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276

Announcements / Released: Alpha 5c - "Personal Assistant"

« on: December 21, 2015, 11:59:45 PM »

Yet another minor version release

The aim of this one isn't fixes, however, which could've waited, but instead some cool new UI features:



This takes the auto-replace feature in Alpha 5 one step further, as pictured. Moreover, it also applies to simply picking up items--they'll now replace applicable items occupying a full inventory (following the same rules).

I was playing around with Alpha 5 making a few early improvements based on my experiences, and decided there was no reason to sit on such useful features until Alpha 6, so here they are!

The full Alpha 5c (0.10.151222) changelog:

* NEW: 5 new power sources
* NEW: Auto-replaced attached items that cannot be moved to the inventory (full) will use the same auto-replacement rules to attempt to displace an even worse third item (in inventory) if applicable
* NEW: Picking up items with full inventory attempts to auto-replace a worse item using same rules as attached part auto-replacement
* NEW: Powerful new Trojan hack (secret)
* MOD: Brawler/Behemoth class robots power sources changed
* FIX: New Alpha 5 bonus score system broke the win point formula [Decker]
* FIX: Score sheet combat kill streak count could exceed combined combat/non-combat value [zxc]
* FIX: Attempting to auto-replace with a multi-slot part wasn't fully blocked as intended, letting the action reach a half-completed state
* FIX: Auto-replacement mechanism ignores unidentified items for purposes of checking utility effect replacement priority

Note: Saves are not compatible, because I added some new items, but despite the changes, technically seeds are compatible across Alpha 5/5b/5c.

277

Announcements / Released: REXPaint 1.0

« on: December 21, 2015, 08:30:17 PM »

After more than two years since its inception, REXPaint has finally reached 1.0

More fonts, cellwise HSV tweaking, layer locking, options menu, and more!

If you're not familiar with REXPaint, it's a free ASCII editing tool for art, mockups, mapping, design. It's one of the most important cogs in the Cogmind development machine

Full release notes and demo images can be found on the dev blog here.

The full REXPaint 1.00 (151220) changelog:

* NEW: Added more CP437 fonts (greater range of image zoom/scale options): 14x14, 18x18, 20x20
* NEW: Cellwise HSV color shifting of both foreground and background (interval controlled in options)
* NEW: Info window shows palette/art foreground/background color values under cursor, either RGB or HSV (toggle with 'q')
* NEW: Rect/Copy tools can show area dimensions directly on the canvas (toggle via "RDim" button, or Ctrl-d)
* NEW: Lock individual layers to prevent accidental modification ("Lck" button, or Shift-1~4)
* NEW: Hold Alt while cursor hovering over a palette color to highlight all uses in image (akin to glyph highlighting feature)
* NEW: Options menu (the 'O' button at the bottom, or F2)
* NEW: Program settings changed while running are saved/remembered for next time, without requiring cfg modifications
* NEW: Exiting while image(s) have unsaved changes requires confirmation (can be disabled in options)
* NEW: Reset image location to top-left corner via Enter (centering switched to Ctrl-Enter)
* NEW: Ctrl-RMB copies the uppermost visible cell at that position in a multi-layered image (working w/reference layers, etc.)
* NEW: Premade Arne32/Arne64 palettes available from the website resources page
* MOD: Enhanced 16x16 CP437 font's relative proportionality with other fonts
* MOD: Image dimension limits increased from 999x999 to 2500x2500
* MOD: Removed Undo/Redo buttons to save space (use ctrl-z/y instead)
* MOD: Autosaving now inactive by default (must set desired interval value in options)
* MOD: Layer delete button changed from "Del" to "X"
* MOD: Palette/color swaps only operate on unhidden layers
* MOD: Changes to layer hide/unhide/active states no longer count towards the unsaved progress indicator
* MOD: Different cfg format, now that options are available from within REXPaint itself
* MOD: Change skin keyboard command switched from F2 to F3 (also now accessible directly from options menu)
* MOD: License in README file more explicit about commercial use of images
* MOD: Removed backwards compatibility with pre-R9 .xp images (2013 format), which were converted by 0.99r9 build (2014)
* FIX: One mixed-line glyph in the square 10x10 CP437 font was 1 pixel off
* FIX: Reversed NW/SE directional canvas scrolling via numpad
* FIX: Using the mouse to select a value box in the color picker required an extra key press before detecting input
* FIX: Creating a new image copied the view offset of the image currently open, rather than resetting it to (0,0)
* FIX: Image browser couldn't collapse subdirectories at a depth of three or greater
* FIX: Copy-paste of lone transparent cell on layer 2+ crashed editor (Note: RMB-copy faster for this purpose, anyway!)
* FIX: Cellwise drawing off edge of image without releasing LMB damaged undo history, which could crash if accessed
* FIX: Could attempt to draw multi-cell objects to parts of a large image shifted under the tools area, leading to UI issues
* FIX: Typing a grave character at the end of a text entry would crash the font renderer
* FIX: Crash on running without an enabled audio device (now no such device required)

278

Announcements / Released: Alpha 5b

« on: December 17, 2015, 05:16:22 AM »

Heh, well, it seems I'm destined to always release a hot fix after every regular build for something or other

Brought it upon myself this time because I knew it's generally a bad idea to add a big new feature too close to a release (like, the evening before...) without enough time to fully test it. Still, I don't regret it because forcing myself to go through with it means we have this cool new feature to play with

(Saves are compatible with Alpha 5--all that changed was one line in the source :/)

The "full" Alpha 5b (0.10.151217b) changelog:

* FIX: Smart auto-replacement of parts might choose incorrectly in swaps involving three or more of the same item with different integrity values [zxc]

For the real changelog regarding all the latest goodies, see the previous announcement.

279

Announcements / Released: Alpha 5 - "Into the Unknown"

« on: December 16, 2015, 07:20:10 PM »

Alpha 5 is here, and with it... NEW BRANCHES!

Compared to previous major releases this changelog is a tiny bit shorter, but that's because much of the work is wrapped up in the branch maps, which are quite unlike anything that's been added so far, and which include plot events and new mechanics, none of which are detailed below. I do my best to keep you unspoiled whenever possible .

Before we get started, know that you can find a visual summary of some of the new features (= tons o' gifs) here.

Also, Cogmind made the Top 100 games of the year on IndieDB last week! Voting for the Top 10 is currently in progress.

Maps!

We have three new maps in all, two of which belong to a three-map branch, Extension, which will be completed in Alpha 6. Don't worry, it's very much worth entering this branch as is, if you can find it. You've probably spotted the entrance before...

The third new map is behind that odd-looking locked door you always find in Storage, but there's no way to reach it without a special code. That code is supposed to be given to you by a random NPC in another part of the game, but that area hasn't been added yet, so you can either wait until they're added (possibly Alpha 7), or (recommended:) pretend I'm an NPC bot and let me just tell you how to get in.

Spoiler: How to access Recycling (click to show/hide)

There is a little bit of lore about this place in the game already, so you may have read about it, but now you can actually go there. When you visit Storage and find that door, hack the terminal and use the manual code "\\IAMDERELICT" (without the quotes).

So in these maps are several new NPCs (along with a familiar face), and even a way to trigger one of the world's major plot events. In terms of lore this particular event won't answer a lot of questions (probably creates more than it answers), but it does have a bearing on how the action plays out.

Mechanics!

Rather unexpectedly, while Alpha 5 was intended to be primarily a content release, with just a few important mechanical and UI changes it turns out the entire game will have a different feel even when not experiencing the new content:

• Vastly reduced time cost of large volleys!

One- and two-weapon volleys didn't really change, as that would throw the whole game off since most hostiles fall into those categories, but beyond that the numbers are very different.

For many reasons high-weapon builds were never very viable. At most you'd want around 4-5 slots, and even then only for a few situations such as alternative firing options against multiple types of targets, or one-shotting Behemoths .

Now there's a real opportunity to build a non-suicidal super tankish Cogmind that can mow down robot armies with a huge barrage of fire. The new volley cost progression is 200 > 300 > 325 > 350 > 375 > 400. Beyond six weapons everything is still 400. It used to cost 425 to fire only three weapons, so this is obviously a game changer.

Time will tell whether or how abuseable it is, but preliminary testing says it's 1) hella fun and 2) didn't seem so overpowered that it ensured success by any measure, considering what you have to give up to attach that many weapons. Since this is Alpha we'll let it stand at that.

We will definitely see new strategies coming out of this. *raises hand*

• Attaching parts while slots are full attempts to smartly auto-replace existing parts.

Another game-changer, only this one on the UI side. You'll now tend to see far fewer "no free slot" messages, since attaching parts will automatically attempt to pick an existing part that is in some way inferior and replace it by first either putting it the inventory (if there's room) or dropping it to the ground. This feature works whether attaching from the ground or your inventory, so it can be a really easy way to swap in parts (especially for keyboard users) by essentially halving the number of commands required.

The system is even capable of smartly replacing Storage Units and resource containers without losing their contents. Have a damaged Hcp. Storage Unit and found a fresh one? No more inventory fumbling required, just press 'a' while standing on it and bam you're ready to go!

It will take some getting used to, but is definitely worth it . See the end of the manual for the rules that determine what is swapped out.

Let me know if you discover any unexpected swaps, or can think of a new/better rule that might improve the system. I believe everything it does now is pretty logical. It's possible we'll introduce some options to fine tune this feature's behavior since it can be heavily preference-based in some situations, though for now you can always choose to ignore the automatic behavior by relying on the normal part swapping commands.

• Allied Operator hacking bonus applies to robot hacking as well.

This one's not as big but worth mentioning for its representative value. Allied Operators giving you a robot hacking bonus brings the world another step closer to one in which you could theoretically spend much of the time playing a hacking and support role. We're not quite there yet, but with the addition of more branches and some adjustments to the hacking system I want that to become a reality. In any case, Operators now do a zillion+1 things for you. Consider using Trojan(Assimilate) to get one on your side .

The full Alpha 5 (0.10.151217) changelog:

