Fight to the Beats in the Cyberpunk Streets
Oh. My. Gawd. Becky. Look at that - Cyberpunk aesthetic! It's so.. neon!
GSA has gone full Cyberpunk with a visual overhaul to the map and many effects in game. The map is now set in a dark, raining city lit by futuristic pink and blue neon lights. Your shifts and bullets have been recoloured to fit the look too, and when you kill enemies they will cover your screen in a big burst of neon blood. Best of all, the map will visually pulse to the beat of the new cyberpunk tunes!
New Trailer
The trailer has been updated with one of the new musical tracks and some new footage. Check it out!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
12 New Cyberpunky/Synthwavey Tunes
Gene Shift Auto now has professionally made music!
The old music was made entirely by me, and it was.. you know, not bad. A bit of a catchy tune here and there? But I'm not a musician, and it's just not the same. These new tracks sound way better and really get the adrenaline pumping. And this makes a huge difference. After all, what is the point of GSA if not to inject a high-stakes rush of BR fueled dopamine right into your eyes and earballs? These tunes take that rush to the next level.
Dynamically Synced To the Action
What's especially cool is how the music syncs with the action in the game. The music will only play during overtime of each round, to indicate that the stakes have changed and you need to focus.
As a refresher on how GSA plays, each match lasts 15 minutes, consisting of 3, 5 minute rounds. The winner of round 3 wins the game. And each round has 2 stages within it:
- Looting Stage (3 minutes): You can revive easily, so stakes are low. Mess around, fight cops, do missions, just enjoy some GTA vibes.
- Overtime (2 minutes): In overtime you can't revive anymore, so death is final. This massively raises the stakes, and is the BR part of the game. This is when the music kicks in, it's last man standing, and this helps remind you that the stakes are high and you need to survive!
The genre also changes based on what round you're in, gradually getting more and more intense.
- Round 1: Groovy Retro/Synthwave Vibes. Fun and melodic.
- Round 2: Actiony Cyberpunk vibes. Loud, industrial, and with a heavy beat.
- Round 3 (the final showdown): Dramatic/Epic/Dark Hans Zimmer just got cut off in traffic vibes.
Also, the volume of the music will change based on how well you're playing, getting louder and louder the longer you stay alive, to really amp up the adrenaline. Many elements in the game are visually synchronised to this beat as well, like police sirens will flash red/blue to the beat. Just for funsies.
Improving the Perks System
There are a few big changes to improve the perks system that came out last month.
1: Perks no longer cost kill coins to unlock. Anyone who bought perks has been refunded those coins.
2: You can now equip 2 perks instead of 1, allowing you to create more interesting builds between games.
3: At the start of each match, all players are given a 3rd bonus perk. This is randomly chosen from all the perks in the game, even the ones you haven't earned yet.
Most interestingly, ALL players are given the SAME random perk. Which makes each game feel really different. In one match we all might get the +20 max hp perk (Genetic Heart), making it a slower, more tanky game. In the next we all might get the ability to throw 2x grenades. Knowing what your opponents have is something you'll want to adapt to while drafting your skill build in-game.
New Play vs Bots Option
GSA is a complicated game, and it can be a bit overwhelming for new players.
But now you can fire up a quick game vs bots to learn, practice or experiment with that shiny new perk you unlocked. And no longer need to figure things out in the competitive heat of the PvP servers online. The bots are pretty easy as well, so if you just want a chill game to feel like a badass this is a nice option.
Next Steps
Next version I'll be adding a new cosmetics system, to allow players to customize their appearance with some fancy outfits and bling bling. Some cosmetics will be available for purchase with kill coins for free, and others exclusively purchased with a premium currency for people who want to support the game.
The ability to customise our characters has been requested for a long time now, and I'm excited to create some really sick (perhaps cyberpunky) looking outfits, taunts and special effects. Of course this will be purely cosmetic, and not affect gameplay in any way. Anyway will post more soon once I know more details.
Have fun and enjoy the new tunes!
Ben.
Big Old Changelist
--- MAJOR GAMEPLAY CHANGES ---
- Players can now equip 2 perks instead of 1 in the skill tree. Your second perk is no longer randomly chosen from your pool of 6. You simply equip your 2 favourite perks. But you also get...
- At the start of each match, all players are given a 3rd bonus perk. This is randomly chosen from all the perks in the game and ALL players have the SAME perk. So we'll have games where everyone has extra health, or more grenades, or more money, etc. Each game will play differently and you'll want to adapt to this fact while drafting.
- The heart crate that used to land 1 minute after overtime (-1:00) has been removed. Instead, zombies will drop their heart fragments when you kill them, and if you can collect 4 you'll revive.
- Perks no longer cost kill coins to unlock. You simply get them for free once you earn enough medals in that skill tree. I have refunded kill coins to anyone who bought perks previously.
- There is a new PLAY VS BOTS option that instantly puts you into a BR Solos game vs bots on easy difficulty. Good for practice! You won't earn bonus end of match XP from this mode though.
--- MINOR GAMEPLAY CHANGES ---
- Heart crates now only have 6 instead of 8 heart pieces.
- Heart and Supply crates will automatically explode after 30s of not being opened.
- Zombies can now see each other during overtime (so they can find eachother to trade heart fragments).
- Cop waves come more frequently at higher wanted levels.
- Chemicals now bounce red in the HUD when you try cast them on cooldown.
- You can no longer downgrade weapons at vendors (the button will be greyed out).
- The cost to replace weapons of a similar tier at a vendor is $1000 instead of $2000.
- Round 1 victor now gets +$5000 instead of +$3000.
- Round 2 victor now gets +20 max hp instead of +15 max hp.
- The kill reward resets to $500 and 50xp instead of $300 and 30xp.
- Guns are now pseudorandom instead of true random from vendors (on a tier by tier basis). So if you haven't seen a specific gun it will be more likely to appear next time.
--- GRAPHICS, MUSIC & SOUNDS ---
- The map is now set at night time, has more neon lights, and graffiti on the walls.
- Added new cyberpunky (cyan and purple) effects in-game. When you kill players they burst out neon blood, shifts have neon cyberpunky colors, and things like jump pads now flash cyan and purple in time with the beat!
- Added new car radio tunes when civilians drive past. Also new sound effects for kills and when standing in the circle of death.
- If you have the Deluxe Edition, the GSA logo no longer appears above your head or in the scoreboard. It will still appear when you chat in-game and in the leaderboards.
--- CHEMICAL CHANGES ---
- Goo Trap's extra jump height is now 3m instead of 4m, and it increases the soul drop trigger requirement by 1.5m.
--- WEAPON CHANGES ---
- Improved the visual look of Photon Beam.
- Changed the color of bullet trails. They are now based on tier. Tier 1 = yellow, Tier 2 = blue, Tier 3 = purple.
- Knife no longer does 2x damage vs civs and cops.
--- SKILL CHANGES ---
- Xray Vision gets a HUGE range buff, now revealing players 50/100/150/250m away.
- Soul Drop healing now occurs over a period of 6s, and the lifesteal happens over 1s.
- Boots of Travel speed is now +10/20/30/45 instead of +20/30/40/60%, but the delay time is improved by 1s for all levels.
--- PERK CHANGES ---
- Contracts perk now always guarantees you get a random upgrade.
