Cyber Knights: Flashpoint News

It's Update #22! We've done a lot of work in this update with targeting, targeting lines, best targets first and we've also fixed the "bodies disappear on reload" issue. Now, every bone and position of your slain enemies is remembered and restored dutifully.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and how the game is improving, please remember to leave a review!

Before Proc-gen is ready, we just need to roll out healing wounds and then it is time!


[h2]Dead Bodies Visually Restored[/h2]
First -- because this perhaps our most popular F10 still standing -- dead bodies now restore! When an enemy goes down, their dead body becomes a liability. Someone is eventually going to come looking for them. Up until Update #22, if you reloaded a saved in the middle of a mission, the dead bodies (specifically, the ragdolls) would not appear. However, the bodies were there, you could hover them and other enemy agents would still see them.

With Update #22, we've finally resolved this reload issue and dead bodies are now going to appear in every game you reload. If it's a pre-Update #22 game, you might see a lot of enemies flopping around for a second at the start of your reload, but it's all expected -- we just need to get those ragdolls into their final resting place so we can remember it for the next reload.

Thanks to everyone F10ing to make this a hot issue - fixed and ready for the next step, dragging bodies.


[h2]Best Target First![/h2]
With Update #22, when you select your attack Talent we will now sort the list of targets by the highest accuracy to lowest. Previously, we were selecting the nearest target which could result in targets that were out of sight, low % accuracy or just not what you might want as your best default. Now, your best shot is always presented first, so if you like it you can take it but if you need something else for the tactical situation, it is also very clear what type of best accuracy chance you're skipping on to take the harder shot.
 

[h2]Melee Weapon Targeting Oddities[/h2]
With melee weapons there was a situation in which the "can attack" value in the bottom right corner would report a "1" but you'd be unable to attack the target. This mismatch in calculations has been resolved.

We've also fixed the issue where melee weapons could show a large number of gray lines to enemies when considering a movement destination, even if those enemies were out of sight.

[h2]Targeting Lines Update[/h2]
If you switch weapons now, the targeting lines immediately update. This is really helpful, you can now test a movement destination and swap back and forth between your weapons without having to change the destination just to get the lines to update.

[h2]Sword Only Talents Gray Out[/h2]
The sword-only Talents like Aegis and Deflection Field were not correctly graying out if you had a non-sword selected. These Talents now check this correctly and will indicate that they can't be used until you switch weapons.

[h2]Switch to Sprinting[/h2]
We've seen a few players recently miss the idea that you can change your movement mode to Sneaking or Sprinting altogether. This needs better coverage in the tutorial, but we've updated the UI text to try to further highlight that option.

[h2]v1.1.13 - 11/23/2023[/h2]
- Improved ordering of targets when selecting attack - highest accuracy now first
- Dead bodies for characters and enemies now correctly restore on reload
- Fixed issue where weapon numbers in corner would report a sword could attack but it really couldn't
- Targeting sight lines (gray, blue, red) update immediately when switching weapons
- Fixed issue with too many gray targeting sight lines when moving with melee weapon selected
- Fixed issue where Talents that require swords (Deflection Field) were not graying out when using other weapons
- Improved label for "Switch to Sneaking" and "Switch to Sprinting"

Welcome the Steam Autumn Sale! Come right in, merc - a new quantum rider in your spine is 20% off. Just be sure to meet Dr. Eckman at the Aug-Clinic after hours. Surgery starts at 2 AM, your extract from the rooftop as a newly minted Cyber Knight is scheduled for 0300.

Now with Update #21, it is possible that the new Soldier, Aitana, (or your newly personalized and created character) will be waiting on the rooftop for your Knight. With this update, we've also made a big pass upgrading the Mission requirements to be clearer in all their many cases, fixed some nagging issues with the HUD and improved controller defaults and keybinding display around the appearance tab.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and content, please consider leaving a review!

