Neighbors: Suburban Warfare News

[p]
Greeting's Neighbors![/p][p]We know it’s been a little quiet lately — most of the team took a short summer break to rest up and recharge.[/p][p]However, while most of us were out catching some sun and touching some grass, our very own Erik (whose voice you are familiar with, since he is the announcer in the game) basically held down the fort on his own. Working closely with a lot you over on our discord, (big thanks - you know who you are) he kept on squeezing bugs and doing a ton of other small fixes over the last couple of weeks. While this patch does not contain any big new features, cumulated, it still throws a fair punch. [/p][p]The update focuses on quality-of-life fixes, balance adjustments, and gameplay polish as well as several long-requested tweaks from the community.
[/p][p]Before we jump into the changes we have to thank Erik and the testers and send him off for a well-deserved break of his own. Consider this patch his mic drop for the summer.
[/p][p]Now, let’s dive into what’s changed:[/p][p][/p][h2]Features[/h2]

• [p]A system has been added that will remove inactive players from games
  [/p]

[h2]
Changes
[/h2][h3]General[/h3]

• [p]Flagpole and various tall structures in front of the yards have been moved to prevent deliveries from bouncing back out into the street[/p]
• [p]Covered a hole in the terrain in Goodwill Manor[/p]
• [p]A ladder was moved on the construction site in Paradise cove so both teams can get easy access to the roof[/p]
• [p]Sunset Villa and Tropical Retreat now contains items you expect to find in a house such as mop, rolling pin and beartraps[/p]
• [p]While Lelois AI is being worked on a temporary buff have been added to essentials during night that makes them invincible 8 seconds after nighttime starts[/p]
• [p]Stamina regeneration slowed by 25%[/p]
• [p]After stamina is drained you can not activate blocking abilities until it has fully recovered. Up from 50% recovered[/p]
• [p]Trucks no longer discriminate and will destroy and large object placed in their path[/p]
• [p]Neighbors are now immune to damage for 3 seconds after spawning in the house. Gets removed upon dealing damage or healing other players[/p]
• [p]If a team falls too far behind in resources they will be given a speed and jump boost while carrying a resource crate. Values depends on difference in resources between the teams[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Mary-Jean[/h3]

• [p]Picking locks after activating Echo sight will now reduce the volume of the lockpicking by 60%[/p]

[p]Fan of Needles [/p][p]This perk has been changed to be more in line with the sneaky infiltrator theme of Mary-Jean[/p]

• [p]When used Mary-Jean will get a buff for 6 seconds increasing her movement speed and jump height. She will not trigger traps during this period and turrets will not target her[/p]
• [p]Damage reduced from 65->15[/p]
• [p]Cooldown reduced from 70s -> 60s[/p]
• [p]No longer slows opponents
  
  [/p]

[p][/p][h3]Perks/Abilities[/h3][p]Rocket Barrage[/p]

• [p]Structure damage reduced from 100% -> 25%[/p]
• [p]Time between shots increased from 0.4s -> 0.5s[/p]

[p]Jetpack[/p]

• [p]Duration reduces from 6s -> 4s[/p]
• [p]You can now use items while trapped in a jetpack[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Item Changes[/h3]

