Another mini-update while Beta 8 is still under construction! While small, there's some very important stuff in here, and the good news is saves are compatible so you can switch immediately even if you've got a run in progress to take advantage of the improvements :D
While I was originally planning to include some quick fixes along with a different special release scheduled for later this month, last week a newly-introduced machine hacking bug was discovered, and I just couldn't let that one sit out there in public for so long. For Beta 7 I had changed up the machine hacking behavior to improve consistency for those using a fair bit of hackware (in particular System Shields and the like), but in the process inadvertently made it more difficult for those without hackware to do much at machines! So if any of you combat players have been shaking your fist at all those early failed machine hacking rolls, it's rightly so, and I'm happy to say things are back to normal now :D. Well... they're back to normal (actually, even better than before!) if you update to Beta 7.2, which I recommend you do immediately.
The good news is saves are compatible with Beta 7.1.
Let's see what else we get with this update...
Cogmind Beta 7.2 "Terminal Love" (0.10.181204) changelog:
- NEW: Relay Coupler base value higher based on depth
- NEW: Robots flash when hit by projectiles (toggle in advanced.cfg: flashProjectileVictims)
- MOD: Tweaked composition of squads attacking W base
- FIX: Machine hacking was more difficult than intended in Beta 7/7.1 [Suslik]
- FIX: Armor Integrity Analyzer effect protected user's armor rather than helping during attacks on armored targets [kiedra]
- FIX: Researcher pre-attack warnings would not always trigger if certain utilities were attached (broken by Beta 7.1) [Raine]
- FIX: Advanced option alwaysWarnAboutResearchers description missing from manual
Robots now flash when hit by projectiles. Some kind of explicit hit feedback was requested not too long back and although it's not a feature I personally need in my runs, I must admit it's been well-received by those who've seen it so far, so here it is!
(Ignore the fact that enemies just sit there and take it--that's just using debug mode to demo the feature :P. Also, they're not really dying because I'm intentionally using a somewhat weak weapon against late-game Programmers.) It's on by default, but like many QoL features you can toggle it in the advanced options if it bothers you for whatever reason.
You can see this and other features discussed in my 7.2 stream from earlier today, during which I continued the gunslinging run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEkWzEk5c9Q
It feels really good as a combat bot to be able to do some free hacking again ;). Part 3 will be streamed next week at the same time, and the run is hot--we've met up with just the right allies to basically own the late-game, plus have an amazing loadout of our own (don't examine this at full size if you want to avoid a few little spoilers):
As a little bonus for Beta 7.2, I know from experience that the new RIF system introduced in Beta 7 and expanded in Beta 7.1 is still a little tough to rely on in the late-game, so I've also added a new formula that gives bonus value to Relay Couplers based on depth. The further you get, the better the couplers, regardless of their source.
Enjoy! :D