Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

Today's update focuses on expanding the possible recruit roster, some exciting new Traits that come along with that, catching up on a security device missed in the gray outlines from last update and finalizing the fixes for a few bugs we caused in releasing Update #123.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and how we are running Early Access, please consider leaving a review. you can always edit it later.


[h2]Underworld Hub: 1st Cybersword[/h2]
The Underworld Hub recruiting option offers a number of advantages - you can recruit higher level characters here and also you can pick the class you're interested in instead of hoping that your connections come up with someone who fits you from the street.

However, the recruits available from the Underworld Hub are very limited - in fact, up until Update #124, only one Soldier recruit has been offered. We're excited to start the process of blowing that recruit pool up with options, and the first to join is a new Cybersword. Thanks to the Kickstarter backer who created this exciting new character.

As more recruits filter into the hub over the following months, you'll be able to swell your ranks, better arrange the classes on your squad, try out new Traits and Backstories and replace losses.

Finally, we fixed the icons shown with each recruit offer in the Underworld Hub so it is visually clear.

[h2]Embarking into new Trait Territory[/h2]
With the new Cybersword recruit joining the hub, we've broken ground on two new types of Trait effects that we haven't seen in the game so far. The Traits available for the new Cybersword are good "foot in the door" Traits for these two new types, as more will follow.

The first is that character Traits can affect crafting rules, in this case reducing NanoFab pricing in certain situations. The second is that character Traits can react to actions within a mission


[h2]Disabled Proximity Mines[/h2]
Prox MInes felt left out after yesterdays update to vision systems, allowing you to hover over disabled cameras, radar arrays and motion detectors.


[h2]Restored File Sets and Item Blueprint Names[/h2]
With Update #123, we broke File Sets so they no longer appeared (thanks Power Level filter!) and broke Blueprint names for item Blueprints (thanks multi-sell!). We hotfixed the issue with File Sets but have included the fix for the Blueprint names with this update. Sorry for both of these!

[h2]v1.8.47 - 8/10/2024[/h2]
- New Underworld Hub Recruit - Cybersword!
- New type of Traits that takes effect after mission based on mission events
- New type of Traits that can affect NanoFab pricing
- Fixed incorrect icons in Underworld Hub recruiting offers - correct class icons
- Added gray outline for disabled Proximity mines after they have been enabled by Sec AI but disabled by Talent, Leverage or Hack
- Fixed issue with Blueprints for Items all having bad names like Blueprint.3.313
- Fixed issue with File Sets all disappearing

The weekend is about to get rolling in New Boston, so naturally its time for an update We've hit a hit swathe of big F10s with this update - an exciting follow up to yesterday's story release. We've added display of ranges for disabled security devices, add a much needed quantity slider for buy and sell, adding a Remove Mods button for weapons, added new filters for Power Level and Weapon Weight to all inventory and market screens, fixed a critical bug with Contact Limit Breaks and high level Traits, and a ton of other issues as well.

We're working hard on improving the game based on your bug reports and feedback and suggestions. Thanks for your F10s and your posts to the forum to help us getting these improvements straight into the game with hesitation.

If you like how we are running Early Access, please take a moment to leave a review!


[h2]Preview Ranges of Disable Security Systems[/h2]
If you disable a security device, it can become pretty difficult to know what it will do when it turns back on and exactly how much range you have to stay clear of its sight cone. For laser wires and pressure plates, this is easy but the information was simply hidden for vision systems like Cameras, Radar Arrays and Motion Detectors.

With Update #122, if you hover over a disabled security device - specifically Camera, Radar Array or Motion Detector - you will see the widget appear in gray, semi-transparent lines to give you the sense of what its capabilities are.
 

[h2]Quantity for Buy & Sell[/h2]
With Update #122, we've added a much needed slider for quantity when buying or selling equipment.

• For buying, this simply indicates how many you wish to purchase. There is no bulk discount, but this simplifies buying 20 HE Grenades for your team if you are using a lot of them. Note, this also means that Items which used to be sold in sets of 4 are now sold 1 at a time, except you can slide for quantity. Pricing is now a lot simpler!
  
