Section 13 News

Agents,

Join us in Section 13 one more time, doors are now open for 5 days!
Contain the threat and eliminate the QTs lurking around, while catching some game bugs all at once.

We have teamed up with Alienware Arena for this closed beta. If you haven’t played a previous beta, make sure to claim your key HERE first.
We will also be giving away keys on our Twitch live streams linked HERE with the schedule below:

• CB3 Opening Stream: May 18 2:00 PM PDT - 3:30 PM PDT
  
• Super Influencer Stream: May 19 3:00 PM PDT - 4:30 PM PDT
  

[h3]Beta Schedule[/h3]

• PDT: 10 AM, May 18 – 10 AM, May 23
  
• EDT: 1 PM, May 18 – 1 PM, May 23
  
• CEST: 7 PM, May 18 – 7 PM, May 23
  
• ICT: 12 AM, May 19 – 12 AM, May 24
  
• KST: 2 AM, May 19 – 2 AM, May 24
  

[h3]Our Mission [/h3]

• Show improvements made from CB1 and CB2 players' suggestions and confirm the game is on the right path.
  
• Test out the adjusted game balance difficulty and weapon balance for solo playthrough.
  

[h3]Your Assignments[/h3]
1. Claim your Blackout Protocol beta key HERE
a) If you have already played a previous beta, you’ll be able to play HERE
2. Participate in the survey HERE
3. Leave your bug report and feedback HERE and vote for others’ feedback
4. Join Discord and discuss everything and anything Blackout Protocol with fellow agents HERE

[h3]Quick Note[/h3]
For returning Agents that have played in any previous betas, you will lose all progression data and start fresh. This is so that we can accurately assess how effective the changes were from the previous betas.

Also, menu navigation is something we are actively working on based on the CB1 and CB2 feedback but unfortunately not part of this beta.

Read more about what we're doing to improve it in THIS blog.

Just in case you need a reminder on how to navigate the main menu:

• Overall navigation: Use arrows and/or WASD keys and press “Enter” to select
  
• Quick Start: Join a random room or it will create a room for others to join
  
• Lobby: Find another agent’s room or create your own – The room is named after the host’s name
  
• Settings: You can change video, controls, audio, and language settings
  

Right-Side of Menu

• NEW* Open Tutorial Videos: Watch YouTube videos on some basics and tips on how to play Blackout Protocol like a pro!
  
• Open Play Test Survey: Take the survey on the web form. Your feedback is appreciated!
  
• Open Feature Upvote: Leave your suggestion, feedback, or report bugs on the board
  

And if you want to check out what changes have been made from CB2, check out our PATCH NOTES.

Join us once more in containing Section 13!

–ODS Kangaroo

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111870/Blackout_Protocol/

Agents,

We received reports that Quarantined Entities in Section 13 are back at it again. We’re hearing that circumstances are similar to last time during CB2, with the main difference being difficulty adjustments based on the number of agents present in the missing. It is thanks to your efforts in the last two closed betas that we regained better control of Section 13 base to pair you with challenges that suit you best.

Thank you in advance for your participation and feedback, which help us create a better Blackout Protocol experience for all agents. Please make sure you stay tuned to our Feature Upvote board for leaving feedback, as well as our Discord server for any discussion or updates.

An important note for previous beta participants: in order for us to accurately assess how effective the changes from previous betas, you will lose all progression data and start your mission fresh. Please do not be surprised as it is the Death Nullification System doing its job.

Before we touch upon the nitty-gritty details of CB3 changes, we got a note from our creative director.

—————————————————

Greetings, Agents.

First of all, I’d like to thank you for your continued interest and feedback for Blackout Protocol. Please allow me to share my team’s thoughts behind some CB3 changes before you dive into the full list below. CB3 changes are based on key feedback that we could quickly address, including those from Feature Upvote. It hasn’t been long since the last closed beta, so we do see room for further improvement and are continuing to work on further improvements.

Our greatest focus for CB3 changes was on the game’s difficulty.

