Gunlocked 2 News

Not quite large enough to justify a full patch update, but significant for those of you wanting to dive into the simulator and break things. And you will break things. Once fully unlocked, It is entirely possible to equip so many utilities in the Simulator that everything crashes. Limits will eventually be introduced for stability.

This update is the last of any significance before next week's very large content drop. Hotfixes will be made as needed for any game-breaking bugs, should any of you find any.

As progress is made on the content update, it has grown significantly in size, and I'm really excited to share what I've been cooking. It will touch on more than just new utilities. Until then!

[h3]QoL[/h3]

• Simulator: The “view inventory” button in the Simulator menu will now function like a toggle, allowing you to quickly switch between the available library of upgrades and your currently equipped inventory of them
  
• Simulator: When you open the loadout drop down menu, your most recently selected loadout will be highlighted
  
• Simulator: The options menu has been enabled in the simulator
  
• Simulator: The inventory button in the pause menu has been removed, as inventory management happens in the simulator menu
  
• Simulator: Enemies should no longer drop non-gem items on death (bosses still drop hull repairs)
• Simulator: The same bosses can now be fought multiple times without restarting the simulation. Note: Further testing will be required to make sure there are no conflicts I missed, but everything seems good so far.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• UI: Fixed an issue that would prevent access to the simulator when using mouse controls, if that pilot currently had no saved game (smh).
  
• Simulator: Loading a saved loadout will properly remove the current loadout first, and counters will update consistently
  
• Simulator: The reset equips button now consistently removes upgrades, and resets upgrade counters
  
• Mouse: Fixed a bug that would confirm an upgrade choice if you clicked on an inventory item.
  
• Mouse: Fixed a bug that would exit the Simulator menu if you clicked on an inventory item
  
• Keyboard: The correct shortcut hotkey to close the Simulator menu now works
  

Daily upkeep

• Due to a cloud conflict for my own backup files, the wrong upgrade libraries were uploaded with the latest patch. This only affected descriptions and rarities. Now fixed.
  
• The Hercules Beetle ships (large coleop ships that fire 3 bullets end-game) now properly deal damage
  
• Shock rounds is now applying to bullets correctly (again).
  

[p][/p][p]I’ve had the opportunity now to watch quite a bit of footage of various skill-level players attempt one or more runs in Gunlocked 2, and this patch is about massaging certain pain points in everything from balance to usability.[/p][p]Getting to actually watch players engage with the game is something I don’t have access to before Early Access, being a solo dev without a QA team. So this is always a huge part of my focus in the first weeks of my newest game's availability.[/p][p]As I continue to settle into a more regular work cadence, expect fewer polish patches, and a larger focus on content patches, ideally spread out by a week or two. There is still one more big-ish patch coming for the Simulator to get it into a more user-friendly state though. Then MORE CONTENT![/p][p][/p][h3]Quality of Life Improvements[/h3]

• [p]Hazards: The elite cosmic storm event that creates electricity on the battlefield has been visually updated to be larger and brighter (but the hitbox has not been changed).[/p]
• [p]UI: Sped up the Mission Menu startup a bit[/p]
• [p]UI: Changed Electric and Plasmic damage to Chain Shock and Plasmic Burn damage post-game for clarity. Note: These categories were not counting electric-type or plasmic-type upgrade damage, but just the actual elemental damage bonuses when they proc.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial: Updated the text for the Data Disk tutorial to also explain the inventory/items tracking\\[/p]
• [p]Tutorial: CRT’s portrait will now animate in the tutorial[/p]
• [p]Text: Updated the Improb Drive text to more clearly state that it is currently disabled[/p]
• [p]Text: Particloner now states the base amount of hits it can take before being destroyed[/p]
• [p]Upgrades: You can no longer banish locked upgrades. Note: this was correctly removing the utility from the pool, but allowing you to keep the upgrade until it was unlocked.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Balance Updates[/h3][p]Notes:[/p][p]The focus on these balance changes is three-fold:[/p]

• [p]To give certain chance-based abilities more up-front oomph, while requiring more supplementary help to scale into absurd power levels.[/p]
• [p]Reducing some of the craziest power-points for bullet weapons, which players seem to universally agree is the most powerful archetype in the game[/p]
• [p]Prepare for the upcoming content patch coming late next week [/p]