• For selling, this slider only appears for equipment types that stack cleanly like Items, Weapon Mods, Armor. You can easily slide up the quantity to sell up to the maximum number of the equipment you have to sell. You're pure money offer will just rise with the quantity sold. Favors are offered if an individual sale results in a Favor offer, not from the group sale price. Which leads to the last bullet -
  
• Purposefully, there is no gameplay advantage to using either UI pathway.
  

This is a great and much needed improvement. We are not done yet, the next step is to add buil pricing which will allow faster and easier sell of mixed types and things that don't stack cleanly (files, blueprints, accounts).


[h2]Remove Mods[/h2]
For faster removal of mods and reconfiguration of equipment, there is a new Remove Mods button that will strip mods from a weapon in a single click. Just select the main weapon, and you'll find Remove Mods in its button bar in the top right. Notably, if you have locked mods on a weapon due to crafting them in, they will not be removed by this feature.

This improvement also ensures that when a weapon is sold any of its unlocked mods are automatically removed and dropped back into your inventory.


[h2]Power Level & Weapon Weight Filters[/h2]
Power Level filters have now been added across the board, enabling you to filter rapidly for specific Power Level bands, such as 2 to 4. This can help you while shopping to remove clutter of lower level items or help you sort a larger inventory for specific things.

In addition, we've added the Weight filter for weapons, which are either Heavy or Light.

this is how it looked when things went BUMP
[h2]Contact Limit Breaks for Traits[/h2]
We've fixed a critical bug affecting Contact Limit Breaks for Traits. Sometimes instead of upgrading 1 Trait Level, the Trait would upgrade 2 levels. This could lead to the situation where a Trait upgrades from 3 to 5 in a single hop ... but 4 is the maximum level! The trait just hopped off the end.

Tonight's fix stops the bleeding - Trait upgrades are back to 1 level at a time and more carefully respect the maximum level of 4. The next step here will be to do some careful repair of Contacts who have these dead Traits, fixing them back to what they were before. We'll be coming bac to this but for now, the critical bug is fixed.

[h2]Power Utility Error Message[/h2]
Power Utility flows in 4 chains through your Safehouse. The first link is the Command HQ. The second links in the 4 chains are the rooms adjacent to the elevator, and then third link in each of the 4 chains is the room not adjacent to the elevator. No part of the chain may have a higher Power Utility than the next link up the chain.

This was not clearly communicated in the error message in the outer room - that it might not be able to raise your Power Utility because the room closer to the elevator has a Power Utility that is lower.


[h2]Always Visible Cover Shield[/h2]
Sometimes the cover shield display near your movement location was clipping into geometry in an ugly way and sometimes it would completely disappear into geometry making it impossible to tell what type of cover you were scoring here. With this update, we've improved the shader on the cover shield so that it will always be visible through any geometry, even if you are on the far side of some object.

[h2]Lingering Special Effects[/h2]
We fixed a bug with Brainworm, White Noise, Disorient and a few other abilities where the special effect was lasting beyond the duration. This is now cleaned up and all working as expected.

[h2]v1.8.45 - 8/9/2024[/h2]
- Disabled cameras, radar arrays, motion detectors all show grayed out range if hovered over
- Added quantity slider to buy / sell; anything that stacks cleanly (items, weapon mods, armor, programs, decks) can be multi-sell
- Removed old scheme of items selling in packs of 4, all items are bought and sold with easy quantity slider
- Added Remove Mods button to weapons to quickly strip mods
- Added new filter group Heavy/Light for weapons
- Added min/max Power Level filter to Contacts, Inventory, Cold Storage and Equipping
- Added min/max Character Level filter to Roster
- Improved error message when trying to upgrade Power Utility on a room but the room closer to the elevator has lower Power
- Improved cover shield to show through geometry and always be visible so it isn't half hiding (or completely hiding) in things
- Fixed bug where Contact Limit Breaks for Trait upgrades could result in deleted Trait
- Fixed issues with Brainworm, Disorient, White Noise and other special effects not ending at the right time
- Fixed issue with calculation of price during crafting that could block craft even though you have enough money
- Fixed bugs with controllers using filters, selection could jump into the grid incorrectly
- Fixed bug with Clean Room description being nonsense directly after it started a build task