I’d like to mention the solo difficulty adjustments first. In CB3, we applied difficulty modifiers when playing solo: you will see less Quarantined Entities spawn, or you may not encounter situations that are not suitable to tackle alone. To share more context, our previous focus for difficulty was on providing a solid balance for 3-player groups. However, based on feedback, we shifted our plans to provide difficulty adjustments for solo as well. To be more exact in the longer-term plan, we are aiming to provide the easy difficulty. If you play solo in CB3, you will see what we have put together for testing out this new balance goal. Since there is a lot more testing and balancing work to be done, you may see areas of improvement in CB3. Please feel free to solo in CB3 and share your feedback with us. Your input would be tremendously helpful in preparing the new easy difficulty, which we plan to add in Early Access.

Another change in CB3 is slight adjustments to the reload and wind-up time for some weapons.

With Blackout Protocol’s initial design emphasizing co-op experience, a criteria we had for weapons that are particularly effective in a teamwork setting was to require good co-op gameplay in utilizing them to their fullest, while still not overpowering other weapons. However, as we explored balancing for solo (and eventually easy) difficulty, we concluded that each weapon should be viable even when used alone by a single Agent. This led us to run an overall adjustment to weapons that previously had long reload and/or wind-up times. If you thought some weapons were cool but not quite viable in previous betas, we’d appreciate you trying those out in CB3 and providing us with your feedback.

The third change I’d like to share is adjustments to the unlock order and tier of some permanent enhancements. We believe this provides a smoother flow for Agents, where they are unlocking the permanent enhancements they need at their progression level, which would assist them with their consequent runs.

We also added various quality-of-life improvements and polishes. To share a few: we addressed the issue of ammo/medkit drops being too close to each other, re-enabled the private room feature after fixing the issue we had in CB2, and adjusted the size and trail color of tactical equipment for better visibility.

I believe there would be more opportunities after CB3 for me to share a preview of what my team is working on for Early Access. I look forward to bringing more interesting changes to share with you!


Sincerely,
Dongsoo Oh

—————————————————

[h2]Changes from CB2[/h2]
We have been working on making additions and improvements from our closed betas earlier this year. Below is a quick list of changes.

[h3]General Gameplay[/h3]

• The game can now be played while offline

[h3]Community-Requested Changes[/h3]

• Enemy balanced based on player count
  While we plan to implement difficulty selection in the future, we wanted to test out how well the adjustments work. During CB3, the difficulty will be adjusted based on the party size.
• Character balance adjustments for Scalpel
  The aim can now be adjusted after pressing Q, until the attack hitbox is triggered.

[h3]Roguelite Elements[/h3]

• The cost of rerolling Synaptic Enhancements will now gradually increase with each reroll

[h3]Combat[/h3]

• Adjusted weapon balance for the SMG, Sniper Rifle, Pump-Action Shotgun, Revolver, Flamethrower, Arc Cannon, Photon Cannon (previously Beam Cannon), Plasmoid Launcher, and Minigun
• Slightly increased the size of tactical equipment for better visibility
• Made UN-X soldiers to have a more robust combat AI
  [UN-X soldiers now roll out of danger just like Agents do]
• Removed some awkward animations of the Disposer Elite
• Added more space between ammo/medkit drops

[h3]UI/UX[/h3]

• Changed the laser sight color of friendly characters to green
  
• Changed the color of trails for some tactical equipment when they are thrown
  • Grenades: Red
  • Flashbangs: Yellow
  • Psychogen Bombs: Purple
    
• When spectating others, visual effects from panic will no longer affect the camera
• The system message that shows in the Safe Room, which notifies of unused Data Nugs and/or blueprints, will now include the name of the Agent who hasn’t used them
• Added sound effects for the DNS Defragmenter in the Safe Room
  • Spending Data Nugs
  • Obtaining permanent enhancements
  • Changing selections
• Agents will now hear the sound effect for when their own active skill is off cooldown, instead of everyone’s
• Added a feature to switch between public/private rooms within the session
  • Press Esc key in the preparation area outside the base to bring up the menu and access this feature
    
• Changed so that the loading screen now shows even when using the friend invite feature

