Commanders, get ready for Bootcamp, as you will need to train on some new tactics! Update 0.9.10, codename "Bootcamp", brings something for our new recruits to break into the basics of fighting M.E.G.A. Corp., and for our veterans to refine their strategies and search for new combos to tackle the next stage of challenges. [hr][/hr] [h2][color=orange]⚠ SAVEGAME WARNING - a Fresh Start! ⚠[/color][/h2] This update brings a major revamp of the meta-upgrades and progression. [b]We HIGHLY RECOMMEND you reset your savegame with this update.[/b] You will get a popup message that asks you to reset your savegame. [b]Please, start with a new savegame: [color=orange]your old savegame is automatically backed up![/color][/b] If you decide to not reset your savegame, your experience is VERY LIKELY WORSE than intended! [b]IF YOU REGRET RESETTING, YOU CAN ALWAYS RESTORE YOUR OLD SAVEGAME![/b] To do so, follow these steps: [expand type=details] 1. In your Steam Library, right-click "Survivor Mercs" and open "Properties...". 2. In the "General" tab, toggle Steam Cloud to "off". This is required to prevent Steam from interfering with the following manual file copying of the savegame backups. 3. Find your savegames in this folder: [code]%USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/Wolpertinger Games\SurvivorMercs[/code] 4. Find and open the "unknown_version" folder. Copy these "Savegame" files: [code]Savegame.save Savegame.1.save Savegame.2.save[/code] 5. Go back to the "Survivor Mercs" parent folder and paste your copied Savegame files. Overwrite the existing ones. [quote]DO NOT delete the AppData and AppDataLocal files. These store only your settings. If you delete these files, they will be regenerated by the game, but you need to reconfigure your settings.[/quote] 6. Start the game 7. Turn Steam Cloud back on once you are in the main menu in the game or after quitting the game.[/expand] [hr][/hr] Now, Commanders, read on to learn about all the highlights of update 0.9.10 "Bootcamp": [h3]New Operations[/h3] The game now has three different operation types: [b]Bootcamp, Standard, and Elite[/b]. Every new Commander has to prove their qualifications to lead a Merc squad in the Proving Grounds, a special map for the Bootcamp operation. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/4e57a1b0a42a1e18bf275445606afc51753bd927.gif[/img] You fight M.E.G.A. Corp. in the outskirts with reduced enemy presence. Survive for 10 minutes to learn about the basics of capturing objectives, upgrading your Mercs & Gear, using Powerups, extracting with your loot, or fighting a [i]Peashooter Prototype[/i] miniboss and a prototype boss, [i]Mammoth[/i]. Who of you still recognizes it from the past? After beating the Proving Grounds, you will unlock the currently available three maps progressively by playing the Standard Operations. These are a bit easier than the past Standard Operations to refine your squad tactics, looting proficiency, and build your initial bunker rooms to get your initial set of permanent bonuses and unlock more Traits, Gear, and Mercs. [b]Standard Operations hardly yield rare building components[/b], but they are the ideal training ground to analyze the unique profiles of each map and develop your tactical & strategic decision making. Once you beat all bosses in Standard Operations, you'll advance to the Elite Operations, and things get serious! [b]Your enemies are much tougher[/b] and pose a bigger challenge [b]in exchange for more Blood Diamonds, DNA, and rare building components[/b] to get the highest grade of bunker rooms. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/c76e8e882b41815cb0e25eec657baeb803e18570.gif[/img] If you want to survive on Elite Operations, you have to master your Mercs individual skill profiles, equip the right Gear, and find the best synergies between your Commander Traits, your squad, and [b]the new proc effects[/b]. [h3]Major Balancing Adjustments[/h3] The new operation types and synergy & proc effects come with a [b]huge list of adjustments[/b] to the game's balancing. M.E.G.A. Corp. is not just throwing tougher robot forces at you in the different operations. They also change their tactics and wave patterns to prevent you from taking the precious loot with you. Overall, this update brings changes to some underlying systems which result in these adjustments: [b]Enemies have more HP, adjusted Armor values, partially deal more damage, but are also slower and keep more distance from each other.