Marauders News

Hello Marauders,

We've deployed a small hotfix to address the following:

• Scout frigate no longer shows an empty level/black screen when using a turret or periscope.
  
  
• All Turret periscopes no longer have a grey/desaturated effect on the camera
  

Please see the the full details of yesterday's Hotfix 2 - alongside the new Anti-Cheat implementation here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1789480/view/3631627461491248444?l=english

Hello Marauders,

Today, we have implemented Hotfix #02 for The Red Baron update. Although our primary goal for this hotfix was some of the fixes for bugs that you will find listed below, we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce some updates to other aspects of the game. You will also find that we have added a new Anti-Cheat system to Marauders, which you will receive a prompt to install when you download today’s patch. Please read through to the bottom of this post to learn more about this new implementation. If you have questions unanswered after this, please feel free to join the discussion in Discord. And now, onto the Hotfix notes!

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[h3]NEW[/h3]

• Denuvo anti-cheat added (please read more on this below).
  
• Ragdolls are now affected by killshot impulses/physics.
  

[h3]ART[/h3]

• Updated the pod launching VFX.
  
• Updated the pod damaged on fire VFX.
  
• VFX added to ships being hit.
  
• Removed gravity effects from ship critical explosion VFX, so now it will act like it's in space (aka float away).
  

[h3]ANIMATION [/h3]

• Sped up the blend-in time for the hit react animations when ships take damage.
  

[h3]SOUND [/h3]

• Updated the pod launching sound effects.
  
• Updated the pod breaching sound effects.
  
• Added extra debris sounds for the first person section of breaching into a ship.
  
• Updated sound when you get hit while you are a pod.
  
• New space mine sounds.
  
• New nuke space mine sounds.
  
• New sound added to the exit match cinematic (spanus activation sound).
  
• New exterior explosion/damage sound for when ships hit 0 health.
  
• Ships now have an external hit sound when they take damage.
  
• Tweaks to the exit gate ambient sounds.
  
• Small stinger on driving your ship into a raid area entrance (some prep for japanese lang).
  
• Tweaks to space decorations (space debris, rocks etc) ambient sounds to help spatialise better.
  
• Main menu on crew create, lock/unlocking button now uses the lock sounds when pressed.
  
• New impact sounds for blunt melee weapons when hitting dirt.
  
• New impact sounds for sharp melee weapons when hitting dirt.
  
• New impact sounds for blunt melee weapons when hitting concrete.
  
• New impact sounds for sharp melee weapons when hitting concrete.
  
• New impact sounds for blunt melee weapons when hitting generic metal.
  
• New impact sounds for sharp melee weapons when hitting generic metal.
  
• The impact explosion for the default turret now has a designed far distance sound.
  

[h3]OPTIMISATIONS[/h3]

• Optimised radar tower turret.
  
• Optimised ship critical explosion VFX and sound (was playing multiple times).
  

[h3]LOCALISATION[/h3]

• Updated translations for German.
  
• Updated translations for Spanish.
  
• Updated translations for French.
  
• Updated translations for Italian.
  
• Updated translations for Brazilian Portuguese.
  
• Updated translations for Russian.
  
• Updated translations for Simplified Chinese.
  
• Updated translations for Traditional Chinese.
  
• When using Chinese Simplified local the logo in login, mainmenu and in-game exit menu changes to the chinese version.
  
• Misc fixes for localisation problems across the UIs (text overlap, missing words, cut off text).
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Attempted fix to prevent faction XP resetting/wiping returning to main menu.
  
• Fixes added for ship stash wiping when returning to main menu.
  
• Fixes added for getting the same market trades (should now be random per player).
  
• Fix added for getting off ship turret/pilot/camera causing you to get stuck in an animation pose.
  
• Fix for the UI not refreshing faction standing values in trade menu sometimes.
  
• Fix for ghost keycard item problem when discarding rigs.
  
• Fix for rig staying open when it shouldn’t be.
  
• Fixed STG and K1 equip sounds having too big an attenuation.
  
• Fixed fire extinguisher start stop sounds having too big an attenuation.
  
• Fix for main menu warning pop ups only showing once then never again.
  
