Hi everyone,

We've got some long requested music related features live right now!

• Players can import their own music library. MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG Vorbis are supported!
• Players can customize the built in OST, enabling or disabling tracks as they want!
• Players can choose to play all original OST, only their custom tracks, or a mix of both!
• Campaign mode now supports the shuffle music button in the pause menu
• Burst pistol recoil has been reduced (yeah kind of random).

All instructions and configuration options for the new music features are found in the audio settings menu.

Have fun!

-Mattwla

We have joined forces with the team behind indie FPS SPRAWL to bring you this XMas update!

The Sprawl team has kindly gifted us the Megatech A8 shotgun! This is a powerful shotgun which also lets you SHOTGUN JUMP. The Megatech A8 comes pre-unlocked in firefight, and has been added to the Rogue Steel shotgun starter card.

That's not all! We also have a 4 level XMas mini-campaign brought to you by Severed Steel mapper Ouroborosso. Battle Edensys through snow and Christmas themed levels, featuring new slippery floor physics. Try shotgun skating with the Megatech A8!

You can find the new campaign by choosing "Campaign" on main menu, then choosing "Bonus".

Finally, the daily challenges for the rest of December will feature festive enemies and frozen floors!

Thank you as always for playing Severed Steel! Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy new year!

-Matt

• New Option: Synchronize semi-auto akimbo shooting
• Fix another situation where gibbed enemies made player drop weapon.

• Fix 980 preview.
• Fix Slash akimbo rotation.
• Fix bug where Steel would drop a weapon sometimes when an enemy gibbed.
• Fixed broken ambient lighting with skybox enabled.

New Features

• Players can now dual wield guns with the gravity cannon.
• The gravity cannon starts unlocked for all players in firefight mode.

Improvements

• Enhanced the sound and effects of the gravity cannon.
• Changed the coloring for weapon indicators to better match game’s pallete.
• Improved the pickup UI prompt.
• Fixed glitched rotation for some gun spawns.
• Reorganized the game settings menu.

New Options

• Added a new option to let semi-auto guns fire while trigger is held down, on by default.
• Added an option to disable akimbo feature

Rogue Settings

• In rogue settings, players can now start with the grav gun.

Weapon Changes

• The 870 now ejects shells and animates bolt.

New Feature

Combo Meter Visibility: Introducing a new option to “Always Show Combo Meter” for players who want to keep track of their combos at all times. Does not affect score.

Bug Fixes

• Discord Integration: Resolved an issue with the Discord button.
• Combo Meter Display: Corrected a behavior where the combo meter appeared at times when it shouldn't.

Gameplay Adjustments

• Added an option to disable kick auto-aim
• Kick auto-aim no longer targets items off-camera
• Resolved an issue where Steel would perform an unintended extra kick.
• Allow the saving of style ranks with non-cheat modifiers. Note: Style score thresholds will now scale based on the mutators used.

Challenges & Progression

• Adjusted the armory challenge to be achievable.
• Explosive weapons are now properly credited towards unique weapon challenges.
• Updated Firefight 2.0 instructions for clearer guidance.

Bug Fixes

• Eliminated Nyutie’s exploit in Firefight mode
• Fixed a bug where the leaderboard report window wouldn't close as intended.

User Interface Enhancements

• Version number now displayed on the main screen
• SteamDeck now has its own default visual settings when detected.
• Firefight mode instructions are now hidden during campaign mode.

Hi everyone,

Lots of new content just went live!

We have added a new style ranking system to Firefight mode which rewards you for being stylish! There's 30 types of stunts available to you to boost your score, read about them in the Firefight setup screen. Firefight mode should feel way more satisfying and way less grindy! Plus there's a bunch of new levels pre-unlocked for you to try out.

You can also now send living enemies flying through the air with your kicks, thrown weapons, and explosions. They'll get back up if you don't finish them off. This new system creates some extremely stylish combat moments! If you prefer the old way check game settings to turn it off.

There's also some great new music and lots of small quality of life tweaks requested on the discord and steam forums. Full notes below!

