Underrail, formerly known as Timelapse Vertigo

New Meds, Psi, and Weapons; Core City Sneak Peek

Hey guys. The development of the next city-state in the world of Underrail is in full swing. Core City, the metropolis of the South Underrail, is the largest of the urban areas this game will feature. Here's a little sneak peek:

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* * * * *

I've added more firearms: one new pistol, one new SMG, two more assault rifles and two more sniper rifles. Also added two new crossbows. One model from each of the weapon categories (pistol, SMG, crossbow, etc) will be only available through crafting. This doesn't mean it will necessarily be stronger than the others, just different.

I've tweaked the base stats (damage spread, crit chance, crit bonus, precision, etc) of each of the firearm and crossbow models to diversify them further and make the choice between them more meaningful when crafting or purchasing. I won't be adding any more craftable firearms or crossbows to the game (though we will be adding unique ones), instead I'll be adding more weapon enhancements you'll be able to add to the mix when crafting your weapon of choice. These new enhancements will only be available through crafting, meaning, they won't appear (or will appear extremely rarely) on randomly generated gear.

Additionally, in the future I will be adding more character feats that will play on strengths of thoughtfully crafted and enhanced custom weapons. E.g. if you make a character build that gives you a number of ways to perform on-demand critical hits, you'll want to stack critical damage bonus and use a slow hard hitting weapon; while on the other hand if you have feats that give you extra on-hit effects (such as flat damage bonus) with critical hits and have high dexterity you'll want to use quick light weapons with high critical hit chance.

* * * * *

In other news:

  • Items
    • Added throwing knives - they are fairly inexpensive and their damage scales with your throwing skill. While they are unlikely to replace your primary offensive skill, they do act as a nice ranged supplement for high dexterity characters, especially when you use the poisoned ones.
    • Added electrical pistols - a type of energy pistol that shoots electrical bolts that stun the primary target and jump a few times (similar to electroshock bolts)
    • Added two energy weapon enhancements - only applicable through crafting; one increases the critical damage bonus, while the other increases the special attack damage
    • Added 5 new crafting only meds and appropriate organs and chemicals that are needed to produce them
  • Creatures
    • Added the deadly coil spider
  • Psi
    • Added Thermodynamic Destabilization (metathermics) - You tag a creature with a debuff. If you kill it within 2 turns, it will explode, dealing heat and mechanical damage to everything around it. The amount of damage dealt scales with the metathermics skill and the amount of health the creature had when it was tagged
    • Added Enrage (Thought Control) - Enrages a living target for up to 4 turns which causes it to turn hostile to everyone.
    • Reworked Force Emission (Psychokinesis) - No longer provides extra range, but works with fist weapons as well.
    • Added Telekinetic Proxy (Psychokinesis) - Moves the telekinetic proxy from its current location to the specified location, dealing mechanical damage to everything in its path. If the proxy is not present, is too far away, or doesn't have a clear straight line path to the destination, a new one will be spawned. Telekinetic proxy will mimic your single target telekinetic psi abilities and effects (currently Telekinetic Punch and Force Emission) if the target is within its radius. The proxy lasts 3 turns, but the timer refreshes with each move or mimic.
  • Bug fixes
    • Fixed the overly heavy boots (will only affect the newly generated/crafted items, the old ones will remain heavy)
    • Crawler poison component now correctly named (was "Cave Ear" poison)
    • Plot items can no longer vanish when attempting to transfer them to the trading window (oops)
    • Opportunity feat now works with wrestling/tacklling (they are considered slows)
    • Balaclava repair category changed to fabric
    • Armor penalty calculation rounding errors fixed (Nimble feat should now apply properly in all cases)
    • Bleeding wounds from boots/armor enhancements will now stack as they should
    • Weapons of wheeled bots and turrets now considered firearms so vests should work correctly against them now
    • Dirty kick now triggers hostilities as it does in real life
    • You can now reload chemical pistol from the quick reload bar like other weapons (cannot unload, that's inteded)
    • Combo feat will now properly stack when using armors or boots that provide extra damage
    • You can no longer use Expose Weakness to kill The Beast or other stuff that's immune to mechanical damage
    • No longer possible to beat up some creatures to the point their "armor" degrades

That's all for now. Cheers.
 
