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COGMIND - Turn-Based Sci-Fi Roguelike - now available on Early Access

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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19,117
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2019/12/year-6-of-the-cogmind/
Year 6 of the Cogmind
By Kyzrati | Published: December 3, 2019

As we enter the seventh year of Cogmind development, time for another retrospective! Alongside several major releases and events, there’s also been a bit of a shift in development style as we edge our way into (very) late beta… Maybe to be followed by (very very) late beta and (very very very) late beta, but we’ll get to talking about that below :P

Here’s our annual image collage to start us off:


Selection of images from the past year of Cogmind-related development as posted on this blog, forums, and Twitter (full mega size here).

Development Time
Got pretty close to hitting that 12,000-hour mark this year, but not quite (currently at 11,821 total hours)…


Cogmind Monthly Development Hours, 2013.7-2019.11 (click for crisper full-size version). (The color coding is for different aspects of development tackled each month, the subject of a future in-depth article to come at a later time.)

June and August were lower since I was gone for nearly four weeks of vacation during that period, but otherwise it was a pretty typical year overall. In the past 12 months I added another 1,676 hours, a slight 3.5% less than in 2018. However, work on the game itself totaled 852 hours, the first time that figure has outpaced hours spent on community-related work (purple) since prior to launching on Steam. You can see what I mean in the following graph.


Comparing the amount of hours directly spent working on Cogmind vs. community-related work (excludes hours that belong to neither category).

This year I mostly faded out the SITREPs which had been a staple of the announcements board since the Steam release, just occasionally writing one instead of consistently producing several per month. They were a lot of fun, but also a ton of work to put together, seemingly more than they were worth in terms of gains in other areas. Either way, I was kinda burnt out on them and wanted to shift more time back into development itself, and as you can see from the graph that trend has been successfully reversed. In 2017 and 2018, more time was spent on what I call “community efforts” than on coding and adding content to the game, but this year those efforts took a back seat as I was able to focus a greater portion of my time on the latter.

Despite the relative lack of SITREPs, I’ve definitely still been writing! There have been more blog posts this year than last (with even two more already complete ones I have yet to publish xD), funded in part by support on Patreon, which I’ll get to later.

Content that might have been given a cursory treatment in a SITREP is instead given a thorough design analysis on the blog, so we have things like the Ultimate Roguelike Morgue File series, a level design deep dive, several system-focused articles, and many others (the sidebar on the blog makes these easy to find chronologically).

I’ve also continued streaming, including earlier this year putting out a Cogmind: Pwning the Early Game video which has helped a lot of people improve their skills, so maybe check that out if you’re just starting out and having trouble reliably reaching the mid-game.

Aside from participating in all of this year’s timed special events, I also completed about five separate regular runs each using different tech or styles of play.


We’ve been having some good times :D

Back in March I took time out from development to help review 7DRLs, where I streamed most of the playing part of that process.

Releases
Naturally the highlight of making a game is to, you know, actually release playable stuff, so yeah we had plenty of that, too :)


Cogmind release logos from year 6.

By necessity the frequency of major releases was lower this year, but the two big ones were really big:

  • Beta 8 “Forbidden Science” added the Exiles mini-faction, fleshing out the early game with some more lore and fun tech.
  • Beta 9 “Wizardy” was practically two major releases in one, with extensive RIF abilities to complement bothacking, a greatly expanded scoresheet system to power the upcoming new leaderboards and data analysis, and more.
Last year was the first time I’d ever held a timed event for Cogmind, just on a whim, but it was pretty neat so this year I’ve been doing more of that with bigger and crazier ideas. We’ve had another three of these since!

  • Limited Edition Holiday Mode: Last winter/New Year we celebrated with the only time so far that a decent chunk of Cogmind content has been released for a limited time, mainly due to the need to put together the special content for that build very quickly. So this one can’t be played anymore, but it was fun while it lasted, two weeks of different content each day. (Notice that Cogmind’s dev years are calculated starting from December, which is why this one’s included here.)
  • Pay2Buy: This real April Fools joke added ways to earn CogCoins and a persistent Cogshop to spend them in to buy items and loot boxes, with demand-based pricing and other new and modified mechanics.
  • Abominations!: Cogmind’s very own Halloween special, adding a scary new faction of 20 robots with a wide variety of new capabilities as well as a new hidden map complete with boss.
I wrote articles about designing these modes on the blog, and have no doubt there are more special events to come… no doubt at--oh my, look what month it is! ;)

In terms of regular features it’s been quite a full year, giving us the brand new but already much-loved “siege mode” mechanics for treads, an improved manual hacking autocompletion system (voted for by patrons), rebranded difficulty modes, colorblind accessibility options, Stream rich presence, and a ridiculous amount of QoL features. Basically way too much to list here, but that’s what changelogs are for, and you can of course check out all the relevant release notes for info and demos if you missed something.


The new menu-based manual machine hack autocompletion system! It’s even more useful when searching for schematics.

Community Support
How are we still going strong after all these years? You! I very much appreciate the support Cogmind and my work have continued to receive, both financial and otherwise.


Kyzrati on Patreon
.

Part way through the year I decided it was time to start a Patreon (announcement) to help see us through the end of Cogmind beta and also gradually build it up so that by the time Cogmind is finished we have a decent supplementary source of revenue to continue enabling a broader range of work rather than focusing so much on commercial concerns.

Sure there are the transactional perks like guiding some aspects of development through voting and trying out new features in advance, but I prefer to emphasize that it’s more about taking some of the risk out of an inherently risky business to keep it both creative and sustainable.

Anyway, in last year’s annual review I mentioned I was getting worried about revenue, but that has successfully stabilized for now, in part thanks to Patreon which has made up for inevitable lower sales over time. “If only” I was one of those devs who more quickly releases smaller/medium-sized games (even sticking to projects that take a year or two would mean I’d have several out there already!), but I’ve always been more of a big project kinda guy :P. Besides, there’s something to be said for megaprojects as long as there’s a strong community behind it and the design fundamentals are solid!

Outside Patreon, special thanks to PlasticHeart, Reed, Matthew, Karl and others for your donations this year <3

Overwhelmingly Positive
Just a few weeks ago after more than two years of collecting reviews on Steam, Cogmind finally got enough of them at the right ratio to achieve the relatively rare Overwhelmingly Positive rating!


November 14, 2019, was a nice day :)

As promised, this means I’ll be adding a significant expansion around a new “Merchants Guild” faction. And now that we’ve hit that goal, I’ve already set the next one: if we can maintain this rating up to 800 reviews, I’ll also add a new derelict community.

The concepts for both expansions are fairly fleshed out at this point, but building either/both will take quite some time. I’ve also even added a third but smaller expansion as a Patreon goal… As I see it there’s still room yet to liven up the world even more!

IndieDB
It’s that time of year again when IndieDB does its Game of the Year voting, and although Cogmind is too niche to pull the numbers necessary to compete against mainstream titles for the Top 10 in the second round, for the past five years in a row we’ve made it through the first round of voting to take a spot in the Top 100 list.


Cogmind on IndieDB
.

So if you have a chance give us a vote there, along with all your other favorite roguelikes/indie games that have a page on the site. (Registration isn’t required, but if you do have an IndieDB account you can maybe win a key for one of many different games if interested.)

2020
With the year coming to an end, what’s in store for 2020…

Well, I originally said I’d like to reach that stage in 2019, and apparently it didn’t happen! We are really close, and it’s been within reach for literally all of the past year, but I’ve been working on fine-tuning or expanding other parts of the game anyway and in hindsight I think that’s been a good use of time given the results. This is especially true with regard to improving the early game and new-player experience by rebranding the difficulty modes and adding the Exiles/FarCom, plus many other related features--going 1.0 brings in new players, and naturally we’d hope that experience would be a good one.


The current state of the development roadmap from the FAQ (snapshot from 191112).

As per the roadmap, the only remaining feature absolutely necessary before 1.0 is to finish the audio, which should be a focus for the upcoming Beta 10 depending on how much else I have to get done before then. In other words, it’s getting harder for me to postpone 1.0 :P

That said, 2019 ain’t over yet, we’ve still got a few weeks here to do something with…
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Joined
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19,117
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://steamcommunity.com/games/722730/announcements/detail/3997439124960125488
Beta 9.3 "RPGLIKE"
wC1HQxZ.png


Introducing "RPGLIKE", this year's Winter special event and all-new optional way to play Cogmind, with a completely different progression system and other significantly game-altering mechanics!

With RPGLIKE mode you'll be able to
  • raise levels!
  • select from a range of permanent upgrades!
  • repair your core with protomatter!
  • and keep your parts intact indefinitely!

This mode plays with the concept of making Cogmind a little bit more like other traditional roguelikes, though combined with Cogmind's unique content opens up quite a few new strategic horizons.

Lots more info and demos below, but first, the changelog--with all the work put into 9.3 and the resulting decent-sized changelog, you'll see that "RPGLIKE" is essentially a semi-major release masquerading as a minor version update :)

Cogmind Beta 9.3 "RPGLIKE" (191217) changelog:
  • NEW: Special event for Winter 2019, automatically activates between 12/17 and 1/1 (inclusive) for anyone who has played at least 10 runs
  • NEW: Command line argument "-forceMode:Winter2019" (or "-forceMode:RPGLIKE") to enable the Winter mode from 2019, regardless of system date
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Cogmind does not evolve, instead uses leveling mechanics with an XP system enabling free-form assignment of permanent upgrades
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Gain XP by exploring and/or raising the alert level
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Start with much higher core integrity, but only one of each slot type (can upgrade immediately in Scrapyard)
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] 90% of incoming damage to parts instead transferred to core, thus losing parts is relatively rare
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Use Protomatter to restore integrity of core and parts
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Storage units do not exist and Cogmind starts with no base inventory, optionally expand capacity with level upgrades
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Dynamic build type analysis always shown above parts list, even before activating showBuildType advanced.cfg option
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Fewer Relay Couplers spawn, but all that do have double their normal value
  • NEW: [RPGLIKE mode] Extra "RPGLIKE" section in scoresheet containing mode-specific stats
  • NEW: "Alternative Rules" section of manual describes all previous special modes/events and how to access them
  • NEW: Mouse movement pathfinding and running via keyboard both stop on spotting a hidden door or phase wall
  • NEW: Keyboard mode pathfind to cursor (Shift-Alt-g in examine mode to set, same key outside examine mode to continue approaching if stopped)
  • NEW: Ctrl-Alt in keyboard mode also highlights path to most recent keyboard pathfinding target, if still valid
  • NEW: Pathfinding directly to an interactive machine automatically initiates hacking on arrival
  • NEW: Scan window shows faint map label buttons while no object info loaded
  • NEW: Item labels outside FOV remember which are Faulty or Rigged, include this status in label name
  • NEW: Item labels both within and outside FOV also reflect the "Non-functional" status (marked as "Broken")
  • NEW: Option to always close robot/item info windows instantly rather than animating the close (advanced.cfg: disableInfoWindowCloseAnimation)
  • NEW: Option to adjust movement interval for running and pathfinding (advanced.cfg: movementDelayInterval)
  • NEW: Option to have parts list always sort destroy-on-removal parts like Processors to the top (advanced.cfg: partSortSeparatesDestroyOnRemoval)
  • MOD: Running via keyboard stops before reaching corners and doors rather than continuing one space past them
  • MOD: Running via keyboard now supports layout-based autostopping on diagonal movement as well
  • MOD: Removed disablePersistentScanInfo/disablePersistentAccuracyInfo advanced.cfg options, both now default behavior by necessity
  • MOD: Keyboard running behavior matches mouse pathfinding when approaching stairs, allowing a run to exit a map if recently confirmed the exit action
  • MOD: All Gyrokinetic Inverter overweight penalties increased from 30 to 40
  • MOD: "Perfect Aim" achievement description specifies accuracy bonus from utilities only
  • MOD: Class name modifier "Mechanic" renamed to "Machinist"
  • MOD: Unidentified parts no longer display their integrity in Scanalyzer lists
  • MOD: Sorting inventory by type or integrity groups all unidentified parts together
  • MOD: Allies reactivated via Datajack no longer recalled automatically for subsequent "attacks"
  • MOD: Updated some major NPC parse text
  • MOD: Temporary allies gained via streamctrl_ hacks no longer follow to other maps
  • MOD: Dormant bot systems no longer accessible for RIF hacking purposes
  • MOD: High Security dispatch composition expanded to deal with a wider range of threats
  • MOD: More time to explore W base, tweaked composition of later attacking squads
  • MOD: [Pay2Buy mode] Hotkey for opening Cogshop change from '0' to '9'
  • MOD: [Pay2Buy mode] Cogshop windows displaced from bottom/left edges of map view to avoid covering intel markers and exit labels
  • MOD: Special game modes now override challenge modes, rather than the other way around
  • MOD: Toggling special modes or challenge modes via command line or advanced.cfg will not apply the effect unless game started for a fresh run (no saves)
  • MOD: "-forceMode:" command line argument's mode name no longer case-sensitive
  • MOD: "Challenge Modes" list in manual moved under new section "Alternative Rules"
  • MOD: Simplified Hacking immunity context help accessed via robot info page
  • MOD: All achievements are allowed to be earned regardless of active challenge modes or special modes
  • FIX: Holding cursor stationary while using 'f' to retarget a previously targeted robot that moved displayed incorrect base hit chance [Valguris]
  • FIX: Ejecting Relay Couplers from a just-opened Garrison Access might not be able to create the Couplers in some layouts [Valguris]
  • FIX: Any type of damage that didn't destroy a door could cause a malfunction, instead of just EM [Valguris]
  • FIX: Unpowered/Broken bots could still have active parts which might cause side effects [Valguris]
  • FIX: Controllable ally names might be the same if allies of same class acquired on different maps at the same depth [Valguris]
  • FIX: 0b10 Decoders attached to a hostile could give Cogmind info [Valguris]
  • FIX: Crash while pathfinding to a distant location and using keyboard to order nearby drones to RETURN and have a Drone Bay with free space [Valguris]
  • FIX: Hostile Programmers assimilating Protectors converted them to non-threat faction, causing Cogmind allies to stop targeting them [Valguris]
  • FIX: Warlord outpost in caves might have two Commanders, both of which could offer an escort in rare cases [CaptainWinky]
  • FIX: Crash in rare layouts while closing hacking window when that target machine is indirectly destroyed by the hack itself [CaptainWinky]
  • FIX: Abominations update began allowing Cogmind to use autoswapping to swap in unidentified parts [core_nxt]
  • FIX: Crash during a certain special event if player had specifically muted Prop audio levels, or had system audio off at the time [MitchellFJN]
  • FIX: Terminal dynamic key increased difficulty of hacks with negative chances of success, sometimes noticeable with hackware or Operator allies [Joshua]
  • FIX: Part autopair validity may not always be checked correctly, potentially even crashing on attempting to leave the map [Driana]
  • FIX: Becoming enemies with Zion after imprinting could still allow for terminal network hard line cut in 0b10 [Finestep]
  • FIX: Post-streamctrl_high behavior of Operators unusual [Benjamin]
  • FIX: "Winner's Signature" achievement was still possible if scanned by any Researcher, rather than only in a certain map [sideriver81]
  • FIX: Comparing different Datajacks showed a numeric difference next to their effect even though irrelevant to player [aperiodic]
  • FIX: Any potential [C]-type Relay Couplers unattached but in inventory on acquiring Crosswire RIF ability became usable from inventory [Pimski]
  • FIX: Crash on a Worker following deconstruct_machine orders on a Network Hub [Xii]
  • FIX: Beta 9.3 prerelease bugs hunted down by: [Terminus, Zyalin, NikolayAg, Tone, Xii]
  • FIX: Stopping a running/pathfinding movement in progress was not completely reliable
  • FIX: Potential crash if a Core Expander used while any info window open
  • FIX: Temporary allies gained via overwrite_iff hack or Autooverride RIF ability would follow to a new map if exited quickly enough after hacking


"RPGLIKE"

This event/mode is focused around an "RPG-ish" progression model, envisioning Cogmind as if it were more like a lot of other traditional roguelikes featuring a leveling system but without rampant item destruction :P. While it's still possible to lose parts, it's not very likely, and many of your abilities can also be gained from the upgrade mechanics, altogether allowing you to create sturdier builds with more permanence.