Please note that we are making all new leaderboards because of the new scoring system, if you want to access the old build and leaderboards they will be made available on a beta branch.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the new content,

-MattWLA

New Features

Firefight 2.0: A complete overhaul with a strong emphasis on style! Achieve higher scores with stylish gameplay and check your rank at the end of each round. New leaderboards are available for all levels.

Live Ragdolls: Enemies now have a chance to be knocked over without dying. Beware, they will get back up to continue the fight if not dealt with! (Note: Melee attacks and explosions trigger this state if they're not lethal. This feature can be toggled off in settings.)

Hit Markers: Customize your experience with 5 different hit marker options. Disabling hit markers is also available for players who prefer it.

New Firefight Levels: Dive into 8 fresh firefight levels, ready for action.

New Music for Firefight: Groove to 7 new tracks in firefight mode, along with additional campaign tracks now in rotation.

Bug Fixes & Tweaks

• Bullet & Fire Interaction: Fixed issues preventing bullets and fire from passing through glass.
• Weapon Throwing: Weapons can now be thrown through glass.
• Mobility: Sliding and diving against doors will now open them.
• Explosives: Addressed odd behaviors with explosives interacting with grass.
• Physics: Adjusted gib physics for a more natural feel.
• Settings: New options to hide the flashing objective text and disable checkpoints.
• Quick Reset: Fixed a softlock issue occurring when using quick reset during the victory fade. (Note: Reset is currently disabled during this phase as a quick fix.)
• Cannon Shots: New setting to center cannon shots on the camera.
• Mission Select: Tutorial levels are now accessible.
• Visuals: Adjusted sky color and fixed issues with the bonus campaign completion screen.
• NPC Interaction: Ragdolls will now more reliably break glass.
• Daily Challenge: Ensured deterministic weapon spawns.
• Props: Removed shake from props for a smoother experience.
• Weapon Interaction: Heavy weapons and lasers will no longer be stopped by rockets.
• Sound FX: New sound effects for throwing weapons.
• Collision: Adjusted collision parameters for backpacks.
• Headshots: Shots near the head are now considered headshots.
• Controller Support: Restored the throw button functionality.
• Gameplay Tweaks: Adjusted "attack the weakpoint" for better melee interaction, and ensured shots on heavies work from any angle.
• Aim Assistance: Smoothed out the motion for kick auto-aim.
• Melee Attacks: Updated so they no longer cause headshots.
• Enemy Interaction: Hitting an enemy with a thrown weapon now disarms them.
• Level Editor: Fixed an issue where "Rogue Steel" mutators carried over.
• Leaderboards: Now accessible from the Firefight victory screen.
• Disco Lights: Added the ability for editors to spawn disco lights.
• Audio: Lowered the volume of the breath loop.
• Firefight Challenges: Made some challenges easier to complete.
• OC Cannon: Now classified as a cheat.
• Mutators: Enjoy 5 mutators in Friday's daily challenges.
• Seasonal Fun: Look out for jack-o-lanterns this October!
• Mutator Lineup: Removed 'lowgrav' and 'steelcraft' from the daily mutator lineup.

• Improved daily unlock menu.
• Give notification to players who want to do daily challenge but have leaderboards turned off.

New daily challenge mode
• Every midnight (GMT), a new challenge appears on the main menu, offering challenge coins and a fresh leaderboard.

Weapon skins
• Unlock new weapon skins using challenge coins; they inspired the following feature…

Improved raytraced reflections
• Enhancements include more objects showing in reflections and experimental support for AMD cards and FSR.

Global stats
• See total headshots and frags from all Steam players live on the main menu; hover to view your contribution.

New music
• Enjoy a new track by Floating Door and 7 other tracks, previously exclusive to bonus campaigns, in the firefight music rotation.

• 20 new Rogue Steel exclusive levels
• New Rogue Steel customization option: play only special Rogue Steel levels
• You can now leave a Rogue run in the middle, and resume it later!
• Reduced unlock requirements for the highest Rogue unlocks (less grind)
• Can select no card if you want in Rogue Steel
• New graphics option: multi-threaded voxel destruction. By default this was on, but I've added an option to disable it for people who want to reduce CPU usage.

