It's HERE!
Today is Sketchy's 1 year Anniversary and with it the biggest update I have ever released!!! I can't tell you all how excited I am for this and for all of you to play. I've worked incredibly hard on this update. There's so much I incorporated directly from the amazing Sketchy Community sharing their thoughts and ideas. I'm truly grateful for everyone that has supported me and continues to do so.
The wait is over and you have so much ahead of you!
READ THIS! Its important to know that due to the massive redesign of the progression system and how contracts are completed, ALL SHIP LOOT will be deleted with the first login of this update. Don't worry, you'll still have your cosmetics, suit level, and credits!
Now then, let's get into it:
NEW
- New Apartment Housing – Sketchy has decided to reward you all with a small apartment so you don't have to keep sleeping in the burger shop. There's even a designated storage room for you to leave loot in so you don't have to keep traveling around with a grocery cluttered ship!
- Over 50 New Furniture Cosmetics that can be unlocked through progressing to more difficult Contract Tiers (More on that in the UPDATES section). There's even Hidden Furniture to find on planets!
- New Placement Mode – This mode acts as a sort of “building mode”, preventing players from accidentally clicking on cosmetics. Additionally, Placement Mode allows you to highlight and reposition loot as if it were a cosmetic making easier to organize. Notice in the Gif below how I am accessing my furniture on fly rather than running back and forth to the bed? Convenience matters!
- New Storage System – 3 different crates are now available for purchase from the Store Droid with various storage limits offered at different Contract Tiers. Players can place items into the crate to consolidate space BUT the items cannot be taken out. So, instead of carrying 20 jars of pickles back and forth to the drop off, simply place them all into a storage container and carry that 1 container to the drop off. Keep in mind though, that you need to sell the storage container. Don’t worry though, they are cheap!
- New Player Title System – Rank has been removed and replaced with Titles. Player Titles are earned by completing contracts at different tiers. Higher Titles cannot be earned unless contracts are completed at the matching Tier Difficulty. Players gain a flat 25% XP toward new titles whenever they complete a contract. Failing a contract will NOT remove progress toward new titles i.e. there is no more “De-Ranking” system. Additionally, players who log in will have whatever ranks they earned before the update be converted over into titles. New Titles to progress forward may be coming with future updates.
- 16 New Weapons/Items unlocked through progressing to higher Contract Tiers
- Big Bang (Shotgun)- High AOE damage at close range, Low AOE damage at long range.
- Flame Thrower - Spews AOE fire damage dealing more damage the hotter it gets. At 99% heat, the damager is doubled but the player takes 2 damage per second until the trigger is released. Additionally, lights everything it touches on fire, dealing 10 damage per 0.5 seconds to non-player targets and 10 damage per second to players.
- New Storage Containers - stores 250, 500, and 750 quota respectively. Higher Storage unlocks with higher Contract Tiers.
- Better Boombox – When turned on, heals nearby players for 1.5% Health per second. Dancing increases healing to 4% Health per second. However, this boombox doesn't require BOOST! Enjoy infinite healing!
- Ultimate Boombox – When turned on, heals nearby players for 2.5% Health per second. Dancing increases healing to 5% Health per second and doesn’t require BOOST just like the Better Boombox. Additionally, creatures standing in the Boombox’s radius take 10 damage per second.
- Better Medical Generator – same as a basic medical generator but doesn’t require a player corpse ( Automatically teleports a random player corpse to the table and begins the revival process).
- Gathering Capsule – While the Gathering Capsule is in on your action bar (does not need to be active), all herbs and ore you gather are stored directly into the Capsule rather than your action bar. Once the capsule is full, gatherables will default to your action bar. Stores 250 Quota. Only1 capsule can be on your action at a time.
- Compact Gathering Capsule – Same as Gathering Capsule but can store 500 quota worth of gatherables.
- 6 New Enhanced Gathering Weapons - gold shovel, carbon pickaxe and more can be purchased at higher Contract Tiers and allows for gathering higher tiered gatherables.
- Big Bang (Shotgun)- High AOE damage at close range, Low AOE damage at long range.
- Slimes can be killed (I won't say how that way you can figure it out!). Once killed, slimes will convert into a new Lootable "Slime in Flask" with varying value based on the difficulty of the slime killed.
- Added a Practice Range to Sketchy’s which includes 1 Single Target Dummy that does not attack, 1 Single Target Dummy that does attack, and a 3 Target Dummy cluster that does not attack for AOE testing.
- Added Damaged Numbers. Enabled by default and can be disabled in the “HUD” settings in game menu.
- Added a new “View Titles” button to the In-game menu that displays all unlockable titles in the game as well as the level requirement to get them.
- Added a teleport button option in the Teleport UI for improved accessibility.
- Added various missing creatures in the game to Sketchy's Data such as the Lacertalia in Port Lumin.
UPDATES
Revamped Quota System - Tier Progression
- There are now 3 Contract Tiers with each tier providing a new set of weapons, cosmetics, and difficulty. Once Players reach a certain Quota, the Quota will freeze until they speak with The Manager and sign a new Contract. This allows players to progress through the game at their own pace because the game will not auto jump to a higher difficulty unless you specifically choose to do so. You can even sign old Tiers allowing you to jump back and forth between difficulties so long as you don't fail the contract. I know, its Genius!