[p]The goal going forward will be to buff under-performing upgrades more than nerf over-performing ones, but getting bullets down to a more realistic level first gives me a better bar to aim for with the other abilities (and making enemies feel consistently balanced).[/p][p]Balance changes to enemies, difficulty scaling, and items drops, should also lift every build up a little more, today.
[/p][p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Bosses: Now always drop at least 2 Hull Repairs[/p]
• [p]Enemies: A special zone that spawns a lot of the “egg” type enemies, that drop down on the battlefield, should now spawn fewer eggs[/p]
• [p]Enemies: Scarabs always drop at least one hull repair if you kill them[/p]
• [p]Enemies: Enemy spawn density has been slightly decreased from warp zones 11-15[/p]
• [p]Hazards: The elite cosmic storm hazard has been rebalanced to create electricity less frequently later in the game[/p]
• [p]Weapons: The Big Shot has had its base damage reduced by 5, base range reduced by 12%, and its total charge time increased by 20%. Note: This is all less impactful than it sounds.[/p]
• [p]Weapons: The reload time on Pulse Cannon has been ever so slightly increased, and the base damage per bullet reduced to 15 from 20.[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Auto-Clip is now a rare upgrade[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Refractor now grants double the base chance to trigger (24%), but no longer gains chance on additional copies. Instead, chance boosting utilities will be required. Note: There will be additional ways to improve proc-chance beyond the few in the game now with next week's patch[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Afterglow now grants double the base chance to trigger (20%), but no longer gains chance on additional copies.[/p]
• [p]Items: Warp reroll tokens drop more often from enemies, banish tokens drop less often[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Save/Load: Your synergy counts will properly be restored when resuming from a saved game[/p]
• [p]Save/Load: Signal Dongle, Banish Bounty, and Bug Bait will no longer grant extra copies each time you resume from a saved game[/p]
• [p]Save/Load: Fixed an issue where your total unique utilities might not be properly counted when resuming a save. It was only an issue if you exceeded 24 unique utilities.[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Fixed an issue causing Gas Generator to give the maximum cooldown benefit at all times[/p]
• [p]Data Beacons: Completing a beacon when it reaches 0 seconds should now properly grant the upgrade. Tie goes to the runner, as we ‘Muricans say.[/p]
• [p]Keyboard: The Banish menu shortcut key is now binding correctly[/p]
• [p]Keyboard: Rebinding controls will properly update glyphs without needing to exit and return to settings[/p]
• [p]Keyboard: Binding the cancel button will no longer also cancel you out of the keybinding menu[/p]
• [p]Misc: Fixed a bug that could, in very rare instances, cause Phase Shift invulnerability to become stuck on, even though the animation is no longer playing[/p]
• [p]UI: Fixed an issue where you could change the selected upgrade while confirming a banish[/p]
• [p]Text: Rooster no longer indicates he has the Laser synergy in the pilot select icons. This was from an old build of Vulcanorb.[/p]

[p]
[/p]

Nothing crazy, just two quick changes:

• A little bug snuck by in the update allowing other upgrades to override the range on the new Plasma Bomb. This could cause inconsistent results depending on the upgrades you chose. Should now be fixed.
  
• I also sped up the launch arc of the Plasma Bomb projectile, so it lands a little faster
  

