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51
Stories / Re: My First Win
« on: March 31, 2024, 12:30:34 AM »
Oh nice! There you go, FarCom flight is generally the way to go for a simpler first win, once you get it up and running. +SR and jamming are pretty awesome on any build, and nice to hear you got some benefits out of decoder chips! Most people pass on those, but I've had some fun experiences with them, and one of Cogmind's historically best players likes them a lot.
Took advantage of W assault, too, I see
Took advantage of W assault, too, I see
52
Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] (Spoilers) Inventory item labels appear briefly near attached parts
« on: March 31, 2024, 12:08:27 AM »
This is a feature, not a bug 
It's described in the manual, but I also just yesterday added a new tutorial message about them for Beta 14. (The reason I did so is because I was expanding this feature with yet more QoL capabilities!
)
Those are the autopairs, showing you the names of all the parts you swapped out, so that you know you can reswap them easily using '/'+letter+Y.
You can call them up by putting your cursor over any of the tick marks next to such a part (did you notice all those parts always have a '-' next to them?), or holding Ctrl-Shift-a (this command was originally in the command list, but I removed it from the in-game list recently since it's rarely needed and no longer fits, but you can still find this in the full command list in the manual, as well as again in the description of the Advanced UI features).
It's described in the manual, but I also just yesterday added a new tutorial message about them for Beta 14. (The reason I did so is because I was expanding this feature with yet more QoL capabilities!
)Those are the autopairs, showing you the names of all the parts you swapped out, so that you know you can reswap them easily using '/'+letter+Y.
You can call them up by putting your cursor over any of the tick marks next to such a part (did you notice all those parts always have a '-' next to them?), or holding Ctrl-Shift-a (this command was originally in the command list, but I removed it from the in-game list recently since it's rarely needed and no longer fits, but you can still find this in the full command list in the manual, as well as again in the description of the Advanced UI features).
53
Confirmed Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] Outdated W-44 Eye analysis
« on: March 30, 2024, 04:27:05 AM »
Well it's good that someone checks those, because they're clearly not something that's easy to check for accuracy over a long period as the game has kept changing (mainly a few of those mechanics, and especially during the Beta 11 transition, since analyses are written separately and would have to read through them all in their entirety to confirm accuracy, so not going to happen, but at least it's not all that common...)
Thanks, will update. There are actually more examples of visual range than you mention as well--those were added a long time ago before most other bots.
(mainly a few of those mechanics, and especially during the Beta 11 transition, since analyses are written separately and would have to read through them all in their entirety to confirm accuracy, so not going to happen, but at least it's not all that common...)Thanks, will update. There are actually more examples of visual range than you mention as well--those were added a long time ago before most other bots.
54
Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] (Spoilers) Momentum melee modifier isn't applied accurately
« on: March 29, 2024, 08:48:38 PM »
Yeah this can happen in some Cogmind combat calculations. It is being applied correctly there, but because it involves decimal math and there is no attempt to ensure that the results of said math don't end up truncated due to, well, computer math, it's possible to lose a 1 in some instances. It is consistent though. The result of 50*1.400000000 is actually not quite 70, and the same formulas are used throughout, so what it shows is what you get (your actual damage range is as displayed).
Personally I would prefer to only use integer math for absolutely everything, and tend to in the vast majority of places, but combat in particular ended up using decimal math for some things early on, and continued that trend rather than try to rewrite it all.
Personally I would prefer to only use integer math for absolutely everything, and tend to in the vast majority of places, but combat in particular ended up using decimal math for some things early on, and continued that trend rather than try to rewrite it all.
55
Confirmed Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] (big spoilers) Exit mouseover animation starts appearing to the side
« on: March 29, 2024, 08:31:58 PM »
Ah yeah, the initial offset for a left-oriented exit label was not being set correctly, but because it's capable of correcting itself, it would at most appear that way for a single frame and otherwise may not be noticeable except at lower frame rates. I've corrected it so it'll be correct to begin with in that particular situation so even for that frame it'll appear as expected.
56
Confirmed Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] Melee Specialist achievement has too much text to display
« on: March 29, 2024, 07:37:24 PM »
Ah good catch, damn the "melee weapons" string is longer than the other Specialist achievements xD. Had added that clarification since there were often such questions, but didn't consider it might go beyond the limit. Anyway, will remove some words to get that one to fit!
57
Confirmed Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] Outdated Lightnting analysis
« on: March 29, 2024, 07:32:32 PM »
Oh my, quite interesting that no one noticed it after so many years! This is actually not a case of an incorrect analysis--they should indeed by undetectable, but what happened is that the original scan cloak value for Lightnings was set to 4, which used to be beyond any sensors, and not long after that I shifted the numbering system used by the Signal Interpreters and such, resulting in Lightnings being just within the max value possible. So... to fit that purpose will actually now be upping the Lightnings to level 5!
I'll have to log this as a mod for Beta 14, otherwise it will probably catch some folks off guard
I'll have to log this as a mod for Beta 14, otherwise it will probably catch some folks off guard
58
Announcements / Re: Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"
« on: March 25, 2024, 07:37:58 AM »
Well whaddya know, 240318 wasn't the final patch after all :P
Here's another little save-compatible patch, mainly aiming to fix some new issues, but I also happened to have added some new features as well.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240325 changelog:
If you happen to play in ASCII and are a fan of the classic IBM VGA font like I am (as well as the dude who requested this one :P), it's available specifically for the Non-modal layout on 1080p displays. Enable 18/VGA_Max manually in data/fonts/_config.xt for access if you are using this resolution and layout (most monospace fonts are fairly limited in what sizes they can support without looking really weird). It's also found at 2160p, since that's a multiple. Here's a couple screenshots, and it changes both the text and the map to that font, albeit the map portion is slightly stylized to help it stand out more given the extra space (open full size for 1080p):
Here's another little save-compatible patch, mainly aiming to fix some new issues, but I also happened to have added some new features as well.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240325 changelog:
- NEW: Additional environmental mechanic in Subcaves
- NEW: 1 new font typeface, 18/VGA_Max, enabling classic IBM font and map ASCII in 1080p and 2160p Non-modal layouts (unlock manually in font config)
- NEW: Message logs support duplication counter incrementing on multiline messages
- NEW: Improved consistency of multiline on-map message display in Modal UI layout
- NEW: Option to require confirmation before attaching propulsion aside from specified type, useful for some achievements (advanced.cfg: focusPropulsionType)
- MOD: Neutron Missile Launcher range increased, falloff reduced, damage range tightened
- FIX: Target Drones could still drop parts [Infomantis]
- FIX: Gallery data exports did not match in-game repairability values for Subdweller parts [Infomantis]
- FIX: Under certain conditions, possible to create a 0-core save state [Hermelin, Finestep, 3.14, CrossedViper]
- FIX: Scoresheet cumulative run stat included current run's duration twice (long-term data integrity unaffected) [Darby, Sloweel]
- FIX: Some numbers in 16/TerminusTall font needed improvement
If you happen to play in ASCII and are a fan of the classic IBM VGA font like I am (as well as the dude who requested this one :P), it's available specifically for the Non-modal layout on 1080p displays. Enable 18/VGA_Max manually in data/fonts/_config.xt for access if you are using this resolution and layout (most monospace fonts are fairly limited in what sizes they can support without looking really weird). It's also found at 2160p, since that's a multiple. Here's a couple screenshots, and it changes both the text and the map to that font, albeit the map portion is slightly stylized to help it stand out more given the extra space (open full size for 1080p):
59
Confirmed Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] "More" not working in gallery in unknown circumstances
« on: March 24, 2024, 02:26:18 AM »
Hm, yeah, quite likely there's an issue with it somehow. That button actually proved a bit problematic and during prerelease versions I fixed it a couple different times under various scenarios, but it seems to be working in all tests so far.
We won't need seeds for something like this since it's just an interface thing, depending purely on the order and method of user input, so theoretically it should be reliably repeatable through the same steps, just have to discover what those are. Knowing the UI layout could perhaps be helpful in that regard, though not guaranteed to be unique to it.
I haven't been able to repeat this particular case yet. We'll have to just wait and see when this pops up again and if there are reliable steps for it.