Joined
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Messages
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Blood Sports

Hey guys. We've been quiet lately, but that's only because we've been working hard on the biggest and the most difficult section of the game, center of the game world, the metropolis that is Core City.

Lab.jpg
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The Core City is the place of extremes. On one hand we have the oligarch families and their associates who live lives of luxury (or at least what can be considered such in the world of Underrail) while on the other hand the slums are filled with the poor that perish daily from hunger, disease and gang fighting.

The masters of Core City know how to keep the masses complacent though. What started as place for gangs to settle their disputes has grown to become the most popular form of entertainment in the city and the whole of Underrail. We're talking about the Arena, the Roman style field of combat where they pit men against various deadly creatures as well as gladiator against gladiator. All for the viewing pleasure of the numerous Arena fans. Watching people die violently is the favorite pastime for the oppressed masses of Core City.

Arena.jpg
ArenaEntrance.jpg
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People from all over the Underrail pay for the privilege to watch direct broadcasts of these fights as well as take trips to Core City to watch the matches live, if they can manage to get hold of tickets which are always sold out quickly. The Arena and the its betting office have made the oligarch families rich.

Players will, of course, be given an opportunity to test themselves in the Arena and see if they have what it takes to climb all the way to the top and claim the title of Invictus.

Beyond that they will also have an opportunity to enter the Gauntlet, and new blood sport where the contenders race through series of rooms, each containing a unique challenge, to be the first to reach the finish line and claim the prize, or die trying.

* * * * *

This update will be taking us a bit longer than we expected, but in many ways this is the hardest section to develop. It encompasses more intractable NPCs than any other update, way more urban areas than any other city so far as well as multiple quest-lines. All this stuffs had us stretched a bit thin, but if we get this part of the game right it should be more or less smooth sailing to completion.
 
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
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Yep, it does look great. If I wasn't so busy with older games that I missed I would give this a shot. I have to play the original Fallouts first, though!
 
Version 0.1.12.0 released

Hey guys, the new version is up. We're all very happy to have finally released this. It's the centerpiece of the game, our Athkatla/Sigil/Neverwinter. The main story still has places to go and we still plan on introducing more factions and sideplots, but expect the future updates to be a lot more focused and a lot less spacious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rmm48LYz3I

We showed you bunch of screenshots already, so for this occassion we decided to make a short teaser trailer instead.

As before, we're releasing it to Steam first until we're sure it's stable and any potential major bugs that we missed during internal testing are fixed.

And because no dev log would be complete without a bullet list, here's an incomplete list of minor tweaks and stuff that were done since the last dev log:

  • Tweaks
    • EMP mine blueprint component requirements changed to be the same to that of the EMP grenade
    • Increased the amount of bear traps crafted when not applying poison to 10
    • Increased the amount of caltrops crafted when not applying poison to 10
    • Reduced the cost of metal plates and, by extension, some items that are crafted from them
    • Added an option to turn off automatic door opening
    • Removed the cooldown of Burst attack (don't know why it was there in the first place)
  • Bugs
    • Hopefully finally fixed the bug(s) that caused the factions to get all messed up after the Junkyard showdown event
    • Merchants will no longer roam while in bartering mode
    • Game will no longer crash when saving while mining
    • Chemical pistols have weight now
    • Action point counter fixed to work with extreme amounts of action points
    • Adrenaline shot will now always properly grant 20 bonus AP
    • Execute will no longer deal extra damage even if the target is not stunned/incapacitated

Enjoy the update folks, report bugs and let us know how you liked it. Cheers.
 
