Beta Update (4/13/16)

**Beta Update (4/13/16)** is one of the Updates in the game Neon Chrome.

## Notes

This might be the last "beta update" - the next one may be a release candidate.

In this update we added the ability to increase the stat cap by finding unlock terminals from chapters with all unlocks opened. You can also buy stats above 100 after the stat cap increases - they will be very expensive though.

We also added some very special rooms and improved the explosived bullet enhancement.

We also implemented GPU skinning for most actors and it is active by default. This should result in a low to moderate fps increase. We observed 2-8% with an Intel-based integrated GPU and 10-30% with a more powerful discrete GPU. At the moment some props on dead actors might be drawn incorrectly but that will be fixed soon. If GPU skinning causes any incompatibility issues, we may disable it in the future.

Finally we also optimized the shadow drawing and limited dynamic lights to 4 per actor for even more FPS. The visual difference isn't noticeable but the fps should improve.

The following updates will most likely contain only fixes for bugs we may find during the next couple of days. We hope to keep improving the game even after the release but the scope of that will be affected greatly by the success of the game: The bigger the audience the more resources we can spend to improve the game.

Anyways, massive thanks to all beta testers so far! The game has improved a lot because of your feedback. We hope you've enjoyed the game and continue to enjoy it in the future too!

* The stat info screen now shows the stat cap.
* Statistics screen scrolling with gamepad
* Fixed a level bug in warehouse & labs
* Limited nanocloud draw layers when the HPs start to rise
* Civilians are not counted as enemies anymore in the death screen statistics.
* Consoles should now always use gamepad tooltips.
* Updated UI for consoles
* GPU skinning is now enabled by default.
* GPU skinning can be disabled from some actors (cryocask and airship are never skinned on GPU).
* Small tweaks to boss health bars.
* Shader optimizations.
* Adjusted hologram hand wave animation
* Minor fixes to some special stages.
* Cam shake has now a slider, cam shake can be disabled if slider at bottom
* Checbox sizes corrected
* The caretaker now always reacts if the player shoots it.
* Min/Maxer achievement now requires that one stat is upgraded to level 100.
* Boss health bars now fit on screen if aspect ratio is 4:3.
* Neon signs should load and release bitmaps properly
* Spider keycard added: spider room is in the board room
* Stat icons should load and release properly
* Stat prices now increase after the default stat cap
* Made unlock terminal shadow a bit larger
* Unlock terminals now increase the stat cap if there is nothing to unlock.
* Bug fixed in death screen
* Overseer stopping end screen improved
* Added INDESTRUCTIBLE flag to elevator
* Improved stun pulse visuals and audio
* Adjusted stun pulse sfx
* Listbox selector fixed.
* Fixed stun effects to reflect real range
* Enemy conv. shotgun projectiles travel at the same speed as the rifle projectiles now
* Elite soldier has a plasma shotgun to make it more different from conventional (both had the same weapon before)
* Elite soldier reload time and clip size were improved to compensate for slower bullets
* Sonic and emp pulse range is now 550 instead of 700
* Fixed the reinforcements display when entering an elevator
* Shadows are now drawn in batches (performance improvements)
* Lights affecting dynamic actors is now limited to sg variable
* Start markers were oddly rotated in many start rooms. Fixed those.
* The player character should not aim at the top-left corner automatically anymore when playing on console/gamepad
* Fixed some grenadier bugs.
* Setting current story item pointer to null after freeing the memory.
* Fixed overseer achievement icon and cyberthrone animation
* Modified default gamepad keys. The left bumper is now a melee attack and the right bumper fires a weapon.
* Changing default keys now works correctly in a co-op mode.
* Circle draw optimizations (improved performance)
* Modified weapon drawing. Weapons should now be drawn better in a co-op character selection screen. Drawing should also work correctly in different resolutions.
* Polished hacks console diff viz bars
* Death tips improved for elite soldier
* Exploding bullets now really explode (may need balancing, splinter bullets, submunitions, exploding bullets combos is quit nice)
* Fixed bug where the game tried to draw explosion range for a non-explosive crossbow bolt
* Fixed a bug where credits were not saved correctly between caretaker phases (lost money)
* Optimized shadows