* NEW: Branch map "Recycling"
* NEW: Branch map "Extension"
* NEW: Branch map "(spoiler)"
* NEW: 1 major plot event
* NEW: 3 story-related NPC encounters
* NEW: 9 additional robots (excluding NPCs)
* NEW: 1 additional weapon
* NEW: Quantum Generators produce an ambient sound
* NEW: Various additional sound effects (total now at 702)
* NEW: Allied Operator hacking bonus applies to robot hacking as well
* NEW: Every Materials floor now includes a guaranteed cache of Storage Units
* NEW: Attaching parts (from ground or inventory) while slots are full attempts to smartly auto-replace parts (see manual for priorities)
* NEW: Shielding bonus from stasis traps now produces visual/sound effect akin to phase walls and remote shield generators
* NEW: Matter-specific machines release matter as they are destroyed (Matter Pump, Pressure Siphon, Matter Filter)
* NEW: Fabricators overloaded by brute force hacks have a wide EM spectrum when zapping robots, and can couple with power sources
* NEW: Firing overloaded weapons temporarily distorts the HUD, with a greater effect for higher level weapons
* NEW: Keyboard running stops for adjacent doors, corners, and corridors when moving cardinally
* NEW: Score sheet includes breakdown of bonus point sources
* MOD: Vastly reduced time cost of large volleys (fire 5-10 weapons in less time than originally required by 3!)
* MOD: Alert(Purge) effectiveness halved!
* MOD: Lrg./Hcp. Storage Unit mass increased, making them less weight efficient as an alternative to increasing their size
* MOD: Threat-priority targeting preference option's accuracy improved
* MOD: Tweaked resistances of some props, including special/locked doors
* MOD: Barriers (brighter walls) take half damage from all AOE effects
* MOD: EM damage to regular walls and doors halved; doubled against phasewalls
* MOD: AI no longer attacks disrupted or disabled robots
* MOD: Beamcasters (used by Derelict Thugs) have a new sound effect, and alternate faster animation
* MOD: Buffed Rocket Arrays and Scatter Rocket Arrays
* MOD: Allies wandering around your position will step on nearby known traps less often, when possible
* MOD: Non-combat robots no longer trigger responses from hidden doors
* MOD: K-01 Serfs no longer clean disabled machines
* MOD: Removed chance of standard doors with nothing on the other side once opened
* MOD: Allied Operator hacking bonus applies to all machines, not just terminals
* MOD: Allied Operator hacking bonus only given for those within 20 spaces (direct range, LOS not required)
* MOD: Minimum volley duration set at 100 time units, regardless of individual or cumulative weapon delay modifiers
* MOD: Storage Units immune to severing by slashing weapons
* MOD: Engineers rebuild damaged Sentry/Behemoth cubbies rather than fill them in
* MOD: Critical damage multiplier against armor reduced from x2.00 to x1.25
* MOD: Item selection for dropping due to inventory overflow is now random, rather than based on internal list order
* MOD: Auto-ascend option will pass stairs without ascending if auto-pathing to another destination via mouse
* MOD: Updated a couple manual and context help entries
* MOD: Increased bonus points for a win
* FIX: Stairs might rarely be found in narrow corridors [zxc]
* FIX: Propulsion batch cycling via ';' was overloading propulsion where applicable rather than deactivating it [zxc]
* FIX: Couldn't fly over inactive non-rewireable robots [zxc]
* FIX: Inactive robot encounter in Storage (and a similar more rare encounter) broken in Alpha 4; robots were becoming unpowered [MJWkr]
* FIX: Crash on attempting to mine beyond the edge of a map [MJWkr]
* FIX: Rare crash on entering Mines with cursor over map in which path locations from previous map are no longer valid [SquigglyJ]
* FIX: Rare crash when aiming at a target and unable to retrieve volley recoil data because a weapon was suddenly destroyed [karlnp, Enno]
* FIX: Swapping out of extended log or calc windows while readout sfx in progress continued looping until same sound played elsewhere [Star Weaver, zxc]
* FIX: Rare crash when system corruption triggers a trap against a robot which immediately evades the effects via thrusters
* FIX: Potential crash on some ambush traps releasing melee robots
* FIX: Allied Protector class robots were always appearing red in allies list, even when capable of carrying out their role
* FIX: Out-of-sight projectiles within audible range were playing at slightly louder volume than intended
* FIX: Automated output of squad enumeration hacks produced typos due to the Alpha 4 plurality improvements
* FIX: Scroll buttons for gallery and supporter pages stopped working (broken by Alpha 2's support for left-click exiting of modal windows)

(As usual, if you haven't already, remember to use the form linked in your original download email to provide the name you want to use in game. Attribution/names are added with each major release.)

280

Announcements / Upcoming Features (Alpha 5)

« on: December 15, 2015, 12:57:33 AM »

After some final little features and testing today, then proper packaging and release prep tomorrow, this Thursday we should have our first content-heavy release. Not that there's a lack of content already, but in all these alphas we've yet to move into true branch map territory, while only adding a few extra robots and parts. Waste and Garrisons are new maps, but I consider them "special areas" rather than proper branches.

So the core of Alpha 5 is three new maps that are quite different from what you've seen so far, and could lead to some new play styles while also giving access to more of the story and NPCs.

There are also some other mechanical changes as well, including a few things that can impact the entire experience from beginning to end (kinda nice to have this kind of thing as well to keep it all interesting!). The release notes will go into more detail on that.

We won't be seeing any of the major mechanics overhauls we've been discussing (propulsion, hacking, etc.), but I'm thinking Alpha 6 might only have one new map--the fourth small one I didn't have time to put together for this next release, and instead make a dedicated effort to tackle some of the long-standing system modifications and medium-sized feature tweaks that have been piling up over the months.

Below is a collection of some of the more showable features ready for Alpha 5:

Firing overloaded weapons distorts your HUD, where the degree of distortion depends on the power of the weapon.


If you see this machine you can consider blowing it up. There might be consequences. (gif recorded in my testing area--not its natural environment!)


Onward to... somewhere!


Be the tank you always wanted to be. Fire bigger volleys than ever and get away with it.


It's dance time! Watch out for these guys...



(There's some cool plot stuff going on, and new areas, but I'm not into spoiling things, you'll just have to find out )

281

Announcements / Cogmind Among IndieDB Top 100 Games of 2015

« on: December 10, 2015, 07:29:56 PM »

Cogmind made the Top 100 indie games of the year on IndieDB!

*celebratory fireworks*


Thanks to everyone who voted!

Voting continues for the Top 10 here.

Three other roguelikes made the cut as well: ADOM, ToME 4, and UnReal World. Just yesterday Cogmind was hanging out with ADOM on the list


It will likely be tough to make the top 10 without the larger community we'll have via a future Steam release, but maybe we can earn an honorable mention

(In other news, I'm looking to release Alpha 5 next week!)

282

Announcements / Year 2 of the Cogmind

« on: December 07, 2015, 07:22:33 PM »

Cogmind is 2.47 years old!

So far 4,339 hours of work has gone into everything Cogmind, and you can read about the highlights from this past year in a new article on the dev blog. (I also talk a bit about the future, too.)

For a visual take on the past year, see The Dev Collage:

283

Announcements / IndieDB Game of the Year 2015

« on: December 01, 2015, 06:45:55 AM »

The first round of IndieDB Game of the Year 2015 voting has begun. Show your love for Cogmind by voting here if you can. Thank you!

Last year we made it into the top 100, and Cogmind wasn't even released yet

284

Announcements / Progress Update: December 1, 2015

« on: November 30, 2015, 08:16:48 PM »

About time for another interim progress update!

Proper Alpha 5 development has been underway for about a week, with the weeks before that spent doing a little PR (always ongoing in small amounts) and giving REXPaint a new website while finishing up version 1.0 of that program.