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
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Great news, wish I had the time to play with it as I've loved it so far. Maybe when I finish D:OS, MAYBE!! :)

PS, I bought this way back in 2012 with the original Alpha, but I have never received a Steam Key. I don't even remember how I initially downloaded it. Any advice for when I want to update. :)
 
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Joined
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Great news, wish I had the time to play with it as I've loved it so far. Maybe when I finish D:OS, MAYBE!! :)

PS, I bought this way back in 2012 with the original Alpha, but I have never received a Steam Key. I don't even remember how I initially downloaded it. Any advice for when I want to update. :)

There's four places (other than Steam) you might have gotten it from and that's where you'll find your Steam key: Desura, GamersGate, Groupees Bundle, Pirate Bay. Any of those ring a bell? ;)
 
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Messages
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Well, it definitely wasn't Pirate Bay!! :) In the past, my Alpha version automatically updated when a newer version was released. I know it wasn't Steam because I checked my Steam account and it's not there. I don't think GG is available here in Oz, but if it's Desura I have no idea how to access any account there; at my age I never remember stuff like passwords. :( I'd write them down, but then I'd lose that list too. :) I only remember buying the game right after trying the Alpha Demo when it first came out. I didn't think you were using any portal back then; I thought it was just a click on your website.
 
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With Fire and Brimstone

Hey guys, we took a couple weeks off in August/September to recharge our batteries, but we're back now and we're kicking it into high gear. While we're also working on new areas and quests (we'll get to that in some future dev log), I'm taking this time to finally implement last of the game mechanics (not quite done yet). In this case that would be fire and gas.

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You will now be able to create fire bombs (such as Molotov cocktail) that set character, creatures and the ground on fire as well. The burning ground is very dangerous as it deals both flat and -percentage of max health- damage so you cannot ignore it even on high levels. The amount of damage dealt depends on the intensity of the flames (which depends on the power of the fire bomb, but can also stack if you throw multiple bombs).

You'll now also be able to craft gas grenades. The only type of gas grenade at the moment is "Toxic Gas Grenade" which deals flat bio damage. The damage dealt depends on the density of the gas (it's more dense at the source). While toxic gas doesn't deal damage quickly, the grenade does last for a long time and also bio resistance is currently not present on standard combat armors and if introduced later it will not be in generous amounts. Specialized equipment to deal with this and more powerful bio-hazzards will be added in the future. Also, players will encounter permanent sources of toxic gas in certain places (such as the one on the screenshot).

* * * * *

In other news, I've taken the time to do some UI improvements. This is probably the definitive list of the UI changes as I have tons of other stuff to get done before we release the game so I hope I answered most of your complaints/suggestions:

  • Added larger font options for everything (object labels, tooltips, quest notes, pop-up dialogs, combat log, etc)
  • Moves the combat log window slightly so it won't interrupt scrolling anymore
  • Added an option to auto-end turn when the player is out of MP and AP
  • Added more hotkeys (swap weapons, toggle shield, etc; might add more if necessary) and added keybinding options
  • Inspected containers that are empty are now marked as such
  • Increased the font in Combat Stats Overview window
  • Available component for a given blueprint will not be highlighted in the same manner as when trading
  • Double clicking (or ctrl clicking) a component will automatically transfer it to the crafting screen if appropriate blueprint is open
  • Clicking a crafting slot will automatically fill it with the first available component if empty, or clear it if full
  • ESC/ENTER and other intuitive hotkeys (such as Y/N) will now work inside confirmation boxes
  • While holding SHIFT player will not be able to issue move command as to prevent people from accidentally moving when they meant to shoot; keep in mind though that you'll still be able to issue a melee attack command that might require movement even when SHIFT is held

That's all for now dudes. Cheers.
 
Joined
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Portraits and Music

Hey guys. I've put the game mechanics aside for now and we're all focused on churning out content for the following update.

In this update we will be rounding up almost entire game world outside of Church of Tchort and Deep Caverns. Player will be able to learn more about the Protectorate and Free Drones and the conflict between them. Optionally, player can decide to throw in their lot with either the freedom loving partisans or the imperialistic lawbringers. There's also another secret faction offerring more opportunity for those observant enough.

