USC: Counterforce News

USC:CF v1.00.4a, build 240802

NEW

• Added tactical map legend feature
  • Toggleable with a new information "(i)" button next to the minimap
• Added a special shortcut to the Campaign map (F7+F) that toggles the recently added free aim mode ON
  • Players who have already started a Campaign prior to the last update can use this to play with free aim mode on
    
  • Once you press F7+F, free aim mode is permanent in that playthrough from that point forward. It can't be switched back and forth.
    
  • Note: if you (re)load a save that still doesn't have free aim mode enabled, you need to activate it again!
    
  • The shortcut only works on the Campaign map, not during a mission.

CHANGES

• Campaign: alien reinforcements in Horde eradication missions will arrive more consistently and in greater numbers, especially if the Horde is really large (150+)
  • Additional aliens will now start to arrive when 50% of the alien already in combat have been killed
    
  • Reinforcements per wave: (remaining reinforcements / 3) + small default value (1-6, difficulty dependent); min. 11, max. 36
• Campaign: the number of alien reinforcements still incoming in Horde eradication missions is now displayed in the objective info
  
• Changed the icon for Armored Beta aliens to a different looking shield icon
  

BALANCE/GAMEPLAY CHANGES

• "Seek & Destroy" missions (in Campaign: Horde eradication and some sub-missions in sites or spec. ops) no longer require that you kill ALL enemies:
  • The last alien, or the last few aliens if they are below "Reaper threat" overall, combined, won't count as mandatory targets
    
  • The "Targets remaining" display will still reflect their total number, but you can expect the mission to end when it's 1, or just about 2-4 with confirmed smaller targets
    
  • Nests won't count as mandatory targets at all
    
  • Their number will still be shown in the objective info ("Nests: #") so you know, but this won't affect mission completion
• Campaign: aliens in Horde eradication will start to flee towards the map edges and leave the area (leading to a quickened victory) once their total number is greatly culled:
  • This works in tandem with the general update to S&D objective changes
    
  • You can expect the aliens to withdraw once their sum total starting Action Points are less than 500 (about 10 larger units), so this depends on situation and difficulty level
    
  • Aliens that were able to flee are considered defeated in global Campaign mechanics, so they won't linger around or return in some way in the sector
• Campaign: rate of amortization of structures & objects built in bases has been reduced to 15% per MP (down from 20%), and will stop at 40% of nominal value (was 5%)
  • Note: the same values for non-Campaign "Defend the Base!" games remain unchanged
• Campaign: mined raw Deothonit to crafting material conversion rate increased to 50:1 (from 100:1)
  
• Campaign: Asura-49 are now only worth 15 materials per piece (was 25)
  
• Deothonit fragments (loot from crystals in nests & mines) are now only worth 5 materials per piece (was 25)
  

OPTIMIZATION

• Improved the way the game detects screen resolution:
  • If there are any issues during auto-detection and the display supports it, initial resolution will default to 1920x1080
    
  • Resolutions with a "portrait" alignment (greater height than width) will not be falsely auto-detected, and will also not be an option in Settings
    
  • Note: please check your screen resolution settings after the update!
• Added a way to manually force a particular screen resolution:
  • 0. Please start the game once just briefly after the update so it can create the new "display.ini" file
    
  • 1. Open the "display.ini" file in any text editor from "c:\Users\[your OS username]\AppData\LocalLow\Angry Cat Studios\USC Counterforce\"
    
  • 2. Change "forceResolution=0" under "[Resolution]" to "forceResolution=1"
    
  • 3. Change "width=1920", "height=1080", and "refresh=60" to the values you want
    
  • 4. Restart the game client
    
  • If you experience any issues, you can just delete the file (it will be auto-created with default settings) or set forceResolution to 0, and start the game with auto-detect as before
    
  • Note: when forcing a resolution, in-game resolution settings will still remain usable, but will revert to the forced resolution on every game client start
• Added a way to manually force a particular UI scaling (independent from resolution):
  • 1. Open the "display.ini" file (see above)
    
  • 2. Change "forceCustomScaling=0" under "[UI]" to "forceCustomScaling=1"
    
  • 3. Change the value of "scalingFactor" to a value between 0.7 and 1.
    