[h3]Text/Localization[/h3]

• Changed the name of Beam Cannon to Photon Cannon
• Minor text changes/fixes

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed the crash issue with the claymore
• Fixed the issue where items would drop in unreachable locations
• Fixed the issue where Agents could join a session that already entered Section 13 base
• Fixed the issue where two Agents interacting with an object at the same time could grant items to both of them
• Fixed the issue where the Panic Gauge penalty from the Unstable Parts Synaptic Enhancement was not being applied when using the Arc Cannon
• Fixed the issue where the session would restart without the results screen
• Fixed the issue where the number of attempts on the results screen would be reset
• Fixed the issue where the BGM would not play in the title screen

[h3]Others[/h3]

• Changed the access card item to an access key

[h2]CB3 Known Issues[/h2]
We will update this section as we get more information.

• Please note that most languages have not gone through Localization Quality Assurance yet. If you find any issues, please feel free to let us know through our Discord server
  • For example, one of the office level’s objectives may include variables, like “|hpp”

- ODS GeeK

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111870/Blackout_Protocol/

Agents,

Thank you so much for participating in the beta, as well as sharing your thoughts on the game via various channels–be it the feedback survey, the Feature Upvote board, the Discord server, the Steam forums, or various livestreams and videos.

With even more Agents joining the second closed beta, the Blackout Protocol team is working hard on drawing all learning points and preparing our next steps. While we are still working on how best to incorporate everything we learned from your feedback into the game, we wanted to take an opportunity to share some of our learnings from CB2.

[h2]Re: Stability & Matchmaking[/h2]
While framedrops were the most commonly reported issue in CB1, we saw many reports of network/latency issues in CB2–battles remained to be where Agents encountered the most stability issues.



While we did see CB2 Agents played more in full groups, less opted to use the Quick Start feature.



CB2 confirmed our notion that Blackout Protocol is at its best when Agents are communicating with each other and playing as a team, rather than being forced into a session with complete strangers where teammates may compete against each other. We will of course take a closer look at fundamental concerns such as latency and connection issues; but we are also considering a multi-faceted approach that makes Blackout Protocol fun, whether Agents are matchmaking for co-op or diving in solo.

[h2]Re: Combat[/h2]
Other than the different types of damage, there was no major change in how Agents picked up on subtle combat mechanics between the two betas.



One of the most frequent feedback we received about the game was its difficulty and overall combat balance. This came in various forms and areas that we will be taking a careful look into and plan improvements. To share examples, there were mentions of reload mechanics, character movement speed, friendly fire, etc.

[h2]Re: Permanent Growth and Roguelite Elements[/h2]
We saw that CB2 Agents found the permanent growth more noticeable than in CB1.



We also noticed that CB2 Agents were more keen on utilizing the various weapon perks and weapon unlocks.



[h2]Re: Other Topics[/h2]
Those who took the survey already know that we had many more areas in addition to those listed above. For example, communication was something we added newly for CB2 feedback survey, since we added new features.

While we saw that many Agents communicated with their teammates, the built-in features (in-game voice chat, pings, and quick chat messages) could use some improvements to be more useful for our Agents.



Same as CB1, we could see our Agents really liked the aesthetics of the game. The environment art still came up top, but both the enemy art and the character art came in as a tie for close seconds.

[h2]Re: Game Changes from CB1[/h2]
Our second beta gave us insight on how the changes and improvements we brought based on CB1 were received by our Agents. We thus thought having a section to touch some of these changes more in-depth would be helpful in showing how your feedback helps shape the game.

One of the big changes we made in CB2 was with permanent growth elements. CB1 Agents didn’t feel there was much permanent growth across sessions, and we saw that many Agents missed out on power-ups as they did not realize what the various objects in the Safe Room were for.

In order to provide a better sense of power-ups and progression in CB2, we made adjustments to permanent power-ups (including adding new ones) and organized them under tiered unlocks. We also increased Data Nug drops in a hotfix to encourage unlocking power-ups quicker. For the visibility part, we made it required for Agents to spend all Data Nugs, as well as turn in all blueprints, in the Safe Room before they leave. We believe these changes helped CB2 Agents saying they felt a bigger impact from permanent power-ups and blueprints than CB1 Agents.