REXPaint v1.0 is now complete, and will be released in the not-too-distant future. This has two benefits for Cogmind:

• Aside from third-party coding and scripting software, it's my primary development tool, so improving it is a net positive for long-term progress on Cogmind. The current version will be enough to bring us to 1.0, so no more interruptions from that quarter.
• Cogmind will get some more attention when I host an art competition some time (early?) next year.

As for Cogmind itself, it's time to really get the ball rolling on content.

Previous releases have been introducing yet more mechanics and feature creepy stuff--fun stuff, to be sure, but not central to the game. Thus our main roadmap has been neglected for quite a while (at least as it was originally written--I've been retroactively inserting new features into the time line with each new release).

That begins to change with Alpha 5, which will add four maps in two new branches. From here on out there will be a strong shift towards content, where every major release will be adding new maps, usually several.

Alpha 5 will not be ready for at least another two weeks, but I don't plan on it being much longer than that.

It's going to be explosive fun for everyone

285

Announcements / Alpha 4 Dev Blog Series

« on: November 23, 2015, 08:36:53 PM »

This month on the dev blog I've been publishing a three-part series of articles with in-depth discussions of the new mechanics and content introduced with Alpha 4, the last of which was just posted today.

A summary with links:

• Garrison Access: The reasons behind the addition of this new interactive machine, what it's capable of, and other related mechanics. Also, a new machine info window!
• Garrisons: Where garrisons fit in the world structure, with a detailed review of their layout, inhabitants, and a slew of new mechanics.
• Unauthorized Hacks: All current unauthorized hacks are revealed, including Trojans and brute force hacks. Create a terminal botnet, reprogram garrison-dispatched squads, infect explosive machines and turn them into makeshift proximity bombs, and more

286

Announcements / New REXPaint Website

« on: November 13, 2015, 09:11:12 AM »

REXPaint is a pretty mature tool now, and a ton of people are using it, so it's about time it got its own home on gridsagegames.com.

The site's layout and overall style should look familiar

I've retired the old blog and REXPaint now officially belongs to the world of Grid Sage Games. Updates will continue when I have the time, and in fact the move to a new website is part of preparation for the symbolic "1.0," to come soon.

The new site's content is similar to the original blog, but prettier, easier to navigate, and comes with some extras.

On the main page you can see a recording I made while mutating my old organic mainframe piece to show off some of REXPaint's features:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

287

Announcements / Released: Alpha 4b

« on: November 09, 2015, 08:33:52 AM »

Well, we didn't quite make it straight from Alpha 4 to 5 after all

An oversight regarding the mid-game garrison access points was causing a lot more chaos than intended--I thought I'd applied the proper restrictions to certain special scenarios, but, um, apparently I didn't. So that is now fixed and those should be sufficiently rare. Thank you for complaining about the chaos, zxc!

In other interesting developments... there has apparently been a rather serious oversight in the combat calculations. The accuracy bonus for remaining stationary was working for all robots except Cogmind .

This has apparently been the case since the very first version of the game (all the way back to the 2012 7DRL prototype!), so I'm surprised it's gone undiscovered until now. It's pretty obvious when you follow the full detail combat log and watch the hit chance breakdown. Thanks to @macklemurr for pointing it out.

Basically you're going to get a +10% accuracy bonus to most of your shots from now on. I now expect at least 10% more ownage out of you all!

The full Alpha 4b (0.10.151109) changelog:
* MOD: Stasis traps completely removed from Materials floors
* FIX: Failed to apply rarity limits to special scenarios surrounding mid-game garrison access machines [zxc]
* FIX: +10% to Cogmind's (not hostiles') accuracy while stationary was never applied [@macklemurr]

For the latest primary changelog regarding all the latest Alpha 4 features, see the previous announcement.

4b saves are compatible with Alpha 4, if you have a game in progress (which will benefit from the new changes if continuing the game under the new version).

288

Announcements / Released: Alpha 4 - "On the Offensive"

« on: November 02, 2015, 07:22:18 PM »

Alpha 4 is now the latest and greatest Cogmind! We have an entirely new type of map accessible from many locations in the world, and, unexpectedly, a lot of new mechanics!

A portion of the new mechanics and content are actually secrets, some of which cannot yet be easily discovered (but will be easier in the future via relevant lore/story/NPC interaction). I will be publishing a series of dev blog posts throughout November detailing (read: completely spoiling) these mechanics and content, which you can read if you don't mind spoilers. There are also hints to some of them in images I've shown around lately. And I may occasionally drop some answers here on the forums, our subreddit, or Twitter if the opportunity strikes

Regardless, even if you don't immediately discover a lot of what's new (except of course all the nice usability features explicitly listed in the changelog =p), to an extent the world will likely "feel different" now. In terms of gameplay, overall you'll find the enemy is a good bit more responsive to your actions since they can often reinforce/investigate from closer by, especially once you reach the Factory. This doesn't necessarily imply a greater absolute difficulty, just slightly more transparent strategic and tactical decisions. I playtested several times yesterday and had a blast, especially when it came to factoring in some of the new mechanics (EM spectrums are quite interesting...).

On the usability/user data side, note that your existing manual hacking buffer will be converted to a new format, and external text file. You'll see this file appear after your first game, containing any manual hacking commands you've used before. Feel free to update it yourself in a text editor as necessary (most recent commands at the bottom).

For a visual summary of a few of the new features, see here.

(As usual, if you haven't already, remember to use the form linked in your original download email to provide the name you want to use in game. Attribution/names are added with each major release.)

