Cyber Knights: Flashpoint - August Progress Update

HiddenX · September 9, 2023

Henriquejr spotted the August update for Cyber Knights: Flashpoint:

August Progress Update + Steam Strategy Fest

Last chance to play demo, Alpha V2 starting soon, final approach to Release Window!

Here we go - August has closed up shop and September is now open for business, the final month of Q3 2023! It has never been busier here at Cyber Knights: Flashpoint HQ and we've got a ton of good stuff going on. The game's updated and expanded demo is live in Steam's Strategy Fest, we've got Alpha v2 coming up and then we're on to the Early Access launch.

Every month is a big one, and we've made major progress that we are excited to share. So, first let's review the current demo, alpha and release details and then we'll highlight a few major development and content milestones we hit in August.

Last Chance to Play Expanded Demo for Strategy Fest
As the demo has gone live in Steam's Strategy Fest, we've expanded it and doubled the available play time. The Cube Run is now available in the demo, giving you a whole extra heist to try. As one of your first hits in New Boston, this job targets a new Warner-Braun NanoFab that is being setup as the German megacorp prepares its arrival to the New Boston economic zone. There is good money to be made if you can make the right moves and scoop the loot. But it is New Boston and 2231; secrets are hiding under every new NanoFab and megacorporate welcome mat.

After Strategy Fest ends, the demo will be shutting down around the end of next week (roughly, September 12th) so this is the last chance to check it out before the Early Access launch.

Alpha Version 2 Starting
As we wrap up our summer of demos, we'll be opening the brand-new Alpha V2 to our backers. This will give our Alpha backers the chance to be the first to play the Early Access build and give us critical feedback before our launch on Steam.

You'll be the first to play the completely unlocked Cyber Knights: Flashpoint experience, and we know you'll help us improve the game even as we march to the launch date.

We are really excited to get back to regular Alpha updates, get the Early Access build into your hands and we're proud to show off how much the game has changed since the last Alpha build.

Closing in on a Release Window!
We're continuing to hit the milestones needed to keep on target for our Steam Early Access release window. We are grinding through the final burn-down list of tasks and are closing in on a release window for the start of Q4.

While estimates are always subject to change, we're seeing the planets align to confirm we're on track for a strong EA launch. Launches are always a big moment in our player community, so join our Discord to be part of the fun from the very beginning and stay in the loop on special opportunities as the game's release approaches.

UX Project Continues
It has been a huge month of upgrades for game systems in the new UX design. The biggest on the list was Hacking which has benefited greatly from the work, including adding critical features like being able to peek back into the real world to preview which exact security device you'll be disabling while hacking or which door you're about to open.

The UX project has also upgraded major systems like your Contact Network and we're wrapping up the market and inventory systems now.

Class Trees
As we approach the Alpha v2 milestone, we are finalizing the redesign of all of the class trees in the game with better tree structures, unlocking and adding more Talent choices for all classes and even more upgrade tree nodes that can change and improve many aspects of your Talents.

Multi-classing is now fully supported which allows you to take up to 2 classes for any character. With 6 classes in the game and each one boasting ~15 Talents, the options are already very wide and very exciting. Endless builds here we come!

In order to preview and share your builds we've added a full build preview screen that is capable of showing the specific order of class tree training across one or two classes. This screen will also be the heart of exporting and importing class builds once those features are available.

Production Prep
In prep for the production launch to Steam, we've been working on a wide variety of critical tasks.
First, we've been doing live testing of updating the saved game format to ensure that we will never have to break saved games due to an update. This is a pledge we make with all of our games and Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be no different. So, we've updated the saved game format 3 times (quietly, without mentioning it) over the summer to test the system.

To cater to the wide variety of platforms and player preferences, we've been hammering away on the needed options for the game. We've added a heap of quality preferences like V-Sync, Texture Quality and improved the Screen Scaling option. For camera controls, we've added a number of options as well to allow you to lock the cursor, disable the action camera and use edge scrolling to pan with the mouse.

We are preparing to deploy an all new Cyber Knights: Flashpoint wiki. Alongside the Steam guides and our Discord, we'll be here to get your questions answers!