• Fixed new mutators giving wrong multiplier in firefight mode.
• Fixed bonus levels sometimes softlocking after certain combo of menu navigations.

Balance

• Getting cannon headshots easier

Bug Fixes

• Fix disappearing stunt lines
• Removed couch bind response leftover from demo rebinds
• Altered DX11 explosion effect to be same as DX12
• Fix for “1” opening pause menu (may need to reset controls to default to apply)

New features

• New game mode, Rogue Steel
• 9 new achievements unlocked through Rogue Steel
• 23 new Firefight mutators unlocked through Rogue Steel
• 6 new weapons
• 5 new modified enemy types
• 8 new exclusive Rogue Steel levels
• New Cannon Mode: Cutting Beam
• 10 Character skins to unlock in Rogue Mode
• 15 Cannon skins to unlock in Rogue Mode

Balance and QoL changes

• Adjusted NPC hit stun animation to make followup headshots easier
• NPCs no longer stun themselves and eachother with explosives
• Increased VAL mag size and position
• Tweaked Bulldog animations and sounds
• Tweaked Lever Action position

Bug and Performance Fixes

• Optimized explosion performance and audio
• Fix visual glitches when air sliding and looking down
• Fix visual glitches when kicking while falling
• Jumping now makes Steel leave softlock that happens rarely on certain stunt combos

• Added missing localizations.
• Fix for arm cannon sometimes not spawning in campaign.
• Fix for tunnel bonus level checkpoint.

• Fix for New Game + breaking some bonus levels
• Fix for Overcharge cannon effect sometimes not despawning
• Fix for navigating graphics menu with gamepad
• Restore Party Hard achievement

New bonus campaigns with achievements

• QUERY - [ INPUT ]
• COMMAND - [ EXIST ]
• ICARUS
• CHURCH
• SOULS

Quality Of Life

• General performance and level load time improvements
• Native gyro support
• Rumble support for gamepads
• Increased impact cannon punch radius
• Added gamma adjustment slider
• Added NPC voice volume slider
• Added setting to disable gamepad
• Improved pick up weapon logic on gamepad
• OC cannon now kills shield NPCs on shield hit
• Buffed weapon pickups in Conscience campaign level
• New HUD option to center hud elements
• Achievement for Chalet campaign

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug with uploading props
• Fix workshop button showing on victory screen when no valid workshop link
• Reduced aim acceleration radius for joypads
• Tweaked deadzone logic for joypads
• Improved various particle FX performance
• Added more FX to simple fx mode
• Relit firefight levels in simple lighting mode
• Improved performance of large moving props with no need for collision
• Removed crouch binding option
• Fix sound volume in museum
• Reduced turret firing volume
• Hid shuffle music button in campaign until I can think of a fix for music resetting

Mayor Features

• Prop workshop, fill your levels with voxel art made by the community
• Workshop campaigns, multi level stories made by players
• 7 new Floating Door tracks inspired by Workshop levels (available only in level editor levels and bonus levels)
• New bonus level by Ouros: Chalet (see screenshots below)
• Tons of new scripting functions in level editor requested by the community
• New performance options for low spec PC, along with optimizations for all PCs

New Editor Features

• Added copy function to level editor browser
• Can use box select on props, lights, and NPCs in editor
• Added show void action
• Props can now move along complex paths
• Props have option to point towards direction of movement
• Props have option to be hidden on lvl start
• Props can make scripted actions happen when they are destroyed
• Altered speed logic in prop movement
• Fixed some bugs w/ prop movement UI
• Can attach lights and trigger volumes to props
• Trigger volumes can fire their own scripted actions even w/ no objective
• Added ability to sort props into folders
• Can make void invisible
• Trigger volumes can trigger actions even with no objectives
• Can set author name to show in level select screen
• P99 can actually spawn
• Fix for first selection bug

Small changes/bug fixes

• Optimized cutscene videos
• Improved Simple Lighting and Simple FX modes
• NPCs can move through props player can
• Button to review level shown at end of campaign levels
• Direct hits from explosives can edit prop voxels
• Small tweak to npc aim logic
• Turrets dont suffer friendly fire from NPCs