No, it wouldn't be related to that, because the map and all other parts of the UI are all completely hidden and cannot be interacted with while in the game menu.
We won't need seeds for something like this since it's just an interface thing, depending purely on the order and method of user input, so theoretically it should be reliably repeatable through the same steps, just have to discover what those are. Knowing the UI layout could perhaps be helpful in that regard, though not guaranteed to be unique to it.
I haven't been able to repeat this particular case yet. We'll have to just wait and see when this pops up again and if there are reliable steps for it.
where maybe something in the actual map interfered\
No, it wouldn't be related to that, because the map and all other parts of the UI are all completely hidden and cannot be interacted with while in the game menu.
60
Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] Isn't the "inventory autosorting" option now useless?
« on: March 24, 2024, 02:15:23 AM »
Well it's certainly less useful than it used to be, but not completely useless, no. It automatically type sorts your inventory, so if you've reversed the sort yourself (or it became unsorted through some other means, not sure if/what is still capable of doing that anymore), it will be forward sorted again.
It could probably be dropped from the menu itself since it's much less useful than it used to be, but removing options is usually not a great idea to do quickly, just in case, we'll see if the space is needed later and it could perhaps become an advanced.cfg option instead if people still would like to have it for its remaining functionality.
(So you turned it off and noticed no difference, but that's because you didn't happen to test the case where it does have an effect.)
It could probably be dropped from the menu itself since it's much less useful than it used to be, but removing options is usually not a great idea to do quickly, just in case, we'll see if the space is needed later and it could perhaps become an advanced.cfg option instead if people still would like to have it for its remaining functionality.
(So you turned it off and noticed no difference, but that's because you didn't happen to test the case where it does have an effect.)
61
Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Re: [Beta 13] Mouse interacts visually through bothacking window
« on: March 24, 2024, 02:08:53 AM »
Yeah this is normal behavior. Mouse hover responses are still active in most cases even if you're mostly interacting with a modal window, and they can pass through windows as well. It's always been like that and you can see many cases of it throughout the interface. You can't actually interact with said things, though, just possibly get additional information to display.
62
Stories / Re: A Jaunt Through the Branches
« on: March 17, 2024, 11:14:17 PM »
FC is definitely a good way to start. Just avoid those Research branches if you take it, you'll be making it to the surface in no time
63
Announcements / Re: Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"
« on: March 17, 2024, 10:19:56 PM »
We have a new Beta 13 patch, this time with Modal layout QoL enhancements, and some more fixes for new issues.
If you recall, back when I planned to release the new layout feature for Beta 13, I wasn't sure if it would be feasible to also release so-called "Phase 4," the even more extreme Modal layout. While I did manage to squeeze it in under the deadline, there wasn't as much time to finalize the best possible version of it, specifically with regard to the top-center "multiconsole" area.
This past week after finishing a bunch of other Cogmind-related work, I've been able to give that area some more love and it's now gotten a redesign more suited to that layout, rather than being hacked together from what was there before :P
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240318 changelog:
The biggest changes are noticeable in the Modal layout, in which the top menu bar better reflects the behavior in this particular mode, with ALLIES and INTEL opening as modal windows (so they get full-size buttons), and L/C being used to set which type of log appears below that area when action is playing out:
To accommodate this change, all layouts have undergone a few modifications as well, including moving the transient HOSTILES button over to the regular message log side (this makes room for another likely button to appear next to ZOOM in a future version), and reordering the top-center console buttons in general (LAIC -> AILC), meaning their F-key hotkeys have also been shifted to maintain the same order, if you're using those.
An important focus of this patch was to give users of the new Modal layout mouse access to the extended combat log history, which is now achieved by clicking on the combat log button a second time to open that in modal form as well, where it can then be scrolled via the scroll wheel normally as with the other layouts.
As usual, keyboard access (-/=) automatically opens this history as well.
Note that the lower-detail combat log settings having been removed, and renaming of the highest detail from "Full" to "Max" will mean that any folks originally using the latter will want to head into the options menu to set it again.
There are still a handful of small visual issues with the new Beta 13 interface that I haven't been able to track down or reproduce through explicit testing (including for example the possibility of the Modal layout's message log final underline not disappearing properly), but they're on the list for more observation...
The Past
After all the Beta 13 post-release work settled down, I finally had the opportunity to put together a stat analysis of player data from the previous release (Beta 12), now that the leaderboards have been reset. I posted that here.
Not long after that, while the spreadsheets were hot I couldn't help also taking a preliminary look at player preferences regarding our major new interface features in Beta 13 (map zooming and upscaled UI layouts). I posted usage graphs and analysis of the figures here.
The Present
Cogmind has been technically compatible with the Steam Deck more or less since it came out, though it was marked as "Unsupported" on Steam until just this week when I contacted Valve and had them do an official review in order to change that. The new UI layout options plus zooming should make that a much better experience than it might've been before Beta 13. (Based on feedback so far that is the case.)
As part of today's patch I also added six more font options at size 16, which is the size used by the Steam Deck and some people may prefer one of the newer ones (not sure if they're better or not, since I don't have a Deck to test on and see what they look like on the actual device). Example 16/X11Caps screenshot combining map zooming with the Modal UI layout and under the Steam Deck's resolution (open full size to see proper resolution--1280x800):
Of course anyone on a smaller 720~800px display can also use these new fonts, though it's too bad the Deck has such a low resolution and isn't at least just 10 pixels taller, which would put it in range of a nice font/tile size increase across the board!
Anyway, we'll see what folks end up using, and also get a glimpse at just how many are doing that since this patch adds stats for Deck use to the scoreesheet records.
The Future
In the near-term I'll be sifting through this year's 7DRLs, now that the jam is over and there's also been a little time for devs to release post-jam fixes. I'll be sharing what I find on my Twitch channel.
And aside from that, with our final Beta 13 patch now out, it's time to dust off the dozens of fresh items and robots I built last year to populate one of the new maps which sits empty and eagerly awaiting its new inhabitants :)
If you recall, back when I planned to release the new layout feature for Beta 13, I wasn't sure if it would be feasible to also release so-called "Phase 4," the even more extreme Modal layout. While I did manage to squeeze it in under the deadline, there wasn't as much time to finalize the best possible version of it, specifically with regard to the top-center "multiconsole" area.
This past week after finishing a bunch of other Cogmind-related work, I've been able to give that area some more love and it's now gotten a redesign more suited to that layout, rather than being hacked together from what was there before :P
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240318 changelog:
- NEW: 6 new font options at size 16, Terminus/X11 variants and a blocky font, mainly to increase options on Steam Deck (now at 16 styles)
- NEW: In Modal UI layout, activating combat log a second time (F8, or LMB on button) opens new modal window (also toggled via keyboard scroll commands -/=)
- NEW: Contextual tutorial message about machine/terrain Armor on failing to cause damage
- NEW: Scoresheet "Steam" entry in Options section records separate value if using Steam Deck
- MOD: Neutron Missile Launcher damage reduced, consistency increased
- MOD: Convoy path prediction overlay changed from yellow to red
- MOD: Removed lower combat log detail settings, simplified to High and Max
- MOD: HOSTILES button moved to bottom right edge of message log window
- MOD: Allies/Intel/Extended log window order adjusted in top-center console, corresponding F5/F6/F7 hotkeys updated to match new order
- MOD: In Modal UI layout, Allies and Intel window access appear as full-size buttons
- MOD: Visual style of mode swap indicator for Extended Log vs Combat Log changed in Modal UI layout
- MOD: In Modal UI layout, once Allies/Intel modal window closed, top-center console setting automatically restored to Extended Log or Combat Log
- MOD: Advanced option autoOpenNewIntel explicitly not applicable under Modal UI layout
- FIX: Opening the new More prompt while examining an item attached to another robot could cause unexpected results [Infomantis]
- FIX: Sabotage intel marker for convoy interceptions may be placed inaccurately under certain conditions [ktur]
- FIX: Automated shifting of map view when following drone that spots hostiles or other events did not position correctly [lyra]
- FIX: Crash on distant overloaded Fabricator destroying self via chain reaction in nearby robot power source while simultaneously short circuiting [arkn]
- FIX: [Pay2Buy mode] Recycling Units could still drop backup parts on destruction [Infomantis]
- FIX: Pressing ESC erased active item labels and reset filter without restoring other input functions to overlapping controls until normal expiry (again)
- FIX: Alternative JSON/protobuffer scoresheet data format always reported zero for Corruption Blocked
- FIX: RMB to close full log while cursor over map area may also count as map input
- FIX: Some cases of UI state change might leave a button highlighted after cursor left its area
The biggest changes are noticeable in the Modal layout, in which the top menu bar better reflects the behavior in this particular mode, with ALLIES and INTEL opening as modal windows (so they get full-size buttons), and L/C being used to set which type of log appears below that area when action is playing out:
To accommodate this change, all layouts have undergone a few modifications as well, including moving the transient HOSTILES button over to the regular message log side (this makes room for another likely button to appear next to ZOOM in a future version), and reordering the top-center console buttons in general (LAIC -> AILC), meaning their F-key hotkeys have also been shifted to maintain the same order, if you're using those.