At its core Cogmind is about mitigating loss and adapting to changing situations (including losing your own capabilities!), so naturally this mode is seemingly the "anti-Cogmind," turning the game on its head. As one of testers put it "this mode definitely feels like other games," so for those out there who are looking for a new/different traditional roguelike maybe not quite so radical in terms of strategy and tactics as regular Cogmind, this mode might be for them/you. You can possibly play it as a break from the sometimes stressful regular mode, or even switch to RPGLIKE altogether, as it's meant to be a permanent gameplay option from now on, and will continue to get more updates as necessary if people are into it.

Progression aside, one of the key features of this mode that allows you to retain your build is the automatic damage transfer: 90% of incoming damage to your attached parts is instead transferred to your core. This does mean your core takes a lot more damage than usual, but in RPGLIKE mode you'll have more core integrity and you can also restore the integrity of both your core and parts using the new Protomatter item that you'll sometimes find among the salvage of newly fallen bots.

Again, overall this is going to be quite a different Cogmind experience, but one that might be more enjoyable for those who prefer to have more attachment to their build, or rely on certain rare parts for much of their run without having to worry about protecting or replacing them, among other benefits.

RPGLIKE: Upgrading

In this mode you start with 600 core integrity instead of the usual 250, and also only one of each slot type for a total of 4 instead of the usual 7. But right away in the Scrapyard you can allocate an initial amount of XP to upgrade your build, which you could liken to "character creation" at the beginning of a run in many other roguelikes. You can add more slots right away, but it's not required since there's no limit to what you can upgrade when--all types of upgrade are available immediately!

You won't encounter the usual evolution interface as you play, because you can gain levels and apply upgrades at any time, or even save your XP to upgrade later if you want (for example to save up for something more expensive, since individual upgrades become increasingly expensive as you specialize in them).

Here's what it looks like to raise a level and choose some upgrades:

ABkaTQE.gif


As with Pay2Buy mode, you can see there's a dedicated RPGLIKE interface in the bottom left corner of the map view, displaying your current level and how close you are to reaching the next one, and providing access to the full upgrade interface via the mouse button (or hotkey '9').

The menu is of course fully accessible via keyboard. Including the mouse there are three different input schemes, supporting increasing/decreasing upgrades via their corresponding letters, or using arrow keys or numpad to move around (also '1' for reset and Enter to confirm).

D4Mr26Q.gif


XP is earned by exploring, raising the alert level, or from any source of bonus points. (For the RPGLIKE event, Adventurer and Explorer modes get additional starting XP to distribute, and also have an easier time gaining XP to catch up if they fall behind the level curve.)

You'll probably want to upgrade your inventory size at some point, because in this mode you start with 0 capacity and Storage Units do not exist at all! Inventory isn't as important for RPGLIKE mode anyway, since you don't need to worry about carrying a bunch of spare parts, so it's more about just having what capacity you need for the occasional consumable or unique parts for special situations.

Those of you who haven't activated it manually (or didn't even know it's existed since Beta 9 :P) might notice the class indicator appearing at the top of your parts list while you're playing this mode. This feature is off by default because it normally doesn't quite jive with Cogmind's goal of immersion, but hey this is the great "RPGLIKE" event so of course we need class names! The class detection/categorization even now includes consideration of any applicable upgrades you might have, in addition to the usual factors.

If you checked out the banner image for today's release it includes some sample classes there off to the right...

DAwYNXY.png


(You may have seen class names like this appearing on Steam since the 9.2 release since Steam rich presence support was added.)

When you're done with your run (or if you use the relatively new mid-run dump feature), you can see a new RPGLIKE-specific section of the mode-specific stats appearing towards the end of your scoresheet. For example:

QAQHFQV.png


RPGLIKE: Protomatter

Instead of regular matter, some bots might drop Protomatter when destroyed, and this is your key to restoring core and part integrity.

CIkQlpC.gif


It eventually decays out in the open, however, so you generally have to use it immediately or carry it with you.

As per its in-game description, using Protomatter is fairly easy, just stand on it and wait in order to apply some, and repeatedly do so if more is necessary. You can also simply repeatedly wait (even holding down the key) and it will stop you from waiting once it reaches a threshold so that you don't waste extra turns. The process restores integrity in two stages: first your core, then your parts.

2uJ6g1b.gif


Note that even though this is a special mode, having acquired Protomatter at least once is technically required for 100% gallery completion.

RPGLIKE: Access and Notes

Unlike some special modes (e.g. Abominations) and challenge modes, in RPGLIKE you have access to the entire game as normal. That combined with the new change which allows you to earn achievements regardless of active special/challenge modes means that you can indeed make RPGLIKE the primary way you play Cogmind without losing much of anything. I'm interested to know if some players decide to do this, and I guess we'll see once the leaderboards are active since we will have a separate one for this mode (again, even though the leaderboards aren't available for the time being, run data is still being collected for them in the meantime!).

Certain achievements might technically be easier for you in this mode as well, making it possible to obtain those that are otherwise normally outside your reach in terms of skill (or enjoyment) level.

Winter 2019/RPGLIKE mode will automatically activate for you on new runs from 12/17 through 1/1 if you've played at least 10 runs. This number is higher than the usual restriction because the event lasts quite a while and makes such sweeping changes.

On days outside that range, you can still force it by adding a command line parameter when running COGMIND.EXE: "-forceMode:RPGLIKE". (Within Steam this is handled by going to Cogmind > Properties > Set Launch Options.) If you want to play a regular run during the event, you can suppress event date triggering by adding the "-noSpecialMode" command line parameter.

Note: As of Beta 9.3, there is a new requirement specifying that regardless of settings, special modes and challenge modes will only be activated if the game starts up without loading a save. Even restarting/self-destructing won't work in this case, because some modes, especially this one, actually modify the underlying game data, which cannot be reloaded while the game is running.

Not long after this announcement goes up, I'll be streaming an RPGLIKE run no later than 8 PM EST (Monday 12/16), and probably again the day after. (If you miss it it'll be up on YouTube later.)

At some point over the coming weeks I'll also be publishing a blog post covering the RPGLIKE design.

Movement QoL

It's not all RPGLIKE! There's actually plenty more to this release in the form of fixes, tweaks, and other features, one of the larger categories being movement-related QoL features.

Keyboard-based running behavior is now more tactically optimal, stopping before reaching a corner, rather than beyond it, which is both safer and saves time if the intention is to round the corner. It also stops in a doorway rather than entering the room if running directly towards a door.

JGLYexd.gif


Pure keyboard players now also have access to mouse-like pathfinding via Shift-Alt-g (for "go" to), which heads straight for the cursor in examine mode, useful for crossing large distances through known territory, or for example heading straight for an item you just examined.

rLHPYRs.gif


Spotting a hidden door will also cause you to stop running or autopathing now, in case you want to change trajectory based on the new information.

Both mouse and keyboard pathfinding can now be directed to approach a hackable machine and will start hacking automatically on arrival:

W3OrInj.gif


And no one asked for this and it's pretty non-optimal and potentially dangerous to use, but... lo and behold the new movementDelayInterval setting!

twK0z0A.gif


I imagine at least realtime speedrunners might want to tweak their delay :P

You can read more about movement QoL features and their background in this dev blog article.

UyTvX4f.png


Other QoL

Another advanced option, disableInfoWindowCloseAnimation, was requested, and can be used to disable the less than half-second close animation on the item info window so you can close and open new item info nearly instantly via keyboard, or as many times as you want xD

wU3I2jk.gif


More broadly useful is the addition of special item statuses to their on-map labels, both inside and outside FOV, so it's much easier to quickly identify Faulty, Broken, and Rigged parts at a glance o/

dlAN6Px.png


Another requested option, partSortSeparatesDestroyOnRemoval, sorts all your processors/hackware/etc together, since those are the kinds of things you're less likely to remove.

ujrJtCm.gif


(It's off by default though, since such parts are already visible marked in the list and are sorted among other parts based on their function rather than this secondary characteristic.)

A separate new sorting behavior which is automatically enforced now puts all of your unidentified inventory objects together, so you can't use their sorting order among other parts to guess at what they might be.

U3B0e88.gif


The Scan window no longer holds info for objects when the cursor is not over it. This used to be the default behavior (tweakable in the options), but could indirectly cause bugs and could be generally confusing anyway, so instead it'll otherwise hold the faded buttons you can access with the mouse, making it easier for new players to discover those features, and remind you which key is which if you like hotkeys and are still learning.

6wFybG9.gif


Numbers

Thank you all for your votes! With your help Cogmind made the IndieDB Top 100 for the 6th year in a row, this time sitting there next to Noita in the, uh, "roguelike" category :P

And thanks for the reviews! We hit Overwhelmingly Positive last month and as promised this means I’ll be adding a significant expansion around a new “Merchants Guild” faction. And now that we’ve hit that goal, I’ve already set the next one: if we can maintain this rating up to 800 reviews, I’ll also add a new derelict community.

The concepts for both expansions are fairly fleshed out at this point, but building either/both will take quite some time. I’ve also even added a third but smaller expansion as a Patreon goal... As I see it there’s still room yet to liven up the world even more!

For now, enjoy RPGLIKE, it's pretty fun :D

Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 9.3, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 9.2 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
Patron
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
19,117
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/722730/view/2757846337312318394
Cogmind Leaderboards Reborn!
YES, the leaderboards are back in action!

With a big Beta 10 mostly done and coming soon, we really needed to get official Beta 9 leaderboards up and running. Not to mention there are plenty of people out there who enjoy either aiming to rise through the ranks, or maybe just browse the leaderboards or other runs to see what others are up to. And of course with Beta 9's incredibly detailed new scoresheets there's even more to see in that regard!

Since they've been silent for a while, the boards currently include all seven releases since Beta 8.

h8J52EN.png



To celebrate, Zyalin drew a bunch of us "Climbing the Ladder":

S5uBw6a.jpg


Of course roguelike god GJ is always there waiting to put us in our place ;)

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At the bottom of the leaderboards you'll find a section listing more info about the rankings, and the usual links to archived scores and stats. New in this updated version you'll also find links to one-time leaderboards for past special modes, as well as patron leaderboards for those playing experimental prerelease versions.

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Also down there you'll find a link to this nifty new menu, where you can access all runs by all players by version. (Well, "all" meaning those who have opted in to score uploading, since that's all we have data for!)

Technically we had this feature before, but it was simply a bunch of text files sitting on a server and navigated via your browser's file browser. Not ideal! Now we have basic run data in table format, styled for even more convenient browsing :D

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Maps are color coded, as are difficulty modes and even score. Plus you've got both the date and mode right there. Another excerpt from a different version:

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The scoresheet link on the right gives full data for each run.

Looking forward to seeing new players and interesting runs pop up on the boards where everyone can check them out :)

As for Beta 10, it's just about done, but shortly before I was about to finish everything on the list I decided to add some pretty significant new content (we're suddenly getting two new endings :P) so it's taking longer than originally planned. Anyway, more dev time just means more stuff, so stay tuned ;)
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/722730/view/4738306083317680971
Beta 10 "Warlord Forever!"
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The full ambient soundscape is here, and it's not alone! In Beta 10 we also have expanded bothacking abilities, two more alternate endings, many more types of drones, and of course lots of other features to improve the overall experience.

Diving right in here...
(Note: Like Beta 9 before it, Beta 10 is far too large to fit the entire release notes on Steam--their system doesn't support it, so I've had to share the changelog here as an image rather than text. For a normal view of the full release notes, see this same announcement on the forums!)

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Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 10, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 9.6 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.

Ambient Soundscape

You can now fully hear the world of Cogmind!

Cogmind has always had a ton of sound effects that help bring the world to life, but as far as continuous tracks go, for many years we've only had a few ambient sounds emitted by special machines and sample mapwide tracks in a couple maps as a test. Now all named machines have their own audio, as do all the maps!

Hear an array of Construction Platforms at work in the Factory, the rumble of a Megafabricator in the distance, Plasma Injectors down in the Mines, the hum of Power Conduits, busy Mainframes echoing throughout the Research branches, and so much more.

Aside from thematic mapwide drones that meld everything together, when you're not blasting robots and using the interface the audio experience is primarily defined by environmental factors, yet another new facet of Cogmind's emphasis on immersion.

Here's a debug shot visualizing the variety of machine audio across a Factory floor, where each unique sound is associated with a random color:

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Any gaps or areas where no specific local machine can be heard will generally have a higher-volume mapwide ambient track to unify the floor's audio and maintain the theme, as you can see here in this visualization of mapwide ambient volumes (brighter is higher volume):

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I wrote an in-depth article about the content and process behind Building Cogmind’s Ambient Soundscape:

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Related to the expansion of Cogmind's audio content we have an important new advanced option, muteAudioOnFocusLoss, which you might want to turn on if you do a lot of Alt-Tabbing and prefer that Cogmind not continue playing its audio while you're in some other window. We might want that to be on by default, but it's off for now since I need to make sure it doesn't mess anything up first :P (it seems okay so far, anyway--I've been using it for a while now, but that's just me).

The soundscape is also fully accessible in text form as well, a new feature that will benefit both those who can't turn up the volume or simply want the extra visual reinforcement enabled by being able to also "read" all the audio sources. This is made possible via a new Audio Log, off by default but toggled in the options menu.

See the Audio Log in the top-right corner, listing all heard ambient audio sources and their relative volume as heard from the current location as I walk around a Materials map:

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Here's another demo showing ambient sound sources alongside sound effects and the visual sound effect system as a battle rages outside this room:

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There's a summary of Audio Log features and behavior in the manual, or if you want an even more in-depth look at how the system was built you can check out the article I wrote on the topic: Audio Accessibility Features for Roguelikes.

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The install size of the game has definitely gone up as a result of all the new audio, by a whopping 50%! It wasn't exactly huge to begin with, but with Beta 10 we're going from 30MB to 45MB.

New Endings

We have two new endings, bringing us to a total of nine different ways to win! I won't spoil the new ones here except to say that they're both a part of the extended game, and to point out the obvious, that yes the "expanded Warlord arc" indicated in the changelog is what you've been waiting for if you're one of us Warlord fans. Warlord forever! (Hopefully...)

Each of the new endings presents new challenges beyond what was already in the game, and of course as with the other seven, they each come with their own unique animated ending sequence. A ton of work went into these endings as a whole, and based on initial feedback from patrons they seem to have turned out pretty well. I even had to add a whole new type of UI window to enable you to trigger access to one of the new endings--you'll know it when you see it ;)

On a related note, I've also expanded some NPC interactions that people have wanted to see over the years. Under the right circumstances it's been possible to get certain major NPCs to meet each other, but in the past they wouldn't take notice or otherwise react in any way. Now they do, usually with consequences :P

Drones and AI

There was a decent list of optional features to consider for Beta 10, and this time patrons voted to prioritize a drone mechanics rework together with a significant expansion of the types of drones available. It's turned out pretty nicely, resolving what I saw as some longstanding issues while adding fun new options at the same time.

Importantly, the new additions are not simply "drone with guns A, drone with guns B, etc.", or even drones using just standard tech, but instead come with unique features or behavior that can enable special strategies, or at least just be really fun to use--launch decoys, self-guided bombs, your own posse of thieves, drones that do your hacking for you, and more!

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Drone Bay Basics

The most fundamental change with respect to drones is that you must have an attached and functional matching type of bay in order to use them. The bay does not actually need to be active, however (activating a bay is simply a way to launch drones). There are a number of implied changes connected to this one, including:

  • Releasing a drone directly from a bay on the ground (e.g. with '>') can only be done if a functional matching type of bay is already attached
  • Zionite Recon dispatches now arrive as a Z-Drone Bay (since you can't have drones without a bay anymore :P)
  • Drone bays never autoactivate on attach, regardless of part autoactivation settings


If you remove the necessary drone bay (or it's destroyed xD), all related drones will take on the new "Unconnected" status and shut down. You lose the FOV info, but can gain it back again immediately by attaching an appropriate bay.

Drone connection demo:

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Drone FOV connection demo:

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This requirement really opened up the drone space for more possibilities and was pivotal in making the new drones much more interesting since the bay becomes a part of the requirement for using them, meaning we can get more powerful/numerous drones because the bay itself can be huge or heavy as a balancing factor to compensate :)

One surely welcome QoL under this new system is that if you have multiple matching drone bays and the attached one is full, drones can actually return to those which are currently in your inventory, as long as one has sufficient space.

Less Micro

Overall there'll be less micromanagement involved with drones, and in some cases other allies as well, with the biggest change being the complete removal of the GOTO order! That feature just encouraged a lot of micromanagement to get the most out of allies, especially drones which could then be carefully moved around to explore manually in some cases, and would often be optimal but tedious (i.e. not good). (Even after the removal you can technically still get them generally where you want by using a combination of movement, waiting, and STAY orders, though this incurs a time cost which can be prohibitive except when very important.)

