Phantom Brigade News

[h2]Fixes [/h2]

• Fixed ability to push movement actions into the past on the timeline
  
• Fixed inability to remove subsystems
  
• Fixed parts of buttons not accepting clicks in the mech customization screen
  
• Fixed legs and arms not displaying ankles/wrists in the salvage screen
  

[h3]Modding Fixes[/h3]

• Opaque portrait's brightness reduced
  
• Kitbashing tools now allow for negative scales
  
• Fixed modding item visuals occasionally causing pilot pod to jump out of torso
  

[h2]Known issues[/h2]

• All audio except for cutscene audio will sometimes not play
  
• Tooltips can flow off the sides of the screen in some circumstances
  
• Occasionally destroyed mechs are flung around the map after viewing replay mode
  
• On launch, it seems audio is occasionally not playing on the main menu and in gameplay except for cutscenes. If you do encounter this please relaunch your game
  
• There is a chance of the province liberation event being interrupted by other post combat events, meaning the opportunity to participate in the parade is not given to the player when the province is won
  
• Some events do not end correctly - this could be caused by playing with an older save file
  
• Sometimes patrols can get stuck behind the mobile base without engaging in combat. This can be resolved by entering liberated territory briefly
  
• Many maps that contain turrets do not also have generator buildings - turrets must be manually destroyed on these maps
  
• Performance issues are common
  
• Old code injection mods might need updating for 1.1 and might prevent the game from loading. If your game does not boot, please check whether you have any mods installed and try uninstalling them
  

Hey Brigadiers! It's been a long time coming, but patch 1.1.0 is finally here! We gave you a rundown of what to expect in this patch in our last news post, but here's the full run down.

[h2]Changes and New Features [/h2]

▲ - a buff was applied
▼ - a nerf was applied
⮂ - a tradeoff occurred
🦾 - a change was made based on community feedback

[h3]Content Variety[/h3] 

• Changed the rules for which combat map is selected for each type of overworld entity
  
  • Combat map randomization will avoid the last selected map if more than one map is available
    
  • Patrols and convoys now qualify for a wider range of maps instead of just Forest themed maps
    
  • Forward bases now qualify for Military maps instead of Forest maps
    
  • Cities, towns and villages now qualify for at least 2 maps each, instead of just one
• Added new types of patrols
  
  • Patrols are now split into 7 different types, and no longer contain the exact same enemy squad for each fight and can vary in speed and vision on the overworld. Some new varieties include:
    
    • Arrowhead - Small vision radius on the overworld, but it moves quickly.
      
    • Hunter - Significantly larger vision radius than a standard patrol. Moves very slowly on the overworld.
      
    • Armored Unit - 8 tanks with very low armour, no mechs.
• Added the missing Blackbird armour - it is now a full set!

[h3]Quality of Life [/h3]

• 🦾 Added the ability to drag ALL ACTIONS on the timeline
  
  • You can now drag dashes, melee, movement actions, and wait actions!
    
  • Dragging actions into each other will now shift them along the timeline
    
  • Empty space between movement actions now counts as a 'wait' action, with the mech facing in the last chosen direction
    
  • You can still use the wait action to force your mech to look in a specific direction without moving
    

• 🦾 Changed the way melee attacks function
  
  • We rewrote the melee hit detection system from the ground up to make it more reliable and easier to execute
    
  • Melee weapons now emit shockwaves that continuously apply damage to everything in their path
    
  • These shockwaves are deterministically sampled, resulting in 1:1 prediction and execution
    
  • This new system is more reliable and stable at low framerates, while the previous system was less so due to high complexity and reliance on animation based physics

• Added new UI to landing enemy reinforcements to improve their visibility
  
• Added missing functionality that allows attacks against landing units
  
• Added new UI to crash prediction system to improve visibility of crash occurrence
  
• Added isoline display to maps while planning movements or selecting a target
  
• Changed the appearance of retreat zones to be more visible

[h2]Balance Changes [/h2]

• Fixed a significant data issue in the difficulty scaling of combat scenarios
  
• Due to an oversight in data, some scenarios were spawning several units more than they should have been, elevating the difficulty of the game significantly in the second province
  
• ⮂ Changed turret behaviour
  
• Turrets now detect targets in a cone and fire at appropriate ranges, rather than detecting in a static circle
  
• ▲ Changed shotgun balance to have a wider effective range

[h2]Modding Support [/h2]
For a more comprehensive description of the changes made to support modding efforts, please follow this link: https://wiki.braceyourselfgames.com/en/PhantomBrigade/Modding/ModSystemChanges

Below is a surface-level list of changes made to support the modding community:

• Simplified mod installation - the mods.yaml file required to install mods is now included automatically without requiring a user to create it themselves
  
• Added support for pilot portrait overlays, including decorative overlays for use with the official 3D portraits
  
• This also allows for fully 2D portraits to fully cover the 3D portraits if desired
  
• Added support to mod UI sprites
  
• Added support for modding weapon colours, firing patterns, and special perks
  
• Extended visual system allowing for kitbashing of new weapons and armor
  
• Extended weapon generation system
  
• Extended scenario system, allowing creation of complex combat scenarios and modifications of the combat system
  
• Fixed a huge number of issues in the modding system suggested by programmers in the modding community. Thank you for your continued support and patience!

