KickStarter Cyber Knights: Flashpoint - the latest tactical RPG from Trese Brothers - now available on Early Access

[Fargus]

They are AI in human form.

I can't say i like their games, but really this is what healthy autism looks like. Most of the diversity hires can only dream of this productivity.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Unequip Weapons, Armor, Items
We've finally added the basic feature to let you unequip weapons, armor and items. You can now remove these in order to give them to another merc without needing to have an extra to facilitate the swap.

About taffing time. Giving weapons to the face was a mistake in the first place.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I can't seem to track down the latest roadmap. Anyone have any idea what the target for full release is these days?

 

[santino27]

I can't seem to track down the latest roadmap. Anyone have any idea what the target for full release is these days?

I didn't see an official date, but they've been updating their roadmap post and it has Early Access continuing through Q3 2024 (understandably, since we're already ion Q3) but only post-EA stuff beyond that: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1021210/discussions/0/3940146862823733288/

Relevant(ish) snippet below for those who can't access it for some reason:

Spoiler

Announcing our roadmap! Planned content & features to come.
Sharing the full roadmap from now to just beyond Early Access completion—game systems, story content, classes, and more.

Knights, it's been an incredible first 255 days and 100 updates so far! We're thrilled to be about half way through our Early Access and hearing from so many of you, telling us Cyber Knights is exactly what you've been looking for, or even better, more than you'd hoped to find in a game like this. We know we have plenty to improve, but by being here during Early Access you're helping guide exactly what and how.

We've started EA with all of the game's core systems except for one (the newly added, safehouse base-building) ready to play, and the core stealth & combat system already tested through several iterations in the private alpha ~1,000 of our Kickstarter backers had access to. We'll still use EA to improve these systems further from the feedback we'll get from all of you, but we're starting strong with lots to play with right away.

Beyond improvements to existing systems, we have so much already in the works and planned out to expand and polish Cyber Knights: Flashpoint into the game we intend it to be. To that end, we are constantly updating and executing on the following public roadmap:

Changes
Last updated April 4, 2024
October 2023
- Added 1 Story
November 2023
- Added 1 Story
- Completed Hacker's Nest feature set
December 2023
- Completed Proc-Gen feature
- Added 1 Story
- Completed Custom Difficulty
- Updated 2024 roadmap items to break out Q1 vs. rest of the year
January 2024
- Added 1 Story, including +14 new weapons and weapon mods and +3 cybernetics
- Completed new Combat and Stealth Tutorial
February 2024
- Added new class Scourge
- Added 3 new proc-gen mission objectives types and 3 new maps
- Added new Hype/Stress Limit breaks for mercs
March 2024
- Updated 2024 roadmap, updated Q1 and Q2 2024 goals
- Added 10 new proc-gen mission objectives and map combinations
- Completed new Lighting Engine
April 2024
- Added Mac OS support
- Added 2 Stories
- Completed major facial texture upgrade
May 2024
- Completed Safehouse Base Building
- Added 1 Story
June 2024
- Added new class Agent EX
- Added new Influence/Exposure Limit Breaks for Contacts
- Added Skip Enemy Turns
- New Game Knight V2

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #104: Triage Me!

The New Boston zone truly never sleeps - utterly covered in the protective dome, its day and night cycles are primarily simulated and controlled district-by-district. So, it's always Update Time somewhere! With tonight's update we have a new room in the safehouse (aha, sweet competition for space!), improved value of Contact Trust, another round of polish for the Steam Deck experience, and a rapid fix for suddenly disappearing DisplayLink cybernetics.

Thanks to everyone playing, posting and leaving a review! We're a small studio, so please consider taking a moment to share our work with other gamers by clicking Review!

New Safehouse Room: Triage Clinic
The Triage Clinic is a boon for merc squads that like to go loud, always find the heist ending in a fire fight or just love hunting for those battle striker missions. Whoever comes home shot up and bloody goes straight into the triage clinic, and while it is not medical ward at one of your Street Docs or Corp Splicer's clinic, immediate treatment and stabilization can help both reduce Injury Time and increase the chance of resisting long-lasting Wounds from developing.

The starting Triage Clinic reduces Injury Time by 25% and grants a +10% Wound Res to all rolls to resist wounds at the end of a mission.

Trusty Favors
As we continue to push on the strategy layer and your Contact connections, we've boosted the value that Trust has on your Contacts favors, nearly doubling it. Work with those you Trust and when they do something nice for you, it will be bigger and there will be more cred in it for you.

Steam Deck Improvements
With this update we've improved how the (X) button is handled in the matrix to make a more clear and useful loop between the parts of the HUD. Also, we fixed an issue when using (X) that would cause the currently active element to get stuck if the first Talent in your list was disabled. Now it will skip to the first enabled Talent or just skip Talents altogether and jump to End Turn.

Disappearing DisplayLink
With the last update, we accidentally made all DisplayLink cybernetics disappear. They have returned! Sorry for the short and sudden removal ... I bet that hurt. Here, want them back? That might hurt too!

Other UI Bugs
We've also fixed a number of minor UI issues reported with F10s - places where clicking with a mouse wasn't working in the dialog screens and places where the UI was overlapping in victory screens.

Also, upgrading Agent EX White Noise Talent no longer benefits Marker Sights (what?!)

v1.7.19 - 7/3/2024
- New safehouse room - Triage Clinic can reduce Injury Time and adds Wound Res for all mercs returning from missions
- Doubled the effect of Trust % for Contacts on the value of their Favors
- Fixed bug where all DisplayLink cybernetics suddenly disappeared
- Fixed issue with Agent EX White Noise upgrades increasing Soldier's Marker Sights duration
- Fixed overlapping UI issues in victory screens when merc earns codename
- Fixed issue where clicking on some buttons in dialog, legwork selection would not select (had to use key)

Steam Deck Improvements
- Improved use of (X) key to jump between HUD sections in the matrix
- Fixed issue where using (X) would get stuck if the first Talent in your list was disabled

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #105: Bristling Armory

The New Boston streets are buzzing with rumors of updates, rumors of new bristling weaponry and mods, rumors of new UX improvements, rumors of more! With today's update, we've made some exciting balance changes to Contact Limit Breaks, rolled out 3 new service upgrades for Gun Runners, added 2 new Contact Types that purchase Item Blueprints and completed a series of UX upgrades and Steam Deck improvements to help everyone using floor Talents, inspecting matrix terminals or checking the pause menu for keybindings.

Thank you all for playing, posting and leaving a review! We're a very small studio working hard to polish and improve the game as much as possible in this Early Access - so please consider taking a moment to share our work with other gamers by clicking Review!

Contact Limit Breaks: Go for Services!
We've made a big balance chance to how Contact Limit Breaks picks what to upgrade. Too often, the Limit Break would end up with a less exciting upgrade which simply wasn't as fun or exciting. Now we've pushed the weighting to be more in favor of taking Service Upgrades if they are available. If a Gun Runner can upgrade with their Influence to sell you better guns, then they are going to be significantly more eager to pick that choice from the weighted table. They still have their other options - Traits and temporary Traits - and more will be coming online too, but prioritizing service upgrades can really help ensure that you're getting more actionable Limit Breaks for your Contacts early on.

We've also fixed a bug with how the Contacts were drawn for Limit Breaks. They were always being pulled in the same order, basically sorted by their age, and the young ones were always picked first if they had a break. This led to some Contacts who were even created during new game sort of being stuck "at the end of the line" ... looking at you, Potato :eyes:.

Gun Runner Service Upgrades
To pair with the improvement to Limit Breaks focusing on services, we've added 3 new service upgrades with Update #105:

• Gun Runners can upgrade their Street Guns service up to level 4, which adds 8 total new weapons at Power Level 4 across the spectrum of types.
• Gun Runners can also upgrade their Weapon Mod service to Power Level 3 which adds 7 new mods, focusing on ARs, Snipers, Blades and with one for Shotguns.
• Imported Weaponry from your Warner-Braun connected Gun Runner can upgrade to Level 4, at which time, you'll be offered a new Blade and new Assault Rifle in addition to what was already there.

More Blueprint Buyers
We've further expanded the options for selling Blueprints - with Dopers and Bio-Tech Researchers joining the pool that is now interested in purchasing Item Blueprints. This should cover a wider range fo groups that have different starting characters or made different story choices so far.

Floor Talent Clarity
Talents that target a specific location on the floor - like Lure, Glitch, Slashslide and Overwatch - have long lacked the standard display for Talents within the game. We've adjusted that with this update to include the AP bar (so you know you're spending 0, 1, or 2 AP, etc) as well as the keybinding hint (click for desktops or (Y) as default for controllers). This is a big help especially for players new to the game to understand how this class of Talent is used compared to others, and even more helpful for controllers.