An important focus of this patch was to give users of the new Modal layout mouse access to the extended combat log history, which is now achieved by clicking on the combat log button a second time to open that in modal form as well, where it can then be scrolled via the scroll wheel normally as with the other layouts.
As usual, keyboard access (-/=) automatically opens this history as well.
Note that the lower-detail combat log settings having been removed, and renaming of the highest detail from "Full" to "Max" will mean that any folks originally using the latter will want to head into the options menu to set it again.
There are still a handful of small visual issues with the new Beta 13 interface that I haven't been able to track down or reproduce through explicit testing (including for example the possibility of the Modal layout's message log final underline not disappearing properly), but they're on the list for more observation...
The Past
After all the Beta 13 post-release work settled down, I finally had the opportunity to put together a stat analysis of player data from the previous release (Beta 12), now that the leaderboards have been reset. I posted that here.
Not long after that, while the spreadsheets were hot I couldn't help also taking a preliminary look at player preferences regarding our major new interface features in Beta 13 (map zooming and upscaled UI layouts). I posted usage graphs and analysis of the figures here.
The Present
Cogmind has been technically compatible with the Steam Deck more or less since it came out, though it was marked as "Unsupported" on Steam until just this week when I contacted Valve and had them do an official review in order to change that. The new UI layout options plus zooming should make that a much better experience than it might've been before Beta 13. (Based on feedback so far that is the case.)
As part of today's patch I also added six more font options at size 16, which is the size used by the Steam Deck and some people may prefer one of the newer ones (not sure if they're better or not, since I don't have a Deck to test on and see what they look like on the actual device). Example 16/X11Caps screenshot combining map zooming with the Modal UI layout and under the Steam Deck's resolution (open full size to see proper resolution--1280x800):
Of course anyone on a smaller 720~800px display can also use these new fonts, though it's too bad the Deck has such a low resolution and isn't at least just 10 pixels taller, which would put it in range of a nice font/tile size increase across the board!
Anyway, we'll see what folks end up using, and also get a glimpse at just how many are doing that since this patch adds stats for Deck use to the scoreesheet records.
The Future
In the near-term I'll be sifting through this year's 7DRLs, now that the jam is over and there's also been a little time for devs to release post-jam fixes. I'll be sharing what I find on my Twitch channel.
And aside from that, with our final Beta 13 patch now out, it's time to dust off the dozens of fresh items and robots I built last year to populate one of the new maps which sits empty and eagerly awaiting its new inhabitants :)
64
Stories / Re: A Jaunt Through the Branches
« on: March 17, 2024, 06:53:40 PM »
Oh man, looks like quite the adventure, and also so close to having instead gotten a very different and more beneficial outcome towards the end of your journey.... (you'll see one day 
But yeah, heed the Exiles' warning that you should stay out of Research-type branches (green) with FC.
But yeah, heed the Exiles' warning that you should stay out of Research-type branches (green) with FC.
65
Stories / Re: Funniest moments
« on: March 15, 2024, 07:24:53 AM »
Maiker is remote rewiring Specialists by holding down the 'F' key. A random Watcher wanders in, immediately gets datajacked, amplify_resonance'd, and explodes with his buddy, all in a split second.
66
Announcements / Re: Cogmind Expansion, Price Increase "Coming Soon"
« on: March 15, 2024, 01:02:30 AM »
Hey Baxter, up to 50 now, eh? Enough to have seen a fair amount of things, but still a lot of wild experiences out there waiting :D
I'm super eager to start sharing the meatier parts of this expansion into new areas of the world, just hope we can keep the funding going long enough to see multiple more after it!
Aside from Patreon, this project is still funded in good part by bringing in new players, so I'm quite curious if there are still enough folks out there who would be very interested in a game like this and both willing and able to support its further development at this price. We had plenty such supporters back in 2015-2016 (excellent funding before joining Steam!), but it's been a long while now...
My strong aversion to DLC makes the path harder yet, but if we can keep it up for nearly a decade as we have, adding a couple more years is not out of the question :)
I'm super eager to start sharing the meatier parts of this expansion into new areas of the world, just hope we can keep the funding going long enough to see multiple more after it!
Aside from Patreon, this project is still funded in good part by bringing in new players, so I'm quite curious if there are still enough folks out there who would be very interested in a game like this and both willing and able to support its further development at this price. We had plenty such supporters back in 2015-2016 (excellent funding before joining Steam!), but it's been a long while now...
My strong aversion to DLC makes the path harder yet, but if we can keep it up for nearly a decade as we have, adding a couple more years is not out of the question :)
67
Competitions / Re: High Scores and Stats
« on: March 12, 2024, 08:53:12 PM »
Beta 12 Stat Summary
Beta 13 is out, leaderboards have been reset, time to examine some stats from the previous version! Our last huge stat review was done after Beta 11, in 2023 here on the blog, and that being an important milestone with regard to balance, that particular review was quite extensive. This time I'll be looking at somewhat fewer categories, but it's still nice to see where certain aspects stand, especially any newer features.
Beta 12 leaderboards have been archived here, with scoresheets for all runs available here.
During Beta 12 "Encrypted Comms" (March 2023 ~ Feb 2024), 790 unique players submitted 8,592 runs that met the minimum threshold for inclusion. 296 (3.4%) of those were played in a special or challenge mode (a lower percentage than last time (8%) since no new modes were released during Beta 12), leaving us with 8,296 runs for our data analysis. (There are also many prerelease runs by patrons, but those are excluded as well, since the version is still in flux at that point.)
Wins
The overall win rate was 4.7%, so fairly middling as far as historical stats go.
Among the 7,143 Rogue-level runs (86.1%), 97 (16.5%) unique players earned at least one Beta 12 win, seemingly confirming that the increase in that metric following the Beta 11 rebalance is here to stay. Maybe it will reverse down again next time in Beta 13 with the influx of new and returning players now that we have map zooming and the new upscaled UI layouts? We'll see, but for now it looks like Beta 11 did indeed have a sizeable impact on winnability, perhaps making it a bit easier for some (?)... or our sample size is still too small to draw conclusions like this, what with different folks coming and going over the long term :P
(This is an updated graph from our Beta 11 stats--the Beta 12 prereleases would show a similar comparison, but it's not being included here.)
This time around I compiled a new category of win data people have been curious about: win types. As of Beta 10 there are 9 different win types, and according to Beta 12 records, 11 Rogue difficulty players have at some point earned every single win type at least once (there might be more who did not play Beta 12 in particular). Adding in Adventurer/Explorer runs does not change the count, which makes sense since it's generally the more hardcore players going up against every single ending (and winning).
Some other Rogue-specific win type data (remember that despite this including historical runs from earlier versions, our data is only looking at those who at least played one qualifying Beta 12 run):
Thus 32.0% of Beta 12 players have one at least one run at some point before, and 15.6% have at least two different types.
w0 is the most common, of course, and although we we can't really know how many "w0 of shame" that includes, a respectable near-half of runs are alternative wins requiring at least one late-game branch visit. Some of the win types are clearly rare, either because they're difficult to discover, or are simply really challenging (leading in many cases to a w0 instead when the primary goal was not achieved).