• [p]Lockpicking reward increased from 150 -> 250[/p]
• [p]The hammer can now be used to repair structures but is a lot less efficient than the wrench[/p]
• [p]Orange cannon projectiles now have a travelling time[/p]
• [p]Baseball pitchers will not target players that are inside their yard[/p]
• [p]Durability has been added to the golfclub, baseball bat and the plunger gun. They will now break after extended use[/p]
• [p]Plunger gun cooldown increased from 3s -> 9s[/p]
• [p]\[Gramps] Throw medkit cooldown increased from 10s -> 14s[/p]
• [p]\[Gramps] Thrown medkit charges reduced from 8 -> 6[/p]
• [p]Interaction cooldown for medkit increased from 1.5s -> 2.0s[/p]
• [p]\[Louie] Fireworks friendly fire removed[/p]
• [p]\[Louie] Firework damage caused to thrower increased from 25% to 50%[/p]
  • [p]Close range damage decreased from 38->34[/p]
  • [p]Medium range damage decreased from 28->24[/p]
  • [p]Far range damage decreased from 20->16[/p]
• [p]Springboard launch velocity of non characters reduced by 25%[/p]
• [p]\[Doreen] Boxing glove block ability now blocks all incoming damage instead of reducing it[/p]
• [p]\[PA] Damage from PA's cannon is based of distance similar to how the wrench deals more damage if you hit targets far away[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• [p]Getting in extra hits with weapons with animation cancelling should no longer be possible[/p]
• [p]Fixed a rare crash when players managed to knock themselves out with their own projectiles[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash where the shop was accessed after the match finished[/p]
• [p]The tennis perk should now correctly only affect player damage not overall damage[/p]
• [p]Repairing structures will not give you and your teammates "Under attack" notifications[/p]
• [p]Dropping rakes from inventory drops the correct amount and doesn't remove it from your inventory[/p]
• [p]Doors surrounding the property now have a correct team reference and should show the correct widget[/p]
• [p]Neutral doors, windows and fences no longer grants money by destroying them[/p]
• [p]Lockpicking neutral doors and windows no longer grants money[/p]
• [p]Lockpicking a door or window multiple times will only grant you a reward the first time[/p]
• [p]The lockpick bought in the shop will now correctly grant you a reward for using it[/p]
• [p]Baseball pitchers will not target P.A while he is using his Big Bertha special ability[/p]
• [p]Echo sight will now be removed correctly if MJ dies while it is active[/p]
• [p]You can no longer hit the ghost of P.A while he is inside his cannon or using his Big Bertha ability[/p]
• [p]P.A equipment no longer visible while inside cannon or using the Big Bertha ability[/p]
• [p]Sports Enthusiast perk no longer refreshes and applies a new visual effect every second. Only when number of knocked out teammates change[/p]
• [p]Fixed shields not being able to block explosions[/p]
• [p]Knocked out neighbors can no longer block projectiles[/p]
• [p]Fixed several abilities that would drain the stamina of the target[/p]
• [p]No longer possible to swap equipment and access the item wheel while inside a cannon or using the Seagull-130[/p]
• [p]Perks that modify structure damage should now deal correct damage to Mystery boxes and resource piles[/p]
• [p]Fixed a rare bug where Doreens boxing gloves damage would go into the negative after fury rush ends[/p]
• [p]The garage door no longer identifies itself as a oil turret in the kill feed[/p]
• [p]Fixed collisions on the store. They no longer interfere with projectiles and melee combat[/p]

[p][/p][p]Thanks for sticking around and being part of the Neighborhood.
We’ve got more updates around the corner so please keep an eye out![/p][p]Talk to you soon!
[/p][p]/ The Invisible Walls team[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello Neighbors,[/p][p]
And welcome to all the new neighbors, who came to Heartsville via the Steam Summer Sale! 🍹

Today we're releasing a Hotfix to address the missing game rewards, tweaks for certain features of the game like trash can lids and sprinting inconsistencies.
[/p][p]Enjoy!

- INVISIBLE WALLS


[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a bug, which led to hits going through shields like the Trash Can lid:[/p]
  • [p]Shields are now more consistent in blocking projectiles.[/p]
  • [p]Block melee attacks more consistently when two players are colliding.[/p]
• [p]Jackhammer and other items can no longer be thrown outside the map borders.[/p]
• [p]Louie's Tripwires deployed close together will now deal proper multiple damage instances.[/p]
• [p]Louie's Rocket Barrage explosion spawn location adjusted to prevent damage through structures.[/p]
• [p]Equipment bar now updates correctly after death.[/p]
• [p]“Take the Plunge” achievement now functions properly.[/p]
• [p]Drive-by vans will not target players using the P.A. Big Bertha ability.[/p]
• [p]Kevin’s decoy shot no longer damages essential objects through walls.[/p]
• [p]Doreen's springy gloves now visually display both springs during use.[/p]
• [p]Sunset Villa and Tropical Retreat now have the correct level of fences at all times.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash where damage was being applied to an object without health.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where using the saw on constructions would sometimes result in crashing the ongoing game.[/p]
• [p]The warmup barrier on Paradise Cove now works as intended and gaps below sea level are closed. 
  [/p]