This encouraged me to make some improvements to the AI as well, most importantly that unarmed followers will slightly trail behind rather than gathering around your current location. And they'll be smart about retreating ahead of you if you're retreating, too, generally keeping them out of the line of fire (unless you're suddenly ambushed from behind, or surrounded, in which case good luck :P).

Implementation: Instead of following your precise location, unarmed followers will target a point lagging behind you, as demonstrated here during debug mode (you can't normally see the point itself):

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Drones and all allies will also really do their best to avoid stepping on known traps now. It turns out that although they would never path through traps, they might sometimes decide to stand on one if you were hanging around near it long enough.

Fleeing drones will now always RETURN automatically, rather than running around wildly, so it'll be easier to get them back and they'll be much more likely to survive longer. By extension, any disarmed combat drones will also automatically return, possibly improving their lifespan as well. The potential drawback here is that they might lead enemies right back to your position! Of course if you're not there when the enemies finally arrive then it's all good anyway... (or you can choose to sacrifice the drone by removing the bay to disconnect it and then you'll be fine, too)

Drone QoL

One long-requested new feature is the ability to have the map view follow a drone as it moves. You can easily cycle through your drones using the normal Enter key (or center mouse button), which highlights them and their FOV. You can just use this to more easily check where they are, or even pass turns while focused on them and watch as they explore even distant areas.

Drone cycling demo:

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Drone following demo:

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When active drones are offscreen, you also get a blue 'n' marker like the one you get when Cogmind is offscreen:

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And there's a new type of dedicated intel marker to record the location of a drone that was destroyed when that happens outside your remaining FOV:

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The allies menu system got some upgrades, too:
  • Opening an ally order list via the Allies console centers display on that ally if they are outside the map view
  • Accessing the ally order list via keyboard displays it adjacent to the ally rather than below the Allies console
  • Fleeing controllable allies appear differently in the allies menu, and explicitly refuse orders with a warning message


New ally order list location:

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Returning drone cannot be ordered:

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Acquiring Drones

A majority of the new drone bays are available in the early game, although every single type except for one is a unique part, so you won't be seeing all of them in the same run. Less unique drones with similar mechanics might be available in the future (for example via Merchants!), but there's currently no good place to add them yet so I decided it would be better to make the bays unique so they could be especially useful or fun.

Many are available in the Mines via a new prefab encounter, and the rest are scattered about in other plot areas. One is a regular 0b10 prototype bay.

RIF Expansion

For all the Botlord builds out there, the pool of potential robot hacking abilities has been expanded from 9 to 15. Half of the new ones can be obtained multiple times to increase their effectiveness.

(Skip this section if you want to discover them on your own!)

Here's an overview of what's new...

  • Hotswap allows you to automatically swap in additional matching Couplers in sequence from your inventory when the effective code value of current attached Couplers is insufficient for the desired hack. (No this doesn't mean hacking directly from inventory Couplers, but it does reduce the need to free up utility slots and attach additional Couplers mid-combat, while also allowing you to more easily get the most out of your existing Couplers.)
  • With Command Fork you have a chance to duplicate each hack, also applying it to the visible applicable target nearest to the initial target, at no extra cost! It's compatible with most hacks, excluding generate_echo, map_walls, map_earth, map_route, or those that would have no meaningful effect. This is super useful because you can hack a combat bot and have the same hack affect a nearby different type of combat bot for which you don't even have a Coupler--very powerful under the right circumstances!
  • Threat Obfuscation reduces all influence increases by a certain percentage (depending on your ability's level).
  • Signal Jamming blocks local transmissions from visible hostiles while you have a matching Coupler attached, making it impossible for them to share information about your current position. Also prevents calls for reinforcements, and suppresses alarm traps. Basically against bots it's like having a targeted Transmission Jammer, a nice little bonus for having a given Coupler.
  • Zone Cloak causes extermination squads to take longer to pinpoint your position for dispatching, essentially the same effect as taking out Garrison Access points, but you get it for free.
  • With any [NC] Coupler attached, Watcher Feeds makes it possible to tap into the visual feed data of all 0b10 Watchers within a range of 24! This basically gives you temporary access to free drones that can maintain visual contact with enemies without themselves being attacked. One less reason to destroy Watchers :P


Demo of a link_fov fork:

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Demo of forking overload_power and streamctrl_high:

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Demo of the Watcher Feeds effect (while applicable, the link range is highlighted in faint yellow):

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Mechanics

You can ram walls and machines now! Doing this is will mess you up pretty bad and there are warnings against it, of course, to help prevent you from smashing your face into that adjacent nuclear reactor, although if you're getting really desperate and squads are gathering around, this might actually be a good idea ;)

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So it's there if you need it. This also provides a last ditch way out of escaping situations in which you've accidentally allowed Engineers to entomb you without any weapons to escape :P

Ramming like this uses the same old force melee commands.

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We also have a more controversial mechanical adjustment in terms of using melee weapons in dug out spaces. For a number of reasons being able to safely dig winding tunnels could be pretty cheesy, even more so using them to fight pursuers. Projectile weapons could cause instant cave-ins when used like this from within unstable areas, but not melee weapons. Now all weapons are treated the same in this regard. The chance of melee attacks causing a cave-in are lower than, say, a kinetic cannon, but it is no longer completely safe to do so.

In terms of tunnel combat I imagine the effect of this change is less of an issue for players since that practice probably wasn't as widespread, though this does also affect the ability to dig consecutively through multiple spaces with a melee weapon, which will no doubt cause concern for some stealth builds which will need to consider alternative options if they can't risk a cave-in.

In any case, we'll see how things turn out, but stealth is already super effective and melee digging in particular was only one small part of that effectiveness.

Balance

Trackers have been nerfed. See the multiple changelog lines regarding them :P

The changes essentially mean they'll be a bit slower to catch up to you, and also have to be within view before they can open fire. Technically this is also an indirect nerf to builds that liked to farm Trackers and take their OP gear to turn it agaist 0b10, but players who could do that were few and far in between (in Rogue mode, at least xD).

We also have some OP weapon nerfs, specifically the Firepult and Guided EMP Blaster. Both are still good, but were definitely way too good earlier. The Firepult nerf in particular was planned to happen eventually, but don't worry, it's still quite good, just can't be used indefinitely because the idea behind most EX-tech was that it's stuff which is fun and effective to play with through the early/mid-game rather than become something you stash away to help crush the extended game :P. Some other Exiles parts will likely be revisited in the next release for updating as well (they were intentionally made OP when first introduced basically just for fun, since you can't get them every run anyway).

Impact weapons got a situational buff across the board, since all walls and reinforced barriers are now weaker against them.

I made some changes to the Access garrison situation, namely removing the original extremely deadly result of visiting one, a nasty surprise for anyone doing it their first time that was probably not survivable for most builds. The origial effect (instant Max Security!), was my first reaction to Pimski trying to loop indefinitely since it was an easy way to use the game's existing content to mostly discourage or outright block that possibility. Now there's a much less deadly result specifically for that situation.

Going inside that garrison itself has gotten more dangerous, however--I mean it's Access, right?! :)

QoL

Our favorite three-letter combo around here!

We've got some useful new protective warnings, including most importantly a warning if you're attempting to attack from a position that might cause a cave-in as a result, since it can be easy to that accidentally in the heat of battle. (This warning also includes melee attacks, as per the earlier mechanical change mentioned earlier.) There's also a warning if your attempted line of fire is blocked by another robot, since a fair number of people don't seem to notice that as readily, especially if the situation is changing as a lot of bots are moving around during combat (note that the LOF indicator also changes color).

Previously used guided waypoints can now be recalled even if some were outside FOV:

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By request, as long as you have Tactical HUD mode active, parts that have been damaged for whatever reason (like... being shot :P) now retain a box around their integrity display in your parts list until your next action, so that you can more easily recall what has just taken damage:

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I've activated this behavior by default, but if it bothers you you can deactivate it in advanced.cfg using partDamageIndicatorsRetained.

Also by request, we now have the ability to add custom log notes!

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Log notes could later be expanded in a number of ways depending on player needs, but the primary purpose behind its current form is to allow you to leave in-game notes about what you were doing at the end of a play session, making it easier to pick up where you left off next time.

This feature is currently only accessible via Shift-Alt-z, but we'll be later getting a new menu system for easier access to all Shift-Alt key combo features, including mouse accessibility.

And no, your notes do not appear in the final scoresheet at this time (they're excluded from log output and only appear in game).

I've updated any Mines reward encounters that required randomly visiting a hidden location, which encouraged the optimal tactic of scouring every inch of the Mines in search of them, especally in the hope of uncovering the famous early Exp. Sensor Array:

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As you can see, the event is now triggered by rifling through some visible Scrap. The original behavior was meant as a placeholder until there was a better solution--now we have one :)

We've got a couple little special mode updates as well. First of all a dedicated indicator for when your built-in sensors are being jammed, since the normal indicator was attached to sensor parts, which you may not even need in RPGLIKE mode :P

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Player 2 now displays their parts with raw integrity values rather than as percentages:

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Community

I've been doing a lot of streaming over the past months, about half of it Cogmind-related. In fact, we'll be starting a new run today, not long after Beta 10 is officially released here :)

Past streams are archived on my YouTube channel, including the relatively recent Magneto run where we go for that achievement, some RIF runs, and others checking out the new ambient audio, including one dev testing stream.

Many others have been streaming lately as well, including MTF, Tone, Valguris and other top players. The Discord is a good place to get a heads up on streams and when people are planning to go live.

For those of you out there interested in the latest flavor of cheese, Pimski has put together an Exiles Kill Guide demonstrating a new pastime among Cogmind's more brazen and greedy (and evil!) players:

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YouTube™ Video: Cogmind: Exiles Kill Guide
Views: 203
This video shows gameplay of the videogame Cogmind. You can get it at https://steamcommunity.com/app/722730/ . In this video I show one of the strategies for reliably taking down BRAWN at Exiles, and...


As per the announcement last month, the leaderboards are back in action and better than ever. I'll be continuing to expand their features down the line.

The next leaderboard reset will come tomorrow now that Beta 10 is out! All the current scores are from the Beta 9 builds (although the separate patron leaderboards include some Beta 10 and prerelease runs).

The Road to More

Thanks to all patrons and players for your support!

We've still got that OP rating, so the next goal still stands. Keep the reviews coming :D

Reminder: There will eventually be a big free expansion happening that adds Merchants (in fact there are a growing number of references in the game foreshadowing their arrival, including more in this release ;)), though I haven't yet decided for sure whether it will be before or after 1.0.

Regardless, we've got lots and lots of plans, both small and large, still out there just waiting for some attention...
 

normie

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Insert Title Here
Beta 10.1 "Warlord Forever More"
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Not an especially huge changelog here, just a tiny addendum to last week's massive release. Seeing as I wanted to put out a couple of important fixes anyway, I decided to throw in a few other items from the short list that I could get done in a reasonable amount of time, so today we have a mostly QoL-oriented Beta 10.1!

Beta 10 saves from runs in progress are compatible with this release, so you can upgrade/switch over right away to get all the benefits immediately!

Cogmind Beta 10.1 "Warlord Forever More" (200921) changelog:
  • NEW: Removing or dropping a part that will be destroyed due to insufficient space gives a warning and requires confirmation
  • NEW: Matter/energy storage utility descriptions indicate that stored matter can also be extracted directly if on the ground at current position.
  • NEW: Simply waiting long enough in W base is enough to trigger the event without interacting with any other triggers
  • MOD: Field Recycling Units now only collect parts when activated a second time for new COLLECTING mode, also collect more quickly (once/turn)
  • MOD: Field Recycling Units no longer limit parts they'll collect based on remaining scrap storage, always top off regardless of waste
  • MOD: Borebot Coring immunity is now full Critical immunity
  • MOD: Swarm Drones now melt down if parent destroyed or lost bay
  • MOD: Updated core reset interactions with Beta 10's new extended endings
  • MOD: Transport Network Couplers and Trojans relaying 0b10 bot positions now only report active bots
  • FIX: Some conditions for a certain scoresheet history log message were not being checked against one of the new endings [JackNine]
  • FIX: [Player 2 mode] Crash on bringing Player 2 to one of the new endings [Minty]
  • FIX: Multitile robot AI update in Beta 10 caused Behemoths to sometimes fail to return to their original guard location after losing all targets [Tone]
  • FIX: Q-Series were unable to relaunch drones after the first retrieval
  • FIX: Direct dropping currently attached Storage Unit containing items did not give warning or require confirmation like unequipping to inventory did
  • FIX: Unequipping a part under certain conditions did not deduct energy
  • FIX: Beta 10 fix to improve rapid label closing via Escape broke both advanced options: disableEscMenuAccessKeyboard, disableEscMenuAccessMouse

QoL

Field Recycling Units have a new mode to help avoid accidental situations where it might eat something you actually wanted to pick up but forgot that your FRU was active and munching away. Now like overloading a part you simply toggle it a second time to go from activated (processing accumulated matter) to the next step, collecting (eating parts under you!). In this mode it will show in a brighter color as well have a special tag.

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General FRU usage was made even more friendly by not caring about wasted resources--just run over stuff to suck it up, even if it will overflow the unit's capacity.

And hooray for yet more warnings! Dropping parts will now warn if there isn't enough room to do so, in which case the result will be to crush it.

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As scheduled, leaderboards were reset just last week the day after Beta 10 released. No need to reset again--10.1 and 10 will remain on the same board.
 

normie

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Insert Title Here
Beta 10.2 "Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG"
GEhDRHa.png


It's a special event for Halloween, and more!

Starting today and for the entire next month, playing Cogmind automatically enters a new mode built as part of a Cogmind/roguelike/tech-themed ARG. Unlike previous special modes, this one doesn't actually make sweeping gameplay changes, but instead challenges you to hunt for clues with help from https://forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com, scouring the game and internet for passwords to special lore. More on that later...

As you'll see in the changelog, this release is clearly much bigger than just the event, scoping larger than planned as I started early on work to make some of the balance adjustments scheduled for Beta 11. There is still a lot more to come on that front, but a few items were either more urgent, or just things I felt like prioritizing a bit to see how they pan out as considerations regarding the bigger areas of the upcoming rebalance continue to get hashed out on Discord and the GSG forums.

Beta 10.2 also includes a bit of new content, but I'll be leaving that for players to discover.