Among the unique winning accomplishments that aren't explicitly represented by a win type, special shoutout to Runia for being the first and only player to have successfully managed to fire the Drained L-Cannon and even use it to get an extended ++ win. Some video and summary/notes by Runia here--EXTREME EXTENDED GAME SPOILERS.
Scrap Engine
One of the main new features of Beta 12, even though not yet fully integrated plot-wise, was the already mechanically-complete easily-acquired Scrap Engine. We have a few basic stats on that.
472 runs (5.7%) used the Scrap Engine (SE) at all, and a total of 127 unique players (21.6%) tried it at least once. 71 winning runs used the SE, or 15.0% of all SE runs, most of them using it heavily as opposed to for a short time. Naturally these same folks generally created and modified greater numbers of constructs.
(Construct creation does not include modifications to existing constructs, a much greater number by around a factor of 20.)
Garrisons and DSFs
One of the other major enhancements of Beta 12 was the new Garrisons, so that probably means more Garrison visits and use of related mechanics.
18.3% of runs entered at least one Garrison in Beta 12, compared to 12.0% in Beta 11. 4.0% entered three or more (2.6% did so in Beta 11).
But continuing to follow our general RIF stats in this version, we can can see how garrison visitors were somewhat less interested in bothacking this time around, thus were clearly eager to enter Garrisons specifically to see the sights and/or acquire the other new benefits.
Speaking of new benefits, at least 1.2% of runs acquired the Encrypted Comm Array. The true number is likely higher, but it wasn't until Beta 13 that I added a way to more easily analyze that in the scoresheets, so I'm basing it purely on the number of runs in which it was actually used to rendezvous with allies (technically not a requirement to ultimately benefit).
One of our other small maps-between-maps, DSFs are also relatively new, having only been added in Beta 11. Last time I reported that 10.5% of runs visited at least one, and interestingly that level continues to hold, with 10.9% of runs visiting a DSF in Beta 12. It appears we can say with confidence that DSFs have their uses and are doing just fine--I know I've ducked into them on occasion either for fun, or to avoid trouble or get a quick build together.
Strats and Miscellany
Traps, reborn as a strong supporting strategy as of Beta 11 and gaining significant popuarity from then on, continue to enjoy the same popularity with 445 extractions by the top 20 trap users in Beta 12, compared to 428 before. The average number of traps and overall Trap Extractor use remained similar. Traps good.
Among the many uses of traps is convoy interception. 21.7% of runs that made it to -7 (lowest convoy depth) reported at least one interception. Now technically the player may not be the one who triggers it, but for some folks we can see it's quite clearly deliberate, especially those who intercept numerous convoys, and just happen to be heavy trap users, one of the most reliable ways to accomplish that task...
Notice how many of the leading convoy interceptors are also on their way to winning runs. Pure coincidence, I'm sure ;)
From the data I think everyone's come to terms with the Beta 11 fabrication overhaul and is making healthy use of the system. 35.2% of runs built at least one part, only a little lower than Beta 11, and an average of 1.38 parts were built (1.6 in Beta 11, 2.5 in Beta 10). (Note: As usual fab stats are only looking at runs that made it to at least -6.) 12.4% of runs built a robot, 0.53 on average.
20.6% of runs carried at least one Authchip, significantly higher than the 11.8% of Beta 11, and 46% of those runs used at least one of them to build something, not as high as in Beta 11 when everyone was still getting familiar with the system and how they wanted to make use of it, but significant enough to see that a good portion of players know what they want out of Authchips and are packing them in advance with a possible goal in mind.
Also with respect to Fabricators... only 4.6% of runs that reached -6 used some amount of fabnet, down from 7.9% in Beta 11 when it was introduced. And only 3 runs hit the cap (15%), down a lot since last time as well. So it does look like the previous release was more folks who wanted to try out a new feature (after even discovering it anyway--I'm sure many don't know it exists), and now it's settled down to being just another tool that might get some use in the right kind of run. MTF autooverrided the most bots in a single run with 40, and at only a 6% peak throughout, so it also helps to spread out lower numbers over a greater stretch of depths (he didn't even start until -3, then had a fabnet up for the remainder of that run which went on to an extended win).
One of the activities that's been somewhat more common in the Cogmind community lately, either as a goal in itself, or something to survive after causing too much trouble for some other reason, is sterilization. Forcing Complex 0b10 into a complete floorwide meltdown can be quite a challenge, rewarding if pulled off, and let's face it, is pretty funny when you get to walk around an empty floor with hopefully enough cooling to loot the place before being forced out :D
Surprisingly 354 runs (4.4%) sterilized at least one floor in Beta 12. Less surprisingly, none of the top 10 sterilization runs went on to win...
Despite not quite reaching the end, leiavoia did top the overall leaderboards within their epic sterilization run for the sheer score achieved by doing this, even without a win. As you can see some sterilization-oriented runs also tend to be on the longer side--it takes a while to both set up for and destroy that many bots while avoiding a swift death!
17.2% of the runs that completed two sterilizations did go on to win, however. 10.1% of the runs that only completed a single sterilization ended up winning, more than twice the overall win rate. Sterilizers are serious, 0b10.
(My own last run ended up sterilizing -3/Research in order to escape after I was blocked into a corner for plastering one too many walls with robot guts. It was a win, too, although not included in these stats because that's Beta 13...)
And finally, following up on one of Beta 11's new strategic options that I covered in more detail last time: the Exo build. Only 11 runs used Exo in Beta 12, or 0.1% of the total, compared to 82 (0.8%) in Beta 11. It was a new thing back then, so not surprising there was more uptake in the previous release. 95.2% of those which entered and survived S7 did not integrate (compared to 73.1% in Beta 11). It's usually a last resort sort of thing for most people, or something to fool around with, since it either offers less challenge, or a very different kind of challenge (it's not like everyone easily survives using it :P). I mentioned before that it might get further tweaks, but so far it seems about where I'd like it to be insofar as it serves its purpose in terms of lore, balance, and strategic options.
Beta 13 is out, leaderboards have been reset, time to examine some stats from the previous version! Our last huge stat review was done after Beta 11, in 2023 here on the blog, and that being an important milestone with regard to balance, that particular review was quite extensive. This time I'll be looking at somewhat fewer categories, but it's still nice to see where certain aspects stand, especially any newer features.
Beta 12 leaderboards have been archived here, with scoresheets for all runs available here.
During Beta 12 "Encrypted Comms" (March 2023 ~ Feb 2024), 790 unique players submitted 8,592 runs that met the minimum threshold for inclusion. 296 (3.4%) of those were played in a special or challenge mode (a lower percentage than last time (8%) since no new modes were released during Beta 12), leaving us with 8,296 runs for our data analysis. (There are also many prerelease runs by patrons, but those are excluded as well, since the version is still in flux at that point.)
Wins
The overall win rate was 4.7%, so fairly middling as far as historical stats go.
Among the 7,143 Rogue-level runs (86.1%), 97 (16.5%) unique players earned at least one Beta 12 win, seemingly confirming that the increase in that metric following the Beta 11 rebalance is here to stay. Maybe it will reverse down again next time in Beta 13 with the influx of new and returning players now that we have map zooming and the new upscaled UI layouts? We'll see, but for now it looks like Beta 11 did indeed have a sizeable impact on winnability, perhaps making it a bit easier for some (?)... or our sample size is still too small to draw conclusions like this, what with different folks coming and going over the long term :P
(This is an updated graph from our Beta 11 stats--the Beta 12 prereleases would show a similar comparison, but it's not being included here.)
This time around I compiled a new category of win data people have been curious about: win types. As of Beta 10 there are 9 different win types, and according to Beta 12 records, 11 Rogue difficulty players have at some point earned every single win type at least once (there might be more who did not play Beta 12 in particular). Adding in Adventurer/Explorer runs does not change the count, which makes sense since it's generally the more hardcore players going up against every single ending (and winning).
Some other Rogue-specific win type data (remember that despite this including historical runs from earlier versions, our data is only looking at those who at least played one qualifying Beta 12 run):
Thus 32.0% of Beta 12 players have one at least one run at some point before, and 15.6% have at least two different types.
w0 is the most common, of course, and although we we can't really know how many "w0 of shame" that includes, a respectable near-half of runs are alternative wins requiring at least one late-game branch visit. Some of the win types are clearly rare, either because they're difficult to discover, or are simply really challenging (leading in many cases to a w0 instead when the primary goal was not achieved).
