30XX News

Hello! Today's 30XX 0.22.0 patch adds a tremendous number of new Augs (41!) to 30XX, more than doubling the available Aug pool. It includes 15 returning Augs from 20XX and 26 brand new ones, including 12 character-specific Augs that can only be found by a specific character.

Our goals with today's push are threefold:

• Increase the game's Aug pool diversity so each run is more unique
  
• Reduce reliance on "pure stat" Augs by introducing several Augs that increase damage, speed, and survivability either by changing the player's playstyle or offering tradeoffs
  
• Lean into the differences between Ace and Nina and introduce a category of Augs that buff unique aspects of each character (instead of forcing all Augs to do
• something* for both characters)
  

We'll continue to work on this in upcoming patches - we're far from finished with the Aug pool, and have lots to do with the Core Aug pool as well.

Note: Some of today's new Augs might be too powerful - while not everything in 30XX will be perfectly balanced (by design!), we'll rein some of these in if they're a little too spicy.

Second note: There's a known issue right now where some players are experiencing stutter/slowdown issues with VSync off at very high framerates. We're working on fixes - it's likely we're able to push a potential fix to the publictest branch before 0.23 (next patch). In the meantime, using an FPS limiter or turning VSync on/playing in a borderless window should work around the problem for the time being.

Thanks for playing!

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GAME CHANGES & FIXES:

• Added 41 new Augs, including:
  
  • 26 brand-new-to-30XX Augs, including 6 Ace-specific Augs and 6 Nina-specific Augs, and
    
  • 15 returning Augs from 20XX!
    
  • Note: Some of these Augs still have placeholder (PH) icons. We'll likely patch these icons in later in the week.
    
• Added a new HUD area for active effects on the player. Autotank status will also display here while it's unused.
  
• Fixed a rare crash when picking up a Prototype with Grab Bag or Archive in online play after finding Prototype Resonator.
  
• Updated & added lots of new SFX.
  
• Echo Shell now uses a more generous projectile counter hitbox that more closely matches the visual. (This is a buff.)
  
• Lucavi's third Kunai hit (projectile) now counts as a "combo last hit" for Ace Energy recovery purposes.
  
• Lucavi's Unleash Blade now costs 2 NRG to activate.
  
• Negation Pulse + Persist now properly removes existing shield projectiles when spawning new ones.
  
• Ace's Unleash Blade now properly updates on the HUD as he switches Weapons.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause Hoot Omega to teleport instead of flying away. (Still chasing down an issue that causes him to die early - I might have incidentally fixed this, but please tell me if you still see Hoot vanish.)
  
• Prototype Resonator now properly works with the Nutfinder Prototype Blessing.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause Hoot Omega's health bar to be a little shy sometimes.
  
• Fixed Deepverse's Giant Snake miniboss showing explosions in the wrong place after being defeated.
  
• Rewrote some old bad charge-shot sound effect code so it should behave a little better.
  
• Fixed an issue where destroyed Sound Alarms (Echocave diagonal shooter hazard) wouldn't disappear after being destroyed by certain Powers.
  
• Fixed an issue where quickly killing Legacy before he can absorb his remaining Shapes would leave the Shapes visible on screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where Contemplate Rooms could spawn Megavoids on top of one another (making it look like they'd ignore projectile damage).
  
• Fixed an issue where Frail Glory wasn't properly updating its animation on landing or exploding in lava.
  

Hello! Today's 30XX 0.21.0 patch introduces Daily and Weekly Challenges to 30XX! These new Challenges shake the rules of the game up a bit, and give you the chance to test your mettle against your friends. (The Leaderboards are global, so you can also test your mettle against people who aren't your friends yet.) We've also made a bunch of visual updates, fixed a few bugs, and added a few Power interactions with level mechanics. (Way, way more to come there.)

Daily Challenges can be played once per day - you've only got one shot with today's ruleset, and that's it. You'll get points for destroying enemies and beating bosses, and after each level, you'll receive bonuses for avoiding damage (the "efficiency bonus") and for time remaining on your timer. When the run's over, your score'll be uploaded to today's Leaderboard - and if you finished the run, your time will be entered, too. (Some folks gotta go fast.)

Weekly Challenges reset every Wednesday (in the wee hours of the morning in the US), and can be played as many times as you like. If you get a better score or a faster time, it'll update your Leaderboard scores.

Both kinds of Challenges shake up the base difficulty a bit by giving you a special Challenge Boon for the run, and turning on a few Entropy Conditions to keep the run spicy. Our intent is that Challenges are overall similar in difficulty to full base runs on average - though some will certainly be easier, and some harder. Permanent upgrades are locked to a fixed set in Challenges, as well (so they'll naturally be a bit tougher for most players).