Photo Mode Remembers
Photo mode now correctly remembers the last location and exact rotation between uses. So, if you hit (P) and setup the perfect shot, you can hit ESC - either by accident or because you want to go back to playing - without losing "your shot." Hit (P) again and the photo mode will resume exactly where you had set it up before.

Control Scheme & Steam Deck Improvements
With Update #105, we've fixed an issue where (A) or (spacebar) was being used to trigger terminal inspection. This didn't cross very well with planning and executing a movement to the terminal as you might trigger inspection by accidentally hovering over it. We've switched this to (H) or (right-stick click) which is usually Toggle Outlines, but in the context of hover over a terminal, triggers inspection.

Steam Deck Updates
For Steam Deck and controllers, we've also improved the transition from one scheme to the other by only showing the controls that are bound in the game's pause menu. We've also tuned up the detection of the switch to be faster and more accurate. We're still working on situations where it can get stuck in one mode or another but this is a marked improvement.

We've also hidden the controller white dots cursor whenever a window comes up and fixed a bug where playing with a mouse and Edge Scrolling on didn't work great when swapping to a controller.

Simstream Token Display
The Simstream Trainer gathers tokens to allow you to respec your crew. If you're using them, then knowing when they are ready or sitting idle is important. The Simstream Trainer had missed having the token display added but now that is fixed. Thanks to the community for the F10s on this!

v1.7.21 - 7/5/2024
- Big increase in weighting to pick Service upgrades whenever available for Contact Limit Breaks
- Improved sequencing of Contact Limit Breaks - some Contacts were stuck waiting in line
- Gun Runners can further upgrade Weapon Mod service to PL 3, adding 7 new mods across AR, Sniper, Blade, Shotgun
- Gun Runners can further upgrade Weapon service to PL 4, adding 8 new weapons across types
- Improved W-B Imported Weaponry service upgrade to include new AR and Blade at PL 4
- Additional Contacts - Dopers and Bio-Tech Researchers - are interested in buying Item Blueprints
- Added missing AP bar and keybinding hint for Talents that target floor - Lure, Overwatch, Slashslide, etc
- Added token tag for Simstream Trainer to show its token generation
- Improved keyboard bindings for renaming / text box windows - now correctly ENTER to save
- Improved photo mode - remembers that last position, rotation and restores it when toggling in with (P)
- Correctly refreshed right side of inventory/market if you sold the last item
- Fixed bug with some filters and sorts (highest level gear) if you started removing weapons/armor
- Fixed issues with mouse cursor + edge scroll when using a controller

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/4246413199451288443

Major Milestone "NANOFAB" - unlocks blueprint crafting in your Safehouse
New NanoFab safehouse room can craft blueprints to make weapons, mods, armor and items, combine multiple for high power!

For a long time, you've stolen shiny looking Blueprints on your heists into corporate territory. These manufacturing matrices are infused with printing nano, capable of being processed by a NanoForge - the giant nano-3D-printer of 2200s - to fabricate high technology devices to the molecular level. All you need is some Nano-Bearing Substrate Cubes - large plastic gallons filled with blue, red or gold pellets - to dump into your loud, power-hungry and nanite-dust-puking NanoFab.

With major milestone NANOFAB, we've unlocked a
new Safehouse room
that shares the name and grants the ability to craft your Blueprints into real live weapons, weapon mods, armor and items. And the loot tables are massively updated, pouring Blueprints and NBS Cubes into your heists -
adding over 10 new items, 50 new Armors, 150 Weapon Mods and 50 new Weapons through Blueprints for the mid-to-late game.

Our Early Access roadmap is on fire ... Head Hunters are next! If you like the pace of updates and improvements and the continued expansion of the game, please leave a review!

NanoFab Room
NanoFab crafting is not cheap or easy and most Knights will not start on it early in their career.
Powerful blueprints are hard to find, you need a steady supply of NBS cubes and all of this costs credits. But once you've got a few million under your belt and you're ready, convert one of those toxic waste dumps in your Safehouse into a shiny new NanoFab.

For those Knights riding the edge for long and dangerous careers in the NBZ, the proc-gen mission system and the NanoFab crafting system mix together to help extend the fun, depth and options of your career. The extended ramp of your own equipment power will allow us to further extend the difficulty ramp on missions in the future and redefine what perfecting your team means with late-game gear.

Ongoing Balance and Contact Services
NanoFab crafting is a major new feature we're excited to splashdown in the New Boston zone. If you look at the continuum of equipment in the game, your Contacts and their services start at the bottom with Power Level 1 and 2 services and can currently stretch up to Power Level 4. Blueprint crafting picks up around Power Level 3 and can stretch to Power Level 6.

There is a lot of ongoing balance work to ensure that the two systems stretch together and each stays relevant through the right part of the game.
Our work is not done here, it is just starting. Crafting is a big weight on one side of the scale that will - for a time - throw things off balance. We'll be making some big steps to bring the city back into balance over the next month as Contacts expand service offerings, can Limit Break into new services altogether and more stories are added that help them expand and alter their offerings to keep up with new Blueprint goodness.

Craft 'em
Each NanoFab can support up to 5 crafting benches once fully upgraded. Each bench can perform a single crafting operation and is built by type - Weapon, Weapon Mod, Armor and Item. Once your bench is constructed, you can start to create your equipment with the Blueprint, money and NBS Cubes required.

Each type of crafting allows for some different rules, and some allow for supplemental blueprints to be added:

• Item and Weapon Mod crafting are the simplest. You need money, Cubes and the Blueprints and each crafting run produces a clean result of the equipment.
• For Armor, you can use a supplemental Blueprint - a second Armor Blueprint - to merge the nanoproperties of the armors together to create unique and powerful combinations, push Evasion bonuses onto Heavy Armor, push HP bonuses on to Stealth armor and more. In addition, using Gold Cubes in crafting increases the chance that a random Intrinsic booster effect will be crafted into the Armor, making it even more resilient.
• Weapons are the most complicated of crafts. You can craft a weapon blueprint without any supplements, or you can include up to 4 supplemental blueprints. You may include blueprints for real Weapon Mod Blueprints (like a Sniper Rifle Scope) which become fused to the weapon permanently (can never detach) but grant a chance of rolling a random Intrinsic booster effect for each Weapon Mod fused. Or you can supplement with a new type of Intrinsic Blueprint you will find out on your heists that just adds to the weapon's stats without fusing to any slot but lacks the extra roll for an Intrinsic booster.

We've included helpful instructions below the crafting plan screen for each type individually to guide your crafting adventures and we're excited to hear your feedback!

Or Sell 'em
Over the last few updates, we've buffed up the ranks of Contacts interested in buying your blueprints, so if you aren't ready or don't want to craft a blueprint, sell it! You won't make extra money crafting a blueprint to get the real item and then selling the real item; you're better off selling the blueprint.

Improved Matrix Balance
With this update, we're continuing to address issues with how the Matrix Q-Sec selects its Escalations. We found and fixed a bug that was feeding the Q-Sec Tally (a large number, like 25) into the selection process, and was therefore ignoring all the cards that shouldn't execute below a certain Q-Sec Level (like 4). Anyway - the result is good, Q-Sec Escalation actions like Wake Global IC no longer appear before Q-Sec Level 4, and about 50% of the Q-Sec Escalations only turn on as you progress through Q-Sec 1-3.

We've also made a minor adjustment to the HP for IC at higher Power Levels. This won't be a huge change for your hackers, but HP has been reduced 10-20% as the IC ramp up to Power Level 10.

As always, please let us know what you think!

Improved Enemy Talents
Enemy types - as in: distinct, cool and functionally different - hinge massively on their Talents and equipment choices. As we march into summer we are working on a wide variety of new enemy capabilities and types for the game.

With this update we've added new Talents to allow enemies to heal themselves and repair their own armor. This can help put pressure on taking out tough enemies, who if you don't finish off quickly or take them down by surprise, may get themselves back on their feet with a medkit or a patch kit.

Some enemy corporate captains, Brave Star captains and some of Brave Star's infantry drones have these healing and patching capabilities. So don't waste time when taking out these leaders; their high armor and HP values make them difficult to bring down already but now they are even more of a priority target.