Cogmind Beta 10.2 "Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG" (201030) changelog:
  • NEW: Unique Halloween mode for 2020, automatically activates on 10/29 for anyone who has played at least 10 runs (lasts through November)
  • NEW: Command line argument "-forceMode:Halloween2020" (or "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore") to enable the Halloween mode from 2020, regardless of system date
  • NEW: [Forbidden Lore mode] Hunt for clues with help from forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com to scour the game and internet for passwords to special lore
  • NEW: 1 new prototype robot
  • NEW: 1 new weapon
  • NEW: Most door-access terminals in 0b10 converted to new Door Terminal prop
  • NEW: Hostile 0b10 bots that lose track of Cogmind raise alert
  • NEW: Relay Coupler [NC] combined with Signal Jamming RIF ability also blocks busy Engineer calls for reinforcements
  • NEW: Escape key recenters view on Cogmind if currently following drone
  • NEW: Advanced Commands help for message log includes Shift-Alt-z for note-taking
  • NEW: Version check now includes build number, allowing for in-game notifications about smaller unannounced updates
  • NEW: Screenshots of difficulty selection, title screen, and intro sequence have unique filenames
  • MOD: Special-purpose 0b10 terminal functionality limited to locally listed hacks, and special manual hacks where applicable
  • MOD: W base defenses changed
  • MOD: Data Cores can no longer be stolen by Master Tearclaws
  • MOD: Programmers require an active Remote Datajack to hack targets
  • MOD: Programmers no longer hack targets once disarmed
  • MOD: Sensor layout as learned from a certain NPC's data core behaves differently
  • MOD: Field Lobotomy Kit no longer works on unpowered, unconnected, or broken bots
  • MOD: Movement due to ramming and knockback makes all the same checks regular movement entails, ensuring the same results in terms of environmental factors
  • MOD: Ramming an adjacent target is no longer a valid way to immediately escape stasis
  • MOD: Ramming drones without destroying them no longer produces matter
  • MOD: Base chance for all Recall() hacks reduced by 10%
  • MOD: Master Thief encounters occur under different circumstances
  • MOD: Only Master Thieves capable of stealing from inventory and prioritizing target parts
  • MOD: Base steal chance of all Tearclaws reduced
  • MOD: Thieves have innate bonus to using Tearclaws
  • MOD: Nerfed CR-A16's weapon
  • MOD: Terrabomb reduced to 1 slot
  • MOD: locate_prototypes effect limited to a range of 15
  • MOD: Threat Obfuscation RIF ability level progression effect reduced from 25,50,75 to 25,40,50
  • MOD: Armor Integrity Analyzer effect description clarified to specify no impact on any area of effect attacks, rather than singling out launchers
  • MOD: Transmission Jammer toggle animation highlighting of jammed bots changed from red to yellow
  • MOD: Core Cannon critical hit chance reduced to 0%
  • MOD: Satisfying the conditions for a Warlord response from cave seals overrides the effect of core reset
  • MOD: Launcher-using bots take ally resistances into account when deciding whether to fire on targets in close proximity
  • MOD: Extended game C prefab added in Beta 10 reduced in size, composition adjusted
  • MOD: Map export images prefix filename with current world seed
  • MOD: Font config file format updated to maintain compatibility with engine changes
  • FIX: Murdering more than one Exile did not count any beyond the first in the scoresheet for the Uniques/NPCs Destroyed tally [zxc]
  • FIX: Hostiles would not attack unconnected drones [zxc]
  • FIX: Unconnected drones could follow through map exits [zxc]
  • FIX: Using a Reconstructor while standing on a Slip Node moved to the side instead of remaining at the same position [zxc]
  • FIX: Dormant bots ignored enemy cloaking effect when checking for wakeup [zxc]
  • FIX: C-40 Crushers might get stuck and fail to pathfind to otherwise reachable target [Valguris]
  • FIX: Was possible to simultaneously activate two Remote Datajacks by removing a launcher while autoUnreadyLauncher option active [Valguris]
  • FIX: Robots disabled while transitioning into/out of siege mode would allow the process to finish even while still disabled [Vectis]
  • FIX: Ally with PICKUP or COLLECT order could overflow inventory capacity if final acquired item is multislot [Vectis]
  • FIX: Recalled squads, coupler squads, and fabrication retrieval Haulers could be blocked by a Sentry standing on their intended exit [MTF, JackNine, Tone]
  • FIX: Beta 10 caused Transmission Jammers to no longer block non-combat robot calls for reinforcements in certain situations [MTF, JackNine, Terminus]
  • FIX: Core reset interactions with Beta 10's new extended endings was broken, fixed in earlier silent hotfix [GJ, Terminus]
  • FIX: Beta 10 part drop destruction warning system caused Go Naked command to leave one part attached if insufficient space to drop everything [GJ]
  • FIX: Self-destructing before depth -9 reused total score from previous full run in same session on game over screen [Hippasus]
  • FIX: Log messages for ramming terrain and machines did not match up with the type of method used [MTF]
  • FIX: Siege mode did not prevent ramming terrain or robots [NikolayAg]
  • FIX: Matter decay due to overheating was deducting energy instead [aoemica]
  • FIX: Beta 10 new endings broke game over screenshot tags for w8 and several types of losses [CaptainWinky]
  • FIX: [Player 2 mode] Player 2 situational dialogue typo [sterv]
  • FIX: Ally with a PICKUP order would move to nearby Scrap and Derelict Logs even though unable to acquire them

(I didn't highlight "more important" entries in the changelog like I normally do, since the vast majority were being highlighted anyway when I went to do that :P)

Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 10.2, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 10/10.1 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.

As with any other release, I might do quick unannounced hotfixes in the coming hours or days if players discover/report something new and urgent (the chance is somewhat higher with 10.2 because this release went without the usual prerelease playtesting by Patrons to keep it a surprise for everyone). We now have an even more specific version check system based on build number, so if you're playing and have the News feature active, it'll remind when you're playing without the most recent hotfix.

A2dLzfV.png


Let the ARG Begin!

Cogmind is pretty big on lore, creating a deeper world with its various factions, NPCs, and the stories they share. And there's so much more room out there! In the lore you can already find references to pieces of the world which don't currently exist, some of them likely to happen one day (some of them guaranteed :P), but reliable information is spotty. This Halloween event will fill a few gaps and also give glimpses of other locations and inhabitants of Tau Ceti IV.

Starting from the event's home page, at the bottom you'll see your first hint. Hints suggest where in the game world you'll find either a password or another clue as to how to obtain the password, and with that password you can follow the link on the event page to the next level, which will also reward you with FORBIDDEN LORE (and usually a bit of art to go with it). For simplicity the username at every level is always simply "cogmind", it's the password that will be unique each time and that's what you'll have to figure out. In-game clues can take a variety of forms, but are always presented as some sort of text, be it NPC dialogue, a special announcement, etc.

Note that you won't get additional clues for the same level, nor do you need to use multiple clues together--each is a completely individual and separate thing. For example, a hint might indirectly suggest you talk to an NPC, so you reach that NPC and they give you a clue, which is probably a cryptic puzzle to solve in order to get the password to advance.

Although I know at least a few people who could definitely complete this entire challenge on their own, not everyone will be capable of figuring out every step alone. Don't be afraid to ask the community for tips or additional hints along the way at various levels where you need it. I'm sure there'll be plenty of discussion and help available on the Discord.

Working together with others to solve the mysteries would also make it easier to rise through the levels more quickly, since multiple runs will be required to follow every hint. I suggest using a new password on the site immediately after discovering it, in case the next hint is somewhere still within reach in your current run, in order to achieve it more quickly.

This being an ARG, most of the passwords are actually found outside the game itself.

Good luck :)

ARG Addendum

Shout out to PlasticHeart for putting together the CogFont based on fonts developed for the game, which came in quite handy when making the event website :D

Forbidden Lore mode will automatically activate for you on new runs started on or after 10/29 (through November), if you've played at least 10 runs before.

If you want to play beyond the end of the event, or regardless of your run count, you can still force it by adding a command line parameter when running COGMIND.EXE: "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore". Within Steam this is handled by going to Cogmind > Properties > Set Launch Options, like this example from Player2 mode earlier this year:

t9APgHP.png


(Note that although the event mode will be accessible after the period is over, and likely also in future versions, but I can't 100% guarantee that it will be fully completable forever since, as an ARG, advancing relies on the presence of information found outside the game, elsewhere on the internet.)

If you want to play a regular run during the event*, you can suppress date-based event triggering by adding the "-noSpecialMode" command line parameter:

MACEFNx.png


If the event mode is active, you'll see a notice in your message log on startup.

*(though again this mode doesn't really affect much in the way of gameplay, even though runs in this mode will technically go to a separate leaderboard)

Rebalancing

Beta 10.2 includes a fair number of nerfs, and the changelog itself isn't nearly as balanced as I like to keep it (an equal helping of both buffs and nerfs/new features is best), but we'll be getting plenty more buffs and fun stuff to play with in Beta 11, and in this release I just took advantage of the opportunity to prioritize responding to areas the community has been cheesing the hardest by moving up planned changes, or just increasing the overall challenge level of various parts of the game.

Also a number of the nerfed bits here were intentionally introduced as OP features with the intention of tweaking them after seeing how they were used.

On that note, against the trend there is a new potentially OP weapon you might be able to get your hands on ;)

ziUuBdF.png


To address some of the biggest changes here...

All those easily-hackable single-tile door terminals that were a major security liability for 0b10 are a thing of the past. They now do nothing more than open their door, as opposed to providing one after another weak backdoor into the mapwide system :P (i.e., no indirect hacks there). All such terminals now also have unique names so they're even more recognizable at a distance, the majority simply being called "Door Terminal," although this change also applies to the other instances of special-purpose terminals that control something nearby.

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Prior to now, with assistance from door terminals a good hacker could very easily end up with far more terminal resources than they could reasonably need and exhaust, especially in certain branches with lots of blast doors. Now instead of simply running out of hacking target ideas, these builds may in some cases have to be a little more selective, or in some cases have a (slightly? xD) harder time getting access to a suitable Terminal on short notice.

This change does also negatively impact builds that could only effectively use low-level Terminals to begin with, but those builds have had numerous buffs over previous releases to begin with.

Another change related mostly to flight-hack builds is that alert is now also raised when enemies lose track of you! The primary hostile interaction for gaining alert has traditionally been through destruction, but if you're zipping all over the place frequently attracting attention then slipping away it makes sense that the Complex should respond to that, too.

I'm really interested to see the results of this change, which could add a bit of pressure to flight runs and make stealth approaches that much more enticing rather than simply outrunning everything but then safely remaining on the same map. The amount of alert involved here might be further tweaked, but we'll see how it pans out in the current release first.

Also the current result of high alert accrued via this method will be assault dispatches, as usual, but the response will be different in future versions--I just haven't gotten to that point and added this bit first.

Programmer allies were nerfed by making them unable to hack if disarmed, a sad loss because it was quite fun to have a disarmed hacker friend literally owning everything, when it happens naturally, but players were starting to intentionally create these OP allies so that behavior had to be removed and put them on par with hostile Programmers.

Master Thieves got a pretty significant overhaul. They've been in the game for a while now but no one was really taking advantage of them until much more recently. Even more changes are probably in order, but the related mechanics are no longer quite so abusable.

A range of individual parts were adjusted as per the changelog, mostly nerfs of various degrees, although you've also got single-slot Terrabombs now, which will make those a lot more enticing (technically that and a few other items on the list were modified as part of silent post-release 10.1 updates, but are included in the changelog this time around since they were otherwise not recorded or announced here).

There's not a ton of QoL like we usually have each release, but I did add Escape key support for recentering on Cogmind while cycling through multiple drone views with Enter:

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News

Cogminder aoemica has built a wonderful tool, dubbed Cog-Minder, a very convenient site to filter and search through Cogmind's many items:

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Notice the Spoiler button there which can be toggled on to include everything, even uniques and other special parts you'll only find in mid-/late-game branches or the extended game. You can leave that off if you're just starting out and want an unspoiled experience but would like to examine "regular" parts.

Over on my Twitch channel I streamed my first Beta 10 run, a hover run that eventually went on to obtain one of the new endings:



That's the first of five videos, a looooong run because 1) it hit a ton of locations and 2) there was a lot of discussion along the way :P. (More recently on the channel I'm trying out the space roguelike Prospector, which is pretty cool.)

Starting this week over on Patreon we're also voting for secondary QoL features that patrons want to prioritize for Beta 11, so the results from that should probably be known by the time the next announcement comes around.

I leave you with the amazing Mobile Combat Recycling Unit by Zyalin!

YY9EYUT.jpg


We know what happened after a good year or more of players joking about the possibility of "Combat Swarmers" (TRACKERS!). Well, the long-running joke that followed that is "Combat Recyclers." Hmm...
 

normie

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Insert Title Here
SITREP Saturday #48: Volatile Times
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A SITREP?! But it's not Saturday! Feel free to wait until Saturday to read it, but it's here now so let's just all pretend it's Saturday.

Haven't done one of these updates since switching to generally only announcing releases, but it's been a while and there are plenty of people who probably don't check other sources of Cogmind news so they have no idea what's going on... Let's bring everyone up to speed :)

Say Goodbye to 2020

Following our Forbidden Lore ARG from last year, I wrote a post-mortem if you're interested in how that event was designed and panned out.

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There's even a complete ARG walkthrough filled with spoilers, though it does offer a good shortcut to just obtaining all the Cogmind lore locked behind puzzles.

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Congratulations to those players who managed to solve the entire ARG!

We also have Beta 9 stats summarizing the data submitted throughout that release series, including many new topics such as build types and causes of death as enabled by our expansive new scoresheets.

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Cogmind 2

Just kidding, of course we're still on Cogmind 1 here, but Beta 11 is indeed shaping up to be the sizeable overhaul we always wanted to get to one day (talked about since like 2015 xD), one that revisits lots of parts and some mechanics with an eye towards tweaking and rebalancing to better integrate them into the whole that Cogmind has become--redesigning some, removing others, as well as introducing new ones to smooth everything out where necessary. Basically we're further improving on the experience in so many areas. And although new content isn't the focus of Beta 11, yeah we're definitely getting some of that, too ;)

This year so far I've been testing out experimental features with patrons, keeping the most successful concepts of the bunch while continuing to stream runs in these builds to explore the effects of changes. For example this latest crazy one looking at new infowar utilities (after having made other changes to existing ones in builds prior to this):



Others can be found on my YouTube channel.

So far we've revisited storage capacity, overweight mechanics, propulsion type balance, and plenty of specific part changes, with plenty more to come. Next up over on the dev blog I'll be covering some of the major changes, beginning with the adjustments to storage and propulsion, followed by a rework of some damage types.

Already though the blog has been covering some of the new stuff coming to Cogmind, including...

Item searching and filtering:

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...perfect for finding just the right part (patrons voted for this one--lots more details and related features demoed in the article).

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A map ruler and other overlays:

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For the min-maxers out there: No more need to count cells or guesstimate the distance between two positions :)

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New infowar utilities mentioned with regard to the stream above:

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Dedicated Trap Scanners:

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New Structural Scanner behavior:

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And the almighty Machine Analyzer:

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This is just the beginning...

There's no set schedule for Beta 11's release, since it's by far the most sprawling of any update before it, with less concentrated work in one or two major areas and instead lots of modifications and additions across the board, many of which need to all be integrated into the same update for best effect, but it's hard to say how long that will take given the scope.

Recent Events

More recently, I've been a bit sidetracked by doing a bunch of official 7DRL reviewing for this year (related streams now archived on YouTube), raising a little more money for development, and also doing a bunch of forced website updating due to a huge PHP upgrade by the host. Unfortunately the latter has made some parts of the wiki inaccessible for now (in particular info for some parts), but aoemica's Cog-Minder has you covered there :)

Last but not least, you may have noticed we have a little build update for Beta 10.2 available, but there's no changelog for it ;) ;) ;)
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/722730/view/3022469953848529671
SITREP Saturday #49: A World Rebuilt
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So what has Grid Sage Games (and by Grid Sage Games I mean me :P) been up to in recent months... Those who follow the dev blog, my streams/YouTube, or Discord will be familiar with most of what I'm writing here today, but I know some of you prefer to get your news here, so let's catch you up!

In the last SITREP wherein I half joked about this being "Cogmind 2," the summary of our next major update is still just as relevant:

"Beta 11 is indeed shaping up to be the sizeable overhaul we always wanted to get to one day (talked about since like 2015 xD), one that revisits lots of parts and some mechanics with an eye towards tweaking and rebalancing to better integrate them into the whole that Cogmind has become--redesigning some, removing others, as well as introducing new ones to smooth everything out where necessary. Basically we're further improving on the experience in so many areas. And although new content isn't the focus of Beta 11, yeah we're definitely getting some of that, too ;)"

Since then the previously mentioned revisiting of storage capacity, overweight mechanics, propulsion balance, and damage types have all been completed, and as promised I covered each of those topics on the blog...
Design Overhaul

On the blog this series is filed under "Design Overhaul," pretty significant game-changers coming to Beta 11 which you can read about in their respective articles:

There's Design Overhaul 1: Capping Inventory, which might sound like a nerf when framed with just those two words, but in practice ends up being a buff in most cases due to
how
things were changed ;)

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Design Overhaul 2: Propulsion took quite a while to nail down due to that topic's complexity and far-reaching implications of any changes, but eventually settled on a significant flight and hover rebalance, leg upgrades, overweight penalty changes, and other tweaks here and there.

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Design Overhaul 3: Damage Types and Criticals would have to be the one which boils down to the most "pure fun," adding a wide variety of critical strikes and other new related mechanics to further differentiate weapons and their damage types.

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In with the New

On the completely new stuff front, for Beta 11 I finally got to add something I've been imagining for years: a way to view a sort of historical robot traffic data as a form of potentially useful intel. I go into how this data is calculated and presented in "Desire Paths" for a Robot World.

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A WIP screenshot (the path system later became purple in practice):

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The whole "desire path" thing came about as part of yet another infowar expansion, the Active Sensor Suite. Yes we already significantly expanded the infowar game in Beta 11, but you can never have enough infowar!

Active sensors have a number of big advantages and big drawbacks which you can read about in more detail here.

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Just follow the purple brick road...

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Even the content of primary maps is getting a bit (okay a lot) of love in this version, the first such addition being freighter dispatch events, which I detail in Spicing Up Primary Maps 1: Cargo Convoys.

