Good news, Mercs!
The 0.2.0.0 update of Nine to Five is now available for your playing pleasure.
With this update, we introduce several major updates and improvements to the second-to-second gameplay, as well as new weapons, matchmaking events, and a ton of other changes and bug fixes.
Check out the complete list of changes below.
- Gambler Gambler is a fast shooting, long-range shotgun with narrow spread, but with a limited ammo count. When talking about the long ranges and shotguns, it's always a gamble how many pellets will connect. So better hold your breath, take your time and enjoy the "Elephant Gun" of Nine to Five.
- Lurker Lurker is an interesting cross-breed of SMG and AR. It might look small and make-shift, but it was made for purpose. If you like the reactiveness of an SMG and appreciate the donkey-like impact of an AR, this might just be the perfect gun for you. Of course, due to its DIY aesthetics, the range might not be exactly what you hope for.
With this update, we are introducing a new event type called Matchmaking Events. This is a separate matchmaker queue where you can jump into play a new map, flow, or with other special game rules. Everything being tested is still in a early state, as we want to get feedback on them as early in development as possible. So give the maps, flows and other changes a go in the matchmaking events, and tell us what you think on Discord or on Steam Forums!
The first events will be running on the weekends, and you can read about the first four below:
- In and Outpatient (24.9-27.9) Take a sneak peek at an upcoming map in the works set across a sprawling medical facility
- Quick and Dirty (1.10-4.10) The clock is tight and ticking in this condensed game mode. The objectives remain the same, but the pace is fast and often deadly
- Slow & Steady (8.10-11.10) With extra time added to each round, this game mode gives some breathing room for a more tactical approach or simply waiting out the enemy to walk into the crosshairs of a sniper scope
- Hot Minute Massacre (15.10-18.10) New game mode set in a smaller part of ONY
We worked on making each weapon and each weapon class to have a more distinct role on the battlefield. We believe that there are no useless or ineffective weapons, there are just different circumstances for each. So, we have made unique adjustments in recoil, animation speed and damage for each weapon class.
Improved ADS
- Smoother ADS We wanted to make the switch between hipfire and ADS more responsive, smooth, and swift, so we increased the ADS speed for most weapons.
- Unique ADS speed for each weapon class Following the idea of giving each weapon its distinct role in battle, we have adjusted the ADS speed differently for each weapon class. So, some heavy hitting gun have different aiming down sights speed than less powerful but quicker weapons. For example, Tiny Tim pistol has the fastest draw and ADS vs the slowest with LMG.
- Stronger sway when switching to ADS on Sniper Rifle Added a stronger sway when switching to ADS on sniper rifles to prevent players from performing the unrealistic quick scoping.
Recoil
- Reviewed recoil animations and patterns for all weapons Our goal was to give actual weight and feel to the guns, making sure they act like actual deadly weapons and not like plastic airsoft guns. To achieve it, we have reviewed recoil animations for all in-game weapons. For instance, we have improved the recoil patterns, so when you shoot, the weapon wouldn't just go up, but it would follow the shooting animation, sound, and give appropriate kickback.
- Run-and-Gun Penalty We adjusted the recoil and weapon handling for shooting on the move, making it harder to aim and control the weapon. Just like the ADS speed, the handling on the move penalty is different for each weapon class.
Reload
- Improved Reload Animation We worked on improving the reload animations for all weapons to better match the actual speed of reloading and make it clear when the reload finishes, so players won’t start shooting prematurely and accidentally cancelling the reloading.
- Reloading while sprinting We made it possible to reload while sprinting.
Critical Multipliers
- Adding Critical Multipliers for Headshots Popping a headshot is not an easy task no matter what weapon you use, so we wanted to make headshots more rewarding and more noticeable. And that is why we have added the Critical Multipliers for all weapons.
- Unique Critical Multiplier for each Weapon Following our goal to give each weapon its role on the battlefield, we have added unique Critical Multipliers to each of the weapons. Single shot weapons like Sniper rifles and pistols have the highest multiplier, while LMGs and shotguns, which are often used as hip-fire weapons, spraying enemies with hundreds of bullets or pellets, have low or non-existent multipliers. You can see the specific values in the in-game stats for each weapon.