- Tier 1: Easy – Basic gatherables, nerfed creatures, and weapons. Suit level limited to level 30.
- Tier 2: Normal – Better gatherables, stronger creatures, better weapons. Suit level limited to level 60.
- Tier 3: Hard – Best gatherables, evolved creatures, best weapons. Suit level limited to level 70.
- Creature Health no longer scales with the size of the Quota. Instead, scales based on Security Level and Contract Tier. Higher Tiered contracts have higher difficulty creatures.
- Some creatures have a new “Evolve “attribute which determines how that creature’s mechanics behave at different tiers. This means that some creatures have more advanced and dangerous mechanics at Tier 3 while some creatures might have nerfed/simplified mechanics at Tier 1. Some creatures might have no evolution. View Sketchy’s Data to read about a creature’s evolution.
- New Gatherables will be introduced as the quota grows which will require NEW TOOLS to gather them, but they are worth so much more. New Tools will become available for purchase once you meet the required quota.
Player Progression
- Suit Level Cap increased from 50 to 70.
- Player Credit Limit increases by 1k with each new title unlocked. Starlord increases by 2000. Example: Unlocking the Starlord title increases your credit limit to 15K credits!
- Players now earn a “Survived” Bonus XP each day they survive the Contract (being revived counts so be sure to revive if you can).
- Players now earn a “Never Died” Bonus XP each day they don’t die at all! (revive DOES NOT count toward this bonus).
- XP gain scales with Contract Tier, granting more XP at lower Tiers. Players can gain up to 1.5 levels per day between 1-30 allowing for a much quicker progression at early gameplay which increases player incentive and makes it easier for new players to get comfortable.
- Health RPG System – Health now increases passively as the player levels up, granting 10 health per level. This makes the Health Modifier more of an optional “extra health” rather than a necessary requirement to survive due to the lack of dodging and blocking that would make taking damage more manageable. This will also help new players when getting started at lower level.
- Health Suit Modifier has been reduced from 3 health per point to 2 health per point due to the new passive health gained at every level.
- Damage RPG System – Overall Damage now increases passively as the player levels up, granting 2% damage increase per level. There should be a clear difference in power between a Max level player and a brand new player.
- Melee and Range damage Suit Modifiers have been reduced from 8% per point to 5% per point.
- Increase action bar slot carry limit from 2 to 3. Reduced point requirement from 10 to 5.
- An additional Suit point has been added to even out the odd max level of points.
- When hitting Max Level, players will earn 2 suit points to even out the total number of points at max level.
Player QOL
- Players that are being revived can now see a timer on their screen to inform them how long they have until they are revived.
- Players no longer take fall damage in orbit when transitioning from zero gravity to gravity.
- Players revived in Tier 1 contracts return with 75 health vs 10 health in Tier 2 and 3 Contracts.
- Items dropped on death now snap to the ground to help prevent item loss due to clipping.
- Items dropped from greed now snap to the ground to help prevent item loss due to clipping.
- Moved the Weapon Charms UI into the Suit Modifier UI.
Gathering Progression Update
- 4 new Herbs that require new Knives to cut.
- 5 New Ore that requires new Pickaxes to mine.
- 10 new Buried Loot to dig up some of which require new shovels to dig.
- The Higher the Contract Tier, the better the gatherables.
- The value of gatherables now scales with the Access Level the gatherable was collected in.
Dying in Sketchy's
- Dying no longer penalizes the player with 50% less XP if not revived.
- Dying no longer penalizes ALL players 10% credits for each body not brought back to the ship.
- Dying now drops a credits hologram containing a percentage of the player’s credits that can only be picked up by the player that died. The percentage of credits dropped depends on Contract Tier. T1 = 10% credits, T2 = 25% credits, T3 = 50% credits.
- Credits dropped via dying during the night shift will be deleted when the Night Shift ends if not retrieved. This increases the Night Shift risk.
- Auto reviving when Night Shift ends will revive players with 10 health.
- A new message appears on Team Wipe informing players that all loot prior to landing the ship has been lost.
- Tier 1 Provides Free Revives based on the number of players in the Group. 1 Player = 2 Revives, 2-3 Players = 3 Revives, and 4+ Players = 4 Revives.
General Changes
- Level 2 Redesign – Level 2 is now a “Contaminated Zone” meaning that contamination is not confined to level 2 buildings but rather to a generalized area both inside and outside. This allows Level 2 areas to be more open with multiple entrances/exits and better player immersion with the environment.
- There are now a few pre placed suit charges spread throughout Contamination Zones that act as small life reservoirs that could mean the difference between life and death. Keep in mind though that these special suit chargers do NOT replenish Night Vision. Additionally, O2 intensifies with Contract Tiers.
- Contamination Zones bring a new look to Sketchy’s as they can be spotted visually, consisting of a large haze and pollution particles.
