Hi everyone! [b]This Major update brings a lot of changes based on all the community feedback[/b] I received regarding penalty/casual and new player gameplay experience. I am super excited for everyone to play around with the new features and find a gameplay style that works for you! [h2]NEW[/h2] [list] [h3]Custom Settings and Insurance[/h3] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44869218/e7340764310efa7226f73b899a7fef6e54da08a4.png[/img] [*] New Ship Command – “Custom Game”: Allows the Host to customize their playstyle by adjusting certain features of the game. Features are disabled by default to lean toward casual and new players, so if you want a more challenging experience all you need to do is change it. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44869218/5e63f5d10798a864b0cd959ae7749e565f88e894.png[/img] [*] With this change, the default gameplay will now be that players will no longer lose suit level or credits when failing a quota! Here is a list of the custom game settings: [olist] [*] Credits - Lose percentage of credits on failed contract. [*] Suit - Lose percentage of suit level on failed contract. [*] Weapons – Retain weapons on team wipe (automatically retained with insurance). [/olist] [*] New Ship Command – “Insurance”: this new feature also known as “Sketchy’s Insurance” will allow players to retain a set amount of quota that is randomly selected by the ship on team wipe. Sketchy Insurance can be upgraded with credits allowing you to retain even more when wiping. However, the insurance can only be updated in milestones based on the Quota. More upgrades become available the higher your quota is. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44869218/0dc6ad2bd9eab2bb487405d366533a904cd6d888.png[/img] [*] Credit Reward System – sense players will not lose credits anymore on failed contracts, the amount of credits earned from contracts will scale based on a “More Loot = More Credits” basis. This means that turning in a massive haul should grant a massive payout. Chaining quota back-to-back by putting in only the minimum is still a strategy; however, it is a strategy used when credits are not your concern but rather simply getting your quota back to where it was before you failed as quickly as possible i.e. chaining quota is a strategy used by experienced players / players with high level suits. [h3]Leveling[/h3] [*] XP gain has significantly increased for levels 1-5 to help new players have more leverage at early gameplay. [*] XP required to level has been reworked to be more “RPG” meaning that every 10 levels, it will take a little bit longer to level. [*] Lastly, Players above level 20 will be expected to be at a slightly higher quota to earn the full amount of XP for their suit. Doing a 130 Quota should not grant a crazy amount of XP to a level 45 player. The player would still gain XP but a reduced amount. [h3]AI[/h3] [*] Boombot now drops a Boombot Canister Loot item when it blows up. [/list] [h2]UPDATES[/h2] [list] [*] Performance – dropped items (non-dead bodies) will now grant improved FPS the same way placed items do. This should help those players who don’t realize item placement is critical to CPU stability. HOWEVER, Placing items is still the best way to guarantee performance stability sense it includes dead bodies and occurs almost instantly. [*] Performance – level loading should have reduced cost on the CPU when initially entering a map. This should help with lower end CPUs and help reduce crashes caused while trying to load into levels (typically noticed when landing the ship from orbit). [*] Performance – spawn logic for AI density has been reworked to help improve load times and lower CPU cost especially at lower quotas when there aren’t as many AI. [*] Oxygen no longer decreases everywhere on the Map by default. Instead, Oxygen decreases in designated areas on the planet that are dangerous to breathe in such as Level 2 where the air is contaminated. This also means that O2 reduces at a faster rate sense Oxygen is no longer a threat on the rest of the map. The contaminated zones are optional and contain better loot and therefore should be dangerous. Building up your suit to take these areas for longer periods of time creates a good balance of progression and survival. [*] Access Crates now ALWAYS grant loot with a chance to grant credits. Access Crates will no longer drop claw machine coins (these are contract reward only just like gotcha coins). [*] Access crates now have a chance to spawn coin pouch in addition to guaranteed loot. The amount of credits gained by pouches varies based on the access level of the crate and how high the quota is. [*] Unburied access crates now drop credit pouches when opened. [*] Purchasing new sites no longer increases the cost of the next purchased site. I.e. all planets cost 100 credits. [*] Gaia Level 1 and Level 2 layout have been updated in areas where it was very hard to jump/maneuver the terrain. Players will notice expanded areas here with smoother ramps and additional areas to explore. [*] Port Coral and Treasure Island no longer spawn mines in water zones. [*] The Boombox will now store the currently played song when swapping it to a different item on your action bar. Swapping back to the Boombox and turning it on will cause it to play the most recently played song (no more default first song every time you swap action bar items). [*] The Save File menu has had its look changed to now display more information about the file such as your suit level and number of contract days. Information displays whenever the player hovers over a file, which helps reduce clutter. [*] Enemies now take damage from mines if they have a target they are pursuing. This gives mines more depth to gameplay rather than being an “always shoot” when seen. Maybe some mines are worthing keeping around. [*] Cankers and Squidish corpses are now 1-Handed. [*] Werewolf attack speed has increased (these creatures do less damage than Nightwalkers and Subject 6 but are intended to be very aggressive and agile). [*] Pew Pew passive volume has been reduced. [*] Hatching health scaling per quota has been reduced. [*] Greed base health increased. [*] Voice Slider Volume for newly joined players should default to 50. [*] The Spectral Cat will make a meow sound when placed. [/list] [h2]FIXES[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed an issue where resource based items such as the Boombox and Shrink ray were showing "zero" resource when picked up even though they were not in fact empty. [*] Fixed an issue where the boombox was not properly updating the player's UI when holding the boombox while vibing at the same time. [*] Fixed an issue where Suit Skins were not properly equipped which could result in skins that were not unlocked showing as equipped (primarily occurred with account bound skins like the Pumpkin Head). [*] Fixed an issue where items on the Host’s action bar (non-ship items) were not dropped and saved to the ship upon quitting game/leaving session. Players must be in their ship when quitting/leaving for these items to properly save (Standing outside your ship with items on your action bar will result in items lost). [*] Fixed an issue where Werewolf health was not scaling properly. [*] Fixed an issue where Loot Mimic health was not scaling properly. [*] Fixed an issue where some Level 2 areas were not decreasing oxygen when entered. [*] Fixed an issue where O2 was decreasing at the Level 1 teleporter room for Port Coral. [*] Fixed an issue where changing suits while using the emotional support Emote, would not respawn the emotional support. [*] Fixed an issue where the Pumpkin head skin had its head backwards while emoting the Robot dance. [*] Fixed an issue with certain placed items not facing the correct orientation (Mandrake item, for example). [*] Fixed an issue where the doppelganger was not holding its weapon properly. [*] Fixed an issue where the doppelganger was not being carried properly when picked up. [*] Fixed an issue where entering a swimming animation while crouched was causing the player’s arms in the viewport to be vertically offset when exiting the swimming animation until they crouched again. [*] Fixed an issue with a few weapon charms that were not spawning the correct charm when equipped. [*] Fixed an issue where items/cosmetics could not be placed onto the display suit in the ship (some people like to decorate this model). [*] Fixed an issue with a Level 3 cabin in Darkwood that was inaccessible due to obstructed into the landscape. [*] Fixed an issue with various items being thrown into wrong directions when dropped. [/list] [h3]I am excited to here feedback regarding these changes as this update was primarily focused on casual and new players based on the feedback provided by the community. I hope everyone continues to have an amazing time playing Sketchy's and that this update can help lots of you that felt the penalties were a bit too high. -Forsakenhalo[/h3]