Black Ice News

[p]This hotfix is mainly to fix 2 experience-breaking bugs.[/p][h2]Regenerating Fix[/h2][p]Regenerating enemies were increasing their max health when regenerating at full health. This made for some impossible hacks. Sorry, it's now been fixed! I had noticed Regenerating was very hard in my testing but didn't realize why. Shout out to the players isolating the cause on the Steam forum.[/p][h2]Proxy Fix[/h2][p]While I had added improved waypointing and HUD prompting for the boss fight events that used proxy points, I had missed a line of code in the normal servers' Proxy security. This made those servers unbeatable since the proxy point would never be dismissed. Fixed![/p][p]Plus a few other fixes...[/p][h3]0.9.226 - Hotfix (3/2/26)[/h3]

• [p]Fixed bug where Regenerating enemies' max health was also increasing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing HUD indicators and bugs for Proxy security.[/p]
• [p]Added HUD text alerts for ambushes, lockout, and proxy.[/p]
• [p]Made damage numbers and pickup text more visible on screen.[/p]
• [p]Fixed bug when looking at the info terminal for the Overkill shop in the Arcade.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some but not all powerup pickup notifications.[/p]
• [p]Only Startup Valley servers are hacked at the end of the demo, making for a brighter world.[/p]

[p] - Nonadecimal & superdupergc[/p]

[p]This update took a little extra time to clean up old code but that also fixed a lot of bugs along the way. This is also the 2nd update on our Dev Roadmap to Launch![/p][p][/p][h2]Job Boards[/h2][p]Random world events have been reworked into job boards where hackers can accept contracts. These events bring higher level enemy types (mantas, snails, bats, bufferfish) into the low level areas as timed challenges. \[Turret spawns coming in a future patch.][/p][p]By giving them defined routes, we can combo different enemy types with terrain that suits them. This allows for themed fun, like making deliveries to a nearby shop, intercepting data payloads sneaking through volcano tunnels, or tagging graffiti.[/p][p][/p][p]Deliveries give item rewards for completing the routes before the package degrades. The waypoints have been spaced so that there's multiple routes, allowing for more creativity and item usage to improve your time.[/p][p]Payloads can be allied or hostile, spawning both attackers and defenders. \[Heal.bat integration coming in a future patch.] Unlike the previous versions, payloads navigate to the destination without you and move at a faster speed. You'll have to keep up and keep the waves of attackers away. Allied payloads can be healed too, making those items more useful. I hope to add fast and flying payload types in addition to the armored crab payload.[/p][p]Expect more of these events to be integrated into the inbox missions soon to spice up the story. Plus the return of world events, but in response to your actions in each sector.[/p][p][/p][h2]Hacker Factions[/h2][p]It was difficult to represent all the factions for hackers, corporations, and eccentrics through only the inbox mission system. Too much text! Thanks to the job boards and their graphics and scripted events, there's room for more characters.[/p][p]The endgame will challenge you to organize groups with different goals and cultures according to their common interests. Plus, you might be able to call in favors to make the final missions easier.[/p][p][/p][h3]panic()[/h3][p]Artists, poets, and idealists resisting the conformity of product cycles.[/p][h3]DIYcrypt[/h3][p]Hobbyists and pirates who jailbreak and recycle corporate devices past their expiration dates.[/p][h3]X_X[/h3][p]Masked anarchists interested in amusement and profit.[/p][h3]The Knights of Ishkar[/h3][p]They want to protect Finality, just in case it's a next-gen AI studying humanity and waiting to hatch.[/p][h3]Machiavelli's Pizza[/h3][p]They're really passionate about pizza delivery and don't like their rival restaurant using AI for takeout orders.[/p][p]Future patches will add job boards for The Word, Ol' Glitchy's Bait Shop, and a few other factions.[/p][p][/p][h2]Graffiti[/h2][p]This is the first of several graffiti drops but I added a few graffiti paintings from artists Lea Kieser and Ben Nicholas. Lea painted two panic() hackers that will appear in the main story. Ben added some graffiti of soldiers to the Wasteland's broken battlefield. We'll have more graffiti art coming in future patches, including from Dom2D![/p][p][/p][h2]Boerner's Hot Merch[/h2][p]Speaking of lore, the volcano's secret shop has been upgraded in honor of one of the Supermesh's first hackers who popularized volcano runs. A custom fire-themed shop inventory will land in a future patch.[/p][h2]Fixes[/h2][p]Maybe this patch was the fixes we made along the way. Check the full patch notes below but highlights include mouseover text fixes for all loot pickups, fixes for waypoints that just wouldn't go away, and fixes for the unusable hacker caches and recycle bins.[/p][p][/p][p]Have a good weekend, hackers![/p][p][/p][h3]0.9.225 - Job Contracts (2/22/26)[/h3]