  • Note: setting "scalingFactor" to 1 will FORCE DISABLE UI scaling.

FIXES

• Fixed a bug where the 15 extra bleeding from the Heavy arms primary specialization was sometimes applied to attacks with other weapons
  
• Campaign: fixed Resource Points to Deothonit conversion ratio inflation, preventing some exploits. Now there is a hard cap of max. 200 on selling and a min. 250 on buying.
  
• Campaign: fixed a regression introduced in the last hotfix that prevented managing a sector before you visited the Squad Assembly screen at least once (sorry!)
  
• Various minor UI/localization fixes
  

USC:CF v1.00.3b, build 240727

This is a hotfix addressing some critical issues. (The build number in the main menu won't change, don't fret.)

FIXES

• Fixed a regression that prevented the Tutorial mission from starting (sorry!)
  
• Campaign: fixed the second phase of spaceship missions not having an insertion/extraction zone (retroactive)
  
• Campaign: fixed the third phase of spaceship missions where you could extract at insertion (not retroactive)
  
• Campaign: fixed "weapon properties preview" being stuck when starting a mission if a weapon from the "shop" remained selected
  

USC:CF v1.00.3a, build 240726

NEW

• Added a "Free aim mode" option on starting a new game in any game mode
  • It converts
  • most* STAR and SWEEP pattern ranged weapon attacks to FREE pattern attacks
    
  • The 2.5X close-burst bonus is still AVAILABLE
    
  • PASSTHROUGH attacks (Sniper rifle: Pinpoint strike, Laser Scorcher: Line scorch, Flamethrower: Line ignite) will still aim in STAR pattern
    
  • The setting will persist through that playthrough (i.e. stored in the save) and you can't change it, like you can't change Difficulty
    
  • The setting doesn't incur any "penalties" for using it outside the fact that the original game difficulty is not balanced around it
• Added a button to sort units by assigned squad (if applicable) on the Campaign roster panel
  

OPTIMIZATION

• Further optimizations to the audio engine
  

FIXES

• Fixed a critical bug in the Campaign where some spaceship special missions were not generated and booted back to the main menu, blocking progression with that mission
  
• Fixed a critical bug in the Campaign where the first phase of spaceship special missions wrongly required a "datadisk" to be extracted; the fix is retroactive, you can continue such a mission
  
• Fixed a bug where you could assign unspent Skill Points indefinitely in Campaign mode if you had an item selected in the inventory while doing so
  
• Fixed a bug where you weren't able to put turrets in ammo slots contrary to the tooltip
  
• Fixed some environmental objects (a few pipes in particular) being indestructible and/or fully blocking the path
  
• Fixed inconsistent buying/crafting of the Painkillers item in Campaign
  
• Various minor UI fixes
  
• Various minor fixes to Hungarian localization
  

USC:CF v1.00.2a, build 240720

FIXES -- CAMPAIGN

- Fixed a few rare issues tied to Sector management after defending a base.
- Fixed an issue with the skill reset feature.
- Fixed missing localization for the "Add to Squad" button.

USC:CF v1.00.1a, build 240719


This update fixes a few minor issues reported by players and our ongoing internal testing since the v1.0 launch.

We're continuously monitoring the state of the game and updates will be released in a timely manner, prioritizing the more severe issues (if any).

A balance update may be released after a bit longer period of observation, if we deem it required.

Thank you for playing the game, and happy hunting!


FIXES -- CAMPAIGN

- Fixed loaded ammo disappearing when you stocked a weapon. Now the ammo will be also automatically stocked. "Stock all" will now also stock loaded weapons.
- Fixed the "Custom" avatar kit only having 30 Skill Points instead of 32.
- Fixed an autosave being made after the player avatar is killed in non-Hardcore session types.

FIXES -- MISC.

- Fixed an extremely rare bug where the End turn dialog would appear when the AI ended their turn [unreproduced issue, preventive fix]