Black Mesa: Blue Shift Caretaking Update (v0.5251116) Changelog

IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!
Please keep in mind that this update will BREAK SAVEGAMES for all BM:BS maps.

==================== GENERAL / GLOBAL ====================

IMPROVEMENTS:
-Centralized launch method .bat files into one single .bat launcher that lets you choose between options;
-Removed New UI options from launch files as it is unstable on the current version;
-Launcher .bat now throws a separate error message if the bshift directory cannot be located in the Black Mesa Root Directory;
-Added Research Audiologs throughout Focal Point chapter;
-Added hard hats to some scientists in Pre-Disaster chapters;
-Added new VO for fat guards in all Pre-Disaster chapters;
-Added more random actbusy events to guards and scientists throughout the predisaster chapters;
-Added walkietalkies with random radio chatter throughout the predisaster chapters;
-Added glowing eyes to the Xen "snark fish";
-Adjusted hint nodes pertaining to NPC crouch cover so that NPCs actually crouch while using them;
-Improved soundtrack audio quality in Focal Point in various areas;
-Improved reflections in the windows of the Intro Tram;
-Improved lighting inside the Intro Tram;
-Increased the history max count for each autosave and quicksave to 3;
-Increased drowning damage per second from 2 to 5;
-Increased crossbow bolt speed;
-Increased swampsquid spore explosion magnitude and damage;
-Optimised thruster gas can implementation in all maps (improved physics, improved sound, activation hitbox is now tied to cap, increased initial health);
-Infinite RPG ammo crates now provide a full ammo reserve on use (Earthbound and Xen);
-Reduced alien controller movement speed;
-Reduced alien controller dodge frequency + speed + added exponential lerp so that the transition between floating and shifting is less sharp;
-Reduced alien controller energy orb count relative to active enemies at the time;
-Reduced alien controller telekinesis attack interval while the player is low health;
-"Slightly" extended the Focal Point outro scene;
-Various texture / model / lighting improvements.

FIXES:
-Fixed IK animation bug on shotgun-wielding marines;
-Fixed HL2 wood fence gibs being the wrong color;
-Fixed glock sight glow is not emissive until a shot gets fired;
-Fixed Xen Shellsquid explosion gibs not flying as intended on the latest game version;
-Fixed "playerhurt" response for guards;
-Removed some Freeman references in the guard responses;
-Definitive fix for holster/unholster animations, they can now be handled via the HolsterWeapon and UnholsterWeapon inputs.

==================== CHAPTER / MAP SPECIFIC ====================

LIVING QUATERS OUTBOUND:

c0m0c
-Slight adjustments to the water fountain actbusy animation.

INSECURITY:

c1m0a
-Fixed clipboard constantly... clips through the body of the guard in the intro scene when he is performing certain gestures;
-Fixed Sector C security guard always lowers his mug when blending between idle and walking animations;
-Fixed clothes hanger in the shower room clipping into map geometry;
-Fixed Barney's package being able to clip through certain doors;
-Fixed scientist in one of the surveillance monitor scenes walking through elevator doors while they're closed;
-Fixed surveillance monitor audio was still audible from outside the security station;
-Fixed security monitor static effect not rendering when switching to the "Sector G Lvl 1 Main Access" camera when playing with DXVK;
-Fixed an issue that would cause the lobby side booth guard to teleport to the middle of the lobby;
-Added wet clothing texture for Collins the fountain guard;
-Added a working microwave;
-Added more furniture to some areas to make them look less dead inside;
-Added cat photos;
-Minor lighting and geometry fixes;
-Reworked armory guard gun mazagine's texture.

c1m0b
-Fixed an inconsistently colored pipe in the B-C map transition area;
-Improved sprinkler ground splash effect in the exploding console scene;
-Swapped maintenance route doors for the sake of player guidance.

c1m0c
-Fixed plug cable endpoint was floating in the air after repairing the elevator;
-Fixed blocking the elevator with physics objects could cause the scientists to fall through when the ride starts;
-Improved pacing during the tour scene if the player moves ahead too fast;
-Added another working microwave.