• [p]Added new HUD indicators for delivery and payload events, along with the ability to spawn attackers and defenders in response to your progress. \[More spawn improvements coming in future patches.][/p]
• [p]Added 5 job boards through the volcano with delivery and payload contracts.[/p]
• [p]Introduced DIYcrypt, panic(), and X_X as factions in addition to the Knights of Ishkar and Machiavelli's Pizza.[/p]
• [p]Replaced several mission events with defend and delivery segments.[/p]
• [p]Mission defense events now prompt you to get to the area before the hack starts.[/p]
• [p]Replaced the volcano secret shop.[/p]
• [p]Improved chat messages to list all your rewards with more color and less text.[/p]
• [p]Added several new graffiti arts (thanks to Ben Nicholas and Lea Kieser)[/p]
• [p]Added HUD prompts for proxy hack modifiers and boss fight events. \[Boss fight redesign and balance coming in future patch][/p]
• [p]Improved the Portcullis color scheme.[/p]
• [p]Added a panic() room.[/p]
• [p]Fixed mouseover descriptions for many pickups.[/p]
• [p]Fixed hacker caches and recycle bins that were unusable.[/p]
• [p]Fixed waypoints not being removed after missions.[/p]
• [p]Fixed dropping items from the inventory.[/p]
• [p]Fixed boss fight HUD texts.[/p]
• [p]Improved text readability and added more server and item colors to text notifications.[/p]
• [p]Made enemies teleport less frequently in combat.[/p]
• [p]Fixed server and waypoint indicators in Einar's throne room.[/p]
• [p]Fixed waypoints to volcano summit and throne room.[/p]
• [p]Fixed waypoints through the firewall tunnel.[/p]
• [p]Fixed bugs with chat placement and font sizing.[/p]

[p]Plus I probably forgot a couple dozen late night bugfixes that got left out of the notes...[/p][p]Now I can sleep for the first time in 4 months.[/p][p] - Nonadecimal & superdupergc[/p]

[p]Wanted to get a small update out before the weekend while I continue working on the Courier and Payload event improvements.[/p][h2]Custom Waypoints[/h2][p]This update fixes the custom waypoints you can add by right-clicking on the map. Their animations have been restored and they are now numbered, making it easier to follow your own directions using the world waypoints.[/p][h2]Music Viz[/h2][p]This was missing from the last update but there's now a music visualizer in the pause menu so you can channel your 90s winamp hacker vibes.[/p][p][/p][p] Have a good weekend, hackers![/p][p][/p][h3]0.9.224 - Music Viz (11/7/25)[/h3]

• [p]Repaired and re-animated custom map waypoints, along with numerical labels[/p]
• [p]Fixed animations on Deliver waypoints[/p]
• [p]Added a music visualizer back to the pause menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed more text and backgrounds in the new UI elements[/p]
• [p]Increased aniso texture levels so that visuals are less blurry for some GPUs[/p]
• [p]Fixed some text in Einar's throne room[/p]
• [p]Minor performance improvements[/p]
• [p]Upgraded Unity version for security fixes[/p]

[p] - Nonadecimal & superdupergc[/p]

[p]Following the Technocolor update and As Advertised update that replaced the shaders and rebalanced the colors for the world's terrain and decorations, the HUD and servers needed their own overhaul. This update replaces many HUD elements and makes the servers pop with sizzling neon![/p][p][/p][h2]Targeting Info[/h2][p]When you aim at servers or enemies, you now see a compact bar with security types, health bars, and other info. Server and enemy names are colored to match, making it easier to tell which enemies belong with which server. New icons and detail about buffs / debuffs coming in the next updates.[/p][h2]Interaction Prompts[/h2][p]When aiming at a shop or interactable item, you'll get on-screen prompts under the reticle telling you how to interact with them. Similarly, you'll get warnings when you're being ambushed or hacked with instructions what to do next. In the next update, that will include instructions for defeating Lockout enemies and Proxy security.[/p][p]If you leave the hack radius, you now get on-screen warnings with a countdown until the hack cancels, helping you time split-second flanking maneuvers.[/p][h2]Event Bars[/h2][p]When you hack, defend, or battle a boss, persistent event bars track your progress at the top of the screen. These can stack with each other and with the targeting info, helping you to battle multiple targets and objectives at once.[/p][p]When 2 servers fight, you'll see a "tug of war" meter with their enemy counts and the rewards each side is offering. Help one color fill the meter to get their reward![/p][p]Allied servers now display as chrome, along with chrome spawns that are clearly your friends.[/p][h2][/h2][h2]Chat Systems[/h2][p]The old chat messages were hard to read, especially during combat. Between a new cyberpunk font, better text outlining, and sender icons, it's much easier to tell at a glance who you're talking to and what they have to say. More important messages also trigger notification bubbles in the corner of the screen, also replacing the old tutorial message system. Expect these improvements to come to the Inbox and mission system soon...[/p][p][/p][p]The next 2+ patches will complete the HUD and gameplay menu improvements. [/p][p]First, the new HUD elements will be extended to the courier delivery missions while connecting them to specific companies and their lore, such as deliveries for the Knights of Ishkar or Machiavelli's Pizza. The payload events will be improved and adapted to work within story missions, destroying and defending payloads before they get to their destinations. I'll also add more elements and information to smaller HUD elements like the reticle, the buff / debuff feedback, more information when aiming at items/powerups, and more NPC and system icons for the chat system.[/p][p]The second upcoming patch will focus on the Inventory, Progression, and Inbox screens. I've been getting a lot of feedback that those are the most confusing UIs that need improvements. In the inventory, better item tooltips and item icons that match the type of gun rather than its payload. The Progression screens will get an overhaul to make them less confusing and fit the cyberpunk flavor. The Inbox will also get an overhaul with better information about the missions, sender avatars and images to make it easier to tell who you're talking to, and more feedback on the rewards and objectives. Both items and servers will get a new batch of icons for their modifiers.[/p][p]Altogether, these changes will make you feel more like a hacker interfacing with hardware and software modules and also provide smoother gameplay experiences.[/p][p]Since these are some of the oldest systems and oldest code, please be patient as it takes a lot of time to debug everything that breaks while making the necessary changes. This update alone changed more than 10,000 lines of code in 300 files. But if you look at the Before / After shots from recent patches, it's worth the wait![/p][p] [/p][h3]0.9.223 - ouroborOS: HUD Upgrades (10/19/25)[/h3]