The full Alpha 4 (0.10.151103) changelog:

* NEW: Garrison Access points, hackable entryways used by the central AI to dispatch squads
* NEW: "Special Map" (outside regular Complex 0b10, but not a normal branch)
* NEW: 8 Trojans, a new category of unlisted unauthorized hacks that offer delayed or persistent benefits
* NEW: 3 brute force hacks, a new category of unlisted unauthorized hacks that permanently disable a machine for some greater benefit
* NEW: "Index(Garrisons)" terminal hack
* NEW: 4 new terminal records
* NEW: Phase Walls, a new form of hidden door (only found in one map)
* NEW: Lots more sound effects to go with new content
* NEW: Electromagnetic weapons have a "spectrum," capable of coupling with power sources and causing them to explode
* NEW: Part/inventory data visualization now includes heat mode (toggle via energy 'e' command/button)
* NEW: Inspect machines in sight via their own info window (RMB/d, as with other objects)
* NEW: Structural Scanners give extra info about machines via info window
* NEW: Any Signal Interpreter can decipher garrison signals to report time until future response squads from that garrison
* NEW: Score sheet records 52 more stats (total: 390)
* NEW: Speed wins receive bonus to final score ([5000 - #turns] * 3)
* NEW: Some non-machine props have unique messages when partially destroyed, rather than all indicating "X disabled"
* NEW: Unique sound effects for destruction of heavy doors and storage shells
* NEW: Robot states "DORMANT", "UNPOWERED"
* NEW: Sensor scrambling mechanic
* NEW: Dropping/swapping containers always retains surplus resources (energy/matter) however possible
* NEW: Move over loaded containers to extract their resources automatically, either to main stores or applicable containers in inventory
* NEW: Resources can be collected/extracted while stationary over a source
* NEW: Flying robots under the effect of a Stasis Beam/Projector lose their 10% bonus to dodge
* NEW: Overweight flying robots lose their 10% bonus to dodge (your HUD overweight indicator will appear red)
* NEW: At death, robots affected by corruption have a chance for otherwise salvageable sensitive components to be fried ([corruption - base part integrity]% chance)
* NEW: For Cogmind, only parts at less than 50% integrity susceptible to critical strikes (excludes armor, which always takes double damage)
* NEW: Storage Units immune to Saboteur attacks and critical strike instant destruction effect
* NEW: Part rejection due to corruption is animated in your parts list, with sound effect
* NEW: Where removing a Storage Unit will auto-drop excess inventory items, confirmation is required (repeat the command)
* NEW: Instantly release all attached parts to "go naked," a free action (Shift-Alt-q)
* NEW: Keyboard players can direct-drop an attached item, bypassing even an empty inventory, by first pressing ','
* NEW: Cycle through all propulsion modes at the press of a key ( ; )
* NEW: Toggle all weapons on/off with a single key ( ' )
* NEW: Press 'd' to open info for item at current location (even in mouse mode)
* NEW: Both scan window and map labels display container contents, if any
* NEW: Scan window automatically updates integrity indicator color for old robot/item scans
* NEW: Robot Schematic()/Analysis() manual hacks can simply indicate robot class to auto-select best available (e.g. "Schematic(Swarmer)")
* NEW: Manual hacking buffer contents stored in readable format (/user/buffer.txt), which you can ignore or edit as necessary
* NEW: Options menu option descriptions also automatically shown in keyboard mode (on selection)
* NEW: All supporter names registered since Alpha 3 added to in-game list (see Credits menu)
* NEW: All item-attribution names registered since Alpha 3 added to the item collection gallery
* MOD: Security levels rise faster, but assault force dispatch frequency reduced
* MOD: Investigation and reinforcement squad response times significantly reduced
* MOD: Ambush traps cap melee robot count, attempt to put them further from the trigger position where possible
* MOD: Propulsion energy cost visualization in parts/inventory list shown based on cost per full turn, based on speed
* MOD: Machines 50% less resistant to electromagnetic explosions
* MOD: Blast/heavy doors +35% resistance to explosives
* MOD: Rooms (not Storage Shells) in Storage now contain sets of parts akin to stockpiles, rather than numerous disparate parts
* MOD: Engineers rebuilding walls/doors push blocking items out of the way rather than destroying them
* MOD: Improved clarity of context help for robot damage resistances in info window
* MOD: Reversed green/red coloring of damage resistance bars for robots
* MOD: Behemoths equipped with Dynamic Insulation Systems
* MOD: Tweaked damage against Programmers: TH = 125% (+25), EX = 75% (-25), EM = 25% (-25), (KI unchanged at 125%)
* MOD: Robots killed via corruption (EM) or meltdowns now count towards score, and increase presence accordingly
* MOD: Terminal damage from EM +50%
* MOD: Terminal hacks inapplicable due to no valid targets now shown, but grayed out (includes Emergency Access, Purges, all Trap hacks)
* MOD: "Index(Fabricators)" terminal hack 10% easier
* MOD: Fabricators no longer produce faulty prototypes
* MOD: Part rejection due to corruption blocks movement for 1000ms rather than 500ms
* MOD: System corruption effect on machine/robot hacking chance reduced by 66%
* MOD: Misfires due to corruption don't affect your weapons' active/inactive state (but does reset any OVERLOAD settings)
* MOD: Storage Unit removal behavior consistent in all situations--detachment allowed regardless of kb/mouse mode and inventory size
* MOD: Info window identifies permanently broken robots as "BROKEN" rather than the all-encompassing "DISABLED"
* MOD: Improved robot meltdown mechanics, and hostiles will no longer meltdown on their own
* MOD: Ctrl-[/] (or Ctrl-Wheel) scrolls inventory by page, rather than to beginning/end
* MOD: Removed Undo Drop command (Shift-Alt-d)
* FIX: Parts affected by hacking feedback and failed repairs/Scanalyzer analysis were only partially disabled [zxc, Draco18s]
* FIX: "Inventory(Prototypes)" manual hack was being parsed as "Prototypes" [fernsauce]
* FIX: Could get double item labels if opening manual labels before auto-label took effect [Adraius, bluemoo]
* FIX: Main access points could rarely appear in narrow corridors, even hidden corridors [zxc]
* FIX: Score sheet "Keyboard" value was inverted [zxc]
* FIX: Allied Operator hacking bonus was giving +0 rather than +1 per Operator after the fourth
* FIX: Dynamic Insulation System calculations were providing 20~33% greater benefit than intended
* FIX: Typo in successful Scanalyze hack output when simultaneously identifying a prototype
* FIX: Many hack results weren't reporting nouns in singular form if only one found
* FIX: "Access(Main)" terminal hack was reporting current map name as destination
* FIX: Item comparison window one line short when displaying Datajack vs. Remote Datajack
* FIX: Derelict ambush trap encounter dialogue never triggered
* FIX: Inactive Watchers were still able to jam sensors
* FIX: Non-penetrating AOE projectiles that impacted a multi-cell door were using the door itself as the explosion origin (now outside)
* FIX: Door open/close sound effects played in more instances than they should while robots passed through
* FIX: Explosions out of sight but within audible range were playing their sound effects twice, simultaneously
* FIX: Standing within range of two or more unique ambient sound sources while one is disabled could stop playing the wrong one
* FIX: Closing the help/commands/game menu while in range of an ambient sound source didn't resume playing the sounds

