Archive:Release 3

File:Archive:Release 3-crop.png
## RELEASE #3

Hello Prospectors! Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago we had to skip Release 2 in order to continue working on stability and performance issues and to ensure a smooth integration of the new features and content. This is why we included all the changes of Release 2 into Release 3, giving you a bigger update than it would have been otherwise  Have fun playing, testing and giving us your feedback!

## NEW LANGUAGES

We’ve expanded the supported languages by two with this release: Polish and Brazilian-Portuguese. You can change them in the settings under “game”. If you’re speaking one of these languages please feel free to test it out and please submit a bug if you find any issues with the translations.

Please note that for Portuguese to appear you need to set your Windows region to Brazil.

Please also note that there’s currently a known issue in the Polish version that causes the categories in the Crafting tab not to be displayed correctly.

## KIT MODS HAVE ARRIVED! *(COMMUNITY FEEDBACK)*

The request for Kit mods by the community has been around for a long time, and now we can finally present them to you! Every Kit has 3 Slots for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 mods, and also 1 slot for a Kit-specific mod (Kit core).

* All kits have 4 mod slots
	+ Every kit has 3 general Mod slots (Tier 1, 2 & 3)
	+ Every Kit also has one Kit-specific fourth slot
		- These Kit Core mods are unique and specific to their respective kit
* General Mods
	+ Tier 1
		- Damage Increase on Kills
		- Heal on Kills
		- Increased XP gain
		- In-air defence increase
	+ Tier 2
		- Improved regeneration
		- Reduced damage while sprinting
		- Less interruption by damage
		- Stronger shields
		- Better Defense when on low HP
	+ Tier 3
		- Pistol mastery
		- Faster ability cooldowns
		- In-air damage increase
* Kit-specific mods
	+ Dragonfly Flightsuit Kit Core
		- Slow and steady (stay in air for longer, but weaker thrusters)
		- Catapult (Much stronger thrusters, but high fuel consumption)
		- Steeper dive angle for Melee Air Attack
		- Aim to Hover (slower descent while in ADS)
	+ Boxer Warsuit Kit Core
		- More Shields
		- Stronger Super Jump
		- Stronger Charge Punch
		- Faster Charge Punch
	+ Aani Quick Suit Kit Core
		- Reduced Damage taken while dodging
		- One additional charge for suit energy
		- Longer slide
		- More charges, but charge reduction on taking damage

*Dev Comment: You get a mod..! And YOU get a mod..!*

## NEW WEAPON MODS

Hurray, weapon mods are now also available for end-game 800 credit weapons! For this update we have 25 mods available for them, so have fun mixing and matching, and please send us your feedback. (Please notes: There are some additional mods that weren’t ready yet and didn’t make it into this update.)