• Language selection now saved and loaded
• Updated locs
• Compressed large UI textures
• Fix crash on 1 lvl playlsit
• Fix binding throw on gamepad
• Fix non working triple threat levels
• Experimental: Added simple lighting option for improved lighting performance
• Experimental: Added simple fx option for improved particle performance

• Updated russian loc
• Patched bug in conscience campaign level
• Attributed Crimson Air to Damare in credits

Major Feature Additions

• 12 new levels
The highlight of this update. Many level editor features were made to support the experiences the levels wanted to create. The larger scale of the newer levels necessitated optimization of AI behavior, the benefits of which also carry over to the base levels.
• New cannon mode, meta grenade
Given the level reorder and properties of the initial campaign, players ended up entering the final level ‘The Wall’, with a brand new arm cannon type, immediately after unlocking it. The beam flamethrower arm cannon mode was initially also used in the ‘Estate’ level. The sudden confusing and underwhelming nature of the overcharged cannon necessitated the introduction of an improved late-game upgrade. The Meta Grenade has similar uses to the Plasma Grenade, but has more charges, no drop-off, faster travel speed, and more enemy damage. Rather than giving the player something different and unfamiliar in the final levels, we wanted to improve the player’s current ability to express themselves by increasing the usability of the standard arm cannon.
• Adds Specialist npc
A recolor of the standard enemy type, but with new guns, doubled movement speed and health, and crouches less often. The majority of enemy types in the game can be killed quickly, even without headshots. Making a tougher, faster, more aggressive enemy type fills a niche that the old enemy roster didn’t have. Their dropped weapons include a mix of new and underused guns, which mirror, but are an improvement upon, the standard enemy loadout.
• Added suppressed deagle
The only previous sidearm type weapon that was suppressed was a fast, high capacity, burst fire pistol. A slower weapon with the same damage as the deagle provides a sidegrade option.
• Added suppressed mac10
The smg class of weapons didn’t have a suppressed option, and a huge suppressor on a tiny gun looks cool.
• Added sawn off shotgun
A requested weapon by bloody, the sawn off is dropped by specialists and heavies. High damage, low range, low capacity weapons are fun. It is capable of 1 shotting a heavy enemy if enough pellets hit.
• Added lever action
Guns with manual actions are cool, a one armed protagonist who is also able to use such a gun is even cooler.
• Tweaked music throughout campaign
Many tracks created by Floating Door for the OST were unused. Adding new levels interspaced in the campaign provided the opportunity to revise the existing bgm.
• New achievements

Editor updates

• Editor Trigger Volume updates
> Trigger volumes can make events happen
> Added more sound choices to campaign volumes
> Trigger once only trips if objective valid

• Editor Prop updates
> Alphabetized id selection in editor
> Add new prop move action
> Added prop rotate action, can start and stop w/ action or start on spawn
> Added prop show action
> Shatterables can now take dmg before shattering
> Shattering object counts as destroying it for objective
> Add invuln related prop actions
> New no cannon damage flag (props take hp dmg but no cannon visual dmg)
> Add show health bar action for props

• Editor Action updates
> Add unlimited cannon ammo action
> Added kill all npcs action
> Added disable AI action
> Added bgm related actions: DropPitch, RaisePitch, StopMusic, PlayMusic, PlayIcePrison, PlaySolarpunk
> Added lighting related actions: some ambient light events, KillLights, RestoreLights
> Add new spawn wave action
> Added Portal turn off action
> Added kill all npcs action
> Added disable AI action

• Made rectangle selection more accurate
• Can set delay between campaign events
• Door and campaign markers snap on spawn
• Added more guns to editor spawns
• Enabled basic checkpoint setup

Stunt Balancing

> Added 0.5 seconds to jump and double jump startup
Jumping from a flat surface gave a small amount of stunt, about 0.15 seconds, at the beginning and at the end of the jump arc. Both trigger because of the passive stunt status granted when being above 850 units of speed. The additional forced stunt time of 0.5 seconds allows the player to stay in stunt mode until near the apex of the jump. This allows a larger and more forgiving window to transfer from sliding or standing to wallrun, behaves more similarly to the stunt time granted from walljumping and doublejumping from a walljump, and overall allows for safer vertical movement.
> Kicking door gives 1.0 seconds stunt
> Leaving fan gives .5 seconds stunt
> Stunt timers now check that they won't interrupt an already longer running stunt timer before activating