It is late summer in New Boston and the content is coming in waves, like the black sludge slapping up against the quays in the Boston Harbor. With Update #122, we've added a new storyline to the game, an echo of the Carnivore Job you may have already encountered, which also triggers a new source that can send a Head Hunter after you. In addition, we've fixed one of the last major bugs in the mission map - the dreaded Overwatch freeze or walking in slow motion bug - added Matrix LInk 1 to the cybernetics available at the start of the game, made Wounds more expensive and time consuming to Treat, fixed Vanguard's Refract and improved lighting conditions in a number of levels.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates, please take a moment to leave a review on the game. We're working hard to blow up the game's content this month, so let's blow up our review count too!

[h2]Carnivore Echos[/h2]
If you've encountered the Carnivore Job already or not, you'll be on the hunt for a corrupt cop you can get on your payroll. This can be a big pay off in jobs, Leverage and storylines later, as well as getting access to some milsec specialist items. In addition, you might make some enemies.

The Carnivore Echos storyline follows up on the loose ends from the storyline and possibly other storylines - such as Snitch Snuff out - and opens new doors to future interesting encounters.

With this update, you'll have another story-driven chance for a Head Hunter team to start pursuing you, so keep your weapons loaded and your blades sharp.


[h2]Overwatch Freeze or Slow-Mo Walking Freeze[/h2]
There were a number of ways this nasty bug could manifest. We've been hunting it for months without every successfully landing a reproduction case. So a big thanks for out to @Revan from Discord who posted up a game that reliably hung every single turn. After a few hours with the F10, we were able to uncover the sneaky root cause (an animation trigger that was not getting reset, so the game was waiting for someone to finish moving who was never moving in the first place...) and put in a fix. This is the last known freeze that could occur on the mission map ːsteamhappyː

As always, if you see something, hit F10 and we're going to get right to work fixing and improving!


[h2]Vanguard's Refract Fixed[/h2]
We broke Vanguard's Refract in Update #121 with the camera patch. It is back better than ever. It now has movement assistance points along it that will help you movement snap into positions so that you don't accidentally cross it. Also, Refract now longer causes Grenades to bounce, as it blocks sight but not physical objects.


[h2]Select from Multi-Monitor[/h2]
You can now select which monitor the game should play on from within the game's options screen. The list is a 1-indexed array (there is no 0), so pick your option and the game will remember that for you in future loads.


[h2]Ready to Go Matrix Link[/h2]
Up to this point, you had to complete the investment in Dr. Ashe's Clinic or find another cybernetic splicer in order to get access to Matrix Link 1 or 2. This made multi-classing into Hacker unfairly more difficulty than Scourge or Agent EXj, as we added those cybernetic implants to the starting set when those classes were released. So, now Hacker multi-classing is available immediately, if you have the time, will and the money.


[h2]Wound Treatment and Res Debuffs[/h2]
We've improved the balance for Wound Treatment - it is harder and more expensive to take care of Wounds, which makes it more likely that they will have time to worsen into higher level issues for you. Also, we've given all Wounds a small Stress Res debuff, and some wounds like Flashbacks, a larger Stress Res debuff. Being Wounded at will now have more of a snowball effect, leading to more Stress points and more chances for negative Limit Breaks.

[h2]Snitch Snuff - Frozen VIP[/h2]
We fixed a bug caused by some adjustments to the navigation rules about how close you can get to hovertrucks that were causing the VIP in Snitch Snuff not to be able to go to their exit in one of the two exit options. Watch out - that VIP can book it!

[h2]Lighting Improvements[/h2]
We're always working on improving lighting, props and environmental feeling in the levels. With this update we've made some nice adjustments to a few levels in the street theme that will help them feel more dark and gritty, including Haven Smokeout.