* Weapon mods now available for:
	+ FF4 Detonator Mk2
		- Magazine
			* Long Fuse Grenade
				+ Longer lifetime of grenades
				+ Increased AOE damage
			* Magnetic Magazine
				+ Slightly faster reload time
		- Body
			* Mortar Launcher
				+ Faster projectile speed
				+ Slightly decreased AOE damage
			* Rapid Launcher
				+ Faster rate of fire
				+ increased spread
				+ increased reload time
	+ KOMRAD
		- Magazine
			* Big Bertha
				+ Only fires one missile at a time
				+ Significantly increased damage per shot (direct+aoe)
				+ Faster projectile speed
				+ Decreased spread
				+ Reduced clip size
				+ Added delay after firing before projectile starts travelling .
			* T.N.T. Rockets
				+ Larger blast radius
				+ Slower projectile speed
			* Rapid Rockets
				+ Significantly increased projectile speed
				+ Fewer shots per burst
				+ Reduced ammo
		- Body
			* Streamlined Chamber
				+ Reduced spread
				+ Increased burst interval
			* Booster Chamber
				+ Slightly increased projectile speed
				+ Increased spread
		- Stock
			* Heavy Weight Stock
				+ Reduced recoil
				+ Reduced movement speed
				+ Reduced aim and equip speed
			* Light Weight Stock
				+ Increased movement speed
				+ Increased aim and equip speed
				+ Increased recoil
	+ KARLA
		- Magazine
			* Aerodynamic Shells
				+ Faster projectile speed
				+ No Spread increase on fire
				+ Reduced damage per shot
				+ Reduced aoe damage
			* T.N.T Payload
				+ Increased AoE damage
				+ Decreased direct hit damage
		- Body
			* Precision Chamber
				+ Reduced spread buildup
				+ Reduced aoe damage
			* Light Alloy Body
				+ Significantly reduced spread buildup
				+ Significantly reduced rate of fire
	+ HAZE
		- Body
			* Solid Matter Reactor
				+ Faster projectiles
				+ Smaller clip size
			* Direct Haze Injectors
				+ Faster rate of fire
				+ Slower projectiles
		- Stock
			* Heavy Stock
				+ Faster rate of fire
				+ Slower movement speed
				+ Slower equip time
			* Light Weight Stock
				+ Faster movement speed
				+ Slower rate of fire
	+ ZEUS BEAM
		- Magazine
			* Hyper Core
				+ Increased rate of fire
				+ Increased recoil
			* Focused Core
				+ Longer effective range
				+ Slower chargeup
		- Body
			* Express Charger
				+ Slightly reduced chargeup time
				+ Reduced clip size
			* Streamlined Core Port
				+ Slightly increased reload speed
			* Light Alloy Body
				+ Increased movement speed
				+ Increased recoil

## EVAC SEQUENCE REWORK *(COMMUNITY FEEDBACK)*

Since the launch of Early Access (and even before), we received quite a few feedback points concerning the EVAC sequence at the end of each match. Well, we have reworked it to address as many of the gripes as possible in an elegant way! We are looking forward to see your feedback on this change in our survey! So what is the concrete change?

The Evac ship now hovers above ground at the end of the match!

* Players need to jump into the ship
* DBNO players will be unable to escape

Further EVAC sequence changes:

* Evac sequence spawns monsters over time to keep players from camping and killing off other Prospectors.
* Evac ship doesn’t leave any players behind, but waits and encourages players to make it onto the ship.
* Before the end-of-match screen, you will now see the “Evac Contract Completed” Pop-up
* Evac sequence improvements feel more rewarding, giving players the feeling of achievement
* Damage over time visual effects added to the storm.
* Voce overs from Badum added to get people to get into the evac ship
* Uncluttering the evac area

## RUTHLESS CONTRACT UPDATE (*COMMUNITY FEEDBACK*)

* Ruthless now has distinguishable levels:
	+ More kills increase your Ruthless level (0-4).
	+ At first, you don’t show up on the map at all, but people see your bounty over your head.
	+ As you reach the higher levels, you are shown as a high-value target on the map.
* Decay of the Ruthless state has been removed, you will stay Ruthless until you use an emergency teleport, or die.

*Dev Comment: We want Ruthless to be a gradual thing to not punish players too much for self-defense or the occasional engagement. As you acquire more kills you become marked as a more dangerous target, with higher rewards. Since we added this gradual increase we felt that having the decay timer was more confusing than helpful and removed it. The Ruthless marker is still lost if you perform an emergency teleport, so there are ways to get rid of it still. We will keep iterating on this system in the future, possibly with some sort of “Who shot first?” logic to punish the trigger happy rather than the survivor of an encounter.*

## DROPPING GEAR *(COMMUNITY FEEDBACK)*

Yes, you heard right. You wanted it, and now you have it: Dropping your gear is a thing now!

* You can now drop weapons and abilities from the gear store screen.
	+ At the bottom of the gear store are buttons associated with each weapon/ability slot.
	+ Press the buttons to drop whatever is in the associated slot.
* The weapon list automatically sorts itself and will move things down in the order if there’s an empty slot.
* Dropped gear loses its upgrades, so be careful! (this is a technical limitation for the time being)
* Picking up an ability will trigger its cooldown.
* Picking up a weapon will trigger a reload.