[/b] We hope that this improves the "readability" of the action without sacrificing the frantic intensity of the fights. The miniboss & boss fights received some improvements to make them [b]less tedious and more challenging[/b], especially if your squad build is not a good counter to that boss. On the flip-side, if your squad build is a good match, you should have an easier time dealing with the boss. We increased the variety of the attack patterns, tweaked the timings between attack signal and action, and improved some of the VFX for improved readability and precision. Most bosses and minibosses received adjustments to their HP & Armor values, other notable changes are: [list] [*] Buttload spreads his barrels further. [*] PhenX' minions leave burning ground trails that apply a fire DoT [*] PhenX itself leaves burning ground trails that apply a fire DoT [*] PhenX' rockets & projectiles fire faster after signaling [*] OilRig attacks faster after signaling [*] OilRig shoots barrels in later phases further from himself [*] GriftLift alternates between slower, armored minidrones and faster ones. [/list] [quote]We do still have more items on our to-do list for the (mini)boss fights, but we do hope you'll see these changes already as a great improvement.[/quote] Nearly [b]all unlock & purchase requirements[/b] for Traits, Gear, Mercs & Rooms were [b]overhauled [/b]to align with the new Awards (see below) & operation types. We also[b] fixed a couple of bugs related to unlocks[/b], e.g. progress stats that didn't retain their "done" state over multiple runs in certain cases. The [b]Mercs received a major overhaul[/b], so we dedicate a whole section to only that below. In general, you can unlock new Mercs faster and by fulfilling more interesting missions. Mercs have much [b]more meaningful skill choices[/b] now and the individual upgrade levels have a greater impact on their combat effectiveness, specific role in your squad, and their damage output. In turn, Traits, Gear, and Generic Upgrades from level-ups are a bit more important and impactful. One of the most notable changes is redistribution of crit% and RoF from Merc skill trees towards those. [quote]We did a lot of testing within our small team but still expect some rough edges. Please, leave your feedback in the Steam forums or on our Discord to help us identify the areas that need balancing adjustments and tweaks![/quote] Unlocking Gear items is tied more closely into playing with different Commander Traits and Mercs. The Powergloves changed into Knuckle-Dusters that can apply bleeding on crit hits to all physical melee attacks. This is [b]just one of the new proc effects[/b] which are described in more detail below. [b]We deactivated Ricochet Rounds for now[/b] as they were not working as intended. We're improving the code for projectiles and will most likely bring them back in the future alongside with map & enemy adjustments to make them have the utility we intended. Some pre-built rooms like the [b]Treasury and Storage room now also grant additional bonuses[/b] when upgrading them, alongside some stat buffs: [list] [*] Treasury upgrades also increase the amount of Blood Diamonds you loot. [*] Storage increases your Carry Capacity permanently. [/list] THE most notable change during an operation will be the adjusted XP curve and level-up progression: We cut the the[b] level cap down to 100[/b] in order to provide more meaningful upgrade choices spread across fewer level-ups. Which leads us to... [h3]New Level-up System[/h3] We improved the level-up system to [b]reduce the impact of randomness[/b] on your ability to build an effective squad. Now, upgrades for Mercs, Gear & Commander Abilities are rolled separately from Generic Upgrades. The latter are rolled on every 3rd to 4th level-up, so your main upgrades aren't blocked by a sequence of unlucky rolls. The generic upgrades still work as fillers for when you don't have enough Merc, Gear or Commander upgrade choices. Level-ups also use a [b]better, dynamic randomization system [/b]to prevent duplicates between rolls more reliably and improve the re-roll feature which now offers a fresh list of choices as long as you have enough potential options. Additionally, whenever you reach a branching point in a Merc's skill tree, you get a [b]dedicated option with all branches to pick the one you want[/b] without praying to the Gods of Randomness. p[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/922e9ddefeb33618a81d7455488a34224cec4d5c.gif[/img] Note that this system directly benefits the Survivor Bonus your Mercs get from surviving an operation with a personal level of 10+. [h3]New Effects & Synergies[/h3] Each Merc now has [b]at least two specializations[/b] that fundamentally change its profile. These specializations lead to different Elite Skills that become available once you fully max out the Merc, i.e. these Elite Skills are the final level-up for the Merc. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/8de16828aa9f309ef148568b8b612a4b42ace44e.jpg[/img] Elite Skills enable special abilities or bonuses for you and the whole squad, many of them using the [b]newly added proc & status effects[/b], like: [list] [*] proc effects based on critical hits & critical kills, [*] multi-crits, explosions or DoT on crit kills, spawn slow zones or wormholes, or heal on crit kill, [*] ingnore armor on crit, [*] or add the new decay status effect to reduce the effectiveness of Armor for a while. [/list] Some Mercs can now also[b] influence other Mercs[/b], e.g. Priest can grant the vampiric aura to all other Mercs, and Chemtrail can buff the poison damage for your whole squad. Some of the QoL improvements in this update include [b]weapon & damage type icons[/b] for Gear and Mercs to help you better understand how various things interact with each other, and icons for skill trees plus better descriptions and stats UI. [quote]We aim to further improve on these systems, e.g. including the icons directly in stats or text. We'd love to hear from you how helpful the current implementation already feels to you. [/quote] [h3]New Awards & Achievements[/h3] We added a new [b]Awards Room[/b] to your Bunker HQ, showing you the [b]currently 120+ Awards[/b] and battle decorations you can earn. Awards not only provide hints at interesting stuff to do in the game but also serve as unlock requirements for new things. Of course, all of these Awards are [b]hooked up to Steam Achievements[/b], too. [quote]These Awards are built on an improved system for trackers & missions which we'll use for even more interesting features and awards in the future. Share your ideas with us on our Discord server![/quote] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/f9be9786d04e6f6cf55a5c12edbcf02ff0f12283.jpg[/img] [h3]Conduit & the Future of Narrative[/h3] Meet your heli pilot and assistant, Conduit! She's out there to help you via radio messages and simple dialogues, explaining some things that may not be immediately obvious. But primarily, she's the first step towards missions and background story. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/a96cc81bf90de22640733f7bf2b52034b71da0b4.jpg[/img] We aim to show you more about the Mercs' personalities and frame your fight against M.E.G.A. Corp. with story missions revolving around the boss characters. For now, we are using this system to explain some of the basics of the game to our new recruits. [h3]New Room: Armor Workshop[/h3] You can now build the [b]Armor Workshop[/b] to permanently buff the Armor of any Commander clone. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/c0cdf3e3b04bd2d116b0615d98239492e11a6860.jpg[/img] This comes as an [b]addition to the revamped Armor system[/b]: Whereas the original system was balanced around a maximum Armor value of ~200, Commanders (and enemies) can now have a theoretically infinite Armor value. Armor can completely negate part of the incoming damage and then further mitigate some damage and negative status effects. This is countered by increasing the Piercing value of an attack which offsets the Armor value and reduces its overall effect. Additionally, the [b]new decay status effect[/b] reduces Armor significantly and can stack with other negative status effects like DoT. [h3]Performance Improvements[/h3] As always, we're working on improving the game performance with every update. Pickups, incl. Dogtags, have less impact on game performance when there are many scattered around the map. Some UI & HUD elements render much faster, specifically the enemy HP bars that use a new system. And the Mercs' targeting is a bit less performance-heavy but can still cause some spikes sometimes. To further improve performance at runtime, we are loading more things at game start. We massively improved loading times, but to make the remaining loading time more bearable, you can now marvel at our new intro splash screen and loading screen, before entering the new main menu with our updated key visual. