Whoa, is this only the second update of 2022? Where did the time go??? Work on the SOR sequel has been so intense lately that it's been hard to find the time to jam out a new patch. But here ya go! In addition, I've written up some new details about my work on the sequel. I'm not quite ready for an "official" announcement just yet with trailer and screenshots and all that good stuff, but rest assured I'm inching closer!

As always, please post your comments, questions and suggestions in the comments below, and I'll try to answer what I can!

For more info on SOR2 development, check out my previous news posts.

Sequel News

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165810/Streets_of_Rogue_2/

• Art - Since the beginning of the year, I've been working closely with a master pixel artist on crafting the look of the new game. While the top-down perspective isn't changing, our work together hasn't been a simple process of swapping out old art for new art. My processes for implementing pretty much every type of in-game art have changed to allow for much more complex and dynamic scenes. Despite this, I think we've managed to achieve a look that maintains the readability of the original game, which was very important to me.
  
  
• Lighting - The lighting system of SOR1 has been completely ripped out and replaced. The new system allows for a dynamic day and night cycle, plus completely different lighting for indoor and outdoor areas (and yes, the you can still see into all of the buildings), while being quite a bit more performant than the SOR1 lighting system.
  
  
• Multiplayer - The original SOR's multiplayer was built on an official Unity system that was deprecated four years ago. So, much like my lighting system.... ripped out and replaced. I also did a bit of work on dedicated server support. This was more of a test than anything else, and I can't say for certain whether or not this will end up in the final release. But based on the results so far, it looks promising. The open-world nature of the sequel and much-longer game length make this a good fit for dedicated server support.
  
  
• Crafting System - Do you love crafting games? Awesome SOR2 has a crafting system now. Do you hate crafting games? Don't worry, you are absolutely not required to engage with SOR2's crafting system! I see it as yet another addition to Streets of Rogue's "play however you want" bag of tricks. An optional activity for adding variety to how your game plays out, or something you can spend a lot of time with if that's your thing.
  
  
• Farming - Yeah, there's now a farming system in this thing, too. And sure, a lot of games nowadays have farming systems. But how many of them let you take your tractor off the farm and drive it through a crowd of pedestrians? How many games let you steal your neighbor's crops and then set fire to their barn? How many games have cow sprites that face 8 directions instead of 4?
  
  
• Factions and Reputation - Much like some of the other systems I've mentioned here, this is still fairly early in development. However, I'm real excited about the possibilities for how this could affect how you strategize your journey through the world.
  
  
• World Generation - The world is actually starting to resemble... you know, a world. Cities are starting to resemble cities. Forests contain waayyyyy more than a few scattered trees. Streets of Rogue now has actual streets. What I mean to say is, the procedural generation magic is starting to pay off.
  
  
• Quests - A lot of work has gone into the system that determines how new quests are procedurally generated, and a number of new quest varieties have been added to the mix. Procedural quests in open-world games have a reputation for being very samey and uninteresting, but I'm hopeful that I can avoid these pitfalls with the infrastructure that I've been putting into place.
  
  
• Soundtrack News - A bit of unfortunate news on this front: My composer and sound effects guy from the original game Craig won't be able to return this time around. Without going into too much detail, there's a contract issue (unrelated to me or tinyBuild) that has essentially made it impossible for him to work on the SOR sequel right now. We're both pretty bummed about it, to say the least. However, this also means I'm hiring! If you're interested in creating the OST or sound effects for the new game, feel free to send me your demos, ideas for the direction of the new OST, and whatever else ya got! (My email is linked at the bottom of streetsofrogue.com. Serious inquiries only please!)
  

Version 97

Graphics

• Added proper borderless window settings
  
• Fix for graphical issue when highlighting NPCs who are pointing their gun
  
• Fix for Mech body looking incorrect when dancing
  

UI / Controls

• Fix for player marker not appearing on minimap during tutorial
  
• Fix for player marker not appearing on minimap during the first stage of Daily Runs
  
• Fix for Virtual Keyboard only allowing the user to input 32 characters
  
• Various Steam Deck-specific fixes
  

Items

• Skeleton Key appears properly in the Character Creation screen
  
• Fix for multiplayer client Wrench not losing durability when used with Generator, Satellite Dish, etc.
  
• Fix for the player not being able to light oil spills on fire with the Cigarette Lighter when standing directly to the north
  
• Fix for Four-Leaf Clover potentially having an effect in cases where luck should definitely be 0
  
• Fix for Wall Bypasser not allowing the player to teleport on top of items on the ground, into water, or onto conveyor belts
  

Status Effects / Traits / Special Abilities

• Fix for Cops attacking players who obtain Above the Law during a Police Lockdown
  

Combat

• Fix for bug that was causing auto-aim to sometimes target objects over hostile NPCs
  

Sound

• Fix for “Annoyed” sound effect not playing if the Comedian tells a joke and some people laugh and some get annoyed
  

Big Quests

• Fix for certain cases where Mech Suit could be chosen for Big Quest related tasks
  

Mutators

• Mobster traits Revenue and Cop Debt are not applied with the New Character Every Level mutator
  
• Fix for Hologram being hostile toward player during Everyone Hates You mutator
  
• Fix for Mech Suit being hostile toward multiplayer client during Everyone Hates You mutator
  

Artificial Intelligence

• Player cannot command their followers to attack Train and Mine Cart
  
• Fix for NPCs getting hostile toward the player if they player bites, enslaves, or arrests them while Invisible
  
• Fix for player not being able to dismiss NPCs that they are rescuing if the questgiver has died
  
• Fix for NPCs not becoming Loyal to the player if the player breaks them out of jail by walking through a wall with a Giantizer
  
• Thief does not attempt to steal from Killer Robot or Butler Bot
  
• Fix for NPCs who attempt to mug a Bodyguard player preventing them from teleporting if they become a fan of the Musician
  
• Fix for Mech Suit becoming Arsonist
  

Text

• Added Discord moderators to credits list
  

Multiplayer

• Fix for multiplayer listings not appearing if the host had certain characters in their name
  
• Prevent multiplayer game list from breaking if bad characters are found
  
• (9/20 Stealth update) If the user's local hosting/matchmaking server is down, the game will attempt to use another one