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As part of that article, to explain some concepts (but mostly for fun :P) I put together a sample Cogmind world map in which 1 pixel = 1 cell. It's just one permutation, of course, since there are different possibilities for a number of these connections, plus the ability to revisit other versions of the same map in a single run etc. (The map is also incomplete since it leaves out a number of areas considered redacted-level spoilers, though a full spoilers version is available via a link in the article.)

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As if escorted convoys weren't enough, we're also getting more classes of 0b10 combat bots, because what's better than having new types of hostiles trying to stop you? ...perhaps aside from finding new toys to deal with them, but don't worry we've got that covered, too ;)

Right now I'm in the middle of reworking the fabrication system, which is looking promising and should add more strategies to the mix.

Cogmind Three

So what do we do once Cogmind Tw--I mean Beta 11 is
finally
done? Well, first of all of course we release it :P (no I still don't know when that'll be)

But seriously, that's going to be the beginning of a period of pure expansion, and mark a return to more reasonably-sized updates that don't take ages to complete xD

At this point I can announce that thanks to support from patrons, Beta 12 will feature a new mini-faction, the Unchained, which have so far appeared only in bits of lore here and there, and were further described in last year's Forbidden Lore ARG.

And assuming we reach the review threshold I mentioned back in 2019, which now seems possible, as promised that will trigger a new content update which will become the focus of Beta 13, built around a new faction of derelict scrappers with unique tech :D (another of those mentioned in the ARG)

(Note the Merchants Guild is still waiting on the sidelines, but they will happen as a much bigger expansion later on.)

Community

As usual I've been streaming Cogmind runs to introduce and test these new features, among them

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YouTube™ Video: [Stream] Cogmind Beta 11 Test Runs: Crits, Kinetics, and Cargo (1/4)
Views: 880
Exploring some of Cogmind's newest features, including a greater variety of crits, and a new type of dispatch... Part 2: https://youtu.be/4O21iaw4pEA Originally streamed via Twitch (210505):...


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YouTube™ Video: [Stream] Cogmind Beta 11 Test Runs: THERMALS (1/4)
Views: 903
Starting a fresh run in a fresh build (X5 prerelease) including a number of new features and adjustments, most significantly revamped thermal weapon stats.


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YouTube™ Video: [Stream] Cogmind Beta 11 Test Runs: Heavy Class and Active Sensors (1/2)
Views: 717
In this new run on a new build we're testing out the brand new HEAVY CLASS, which is going to add a lot of interesting challenges to the game given their unique capabilities and behavior.


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YouTube™ Video: [Stream] Cogmind Beta 11 Test Runs: RIF v New Specialists and Cutters (1/4)
Views: 606
A fresh RIF run! Gonna have some bothacking fun as we check out several new bots added to the latest Beta 11 X7 build, and maybe go after some Heavies or Convoys in the process.


Some patrons have also been streaming their experiences, and will likely be sharing more, including Tone, Luigi, Plexion, Runia, Vectis.

Tone and MTF in particular did a co-op stream all the way into the extended game playing through a sort of tailored ARG which filled in a bit of hidden lore that people didn't uncover in last year's ARG. It was epic.

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YouTube™ Video: Cogmind Co-op Stream w/ mtf &amp; Special Alternate Universe Experience | Extended Flight Win | Part 1
Views: 575
This is a very special series, as I am joined by mtf for some cooperative Cogmind gameplay! mtf hasn't been able to play for a very long time so we have a lot of fun with this one, and I give him the...


aoemica has been busy continuing to improve Cog-Minder, the Cogmind reference and theorycrafting tool.

Most recently aoemica added part comparisons:

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And a build simulator with link sharing:

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Also a heads up for some of you who might be interested: Cogmind player Runia is offering unofficial-but-sanctioned third-party merch in the form of 3D printed bots! Having discovered pretty much all the in-game bots and converted them to 3D form, he's been honing his craft and polishing his Fabricator over the past months, and it's been fun to see the results of this work (including printing these while streaming Cogmind :P)

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An older shot from a few months ago showing some of Runia's bots (some since refined, and more added):

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You can find Runia with us on Discord (where I also hang out every day as I work on Cogmind). I look forward to getting some of these myself eventually :)

Now it's back to work in the fabrication mines...

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MORE ABOUT THIS GAME
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2021/12/year-8-of-the-cogmind/
Year 8 of the Cogmind
Cogmind is now in its 9th year of continuous development, so as usual let’s take a look at the past year of progress in yet another annual review!

Although most of the feature progress I share is in the form of animated gifs, there are a handful of static PNGs as well which I’ve compiled into another collage for a visual overview of 2021:

cogmind_development_year_8_small.jpg

Selection of images from the past year of Cogmind-related development as posted on this blog, forums, and Twitter (larger size here).

Development Time
Hourly recording of dev work continues as usual, and the trajectory is similar to last year with more time put towards coding and work on the game itself as opposed to community-facing marketing-type stuff (an angle made easier by the lack of public releases, but we’ll get to that later :P). I’ve been a lot less interested in getting the word out and would rather focus on spending time with current players (the Roguelikes Discord is where we’re at!) and improving the game for those of us who are playing it.

That said, it’s still important to do some types of that outward-facing stuff which includes a lot of discussion and writing, so even at this rate I don’t really see, for example, Code overtaking Community in this graph for a long while :P

cogmind_cumulative_time_input_breakdown_201306-202111.png

A categorical breakdown of the hours that have been invested in Cogmind-related development over the years, through November 2021. (More data and details about each category will be shared at some point in the future during a comprehensive review of these records.)

Like 2020 there was a fair bit of extra time allocated to non-Cogmind-related roguelike community efforts (and therefore excluded from my tallies), such as the usual moderation, but also quite a lot of 7drl reviewing and streaming, and introducing and streaming other roguelikes.

I also took some time out in the middle of the year to try to bring in funding through other means, but without going into details let’s just say that didn’t pan out in the end (though it did unfortunately eat up that time xD). No matter, we have a growing patreon! (see further below)

Releases? Sorta :)
This is normally where I’d cover all the public releases from the year, but… yeah, in a rather anomalous development we didn’t have any aside from the quick AFD job back in April (it was released in tandem with this progress report, though there was no changelog or other description for it, as a sort of surprise since… all robots explode in dramatic fashion when destroyed :P).

2021 marks the first year in which Cogmind had no major public release, which if you’ve been following the blog (or checking out the occasional long-term progress announcements or my streams) will know is because the year has been spent working on the next huge iteration of the game along with patrons.

So 2021 is basically the year of Beta 11, in preparation for which there have already been eight major new versions (and other minor ones) released for testing since January, covering a variety of new and revamped systems as the whole of Beta 11 comes together. Development has been going pretty smoothly and I hope to have it out some time within the next few months.

While the year has been a special one in Cogmind history for being entirely devoted to laying the groundwork for a great 2022, this is not only in the sense that a game-changing Beta 11 is well on its way to completion…

For one, support via Patreon has really come into its own! The numbers don’t lie.

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Patreon earnings data, 2019-2021, straight from the dashboard.

Having reached and maintained the level I set for funding “the Unchained,” guess what Beta 12 will be bringing in 2022 :D. That’s one of the potential mini-factions which I haven’t really talked much about, though they were given a bit more color as part of last year’s Forbidden Lore ARG (search the walkthrough for the keyword “unchained”).

The financial support is great since it means development can continue without selling DLC or expansions etc., which put more awkward pressure on the design and are something I’ve always wanted to avoid even though it would technically mean more revenue. Having a better and more cohesive experience is more important to me, and I’m sure is more appreciated by players as well.

Speaking of thresholds, not too long ago Cogmind’s Steam review count finally reached the goal I set two years ago (800 while maintaining an OP rating), and that means we also even have a roadmap for next year’s Beta 13! It will feature yet another faction, this one hailing from a new Derelict community currently dubbed “Scraptown” (a code name subject to change once implementation begins). I also gave the concept a little more color in the ARG (search for that keyword in the walkthrough), but still mostly teaser material rather than specific mechanical details or lore implications. (Noticing a trend yet? That ARG is full of concepts that could easily find their way onto Tau Ceti IV some day…)

Seeing as we’ve already got an extended roadmap laid out (remember there’s also the Merchants Guild to come in a bigger expansion, too!), I’m not setting a new review threshold for now, but keep ’em coming since it’s good for the future of the game :D

Community
One could say 2021 has been a very big year for third-party releases by the player community :)

Although I’ve already mentioned some of them in previous progress updates, it’s worth highlighting the major projects here again as well since they’re new this year and forming an important part of the experience for players that make use of them.

Cog-minder by aoemica is a great resource with a filterable item database, build theorycrafting, combat simulator, and more. It’s still getting occasional fixes and updates, but is a very useful tool if you want to plan out how to take your game to the next level.

cogmind_aoemica_cog-minder_feature_composite.png

Visual summary of some of Cog-minder’s primary features.

Dataminer by leiavoia takes advantage of the large amount of run data collected by Cogmind from players who opt into the leaderboard systems in order to present you with a huge range of graphs summarizing each run, even including unique forms of analysis. (Dataminer is also still expanding with new features.)

Dataminer-stat-samples-by-leiavoia.jpg

High-level overview of some of Dataminer’s run stat features. Direct links to Dataminer processing have also been added to the run database.

Runia’s 3D-printed bots based on Cogmind’s tileset both look great and are also for sale if you’d like your own. (Runia can be found on our Discord.) It’s been fun watching these come to life over the year as Runia discovered more of them in game :D

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A partial set of completed 3D-printed models from Cogmind, by Runia.

Also it wasn’t for everyone, but I did actually create a special one-time event for two of Cogmind’s streamers who were playing together earlier this year, Tone and MTF, and many of the core players hung out in those streams (or later watched the videos) to do a sort of “stream-only ARG,” basically unique content only for that one run which filled in a bit of hidden lore that no players had uncovered in last year’s ARG. I’m quite happy with out that turned out, and Tone archived the run on YouTube if you’d like to check it out, with the first video here:

A big <3 to the great Cogmind community, which really helps keep me (and this project) going.

I won’t post a screenshot this year, but if you’ve got a moment there’s some days remaining to vote for Cogmind over on IndieDB. Always nice to make it in their Top 100 list for a little extra exposure when that comes out (and then not bother competing for the top 10 because those games have much larger communities--but we can manage Top 100).

2022
Normally I’d end with a little talk about our roadmap, but this year being special and all I seem to have already covered that above, since what happened this year has played an integral role in confirming what’s to come.

In summary, we should see Beta 11 in all its glory released within the next few months, followed by Betas 12 and 13 each with a new faction and mechanics, coming much more quickly than what you’ve seen with Beta 11 xD

I also have at least one major event in the planning stages (promise it’ll blow your Cog-mind), but I’m currently imagining that’ll be further out beyond these releases. We’ll possibly have some other smaller ones during the year as well, depending on how the release schedule aligns with other factors.
 

lightbane

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Will this take longer than Caves of Qud to be finished? Will the devs go full retard as well?
 
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Messages
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What's interesting to do in this game? I frequently get bored of RLs before finishing them because the repetition outpaces the interesting tidbits. Will this be an exception?
 

normie

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Insert Title Here
Beta 11 "Mechanical Renaissance"
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Today on Cogmind's 10th anniversary, I'm excited to announce the release of a massive update, in the works for more than a year now. Inside you'll find a huge array of new challenges, more fun mechanics, and most importantly an extensive rebalancing aimed at improving every aspect of the experience. Beta 11 has been heavily playtested across a dozen large prerelease versions by patrons[www.patreon.com] helping fund its development (HUGE THANK YOU <3), and having played a lot of it myself, I agree that it's by far Cogmind's best version yet. Time to share it with everyone!

Cover art by Zyalin, feast your eyes upon the 1080p version[i.imgur.com] for more detail.

This release is so massive we're going to deviate a bit from Cogmind's normal announcement format, starting with a summary of major features and changes existing players will want to be aware of, followed by a changelog excerpt listing only the more important entries, then the usual feature details and demos.

The Big Picture

Before we get into details, with Beta 11 it'll be helpful to have a simpler guide through the most important balance-related aspects of this mammoth release, especially for those of you who definitely aren't going to read much beyond the first bits of this announcement or the articles backing it (there is a lot of writing behind the development of this release over on the dev blog[www.gridsagegames.com]).

Have some bullet points!

  • Easily the biggest paradigm shift in Beta 11 is giving all storage units the <no_stack> tag, and redesigning storage capacity around this idea. No longer will you be potentially allocating numerous utility slots just to expand inventory size, freeing up those slots for more interesting utilities, of which you'll find many in Beta 11! :D
  • Hover and flight were too similar overall, with the latter form of propulsion in particular capable of surprisingly powerful builds despite also having the ability to easily reposition or avoid danger. Lowered mass support has now shifted them more towards the intended evasion/hacking role, at which they also do a better job due to lowered energy costs. This is part of the wider efforts to further differentiate builds and parts in general in Beta 11.
  • Ground-based propulsion overweight penalties were also adjusted to make it somewhat less desirable to shrug off that drawback with insufficient consequences, while doing so remains a viable strategy for some builds.
  • The number and types of challenges in the main Complex 0b10 areas have increased, and that also generally means greater difficulty, though Cogmind now also has even more tools at their disposal, alongside a greater number of better balanced options that might not have been as viable before. As usual the alternative difficulty settings (Adventurer/Explorer) have been updated to make adjustments to new content so it's less punishing for players looking to reduce the challenge there (adjustments listed in the usual place in the manual).
  • Fabrication was redesigned such that each Fabricator can only be hacked to build something once, unless using Authchips (which also avoid the new consequences of successful fabrication). Fabrication is still a useful supplementary tool, though unlikely to be able to create almost complete builds from scratch as before.
I'll be discussing some of these topics in greater detail further below.

Changelog

(Note: As usual my full release notes for a major version won't fit in Steam's system, so the changelog here is presented as an image. See the proper full release announcement on the forums here[www.gridsagegames.com].)

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The full changelog is so long that I also decided to split it in two, where the above is actually less than half of its actual content, but includes all the more generally important updates, the kinds of entries I would normally highlight in past changelogs. Experienced players interested in additional details (and options) will probably want to also check out the full changelog included with the game, or available online here[www.gridsagegames.com].

Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 11, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 10.2 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.

Rebalancing Cogmind

One of the cornerstones of this version is the comprehensive review and subsequent rebalance of many items and mechanics, about which I wrote a lengthy article on the dev blog, conveniently titled "Rebalancing Cogmind[www.gridsagegames.com]." It's not a complete list of changes or anything (although it does include links to spreadsheets :P), but it does cover a lot of the whys and hows while sharing the entire process behind it.

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It also links back to previous in-depth design articles written about related subtopics such as propulsion[www.gridsagegames.com], weapon mechanics[www.gridsagegames.com], storage units[www.gridsagegames.com], and fabrication[www.gridsagegames.com].

Power sources, propulsion, utilities, weapons... no category went untouched, and lots of individual items and mechanics were tweaked to better balance them in the bigger picture of the game Cogmind has evolved into over many years, especially focusing on weakening clearly overpowered parts, or in more cases increasing the viability, desirability, and fun of otherwise previously subpar items. As a result, some old strategies may need to be rethought, though the overall results feels really good once you get used to the changes, with more tradeoffs to consider and more ways to get creative or augment your abilities, made even easier by the storage rework ;)

With so many changes large and small, I recommend that long-time players reset assumptions about many items since they may no longer hold true. You'll likely find that something you ignored earlier is now perfect for your preferred strategy, or some other kind of build you've been considering. Hopefully you're not too paralyzed by all the juicy new possibilities, not to mention all the chaff that was removed to leave room for good stuff, or turned into the good stuff itself!

Major UI Features

We've got yet a ton more QoL features, including some major ones that people have been looking forward to, like the dedicated item search UI. (I described the related features in more detail on the blog here[www.gridsagegames.com].)

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It even supports all kinds of filters for more customizable searches, with help text right there in the interface. And selecting an item (listed by distance from your position) shows the fastest open path to that location, and can also be used to move there automatically.

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Similarly, it can be convenient to tab through different categories when viewing item labels on the map, e.g. all weapons, all propulsion, etc.

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Anyone with a distaste for Shift-Alt commands (or just anyone who has trouble remembering the command when they actually need one :P) will be happy to know there's a new Spacebar menu specifically for special commands. (We've got an article[www.gridsagegames.com] about this one, too. Because of course.) Just hit Spacebar followed by the letter key (or use the mouse) to use one of these helpful features, several of which are new to Beta 11.

