[h2][b]SOLDIERS![/b] [b]The first major patch has arrived…[/b][/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/cc3e9f87c0aecb09779d9cc70abef3b6eb016a01.png[/img] Thank you for your patience. When it comes to balance, there were 2 major points I wanted to address with the [b]v1.0.1.0 update[/b]: [h3][b]1) Fix the OP unbalanced rats.[/b][/h3] The discourse around the rats genuinely took me by surprise as it was never a point that ever was noticed during playtesting, usability reports or the mock reviews we did months ago. It’s very clear to me now though that this mechanic definitely needed some more testing. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/1adcdd207d1e02317dad754d3fdbdff5d1e37466.png[/img] So, they had to be nerfed. They're still annoying enough to contribute to the decision making process when going between rooms but they should feel not as cheap now. New rat holes have also been added to some late-game rooms so you have more options to deal with them. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/ea809733e7394009857b1484cb381e45d3a8d4f2.png[/img] [h3][b]2) Mitigate some totally unnecessary backtracking in the mid-late game.[/b][/h3] There’s points in the game where backtracking doesn’t serve the core survival horror decision making and so I’ve made a few slight tweaks to help alleviate this. Namely, there have been numerous itemboxes added in areas to help the flow of the game. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/50b175297677047b099a3c5c4a660a61e5116616.png[/img] Chapter 3 has also been streamlined a little bit and made less painful overall with fast travel now being available much earlier. The map now resembles more of a loop instead of a simple straight line which I think works better anyway. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/cb2eb87dc9b691e124c6b467e22da9e9420f11e7.png[/img] Admittedly these are areas that just seemed to be total blind spots for me during development, which is kind of embarrassing. There was a lot for me to balance during the development cycle however, so I hope you understand. When the game launched last week, watching Twitch streams was the first time I had been able to see the game played from start to finish with my own eyes. This was tremendously helpful, and also illuminated some things that need work. Also, [b]the ending requirements have been slightly tweaked[/b]. There have been quite a few people getting the [spoiler]Coward[/spoiler] ending that plainly just shouldn't have. So I've made some adjustments there too. There are also a whole host of bug fixes here too. Apologies if there were any bugs ruining your experience at launch! If you left a negative review concerning these issues and you feel like this patch has helped,[b] it would be greatly appreciated if you could flip the review to positive[/b]! If you still find yourself annoyed and don't like the game overall though, that's fair too. [h3][b]What's next?[/b][/h3] I'm away from development for the next month to go on my first real holiday in many years, which is much needed after the stress of launching this game (it has been a long 7 years). When I get back, I'll be able to assess whether or not I can keep working on the game with updates and DLC (this all depends on sales). If you're enjoying the game and haven't left a review yet, it would be really appreciated if you could take the time to do so! Steam reviews help the game's visibility and if the game does well it opens the door for DLC, which I'd love to do. We are almost at 500 reviews with a high rating of 95% which means CONSCRIPT will get the Overwhelmingly Positive tag! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//37541422/2da99c12de8f1ea9e97988ff90d42f5ed5963f34.png[/img] I also don't want to have to stop working on CONSCRIPT and have to get a real job, so there's that too... Full patch notes below. Enjoy! [b][h1]v1.0.1.0 Patch Notes[/h1][/b] [h2]BUG FIXES[/h2] [list] [*] Bug where semi automatic guns would jam and cause a glitched crosshair on lower end hardware SHOULD be fixed. [*] Fixed bug where non-combinable items were not appearing as red when in combine mode (for example a chem fluid + chem fluid). [*] Fixed softlock where the slate in the town weaver basement became unobtainable when re-entering the room. [*] In the final sequence, added rubble to block players going back up to the Outer Perimeter once a certain event happens. [*] Various English typo fixes. [*] Fixed bug where combinable treasure items and their gemstone counterparts displayed text in their description that indicated they are safe to sell. Increased reliability of igniting oil slicks with bullets. [*] Fixed bug where chapter 2 trench raiders weren’t despawning properly upon the return to the trench in chapter 4. [*] Fixed bug where “Discard” would still be highlighted after trying to discard a key item and then changing inventory slots. [*] Minecart position in the Mining room in the Road area saves properly. [*] Fixed bug where multiple enemy corpses couldn’t be burnt with one fuel slick. [*] Fixed bug where enemy would still cry out when in DBNO state after being burnt. [*] Reduced the time it takes for an enemy corpse to enter a burnt state, to avoid situations where a player lights fuel and then quickly leaves a room which then wastes the fuel. [*] Fixed issue where directional keys and enter key could not be rebinded. [*] Fixed bug where game would crash if refusing to take the gas mask in chapter 2 if you had a full inventory. [*] Fixed bug where rats would spawn on enemies that die in deep mud. [*] Fixed bug where rats were spawning on the wrong bodies. [*] Fixed bug where rats would spawn on an exploded body. [*] Fixed bug where rats that are hardcoded into certain rooms would respawn after being killed. [*] Fixed bug where the map icon for the gun storage ladder wasn’t appearing on map in the Town area. [*] Fixed bug where destroying a rat hole with two separate grenades in your inventory would cause a bugged grenade item. [*] Fixed a bug where you couldn’t access combine mode on certain items like the surgical kit. [*] Fixed bug where trench wire openings would stay closed on NG+. [*] Fixed bug where selling the LMG could result in having half a