• Fix for long crewmember names overlapping the UI in the crew list.
  
• Fixes to crew join menu crew rows for overlapping and cutoff text problems.
  
• Fixed overlap with guide button in in-game exit menu when you open it up.
  
• Fixed some sounds that didn’t have soundclasses assigned.
  
• Fix for space mines not playing explosion sound effects.
  
• Fixed bug where steam ambient loop wasn’t set to effects sound class.
  

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And now a word from the team regarding our choice to move forward with Denuvo Anti-Cheat.

[h2]Denuvo Implementation[/h2]

Tackling the recent increase of match cheats (ESP, AutoAIM, etc) in extraction shooters is of utmost priority to us. And so, we have some news that we would like to share with you regarding our most recent crack down on cheaters.

Marauders will be trialling Denuvo anti-cheat moving forward, and we want to clarify our decision to utilise this software.

The controversy surrounding the software’s effect on optimisation is not lost on us, and we’ve approached this process with that awareness, to ensure there is no adverse impact to game performance. Integrating Denuvo into Marauders supports us in our robust approach to deter and nullify cheaters.

We’ve conducted thorough research on anti-cheat software, and with full confidence, we believe that this is the best solution to deter and impede cheaters trying to compromise your experience. We want Marauders to be fun, and believe this to be the best way forward!

To clarify, we will ONLY be using Denuvo’s Anti-Cheat – not their Anti-Tamper. We will continue banning manually, with no automation.

Please bear in mind that we’re in Early Access, and part of this journey is to test new methods and processes to ensure we fine-tune the player experience, leaving us in the best possible position for full release. We fully appreciate your participation in our EA journey so far.

We wouldn’t be utilising Denuvo’s Anti-Cheat unless we were sure of the health and security benefits it provides. Our team is happy with how it affects the game, and have worked diligently on optimisation for Marauders, with extensive testing across the entire game.

We will be monitoring your feedback closely, so please don’t hesitate to share your experiences with us. You can do so on the Steam Forums, in Discord (feedback channel) and on our socials!

Thank you for reading, we are excited to see how all of this will affect the health and security of Marauders! Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming United Allies update, we can’t wait to share more with you!

EDIT: We forgot to mention that both Easy Anti-Cheat and Denuvo will be working in tandem for the time being.

- The SIG team

Welcome back, Marauders.

Welcome to our Third Dev Blog! First of all, we would like to welcome all the rookie Space Pirates that have joined the galaxy over the holidays, we hope you have been enjoying Marauders! Secondly, we appreciate everyone's patience whilst we implemented a patch and a hotfix after the red baron update. We will continue to do so until we get those pesky bugs squashed. Now let's have a look at what's coming in the next content update!



[h2]Boss Mania[/h2]

We received so much positive feedback on our first boss implementation, and we are glad it landed in a place where the Red Baron can simultaneously be frightening, and provide a strong difficulty challenge. However this is not the end! We will continue to develop new boss encounters that represent every faction in-game, each with a fresh twist. That being said, in the next update we will introducing U.A. faction enemies in order to lay the groundwork for their boss commander in the near future. Here are some concepts showing this new foe and their faction troops…. And it goes without saying, they will have fully unlockable cosmetics!



[h2]Colony Cruiser[/h2]

The next raid location is a unique one, the U.A. (United Allies) have sent massive frigates built for deep space colonisation throughout the galaxy known as Colony Cruisers, on board are sedated labourers ready for deployment and an experienced military force known as the U.A. Space Battalion. What makes this raid special is its our first moving “colossal” ship that can be docked by other ships, allowing for the choice to breach or enter with your own frigate. It also has a set of defensive turrets protecting it’s dock ports so make sure to approach carefully. Here is a sneak peak.



[h2]Grenades, Incoming!
[/h2]

Those of you who were with us before the Early Access launch, will remember experiencing Grenades, and they will be returning soon! This includes the scrap bomb, smoke bomb and flash bomb (which will be craftable). We are aiming for them to be in the next content update! Along with the return of the previously mentioned ‘Nades, we have started development on new grenade types including a napalm and “sticky” type. They’ll do exactly what’s said on the tin, one creates a small area of damage effect over time (fire) and the other will stick to any surface and then explode after a few seconds. We hope this creates another layer to engagements when dealing with other pesky marauders.



