Alpha V

Alpha V
Released - December 13th, 2018

Update Size - N/A

New features and content
Brightcap Harvesting quest


 * Harvest Brightcap mushrooms and deposit them in one of three stations, scattered across the map, but watch out – both Ticks and other Prospectors will be after you!
 * Taking too much damage while carrying them, will make them fall out of your Brightcap Canister.
 * High concentration Brightcap fields come with more rewards and greater risk.

Voice chat


 * Squad & pact mates can now communicate in-game via voice chat.

New player costumes – Hunter & Scout


 * We’ve added two new outfit sets to the game, the Hunter and the Scout. Players’ avatars will wear pieces of these new costumes at random in matches. As soon as we have our character customization ready, you will be able to mix and match them to create your favorite outfit!

New weapons


 * The Basilisk, a rapid fire sniper rifle, has been added to the Osiris faction. Its quick firing rate and control makes it ideal for the long-range Prospector on the go.

New abilities


 * Stim Boost – On activation the Stim boost provides a quick health boost, and temporarily improves health regeneration and speed.
 * Trench Grenade – This a traditional grenade is an ideal addition to your weapons loadout. Its shrapnel explosions are particularly effective against the hostile creatures of Fortuna III.
 * Surveillance Ward – This static surveillance device scans for hostile Prospectors in its vicinity every 5 seconds. Up to three can be active at a time.

New enemies – Blast beetle variants


 * Acid Tick (toxic green) – After exploding, their entrails covering the ground will create an area of effect for several seconds, that causes acid damage.
 * Brood Tick (white) – Tougher than average and immune to the explosive damage of other ticks.

New weapon mods


 * Volatile Blast – Increases area of effect for explosive weapons.
 * Heavy Needles – Increases damage of Flechettes, though they’re more affected by gravity.
 * Explosive Rounds – Bullets tipped with explosives cause additional damage, at the cost of rate of fire.
 * Booster Needles – Replaces Flechettes with rockets, for a third of the magazine capacity.
 * Fractal Lens – Splits phase weapon projectiles in three spectrums, at the cost of magazine capacity and optimal range.
 * Toxic Shards – Adds toxic damage to Shard weapons, at the cost of optimal range.

General improvements
Misc


 * "Leave match" confirmation prompt was added

Uplinks improvements


 * The south east Uplink area has been polished, to bring all three uplink bases to the same standard, while using unique assets.
 * Uplink arenas have been reworked to allow for approaching and disengaging both stealthily and in full-force.
 * We increased the overall cover variety in Uplink areas.

Level polishing pass


 * Improved mobility across the map.
 * Improved and added new mid-level landmarks (collapsed mine, beach waterfall).
 * Several performance improvements have been implemented.

Storm improvement


 * Storm phases are clearer now, featuring 3 unique mood states.
 * We added a new and menacing end of storm phase with reduced visibility and altered gameplay experience.
 * We enhanced visuals for the storm with new graphic effects like puddles and reactive emissive lights.

Central area rework


 * The exterior of the central area has received an overhaul, with the interior overhaul coming at a later date.
 * We added exterior assets unique to the central area.
 * Similar to Uplinks, the arena has been reworked to allow for approaching the evac ship and its vicinity both stealthily and in full-force.

Female Prospector


 * We have iterated over the look of the female Prospector – let us know what you think of the changes!

Comm Wheel Iteration


 * The Comm wheel now offers interactions for all main activities of the game, both for combat and quests, as well as emotes.
 * It can be quickly accessed and used, without disrupting gameplay, even in hectic situations.
 * It’s now prettier and sounds better

Quest loop


 * Quest thresholds in Loop were re-balanced so that there is no single dominant objective.

Improvements to existing quests


 * Gas Refiner Quest
 * It’s no longer possible to ‘steal’ refiners from Allies
 * Mineral Quest
 * We improved the spawning logic of minerals in the Squad modes, allowing for more ‘Medium’ minerals to spawn.
 * Tracking quest
 * The UI color of the tracking quest is more distinct to differentiate it from others when started.
 * Squad Mode Scoring
 * Refiner and Uplink quests are now giving points for obtaining them, even if the player that captured them died (until of course captured by someone else).
 * Formerly, captured refiner deposits and uplinks were marked as belonging to the team, but the points from it were not counting towards the Squad score. The fix solves this issue, and even the death of the capturing player, the points are applied to the Squad as intended.
 * Zeal Shard
 * The Zeal Shard no longer clips in front of player camera when sliding while holding it.

Settings


 * Exit menu was reordered.

Chat iteration


 * Chat is back to the game!
 * In addition to the squad channel, chat has three different communication channels (English, German, Russian) that can be enabled or disabled in the settings menu.

