What’s new in Night City? [Patch 1.3 development insight]

+

Vattier

CD PROJEKT RED


Welcome to another special report by N54 News, bringing the latest from Night City to every Night Citizen stranded away from home! Our on-the-ground reporters have the inside scoop on some of the changes happening in Night City. Though they’re not the biggest ones and there’ll be more to come (as soon as more documents get declassified), we’re excited to give you a sneak peek at what’s coming.

I’m your host, Gillean Jordan, and here’s what’s new in Night City:

“Kind regards, fixers of Night City”

Earlier this morning Thorton Ltd. announced an update to their GPS navigation technology. Other manufacturers, including the high-end Rayfield, affordable Makigai, motorcycle company Yaiba, and more, soon followed suit.

All these companies working in perfect synchronization is unheard of, so we decided to do some digging. Our sources revealed the real reason for the GPS update — at the start of the year every company selling vehicles in North California received an open letter signed by all the biggest fixers of Night City, including The Afterlife’s Rogue Amendiares, Heywood’s Sebastian “Padre” Ibarra, and Pacifica’s mysterious Mr. Hands.

Unfortunately, our reporters were “kindly” asked to leave The Afterlife before they could interview Ms. Amendiares, but we did managed to obtain a comment from another local fixer:

So you know, I hire mercs to do other people’s dirty work, right? Lotta these gigs are very time-sensitive. You’re late, you don’t get paid. And lately we’ve had a lot of… well, let’s call ‘em “refunds.” Mercs crash into buildings and die before finishing the job, or get lost in Night City, miss a turn and end up in Badlands instead of Corpo Plaza. It’s a freaking nightmare and it’s bad for biz!” — Muamar "El Capitán" Reyes from Santo Domingo.

The fixers blame faulty navigation systems for compromising their operations, and therefore decided to issue an open letter to vehicle manufacturers. The question remains — why did the companies agree?

At first we didn’t want to give into these criminals' demands, but that changed after an internal audit. It confirmed that our own shipments suffer from the same issues, often arriving late or becoming lost entirely. In the end we decided it was in our best interest to provide the navigation update they were asking for.” — anonymous senior Quadra employee.

Is it a change for the better? Let’s see what our expert in the studio has to add:

With the new minimap system software update you are able to see more and navigate better.

Drive fast, drive safe.” — Andrzej, Programmer, CD PROJEKT RED

No more clouded judgement in Clouds

After the recent storm in the establishment and changes in management, Clouds announced improvements in the Matching Procedure. Our correspondent, Bes Isis, decided to find out why.

Thank you, Gillean! Although the owners claim that the situation was never beyond their control, it’s clear that Clouds has undergone a major crisis after an incident involving one of their dolls. Clouds’ management avoids the topic and refuses to provide any details:

There was a minor incident involving a former employee, but I can assure you that it doesn’t affect our services in any way. You can still expect unforgettable experiences and premium treatment.” — Anjelica Milioti, Senior VIP Services Representative

However, it seems that the incident may have forced the introduction of additional precautions ensuring customer satisfaction. I’m currently at the reception, where clients get analysed by Clouds’ algorithm. How exactly does it work and what changes are planned?

Our dollhouse uses a highly advanced algorithm that perfectly matches our clients’ expectations to our wide selection of dolls. Clouds always knows. Your deepest desire — we find it. We’re currently testing an update that will allow customers to make a more informed decision during the final stage of the Matching Procedure when they select one of the compatible dolls.” — Cheri Nowlin, Receptionist

As you can see, Clouds is adapting their supposedly infallible procedure. Perhaps Clouds doesn’t always know? This was Bes Isis, reporting live from Westbrook — and now back to our expert in the studio:

"It was one of my first tasks when I moved to this project and I was digging into code for a long time because I wanted to understand our UI videos system, and at the end I realised that the problem is in video setup. Value for video time was shorter than the video sequence. This way, players will better understand the decision they are making in this story sequence." — Natalia, UI Programmer, CD PROJEKT RED

“Swiss army” mercs

It’s obvious that Night City changes every body, but judging by the record numbers of personal coaches registering their offices citywide, it would seem that mental adjustments are becoming just as popular as new implants.

As usual, mercs are pioneers in terms of honing and modifying their skillsets. In pursuit of versatility, they are willing to spend a small fortune to ensure they have everything they need to deal with the gig at hand.

This new trend clearly impacted the market as demand for the once-popular Tabula e-Rasa shards plummeted in favor of hiring personal coaches. Investors are withdrawing funding to seek other investing opportunities while the shard creators are considering legal action against personal coaches.

Ripperdocs seem largely unaffected by the news. Even though this market shift negatively affects their bottom line, they claim that they never considered this an important part of their revenue and personal coaching will not make cyberware obsolete in the long run.

“I’ve been dealing with mercs for a long time now. They’re perfect customers who always know what they want and never complain about the price. I’m actually happy to see this trend of taking care of one's own body. As you can see, I’m not a cyberware user myself and I always make a point to remind my clients that as much as implants are useful time- and lifesavers, personal development is much more important.” — Robert “Dr. Chrome” Rainwater, Ripperdoc.

Even though personal coaching cannot alter a person completely and mercenaries still have to carefully plan the development of their attributes, Fixers are delighted to see that hiring people with appropriate perks is now easier than ever. Here’s what one of our experts thinks about the situation:

“For our players, this feature will mean safer experimentation with builds. It is easily accessible and affordable for everyone, so there is no need to hesitate while investing in particular perks.” — Katarína, Gameplay Designer, CD PROJEKT RED

Want to know more?

Just like the last time, a full list of changes is coming soon! However, if you’re anxious to hear what else is new in Night City, join REDstreams with our experts tomorrow on CD PROJEKT RED’s Twitch channel. The stream will be in English and will start at 18:00 CEST on August 17th.
 
Last edited:
Yes, i will still have no expectations. Will take this quote: "Though they’re not the biggest ones and there’ll be more to come", with a grain of salt.

This changes aren't impressive at all. But, let's see what they come up with.

BTW, this news report-like type of updates are getting really annoying at this point. You should get straight to it and just list the changes with short videos.
 
Last edited:
As much as the mini-map improvement is welcome, I sure hope these aren't the best on offer on the list - especially after this amount of time. And how much needs fixing and improving on base XB1. Officially worried this is going to be extremely underwhelming again.

I'm actually a bit confused about what the other two are tbh... what Clouds problem? Is it not supposed to be the way it is then?
 
1.2 patch was teased in 19th March, got released on 29th, so we probably getting 1.3 at the end of the August.
Post automatically merged:

so after 8 months you guys have fixed the minimap , a thing that modders fixed in 2 weeks :LOL:
hope you have added more than that in this patch
It literally says on the first paragraph that they have.
 
i gotta say do people don't read/pay attention? angel vs skye "confusion" lmao
well any news after quite long is pleasant indeed. while i'm in the minority who practically had no issues (my pc upgrades have aliged quite nicely with CDP releases for over a decade after all haha) hope more light on dlc finally comes up soon *fingers crossed*
 
Yes, i will still have no expectations. Will take this quote: "Though they’re not the biggest ones and there’ll be more to come", with a grain of salt.

This changes aren't impressive at all. But, let's see what they come up with.

BTW, this news report-like type of updates are getting really annoying at this point. You should get straight to it and just list the changes with short videos.

It just seems ass backwards. These "advertisements" would likely be more well received if they "followed" comprehensive patch notes and a tentative release date. This just makes it seem like "Here, we're showcasing the highlights of what we've accomplished these past months for your enjoyment", preempting expectation of major changes.
 
Top Bottom