U7 Test branch opening soon + Plans!

Hey everyone!

As already mentioned, we are working hard on Update 7 (yes we skipped Update 6 and both will now be in this next U7 bundle) and we are finally reaching the finish line. The test branch is coming very soon. Sorry for the long delay, but we really couldn't patch the game with Update 6 as the engine had some issues after an upgrade which didn't allow us to upload a new version.

So this will be the Summer Ultra Combo Update, combining update 6 and 7, which are both large on their own merits! Some spoilers below:





U7 PREVIEW - TEST BRANCH STARTING SOON: (ETA Next Week)
[h2]U6 - Heat[/h2]
Key Features:
- Full New Cooling Chambers Environment!
- Big Graphical Upgrade
- Environment Styles & Variation (Silo, Academy, Power Plant)
- Attachment improvements
- Shop Iteration
- Tons of other improvements & fixes
- Mod Editor is now usable while playing!
- UI improvements

+
[h2]U7 - Foundation[/h2]
Key Features:
- Big Enemy Overhaul (Part 1/2)
- Big Core Gameplay changes (Part 1/2)
- New Enemies
- Enemy reload & ammo bars
- Enemy Unit Frame
- Enemy Health Indicators
- Unit Engine sounds
- Many AI improvements & Fixes
- Mines overhaul
- Many gameplay improvements
- Combined pause, upgrades and class menu
- Many tweaked & improved UI effects
- More visible pickups
- More powerful headshots
- Varied UniversEdit updates
- Much more

Both will release at the same time due to the engine upgrade causing troubles and third party shader issues blocking us from the original U6 launch, so we are skipping straight to Update 7.


New Stingray Hovercraft


Upcoming AFTER Update 7:
These are the 4 focus areas for the time afterwards
How they get bundled into patches is not yet decided, we'll see how it goes.
Things are subject to change and we always adjust based on what is demanded the most.

Focus: High Alert
- Big Enemy Overhaul (Part 2)
- Chrono Squad Polish
- More gameplay improvements
- Terrorlevel & Difficulty overhaul
- Terrorlevel Headhunters
- More Elite abilities
- Rare Elite Enemy Squads
- Timed Commandos
- More Boss improvements

Focus: Loot & Ingame Progression
- New Category Upgrades
- Item improvements
- Class polish
- Chests Overhaul
- More level improvements
- Soviet Brotherhood Weapons



Focus: Multiplayer & Menus
- Start of selected multiplayer testing (quite soon!)
- Revive mechanics
- New lobby menu
- New death-screen
- Menu graphics update
- Radial context menu (also amazing for mods)
- SynthetikUniverse.com 2.0

Focus: Classes
- Class Evolution Upgrade System
- Rogue (Raider & Assassin)


Great things are to come. As you can see, we are planning and acting big!
Multiplayer also is running and selected testing will start quite soon.

(Also remember, if you want shorter news intervals, many small news updates are always on Discord)

Stay tuned!

- FFG