DUTY CALLS:

c2m0a
-Fixed crowbar scientist not looking at the player at the beginning of his scene;
-Fixed improper game over message when killing the crowbar scientist;
-Fixed missing animations for one of the barricade breaching zombies;
-Fixed Murdoch not shooting the fizzler generator as it was intended;
-Fixed some spots where the player can get stuck in the warehouse;
-Fixed some lighting artifacts in the area before the headcrabbed guard;
-Adjusted some door visual styles for the sake of player guidance;
-Adjusted Murdoch's choreography after killing the barricade zombies so that he's closer to the exit door at the end of the scene;
-Adjusted Murdoch's follower logic so that he's less likely to invade the player's personal space;
-Adjusted Murdoch's elevator choreography so that he no longer blocks the player from jumping through the broken fence;
-Adjusted first Houndeye to be non-hostile for a few seconds before attacking;
-Added new zombie introduction scene;
-Added more details to the hydroplant exit lift;
-Added crouch-jump hint to the door before the headcrabbing scene;
-Added missing loop points to the zombie barricade audio;
-The exit door Vortigaunt can now be attacked and killed while tearing open the door;
-Placed first medkit closer to the starting elevator;
-Touching the acid in the engineering lab now applies a viewmodel effect;
-Door scientist now reacts to the zombies approaching Barney after her introductory scene is completed.

c2m0c
-Fixed an exploit that allowed to activate the main power before calling the big freight lift leading to getting softlocked;
-Fixed cascade shadows were visible in canal area, causing lighting issues on various doors and crates;
-Fixed some idle response lines of the maintenance guy sometimes not trigger correctly;
-Fixed disposal scene guard corpses not falling as they are intended (for real this time);
-Fixed player death scripts not being called correctly when the player jumps into the grinder;
-Fixed maintenance guy not speaking to the player after the power goes out;
-Replaced / removed some static environment details that could be mistaken by interactive game elements;
-The door leading to the steam pipe area can no longer be closed by the player;
-Attempted to fix CSM shadows sometimes breaking at the end of the level;
-Final ladder leading to the surface can no longer be used after the hatch is closed.

c2m0d
-Fixed zombies after the falling guard scene reacting before the player got in their line of sight;
-Added an autosave after the generator puzzle is solved;
-Added extra measures to prevent armor plates behind the locked barricade in the generator area from becoming unreachable.

CAPTIVE FREIGHT:

c3m0c
-Fixed cascade shadow glitches in underground areas;
-Removed some armor plates throughout the map and centralized them in other areas.

c3m0d
-Fixed a bug where the Murdoch door kick playerdeath logic would trigger if there were physics props in front of the door;
-Fixed an issue that could cause the player to get stuck inside physics props after taking Harold's ID card;
-Fixed a bug that could cause the secret area scene chain to play incorrectly or temporarily brick their actors' AI.

c3m1a
-Fixed an issue where NPCs could get stuck on top of one of the concrete barriers in the middle of the parking lot;
-Fixed the player being able to kill the first parking lot marines from inside the freight office;
-Fixed softlock caused by the first wave of TOW marines getting stuck behind the depot door as it closed;
-Fixed marines during the TOW sequence not using appropriate "on fire" lines when set on fire by the exploding jeep;
-Fixed potential choreo messup when the player gets back into the office building after the battle before certain scene points were reached;
-Adjusted Murdoch's dialogue for when the player quickly destroys the sentries in the freight office;
-Adjusted Osprey drop spot and enemy spread behavior to achieve more effective use of playable space during the battle;
-Adjusted the logic for Murdoch's responses to trying the locked stairwell doors in the freight offices;
-Removed duplicate decals in the break room map transition;
-Murdoch now immediately moves to the depot access door after being let through the locked stairwell door, to further enhance player guidance.

c3m1b
-Fixed the train driver marine getting stuck inside the train if the player initiated combat too quickly;
-Fixed an issue where the dynamic surveillance monitor would show a still image of the previous surveillance monitor image before the player entered the security office;
-Fixed an issue preventing the player from picking up supplies inside the military supply container next to the yard exit;
-Fixed NPCs getting stuck in certain parts of the depot scaffolding;
-Fixed Murdoch and Otis retaining follower behavior after moving Ronny's container to the loading dock;
-Fixed other issues that could potentially cause Murdoch and Otis to be stuck outside of the cargo bay during Ronny's intro scene;
-Fixed issues causing one of the marines underneath the crush trap to not break out of choreo if the player triggered combat;
-Fixed the marine driving the train in the depot occasionally not exiting the train properly;
-Slightly adjusted logic in Ronny introduction choreography;
-Added separate hudhints for train mechanics;
-Added crows;
-Adjusted volume of ambient music during the Ellie rescue scene;
-Adjusted Murdoch and Otis' behavior after the Ronny discovery scene in the depot to subtly enhance player guidance;
-Slight adjustments to AI navigation in the depot.

