottom of the popularity scale in terms of melee weapons, but this change will ensure that they are capable of landing devastating hits, even against these newly armored targets.
<*>Queued Player Count UI. When queued for a match, you now see how many other players are currently queued in the same region / game mode
Dev comments: During off-peak hours this feature should help players determine whether a match is imminent when they queue.
<*>Pressing Space Bar in Spectate mode selects the nearest player (in solo and private matches)
Dev comments: This is intended to make it easier to spectate a fight by switching between the two players involved, rather than cycling through all the living players in the match.
<*>Wound Less perk now reduces duration of all wounds by -25% (previously -50%)
Dev comments: Wounds play a big part in the game and Wound Less is guaranteed to be useful in any match. So useful, in fact, that it’s the most popular perk among winning players! We think it will still be useful at half strength.
Gas Changes
<*>The gas iris no longer closes in after reaching the “Standing Room Only” phase
<*>The gas iris becomes progressively more deadly the longer you stay in it
Dev comments: In competitive play situations, a popular strategy was to focus on living in the gas longer than other remaining players. These changes make this strategy less viable. Fight!
<*>Dynamite no longer spawns in the central Holo Spawners
Bug Fixes
<*>Fixed a bug that allowed players to avoid falling damage under certain conditions
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The Big Picture: Roadmap Update - A Well-rounded Arsenal
It’s time for us to cuddle around the bonfire, make s'mores and to talk about some of the additions making their way to the island in the near future in the latest entry of our Big Picture series.
In the wonderful world of The Culling, our island is your playground. But, what playground is ever complete without a bunch of toys?! Adult toys! No not those adult toys, the ones that wound, puncture and cause excessive bleeding! Wait, those might be the same thing… We mean weapons!
Our slave.. elves have been hard at work in the Cullco warehouse making all kinds of goodies for you good little boys and girls and we thought it was time to show them off.
Gallery
Introducing the Camp Hatchet, Pike, Survival Axe, Yari and our personal favorite - the Pitchfork (it’ll really fork you up)!
The inclusion of new weapons not only gives contestants more options to take out their opponents, but will also mean rounding out the current arsenal. Some existing weapons will also shift in tier and overall availability - meaning that there will be more balance among the different types. For example, these changes create a tier 1 for each weapon type that can be found in lockers as well as two tier 2 and tier 3’s that can be found in green crates, red crates and airdrops.
In a previous post we also did our best to peel off the layers and to show off some of our weapons skins . Well, we’re not ready to show off everything, that costs extra, but we wanted to talk a little bit more about how they’ll work.
Screenshots
Weapon skins are selected similarly to Character Customizations, which you may know from our pre-game, totally not virtual doll, dress up simulator.
Once unlocked and equipped, if you find one of the weapons you have skinned in the game, the skin will be applied for the rest of that match. If you’re killed or if you’re weapon is stolen it retains the skin you applied to it for the rest of that match. And yes, that does mean that for the rest of the match people will be running around wearing your skin - a creepy but strangely exciting fact.
How does this happen you ask? What’s the logic behind persisting weapon skins? Good ol’ nanites, you should see how fast they can paint a house. Hint, it’s faster than Frank that’s for sure. HURRY UP FRANK THIS ISN’T A UNION JOB.
Ahem.. sorry about that.
Back on track, these are just a small piece of what we have in store for the major updates ahead. We are always excited to share the amazing stuff we’re working on and we want to thank you for your patience and support. Our goal is to deliver the content that both The Culling and the Cullmmunity (no, we’re never going to stop calling it that) what it deserves.
We’re a small team and we know that some of the bigger things may take some time, but we promise it’ll be worth the wait!
Until next time contestants,
See you on the island!
YOU AXED - WE LISTENED #93811 *update live
Summer may be slowly coming to a close, but there’s no time for rest and relaxation on the island. We’re sweating our… coding fingers.. off, as we’re putting together a whole slew of shiny new additions and features that will make The Culling more thrilling, more adrenaline-filled, and more buzzwords that basically mean even more fun!
While those tasty treats are baking in Frank’s (non trademark infringing but easy to use) oven, we’re also watching you play and listening to the incredible #Cullmmunity feedback. It’s not creepy, we swear. We do it for the better of the game. But make no mistake, we’re always watching.
Our latest update will arrive on Wednesday, August 24th. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for *up to* 4 hours.
Contestants can expect to see significant tweaks and improvements to the core gameplay. Axes have a new lease on life, explosions are no longer insta-wins, and guns take longer to pull out - requiring players to use safer combatraseptives.
We hope that these changes will bring some more action to the island and we’re excited to see you duke it out. Remember, we’re watching. Always.
See you on the island!
Balance and Gameplay
<*>Base damage of Axes increased by a small amount; duration of Expose wound decreased to 6 seconds (from 20 seconds)
Dev comments: Axes now offer a slight advantage in terms of maximum damage potential (when exploiting their Expose wound) compared to the other weapon types, but the duration of the Expose wound has been reduced significantly, meaning that the benefits of Expose will no longer be guaranteed in a given melee exchange. We expect this will increase the viability of axes somewhat as well as making the Expose wound more interesting to use (and counter). Will axes fully return to their former glory? Time will tell.
