In preparation of the coming release of Heavy Duty DLC (which you can wishlist now) we are pushing version 1.2.0.0 out on the main branch today.
In one of the dev logs back in 2022, I hinted at a possiblity of us releasing a small DLC that would contain some important mechanics that we originally planned for a bigger DLC that would follow after Expedition. These mechanics were the new weapon types. As I said then, instead of making this large DLC we decided to move on to Infusion and basically rework the entire engine.
However, we didn't want to just leave those out permanently. While I was busy working on the new engine, along with the 3D artists, I decide to have the level/quest designers, who could not do any substantial work in the new engine yet anyway, work on a short, but unique, side-mission that we could then package with the weapons as a smaller DLC.
That way we could freshen up the game without disrupting the work on Infusion significantly. Granted, it did take some of my development time to code the new weapons (because at that point we only had the spritesheet renders) as well as some of the artists' time when creating the new tilesets. However, the majority of the work was done by the two level designers that had time to spare anyway.
So I hope you all enjoy the new weapons, I found them very fun during testing, as well as the new adventure. I can now confidently say that this is probably maybe the last big content update to the game until we're finished with Infusion. Of course, there's still the question of improved Steam Deck support and localization tools. Also it wouldn't hurt to add a couple more unique weapons, spears in particular...
Anyway, here is the list of changes in this patch. It does not include the DLC stuff that's coming later.
Features
New seasonal events
Items
Increased the cost of Hexogen
Scopes, crossbow superstring, pneumatic reloader and laser sight are now stackable
Praetorian heavy armor acid resistance changed to 0% / 5 (down from 20% / 10). This was a mistake, regular metal armors have minimal fixed acid resistance
Praetorian heavy armor health bonused changed to 35 (up from 20)
Reduced the mechanics required for a number of different gun barrels (7.62, 8.6, .44, 12.7)
Increased durability of TT 3000 from 690 to 2220, and Balor's Hammer from 1770 to 3570
NPCs
Rathound King and What now have custom combat taunts
Doctor Merrick will now treat injured players
Gorsky is now immune to fear
[Expedition] Becket will now sell spears and offer them as a reward; also, he will now always buy some medical items per restock (was random before)
Tweaks:
Reduced the spread angle for assault rifle/SMG bursts
Echoing Soliloquy persuasion buff will now work a lot more reliably on higher difficulties
Tchortlings will now despawn (go back to their wretched holes) if the player returns to Hollow Earth zones without being affected by the Eye of Tchort debuff
Protectorate Dreadnought's minigun now behaves like a proper minigun; also, the shoot rocket ability's AP cost has been reduced from 30 to 20, whereas cooldown has been increased from 2 to 3 turns
Bugs
Item macro stacking (1000 = 1k, 1000000 = 1m...) will now properly work with the new UI settings (was Classic-only)
Fatal Throw should no longer provide any benefit when throwing acid vials
Fixed the UI bug with certain vehicle slot background icons in some UI sizes
Updated HARP rocket explosion to use the same sprites as High Explosive grenades, instead of the old one
Commando will no longer trigger when destroying inanimate objects
Certain special acid attack will now count towards "Acid Trip" achievement
Fixed being able to tell Lt. Garren that a certain sneaky person is located somewhere despite the fact that he isn't
Fixed Leo sometimes not leaving his hiding place properly and thus not being accessible for the rest of the playthrough
Fixed Epione Lab cameras sometimes tracking the player despite them having been allowed access by the front guard
Fixed Gorsky staying in Tanner's office even after certain events that should prevent their conversation from happening have taken place
Fixed being able to pickpocket femurs from hunchback mutants
Fixed certain Mushroom Root parts being selectable from outside of the actual sprite
Fixed thrown oil barrels doing acid damage on direct impact
Fixed being able to daze machines while under the influence of Scrapperac
Fixed the game not acknowledging you had paid for the Wormhole access if you did so through a mercantile check
Fixed Tchortling Sower Tentacles sometimes dropping their bio attack weapon items for the players to pick up
Fixed SRO assault squad not returning to home base upon victory
If the player manages to survive the electric shock and subsequently kill the other runners in the Gauntlet's final area, they will no longer be able to enter other lanes and go out of bounds
Buying drapes for your house will now properly remove 300 charons from inventory (as stated in Jyles' dialog) instead of 350
Death of reclined characters lke the wounded sec-trooper will no longer be displayed as destruction in the text feed
minor dialog/zone fixes - [Expedition] Fixed not being able to disembark at a destroyed wall section in Port Ceto during certain events
[Expedition] Updated Elemental Bolts feat description to include energy bolts. The text remains the same for the base game, as it does not feature this kind of bolts
[Expedition] Fixed the camp defense quest note not being marked as completed in certain situations
[Expedition] Fixed not always getting extra xp for doing the final pirate mission solo (and some other minor dialog inconsistencies)
[Expedition] Fixed Ladelman not selling vehicle repair kits
[Expedition] Fixed quests related to joining the expedition not always being marked as failed when the ship returns to the Black Sea without the player
[Expedition] Fixed a broken electronics check when attempting to fix an Abandoned Waterways Facility console
[Expedition] Fixed not getting a bonus for revealing a certain threat to the expedition
[Expedition] Fixed behavioural issues with Ladelman and Doc Savage when they join the camp defenses at the beach
[Expedition] Fixed a broken option to call for reinforcements during kidnapping negotiations
[Expedition] Fixed the respawning jet ski in Abandoned Waterway Facility
[Expedition] Fixed The Rig guard dogs engaging players riding jets skis (will occasionally growl at them only)
[Expedition] Fixed junk jets taken from members of a few factions still displaying red/protected cursor
[Expedition] Room 3 at The Rig will no longer display red/protected cursor even if Murky gave you its key
[Expedition] A certain persuasion option will no longer break Todd's dialog
minor dialog/zone fixes
That's it for now, guys. Look out for the DLC coming November 1st!
