Firebreak Beta 0.1b-a2 Patch Notes

Everything that has changed since Release 0.1. If you played 0.1b Beta 1, start with New in Beta 2.

New in Beta 2

Codex

A new CODEX menu, between Character Info and Achievements, collects the world of Firebreak: its technology, organizations, vessels and places.

• 26 entries, each unlocked the first time the story mentions it in Chapter 1. The menu button appears once your first entry unlocks.
• Highlighted words in the story open their entry. Return takes you back to the same line.
• Entries link to each other: the first mention of another entry you’ve unlocked is a link that switches straight to it.
• Every entry has an illustration, and 13 are animated: A.N.G.E.L., Argent Red, Brachistochrone Trajectory, Earth-Moon L2, Echo Implant, Engram, INS Sindhuraj, Mesh Cohesion, Neuralmesh, Neuralspike, Polaris, Raw Material Return and USS Icarus.
• Click an illustration to view it full height and read the fine print. Click an expanded animation to replay it.
• Measurements, including the ones in the animations, follow Preferences > Units of Measure.
• Unlocks carry across playthroughs. If you’ve already finished Chapter 1, every entry unlocks the next time you launch the game.

Character files and notifications

• Character files now fill in as you learn about someone. Previously, a new profile showed every detail up front.
• Meeting a new character shows their full name, and a File Updated notice follows a moment later as their details fill in.
• Angel’s messenger notices no longer replace each other: back-to-back notices stack, arriving a beat apart. They clear after a few lines, and straight away when you skip.

Preferences

• Logo at Launch (Display): turn it off to skip the Stone Fox logo and the content notice and go straight to the main menu. The checkbox on the content notice does the same thing.
• Guided mode now only pauses achievements. Scenes, photos and character files unlock as usual.

Story

• The submarine in the rescue sequence is now the INS Sindhuraj (previously the Chakra IV).
• Lisa’s character card now unlocks when she introduces herself.

Fixes

• Fixed a crash when making the choice at the river with Amie (the morning after the campsite). It only affected Beta 1.
• Notifications that arrived back to back could disappear early. This affected character unlocks, file updates, gallery unlocks and achievements. Each one now stays up for its full time.

Dev Module (beta builds)

• Open it with F9 or the new icon in the top-left corner.
• New Chapter tab: lock or unlock a chapter’s achievements, scenes, photos, codex entries, status and vitals, and replay its chapter recap.
• Global Options adds Unlock all Codex entries.

Also in 0.1b (from Beta 1)

New

• Neuralmesh code streams: at three moments in Chapter 1, the neuralmesh’s code streams across the screen as it acts.
• Chapter recap: at the end of a chapter you can review the story so far, shaped by your choices, and see how each character’s trust and affection are trending.
• Reader options (Preferences > Text): Dialogue Quotes (Remove or Preserve) and Narration (Show All or Essential Only). Essential Only still keeps every line the story depends on.
• Messenger: Angel posts status notices without interrupting you, and message bubbles show the sender’s name. The messenger also has a visual refresh.
• Interface: slimmer scrollbars with soft edge fades, and reworked confirmation dialogs. Character files now scroll, with text about 50% larger.

Fixes

• Cancelling a named save no longer crashes the game.
• The game no longer fails to launch on PCs whose Windows AppData folder can’t be written to. It now finds a writable place for saves.
• The save/load screen is noticeably smoother.
• On the main menu, your character card shows William Bennett instead of a memory error.
• At the river with Amie, the narration now matches the choice you made a moment earlier.
• 41 text and continuity fixes, including:
  • Bianca’s line about Commander Venkat now says who she means.
  • Crew Delta now has nine members, like every mission crew.
  • At Amie’s campsite, the stream no longer plays twice over itself.

Known issues

• Taking Angel’s bad ending doesn’t count as finishing Chapter 1, so it won’t unlock the full codex.

Please test

• Codex links in the story, and that Return brings you back to the same line.
• Links between codex entries, especially on entries with animated illustrations.
• Expanding a few illustrations, including the animated ones.
• Switching Units of Measure, then reopening the codex, including the animated entries.
• Meeting each recruit on a fresh profile: the new-character notice, then File Updated.
• Skipping through a scene while Angel’s notices are on screen.
• Logo at Launch, on and off.