- Crafted Hatchet: 6-17 (10% Expose)
- Ice Axe: 7-23 (10% Expose)
- Cleaver: 8-22 (15% Expose)
- Tomahawk: 7-25 (15% Expose)
- Fireman’s Axe: 9-29 (20% Expose)
<*> All weapon- and trap-applied Cripple wounds now last 5 seconds (previously Cripple * and Cripple ** lasted 10 seconds and 7 seconds, respectively); Explosives now apply Cripple * instead of Cripple ***
Dev comments: In a previous effort to make Bludgeons more appealing, we buffed multiple aspects of the Cripple wounds. This was effective at making Bludgeons (and the Stunner Perk) more popular, but long-duration impairing effects are frustrating for players and make the Wound Less Perk feel like a necessity for many. Explosives are powerful enough without the added benefit of a strong Cripple wound, so they now apply the weakest Cripple.
<*>Dig Deep now restores 15 HP when taking fatal damage (from 20HP)
Dev comments: Dig Deep went from being one of the most popular perks (when it restored 25HP) to one of the least popular (when we reduced it to 15) and then shot back to the top when we found the middle-ground at 20HP. We give up! We’re not going to set it to 17.5HP (we discussed it, it would be silly), so we’re putting it back to 15 HP.
<*>Equip time for guns has been extended
Dev comments: Some intrepid players have become adept at utilizing melee combat stagger window as an ideal time to equip guns and score easy hits. We’ve extended the equip time for guns to make this more difficult.
<*>Dynamite maximum damage reduced from 80 to 75
Dev comments: Dynamite has always been very strong. It is now slightly less strong.
<*>Remote Explosives maximum damage reduced from 95 to 75
Dev comments: We’ve repeatedly found that one-shot-kill weapons generate more frustration on the part of the victim than they provide satisfaction to the killer. Especially given that these can be found in green crates, we’ve decided to reduce their damage.
<*>Maximum throw damage for Javelin and Tomahawk has been increased (to 21 and 24)
Dev comments: We have a soft spot for Golden Arm, despite the perk being tricky to balance. Our last set of changes saw Golden Arm fall out of favor. We’re hoping that boosted throw damage for these weapons will see it make a small comeback.
<*>Slightly reduced melee action queuing windows
Dev comments: We made another small tweak to the melee action queuing windows to avoid cases where a player inadvertently executes one action when they intend another.
<*>Queues in NA and EU have been optimized to begin with 12 players during non-peak hours, an increase from the previous 8.
Bug Fixes
<*>Fixed a case where a player would not be fully staggered when shoved from the front while blocking
Dev comments: The “mini-stagger” is a stop-gap solution we implemented for cases where a player is shoved while blocking but the default stagger backwards animation would not be appropriate (i.e. the player is shoved from the side or back). We recently discovered that mini-staggers could be triggered from the front.
With this change, whenever a player is shoved from the front while in their block state, they will now be subject to a full stagger. As always, we appreciate the community sharing captured footage to bring issues like this to our attention!
<*>Chopper and Basher Perk description text now properly reflects that they reduce throw charge time in addition to melee charge time
<*>Golden Crowbar prototype is gone. We mean it this time!
Patch Incoming: Mantracker Gets the Runs, New Meta-Altering Update! #93315
If you’ve read our previous Big Picture blog post - and if not, go do that now- you know that we have some MAJOR features in the works that we won’t be ready to release just yet, but are excited for nonetheless.
Yet, we couldn’t live with ourselves if we didn’t continue to update. To beat the summer heat, we’ve been devoting a lot of attention to bugs and game balance, and we are already finishing up a new patch. Highlighted by a complete rebalancing of The Culling’s arsenal, the new patch will have a significant impact to the current state of the game.
So let’s get this out here right away:
This update will arrive on Wednesday, August 10th. Servers will be down starting at 8AM Eastern for up to 4 hours.
Our goal is to become even more transparent with our updates and their schedules. We want to continue to do Early Access right, and that means shining some light into the present and the future of The Culling.
While our Big Picture post was a good start, it doesn’t necessarily reflect everything in the pipeline and you can expect to hear more news, regularly, at TheCulling.com very soon!
You can read about all the Patch changes HERE.
See you on the island!
July Lightning Update Today! #92896
We’re dropping a big update today. In additional to the usual boatload of balance changes, we’re adding an all new game mode. Lightning Rounds pit 8 contestants against one another. Everyone has the same perks and Airdrop, and that airdrop is available from the start of the match (there is a landing pad at each start location). This is the most fast-paced, aggressive version of The Culling you’ve ever seen! Lightning Rounds are also a great way to unlock Airdrops you may not have already, including the new Hawks Eye, which provides a faster way to guarantee yourself a Compound Bow.
Servers will be down starting at 10AM Eastern for up to 4 hours.
You can read about all of the changes here .