Among the unique winning accomplishments that aren't explicitly represented by a win type, special shoutout to Runia for being the first and only player to have successfully managed to fire the Drained L-Cannon and even use it to get an extended ++ win. Some video and summary/notes by Runia here--EXTREME EXTENDED GAME SPOILERS.
Scrap Engine
One of the main new features of Beta 12, even though not yet fully integrated plot-wise, was the already mechanically-complete easily-acquired Scrap Engine. We have a few basic stats on that.
472 runs (5.7%) used the Scrap Engine (SE) at all, and a total of 127 unique players (21.6%) tried it at least once. 71 winning runs used the SE, or 15.0% of all SE runs, most of them using it heavily as opposed to for a short time. Naturally these same folks generally created and modified greater numbers of constructs.
(Construct creation does not include modifications to existing constructs, a much greater number by around a factor of 20.)
Garrisons and DSFs
One of the other major enhancements of Beta 12 was the new Garrisons, so that probably means more Garrison visits and use of related mechanics.
18.3% of runs entered at least one Garrison in Beta 12, compared to 12.0% in Beta 11. 4.0% entered three or more (2.6% did so in Beta 11).
But continuing to follow our general RIF stats in this version, we can can see how garrison visitors were somewhat less interested in bothacking this time around, thus were clearly eager to enter Garrisons specifically to see the sights and/or acquire the other new benefits.
Speaking of new benefits, at least 1.2% of runs acquired the Encrypted Comm Array. The true number is likely higher, but it wasn't until Beta 13 that I added a way to more easily analyze that in the scoresheets, so I'm basing it purely on the number of runs in which it was actually used to rendezvous with allies (technically not a requirement to ultimately benefit).
One of our other small maps-between-maps, DSFs are also relatively new, having only been added in Beta 11. Last time I reported that 10.5% of runs visited at least one, and interestingly that level continues to hold, with 10.9% of runs visiting a DSF in Beta 12. It appears we can say with confidence that DSFs have their uses and are doing just fine--I know I've ducked into them on occasion either for fun, or to avoid trouble or get a quick build together.
Strats and Miscellany
Traps, reborn as a strong supporting strategy as of Beta 11 and gaining significant popuarity from then on, continue to enjoy the same popularity with 445 extractions by the top 20 trap users in Beta 12, compared to 428 before. The average number of traps and overall Trap Extractor use remained similar. Traps good.
Among the many uses of traps is convoy interception. 21.7% of runs that made it to -7 (lowest convoy depth) reported at least one interception. Now technically the player may not be the one who triggers it, but for some folks we can see it's quite clearly deliberate, especially those who intercept numerous convoys, and just happen to be heavy trap users, one of the most reliable ways to accomplish that task...
Notice how many of the leading convoy interceptors are also on their way to winning runs. Pure coincidence, I'm sure ;)
From the data I think everyone's come to terms with the Beta 11 fabrication overhaul and is making healthy use of the system. 35.2% of runs built at least one part, only a little lower than Beta 11, and an average of 1.38 parts were built (1.6 in Beta 11, 2.5 in Beta 10). (Note: As usual fab stats are only looking at runs that made it to at least -6.) 12.4% of runs built a robot, 0.53 on average.
20.6% of runs carried at least one Authchip, significantly higher than the 11.8% of Beta 11, and 46% of those runs used at least one of them to build something, not as high as in Beta 11 when everyone was still getting familiar with the system and how they wanted to make use of it, but significant enough to see that a good portion of players know what they want out of Authchips and are packing them in advance with a possible goal in mind.
Also with respect to Fabricators... only 4.6% of runs that reached -6 used some amount of fabnet, down from 7.9% in Beta 11 when it was introduced. And only 3 runs hit the cap (15%), down a lot since last time as well. So it does look like the previous release was more folks who wanted to try out a new feature (after even discovering it anyway--I'm sure many don't know it exists), and now it's settled down to being just another tool that might get some use in the right kind of run. MTF autooverrided the most bots in a single run with 40, and at only a 6% peak throughout, so it also helps to spread out lower numbers over a greater stretch of depths (he didn't even start until -3, then had a fabnet up for the remainder of that run which went on to an extended win).
One of the activities that's been somewhat more common in the Cogmind community lately, either as a goal in itself, or something to survive after causing too much trouble for some other reason, is sterilization. Forcing Complex 0b10 into a complete floorwide meltdown can be quite a challenge, rewarding if pulled off, and let's face it, is pretty funny when you get to walk around an empty floor with hopefully enough cooling to loot the place before being forced out :D
Surprisingly 354 runs (4.4%) sterilized at least one floor in Beta 12. Less surprisingly, none of the top 10 sterilization runs went on to win...
Despite not quite reaching the end, leiavoia did top the overall leaderboards within their epic sterilization run for the sheer score achieved by doing this, even without a win. As you can see some sterilization-oriented runs also tend to be on the longer side--it takes a while to both set up for and destroy that many bots while avoiding a swift death!
17.2% of the runs that completed two sterilizations did go on to win, however. 10.1% of the runs that only completed a single sterilization ended up winning, more than twice the overall win rate. Sterilizers are serious, 0b10.
(My own last run ended up sterilizing -3/Research in order to escape after I was blocked into a corner for plastering one too many walls with robot guts. It was a win, too, although not included in these stats because that's Beta 13...)
And finally, following up on one of Beta 11's new strategic options that I covered in more detail last time: the Exo build. Only 11 runs used Exo in Beta 12, or 0.1% of the total, compared to 82 (0.8%) in Beta 11. It was a new thing back then, so not surprising there was more uptake in the previous release. 95.2% of those which entered and survived S7 did not integrate (compared to 73.1% in Beta 11). It's usually a last resort sort of thing for most people, or something to fool around with, since it either offers less challenge, or a very different kind of challenge (it's not like everyone easily survives using it :P). I mentioned before that it might get further tweaks, but so far it seems about where I'd like it to be insofar as it serves its purpose in terms of lore, balance, and strategic options.
68
Announcements / Cogmind Expansion, Price Increase "Coming Soon"
« on: March 10, 2024, 09:49:25 PM »
It's finally time! For 1.0? No, of course not (that we hit it back in 2017 is just a poorly kept secret), what I mean is raising the price to better reflect what Cogmind is: hundreds of hours of content and lovingly-crafted roguelike adventure and storytelling. I don't explicitly advertise the worldbuilding's diversity and surprises, since that is best left to discovery, but it's been enough to challenge and entertain some folks for even thousands of hours. (Cogmind's screenshots represent only a small fraction of what you'll really find out there, for the reality you'd have to check out spoiler sections of the community, or some videos/streams.)
And the scope continues to grow.
I've dedicated more than the past decade of my life to full-time development of Cogmind. Just me, since it's not like this could support additional folks--it can only barely cover frugal old me :P. I will hopefully, likely, continue to do so for the next couple years. Content is planned out even beyond that, but who knows if it will still be sustainable by then?
That said, as stated before I've never wanted to declare 1.0 then release all my expansions as DLC. Even though that technically makes a lot of business sense and would be significantly more sustainable, I think it leads to a worse player and community experience overall. Instead, I chose to start a Patreon some years ago to help keep the lights on. Although paling in comparison to what DLC would bring in, that has worked out well enough, so once again a special thanks to all of you patrons!
To the point at hand, Cogmind's price will be going up next month. There's only a relatively small window within which to do this without conflicting with other Steam events, and that period is April, so April it is. The new base price will be set to $24.99, and no don't expect that to mean deeper discounts going forward. The price isn't being raised to allow for greater discounts, it's being raised simply to raise the price :P
Some may question the idea of a price increase during "Early Access," but don't worry, the price will likely go up again (!) later and Cogmind isn't really Early Access, anyway, we're waaaay past that. Yes that label does keep some people from buying in since they're skeptical of anything marked EA, an unfortunate side effect of all the poorly planned or executed projects that don't manage it well. Cogmind could've completely skipped Early Access to begin with, or stop development at any point, and be fine in terms of completion.* (Cogmind was publicly released for over two years before coming to Steam in the first place! The date on the Steam page is not Cogmind's actual release date, though many informational sites will assume and repeat that...) We'll open the gates to those folks eventually, but the next couple themed expansions cover at least four more betas before that's even a consideration. The third still-to-come major expansion could be released before or after that threshold (still undecided), it's essentially just a pure marketing decision when to use the "1.0" label.