Level Balancing

> Cleaned tutorial
> Added heavy to cafeteria
> Removed heavy from cybermed
> Added fan to prison
> Updated party mansion campaign
> Added checkpoints to party mansion
> Extended museum objectives
> Extended garden objectives
> Updated Wall geometry

Enemy Balancing

> Gave jetpacks backpack VO
> Jetpacks now use burst fire at all ranges
> Increased jetpack deceleration
> Decreased jetpack move cooldown time
> Mech now shatters any blocking props
> Added more weapons to ceo office, boosted boss health by 200
> Boosted mech hit sound
> Boosted triple threat and ng+ simultaneous npc limit to .5 starting number

Weapon Balancing

Many weapons felt underwhelming. Visual tweaks in randomized gun attachments and audio tweaks in gun sounds help distinguish them from each other. All smg type weapons, the most commonly used type in the game, received both a base ROF buff as well as a ROF buff while in bullet time. The DB12’s 2 shot burst fire was seldom useful, changing it into a full auto weapon fills a role not yet seen in the shotgun weapon type. The L86, as a weapon that is only placed in levels and not dropped by enemies, felt ineffective and boring, with rifle tier damage but horrible accuracy. Increasing its accuracy, ROF, and giving it the same ROF buff smgs have in bullet time makes it stand out as a powerful gun to use.
> Boosted smg ROF in bullet time
> Boosted eon rof by 50 and reduced mag size by 5, increased shot pitch
> Changed R-shotgun sound to match other shotguns more
> Increased db12 mag size by 4
> Tightened bulldog spread, altered sound to match other shotguns
> Doubled deacon volume
> More eon randomization options
> More advanced rifle randomization options
> Reduced bulldog mag size
> Db12 now automatic, reduced mag size
> Boosted l86 rof to 1000, reduced mag size to 60, gives smg bullet time properties
> Reduced l86 dmg
> Boost smg rof
> Adjusted p90 rof and sound
> Randomize zip sights
> Randomize ru2 sights
> Randomize m4 sights and grip
> Scale up up m4 model, combat rifle model, r-shotgun model, l85, 92f, db2
> Beef up db2 sound
> Moved db12 shoulder position
> Adjusted shotgun grip and sound

Quality of Life changes

> Doubled backpack charge radius
> Tweaked gamepad look/move options
> Added gamepad deadzone to l and r stick
> Elite’s cloak turn off if they are last standing
> Clamped slide tilt maximum
> Boosted cam follow speed while kicksliding in air
> Added shatter sound to shattering props
> If player has wide pulse cannon selected they still get to use meta for post museum levels
> Hide hand when no gun (hide ugly fingers)
> Added .7 seconds persistence to weapon ready state

Bugfixes+Optimization

• AI Optimization
Many of the new levels are larger and have higher enemy counts than previous levels, using enemy spawners was necessary to reduce CPU load, tweaking and optimizing spawner properties became necessary. Many older levels did not feature extremely long sightlines, so AI detection and behavior was adjusted to reduce excessive CPU use from AI pathfinding to distant players.
> Performance tweak to enemies spawned in during level, no longer spawn in immediately awake
> NPCs return to spawn and sleep when cant find player
> Reduced NPC sight range for all except sniper
> Turn off npcs sight when player is far away
> Lowered max npc count for auto waves
> Capped npc rof
• Fixed being able to kick open locked doors when enemy was behind
• Throwing weapon no longer immediately detonates objects
• Fix ui bugs with trigger volumes and props
• Explosion debris decal now displays in all angles
• Fixed issue where objectives would become physics objects
• Markers with ids no longer used for random spawning
• Fix for first events not working on lvl reset
• All objects with id get deleted on lvl reset now
• Props with id dont get physics check
• Invuln props don't get cannon edits
• Fix for chunks getting unhighlighted when shot
• Fixed shockwaves letting player pickup gun from far away
• Ensure health bar for props removed on death and unload
• Fixed mech from hurting self with rockets
• Fix for player climbing up stairs when diving
• Slide legs now properly tilts depending on camera direction
• Removed kick prompt from prototype
• Hide rtx toggle when no rtx launch is chosen
• Fixed double doors exploding when kicked
• Fixed bug where explosives would drain double hp per hit
• Fixed bug where firefight music wouldn't play if title track was still fading
• Fixed explosive rounds not penetrating glass
• Fixed bug with waves spawning on markers w/ id
• Fixed replaying levels with checkpoint
• Attempt optimize fire
• Fixed issue when gun preview would drain frames in gameplay
• Toned down spark and plaster particles
• Reduced plaster particle lifetime
• Reduced memory usage of some ui elements

