- fixed an exploit on csv_compound

Hello Operatives; it's been a while since the last news update. Not everything has gone exactly to plan schedule wise, but we at least have something to show for it.

These past six months have been busy; we've been up to a lot (including some things we can’t talk about... yet). We've recently updated our other game 'Gemini: Binary Conflict', to feature a new game mode that CURE fans would certainly enjoy; ‘Incursion’ an objective based co-op PvE mode involving infiltrating an enemy base, completing objectives, performing acts of espionage and ultimately escaping. The mode features advanced AI mechanics, a large map with multiple avenues of approach, and more. The Gemini update was essential in setting up the co-op infrastructure for our next project, but that doesn't mean you guys are going empty-handed.

The first immediate thing to announce, is a new, official, highly detailed map for CURE, ‘csv_compound’! Compound is a from-the-ground-up remake of one of the very first workshop maps, ‘csv_complex’, which was made by the amazingly talented ‘Kaleidescoop’. This map is an important part of CURE's legacy, so it only felt right to show it some love.

The new map has a few new features that make it quite different from other Survival maps; namely, the map dynamically grows every few rounds. Instead of a safe room becoming accessible, entire sections of the map dynamically have access opened to them, making the map significantly larger and more complex as the match progresses.

Another feature inspired by Kaleidescoop's innovative work, is that this is now the first and only official CURE map to have a neutral NPC that helps you during the match. The APC sports a mounted turret which helps you "thin the herd"; diligently "curing" zombies that are in it's path.

We've also released the Soundtrack for both CURE and Gemini on Steam, which include some cut/unused/scrapped music to add a hint of development lore, as well as some additional ‘bangers’ for the buck. If you wish to support the development of our projects going forward, I'd highly recommend checking those out. They can be purchased below:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3052720/Codename_CURE__Soundtrack/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3043360/Gemini_Binary_Conflict__Soundtrack/

We've got more to show in the coming months; we just request your indulgence a little while longer. All we can say for now, though, is that more CURE content is coming soon, and look forward to seeing you all out on the field again.

Keep curing those zombies everyone!

- added a maximum time check for the new vehicle leave system (40 seconds) to address some legacy maps showing a very inaccurate bomb timer

- Worked around a client assert / crash issue when connecting to some custom servers which post event text in the chat
- Addressed a potential softlock issue in PvP modes when only one player remains in a match
- Dedicated server 'SetupDefaultServerSettings' script adjustments to also create a writable 'cfg/mapcycle.txt' which wont be overridden when updating a server

- cbe_frostbite map adjustments including:
* slightly reworking jump nodes in the draw bridge section to improve bot navigation in that area
* some grenade item spawns + a small table of pickups in the first escape section
* addressed bot navigation issues on frozen lake sections caused by lack of move friction
- zombie spawn tweaks including:
* slight increase to minimum spawn distance from players
* hull extremes visibility checks to reduce instances of occasionally ‘seeing’ zombies spawn in
- fixed a regression with Chinese translation causing a client crash when loading ccs/cpvp maps

Happy New Year everyone! As a parting gift for the end of 2023, a major update for CURE has arrived.

The response to the initial announcement was very overwhelming, and it's great to see how many CURE Operatives are still out there, waiting to come out again. We're so happy to be giving support and getting the old gang back together again.

The survival overhaul is here, as well as various balancing changes, adjustments, QoL improvements, and more, and to top it all off, a new bomb escape map has been added to the official roster; cbe_frostbite!

More is planned in the future; namely, more maps for CURE, a pretty big announcement that will be coming soon, and various adjustments to our other projects. The future is looking bright!