*that said, I'm super happy, as I'm sure others are, that we've finally been in development long enough, with enough new QoL and engine features, to support map zooming and full UI upscaling--that was BIG
Some historical metrics, for context:
For more historical info and graphs, you can also check out my annual reviews, one from each year for the past 10 years so far.
As for the next expansion, to focus on an important new location, it has technically already begun in part as a portion of Beta 13, and much more than that was completed last year, but that version detoured off into the map zoom and UI upscaling features arena so that more people could join us on this ongoing journey. With all of the new folks on board now, it's time to get this train steaming into exciting new territory again.
We're soon to increase the number of items in Cogmind by nearly 7%, a nice chunk considering we're already over 1,000, along with new maps, new factions, new abilities, yet another large increase in the number of encounters... the works. It'll be like Cogmind alpha content injections all over again, said in the strongest attempting-to-contain-my-hype tone possible :)
So yeah, in summary, price going up next month, and fun new releases coming, too, but... those not quite next month :P. They won't take forever, though--we'll be seeing somewhat faster releases down the line!
Oh yeah and there's still one more discount coming up later this week, so before the increase in price.
Memestrike
Since even after using an abbreviated version of the Beta 13 release notes we still hit Steam's length limit, I didn't have a chance to append any community stuff to our last announcement, so I'll just do that here...
MrMesh shared this wicked painting of a Cogmind scene--such a lively piece that also captures some great details! (via Roguelikes/Cogmind Discord)
A pair of awesome meme videos also dropped recently, including one titled "The Cogmind Beta 13 Experience" by Youngster (not very spoilery, but fun and nicely done!) and another dubbed "Cogmind Slander" by u/dogawesome, which is a good summary of a lot of Cogmind experiences, and in that sense it contains a lot of spoilers, but probably makes relatively little sense to anyone who hasn't actually played, or moreover played a lot. There's a huge number of lore and content references in there though, for those who can relate ;)
After releasing some patches for Beta 13, I also streamed the late-game portion of a run I had started on my own. It was fairly chaotic as usual, by choice :)
Some map-wide sterilization may have occurred prior to the start of the stream, and we know that in Cogmind destruction often begets ever greater levels of destruction, so yeah, continued remodeling was in the cards for a while.
We later used a hidden spoiler area to switch to 100% stealth for the remainder of the run (okay, except for the times our friends murdered everyone...)
That run was able to temporarily take 6th place since the leaderboards were reset for Beta 13, but has already been pushed down to 10th as more folks finish up their first runs with the new version, and at only 64k will probably not even sit within the top 20 for too long :P
And the scope continues to grow.
I've dedicated more than the past decade of my life to full-time development of Cogmind. Just me, since it's not like this could support additional folks--it can only barely cover frugal old me :P. I will hopefully, likely, continue to do so for the next couple years. Content is planned out even beyond that, but who knows if it will still be sustainable by then?
That said, as stated before I've never wanted to declare 1.0 then release all my expansions as DLC. Even though that technically makes a lot of business sense and would be significantly more sustainable, I think it leads to a worse player and community experience overall. Instead, I chose to start a Patreon some years ago to help keep the lights on. Although paling in comparison to what DLC would bring in, that has worked out well enough, so once again a special thanks to all of you patrons!
To the point at hand, Cogmind's price will be going up next month. There's only a relatively small window within which to do this without conflicting with other Steam events, and that period is April, so April it is. The new base price will be set to $24.99, and no don't expect that to mean deeper discounts going forward. The price isn't being raised to allow for greater discounts, it's being raised simply to raise the price :P
Some may question the idea of a price increase during "Early Access," but don't worry, the price will likely go up again (!) later and Cogmind isn't really Early Access, anyway, we're waaaay past that. Yes that label does keep some people from buying in since they're skeptical of anything marked EA, an unfortunate side effect of all the poorly planned or executed projects that don't manage it well. Cogmind could've completely skipped Early Access to begin with, or stop development at any point, and be fine in terms of completion.* (Cogmind was publicly released for over two years before coming to Steam in the first place! The date on the Steam page is not Cogmind's actual release date, though many informational sites will assume and repeat that...) We'll open the gates to those folks eventually, but the next couple themed expansions cover at least four more betas before that's even a consideration. The third still-to-come major expansion could be released before or after that threshold (still undecided), it's essentially just a pure marketing decision when to use the "1.0" label.
*that said, I'm super happy, as I'm sure others are, that we've finally been in development long enough, with enough new QoL and engine features, to support map zooming and full UI upscaling--that was BIG
Some historical metrics, for context:
For more historical info and graphs, you can also check out my annual reviews, one from each year for the past 10 years so far.
As for the next expansion, to focus on an important new location, it has technically already begun in part as a portion of Beta 13, and much more than that was completed last year, but that version detoured off into the map zoom and UI upscaling features arena so that more people could join us on this ongoing journey. With all of the new folks on board now, it's time to get this train steaming into exciting new territory again.
We're soon to increase the number of items in Cogmind by nearly 7%, a nice chunk considering we're already over 1,000, along with new maps, new factions, new abilities, yet another large increase in the number of encounters... the works. It'll be like Cogmind alpha content injections all over again, said in the strongest attempting-to-contain-my-hype tone possible :)
So yeah, in summary, price going up next month, and fun new releases coming, too, but... those not quite next month :P. They won't take forever, though--we'll be seeing somewhat faster releases down the line!
Oh yeah and there's still one more discount coming up later this week, so before the increase in price.
Memestrike
Since even after using an abbreviated version of the Beta 13 release notes we still hit Steam's length limit, I didn't have a chance to append any community stuff to our last announcement, so I'll just do that here...
MrMesh shared this wicked painting of a Cogmind scene--such a lively piece that also captures some great details! (via Roguelikes/Cogmind Discord)
A pair of awesome meme videos also dropped recently, including one titled "The Cogmind Beta 13 Experience" by Youngster (not very spoilery, but fun and nicely done!) and another dubbed "Cogmind Slander" by u/dogawesome, which is a good summary of a lot of Cogmind experiences, and in that sense it contains a lot of spoilers, but probably makes relatively little sense to anyone who hasn't actually played, or moreover played a lot. There's a huge number of lore and content references in there though, for those who can relate ;)
After releasing some patches for Beta 13, I also streamed the late-game portion of a run I had started on my own. It was fairly chaotic as usual, by choice :)
Some map-wide sterilization may have occurred prior to the start of the stream, and we know that in Cogmind destruction often begets ever greater levels of destruction, so yeah, continued remodeling was in the cards for a while.
We later used a hidden spoiler area to switch to 100% stealth for the remainder of the run (okay, except for the times our friends murdered everyone...)
That run was able to temporarily take 6th place since the leaderboards were reset for Beta 13, but has already been pushed down to 10th as more folks finish up their first runs with the new version, and at only 64k will probably not even sit within the top 20 for too long :P
69
Announcements / Re: Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"
« on: March 04, 2024, 07:53:37 AM »
More QoL and fixes!
Nothing major in here, just cleaning up some of the new features and addressing a handful of small issues, but definitely worth the update if you've been playing the new Beta 13! (it's another automatic update on Steam, just mentioning for the DRM-free folks)
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240304 changelog:
Among the new features we have a new advanced.cfg option for those of you who play more overweight builds and want to do a little less mathing: showOverweightMassThresholdRemainder. Setting that will change your overweight indicator from the simple Ox# format to the more esoteric X%Y. This will both make you cooler and also let you know that you've exceeded your mass support X times over and have a surplus of Y mass remaining before you hit the next threshold and get even slower :P (think of that % in there as conceptually like a modulo)
Here you can see it in operation:
While most mouse users scroll the inventory with the wheel, those buttons at the bottom/top of a larger inventory technically also scroll the contents, but in the past only did so one at a time. Those now serve as near page-wise scrolling buttons, which may be more convenient for those who actually want to use them:
For a while now it's bugged me that there seemed to be some issue with completely resetting the subcategory part label system, and sure enough there was! Pressing Escape will now truly and completely reset it, which not many probably noticed before, but there'd be a short duration during which it could affect whether pure keyboard players could access the extended combat log with the '-' key after having recently used the categorical labels. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's the fact that you can specify that you only want to see map labels for certain types of parts by cycling through them, for example only power sources, or propulsion, or matter, etc., instead of everything, which after a big battle can obviously get a little cramped!