[h2]Tweaks[/h2]

• [p]Baseball pitchers and oil turrets can no longer be deployed on street lamps, trees, or tiki totems.[/p]
• [p]Doughminator base damage reduced from 18 → 16.[/p]
• [p]You will no longer be kicked off of the Seagull Control Unit when healed by an allied neighbor.[/p]
• [p]Beartraps, springboards, and rakes can no longer critically hit.[/p]
• [p]Volunteer Work perk no longer activates just by standing near knocked-out teammates.[/p]
• [p]Doreen's uppercut now slows her by 20% while charging (matching Chad’s vacuum charge behavior).[/p]
• [p]Increased projectile collider sizes to improve hit registration and reduce phasing through shields.[/p]
• [p]You can no longer utilize your sprint:[/p]
  • [p]while slowed or trapped.[/p]
  • [p]After getting parried by a frying pan.[/p]
  • [p]If currently sprinting and then hit by a bear trap or Mary-Jeans yarn ball.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Greetings Neighbors! [/p][p]It has been a while, but we've been hard at work to bring a big update and today we have a BIG one. Strap in, put on the sunscreen and make sure to always stay hydrated.
[/p][p]Today we are happy to release our second major update WELCOME TO PARADISE!! Grab a cold drink, chill at the beach and smash the lovely summer houses of your neighbors. Just a normal summer vacation in Heartsville i guess. 😎  [/p][p][/p][h2]NEW MAP: PARADISE COVE [/h2][p]If you’d ask the residents of Heartsville, what’s the perfect place to enjoy the beautiful summer temperatures and refreshing sea breeze there is only one answer they'd give you: Paradise Cove.  [/p][p]Surrounded by palm trees and handcrafted tiki pillars is the perfect spot to catch some waves but beware since there have been sightings of hungry inhabitants of the sea.  [/p][p]Due to rowdy neighbors somehow you can always find a construction site in every neighborhood.
[/p][p]Handcrafted tiki pillars are disgusted by your lack of skill.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
Paradise Cove will be playable in custom lobbies and in competitive queue. [/p][p][/p][h2]NEW HOUSES & SKINS[/h2][p]Of course, a nice summer house is a key essential for every resident of Heartsville, which is why we are releasing not one, but two new houses to reinforce and defend. [/p][p]Be it either the bamboo wrapped Tropical Retreat or the more sophisticated and pompous Sunset Villa. Either way you are going to enjoy your stay and love demolishing them.


If the Tropical Retreat doesn't scream OHANA for you...get help.
[/p][p]Tony Montana would be happy about the new Sunset Villa
[/p][p]Our neighbors just hangin' around. And Gramps just casually wearing his Treasure Pirate costume.[/p][p][/p][p]In addition to the new houses we are also adding more customzation possibilities via skins. Of course they fit the vacation and beach vibes with Treasure Pirate Gramps leading the charge. [/p][p][/p][h2]LEADERBOARD, COMPETITIVE & RESOURCES[/h2][p]We’ve evaluated your feedback and concluded that removing the resources as a means to combat snowballing and the overall “sweatiness” of the game may have been a bit hasty. Although the criticism of our patch was very vocal, there were still players, who enjoyed the resource-less version of Destruction, since it provided a more relaxed playing environment. So overall the reception was mixed, which made reverting not really an option.

To provide the best experience for everyone we’ve made the decision to do two big changes: [/p]

1. [p]We are bringing back the resource crates and create a dedicated matchmaking queue, which will feature a Global Leaderboard. This game mode will be accessible via the main menu and be the sorta default game mode for now.
   
   
   Resource crates return to the Destruction game mode
   
   
   A global leaderboard will track the wins and reset periodically.
   