Improved Timeline Stopping
We've fixed some issues with how the timeline might stop if there are interrupting events. This should prevent things like a dialog and a Hype Limit Break from appearing at the same time. It also fixes an issue where sometimes a mission wouldn't warn that it was about to expire if it was in a certain configuration or timeline events, or another mission had recently warned.

v1.8.1 - 7/8/2024
- New Safehouse Room NanoFab allows creation of up to 5 crafting benches
- Crafting benches take Blueprint, money and NBS Cubes to create resulting item
- Combine Blueprints from Weapons and Weapon Mods or multiple Armors to create completely unique results
- Added over 300 new items, weapons, mods and armors to the game via Blueprints
- Blueprints range from Power Level 1 to 6; Contact services will be expanding to catch up soon
- Improved Talents for corporate captains, corporate infantry drones, Brave Star faction
- Some enemies now capable of using medkits to heal themselves, others using Patch-X kits to restore Armor Protection
- Fixed Matrix Q-Sec Escalations were not using their minimum Q-Sec Level limits correctly; Global IC now only appears at 4+
- Small adjustment for balance for high Power Level IC, reduced their HP by 10-20%
- Improved Safehouse timeline timing and pausing around pop-up events; preventing Dialog and Limit Breaks at the same time
- Fixed issue with Safehouse timeline mission expiration warnings not always working
- Fixed formatting issues with over use of "When Matrix Hacking," in class tree and other places

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/4246413199457056578

Update #107: Bullets In the Sky
Added bullet pips for Full Auto shots and remaining Overwatch shots, better secondary objectives for cubes + blueprints

Knights - meet at the command table in the HQ, its another update! Coming hot on the heels of major milestone NANOFAB we're pushing out Update #107 to with some very exciting UI polish for combat, better secondary objectives for blueprints and cubes, and
a reset of controllers to default configuration
. Sorry about that, an Early Access mistake on our part - please see below to read about the bug it fixes.

Thanks to everyone playing, posting and sharing with your friends! We're so excited to see everyone's crafting creations popping out of those Fabs. If you're enjoying the pace of updates and improvements and how your suggestions/ideas are landing in the game - please do leave a review.

Controller & Steam Deck Binding Reset
With Update #107, we've fixed a deep and very old bug in our configuration for our input system and controllers. It is the root cause of all the most reported bugs for controller at the moment - places where (B) stops actually canceling things or where pop-up windows have empty blue square for cancel and the keyboard binding for submit.

However, in order to fix this critical and ancient bug - we have been forced to reset your controller configurations to the default. Our apologies, we tried all other options, but this was the final results. If you are a keyboard and mouse player, you're unaffected - we've only reset controllers.

We hope you'll forgive us during Early Access this reset and we hope never to have to repeat it

Full Auto Bullet Pips
With Update #107, we've added a key factor to Full Auto the targeting UI. Every Full Auto weapons has a number of bullets that it will fire in this mode, ranging from 4 to 9. Each bullet rolls all of its Accuracy, Damage, Critical and Armor Shred individually (you can only Shred once per target, but it is more chances of getting that Shred!).

Bullets are allocated equally between targets and you can never fire more than 4 bullets at a single target. So - the UI is now updated to show yellow bullet icons over each target so it is really clear who is getting what. This also helps make the exact benefits or loss clear when increasing or reducing targets.

Overwatch Bullet Pips
In the same moment, we've added bullet pips overhead for any character
or enemy
who is using Overwatch. This is helpful for your own team, to know how many more shots you might have but it is key intel on a situation if you're pinned in an enemy Overwatch field. It's a bit peaking behind the curtain, but use the information well. If the enemy has a single shot, maybe you can risk taking an action but if they've got you pinned with 3 Overwatch shots ... consider your other options!

Blueprints and Cubes as Secondary Objectives
With Update #107, we've improved the balance and progression of secondary objectives that grant NBS Cubes and Blueprints. You'll find more variety of the offered rewards including a wider range of Rare, Epic and Legendary Blueprints and now also the option to offer Weapon Mod blueprints.

For NBS Cubes, the secondary objectives were previously limited to offering Blue Cubes which is nice but not as fun as sometimes offering Red and Gold as it now does.

Weigh your new secondary objectives well and make it happen, Knight!

Full Stats during Mission
We've added the full stat block including Initiative roll, AP, MP and your combined set of all effects to the mid-mission status window. Enjoy!

Fixed Bugs!
We also fixed a ton of other F10s you put in - so thank you! Weapons that had odd stocks, vertical grips and magazines appearing all over the place have been fixed. We flipped the sort for Newest equipment in your inventory, it was sorting the wrong direction. We've


v1.8.5 - 7/10/2024
- When targeting enemies with Full Auto, bullet pips are shown over each enemy to show exact spread of Full Auto Shots
- When character or enemy is in Overwatch, number of remaining reaction shots is shown over character
- Fixed Steam Deck and controller bugs with (B) not working and/or submit/cancel keybindings shown as empty blue squares
- All Steam Deck and Controller bindings have been reset (one time, sorry!)
- Added full breakdown of buffs, debuffs, Initiative, AP and MP from the roster to mid-mission status
- Improved secondary objectives providing Blueprints to have more variation, Cube objectives to offer Blue/Red/Gold
- Improved text and labels in SimStream Trainer to be more clear
- Fixed issues with odd mod assembly - stocks, magazines, and foregrips all appearing in odd places
- Fixed bug allowing teleportation on some door panels
- Fixed incorrect level shown in Cold Storage room
- Fixed Newest sort in inventory was flipped

 

[AetherVagrant]

Damn. These guys are working like crazy, updates all the time. Loved Templar Battleforce and Heroes of Steel. I greatly appreciated that despite not being a very lucrative platform they ported their games to mobile, an oasis in the barren platstore gamescape. Cyber Knights is already coming to Geforce Now so once again I will be able to play a Trese Bros title despite not having a pc of my own at the moment. Thanks dudes, looking forward to it.
Playing Cyberpunk 2077 lately for the first time, and while im a chump for cyberpunk anything and enjoy the setting....I just wish it was turn based isometric or third person.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/7025135705468612338

Update #109: After Heist Scatter!
Improved reinforcement rules for better placement & avoid extraction points, fixed issue equiping decks and more

We're keeping the forge hot here at Trese Brothers HQ with another update tonight! With so many major updates and expansions hitting over the last month, we're working on catching up with the mountain of F10s you all have lovingly submitted, so stay tuned, lots more polish, improvements both big and small and fixes are coming.

Update #109 has fixed the issue with equipping some Cyberdecks, rewritten the reinforcement placement rules for the better, fixed issues with the Security Escalation that could - at some times - skip Escalation altogether, improved the balance of Benders and Divergents so they have a smoother curve of progression, and fixed some amazing bugs reported by the community include a pretty old and nasty one with Extraction. So let's dig in!

Deck Equip / Unequip
Last night's update introduced an issue with equipping decks that is semi-random from game to game ... sometimes decks just won't equip! This is now fixed, our apologies.

Reinforcement Rules Update
Reinforcements are undeniably the worst kind of Security Escalation and so their exact placement and rules have a big impact of pacing, fairness, fun and believability of your heists. With Update #109 we've rewritten the rules used to calculate and pick from among the many possible reinforcement points within any given level.

The most visible change in this rules rewrite is to avoid ever dropping reinforcements into an active extraction area
if you are close to it
. The italics clause is key - if you're far away, like 25m+ then enemies may still appear there are make your day difficult. Perhaps you could re-route to another extraction point. But the days of running between a bewildered set of guards as you extract your team should be behind the game now.

We also fixed some lingering issues with the system that could lead to Escalation turns were no action was taken by the security AI.

Extraction Bug
Thanks to everyone submitting F10s about the extraction bug! If you extracted a character who was Bleeding Out, was poisoned, had any form of Damage Over Time or Healing over Time, then the next turn they could re-appear in a broken state inside the extraction box and cause some major havoc. Now fixed!

Bender and Divergent Curve Smoothing
We were excited to introduce some difficulty to take down enemies a few patches back, but we've revisited them with this update to use a new enemy templating and rule system that will help us build out enough depth in their enemy profile to support the type of scaling the game needs.

As Benders and DIvergents increase in Power Level themselves, all of their targets advanced through a progression of 6 Talent power levels, allowing the Bender to become more and more difficult to hit as you increase your team's power level. It's an exciting template we plan to be using on other enemies as we roll into the next waves of unique and different baddies.