New Features

• New Cannon - Impact Driver
• Experience the brand new Impact Driver cannon mode! This cannon is all about close combat. Bust through walls, destroy environments, and make soldiers fly!

Firefight Playlists

• With Firefight playlists, you can create a non-stop session of your favorite firefight maps. Move seamlessly from one map to the next.

Fixes and Improvements

New explosion effects*
Improved localization
Fixed issue where excessive ragdoll force would make npc bodies dissappear
Cannon recharges faster
can kill pyros w/ kicks now
Added more decimal places to mouse sensitivity config

*New explosion effect is disabled during RTX. A fix will be coming in a future update.

• Tones down some areas with overblown post processing
• Turning bloom off now also turns off object edges glowing
• Can enable/disable fans in level editor events
• Fix for grav gun
• Can pickup empty weapons again, this is needed for a tutorial level.
• Fixed issue where cannon sometimes wouldn't spawn in campaign

• New Game + mode (Random extra enemies and enemy respawns)
• Can use firefight mutator unlocks in campaign mode
• Gravity gun arm cannon mode
• Lots of new small objects in world to throw around with the gravity gun
• 13 new achievements tied to campaign
• Workshop levels can have campaign objectives
• Overhauled apartments campaign level
• Clearer enemy and objective outlines
• lobber and rpg rounds now have tracer effect
• Level editor now supports user made props
• Reduced frequency of NPCs crouching in combat
• Update UE4 to 4.27.1
• Updated DLSS to latest
• Added hidden debug cam for content creators
• Fixed issue where kicking a door would sometimes hit door frame
• Fixed enemies hiding too well in lower admin campaign
• Fixed toilet shattering
• Fixed issue where NPCs would spawn without squad orders
• Estate can now also be damaged by explosives
• Option to disable camera roll
• Can no longer pickup empty weapons
• Added the wffle to firefight unlocks-New Game + mode

Bug fixes

• Fix kickslide kill challenge
• Fix spamming buttons on victory screen
• Fix HUD and menu display on 4:3 monitors
• Fixed museum exploit
• Fix for tor battle sometimes not completing
• Final cutscene now is skipped when auto skip cutscenes on
• Fix for sliding on stairs sometimes stopping stunting
• Fixed occasional freeze when leaving workshop level
• Added exe icon
• Halved map zoom out
• Fixed incorrect font
• Corrected some Russian localization in control settings (thanks FXCloud!)
• Renaming levels no longer makes a new workshop entry
• Fixed bug where replaying tutorial level would erase current campaign progress

Community requests

• Doubled max gamepad sensitivity
• Doubled kick it radius
• Set gamepad movement deadzone from .4 to .05
• Ultrawide support (Experimental, please confirm in forums if it works or doesn’t work)

Speedun requests

• can hold buttons during load and start moving on level start
• Speedrun Timer stops before final cutscene
• resetting level 1 also resets speedrun timer
• Speedrun HUD shows mutator count
• Victory screen shows mutator count
• Current level name now stored as static FString

Editor

• Allowed Min/Max level bounds to pass 0
• Allow lights to change color
• Fixed case where campaign volume would get 0 scale
• Added sniper to npc spawn options
• Can now use sky with time of day options
• Start work on improving voxel copy paste [experimental]