Police Simulator: Patrol Officers News

[h2]Changelog - Hotfix Update 1.1.0[/h2]

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where the player can get stuck in the shift selection without shifts to select
  
• Fixed that accident callouts could get proposed right before the shift ended, resulting in accidents that were missing vehicles
  
• Fixed some issues with letting go detained NPCs
  
• Fixed wrong evidence being applied when having a stolen ID with the real owners' photo
  
• Fixed an issue where the tutorial for jaywalking pedestrians was triggered when a pedestrian was waiting at a red light
  

Police Car

• Improved where patrol cars are placed in front of precincts
  

Localization & Texts

• Fixed simplified Chinese language not loading correctly after it was selected in the audio menu
  
• Fixed various text and localization errors
  

Miscellaneous

• Fixed various crashes
  

[hr][/hr]
Wait, why is this version still named 1.1.0... and not 1.1.1? tl;dr: The update was finished just yesterday and was initially planned to also be included in yesterday's Background Check Update (which is also named 1.1.0) - However, we wanted to have a bit more time for testing. Yeah, that's basically why there's no new version number. Quality comes first, fancy numbers second!

[h3]Fellow officers,[/h3]
we're pleased to announce that The Background Check Update is now available for Police Simulator: Patrol Officers!

[h2]What's inside The Background Check Update?[/h2]

A new district: The Downtown district is the heart of the city of Brighton. Skyscrapers are lined up here one after the other and create an impressive skyline. The district consists of five neighborhoods in total: Callahan, Callahan Financial Sector, Chester, Baytown, and Conway. A little further out, you will find wide-open spaces... and the large Conway Stadium! The symmetrical street layout is a testament to the district's youth.

A new car: We are also introducing a new addition to your vehicle fleet, waiting for you in the parking lot. Please welcome the Gladiator 6! This SUV is perfectly suited for your next car patrol and will greatly enhance the enjoyment of all future shifts.

A new tool: Say hello to the brand-new police computer! As part of your car, it allows you to perform a background check on any suspects you may come across after you have checked their IDs, license plates, insurances, and other stuff. Of course, you can also use the police computer to learn more about the vehicle itself. By the way: Should you currently be on foot, you can, of course, use the police computer as well.

Oh, we also have some fresh handcuffing reasons and a handy reset button for you. More about that down below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]What comes next?[/h2]

In a few weeks, we plan to release an update that adds a bunch of new languages to the game. In August, the Open Beta for the long-awaited Nightshift With Friends Update starts, with the full release coming later. In addition, we will of course release new hotfixes in-between the bigger updates to tackle some bugs or balance a few things out.

[h2]Update 1.1.0 - Here are the full patchnotes for today![/h2]

Along with the new features from The Background Check Update, we're also shipping a bunch of fixes, improvements, and quality-of-life additions. Some of them are based on the feedback we received from players as part of the Open Beta - thanks a lot to all of you who participated!

IMPORTANT: Please, please keep in mind that the save games created on the beta build and the save games created on the stable build might not be compatible with each other - which can lead to problems. If you plan to switch you should make sure that you backup your save file beforehand. You can find your save file at the following location:

C:\\Users\\”USER”\\AppData\\Local\\Boston\\Saved\\SaveGames You can find these more easily by typing %localappdata% into Windows search.

KNOWN ISSUE: When you are on the last day of the week (Sunday) and then take a day off, you will come to a shift selection screen without any shifts to select. In case it happens, re-loading the game fixes the issue. We will fix this issue in an upcoming hotfix.

Without further ado, here are the full patch notes for today!

New Features

• New Tool: Police Computer
  
• New District: Downtown
  
• New Patrol Car: Gladiator 6
  
• New Handcuffing Reason: 'Fake License Plate'
  
• New Handcuffing Reason: 'Stolen Car'
  
• Reset Player Button: An 'I am stuck, pls help' button in the escape menu. Can help unstuck a glitched or stuck player. NOTE: This fallback option can potentially lead to other issues - caution is advised!
  

Gameplay

• Casual Mode is now the default option when creating a new career
  
• Increased days that can be taken off per week from 2 to 4
  
• Reduced bonus points multiplier for arresting a wanted person from 10 to 5
  
• Ambulances can now get up to three injured persons into one vehicle to reduce the overhead of calling one for each NPC
  
• Fixed that more than one ambulance could be called for each injured person
  
• Fixed an issue with evidence for stolen ID and fake ID. Updated relevant police handbook pages accordingly
  
• Fixed most situations where NPCs disappeared after being stunned. This is not Harry Potter, after all.
  
