Heyo it's me, iStead, back at it again with another series of patch notes. I know it's been a little while and I hope you all enjoyed the spooky season. I wanted to hunt down any ghouls hiding in our game's code before we got this update out to you guys. Only one big change but oh boy is it a big one. Grab your toast and lets dive on in!
Game Changes
The COAT
For a while now we've felt the COAT was lacking in its gameplay. The core identity of the pilot was always about being mobile and being able to zip around a room, while lacking some of the heavy armaments that the COAT had. This led us to believe that we should keep the COAT slow to offer some duality between the two. However this meant that you could rarely dodge any attacks and would often get blasted down immediately upon starting the COAT. So we went back to the lab and started cooking again, and now we're happy to share with you the results. Here's a complete list of everything changed with the COAT:
Controlling the skies
The biggest change with the new COAT is the added function of hovering. While in the air you're able to get the drop on enemies but at the cost of a constant drain on your energy bar. Starting up the hover requires a quick jump (the COAT can jump now too) and then another jump input to start hovering.
Frame redesign and armor changes
The key to making the hover look good required a complete overhaul of the previous COAT skeleton and by extension the model itself. While it still towers over the player and most enemies, the COAT is considerably smaller than previous iterations. We had to take out 2 of the armors from the pool while we rework them but for now the Paragon and Proven armor sets are still able to be unlocked.
Shoulder Modules
Shoulder modules also received a complete visual overhaul but we're putting this under gameplay changes because we've enabled 4 new ones for you to test. The Rocket Pod, Knockback EMP, Shield Generator, and the Implosion Cannon. I will leave it up to you to discover what these all are capable of.
Clearer Reload Animation
Made the reload animation a bit clearer and fits more in with the COAT's new look.
Entering the COAT
Entering the COAT also uses a brand new animation for when you summon it for the first time, and a shorter separate animation for when you have the COAT summoned and are just hopping back in.
Invulnerability window
There is now a brief time of invulnerability when the COAT is destroyed or when you hop out of it. This was due to feedback that you would sometimes die to the same things that killed your COAT.
Spread Mechanics
We've tweaked how we handle the spread on most guns, particularly automatic ones. Previously, spread would increase while the trigger was being held, regardless of the shots fired. This allowed players to maintain almost perfect accuracy by tap-firing automatic weapons. We've altered the spread to increase per fired shot instead and constantly decay, so players aren't punished for holding down the trigger.
Creative Destruction
Added in a new demoable sniper with the above name.
Tanking Some Hits
We made some tweaks to the Floor 1 boss' missile pattern. They should be more varied and their homing has been decreased. This should result in less frequent one shots by that ability.
Visual Changes
Perk Icons
Reworked all art for the Perk Icons. The old art style has been retired for now.
COAT Visual Update
We talked about it more in depth up top but everything involving the COAT has now been visually updated including all gear icons.
Dash Effects
Added in some particle effects to the dash ability.
Brightening the Boss Arena
Added in a series of lights to the boss room that should improve visibility. We opened the curtains and let some of the sunlight in for the boss. He was getting tired of being in the dark after all.
Other Changes
-Fixed a lag spike that frequently happened when starting the first encounter of a run
-Smoothed out the transition from the title screen to the loadout menu
-Made COAT properly regenerate energy while unpiloted
And that's all we got for changes today. We hope you enjoy the new COAT gameplay and if there are any bugs or issues please feel free to reach out to us and report them. Or if you notice anything funny we can always be reached over the discord!
Until next time,
-iStead