Challenges are only available in Standard Mode - at least for the time being. All Challenges have a fixed RNG seed - this means all players trying a given Challenge will see the same level order, items within a level, and so on. They can be played solo or co-op (locally or online), and solo & co-op play have separate seeds & leaderboards. (If you play the Daily alone, you can play the co-op Daily later with a friend, and vice versa.)

Note: Some enemies intentionally do not grant score. At present, these include most boss summons, Highvault Tornado Machines, and Penumbra Void Orbs/Megavoids.

Additionally - our seventh level, Dustria, is shaping up nicely - we're getting pretty close to releasing it! We're working on the best way to announce & promote Dustria's release, so there's a chance that Dustria's patch doesn't align with our normal 3 week schedule. (We'll make sure the in-game timer accurately reflects this if that's the direction we head in.)

Thanks for playing!

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GAME CHANGES & FIXES:

• Daily and Weekly challenges are now live! See above for how they work.
  
• Lasers with a warning duration now have an appropriate "tell" visual instead of a full beam that just doesn't hurt you for a moment.
  
• Added some eyes on Absolution's Phase 2 enemies so they're a little more "shoot me!" obvious. Tightened up the timings on this phase - after destroying one, the next in the sequence will now appear after a fixed amount of time instead of running its activation timer out first.
  
• Absolution's void circles now last 20 seconds (down from 30). They can now also be destroyed by certain Powers.
  
• Rerolling Weapon drops now properly rerolls into a new Weapon (instead of into a Core).
  
• Updated explosion effects. Moved explosion effects
• behind* enemies, the player, and projectiles. Let us know what you think! The ordering should have been that way all along for visual clarity's sake, but there are probably a few places it looks a little weird.
  
• Echocave's Crystal Shooter twins will no longer warp into solid objects.
  
• Updated Frail Glory visuals. Frail Glory now also explodes if the crown touches lava. It's frail, after all.
  
• The Pause screen now properly displays information on the current level, as well as any active Challenge Boons or Entropy Conditions.
  
• Added a warning blink when Deepverse's Laser Platforms are about to disappear.
  
• Added a new animation for Highvault's Jump Zones that should make it much clearer that the player can jump again.
  
• Updated Deepverse miniboss visuals.
  
• Updated Raijin Call bolt visual.
  
• Attacks that immune against an enemy (shielded enemies, invulnerable enemies) now properly display a "blocked" animation.
  
• (Experimental) Sound Alarms in Echocave now display attack blocks (and destroy non-piercing projectiles) instead of shots just passing through them without effect. Additionally, Sound Alarms can now be destroyed by a certain Nina Power.
  
• Fixed a minor visual error with Deepverse Boltpairs that stay on permanently.
  

Hello! Today's 30XX 0.20.0 patch contains changes to Echobeast's fight, a few tweaks to Prototypes & their associated supporting Augs, and a bunch of fixes and tweaks.

As a note: outward-facing progress (the stuff that shows up in patch notes!) on 30XX may be a bit slow for the next patch or two. My dad's very sick, and for the next few weeks I'm going to be working out of his home (3000 miles from my home!) so I'm able to take care of him while he gets better. The rest of the team's still full speed on 30XX tasks, but since I'm the last link in the chain that gets their hard work into the game, that'll be a bit slow as I focus on my dad. Thanks for your understanding and patience - this will in no way affect the amount of love, design, and iteration that 30XX gets over the course of Early Access, but it may mean it'll take a bit longer to get it all in your hands.

Full notes below. Thanks for playing!

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GAME CHANGES & FIXES:

• Iterated on Echobeast's fight:
  
  • Replaced the second phase (the "dive phase") with a "whack-a-mole" phase where Echobeast will continue attacking without moving until taking damage. We weren't happy about how the dive phase played in practice - it gave players the option of keeping damage up to end the fight faster or waiting it out, but neither option felt very fun.
    
  • Echobeast's new second phase doesn't happen on game level 1. On level 6, attacks during this phase are much faster.
    
  • Added a half-second touch damage grace period when Echobeast emerges (so the player now has half a second to get out of the way when Echobeast pops in).
    
  • Fixed up the Sound Bouncer (Echobeast fight mechanic) hitboxes and made them a bit more forgiving.
    
• Ace's Zen Ascent now grants a touch damage grace period when it damages an enemy. The grace period lasts for half a second after Zen Ascent ends. This should make the move a bit safer to use in general, instead of having to position very carefully for modest damage.
  
  • You'll still take damage if you bump into an enemy before the attack connects.
    
  • This also means that Ace doesn't gain invuln frames against enemies he doesn't damage (enemies with shields, invulnerable enemies, etc).
    
• Reduced negative Prototype Balances by 50%. (If a Prototype would have given you -6 core points, it'll now give you -3 instead.)
  
