Halloween’s End and 13.3’s Release.

As the spooky season comes to a close, it’s time for the game to revert back to its standard self.

We’ve learned a lot this Halloween season, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for SCP:SL.
Included in the prior Halloween update were a number of changes for version 13.3 — which we’ll be detailing in the following changelog.

Game Improvements

• Added SCP-3114 to the Remote Admin (RA) panel. SCP-3114 will remain year round within the panel, but will be unobtainable via normal gameplay means, as of now.
  
• Adjusted multiple stat values for SCP-3114.
  
  
  
  • SCP-3114 will now receive a passive firearm damage reduction to his Hume Shield and HP while disguised.
    
  • SCP-3114 now takes reduced damage from explosions.
    
  • Increased the damage of Catch These Hands from 10 HP to 15 HP.
    
  • Strangulation now receives cooldowns following a successful kill, attack cancellation, and attack interruption.
    
  • Players will now unequip all items when being strangled by SCP-3114.
    
  
  
• Added the Lantern to the RA panel.
  
• Added a photosensitivity warning screen.
  
• Added multiple settings regarding the visibility of Global and Local badges.
  
• Added a 15th PC to the PC-15 room in Light Containment Zone.
  
• Added multiple whiteboards displaying information about SCP-939 throughout the Facility.
  
• Decreased SCP-049’s resurrection timer from 10s to 8.5s.
  
• Reimplemented Graphics API settings.
  
• Reimplemented various soundtracks within the game.
  
  
  
  • Massive Labyrinth has returned, and now plays when you’ve been alone for two minutes.
    
  • Unexplained Behaviours is a returning track from old versions of SCP:SL. This track plays during a zone-wide blackout caused by SCP-079.
    
  • Chaos Insurgents can now hear The Chaos Insurgency Theme when a new wave spawns in.
    
  • Changed the art in the Class-D cells to reflect the winners of the 2023 SCP:SL Art Contest.
    
  
  

Backend Changes
This update comes with some very large changes to our authentication systems, utilised libraries, and internal systems.
If you are a developer or user who actively utilises these systems, we’ve made efforts to retain as much functionality as possible — but unfortunately, revisions to your modifications will likely need to be made.


API and Library Changes

• Updated Mirror to version 82.3.1.
  
• Updated LiteNetLib to version 1.0.1.1.
  
• Updated the PluginAPI build to use the latest release.
  
• SCP-106’s teleporting player event is now fired before the player is teleported.
  
• Cleaned up code for player stats and role scripts.
  
• Improved how Geoblocking string comparison works.
  
• Made some adjustments to CustomNetworkManager.
  
• Bumped version number to 13.3.0.
  

Note: SCP:SL Dedicated Server now uses native sockets (directly calls OS API) instead of using C# sockets implementation. This increases its performance.
In case of issues with connection (players can't connect, network socket is not open, connections are being dropped), set ‘use_native_sockets’ to ‘false’ in ‘gameplay_config.txt’. This will initiate a toggle back to the C# sockets.

Remote Admin and Config Changes

• Added the Ghostly status effect to the RA panel, which allows players to pass through doors and windows.
  
• Renamed ‘Admin Chat’ to ‘Staff Chat’.
  
• Massively overhauled Staff Chat.
  
  
  
  • Now located within its own tab in the Administration section of the RA panel.
    
  • Now shows the history of Staff Chat messages since the user joined the server. Users can now send and review messages within this category.
    
  • Player reports are now sent to Staff Chat.
    
  • Staff Chat commands are as follows:
    
    
    
    • ‘@message’ — Displays a broadcast.
      
    • ‘@@message’ — Displays a monospaced broadcast.
      
    • ‘@@@message’ — Sends a silent message.
      
    • ‘@!5 message’ — Displays a message with a duration override of 5 seconds.
      
    
    
  
  
• Setting ‘lock_gates_on_cooldown’ to ‘false’ now allows SCP-079 to interact with gates after the Alpha Warhead detonation process is activated.
  
• Elevator Management buttons no longer disappear when selecting Door Management Zones.
  
• Fixed the ‘warhead time (seconds)’ command not displaying the new value in server logs.
  
• ‘pm reload’ no longer revokes a server’s verified status.
  