Cheers.
Announcing Underrail: Heavy Duty DLC
Hi guys,
It is our pleasure to announce a second DLC called "Underrail: Heavy Duty."
This DLC focuses primarily on three new weapon types - light machine gun and minigun, both of which fall under a new skill called Heavy Guns, and grenade launcher which is a part of the existing Guns skill. These weapons will add a number of new interesting play styles.
In addition to this, the DLC will feature a high-level side-mission that is designed to provide a challenge to Underrail veterans. You'll be pitted against one of the most formidable fighting force in Underrail. On higher difficulties, especially, this mission will serve as an ultimate test of your particular build.
That's it. The DLC is out November 1st, but you can wishlist it now.
Cheers.
Limited Edition Rathound Plushie
Hey guys,
We've partnered up with Makeship to produce bespoke Rathound plushies that can be yours for the low price of $27.99. This is once in a lifetime opportunity and, unfortunately, all unpurchased rathounds will have to be fed into Organic Processor, so your money is actually going to a good cause - to give one of these Biocorp mishaps a home.
Here's the link: https://www.makeship.com/products/rathound-plush
Cheers,
Styg
Dev Log #72: Steam Deck Preparations
Hi guys,
Today we're pushing the 1.1.5.6 version to the main branch. If you missed the original release on experimental, you can check out the previous dev log, as well as subsequent patch notes, to see what's it all about.
Next week we're going to release an update that will be focused around making the game functional on Steam Deck and Proton in general. The game might still not be as comfortable to play on Steam Deck as we are not going to implement a specialized UI or gamepad controls right now. That's a bigger undertaking that will have to wait until I've cleared some of my Infusion development schedule.
But, while it might not be the best hand-held experience, the game should still be completely functional on Steam Deck. I've fixed the outstanding issues with Proton in regards to the slowdown (which should now make the game fully playable on Linux) and have implemented an on-screen keyboard to be used in few places where textual input is required.
Another big change that will be coming with the next update is support for Steam Cloud, which should be able to function with the game now as it's quite a bit more generous in regards of storage space than back when we originally considered it. That said, if you're like me and make a lot of separate save files, you might want to trim your Save folder if you intend to use this feature.
That's it for now, guys.
Cheers.
Dev Log #71: New Year's Resolution
Hi guys,
Today we're releasing our last major free content update for Underrail. It's been just a bit over six years since the full release of the base game, and I think that's a nice and round number to rest at. After this we're going to transition to working at about 95% of our collective capacity on our next project known under codename Infusion. You can see what's this project about and follow its development here: stygiansoftware.com/infusion. We should start posting dev logs there more regularly soon.
However, this does not mean that we're completely done with this game. We intend to support it as long as we exist as a company and also periodically release small content updates which will mostly feature mechanical tweaks, as well new items and abilities. We have quite a robust system for creating interesting items at this point, which we intend to use to further extend Underrail's playstyle catalogue so to speak.
Also we have some bigger features planned for the future, such as better adapting the game's UI and controls to Steam Deck, creating tools for community translation projects, potentially porting the game to other platforms, and more.
Another distinct possibility is an additon of a small paid DLC for Underrail, as there are some substantial gameplay mechanics that we initially planned to add in the second DLC (following Expedition), but were left in a state of limbo after we decided to move onto Infusion instead.
Exactly when any of these things will come about, I do not know. They will mostly require me to spend my programming time on them, which I will not have much to spare as Infusion is going to occupy most of it in the coming years. So don't expect rapid progress in any of the things mentioned above.
Before I hit you with all the bullet points, here's an important notice: due to the nature and quantity of changes made, the update will first be deployed onto the Experimental branch.
To play experimental branch on Steam, you right click the game in your library and go to "Betas" tab. Make sure you don't override all your live version saves just in case something goes horribly wrong.