• Protobalancer now also amplifies positive Prototype Balances by 50% (rounding down). (If a Prototype would have given you +4 CP, it'll now give you +6 with Protobalancer.) The tooltip here will likely be out of date until we decide whether or not to change Protobalancer further.
  
• Fixed and verified that System Restore actually drops now, provided you've already seen at least one Prototype in a run. (For real this time.)
  
• The Hysteria blessing now affects post-Miniboss Aug Choices.
  
• The Hysteria blessing now affects Mega Mode shop purchases.
  
• Rising Tide no longer affects Boss and Miniboss HP. It will still affect boss behaviors versus bosses who have different movesets and phases based on game level.
  
• Corrected an issue where Penumbra's Miniboss Twins HP wasn't scaling with game level.
  
• Reduced Penumbra's Miniboss Twins HP at level 1. (Their HP will now be 20% lower at level 1, equal at level 2, and higher otherwise after this change.)
  
• Fixed an issue where Penumbra's Orb Blocks (Switch-strike platforms) could appear to be non-collidable, but still have a collision surface. (This happened after warping away from a room containing these blocks, then coming back.)
  
• Very Safe Lab teleporters can again now spawn in the pre-boss hallway (increasing the effectiveness of The Volunteer).
  
• Fixed an issue where Zen Ascent's hitbox could remain after the move ends. (Usually happened while Ace was against a wall as the move ended.)
  
• Fixed an error with Osafune where it could hit enemies an incorrect number of times. Osafune's slashes now also all connect as one combo for bosses. (This may be too powerful - we'll keep an eye on it, and adjust if needed.)
  
• Fixed an error where the Stoic curse still allowed future Speed/Jump boosts to function normally. (You'll still receive credit for picking up the item if you come across a System Restore later, though.)
  
• Fixed an issue causing the Tutorial phase to always spawn in the first level of a run (instead of being ignored once the player's seen the level's mechanics).
  
• Burning Temple's Rolly Giant (miniboss) no longer drops Memoria when fought while testing a chunk with the Editor.
  
• Fixed a visual error where Autocharge could make Ace's Grandmaster appear charged when it isn't.
  
• Hopefully fixed a rare error with Deconstructor's Might that could cause Real Bad Physics (tm). We've never been able to reproduce this one, so we're not 100% sure we've got it.
  
• Fixed an error that could cause Deconstructor's Might to be less reliable than it should be, and increased its hitbox size. (We'll make a new visual for it once we're comfortable with how it plays.)
  
• Fixed an issue that could still cause conflicting Prototypes to spawn under rare conditions. (There may still be cases/combinations we haven't covered - please keep reporting them!)
  
• Fixed a bad Ace animation frame that could display after Zen Ascent.
  
• Fixed Ace's animation positioning while dashing with Grandmaster.
  

Hello! Today's 30XX 0.19 patch takes a swing at revamping Ace's Energy system, gives him a punchy new Weapon, adds limited level choice in Standard, and more!

Full notes below - thanks for playing!

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GAME CHANGES & FIXES:

• Experimental/work in progress: Ace's Energy system has been reworked!
  
  • Ace no longer has two Energy points that regenerate over time.
    
  • Instead, Ace starts the game with four Energy points that regenerate as enemies die near Ace. (In co-op, his partner's kills will also restore his Energy.)
    
  • Ace's basic Techniques now all cast for free. They don't consume Energy, but still obey their other restrictions (short cooldowns, Zen Ascent can only be used once in midair, etc).
    
  • Ace can spend his accumulated Energy on empowered Surged versions of his Techniques by double tapping the Power button used in the Technique. For example, to Surge Raijin Call, Ace presses Down-Y on a controller as normal, then presses Y again (in total, down-Y-Y), which will charge the first lightning bolt and spawn two additional bolts to the sides of the first.
    
  • Each Technique has a different Surged effect, and costs 4 Energy. (We'll probably adjust this and make some abilities cost different amounts.)
    
  • Ace now makes use of changes to his Maximum Energy as Nina does (instead of it converting to "style regeneration"). Effects that allow free casts, like Owlhawk's Focus (Head Core), apply to Ace's Surged casts.
    
  • Unleash Blade can be Surged for any "weapon-throw" version of the ability (Saber, Tonbokiri, Lara). Lucavi and Grandmaster (see below!) have melee versions of Unleash Blade, and can't be Surged.
    
  • This means that, by default, if Ace loses any Maximum Energy, he can't Surge his abilities. (We might adjust this.)
    
  • We're keeping a close eye on the control input involved (the double-press) and the actual Surge effects of each Technique - they're both good iteration candidates.
    
  • Surge visuals and SFX will be updated once we're confident this rework fits the game well.
    
