11/12/25 - Chaos Chain MAJOR Update 1.87.0

Chaos Chain

Attention, freelancers!

Here is the next MAJOR update for the game. In my previous post, I outline some of the big changes and additions. That can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1536730/announcements/detail/577149885755686983?

Some screenshots:

Screenshot Of Chronic And I On His Quest

Extended Display Of Current Location On PDA

World Map Current Zone (Bottom Left)

Check out the full change log below!

*Please note that these changes are not in any particular order.*

[h2]BETA Update 1.87.0 Change Log:[/h2]

Bug Fixes:

FIXED some text spacing in skill descriptions so that they didn't run off the screen
FIXED some tileset pathing issues
FIXED some shading on a few environment entities (Some spots were too dark)
FIXED a typo in a skill description
FIXED some inconsistencies in sprites for certain environment entities when they were copied into event sprite sheets (Ammo boxes for example - they were larger than the ones on the tileset sheets)
FIXED a tileset related bug with footstep sound effects (A setting was causing a conflict in certain locations)
FIXED a very odd graphical bug related to event positioning on the X-plane (When the camera shifted sometimes, it could cause events to appear a few pixels to the side of where they were meant to be - the fix seems to work fine, but let me know if you have any issues)
FIXED a leftover testing event being present and usable in one of the side quests
FIXED some background sounds being in the background music folder instead of the background sound folder
FIXED a broken quest reward related to Drako's personal side quest (One item was not properly added even though it said it was in the dialogue window - it was an extra that I added after writing the dialogue originally)


Changes & Additions:

Organized all maps by ID into individual arrays that now return the name of the current district (or subdistrict) that you're currently in, so when you open your PDA, it will now tell you the current area that you're inside of as well as the area of the city (Example: "The Eclipse - Crescent Strip", this is to help with navigation and it's something that I've been wanting to implement for a while)
Greatly improved the readability for the world map image (Much better contrast between colors for labels of districts and subdistricts, increased vibrancy to make it look nicer and less "flat", spaced out some locations a bit more on the map, and a few other changes)
Added some new info to the world map image (Direct links, new area names)
Added automatic display of current area on the world map screen (Bottom left, gold text - Example: "Current: Piker Cemetery")
Added an alarm triggered background music to play during system hacking
Added a successful system capture background music to play during system hacking
Added a failed system capture (system locked) background music to play during system hacking
Redshift now starts with edge in the beginning of combat in Blood Feud
Added some more lights to the Sewer Tunnels location in the main storyline to help act as a guide for where to go
Enemy drones now have the cyber icon next to their name during combat to show that they can be affected by combat hacking (It's just a visual reminder but also for consistency)
Enemy drones now have ~15% chance to drop an overcharged battery pack in their loot drop list
Added a new Steam Achievement
Added new unique NPC graphics (Sprite, Face, Battler)
Added a new smuggler npc sprite
Expanded several dialogues with unique NPCs and added new lines to some of their responses for both extra flavor/lore and detail
Swapped a few of the smuggler sprites with the new one
Added a new plot related enemy boss (He should put up a pretty good fight - his stats are fairly unique with how he's set up)
Added a new plot related enemy troop composition (Boss and subordinates)
Added a new unique "magic" weapon
Added some new item icon art and updated some old item icon art
Increased rewards for some of the more difficult quests (Slightly more experience, some of them also give a bit more reputation points for fame/infamy)
Made the first and second fight in the main storyline VERY slightly easier (The enemies now begin with the shock status - reducing their initiative and decreasing some of their mettle - due to the ongoing situation at that point in time)
Added "Bad Business" companion personal side story for Chronic
Added "Bad Business" side quest
Added "Bad Business" P2 side quest
Added dialogue for Chronic when he joins the squad about his personal quest
Added Chop Shop area (Plot related - inside Central Canal Crossing)
Added Brutal Efficiency unique passive skill for Chronic after you complete his personal quest with him present (+1% Instant Kill Chance, +5% Bleeding Chance)
Added Flaw: Blind Fury (Blind Rage upgraded form for Chronic that he gets after you complete his personal quest with him (Removes the extra 10% stress damage taken)
Updated Chronic's sprite (He now looks like he's wearing a grey armored vest and he has grey armbands tied around his biceps instead of just wearing a grey tank top --- I made his sprite back before I had better cosmetics for the characters)
Chronic now starts with 8 buckshot shells instead of 10 pellet shot shells (Much better shells but slightly less of them)
Buffed companion unique passive skills earned after doing their personal quests (With them present)
Removed some extra visual effects/lights, and events that are beyond visual/playable range in a few areas (I originally had them in there just because it felt weird not adding them, but since they don't do anything, I removed them)
Added more lights to several areas to brighten them up and make them look more active/lived in
Updated The Eclipse: Basement area with more detail (Made Neko's armory look more like an armory and less of a mess inside the armory cage)
Reduced default volume of background music in game slightly
Updated map heirarchy settings for a few other the special plot related areas (Just making note of this for myself in case of any issues but everything seems to run just fine)
Expanded range for both the grey factor and randomized color hue for the randomized environment light system based on time of day (7 - 9, 11 - 13)
Updated some areas with more details and remade a few areas by replacing their layouts of scattered clutter and objects in the environment for easier pathfinding
Thunderstorms now have randomized dynamic lightning strikes (Indoors, there are no flashes and the sounds are muffled, but outdoors the screen will flash and the sounds will be clear)
The random sound system can still randomly (quite rarely) play thunder sound effects but will no longer flash the screen for outdoors sound events
Added a few new randomized sound effects to the random sound effect system lists for both outdoors and indoors
Added new visual effects to Freight Haven Free Slade Militia Buildings (Lights, shadows, etc)
Updated the Metro Station areas (All 3 currently in game) to show less of the metro train on either sides of the entry ways (It looked weird that you could always see the entire thing)
Updated the background sound effect for several interior areas for more variety and to better fit the specific area
Improved shadows in several areas
Added some new environmental entities (Scrap metal/junk piles, floodlights, tool chests, and a few others)
Added new environment details to several areas
Updated several face portraits to be more unique
Cleaned up the database of several old/outdated entries
Removed some music tracks from the randomized track list as they either didn't fit or sounded too upbeat (The soundtracks are still in the game files as they are used in certain locations such as bars/lounges/etc)
Added glow effect to metro lights (Showing red for metro being down and green for it running)
Updated the scene immediately after character creation with a bit of camera movement and reorganized some of the processing for the start of the game
Remade the metro train car graphics (Darkened, added some grime, dirt, rust, graffiti - basically just made them look more fitting)
Added some crows to fly around Piker Cemetery
Added new randomized metro event "Passed Out"
Added a new distant gunfire randomzied sound effect
Slightly reduced the chance of randomized sounds playing (Just increased the max to the rolls so the chances are about 5% lower)
Increased max time between randomized indoor sounds playing
Updated some randomized metro events with new variants and better descriptions
Added some official guide web links to the game files (Character Creation, System Hacking, Custom Portrait Importing)
Removed some old events that are no longer necessary
A LOT (And I want to emphasize A LOT) of other misc tweaks and changes across the entire game to improve the quality of the overall project

Please let me know of any bugs or issues you encounter so I can fix them. This update will be available for download shortly.

A friendly reminder: if you're enjoying the game so far or have ideas you'd like to share, please consider leaving a review for the game. This not only helps with much needed visibility, but also gives me important feedback for the game to help it become a better final product. Also, if you have questions, concerns, or requests, please visit the official Chaos Chain Steam Forums or join the official Discord Channel!

Official Links:

That's all for now, enjoy!

Stay Alert. Stay Armed. Stay Alive. Don't lose your humanity.

-Cryptic ːCStudiosː