[p]This patch represents the culmination of almost all previously received feedback. Unlike 0.11.00, this update focuses a lot more on quality of life and balance changes based on both user feedback, and what I’ve learned from watching how players are interacting with the various systems. There’s more to do, of course, Early Access only started 6 days ago, but I’m already really happy with progress.[/p][p]If you’ve reported something and I haven’t addressed it yet, I haven’t forgotten it (there’s still time for me to do that), I just didn’t prioritize it yet. It’s on the list.[/p][p]I’m now shifting focus toward getting the big Utility update ready for testing. This should strengthen various build paths and open up a couple new archetypes. As previously mentioned, these utilities are not chance-based, so for those of you over the %chance to trigger text, this ones for you.[/p][p][/p][p]One final note: I’m keeping an eye on pacing/difficulty, and watching various stats and achievements, to see how these things might be adjusted in the future. I don’t want to rush to make any sweeping changes here because the Utility and (especially the) Symbionic updates are going to significantly change build power.[/p][p]I can’t stress enough how much is going to change and grow as Early Access goes on. This is just version 0.12.00...It’s a long way to 1.00.00. And if sales and reviews are strong, there’s no reason we can’t take this baby all the way to 2.00.00! See you all at the next patch![/p][p][/p][h3]Features[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]Mouse: You can highlight popup menu options now and click the options that way. Previously they worked for mouse like keyboard and gamepad, indicating which button to press for each option and not requiring you to select them. A lot of people didn’t seem to realize (I blame myself).[/p]
• [p]Gamepad/Keyboard: Pop-ups now work similarly to the mouse menu update. Selecting an option first. You can still quick cancel out of them with the menu cancel button.[/p]
• [p]UI: I’ve added a new popup that explains that you have a dodge ability when you start a new run. Too many players skip the tutorial and don’t check the controls.[/p]
  • [p]This shows up in your first couple games even if you don’t use the tutorial[/p]
  • [p]It goes away when you phase shift or leave the starter area[/p]
  • [p]It will only show up for the first couple of games you play[/p]
  • [p]It also always shows up in the tutorial when you reach that part of the dialog[/p]
• [p]UI: You can now see how many copies of a utility you have in the choice pods as well as your inventory below[/p]
• [p]UI: You can now see the version number of the game in the inventory and upgrade menus to better help with bug reporting, or questions (so I know what version you’re on in screenshots). It can be found below the Synergy menu button.[/p]

[h3]Visual Updates[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]UI: Pilots and NPCs now have animated portraits during events[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Afterstrike has a visual effect now[/p]
• [p]Items: Added a new Hull Repair effect[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Sunsetter Explosion recolored and adjusted[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Bombsolesence has a visual effect now[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Blast Core has a new visual effect[/p]

[h3]QoL[/h3]

• [p]UI: Certain Pop-up menus are now dynamically positioned based on where in the menu you’ve selected something to make mouse selection quicker.[/p]
• [p]UI: There’s a new menu highlight effect when a settings option is currently selected. Note: Another change is coming to make it easier to see selected options when the option is not active.[/p]
• [p]UI: Updated damage popups now properly show plasmic and electric damage, and are color coded for clarity[/p]
• [p]UI: Upgrades that apply effects but no damage will not trigger 0 damage popups[/p]
• [p]Text: Reworded the description of “Boom Bots” because several players expressed confusion about how it worked.[/p]
• [p]Save/Resume: Post game stats and upgrade rankings will properly resume from where you left off when returning to a saved game. Note: There may still be some lingering issues with how damage is tracking. Some upgrades may still be over-represented in the post game stats.[/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]Weapons: Plasma Bomb has been updated. The targeter now extends and retracts as you move up and down the battlefield. Allowing you more precise control over its aim.[/p]
• [p]Upgrades: Standardized all electric damage to have a base 10% chance to trigger chain shock, unless otherwise stated. Note: This change doesn’t actually affect that much, most electric upgrades have their shock chance listed, and it’s higher than this.[/p]
• [p]Upgrades: Rare and uncommon upgrades have slightly lower base drop odds. Note: These were set before there were items that could improve the drop rates[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Afterstrike remake – Common – When a missile deals critical damage, it creates a secondary explosion that deals 2 damage for every 20 damage the missile dealt. +5% crit chance for missiles. Additional Copies: +2 damage, +2% crit chance for missiles.[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Gasolier now affects Bombikaze as intended, allowing the bomb to keep charging after you leave the area[/p]
• [p]Masteries: Artemis’s mastery now has a 1.5 second cooldown that can not be reduced. Note: Artemis will likely get some additional fine-tuning later on.[/p]
• [p]Masteries: Locke’s homing mastery now has a faster seeking speed toward enemies.[/p]
• [p]Masteries: CRT’s Mastery’s ability to exceed the Drone maximum on Drone Swarm has been capped to 200% of its normal limit.[/p]
• [p]Skills: Volley's Bullet Buffet is capped at 6 charges. Note: This wasn't even triggering in the most recent update, so it's actually a buff, haha.[/p]
• [p]Items: Data Decoders now add only 3% bonus to rare drops, but still grant 5% to uncommons[/p]