 
[h2]New Game Option: Aitana[/h2]
One of our goals for the new game team selection is to ensure that each class group has a number of compelling, cool and well setup characters for you to customize as your starting point. Each new character brings their own backstory (Aitana is an ex-Blue Ox striker), Traits (new Muzzle-Face Trait added here), unique tags (Aitana is a member of the Old Hammer Church, a small group of believers who recognize the entities that humans claim are the Artificial Consciousness they created in the 23rd century are actually timeless entities that humans have always known and were once named by a parade of old world civilizations as the old gods), unique Contacts (Aitana's has stayed close to her old Blue Ox Gang Boss and her beliefs have led her to be friends with Doc Shaduke, a street doc and Old Hammer Church member as well) and their own starting equipment (Aitana can lay down some devastating Full Auto punishment on the rooftop with her UAR).


So, Aitana (or whoever you create) comes from a stranger and more spiritual underside of New Boston than you've encountered with other characters. Her presence, unique Tags and Contact connections will feed into different story expressions than Aaron, with his more straightforward milsec connections and mother who might want him dead.

Down the line in the roadmap, we'll be letting you pick Traits for them as well and we are in discussions about stat buys for your Attributes too. We're going to keep working on this new game experience until it is overflowing with awesome options.


[h2]Mission Requirements Get Simpler[/h2]
There are 3 prevalent types of mission requirements that show up in missions today -- having the right number of mercs for the job, bringing a merc with a specific class (such as Cyber Knight or Hacker) and bringing a specific character (such as Emille, etc).


Before, these were all a bit confusing. Sometimes the requirement (like 4/4 mercs) would disappear as soon as it was satisfied. In multiple missions, the text for the specific character required didn't have the character's name. Other times, we were just too wordy for our own good.

We've now resolved all of these cases to use simple, clear, single items. If a Knight is required, it says "Knight" and indicates if you've got one going along with a checkmark. If you need Zasha, well - it jus says "Zasha". And the merc counter now is just always there be it 0/4, 2/4, 4/4 or 7/4.

[h2]Fixing HUD / Talent Display[/h2]
With Update #21, we've fixed two minor issues that crept into the HUD. First, an odd X was appearing at the center of every Talent targeting element. This wasn't needed for all sorts of Talents, so it is now correctly hidden. Those Talents that target a specific point on the floor and affect an area around that point use this X, such as Vanguard's Lure, Cyber Knight's Lookahead and Sniper's JTAC. Also, all types of grenades have a blast mark that appears in the same way - in the exact point on the floor that wlll be targeted.

Finally, there was a strange issue with the word "Button" appearing on screen after unpacking an Item like a medkit in the HUD. This is now resolved.

 
[h2]Rotating Character in Appearance / Mission Pop Up[/h2]
For a little while, the rotation keybindings in appearance have shown "NO NO" instead of anything useful. This is now resolved (defaults to A/D) and the controller default is now nicely setup (right stick) as well. This also carries over into the character and enemy pop ups in the mission map, giving you easy access to rotation and the correct keybindings. Of course, you can also click and drag the model to spin it to your little cyber heart's content.

[h2]v1.1.11 - 11/23/2023[/h2]
- Added additional Soldier character option to New Game - Aitana with Urban Assault, new Traits, Ex-Blue Ox Backstory & Contacts
- Improved mission requirement display for merc count (4/4 Mercs), now always visible even when satisfied
- Improved mission requirement display class requirement (Knight, Hacker) to be simpler and clearer
- Fixed issues with mission requirement for specific character not correctly listing their name
- Fixed odd floating text "Button" after browsing item backpack
- Fixed confusing X appearing at the center of all Talent targeting
- Fixed issues with unlisted keybindings in appearance customization screens for rotating character (click and drag, or use keybinds)

Update #20 is another big patch full of important fixes and improvements straight from the forges of your F10s! We're clearing the decks as best we can because we've got some exciting changes coming in over the weekend - more options in New Game and the next major roadmap milestone - the first wave of Proc-Gen Missions!

If you're enjoying the pace of improvements and the game itself - please leave a review and share Cyber Knights: Flashpoint with a friend.


[h2]Matrix IC Actions[/h2]
We've taken a big pass through the text describing when IC take action and what the result is to help clear up lingering questions about the causes-and-effects during Matrix hacking. Programs that act whenever you take an action (such as loading a program, downloading a file, using an Attack program) state that clearly. Other programs that are triggered only by specific actions like loading a program are more clear about their trigger and resulting action. We've got a lot of work to do to increase the visibility of all the action around ICs and what they are doing as you take your actions (see the log, the details are there) but it needs to be much more visible.