289

Announcements / Upcoming Features (Alpha 4)

« on: October 27, 2015, 09:29:41 PM »

Alpha 4 lands next week. The original plan was for a content-heavy release this time, but development ended up taking an interesting detour through mechanics land, so instead we have a half-and-half content/mechanics release. The latter refers to new mechanics, not tweaked old mechanics (though there's some of that, too). Some of the new content suggested a number of mechanics that would add interesting strategic options, the best course of action being to add these immediately rather than overextending the content. After the release I'll be publishing a series of dev blog articles about the design behind these new features. I think you'll like some of the new strategic options

The much-discussed propulsion rebalancing is not a part of Alpha 4--that needs more attention than I can afford it right now. I'll probably begin work on that for the next major version.

Below is a collection of some of the more showable features:

The Garrison Access, a brand new type of machine:


Packrat support in the form of page-wise scrolling for the inventory UI (Ctrl-[/], or Ctrl-Wheel for mouse users):


Machines have their own info window--examine them as you would any other object:


A fifth visualization mode for the parts/inventory list, Relative Heat:

Activated by pressing 'e' again (the energy view command) or clicking on the respective button. Orange for generation, yellow for dissipation, gray for inactive. This makes it easier to quickly determine what's causing your heat problems, or what's doing the best job of solving them

"Unauthorized hacks," divided into two classes: brute forcing, and Trojans. The latter allow you to install delayed or persistent effects like creating a bot net by linking multiple Terminals.


Or infect explosive machines to turn them into massive proximity bombs


There is also a brand new type of map, quite unlike the rest of the world, which while it is very showable, I don't want to spoil it for you. (All the juicy details will be coming later in a spoiler-filled blog post, but I'll let you check it out on your own first.)

290

Announcements / High Scores Reset, Etc.

« on: October 11, 2015, 07:35:50 PM »

I just reset the high scores--the new board will be the last one for Alpha 3c, and the last one of its kind.

Following Alpha 4 I'll be upgrading the system to add more data from each run, and also rank runs separately based on efficiency, which will allow stealth/speed runs to be represented on their own and compete based on their merits rather than score alone.

291

Announcements / Roguelike Radio Interview

« on: October 11, 2015, 06:15:22 PM »

I took part in an interview with Darren and Mark of Roguelike Radio, the only roguelike-focused podcast on the web! You can listen to it here.

Of course the interview was about Cogmind =p. But we did also talk about some personal stuff and a few other aspects of my work, among other interesting topics. It was a lot of fun, although I'm sure my voice recorded as terribly as it always has so I'm afraid to listen to it--bah, I was there anyway

(Check out the other RR episodes as well--lots of interesting topics over the years.)

292

Ideas / Storage Unit Rebalancing

« on: October 05, 2015, 05:39:02 PM »

Storage Units, especially at the high end (really mostly Hcp.), are excessively good when it comes to combat runs, enough so that they're feeding a "carry as much as you can" meta strategy. This needs to be fixed.

I'm just dropping this here in a new thread where anyone can contribute their thoughts (or link to any other previous discussion points I may have missed).

zxc recommends possibly removing Hcp. units entirely. As much as I don't want to do it, that might be a good idea.

An alternative is to increase their slot count and rebalance them to take up more space but perhaps require less mass (?). That said, as much as Storage Units of different slot size can make sense, I really wanted to keep all of them at one slot because it enables easy swapping, and is much simpler to wrap your head around.

Another change coming to Storage Units: they'll be immune to critical hits, and attacks from Saboteurs.

Regarding distribution, another issue I'd like to address which was brought up in an unrelated thread:

Storage units could be worked on. I think maybe splitting up where you find them would help - right now you find all storage units in -10 because they're all rating 1. More efficient (in terms of weight) would be nice for some lower capacity ones (since they're kind of neglected), but 16m/8inventory seems like a good one slot compromise for the ultra-heavy builds.

It's possible to find them later, but by then it's possible to find a lot of different items, so there is a somewhat reduced chance for Storage Units specifically. According to the distribution stats, there is a minimum 0.7% chance for an item/stockpile to be an Hcp. Storage Unit (and another 0.7% for Lrg.), meaning almost every floor has a reasonable chance to contain at least one. (By comparison, there's a 2.1% chance on -10.)

In terms of stats, perfect balance across items is not entirely necessary because some are meant for other robots, thus not always ideal for your own use. In Cogmind's case, smaller Storage is just for backup when you can't find something else (as in later floors where you have less chance of finding an Hcp. unit and have to take out other robots for smaller units, unless you can build your own Hcp. unit, which is where that mechanic comes in).

293

Announcements / Progress Update: October 5, 2015

« on: October 05, 2015, 02:59:01 AM »

While Alpha Challenge 2015 was a great success, it also ground regular development to a halt. At first I imagined I might be able to work on Alpha 4 while running the tournament, but between community engagement and working on the tournament backend there was simply too much to do. (Yeah, I could've put less effort into everything and kept it simpler, but low-effort isn't my style )

That said, the discussions and data that came out of it will lead to some important improvements, the extra work just means Alpha 4 will be later than I'd like, and may include slightly different content than originally planned.