Tutorial iteration


 * Comm Wheel was added to the tutorial.
 * Unused features were removed from the tutorial.

Improvements to movement audio and minimap


 * Circles on the map and minimap that appeared when a weapon was fired or when a player sprinted, were removed.
 * We have iterated over the movement audio of Players, so now you can better hear other Prospectors approaching.
 * We hope that these combined changes improve your experience playing The Cycle, and we are eager to hear your feedback on them!

VFX water interaction


 * More believable water that reacts properly to players’ and monsters’ movements

Feedback button on server status screen


 * Feedback can be left even if servers are offline

Spawn zone camping


 * We have randomized the spawns of Squads, so it is not as easy to camp a Squads spawn point.
 * Heal domes are also added to the escape pods at the spawn points, to counter Prospectors who do camp at a spawn point.

Launch screen visual improvement


 * Looks way prettier now!
 * Number of players in a match queue is now displayed.

GPU & Render thread performance improvements


 * Drastically reduced landscape shader cost on Epic setting.
 * Implemented LOD optimizations
 * Optimised imposter material.
 * Reduced amount of distance field generating objects.

Tuning / Balance Improvements
Misc


 * Gearstore weapon and kit level-up upgrades balanced to reduce damage spikes
 * Refiner friendly fire off
 * AI health pools have been lowered
 * Squad economy iteration
 * Base line share lowered from 40% → 25% for a squad of 4 (33.3% for squad of 3 etc)
 * Mods re-balancing
 * Mod bonuses reduced overall, mod penalties increased
 * Reload iteration
 * All reload times shortened by 10% to 15%
 * Ensured magazine-in time matches visual and audio feedback for sprint-reload canceling

Weapons balancing


 * Hammer
 * Reduced refire: 0.35 → 0.32
 * Scarab
 * Increased damage: 22 → 24
 * Bulldog
 * Reduced radial falloff penalty: 0.25 → 0.35
 * Tightened spread pattern
 * S-76 PDW
 * Reduced falloff penalty: 0.42 → 0.45
 * ASP Flechette Gun
 * Reduced damage: 28 → 24
 * Increase gravity effect
 * KOR-47
 * Increased damage: 30 → 34
 * Reduced spread increase: 1.25 → 1
 * Reduced spread decrease: 35 → 30
 * Increased recoil
 * Barter Repeater
 * Renamed to Lacerator
 * Switched from 3 shot burst to single shot
 * Increased damage 30 → 42
 * Reduced magazine capacity 30 → 20
 * Shattergun
 * Falloff damage multiplier reduced: 0.25 → 0.35
 * Tightened spread pattern
 * Advocate
 * Increased Refire: 0.095 → 0.09
 * Reduced magazine capacity: 40 → 30
 * Phasic Lancer
 * Reduced damage: 47 → 44
 * Gorgon
 * Reduced damage: 36 → 28
 * Increased shots per burst: 5 → 10
 * Reduced interval per burst shot: 0.08 → 0.05
 * Increased charge-up: 0.4 → 0.6
 * Fixed beam still showing after last shot fired
 * KARMA-1
 * Reduced AoE damage against AI: 300 → 200
 * Increased AoE damage against players: 30 → 200
 * Increased AoE falloff starting point
 * Reduced magazine capacity: 2 → 1
 * Kinetic Arbiter
 * Increased damage: 300 → 400
 * KOMRAD
 * Increased direct damage: 0 → 20
 * Reduced AoE damage: 70 → 60
 * Increased AoE falloff penalty: 0.35 → 0.25
 * Increased AoE radius by 60%
 * Increased self damage AoE multiplier: 0.5 → 1
 * Increased missile interval per bust: 0.09 → 0.12
 * Added slight gravity to missiles
 * KARLA
 * Direct damage increased: 0 → 250
 * AoE damage reduced: 400 → 250
 * Direct damage falloff penalty set to 0.75 for long range
 * AoE damage multiplier for AI increased: 1.15 → 2
 * AoE damage multiplier for self increased: 1 → 2
 * Zeus Beam
 * Reduced ammo: 200 → 100
 * Increased movement and turn speed penalties
 * Increased equip times
 * Increased recoil
 * Removed weak zone damage bonus
 * Detonator
 * Increased AoE radius
 * Reduced AoE damage falloff penalty: 0.2 → 0.4
 * Increased AoE self damage penalty: 0.8 → 1
 * Reduced movement speed penalty: 1 → 0.95
 * Knife
 * Reduced damage against players: 200 → 175
 * Increased damage against AI: 150 → 175
 * Recall Teleporter
 * Reduced activation time: 2 to 1