[h3]Simulator Updates[/h3][p]Still a bit more to do before this goes from Alpha to Beta, but it’s coming along thanks to some great feedback on the Discord. Mostly bug and usability fixes, but there’s enough to justify its own category in the notes.[/p]

• [p]Equipping: The upgrade in the 11th slot of the simulator can now be unequipped in the Simulator. Note: This weird bug was caused by the game expecting your starter weapon to be in this slot[/p]
• [p]Equipping: You can no longer equip locked upgrades in the Simulator[/p]
• [p]UI: If you have an upgrade highlighted and exit the loadout screen, the text will now properly clear upon reopening the Simulator menu.[/p]
• [p]UI: When selecting a synergy, the highlight cursor now follows properly at all times.[/p]
• [p]UI: Selecting the synergy menu jumps to the last selected synergy in the Simulator.[/p]
• [p]UI: When exiting the synergy selection sidebar in the simulator, you will now be placed on the first upgrade in the library menu.[/p]
• [p]Misc: You can now force the boss to be destroyed if you turn boss spawning off after you spawn a boss.[/p]
  • [p]Note: There are still conflicts with fighting the same boss twice without restarting/resetting the simulation. One of the downsides of adding a major unplanned feature is getting it to play nice with systems that weren’t designed with it in mind.[/p]
• [p]Misc: If your ship is destroyed in the simulator, the simulation will now restart after your ship explodes[/p]
• [p]Misc: After re-opening and closing the simulator menu, gems and items no longer stop scrolling[/p]
• [p]Misc: The phase shift will no longer trigger if you use the shortcut to exit the Simulator. Note: It’s not deja vu. This bug was reintroduced when I made changes to how the phase shift triggered in general.[/p]

[h3]Bugs[/h3]

• [p]Keyboard: Fixed a critical bug preventing keyboard rebinding[/p]
• [p]Keyboard: Fixed an issue where you sometimes would need to press a key twice at the start of the mission menu[/p]
• [p]Mouse: The "Accept" prompt in the mission menu will now properly update to left mouse when mouse controls are active[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Drones will no longer gain infinite stacking damage if you equip the utility “Bot Blade”[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Fixed a bug that could allow “Pulse Field” to stack with itself, creating infinite lasers and crashing the game.[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Blitz Bomb should no longer cause various bomb type upgrades to sometimes get stuck on screen[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Lucky Lancer removed from pool temporarily, will return with the Utility update[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Fixed an issue preventing Flak from triggering[/p]
• [p]Utilities: Bombsolesence is now consistently triggering[/p]
• [p]Skills: Fixed a bug caused by a recent change that prevented Volley’s Bullet Buffet from triggering.[/p]
• [p]Augments: After triggering the augment “Perfect Fit” if you get a beacon before your next level up, the infinity symbol will no longer still be visible briefly[/p]
• [p]Weapons: Cross Bolt bullets does not trigger Chain Shock nor mark enemies for Shock Collar.[/p]
• [p]Data Beacons: In the rare event 2 or more beacons show up on screen and you’re able to charge them side-by-side, they will now properly queue two upgrades[/p]
• [p]Data Beacons: Rerolling a replicator beacon purchased from an NPC should no longer leave you stuck with an empty shop[/p]
• [p]UI: The achievement progress meter should no longer briefly exceed its frame[/p]
• [p]UI: Data Decoders picked up (not purchased) will properly add to your inventory[/p]
• [p]UI: Fixed the incorrect Pilot portrait showing up at NPC events[/p]
• [p]UI: Collected items are no longer misaligned in the item inventory Note: this was likely caused by a recent fix to other, not entirely related issues[/p]
• [p]Text: Fixed a typo in the replicator description in NPC events[/p]
• [p]Achievement: Fixed an issue with the Boosted Achievement, where depending on which achievements were still incomplete, it would be disabled.[/p]
• [p]Boss: Fixed an issue that could cause the Sting King to get stuck doing nothing in level 3 boss fights[/p]
• [p]Boss: Sting King Targeting Cursors should no longer get stuck on screen after his invulnerable phase[/p]
• [p]Misc: Fixed a small memory leak where duplicate upgrade icons were not being removed from memory when stacking[/p]