[h2]Matrix Looting[/h2]
For those of you hacking, the files, blueprints and accounts you've been stealing from Matrix hosts were not showing correctly in your mission victory screen. This is now resolved and they appear under a Matrix Downloads list so you can gloat over your ill-begotten riches.

In matrix land, we've further smoothed out zooming in and out on the map. And, we've fixed a bug where once you used the Show button to inspect a door or security devices in an RCU or SCU, the lines would stay on screen after you left hacking.


[h2]Splitting UARs[/h2]
Urban Assault Rifles (shorter range, Full Auto focused) have slipped out of the bonus category for Assault weapons and joined the close-quarters combat bonus. Traits that used to give +3% Accuracy to Assault Rifles and Urban Assault Rifles are now only +3% Accuracy for ARS and instead, you can end up with +3% Accuracy for Close-Quarters Weapons (UAR/Shoguns/E-Rifles). This is letting us achieve a more interesting break in the weapon categories and Traits that are built around them.


[h2]Default Keybindings / Remove Controller[/h2]
With this update we've fixed some issues that were plaguing customize keybindings and multiple controller support. You can now reset the defaults in each context (mission map / safehouse) nicely and get immediately back to the default settings Then tweak away!

Also, for anyone who has a controller plugged in that is giving the game a tough time like a pedal, you can now correctly remove the controllers from the registry on the keybinding screen.

[h2]Overwatch Locks[h2]
There were quite a few overwatch lock ups caused in the game last week and reported with F10s. These mostly resulted in unlikely timing and a race condition from killing multiple targets at once (not overwatch) or getting in an overwatch duel (shooting someone using overwatch) or when an overwatch character would miss. We've fixed what looks like all of them but there may be more cases floating around out there -- so please F10 if you hit any other snags.

Also, we fixed an issue with enemies and characters who are Stunned being able to fire Overwatch reaction shots - that's exactly the kind of action you can't take when you're Stunned!

[h2]Disappearing Hovers[/h2]
We tracked down an odd bug that could cause all hovers to suddenly stop working in the safehouse. It was caused by different screen transitions and ordering. Now press F, its gone and hovers reign supreme.

And so much more - check out the full list of improvements below!

[h2]v1.1.9 - 11/21/2023[/h2]
- Fixed customize keybinding/controller functions "Reset Defaults" and "Remove Controller"
- Improved text for all Matrix IC actions, clearer when they act and what they do
- Adjusted bonuses for Close-Combat Weapons to include Urban Assault Rifles (UAR), removed from bonus to Assault Rifles
- When finishing a mission, all files, blueprints and accounts downloaded from matrix are correctly listed in loot summary
- Improved hovers in matrix over End Action for Turn button
- Fixed program display in market and cyberdeck management to correctly show max uses under program icon
- Fixed issue with utility programs having the wrong icon once you reach Matrix hacking
- Fixed issue with Overwatch duels or killing an enemy on Overwatch that could lead a soft lock in UI
- Characters/Enemies who are stunned cannot attack with Overwatch
- Fixed issue with Q-Endpoint objective in Haven Smokeout - larger trigger area and character will finish movement before triggering
- Fixed outfits to have better tint areas, improved skin color support for body to match face, reduced over-shiny outfits
- Fixed issues with starting Soldier outfit (Aaron) not tinting with colors correctly
- Fixed minor mismatch in XP shown in victory screen
- Fixed issues with class tree icons for Faked Vitals, Downed Shields, Rampage
- Improved faction assignment during new game, less duplicate tags about faction allegiance
- Fixed bug with newly spotted guard not immediately becoming highlighted when toggle highlight is on
- Removed programs from Cold Storage as they already appear in Market
- Improved zoom smoothness on Matrix hacking
- Fixed bug where Matrix hacking inspection lines would stay on screen after looking at a security device or door
- Fixed bug where hovers would stop working suddenly in the safehouse
- Improved hotkeys for training so that the hotkeys never swap around based on trained/untrained
- Removed duplicate hotkey use of H (default) in appearance for both remove (stays "H") and rename (now "T")

Update #19 rolls out at the end of this weekend in response to a lot of the F10s submitted by the players who are loose in the NBZ, running heists, keeping their head above the cutting line and building their legends. This quality of life and bug fix patch caps off a big weekend and preps us for the next major push - adding proc-gen missions.