Starting Wireghost Services
We've adjusted the Wireghost Contact's starting services to use Matrix Programs 2, down from Power Level 3. As we've added the Contact Limit Breaks, some of the services were artificially high due to their inability to change, so now we're evening out the new game to ensure that all of your Contact's have the right room to grow.

v1.8.11 - 7/12/2024
- Improve reinforcement spawning routines to be more fair & fun, avoid too-close extraction points
- Improved Sec Escalation rules to fix issue where sometimes no card would be drawn
- Improved Wireghost Contact starting services - sells Power Level 2 Programs at start instead of 3
- Improved balance and progression for Benders and Divergents (smoother ramp of +Evasion Talents)
- Fixed bug with Extracted merc re-appearing after a turn if they were Bleeding Out or had DOT or HOT
- Fixed bug preventing Hackers from equipping certain Cyberdecks randomly
- Added missing description and powers description for Divergents enemy pop up
- Fixed UltraTek bio-formula thief from being tagged as law-abiding in corp
- Cleaned up incorrect stats for NanoFab in bottom right of Manage Room

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/7025135705479590592

Update #110: Digital Cowboy
Better tactical AI thinking, better equipped corp enemies, Contacts buy Lvl 4-6 Blueprints, Steam deck fixes, more!

All right, sit down and buckle up - this omnibus Update #110 has
a lot of things
in it. We've been busy these last few days as we prepare for the release of Head Hunters major milestone. Let's check it - we've got Steam Deck improvements and fixes, balancing for economy and blueprints, better tactical thinking for enemies and better equipment for corp enemies, allowing Contacts to buy Blueprints at Power Level 4-6, sorted offers in buy/sell windows buy best price, and a lot, lot more.

Huge thanks goes out to all the players sending in F10s! We're processing, categorizing and fixing them quickly so please keep sharing your feedback.

And if you like the pace of development around here, please do leave a review :D

Steam Deck Improvements
If you are using the Steam Deck we're excited this patch goes out to you as it will fix your issue with the (Y) button sometimes getting stuck when trying to move a character. This is now fully fixed and with the latest update to the default configuration, you should be very good to go with the Steam Deck.

In addition, the latest round of changes to get Steam Deck compliance caused issues with Steam Deck and Steam Input. If you want to use the Steam Input layer with the Steam Deck, you can turn this back on in the options screen by "Unlock Steam Deck Inputs" - hopefully this works for everyone picking a non-standard gamepad configuration. Thanks to everyone for the F10s and your patience with us as we get this ironed out :D

Blueprints & Economy
There will be ongoing, very important work, to balance and tune the game's economy now that all the major parts are in play. Some of the changes may be a bit painful now but we have to look forward to a better balanced future and make these changes while we're in Early Access.

With Update #110, we've made the following adjustments:

• Price of crafting a Blueprint has
  generally
  increased - some things are far more expensive while things like Items may be cheaper, depending on the item. Crafting level 6 Armors for $200K is too cheap (etc), this has been improved.
• Price of selling Blueprints has
  generally
  increased - Blueprint prices now take into account the number of uses remaining in the Blueprint. Some things sell for less, but most sell for more. Those with 2 uses are going to sell for more and then drop half their value if you use 1/2.

Sorted Sell Offers
Whenever you are selling something, we've now nicely sorted the list for you so that the best offer is first - favors, if available, and then highest money offer next. If you're looking to sell fast and not make a lot of decisions, this will help you pick up the pace a little.

On this front, mult-buy and multi-sell are coming soon as well as a bulk sell option to really clean out your inventory and cold storage with very few clicks. Thanks for your patience as we continue to improve these key systems.

Upgrading Enemy Tactical Thoughts
With this update, we've improved how all enemies think about some of their short distance tactical repositions. On their turn, even if they have a valid target (like you!) they like to consider making a short run for a better position. This movement however was missing a critical limit - that it shouldn't cost them their attack! So, enemies will be a bit smarter, and move a bit less, once they are engaged in a proper fire fight with you, willing to shift positions to get better cover or an asymmetrical sight line but not shifting so much that they can't return fire that turn.

In addition, enemies who are "chasing" something - that is, need to move a long distance to reach something - are more determined about their pursuit. Too often, enemies in this state would "go for direct cover" and not go very far. Now expect to see more "Advancing!" and "Charging!" as enemies close the gap with more determination. You can imagine why we've ended up with this improvement as we test and prep the upcoming Head Hunters release!

Improved Corporate Equipment
The corporate security details just got a new flush of equipment starting around Power Level 4 and up. They've been equipped with a better curve of upgraded weapons and armor where before they would so rarely see an upgrade, expect them now to punch harder and take harder punches as you get into the upper half of the Power Level scales.

Better Scrolling / Scrollbars
Across the game we've made scrollbars clickable and selectable to use as a way to get faster navigation. Thanks to everyone putting in F10s about this, the latest solution addresses some of the auto-scrolling issues, lets controller players reach the bottom of all scroll areas with only text, and gives everyone a faster way to move up and down scroll areas.

Once we have some time for the new feature to settle and be tested, we'll work on improving their appearance a little more to integrate them into the UI more cleanly.

Fixed Crafting / Safehouse Issues
Thanks for all the F10s! In rapid fire - if you're buliding a NanoFab bench, you can now see what type. Level 5 Detox no longer misreports the Stress it will heal, we fixed flavor text on Command HQ to stop mentioning mission bonuses incorrectly.

If you're crafting, we fixed a mix up between SMG and AR optics and body intrinsics. Also, if you get a random booster Intrinsic, it will be shown in green when you're looking at the final weapon so it is more clear.

v1.8.13 - 7/16/2024
Steam Deck Improvements
- Fixed bug where (Y) would suddenly stop responding to move a character
- Added "Unlock Steam Deck Inputs" for Steam Deck to allow use of Steam Input system most effectively

- Improved AI tactical combat decisions
- Improved AI's ability to run to a far away point of interest or enemy with more determination
- Improved AI's calculation when in range to make an attack, not to make a short reposition that spends too many AP to attack
- Corporate enemies better equipped with weapons and armor (PL 4-10) and better stat progression
- Improved enemy armor progression for multiple types from Power Level 5+
- Favor value now displayed prominently in Contact's detail page
- Fixed issue preventing Contacts with upgraded Blueprint purchasing services (1-6, etc) from not buying high level Blueprints
- Price of selling Blueprints increased, price of crafting blueprints increased!
- Sorted offers when selling things to Contact to put the best offer first
- NanoFab now shows what type of bench it is building
- Fixed issue with SimStream Detox level 5 not correctly showing Stress reduction
- Name for random bonus Intrinsic mods added by crafting are now in green to stand out from regular
- Fixed crafting weapon random bonus Intrinsics for SMG body mod and AR optics were switched incorrectly
- Fixed issue that could occur equipping cyberdeck when you had 2 of the exact same type
- Fixed attachment positions for Kaza Raildart
- Fixed all scrollbars to be selectable, clickable and draggable - improved controller scroll to bottom of text only areas
- Fixed bad flavor text about Command HQ saying it grants Mission payment bonuses
- Fixing bugs with F10 window leaking input through during Matrix and Enemy Turn
- Fixed typos, thanks for reports!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/4329731695601041997

Update #111: On Ramp
Added 2 new outfit options, fixed issue with used Blueprint sales, sorted buyers list, improved loot tables

Before the next heist, what do you really want? One more update! Update #111 drops 2 new outfits, fixes issues with used (1/2 Uses) Blueprints selling for $1K, sorts buying list to best offers first, adds the Token count to the pop-up confirmation for respec, and improves the loot tables and some of the Blueprint stats and variety throughout the game.

Thanks to everyone sharing feedback, encouraging us to keep up the pace and especially to those 5 players who left a review since our last update

New Style Options
We're continuing to work on expanding the options for appearance and your individual style, so with this update we've added 2 new outfit choices - an armored sheathe and a stylish dress with some fly boots. More options will be coming later this month as we press on ear decorations, more skin detail options, more masks and glasses.

Used Blueprints - for $1K?
We fixed a minor math rounding error once you used one of a Blueprint's uses. If a Blueprint was sitting at 1/2 Uses, ... well 1/2 is as good as 0 right? It's worth $1K now! Lol, woops - that was bad math. Now the Blueprint pricing is fixed properly, and you'll get 50% of the value, as each use is truly worth it's weight in cubes.

Sorting Buying Offers
When you're shopping and looking to buy something new, we've now sorted the offers from contacts to put the best price first. While there can still be some subtleties beneath the price alone, this helps most purchases be less of a look-and-seek.

Respec Tokens
Respec'ing requires a SImStream Trainer token, so when considering confirming a respec you want to know how many tokens you have left. Thanks to some F10s on this subject, we've now added the token count to the pop-up confirmation window.

