Changelog v23-07-12

This is a big one, including plenty of fixes, reworked abilities, 6 new items, new enemy behavior, and the second level of the game.

Campaign

• New level: Apartments
• You can now freely select which stage to play
• The "skip tutorial" setting has been removed, as it is now obsolete
• The game now saves various data such as your loadout and the most recent stage you've started
• Quitting mid-level will save the state of the level, which is automatically restored upon resuming the stage
• The main menu now has a "New Game/Continue" button (changes based on the saved data)
• Loadout items are gradually unlocked throughout the campaign
  • The Sword is now unlocked after Metro
  • The Arbalest Coilrifle is unlocked from the start
  • All other new items in this update are unlocked after Metro
• Added option to unlock all items regardless of campaign progress
• New items are highlighted with an exclamation mark in the loadout menu

NPCs

• NPC animation speeds are very slightly random, which helps to break up visual monotony
• Melee NPCs should stick closer to their targets
• When an NPC is investigating or searching, you can now see the point they're focusing on in 3D space when you hover over them (color configurable)
• NPCs search and investigate less strictly, trying to cover a wider and less predictable area
• When an NPC spots a bunch of bodies in the same place, they will enter the "Hold Position" state
• Added options to separately disable Vigilance granted by "In Combat" and "Hold Position" states
• Fixed instances of NPC states incorrectly persisting through rewinds
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would react to corpses as if they were living
• Fixed NPCs not reacting to things they were looking at after being manipulated as a preview
• NPCs avoid dangerous zones such as explosives (though some, such as the Remote Mine, remain undetectable)

Items & Abilities

• Items in the loadout menu display the exact abilities they grant you (in addition to the item's flavor text)
• All loadout items have had their images replaced with wireframes of 3D models
• Many new textures and sounds, particularly for guns
• Items take the expected priority when selecting a holster (primary > secondary > extra)
• Most abilities will always use all their targeting rays; this results in various small cosmetic changes throughout their behavior. For example, you could previously shoot through walls with a gun, but only if you wouldn't hit anything
• Almost all melee abilities had their range reduced by about 10%
• Stab range depends on your current stab weapon (your farthest-range stab weapon is automatically chosen)
• Pick Up range reduced to 2 (previously 3)
• Added baseline ability TK Pick Up, which is longer-ranged than Pick Up (4 vs 2) but can only target light entities
• Kick Away no longer takes a second input if the first input didn't hit a unit
• Telekinesis
  • TK Spin and TK Shove are now baseline abilities
  • TK Spin and Shove have been nerfed, but taking the TK loadout item un-nerfs them
    • TK Spin now has 2 charges (previously 3) and a cooldown of 3 (previously 2)
    • TK Shove now has 1 charge (previously 2)
  • TK Spin highlights your target's zones
  • TK Shove can shove light entities twice as far
  • Provoke is now part of the TK loadout item
  • The TK loadout item has been renamed to "Advanced TK" (previously "Basic TK")
• CQC
  • Hook Punch is now a baseline ability
  • Jab has been added to the CQC item
  • Jab, Hook, and Punch Throat are no longer stance-locking
  • [New Ability] Ground Pound - slam the ground, interrupting and knocking back nearby units
  • The loadout item has been renamed to "Thunder Gloves" (previously "Punching Gloves")
• Sword
  • Fixed Lunge DMG previews showing even when the lunge was invalid
  • Enemies who are casting Lunge now always show the damaging zone of the lunge as a preview
• Paladin
  • Paladin is now a secondary item (previously primary)
  • Eject is no longer stance-locking
  • Load now fully loads the Paladin (previously only loaded 1 round per cast)
  • Shoot DMG increased to 6 (previously 5)
• Chain Hook
  • Chain Hook can no longer perform stealth takedowns
  • Chain Travel can no longer hit light entities
• Coins
  • Coin Toss now bounces off walls and units
  • Each bounce creates a small sound
  • Coin Toss range increased to 15 (previously 10)
  • Coin Toss now has an associated animation
• Knife
  • Thrown knives can now be retrieved using either Pick Up or TK Pick Up
  • Throw range reduced to 6 (previously 8)
  • Throw non-Takedown DMG increased to 4 (previously 2)
  • Throw is less likely to make the knife inaccessibly stuck in walls
• Remote Mine
  • Fixed several issues related to detonating the mine by killing it
  • Addressed frame hiccups that would occur when deploying a mine for the first time
  • Remote Mine now has an item model associated with it
  • Deploy now bounces off walls and units
  • Each bounce and the destination create a small sound
  • Deploy range reduced to 5.0 (previously 7.5)
  • Deploy now has an associated animation
  • Detonation DMG increased to 10 (previously 4)
  • Detonation knockback reduced to 1.5 to all targets (previously was between 2.5 and 7.5, depending on distance)
  • Detonation shows damage and shove previews
  • Cooldown between previous detonation and next deploy reduced to 0 (previously 1)
  • You now only get 3 mines per mission (previously infinite)
  • Deployed mines can now be retrieved using either Pick Up or TK Pick Up
• [New Primary] Bastion Shotgun
  • Load Buckshot/Slug/Blast: Load one shell of the specified type of ammunition; the shotgun has a magazine of 4 shells
  • Rack: Eject the currently-chambered shell and chamber the next shell from the magazine to prepare it for firing
  • Shoot: Fire the chambered shell; the effect is dependent on the chambered ammunition
    • Buckshot: Hit a wide area for 4 DMG and decent knockback
    • Slug: Hit one target from a farther range for 8 DMG and a little knockback
    • Blast: Hit a very small range for 10 DMG and very little knockback
  • Loading and racking both cost 1 AP, but firing is free and automatically chambers the next shell
• [New Primary] Arbalest Coilrifle
  • Shoot: If the hit Unit is Offguard, perform a Takedown; otherwise, deal 5 DMG
  • The sound profile is extremely small
  • Stores 4 charges; each charge has a 4-turn cooldown
• [New Secondary] Vindicator Laser Pistol
  • Shoots a beam that bounces off walls and Units, dealing 3 DMG on each hit
  • 2-turn cooldown
• [New Extra] LENC
  • Place a LENC anchor for 1 AP, teleport a nearby target (or yourself) to it for 0 AP
  • Deploy is fairly long-range and can bounce off walls and units
  • Anchors are destroyed after use
  • No cooldown, but limited to a maximum of 5 anchors per mission
  • Unused anchors can be retrieved using either Pick Up or TK Pick Up
• [New Extra] Frag Grenades
  • Throw a frag grenade for a delayed explosion of 4 DMG
• [New Extra] Pulse Grenades
  • Throw a pulse grenade for a delayed explosion of 2 DMG that repeats 3 times