[h2]v1.8.43 - 8/8/2024[/h2]
- Added new storyline echo after Carnivore Job
- Storyline adds new source of Head Hunters coming after you
- New monitor select dropdown in Options screen lets you pick which monitor the game should play on
- Fixed bug that could freeze game during Overwatch fire or leave an enemy walking in place and game frozen
- Matrix Link 1 now available from Dr. Ashe at start of new game
- Increased price of Treating Wounds, increased debuff to Wound and Stress Res from all Wounds
- Fixed issue with Vanguard's Refract suddenly not working
- Fixed issue with Snitch not fleeing in all setups for Snitch Snuff mission
- Improved lighting and materials in some levels and environments

The artificial sun is setting in the New Boston dome and the team is gearing up, checking weapons, shining up the cyberdeck. It's time for another heist, it's time for another update. As we have hammered through roadmap milestone after milestone in June and into July, we've piled up an astronomical number of F10s. Small bugs, important bugs, little suggestions, big ideas. Currently, we are working on finalizing the Matrix Tutorial milestone and building out new content for the game -- but alongside that effort we're laying down some Major Bug Lt. Squash. Let's see how many we took out tonight!

If you're enjoying the constant improvements to the game, we hope you'll take a moment to review the game. There is no better way to thank our small team for their efforts, and you can always edit it later to say "I can't believe they just kept updating" =D

[h2]Lure and Stuck AI[/h2]
We've fixed two big AI issues with this update. The first is with Vanguard's Lure. If you were using it close to an enemy, sometimes they might move to it and then just keep "Hunting!" through it and beyond, often leading to your Vanguard getting caught in the act. This isn't the promise of the Talent ... so we fixed this behavior to be sure that - even when thrown very close - the enemy will go to the Lure spot and end their turn their as they should.

The second important bug was related to enemies skipping their Turns after being attacked. In these cases, you'd shoot an enemy and they'd rotate toward you and ... then on their next Turn they would do absolutely nothing. There are a number of circumstances that have to happen for this to occur but it's been plaguing some enemies and making them look really daft.


[h2]Vision System Rebuild[/h2]
Cameras, Radar Arrays and Motion Detectors were the first 3 security devices ever added to the game. They've built up a lot of historical bugs and with Update #121, we've taken the time to rebuild a lot of their guts to address these bugs en masse in a single go.

• Cameras and Radar Arrays will now see multiple characters who pass through them on the same Turn. They had an old issue where they would only trigger one per Turn, period. Not great. Now, they will trigger once per character spotted per Turn - fair and challenging. So, if Ghostman and then Jellybean run through the camera back-to-back, you'll be properly dinged twice now.
  
• We've fixed issues with Cameras and Radar Arrays not being very accurate at spotting your mercs while they are rotating between turns. Now, their sweep is much more successful at spotting anyone who is seen during the movement.
  
• Cameras and Radar Arrays could also refuse to see a body for a while. They would usually eventually spot it, but it could lay in plain view for a bit - especially if they were just turning back on from being diabled - and not spot it.
  
• All vision systems have been improved to better handle smoke - being inside the smoke especially, which they were not great at following the rules.
  

This fix has closed out a huge number of old F10s about Camera, Radar Arrays and Motion Detectors. A big thanks to everyone who submitted F10 tickets!


[h2]Proximity Mine Fix[/h2]
Proximity Mines were taking damage from the explosion point into consideration when rolling their damage, like a grenade. But they trigger when you enter their zone, so you were always at the max distance ... so, the damage was always low. They have been corrected now to deal full damage which is still Ballistic Damage and so reduced by armor. Still, expect these to have a bit more bite, especially if they have switched into lethal mode.


[h2]Overhead Noise Warning during Attack[/h2]
While we've had useful attack warnings in the hovers over enemies' heads for a while, they were only visible while idling or planning a move and disappeared if you planned an attack. This could make it difficult to remember if a specific enemy was going to hear your attack and even more opaque if you changed weapons during your targeting - "who is going to hear?" was not an easy question to answer.

We have now added the same warning icon over all enemy heads during the attack prep phase where you are checking out accuracy, considering your shot and might change weapons or Talents. This gives you clear guidance on who will hear the attack without having to hit ESC or (B) to back out and check the overhead warnings again.


[h2]Better Clicking in Class Tree[/h2]
The class tree is now far more mouse-friendly, allowing you to click on another node at any time during your journey to upgrade a node. If you're looking at Red Dot's upgrades, you used to have to click the close button or hit ESC before you could click on Coordinated Charge. Now, the click goes through correctly and you can one-click to open another node and check it out.