Now, without further ado, here's the list of changes and additions that come with this update, minus the secret stuff, of course:
MAJOR STUFF
Implemented, new slightly visually touched up, UI that is available in 3 sizes; classic UI still available
The game will now automatically be zoomed on higher resolutions (which can then be changed through manual zooming if it's enabled)
Introduced a brand new Core City questline as an alternative to joining an oligarch
Improved nearly all unique and some rare weapons and armor - go check them out
You can refurbish your old world firearms at one of the firearm enthusiasts
Characters can now save up to 10 action points at the end of their turn and add those to their next turn
Base ability values are no longer capped at 20, but instead the maximum bonus on top of the base value that you can accumulate is 10
UI
Implemented borderless windowed display mode
Item's special abilities/attacks will now have icon in the item's tooltip next to the description
Fixed character's speech bubble and health bar offsets when zoomed in
Zooming step changed to 25% (down from 50%)
Added an option to follow the player character (default hotkey: F3). This is kind of an experimental feature, so be sure to let me know if you discover any bugs
Feats
Opportunist - description now specifies it only works against living targets
Pummel - will now list the action point cost
Fend - Base action point cost changed to 60% of normal attack ap cost (down from 100%)
Specializations
Fend: Action Point Cost - Ap cost reduction per point changed to 8% (down from 10%)
Items
Item effects (such as poisons and gun oil) will now display a small icon in the corner of the parent item
You can now use poisons to coat suitable melee weapons if you have the required Biology skill level; the poisoned weapons will then apply that poison in a certain number of attacks; you can coat a weapon with only one poison at a time
Added Sharpening Stone - Can sharpen a bladed melee weapon, increasing its damage by 10% for the next 30 strikes, but permanently reducing its max durability by 5%
Added Firecracker Cap item enhancement that can be applied to sledgehammers and crowbars to cause an explosion on the next hit
All-in now decreases intelligence by 3 instead of increasing it
Commando Belt moved to static loot
[Expedition] Frogfish biology requirement changed to 50 (up from 25)
[Expedition] Add a new unique spear and sword that can be found before going to Black Sea
Ammo
W2C bullets now ignore 35%-45% of mechanical damage resistance depending on bullet caliber (down from fixed 65%), threshold interaction remains he same
5mm Shock Round - Damage changed to 8-15 (up from 5-10) and now has 3% chance to daze target for 1 turn
7.62mm Micro-shrapnel Round - The damage that penetrates the armor is increased by 25% against organic targets
8.6mm Incendiary Round - Now also deals 10-20 heat damage on impact
9mm Acid Round - Acid damage changed to 15-30 (up from 10-20)
.44 Explosive Round - Heat and mechanical explosion damage changed to 23-45 (up from 15-30)
Crafting
Steel and tungsten plates requirement is now capped at 30 mechanics when crafting bullets
W2C Bullets blueprint now requires hexogen instead of raw tnt and produces 20 bullets (down from 30)
JHP Bullets blueprint now produces 20 bullets (down from 30)
Changed enriched health hypo critical chance to 10% (up from 5%)
Large intestine biology requirement changed to 45 (down from 50)
Taurine biology requirement changed to 45 (down from 50)
Anglerfish biology requirement changed to 90 (down from 100)
Fusing Enzyme biology requirement changed to 90 (down from 100)
Quests/Zones/NPCs
Increased t-boss health on dominating difficulty, and his damage resistance on all difficulties
Expanded upon Motion and Motioners; this drug is now both better and worse
You can now bring Gorsky high-quality energy shields from other sources as an alternative to raiding Port Zenith
Added an agility check that allows you to climb up and down between the Caerus Residential Block square and SW building second floor
Added fireplaces to certain locations in Deep Caverns
Added a hacking check to Cytosine Outpost storeroom
Added more hydraulic fluid canisters to Deep Caverns
Certain gate components can now be found at multiple locations in Deep Caverns
You can now use electronics skill to optimize Arke power plant turbine output for more total power
A certain important encounter with the Faceless will now feature some of them having their infusions active from the start (only on Dominating difficulty)
Added an extra Thought Control check to the DC mindreading that allows the player to conceal his mischievous behavior
You can now bring super steel refining data to Bernard in order to improve the quality of super steel plates; also raised the max quality from 160 to 180 for players who have Expedition installed
Leonie will now offer the Infused Leather blueprint as soon as you show her you have super steel plates (currently you have to do the melting process with Bernard first)
You can turn metal scraps into low-quality steel plates at Leonie's
Added more ways to learn about a certain Foundry arms merchant
Added more entries to the super secret organization database, and placed some of the existing ones behind higher access levels
Added more options to save Maura
You can now borrow (or "borrow") AK from Kokoschka
Becket now also offers psi inhalants alongside psi boosters when giving you your equipment package
Added Underrail Express tickets which can be pickpocketed from NPCs and used for a single ride
New models and portraits for Jon the Beautiful, Sergio the Wizard, and some super secret folks
New random events, some of them seasonal, and some related to the player's house
Introduced Jookhela's drawing skills to the world
Increased requirements for achieving Brutalizer/Brutalette gladiator nicknames, so they shouldn't be so predominant now
The Black Crawler now drops an oddity item when killed
New entries in the Institute of Tchort library, some of which contain blueprints and will require a special card
New skill checks for Octavia, Vuk and Kiro that will unlock certain items for trading
[Expedition] Naval mines will now be heard detonating in the distance when someone attacks the camp
[Expedition] Added ways to break yourself free from a certain man's mechanical grasp
[Expedition] Added certain dialog options to Doc Savage and Marcus that were only available through navcom
Tweaks
Optimized faction data relations serialization which should improve save/load times of mid and late game savegames somewhat
Fixed the pathfinding prioritization to prevent player from getting stuck in place when a lot of NPC pathfinding is taking place
Being in turn-based mode will now count as being in combat for purpose of changing equipment
Bugs
Game will no longer accept mouse clicks in windowed mode when the game window is not focused
Fixed the bug that would cause the carried weight to not immediately update when consuming/expending items in a stack
Pseudo-spatial Projection will now properly affect Spear Throw