Shotgun balancing
- Damage adjustment Shotgun stole the show in the previous patch. It was strong, far-reaching, and … inconsistent. We wanted it to have a more predictable performance, so players wouldn’t wonder why they got killed or why they couldn’t kill the enemy while having virtually same conditions. So, we have decreased the number of pellets per round without changing the damage of individual pellets.
- Decreased Shotgun Range In the previous patch, shotguns were a feasible threat even at longer ranges. We have decreased the effective range of the shotgun and increased the damage drop over distance. Now shotguns are still deadly close-range, but quickly lose its effectiveness longer range.
- Pellet spread We improved the spread, making it more consistent and predictable.
SMG Balancing
- Increased Effective Range for SMGs Contrary to the shotguns, we increased the range for SMGs. This weapon class was undervalued in this update, as most of the weapons would only deal damage close range but weren’t strong in mid-range. So they weren’t picked often, because why wouldn’t you take a shotgun for close-range combat or an AR for mid to long-range. Now the SMGs effective range is increased, and the damage drop over distance is not as significant, they are much better equipped to fight against shotguns.
- Weapon handling upgrades The weapon handling upgrades detailed above heavily impact the SMGs specifically. The faster ADS times, and the ability to better handle your weapon while moving, make SMGs a lot more useful in close- to mid-range fights.
Sniper Rifle Balancing
- Improved Scope Shake We have added the scope shake, so now the scope frame follows the crosshair on the screen.
- Added flinching when being hit Aiming with a sniper while being shot at should be difficult, we added flinching to make it so.
- Stronger recoil Sniper rifles have larger rounds, so a kickback must also be significant. So, to make it harder to fire a series of consecutive shots, we added stronger recoil to the high-caliber sniper rifles.
- Added weight to character movement through camera shake, sounds and FOV We heard your feedback about the floaty feeling of character movements, and to address that we have added camera shakes and completely remade the footstep audio to better reflect the intensity of the character movements. Slower and steadier camera shakes and shuffling footsteps when walking or crouching become heavier and stompier once player starts sprinting. You might also notice that the footsteps and character foliage sounds have richer details. Merc’s shoes don’t sound like high hill sailor’s shoes on a deck of a sailing boat, they have thud step of heavy combat boots.
- Improved transition from crouch to sprinting Previously the transition was choppy, and it went from crouching to standing up still and then to sprinting. Now we added a more fluent transition when your character pushes themselves forward while standing up from the crouching.
- Improved rotational movement Previously the weapon in character’s hands would wiggle like a snake when you are turning camera left or right. This was awkward and unrealistic. To make the movement more fluent and believable we have changed the animation and added extra weight to the weapon in your hands. So now if you are turning your camera, the weapon follows your movement better as if its weight would pull your hands to the direction of the turn.
- Improved communication for hitting an enemy We wanted to make it easier to understand when you have hit or missed the enemy. We have added unique indicators and sounds for armor, flesh and headshot hits.
- Improved communication for getting hit We have improved the effects and sounds of when player is being shot, previously it was hard to pinpoint the direction and the intensity of enemy shots. Now you will be able to recognize if your armor is still absorbing the hits or if it’s not your flesh that is getting wounded.
- Near-miss bullets To make it easier for players to understand if they are being shot at, we have improved the bullet trails and the sounds of bullets passing by. So now you will be able to recognize the direction and distance of the shooter better.
- Easier to notice bleeding A lot of players have given their life simply due to the fact they couldn’t recognize that they were bleeding out. Now we have added new visual and audio effects for when you are bleeding.