[h2]Timestamp Corrections[/h2]
The saved slots in the game were using an inconsistent timestamp compared to the main save and it was overall just confusing. We've resolved this now and the timestamps should all be correct, to your timezone and useful. Let us know if you have any issues.

[h2]Improved Hospital Rooftop "Plan B"[/h2]
With Update #121, we've made some improvements to the looting and enemy spawning on the rooftop. We're working our way steadily through the game to improve enemy starting locations, patrol paths and loot groups to make sure everything is varied per play through and feels good. With this update, the loot is a bit more reliable on the very level so there are less changes of "spikes" in value and the surprise arrival of the T-REX may also arrive in some different points and positions which can make things moderately different every time you restart. It is still the first level, so we've not going to hard on this one.
 
[h2]v1.8.41 - 8/6/2024[/h2]
- Fixed issue that could cause AI in combat to skip their turn stupidly
- Fixed issue with Vanguard's Lure where, if thrown close to the enemy, the might keep hunting that same turn
- Rebuilt vision systems (Camera, Radar Array, Motion Detector) and fixed tons of old bugs
- Improved all vision systems reaction when inside smoke
- Improved ability of vision systems to spot separate characters moving through them on same turn
- Improved ability of vision systems to spot characters when they rotate between turns
- Improved combat logs produced by vision systems when spotting characters
- Improved ability for vision systems to spot dead bodies
- Added new overhead hover on enemies when targeting, showing who will hear the shot/attack
- Fixed issue where proximity mines always did low damage - watch out!
- Fixed District HQ starting position that started inside camera view angle
- Fixed building in District HQ that you could sink into the wall when taking cover
- Fixed issue with last time played date being incorrect in saved game slots
- Fixed saved game name would not correctly match if you renamed Knight in new game
- Fixed issues with Crafting cost being incorrect and blocking the start of crafting
- Fixed issues with Start Crafting button being enabled incorrectly on sub-Blueprints
- Fixed issue trying to click Talents but click going through to Lootbox (etc) underneath
- Fixed Grenades were bouncing off Refact wall from Vanguard's class tree
- Fixed sometimes hotkey graphics were too small for the hotkey ("Shift")
- Renamed market filter category from "Blade" to "Melee"
- Improved click handling in class tree, when viewing upgrades can still click on other node to focus
- Fixed issue with Connection % dropping to 0% at the start of a turn and not getting dumped from Matrix
- Fixed issue with Health-over-Time healing not always updating the initiative track correctly
- Improved description of difficulty options for saving games and death modes
- Improved enemy position, patrol variability and loot in Hospital Rooftop level ("Plan B")
- Fixed oddity with Send to Detox button sometimes saying Send to Destresser

Part of our 10+ year journey as game developers has been constantly working to improve every aspect of our games with each new release. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve seen, and heard, this evolution in each game. For soundtracks, our studio has progressed from buying non-exclusive tracks from online markets to hiring our own team and lovingly composing original soundtracks from scratch.

Today, we’re taking an exciting new step forward for both our studio and Cyber Knights: Flashpoint with the release of Reactive Music: dynamic, engine-controlled music layering that reacts to your gameplay, building tension when you’re close to being discovered or amping up the excitement as your shoot-out intensifies.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
^^^ Not trying to play well here at all, just trying to illicit big changes from the reactive music's tension system

[h2]A major tech upgrade made possible by our Kickstarter backers[/h2]
Because of the success of our Kickstarter, we were able to upgrade Cyber Knight’s audio engine early on to use Wwise, a much more feature-rich interactive audio solution for games, made by Audiokinetic. It’s made it easy for us to integrate SFX across Cyber Knights’ tactical encounters with all of your squads’ abilities and interactions.

Now, working with our composers and sound designers at Studio Viking, we’ve rigged up the game’s soundtrack with dynamics unparalleled in any previous Trese Brothers release. We’re no longer just looping songs from a static soundtrack - by using Wwise with Unity, the game’s audio engine can process and mix individual instruments, movements and tempos rather than just starting and stopping static tracks.