With Alpha 4 we'll get lots of little tweaks, some changes to propulsion mechanics, and at least one new branch--I wanted to add three, but with all the other changes it's unlikely I'll have time unless the release is postponed even further, which I'd rather not do.

We'll also be getting a completely new "garrison" mechanic that will somewhat change how most existing maps play. It's been planned since pre-alpha, and is about time it was added since players have started figuring out how to game a particular mechanic that garrisons were designed to alleviate, while also adding some interesting new strategies and challenges.

In conclusion, Alpha 4 is at least a few weeks out. Even just organizing and prioritizing a list of all the things to be done for Alpha 4 took several hours just now

Since the Challenge ended, the leaderboards have been restored to normal and three new players won stealth runs within the first week. Congratulations to them, and thanks to zxc for the guide

294

Announcements / Alpha Challenge 2015 Results!

« on: September 22, 2015, 09:12:21 PM »

Our two-week tournament has come to a close after a great turnout, six winning runs, and plenty of stimulating discussion.

Unfortunately we didn't see the return of several proven previous winners to compete for the top spots, but we did welcome a new combat winner to the fold--Happylisk, and zxc showed off with a whopping five wins, one via combat and four via speed/stealth. zxc even wrote a very helpful guide to the latter along with other tips (spoilers!).

mendonca painted his impression of zxc's highest-scoring build (original post):

Spoiler: Cogmind by mendonca (click to show/hide)

Beautiful job!

The final results of our Challenge have been compiled into a new page:
http://www.gridsagegames.com/cogmind/events/AC2015/results.html
There you can also see a player-wise list of achievements.

Below are the winner lists (including the random prizes):

Best Escapes (prize: forum badge )

• zzxc
• Happylisk

High Scores (prizes: Cogmind gift key, in-game item attribution, forum badge )

• zzxc
• Happylisk
• may2ever
• Shobalk
• BoomBlip
• Agroesch
• RoboCicero
• zill
• sve9
• mendonca

Achievement Leaders (prize: forum badge )

• Agroesch
• Alexlascribe
• BoomBlip
• caga
• Chad
• cogger
• DaftAero
• Feckless
• Happylisk
• kumo
• MacCoy
• may2ever
• mendonca
• Oarsman
• Psyha
• RoboCicero
• ryvn
• safons
• stylesuxx
• Tuxedo Knight
• ventricule
• Xenocide
• Zeia
• zzxc

5 Random Participants (prize: Cogmind gift key)

• Arnot
• caga
• glimjack
• ryvn
• Ugore

5 Random Participants (prize: in-game item attribution)

• Adraius
• DaftAero
• Draco18s
• haddron
• Slartie

As long as you are signed up to the forums with the same name used during the event (or I know who you are), I'll automatically apply your badges within 24 hours. This also applies to all participants, who get a participant's badge: . If you've used a different name, you'll have to let me know.

Similarly, Cogmind gift key winners will receive their keys through their forum-registered email address within 24 hours. If you participated without a forum account, you'll have to contact me instead since I don't know who you are. (Although I might be able to find you if you've previously registered your copy of Cogmind via the forum provided at purchase time.)

For those of you who won the item attribution prize, to claim it you'll have to contact me (however you like--email, PM, Twitter, Reddit) and let me know 1) your Alpha Challenge name and 2) what name you'd like to appear in the item collection gallery.

(Unregistered participants--those I can't identify because you have no known forum account--who don't claim prizes within a week may have their prizes redistributed to someone I can contact.)

Thanks to Kacper Woźniak for helping out with the forum badge awards, and thank you all for your participation!

You can browse the event thread for various stats reported throughout the past two weeks. Those graphs and more, all updated with new data, will appear in a dedicated blog post accompanied by my analysis. Full analysis posted!

In other community news: Seed runs will continue, and I'll be restoring the original leaderboards soon, with a few tweaks.

295

Ideas / Weapon Mounts

« on: September 20, 2015, 10:35:19 PM »

The premise: Add a way to make a greater number of weapon slots more viable for combat runs while further differentiating weapon-heavy builds and play style.

Background: It stemmed from a conversation with Reiver in the Combat Run Theorycrafting thread here and, further down, here.

This is not absolutely required nor will it necessarily happen; I'm just bringing it up to hear what you all think about it. Theorize away!

Weapon Mounts

• Mounts would be a new type of part that fits into a single weapon slot.
• It's not a weapon itself and cannot fire.
• You can move it around among the weapon slots as normal, and whatever weapon is listed below it is the one considered to be "mounted" (can be changed at any time for free).
• Mounts provide multiple specific bonuses to the mounted weapon, akin to similar combat-oriented utilities, but better.
• Thus different mount variants could affect the weapon's targeting, core targeting, armor penetration, overload potential, resource costs, heat management, etc.

So this system is effectively "weapon-slot utilities special for combat builds."

Is it worth it?

A lot more planning would be required to investigate the feasibility of this system and what impact it might have on the whole balance of things. I'm not yet even sure how much work it would be to implement (the answer is probably "a lot").

As per the discussion in the linked background thread, I also don't think this is entirely necessary, and might even be somewhat limiting (against the spirit of Cogmind?) by shoehorning combat builds into having too many weapon slots, which at some point they may not be able to fully utilize depending on their condition.

296

Announcements / Event: Alpha Challenge 2015 (September 8-22)

« on: September 08, 2015, 08:28:33 PM »

The biggest community event of Cogmind Alpha Access is upon us!

See the event page for details including rules, rewards, multiple leaderboards, and dozens of achievements.

For related discussion here on the forums, see the primary event thread.

297

Competitions / Alpha Challenge 2015 (September 8-22)

« on: September 08, 2015, 08:27:02 PM »

Welcome to Alpha Challenge 2015, the biggest community event of Cogmind Alpha Access!

