As of last patch, Cash_Out has moved into "Beta". Instead of focusing on adding large portions to the game, patches will focus on bug fixing, balance and other changes. This patch started off as a modding update, there are a lot of modding changes, the biggest being the new action system. This news post will walk through the biggest changes to everything.
MODDING
To start things off, it's worth noting one thing, the "example" mod has been changed. Previously it was a mario mod. I decided that if I ever wanted to put the game on steam, I couldn't have something copyrighted in the game. I've replaced this with a "temple ruins" map.
NOTE: THIS VIDEO WAS TAKEN BEFORE THE NEW LIGHTING SYSTEM WAS ADDED!
The biggest change with the modding system (outside of background work with optimization) is the change to the action system. I've detailed it in THIS post on tumblr. Instead of working like arrays, there is now a very basic scripting language. It functions almost identical to the old system, but is more optimized and MUCH easier to read and write.
There really isn't much else, there's 2 more different types of objects, and objects only function if they are on the screen. It runs SIGNIFICANTLY better now, and I'm not even done optimization.
LIGHTING
I've changed how lighting works. Previously lighting really was just shadows. Everything was drawn over the lighting, so it only gave an illusion of real lighting. Now, the lighting is drawn on top so that it actually looks like real lighting. Along with that, I put in a softening shader to make it look better.
The lighting system is now drawn on top and properly shades everything!
Along with that, I've added something new to help with stealth. I've said before that I couldn't track how dark and area is easily, but I've found a way to. If you are in a dark area enemies may not be able to see you, use this to your advantage. To balance this out, the amount enemies can see at 100% visibility is much larger.
AI CHANGES AND FIXES
There was a bunch of issues with AI, and many of them have been fixed this patch.
- Melee enemies wouldn't attack you unless you were standing still, they'll now attack regardless.
- If enemies were out of ammo and they were going to a spot, they would freeze in place.
- Enemies wouldn't even try to pick up guns that were dropped, if they tried they would give up and lock up.
- Enemies out of ammo and distracted in any way would stop reloading and would be stuck with 0 ammo forever.
AI works a lot better now. Along with that, I've added two new mechanics to how enemies work.
Stagger
To prevent players from simply running past enemies, when enemies attack you, you will be slowed down for a short amount of time. The amount of speed you lose is based on the amount of damage the enemy does. Player speed and defence has been increased to compensate.
Spawn Immunity
Previously, enemies could be attacked and could attack RIGHT when they spawn. This made it kind of easy to kill enemies. To fix this, enemies are now immune and cannot attack you for 2 seconds after they are spawned. To remedy this, enemies also spawn much quicker.
BALANCE
A lot of balance has been done, check out the patch notes for the full list. Here's a list of the larger changes.SIX SHOOTER -> No longer does increased stealth damage, instead does 100% crits for 1 second after you switch to it.
STANCE OF WIND -> During the offensive stance, stagger is totally ignored and you will move at normal speed the whole time.
BRACED -> Lose movement speed while active, the first 2 seconds of activation, you are not protected.
The new braced effect!
STATIC FIELD -> Totally removed, replaced with "Desperate Call"
DESPERATE CALL -> Turns every item in your inventory into a bandage, and only the slots that are filled.This is only a snippet of the changes, again, view the patch notes for the full list.
SMALLER CHANGES
- Enemy health has been scaled down, it was making "legendary" difficulty almost impossible.
- The "industrial" zone now uses the same level generation system as the "mansion" zone.
- "Tracksuit" now reduces the effect of stagger instead of reducing the damage you take while moving.
- Medic healing is now based on FPS (was healing faster on 60 FPS), and heals more.
- When enemies are woken up from being knocked out, they are stunned for 2 seconds.
- A large amount of optimization has been put in, the game should run MUCH smoother and should be much more consistent.
Like usual, check out the change notes to get details on every change. I'm going to be putting up Cash_Out on greenlight soon, I'll post when that happens, it'll probably be with beta patch 2.