• Added Grandmaster, a new Ace Weapon!
  
  • Grandmaster builds up charge while punching enemies instead of being charged manually - while charged, basic attacks deal double damage. Basic attacks don't consume a built-up charge.
    
  • A built-up charge can be spent on a powerful finisher Unleash punch for massive damage. Enemies slain by an Unleashed Grandmaster punch go flying backwards into any nearby allies!
    
  • Ace can still Unleash a big punch without a charge built up, but its damage will be much lower.
    
  • A built-up Charge naturally decays if Ace runs out of enemies to punch. Dracopent's Fang (Head Core) slows this decay rate.
    
• Zen Ascent and Dolomite Link now chain with Ace's attacks against bosses. (If Ace uses a basic attack combo on a boss followed immediately by Zen Ascent, Zen Ascent will now deal damage instead of being prevented by invuln frames.)
  
• Added the Recon Network, a Standard Mode upgrade purchaseable via the Memory Index. Once unlocked, you'll be able to pick from up to three stages to tackle next when finishing a stage.
  
• Updated Standard Mode stage-end teleporters to show where they go.
  
• The "Hysteria" blessing (doubled Aug pickups) no longer applies to picked-up Prototypes. This also fixes a bug where Hysteria would apply to the Prototype that granted it.
  
• Maker Mode's unlock condition is now completing a run (instead of being unlocked via the Memory Index). Maker Mode will remain unlocked for players who've already purchased it via the Memory Index. A menu prompt now appears when unlocking it for the first time.
  
• Changed how Mega Mode map data is handled - the map data used in a given Mega Mode run is now saved alongside the user's Mega Mode save file so Mega Mode runs won't be messed up as we continue to change map data from patch to patch. (This'll also come in handy later when we more robustly support custom player campaigns.)
  
• Changed the default controller controls slightly: swapped the default functions of B and LB (Circle and L1 on a PS4 controller). B is now Power 2 by default, and LB is now Interact/Activate by default. This shouldn't affect existing save data.
  
• Corrected a few places where backgrounds were transitioning in the wrong places.
  
• Adjusted Ace's thrown Lara wall-collider hitbox so it doesn't sometimes instantly hit a slope Ace is walking up.
  
• Normalized Osafune's attack damage. (It no longer scales on the equipped Primary - looking at you, Lara/Osafune bustedness.)
  
• Fixed an issue causing the Autotank to fail to trigger as the client in online co-op. (Also fixed the client being unable to see how full their subtank was.)
  
• Permanent progress unlocks are no longer gated so you can only buy the next few at once.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause Unleashed Tonbokiri to "skip" enemies it travels through if it travels through several in a row.
  
• Prototypes can no longer offer "damage taken decreases max HP" and "heal to full after each level" together.
  
• The "you've finished our EA levels!" popup when finishing all levels in Mega Mode now properly only appears when entering HQ (instead of each level).
  

Hello! Today's 0.18.6 minipatch fixes up a few (more) things introduced in 0.18, as well as a few more online play bugs we've fixed.

These notes also include the patch notes for 0.18.5, which went out without notes late last week.

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GAME CHANGES & FIXES:

• Fixed an online play issue that could cause the client's level to not fully generate, leaving blank rooms toward the ends of levels/empty bonus rooms.
  
  • If you see anything like this, let us know! This isn't the issue where most tiles disappear - we may have fixed that in a previous patch, but please let us know if you see it.
    
• Fixed an online play issue where joining a Mega Mode run in progress as a client could result in the host thinking the client is the wrong character, causing a small mountain of other problems. (If you've seen a bug in Mega Mode where the host thinks you're playing Ace, but you're really playing Nina, or vice versa, this should be a fix for that.)
  
• Fixed an issue with Penumbra's Switch-cycle blocks that could cause Red blocks to appear non-solid when entering a room, but have collision anyway. (Red blocks should now appear and be correctly solid when entering any chunk.)
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause tiles to not load for a single frame when taking a warp, causing a jarring visual.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause unintended platform timings after warping to/from an area. (This includes lots of platform types, but the notable fixes here are Deepverse Laser Platform timings, Echocave Crystal Paths appearing partially spawned in when returning from a teleporter, and Clockzone Gear/Waterfall platforms behaving weirdly when first entering a chunk.)
  
• Glory Zone/Safe Lab teleporters can no longer spawn during "chase" sequences. (Burning Temple & Clockzone minibosses)
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause you to be unable to use Prototype-granted "free" item rerolls if you were out of normal rerolls.
  
• Fixed a Clockzone chunk that could cause bad level connections.
  
• Fixed an error causing Thorned Hull and Juiced Reserves to count health and energy from permanent ugprades for their Attack and Power bonuses.