More information.

mercy · September 11, 2023

I want to try this demo to see, what they managed to achieve. Pre- Star Traders: Frontiers they did boring games. Star Traders is enjoyable, though it needed my big font mod.

Also hacking in some extra module space and added number of attacks for ship-to-ship combat was fun, but I completely ruined the challenge in game.

mercy · September 14, 2023

Tried out the demo. Very nice work for a Pre-EA build! Music is great. 2D character concept paintings used in the game title art is the highest level of art, best in the game.

1. The 3D maps feel lightweight, like thin cardboard paper compared to the robust feel of XCOM: Enemy Within.
2. UI text scaling to max. 25% option is commendable, but fonts are still small. So on a TV-set sized monitor maybe this will be playable..
3. 3D character models are very basic, have a lame, stupid, non-serious look on their faces, which immediately detracts HYPE POINTS, destroying expectation for a final release.
4. Gameplay is okay. I can shoot and maneuver my soldiers. Best is overwatch, where the player has to pinpoint a cone-shaped field, from where exactly the soldier expects attack.
5. Unfortunately the clunky control is nowhere near as easily flowing as in XCOM: EU. I had hard time moving my soldiers with lots of large interface lines (crosshairs and SHT) cluttering the screen are quite confusing.

6. Animations are very basic.

7. Hiding behind cover - its visual indicator - has been adequately copied from XCOM, so it works.
8. Enemies and their line of sights are going through walls ATM.
9. Selecting the next soldier cannot be done on TAB, but I could only click on an icon at TOP-LEFT corner of the screen.

10. Hard to see, which soldier is selected and the camera is where?? Goes where, when I wanna select my next soldier? Who is with whom?? Soldiers, enemies are not well distinguished.
11. Crates and containers are not highlighted so you have to bugger furniture / metal container-like stuff
if you hope to find some upgrades.
12. Found upgrades are lackluster (MEH) and written in Microscopic Script, could barely read them with glasses..
13. On Battlescape I couldn't find a menu or info, what the heck should I do, so after a couple rounds of aimlessly stumbling around the map, I closed the demo. At least it didn't crash!
14. Win 7 is supported according to the developers on the Steam Discussions. I tried on Win10 though.
15. "Who comes next"-style line of portraits is displayed on top, but it isn't convincing ATM. Switching to another soldier is confusing as the camera somehow does not follow and currently is weird, what new section the game displays upon selecting next soldier...
16. TOO MUCH FCKING PARTY BANTER!!!!!!! Idiot characters are going ON and FCKING ON about their stupid situations == WHO THE HELL CARES???! Probably they told me about the stupid story, somebody needing some surgery.. Urghh.. but the text was boring so didn't read.

STORY: Basically the developers tried to copy-cat a general Cyberpunk 2020 (pen and paper) mission situation with the hacker and other team members coming in through different entry points / roof, etc.. So probably they wanted to do an exciting mission by the book.. But it fails ATM.
Hairy-Brained Games at least managed to establish a professional copy of such Cyberpunk 2020 (pen and paper) scenario. They succeeded, even if their 2D representation was simplistic, it was still enjoyable!

Compared to this my HYPE POINTS BOOSTED ANTICIPATION LEVEL is at maximum for the simple, Lone Star Soldier, 2D space-commando game: QUASIMORPH!!!! That game is the very best at everything poor Cyber Knights: Flashpoint cannot even hope to come close to!
In Quasimorph we play an ALIENS-style Intergalactic Mercenary band. Story is excellent. 2D presentation is fantastic. Game World is AWESOME EPIC!!! So.. yeah, poor Cyber Knights weakly copied from the "Cyberpunk 2020" system cannot even come close to a much simpler, single-soldier 2D game!!! Was it worth for Trese Brothers to go with 3D-world representation in order to deliver their usual BORING GAME STYLE??? :-/

So essentially, if its a great game - like Quasimorph, even its alpha-theta-gamma pre-delta demo is absolutely excitingly amazing to play. This demo wasn't: :whip: