Bigger, better, more X0-1V1! That's the general theme here for Beta 17.1, a pit stop of enhancements and expanded content on the way to a much bigger Beta 18. We've seen lots of crazy X0-1V1 runs since since the "god-not-god of chaos" became a reality in the previous release, not too surprising since they're not only the latest hot new thing, but also accessible right from the start and fully compatible with all other factions and routes.
As a surprise release there were quite a few patches in its first weeks (seven in all!), including fixes, QoL, and balance changes. Once that settled down I then had more time to put together some new features to round out the experience, and here they are :D
More Chaos is Inevitable
Even though Beta 17 already included over a hundred unique effects and even more subvariations, there is such a broad range of possibilities when it comes to X0-1V1 that there's always room for more unexpected/interesting/dangerous/funny/crazy/[adjective] scenarios. More of these would require breaking saves, so I couldn't just patch them in and decided we should have a minor version release so I could add these along with other timely developments (because it would otherwise be a longer wait for Beta 18 and its decidedly different content track).
As usual I won't be spoiling new content here, just note that there are new X0-1V1 acts (both good and bad), new entertaining situations they might take notice of, and also an in-lore way to learn more of the mechanics behind their behavior (encountered in a cave at some point). I also fleshed out one of the special map-specific interactions, even adding two achievements associated with it (there was already a hint in game about what it might be, and the interaction is easier to trigger in Beta 17.1, even accidentally, so that should aid in discovery if you haven't already seen other players doing This Thing).
More Delay is Inevitable
No, not development delay (as mentioned before already inevitable this year due to some serious IRL issues xD), but weapon delay...
A negative "Delay" stat is always a welcome sight, reducing the time it takes to fire a given weapon. Stack such weapons and the benefits become even more obvious, even without a cycler, capacitor, or some other mechanic for increasing firing rate. The stat was originally designed for slower weapons--bigger or special gear that would be overall too powerful without its own balancing modifier. Some weapons, however, have come with negative/faster Delay, mainly weaker machine gun-like weapons, rapid-fire stuff you'd expect to have that sort of edge. With reasonable smaller modifiers this is fine.
Eventually we got a few cases of weapons incredibly fast in their own right, and fired alone these were also fine, but if stacked could reach insane levels of near-instant firepower. Volley speed was technically capped at no faster than 25, but that's a mere quarter of a turn...
This didn't make much sense but for the longest time I just said fine, if you can support the sky-high resource requirements of these rare builds without imploding, more power to you. It's become a topic of discussion in the community quite a few times over the years, and I figured it was finally time to go in and examine the full extent of any impacts a change to this behavior might have, and what exactly could be done about it.
Test builds recently incorporated a few iterations, and Beta 17.1 presents the final result: volley speed modifiers from ranged weapon Delay specifically are capped at -100. Faster volleys can still happen via additional utilities, but not purely from compounding effects from certain ranged weapons alone. This affects primarily multi-LA loadouts and sizeable Ovr. stacks, so a pretty niche group of builds that weren't used a whole lot anyway, but they'll now just be useful instead of godly. As with most other limitations, this theoretically opens the door to additional new features that were not possible in an unlimited stacking world--we'll see.
Cogmind Beta 17.1 "X0-1V1.1" (260822) changelog (excerpt):
- NEW: 5 new items
- NEW: 1 new robot
- NEW: 5 new X0-1V1 acts
- NEW: 1 new major event [CaptainWinky, Kyzrati]
- NEW: 3 new achievements: "Statue Heist", "Greater Chaos", "Fight Me IRL"
- NEW: More sources of X0-1V1 entertainment
- NEW: Uncommon location containing lore-based explanation for core X0-1V1 mechanics
- NEW: Altar Unit has additional optional interaction (hidden)
- NEW: Temporary slots becoming permanent while hitting max slot count during evolution explicitly reported in message and history logs
- NEW: Option to remind when moving off of resource containers that were not empty when previously dropped (advanced.cfg: remindOnLeavingDroppedContainer)
- NEW: Contextual tutorial message indicating faulty parts cannot be repaired, or fixed via Recalibrator
- NEW: Contextual tutorial message further describing robot analysis effect when acquired
- NEW: New player tutorial message to suggest opening the status info page, and for what purposes
- NEW: Bonus points for spooking CY-PHR
- NEW: Scoresheet records Average Entertainment for X0-1V1
- NEW: Robot data CSV export includes innate heat dissipation values
- MOD: Sfc. Transmogrifier test item removed from Subcaves lab (now available from two other intended sources)
- MOD: D.C.S.S. Altar Unit now indestructible
- MOD: X0-1V1 Relay Coupler enhancement effect limited to once per map, can only affect attached couplers, and includes even multi-class targeting types
- MOD: X0-1V1 temporary weapon slots reversion also recorded in history log
- MOD: Removed X0-1V1 piety drift
- MOD: Ranged weapons cannot contribute more than -100 delay to a single volley
- MOD: X0-1V1 eventually stops interfering with post-MC COM
- MOD: Attacking temporary allies via Splice Drone no longer triggers Zion loyalty check
- MOD: LC kills now attributed to Cogmind for purposes of scoring records
- FIX: Coolant Injectors triggered at instead of above 200 heat [aoemica]
- FIX: Ablative armor highlighted parts list integrity indicator even if cooling effect below damage threshold [aoemica]
- FIX: Since maximizing stored energy for Cogmind during map transition, other bots could increase energy beyond capacity during turn updates [aoemica]
- FIX: Spotter reported armed player even if recently saw unarmed player that did not attach weapons until out of view [aoemica]
- FIX: Typo [aoemica]
- FIX: X0-1V1 power source chain reaction effect generally allowed another act to occur as well [R-26 Lightspeed, aoemica]
- FIX: Manual "Achievements" section still referenced challenge mode-specific achievements [R-26 Lightspeed]
- FIX: Crash on killing more than 99 hostiles without having done any damage via Specialist achievement weapon type sources the entire run so far [Darby]
- FIX: Possible to indirectly earn Specialist achievements through majority kill damage via ramming [Darby]
- FIX: Multiwielding Ripteeth with other melee weapons could show double '%' on follow-up chance when changing active weapon [nathlebg]
- FIX: Beta 16 robot immunities list update included Hacking immunity for several Derelict bots that did not have it [nathlebg]
- FIX: Specialized drone bays with added drone-specific information no longer displayed it since addition of drone repair mechanics [Abstinent Turtle]
- FIX: Allied Researcher would flash '!' along with hostile Researchers if attack warning shown for latter [Ms Vella, CaptainWinky]
- FIX: LC attacks could leave salvage [Infomantis]
- FIX: Potential crash during startup due to automated font change process [Dzuchun]
- FIX: Offscreen markers for robot signals decoded via Imp. Signal Interpreter showed specific variant rather than general class [Mathewnd]
Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 17.1, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 17 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like. Cogmind will remind you which branch to use if it finds an old save, and your old save won't be deleted or affected by the update.
