12/21/22 - MAJOR Chaos Chain Update 1.5.4

Salutations, dwellers...

First off, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope you've all been doing well!

Here is the next major update for the game. [h2]This update changes A LOT of things, so old saves will likely experience oddities, inconsistencies, and issues. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to begin a new game![/h2] I've bug tested the heck out of this, so if you experience issues from an old save, it's probably that save causing the issues. So, without further ado, check out the change log below!



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

[h2]Update 1.5.4 Change Log:[/h2]

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where discarding equipment wouldn't immediately update current item weight for that specific amount of items carried
  
• Fixed EXP popups not appearing anymore (I accidentally deleted the line of code that handled this when I was clearing out old code with the last patch)
  
• Fixed several types of special melee attacks not having the Melee Hit trait for affecting AP when hitting a target
  
• Fixed some typos
  
• Fixed some dialogue text showing in the wrong colors
  
• Fixed some enemies not having some items in their drop pool like they should
  
• Fixed the traveling doctor random metro event saying 35 Cred for healing but showing 30 (The real price is 30)
  
• Fixed randomized lowlife callouts list only playing a sound effect for some of them in the list
  
• Fixed camel pack equipping to the wrong slot and being classified as a gadget
  
• Fixed certain backpacks being classified as armor and not gear
  
• Fixed dust storm weather displaying the rain drop ground splash effect
  
• Fixed a bug with "The Catch" side quest where the quest related area would not become available under certain circumstances
  

Changes & Additions:

• Added "Precious Possession" side quest (Multiple ways to complete, can be found in Lamplight Market)
  
• Added "Keep the Dogs at Bay" side quest (Several ways to complete and multiple outcomes, can be found in Lamplight Market)
  
• Added "Eyes on the Inside" side quest (Can be accessed after completing "Relief Recovery", can be found in Crescent Strip)
  
• Added some new Steam Achievements
  
• Added a new quest related interior area (No spoilers)
  
• Added a new quest related exterior area (No spoilers)
  
• Added some new quest related items (Again, no spoilers)
  
• Added new dialogue to some existing characters (Lore, details, hints, etc)
  
• Updated some existing quests with new options and new dialogues for quest related characters
  
• Added some new characters to interact with
  
• Added some new character sprites
  
• Added wild dog enemy type (2 Variants)
  
• Added some wild dog enemy troop setups
  
• Added dog randomized battle callouts list (Growls, groans, etc)
  
• Shop lists are now listed and sorted in accordance to their archtype (Items, then weapons based on type, then ammo based on caliber, then armor and gadgets based on type - These are all still sorted by price as well) (Thank you DonPatchRM for the help on this one!)
  
• Improved example descriptors during character creation for the various professional backgrounds based on feedback (Civic specifically - I will be working to make this one more interesting over time - It was originally more of a placeholder than a final implementation)
  
• Changed some Civic based dialogue options around a bit to be more reasonable and understandable
  
• Added some more logical/realistic Civic dialogue options to a few existing dialogues (Quest related, mainly)
  
• Based on player request, I added an option to toggle popups on screen for when you gain an item, exp, rep, and money (They'll be ON by default in NEW games, but old saves will have to turn them on if the player wishes)
  
• Added an option to toggle the additional raindrop splash animation system to the options menu to help users with slower systems
  
• Omari's Crew (At the Hab Block 13 location) are now referred to as "Hexers" - A gang name for them
  
• Adjusted hit type chances slightly for regular hits based on a roll of 13 (Graze - 23.1%, Regular - 61.5%, Solid - 15.4% --- Criticals are separate from this and have their own roll and code)
  
• Hard coded the crafting sound effect to always play if an item is created regardless of type
  
• Drones now fully charge Mettle when you rest/sleep
  
• Drones can no longer get the rested status
  
• Flight command will no longer display in combat unless escaping the battle is even possible in the first placce (Not many battles are currently possible to be escaped for a variety of reasons - mainly because of potential inconsistencies)
  
• Level cap increased from 30 to 35
  
• EXP requirements to advance in levels have been increased by 50% each (I found that I was leveling up extremely quickly even when I had slower exp gain, so they have been increased - This will be offset by the fact that new quests and more activities will be added over time)
  
• Tweaked some exp rewards for side quests (Increased a few, no decreases)
  
• All enemies now give 3 EXP as a base value when killed in combat (Plus their previous amount from their stat fluc)
  
• Enemy stat fluctuation is now rounded to the nearest whole number instead of rounded down automatically
  