• Overwatch now draws boxes on players heads, similar to SCP-079.
  

Translations Backend

• Changed the default translation folder to ‘en’, instead of ‘English (Default)’.
  
• Empty translation directories are now properly ignored.
  
• Made large backend improvements to our translation tools and systems.
  

Other Fixes

• Rewrote the code which handles SCP-106’s ability to pass through doors and glass.
  
• Fixed SCP-106’s attack lag compensation that previously allowed players to hit their targets from farther away.
  
• Fixed SCP-096’s inability to destroy a certain door in TC-01.
  
• Fixed an issue with AHP amount being limited by the lowest limit, instead of the highest.
  
• Representation of maximum AHP is now reset when the amount reaches zero, instead of being around indefinitely.
  
• Fixed bullet holes not being visible on glass panes.
  
• Fixed whiteboard interactables not being affected by shadows on specific combinations of settings.
  
• Fixed the window in SCP-173’s containment chamber losing its collider, again.
  
• Fixed a typo in the MTF-E11-SR Operational Guide entry.
  
• Fixed the FR-MG-0 display in the Operational Guide.
  
• Fixed the ‘double jump’ exploit.
  
• Removed the following unused startup arguments: ‘-smartclasspicker’, ‘-noslml’, ‘norslml’.
  

Note: If you wish to force any specific Graphics API, you can do so with the following startup arguments.
DirectX 11: ‘-force-d3d11’.
DirectX 12: ‘-force-d3d12’.
Vulkan: ‘-force-vulkan’.

A Note on Versioning
When version 13.0.0 was released, many people were confused as to why it had been classified the way it was.
Following prior updates such as 'Scopophobia', 'Parabellum', and 'Mimicry', all of which had featured massive SCP reworks — 'Refracted Reality' came under scrutiny as an update seemingly lacking the same scope and magnitude as the aforementioned ones.
We then released 13.1.0 and 13.2.0 just a few months later, both of which had contained significantly more content in a shorter time frame, in comparison to updates such as 11.2.0.

As the SCP:Secret Laboratory project has grown, so too has the studio behind it. We've been making constant changes to our internal structure and development pipelines, resulting in an unspoken shift to our updates. It's because of this confusion, that we'd like to clarify how we'll be versioning updates going forward.

Updates can be broken down into three main categories — 'Milestone' updates, 'Content' updates, and 'Hotfix and Patch' updates.

Milestone updates are the large updates that massively impact how the game runs, feels, or plays. An example of such an update is 13.0.0 — this update, while it didn't directly bring as much gameplay content as prior milestone updates, has helped to establish the framework needed for us to create new mechanics/assets; such as SCP-244's new (and better performing) fog, or Red Candy's flamethrower effect.
Performing this update had us effectively redo the mass majority of the game — updating an engine is already difficult enough, but an entirely new render pipeline is a feat deserving of the Milestone namesake. Technical Milestone updates will be few and far between, with the Milestone name generally saved for massive new additions to the game, such as zone reworks.

Content updates are our medium sized updates, generally focused on either improving, or adding more to the game. As an example, these could be large technical features such as a settings rework or custom hotkeys. These could also be something more directly gameplay impacting, such as adding a new item SCP, adding a new firearm, or in the case of this update, adding SCP-3114 to the Remote Admin panel.
These medium sized updates occur much more frequently than Milestone updates, and keeps the game fresh while larger projects are in the works.

Hotfix and Patch updates typically consist of smaller changes — focused on either squashing important bugs post-release, or making important balance changes to features we’d like to adjust.
Overall, these are pretty self-explanatory, and generally happen shortly after the release of a Milestone or Content update.

This update, 13.3.1, is a Content update; focused on implementing features from the Halloween season into the base game, alongside making some very important technical changes for both ourselves and the server hosting community. This includes allowing SCP-3114 to exist in the RA panel for server staff and plugin developers to use, alongside updating our authentication system and libraries, which are responsible for the present and continued function of SCP:SL.

We hope that this clarification helps to explain some of our recent updates and the choices made behind their names, alongside aiding in understanding the future development process of SCP:SL.



As always, we’d like to thank everyone for their continued support. Keep an eye out for what’s to come in the following months.

Have fun, and see you in the dark.


~ Northwood Studios





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