## GUN AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS *(COMMUNITY FEEDBACK)*

As before, we are continuing to make weapon sounds and SFX more impactful to enhance the game feel and overall experience. We updated sounds for the following weapons:

* KM-9 Scrapper
* Hammer
* Bulldog
* KOR 47
* Lacerator
* KBR Longshot
* Guarantee
* C-32 Bolt Action
* PKR Maelstrom

## NEW THEME MUSIC

As some of you have already noticed in our feedback streams, we have some exciting new tracks to show you! Be prepared to hear some new theme music for the menu and also for the end-of-match sequence.

New Theme Music

* New theme music for the menu.
* New theme music for the end-of-match sequence.

## KIT UPDATES

* Jetpack Updates
	+ Jet thrusters now activate if the Jump Button is double-tapped.
	+ Jet thrusters also activate at the apex of your jump if the Jump Button is held.
	+ More reactive thrusters.
	+ Lower max altitude.
	+ Fuel now regenerates while in the air.
	+ Using the Jetpack Slam attack now pauses fuel regeneration briefly.
* Quicksuit Updates
	+ The QuickSuit now uses charges to use its more powerful movement abilities.
	+ The Quicksuit has 4 charges by default.
	+ Dodges and Slides consume 1 charge.
	+ Dodge is now triggered by using A/D/S and the Sprint button.
	+ Ground dodges can be used consecutively until you’re out of charges.
	+ Air dodges have been disabled.
	+ The slide is now faster and lasts longer.
	+ The Slide Jump is faster.
	+ Aiming while sliding does not slow down the slide.
	+ Slides and Slide Jumping now restrict your side movement more, as you’re propelled forward.
* General Kit Updates
	+ Weapon weight now affects the movement abilities of the kits.

*Dev Comment: We wanted to bring the Quicksuit back to having long slides and a nice tempo while reigning in its ability to constantly keep moving at a fast pace. We also wanted to reduce the frustration of having the player constantly go up and down, making it annoying and difficult to track where the player was. Now the Quicksuit should be master of quick engagements, being able to surprise or escape, but only as long as they manage their stamina. In contrast to this, we wanted the jetpack to stay more in the air, and also slightly reduce the extreme heights it could reach to bring it more in line with the other kits. The jetpack can now stay in the air for longer, allowing it to gain a birds-eye view and use its new kit mods to its advantage.*

## HUD IMPROVEMENTS

* There is now a new interaction wheel when interacting with objects or picking up items in the game.
* Kill-indicators have been added when enemies die.
* New versions of player and monster character plates:
	+ Player names are more prominently displayed on long ranges.
	+ Better distance-sorting of enemy health bars for increased readability.
* Money and XP gained are now displayed above the Gear Store and Player Kit icon in the lower-left corner.
* Enemy nameplates now have colors based on their strength.

## COMM-WHEEL IMPROVEMENTS

* Changed the placement of comm-options.
* Interaction areas are now much bigger.
* Icons are tinted on the main wheel for easier viewing.
* Commands can now trigger animations.
* Commands given are now displayed in the event log on the right side of the screen.

## GAME MENU IMPROVEMENTS

* The 3 Game Mode buttons now look more in style with our game aesthetics and are much more visible.
* Founders Packs screen will now show you which one you’ve already purchased.
* A player survey will appear in your inbox and above the social links in the station menu when you reach level 2 on any Faction. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to getting to know our players better!

## VISUAL/VFX/SFX IMPROVEMENTS

* Characters, creatures, and weapons have new LODs applied (Level of Detail), improving performance.
* Vehicle upgrades
	+ Updated animations
	+ Better VFX and SFX
	+ Vehicles now exist as MISC items in the station menus

## OTHER COMMUNITY-REQUESTED FIXES

* The kinetic shell movement mode exploit is fixed (where if you crouched and then used the ability you could go up to big speeds).
* The vehicle icon now always shows up regardless of distance towards the local player owning it (before, it would disappear after 10k distance).
* Pressing enter while in-game will not block your input until pressing enter again anymore.
* Localization adjustments across the game based on feedback.
* The vehicle is now available in the Gear Store in the Training Sandbox.