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Content Highlights

We have a new class of combat bot! The "Heavy" can be pretty tough because they have a powerful cannon, cloak other combat bots, use sensors to eventually pinpoint hostiles snooping around their defensive zone, and summon more allies to reinforce the area. Scary! Fortunately they telegraph their location due to their powerful Active Sensor Suite, allowing you to generally avoid them if you must, or want to, though they tend to guard important locations so you'll likely have to deal with one sooner or later.

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That's not to say everyone will want to avoid them, since they are a pretty great source of good gear, if you can salvage it after tearing them to pieces.

They have a great line of destructive new heavy kinetic cannons.

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They also have a whole set of very useful utilities, among them the very sensor suite they're using to find targets, one that you can also take advantage of to penetrate all forms of cloaking and sensor blocking (though at the cost of sometimes giving away your position).

The suite is even capable of analyzing the environment for tracks to determine pathways that likely lead to points of interest, like machines and exits (there's a whole article on this sensor type[www.gridsagegames.com] as well).

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Friends called in by the Heavies to look for hostiles are not very nice, involving either a random Specialist variant (of which Beta 11 has added 4 more!) or another brand new combat class, which carries one of these and will do a number on you if they can get close (fear the SFX!):

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There are lots more details about the Heavy class in an article about "area denial"[www.gridsagegames.com].

Note: The Active Sensor Suite environment data for non-Complex areas was not actually completed in time to be included with Beta 11, but it's still already very much worth using.

Heavies generally aren't moving around (well... not usually ;)), so you don't often need to worry about staying out of their path, or that they'll suddenly show up and ruin your plans, but cargo convoys will definitely ruin your day if they surprise you. (The article with lots of details about convoys is here[www.gridsagegames.com].)

Imagine lots and lots of really good loot, and that loot is on the move and being escorting by lots and lots of dangerous bots, not to mention held inside an armored freighter armed with its own autonomous laser system. That's a convoy, and ambushing one is quite an accomplishment and extremely rewarding, but also makes you think twice whether you're really ready for it!

They'll enter a main map, travel along a predetermined route, then leave. As you can imagine if you're familiar with intercepting Haulers, you can use various means to determine their cargo and intended path, so you can try to hit them at just the right moment. Get creative :D

Mmm, a Modified TNC from the Exiles shows us the loooooot... (the loot is also significantly out of depth, so you can get late-game experimental gear in the mid-game)

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Sample convoy route:

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Newly active convoys are announced globally, so you'll at least know there's one on the move when it happens, and can consider reacting accordingly.

If that's not enough risk reward for you, you can try raiding a DSF (article with more details[www.gridsagegames.com]). "Distributed Storage Facilities" have been in the lore since the beginning, but they were never a place you could visit, at least not until Beta 11 :)

We have Garrisons, and Waste, and together with those we now also have DSFs, the third kind of small map-between-maps. These store tons of good loot inside, as you might expect, though of course it's also guarded, not least of all by a Heavy stationed in the middle, plus a rapid sterilization system engaged when things get hot (to make them... hotter? :O).

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You'll see entrances to these all over Factory and Research, but the only way to actually get in is to hack it open before any combat bots on the floor have even spotted you (or any other threats, for that matter).

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Strategically these can be a great place to get a whole new build (or buff up your current one) if you're confident, although doing so also gives up any potential branch rewards at that depth since their exit leads up to the next depth.

New Toys

There's plenty more new toys than I'll cover here (including many which are big spoilers and a lot of fun), but let's highlight a few of the more common ones.

Machine Analyzers reveal machines networked to the machines currently in view, super useful for tracking down similar interactive machines, or even just knowing where other non-interactive machines are located to help learn more about the map's layout.

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This new processor also let's you know when an explosive machine has been destabilized, and when it will blow, functionalities which used to belong to the Structural Scanner.

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For its part, the Structural Scanner itself is technically now "new," but it's certainly been redesigned with a more focused purpose, and offers a great new bit of intel, telling you about the terrain immediately behind each wall. Great for quicker navigation through labyrinthine areas where making your own doors is probably faster!

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(Machine Analyzers and the revamped Structural Scanner were covered in more depth here[www.gridsagegames.com] along with other infowar work.)

Because you can never have enough intel, we also have Seismic Detectors, one of the six (SIX!) new sensor technologies added to Beta 11. These offer a wide and very interesting cross-section of data since they'll tell you info about distant machines, robots, and certain events, but only those which generate seismic readings, brighter for stronger signals.

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They're also pretty easy to acquire--I'm sure your neighborhood Excavator would be happy to oblige if you just blow them to pieces.

It won't help you avoid airborne patrols, but with the right knowledge you can deduce a lot about the signals you're seeing on the cheap. Big brain utility right there.

(The end of the Rebalancing Cogmind[www.gridsagegames.com] article has more Seismic Detector details and demos, and more design info about... Trap Extractors).

TRAPPER BUILDS ARE HERE!

So yeah for a while we've have a number of trapping-related parts, but most are either uniques you have to luck into finding, or hard to build around as a primary strategy. Inventory space was the biggest limiting factor when it came to extensive trap use, but the redesigned Trap Extractor solves that by allowing it to also store and deploy traps that you've hacked or acquired through other means.

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Carry more extractors to load up on additional trap types, and watch disarmed enemies run around like headless chickens, or on fire, or just explode into tiny bits.

The new Trap Scanner might also come in handy for trapper builds, or just anyone who wants to speed around without suddenly getting blasted, chopped, or sucked into a chute.

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The completely redesigned Force Booster is an example of a rarely used (or confusing/hard to use) mechanic that has been given new life, and why you might want to reassess your opinions that may have formed over previous runs as to which items you like and which you avoid. It now simply increases max melee damage.

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It actually also has a clear drawback to using it (one of the first such utilities to do this), in that it decreases accuracy, but if you can overcome that (or ignore it), Force Boosters sure can make already deadly melee weapons that much more devastating.

Force Boosters are also one of the new utilities to take advantage of a new tag halfway between <no_stack> and <stacks>, called... yes, <half_stack>. So you are allowed to simultaneously use a second one to add half its bonus, increasing damage even further (for example the best one gives a 40% damage boost, so half-stacked it's +60%!). Some items with effects that could not be stacked earlier are actually allowed to partially stack now! Another point to review :)

Look, Target Analyzers can be half_stacked, too!

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Like I said before, a bunch of new toys fall into what I would consider spoiler territory (go out there and discover things!), but I'd add least like to point out here that a few of the new toys resulted in adding engine support for new twists on old mechanics, especially in the projectile department, and along with that we now have support for "directional explosions." So instead of explosions always projecting outward in all directions, we can get them exploding in an arc, like, oh I dunno, claymores? ;)

Here's a sample of the mechanic in action, where this wide explosion technically doesn't actually blast Cogmind or the Terminal (this was an engine test--there is no weapon exactly like this):

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With these kinds of things having engine-level support, I'm sure we'll see some more real examples in the future.

To end this section we have not a new toy, but a new feature for an old one: Autohackers can now hack through doors that require manual codes, too, making them somewhat more useful (and of course aligning with what one might expect them to be capable of!).

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Mechanics

There are a ton of little mechanical additions and changes, which is what the changelog is for (well, except where I left out a ton of new stuff because it's more fun to just find it), but anyway there are some bigger changes that deserve a bit of discussion. Let's go over some of those mechanical highlights...

There has always been a player tendency to want to build up a massive inventory capacity and hoard items like there's no tomorrow.

I mean yeah, there are indeed a lot of useful parts out there, and you're also going to lose parts and need replacements, but when the hoarding starts getting so out of hand that many of your utility slots are taken up by inventory-expanding parts
and it cuts into your actual ability to fight, or use intel, or... have a real build, then that's a bit of a problem where the game design needs to come in and save players from their own tendencies (as a player I, too, am guilty here xD).

Having huge inventories also leads to inventory management annoyances, and there's always going to be an inventory management aspect to Cogmind gameplay, but we literally had players with 10 pages of inventory items... like... wow. Okay so that's an extreme example and a more common number might be 40-50 or so on a heavier build, but still.

The solution was to only allow you to use one storage at a time (so basically add the <no_stack> tag to all storage units). And of course this change isn't made in isolation--all storage units get a redesign towards this new goal, meaning capacities increased and mass updated etc. Basically we decided what a reasonable cap would be for inventory size, and extrapolated a reasonable scale for the units under this new system, taking into account both build balancing needs and the desire to avoid going overboard on inventory management.

It feels great.

There is indeed more inventory pressure since you can't just keep expanding it to accommodate more (aside from upgrading to a larger, heavier type of storage, up to the limit), but if you were a hoarder before you now have so many more free utility slots to actually use interesting parts and also increase your build effectiveness at whatever it is you're doing, be it evasion, hacking, intel, combat..., and this actually results in 1) a more engaging experience along with 2) likely less part attrition in the first place!

Even bothacking builds are fine, one of the first setups I was eager to test under this new system, since I like running them and traditionally they relied on a huge inventory. But all those extra utility slots meant I could actually attach a bunch of couplers and better use them in combination with RIF abilities. Botlord, indeed.

It might take a little getting used to, but your builds are going to be a lot better for it, and... if you must, there are some newer very large and heavy storage units, but the extra slots come with increasingly diminishing returns in terms of mass. So far most people testing the game haven't really gone for the largest possible inventory size anymore. Enjoy your new utility slots ;)

As part of the storage changes, Cogmind's base inventory size also increased from 4 to 5 slots, without any storage utilities at all.

Oh yeah, of course there's a whole article on this topic here[www.gridsagegames.com] with lots more details.

Your choice of storage is important when coming up with a build theme, and so is propulsion, which also saw some fairly big adjustments. This, too, is where experienced players are really going to have to suppress expectations and reevaluate strategies.

  • Treads: Treads lost their innate accuracy bonus, as they're clearly quite good now and can eventually take advantage of siege mode for that accuracy (and other benefits) if they need it, not to mention using some of those freed up utility slots for optional targeting computers. Their overweight penalties increased because it was too easy to ignore the slowdown in exchange for all the extra support it offered, though for some people/builds the penalties are still within acceptable/usable limits. That's always my goal with balancing, to make it so that some people will make use of a particular approach or mechanic, but not everyone or most people. So treads nerfed a bit but still very good at what they do: support combat builds that blast everything in sight while taking a beating and laughing it off.
  • Legs: Legs are carving out a bit more of their "mobile but pretty combat-capable" niche with a new momentum-based mechanic that increases their evasion with momentum, but decreases their accuracy at the same time. So they're now even better at repositioning while under fire, though suffer if they try too much running and gunning while out in the open. On that note, by extension this also improves legs as a choice for heavy melee combat--chaaaaarge!
  • Wheels: Wheels didn't change much, already serving their niche pretty well as the propulsion known for being fairly fast, supportive, and easily acquired but also easily shot off. They just got a little bit of an overweight penalty nerf.
  • Flight: Flight builds definitely got a mix of buffs and nerfs, trying to reorient them away from having such crazy combat potential, especially in the late game. They're already super fast, they don't need to be super powerful at the same time? xD. They're still just as good at scouting, escaping, hacking, and anything that benefits from speed and can rely on lightweight gear, though flight unit mass support was reduced, making it that much harder to fly around with bulky stuff. It's still possible to get creative and make a decent flying build that can fight if it has to, though its effectiveness won't be as extreme as it once was. Energy costs were also reduced, making it easier to power the core of a flight build, or easier to stack more units for even faster speed.
  • Hover: Hover is the new (old) flight. It's pretty fast, and it can definitely still support some of those combat builds flight was running before, but doesn't have the flight advantage of being able to hop enemies and get out out of almost any scenario without actually destroying anything, so at least more balanced in that respect. Hover is still basically filling that "jack-of-all-trades but also challenging to maintain" role.
Obligatory propulsion article[www.gridsagegames.com].

Like propulsion, damage types in Cogmind have undergone a fair number of updates over the years, and Beta 11 is easily the most balanced they've ever been. They've all got their proper niche now, and more importantly are all worth using if you want to build around that niche, or have a situation that calls for one type or another. For all the details check this article[www.gridsagegames.com].

Thermal weapons were too easy to lose before, so were outright buffed by increasing their longevity via a combination of increased integrity and lower coverage (as balanced it's a niche since they're less likely to be hit than other weapons, but still have lower integrity, meaning if well-protected they will last even longer, but will be lost more quickly if not protected).

Kinetic cannons were very hard to sustain as a long-term build solution because they didn't leave much if anything of targets to salvage (most importantly matter!), but now they blast matter right off victims with each hit.

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EM got nerfed, uh, again :P. Who would've thought that being capable of bypassing almost all defenses would require so many counterbalancing drawbacks!

The new tradeoff is pretty interesting, where EM creates "corrupted" salvage, which adds to Cogmind's system corruption when attached.

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There are ways around this, for example preventing or getting rid of the corruption via other utilities, or evolving it away,
but it does often mean that salvage (which EM is actually otherwise quite good at obtaining) obtained like this may not be immediately usable without some extra drawbacks.

As you'll find, Beta 11 actually comes with several new utiltiies for dealing with corruption. The System Backup Module mechanic (actually since merged with "System Restoration Modules" for Beta 11) was also changed to have them operate more quickly but damage the module in the process, which is overall a better design approach that avoids require tedium.

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Be aware that point blank AOE EM tactics can actually now cause a chain reaction in Cogmind's power sources, in the same way as it could for other robots. There's no log in this recording, but you can clearly see the secondary explosion and screenshake!

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You don't need to worry about other bots doing this to you, which would be sorta unfair, so it's always your fault if it happens :P. Power Shielding also protects against the effect, so at least that's one way to more safely use this strategy.

Impact melee got buffed (AGAIN!), and having used it in my stream earlier this week I must say it's pretty formidable. Those weapons were totally redesigned and despite their unusual targeting mechanics can really pulverize a robot good...

Prior to Beta 11 there was only ever one meaning of "critical strike" in Cogmind, and it meant destruction of the target part/core, but we've now got 12 of them! This is good both for further differentiating weapons as well as adding new tactical options. The in-game context help will be useful here as you examine weapons to learn more about them.

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The Blast crit, generally found on kinetic cannons, can blast parts right off of a target:

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See all your (and their) critical effects reported right on the map, too:

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So that's all the general weapon-related topics I wanted to cover here, but know that lots of individual weapons got tweaked, too, so be on the lookout for changes :)

(Note: Again due to Steam limitations, the rest of this section has been cut. See the announcement[www.gridsagegames.com] on the forums for the remainder of the Mechanics section.)

QoL

Tons of QoL, as usual.

(Note: As above, this section also cut, includes 13 QoL-related demo animations/images on the forums.)

Other Details

(Note: As above, more information and a few animated demos were cut from here as well.)

Community

For those of you just starting out, leiavoia has put together a nifty guide to Cogmind[leiavoia.net], one which avoids any major spoilers. It's got pictures and everything!

As always, aoemica's Cog-Minder[noemica.github.io] is a useful Cogmind reference and theorycrafting tool for advanced players, or just someone who wants to look up stats for some robot or item.

And leiavoia's Dataminer[leiavoia.net] offers a great alternative way to examine your scoresheets or those other players have uploaded.

The leaderboards[www.gridsagegames.com] will finally be reset tomorrow now that we have a new major version out!!!

I've been streaming[www.twitch.tv] Beta 11 prerelease versions throughout the past year (archives), and look forward to continuing with more runs in the completed Beta 11, and of course yet more prereleases as we eventually head towards... Beta 12 ;)

But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Up Next

Having just dropped this huge update it's a little early to go into depth about what's to come, but in short, I imagine we'll next see an 11.1 with some more fixes and tweaks, especially some little stuff I wanted to include in Beta 11 but didn't have time for (also that Active Sensor Suite data for non-0b10 areas). Then after that we'll be on the way to beta 12 and 13, each of which will be adding another new faction ;)

Eternal Cogmind Updates: Powered by me and the patrons[www.patreon.com]. Thanks for your support!
 

normie

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Cogmind Beta 11.1 "Heavy Dawn"
We've got a little update for Beta 11, not the full 11.1 I was originally planning, but there are a number of fixes and tweaks here that'd be nice to have out sooner rather than later, so here you go! (I also threw in a rare new weapon for fun.)

