Update Notes
We’ve made a broad gameplay balance pass to make matches more focused, more readable, and less frustrating overall.
This update improves map flow, bot behavior, combat pacing, respawn tempo, and several gameplay systems.
Map & Match Flow
Reduced overall map size to roughly 50% of the previous scale to encourage more natural fights and painting around the center.
Adjusted match pacing for bot matches so players can no longer safely avoid combat by endlessly painting from far corners.
Match duration has been shortened to 2 minutes for testing and faster gameplay flow.
Improved bot matchmaking timing so matches begin more quickly, with bot-based matches now starting in about 10–12 seconds.
Painting & Core Combat Balance
Reduced paint radius to 80% of the previous size to make territory control more deliberate.
Increased auto ink recharge speed for players from 3/s to 10/s.
Increased bot auto recharge speed as well to keep overall combat tempo consistent.
Increased player durability significantly for testing, with HP raised to around 2x–3x previous levels.
Adjusted Charger balance:
Increased charge time by 0.5 seconds
Testing toward a less oppressive damage profile
Bot Balance & AI Improvements
Rebalanced drone bots to make them less oppressive and less disruptive:
Shotgun bot paint/fire performance reduced to about 50%
Pipe World drill bot erase radius reduced to 50%
Drone bot base movement speed and aggro movement speed reduced to around 60% of previous values
Added a visual warning effect for fast-agro drone bots:
Their skin now flashes red while rushing at high speed
Reduced Destroyer firing frequency so they erase less paint overall.
Improved bot movement logic to reduce cases where bots overcommit to the center.
Bots are now less likely to repeatedly repaint the same area, mindlessly overwrite already secured zones, or get stuck crowding the center.
Ongoing fixes were applied for cases where bots would shake violently or spin in place due to collision/pathing issues.
Additional bot-side optimization work has been applied with future mobile porting in mind.
Police Bot / Manager Bot Rework
Police Bots and Manager Bots now give players more room to react instead of feeling like unavoidable ninja-style ambushes.
Added a 10-second countdown UI inside the chase warning card.
Added vignette and indicator effects to better communicate danger and pursuit.
Manager Bot targeting logic has been changed:
It now chooses a player target at random
Recently killed players are temporarily excluded from the target pool for 10 seconds
Surviving a random pursuit or performing well can now grant a Survival Buff:
One random positive item buff from the existing pool
Examples include Infinite Ink, Giant Form, Invincibility, or 40% Ink Recovery
Enemy debuff rewards are excluded
Black Hole / Portal Rework
Black Holes have been reworked into true bidirectional portals.
Entering either side now transfers the player to the opposite side.
On exit, players are pushed outward with force to preserve momentum and readability.
The suction zone has been reduced so it only pulls players in when they are very close to the actual hole.
Suction range remains editable in the editor for further tuning.
White Hole / Black Hole behavior has effectively been unified into a two-way portal system.
Respawn & Invincibility Adjustments
Respawn pacing has been improved to get players back into action faster.
Bot respawn invincibility duration has been reduced to 1 second.
Invincibility visuals have been improved with a clearer shield/protection effect.
Environment & Object Tuning
Increased rotation speed of planets and planetary rings.
Continued environmental tuning to improve map readability and interaction flow.
Grappling Hook Fixes
Fixed an issue where the grappling hook could attach via trigger logic but fail to properly follow rotating objects.
Network Fixes
Fixed a network issue where the match could restart incorrectly when host ownership was transferred.