(You get these via Tab/Shift-Tab or -/= while showing item labels.)
Tomorrow I'll be doing some Beta 13 streaming of this latest build, but not starting from scratch! We'll pick up in the late game where I left off in a run a started on my own a few days back, after having sterilized a Research map and lucking into a VL-GR5 encounter which is about to start. (Ended up spending a huge amount of time the past few days working on the game again, including some reported issues and also a bunch of these patch contents I listed out while doing my run, so never got a chance to finish it xD)
Update: Stream/run completed, here's the results :)
Nothing major in here, just cleaning up some of the new features and addressing a handful of small issues, but definitely worth the update if you've been playing the new Beta 13! (it's another automatic update on Steam, just mentioning for the DRM-free folks)
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible.
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240304 changelog:
- NEW: 1 new encounter variant
- NEW: Added more cases of machine hacking shell directly confirming content of meta intel originally shown in message log
- NEW: Using '-' key in Modal UI layout automatically switches to combat log mode and scrolls it open even if not already in that mode
- NEW: Position of window in Windowed mode remains constant during game over screens and font changes
- NEW: Option to calculate and display available mass support before reaching next overweight threshold (advanced.cfg: showOverweightMassThresholdRemainder)
- MOD: Plasma Cutter's new effect description updated to explicitly indicate it works on blast doors
- MOD: Cobblers start producing components earlier
- MOD: LMB on inventory scrolling buttons scrolls by page instead of one at a time
- MOD: Custom reduced fullscreen dimensions remain within specified limits rather than trying to fill display during game over screens
- FIX: System Guards silently retained some old pre-Beta 12 functionality [CaptainWinky]
- FIX: Salvaged Cobbler Units could have unusual counter values when first used [CaptainWinky]
- FIX: Unique new build type classification applied under too few circumstances [CaptainWinky]
- FIX: New layout architecture caused custom window heights greater than default to revert to default for duration of game over screens [Vormithrax]
- FIX: New special item dropped under wrong circumstances during particular NPC encounter [doshdoshington, Runia, aoemica]
- FIX: Pressing ESC erased active item labels and reset filter type without restoring other input functions to overlapping controls (-/=) until normal expiry
- FIX: Under some layouts and circumstances, world map info window close button may not highlight while cursor hovering
- FIX: Item info window in 45-row UI layouts did not correctly place corner brackets for handful of parts with "No Image Data"
- FIX: [Polymind mode] Taking a Cobbler host resulted in zero matter capacity
Among the new features we have a new advanced.cfg option for those of you who play more overweight builds and want to do a little less mathing: showOverweightMassThresholdRemainder. Setting that will change your overweight indicator from the simple Ox# format to the more esoteric X%Y. This will both make you cooler and also let you know that you've exceeded your mass support X times over and have a surplus of Y mass remaining before you hit the next threshold and get even slower :P (think of that % in there as conceptually like a modulo)
Here you can see it in operation:
While most mouse users scroll the inventory with the wheel, those buttons at the bottom/top of a larger inventory technically also scroll the contents, but in the past only did so one at a time. Those now serve as near page-wise scrolling buttons, which may be more convenient for those who actually want to use them:
For a while now it's bugged me that there seemed to be some issue with completely resetting the subcategory part label system, and sure enough there was! Pressing Escape will now truly and completely reset it, which not many probably noticed before, but there'd be a short duration during which it could affect whether pure keyboard players could access the extended combat log with the '-' key after having recently used the categorical labels. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's the fact that you can specify that you only want to see map labels for certain types of parts by cycling through them, for example only power sources, or propulsion, or matter, etc., instead of everything, which after a big battle can obviously get a little cramped!
(You get these via Tab/Shift-Tab or -/= while showing item labels.)
Tomorrow I'll be doing some Beta 13 streaming of this latest build, but not starting from scratch! We'll pick up in the late game where I left off in a run a started on my own a few days back, after having sterilized a Research map and lucking into a VL-GR5 encounter which is about to start. (Ended up spending a huge amount of time the past few days working on the game again, including some reported issues and also a bunch of these patch contents I listed out while doing my run, so never got a chance to finish it xD)
Update: Stream/run completed, here's the results :)
70
Strategies / Re: Strategy: getting past the Beast
« on: March 03, 2024, 06:08:28 PM »
Heh, that indeed is the easiest way to go for your first win
Just don't create the potential for Cutters on the way and you're golden!
Just don't create the potential for Cutters on the way and you're golden!
71
Strategies / Re: Strategy: getting past the Beast
« on: March 03, 2024, 12:39:14 AM »I've also joined the Discord.Yeah I saw your name pop up there on the list and figured that was you
(you'll have to read the rules FAQ when you get a chance to enter the code for access, tons of people and lots of roguelikes plus Cogmind stuff inside )Those scoresheets are a thing of beauty, btw. Very helpful.\o/
Dataminer is very cool, too, with links to graphs of a lot of the scoresheet data etc, and comparisons to community stats as well.
72
Strategies / Re: Strategy: getting past the Beast
« on: March 02, 2024, 10:10:03 PM »
By the way you tend to be playing/posting when I'm asleep, so I can't really give any timely responses here, but around that time there are plenty of pros on the Discord server who love to look at screenshots and give realtime advice!
73
Strategies / Re: Strategy: getting past the Beast
« on: March 02, 2024, 10:08:07 PM »
Excellent, so you did have a launcher and use that to create a loop to lure the Behemoth around. Good job :)
Saw your sheet, overall a pretty good job for having started only recently!
Switching to flight requires a pretty different mentality, but actually it does look like you were pretty ready to do so! Certainly the easiest way to get your first win. Fighting to the top in a slower build is generally more challenging.
Matter is very important to keep an eye on, pay attention to those warnings. Or better yet, plan in advance and have lots of extra or methods to acquire more. Your status in the sheet does show at that point you were basically running on empty :)
Fortunately you had a Proton cannon though, so could just shoot up some green bots, and in particular lure in some Recyclers and blast those to get back to full, hopefully before any other encounters. (You having just dropped into the map there, that would've been a good start, since as a non-branch the area would be safe so "summon" some Recyclers to top up) :P
Saw your sheet, overall a pretty good job for having started only recently!
Switching to flight requires a pretty different mentality, but actually it does look like you were pretty ready to do so! Certainly the easiest way to get your first win. Fighting to the top in a slower build is generally more challenging.
Matter is very important to keep an eye on, pay attention to those warnings. Or better yet, plan in advance and have lots of extra or methods to acquire more. Your status in the sheet does show at that point you were basically running on empty :)
Fortunately you had a Proton cannon though, so could just shoot up some green bots, and in particular lure in some Recyclers and blast those to get back to full, hopefully before any other encounters. (You having just dropped into the map there, that would've been a good start, since as a non-branch the area would be safe so "summon" some Recyclers to top up) :P
74
Strategies / Re: Strategy: getting past the Beast
« on: March 02, 2024, 01:17:09 AM »
Welcome, Baxter! And you're very welcome :)
Circumventing Behemoths in the caves is super common, the most common method being digging, yep.
You pretty much never have to face them head on, it's just a question of how you're going to get by either without being noticed, or taking minimal damage. (Unless you've got lots of friends, or serious firepower and aren't afraid of them, but unless there's no choice or they've got something you want, may as well skip the unnecessary attrition!)
With respect to digging, I would strongly suggest going further! It's very likely you can get around that way here, though in some cases you may have to rush through a 4~5-cell deep tunnel you dig out.
