Suit for Hire News

Hey everyone!

This week's update isn't a crazy one unfortunately due to holidays, but we've made sure to gather any bugs that were found in the last update and fix them ASAP.

We'll quickly cover all of the changes in one simple list so we're not wasting any of your time and you can jump straight into the action:

• Improved Gun Executions blending and placements, there shouldn't be any more flickering/laser issues when exiting a gun execution now
  
• Added UI popup when secondary weapon is empty (for throwing/dropping)
  
• Added loading screen tooltips
  
• Alongside loading screen tooltips, to stop the loading screen from disappearing too quickly, you have to manually close it by pressing any key (we'll be sure to add an option in the Settings menu to bypass this and auto-continue)
  
• Improved kicking objects in a direction, it also is based on the object's weight/mass
  
• Added sound effects to counter attacks
  
• Fixed the gate sounds in L1 not being tied to volume settings
  
• Fixed reloading not being tied to volume settings
  
• Fixed the overwrite menu not working with controller
  
• Fixed the reset key working on Legend difficulty (the R key will now restart the entire run for those in that difficulty)
  

That's it for this week's patch notes, we apologize for not getting more in- we have some new mechanics planned for this upcoming week though- stay tuned for that.

We also have a post coming about our music artist's progress on the soundtrack, that should be coming this weekend!

Thanks again for all of the support, we're working hard on getting more content planned and should have new things coming very soon™.

Hey everyone!

It's finally the weekend which means a new update for Suit for Hire. This update includes one of the most requested mechanics for the game, improvements for melee combat, and a ton of fixes and adjustments.

This should be an update that everyone can enjoy playing with.

Without further ado, here's Update #8:

NEW: Counterattacks [EXPERIMENTAL]

Some type of Counter-Attack was one of the most requested mechanics for the game, it's not perfect but we've come up with one that should help the combat flow a bit. Of course, this mechanic is Experimental since it's so new and fresh, so please let us know how it feels.

At the moment, it's not apart of the tutorial just yet, but essentially it uses the default Interact key as the binding (this can be changed in the Input settings), you press it right before you would get hit and it does a counter.

The counter gives you 25 Willpower which you can use towards executing enemies or going into Time Focus. It also stuns the enemy for a short duration, giving you time to do other things or engage another enemy.

Let us know what you think, we'll most likely adjust the counter throughout development but it'll generally stay the same in terms of how it works!

More Controller Support

As requested, we've added a bit more controller support to the game. We haven't put controller support for every menu (e.g. Settings menu) so we can't deem it as Full Controller Support, but you should be able to navigate the main menu with a controller now and get in the game.

Improved Melee Combat

We've improved the melee combat a bit in this update. The main thing we changed is how we detect who the player might want to lock onto, if you're in the process of attacking an enemy and then aim to swap enemies (maybe an enemy going in for an attack), you should be able to do this smoothly now without having to pause your attacks.

This is great for doing some roundhouse kicks into enemies now!

Additionally, successfully dodging attacks will give you a short duration of Time Focus, allowing you to do some cool moves.

More Additions

• Added a Revert to Defaults button in the Inputs
  
• Grunts now turn a bit during swing attacks
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the timer not updating properly after dying a few times or when leaving through the pause menu (let us know if this is working properly)
  
• Fixed the Reload input not showing in Keybindings (we're a little dumb and forgot to put it in the inputs, sorry!)
  
• Fixed shooting not working after doing specific actions
  
• Fixed the gun execute causing an instant reload when you have one bullet (now it gives you a reserve magazine)
  
• Fixed being able to navigate to the Level Select with a controller even when it's not unlocked
  
• Improved the brute hitbox (hopefully)
  
• Fixed shaders not appearing in games (you should see enemy outlines through objects again)
  

Let us know what you think of Update 8 through our Discord and Community Hub!

If your curious about the future of the game and what plans we have for it, be sure to check out our latest Status Update.

Thanks a lot for the support these past couple months, we hope to improve the game even further in the months to come- have a great weekend!

Hey everyone!

We'll keep this short, we found a bug that was impacting players so we want to make sure it's resolved ASAP.

The bug happened when you melee'd (like kicking/punching) and then reloaded immediately thereafter, after that you wouldn't be able to shoot until you rolled or did an action that would reset it. This bug should be fixed in this new patch.

Additionally we've been working on controller support in the menus, we do acknowledge an issue where you can navigate to the Level Select with a controller even if you don't have it unlocked- we'll have this issue fixed in the next update.

Thanks for your patience, we hope the reload mechanic is working well for everyone.

Cheers and have a great day!

tl;dr
FIXED Reloading after a punch/kick caused you to not be able to fire
ADDED Progress with full controller support in the main menu
KNOWN ISSUE Level Select (when locked) can be navigated to with controller

Hey everyone!

It's spooky season, you know what that means... an update (unrelated to Halloween sadly)!

It may not be a Halloween update, but it's an update that we think many people will enjoy playing with. In this update, we introduce the new [EXPERIMENTAL] Reserve Magazine- allowing players to hold one magazine so you can quickly reload in a pinch.

