“Ayeh, I know who this guy is!”The old man dragged the vowels out, his Virgon drawl slurring his speech. He spat at Sinon’s feet. “Big time traitor. Sold us out to the chrome domes. Imagine you’ll be rotting in here for a while longer.”
Sinon refused to look up, and instead stared at his hands, dirty, bruised. He didn’t ask for the yard time out amongst general population. But here he was, as always, making friends.
“How much money did you make off’a them robots, eh? A million cubits? Two?”
The slap stung his cheek.
“Was it worth it, fella?”
Sinon kept his head down. None of this was worth it.
“I hear they still kill traitors on Caprica. Reckon you’ll get bundled up and taken away for the firing squad soon enough. Couple of shots right in that pudgy mass ought to do it.”
The insolence was grating. “They use injections.”
“Oh ho! Is that a fact! Maybe they’ll make a special case for you.”
The kick to the stomach made Sinon double over. Each kick after just dulled into background pain. It wasn’t until the guards came and picked him up that he really felt the damage to his ribs, his shoulder, his knee. Each step of the way back to solitary was a reminder of his sins.
The guards laughed, one of them counting the cubits he’d made from the bet. This pain was a penance he had to pay, one of many. He hoped, and he calculated, but he could never know if it would be enough.
By now, you’ve probably seen the announcement for the next Battlestar Galactica Deadlock expansion, Sin & Sacrifice. In this developer diary, we wanted to talk about some of the new goodies in this new expansion.
Fleet Chatter
A common request we’ve seen on the forums is to have Colonial crew members across the fleet talking (and shouting!) to each other more in the heat of battle. A combat ship during a pitched battle with the Cylons is a pretty intense place to be, and the aim of this system is to bring some of that into gameplay.
We’ve recorded over 1100 separate samples from a number of voice actors. Dozens of events in the battle trigger the system to play the new chatter lines. Battlestar Galactica has a very distinct radio effect sound that we’ve emulated for this system, so it really enhances the atmosphere of the game.
The system is used in campaigns (including the base game campaign, if you were in the mood to replay it) and any skirmish that includes Colonial fleets. Fleet chatter is also played back during post-battle replays!
A New Campaign
The main feature of the expansion is the Sin & Sacrifice campaign. It’s comprised of 11 new story missions and is set a few months after the Anabasis expedition.
Whereas The Broken Alliance was integrated into the base campaign, Sin & Sacrifice is a separate, standalone story, and a new slice of the Cylon War. It features a number of newmission objectives and a new audio log system that enhances the storytelling between missions. The new campaign also features new soundtracks by composer Ash Gibson Greig.
We’ve run the largest beta test for this campaign since the base game was first released, and the feedback from the testers has been incredibly positive. The stakes for Colonial Fleet have never been higher, and we can’t wait for you all to experience the latest chapter in the First Cylon War.
The Sin & Sacrifice campaign brings Season One of Battlestar Galactica Deadlock to a close. We’ll talk more about Season Two in future Dev Diaries.
More Ships!
The Sin & Sacrifice campaign comes with two new ships.
Colonial Fleet will receive access to the Heracles -class heavy gunship, an Imperial War-era vessel, armed to the teeth and heavily armoured. We wanted to add a ship that sits somewhere between a Battlestar, such as the Jupiter, and gunships like the Minotaur . The Heracles features flak projecting PDCs, so it can also be used as a screen against missile barrages. When you need a sledgehammer to subdue the Cylons, this ship is the tool to use.
Cylon Command has access to the Gorgon -class squadron support ship. The Gorgon is designed to boost Cylon fighters, with a number of innovations. It can quickly repair fighters from any ship in the fleet with its turnaround repair bay, but potentially even more potent is the Machine Learning Matrix. This system uses data gathered during combat to enhance the defensive evasion of a single Cylon squadron. The longer the fighters can stay in the fight, the “smarter” they get, increasing their ability to evade hostile weapons fire.
That’s a look at the new features in the Sin & Sacrifice expansion. It will be launched alongside the free Veterency Update, which includes a number of additions we’ve mentioned in previous diaries, including the new Crew Veterancy system, the music player, updated blueprint screen with model viewer, and other quality of life improvements.
Sin & Sacrifice and the Veterancy Update will be available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 19.