cigarette. [*] Fixed bug where selling the LMG could result in an infinite money glitch. [*] Fixed bug where Elite Trench Raiders could be stealth killed. [*] Fixed bug where merchant, save point and itembox map icons aren't appearing on the Front Lines map. [*] Fixed visual bug where the inventory slot arrow depth was too low on the puzzle inspection screen. [*] Fixed visual bug where the handcannon depth was wrong when reloading while facing up. [*] Fixed bug where “abandon your post?” text would appear after chapter 4 in No Man’s Land. [*] Fixed bug where inventory would crash when spamming the mouse while in a puzzle screen. [*] Fixed bug where enemies would still spawn in the East Support Trench despite patching up the wire. [*] Fixed visual bug where steam coming out of the flame trooper backpack was pointing in the wrong direction. [*] Fixed bug where you could escape the church basement in chapter 5 without proceeding to chapter 6. [*] Fixed bug where the reflecting pool would not work after giving the prisoner his photo in chapter 3. [*] Fixed bug where the merchant would disappear from the reflecting pool after giving the prisoner his photo in chapter 3. [*] Fixed bug where the player would fly out of the map when trying to climb up a wall in the Road area. [*] Fixed oversight where player could collect multiple knives on NG+. [*] Fixed bug where a barracks door in Fort Vaux was displaying the wrong door type on the map. [*] POSSIBLE fix to the ending crash that has been reported a few times across all platforms. [/list] [h2]RAT BALANCE CHANGES[/h2] [list] [*] One fewer rats spawn on Elite Trench Raider, Snipers and Knights. [*] Cooldown on rats being able to damage players is now global and increased to 1 second per PLAYER HIT instead of each individual rat having an individual cooldown. [*] Fuel now stacks to 10 instead of 4 to help reduce itembox trips when burning bodies. [*] Can hit one rat at a time with a fast melee strike. [*] Can hit two rats with one overhand strong melee strike now. [*] The time it takes rats to start checking for player location is increased to a random value between 3 & 4 seconds when entering a new room. This is to avoid tricky situations where rats are camped in front of a door. So now the player has a bit more time to evade them. [*] Instead of a rat respawning on room entrance, it will respawn a set amount of time after it is killed which is dependent on the difficulty setting (training = 15 minutes, recruit = 10 minutes, soldier = 5 minutes, veteran = instant). [*] Rats return to their original corpse when they move too far away from it (distance depends on difficulty). [*] The chance of successfully shooting a rat is now dependent on the critical hit chance of the gun you’re using with a difficulty modifier on top of that (training = 5x, recruit = 4x, soldier = 3x, veteran = 2x). Shotguns get an added bonus here due to their spread, making them a reliable way to deal with rats. [*] Rat agro distance depends on difficulty. [*] Rat poison chance reduced to 5% on Training, 10% on Recruit, 15% on Soldier and 30% on Veteran. [*] Added rat hole to Cave Shelter room in Fort Souville. [*] Added rat hole to Thoroughfare room in the Town area. [*] Added rat hole to Streets room in the Town area. [*] Added rat hole to Subventilation Shaft room in Fort Vaux. [*] If a rat hole is closed, corpses in that room no longer spawn flies to indicate there’s no need to burn them. [*] Brief extra note added in the Back Entrance room in the Support Trench. [/list] [h2]BACKTRACKING BALANCE CHANGES[/h2] [list] [*] Added an item box to the Lodge room in the Road area to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 3. [*] Added an item box to the Blockhouse Désiré room in the Support Trench to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 4. [*] Added an item box to the Medical Tent Berthe room to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 4. [*] Added an item box to the Gun Shop Storage room to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 5. [*] Merchant now offers fast travel in the Road area upon acquiring the Trench Tool to avoid unnecessary backtracking, instead of at the start of chapter 4. [/list] [h2]GENERAL BALANCE CHANGES & ADDITIONS[/h2] [list] [*] Added V-Sync option for PC. [*] Fuel added to Medical Tent Berthe and Gunshop Storage rooms. [*] Can now cancel out of any reload regardless of weapon type (ESC key or B button). [*] Locked doors that need the Souville Key are marked as “Locker Door (Souville)”. [*] Small subtle lights and dirt paths added to visually signpost certain key things throughout the game. [*] Added some small rocks to the center of the Wasteland room in the road area to add visual clarity to where you can’t go. [*] Can now change assigned weapons while sprinting. [*] Lowered requirements for all ranks below A. [*] Hidden value that dictates ending 2 has been lowered significantly. [*] Adjusted LMG sell price. [*] Elite Trench Raiders cannot be killed with stealth anymore (sorry, this was a bug). [*] Added some subtle markings to the map for various rooms to indicate where you can’t go. [*] Added blockage map icons for the underground Cave Shelter room in Fort Souville during chapter 4. [*] Added blockage map icon to Front Line Trench battlefield during chapter 2, in front of the combination lock door in the intro. [*] Debris that falls in the final sequence when coming back from the outer perimeter stairs triggers slightly earlier to stop people sprinting straight into it. [*] “Spill” prompt added to Fuel item instead of “Use”. [*] Added extra text to the Rat Note detailing how an “overhead swing” is effective on them. [*] Added extra text to First Aid Kit description detailing that it can be used to clear infections. [*] Lowered controller stick sensitivity slightly when selecting items from the merchant menu. [*] Checkpoints added after you recruit soldiers in chapter 4. [*] Being kicked by an enemy soldier does not drain body armor durability. [/list] [list] [*] + Smaller bug fixes and polish. [/list] [h3]And as a bonus, here's CONSCRIPT's shiny new accolades trailer with some of the amazing press reviews we've had so far:[/h3] [previewyoutube=ju2dWBp920c;full][/previewyoutube]