   [/p]
2. [p]Casual gamemodes will be separated from the matchmaking queue and will only be playable via custom lobbies as our current server structure doesn't support two matchmaking queues.
   
   Play! will now put players into a competitive queue with dedicated servers.
   [/p]

[p]As mentioned in our Q&As our long-term goal for Neighbors is to bring in more game modes and possibly create a casual queue which will have all the fun party-ish game modes, but for the time being we decided to reserve matchmaking services for the competitive queue.

A new PvE based game mode is currently in the works and will be released after our company summer break and shortly after Gamescom 2025, where press and media will have a first look at it.  We will share stuff as soon as possible. :) [/p][p]
[/p][h2]QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES [/h2][p]Being in Early Access it is only natural for us to discover possible gaps in the overall gameplay flow as we move along the development plan. For this update we took some time to work on heavily requested features.

One being the most requested features is a more detailed breakdown of player performance in the scoreboard. We 100% understood the motivation for a Gramps player to see how much healing they provided or for a Kim player to see how much they have repaired throughout the match. Coming with this update you will be able to track these things via a short hit of the TAB button.[/p][h2]
[/h2][p]Scoreboard now features additional stats (Damage dealt, Healing provided, Structure damage dealt, Structure repair provided) [/p][p]

As the casual mode is being moved to local hosting we've updated the server list to display the selected game mode and also the server region for improved matchmaking. Long-term we have the hop
[/p][p]Servers will now display region and selected gamemodes.

The last but certainly not last quality of life update we are publishing with todays update is the implementation of an item hotbar, which displays all your items in your inventory and the connected hotkeys.
[/p][p]Handy dandy intenvory hotbary.
[/p][h2]
UPDATE 2 PATCH NOTES [/h2][p]Features[/p]

• [p]New Map added - Paradise Cove[/p]
• [p]New House added - Tropical Retreat[/p]
• [p]New House added - Sunset Villa[/p]
• [p]Added a item hotbar displaying current inventory and binded hotkeys.[/p]
• [p]Play Again feature is finally working with dedicated servers. Hosted games do not feature it YET.[/p]
• [p]Old resource system is back in Destruction game mode (competitive & casual).[/p]
• [p]Introduction of a global Win leaderboard for competitive mode.[/p]
• [p]Gamemode can now be chosen before starting a lobby.[/p]
• [p]Region and gamemode are now displayed in the server browser.[/p]
• [p]Scoreboards now show more statistics such as damage, healing, repairs, etc.[/p]
• [p]FOV and other settings are now correctly saved and applied.[/p]
• [p]XP is now awarded on listen servers.[/p]
• [p]Skins added to the shop:[/p]
  • [p]P.A. Cannon customization now works.[/p]
  • [p]Added Explosive Cannon[/p]
  • [p]Added Engraved Cannon[/p]
  • [p]Added Shark Vacuum Cleaner[/p]
  • [p]Added Doreen Stripes[/p]
  • [p]Added Floral Boxing Gloves[/p]
  • [p]Added Treasure Pirate Gramps[/p]
  • [p]Added Treasure Chest Medkit[/p]
  • [p]Added Ocean Medkit[/p]
  • [p]Added Strawberry Mary-Jean[/p]
  • [p]Added Strawberry Knitting Bag[/p]

[p]Tweaks[/p]

• [p]Tweaked hit registration for some melee items[/p]
• [p]You can no longer unstuck when you are "in combat"[/p]
• [p]Players that venture too far into the enemies spawn area in the Depot will have their damage greatly reduced[/p]
• [p]Getting shot by Kevin's distracting shot should no longer interfere with your ability to use the grappling hook[/p]
• [p]Chad's Whirlwind blast should now deal correct damage to non players when using perks that increase structure damage[/p]
• [p]Increased Kevin’s damage by 15% making him more viable.[/p]
• [p]Firewood no longer gets destroyed after entering a P.A. cannon or using unstuck[/p]
• [p]All grindable skins can now also be purchased for harmonies[/p]
• [p]Destruction comeback mechanic: Falling too far behind with resources will grant your team an extra resource with delivery in the morning[/p]
• [p]Gramps healing huddle: Healing applied to team members 13->10. Healing applied to himself 10->5[/p]
• [p]Volunteer perk nerfed: Damage increase now 20% instead of 35%[/p]