[h2]Bug Fixes [/h2]

[h3]Quality of Life Fixes[/h3] 

• Fixed the FTUE being unskippable and triggering by default when no save files are detected
  
• Fixed a framerate drop that occurred when hovering over a part in mech customization
  
• Fixed subsystems not being allowed to pin to the top of the inventory menu when examined
  
• Fixed CTRL+click and click being inverted in the inventory
  
• Fixed accidentally pinning items in the inventory menu via single click
  
• Fixed sort by quality order being reversed in the inventory
  
• Fixed retreat zone placement often being extremely far away from the starting location of player units
  
• Fixed an issue causing rain sensors and repair cost/speed and workshop speed buffs not taking effect immediately
  
• Fixed tanks getting stuck trying to path through downed mechs
  
• Fixed contested province ambient UI not ending after winning a province
  
• Fixed destruction effect remaining stuck on dead units
  
• Fixed unit explosions not doing damage to the surrounding environment
  
• Fixed low-spec PCs being unable to complete the tutorial due to framerate issues preventing units from completing their actions correctly
  
• Fixed some grass being the wrong colour/wrong tileset
  
• Fixed melee attacks sometimes causing enemy bullets to not spawn
  
• Fixed camera focus in tutorial not working correctly
  

[h3]UI Fixes[/h3] 

• Fixed workshop build speed not correctly updating in UI once the upgrade was installed
  
• Fixed a rounding bug in UI display of times causing them to be displayed incorrectly
  
• Fixed heat calculation displaying incorrectly in mech customization/inventory menus
  
• Fixed a display issue with the visuals of all turret ranges and improved turret scan readability
  
• Fixed bookmarked liveries not being saved on quit to desktop and relaunch
  
• Fixed HG reputation UI not matching actual reputation in memory
  
• Fixed all instances of UI accidentally being carried to a new context (ie, pilot UI appearing in combat etc)
  
• Fixed Decoy Drone and Rain Sensor counters not updating correctly
  
• Fixed crashing units becoming detached from their actual location in certain circumstances, causing teleporting
  
• Fixed repair completion and damaged unit tooltips on the overworld not refreshing correctly
  

[h3]Data Fixes [/h3]

• Fixed the 'Pilot Left' message triggering every time the game was loaded
  
• Fixed an issue with the Volunteer event that contributed to bad memory
  
• Fixed destroying buildings not being restored to their original state if the game was loaded and combat was re-entered
  
• Fixed low-level weapons doing no concussion damage to higher-level enemies
  
• Fixed subsystems not adjusting stats by the correct amount
  
• Fixed subsystems not applying to parts above level 1 correctly
  
• Fixed perks that adjust range being incorrectly applied to ballistic weapons (ballistic weapons still get the scatter angle perk)
  
• Fixed Crystal Matrix perk effect being inverted
  
• Fixed music not playing on the overworld after completing the tutorial
  
• Fixed some workshop projects missing from the complete list
  
• Fixed retreating from a Blitz scenario on the turn that enemies were replanning resulting in a defeat instead of a victory
  
• Fixed a levelling exploit to do with the workshop
  
• Fixed an exploit where securing convoy loot on the same turn that all enemies died doubled the rewards received
  
• Fixed infinite supplies exploit in the Director event
  
• Fixed a number of missing workshop blueprints, made loot drops more varied
  

[h3]Achievement Fixes[/h3] 

• Fixed Take It Back achievement triggering incorrectly 30% of the time
  
• Fixed Melee Master achievement triggering incorrectly
  
• Localization/Typo Fixes 
  
• Reviewed and resolved a large number of mistranslations in Japanese
  
• Reviewed and resolved several mistranslations in Russian
  
• Resolved a number of typos in English
  
• Resolved a number of small, one off translation issues in multiple other languages
  
• Fixed Tsubasa armor having Arrow text in the workshop
  
• Fixed incorrect tooltip for barrier mechanic
  

[h2]Known issues[/h2] 

• All audio except for cutscene audio will sometimes not play
  
• Tooltips can flow off the sides of the screen in some circumstances
  
• Occasionally destroyed mechs are flung around the map after viewing replay mode
  
• On launch, it seems audio is occasionally not playing on the main menu and in gameplay except for cutscenes. If you do encounter this please relaunch your game
  
