Thank you for the continued reports, reviews and feedback.
Since launch, we have read every review, every report, and every piece of feedback we could find.
This update represents roughly an additional month of work and the changes we have made (and why) are detailed in extensive detail below.
We also want to be transparent that Sunscorched has recently gone through layoffs. The team working on MALPRAXIS™ is now significantly smaller, but we are still here, we still care deeply about the game, and we intend to keep supporting it.
MALPRAXIS™ was built by people who cared a lot about making something strange, ambitious and different. This update is not about throwing that work away.
Many of the reviews and comments we have received have been incredibly thoughtful. A lot of you connected with the atmosphere, the audio, the visuals, the performances, the world and the core idea, but felt that the structure and execution around those things made the experience harder to enjoy than it should have been.
This update is about closing that gap.
What Has Changed, And Why
MALPRAXIS™ was always built around the idea of a SPIDER unit reliving events. A reconstruction.
Some of those events may have happened. Some may not have happened. The SPIDER does not know, and neither do you. They could be real memories, corrupted recordings, false implanted experiences, or something else entirely.
The original goal was to turn that idea into a replayable roguelite structure, where each “memory” could shift, repeat, mutate and play out differently each time.
That was the intention.
We are well aware that the version we shipped did not fully deliver on that promise.
Game development is always a compromise when you have a limited budget & time to deliver on something unique and new. At every step you have to choose what wheels you re-invent. We believe that the individual operations, cases, writing, performances and systems were strong, but the way they were delivered was proven to be frustrating and overly punishing. Of course, having to replay tutorial content after failure was especially painful due that roguelite structure.
Many players made it clear that the structure was getting in the way of the best parts of the game.
This update is what we believe to be the best compromise between the original vision and the reality of what MALPRAXIS™ currently is. Instead of forcing you through larger shift blocks where the game only saves progress at the end of shift, operations are now split into individual replayable operations.
You can now:
Replay specific operations
Retry failed operations without having your save wiped
Return to unlocked material more easily
Progress without replaying tutorial content repeatedly
View your best rank, best time, attempts and operations status more clearly
To support this, all tutorial operations and the first main operations are now unlocked from the start.
Old Shift Screen:
Each shift had 3-4 operations and all had to be completed before the game saved. The layout of this screen was intended to convey the Rusanovs journey to it's destination Odysesseus 8 & at what point in the timeline the shifts took place.
New Shift Screen:
Each operation can now be played seperately. The game saves upon operation completion & unlocks the next one. We have unfortunately needed to lose the old journey style "roadmap" due to this restructure but we believe this sacrifice to be worth it for gameplay & progression reasons.
Mission Select Overhaul
The shift selection screen has been fully rebuilt around individual operations.
The new operation select screen includes:
Individual operation entries for all operations
Clear locked, unlocked, completed and failed states
Locked operations displaying as “???” until unlocked
First four operations unlocked by default
A clear divider between tutorial operations and normal operations
Updated patient records for all existing operations
Operation icons displayed alongside patient records
Best rank, best time, attempts and status displayed more clearly
Updated locked, unlocked and completed icons
Updated fail state visuals
Dreams
Dreams now have clearer presentation within the new operation structure.
Dream reports now display in a more corrupted format, reflecting their place in MALPRAXIS™ as unstable, unreliable memories. Dreams also now skip the score screen and return directly to operation select.
Progression Improvements
Progression has been heavily reworked.
Failed operations are now tracked and saved.
Shift progress is no longer wiped when failing instead the operation is marked as failed in the report screen and a replay attempt is prompted.
If malpractice reaches maximum during an operation, the fail screen now reads:
REACHED MAXIMUM MALPRACTICE
After this, the current operation will restart.
Collectables
Collectables have now been fully implemented.
The new collectables screen gives unlocked material a proper home, rather than hiding it behind temporary screens or post-operation flow. This gives you a clearer reason to revisit previous content, inspect unlocked material, and explore the world of MALPRAXIS™ outside of active operations.
This update adds:
28 view model collectables
28 image collectables
New collectable categories
Collectable entry notifications
Unread collectables marked with a “!” icon
Categories marked with a “!” icon when they contain unread unlocked collectables
A model viewer for 3D collectables
Audio Logs
Audio logs now have their own list within the mission select screen.
Hovering over an audio log highlights the relevant planetary icon, making the wider setting and location references easier to follow.
This update includes:
Sol unlocked by default
New audio logs unlocked through mission completion
One new audio log after the first mission
Further audio logs unlocked every three missions after that
All post-operation dialogue added as unlockable audio logs
Previously this was an unskippable screen.
The goal here is to make story material less intrusive during play, while still allowing players to revisit it whenever they want. Instead of forcing dialogue into the post-operation sequence, unlocked material now lives somewhere you can return to.
Scoring & Malpractice
Scoring and malpractice have been cleaned up across the game.
Malpractice now resets between shifts.
The malpractice bar has been simplified into a single bar during operations and on the evaluation screen.
This update includes:
Fixed all known malpractice issues
Fixed score issues relating to malpractice
Improved stat tracking
Stat tracking now saves and loads correctly
Added tracking for incorrectly answered queries
Operations now have an initial starting score
Bonus score is now awarded for “pristine” stats, such as answering no queries incorrectly
Save Deletion & Main Menu
Save deletion has been moved out of the main menu and into the mission select screen.
The RESTART button has been removed from the main menu.
DELETE SAVE is now available from mission select if a save exists.
To reduce accidental save deletion:
DELETE SAVE is disabled when first activated
It becomes available after a short delay
A terminal neurological failure sequence now acts as the delete save confirmation screen
The confirmation input now clearly says “DELETE SAVE”
The sequence can be exited at any point before completion
The save is only deleted at the end of the sequence
Gameplay & Input
Additional gameplay changes include:
Reduced drill input clamp from 2 to 1.25
Improved fail operation sequence
Added earlier diagnostic screen skipping
Added the ability to skip the cutscene after the diagnostic screen
Added a loading screen before transitioning from the diagnostic screen
Added the animated logo to make loading clearer
Fixed the glitch transition not resetting after the diagnostic screen
What Comes Next
This update is focused on the structure around the operations.
We have not reworked the operations themselves in this patch.
The cases, procedures and core operation content are mostly the same, but they should now be much easier to access, retry, understand and revisit.
Future updates will focus more directly on the operations themselves.
That includes things like:
Reworking evidence links
Adding additional evidence links
Making objectives and query flow clearer
Improving feedback during investigations and submissions
Continuing to reduce frustration in specific missions
Adding back cut missions from the initial release
This patch is the foundation for that work.
Before we start changing the individual operations more heavily, we wanted the game’s overall structure to be in a much better place.
There is more to come.
Thank you for your feedback, reviews and continued support.
- Sunscorched Studios