Fixed the bug that allowed some items to make the player's mechanical resistance sometimes exceed the normal limit
Fixed the bug that cause the item tooltip to not correctly indicate which effects are unavailable due to unmet requirements when the item is not currently equipped
Fixed the bug that would cause Bone Breaker to trigger irrespectively of the amount of damage dealt
Negative effects of equipped items will now still properly apply even if you do not meet the item requirements
Fixed the bug that would cause assault rifle burst attack and pistol rapid fire to calculate each burst hit with the wrong bullet from the magazine (it was offset by 1)
Fixed the bug that would cause the Needler's Piercing Shot to hit the pass-through targets twice
NPCs will now properly use crossbow to fire special bolts instead of switching weapons when they are out of regular bolts
You can no longer trigger Escape Bonds when you're completely encumbered
Plasma Beam will now properly hit all targets in the target tile (the ones highlighted when targeting)
Fixed the bug that caused psi beetles to try to neural overload force fields
Fixed some esoteric explosion bugs
You can no longer climb a certain ladder before releasing the very, very bad gas in an under-passages hideout (unless you kill the person supervising you)
Captain Rastko will no longer charge double for a single ride
Fixed the Green Galaxy furniture set not appearing when switching between it and other bought sets
Fixed not being able to report Newton's death if he was killed in certain ways
Attacking Jack Quicksilver will now properly register who attacked him and will not instead be attributed to the player for certain quest purposes
Killing Vivian at a certain location will now fail the quest and prevent the player from doing certain things which might get them permanently stuck
[Expedition] Spear guard triggered from spear attacks will now properly replace a more powerful existing spear guard effect if the latter is about to expire
[Expedition] Spear throw will now destealth the thrower after the throw instead before
[Expedition] Fixed Improved Naval Combat checking for effective instead of base Agility value in Razor's dialog
[Expedition] Fixed a bug which in certain cases prevents players from sleeping in the camp bed more than once
[Expedition] Fixed Aran not despawning when he should in certain cases
[Expedition] Fixed Ferryman being stuck in the "I'm moving out." phase and not wanting to talk to the player
[Expedition] Fixed Dude sometimes not having certain dialogue options when waiting for the player to find something important in his cave home
[Expedition] Fixed Briggs getting stuck at the "Shouldn't you be looking for a microchip implant?" line in certain very specific instances
[Expedition] Fixed Professor Oldfield not following you when he should
[Expedition] Fixed receiving certain NavCom messages if you stole/looted it but never joined the expedition
[Expedition] Fixed being able to sail across certain cliffs in the Mutie Refuge zone
[Expedition] Fixed wrong closing sounds for one type of Lemurian boxes
[Expedition] Fixed infinite Black Eel jet skiers bug
Let us know how you like the additions and changes.
Dev Log #70: Method and Madness
Hi guys,
We're rolling out a new content update. The main features of this update are new psi abilities for the three psionic schools of the base game, new items, and an alternative entrance into the Institute of Tchort, which becomes available at the appropriate time.
We also added an interesting new dungeon that can be accessed from somewhere in the Upper Underrail, so you might want to revisit those areas again.
I won't spoil the psi abilities; you'll have to find them out yourself. We haven't added any new temporal manipulation psi abilities, but we're likely to do that in a later update. The problem with TM is that it's designed to be limited in its offensive capabilities, in a sense that it's meant to deal its damage through a single delayed effect. And on the other hand, it's already overloaded with utility. This makes it quite hard to come up with something that would fit well into the school without making it even more unreasonably useful. We have some ideas, but they will need more developing.
Anyway, here is the full list of changes, except the secret ones, of course:
General
A completely new way to gain access to the Institute of Tchort
Reward items for joining Preservation or Investigation in the Institute of Tchort
New dungeons and random fragments
Added another way to reach the caves beneath the Mushroom Forest; also dropped some goodies inside the forest
Certain NPCs can now consume food and drink items outside combat
Items
Tchortist Rassophore Armor resistance bonus vs bullets/shells changed to 100% (up from 75%).
Tchortist Rassophore Armor will now also reduce chance for wearer to be crit by psi by 3%.
Tchortist Rassophore Armor is no longer marked as unique (purple)
You can now add spikes or serrated blades to sledgehammer instead of electroshock module
Added a set of new luxury items to the world; some of these are unique
Blast Suit: agility penalty reduced from -6 to -3, dexterity penalty is completely removed, but there is now a perception penalty of -2 instead. Also, the armor's weight is reduced from 40 to 25
Phase Gun: reduced AP from 40 to 35 and increased energy shield dissipation from 100 to 300; it's also been moved from DC to the Lost Vault
Mind Cracker: lowered AP cost from 25 to 22, increased psi burn from 25 to 50 points, chance to apply psi inhibition from 25% to 30%, and replaced the resolve penalty with massive penalties to psi skills, regeneration and max points; also moved it to a mysterious new area
Quake: lowered AP cost from 25 to 23
Jawbone: Reduced minimal strength from 6 to 5 and increased damage from 25/60 to 30/70; meeting the 7 strength requirement reduces AP cost per shot by 3 (from 25 to 22) and boosts initimidation by 15
[Expedition] Industrial Powered Exoskeleton: activating it now gives 3 extra strength instead of 2, 40 MP instead of 25 (to offset the high armor penalty), and the agility penalty is removed. The drill attack AP is also reduced from 40 to 35
[Expedition] Changed the duration of Hypercerebrix to 8 turns (up from 5)
[Expedition] Added spear component that increases thrown damage and range
UI
You can no longer see the silhouette of unobtained oddities in their window
You can no longer craft in turn-based mode
When invoking an ability that targets a tile, it will now always ignore characters and such; it used to work like that, but I broke it at some point
Tweaks
Siphoner attacks now bypasses 30% of mechanical threshold instead of being threated as a "knife" attack
Siphoner initial siphining hook attack deals 50% more damage, but siphonig is not performed if the target resists all mechanical damage (instead of it only being canceled if the attack misses)
Killing the Mushroom Forest boss will now also kill the spore turrets above it
Halved the number of spore stacks necessary to dream...
