Welcome to the sixth major update to The Blackout Club since entering Early Access last Halloween! This update brings some new areas to the maze, a new mission, and a number of tweaks and changes to gameplay!
NEW ADDITIONS
NEW MISSION: Drone Repair.
In this mission the kids are tasked with repairing a wounded drone, then following it as it leads them to its dropped payload! You might find some extra bonus evidence along the way. ;)
NEW AREA: The Plexus
A large new area to the maze that unlocks at level 8.
NEW AREA: Signal Relay
A smaller area behind The Plexus that unlocks at level 9.
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
Large changes have been made to some items, as well as a Major Power track we introduced last update, and some other balance changes to the Stalker mode which we hope will address some frustrations people told us about. The underground Maze has some new connections, Stun Guns no longer require 9V batteries, and we started work on a new customization category, Accessories!
- Flashbangs and tranq darts will no longer freeze kids OR stalkers in place.
- Flashbangs temporarily blind you and rotate you in a random direction (kinda like pin the tail on the donkey, if you ever played that as a kid). Watch out or you might run right into your enemy's arms!
- Tranq darts now deplete stamina completely and prevent stamina regen briefly. They also inflict a small wound, lowering overall stamina. The intent is for these to no longer be guaranteed wins for either the kids or the stalker, we will be watching how these changes play out!
- The INDOMITABLE power track now grants infinite sprint in addition to wound invulnerability for its duration. We felt this power was weak compared to the others and needed some buffing. It might be too OP now... let us know!
- The STUN GUN no longer requires batteries, but will recharge automatically over time. You can see the recharge on the battery meter on the stun gun when holding it. We felt this item needed a buff to feel as useful as the others. This also means that 9V batteries have been removed from the loot tables.
- New customization category: Accessories. There is a new category of customizations now for customizations we will be adding in the future. There is not much in it yet (one thing), but that will change in future updates.
- New connections in the maze. We have connected areas in the maze with new routes to give players more options when navigating. We also made some adjustments to Dream Therapy to force players to go deeper inside when passing through.
- Achievements Implemented! Players can now receive Steam achievements when playing the game. :)
- Subtitles added for AI VO. Subtitle support got a huge boost this update with subtitles now being properly implemented for most Lucid and Sleeper VO. There is more to come, but for those of you who prefer subtitles you should have most of the game covered now... not just the Prologue anymore.
FIXES
As usual this build has numerous fixes and the full list will be posted in the forums (will update this post with a link once ready). Some of the more notable fixes are:
- Attempts to make stalker dossier counts more reliable. They were very inconsistent before.
- Fix to make sure ladder climbing options are properly respected in game
- Fix to incorrect mission complete screen when a stalker was captured
- Improved region select UI
- Collision fixes in the map
- Various typos and text cleanup to reflect the gameplay changes
We really can't thank everyone enough for your feedback, comments, and bug reports these past few months. They are all helping us evolve and shape up this game to be the best it can be and we hope you're having fun! Don't forget to check out the Discord (discord.gg/theblackoutclub) and our Steam Community Hub for the latest news and updates.
Most of all THANK YOU for playing and spreading the word!
See you around the neighborhood,
~the Question team