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/01faf891407cea9ccb6bde6040b392a322f7c7ea.jpg[/img] [quote]The biggest performance impact still comes from our enemies and physics which is choking the CPU. So even if the game renders at 100+ fps, it can still feel sluggish at times because the simulation is choking. We are already working on an improved system but cannot release it before it is done-done, so please have some more patience with us. [/quote] [h2]More Additions, Fixes, Adjustments, Improvements & Details[/h2] [list] [*] Improved the targeting for multiple Mercs to prioritize enemies very close or ahead of the Commander. [*] Mercs are no longer locked out of the boss arena, specifically around PhenX. [*] Fixed a rare issue where minibosses and enemies no longer spawned or got destroyed off-screen. [*] Selling items in the Storage should always update the stack sizes in all inventory windows correctly. [*] If for any reason the Extraction Point does not spawn after defeating a boss, you will be automatically extracted and take all remaining loot with you. [*] Exclude shows the correct number of available exclude rolls. [*] Commander & Mercs correctly update their damage type and get influenced by effects & damage modifiers correctly, even when spawning after the effect was becoming active. [*] Fixed an issue where your Commander could fall through the ground and get killed. [*] Mercs should target and shoot at bosses, even when not in range. [*] Any remaining projectiles and enemies are killed once the boss dies to prevent deaths after finishing the boss clutch. [*] Fixed a case where the "Abort Operation" button may have stopped working after playing multiple runs. [*] PhenX detachables have their own HP bars now to show they can be destroyed. [*] Carry Capacity is correctly updating in HUD and rounds correctly when moving lightweight items like Screws. [*] Fixed various instances of UI navigation behaving irrationally and it's easier to jump in and out of skill trees. [*] Stat changes can show a neutral state alongside the positive and negative color highlights. [*] End of Run Inventory screen is more self-explanatory and shows icons with your items in Storage. [*] Game now saves more reliably when exiting rooms like the Genome Lab to save research progress without playing a new run. [*] Lots of fixes and adjustments to UI element sorting to fix layering problems in HUD and various menus. [*] Fixed timings in multiple animations to make them look better and fix visual glitches. [*] Boss HP bars no longer show negative values after defeating it. [*] Fixed potential issues where the game could lock up if multiple popups were opened at exactly the same time. [*] Adjusted Main Menu layout and integrated the new main artwork. [*] Commander HP bar now scales to show intuitively if you have a lot or very little max HP. [*] Improved the aiming indicator for some weapons and powerups. [*] Prepared game for more translations for additional languages. [*] Fixed issues with gamepad & keyboard input not registering correctly after menu transitions. [*] Improved the presentation of the list of unlocks you achieved after a run (will be improved much more in the future). [*] Speedies have a trail effect to make them easier to spot in the horde. [*] Fixed "close call" when receiving a hit that may kill you to keep you alive with minimum HP. [*] Increased stack size for storing Screws which was too low compared to other building components. [*] Reworked multiple enemy spawn patterns to reduce lag spikes from spawning a lot of enemies at the same time. [*] Average, Basic & Commander traits now show "no effect" correctly while configuring your Commander clones. [*] Fixed an issue where the fog was applied twice in the Arctic map. [*] Armor icons on enemy HP bars indicate the approximate Armor value. [*] Added VFX for "slow" status effect. [*] Reduced visual "popping" of various VFX like poison puddles by playing a "fade out" transition. [*] Increased the distance of map chunks that are active to prevent characters from falling off the map. [*] Improved the system for resolving stuck characters. [*] Fixed an issue with enemies spawning too close to the Commander and "popping in" at the corners of the screen. [*] Fixed an issue where the extraction after minute 20 was still possible and could get you stuck in the map. [*] Fixed numerous typos and translation errors in DE, EN, and ZH. [*] Added various bits of background info for the Mercs in their details view in the Barracks. [*] Damage numbers now scale based on the damage dealt. [*] Fixed an issue where the Commander could get stuck outside of PhenX boss arena. [*] Buying building components now indicates how many you can buy before going over the stack limit in your Storage. [*] Fixed various issues with sounds not playing correctly, stacking, or ending abruptly. Also increased performance of sound playback a bit. [*] Mercs get unstuck more reliably and should no longer fall out of