Echoing Soliloquy now gets a buff from persuasion (applied at the moment you obtain the feat and remains constant afterwards)
Improved the layout of the Gubbins' gang area in Upper Underrail
Added a new way to help the rejects (if Nevil survived), and did some general improvements and tweaks
Overhauled elevator access areas and increased the loot quantity and quality inside the residential office building. In addition, increased the hacking requirement to get inside the building.
Added new loot to the lower passages early game fragment dungeon.
Toned down item quality sold by Booth.
[Expedition] Added another shortcut to Nexus of Technology for those who have visited Crimson Meadow beforehand
[Expedition] Added a unique luxury item to Matriuss Ludenloff.
Bugs
Throwing knives will no longer play sound effects when hitting pseudo-spatial projections
Fixed the bug that would cause the game to no longer receive keyboard inputs after clicking on some areas of Oddities window
Commando specialization will now always properly award extra AP and is no longer limited by the normal maximum for the turn
Fixed certain factions resetting from hostile to neutral after the player comes in contact with a very, very bad gas and then reloads the game
Fixed Gorsky receiving an endless supply of assault rifles
Fixed certain npcs briefly turning invisible when playing custom idle animations
[Expedition] Fixed a rare crash when going to the island where the game can be finished in a special way
Various minor dialog and zone fixes
We are due for just one more content update before we shift fully to the Infusion project. From that point onwards there will be minor addition to the game, at least until the Infusion is released. But more on that in the next dev log.
Let us know how you like the additions and changes.
Cheers.
Dev Log #69: Crossing the Styx (1.1.3.0)
Hi guys,
We're rolling out a new content update. It's going to be a somewhat weird update because the main bulk of the content is centered around something that is not part of a mainstream playthrough. We added an interesting adventure and resolution to players who get... genetically compromised during their time in Underrail. Where and how is for you guys to find out (it does require the Expedition DLC though).
Also we've added more than a dozen new areas to the game, some of which will appear randomly in different playthroughs.
Mechanics-wise I've taken a look at firearm pistols, throwing, and super steel weapons and made some improvements and/or tweaks there.
Anyway, here's the full list of changes, minus the secret stuff:
Items
You can now throw acid vials
Obscure weapon improved in an obscure way [Lemurian Spear works with High-Technicalities]
Infused Bison leather will now provide more fortitude when crafting boots (not applied retroactively)
Vigorous Belt now also grants 15 fortitude
AI Scrambler and Hypno Goggle value will now scale with their effective level
UI
Added a toggle on the right side of the action bar that, when turned on, will prevent you from interacting with all containers and other usables while in turn-based mode; The main purpose of this feature is to prevent you from misclicking enemy remains, but it will also help with the doors
In character sheet window, modified skill values that are currently affected by syngergies will be highlighted in yellow
Specializations
Reduced the max spec points that can be invested in Wrestling spec to 5, since more would just take you over 100% chance to apply. If you invested more than that: lol noob! (j/k You'll get those back on the next level up (unless you're max level in which case: lol noob!))
Metal Weapon Changes
Tungsten sledgehammer critical chance reduced by 1%
Supersteel sledgehammer critical chance increased by 2%
Supersteel sledgehammer action point cost reduced by 2
Supersteel spear will now grant 3% precision bonus
Supersteel machete will now grant 3% precision bonus
Supersteel machete action point cost reduced by 1
Supersteel combat knife will now grant 5% precision bonus
Pistol changes
Increased critical hit chance of all firearm pistols by 3% (new base is 10% now)
Firearm pistols damage increased by about 25%
Firearm pistols now ignore up to 40% of target's evasion at close range
Sharpshooter now grants the critical damage bonus to firearm pistols at all times regardless of focus
Added Gun-Fu feat - When attacking with firearm pistols in melee range, your effective attack skill is increased by 40% (up to 60% through specialization) of your unmodified melee skill for all purposes, including the damage done
Added Bullet Time feat - When activated, reduces action point cost of firing firearm pistols by 30% (up to 50% through specialization) until the end of the turn.
Throwing Knives
Reduced the base damage by about 20%, they now incur 130% of mech resistance and threshold (up from 125%), but the damage that passes the armor is increased by 75%
Added Remote Surgeon feat - Increases the unresisted damage modifier of throwing knives by additional 50% (up to 100% through specialization)
Added Knife Throw's Gloves which increase knife throwing precision by 5% and reduce AP cost by 3
Added Shock Shurikens
AI
Certain plasma sentries will now deploy their plasma cannons in real-time and wait for the player
Mechanical Tweaks
Incendiary grenades will no longer be activated if they hit a traversable water tile (they will trigger if they hit an occupied water tile, though)
Groin Guard now also grants immunity to Dirty Kick's extra stun duration
TNT Charge will now use the new explosion visuals (same as HE grenades)
Pyrokinetic stream will now emit light
Added a small cooldown to playing sounds that should, hopefully, prevent volume stacking
Fixed a number of ability and feat descriptions to properly state "humanoid" instead of "human" if they affect that category
Fixed a number of ability and item descriptions to state when the bonuses are only affecting weapon and unarmed attacks
Fortitude will now help with poison resistance (mostly manifested through reducing poison duration)
Content
Added Napalm Barrels, a stronger version of regular explosive barrel that also spawns fire; these can be thrown by the usual suspects
A certain very, very bad gas that's been released into an under-passage hideout now dissipates after some time
Added the Lost Vault dungeon in Upper Caves
Added new Core City sewers random fragments
Added new GMS vault cave which are randomly selected when starting a new game. Ongoing playthroughs will still have the default map
Added a new source of very bad gas inside a certain bunker in Upper Caves
[Expedition] Added the ability to climb up the cliff at the entrance to the Black Sea (requires some high agility)
[Expedition] Added a rift to Fort Apogee
[Expedition] Added a certain mentioned wild boar to the Hathorian hunting grounds. Snort!
