079 Soft Rework
Hello everyone.
We’ve made our SCP-079 “soft rework” Patreon post available to everyone! It details the overhaul of SCP-079, which will be coming in the 12.0 “Mimicry” update.
By becoming a Patreon supporter of Northwood Studios, you can get access to more information and sneak peeks regarding upcoming updates. Access our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/HubertMoszka
We have previously mentioned that Version 12.0 will include a full rewrite of our in-game roles system, which sees redesigns of both SCPs, and human-related mechanics. We’ve already shared our improvements to SCP-173 and, recently, there was a public stream showing the development process of the “soft rework” for SCP-079. Whilst there are a few more abilities to come, we’ve dedicated this post to showing our progress.
Our biggest problem with the current version of SCP-079 is that new players find it too frustrating to learn, whilst experienced players grow too powerful. This makes the game unfair to human roles pitted against experienced players, and doesn’t give enough options to fight back. SCP-079’s gameplay is very unique, therefore, it’s nearly impossible to remove these issues completely. We believe our redesigned version significantly improves this. Please note we have avoided providing specific values, as they’re subject to change during beta tests.
Due to the nature of a soft rework, the core mechanics remain, mostly, unchanged. SCP-079 still controls cameras; they can be used to track targets, interact with objects, or activate abilities for the current room. We have, however, made positive changes to the camera movement system.
We’ve kept the mechanics of Auxiliary Power (AP) and Experience (EXP) relatively unchanged. We’ve removed EXP rewards for “general interactions”, such as opening a door, or firing a Tesla gate. Instead, we’ve implemented new ways of gaining experience. This includes separating your teammates from a human charging up the MicroHID, or from people actively shooting them. Another example is a small reward for closing or locking a door in front of a human who’s being chased by an SCP.
The soft rework features a brand-new user interface. Other than improved aesthetics, it now provides more information, which can be helpful to new players. For example, you’re now able to see the exact AP cost of different abilities, as well as why you can’t interact with something. Different abilities are listed in the top-right corner, instead of cluttering the screen with icons. The map has also received a touch-up; it displays all four zones at once, including a Surface Zone map.
The current version of SCP-079 has the ability to lock down all doors and turn off all lights in a room. This has been split into two separate abilities — Blackout and Lockdown.
Blackout is unlocked at Tier 2, and the limit of simultaneously blacked-out rooms increases for Tier 3 and 4. It’s considered a cheap ability, currently costing 15 AP.
Lockdown is unlocked at Tier 3. It temporarily closes and locks all doors in the room. During this time, AP regeneration is paused (and reduced to half at Tier 4 and above). Only one room can be locked-down at a time. It has a high cost of 100 AP, but it’s still cheaper than manually locking all doors in a room for the duration.
Both abilities should work in every room. SCP-2176 (a.k.a. Ghostlight) can be used to inverse the effects of both Blackout and Lockdown. In addition, if it’s used in a room SCP-079 is currently occupying, it’ll temporarily prevent SCP-079 from performing any interaction, and reset AP levels to 0.
Opening and closing doors has not changed. Locking ability has received a nerf. Once a door unlocks after SCP-079 has locked it, there will be a small cooldown before it can be locked again. Continuous locking of a door will gradually increase AP consumption, meaning SCP-079 can’t hold it for too long, even on higher access tiers. The cooldown is also applied after the Lockdown ability, so the lock duration cannot be artificially increased.
At Tier 4, SCP-079 gains the ability to sweep the zone it's in for survivors. This is a toggleable passive ability which appears as a button on the map. Once activated, SCP-079’s power generation is cut by a third. As a result, the current zone is automatically scanned for surviving humans. When a human is found, a loud alarm plays in the room they are in and SCP-079 is given an alert. This ability is considered an anti-camping device. It only works on players who have been sitting in an area for an extended period of time. This feature has not been implemented yet, so we don’t have any footage to share.
At Tier 5, SCP-079 can start the detonation sequence for the Alpha Warhead from the surface zone. If SCP-079 is the cause of the nuke detonation, it will not be terminated by it. This allows it to remain on the surface and assist. SCP-079 does not become immune to losing under any circumstance. If SCP-079 detonates the nuke and the SCP’s die on the surface, SCP-079 will be terminated with them. Similarly to the Breach Scanner, this ability has not been implemented yet.
SCP-079 is a support class, so it can’t do much alone. Due to this, users with no microphone have always been at a disadvantage. We’ve decided to improve non-verbal communication in an attempt to mitigate this disadvantage. We have implemented a pinging system. SCP-079 is now able to place a location indicator, which will be visible to teammates within a limited range. The indicator has an icon which represents what object (or player) has been pinged.
We’ve prepared 2 videos presenting some of the new mechanics. This is a simplified demonstration, as SCP-173 is the only other SCP that is currently implemented. Many items (such as Ghostlight or MicroHID) do not have third-person animations yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzlJ7tFpGsE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOv919IC6hY
Lastly, we would like to share the remodelled COM-18. This will be included in the 12.0 update, so feel free to let us know what you think about it!