Cogmind Beta 11.1 "Heavy Dawn" (220422) changelog:
  • NEW: 1 new part
  • NEW: Base slow move speed warning threshold now adjustable (advanced.cfg: slowMoveSpeed)
  • NEW: Containment Facilitator info includes effect description
  • NEW: Context help and manual explicitly indicate how multislot parts factor into target selection for impact damage
  • NEW: [Player 2 mode] Additional situations with more dialogue lines (total = 773)
  • MOD: Multiple Operators cannot be stationed at Terminals near one another
  • MOD: Part auto-replacement requires that two weapons deal same damage type rather than only belonging to same item category
  • MOD: DSF lockdown no longer triggered by extermination/assault tracking or Heavy class active sensor detection, requires direct hostile contact
  • MOD: Maximum security response to Exo build no longer triggered by extermination/assault tracking, requires direct hostile contact
  • MOD: All standard forms of jamming block DSF access lockdown response
  • MOD: Certain autonomous weapon systems will not fire on their creators
  • MOD: Asb. Focal Cannon integrity increased from 150 to 155
  • MOD: Loss of part data due to system corruption also removes custom tags on matching items not currently in possession
  • MOD: Attempting to recall newly-invalid guided waypoints instead clears them and shows warning message
  • MOD: Exo build purely exchanges lost slots for additional innate energy/dissipation rather than potentially overriding previous permanent modifiers
  • MOD: Exo build worth much more than usual formula for scoresheet peak state purposes
  • MOD: Explorer mode Fabricators no longer automatically trace and investigate BUILD commands hacked without an Authchip
  • MOD: Loading save/quicksave or entering new map blocks actions for 1 second to prevent potential issues prior to full UI initialization
  • FIX: Gallery item tile/ASCII color affected by knowledge loss in current run in progress [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Dialogue during particular W base sequence of events might appear in unexpected situation [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: EMDS lore entry reflected pre-Beta 11 stats [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: W-25 Informer analysis referred to older sensor range [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Mouseover labels for individual robots outside FOV positioned over unknown map locations did not show [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Asb. Alloy Leg integration completion while in siege mode resulted in failure to update part name color [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Exo build failed to report heat dissipation increase when activated [aoemica]
  • FIX: Enemies losing Cogmind position while out of view still flashed '!' when appearing in FOV, regardless of whether actually know about Cogmind [aoemica]
  • FIX: High/Max Security/Sterilization disabling of Chute Traps only affected the first in each array [aoemica]
  • FIX: Arrows and numpad were not properly scrolling item search result list [zxc]
  • FIX: Part range highlight showed on map while item search UI active and cursor hovering over part in underlying window [zxc]
  • FIX: Fabrication BUILD hacking without an Authchip was still capable of frying hackware as a feedback effect (unintended) [3.14]
  • FIX: Trap Detection section in manual still referenced old Structural Scanner mechanic [3.14]
  • FIX: New Special Commands menu "RIF Abilities" button could only successfully open the info using keyboard instead of mouse [Valguris]
  • FIX: GOLEM build rate had indirectly dropped from 3 to 2 [Valguris]
  • FIX: History log recorded parts stolen by any thief as if a Master Thief [JackNine]
  • FIX: Terminus 12x12 tileset missing new Cutter class (no affect on appearance in game) [Ape]
  • FIX: Manually setting alternative FPS cap aside from 60 would reset cap if toggled on/off again while running [Luigi]
  • FIX: Crash on using a Core Expander within milliseconds of loading save/quicksave [Mitchell]
  • FIX: Megawrench repair of attached faulty part did not immediately remove prefix in part list [[/\ ---===e]]
  • FIX: Could not mass label robot scan records outside FOV in some cases if detected purely via Sensor Drone [Youngster]
  • FIX: Possible crash on new Beta 11 behavior (spoiler) related to a particular rare NPC ally [Benjamin]
  • FIX: Particular broken NPC might be given a line of dialogue in a certain extended game scenario (spoilers) [MTF]
  • FIX: Tactical HUD composite energy upkeep values can now show values between -1.0 and 0, even though they will not be subtracted due to truncation [ktur]
  • FIX: Extended map (spoiler) could sometimes spawn a certain type of conditional robot inside a machine [Mitchell]
  • FIX: Fabricator LOAD chance always showed 100% if attached Authchip applicable to currently loaded schematic [Maiker]
  • FIX: Explosive machines outside unheard/unseen due to distance would set off explosion for each piece, rather than once for the entire machine
  • FIX: External commands customization file named one item search UI input "Scroll Down" instead of "Scroll Up"
  • FIX: New example in damage resistance context help had incorrect info regarding negative resistances
Saves are not compatible with Beta 11, but as usual if you're on Steam and it'll autoupdate you on the default branch, there's a new legacy branch you can roll back to to complete a run in progress if you like.

Have a cool animation put together by Maiker and shared on the Cogmind Discord :D

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normie

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Cogmind Beta 11.1 (220513a)
Another Beta 11 update! This one is even more simply focused on fixes and stability, including addressing a long-standing multithreaded logging issue that could theoretically cause CTDs, but only recently started to rear its head, so I spent some hours rewriting the logging architecture to get around that.

The primary version number isn't increasing here--still 11.1, since saves are compatible. I was going to add a few extra things, but decided keeping saves compatible would help make this version an even smoother upgrade.

Cogmind Beta 11.1 (220513) changelog:
  • NEW: Option to disable Shift-Move Cursor map panning (advanced.cfg: disableShiftCursorPan)
  • NEW: All patron supporter names registered since Beta 11 added to in-game list (see Credits menu)
  • NEW: All patron item-attribution names registered since Beta 11 added to the item collection gallery
  • MOD: Cryocooling Ducts given more padding space to avoid blocking doors
  • MOD: Overloaded Potential Leg shows updated speed value in parts list info mode
  • MOD: Access door terminals now limited access
  • MOD: purge_threat cost increased (10->15)
  • FIX: Mobile Refinery had a superfluous word in its effect description [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Imp. Signal Interpreter allowed manual labeling of specific variants within sensor range [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Having map data wiped then detecting previously viewed cells via terrain scanning recalled original color instead of showing green [R-26 Lightspeed]
  • FIX: Natural alert decay could reset after many thousands of turns [Vectis]
  • FIX: Self-destructing parts did not apply to prototype robots in caves, most noticeable during a particularly large event [Vectis]
  • FIX: Some response squads in extended game map may eventually remain guarding their last approached position [aoemica]
  • FIX: Directional explosives fired at adjacent wall always deflected south [aoemica]
  • FIX: Machine SECURITY LEVEL header only color coded for Terminals instead of all interactive 0b10 machines [Infomantis]
  • FIX: Double-clicking on an item in search results did not path to it [the cat]
  • FIX: Could autoswap even unknown items into a full inventory if applicable target [MTF]
  • FIX: Custom tagging of multislot inventory item did not properly rename all relevant entries [Youngster]
  • FIX: Hammer maximum damage was not increased in line with Beta 11 rebalance plans [JackNine]
  • FIX: Certain autonomous weapon systems might still fire on creator-associated NPCs [Decinym]
  • FIX: Recent change to some part-targeting abilities including relevant traps, Saboteurs, Thieves, and Compactors had decreased their effectiveness [MTF]
  • FIX: Rare scenario possible inside certain DSFs could cause crash upon entry [laserbat]
  • FIX: Potential rare crash due to multithreaded logging
  • FIX: Overloading Potential Leg no longer highlights unchanged support value in parts list info mode

My last weeks were occupied by a lot of 7DRL stuff, so now that that's in the past, I'll be moving on to the next big things (for which I've intermittently been working on plans for, but letting those stew for a bit). Among the supplemental roadmap options, "Revisit garrison interiors" received the largest number of patron votes, so we'll be starting with that, adding new garrison layouts as well as a chance to encounter random events within, plus other updates like a new RIF ability!
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/722730/view/3284837515867110284
SITREP Saturday #50: The Detour of Detours
2GXA11a.png


Beta 12 development is well underway at this point, though I regret to inform you that it will contain even more than originally planned ;)

The idea was mainly to add a new map and new faction (in fact the one promised as part of this announcement if we got enough reviews), plus of course all the related features and content implied by such an addition. So, um, I haven't actually started on that just yet, and instead finished a huge Garrison expansion, a whole new multimap mechanic for interacting with one of the existing factions, and a crazy new randomized item system that seems to work, with plans for an actual
three
new maps, that new faction (and friends!), and a whole new ending (Cogmind's 10th!).

I've been summarizing some of the major features on the dev blog, but here's a shorter summary to fill you all in on progress.

Garrisons 2.0
The first order of business in Beta 12 was to implement what patrons voted for, an expansion of Cogmind's Garrison interiors, and it got waaaay bigger than expected :P

ZhDym50.png


Overall the article provides a background on Garrison design, both the old and new, giving the reasoning behind the expansion and corresponding methodology.

Definitely one of the more time-consuming aspects was adjusting the unique map generation for compatibility with Cogmind's normal encounter architecture, so that we can greatly increase the variety of localized encounters. Here's an example of
potential
encounter rooms (dark gray) to expand upon a randomized original Garrison layout:

oMCBO0H.png


And a final Garrison layout after various encounters have been inserted:

PtRsxNa.png


That already looks quite different, with a greater potential for variation, than the original Garrisons, but there's more!

For years I've also wanted to tie Garrisons to one of the major Derelict factions (one in particular), and saw a revisitation of Garrison design as an opportunity to do just that, so expect more in that regard... In fact, most importantly the new mechanic I'm referring to (which I won't spoil here) offers a reason for non-RIF users to consider entering Garrisons as well! (aside from other possible normal reasons, which in fact there are even more now because Garrisons often contain even better loot)

Among the less surprising new features included with a Garrison expansion are a redesigned clock, several new Terminal hacks, and possible mapwide events to mix it up even more.

There are many other details covered in the full post.

The Scrap Engine
Those of you who have played Cogmind before will know that there are quite a lot of items (>1000, actually!), and without exception all of them have static stats. True there are a handful of items which can be transformed into something else, but item stats always remain the same from run to run, allowing you to build an understanding and expectations of what is available from various sources, and in the end meaning less time spent figuring out how good something is and more spent planning and adapting your build based on past knowledge.

This fact won't change on a large scale,
but
in another major detour for Beta 12 development I did spot an opportunity for a true exception to the "all items are static" rule, built it, played it alongside patrons, and it seems to be interesting and compatible with the rest of the game
pogmind


As part of the background for this topic, on the blog I wrote about "Item Variants and Randomization in Roguelikes" giving a brief history of non-static items in past roguelikes, all the way back to Rogue itself.

1NFJrap.png


This is quite the Angband randart:

MOx9ko0.png


The post includes screenshots from a variety of roguelikes while demonstrating how randomized items evolved over time.

Then it goes into depth about how items being static is of fundamental importance to Cogmind's design, in a number of respects.

Then there's this collage of ASCII art for ~800 of Cogmind's items, because it's cool-looking :P

IfQgcgI.jpg


Getting back on topic, considering that Cogmind was built over a decade while assuming that items are all static, obviously it could be problematic trying to edge some randomization in there, so the latter section of that post covers the architecture and design that would make it possible to realize this goal. I wasn't confident that it would even work well enough to justify including in the end, but it was interesting to at least try if the end result would be fun and make sense.

In short, by imposing just the right limitations on the system, combined with some creative workarounds, it is indeed possible!

The result is a whole new mechanic and build style designed around a new utility: the Scrap Engine.

d63xa65.png


This utility is pretty amazing, collecting power sources, propulsion, and guns/cannons to create "constructs," basically Frankenstein parts that draw on various attributes of the component items, for better or worse. Continuing to eat more items further modifies existing constructs,
and
repairs them in the process, in the long run turning Cogmind into a true monstrosity of evolving scrap, one that might sometimes be a little on the weak side, and other times an unstoppable beast firing some giant multiprojectile penetrating cannon that rips through entire armies.

You know you want it:

eU3d2HO.png


(yeah the heat was challenging--I ran this for a while during one of my streams, but a couple of injectors were usually good enough, sometimes retreating for a moment when necessary)

In any case, playing with this thing really calls for a whole new approach to many aspects of play, and can get pretty chaotic and surprising for those who enjoy that sort of thing. Honing and testing one's skill at adaptation has always been high on Cogmind's list of strengths :)

With the Scrap Engine it's DIY exoskeleton time! (sketch by Zyalin)

RedWXkZ.jpg


Quite a lot of work went into fine tuning the Scrap Engine, perhaps evidenced by the number of related mechanics you can read about in the full article, including armoring itself, part repairs, multislot constructs, construct stacking, and of course the unavoidable amount of underlying number crunching to get something like this operational.

a7p4jaz.png


Inevitably there are also some new UI and QoL features to support more effective use of the Scrap Engine, including a popup list of previously consumed parts it can currently use to create or modify constructs:

8yorBKm.png


Feed it well and it will (likely :P) do good things for you!

Up next: A new cave branch found waaaay down low, a new faction that makes up in spirit what it lacks in cohesiveness, and a new late-game map (MAIN.C isn't one to be left out of all the fun).
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2022/12/year-9-of-the-cogmind/
Year 9 of the Cogmind
By Kyzrati | Published: DECEMBER 4, 2022
Early this year Cogmind celebrated its 10th anniversary since it was first released as a 7DRL, and as the year comes to a close it’s once again time for an annual review to take a quick look at where we’ve been, and where we’re going!

First here’s our yearly dev collage showing off in visual form some of the progress and work since our last review, version 2022!

cogmind_development_year_9_small
Selection of images from the past year of Cogmind-related development as posted on this blog, forums, and social media (larger size here).

Development Time
While lots of cool things have happened this year, I’m a bit disappointed that the past couple months were shattered by health and IRL issues (mostly repeated Covid interruptions), slowing what would’ve otherwise been an even more productive 2022. Technically I put in 7.5% more hours than the previous year, but the total fell 13.7% compared to 2020.

cogmind_developent_time_cumulative_hours_15467_221130
Cumulative hours of Cogmind-related work, 2013~2022.

Looking at the cumulative chart, it’s interesting to note that the past several years show a less steep incline, but also lack the obviously “shelves” from even earlier years. Those were from various vacations/traveling when I’d put development on a longer pause, though with Covid and travel issues out there it’s now been nearly three years since I left the country xD

So development has been progressing at a more constant pace rather than the sometimes stop-and-go of before.

On reviewing the data I’m happy to see that my game-to-non-game-stuff work ratio has continued in my preferred direction (I shared a graph and more info about this trend back in the 2020 review), so more working on the game itself and less community-facing marketing-type stuff. The Year 8 ratio was about 4:3, while this time it’s closer to 5:3.

Obviously community interaction is quite important and still plays an ongoing role in development, as always, but at this point I feel it’s more important to focus on expanding content as much as possible.

By extension this does mean fewer blog posts and spreading the word about Cogmind through various secondary channels, which in turn means less revenue overall (down 20% this year), but patrons continue to help in that regard :D (so we get to focus more on the game itself!)

Of course that’s only one factor in the revenue drop, but it definitely plays a significant role.

Releases
This year’s major release was of course Beta 11 “Mechanical Renaissance,” in the works for 17 (!) months, and a massive set of new toys, challenges, revamped mechanics, and more.

Cogmind Beta 11 Release Art
Cogmind Beta 11 release art, by Zyalin.

Following the Beta 11 release I was also finally able to put together the Beta 10 player stat summary, complete with graphs and analysis

Beta 12 was supposed to be released this year, but it was originally envisioned as just one new map and a faction to go with it. So yeah that’s easy enough, right? Definitely could release it this year according to my plan, yeah? Well I hadn’t even started on that before patrons voted to expand Garrisons, which sucked up a huge amount of time but everyone seems to agree has turned out quite well.

Cogmind Garrison Map Generator Considering Encounter Locations
Cogmind’s new Garrison layout generator considering locations suitable for inserting additional encounters in outlying areas (dark gray boxes). Read more about its design here on the blog.

In addition to lots of new content and strategic possibilities, the Garrison expansion even added a whole new faction system.

So we’re done, right? Ready to do that Beta 12 map? Apparently not, because as part of the potential Beta 12 content I decided to experiment with a new kind of mechanic I’d been considering for years: randomly generated parts.

That turned out to be pretty complicated to design and integrate, and was successful in the end, though despite all the work it’ll actually end up being a secondary part of the release with no direct connection to the main content… Still, it’s fun and creates a whole new build style, and now I don’t have to keep thinking about maybe doing it one day because it finally exists :P

Community
leiavoia, creator of the Dataminer scoresheet viewer, has continued to improve its feature set (see community stats as well now, and compare your stats to those across the community), and on top of that created some great guides, like leiavoia’s new player guide for those who want some more early-game tips

cogmind_leiavoia_new_player_guide__collage

and the heavy combat guide, a style which leiavoia is very good at ;)

cogmind_leiavoia_heavy_combat_guide_collage

aoemica continued expansion of Cog-Minder, including not only the build and combat simulator and tons of raw searchable data but now also with an amazing new wiki including maps, encounters, strategies, and all sorts of good stuff.

cogmind_aoemica_wiki_sample
A sample entry from aoemica’s new wiki.