Check the patchnotes below for a full detailed list:

- New cbe map Frostbite!
* including two new achievements for completing it on average / insane respectively

- bomb escape changes:
* vehicle leave time now displays as 0 seconds (to help players better understand how much time they actually have to escape)
* added a check to see if a map is using vehicle leave outputs (to preserve expected timer on custom maps that don’t have an escape sequence)
* slight tweaks to certain existing official maps to improve qol / escape times

- survival changes:
* introduced a wave 12 win mechanism with adjusted difficulty curve (to help make survival rounds more qualitative than quantitative)
* plank rooms now activate at waves 3/6/9 instead of 5/10/15
* changed wave 15 achievements to now be wave 12
* allow use of both primary weapon and sidearm
* resource drops slightly less scarce
* round end fail safe now kills remaining zombies + kicks in 10 seconds sooner
* chest will not give a player the same weapon twice in a row
* wave hud element shows only remaining enemies
* reduced next wave start time to 5 seconds if / when all players have used the chest
* distance based wave timer to next crate (based on distance to furthest player)
* reduced the 3 fail map reset for survival to 1 by default

- soldier zombies are now 26% less tanky

- corpse / ragdoll fade improvement (so zombies don’t occasionally instantly disappear on death)

- new steam input profile based on default controls for better gamepad / steam deck playability (including right stick operating mouse cursor in menus)

- new time based rudimentary server auto restart / update system so servers (that opt to use it) can stay up to date more easily, new server setup guide available here: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3128717090

Hello again, CURE Operatives. This news post was supposed to happen earlier in the week, but, the team at HQ got a little carried away.

The update isn't ready quite yet, but it's going to be, very soon.

Last week, we showed off the new CBE map coming to CURE. This week, however, I'd like to focus on the more substantial gameplay changes that are coming to CURE when the next update drops.

First, let's talk about Survival. A proper overhaul of Survival missions are on their way.

We've noticed over the years that a lot of people find Survival to be a boring endurance run with no real purpose or endgame, and it tends to just drag on and on. I've felt this myself when playing on public servers; oftentimes the teams I was with would all opt to suicide once we lost for the first time, and it took a very long time to reach wave 15, which wasn't even the end initially, just the wave you had to reach in order to unlock the achievements. There was also some more unfun mechanics about that gamemode, especially in regards to the weapon pool, that are being addressed when the update drops.

To address all of these, we've made Survival actually have an end goal. Survival maps now end upon completing Wave 12. Reaching Wave 12 results in a "Mission Complete" prompt, and all achievements relating to Survival have been adjusted to reflect this. Also, Survival maps will have the boarded up locations open up at waves 3, 6, and 9, instead of 5, 10, and 15. A lot of people probably didn't even know this was a mechanic in every official survival map, so now you're going to be much more likely to see it happen! The counter at the bottom also from now on will only show how many zombies are left, instead of the old system, hopefully making it much more clear.

On top of this, we've made a substantial amount of changes to how Survival Crates work between waves. A few very significant changes are coming, namely:

1. Supply Crates no longer give you the same weapon twice in a row. It will always pick another weapon on the next roll.

2. Supply Crates no longer take away your primary or secondary. Players will always have a side-arm and a primary at all times, allowing you to have a full loadout. Gone are the days of replacing your automatic shotgun with a pew pew pistol; now you can have both!

3. When all players in the match have grabbed from the Supply Crate, the timer instantly goes down to 5 seconds if it's not already there, that way you aren't just sitting around waiting for the next wave to start.

These changes make the weapon side of things much more enjoyable and exciting!

On top of that, we've made various balancing adjustments. We've increased the drop rate of loot from zombies, reduced how tanky soldier zombies are, and more, making Survival a much more exciting and engaging game mode; one that also can be completed. These changes will carry over to all custom survival maps as well!

We've also made some very important QoL improvements to Bomb Escape, so far. The biggest one is the countdown timer will now count down to 0 at the point the vehicle leaves, instead of it being based on how much time is left until the bomb explodes. This means that there's not gonna be any more situations of the timer still having 15 seconds left on it, and you're right at the escape, but the vehicle leaves. It will be much more obvious now, when the vehicle actually leaves.

This change carries over to custom maps, too. However, if no outputs are being made when the vehicle escape event is called, this change doesn't carry over, working like it used to, ensuring that this only applies when it is needed. We've also increased how much time you have on multiple maps that really needed that extra boost.

And that's not including all the minor adjustments we've made, like adjusting how ragdoll spawning works so that Zombies are no longer phasing out of existence the instant that they are killed, and more. This health update is going to make the game significantly funner and we are very eager and excited to get it out.

Now, as one final send-off, some more previews of the newest CBE map coming very soon.

See you guys next week.