Chaos Chain News

Salutations, dwellers...

Here is the next major update for the game. Lots of improvements, new content, polish, and more were added here.

Some of the big new additions are:

New main storyline content...

A bunch of new items and equipment...

The Temperament system...

For those of you who are pleased with my work and want to continue to help me keep the lights on while I work, I've released a new supporter cosmetic pack: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2540170/Chaos_Chain_Supporter_Cosmetic_Pack_DLC/


... And so much more!

Check out the change log below!

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

[h2]BETA Update 1.14.0 Change Log:[/h2]

Bug Fixes:

FIXED some typos
FIXED some contextual actions having different expressions and formats
FIXED the fixer data dialogues still referring to them as info brokers
FIXED some skills that require ammo using more than intended (It was due to an old way I had set these skills up but forgot to update them)
FIXED ammo container text not being displayed in blue
FIXED large container text not being displayed in blue
FIXED Flak Vest and Low Profile Armor stats have been swapped (This was a bug I accidentally created awhile ago and have been meaning to fix)
FIXED Nail ammo types not registering as equippable ammo in certain cases
FIXED 68mm Rocket ammo types not registering as equippable ammo in certain cases
FIXED a door mismatched graphic between the exterior and interior
FIXED a counting issue in the portrait selection
FIXED police background starting off with a flak vest instead of low profile armor
FIXED an incorrect classification related to the energy drink consumable item which could cause it to "miss" and not work
FIXED drone reactive stabilizer and drone self repair protocol attachments not showing up in the inventory menu under gear (They could still be equipped but wouldn't show in the list view from the inventory)
FIXED some incorrect item prices
FIXED some tileset pathing issues
FIXED an issue which caused the "attack fail" sound effect to play when using certain items out of combat
FIXED Facewrap stat for sickness resistance being negative instead of positive


Changes & Additions:

Added new Steam Achievements
Added a working directional flashlight system (Looks really good if I do say so myself - it's not as perfect as I'd like but it works)
Expanded base vision range fog of war slightly and decreased the opacity of it so vision is less obscured
Added Temperament selection process to character creation (Pessimistic, Cynical, Realistic, Optimistic - They give some different ups and downs)
Added Temperament selection process to autorun for old saves THE NEXT TIME YOU RETURN TO YOUR APARTMENT
Heavily updated several parts of the main quest that were previously disabled (They were still a work in progress)
Enabled entering all the plot related areas that were previously off limits (Finished work on them - Red Den, Red Den: F2, Red Den: Basement)
Added Sewer Tunnels Area (Plot Related - This large area took roughly 8 hours to build with all the detail, events, testing, etc - this is the largest "dungeon" in the game at the moment)
Added Smugglers' Bend: Side Street Area (Plot Related)
Added Hab Block 28: F1 Area (Industrial Zone)
Added Hab Block 28: F2 Area (Industrial Zone)
Added Hab Block 28: Captured Unit Area (Industrial Zone)
Added Dark Art (Tattoo Parlor) Area (Smugglers' Bend)
Added several new plot related items
Finished and activated "Slow Descent P3/P4" so they are now accessible and playable
Added "Slow Descent P5" main quest section
Added "Slow Descent P6" main quest section
Added "Highs and Lows" main quest section
Added "Highs and Lows P2" main quest section
Added "All Tied Up" main quest section (This is where the main quest is currently halted for the time being)
Updated "Evicition Notice" side quest with new roleplaying options
Added "Unstable" side quest (Can be found in the: Industrial Zone, this quest has a few different roleplaying options)
Added some special new stuff to "The Catch" side-quest-line (No spoilers, but there are several additions)
Updated several hints and journal entries for various quests to be much more specific and intuitive
Updated the apartment intro text a bit (Just after character creation)
Added some new Sewer tileset assets
Added grungesewer battle background
Added some new Cave/Underground tileset assets
The characters will now be referred to univserally as "freelancers" or "lancers" (This is basically my version of "runner")
Added new selectable title "Freelancer" which can be used/assigned by anyone at anytime in the PDA title selection menu
Added a new tattoo system (You can get up to 3 different tattoos - there are 4 to choose from: shark, wolf, raven, spider - they benefit the main character by giving +1 to their relevant feature stat: muscle, toughness, finesse, resolve - they each cost 100 cred and they require 50 reputation to be achieved per tattoo, with each costing an additional 50 - Due to engine limitations, they don't do anything cosmetic unfortunately, but they do give a relevant passive skill so you can keep track of them)
Added a new dialogue tab for Cairo in The Descent Nightclub which hints about the augment lab downstairs (A lot of players don't even know you can already get chromed or otherwise)
Updated all art assets on the store page, community hub, main menu screens, game over screen, and the intro
Updated the scrolling text intro with colors for the default text to be easier to read on the new art assets
Increased the time between condition ticks by roughly 20% (Food items and stuff will last 20% longer in the condition stat - Did this to make it a little less tedious)
Added some new environment interactions
Updated a few old quests with some new stuff to keep things fresh (Not gonna get into specifics, just know that it might be worth replaying some of them)
Added Weapon Expert Talent (Boosts all damage from weapons by 20%)
Added Armor Expert Talent (Boosts all protection from armor by 20%)
Localized names of some weapons according to their theoretical manufacturer
Renamed Novikov Deucer to Novikov Dvoyka
Renamed Novikov Casket to Novikov Grob
Renamed Novikov Grudge to Novikov Obida
Renamed Brunetta Avenger to Brunetta Vendetta
Renamed Brunetta Chaplain to Brunetta Vescovo
Renamed Brunetta Sweeper to Brunetta Veloce
Renamed Festung Buzzard to Festung Bussard
Renamed Festung Heretic to Festung Ketzer
Updated protagonist and companion skill lists
Added lots of new lootable containers
Added "Manic" boss enemy type
Added Manic face, character, and battler graphics
Added Manic troop encounter
Added Sewer Sludge enemy type (You wanted some monsters, here's one type that I thought fit pretty well)
Added Toxic Sludge enemy type (Slight variation of stats to the former)
Added Sewer Sludge character and battler graphics
Added Toxic Sludge character and battler graphics
Added Sludge Leech enemy special attack and animation
Added Sludge Thrash enemy default attack and animation
Added Sludge Poison Spit enemy special attack and animation
Added Sludge enemy battle callout list (6 variants)
Added Sludge troop encounters
Added three new hopeless soul enemy variations (Battlers and sprites - total is now 4 instead of just 1 - all with different stats and so on)
Added new hopeless soul troop encounter variations
Updated hopeless soul random encounters to never be solo (They were never meant to be alone, I just didn't previously make enough character graphics for them)
Hopeless soul enemies now have a base 10% resistance to blindness (Lore based)
Hopeless soul enemies now have a base 10% resistance to sickness (Lore based)
Added a new map encounter somewhere in Smugglers' Bend (This one is nothing overly special but pretty fun and should keep you on your toes XD)
Updated A LOT of enemy stats with more balance, but I'm only going to list some of them so it doesn't bloat the change log too much
Increased the random fluctuations for enemy health to 7% from 6% based on their level
Decreased the random fluctuations for enemy feature points to 5% from 6% based on their level
All human enemy characters got a slight nerf to max health and mettle
Lowered wild dog base chance to cause poisoned from 10% to 9%
Lowered wild dog base chance to cause sickness from 9% to 6%
Lowered guard dog base chance to cause poisoned from 9% to 6%
Lowered guard dog base chance to cause sickness from 6% to 3%
Lowered attack dog base chance to cause poisoned from 9% to 6%
Lowered attack dog base chance to cause sickness from 6% to 3%
Lowered gutter rat base chance to cause poisoned from 15% to 11%
Lowered gutter rat base chance to cause sickness from 9% to 7%
Updated several areas with new scenery, lights, objects, etc
Added a workbench to the shipping warehouse area
Added some new opportunities to use the simulated hacking system
Workbench text is now displayed in green
Added new dialogue options to the fixers for special paydata
Adjusted some armor stats a bit (Some of them didn't make sense)
Added 10 new randomized door sound effects to the list (20 total now - These are sounds that were already in the game files)
Added 18 randomized maglock door sound effects (9 sounds/2 pitch variants each) for the appropriate doors
Added 4 new male portraits available for everyone (Total for Male portrait selection is 26 now)
Added 2 new male skins available for everyone (Total for Male skin selection is now 27)
Added 2 new female skins available for everyone (Total for Female skin selection is now 27)
Added 4 new female portraits available for everyone (Total for Female portrait selection is 26 now)
Added visual feedback screen tinting during system hacking to represent good/bad outcomes to actions (Red = bad, Green = Good, Pink = hack initiated, Blue = disconnect)