[p]Bugfixes[/p]

• [p]Tips and tutorials reverted to the old resource system.[/p]
• [p]Intro Sequence: Players no longer get stuck in the intro sequence.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where PA had no skins.[/p]
• [p]Placement on water and through roofs/floors is now prevented.[/p]
• [p]Baseball Pitcher, Bear Traps, Barbed Wire: Placement radius is now visualized and limited.[/p]
• [p]Pop Gun: Functionality and animations have been improved.[/p]
• [p]Party Invitations: Fixed issues with party invites not working or getting stuck.[/p]
• [p]Kim’s Garage Door Perk: Only enemies receive money for destroying the garage door.[/p]
• [p]Blocked players are now muted instead of being fully blocked. Blocked players will still be able to join lobbies, but continue to be muted.[/p]
• [p]Cancelled Harmony purchases no longer freeze the screen.[/p]
• [p]Overlapping house models in the selection menu have been fixed.[/p]
• [p]XP display is now correctly capped at level 20.[/p]
• [p]Kevin's incendiary ammo no longer spawn flames at the wrong position.[/p]
• [p]Macro-Heal: Healing via macros is no longer possible.[/p]
• [p]Jackhammer Defense Camping: An additional jackhammer now spawns after 5 minutes to prevent camping.[/p]
• [p]Crash during map voting has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Various fixes and improvements to game modes and maps.[/p]

[p]Known issues[/p]

• [p]Some hit registration issues if close to friendly/enemy players - fix coming ASAP.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Thank you to everyone, who is following the development of Neighbors closely and we look forward to present you the next big update in the near future. Stay tuned and have fun in the paradise.

See you in the neighborhood!

- INVISIBLE WALLS[/p][p][/p][p]JOIN

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

Howdy Neighbors!

Tomorrow our Community Manager Artjom and our CEO David will go live on our Twitch channel to answer all questions regarding future content, plans for Neighbors and basically every question you have.

The stream will go live at 15:00 CEST and will run until roundabout 16:30 CEST.

Feel free to post your questions in the comments here and also in the chat live. :)

Greetings,
Artjom

Howdy Neighbors!

We're back again, with a small but nice patch, which addresses a number of feedback points you've have had since our big update on Monday. 🙂

Among other things, we have increased the cooldown on Gramps “Stay in the fight”, and upped the brawl win condition from 25 to 40 knockouts.

Read the full list of changes below, and keep that sweet, sweet feedback coming. We are listening to every single bit of it! 🙌🏼

Tweaks

• Resource crates reward increased with 400->500
  
• Resources crates now has a big chance of rewarding players with items when handed in
  
• Brawl knockout count increased from 25->40
  
• Economy adjustments to rewards and prices in the shop
  
• Tweaked some shop quantities
  
• Crowbar added to mystery boxes and resource rewards
  
• Tomatoes have better regen and lasts for shorter
  
• Knockout rewards lowered
  
• Bounty tier rewards are lowered
  
• Removed the night time reward
  
• Gramps “Stay in the fight” cooldown has been increased
  
• Bugfixes
  
• Fixed an issue where lighting was glitchy after using Seagull-130 Gunbird
  
• Reduced some unnecessary clutter that would create big client logs
  
• Fixed an issue where second knockout would reward more than first
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where lighting was glitchy after using Seagull-130 Gunbird
  
• Reduced some unnecessary clutter that would create big client logs
  
• Fixed an issue where second knockout would reward more than first
  

Known issues

We are aware of a GPU crash right now. We are investigating the issue as we speak. For now we suggest you update your GPU drivers and maybe report back here and tell us if it worked any wonders.

See ya soon!

/ The dev team