• Fixed an issue where the tutorial for littering was shown at the wrong time
  

Police Car & Traffic Cars

• Improved acceleration and max speeds for all patrol cars
  
• Improved colliders for all patrol cars
  
• Improved fallback system for called service vehicle spawning when no suitable spawn point is found. This should fix them spawning inside of other vehicles and inside of the patrol car.
  
• Improved some traffic stops to include more free parking spots for cars to pull over
  
• Fixed a traffic stop location where one lane was not blocked properly, allowing cars to drive around the traffic stop
  
• Fixed an issue where pulled over vehicles from a traffic stop did not provide the detainment reason for "Traffic Stop"
  
• Fixed patrol cars slightly hovering above ground
  
• Fixed most situations where cars began to hover while driving
  
• Fixed various situations that could lead to flying cars or cars in extreme conditions for accident callouts
  
• Fixed a potential issue with accident callouts where involved vehicles were not cleaned up properly after the callout ended
  
• Fixed an issue that may have lead to vehicles falling through the map in accident callouts
  
• Fixed some collision problems with break-off parts of damaged vehicles
  
• Fixed some situations that could lead to cars driving with open doors
  
• Fixed that parked cars can spawn inside patrol cars near precincts
  
• Fixed that when starting a new shift, a damaged car from the previous shift was not properly cleaned up
  
• Fixed that some precinct doors were not opening in a car patrol shift
  

Localization & Texts

• Improved the police computer tutorial text descriptions to mention all applications and their brief functionality and importance
  
• Improved various tutorials
  
• Fixed various localization bugs
  
• Fixed various typos and text formatting errors in the police handbook
  

Sounds

• Fixed expired ID detainment triggering wrong VO (expired license plate)
  
• Fixed missing voice line and subtitles for arresting an NPC for carrying a switchblade
  

UI

• Various UI improvements
  
• Fixed back button in audio settings not being clickable
  

Miscellaneous

• Fixed various crashes and fatal errors
  
• Fixed various graphical bugs and glitches
  

Changes from Beta to Stable

• Added new tutorials for background checks
  
• Reduced the total amount of past violation records shown in background checks
  
• The "Gladiator 6" is now unlocked with the second neighborhood in Downtown
  
• Fixed some buildings not properly rendering shadows in the distance in Downtown district
  
• Fixed a missing building in Baytown neighborhood
  
• Improved police handbook entry and tutorials for background checks
  
• Improved the police computer tutorial text descriptions to mention all applications and their brief functionality and importance
  
• Added new entry to background checks: "ID Status"
  
• Fixed that background checking an NPC that was asked for ID without justification gave the NPC evidence to make it justified
  
• Fixed wanted NPCs not having an open warrant in background checks
  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[h3]Fellow officers,[/h3]
Every player approaches the game differently. Some want to learn the laws of Brighton by themselves, with no guidance by the game at all - while others don't mind getting some assistance now and then. There are so many different factors that influence your overall game experience and in Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, we give you plenty of customizable options to better fit your playstyle!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[hr][/hr][h2]Where can I switch between Casual and Simulation?[/h2]

When starting a new career, you are able to toggle between Casual Game Mode and Simulation Game Mode. Keep in mind that the selection of one game mode only means that a recommended preset of rules and settings are set for the initial start of the game.

Once you're directly in the game, you can adjust every single option individually, just the way you like it - right from the settings menu! Press Escape, head over to Settings, then to Game, scroll down a bit... and voilà - you now see a quadrillion of different things you can toggle on and off individually!

(Yeah, unlike in real life, you can actually choose your own laws... imagine the real world being like that. Pure chaos.)

[hr][/hr][h2]What is the difference between Casual and Simulation?[/h2]

While the simulation options target a more realistic game feeling, the casual options are not as strict and offer more help. The simulation mode is often more punishing, the casual mode more forgiving.

With simulation games, in particular, there are players who prefer a pure experience without any guidance from the game (cheers to a certain soup sandwich from the community). They want to learn and expand their knowledge simply by trial and error, following the rules in a perfect manner. The simulation game mode suits their playstyle best.

Other players, however, are not too keen on failing a dozen times in a row (understandably so) just to get one decision right. With the casual game mode, we offer them assistance in their decisions and also lift up certain restrictions as well as reasons for punishment. This way, you can decrease the reasons for losing Conduct Points!

[hr][/hr][h2]How does this influence my gameplay?[/h2]

Here are a set of examples from the options you can turn to casual (= easy!) and simulation (= SO REALISTIC, OMG):

• General: Decide if the patrol officer, patrol car and pedestrians can take damage or not. In casual mode, they don't.
  
• Traffic violation detection: Intuition hints on traffic violations that are actively broken in one specific moment by drivers (e.g. driving over a red light). In casual mode, they are turned on. However, violations that are broken permanently won't be shown (e.g. driving with a broken windshield).
  