- Boombox healing has been changed from flat rate healing per second to percentage-based healing. This makes the boombox more viable as your health increases so it doesn’t feel super weak once you get to a higher level (more health would eventually make boombox take forever to heal you if I didn't change to percentage).
- Echo lens – Hold Left Click to activate full screen mode.
- Medical Generator is now a single use, cost 75 credits and now revives players with 10 health.
- Port Coral Boats have been updated to Giant Flamingo Floaties!
- The ship bed is now a furniture cosmetic and is no longer an interactable for the Player Cosmetics Menu. Players can freely place the ship bed where they like or put it away to free up room in the ship. However, ONLY THE HOST can place down a ship bed as it is too large of an item to allow 8 beds.
- The Customization Menu is no longer accessible via the ship bed and now displays currency as well as suit level. It can be accessed on the fly via the default Hotkey "TAB".
- New Placement Mode has been added which you can access by pressing "Q" which grants access to interacting with and moving around structures/cosmetics.
- Updated Sketchy’s Data UI with new information called “Evolution” which gives information about creatures that alter their abilities based on certain Contract Tiers.
- Updated the layout of landing sites for Dark Wood, Treasure Island, and Port Coral to prevent the ship from landing/taking off at Angles which was causing players to clip out of the ship when heading back to orbit.
AI Changes
- Enemy Corpses now scale based on Security level and Contract Tier meaning that killing creatures at higher Security levels is more profitable than lower levels which justifies their increased level of difficulty as well.
- Increased Enemy respawn cooldowns from 25-40 second variance to 60-90 second variance.
- Elizabeth can no longer activate if the player holding her is in a Telephone Booth, Teleporter, Zero Gravity, or Swimming.
- Reduced range at which Subject 6 can hear players when crouched.
- Oxy and Toxy Globulde debuffs redesign – Oxy and Toxy apply a Globule to targets they touch that automatically dissolves on its own after 10 seconds or forcibly dissolves if a Suit Charger is used.
- Loot Mimics now always drop credits pouches with the chance of dropping loot.
- Chompy no longer requires a shrink ray to pick up.
Performance and Optimization
- Improved AI performance and optimization.
- Improved rendering optimization for multiple AI that were eating up FPS.
- Improved Ship Transition logic to reduce FPS spikes when the ship is liftin off/landing (very noticeable during the night shift).
- Improved Optimization of ship Landing/Launching when lots of loot is attached.
- Improved Shader Optimization.
FIXES
- Fixed a duping bug that occurred with specific scenario when dropping off loot.
- Fixed an issue causing items that were dropped accidentally after the drop off box was sent could not be picked back up causing them to be lost.
- Fixed an issue where loot dropped or placed near the drop off box but not put into it could be destroyed when the button was clicked due to the box counting it as an item to take.
- Fixed an issue causing Elizabeth to crash the game if she activated while the player was teleporting.
- Fixed an issue where Greed would not reset its passive state after failing to steel an item from its target.
- Fixed an issue where placing/dropping items onto the Ice Ground at Port Glacial would cause the item to disappear (typically experienced on clients).
- Fixed an issue where sprint was not cancelling correctly on hitting zero stamina for clients.
- Fixed an issue where the O2 warning reminder was not working properly and continuing to play after the player had died.
- Fixed an issue where coin pouches were sometimes yielding no credits.
- Fixed an issue where Healing Received was not properly applied when logging into the game requiring the player to remove the points then reapply them to fix it.
- Fixed an issue where hitting 100% XP was not leveling up the player.
- Fixed an issue causing players to fall out of the ship while it was going up causing them to die and lose items.
- Fixed an issue with hitboxes on certain dead bodies that was causing issues with Shrink Ray being able to hit.
- Fixed an issue where Pew Pew missiles were dealing damage through doors.
- Fixed a visual bug where Pew Pew’s missiles clipped through all collision in the world.
- Fixed an issue where the “Drop” text while holding a 2-handed corpse was not displayed.
- Fixed an issue where Player Corpses were not showing in the echo lens if they were a certain distance away from the echo lens.
- Fixed an issue where items spawned in access crates could not be scanned while still in the crate.
- Fixed an issue where the Doppleganger corpse was loading in as a ragdoll when starting up the session.
- Fixed an issue where placing wall shelves and hanging plants would become offset from location of the placement hologram making it frustrating to place the cosmetic properly.
- Fixed an issue with a Level 3 Building obstructed by the landscape in Port Lumin.
- Fixed an issue where the Radio at Sketchy’s Belt was not playing music when players returned back to Sketchy’s after changing orbits.
- Fixed an issue where Emotional Support doesn’t move with you when you crouch.
- Fixed an issue where items dropped into the train in Port Glacial would fall through.
What's NEXT?
Well, firstly I need to sleep... But seriously, I have so much more planned still. But I will be focusing on hotfixes for 0.2.0.0 over the next few weeks. However, the next update as I see it now is going to be a NEW MAP, new AI, and other stuff so I am pretty hyped for it!
That's all I have to say though. Thank you so much for all your support and I hope you enjoy this massive update!