February is the month of love and we are feeling it. The excitement and positive feedback we have received for the new game mode has been overwhelming. This month the Devs’ Desk will be focusing on explaining the details of how Mercenary Mode works and also include some before and after images of Bazaar. Our Community Center will showcase some of the great responses that we received from the community challenge we posted on our social channels and how it ties into a new detail for the game. While the main focus for this update is the new PVE mode, we have also made sure to include other features and bug fixes as well. The full details of everything that’s included with the update will be in our Patch Notes and Change Log when the update releases. Your next question is, when will that be? The wait for the update will be less than a week. Yes, you read that correctly. Update 1.14 - Mercenary Mode will go live on February 20th (PT). The exact time will be announced on our socials. Let’s start going over everything you will have to look forward to. [h1]From the Devs’ Desks:[/h1] If you have been viewing our social posts, you have seen several sneak peeks and teases for the upcoming update. Now you will get to see what those posts were referencing and how it all works together. [h3]Bazaar[/h3] First, let’s go over the details of what has been updated in Bazaar. One reason this map was next on the list for updates was it is a fan favorite map. This map got the most amount of graphical updates we have done to a map to date. Let’s list out of some of the major things that have been done: [list][*] Updated textures throughout (including ground, walls, & assets) [*] New Palm Trees with leaves that sway in the wind [*] Several assets for vehicles have been replaced with higher quality ones [*] Updated assets have been added to added throughout the map to fill the environment [*] New skybox for Night map [*] New signage with lighting on Night map (moths included for free) [*] Improved lighting throughout [*] New updated assets added throughout to provide more cover to improve gameplay tactics [*] Updated environmental audio[/list] It’s going to be a big improvement to how immersed people will feel while in the environment. You can see in the before and afters the improvements in how the scenes look. However, these don’t do it justice for how it looks when you are there. Images can be found on [url=https://onwardthegame.com/devblog.html]our website[/url]. [h3]Mercenary Mode [/h3] There is going to be a lot to go over for this, so let’s get right into it. [b]Gamemode Summary[/b] This roguelike mode is a PVE (players versus environment) mode for either Single Player or for up to 4 players Co-Op. You have signed up as a mercenary and will go on increasingly challenging missions to fulfill your contract. You choose the mission you will go on, you pick your rewards, then you move on to the next mission. Each mission you will be given a score (we will breakdown scoring in a bit). The choices you make throughout the contract are extremely important. They will end up affecting how well you score and ultimately, if you win or fail. Failing causes the contract to end and you start back at the beginning. There are two different modes to pick from at the start. [list][*] Standard = 5 Missions + Final (6 Missions Total) [*] Endless = 5 Missions + Final + More (keep getting new missions until you fail)[/list] [b]The Hideout[/b] A completely new environment where you will start your contract(s) and choose your first mission. The Hideout was designed as an off the grid facility where you would go to get the information on your contracts, strategize with your squad, & view the competition. This is where you will be able to view the leaderboards for both modes. If a high score on the leaderboard is what you are trying to achieve, take note of the scores you are trying to beat. Once you deploy on your contract, you will not be able to compare scores until you return to The Hideout. An additional announcement about the Hideout will be included in the Community Center. [b]Missions[/b] Contracts are a collection of 6 missions (Endless Mode will continue after 6). Your goal is to get through all the missions and get the highest score possible. Or for a lot of players, just be able to get through all 6 missions. After your first mission choice you will be deployed to set your loadout in the tent. The remainder of the contract will be done from the tent until you have successfully completed the contract or you failed a mission. Missions choices will have different Objective, Map, Difficulty, and Reward options. Players can vote for which Mission they think would be best. The mission with the highest votes is where you will deploy. Communication will be critical at each step throughout the missions to discuss with the squad to see what would give you the best chance at success. Mission difficulties are based on the contract scale and amount of players. The difficulty will increase after each mission. Mission Objectives are as follows: [list][*] Eliminate - Kill all the enemies [*] Escape - Escape when support arrives before the enemy gets you [*] Extract - Find the Hard Drive, escape before the enemy gets you [*] Sabotage - Find and disable the device jamming your radios, tablets, and other devices [*] Transmit - Find the Uplink and send the code. Hold location until upload is complete[/list] Upon completion of the mission you will receive your score for that run, then pick your reward item. You will then be presented with your next 3 mission choices. The Mission progress can be tracked in the mission progress bar found above the squad list. [b]Scoring[/b] Scores are based on your and your team’s performance during each mission. They are determined by a combination of Survival Rating, Time, Objective completion, and Enemy Kills. Survival rating will be higher if your team was not injured, downed, or killed, and at its lowest if any team members are MIA at the end of the round. Time rating takes into account things like how long it takes to get across the level, how many enemies there are, and so on. You may need to evaluate whether finishing a mission quickly or killing more enemies will net you a higher score. Getting your downed teammate up and to the evacuation point may end up costing you the whole mission, or improve your team’s score. [b]Equipment & Rewards[/b] Since these contracts are off the books, supplies will be limited to start. You will have to start with a choice of pistol with some other starting utilities. After each mission you will choose a reward from three different options. Two that were in the reward pool for the mission and one from surplus, which is a different randomized item for each person. The value of your rewards will grow in power with each completed mission. Depending on the choices you have made, after a couple successful missions you should have started to build a decent loadout for the missions as they become more difficult. Planning for the more difficult missions later in the contract is highly encouraged. This mode is a completely new way to experience Onward. It offers a high skill ceiling with flexibility and control over how you play. You will want to make sure you have a full charge on your headset before you start. During developer playtesting the phrase “one more round” could often be heard and it often led to playing until headsets died. [h1]Community Center:[/h1] Everything about Mercenary Mode sounds like it’s going to be a challenging and exciting adventure. Even if you’re not usually the PVE type, we hope you give it a try. Usually, we don’t talk about new features in the Community Center, however this month we have two fun announcements related to Mercenary Mode for you! To start us off, on our social channels we challenged people to “Caption This” for the following [url=https://x.com/OnwardTheGame/status/1756751227302408535?s=20]post[/url]: What some people may not have noticed was that the image was actually a sneak peek of a big upgrade to a piece of equipment (exclusively in Mercenary Mode). This leads to the first announcement. #1 - RELOADABLE RPGs That’s Right! In Mercenary if you choose the RPG as a reward item, it comes with 3 additional rockets you can use to reload. Additionally, the 3 rockets will refresh at the beginning of each mission (you will always start with a loaded RPG and 3 reloads if you choose the RPG as your primary before you start a mission). #2 - Experience The Hideout now! You can see what it’s like to be in The Hideout by going to the Onward app in the Quest store (in headset). You can look around and see what the full environment looks like. I bet that’s not something you expected. We are looking forward to hearing everyone’s responses to this Sitrep. Join us on our Discord and chat with us about it! Our Community Manager will host a brief Q&A tomorrow (2/16) @ 3-4pm PT. We will try our best to answer your questions about Update 1.14 - Mercenary Mode. Just Five Days and a wake-up