Portraits.jpg


In other news, I finally took the time to fill some long outstanding holes in the presentation department.

Firstly, I hired an artist to do the portraits. There's lots of them to be drawn so don't expect them all to be finished in the next update. In the screenshot above you can see the portraits are lit in the same manner as the characters on the map. I find that this adds to the atmosphere, but this can be disabled in the options for those who disagree. Players can also make their own custom portraits and the game will offer them on character creation if they have been placed in the appropriate folder and are of appropriate format.

Secondly, it was time to expand the musical repertoire. With only four tracks covering the numerous and diverse locations of Underrail, the music tended to get quite repetitive. As with the portraits, don't expect us to be able to cover the entire game with new music immediately. As as sample here's the music for the Foundry. Enjoy.

* * * * *

Finally, here's the obligatory list of minor stuff:

  • Nice things
    • Enemies will now threaten and taunt you in combat. Currently all have the same collection of phrases, but we plan to customize these in the future for different characters/factions/locations. We'll be looking for feedback on these - do the taunts occur too frequently/rarely, is there some particular taunt that is repeated too often, etc. Of course, for those who don't like this sort of stuff, it can be disabled in the options.
  • Fixes
    • Electrobolts will no longer jump to passive objects that are completely immune to them (e.g. destructible rocks)
    • You can no longer load individual bullets during combat as stated by the tooltip
    • Removed various leathers that were way too high quality for their type from certain stores
    • Burst fire will no longer trigger hostilities against secondary targets caught in the burst cone unless they actually take damage
    • Arena commentator will no longer order everyone in Core City to kill you if you happen to aim your burst in his general direction
  • Tweaks
    • Crawlers buffed and their AI has been slightly tweaked

Let me know what you thought of the new stuff, guys. Cheers.
 
Joined
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I still can't find where I originally paid for the game (back in the Alpha days) so Since that no-longer updates automatically I can no longer get the updates. Shouldn't there be a record somewhere of who bought the game back when it was an Alpha release?
 
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I still can't find where I originally paid for the game (back in the Alpha days) so Since that no-longer updates automatically I can no longer get the updates. Shouldn't there be a record somewhere of who bought the game back when it was an Alpha release?

Since I don't sell the game directly, I don't keep records (even if I wanted to it wouldn't be possible).
 
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first post on rpgwatch...

this is my game of the year, even in its unfinished state

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Version 0.1.13.0 released; Development Roadmap

Hey guys, the new version is available on Steam now and, as before, it will be available on other platforms as soon as we stabilize it.

In this update we added new factions with their optional questlines, namely - Free Drones, Protectorate and the super secret one. We added most of the remaining areas that we planned for the game, which include Upper Underrail and Lower Underrail passages, so speaking geographically most of the game is complete. If you want the full list of what's new, check out the previous two dev logs before reading further.

One thing to note, however, is that if you want to experience the new questlines you'll probably have to start a new game, unfortunately, since we had to make some changes to existing areas and quests in order to fit them in.

Before I insert the obligatory list of miscellaneous changes, here's a little sneak peak at some of the new areas, focusing primarily on the mighty Protectorate war machine.

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Screenshot unworthy stuff:

  • Bugs
    • Creatures immune to fear are no longer immune to Engrage (unless they are immune to all mind-affecting effects)
  • Tweaks
    • Eviscerate bonus damage per bleeding would changed to 50% (down from 100%)
    • Taste For Blood now stacks 10 times (down from 20)
    • Damage resistance provided by laminated fabric ballistic panel now scales with quality (though it's still weaker than the other one) and the damage threshold is increased; these changes will not apply to stuff that has already been generated in ongoing playthroughs
    • Melee resistance bonus of riot gear armor changed to 75% (up from 50%); also not retroactive
    • Maximum number of oddity XP required for leveling now caps at 25 (up from 15)
    • Maximum number of studies and/or amount of XP per studying reduced (or rebalanced) for a number of oddities; overall, less experience is available through some oddities now
    • Classic XP required to level changed to 1250 (up from 1000) * level
    • Base classic kill XP bonus per target level reduced
    • XP from a number of quests reduced
    • Lockpicking/hacking XP per required skill reduced