c3m1c
-Fixed softlock if the player dies during the RPG crate bombardment scene;
-Restored old RPG crate combat logic so that the distant marines don't start shooting until the player exits the crate;
-Slightly obscured the TOW launcher so that it no longer confuses for a weapon that can be used against the LAV;
-Replaced marine corpse in the medical crate with a zombie grunt;
-Adjusted RPG container ambient music volume;
-Added failsafe for if the RPG crate marine is killed before his scene completes;
-Added extra cover to the railroad battle;
-Added a loud and bright surprise to the RPG container sequence;
-The fuel tanker cars in the LAV arena can now be destroyed with RPGs.

c3m1d
-Fixed .50 cal marine changing appearance after dismounting the gun;
-Fixed squad in the yard is not reacting to gunfire before the player is entering the yard area;
-Fixed sun is leaking through 3D skybox;
-Fixed one of the marines in the knockout scene teleporting into place;
-Fixed missing sound FX when squashing the zombie in the turntable booth;
-Fixed performance issues caused by newlights not being culled properly;
-Improved lighting on the background instance of the previous map;
-Improved particle effects on the electrocuted crow;
-Added extra crow NPCs;
-Added more indicators to the breakable concrete barriers in fornt of the drivable train.

c3m2a
-Fixed RPGs bouncing off the Abrams while it's being carried by the Chinook;
-Fixed left-side reinforcement marines repeatedly moving back to their rally points;
-Fixed wrong footstep sounds when jumping onto Rosenberg's hands;
-Fixed Rosenberg is not looking at the player during the first person cutscene;
-Fixed AI logic for marines in the Abrams boss fight which previously prevented them from advancing towards the player;
-Fixed Abrams is able to turn while standing on the turntable platform causing it to glitch to map geometry;
-Other explosives besides RPG rockets are now able to trigger the Abrams boss fight's phase logic;
-Added ambient soundtrack to the Rosenberg introduction scene;
-Adjusted Abrams boss fight logic so that the tank's machine gun remains enabled if the player is out of the main gun's swivel range;
-Adjusted NPC relationship logic to make Rosenberg less of a priority target to the marines;
-Adjusted Abrams perma-corpse logic;
-Reinforcement marines can now throw smoke grenades;
-Adjusted node graph in the turntable area to fix improper pathing in certain areas;
-Added crows.

c3m2b
-Fixed meetup scene not resuming if the player back tracks to the previous map;
-Fixed meetup scene not resuming if Rosenberg enters the second room before certain resume conditions are satisfied;
-Fixed some misaligned metal beam textures in the prototype lab elevator, including in the next map;
-Improved lighting in the A17 entrance area;
-Another attempt to fix NPCs failing to get onto the elevator at the end of the level.

c3m2c
-Fixed missing godrays on the fan at the prototype lab entrance;
-Fixed wrong footstep sounds on various grate floors in the teleporter rooom;
-Fixed Rosenberg is turning invisible during the Keycard-Cutscene if the player stands too far on the left during initialization;
-Fixed flickering areaportal in Simmons' control room;
-Added glass cover to the portal bottom layer;
-Added a reaction from Simmons when killing Rosenberg in the teleporter room;
-Added an optional extra line to Rosenberg refering to the Mark III Suit;
-Added extra safeguards against NPC navigation failing to push past the vines at the start of the level;
-Improved rock walls in the access tunnel area.