If you're enjoying the pace of improvements, remember to leave a review!

[h2]New Defaults / Clear Options Button[/h2]
We've been working on and testing a bundle of improvements to the keybindings and default controller setup and are excited to roll them out to players in Update #19.

For all keybindings in the safehouse, this update is going to clear and reset any custom bindings you've made and you'll need to rebind them. For the mission map set, the minor change we made will be applied unless you already customized the Toggle Mode key.

Here is a full of changes we made:

• For controllers, left and right shoulder are now correctly bound to previous and next in lists, timeline and tab groups. These simply weren't bound before so they were showing as Q / E.
  
• For keyboard, we've consolidated safehouse and mission map to work the same, and now TAB and Shift are used everywhere as next and previous (replacing Q/E in safehouse).
  
• We've stopped using ALT as a hotkey, that was bad practice given ALT+Tab and other AL+Blah system hotkeys.
  
• In the mission map, you now use C to Toggle Mode, such as sneak/sprint and also to toggle firing modes from full auto and back again.
  
• In the safehouse, where ALT was used was always as the top level UI confirmation, so it has been switched to ENTER.
  
• In New Game Appearance, this also helped remove a duplicate use of ALT (continue or remove optional cosmetic). Now continuing is ENTER by default and removing an optional cosmetic is H.
  

You can of course change any of these that you like through Options > Keybindings. In addition, until the Reset Default buttons in the Mission Map / Safehouse keybinding screens gets fully fixed and working, we've added a possibly helpful "Reset Preference" option at the bottom of the options screen. Clicking this and then restarting the game will clear and reset all of your keybindings as well as all other preferences.


[h2]Melee Weapon Fixes[/h2]
With Update #19, we've corrected in the stat line for the Stunstick with better Damage and a new more powerful debuff for its Charged Attack. In addition, we've fixed the missing text for the E-Cutter Blade which can guarantee the shredding of one armor point with its Charged Attack.


[h2]Sorting Contacts[/h2]
To help get a handle on your underworld network, we've added new sorting options. You can now see owes you the most Favors easily as well as who you have built up the most Trust with. In addition, you can check out a Contact's Power Level (their raw power) and their Influence (their power within their faction). As proc-gen comes online and more Contacts are making moves, shifting their stats and adjusting their services due to these changes, this will become even more useful.

We still need to push some of these stats (like Favors) up into the summary row so you don't have to check each Contact's detail. That'll be coming soon too.


[h2]Training Tree Upgrade[/h2]
With Update #19 we've made a really nice update for mouse players, enabling you to click directly on the upgrade node of a Talent in the class tree without having to first click "Train" or "Upgrade". This may sound minor because its what you'd expect to be able to do, so now its nice and before it was frustrating with a mouse. Thanks to everyone F10'ing issues big and small and helping us improve and polish every aspect of the game.

In addition, we've fixed upgrade icons for Talents like Lure, Blend and Iron Grip to match the upgrade's effect. And finally, the issue where training an AOE boosting upgrade would break the display of the Talent's regular range is now fixed (train Lure +6m AOE would set Lure range to 6m... display only but bad!)

[h2]Edge Scroll in UI[/h2]
We received enough F10s about wanting to edge scroll even when there is a UI element that we adjusted this feature to work just that way. If you're feeling like it shouldn't let us know and it's probably time for an option.

[h2]v1.1.7 - 11/19/2023[/h2]
- Improved default keyboard / controller bindings for safehouse, dialog, appearance screens - remove ALT, cleaned up overlaps, better controller bindings
- Added Clear Preferences button at bottom of options list
- Added sorting Contacts by Favors, Power Level, Influence and Trust
- Improved click-ability of class training tree - now click directly on the upgrade to focus on it
- Fixed Power Level 2 Stunstick to have correct stats and unique debuff on Charged Attack
- Fixed missing Charged Attack description for E-Cutter Blade
- Camera Edge scrolling now works even over UI elements when enabled
- Fixed bug with market or cold storage incorrectly starting as empty first time loaded
- Fixed bug where sometimes checking a Talent, then canceling it could cause AP to stop flashing
- Fixed issues in class tree where training an upgrade that boosted AoE range would cause regular Range to decrease (display only)
- Fixed issues with class tree icons for Lure, Blend, Iron Grip

Update #18 rolls out some key improvements for the timeline and your ability to look back on your team's past activity as well as a ton of new improvements throughout the game. While we're waiting a few more days for the first wave of Proc-Gen Missions to hit, your F10s and suggestions on our Discord and here on the Steam forums are keeping the update pipeline firing on all jets.