Misc

• You can now select abilities using quick-select keys (defaults to number buttons)
• Added screen effect when rewinding (effect strength is configurable)
• An icon appears near your MOV bar when your stance is locked
• Attempting to quick-cast Toggle Crouch while stance-locked will shake the stance locked icon
• Attempting to quick-cast Toggle Crouch while stance-locked will no longer trigger a timeline snapshot (so you won't have to rewind through failed crouch attempts)
• Abilities now enforce their stance-locking during their preview, rather than waiting until being cast
• Conceal/cover modifier range increased to 4.25 (previously 2.5)
• Standing behind cover reduces DMG from each source by 1; crouching behind cover negates all DMG and knockback
• Addressed discrepancies between Shove Previews and actual knockback
• Damage popups and sound indicators now end prematurely when a rewind occurs
• Rewinding while moving now correctly rewinds to the start of the movement rather than just canceling it
• Fixed abilities not fully canceling when switching to a different ability
• Fixed abilities visually flashing their previous target for one frame if canceled and reselected
• Fixed some zones flickering while being manipulated as a preview
• Changed how ability zones are updated; they should be approximately 1 frame more responsive
• Fixed damage popups starting and ending with 0 Block (instead of not showing Block at all)
• Fixed damage popups not appearing for Takedowns
• Damage popups no longer show the lethal indicator (previews still do)
• Damage previews and popups no longer appear for unkillable entities (e.g. the knife)
• Fixed damage previews either showing "+0" or showing nothing instead of "-0"
• Fixed damage previews and popups permanently disappearing for entities that were added via rewind (e.g. blowing up a mine and rewinding so the mine exists again)
• Your current action (such as movement) is canceled upon starting a conversation or finishing a mission
• A sound plays upon mission completion
• Added color options for conversation starter indicators
• The game displays Sentinel's emblem while booting (previously just a black screen)
• Minor changes to some wording throughout
• Upgraded to Godot v4.1
• A feast of behind-the-scenes refactoring