[h2]Mini-Mine[/h2]

The Mini-Mine previewed in the last dev blog is also making great progress, this being a new “breach only” location. It’s an exciting blend of a ship interior, industrial drill machinery, and dark cave systems. It has a simple but dangerous layout, starting at the top (ship segment) with a deadly race to the bottom (storage rooms). Much like the merchant ship you have multiple paths to attempt when returning to the escape pods! Here are some previews of the interior:







[h2]“Noob” Tube[/h2]

We will always try to implement new weapons every update to continue to grow the content in the game, and the next update with the Colony Cruiser is no different. This will include a sawed off M79 grenade launcher (Pistol Slot) and the China Lake (Rifle/Primary Slot) however we know weapons like these can be considerably overpowered and we are trying to implement them carefully much like the scrap bomb, they will not be easy “one shot” weapons and have a tight blast radius BUT if you land a headshot then we see that as fair game…. Here is the sawed off M79 in all its glory, nicknamed the “Mini Thumper”, which we find very suiting.



[h2]Any last words?[/h2]

As many of you know, there is currently an issue with Traders. We are aware that people are losing their hard earned Rep levels. Our goal is to resolve this issue with a Hotfix as soon as we possibly can (along with a couple of other issues that popped up with the last Patch). Thank you to everyone who is experiencing this, your patience and understanding helps us get through issues like this that crop up in Early Access.

That’s it for today’s Dev Stream, thanks for watching and stay tuned in Discord and on Twitter for more news on the upcoming Update!

- The SIG Team

Hello Marauders,

After today’s Patch, you helped us catch some issues that had slipped through unseen. Here is a short list of issues we were able to adjust quickly today.

- Fixed - Faction Vendors will now show unlocked items correctly according to your Faction rep level.
- Fixed - Additional fixes added for Crew mates being left behind when loading in with their Captain.

This Hotfix will need a small Client update for these changes to go live. Please restart Steam if you do not get prompted for this update.

We are aware that there are some cases where the new Audio changes seem to need some balancing. We are watching (and listening!) closely to the feedback and reports, and will make adjustments in the near future according to the changes needed!

- Ceeg

Space pirates, Red Baron Patch #01 has just landed!

Thanks for your patience while we addressed the Market Trade bug that appeared over the new year. Your reports on this, along with reports on other bugs, have been instrumental in the completion of this Patch. Our main focus was to fix the Market Trader bug, fix the different crashes that players were experiencing, as well as address some inventory problems that were causing significant item loss, or ship loss. We’ve done extensive testing to ensure the fixes we have implemented will work, however there is always a chance for an issue to slip through the cracks. So if you find any of the above issues continuing to reoccur, please let us know in Discord, using the ModMail feature from the top of the sidebar!

We also took the time to add as many more fixes as we could, including updates to the UI and Sound. Oh, and we had a look at everyone's favourite weapon type, the Shotgun. Changes below!

Known Issues:

• Localisation may be incorrect or missing, due to content changes. This will be adjusted and resolved throughout Early Access.
  

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[h2]PATCH CHANGE LIST:[/h2]


[h3]ART[/h3]

• Tighter scratch damage on and improved normal map shading environmental objects.
  
• A large number of item icons are now from textures instead of snapshots of items in-game (e.g. melee weapons).
  
• Mosin Obrez now has an ironsight (front post).
  

[h3]BALANCING[/h3]

• Terminator and Trench Gun have had their spread increased to be more inline with other shotguns, and to prevent shotgun sniping.
  
• Liberator damage increased from 15x8 to 16x8.
  
• Terminator shotgun damage decreased from 18x12 to 14x12.
  
• Terminator shotgun now has 15 durability (down from 25).
  
• Terminator shotgun has a 30% increase in value and repair cost.
  
• Normal speed (not boosting) of the pod is now 15% faster, and has a 12-second cooldown instead of 14 seconds between boosts.
  
• Small first aid kit now heals 7 health per second instead of 5.
  

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Shotgun A.I. should no longer engage at long distances, but instead reposition or charge.
  