• Other violation detection: Hints on other violations like pedestrians jaywalking or littering, when their ID is expired or when they carry illegal items. In casual mode, they are turned on.
  
• Player violations: If casual mode is on, players won't be punished for violations like speeding or ignoring red lights. Please be aware, that police brutality will also be punished, even when casual mode is turned on!
  

Need more help? Check out the official handbook for our new police rookies for more details - of course, you can also find it in-game!

[hr][/hr][h2]Don't forget to follow us![/h2]

Make sure to catch all news regarding Police Simulator: Patrol Officers by following us everywhere:

• FACEBOOK
• TWITTER
• INSTAGRAM
• DISCORD
• TRELLO

https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[h3]Fellow officers,[/h3]
a bit more than a week has passed since the release of Police Simulator: Patrol Officers – and what a week it has been! For the entire period of time, we have been observing your feedback continuously, chatting with you on every platform imaginable, and planning our next steps. As we speak, our entire development team is hard at work on further bug fixes, new content, and overall improvements to the game.

Hungry for new stuff, aren't you? It's time to change that! Today, we can finally reveal that the very first package – The Background Check Update – is coming to the game on July 13th!

[h2]Introducing: The Background Check Update[/h2]

Melting Pot, the very first and historic district in the game, had already much to offer. Now, it's time to embrace modernity instead: Say hello to Downtown!

The Downtown district is the heart of the city of Brighton. Skyscrapers are lined up here one after the other and create an impressive skyline. The district consists of five neighborhoods in total: Callahan, Callahan Financial Sector, Chester, Baytown, and Conway. A little further out, you will find wide-open spaces... and the large Conway Stadium! The symmetrical street layout is a testament to the district's youth.

We are also introducing a new addition to your vehicle fleet, waiting for you on the parking lot: The Gladiator 6! This SUV is perfectly suited for your next car patrol and will greatly enhance the enjoyment of all future shifts.

Last but not least: Say hello to the brand-new board computer! As part of your car, it allows you to perform a background check on any suspects you may come across after you have checked their IDs, license plates, insurances, and other stuff. Of course, you can also use the board computer to learn more about the vehicle itself. By the way: Should you currently be on foot, you can also use the board computer as it is directly integrated into your police computer.

The Background Check Update will launch officially on July 13th – but starting today, you can try out all the content already as part of our Open Beta!

[h2]How do I enter the Open Beta?[/h2]

We've made the process as easy as possible to include you, the community, early on during the development of the game. To join the Open Beta, you only need to perform the following steps:

1. Right-click on Police Simulator: Patrol Officers in your Steam library.
   
2. Select 'Properties' in the menu.
   
3. Select 'Betas' in the sidebar on the left.
   
4. Select 'Beta' in the drop-down menu and confirm your decision to switch to that branch.
   
5. An update should now start - you are now officially part of the Open Beta!
   

IMPORTANT: Please, please keep in mind that the save games created on the stable build and the save games created on the beta build might not be compatible with each other - which can lead to problems. If you plan to switch you should make sure that you backup your save file beforehand. You can find your save file at the following location:

C:\\Users\\”USER”\\AppData\\Local\\Boston\\Saved\\SaveGames You can find these more easily by typing %localappdata% into Windows search.

Everyone can test the beta extensively and provide feedback on its features, balancing, and bugs. Feel free to send us your impressions on Discord, in the Steam Beta forums and on our Socials.


[h2]ICYMI: A new patch is out now on the stable branch![/h2]

Today, we're launching the beta - but of course, that's not all we're currently working on. In addition, we've released a new patch with version number 1.0.2 for the stable branch as well on Friday – including a bunch of balancing changes, fixes, and adjustments... all based on your feedback.

Here are the highlights from the patch:

• Adjusted chances for broken windshields, underglow lights, accidents, and other events
  
• The Cruiser car now unlocks with 3 Duty Stars instead of 5. The car, once unlocked, is now available in all areas for car patrol shifts.
  
• Fixed CP loss for towed cars
  
• Fixed Arrests based on positive DUI tests in traffic stops are often flagged as unjustified
  

For the full list of changes, please check out the complete patch notes.

Note: All of these changes are also included in the Beta branch.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[h2]Changelog - Hotfix Update 1.0.3[/h2]

Gameplay

• Fixed "ignore red light" message being displayed before crossing the line on the traffic light
  

Player Police Car & NPVs

• Fixed damage & light state reset of the player car after shift ended or when starting a new one
  
• Fixed cruiser spawn for historic downtown being too close to lantern and leading to instant damage when entering the vehicle
  
• Adjusted traffic vehicle (NPV) acceleration to be more realistic