A few points in the changelog that could use further elaboration...
The Sfc. Transmogrifier introduced in Beta 17 and temporarily available for free in the Subcaves lab has been removed from that location, which has now reverted to its fully "normal" state (until I have some other new test item to temporarily drop there in the future :P). Aside from the original (if random) intended way to acquire it, 17.1 adds a new guaranteed way to get it right from the start. This is nice since it enables a whole new play style in its own right. Sure enough we have seen a fair number of true "transmogrification runs" over the past couple months, some abandoning it later in the run, but others taking it over the finish line. (I haven't done it myself yet since I want to stream that, but my streaming has been put on the backburner for a bit since I got pretty sick lately and haven't fully recovered.)
There's also a new major event you might encounter... somewhere in the caves. You don't find it, it finds you. It's something I worked up with CaptainWinky for helping me with the surprise release prep. Enjoy! The chance of seeing it in Beta 17.1 is greatly increased, just so individuals have a greater chance to experience it as opposed to maybe only seeing it in others' runs :P. It's a net positive event, so the increased chance won't be unwelcome, but it will be restored to normal weighting come Beta 18.
There are now multiple new incentives to track down CY-PHR, the only obvious one being the new achievement, but do it and you'll see :)
Also may as well show off some new QoL, like you may be interested in activating the advanced option "remindOnLeavingDroppedContainer" to get an extra reminder before leaving behind a resource container you dropped, in case you were siphoning from the ground during combat:
And this is technically not new since I was able to directly patch it in for Beta 17, but shared here for the first time we've also got a an on-HUD reminder of temporary weapon slots granted by X0-1V1:
It works in condensed mode as well, by printing directly on the sidebar button:
This and of course some other mods or abilities, be they temporary or permanent or usable, will eventually get a more explicit reference list in the form of a new interface window. Patrons never vote for that one enough, but maybe X0-1V1 is going to force my hand sooner rather than later in this regard xD
At the same time, I've also wanted to put off that feature as long as possible to ensure it can accommodate all the content we'll need to display there. Most crucial relevant data is present in the HUD, though not everything is suitable for persistent display. There's a fairly wide variety of especially long-term benefits would be useful to recall in a more centralized manner, so reconciling them into a single interface should be an interesting design challenge.
Community Art
It's only been a couple months since my last share, but we don't want to fall behind on the art curve! Here's another selection of new pieces...
crazylogi did some great multicolored prints based on Runia's 3D models:
The great thing about streaming at random times is also getting to see viewers that can't be around during my typical times, like Zyalin who then sketches up the scenario in real time :D
That was during my X0-1V1 run, which involved building and rebuilding a gifted Botcube from whatever happened to be around, which at one point involved one equipped with four Scimitars of Distortion but not much in the way of propulsion xD (spot the leg...). Zyalin dubbed it "botcute," imagining it scurrying around on its array of swords!
We've actually had more memes than pure art since the last release, especially about X0-1V1... of course :P
This one's by sergeooo, where funny enough the scene depicted was actually a possibility removed pretty quickly in the very first patch shortly after release--great image though :P
Kuriiri here to remind you that X0-1V1 loves subatomizers (the part choices are great xD):
Apt reminder by aoemica to not always believe your sensors if you have X0-1V1's attention... (it's fun spotting these in advance, but an occasional sinister one might slip through...)
Szymekc is a fan of Hyp. Multirail, in case it isn't obvious:
But really, aren't we all? Hyp. Multirail hype!
On the very much not-a-meme side of things, Fernman has a new story out!
Enjoy God From the Machine.
Amazing writing as usual, steeped in Cogmind lore (and mechanics) but also coursing with its own evocative ideas and energy. There are some mid-game lore spoilers, or at least you won't be able to understand some of it unless you know lore to at least a mid-game familiarity, where full-game familiarity would make some aspects a little more clear than that. Extremely good, though.
(Also the attentive among you may spot a character in game from their previous work I shared, in precisely the place you'd expect to see them.)
Numbers Go Up
Following the leaderboard reset, a portion of the post-Beta 17 release period was as usual spent analyzing Beta 16/16.1 player stats, sharing the lengthy results of that here.
Naturally it covers a lot of Unchained-related material, but many other features and topics as well.
In the meantime, Beta 18 development is already underway, having started with patron-inspired content that will complement the Hexidium expansion nicely.