If you're enjoying the pace of improvements and updates to the game please leave a review - nothing is more helpful for us to keep improving and sharing the game.
 
Also, we're excited to announce the first Community Challenge -
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/5454483600070048449
We've rolled out our first community challenge for everyone to try and enjoy. Nothing strict, just a different spin on how you play the game to put some focus on a certain playstyle and get players chatting about meta and melee.

How long can you survive in the game only using blades? Sneaky, quiet, stabby? Check! Out ranged, out gunned, pinned down - hopefully not. Let's see what your sword-only team can do.


[h2]Timeline History[/h2]
The small button to the left of the timeline (if you are on page 0) has now activated to show a history of timeline events. Events like cyber surgery, mission expiration, mercs recovering from injuries, and more all appear within the list. We need to keep adding more events to get full coverage but you'll be able to see a wealth of history about your activities already.

In addition, events that were previously invisible can now be checked out in the timeline history, like the specifics of a failed Legwork attempt, Trait mutations for your characters (as negative and positive Traits gain or drop in power level) and when Injury devolves into a true Wound. These events will soon have a confirmation pop up that makes such important events even more clear, but for now exposing them in the history is a big move.

As a new feature, this list will start empty for your team. Events that occurred before Update #18 will not appear here.


[h2]Quit from between Missions[/h2]
If you've completed a level, won a mission or are just anywhere in between levels on a multi-stage mission, you can now choose to easily exit to the main menu.

We recognize that levels are long and so often, getting to the end of one is the full play session and maybe your mission isn't over but you'll have to pause and come back later. ESC can get you back to the main menu and when you resume play you'll drop right back into the stage or mission victory.


[h2]Cyberdeck Health[/h2]
Your Cyberdeck's health % is now visible in all screen related to cyberdecks. We've fixed a few places were buttons were not clickable in the Cyberdeck management screens (specifically install and delete programs). We've fixed some issues where the storage bar for your deck wasn't always updating correctly and also now if you select an already installed program, we will highlight how much space it is taking up in the deck's storage bar in yellow.

Also, if you're out cruising the matrix you can now pan the matrix map with the same hotkeys (WASD, left stick by default) as the main mission map.

[h2]No Transitions Camera Mode[/h2]
This option was rolled out a few releases ago to allow you to play in a mode where the game took as little control of the camera as possible. It has had a few issues, specifically with the Cybersword's Slashslide and with Hacking, both of which are now fixed.

[h2]Appearance Improvements[/h2]
When setting up your character's looks, we've made some fixes and improvements as well. You can now rotate your character while looking at their face detail. We've also fixed an issue where switching between sliders when changing the aspects of their face would reset the previous slider.

[h2]v1.1.5 - 11/17/2023[/h2]
- Added timeline event history to saved game, review details and timing of past timeline events
- Turn events like Legwork fail, Trait mutation, Wounds from injury now visible in logs
- Added option to return to the main menu from the Victory screen, allowing to resume there later
- Now pan Matrix with same keybindings (default WASD / right stick) as main mission map
- All displays of Cyberdeck in market, inventory and deck management now display health %
- When forcibly disconnected from the matrix, a popup explains reason (deck hacker, burnt out deck, cut connection)
- Fixed cybernetic implants that were showing +/- with their buff or debuffs
- Fixed issue where changing between face sliders in appearance would reset previous slider value
- Now allow rotating character in appearance while focused on face
- Fixed issue with Blueprint count sometimes being wrong in Cold Storage (missing item will appear)
- Fixed issue in Cyberdeck Mgmt where deck's storage bar was not always updating correctly
- Fixed issue in Cyberdeck Mgmt where some buttons we're clickable
- Fixed issues with No Transitions option for camera with Slashslide and Hacking
- Improved rendering performance for market and other long lists