Development Update (v.53.1)

Official Patch Notes

## New tool - MARKER FLAGS

Marker Flags are the latest addition to your arsenal of tools available during an expedition! These nifty glow-in-the-dark flags can be placed in the ruins to help keep track of traveled paths, places of interest, or anywhere else you deem important. Marker Flags are also retrofitted with microchips that allow them to appear on your Radar System map!

* Marker Flags do not take up an inventory space. Instead, they have their own dedicated slot for both PC and VR
* By default, players start with five marker flags, but can upgrade their capacity via the shop
* Players can toggle the color of their flags as desired
* Players can retrieve flags they've already placed by interacting with them
* Players have the ability to toggle the visibility of other player's flags on and off as desired in Gameplay settings
* The Radar System map has also been updated with the ability to toggle the visibility of flags

## Expedition Modifiers

You can now further customize your experience through the use of expedition modifiers! These additional options allow you to introduce brand new challenges to your expeditions, or even reduce the difficulty altogether. Depending on your selections, modifiers will produce a bonus reward (or penalty) that will apply to the round's total XP and gold. Expedition Modifiers come with pre-defined presets for players to try, but you can also save your favorite modifier selections to custom presets to easily reapply them in the future!

* Agony Preset - For those seeking the most difficult challenge FOREWARNED currently has to offer, this preset will not disappoint
* Explorer Preset - For those struggling to complete a full expedition, the Explorer preset is extremely forgiving
* The previous options (Medkits, PVP, Blessing of Osiris, Timed, Loot Mode) have been moved into Expedition Modifiers
* New options included with this update for Expedition Modifiers are as follows:
	+ Spirit Interaction Frequency
	+ The frequency in which the Mejai's spirit produces phenomena
	+ Locked Chests
	+ Treasure chests remain locked until the Mejai assumes physical form
	+ Starting Health Points
	+ The health points for all players at the start of the expedition
	+ Disarm Traps
	+ Deactivates traps throughout the ruins when the Mejai assumes physical form
* Expedition Modifiers are unlocked at player level 15

## Gear Enhancements

* General Updates
	+ A tooltip will now appear when looking at player backpacks to easily distinguish whose gear belongs to who
	+ The tool layout when unpacking your gear has been more optimally spaced out, and has a very slight delay between each item popping out
	+ New sounds have been added when tools are dropped on surfaces
* Torch and Lighter - Given the importance of the torch and lighter, we've made some quality of life improvements to their use.
	+ The Lighter no longer takes up an inventory space and is instead a default item on the player's body
	+ The Torch can now be manually extinguished by holding down RMB (default) for PC and the trigger for VR
	+ When respawning via the Blessing of Osiris, players will now automatically be holding a lit torch (unless the Mejai is Necreph and physically manifested, in which case the torch will be unlit)
* VR
	+ The VR inventory belt has received two additional slots to bring the total capacity closer to that of a PC player
	+ While placing an item into a belt slot, the hovered slot will be outlined in green
	+ Added logic to stop tools from entering a VR player’s belt until they’ve been picked up for the first time
	+ Updated the placement and scaling of relics, jars, pages, and several tools in the VR belt slots
	+ Upgraded VR Haptics with tools turning on, hovering over the inventory belt, hard hat, and more
* Radar Sensor and Geiger Counter
	+ Both the Radar Sensor and Geiger Counter have received higher quality textures to bring them up to par with the graphical quality of other tools.

## New Designs

* Cursed Sands Ruins
	+ In a previous update, the original tomb variation received a visual overhaul on the inside. This update now introduces a visual overhaul to the outside of the Cursed Sand Ruins map, with a much more detailed and quality aesthetic.
* Inner Tomb
	+ Many players have noted it doesn't make sense that the Mejai names at the inner tomb door are written in modern language instead of hieroglyphics. This update changes that!
		- The buttons outside the inner tomb now display the Mejai's true names in ancient Egyptian
		- The true names of the Mejai can be viewed in your Research Notes, as well as on a note found outside the inner tomb
		- The buttons themselves, including the button to open the inner tomb, have all received visual improvements
* Portals - Respawn portals, found throughout the ruins, have been redesigned.
	+ New visual and audio effects will now occur when a player comes through
	+ Players will now be oriented forward when respawning instead of whatever orientation they were looking beforehand

## Additional Changes

* Mummy players have improved vision to better see while traversing the ruins
* Tomb variation #1 has received updated sarcophagus designs
* When respawning via the Blessing of Osiris, players will now automatically have their headlamps turned on (unless the Mejai is Necreph and physically manifested, in which case the headlamp will remain off)
* The maximum "Brightness" Gameplay setting has been increased by 20%
* Blue levers will now have a subtle visual and audio effect occur where they spawn, instead of appearing out of thin air
* Mummies will be transported to the ritual room when the ritual starts so they are no longer trapped outside of it
* When players host a game, their "Ready" status will be automatically checked on by default
* "Tool Sharing" will also be checked on by default for all players
* Brutal difficulty is now locked until players reach level 15 (or if they prestige at least once)
* Added logic to dynamically adjust the danger/difficulty of certain trap rooms for players depending on their level, making them easier for brand new players
* Added animation to the gear tent to slightly move with the wind, and improved the material
* The tutorial has been updated to reflect the new Mejai selection buttons, and has an improved flow
* The lobby menu has received several improvements for better interactivity and clarity
* Upgraded the game's VR framework for increased stability, features, and bug fixes
* Implemented network improvements, source-of-lag reductions, mesh simplifications, and other general performance improvements across the board
* Optimized teleportation areas for VR players that will result in a performance improvement for all

## Fixes

* Fixed a lag-related issue that could result in the Mejai spawning in early
* Fixed an issue in which Rathos' target would not get cleared as it should when descending into the lower tomb
* Fixed an issue with Mejai being able to glitch through columns found in tomb variations #1 and #2
* Fixed an issue that could prevent Necreph from attacking players in light
* Fixed an issue where the set Brightness gameplay setting was not being re-applied after dying
* Fixed an issue related to overly active spirit interaction on Hard and Brutal difficulties
* Fixed an issue where tooltips were not appearing for items on the ground, including chests, once inside the ruins
* Fixed an issue that prevented mummy players from passing the spinning fire trap in the Underground Palace tomb variation
* Fixed an issue when relocating the player from the desert scene to the lobby area that could result in a crash or incorrect positioning
* Fixed an issue with medkits being able to be used more than once by different team members (note this can now be set via Expedition Modifiers)
* Fixed performance issues experienced in the Crypt of the Great Pyramid map
* Fixed an issue in which VR players could fall out of bounds in the lower tomb stairwell in the Oasis map variation
* Fixed an issue in which non-English Tool labels were displaying incorrectly in some cases
* Fixed an issue with tomb variation #3's tomb entrance icon missing from the Radar System
* Fixed an issue in which tomb variation #1 would crash on load
* Fixed an issue with the Anubis Statues' staffs not rotating with them
* Fixed various issues with VR player's interaction with doors and drawers in the lobby area
* Fixed an issue with the networked view of player models' animation states
* Fixed an issue in which dropping the lighter in VR could desync its on/off state
* Fixed an issue where players could get stuck behind certain vases in Nekhbet Chasm
* Fixed an issue where metal detectors and Geiger counters could remain on when put away in another player's belt, causing a desync of desired behavior
* Fixed an issue with the volumetric light being too intense in certain areas