Reinforcements on Sigma 7 and 9
If you were facing Sigma 7 and 9, either could make first Escalation calls for reinforcements. While we want to highlight the differences between the different Sec AI, this isn't the right place to do it, so we have resolved the issue. Outside of some rare situations (... you quietly killed everyone with Sec Level 0), Reinforcements never appear as the result of the first Escalation.

On-Going Balance Improvements
We shared when the NANOFAB major milestone was hit that was we added over 300 new pieces of equipment and blueprints to the game that the balance would be a bit shaky for a while and that we had a list of to-do tasks to keep shaping the balance back toward optimal.

We're continuing to work on that each release, and this Update fixes some issues with medical item blueprints as well as increasing the variety and range of Blueprints that will appear in some looting situations. We've also fixed missing descriptions for a number of nano-drug blueprints.

If you have any questions about crafting, check out the NanoFab page on the Cyber Knights wiki.

v1.8.15 - 7/17/2024
- Added 2 new outfits options for characters - stylish and ninja
- Fixed issue with 1/2 used Blueprints selling for $1K
- Sorted buy offer list to put best price first
- When confirming Respec, the confirmation window now lists how many Simstream Trainer tokens you have left
- Fixed issue where Reinforcements could be called on 1st Escalation in Sigma 7 and 9
- Improved balance on Trauma Kits and improved variety of blueprints in loot
- Corrected descriptions for NanoFab pharmaceuticals
- Fixed bug that made deleting appearance from the library hard
- Fixed bug with empty blue square and invalid Talent sometimes appear in character status pop up
- Fixed bug with Credits screen

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/4329731695603975207

Major Milestone HEAD HUNTERS | Challenging new opponents can hunt you down!
Crossing power players in New Boston can have deadly consequences. When a bounty goes out, Head Hunters come after you.
We're excited to bring you a major new content update today, Update #112, the launch of the Head Hunters system. If one of your squad members earns the hatred of a powerful contact, that contact may hire Head Hunters to bring you down.

Head Hunters create high-pressure situations that are forced to resolve over a short period of time, one way or the other. Once a Head Hunter has been given a bounty on your head, you're in a pressure cooker - it is you, or them, or dodging them enough times that the Contact relinquishes the bounty. From the moment the bounty is set until the moment is ends, you have to be on your A-game to stay one step ahead of them and always ready for hard fight for your life.

Head Hunters are unique enemy squads that have a % chance to appear mid-mission and try to terminate your squad. They're independent from other enemies on the map and will quite happily cut through them to get to you, potentially throwing your heist into chaos and setting off security escalations that add to your difficulties.

You
might
be able to make use of the distraction to quickly wrap up your objectives and get out, but Head Hunters are relentless in their pursuit of you and will only try again on some future heist. There are two ways to stop a Head Hunter - kill their leader or avoid them enough times that the Contact cancels the bounty. If you chose to fight, their second-in-command and other henchmen will still fight on for the rest of the mission, but you'll end the threat of them ambushing you on future jobs, and burn the contact that hired them with additional Exposure as well. If you choose to flee, you may be able to escape them a few times and end the bounty without being forced into a high-stakes battle.

The first of hunters to come
We're starting out with three possible teams that can be sent against you, with more to come. Head Hunter teams have a unique leader, a second-in-command, and several goons. Head Hunters each have their own unique flair, with a combat style to match. You can end up with multiple Head Hunters hired to go after you, though you'll never see more than one team within a single mission.

Macha Gold

Two highly trained sniper teammates cover Macha Gold and his second, Ostrek, while they advance to close-range so they can corner and kill their bounties personally. Relying on Cybersword techniques, Aegis Shield and a powerful cocktail of combat drugs mixed up for their team by Ostrek, these Head Hunters close quickly, mixing long and short range death. Arrogant, in love with his name, and sure that he is the top of the heap, Macha Gold loves to talk trash.

Razorback & Armistice

The roar of shotguns follow Razorback and Armistice wherever they lead. The two were corporate soldiers in the Pacific Rim during the Quiet Wars and have continued their career in the private head-taking sector. Backed by Gego and Sledge, this 4-member team is extremely fast moving and all carry assault shotguns, ready to lay waste to their enemies' armor and health. Ex-corporate, these two are buttoned up, serious and grim. They aren't having any fun but they're making bank.

Baby Jack

Leading a company of ex-special ops milsec soldiers who are out to make a living, Baby Jack doesn't take anything too seriously except the tactics. His squad is a balanced mix of weapons, armor and abilities that forms a cohesive unit, capable of fighting in a wide range of configurations and ranges. Baby Jack likes to have a laugh and brag about his kills.

We're looking forward to seeing Discord and Steam discussions on your strategies for handling each of these teams.

When hunted, stay speedy.
Be warned, if you have Head Hunters after you, it's more important than ever to move quickly in missions. Heists that require completing objectives before unlocking exits can become unescapable if you get too tied down fighting to ever accomplish those objectives.

We're working on adding cut-and-run options into the game to choose to abandon a heist early, but in the meantime, play smart. If Head Hunters intercept your mission, you won't know until they spawn in 4-6 turns into it. Don't be afraid to use the Restart Level option to try again if the fight doesn't work in your favor, or Restore Before Mission (which will reset the chance of Head Hunters appearing on that mission) if you find yourself trapped in a game-ending scenario.

Use Counter-Intel
Some times you're on a really high-stakes heist and you simply can't afford disasterous interruption. To stay one step ahead of Head Hunters, you work on building a Counter-Intel Pod in your Safehouse which will give you options for temporarily throwing them off your trail.

High Heat increases the chance that a Head Hunter will strike, so use your Tokens to mitigate Heat. And, you can also spend Tokens to gain yourself short windows of time when Head Hunters are completely blocked by your blast of misinformation and counter-intel chatter.

So, if you're going on a mission with a Head Hunter looming, be sure to have your team up to full strength for the challenge or rely on your Counter-Intel pod to buy you some time.

Cyberdecks and Intrinsic Blueprint Details
We've added extra sections to the inventory screens for cyberdecks and Weapon Mod Intrinsic Blueprints. Cyberdecks now list all their installed programs and Intrinsic Blueprints list exactly to which weapon types they can be attached.

We're featured in TactiCon this week, and on sale to celebrate!
We're very pleased to be a featured game in this week's TactiCon festival, celebrating strategy and tactics games of all kinds. They have a schedule of talks and panels worth checking out.

And in case you missed it, you can find one of our own interviews talking about Cyber Knights, our studio, tabletop RPGs and more with game reviewer ACG here:
If you're up for it, click through and give the video a or leave a comment; it helps us out!

v1.8.19 - 7/18/2024
- Added new infamous Head Hunters system!
- If you cross the wrong Power Player in New Boston, Head Hunters may be sent after you
- Once a bounty has been set, an infamous Head Hunter may interrupt your missions and try to take your head
- Head Hunters will fight their way through local security if they have to reach you - chaos, gunfire, loud!
- Kill the Head Hunters or escape them 3+ times in order to cancel the bounty and weak the Contact who sent them
- 3 infamous Head Hunters added today with more clamoring for a chance: Macha Gold, Baby Jack, Razorback
- All previous Head Hunters assigned by Octane, Henninger or others will now swing in to action
- Cyberdecks now list their programs installed in their inventory detail and hover
- Blueprints for Intrinsic Weapon Mods list the types to which they can be applied
- Improved and fixed typos in event logs

 

[Dwarvophile]

could be fun

 

[Contagium]

I really didn't care for Heroes of Steel. Is this better?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1021210/view/4329731868519904453

Update #114: Call-in Cleaners
Fixed F10 bound to W in WASD (what!?!), added +1 Talents for Head Hunters, fixed enemy use of healing, body timer tally

It's Saturday and you just got an update. With this big bug fix update, we're focusing on hitting the most popular and troublesome F10s in the set this week, grinding on that polish-stone until it shines. Back at HQ, we're working on the next set of storylines and 2 new proc-gen maps and a new mission objective - Assassination - so stay tuned for more content additions!

To everyone playing, posting and hitting F10 - thank you! We hope you're enjoying the game, are here to chat and work hard to improve it. If you like what we've got cooking, please leave a review.

F10 as Camera WASD!?!?!
Ok, major mistake on our part - F10 was accidentally set as the default keybinding for panning the camera forward instead of ... W.

We fixed it in the defaults, but depending on when you started playing and if you've changed anything, you may need to go into the main menu > options > keybinding and reset defaults or rebind it specifically to W (or whatever).

Bodies and Security Tally Rules
We've fixed a few longstanding issues with how body timer security Tally is generated and displayed.

