This patch brings a few quality of life and UI improvements primarily for the Campaign mode as well as replacing the old Campaign "Shoot the Core" boss encounter with a new prototype Boss Fight.
Due to changes in how Objective Data is stored your existing Campaign saves may not work correctly. It is advised that you start a new game. This does not affect Arcade mode at all.
Boss Fights
Replacing the old confusing and fairly dull "Shoot the Core" boss fight in the Campaign is a new breed of Bullet-Hell style Boss.
This current version is just a prototype with only a few attacks in order to create the framework for better Bosses in the future.
Instead of bullets Bosses spawn enemies which can be destroyed and count towards your combo allowing you to earn adrenaline during a Boss encounter however some of their attacks will just have to be avoided.
As part of the development and testing process a new game mode will be added to Arcade in March that features Endless Boss Fights.
Bosses will eventually be added to the Arcade Dive mode (Which will be renamed to "Rogue" in a future patch) and will appear at set milestones throughout the game.
Unreal 4.24.1
The game is now using Unreal 4.24.1. This marks the end of support for Shader Model 4. Please let me know any issues you may be having as a result of this patch with regard to crashes on startup or graphical or sound glitches. Most people should be unaffected by this change but you never know!
UI Changes
The rest of this patch is predominantly UI changes/fixes.
- Pause Menu now has useful information on it including your current game mode, Objectives, Stats and more.
- Objectives Display on the HUD and Campaign Menus has been updated to include more useful information.
- Longpresses are now only required for gamepad users when interacting with the Campaign Maps. Mouse users can now Double Click on things.
- Network Map no longer lets you replay a level you have completed.
- Network Map shows which levels you have completed with a Checkmark.
- Network Map no longer lets you select Locked Levels.
- Network Map highlights available levels more clearly.
- Campaign progress is saved when returning to the Network Map instead of only on Logout.
- Secondary Objective Progress is now saved and restored correctly in Campaigns.
- Reputation for completing Objectives is now being awarded correctly after completing a Server.
Upcoming Campaign Changes
This isn't the end of the Campaign changes. There is some low-hanging fruit I intend to get done possibly in smaller patches over the next couple of weeks so keep an eye on the patch notes.
Most of these will be the replacement of the overly complicated elements with much easier to use versions (such as rewarding Reputation when a file finishes downloading rather than needing it to be sold).