[h2]A better heartbeat (and melody) for the game experience[/h2]
This means the music will now match itself to game events as they’re happening real-time in your heist. As the gameplay tension rises, guards start to become suspicious, a body is found or the first shots are fired - the game feeds this into the music engine as a tension rating and musical mode that cues the reactive music component on how to mutate, change tempo, add and remove musical instruments and intensify the mix to match your gameplay moment.

As the tension increases and wanes within a level - as more reinforcements arrive, or as Head Hunters kick down the door, or you kill the last guard who knows you’re in the building - the music can dramatically shift to follow the rise or drop in threat.


[h2]Roadmap milestone + more audio polish[/h2]
This is a huge step up for the game’s sound experience. This not only completes the Reactive Music major milestone on our roadmap, but adds all of the other tracks (and their component elements for Reactive Music to use) from the game’s soundtrack that weren’t yet included in the game, increasing the variety of in-game music by more than tenfold.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2645330/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint_Soundtrack/

We have also received a lot of feedback about the sound effects and the music in Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. This patch addresses some of them and we are working to incorporate more of that feedback into upcoming patches. We’ve adjusted several audio effects, mixes and made platform improvements that should help resolve several of the higher priority issues.


[h2]Added 5 new Matrix Hosts[/h2]
We've improved the catalog of matrix templates again for solo hacker missions as well as matrix hosts used in across the proc-gen missions with SCU and APU available. Every push to increase these helps us strive for a point where every proc-gen map, objective, matrix host combination is reaching a tipping point of uniqueness as these catalogs continue to grow.


[h2]Talent Rebalance: Coordinate Charge & Deflection Shield[/h2]
With this update, we've completed some needed rebalance for Soldier's Coordinated Charge and Cybersword's Deflection Field.
First, we've reduced power on Coordinated Charge, removing the ability to get a second max charge. With the recharge rate, ability to extend duration, this Talent can already be almost omnipresent so this helps bring it back into a fairer spot within the meta. In addition, the final upgrade that gives +1 MP no longer adds +5% Move Speed, leaving the total achievable Move Speed at +25%.

Cybersword's Deflection Shield has received a 6th upgrade node which can enable you to drop the shield for 0 AP and only an IO-Batt charge from your blade. This can be really helpful in those clutch situations where the AP are just too tight, so consider this new upgrade!

[h2]Decoy Upgrades[/h2]
The Decoy II and III programs' have both received an improvement, a minor buff to their armor and a reduction in program rating so they are viable on more decks. Decoy II is up to +4 Armor (which matters all the more now that Hacker's brains are bleeding more!) and has had a Program Rating reduction and Decoy III is at +6 Armor with an even bigger Program Rating reduction.

Enjoy making those IC and the Q-Sec Escalation miss!


[h2]Better Power Level 2 Prices[/h2]
Thanks to all the players sharing feedback and chatting with us in Discord. With your help, we've improved the pricing matrix for low level armor and weapons you can get at the beginning of the game. All of the prices have come down a bit, so remember to go shopping when you've got some U-Dahs after your latest heist.

[h2]Story Repercussions[/h2]
We've improved the story events if you ignore the starting Vanguard's Cube Run mission. Don't do it - it is not exciting, and the Vanguard just gets mad. But before we had missed the consequence here and nothing was said and no one cared. That said - go on the mission! z

[h2]v1.8.39 - 8/2/2024[/h2]
- Added reactive music system - game music now responds to rising stealth and combat tension, varies music intensity
- Major increase in variety of music in missions
- Added 5 new matrix hosts maps to hack-only and proc-gen missions
- Down-balanced Soldier's Coordinated Charge - removed option to get +1 max charge, total move speed bonus is +25%
- Improved Decoy II and III with more Deck Armor, reduced Program Ratings
- Added 6th upgrade option for Cybersword's Deflection Field to reduce cost to -1 AP
- Fixed issue with Chameleon Sheathe implant blocking Stealth Armor from being equipped
- Minor price reduction for Power Level 2 weapons and Power Level 2 an 3 Armors
- Improved starting Vanguard's reaction to ignoring Cube Run mission
- Tightened up timeline on all proc-gen missions, reduced by 1-2 days