Hey folks!
This patch improves various aspects of the game. Most of these improvements are backports from the main game, as I've now shifted my attention from the prologue to the full game. As work on the main game continues, you can expect similar big patches to be periodically released for Mercenarism, as various new features and improvements are applied to the game. What better way to keep up with the main game's development than by trying out the prologue every now and again when such updates are released?
Visuals & optimizations
- optimized & improved LBAO (Lightmap-based ambient occlusion) - up to 20% faster (performance gains will vary depending on user graphics card)
- optimized missing patrol noticing to not spike CPU usage as much when a goon is killed or knocked out (technical: missing patrol detect points are pre-created on map load, instead of on actor death)
- optimized application of sound effects
- soft bloom effect improved (technical: improved thresholding, which removes bloom in areas where there isn't supposed to be any)
- various other minor CPU optimizations
- increased contrast on various wall sprites
- night vision noise effect granularity brought back to Intravenous 1 levels
- PlayStation 4 controller visual layout added
Gameplay
- added charge level display on the HUD for PKC-EMP and HSR-EMP when they're not in use (holstered), along with the keyboard key slot they're bound to
- can now kill unconscious enemies by targeting them via the "Targeting mode" action and shooting them
- the "Unload nearby weapons" action will now also pick up nearby ammo pickups
- object interaction box now positions itself to the right of the currently-selected object
- reduced intensity of interactable object highlight effect to make it easier for the player to see which object they're about to interact with
- updated occupied dumpster sprites
- weapon mods are now purchased by pressing the "Interact" action key, instead of left mouse button
- ammo used by the currently-equipped weapon now highlighted in a different color
- gas now spreads out more in buildings, and less outdoors
- goons will now need to reach a certain gas damage level before passing out from it
- can no longer aim at objects the player is currently trying to interact with
- increased amount of noise made by garage doors
- decreased noise made by throwing knives landing
- weapon ammo type category now lists ammo type instead of caliber name when any ammo type that isn't the regular one is selected
Fixes
- fixed laser sights reenabling themselves on reset/savefile load, if they were disabled when the savefile was created
- fixed incorrect positioning on ammo pickup UI elements and skill improvement UI elements after following a specific order of actions
- fixed incorrect gas spread calculation
- fixed sound effects failing to be applied to various sounds in certain cases
- fixed incorrect sound effect grid generation, resulting in certain sound effects missing
- lamp flashes are now rendered above the fake shadow layer
- improved sound effects to be applied before a sound is played, instead of right after
- bloom visual effect is no longer scaled twice by exposure
Don't forget to report any issues you run into either on Steam discussions or by joining the game's Discord community.
Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying the game!