the map without resetting to your Commander's position. [*] Fixed an issue that may cause a corrupted savegame, triggering a tiny loss of progress due to the automatic reload of a fallback savegame kicking in. [*] Fixed an issue where newly unlocked Traits may not save immediately. [*] Improved layouts in Armory and Barracks menu, incl. various QoL features. [*] Improved enemy spawning to reduce lag spikes caused by instantiating a large number of enemies simultaneously. [*] Fixed an issue where Scorch could get stuck and not move after firing. [*] Improved Silverback's behavior to get stuck less often and attack more reliably. [*] Fixed an issue where Peashooter enemies would stop shooting after a bit. [/list] [h3]Known Issues[/h3] [list] [*] The game's performance can potentially degrade heavily when playing at very high screen resolutions (UHD+), please lower the resolution to a maximum of 1440p if you encounter this. We are currently trying to find the root cause of this problem. [*] Silverback's new cone attack may sometimes behave erratically, leaving him turned away from the enemies he's trying to hit. We are already working on a fix for this. [*] Menus may sometimes scroll erratically when the game falsely selects a UI element at the top or bottom, e.g. in the Bunker menu or the Awards room (anywhere you have scrolling lists). We already identified the root cause within the automatic input device detection and fixed some cases of that, but few occasions remain erratic. [*] Some proc effects may cause unforeseen issues, please let us know if you encounter any problems. [/list] [hr][/hr] [h2]Requesting Support![/h2] [b][color=orange]Commanders, we need your feedback![/color][/b] Although we test and adjust the game balancing constantly, you have proven more than once that you are the GOAT when it comes to finding OP squad builds and exploits. Please share your findings with us. Help us spot where something is hopelessly underpowered or breaks the game is the not-fun way. [hr][/hr] [h2]Moving Forward[/h2] This is our[b] fourth major Early Access update [/b]for Survivor Mercs. This wasn't the last one, so "Follow" the game to be notified when the next Early Access Roadmap Update drops Soon™. Our plans for the next updates include: ⏩ Improving the synergies and squad-build options between Commander, Mercs, and Gear, specifically: [list] [*] additional proc effects, e.g. things that happen when combining different status effects [*] adjustments to projectiles of certain damage types to behave differently [/list] ⏩ New Commander classes & weapons, specifically with new status effects to "mark" targets or set up special procs in order to have more fine-grained control over your squad. ⏩ A new [i]Airlift [/i]room will allow you to save some loot instead of extracting. We want to give you more choices around the Extraction mechanic because we're considering new, epic loot which in turn allows you to... ⏩ ...adjust Commander weapon load-outs to create more nuanced squad builds. ⏩ Play even more Operation Types like [b]Endless[/b] or [b]Apocalypse[/b] with different ways to enjoy existing and new maps and get rare items and achievements. ⏩ A more refined looting & bunker construction experience. ⏩ Story missions framing your operations and fight against the M.E.G.A. Corp. goons, and other narrative elements to highlight the Mercs' personalities. ⏩ Enjoy a more polished UI, better performance, and configure your input mappings alongside other improved settings and options. And, of course, we're always looking into adding new maps & bosses, enemies, Mercs, and other content as they fit in with future updates. [hr][/hr] Commanders, we are really grateful for every one of you who is supporting us with input and feedback during Early Access. [b][color=orange]Please don't forget that the game is still under development. All your feedback helps us make a better game![/color][/b] Even with this update you'll still see some rough edges and bugs here and there. The balancing is a constantly ongoing process, and will change more over time. We hope this update proves once more our dedication to listening to you and building Survivor Mercs into an outstanding game. Please, help us grow the community [b]with a positive review[/b] and participate in the development by leaving your feedback, insights, and ideas [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd]on our Discord server[/url]. [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/e136bc5532bb623d4320f5dfe02cf22ff0dca79a.png[/img][/url] Let's make a great game, together ❤ Lock, load, and loot, Commanders!