The leveling/XP changes introduced here are just the first step. I'll be tweaking leveling speed and level cap stuff further in the next update. From those that start a new playthrough with a new character in this version I would appreciate any feedback that they can provide on the leveling speed, time they hit level cap, and just general leveling experience (of both classical and oddity systems).

* * * * *

Now I want to talk a bit about the future development plans. I won't be giving you a release date, though I can safely say it won't be this year as I initially hoped. However, know that the end is in sight.
When it comes to mechanical stuff, there are still stuff like components, items, feats, abilities, etc to be added. However, there are currently no plans to add any more major mechanics (gas and fire should be the last). From the content side there are two parts of the main quest left that, as it happens, take part in two locations that are yet to be added - Institute of Tchort and Deep Caverns.

So here's what going to happen.

The next content update that we release will feature Institute of Tchort part of the main questline. This will be the last Early Access release. Afterwards, only the Deep Caverns are left before the game is complete. When we finish those, we will take extra time to polish up the game (we won't release Deep Caverns right away), especially the older areas which are no longer up to par with the new stuff. We will also take extra time to test the game to stomp out as many bugs as possible. Then we will release the game in full, make lots of money, retire to a tropical island and live happily ever after. That's the plan at least.

How long will this take? As long as it needs to. It would be pointless for me to give you a release date estimate, since I will gladly ignore it for the sake of the game as I did before. The quality of the game is my primary concern and in the long run that is best for everyone. We're nearing the end, though, so stay patient, dudes.
 
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Really liking how far the game has come and I do not regret alpha funding it one bit.
 
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Joined
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I tried the demo a few months ago, and was very impressed.

My only complaints would be about the colour palette (had to stop at one point because my eyes were hurting after a few hours of screens in similar tones), and the lack of map or indication (had to pick a package somewhere and was still searching for the place even when I was there). Maybe these were addressed in a more recent version.

Other than that, I really had fun. Keep up the good work !
 
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Institute of Tchort

Hey guys. The team's working hard on the new areas and quests which are all related to the next step in the main story line - the Institute of Tchort. Here are some teaser screenshots:

Entrance.jpg


Armory.jpg


Canteen.jpg


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Fountain.jpg


Library.jpg


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Mall.jpg


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One major mechanical change I made since the last update is concerning the psi pool. Instead of functioning like a "mana" resource, the psi was changed to more of pre-alpha state when it functioned like an "energy" resource. Every character with Psi Empathy feat now has 100 psi points and regenerates 20 points per turn (or per 5 seconds in real time). Psi boosters now instantly restore 75 psi.

These changes were done for two reasons which tie into the same problem. One - they were meant to make the psi cost more relevant when choosing what to invoke. The cost of the psi abilities have been re-balanced accordingly - those abilities that were meant to be used as primary attacks, such as neural overload, cryokinesis and electrokinesis, have a low cost and can be spammed without running out of psi. However, those high impact abilities, such as bilocation and cryostasis can run you out of psi quickly.

The second reason, which is related to the first one, is to curb the multi-disciplined psi build. As it stands in the release version, builds that go for full psi can generally invest into all three schools of psi without much trouble because they all rely on the same base stat and also share a number of beneficial feats. This grants the player access to a large amount of crowd-control and AoE abilities that they can invoke in short 1-2 turn burst which makes most encounters a breeze. Now, however, the limited psi pool will keep that in check. You will still be able to spec in all the schools if you wish, but you won't be able to bring down the full power of all of them at the same time.