Content Tweaks
Decreased movement speed and movements points of Tithonus Lab residents; also tweaked their AI as to make them more likely to give up chasing the player
Added the ability to peek over the guard rail outside Arke's power room to see if anything's waiting near the elevator
The player can now tell the Core City warehouse defenders to set up their defenses at three different positions in the building
Various minor changes to the Lost Vault entrance area, as well as some npc and dialog tweaks
The Emporion Mall Lunatics are now a bit less sensitive to sound. Reckless players will still be able to alert entire floors, but playing with care will result in fighting smaller groups at a time, which also prevents pathfinding slowdowns
Jookhela got a new coat of paint
[Expedition] Minor tweaks to Ray's Shop as to prevent a few camera vision exploits
[Expedition] Dude will now make you another Juice in case you waste the first one.
[Expedition] He'll also take hydraulic fluid from DC instead of a certain gun lube (as they're both mineral oil-based).
[Expedition] ...and he accepts mushroom brew as currency following a certain event.
[Expedition] Reduced the slowdown that occurs during the boat-riding cutscene at the start of the expedition
Bugs
Pyrokinetic stream will now properly apply Thermodynamicity when the invocation ends
Pyromaniac's extra damage from specialization will now properly be applied
Thermodynamic Destabilization can now trigger Pyromaniac
Psi window will now be hidden while the character sheet is open like other windows are
Invoking Psycho-temporal Contraction while already under effects of one will not grant you more action and movement points in that turn
Fixed the value rounding bug when displaying character damage resistances
Fixed the bug that caused doppelgangers to not despawn in real-time combat
Fixed a long standing animation glitch that caused the animation to abruptly end after the psi ability is invoked
Fixed the bug that would sometimes cause the game to crash when an acid barrel is thrown
Fixed the bug that would sometimes cause the death screen to be uninteractble when you die during a cutscene
Fixed being able to avoid confronting Jookhela through the power of turn-based mode exploits
Fixed Tobias in Tithonus Lab turning on the power during turn-based combat instead of trying to make sure it's off
Fixed Aran not getting a health buff on Dominating
Fixed GMS level 3 doors not working with automatic door opening option checked
Fixed sometimes not getting xp when completing a certain assassination quest for Edgar
[Expedition] Fixed not being able to talk to Katya after visiting "the cave", as well as a certain dialog option not showing up regarding something you see at the entrance to the Black Sea
Various minor dialog and map fixes and tweaks
That's all for now. Let us know how you like the new content.
Cheers.
Dev Log #68: The Psi Question
Hi guys,
On September 7th the psi update will be release on the main branch, but before that happens I want to briefly address this controversial change again and also offer a compromise.
First I'd like to restate that the reason the psi was reworked was not primarily because of its power, though it will reign that in a bit as well. I will not list all the major arguments I've given in the previous dev log here again, but the sum of it is that the psi is too cheap to spec in, in comparison to what it offers, and that there is no way to expand upon it without even further overloading it with combat versatility. There were multiple ways to address it and I went with what I think fits well. I went in a bit too hard with the restrictions, which I have since eased on a bit (check out the patch notes for details), but the point of the experimental build was to tweak these numbers and mechanics anyway. I think it's in good place now, where both the (now somewhat nerfed) pure psi wizards and hybrids are viable, though they will require more management in terms of resources and psi selection.
Now in terms of adding more management to the psi build, one could argue that this is adding unnecessary tedium, but if look back at the history of Underrail's development you will find that we do tend to add these sort of complexities and restrictions to our mechanics as we flesh them out. Player is intended to have to pay attention and do some busywork in order to keep his character going. There used to be time when we had no weight restrictions, no selling restrictions, and at one point guns didn't even require ammo, though, to be fair, that was before the game was even available to play to the public. So you may not like this part of our design approach, but it is not at all inconsistent with what we did in the past.
The difference here is, however, that the game has been released for a long time and that the way the psi currently works has been something that's been firmly established. I will concede to the argument that it may not be fair to change it at such a late time. I should have done it way sooner, back when I added the last batch of psi abilities in the late early access stage, but I didn't and I don't have a good excuse. I do, however, still maintain that this is a good and necessary change that will benefit the game in way of build diversity, especially in the long run, even if it comes a bit late.
But for those that are firmly against this change, or maybe just want to finish their current cave wizard rampage, I've made a separate Legacy branch (on both platforms) that will permanently host 1.1.1.6 version of the game. It will receive no updates and no other version of the game will ever be preserved in this way in the future (don't worry, no further major mechanical changes are planned anyway). If you do hop between the version be advised that, as always, saves of a higher version are not compatible with older version of the game. So if you intend to keep playing on this version (either temporarily or permanently), you can switch now.