Ideally in the caves you've brought along something that can safely dig from a distance (like a cannon! preferably a thermal one), though I can't see the bottom of your inventory where such a thing would be if you had one. Clearly digging your way through with an Axe is going to be a bit more dangerous :P. If you had some terrain intel you could also better tell whether it's worth it--Terrain Scanners and Structural Scanners are both very useful.
I can't quite see the greater layout of the map to help make a determination here, but either way I'd definitely get closer to that Behemoth down the main corridor there to see what's off to it's other side. You won't attract its attention if you hug the wall, though yeah at some point they're gonna spot you ;)
Luring and going around is also a common tactic if you have to get shot at (as is just running past at top speed, but you're not super fast and we can't see how many obstacles there are on the other side), but unfortunately there is no good lure path here.
You could probably do okay by removing your sensors and plating and slapping on your heavy armor (which would keep you underweight and fast enough) and just run by for cover on the other side--it's only going to get so many shots off and your armor will eat it, though I'd worry you lose a couple legs and that might become a problem. The other danger there is if there is something else dangerous beyond the Behemoth, because then you'd be really in trouble! Such is the danger of fleeing into the unknown in roguelikes ;)
Also I can't tell if you have explosives down in your inventory (hopefully you carry a launcher at all time if possible!), but if you do, totally use that to do more digging around above the Behemoth, or maybe other directions I can't tell from the image.
Anyway, there is my thesis on this particular Behemoth xD
Circumventing Behemoths in the caves is super common, the most common method being digging, yep.
You pretty much never have to face them head on, it's just a question of how you're going to get by either without being noticed, or taking minimal damage. (Unless you've got lots of friends, or serious firepower and aren't afraid of them, but unless there's no choice or they've got something you want, may as well skip the unnecessary attrition!)
With respect to digging, I would strongly suggest going further! It's very likely you can get around that way here, though in some cases you may have to rush through a 4~5-cell deep tunnel you dig out.
Ideally in the caves you've brought along something that can safely dig from a distance (like a cannon! preferably a thermal one), though I can't see the bottom of your inventory where such a thing would be if you had one. Clearly digging your way through with an Axe is going to be a bit more dangerous :P. If you had some terrain intel you could also better tell whether it's worth it--Terrain Scanners and Structural Scanners are both very useful.
I can't quite see the greater layout of the map to help make a determination here, but either way I'd definitely get closer to that Behemoth down the main corridor there to see what's off to it's other side. You won't attract its attention if you hug the wall, though yeah at some point they're gonna spot you ;)
Luring and going around is also a common tactic if you have to get shot at (as is just running past at top speed, but you're not super fast and we can't see how many obstacles there are on the other side), but unfortunately there is no good lure path here.
You could probably do okay by removing your sensors and plating and slapping on your heavy armor (which would keep you underweight and fast enough) and just run by for cover on the other side--it's only going to get so many shots off and your armor will eat it, though I'd worry you lose a couple legs and that might become a problem. The other danger there is if there is something else dangerous beyond the Behemoth, because then you'd be really in trouble! Such is the danger of fleeing into the unknown in roguelikes ;)
Also I can't tell if you have explosives down in your inventory (hopefully you carry a launcher at all time if possible!), but if you do, totally use that to do more digging around above the Behemoth, or maybe other directions I can't tell from the image.
Anyway, there is my thesis on this particular Behemoth xD
75
Announcements / Re: Cogmind Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things"
« on: February 28, 2024, 10:59:35 AM »
Mini-patch time!
There were a few little QoL things I really wanted to get out the door for Beta 13 right before release day, but despite working into the wee hours of the morning, there wasn't quite enough time... So instead I've worked into the wee hours of the morning on the second day to finish up an early patch xD
Alongside some new features comes a handful of early fixes as well, as mentioned before quite expected considering such massive changes throughout the architecture to make Beta 13 and its map zooming/alternate layouts features possible. So far the release seems to be going quite well though, I'm happy with it and will continue to provide some near-term patches if necessary.
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible, so nothing to worry about there...
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240229 changelog:
Here you can see our new popup notification in action. I know not everyone will notice the descriptions mentioning restart on a few of the options that require it to take effect, so this will help reinforce that.
We've got some new bots capable of taking advantage of the relatively new capability of moving through so-called "twisted machinery," and since they appear so early in the world, at the time you may not have weapons strong enough to actually hit or hurt them (or realize you need to use them) while they're hiding in said machinery, but you also can't see it since they're obscuring it... so now we've got cause to blink them in this particular situation:
The blinking effect doesn't start until a few seconds after they've come into sight or entered your current map view, in case there is other more important status info you need to know, like whether they've spotted you or not, but otherwise they'll keep doing that while it's relevant.
Today I finally bit the bullet and put more "meta" (non-direct terminal shell info) directly in the shell output when machine hacking. This is especially for modal layout users, who can't simultaneously see the message log where this information normally appears. Here's an example of getting an ALERT message mirrored inside the shell:
A number of other message types can appear there as well, including perhaps most importantly any time you prelearn data about future maps! Also applies to hacking feedback effects, and this new look was also extended to our original advanced.cfg botnet notice.
Here's another example with mirrored intel acquisition:
That'll be it for this patch.
In other news, the leaderboards should be reset tomorrow (from their current Beta 12 state) as enough new runs have started coming in to populate it.
Update: Leaderboards reset! So not-green!
There were a few little QoL things I really wanted to get out the door for Beta 13 right before release day, but despite working into the wee hours of the morning, there wasn't quite enough time... So instead I've worked into the wee hours of the morning on the second day to finish up an early patch xD
Alongside some new features comes a handful of early fixes as well, as mentioned before quite expected considering such massive changes throughout the architecture to make Beta 13 and its map zooming/alternate layouts features possible. So far the release seems to be going quite well though, I'm happy with it and will continue to provide some near-term patches if necessary.
As a minor patch, existing Beta 13 saves/runs in progress are fully compatible, so nothing to worry about there...
Cogmind Beta 13 patch 240229 changelog:
- NEW: Popup notification for Options menu settings that require restart/new run to take effect
- NEW: Some meta info and events obtained via Terminal access normally visible in Non-modal UI layout message log now available in all layouts via Shell
- NEW: Subdwellers and Zionites currently positioned in Twisted Machinery will start blinking out to reveal and emphasize that situation
- FIX: Entering examine mode while Cogmind not in view could in some orientations cause temporary cursor positioning issues [biznut, darkwing_terror]
- FIX: Options menu list popups could stretch beyond bottom window edge in new modal layouts [zxc]
- FIX: New world route became unintended way to acquire certain hidden achievement [KillTheWhales]
- FIX: New crash on accessing Security Stations hack on Garrison interior Terminal due to hotfix patch [dr.hermelin]
- FIX: Relative Vulnerability visualization temporary name indicator partially obscured in modal layouts
Here you can see our new popup notification in action. I know not everyone will notice the descriptions mentioning restart on a few of the options that require it to take effect, so this will help reinforce that.
We've got some new bots capable of taking advantage of the relatively new capability of moving through so-called "twisted machinery," and since they appear so early in the world, at the time you may not have weapons strong enough to actually hit or hurt them (or realize you need to use them) while they're hiding in said machinery, but you also can't see it since they're obscuring it... so now we've got cause to blink them in this particular situation:
The blinking effect doesn't start until a few seconds after they've come into sight or entered your current map view, in case there is other more important status info you need to know, like whether they've spotted you or not, but otherwise they'll keep doing that while it's relevant.
Today I finally bit the bullet and put more "meta" (non-direct terminal shell info) directly in the shell output when machine hacking. This is especially for modal layout users, who can't simultaneously see the message log where this information normally appears. Here's an example of getting an ALERT message mirrored inside the shell:
A number of other message types can appear there as well, including perhaps most importantly any time you prelearn data about future maps! Also applies to hacking feedback effects, and this new look was also extended to our original advanced.cfg botnet notice.
Here's another example with mirrored intel acquisition:
That'll be it for this patch.
In other news, the leaderboards should be reset tomorrow (from their current Beta 12 state) as enough new runs have started coming in to populate it.
Update: Leaderboards reset! So not-green!