Added garbage misc item (Literally what it sounds like - worthless - just for flavor and to make you actually look when looting containers :-P instead of just mashing "take all" button, but it can actually be used to make scrap if you collect enough of it)
Added synthetic coffee consumable item
Added vitamin water consumable item
Added ale consumable (Identical to beer item already in game - This was a community request from the Discord to have another type of light alcoholic beverage in game for whatever reason)
All long guns and two handed short guns are now 1 inv space heavier (Some of them barely had any weight to them, making them extremely powerful overall since they had so little drawbacks)
Added Biter Fangs (Community Request) cyberware implant (Inv: 1, Head Imp., CyWare, -5% Glitched Res, -1% Mettle Regen, 2 Damage, +2 Init, +35% Poisoned, +15% Shock, +10% Bleeding, Puncture)
Added Biter Fangs attack animation and skill
All the completely fictional narcotic drugs in game (Voodoo, Zeal, Twitch, Grace, Essence) have had their prices reduced by 1/6
All the completely fictional narcotic drugs in game (Listed above) have been given a free 5% mettle recovery effect
Shortcut has had it's price reduced by 1/3
Added a new method to automatically refresh all events upon entering a map for 3.5 running seconds (This is primarily to do with loot generation, event cleanup, and processing on larger maps where a lot of stuff is going on - it should not impact performance at all, it merely helps events process in large quantities at once to ensure everything works smoothly afterwards - this change should 
mostly* resolve instances where you walk through an area and then return and a loot container suddenly appears)
Extended fade in/fade out time from 1 total second to 2.5 seconds total (This change was done to smoothen out the above change and give events proper time to run)
Added 3 new special unique (Would be called magical in a fantasy game) weapon variants (Community request - there are 2 so far which are related to the new content)
Added 1 new special unique (Would be called magical in a fantasy game) gear item variant (Community request - it's part of one of the old quests)
Added usable flashlight item (And added it to several shops)
Added a free flashlight to the player apartment area (On the counter)
Added 45A ammo class (.45 ACP / .45 Auto - This is my personal preferred ammo caliber for handguns - Not much penetration, but high stopping power)
Added 45A FMJ ammo
Added 45A HP ammo
Added 45A AP ammo
Added 45A +P ammo
Added 45A ammo types to several shops
44m ammo (44 Magnum) is now capitalized as "44M" (Minor change but important for specific classifications and no longer looks like it is just missing an m for "mm")
8g ammo (8 Gauge) is now capitalized as "8G" (Minor change but important for specific classifications)
Added Festung Schild handgun (Inv: 5, Dmg: 4, F-Ballistic, Init: 20, Hit: 4, Crit: 5, 45A Pistol - S, +12% Shock, +20% Bleeding)
Added Festung Schild attack skills and animations
Added Armican Sparrow handgun (Inv: 6, Dmg: 4, F-Ballistic, Init: 19, Hit: 5, Crit: 3, 45A Pistol - S, +12% Shock, +20% Bleeding)
Added Armican Sparrow attack skills and animations
Added Brunetta Gladius submachine gun (Inv: 7, Dmg: 4, F-Ballistic, Init: 38, Hit: 5, Crit: 4, 45A SMG - S, B, 2H, +12% Shock, +20% Bleeding)
Added Brunette Gladius attack skills and animations
Added Oni Yokai marksman rifle (Inv: 8, Dmg: 6, F-Ballistic, Init: 52, Hit: 5, Crit: 7, \C[14]9.3mm\C[0] Marksman Rifle - S, 2H, +18% Shock, +30% Bleeding)
Added Oni Yokai attack skills and animations
Updated ammo lists for skills, shops, equips, etc (Making sure the new ammo type fits into the existing system without issues - This does NOT mean I modified any existing weapons to use the new ammo, I'm adding new weapons separately)
Updated random container loot tables
Updated random loot drop tables for enemies
Updated several shops with A LOT of new stuff in them
Increased base price of scrap by 1
Base prices of the hacking programs (Creeper, Exploiter, Slayer) have been reduced by 5 (Now 15 instead of 20)
Added LM Ejectors drone equipment (Inv: 2, Drone Gear, Attachment, 5% Heat, +5% Burning Resistance, +1% Health Regen)
Added crafting schematic for scrap (8 garbage - representing recycling)
Added crafting schematics for hacking programs (Creeper, Exploiter, Slayer)
Crafting screen now lists components required to make an item in gold
Crafting screen now lists components that you have enough of to make an item in green
Crating screen now lists components that you don't have enough of to make an item in orange
The crafting screen should now always show ALL available crafting schematics instead of those which were part of the previous save version (The system no longer saves or loads any data, it just reads what is available by array definition)
The crafting screen no longer automatically sorts items based on database ID (I have them sorted manually based on type)
Extended crafting screen max items displayed at once in the left list so it takes the full size of the window and then puts the arrow at the bottom if more items exist in the list
Added some new unique characters and dialogues
Added some new variations to existing randomized travel events
Updated several existing dialogues with new options, text, etc
Added 4 new randomized generic civilian dialogue lines
Added some new character graphics for important NPCs
Added a new shop to a quest related area which becomes available after the quest (No spoilers)
Added a sound effect to play when a character uses the last of their equipped ammunition during an attack
Added a sound effect and status effect message popup to show when a character uses the last of their equipped ammunition during an attack
Added a sound effect and status effect message popup to show when a character is out of ammo and trying to use a skill which requires ammo
Added a sound effect and status effect message popup to show when a character is out of ammo and trying to use their default attack (Which is dictated by the weapon equipped) which requires ammo (HUGE thanks to DonPatchRM for helping with this part - It was entirely different and needed A LOT more code tweaking than the skill stuff above)
Optimized some repeatedly used functions to be more efficient
Added some new item icon art
Updated several existing item icon art to be much clearer, higher res, and just all around better
The randomized price adjustment fluctuation max limit has been increased by 10
Added a faint grid overlay visual effect to the world map image
Improved the contrast and graphic clarity of the currently selected/hovered item in interface lists
Added some more NPC blocks to prevent them from going into weird places and blocking the player in tight walkways
Added some new soundtracks to the main menu track list
Added some new pitch variations for some existing tracks in the randomized soundtrack list when exploring (Many of the faster ones have been given an alternative slower form)
Hard coded some unused engine default features to be permanently disabled
Updated some face graphics to be higher quality and more visually clear
The version number no longer shows on all menu windows, only the title, the file menu for saving and loading, and the base game menu when you pause the game (The text was often in the way and not necessary there)
Added Supporter Cosmetic Pack DLC handler methods (This is just a small $1.99 DLC optional cosmetic pack for those who don't mind helping me out a little bit extra - the money is being used to go directly back into the game's development)
Added Supporter Cosmetic Pack DLC skins (4 male and 4 female)
Added some backend stuff for testing purposes to make my life easier in the future
Numerous other minor tweaks and changes