- Fall damage has been tweaked Fall damage has been tweaked, so be careful when jumping down from high places. You will start receiving damage from falls around 5.0 meters of height, which is slightly higher than it used to be, but the minimal damage received is higher. if you have full HP, a jump from around 10.0 meters will be lethal to you
- Kinetic Dampener Kinetic Dampener increases the minimum height that will damage you to around 8 meters, and the deadly height will be around 20 meters. If the fall height is at least 5.0 meters, dampener will store enough energy to release a damaging shockwave in a small radius - the damage increases with height, falling from the near maximum height is more than enough to kill any enemies or destroy beefier destructible items (shields, turrets) that happen to be near the impact location
General
- Varmstadt has received a visual facelift through new color grading
- FIxed various crashes
- Fixed auto detect graphics settings not being ran on first launch
- Fixed an issue where matches could get stuck on a black screen when a player fails to properly reconnect
- Fixed "Leave" button not disbanding the team when team leader tries to leave
- Improved server stability
- Improved error handling and error messages in shop
Gameplay
- Introducing new Matchmaking Events
- Introducing two new weapons (Gambler Shotgun and Lurker SMG)
- Improved Hit Communication
- Tweaked fall damage and Kinetic Dampener A.S.S. values
- Tweaked movement audio and animations
- Tweaked Weapon handling
- Introducing Critical Multipliers
- Fixes to certain actions not counting as assists
- Fixed grenades getting stuck and disappear on downed players
- Fixed hands getting broken when switching weapons while using grenades
- Fixed floating heads on dead player character
- Fixed some small shootable gaps in the Varmstadt map
- Fixed some game mode objects like the hacking device retaining bullet holes and other decals when they are spawned again
- Added visual damage states to hard barricades
- Update visuals for area objective markers on the map
- Capture area indicator now blinks when it is contested by an enemy
- Increased effective range for Drone Detector A.S.S.
- Heartbeat Scan Combat Companion ability now detects players only when activated
- Reduced the time needed to stop bleeding and allow player to do it while moving
- Decoys no longer look towards players that have the specter system active
- Adjusted backpack positions on various armor sets
UI & Menus
- Fixed loadout setup reverting after renaming the loadout
- Fixed teammates sometimes not displayed in the ESC menu
- Fixed the buy button getting disabled and greyed out if you cancel a purchase
- Fixed overlapping attachment slots in Arms Depot for "Lead Lover" SMG
- Fixes to menu animations and poses
- Fixed new shop offers not appearing if the player is in main menu when they start
- Fixed stage timer showing incorrect value after reconnecting to a match
- Fixed some parts in weapon part catalog having a generic icon
- Fixed secondary objectives not shown with their correct icon on the map
- Fixed bleeding effect sometimes getting stuck on screen when switching to drone view
- Fixed certain videos being stretched when playing on an ultrawide screen
- Fixed an issue where too long weapon or loadout names would not fit in the UI
- Improved the display names for armors in the loadout editing
- Improved the quality of weapon thumbnails in loadout
- Improved positioning of weapons in Arms Depot so that the part slots are better visible on the edges of the screen
- Improved various weapon materials and textures
- Improved how rarity is shown on hacking code rewards
- Added a setting for turning of compass in the HUD
- Added indicator for unspent hacking codes in Arms Depot
- Added notifications in the UI for recently acquired items
- Disconnected players are now shown with red color on the team panels in HUD
- Weapon parts in catalog now show in which weapon they are installed in or if they are not installed in any
- Car windows are no longer transparent.
Weapons
- Fixed weapon skins for the "Viceroy" Lever Rifle
- Fixed iron-sights visible on the ADS view on ML-LMG when using a sight
- Fixed various issues with clipping in certain weapon parts
- Improvements to various weapon materials and textures
Audio
- Fixed teammate muting not working when playing in a random team
- Fixed missing audio occlusion from melee
- Fixed Medical Station audio sometimes persisting into subsequent stages
Animations
- Various fixes to menu animations and poses
- Various fixes and improvements to 1st person weapon animations
- Fixed Floating heads on dead player character
- Fixed some body parts getting stretched on dead bodies
Progression
- Removed randomization of weapon part sets in level up rewards
- Balance changes to tasks
- Improved animation of completed or free task slots in the main menu
- A gun model may sometimes float above a dead player
- Performance is still not fully optimized, more improvements coming in upcoming updates
- Game audio can occasionally be louder than expected, but a restart should help solve the issue. If you experience this, please reach out to us so that we can investigate this further.