• Converted the inventory system to return float values (Rounded 1 decimal) instead of whole integers
  
• Ammo types now cost various amounts of inventory space so you cannot carry infinite ammo (All well below 1.0 except for 45mm grenade shells which weight 1.0)
  
• Equipped ammo will now still show 100% of itself in the inventory screen (The actual inventory screen and not the equip screen)
  
• Equipped ammo will now show the currently loaded (Reserved by the current character because it's loaded in the chamber) ammo AFTER the pooled ammo on the equip screen (Example: You have 30x 10mm ammo, it will show "x29+1" next to the equipped ammo if one character has it equipped, "x28+2" if two characters have it equipped, and so on - The ammo is reserved properly in the display amount now - This was not technically a bug, but not necessarily easily understandable)
  
• Loner world modifier stat bonuses are now 15% each instead of only 10% (Most cases, it wasn't even doing anything at all previously)
  
• Added tactical vest support equipment ([Inv: 4/+12, Gear, Support, Init: 2, Allows Free Equipment Swapping In Combat])
  
• Updated some shop listings with new items
  
• Added a stash access point to one of the lockers in the basement of the Eclipse night club (Available after talking to Lynch for the first time)
  
• Lights Out ability now does mettle damage instead of health damage, but also now has a random damage variance from 1-3 instead of only 1
  
• Drop and Roll now has an 80% chance to stop burning instead of only 66%
  
• Added Cripple learnable ability (Ipct, +40% Trauma, +20% Shock, +2 Damage, -10 Initiative On Use) for main character and companions
  
• Added Shove learnable ability (+66% Stunned, Ignores Armor, -8 Initiative On Use, +10% Shock, +1 Mettle Damage) for main character and companions
  
• Added Priority Target learnable ability (Target takes +20% Physical Damage Taken +20% Stress Damage Taken, -1% Mettle Regen - 3 Turns, -3 Initiative On Use) for main character and companions
  
• Added Priority Target status effect
  
• Added Artificial Meat consumable
  
• Updated randomized loot tables
  
• Added Calm learnable ability (85% Chance to remove confused status from ally, Recover 3 Mettle, -5 Initiative On Use)
  
• Added Shocking learnable passive skill (+5% Shock chance on attack) for main characters and companions
  
• Added Confusing learnable passive skill (+5% Confuse chance on attack) for main characters and companions
  
• All tone skills now cost 5 skill points instead of only 4 (It was too easy to get them all and thus, pretty much always be able to get through any situation that allowed you to use skills to avoid conflict without any struggle)
  
• Several human enemies have been given the shove ability
  
• Added more helpful hints and descriptions to several skills
  
• Added some new icon art for items/equipment/skills/etc
  
• Athletic skill is now listed as a talent and costs 2 skill points instead of just 1
  
• Ranged enemies now have access to some of the various melee based abilities such as lights out, trip, and so on (This will give them more diverse action patterns but also actually make them a little easier since they aren't always using their best and most powerful attacks)
  
• Rebalanced some enemies to make them a bit more "evenly" rounded (What I mean by this is that they won't feel like they're so extremely good in one stat compared to others)
  
• Adrenaline now restores 150 stamina by default (No cost difference)
  
• Removed the Battle Background image toggle from the options menu (They're part of the game by default now)
  
• Some slight tweaks to the environmental colors (Bringing out a bit more color vibrancy)
  
• Lowered the values recovered for health and mettle when resting (It was a bit too easy to heal and could potentially be viewed as an exploit)
  
• Updated the game over image with a vignette effect
  
• Improved some tileset graphics (More detail, cleaned up)
  
• Floating label text for containers is now in a blue/bluish color to be more easily recognizable
  
• Edited some existing skill/stat checks to be more reasonable
  
• Expanded some areas (Interiors mainly) with more playable space
  
• Updated some backend testing code (Related to game startup) to make my life easier (Writing this down so I remember I did this change)
  
• Cleaned up some code that is always running in the background (Required, but made it more efficient and got rid of some extra stuff that wasn't necessary)
  
• Various other minor tweaks and improvements
  
• A few more things that I forgot to write down on here
  

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

For more info on the game, visit the store page below!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1536730/Chaos_Chain/

A gentle reminder: if you're enjoying the game so far or have critiques you'd like to share, please consider leaving a review. This not only helps with much needed visibility, but also gives me 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!

That's all for now, enjoy!

-Corrosion ːCStudiosː