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

A gentle reminder: if you're enjoying the game so far or have critiques you'd like to share, please consider leaving a review for me. 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!

That's all for now, enjoy!

-Cryptic ːCStudiosː

Hey everyone!

So, the next major update is still under construction, but I have a lot of stuff ready to go for it. I'm hoping to have it out within the next two weeks.

For now, this small update is for the owners of the Founder Pack DLC. Since the game got a major artwork overhaul, I've added the new art to the DLC's files in a variety of different high quality resolutions.

I'll have more on the next major update very soon!

-Cryptic ːCStudiosː

I just wanted to show off some new screenshots that I've got of the next major update.

New main menu scene

New quest teaser

New flavor items

Some new upcoming locations on the world map

Greatly improved crafting scene with colors, sorting, and easier readability

A screenshot from a new main quest section

That's all for now!

-Cryptic ːCStudiosː

TLDR: I need some time to grieve. Please forgive the slight delay on the next update.

Hey.

This is just to keep everyone in the loop of what's going on with the game.

I'm not to get into a ton of detail or write an essay that no one will read, but I just found out that I'll be losing yet another beloved pet that I grew up with - within the next few days. This makes number three this year, sadly. On top of losing some family members recently as well, this is a lot to deal with right now.

He's in a lot of pain and his quality of life has greatly diminished and we do not want him to suffer. Luckily, he has lived a good long life and knows he is loved and has been treated well - always. I'm grateful for that.

Like last time - just two months ago - I will not able to see him before this takes place. So, there will be no way for me to visit him one last time before this happens and say our goodbyes. To be quite honest, I'm writing this trying to hold back a lot of frustration because I was closest with him out of them all. I knew the time would come eventually, but it doesn't make it any less painful.

So, I'm just asking for everyone to be patient with my as I work on the next update. It's probably going to take me a little longer than anticipated due to these circumstances. I already have a lot of work done on it, I'm in the middle of several things with it, but I just need a little while longer to get everything squared away as I process all the loss that has been surrounding me over the past few months. Especially this new loss.

Thanks for reading and for your understanding.



I deeply apologize for the delay. I'll get back to working on Chaos Chain asap. I'm even planning to continue working, but I don't know how productive I will be over the next few days.

-Eric "Cryptic" Plasencia ːCStudiosː

Check this out!

(NEW - Below)
New Art

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(OLD - Below)
Old Art

It took awhile, but I think it looks a lot better than the old one!

-Cryptic ːCStudiosː