Another happy consequence of this change is that the psi builds will have easier time in early game because they won't have to worry about psi boosters as much. Now keep in mind that the numbers stated above are not set in stone. We haven't still done any extensive testing of this change so tweaks are likely to happen. Also, I'll probably introduce a couple of feats in the future that will allow the player to slightly expand the psi pool or increase the psi regeneration.

In other news, I've been working on various things related to crafting. Most of the planned components have been added to the standard blueprints. While I'll be adding more components before the game is released as well as some utility and consumable blueprints, there are no plans to add more general blueprints, such as those for a new type of weapon or armor. Keep in in mind that all the crafting stuff added here is crafting-only; that is - it does not appear in randomly generated loot. Also, most of these changes are not retroactive, so already obtained items in running games will be mostly unchanged. Anyway, here's the list:


  • Items
    • Added components for creating a cryoliquid blob pistol
    • Added components for creating an incendiary blob pistol
    • Added components for creating a cryoliquid blob trap
    • Added components for creating an incendiary blob trap
    • Added new firearm enhancements
    • Added blueprints for special bullet type for each caliber
    • Added shaded visor component that can craft metal helmet that make you immune to blinding effects (flashbang)
    • Added two new types of padding foam
    • Added infused variants of all leathers which can be obtained in acertain way and can get to very high quality; these leathers all grant various bonuses when used in crafting; the bonuses also vary from blueprint to blueprint
    • Added two new fabric types
    • Added two new carrier vests
    • Added one new ballistic armor plate
    • Added one new ballistic panel
    • Added one new special metal type
  • Tweaks
    • You now always fire 2 extra shots with Full Auto feat
    • Bipod precision bonus changed to 10% (up from 5%)
    • You now have 30% chance to receive the bullet case after firing a bullet (you can use these for crafting)
    • Tweaked some on-hit effects so they can now be appropriately mitigated when the damage of the attack that causes them is fully resisted/shielded
    • Aluminized cloth now grants immunity to burning when used in armor suit crafting
    • Increased the amount of stealth penalty applied by aluminized cloth
    • Regenerative vest no longer appears as a component of generated items
    • Metal helmets now provide slightly more damage resistance and also provide damage threshold proportionally
    • Metal boots now also provide damage threshold proportionally and grant immunity to caltrops
    • Stuff made from ancient rathound leather now also grants 5% mechanical damage taken reduction
    • High-density padding foam melee protection bonus now scales with component quality
    • Tabi boots now increase the chance to get critically hit on the toes
    • Super string will no longer appear on generated crossbows
    • Leather armors will no longer be generated from leathers better than those naturally occurring
    • Mechanical resistance and threshold lowered for certain leather armors
  • Feats
    • Disassemble - Grants you a blueprint that allows you retrieve some or all components from a disassemble-able items (such as weapons, armors, etc). This works both on the items you made and those you've just found. Existing items in running games will not be dis-assemblable.
  • Bugs
    • Visual effects will no longer appear on the invisible imported character during the opening cutscene
    • Fixed the problem with the final Arena fight not starting properly
    • Fixed the bug that caused some traps to not properly trigger faction hostilities in controlled areas
    • You should no longer be able to invoke psi abilities if you're… not human
    • You can no longer use Locus of Control while driving, it's just not safe
    • Quick Tinkering will now properly mitigate the AP cost of setting traps in combat
    • Armor modifiers (such as bonus vs bullets/melee) will now only apply to resistance values of the item with those modifiers instead of globally
    • 0% negative armor penalty fixed for realz now (maybe)
    • Armor penalty is now correctly called that (instead of 'encumbrance') in combat stats window
    • Corrected the bug that caused passive things like cameras to de-stealth you when you perform transgressions in their vicinity
    • Fixed the bug that caused the hostilities in Foundry prison to escalate to the entire city even if you killed all the witnesses and erased the footage
    • Fixed various minor quest and map bugs

That's all for now. Let us know how you like the changes and if you like the looks of the new areas.

Cheers.
 
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