You can go straight to the main event page to read about the rules, rewards, leaderboards, and dozens of achievements, but here's an introduction and summary of what all this is about.

While top scorers will naturally receive more recognition and prizes, this is also meant to be an event fun for all, and in that spirit simply by participating you might win something substantial (Cogmind gift keys!). You can even get your name in Cogmind's ASCII art gallery! (the item attribution reward)

There are quite a number of achievements--58 and counting--providing recognition for many unique styles of play and giving even those less familiar with the game a chance to put their name on the leaderboard. The achievements are "secret," however, so initially you can't aim for them; just play games and the event algorithm will parse and analyze all the uploaded score sheets to determine who currently holds the best ratings in each category.

Note that score is not everything when it comes to placing high on the Best Escapes list--a fast stealth build has as good a chance of topping the list as a high-scoring blast-em-all-to-hell combat build.

During (and especially after) the event, I'll be sharing interesting composite data and graphs so we can see collectively how everyone is faring. (Those will appear here and at /r/Cogmind.)

Feel free to use this thread for discussion about the event, or your experiences while participating, similar to our weekly seeds. (Seeds will be temporarily suspended during the event since manually seeded games are barred from participation in the Alpha Challenge, and we want to encourage as much participation as possible!)

Good luck! (And as always, have fun!)

Update: The Challenge is now complete! See the final results here, and prize list here.

298

Announcements / Released: Alpha 3c Tournament Edition

« on: September 07, 2015, 08:38:22 PM »

Here we have a few balance tweaks and trap-related improvements, in preparation for the Alpha Challenge 2015 event which should begin in about 24 hours assuming I can finish preparations today. The announcement will go out through all the usual channels, including the in-game news system.

(Note: From now until the event start, all score uploads will be ignored during the transition to the new leaderboards.)

The full Alpha 3c (0.10.150908) changelog:

* NEW: Warning message and sound effect feedback before stepping on a known hostile trap
* NEW: 5 more metrics recorded on score sheet
* NEW: Added mention of accuracy cap (95%) and lower bound (10%) to the manual
* MOD: Robot meltdown frequency decreased significantly
* MOD: Slightly weakened effect of blade/segregator traps
* MOD: Blade/segregator traps ignore all storage/container parts
* MOD: Med./Lrg./Hcp. Storage Unit mass increased
* MOD: Programmer dispatch frequency varies less wildly
* MOD: Improved descriptions for Signal Interpreters, Terrain Scan Processors, ECM Suites
* FIX: Misdirection caused by system corruption failed to redirect (broken by Alpha 2) [Adraius]
* FIX: Unidentified prototypes in your inventory at the end of a run were listed as an ID'ed prototype [Adraius]
* FIX: Database data loss due to system corruption wasn't being applied, despite message to that effect [Adraius]
* FIX: Player names and manual world seeds including spaces weren't fully read from config file
* FIX: Armor Integrity Analyzers were only sometimes working as intended

Saves are not compatible with 3b.

299

Competitions / Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]

« on: September 01, 2015, 12:30:17 AM »

I'm still taking care of these in jimmijamjams' absence, which means none of the achievements indicated below, but instead I'll be working on planning our upcoming tournament, which will have a bunch of ongoing achievements and should be a lot of fun. In the meantime, use this seed and your own runs to get acquainted with the new mechanics!

Note: If you happened to have grabbed Alpha 3 before the 3b hotfix and want to continue using it, this seed will produce the same results in that build as well.

(I wanted to name this weekly seed "It's a trap!" only to discover that it doesn't read the seed nicely from the config file if you close the program and restart the game, because the seed name includes spaces. I didn't want to mess anyone up so I decided to use "Trapped!" instead. I'll fix that issue for the next version, and make sure it can read seeds with spaces from the config file.)

Edit 150905: For this particular seed I've written a step-by-step guide to the first few floors as I tackled them. You can read it further down in this post.

This week's seed: Trapped!


The Weekly Seed is open to anyone.  High scores are not the only feature of the runs and the main reason for putting this together is to share our experiences, stories, and tactics over the course of your run.  Some super secret achievements will be selected with some RNG at the end of each week from my steadily growing list.  Please leave suggestions for the naming of next seed or other achievements to include to my list once you have finished your run!

Rules are as follows:

• The Weekly Seed begins from the date this thread is posted and lasts exactly seven days.
• Make sure you are running the correct version of Cogmind (see thread subject).
• Enter the seed and abort your current game to initiate the seed (more details are below).
• Verify you are not running the tutorial and that the screenshot below of the Scrapyard and Level -10 matches your seed
• Play through the game once.  This is a friendly competition, we are all honest people.
• When finished post your scoresheet here (it should be the newest file in /scores) and any other screenshots/stories/strategies you wish to share with the community.
• Due to the spoilerific nature of this thread do not read the comments if you are intending to participate and haven't played your run!
• Any scoresheets submitted after seven days will not be included.
• Good luck!

HOW TO ENTER A SEED

Press F1 to go to the MENU, select OPTIONS, select Seed, and enter this week's seed:




Select GAME, select ABORT:




If you have followed the steps [Manual seed applied: Trapped!] should display in the log window.

Congratulations on entering the seed, now get in there!

300

Announcements / Released: Alpha 3b

« on: August 31, 2015, 10:34:28 PM »

One of the quick new convenience features for keyboard users (showing option descriptions after accessing a given option like mouse users get via hover) causes crashes in Alpha 3, so I've temporarily removed it and released Alpha 3b.

The good news is, due to the save compatibility preservation feature added in Alpha 3, your Alpha 3 saves will be perfectly compatible with 3b

(If you don't use keyboard mode, there's no need to get this latest version if you already have Alpha 3.)

The full Alpha 3b (0.10.150901b) changelog:
* FIX: Crash on selecting options menu submenu item in keyboard mode [MJWkr]

For the "real" changelog regarding all the latest goodies, see the previous announcement.