• [p]Added new info bars for target info, hack events, defense/takeover events, and boss fights.[/p]
• [p]Replaced the chat system with new message window and popup notifications.[/p]
• [p]Added alerts when you leave the hack radius and a countdown to get back before it cancels.[/p]
• [p]Added new animated waypoints for Hack, Deliver, Defend, and Destroy events.[/p]
• [p]In addition to the XYZ world location, your current Sector is displayed above the RAM bar.[/p]
• [p]Linked servers' targeting info now displays how many servers are linked and the +X levels added from those servers. Hacking the defenders now decreases the displayed hack level.[/p]
• [p]Replaced most of the menu prompts with ouroborOS wireframes.[/p]
• [p]Replaced the Game Over screen with info about what killed you (images coming in a future patch)[/p]
• [p]Replaced the Escape Menu (music player info & visualizer coming in a future patch)[/p]
• [p]Added several new fonts for UI readability.[/p]
• [p]Replaced most of the loading screen backgrounds.[/p]
• [p]Streamlined the tutorial with better prompting and covered some missing fallback states.[/p]
• [p]Replaced the item loadout for the demo with more exciting weapons like a bouncy MG, a missile shotgun, the (Manta) Ray Gun, and Einar's Flame War.[/p]
• [p]The miniatures of Einar's servers located in the Arcade are now gold-plated.[/p]
• [p]So many small bugs were discovered and fixed during these upgrades that there's too many to list![/p][p][/p][p] - Nonadecimal & superdupergc[/p]

Following up on the Tree Fort update, the Volcano needed more complex terrain and servers to spice up the early game. This update increases the routes and platforming in each area and replaces key servers with more stylized ones. Combining a few servers into larger ones speeds up the progression, getting you to the open world faster.


Plus, more routes to survive the submerged lava caverns and a new bridge to the volcano with better platforming and jumpscares.



Complementing Einar's trophy servers, billboards for his companies expand their backstories and the progression of his career.



There will be a lot of balance changes as we close in on final launch. We decreased the levels for the post-volcano missions to match the recent changes to the early game. The Prank War also lost its first 2 hacks to shorten the tutorial sequence.

The inbox was reporting server levels that included the boosted levels of defended servers, making missions appear much higher level. This fix should also speed up the progression.


Looking ahead, the story is about to get an overhaul to match the progression and connect with the final chapter. The UI will get a major rework to offer more prompts during special events and hack types. This will also improve waypointing and mission objectives. The rework should improve inventory and progression usability. This may be an ongoing project that spans the next few updates. See you soon!

[h3]0.9.222 - Volcanic Activity (5/31/25)[/h3]

• Major redesigns to each area of the volcano and new servers to improve combat flow and get you through the volcano faster
  
• Added advertisement billboards for Einar's companies
  
• Moved the volcano boss fight respawn point to the Skyward server and shop area so you can restock or buy items before retrying the boss fight (previously you respawned directly outside the boss area and had to return to Arcade)
  
• Added a grappling hook mission reward in the volcano for extra fun
  
• Fixed navmesh on the bridge to the volcano
  
• Fixed mission text to show the base level of a server, not the upgraded level (this was causing the story mission in Quarkus to show as a level 38 hack instead of 28 due to linked servers adding levels)
  
• Shortened the Prank War by 2 hacks
  
• Fixed low level items missing stats
  
• "Sell All" button in shops no longer sells "New" items (next patch will sell them on second button press)
  
• Rebalanced the levels of Act 2 (post-Volcano) missions
  
• Fixed and brightened the map colors for better visibility
  

- Nonadecimal & superdupergc