FOCAL POINT:

c4m0a
-Fixed intro cutscene flashlight lensflare is not occluded by the viewmodel;
-Fixed one shockeye that got stuck in a rock at the cliffside;
-Fixed visible rim on the interception scene travel effect;
-Backtrack path tree branch now only collapses when falling down from the top level;
-Improved performance during the teleportation interception scene (hopefully on all devices and hardware configurations).

c4m0b
-Improved indication and guidance on the crystal cave column puzzle;
-Blocked missleading backtracking path after breaking down the column in the crystal cave.

c4m0c
-Fixed powercells can be thrown on the M.O.U.N.T platform, leading to a softlock;
-Fixed audio related memory overflow in some areas;
-Improved lighting in the infirmary compartment;
-Improved performance in various areas of the map;
-Improved platforming after the heart crystal sequence;
-Reduced headcrab count in the survey base hub area;
-Added indicators when the second alien grunt wave breaches into the base hub.

c4m1a
-Fixed missing shadows on some crystal lights at the beginning of the map;
-Fixed audio related memory overflow in some areas;
-Fixed a gap in void-death trigger volume at the cliffside;
-Improved enemy AI pathfinding during the manta ride sequence.

c4m1b
-Fixed skybox portion of previous map was relocated further than intended during the manta ride;
-Fixed some environment props won't get destroyed during the manta ray laser beam sequence on the donut island;
-Fixed a progress blocker that could cause the rising spire at the donut island to stay retracted;
-Slightly increased enemy xen railgun firing rate when the player stands on certain spots of the map;
-Obstructed missleading cliffside path next to the donut island;
-Improved performance around the Focal Point Island entrance area;
-Improved guidance for healing spore introduction;
-Improved safeguard constraint when the player railgun gets destroyed to ensure less damage impact by the explosion;
-Improved soundtrack and soundscape coherence at the donut island preventing interference on certain audio output devices.

c4m1c
-Fixed houndeyes attacking the player too early at the vista balcony after the second switch leaf puzzle;
-Fixed missing collision on some rocks and plants;
-Fixed some healing spores in the first swamp area were not working when swimming into their pickup volume;
-Removed swampsquid weakpoint randomizer and replaced it with set to 3 by default;
-Moved the crossbow from the next map to the top swamp area;
-Improved cyst placements in the second vine puzzle;
-Improved surface responsivity for satchel charges when throwing them on the leaves in the third switch leaf puzzle;
-Added hudhint when picking up the crossbow;
-Added more enemies to the second half of the lower swamp.

c4m2a
-Fixed waterfall jump pad trajectory is now fully deterministic preventing from getting "voided" under certain conditions;
-Improved performance around the relay site;
-Added more enemies to the first alien grunt encounter (Spawning is based on combat and player metrics);
-Added more dynamic difficulty adjustment to the controller battle at the relay site;
-Added more indicative elements to the Focal Point jamming sequence;
-Added a new visual geo marker after the Focal Point is getting jammed for highlighting the new objective;
-Increased crane's turning speed;
-Moved large table at the crane platform closer to the jump spot towards the crane's cargo platform;
-Removed visible skybox instance of one of the previous maps that was not intended to be present.

c4m2b
-Fixed some supply tank forcefields were using the wrong color;
-Fixed missing FX when the interceptor core receives a critical hit;
-Fixed interceptor core color was not changing during critical state;
-Fixed some alien controllers still using orb attacks during telekinesis events;
-Fixed some vortigaunts during the interceptor boss battle not getting mind-controlled as how it was intended;
-Fixed an issue that allow players to clip through map geometry when moving during warp lift transitions;
-Extended the first Xen Grenade puzzle to indicate the purpose of the green force fields;
-Added more indicative elements between Xen Grenades and the green force fields;
-Added more details to the maintenance shaft after the vort-server room;
-Added more supplies to the interceptor boss battle based on combat and player metrics;
-Added more initial supplies to the interceptor boss battle in case you haven't picked up any supplies in the custody room before;
-Added more cover spots to the interceptor boss battle;
-Improved vort-server sound design;
-Improved interceptor destruction scene;
-Improved railgun single fire sound to prevent audio stacking;
-Improved sound design during the final escape sequence;
-Reduced alien controller spawn intervals during the interceptor battle based on player and combat metrics;
-Increased railgun projectile hit volume against alien controllers;
-Interceptor core can now be damaged with non-charged railgun shots;
-Reduced headcrab count on the escape route after the boss battle.

c4m2c
-Reworked portal telekinesis blocker to throw the player towards spots closer to the portal;
-Fixed missing captions on Rosenberg and Simmons dialogue;
-Fixed killing more than 2 controllers in a row before the wave spawn cycle is complete causing an infinite loop in the spawn cycle, making it almost impossible to clear the portal;
-Fixed a controller wave could still spawn while the player is already flying towards the portal during the critical time span;
-Fixed controllers not getting killed when colliding with crashing mantarays;
-Increased safety interval between controller waves.