Cogmind update for 4 March 2024

A few days back I put out a first little patch for the huge Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things" release and left a link to the changelog/notes in the main announcement comments (minor things and save-compatible). This time we're back with an even bigger patch with some new QoL features, so I figured I'd combine news of the two with an actual patch announcement here to catch you all up on the latest features.

There were a few little QoL things I really wanted to get out the door for Beta 13 right before release day, but despite working into the wee hours of the morning, there wasn't quite enough time... So instead I've worked into the wee hours of the morning for the entire past week to bring you these two patches xD

Cogmind Beta 13 (patch 240229) changelog:

• NEW: Popup notification for Options menu settings that require restart/new run to take effect
• NEW: Some meta info and events obtained via Terminal access normally visible in Non-modal UI layout message log now available in all layouts via Shell
• NEW: Subdwellers and Zionites currently positioned in Twisted Machinery will start blinking out to reveal and emphasize that situation
• FIX: Entering examine mode while Cogmind not in view could in some orientations cause temporary cursor positioning issues [biznut, darkwing_terror]
• FIX: Options menu list popups could stretch beyond bottom window edge in new modal layouts [zxc]
• FIX: New world route became unintended way to acquire certain hidden achievement [KillTheWhales]
• FIX: New crash on accessing Security Stations hack on Garrison interior Terminal due to hotfix patch [dr.hermelin]
• FIX: Relative Vulnerability visualization temporary name indicator partially obscured in modal layouts

Here you can see our new popup notification in action. I know not everyone will notice the descriptions mentioning restart on a few of the options that require it to take effect, so this will help reinforce that.

We've got some new bots capable of taking advantage of the relatively new capability of moving through so-called "twisted machinery," and since they appear so early in the world, at the time you may not have weapons strong enough to actually hit or hurt them (or realize you need to use them) while they're hiding in said machinery, but you also can't see it since they're obscuring it... so now we've got cause to blink them in this particular situation:

The blinking effect doesn't start until a few seconds after they've come into sight or entered your current map view, in case there is other more important status info you need to know, like whether they've spotted you or not, but otherwise they'll keep doing that while it's relevant.

I also finally bit the bullet and put more "meta" (non-direct terminal shell info) directly in the shell output when machine hacking. This is especially for modal layout users, who can't simultaneously see the message log where this information normally appears. Here's an example of getting an ALERT message mirrored inside the shell:

A number of other message types can appear there as well, including perhaps most importantly any time you prelearn data about future maps! Also applies to hacking feedback effects, and this new look was also extended to our original advanced.cfg botnet notice.

Here's another example with mirrored intel acquisition:

That was the first quick patch--but there's more! This second one went out today.

Again nothing major in here, just cleaning up some of the new features and addressing a handful of small issues, but definitely worth the update if you've been playing the new Beta 13! (it's another automatic update on Steam, just mentioning for the DRM-free folks)

As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible.

Cogmind Beta 13 (patch 240304) changelog:

• NEW: 1 new encounter variant
• NEW: Added more cases of machine hacking shell directly confirming content of meta intel originally shown in message log
• NEW: Using '-' key in Modal UI layout automatically switches to combat log mode and scrolls it open even if not already in that mode
• NEW: Position of window in Windowed mode remains constant during game over screens and font changes
• NEW: Option to calculate and display available mass support before reaching next overweight threshold (advanced.cfg: showOverweightMassThresholdRemainder)
• MOD: Plasma Cutter's new effect description updated to explicitly indicate it works on blast doors
• MOD: Cobblers start producing components earlier
• MOD: LMB on inventory scrolling buttons scrolls by page instead of one at a time
• MOD: Custom reduced fullscreen dimensions remain within specified limits rather than trying to fill display during game over screens
• FIX: System Guards silently retained some old pre-Beta 12 functionality [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: Salvaged Cobbler Units could have unusual counter values when first used [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: Unique new build type classification applied under too few circumstances [CaptainWinky]
• FIX: New layout architecture caused custom window heights greater than default to revert to default for duration of game over screens [Vormithrax]
• FIX: New special item dropped under wrong circumstances during particular NPC encounter [doshdoshington, Runia, aoemica]
• FIX: Pressing ESC erased active item labels and reset filter type without restoring other input functions to overlapping controls (-/=) until normal expiry
• FIX: Under some layouts and circumstances, world map info window close button may not highlight while cursor hovering
• FIX: Item info window in 45-row UI layouts did not correctly place corner brackets for handful of parts with "No Image Data"
• FIX: [Polymind mode] Taking a Cobbler host resulted in zero matter capacity

Among the new features we have a new advanced.cfg option for those of you who play more overweight builds and want to do a little less mathing: showOverweightMassThresholdRemainder. Setting that will change your overweight indicator from the simple Ox# format to the more esoteric X%Y. This will both make you cooler and also let you know that you've exceeded your mass support X times over and have a surplus of Y mass remaining before you hit the next threshold and get even slower :P (think of that % in there as conceptually like a modulo)

Here you can see it in operation:

While most mouse users scroll the inventory with the wheel, those buttons at the bottom/top of a larger inventory technically also scroll the contents, but in the past only did so one at a time. Those now serve as near page-wise scrolling buttons, which may be more convenient for those who actually want to use them:

For a while now it's bugged me that there seemed to be some issue with completely resetting the subcategory part label system, and sure enough there was! Pressing Escape will now truly and completely reset it, which not many probably noticed before, but there'd be a short duration during which it could affect whether pure keyboard players could access the extended combat log with the '-' key after having recently used the categorical labels. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's the fact that you can specify that you only want to see map labels for certain types of parts by cycling through them, for example only power sources, or propulsion, or matter, etc., instead of everything, which after a big battle can obviously get a little cramped!

(You get these via Tab/Shift-Tab or -/= while showing item labels.)

Tomorrow I'll be doing some Beta 13 streaming of this latest build, but not starting from scratch! We'll pick up in the late game where I left off in a run a started on my own a few days back, after having sterilized a Research map and lucking into a VL-GR5 encounter which is about to start. (Ended up spending a huge amount of time the past few days working on the game again, including some reported issues and also a bunch of these patch contents I listed out while doing my run, so never got a chance to finish it xD)

A couple days after the Beta 13 release, the Leaderboards were also reset so we're starting from scratch again (old runs are archived and still accessible, as usual, with some stat analysis to come).