[h3]SOUND[/h3]

• Tweaks made to gunshot sounds to help with spatialisation.
  
• Tweaks made to the Howitzer turret and Large turret to help with spatialisation.
  
• Cut dead space from the beginning of some gunshot sounds to make them more snappy.
  
• Upped the max concurrency limit on some weapon shooting sounds (like the Thompson) to stop the shooting getting cut off when firing full auto.
  
• Increased the volume of the pick up/put down Gold Bullion sounds.
  
• Increased the volume of footsteps on glass while walking.
  
• Increased the volume of crouching walking on glass..
  
• Fixed missing sounds when using Esc to go back through layers of exit menus in-game.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• QOL on crew password check menu, you can now press enter to try the password without needing to press the try button.
  
• In the main menu, core contract missions that are time-based are now formatted more usefully as 00:00 instead of just an int. value.
  
• Added a UI blocker to stop crewmembers being able to set an active ship while in a crew and not the captain.
  

[h3]OPTIMISATIONS[/h3]

• Optimised lighting in the main menu.
  
• Optimised skeletal meshes in the main menu.
  
• Optimised collision in the main menu.
  
• Optimised bullet shaders (used for ammo pickups).
  
• Optimised baked texture items icons.
  
• Added concurrency limits to some weapons shooting sounds which were missing them.
  
• Optimised cloth footstep sounds.
  
• Optimised simple rotating actors.
  
• Optimised options menu subwidget UI.
  
• Optimised main menu crafting subwidget UI
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Fixes for exploits.
  
• Fixes added for marketplace reset problem.
  
• Fix for the “Shotgun Crash” that could occur on Terraformer.
  
• Fix for texture/shader memory crash when opening containers.
  
• Fix for Server crash with audio mechanics.
  
• Fix for a crash when hitting enemies with a shield.
  
• Fixes added for inventory problems that can result in the loss of items in the main menu/stash, like containers.
  
• Fix added for Captain’s ships not coming into raid.
  
• Fixed bug which could cause the shop to stock items it shouldn't.
  
• Fixes added for vertical audio not working.
  
• Fixes added for a bug where crew members could get left behind when the crew goes into a match.
  
• Fixes added to the crew system to be more reliable.
  
• Fixes added to stop crewmembers losing an active ship when going in as part of a crew.
  
• Fixes for a rare chance to lose a ship when returning from a match due to an ID collision.
  
• Repo man forklift mission fix for merchant ship.
  
• Fixed normal map issue for environment materials.
  
• Fixed item description errors.
  
• Fix for core contracts rewards text with long names getting cut off.
  
• Blowtorch now has the correct max capacity (of 250) in the workbench weapon viewer.
  
• Fixed a little “knee pop” that could happen while holding an Uzi in the Main Menu (idle stance).
  
• Spelling and grammar fixes for the core contracts.
  
• Fix added to stop custom container names from going out of bounds of the item.
  
• Fixed bugs where the keybinding menu would stay up when using the Esc button to go back through the exit/settings menus in-game.
  
• Added references for effects when hitting mud surfaces (road in Terraformer).
  
• Misc spelling/grammar fixes.
  
• Fixes to shotgun damage stats in the workbench not being correct.
  
• Bank notes pickup now has collision (doesn't drop through the floor).
  
• Fixed some item pickup/putdown sounds that were using default sounds instead of a sound relevant to the item.
  
• Fix added for player mask resetting to default values instead of being based on FOV.
  
• Fixed bug where melee weapons could do bullet impact sounds when they hit surfaces.
  
• Updated text in the guide for Prestige system (before it said it resets you to level 1, but it actually sets you to level 0).
  
• Fixed short name of supply drops to be S.D instead of S.B
  
• Fixes to UI text cutoff in French language.
  
• Fixes for UI overlapping text in German language.
  

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That’s it for today's Patch Notes, but before we let you go, some final notes.

Stay tuned for an upcoming Dev Stream with OmidLive! A date for this will be announced on our Twitter and in Discord! So follow us and join the Discord! We will be talking a little bit about what is coming to Marauders in our Spring Update (Date TBD), and answering some of chats burning questions!

Fire up those Rust Buckets, Marauders, and get out there!

SIG Team