NEW: Reserve Magazine [EXPERIMENTAL]

First off, you're probably wondering what Experimental means- for future mechanics that we're uncertain about and need players to provide heavy feedback on, we'll be marking them as Experimental so players understand that it may get massive changes (or be removed altogether if it's that bad of a concept).

In this case, we've added the Reserve Magazine, the reserve magazine allows you to carry one magazine for your protagonist's primary weapon- which in this case is the Pistol.

You can gain a reserve magazine by picking up ammo boxes or executing enemies. If you don't have any ammo in your Primary, it'll instead reload into your weapon right away so you can quickly get back in the fight. Having any ammo (even just one bullet) will instead add a reserve magazine, the player only has a limit of one of these magazines so you'd have to work around and plan how you'll be executing levels.

We hope this mechanic improves the overall game as we've seen quite a few complaints about the gameplay loop being too 'melee-focused'- that being said, the mechanic is still very Experimental so we're looking for any feedback and bugs that you may come across.

Testing Melee Combos

As a fun thing to try out, we've added a couple melee combos which involve roundhouse kicks.

After the 3rd/4th punch, immediately hitting the kick key afterwards will do a roundhouse kick- of course, we won't expand upon this in this announcement because it's not completely finished.

We still need to add the kick key to our buffer so you don't have to spam the kick key and there's a few visual things we'd like to change with the kick, however it's one step forward towards making our melee system a little more interesting.

Adjustments and Improvements

With every update, we always try to add QOL improvements and adjustments that will better the game in the long run, here's this updates improvements:

• Optimized vehicles a bit by reducing the amount of lights
  
• Added a faster way to respawn by hitting the Reload key [Default: R]
  
• If you're not moving and you hit the dodge key, you will dodge-roll in the direction you're looking
  
• Added two new settings in the Video settings, Anamorphic Lens Flares and Comic Wired Effect (perfect things to disable if you have a lower-end PC)
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the Left Hand IK activating during the throw animation
  
• Fixed being able to spam the spacebar key to open the campaign menu
  
• Fixed dying while resetting level
  
• Fixed melee attacks near walls/surfaces causing issues when hitting enemies (let us know how melee feels in this update)
  
• Fixed the stamina bar increasing while the game is paused (visual issue)
  
• Fixed being able to move around in the main menu
  
• Fixed a teleporting issue when attacking an enemy at a specific angle near a wall
  
• Fixed an issue where enemies that threw grenades could throw two if you shot them while they threw the grenade
  

We won't hold you any longer, try out Update 7 yourself and let us know what you think through our Discord and Community Hub!

If your curious about the future of the game and what plans we have for it, be sure to check out our latest Status Update.

Other than that, have a great start to the month!

Hey everyone!

It's been nearly a month since we've released Suit for Hire on Early Access and oh what a busy month it's been.

We're super happy to see how much potential people see in the game and the amount of support we're getting to work on the game is next level.

Originally posted by Crimson

I was expecting a lot more unhappy people, but I'm glad I was proven wrong- thank you to everyone who's sticking with us as we work towards improving the game and adding more content/mechanics.

- Lead Developer, Crimson

In the past month, we've done a range of things to improve the game and its foundations:

• Fixed ~33 bugs in total
  
• Worked on ~35 QOL improvements and adjustments
  
• Added widescreen support
  
• Added Tutorial
  
• Added explosive barrels
  
• Added the ability to throw/drop your secondary weapon (even at enemies' faces)
  
• Artstyle adjustments
  
• Lots of controller improvements (and more to come)
  

This is only the beginning though, currently we're working on a reserve magazine which should be included in the upcoming update for Friday and many more fixes and QOL improvements!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As you may have noticed, we haven't been particularly focusing on new content just yet- our goal at the moment is to flesh out some of the game's mechanics like the reserve magazine for example. That being said, we are starting to get to a healthy stage in the development where more content can be added.

We have a few plans on how we'll be adding more content and replayability to the game, including new mechanics. We'll be releasing a full roadmap soon, we're just fleshing out all of the details- for now here are a few things we have planned:

• After adding and polishing the reserve magazine mechanic (based on player feedback), we'll be working on a counter-attack of sorts- this will be the beginnings of our Enemy Grapple system (we'll release more details on this planned mechanic in the roadmap)
  
• A Challenge Mode which will be a big series of levels that are essentially smaller campaigns/single missions, this includes levels that may require you to survive waves of enemies, fight your way across a train, and much more. The Challenge mode will also have sub-challenges within each level so players can work towards gaining awards
  
• Customization/cosmetics are also planned for the future, cosmetics will be gained through playing the game and completing challenges/achievements
  
• More levels within the Campaign
  

This is a small part of what we have planned for the game, we'll be releasing a more fleshed out roadmap (hopefully soon) going through all of the details, please bare with us as we're getting all of these details written out- we want to make sure we're not giving blank promises but actual actionable promises for the community.

We hope that players continue to provide feedback and bug reports, we're always listening to what our playerbase has to say as we want people to have the best experience. Let us know if you experience any issues through our Discord or the Community Hub.

Other than that, if you're interested in seeing the development of the game live, you can tune in on Crimson's Twitch stream. That's it for this month's status update, we're excited to add more to the game and release a roadmap so all of you can be excited alongside us!