Retryable Campaign Missions
I heard your frustration regarding the campaign's requirement to restart the whole chapter upon failing a critical mission.
Failed campaign missions are now retryable by default BUT the map and enemies will be regenerated.
Damage taken by your squad during failed missions will not be saved anymore to give you a fair second chance under the same conditions.
Note that if you prefer how it worked in 1.0, you can disable it using the "No Try B" squad option.
New Unlock Path
I also realize that even if it's the core of the game, the campaign can be a bit too challenging for new players. Besides, skirmish missions are a smooth transition between the tutorial and the rest of the game.
In this regard, I've changed the way game modes are unlocked so that new players can test their tactics on a few easy standalone missions before tackling the real deal. The other game modes will be gradually unlocked following the skirmishes.
Here's the new unlock path in details:
- Skirmish missions are split into 4 groups, completing each group will unlock the next one
- Completing the tutorial unlocks the first group of skirmish missions for all the factions
- The 1st group unlocks the campaign
- The 2nd group unlocks the custom missions, including modded ones
- The 3rd group unlocks the challenges
- The 4th group unlocks the mission generator
- Each chapter of the campaign unlocks the next one, the 5th one unlocks the survival mode
You shouldn't lose access to any of the modes you've already unlocked in 1.0 though.
Please let me know if it's not the case.
UI/UX Improvements
Based on your precious input, I've incorporated the following improvements:
- The number of each character now appears above them, corresponding to their keyboard shortcut
- The selected character displays an animated selection marker to help you identify who you are using
- The color of the selected character's field of vision now accurately indicates the weapon's accuracy over the distance
- It's easy to miss a recently unlocked attachment slot when it is on the left side of the weapon, so I added a flashing arrow pointing to it
- Squad options can now be changed mid-run
- You can now exit the squad selection screen with the cancel button or the escape shortcut
Balancing
Some balancing changes based on your feedback:
- I reduced the maximum range of the weapons to make them more specialized and reduce the effectiveness of close-range weapons in large rooms (this does not change the optimal range or maximum accuracy)
- The range of the stun effect on enemies when kicking a door has been increased when you don't have the "Door Smasher" skill as it was too rare to see it happen
- Enemy threat level in skirmish missions now increases gradually
- Reduced the size of the map for recruitment mission in chapter 2
The Details
Finally, I've removed the default iron sights from the Peace4 and Raven weapons when equipping other aiming attachments and moved back the aiming attachment slot of the GG36 weapon.
Full changelog
This update also comes with a lot of improvements and fixes detailed in the following posts:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1269020/view/6292166527289251270
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1269020/view/6292166527292486215
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1269020/view/4181104663290552813
Let me know what you think of this update in the comments.