Welcome again to the Winter Sale and now the drop of the Power Play storyline system! We're amped to roll out this new piece of the story engine which pushes the strategy layer and Contact simulation another big step toward completion. The new Power Play storylines begin to deliver on Contacts changing of their own accord, becoming unique due to the events of your career and truly becoming different in each playthrough. We've also more tightly bound Contact Traits to secondary mission objective offerings. Let's dig into Update #192! (If you enjoy all the work we're putting into the game, there's no better present you could give us this holiday season than leaving a Steam review!)

Risky Power Plays

As power shifts in the underworld, your Contacts have chances to make risky Power Plays to open up new opportunities, change their place in the world, or crush a rival. Until now, the Contacts in your network have been relatively static. They could only upgrade existing services, raise or lower their existing Traits, or go into hiding if they're under heavy pressure. Contacts surging in Influence may now attempt a Power Play, which means they will match with a special type of storyline that offers a chance to majorly expand their underworld footprint. These Power Plays (and later, their mirror: Compromised) will offer some of the storylines that allow Contacts to change and become unique in each Knight's career. The first wave of Power Plays make new types of services available depending on Contact's backstory, the services they offer now, and their Traits. Contacts with Traits like "Gun Nut" or those already involved in smuggling weaponry might ask for your help to access new megacorp prototypes or develop a new smuggling network with a contact in the near orbit. These services coming through Power Plays raise the roof on the maximum level for weapons you can purchase, going as high as Power Level 8 through some of the Power Play storylines.
Power Play storylines come with a lot of risk, regardless of the outcome. The Contact is always going to take on Exposure (a lot more if the Power Play flops) and failed missions may damage your relationship.

New Challenges: VIP Hunters and Second Wave Bodyguards

We're excited to roll out some new mid-mission challenges with these Power Play missions. We've now introduced the capability of VIP Hunters and second wave Bodyguards. VIP Hunters have some strong similarities to Head Hunters, except they are weaker and are specifically hunting an important VIP you are bodyguarding. Like Head Hunters have a lock on your Knight, VIP Hunters have a lock on the VIP you are bodyguarding and will move rapidly and aggressively in pursuit of this character. Unlike Head Hunters, they are a part of the local faction so they will not be slowed up by an ongoing firefight with existing security agents. Second wave Bodyguards are late spawning bodyguards who will join the map and move rapidly and aggressively to defend their VIP. This can often create a new vector of fast-moving and dangerous enemies rushing to the center of the conflict. It may put your stealth presence under threat or may force you to open up a second flank. Or if you let them, they may reach the VIP first and bolster their defensive encirclement.

Contact Traits Driving Secondary Objectives

With this update, some Contact Traits are now taking a front seat in driving the secondary objectives they are interested in offering. Those Contacts who have the Impatient Trait are significantly more likely to want you to hit Turn limit goals while Contacts with the Ruthless and Bellicose Traits will be interested in punctuating their heists with high kill counts and Contacts with Calculating or Paranoid Traits are most interested in low Security Level thresholds. This system will continue to grow as we can offer more types of secondary objectives for missions, but even with only Speed, Low Security Level, and Killing for now, it feels very impactful and helps to make your Contact Traits stand out.

New Contact Traits and Tags

In addition to gaining new services, Power Plays often result in Contacts gaining new Traits and backstory Tags as they adjust their way of thinking about how to deal with the New Boston underworld. This will further impact the next steps in their story and open them up to new possibilities from the Casting Director story engine that weaves your contacts and squad members into storylines.

Negative Reflection: Compromised

Once the Power Play storyline set is rounded out, we will swap efforts to its negative equivalent, Compromised. Whereas Power Plays originate from high Influence and positive Limit Breaks, a Contact can fall into the Compromised state due to Exposure Limit Breaks and altogether struggling. While Compromised storylines haven't been released yet, they will be a negative reflection of what can happen when on a Power Play. Contacts will be at risk of being killed, imprisoned, or forced to reduce their overall clout and position in the underworld. And, depending on how you feel about this Contact, if they are an ally, you may be the one trying to prevent their death or free them from prison, or if they are an enemy, you might be the last face they see. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

Reminder: this is our last big Early Access discount!

With the game entering its home stretch of EA on our road to a spring 2025 release, we thought we should give wishlisters a heads up that this will be our last sale at 34%-off for quite a while. The game has grown tremendously throughout EA and has an incredibly packed pipeline of content, final features, and launch polish coming in the new year. With over a hundred hours of playtime already available today, we think it's well worth the full price we've set for the game. Of course, we all love a good Steam sale, so that's not to say you won't be able to find Cyber Knights on sale anymore; but after this sale, we intend to keep it to a more modest discount up to and for some time after launch. I know the EA journey is not for everyone, and while I do think that we offer one of the best versions of it (with a ton of opportunities for your feedback to directly shape the game), I wanted to at least make sure that those of you who have been waiting eagerly for the game to be fully ready -- but are also on a budget -- know that this is the last, best discount for a while. But regardless of when you purchase or at what discount, please know my brother and I truly appreciate your support. Happy holidays!

v1.9.65 - Update #191: Major Milestone: POWER PLAYS - 12/23/2024

- All new Power Play storylines are high-risk moves by your Contacts in the underworld that can have major impacts - The first set of new Power Play storylines allow Contacts to gain new services, such as selling higher Power Level weapons (4-8 PL) - New Power Play missions are risky for your Contacts, failing the multi-part legwork/missions will result in major Exposure - More Power Play storylines and Compromised storylines (the bad mirror image of Power Plays) will be coming online soon - Added new mid-mission challenge types: VIP Hunters and second wave Bodyguards - Added new Contact Trait (Bellicose) and Tag (Near-Orbit Smuggler) as results of storyline options - Contact Traits can have a direct impact on Secondary Objectives for all missions (Contacts with Bellicose Trait are 300% more likely to Kill secondary objectives)

[ 2024-12-24 15:15:53 CET ] [ Original post ]