First, you will now see the Security Tally for a body that is about to expire appearing in the top right Tally bar. We need to finish the display where these are itemized you can better track these back to their source, but this should majorly cut down on "surprise Escalations" that didn't look they were going to happen and then ... did.

Second, we've fixed an issue with dead bodies becoming known to the system by guards who are about to die. If guard A saw dead body B but then you killed guard A by the end of the Turn (as one does), then dead body B would be incorrectly counted as seen, Sec Tally would be added and the body timer would be canceled. This is now all correctly unwound in the case of deaths. If guard A and guard C saw dead body B but you only killed A, then B would still be known to the system and Sec Tally generated - because guard C got through the Turn alive. But if you wiped both A and C, then B goes back to being unknown correctly with a running body timer.

A lot to say - it works as it should at last!

Head Hunter Talents, Healing Items
With Update #114, we've granted some of the Head Hunter teams an additional +1 Talent slot which will give them more powers to use against you in the field. A little stiffer challenge, a little more unpredictable.

We've also given Head Hunters, and a few other enemy types, a big boost by fixing a bug that was causing them to use their medkit items even when they were at max HP. You might have seen Head Hunters arriving and spamming healing, gaining "0 HP" each time and then ... well, not having any medkits for when the fighting starts! This is now fixed.

Also, basically all buff Talents from an enemy printed to the log that they were "Loyalty Mantra" which is not the case. This is now fixed.

HP Details in Status Window
Both enemies and characters now have a full HP stat block in their mid-mission window.

Power Level 1-3 Sniper Scopes
Some of the Blueprints for low level Sniper scope mods were overpowered and we've brought them back within the curve while still keeping them interesting.

Matrix Camera Lockup
If you disconnected from the matrix after inspecting security devices from the matrix HUD, the camera was locking up until you ended your turn or hit ESC. This is now fixed!

v1.8.25 - 7/20/2024
- Fixed issue where default pan camera forward was set to F10, not W

- Security Tally for dead bodies appears as yellow Tally correctly on the turn they will expire
- If an enemy discovers a dead body but then is killed in the same Turn, the body reverts to unknown
- Most Head Hunters and team get +1 Talent slot; more abilities, more challenge!
- Fixed enemies using their medkit items early when they are not injured
- Fixed enemies always claiming they were using Talent "Loyalty Mantra" when they were using so many other things
- Added current / max HP details to character and enemy status window mid-mission
- Improved balance of low Power Level (1-3) Sniper Scopes
- Fixed issue with Wasteland Coyote's background tag just reading "for"
- Fixed issue with camera locking up after inspecting security devices inside matrix
- Fixed issues with scrollbars in matrix and character status windows
- Fixed issues with Respec sometimes reporting -1 tokens
- Improved display of controller center-screen cursor during pause menu, F10 menu

 

[jakkis]

I really didn't care for Heroes of Steel. Is this better?

Have you tried Templar Battleforce? It's space hulk - like shooting and frying and stabbing and hammering xenos

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #116: Dust Settler

June and July here in New Boston have been crazy as we marked down 6 major roadmap items in rapid succession - Agent EX, Contact Limit Breaks, Fast Forward Enemy Turn, New Game Knight V2, NanoFab Crafting and Head Hunters... woah that's a lot to even type it up! After such maniac activity and with more on the way (Matrix Tutorial and Reactive Music are right around the corner now ...) we need a few updates to hit F10s, fix bugs and add QoL updates suggested by the community. So, enjoy this big patch with all its new improvements before we start dropping new maps and stories.

If you're enjoy the pace of updates and our dedication to continual improvement - our team is working very hard to make this Early Access something special. We hope you'll consider leaving a review!

Contact Limit Break Buttons Clickable
We got hit with a lot of F10s from last update because the "Confirm Upgrade" in the Contact LImit Break window was not clickable ... that's annoying. Now it is!

Also, if your Contact is at a point in their progression where they can't find any more valid Limit Break options with your Favors, then your Favors aren't consumed for nothing anymore. That's nice too.

More Faction Lore
We've added faction lore entries for the 3 major gangs in New Boston - Fenian, Blue Ox and Los Zagales, helping explain their history and differences in approach to their underworld dealings.

Crafting Rules for Revolvers
There was a bug in crafting that allowed the crafting of Revolvers[cyberknightswiki.tresebrothers.com] with Silencers and mods that increased ammo capacity. That is now correctly blocked.

Matrix UI Improvements
"Where am I?" is never a question you should have to ask when looking at a Matrix map. With Update #116 we've ensured you can see your location with a clear and animated selector ring around your current node. You won't miss it! We've also increased the panning speed of the camera as you traverse ndoes.

And second, we've improved the experience for stealing digital goods when hacking. You used to have a faceless list of files, blueprints and accounts without any excitement - but now you can see Power Level and Rarity. Now you can get hype!

SFX Upgrades
We've made a ton of small but important tweaks to the SFX volume and mixing for this update - about 35 changes total including bringing the volume of the Sec Level alarm into band with the rest of the game. This was a stand-out by far the loudest sound in the game, so it's very nice to have it pulled in.

Controllers and Appearance
There was an annoying bug if you were using a controller where your selection could get stuck on a certain item and constantly jump back there once a second ... it made it very hard to setup appearances and really change colors. Big thanks to @Si1entProtagonist for giving us the clear reproduction steps to fix it.

Safehouse Timeline Pauses
When medical, cyber, treatment or detox events complete in the safehouse now the timeline pauses. This is such a popular request, we considered making it an option but then decided to try this first. If you hate it, please let us know and we can make it an option.

X-Hive Cybernetic Install Times
The two hive implants - Nano-Hive and Chem-Hive - had wildly different cybernetic surgery recovery times. We've pulled them together in the middle with 10-11 days of recover time each.

Story Fixes: Dockyard Smuggler and Sibling Job
We fixed the situation for all new and veteran Cyber Knights who picked Dockyard Smuggler background. This game with a Faction Barred tag that prevented doing any work with the Fenians. This unfairly limits the story trajectory of the smuggler who really just has one enemy in the Fenian gang. We've swapped out the tags for Ex Faction which removes the Barred tag.

We fixed a bug where you could unexpectedly get an offer to recruit the sibling in Sibling Job before going on the mission. Now resolved.

v1.8.29 - 7/24/2024
- Added new lore Journal Entries for Fenian, Blue Ox and Los Zagales
- Enforced rule that Revolvers can't have Silence mods or mods that add Ammo capacity during crafting
- Improved Matrix UI - animated selector is shown under the current node where the Hacker currently is
- Improved Matrix Looting UI - files, accounts and blueprints now show their Rarity and Power Level before download
- Medical, Detox, Cybernetic Recovery, Injury Recovery all pause the timeline in the safehouse now
- Fixed issue where recruit option was offered in Sibling Job before mission was run
- Fixed issue where Contact Limit Break confirm upgrade button could not be clicked
- Fixed issue where Contact Limit Break would let you spend Favors even if no additional option could be added
- Fixed cybernetic surgery recovery time for Chem-Hive and Nano-Hive
- Fixed issue with some character relationship tags not printing and bug with Octane or Henninger Head Hunters tags
- Fixed issue with Dockyard Smuggler being barred from future Fenian missions for new and veteran Knights
- Fixed issue with controller trying to set appearance sometimes getting stuck on one item and constantly jumping to it
- Fixed issue with Sec Level increase SFX being too loud
- Adjusted and tweaked multiple SFX to improve sound stage

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #117: Street Tech

Knights and mercs - we're back with another update and some key improvements and a big bundle of F10 fixes. Our next update will introduce a new map and a new exciting proc-gen objective type, but first we need to get this patch on the street to address some of your requests and bug reports. We've remixed SFX, improved barracks tagging, added more lore entries, tweaked how range display works in hovers, improved the visual of where your hacker is in the matrix and done some stunning (lol) re-org of the options screen into tabs. Let's dig in!

If you're enjoying how our team is running Early Access, please take a moment to leave a review. A review now is a big help for us to keep going and remember, you can always edit it later!

Remixed Sec Escalation SFX
We've heard from a number of players that some of the SFX are remixed too loud. We made some changes in an update earlier this week but are back with special focus now on the Sec Escalation SFX that can play at the end of the turn and is way out-of-band too loud. Hopefully this update really pulls it to a better level. Let us know about any SFX issues you have, we're continuing to work to improve!

We've also greatly reduced the intense SFX that was played when you opened the color picking window in appearance. Wow, that was a bit much!