• There is a chance of the province liberation event being interrupted by other post combat events, meaning the opportunity to participate in the parade is not given to the player when the province is won
  
• Some events do not end correctly - this could be caused by playing with an older save file
  
• Sometimes patrols can get stuck behind the mobile base without engaging in combat. This can be resolved by entering liberated territory briefly
  
• Many maps that contain turrets do not also have generator buildings - turrets must be manually destroyed on these maps
  
• Performance issues are common
  
• Tsubasa workshop project has the same text as Arrow workshop project
  
• Moving actions on the timeline when a unit has a dash action finishing from a previous turn can cause a crash
  

Hello Brigadiers! We know that you have been waiting for news regarding updates for Phantom Brigade and we are happy to report that we will be releasing a quality of life and bug fix patch on Tuesday, August 1st!

Below are some highlights that you can look forward to from the 1.1 patch!

Timeline action dragging: It is now possible to click and drag any action on the timeline to reposition it, making precise timing of actions far easier to achieve!



Improved melee system: Melee attacks could previously fail, even if the timeline prediction showed that they would be successful. Our new melee system makes use of shockwaves that have a one-to-one correlation between prediction and execution. Additionally, the shockwave system looks amazing and will give our designers more flexibility when creating new melee weapons!

Improved combat variety: In the 1.1 patch we have taken some initial small steps toward addressing your feedback about content variety. The first action we took was relaxing content restrictions, allowing a greater variety of existing maps and units to appear in combat. Secondly, patrols (the most commonly encountered overworld entity) have now been split into multiple types, each fielding different units.



Landing prediction UI: Enemy reinforcements are now easier to spot and less frustrating to play against thanks to a clearer UI indication of where and when they will arrive.



New UI for predicting crashes: Collisions should now be easier for players to predict and understand thanks to an improved UI.



Improved turret behavior: Turrets will now detect targets within a rotating cone and fire at appropriate ranges, creating a more dynamic and interesting obstacle for players.



Finalized Blackbird armor: In Phantom Brigade 1.0, the Blackbird armor set had unfinished art and missing arms. We have corrected this oversight in 1.1!



Other fixes:

• Significant improvements to our modding system, including simplified mod installation, support for 2D pilot portraits, easier modding with text editors, UI sprite mod support, a greatly extended scenario system, and much more.
  
• Shotguns have been rebalanced so that they no longer have a narrow effective range forcing a player to pixel hunt for a perfect shot.
  
• Improved tooltips covering mechanics such as unit repair, workshop level, and barrier.
  
• Plus a massive number of other bug fixes and improvements! (Full patch notes will be provided when the update launches!)
  

We are currently putting the finishing touches on the 1.1 patch, and we look forward to bringing it to you on August 1st!

But what about the future? We have some good news: Preliminary work has already begun on patch 1.2! We pay very close attention to the reviews that you write and to the messages that you post, and we hear you loud and clear that Phantom Brigade needs more gameplay variety and more content. We are working on that as our top priority for patch 1.2.

However, please note that the 1.1 patch that we will release on August 1st is only a quality of life and bug fix patch. We understand that the 1.1 patch will not address your core concerns with gameplay variety and content, but rest assured that further work on those issues is already underway via our 1.2 patch.

We'd like to thank you all for your feedback and bug reports -- your assistance is invaluable as we strive to make Phantom Brigade the best game that it can be. We look forward to launching our 1.1 patch on August 1st, and we are excited to share more details about the upcoming 1.2 patch, so please stay tuned!

Crypt Of The NecroDancer developers Brace Yourself Games have laid off around half their staff. Employees began tweeting about being affected cuts yesterday, with Brace Yourself Games later confirming the decision to "lay off a portion" of staff. The studio had around 43 employees before the cuts, according to LinkedIn.

Read more

Hey there Brigadiers, another hotfix is dropping with lots of balance changes and bug fixes! In terms of new features, heat is now visible on the timeline before you place an action. Now that's what I call a HOTfix! Missile launchers being super powerful has been another hot topic, and in response we've rebalanced the amount of missile launchers you'll encounter in combat and made dashing much more effective at scrambling missiles, so they should feel less oppressive now. Read on for more details!

Please note - there is a potential issue with players on Epic Games Store experiencing corrupt installs. If you have at any point experienced blank text boxes during gameplay, please uninstall and reinstall your game, delete all local files, and start a new game.