~Northwood Studios
We’ve made our SCP-079 “soft rework” Patreon post available to everyone! It details the overhaul of SCP-079, which will be coming in the 12.0 “Mimicry” update.
By becoming a Patreon supporter of Northwood Studios, you can get access to more information and sneak peeks regarding upcoming updates. Access our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/HubertMoszka
Introduction
We have previously mentioned that Version 12.0 will include a full rewrite of our in-game roles system, which sees redesigns of both SCPs, and human-related mechanics. We’ve already shared our improvements to SCP-173 and, recently, there was a public stream showing the development process of the “soft rework” for SCP-079. Whilst there are a few more abilities to come, we’ve dedicated this post to showing our progress.
Our biggest problem with the current version of SCP-079 is that new players find it too frustrating to learn, whilst experienced players grow too powerful. This makes the game unfair to human roles pitted against experienced players, and doesn’t give enough options to fight back. SCP-079’s gameplay is very unique, therefore, it’s nearly impossible to remove these issues completely. We believe our redesigned version significantly improves this. Please note we have avoided providing specific values, as they’re subject to change during beta tests.
Core mechanics
Due to the nature of a soft rework, the core mechanics remain, mostly, unchanged. SCP-079 still controls cameras; they can be used to track targets, interact with objects, or activate abilities for the current room. We have, however, made positive changes to the camera movement system.
We’ve kept the mechanics of Auxiliary Power (AP) and Experience (EXP) relatively unchanged. We’ve removed EXP rewards for “general interactions”, such as opening a door, or firing a Tesla gate. Instead, we’ve implemented new ways of gaining experience. This includes separating your teammates from a human charging up the MicroHID, or from people actively shooting them. Another example is a small reward for closing or locking a door in front of a human who’s being chased by an SCP.
New interface
The soft rework features a brand-new user interface. Other than improved aesthetics, it now provides more information, which can be helpful to new players. For example, you’re now able to see the exact AP cost of different abilities, as well as why you can’t interact with something. Different abilities are listed in the top-right corner, instead of cluttering the screen with icons. The map has also received a touch-up; it displays all four zones at once, including a Surface Zone map.
Blackout & Lockdown
The current version of SCP-079 has the ability to lock down all doors and turn off all lights in a room. This has been split into two separate abilities — Blackout and Lockdown.
Blackout is unlocked at Tier 2, and the limit of simultaneously blacked-out rooms increases for Tier 3 and 4. It’s considered a cheap ability, currently costing 15 AP.
Lockdown is unlocked at Tier 3. It temporarily closes and locks all doors in the room. During this time, AP regeneration is paused (and reduced to half at Tier 4 and above). Only one room can be locked-down at a time. It has a high cost of 100 AP, but it’s still cheaper than manually locking all doors in a room for the duration.
Both abilities should work in every room. SCP-2176 (a.k.a. Ghostlight) can be used to inverse the effects of both Blackout and Lockdown. In addition, if it’s used in a room SCP-079 is currently occupying, it’ll temporarily prevent SCP-079 from performing any interaction, and reset AP levels to 0.
Door abilities
Opening and closing doors has not changed. Locking ability has received a nerf. Once a door unlocks after SCP-079 has locked it, there will be a small cooldown before it can be locked again. Continuous locking of a door will gradually increase AP consumption, meaning SCP-079 can’t hold it for too long, even on higher access tiers. The cooldown is also applied after the Lockdown ability, so the lock duration cannot be artificially increased.
Breach Scanner
At Tier 4, SCP-079 gains the ability to sweep the zone it's in for survivors. This is a toggleable passive ability which appears as a button on the map. Once activated, SCP-079’s power generation is cut by a third. As a result, the current zone is automatically scanned for surviving humans. When a human is found, a loud alarm plays in the room they are in and SCP-079 is given an alert. This ability is considered an anti-camping device. It only works on players who have been sitting in an area for an extended period of time. This feature has not been implemented yet, so we don’t have any footage to share.
Alpha Warhead Override
At Tier 5, SCP-079 can start the detonation sequence for the Alpha Warhead from the surface zone. If SCP-079 is the cause of the nuke detonation, it will not be terminated by it. This allows it to remain on the surface and assist. SCP-079 does not become immune to losing under any circumstance. If SCP-079 detonates the nuke and the SCP’s die on the surface, SCP-079 will be terminated with them. Similarly to the Breach Scanner, this ability has not been implemented yet.
Team ping
SCP-079 is a support class, so it can’t do much alone. Due to this, users with no microphone have always been at a disadvantage. We’ve decided to improve non-verbal communication in an attempt to mitigate this disadvantage. We have implemented a pinging system. SCP-079 is now able to place a location indicator, which will be visible to teammates within a limited range. The indicator has an icon which represents what object (or player) has been pinged.
Video summary
We’ve prepared 2 videos presenting some of the new mechanics. This is a simplified demonstration, as SCP-173 is the only other SCP that is currently implemented. Many items (such as Ghostlight or MicroHID) do not have third-person animations yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzlJ7tFpGsE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOv919IC6hY
COM-18 Remodel
Lastly, we would like to share the remodelled COM-18. This will be included in the 12.0 update, so feel free to let us know what you think about it!
~Northwood Studios