Better Barracks Tagging
With Update #117, we've added a new "Training" tag at the top level of the barracks, letting you know if you have mercs ready to train. We've also fixed a longstanding mistake in counting, where someone recovering from cybernetic surgery would count as -2 Ready Mercs. This has likely been the cause of most of the F10s about bad counting, so we're excited to see this behind us.

Agent EX Signal Graft
We fixed the mistake with Agent EX's Signal Graft Talent which protects you from triggering certain types of security devices. These devices were still giving movement alerts even with the Talent active. Now we've resolved that and if the device won't trigger than you won't get an alert in your movement path.

Journal for D-Cartel
We're continuing to round out the journal lore entries for factions and added the D-Street Cartel, aka the D-Cartel, with this latest update. In addition, the Faction page on the Cyber Knights wiki[cyberknightswiki.tresebrothers.com] has been updated with all the latest details from the in-game journal as well.

Matrix Current Node
We fixed two bugs with the recently added Matrix hacking current node selection. First, it always follows you now. It was not accurately following the hacker and second it also follows the hacker being forcefully teleported in the host to another node by either an IC or the Q-Sec Escalation.

Range Clarity
When hovering over a target within 10m we now add an extra decimal value for extra clarity. We were having players see "2m" in the hover and think that they should be in range with their 2m melee weapon but the range is really 2.5m and you're not in range. You can also always check the bottom left corner for helpful values about number of targets in range of your current position or movement destination with either weapon.

Better Options Screen
As the game has gained more and more options, things have become increasingly hard to find. More players have asked when we will add the feature to rebind keys for example :D

So, to help make the big types of options and features clearer, we've split options out into tab groups. I know... breaking huge ground here, what a novel thought, we're the first, it's amazing! ... when the rest of the industry catches up, you can thank us

Favor Limit Breaks
We've fixed a few more bugs with Contact Limit Breaks and Favors. We fixed issues where the Power Level Limit Break could lock the screen up, where spending a Favor would sometimes not add a new option and still eat the Favor.

v1.8.33 - 7/28/2024
- Remixed SFX for Sec Level raise and Escalation played often at end of turn
- Added new lore Journal Entries for D-Cartel
- Improved tag set and counting rules for Barracks tags, added "Training" tag
- Fixed issue with double-counting mercs in cybernetic surgery that caused tag counts to be wrong
- Movement alerts for security devices no longer incorrectly appear for Agent EX's Signal Graft Talent
- When showing range in hovers less than 10m, a decimal is added for clarity (2.5m)
- Improved organization of (too long) options menu to be in tabbed groups - Graphics, Sound, Controls, Gameplay
- Fixed issue when selling something worthy of a Favor to a contact with 0 Favors, was incorrectly listed as "1 Favor worth $80K"
- Fixed issue with Contact Limit Break and the Power Level offer
- Fixed overly big SFX when opening appearance color changing window
- Fixed issues where animator selector on current node in Matrix wasn't following hacker or didn't teleport
- Fixed issue where hitting ESC or (B) on Contact Limit Break would leave game locked up
- Improved controller support for start button, preventing it from opening menu in the middle of screens it shouldn't
- Fixed issues with program image appearing for Intrinsic Weapon Mod blueprints

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

So what's the verdict on this game? Is it any good? Is it a bespoke CRPG or mostly an X-Com kinda thing? Also is there any procedural crap going on?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It's good but you can definitely wait for the full release.

Also is there any procedural crap going on?

Yeah, it's a cyberpunk procedural.

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #118: Bodyguards and VIPs

The New Boston streets have never been so dangerous - because your Knight and your mercs about to to get paid to go hunting. With Update #118, we're rolling out new proc-gen map, new proc-gen objective and new cybernetics screen with a ton of fixes and features that were previously missing, such as removing a cyber class you accidentally multi-classed.

We've hammered through a huge number of major milestones in June and July and we've got 2 more just slipping out of July into early August - Reactive Music and Hacking Tutorial are days away from landing. And now begins the late-summer content binge - let's do it!

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and improvements to the game, please consider leaving a review as a way to thank our small team and push us to keep going!

New Proc-Gen Objective and Map
With Update #118, we're excited to be back on the new map train! The H Interchange map is now released with a new proc-gen objective of assassination. You've been offered a high priority hit but the target is only at risk for a very short window - you need to get into position, be patient and then hit hard before they can escape.

With a new map and a new objective now added, our next proc-gen step will be to add another new map with the assassination objective and then to circle back to bring everyone into the fold - adding assassination objectives to existing maps and adding existing objectives to these new maps. We'll rampage through a short cycle here, hopefully making some big waves in the amount of proc-gen playable content before pivoting to stories, recruits and contacts.

Improved Bodyguard & VIP Behavior
With this update, we've also put extra hours into rigging up the behaviors for bodyguards and VIPs so that they are more actively taking their rolls. VIPs will move quickly at a walk toward their extraction point until they become alerted, at which point they will run. Bodyguards aim to never be caught flat footed, so they run and move quickly to keep up with asset and take tactical advantageous positions nearby.

Upgraded Cybernetics Screen
Update #118 brings a complete revamp to the cybernetics screen for your mercs. Before, the screen was presented in a pretty dry inventory of 6 slots you can fill with cybernetics. Now we've upgraded the screen to present you with the 12 possible slot types (arms, legs, deep-brain, fast-brain, heart, etc) that can be augmented with cybernetics.

We've also improved the language and clarity for all the conflict and fail case pop-ups to be more clear. Some of the messages were just plain wrong (saying the implant would conflict with another implant you had when really it was blocked by requiring to train a 3rd class, etc).

Also, implants that provide a new multi-class cyber class are tagged to be more obvious within the lists.

Remove Cybernetics for Limited Respec
With Update #118, we've also added a highly requested ability to undo class training in a cyber class that has a cybernetic requirement[cyberknightswiki.tresebrothers.com], such as Vanguard or Scourge. Now you can select any implant and simply uninstall it. We skip over the gross procedure and getting the vat grown replacements and just get you back to the game. If your Cyber Knight doesn't want that Dermal Plating - pull it. If you regret multi-classing your Hacker into Agent EX, pull the Nano-Hive and bingo, you're clean slate Hacker again.

This uninstall procedure does not require a SimStream Trainer token as it is only a partial respec, only removing the class nodes trained from the specific tree of the class you're removing.

We discussed making this cost money, a week, and a cyber surgery bed at with a Contac but - for now - have opted for free and instant. You've already paid a hefty price to get that implant installed, so our team found this feature is mostly used to undo mistakes as there is very little or no gameplay advantage from doing it.

And if your starting class came with an implant -such as Emille starting with a Chameleon Sheathe and Vanguard - you cannot remove it.

Upgrade to Matrix Link 2
We've fixed the conflict bug that was preventing the upgrades of required cyber class implants, such as Matrix Link 1 to Matrix Link 2. Get your hacker, get your fistful of cash and get yourself to the clinic now!

Proc-Gen Name Upgrade
We've really enjoyed all the players posting the best mission names to the Best Mission Names threads on our Discord[discord.com], the names that everyone helped suggest and the generator has done an amazing job of creating some cool stuff. We've gone back into this little content engine with a new round of updates, better expanding the set and letting both the map and the objective have more of an impact. We hope you post up the new results too :D

Improved Stun vs. Security Tally
We've fixed a number of issues related to Stunned enemies reporting to the Sec AI, that Security Tally would still appear in yellow in the HUD even if they were Stunned and that some types of events could still end up being reported. All of this is now cleaned up and we've standardized the handling of Stunned as a priority status across the stack so that the Sec AI and the individual agent intelligence adhere to the rules everyone would expect.

v1.8.35 - 7/30/2024
- Added new proc-gen mission objective for Assassination
- Added new proc-gen map "H-Interchange"
- Improved behavior for VIPs and bodyguards - much better in Snitch Snuff mission too
- All new cyber surgery screen makes slot options much clearer
- Now uninstall any implant from cybernetic screen, including cyber-class implants to remove that class training
- Fixed conflict preventing Hackers from upgrading from Matrix Link 1 to Matrix Link
- Improved and clarified text in all cybernetic surgery conflict tags, added Multi-Class tag to highlight those
- Improved Tally display and Sec AI reporting rules for stunned enemies - they do not see, they do not report
- Widened range of custom/flexible difficultly, opening up ranges for those locked at 75-125% to 50-150%
- Fixed issue with helper extraction dialog playing at the end of every hack only mission, now plays first time only
- Fixed issues with landed hovertrucks not correctly blocking sight lines

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update #119: District HQ

Two days, two new maps! We're excited to roll out Update #119 with another map to play for the new assassinate VIP objective type. In June and July we smashed roadmap milestone after milestone but now we're getting ready for the late summer deluge of content - maps, missions, stories, recruits and more. Time to make this game deep! So with Update #119, we're rolling out new proc-gen map, improved the bodyguard behavior once a VIP goes down, fixed a lingering bug with double-counted corpses, fixed a sneaky longstanding bug with extra Silencers being generated if you were swapping characters in new game and made a list of quality improvements to the H Interchange map rolled out yesterday.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates and improvements to the game, please consider leaving a review as a way to thank our small team and push us to keep going!