## UPDATES TO THE MAP

This time around we have a few tangible updates to the map for you!

* A 4th Brightcaps drop point has been added to the central area of the map. This is an additional opportunity and challenge for all the brave Prospectors who cherish risk/reward decisions.
* Part of the jungle has been updated with the removal of clusters of trees to open up sight-lines and minimize unexpected ambushes.

## UPDATES TO THE TUTORIAL MAP

The Tutorial mission has received even more love!

* We did an art pass on the entire tutorial, adding some elements to it so that it better reflects the style and environments that our players will see during the match. It’s about the first impression, right?

## MISCELLANEOUS

* Picking up items (i.e. Biomass) is much easier now! (Community Feedback)
* Changed the pact-sharing mechanics of Brightcaps. You will now share the score of depositing them rather than sharing Brightcaps on pick-up.
* The default mouse sensitivity setting has been lowered. New players will see the change from the very first login! For players already enjoying The Cycle a ‘Reset to Default’ is required to enable the new default.
* Various performance improvements

## BUGFIXES

* Tabs for Crafting in the Station should now be properly displayed for Russian and German languages.
* The “Stand Your Ground” ability no longer permanently lowers your health regen rate after the ability finishes.
* The first upgrade of an item in the Gear Store in the match will now only give the first level upgrade for that item, as intended.
* Brood ticks aren’t meant to drop money, and they won’t anymore – this is by design.
* The scoreboard now displays player ranks from 1 to 20 as it should.
* The Cloak/Invisibility ability is now unlocked at the correct level.
* Pressing the social key at inopportune moments in the tutorial and thereby breaking it is no longer possible.
* The “Mineral drill broken” SFX now only plays locally.
* The Tutorial is not showing an empty rewards tab anymore.
* The Warden at EVAC sequence will not drop biomass anymore.
* Several improvements to the tutorial flow.
* You can now Alt-Tab to and from the game without breaking controls.
* Loot auto pickup has been polished.
* Being shot during an interaction now prevents you from moving as intended.
* Shield Barrier VFX has been improved to clearly indicate the size and borders of the shield.
* Droids now drop money.
* Droid spawning has been tuned (they spawn closer to the power-up contract).
* Auto pistol reticle sometimes not being visible has been fixed.
* Added more AntiCheat improvements.

## IMPORTANT FACTS FOR EARLY ACCESS

1. The text chat will be disabled. You can still use the voice chat *(press [Left-Alt] by default),* comm wheel *(press [V] by default)* and ping system *(press [Middle Mouse Button] by default)* to communicate in-game, and we also recommend that you join the official Discord, in case you want to ask for advice, give feedback or simply join the community.
2. We have introduced Spanish and French localization into the game. If you are a native speaker of those languages, we would really appreciate your help to improve the quality by reporting wrong or missing translations via the “Report Bug -> Localization Bug” tab in the game menu.
3. We integrated the new Unreal Engine 4 version 4.22, so some instability and crashes may occur.

## KNOWN ISSUES

* Monster Nests have been disabled completely for the time being.
* Item drop – Upgrades for weapons are removed if a weapon is picked up by other players than the one who purchased it.
* Recall Teleport beacon can be replaced and becomes permanent in the world.
* Kinetic barrier is sometimes placed backward – Players can get stuck in it.
* Sometimes, there is a blank main menu on bootup.
* Shooting Sound Problems / Audio, Sound lags
* Sometimes you are unable to craft an item without first opening the Factions tab
* Players can get stuck in melee/weapon switch/ reload state
* After changing keybindings, the HUD sometimes still shows the old keys.
* In rare instances, you could get pulled into a match while being in a match already.