I hope that this compromise will be agreeable to most of you.
Cheers.
Version 1.1.2.0 - Waterways and Psi Update
Hi guys,
We're rolling out a new content update. It's going to land on experimental branch first in order to thoroughly test it out.
To play experimental branch on Steam, you right click the game in your library and go to "Betas" tab. To do so on GOG Galaxy, you go to Manage Installation -> Configure. Make sure you don't override all your live version saves just in case something goes horribly wrong.
The first major theme of this update is the change to psi mechanics. The full changes are listed below. They are not primarily meant to kick the full psi builds down a notch (though they will do that), but to address the following issues with psi that I find the most problematic and detrimental to the game as a whole, not just in terms of difficulty:
Psi gives you too many utilities. Due to how the psi functions now (prior to this update) it's almost impossible to add new stuff to psi without extending the already bloated spectrum of combat utilities of any given psi generalist (which most psi builds are) even further, since, unlike with combat utilities, there are no limits to what a psi invoker can access during combat.
Psi is cheap to spec into. Even though every psi school is a separate skill, they are all based on a single base ability, which is the only one required to be maxed out in order for your character to be powerful. If you invest heavily enough into it, the psi abilities themselves will make up for many deficiencies in other areas. No other robust build works like this, they usually require at least moderately strong investment into a secondary base ability.
Psi does not require any expendable resource. Pretty much every other build does so I introduced a resource for psi as well. Now it has a dual (or hybrid if you will) resource management aspect. Also I used this opportunity to put a sort of a limit to how much psionic output you can dish out in a single fight, so we'll see how this works out.
This is the least important point, but it's still worth addressing. Some abilities are a bit too cheesey and easy to exploit so I changed them up a bit. This does not make them perfectly balanced or un-cheeseable and I know there is other stuff out there that's cheese as well. These are just the ones that bothered me the most and were long overdue to change.
Anyway, the detailed changes are in the list below. What I hope to do in the future with psi now that I've dealt with psi generalist question is to facilitate more hybrid builds, which I think the new system will support well.
* * * * *
The other major theme of the update is a lot of new content for the waterways - one big new dungeon, a couple of smaller locations, many new random encounters and other stuff. I'll leave it to you guys to find out for yourselves.
On a related note I halved the price of all the fancy jet skis and all the parts, so they will be easier to acquire now. We do not need such ridiculous prices anymore since we added the economic component to the difficulty settings.
* * * * *
Here's the full change log:
General
Improved the start up time for the game
Initimidation now scales off either Strength or Will (whichever is higher)
[Expedition] Halved the cost of most jet ski frames, engines, batteries and suspensions
[Expedition] Increased the damage of all jet ski weapon attacks
Psi
You now have to "innervate" psi abilities that you plan to use and you're limited in the number of innervated psi slots (1 + 1 per 3 intelligence, up to maximum of 6). Existing psi characters can use Will stat instead for the number of slots with some downsides, or they can opt to switch to Int by consuming a pill that's been subtly slipped into their pockets.
Innervating psi abilities from multiple psi schools will now incur global 15% psi cost penalty per additional school
Innervating psi abilities from multiple psi schools will now incur global 15% psi cost penalty per additional school
Introduced psi reserves, which is the long term psi resource that does not regenerate naturally, but through the usage of psi inhalant which can not be done in combat. Psi reserves are depleted when you regenerate psi naturally or through psi boosters. Maximum amount of psi reserves is equal to 5 times the maximum psi points.
Psi inhalant is craftable with some skill in biology and chemistry.
All existing player characters will get generous amount of psi inhalants first time you load the game in new version
Upon loading the game for the first time in the new version, a random set of psi abilities will be pre-innervated for you. If you don't like the random selection, just reload the same save.
Psi Abilities
Force Field psi cost changed to 40 (up from 25)
Force Field is now destructable and has its health points scale with invoker's skill. Each segment of the force field has separate health, but destroying one will destroy all of them.
Thermodynamic Destabilization base damage percentage changed to 30% (down from 50%) and it now scales by 0.5% (down from 1%) per skill point and is capped at 100%.