▲ - a buff was applied
▼ - a nerf was applied
⮂ - a tradeoff occurred
🦾 - a change was made based on community feedback

[h2]Changes and New Features [/h2]

• 🦾 Added heat visuals to the timeline before placing an action
  
• Added minor polishing of combat effects, particle brightness and color adjustments
  

Balance Changes

• ▲ Battlesite spawn limit to 1 instead of 2
  
• ⮂ Rebalanced the amount of loot gained at convoys
  
• Convoys now give more varied loot on completion
  
• Each type of convoy (Equipment, Reinforced and Repair) now drops different amounts of loot
  
• ▲ Increased the Uncommon and Rare component limit to 250
  
• ⮂ Rebalanced the damage threshold on all structure destruction scenarios
  
• ⮂ Rebalanced how many Missile Launcher units appear in combat
  
• ▲ Increased the amount of time missile scramble effect is in place when dashing, from 4sec max to 10sec max
  
• ▲ Increased the maximum range in which missile scramble effect is in place when dashing, from 30m to 90m
  

[h2]Fixes [/h2]

• 🦾 Fixed a typo in the T9 Thruster effect that caused it to be inverted
  
• 🦾 Fixed a typo causing Supercharge 1 perk to have a buff of 70% (it is now reduced to 7% as intended)
  
• 🦾 Fixed a scaling issue where DC1 Impact Cannons were giving x27 the amount of supplies they should have
  
• 🦾 Fixed an issue where due to Null Ref Exceptions the main menu displayed as black and games could not be loaded
  
• Fixed Overdrive movement button displaying in some circumstances where the movement mode was not actually available
  
• Fixed movement modes being maintained between saves incorrectly
  
• Fixed patrols and convoys from having a chance to spawn directly under the player, interrupting their engagement with other overworld POIs
  
• Fixed an issue with bullet visuals being too thin and choppy, making them hard to see in combat
  
• 🦾 Fixed some caches choosing invalid maps, creating cache scenarios that didn't have caches
  
• 🦾 Fixed Resupply event preventing events from completing, resulting in a softlock
  
• 🦾 Fixed difficulty settings not initializing properly, causing them to appear as resolution sliders when accessed in the tutorial
  
• 🦾 Fixed a UI issue where tanks and turrets appeared to be many levels lower than they actually were
  
• Fixed screenshake on pilot cameras causing pilots to eventually drift out of the frame
  
• 🦾 Fixed weapon information UI disappearing in combat if any non-weapon part had been viewed in inventory before entering combat
  
• 🦾 Fixed legs generating with weapon perks on occasion
  
• 🦾 Fixed weapons generating with perks that had no effect on the weapon
  
• Added more safety checks to the main menu to prevent some rare scenarios that prevented loading saves or starting a new game
  
• 🦾 Fixed melee weapon workshop projects all being listed under Primary Weapon. There are now two different projects for Primary and Secondary melee weapons.
  
• 🦾 Fixed an edgecase where saves could be loaded right before a battle outcome was decided, which would carry the result UI into the loaded scene
  
• 🦾 Fixed typing in a text field continuing to move the camera or trigger hotkeys
  
• 🦾 Fixed a handful of spawn locations being set to inside hills (visual issue only)
  
• 🦾 Fixed hotkeys for the base being accessible in the first province
  
• 🦾 Fixed incorrect optimal interval calculation being made incorrectly in unit editing screen
  

[h2]Known Issues [/h2]

• Part UI multiplies ambient heat dissipation of the mech by action duration. This is correct when calculating heat at the end of the action, but incorrect for calculating how long it'd take to drop back to 0 heat after the action
  
• Melee targeting is difficult and sometimes inaccurate
  
• All audio except for cutscene audio will sometimes not play
  
• Mechs will not move the full distance during execution on some lower-end PCs
  
• Destroyed buildings and terrain are not being correctly reloaded when loading the precombat save
  
• Tooltips can flow off the sides of the screen in some circumstances
  
• Occasionally UI can be carried from one context to another by accident
  
• Occasionally destroyed mechs are flung around the map after viewing replay mode
  
• On launch, it seems audio is occasionally not playing on the main menu and in gameplay except for cutscenes. If you do encounter this please relaunch your game
  
• If hit a specific angle with a melee, sometimes tanks can be pushed underground, preventing completion of the combat scenario
  
• There is a change of the province liberation event being interrupted by other post combat events, meaning the opportunity to participate in the parade is not given to the player when the province is won
  
• Some events do not end correctly - this could be caused by playing with an older save file
  
• Subsystems are frequently not altering equipment stats by the amount listed in their tooltips
  
• Sometimes patrols can get stuck behind the mobile base without engaging in combat. This can be resolved by entering liberated territory briefly
  
• Take It Back achievement is unlocking early for some players
  
• Many maps that contain turrets do not also have generator buildings - turrets must be manually destroyed on these maps
  
• Some spawn locations for starting combat are in locations that make it hard to win the battle (corners, right in front of the enemy etc)
  
• Performance issues are common
  
• Tsubasa workshop project has the same text as Arrow workshop project