Hello there! This one's gonna be short. Been working hard getting 0.9 ready, but I thought there's enough content here to warrant a main branch update.
My main goal right now is to add some variety to the challenges, as until very recently most followed the regular match rules (find magenta keycards, unlock gates, get yellow keycards, escape in the elevator). The addition of the extra zones spiced things up a little, and the Infestation solo challenge had the infected Mandrillian gimmick, but things were mostly the same at a base level.
This update brings two new challenges (a solo one and a coop one) with some unique features. There's also a rework of the countdown mode, now being split in three modes: one requires you to escape to stop the countdown, another one lets you either escape or clear the area from enemies, and the final one actually gives the Robot a win if it survives until the countdown runs out.
Now for the challenges:
THE NIGHTMARE (solo challenge) is pretty much the single-player version of the Horror preset. However, the goal here is to actually eliminate a single enemy, an armored Mandrillian with 10x the usual health and no weakpoints. The elevator is disabled, so you must find a way to kill the Mandrillian before the timer runs out -there's multiple ways to do it! This challenge requires you to put your stealth skills to the test while setting up the perfect trap for your target.
DEBUG TEAM (coop challenge) is the long-awaited sequel of the Infestation solo challenge. Like in The Nightmare, escape is not an option, but the goal here is to just survive for 10 minutes, making use of the new Neurotoxin countdown mode. There's no magenta keycard hunt, as the Warehouse and Waste zones start open, and the Labs are fully closed. The yellow keycards in the extra zones can be used to open weapon crates and unlock sentry turrets; you're gonna need some extra firepower as Mandrillians are not only infected, but also have dynamic spawn enabled (allowing them to spawn from the ground around you), and will always home in to your position. This is possibly the most action-centered challenge until now.
There's also new cosmetics for the Robot; bear in mind the current rewards can and will be shuffled in the upcoming updates as I add more appropiate challenges for them.
Coming up next: the "extraction" alternative match ruleset, a final new sidearm, and some other surprises. Stay tuned!
FULL CHANGELOG
- Added new Solo Challenge: The Nightmare (now unlocks the Hockey Mask)
- Added new Coop Challenge: Debug Team
- Added new cosmetic: Tactical Visor (now unlocked by the Advanced Solo Challenge)
- Added new cosmetic: Hi Vis (now unlocked by getting the FORKLIFT CERTIFIED achievement)
- Added new cosmetic: Bandolier (unlocked by the Debug Team Coop Challenge)
- Added new match setting, COUNTDOWN MODE, with three options:
- ESCAPE STOPS COUNTDOWN: the default setting; gotta get on the elevator before countdown reaches 0
- STOP ON LEVEL CLEAR: the old style; either escaping or clearing all enemies will stop the countdown
- NEUROTOXIN: when the countdown ends, a deadly neurotoxin kills all organics (Mandrillians and Insectoids), giving the VR player a win
- Added new Robot UI text for each type of countdown
- Reworked countdown sounds
- The match setting "MINIMAP PING" now also affects Insectoids, while their behavior is unchanged while they're alive, it will make them always spawn in corpses relatively close to the player
- Wrist Menu now includes the Seated Mode setting. Use responsibly.
- Face/Head cosmetics no longer visible for VR player/first person spectator cam
- Buffed damage of RPG hits against armor (it's supposed to be HEAT after all)
- Security cameras no longer show the Robot while it's cloaked
- Security cameras now show the human-controlled Mandrillians with a red outline
- Fixed Coop Mode not giving you a win if you wiped out all Mandrillians while playing under non-infinite respawn rules (didn't help that all the coop challenges have infinite Mandrillians)
- Fixed some navmesh errors all around the map
- Fixed wrong pathfinding IDs for extra zones (Mandrillians will now properly patrol them, navigate them, and spawn in them if DYNAMIC SPAWN is on)
- Fixed insectoids never spawning in extra zone corpses
- Fixed decontamination chamber not decontaminating insectoids
- Fixed visual errors on the Warehouse's gate lights
- Fixed spectator camera not displaying the sky at the Victory Room
- Fixed bug that caused a scene reset on the Victory Room if you killed a Mandrillian there after winning a coop match