Thermodynamic Destabilization action point cost changed to 10 (down from 20)
Enrage maximum duration changed to 2 (down from 4)
Increased the amount of damage of Neural Overload and Psi-cognitive Interruption blocked by resolve
Added psi mentors for all psionic abilities in the game (except one) to the random loot table
[Expedition] Psycho-temporal dilation and Limited temporal increment learning requirements swapped to their correct positions
[Expedition] Psycho-temporal contraction now has a high chance of causing its opposite (with randomized power) when it expires
Items
Biohazard suit now provides full protection from a certain very, very bad gas
Spearhead sniper rifles will now have base action points of 32 (up from 30)
Rapid Reloader firearm enhancement will now also have a 25% chance of restoring a random amount of action points ranging from 50% to 100% of the base action point cost of the weapon (but capped at 20ap); this can only trigger once per turn
Dragunov now costs 30 ap to fire (up from 25) and has 60% chance to restore 10-20 ap once per turn; also has slightly increased damage
Added shiv blueprint
[Expedition] Psionic Accelerator now increases psi regeneration by 50% (up from 20%)
[Expedition] Added Kzozel Yantar, a stronger version of Kzozel
Creatures
Reduced the throwing precision of hunchback mutants
Mutant dog's acid blob attack will now deal some of its damage directly
Quests / Areas
Added a mercantile check when paying to use the Wormhole
Silas' death will no longer fail the attack on Scrapper base quest; the player can now speak with Colton to get the reward instead
Added shiv components to certain encounters in which the player loses his inventory
Added new graphics for a few secret cave doors
[Expedition] Added more content for the waterways - one big new dungeon, a couple of smaller locations, many new random encounters and other stuff
[Expedition] Added some new ways to escape from a jail guarded by a hefty knife thrower
[Expedition] Added a vending machine to the Gray Army base; it accepts zlatortiyas only
[Expedition] In the same base, it is now possible to translate messages on one of the computers with sufficient intelligence
[Expedition] Added a tool with which the player can repair/configure a certain camp defense asset; found in multiple locations in the Black Sea
Visual
You can now zoom the game in by holding shift while scrolling the mouse button, but the feature needs to be enabled in the options first
High explosive and frag greandes and mines now have new visual effects
UI
Made a new death screen that will allow you to scroll through the combat log to see exactly what killed you if you didn't catch it during combat
Fixed the scroll bars so they can be mouse scrolled when moused over
Feats
Locus Of Control - Change AoE radius to 2 (down from 3)
Force User - now also increases health of force field by 50% (plus 5% per spec, max 5 spec points)
Critical Power - Base bonus changed to 1% (down from 1.5%) and spec bonus changed to 0.1% (down from 0.15%); I'm not happy with this feat in general. Straight unconditional passive damage boost feats is something I'm going to avoid in the future for sure
Tweaks
Acid pistols (and other acid attacks) will now spill acid on the ground regardless of whether they hit the primary target or not
Certain random encounters will no longer appear in low-level zones (Arsonist in early under-passages, rabid dogs in Crossroad Caves, etc.)
Balor now has Sprint, and gets an adrenaline shot on higher difficulties
Cliff can now be given a coagulation shot to stop him from bleeding to death
Kareem now needs his "memory refreshed" when asked about certain things
The Black Eels questline can now be started after you've found the drill rotor circuit board
Halved the amount of money Mykola needs to repair one big machine from 2000 to 1000 charons
Some dialogs tweaked to reflect the new psi changes
Bugs
Fixed the bug that cause the energy shield to dissipate at 2% instead of the nominal 10% rate every turn, but I set it to 5% base now instead because 10% just seems a bit too severe to me now; also changed the minimal dissipation rate to 1.5% (down from 2%)
Explosive barrels and various misc. explosions should now properly trigger volatile entities such as mines
Throwable barrels and rocks will now behave properly when throw in water (they will not detonate on impact)
You can no longer double-click while holding a modifier key (shift, alt, or ctrl). This is to prevent situations such as rapdily alt-left clicking to transfer items from a container from also triggering the double-click event and transfering extra items. Let me know if this
causes any anomalous behavior.
Sledgehammer and machete handle now also count as metal components like knife one
Fixed the bug that would cause the caster tentacles to crash the game after the player dies or disengages
Ranged weapon innate precision modifier will now always be applied if it's negative
Fixed Gorsky's base not being renovated on easy difficulty
Fixed sometimes not getting a quest note (and subsequent xp once it's completed) from Kohlmeier when starting his quest
Fixed traps not despawning after Foundry mines have been cleared, which resulted in hostile miners
Fixed spears and nets not appearing in the loot locker in the Arena
Fixed Saban not properly receiving his spare W2C ammo
[Expedition] Fixed JSHQ bioscan not detecting mutagens
[Expedition] Fixed an entrance to a cave near a certain homestead being impassable, even if discovered
[Expedition] Fixed an important flag not being set when going through some branches during a discussion about a truly deathly topic with the Ferryman
[Expedition] Fixed electrified floor destroying auto-turrets in Water Treatment Facility in one of the variations; also added a sound effect during discharge as to give the player a warning
[Expedition] Fixed a bug where sleeping in the camp (and under very specific circumstances) triggering a certain crucial event even if the player, paradoxically, already prevented its occurence
[Expedition] Fixed the final quest note prematurely being marked as completed
[Expedition] Fixed a crash that may occur if the player obtains some floaty things for the camp too early
[Expedition] Fixed certain native weapons being non-equippable
[Expedition] Fixed Captain Grim sometimes ending dialog when telling him about some facilities
[Expedition] Fixed being able to sleep in the camp even after you got fired
[Expedition] Fixed the bug that caused players to get stuck on some hives after destroying them.
Minor dialog/map/scripting tweaks
That's it for now guys. Let us know how you like the changes.
Cheers.
Dev Log #66: Shiny Particles
Hi guys,
We're slowly wrapping up the work on the next content update for Underrail. This one is going to be mostly oriented towards the water areas in terms of content, and, as hinted before, will also feature mechanical changes to psi. It's coming soon(tm) and I don't really have anything more to say about it until it arrives, so instead I'll show you something cool that we've made for Infusion.
We're developing a particle system for the updated engine that will allow us to quickly make nice looking and varied effects. Besides being an upgrade to the previous system visually, the more important aspect of it is that it will allow me to more easily add new psi, special, and item abilities, because now I can quickly make effects for those, which was the most tasking part of the process. Also, the level designers will be able to use the new system to further customize the areas and really bring the environment to life.
Speaking of which, we now have an additional team member working full time on level and quest design, as well as writing, so we're going to be able to produce more content faster in the future. We're planning on at least one more major content update after this one, but, of course, at some point we're going to have to focus more on Infusion.
