This time we managed to pull of the weekend update! It's Update #28, Framedump, and its the fourth major October update. This one is packed full of improvements to make the game play smoother, better, faster. We've officially started the UX work with this update -- lots more to come! -- did some house cleaning to make Class trees easier to read, added missing rules for Revolvers, improved Full Auto, nerfed Marker Sights down to -15%, pushed enemy scaling for all corporate enemies out to PL 6, added a new a savage type of Matrix node and smashed some CPU performance issues by reducing the game's raycasts per frame by 75%.

You do not need to delete old saved games for this update as well, so you can keep playing your higher Power Level groups!

UX Project Begins!

We're starting small but the very first steps of the UX project implementation have officially begun. Update #28 includes a custom cursor for the game which nicely highlights golden when your mouse passes over anything in the UI or the 3D game map that can be clicked for interaction. It isn't 100% good at that part yet, mostly in HUD and different UI tables it is still not highlighting but it does correctly highlight on everything in the 3D game map, buttons, tabs, checkboxes and the works.

Also, we've improved the direct clickability of some of the game's actions. if you have a security device or an enemy selected as the potential target for a Talent or attack, simply clicking again on that target will execute the action.

Class Trees for Faster Read

With Update #28, we've made some coloration and iconography changes to help make reading the class trees to make it easier to know which nodes are in a group and what the sub-nodes of a Talent add as bonuses. First, Talents now have a special node icon which differentiates them from other bonus nodes -- it's larger and has a distinct shape. Second, the Talent and any of its booster nodes all share the same outline color so that it is clear where one Talent stops and another Talent ends. Finally, the booster nodes all have representative icons for their main type of boost -- increasing duration (hour glass with a +), or range (range circle with a +) or increasing the effect (up arrow with a plus).


This is not the final UX for this screen or even the final layout of the trees themselves but it is a nice step forward in making them more useable in the current state of the game.

Revolver Rules and Full Auto Tweaks

Revolvers slipped under the radar for a while but we've finally caught up to them. Revolvers share mods with pistols and SMGs but there are two types of mods that simply don't work with revolvers and can no longer be installed -- those mods which add ammo capacity and all suppressors. This opens a gulf between regular stealth-focused Pistols and booming loud Revolvers which can no longer be crossed. The weapons have found their home and their separate purpose.

Full Auto was not as exciting as we had anticipated, and we've seen that it hasn't been pulling its weight. The first major cause of that is likely a bug that would cause a target to take 0 Dmg if the first Full Auto shot against the target missed, regardless of what happened with the other shots. This led to a lot of really bad feeling whiffs and some confusing combat logs. Second, the damage potential for stacking that many shots on a target and taking such high Recoil was just not quite right, so we've increased Full Auto damage on the weapons that support it by about 10%.

Market Sights and Anti-Overwatch

Marker Sights has finally been hit with the nerf hammer, dropping from a massive -25% Evasion to a starting -15% Evasion. It is still highly effective and with some node boosts from the Class tree, you can reach a maximum of -25% Evasion if you invest more points in it.

Also, Marker Sights and Interference Spike, which both can cancel enemy Overwatch, now clearly state that in their description. More ranged debuffs will be coming for other classes that help allow them to play roles in knocking out OW as well.

Power Level and Balance

With this update, all corporate enemies now scale up to Power Level 6 where before it was only the AR toting guards. There is more work to do to make these enemies and their advancing power levels really stand out, but the framework and the basic data is now in action. Street scaling is next.

We've increased the prices on all Power Level 2 and 3 items to make sure the power jump matches the price jump.

When it comes to your team's Power Level, just like completing a mission, attempting a Legwork regardless of a success or failure outcome gives a minor bump to your team's Power Level and infamy.

Matrix Incinerator Node

A new type of Matrix node is beginning to appear in host maps - the Incinerator. Beware of these and be sure to plan your paths and your Hacking AP carefully because if you end your Turn in one of these fiery nodes, you'll be Hard Disconnected with all the joys of Dump Shock!

Performance Smash

We took some time with this release to profile, analyze and improve the game's raycasting which is a major component of its CPU time per frame. Overall, the work paid off and we've seen a 75% reduction in raycasting which should hopefully let some of your devices breathe a little easier each frame.

Along with this, we fixed a number of cases where enemy sight cones could get on screen or end up moving with the enemy but not getting updated correctly.

Piles of Community QoL / Fixes

A huge thanks to everyone punching F10!

In the Safehouse, we've improved the antialiasing setup and also fixed the roster's subtitle to list Mercs and Recruits separately (6/10 mercs, 2 Recruits).

We've fixed an issue that was causing reinforcements to skip the Turn they arrived. Boo, that made them awful and weak, now they are dangerous again. Listening Posts now only report a single gunfire attack per Turn, making them a difficult element to fight near but not an unexpected security armageddon if you got in a gunfight too close to one.

We removed that pesky halfway marker in all Talent and attack ranges which has always confused everyone.

0.6.47 - 10/29/2022

- Improved Revolver mod rules - can no longer install mods that increase Ammo or any Suppressors
- Improved Full Auto Dmg on all weapons by +10%
- Fixed Full Auto attack bug that could sometimes cause 0 Dmg if the first attack rolled missed (1/3 hits but 0 Dmg)
- Nerfed Marker Sights, starts at -15% Evasion maxes at -25% Evasion
- Debuff Talents that cancel enemy Overwatch (Marker Sights, Interference Spike) now state it clearly in description
- New matrix node type "Incinerator" will hard disconnect hacker if they end turn in the node
- Added custom cursor which highlights on clickable UI / 3D objects, not 100% highlighting correctly in tables, HUD etc
- Improved LMB clicking for activating Talents on enemies and security devices
- Improved scaling of enemies for Power Level, all Corporate enemies now scale on Power Level
- Added better icons and Talent-based color coding to Class tree for easier reading
- Repriced Power Level 2 and 3 Items, improved Talent rule descriptions
- Completing Legwork (success or fail) has minor impact on team Power Level
- Fixed bug causing enemy reinforcements to not take action in the Turn they arrive
- Fixed bugs with attacking enemy target after being interrupted by Overwatch reaction fire
- Fixed bugs with enemy sight cone sometimes getting stuck on screen
- Safehouse Roster now shows count of Mercs / Max Mercs and Recruits separately
- Listening Post security devices now only report one gunshot per turn to Security AI
- Removed extra ring in Talent and attack targeting that was unexplained "halfway" marker
- Improved antialiasing in Safehouse
- Improved performance, reduced CPU time per frame, 75% less CPU Raycasts per frame