As a resource it already blew Cogmind’s original wiki out of the water (so much so that earlier this year I just put a link on the front page of the wiki leading to Cog-Minder), but at this point I guess the official community wiki has been blown… clean off Tau Ceti IV xD

For my part, I’ve been doing less Cogmind streaming in 2022, instead sharing other roguelikes, but have done several prerelease streams to demo new features coming to Beta 12, and earlier in the year before Beta 11 was released we did some fun and useful dev streams with the community, a different sort of format for back and forth about mechanics and balancing than the usual approaches on the Roguelikes Discord server.

I’ve also been writing more general roguelike-related articles, too, looking at game design, item randomization, and backtracking.

You can now find me on Mastodon, too, where I’ll be sharing info about roguelike development, other roguelikes, and of course the occasional Cogmind update. After joining last month I also did a little summary of my roguelikedev history.

Kyzrati Roguelike Dev History Summary on Mastodon

As usual, if you’ve got a moment there’s some days remaining to vote for Cogmind over on IndieDB. Always nice to make it in their Top 100 list for a little extra exposure when that comes out. Made it every year since 2014, so may as well :)

2023
I foresee, um, more Cogmind, yes ;)

As mentioned, Beta 12 is delayed into next year, and is going to be way bigger and even better than originally planned. Aside from the other new features already completed… that bit about it including one new map? Yeah that was wrong, too :P

Turns out I can’t add a new faction and related lore without going a bit overboard with the whole thing, so what was one normal-sized map will now be three large maps spanning the early-, mid-, and late-game, plus a whole new ending (Cogmind’s 10th) to top it off, this one quite unlike the others. Tons of new items, mechanics, robots, encounters, NPCs, and more on the way…

Cogmind ASCII Art Samples - Beta 12
Sample item art from Beta 12 (open image for full size).

Progress has been good overall despite the relatively short amount of time invested on this part so far, since now we’re mostly working in familiar territory, using all the tools I’ve put together over the years for content creation.

Cogmind Artisan at Work
A new type of bot at work, busy doing… something :)

Some of the work I’ve been doing is even related to beta 13, which is closely tied to beta 12 in several ways, and will include at least one new map and lots of new mechanics and NPCs with more unique AI behavior. I can’t promise that one will happen in 2023, but I will at least say it’s not impossible.

WARLORD FOREVER!

Cogmind Warlord and other bot models in front of partially explored Research map

(also Cogmind forever, apparently!)

This entry was posted in Annual Review and tagged Cogmind, Gamedev, Progress, Roadmap. Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.
 

Tse Tse Fly

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To imagine it was released on steam more than 5 years ago and I bought it back then, and still haven't played it
 

normie

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SITREP Saturday #53: Full UI Upscaling
3krgr0c.png


With map zooming and lots of other work out of the way, early this month I began building the optional new UI layout to make everything larger! I first shared the specifications last year, and more recently have been writing about them as relevant architectural work got underway in earnest.

That series began with the new year, where you can read in Part 1 about the history and theory behind Cogmind's UI layout, where it's been and where it's going.

nxFIWnV.png


The current layout will continue to exist as an option, generally being the most efficient way to play, but we'll be getting a new default layout that increases the size of everything across the board by 33%. In other words, for example those of you using size 18 fonts and tiles (the majority of players), will instead be using size 24 under the new layout.

Here is a sample screenshot of the 1080p 45-row terminal layout:

FbHditz.png


And the intro image at the opening of this post can be opened to full size for a side-by-side comparison of the 1080p resolution appearance before and after the changes.

More on this project further below, but first...

Map Zooming COMPLETE

First of all a quick update for those who might be interested in the separate map zooming feature and haven't been following the blog: it is now fully implemented and works great. (This is different from the UI upscaling, which applies to the entire interface--the map can be further zoomed in addition to that.) I've documented the work behind that process in a series of articles on the blog--lots of engine work, testing, and new feature development.

The coolest part is all the related QoL that helps mitigate the drawbacks of a zoomed map view so that it's actually decently playable, which I'll be sharing in more detail later this month (the blog is kinda overflowing with content lately :P). I already demoed a lot of it in that earlier video, but it wasn't a concentrated demo, and when that info comes out in article form you'll be able to browse all the features more easily, with many samples.

However, what I'm actually working on now could in many cases make it so that you will not even need or want to to zoom the map :)

Full UI Upscaling

A couple times before, including most recently as part of my Year 10 of the Cogmind update, I shared this diagram (to scale) of my UI layout plans:

2bx7gKW.png


To summarize, Phase 2 is complete, and I've been making very good progress on Phase 3. As I work on it, I'm also starting to lean towards going all the way to Phase 4 with this right now, if only because it will probably be more playable overall than Phase 3, though doing so will of course take longer. It's going to happen eventually, so may as well do it now while the UI iron is hot, yeah?

Phase 1/3/4 would each represent different UI options, with Phase 2 work representing map zooming, a feature technically available regardless of layout.

If you'd like to read more about the implementation details, I've been sharing it across several articles so far:

Full UI Upscaling, Part 1: History and Theory: Background and summary of the intent and plans behind building Cogmind's fully upscaled semi-modal interface layout.

Full UI Upscaling, Part 2: Holy Mockups!: Revisiting many of Cogmind's windows to make adjustments enabling everything to fit into fewer rows for the semi-modal UI layout.
8DnvZKT.png


Full UI Upscaling, Part 3: Dynamic Terminal Swapping: Figuring out how to get Cogmind's many 60-row ending animations to play nicely with a 45-row terminal layout.
uZ0MR56.png


There's no specific timeline for completion of this project (I don't want to offer up any dates because my preference is to prioritize the addition of even more unexpected features when opportunities present themselves rather than striving to hit particular deadlines), but I will say that I hope to get this out there as soon as possible since it's already delayed what I was originally working on (the expansion proper), not to mention the last Beta release was a while ago. Unfortunately the sheer scope of this UI project has had a lot of architectural repercussions, requiring a lengthy testing process to ensure the stability and quality Cogmind is known for, as well as eventual knock-on effects like requiring me to finally redo a significant portion of Cogmind's media screenshots and info prior its release.

Anyway, quite an undertaking, and I really look forward to getting back to the Scraptown/UFD expansion when this is done some time in the next couple months. Oops, I said a date.

In the meantime, more info will be coming to the blog and elsewhere, as usual :)

Upscaled UI Demos

That's not all! You want details! I haven't recorded absolutely all the new stuff in action, but below you can see some highlights. The first 1080p screenshot I shared above was before the inventory becomes modal, which doesn't occur until you've evolved enough slots to need that space for your parts list (this isn't generally until you reach -5/Factory). Here's another scene after the inventory has switched to its modal form, accessed via that button down there at the bottom:

N9nFzQU.png


(All of the following images were recorded using a 1080p interface, so open them to see at their true size if necessary, and of course if you actually play using a resolution even greater than that, everything will be scaled up accordingly in use, as usual.)

Once modal, adding an item to your inventory, whether from the ground or detaching it, has a new indicator to show it went there:

jxMui0J.gif


Drag-dropping works normally, and you can even drag attached parts directly onto the inventory button to send them there without opening it:

qgZrbTx.gif


We have related QoL, like situations where the inventory is automatically opened and closed for you, for example when using corresponding relevant functions of the modal 'p' part management menu:

iwOS9UB.gif


In the above example, hitting 'p' to activate the part management menu, then 'a' for attach, automatically opens the inventory, from which '2' is selected for the Transmission Jammer, attaching it then automatically closing the inventory again. For other keyboard input options, besides toggling the inventory with 'i', simply using any key for inventory sorting or scrolling will also automatically open it.

Of course the regular old swap menu also works just fine, even when the inventory is modal, meaning opening the inventory is often not even necessary:

PifLuXI.gif


The inventory-first keyboard swap system has also been modified to remain compatible with a modal inventory, with automated opening/closing if necessary:

9HNdKzN.gif


Once you've evolved enough slots, in order to keep the inventory visible for as long as possible the parts headers will also be removed to condense the list into a new format. The sidebars are clickable just like the regular CYCLE buttons, so that mouse users can retain access to that functionality if they need it:

SUmPgWy.gif


Secondary UI windows that were in most cases designed for at least 50 rows (and to fit in the map view area, like when hacking machines), now occupy the entire height of the program, and were adjusted to fit into 45 rows as necessary. Like for items the best solution was to move their art off to the side:

cUHOUBb.gif


Likewise, item searching has to cover the entire HUD, as well as reduce its help text area, but there's still enough room down there to show the essentials (huh, Imgur seems to have messed up the final frame of this gif xD):

Dwysj8p.gif


The added height pressure meant that in a handful of rare cases it might be possible for robot info to not fit in 45 rows, though in all such cases the info fits if we apply the "More" button to resistances (functionality originally added to support longer descriptions for items in Beta 13):

PONv4Bn.gif


Multiple changes were required across the content of game menu pages, which in most cases turned out as described in the earlier mockups I shared. Here's a demo of the new basic commands/button layout, and two-page access to advanced commands:

JPJijpz.gif


All three types of collection UIs (gallery/lore/achievements) were reworked specifically for this layout, for example achievements:

8GTHZcy.gif


Although in the new layout those windows occupy the entire screen, they don't normally extend to all edges in the full/original layout, nor do the supporter/patron lists do so in any layout, so I've finally taken the opportunity to rework the archirtecture such that the background can be darkened while these modal windows are open (something I've wanted to do for years):

2neaaFJ.gif


As with other secondary windows, in this layout the world map view also occupies the entire program height, and was somewhat condensed in order to fit within the limitations, but the good news (for everyone!) is that I also took this opportunity to do something else that I've wanted to do for years: speed it up. Although I started with this fun vision of a map animating the route you took to get where you are, while not too problematic in Cogmind's early years, the continued addition of new areas and potential for lengthier routes could make it a bit of a slot to view the full map in the late game, so I've rebuilt it to appear in its entirety almost instantly :D

fWSFRPM.gif


As described in Part 3 of my series on terminal swapping, here's a demo of the new 45-row layout temporarily switching to 60 rows for the end game sequence and final screen (which would include any win animations)--the corresponding font goes from size 16 Terminus to size 12 Terminus, which I've recorded in a 720p window (though of course further shrunk here for display--open for full size):

HbbbOWs.gif


This new "semi-modal" layout for Cogmind will likely become the new default, and can be changed in the options menu (though taking effect requires a restart):

AbBTYbx.gif


There's a good chance that I'll be taking this development all the way to "Phase 4" right away, the even more modal layout hiding the top-side consoles as well in order to restore much more of the map view. That would become a third optional setting.

Stream

If you want to check out these features live, and ask questions, listen to dev talk, or just hang out with other players, I'll be playtesting this layout on stream next Monday (Feb. 5) starting around 7:30 PM EST for likely a few hours.

After that you'll be able to find it archived here.

Wiki Replaced

Wiki links now instead to lead to this new front page with lots of links to useful information, including a separate community wiki database and tools that people have been redirected to for a while now anyway:

zlkCIga.png


Beta 13 is on the way! Probably won't be more than one SITREP before then, if any, though I may put one out to highlight some of the map zooming QoL, just to once again drive home what's coming so that folks are aware :D. Oh right, Phase 4 would likely be something worth sharing in advance as well... I'm super curious what ratio of players will end up wanting to use the new layout(s), and will be eager to examine and share those stats with you all when the time comes.

IEEVJDp.png
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/722730/view/4109043267632264430
Cogmind Expansion, Price Increase "Coming Soon"
It's finally time! For 1.0? No, of course not (that we hit it back in 2017 is just a poorly kept secret), what I mean is raising the price to better reflect what Cogmind is: hundreds of hours of content and lovingly-crafted roguelike adventure and storytelling. I don't explicitly advertise the worldbuilding's diversity and surprises, since that is best left to discovery, but it's been enough to challenge and entertain some folks for even thousands of hours. (Cogmind's screenshots represent only a small fraction of what you'll really find out there, for the reality you'd have to check out spoiler sections of the community, or some videos/streams.)

And the scope continues to grow.

I've dedicated more than the past decade of my life to full-time development of Cogmind. Just me, since it's not like this could support additional folks--it can only barely cover frugal old me :P. I will hopefully, likely, continue to do so for the next couple years. Content is planned out even beyond that, but who knows if it will still be sustainable by then?

That said, as stated before I've never wanted to declare 1.0 then release all my expansions as DLC. Even though that technically makes a lot of business sense and would be significantly more sustainable, I think it leads to a worse player and community experience overall. Instead, I chose to start a Patreon some years ago to help keep the lights on. Although paling in comparison to what DLC would bring in, that has worked out well enough, so once again a special thanks to all of you patrons!

To the point at hand, Cogmind's price will be going up next month. There's only a relatively small window within which to do this without conflicting with other Steam events, and that period is April, so April it is. The new base price will be set to $24.99, and no don't expect that to mean deeper discounts going forward. The price isn't being raised to allow for greater discounts, it's being raised simply to raise the price :P

Some may question the idea of a price increase during "Early Access," but don't worry, the price will likely go up again (!) later and Cogmind isn't
really
Early Access, anyway, we're waaaay past that. Yes that label does keep some people from buying in since they're skeptical of anything marked EA, an unfortunate side effect of all the poorly planned or executed projects that don't manage it well. Cogmind could've completely skipped Early Access to begin with, or stop development at any point, and be fine in terms of completion.* (Cogmind was publicly released for over two years before coming to Steam in the first place! The date on the Steam page is not Cogmind's actual release date, though many informational sites will assume and repeat that...) We'll open the gates to those folks eventually, but the next couple themed expansions cover
at least four more betas
before that's even a consideration. The third still-to-come major expansion could be released before or after that threshold (still undecided), it's essentially just a pure marketing decision when to use the "1.0" label.

*that said, I'm super happy, as I'm sure others are, that we've finally been in development long enough, with enough new QoL and engine features, to support map zooming and full UI upscaling--that was BIG

Some historical metrics, for context:

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For more historical info and graphs, you can also check out my annual reviews, one from each year for the past 10 years so far.

As for the next expansion, to focus on an important new location, it has technically already begun in part as a portion of Beta 13, and much more than that was completed last year, but that version detoured off into the map zoom and UI upscaling features arena so that more people could join us on this ongoing journey. With all of the new folks on board now, it's time to get this train steaming into exciting new territory again.

We're soon to increase the number of items in Cogmind by nearly 7%, a nice chunk considering we're already over 1,000, along with new maps, new factions, new abilities, yet another large increase in the number of encounters... the works. It'll be like Cogmind alpha content injections all over again, said in the strongest attempting-to-contain-my-hype tone possible :)

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So yeah, in summary, price going up next month, and fun new releases coming, too, but... those not quite next month :P. They won't take forever, though--we'll be seeing somewhat faster releases down the line!

Oh yeah and there's still one more discount coming up later this week, so before the increase in price.

Memestrike
Since even after using an abbreviated version of the Beta 13 release notes we still hit Steam's length limit, I didn't have a chance to append any community stuff to our last announcement, so I'll just do that here...

MrMesh shared this wicked painting of a Cogmind scene--such a lively piece that also captures some great details! (via Roguelikes/Cogmind Discord)


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A pair of awesome meme videos also dropped recently, including one titled "The Cogmind Beta 13 Experience" by Youngster (not very spoilery, but fun and nicely done!) and another dubbed "Cogmind Slander" by u/dogawesome, which is a good summary of a lot of Cogmind experiences, and in that sense it contains a lot of spoilers,
but
probably makes relatively little sense to anyone who hasn't actually played, or moreover played a lot. There's a huge number of lore and content references in there though, for those who can relate ;)

After releasing some patches for Beta 13, I also streamed the late-game portion of a run I had started on my own. It was fairly chaotic as usual, by choice :)

Some map-wide sterilization may have occurred prior to the start of the stream, and we know that in Cogmind destruction often begets ever greater levels of destruction, so yeah, continued remodeling was in the cards for a while.


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We later used a hidden spoiler area to switch to 100% stealth for the remainder of the run (okay, except for the times our friends murdered everyone...)

That run was able to temporarily take 6th place since the leaderboards were reset for Beta 13, but has already been pushed down to 10th as more folks finish up their first runs with the new version, and at only 64k will probably not even sit within the top 20 for too long :P
 

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