New Map for Assassinations - District HQ
With Update #119, we're excited to roll out another new map - the District HQ - which appears one of the options in the new assassination proc-gen objective type. This new map has a cool city district style that is really beautiful and you'll find some new unique rooftop challenges here as the enemy forces have had a time to fortify this zone against attackers.

We've also fixed all reported issues with yesterday's release of the new map and assassination objective. There was one VIP landing zone where the ZIP was trapped and couldn't move and another funny situation where you contact was congratulating themself about the assassination gone well.

Finally, we fixed a bunch of starting camera positions that were rotated into geometry or rotated so that you couldn't see the characters.

Improved VIPs and Bodyguards
Our first big round of improvements toward getting VIPs and bodyguards to coordinate their actions went pretty well. They are much better at sticking together and bodyguards are now resolute in their fast movement to take tactical positions in a circular fashion around the VIP and protect them.

With this update, we've fixed some of the bodyguard behavior after the VIP is dead to be sure they don't mill around stupidly and instead try to take retribution on the attackers.

We'll keep working on improving this set of intelligence and especially are excited to add some new Talents to the bodyguards' bags to help make them better defenders.

Double Count Corpses
We fixed a bug - thanks for the F10s! - introduced a few updates ago that could cause a body to be "double counted". An enemy would discover a corpse and then the Sec AI would receive multiple reports of fatalities on that turn. This is now resolved - each body is counted exactly once when it is first discovered and if the discoverer is killed on the same Turn, the body reverts to be undiscovered.

New Game Silencer Pile
We're excited to fix a sneaky, longstanding bug and a mystery that has been blamed on the EQ system for quite some times. Some players find that they have silencers in a pile in their inventory at some point in the game. Sometimes 14/14 ... that makes no sense, there are only 4 equipped on my characters! Sometimes 56/56 ... wut?

The true cause of this was actually switching characters in new game could leave silencers hanging around. If you tested out enough team combos, it could leave a lot of silencers around!

We're excited to have this fixed for future new games :D

v1.8.37 - 8/1/2024
- Added new proc-gen map "District HQ" for mission objective Assassination
- Added more variety for mission names, especially bodyguard missions
- Further improved behavior for VIPs and bodyguards - better guarding routine
- Fixed issue with one VIP/bodyguard arrival where they are stuck on the rooftop and don't move
- Fixed funny Contact thanking themselves for completing the assassination mission lol
- Fixed bad starting camera angles in new H Interchange map
- Improved lighting and fixed some flickering elements in new H Interchange map
- Fixed new game issue where changing characters could result in extra Silencers later

 

[cyborgboy95]

Major Milestone REACTIVE - unlocks dynamic music to match your heist action

Part of our 10+ year journey as game developers has been constantly working to improve every aspect of our games with each new release. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve seen, and heard, this evolution in each game. For soundtracks, our studio has progressed from buying non-exclusive tracks from online markets to hiring our own team and lovingly composing original soundtracks from scratch.

Today, we’re taking an exciting new step forward for both our studio and Cyber Knights: Flashpoint with the release of Reactive Music: dynamic, engine-controlled music layering that reacts to your gameplay, building tension when you’re close to being discovered or amping up the excitement as your shoot-out intensifies.

^^ Not trying to play well here at all, just trying to illicit big changes from the reactive music's tension system

A major tech upgrade made possible by our Kickstarter backers
Because of the success of our Kickstarter, we were able to upgrade Cyber Knight’s audio engine early on to use Wwise, a much more feature-rich interactive audio solution for games, made by Audiokinetic. It’s made it easy for us to integrate SFX across Cyber Knights’ tactical encounters with all of your squads’ abilities and interactions.

Now, working with our composers and sound designers at Studio Viking, we’ve rigged up the game’s soundtrack with dynamics unparalleled in any previous Trese Brothers release. We’re no longer just looping songs from a static soundtrack - by using Wwise with Unity, the game’s audio engine can process and mix individual instruments, movements and tempos rather than just starting and stopping static tracks.

A better heartbeat (and melody) for the game experience
This means the music will now match itself to game events as they’re happening real-time in your heist. As the gameplay tension rises, guards start to become suspicious, a body is found or the first shots are fired - the game feeds this into the music engine as a tension rating and musical mode that cues the reactive music component on how to mutate, change tempo, add and remove musical instruments and intensify the mix to match your gameplay moment.

As the tension increases and wanes within a level - as more reinforcements arrive, or as Head Hunters kick down the door, or you kill the last guard who knows you’re in the building - the music can dramatically shift to follow the rise or drop in threat.

Roadmap milestone + more audio polish
This is a huge step up for the game’s sound experience. This not only completes the Reactive Music major milestone on our roadmap, but adds all of the other tracks (and their component elements for Reactive Music to use) from the game’s soundtrack that weren’t yet included in the game, increasing the variety of in-game music by more than tenfold.
We have also received a lot of feedback about the sound effects and the music in Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. This patch addresses some of them and we are working to incorporate more of that feedback into upcoming patches. We’ve adjusted several audio effects, mixes and made platform improvements that should help resolve several of the higher priority issues.

Added 5 new Matrix Hosts
We've improved the catalog of matrix templates again for solo hacker missions as well as matrix hosts used in across the proc-gen missions with SCU and APU available. Every push to increase these helps us strive for a point where every proc-gen map, objective, matrix host combination is reaching a tipping point of uniqueness as these catalogs continue to grow.

Talent Rebalance: Coordinate Charge & Deflection Shield
With this update, we've completed some needed rebalance for Soldier's Coordinated Charge and Cybersword's Deflection Field.
First, we've reduced power on Coordinated Charge, removing the ability to get a second max charge. With the recharge rate, ability to extend duration, this Talent can already be almost omnipresent so this helps bring it back into a fairer spot within the meta. In addition, the final upgrade that gives +1 MP no longer adds +5% Move Speed, leaving the total achievable Move Speed at +25%.

Cybersword's Deflection Shield has received a 6th upgrade node which can enable you to drop the shield for 0 AP and only an IO-Batt charge from your blade. This can be really helpful in those clutch situations where the AP are just too tight, so consider this new upgrade!

Decoy Upgrades
The Decoy II and III programs' have both received an improvement, a minor buff to their armor and a reduction in program rating so they are viable on more decks. Decoy II is up to +4 Armor (which matters all the more now that Hacker's brains are bleeding more!) and has had a Program Rating reduction and Decoy III is at +6 Armor with an even bigger Program Rating reduction.

Enjoy making those IC and the Q-Sec Escalation miss!

Better Power Level 2 Prices
Thanks to all the players sharing feedback and chatting with us in Discord. With your help, we've improved the pricing matrix for low level armor and weapons you can get at the beginning of the game. All of the prices have come down a bit, so remember to go shopping when you've got some U-Dahs after your latest heist.

Story Repercussions
We've improved the story events if you ignore the starting Vanguard's Cube Run mission. Don't do it - it is not exciting, and the Vanguard just gets mad. But before we had missed the consequence here and nothing was said and no one cared. That said - go on the mission! z

v1.8.39 - 8/2/2024
- Added reactive music system - game music now responds to rising stealth and combat tension, varies music intensity
- Major increase in variety of music in missions
- Added 5 new matrix hosts maps to hack-only and proc-gen missions
- Down-balanced Soldier's Coordinated Charge - removed option to get +1 max charge, total move speed bonus is +25%
- Improved Decoy II and III with more Deck Armor, reduced Program Ratings
- Added 6th upgrade option for Cybersword's Deflection Field to reduce cost to -1 AP
- Fixed issue with Chameleon Sheathe implant blocking Stealth Armor from being equipped
- Minor price reduction for Power Level 2 weapons and Power Level 2 an 3 Armors
- Improved starting Vanguard's reaction to ignoring Cube Run mission
- Tightened up timeline on all proc-gen missions, reduced by 1-2 days

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

At this point the music doesn’t change, not sure if this feature is planed though I will suggest it to the devs in my feedback.

It seems they took heed from that feedback.