Greetings, Chosen!
We’ve been hard at work in the Lair on this 0.6 update and are pumped to get it out into the wild. A quick note on this one—we are releasing 0.6 to the Secret Service ahead of our live beta regions in order to get some testing done in the wild. Be sure to follow us on our social channels and the official Discord to stay up to date on when the wider roll-out for 0.6 will begin. The timing of that roll-out will be contingent on what we learn from the Service. Ok…let’s get to it!
Beyond the standard balance improvements and bug fixing, the majority of our time has been spent improving the experience players have when picking up the game for the first time. We wanted to step up our introduction to game modes while also rewarding players for their time spent getting acquainted with the game. Let us know what you think of all the additions and if there are other improvements that might make the first-time experience with Catalyst Black more enjoyable for new players.
Alongside the first-time user experience stuff, you’ll also find a lot of other polish all around including UI updates, voice-over, shop updates, and more!
As always, we’ll be hanging out on the official Discord and look forward to connecting with you. We appreciate all the ways you’ve helped us make this game better and count on your continued feedback as we break into Geo Beta and beyond!
Never settle for the lesser evil!
– cloaken
FIRST-TIME USER EXPERIENCE REWORK
We have completed a comprehensive rework of the first-time player experience. The significant adjustments players will notice are the following:
- Mode-specific tutorials that briefly teach players how to play and enjoy each mode
- Practice matches for each mode that grant rewards upon completion
- A revamped reward flow for end-of-match intended to feel more celebratory and delightful
- The addition of bread-crumb notifications to direct new players around the menu
- The addition of tool-tips across the menu
OTHER FUN THINGS…
- We’ve added announcement voice-over for normal game modes and first-time user tutorials. We will eventually add this to the initial tutorial as well, we just need a bit more time to get it done.
- Lots of minor UI adjustments and polish including a rework of ability, power, and trinket icons.
- UI sounds added
- Improved health bar visuals
- Art updates to smaller prototype maps for modes:
- Enclave (Core Rush)
- Overgrowth (Flag Hunter)
BUGS & CLEANUP
- Taking a jump pad makes you intangible for the duration of your leap
- Intro tutorial bugs:
- Aim reticle will no longer become stuck in a visible state
- The camera will no longer snap its position upon tutorial completion
BALANCE CHANGES
PRIMARY WEAPON
TRINKETS
ABILITIES
TRAITS
PRIMAL
BANNER
PRIMALIST
- Also reduces cooldown of primal abilities by 4/12/16/20%
Thanks again for being a part of this development journey with us! Please swing by the Discord to say hello, and let us know how we can make Catalyst Black the best Battleground Shooter the world has ever seen.
⇧e