Another change was with Synaptic Enhancements. Based on the feedback survey, 34% of CB1 Agents told us they did not know what Synaptic Enhancements were. Quite a few Agents also mentioned the Nethercube’s Synaptic Enhancement selection window (15 seconds in CB1) was too short to read everything and assess how they would help gameplay. For CB2, we made changes so that Agents encounter their first Synaptic Enhancement selection earlier in the map, with the intention that Agents get to experience the impact of those power-ups earlier and longer. The selection time was also increased to 45 seconds, which allowed Agents to take in all information and choose the one that fits their playstyle best–especially once they unlock Synaptic Enhancement rerolls. This led to the survey results where fewer Agents in CB2 told us they did not know what Synaptic Enhancements were (21% vs. 34% in CB1).

[h2]Wrapping Up[/h2]
It is a bit too early for us to share detailed plans of what further improvements will come next, but rest assured that the team is working hard to create a better Blackout Protocol experience based on all the valuable feedback you provided. To share some examples:

• Mouse controls in the menu are coming for Early Access:
  To provide more context, this was always part of the plan. It may come as a surprise, but enabling mouse controls in the menu does require a fair bit of development resources, so we wanted to keep this as part of the UI revamp when we go into Early Access.
• Difficulty and combat balance is something that our team is always closely watching:
  In fact, we are planning another beta test in May, which will help us gather more data on difficulty and balance.
• We continue to work on other quality-of-life improvements, such as spacing medkit and ammo drops farther apart to facilitate picking them up.

Thank you so much for participating in CB2 and sharing your thoughts! We hope to bring you more updates about the game soon!


- ODS GeeK

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111870/Blackout_Protocol/

Agents,

Our second closed beta has come to a close.
Thank you for completing another successful mission; we truly appreciate your efforts.

We are now compiling and analyzing all the feedback and bugs you sent to us, so stay tuned. Like last time, we will report back our findings and share the path we will take based on the learnings.

If you haven’t yet, do go to these channels to share your thoughts and help shape the game:

• Closed Beta Survey

• We ask you to rate some of the game’s key features and share your thoughts on them

• 2-Question Questionnaire

• Not a fan of surveys? What if it's a super-quick, 2-question questionnaire?

• Feature Upvote Board

• You can share feedback, report issues, upvote on other agents’ ideas

• Ocean Drive Studio Discord

• Share in #feedback, #bugs-and-issues

Thanks again and see you soon!

DISCORD | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | TWITCH

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111870/Blackout_Protocol/

Agents,

We are releasing version 0.7.2.1 BuildNum 22 to address a couple of issues reported during beta thus far.

The patch will be live at:

• PDT: 10:00 AM
  
• EDT: 1:00 PM
  
• CEST: 7:00 PM
  
• ICT: 12:00 AM, April 8
  
• KST: 2:00 AM, April 8
  

Please note that if you are playing at this time, your game will not be interrupted. You will be prompted to download the patch the next time you open Blackout Protocol.
It is possible for teammates to play with mismatched game versions, which could potentially impact gameplay. So please install the update as soon as possible for the best experience.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed the issue where, if an agent fell to their death, the downed body sometimes did not teleport to a reachable location for revival (Reported on Feature Upvote)
  
• Fixed the occasional issue of not being able to enter/exit the secret room (Reported on Discord)
  
• Fixed the issue where there could be session restarts without the Agent Surveillance Report screen
  
• Fixed the issue where full 3-agent rooms were shown in the Lobby list
  

[h3]Difficulty Adjustments[/h3]

• Adjusted the procedural generation criteria to lower the chance of encountering more challenging layouts for the Parking Lot map
  
• Reduced the number and the type of enemy spawns for some of the most challenging layouts for the Parking Lot map
  
• Increased the Data Nugs drop in the Parking Lot map to allow for a more tangible roguelite progression experience
  

Thank you for your patience and for playing our beta!
ODS Team