SCPF || Area - 14 Update Notes

Bulletin Board
#83

[2020-09-20]

Improvements & Changes

  • Restored the 2020-08-30 update. Some updates are missing.

  • Respawn timer reduced to 20 seconds.

  • IA is now the only group able to use the fully black (BrickColor “Really Black”) skin colour for their uniforms. Complete access users (Level 6) can no longer use this in the Skin Tone option.

Removals

  • Removed all vehicles and anything associated with them including terminal commands, code and models. Vehicles are now completely cut from the game.

  • Exhaust vents no longer emit particles in an attempt reduce lag.

  • Class D vendor removed.

Cut Updates

  • Side TSTA windows can no longer be broken. It was an interesting but useless pilot project.

  • Shift lock is disabled again. Roblox has become unpredictable with their PlayerModule updates and shift lock has caused some camera system conflictions.

  • Spawn rooms no longer have thematic labels. They now retain the name of the department that can spawn there (e.g. “Armoury” is back to “Security Dpt.”).

  • SCP-606 no longer resets back to its chamber when it goes near the spawn box. Trying to figure out a comfortable way to fix the exploiting of this SCP as well as of noclipping in general.

  • Several untracked Nolt bug fixes are now left unfixed. QA team will be reconvened with in order to file bug reports directly. A large list of game issues has already been compiled.

3 Likes
#84

[2020-09-21]

Additions

  • New rifle: AK-103. It is available to Special Insurgents and Cardinals.

Improvements & Changes

  • Slight changes in the MK11, exchanging damage for firing speed.

  • FAMAS given to Alpha-1 as a primary tool. Replaces the MP5SD.

  • AK-12 given back to Hostiles as a primary tool. Replaces the MP5.

  • Permission tweaks to Hostile radio channel. Messages (should) send now.

Removals

  • Removed special loadout slot. All special tools transferred to primary tool slot.
#85

[2020-09-25]

Improvements & Changes

  • Choices of the L0 quiz question “Which of the following departments are strictly handpicked?” have been changed

  • SCP-310 infection made less sensitive towards respawning flagged characters

Fixes

  • Hostile radio channel fix attempt 2
2 Likes
#86

[2020-10-05]

Additions

Improvements & Changes

  • Users with a name following the IA format (AGENCY_XXXX) without being in IA will now be automatically kicked.

Removals

  • Removed server room hacking. It’s broken, doesn’t serve a purpose and is too difficult a raid objective to be useful. I will consider other types of fun minigames, possibly bringing back hacking in a different way, in the future.

  • Patch notes removed from the main menu, they aren’t used anymore and have not been updated as often as this thread or other means of communicating updates. The next TSiD should create their own patch notes thread or discuss with the O5 Council about receiving a separate channel for posting updates that this time is not hijacked for administrative notices.

  • Removed unused train class. Rail locomotives noted as potential V4 content.

  • Removed unused weapons locker class. This was meant to allow combatives a way to change their gear without exiting to the menu. Will think about revisiting weapons lockers in the future.

  • Removed unused debug script (ironically was capable of causing lag despite being in the Lag Helpers scripts group).

  • Removed unreleased vials V2 code. Vials will be recoded again in the future using Promises (which will guarantee, this time, that they will work properly).

  • Removed radio write access for Level 0s as proposed to and approved by the O5 Council.

2 Likes
#87

[2020-10-06]

Improvements & Changes

  • Tasers can no longer be used during raids by combatives except for Cadets.

Removals

  • Accessory restrictions removed for October to allow for costumes. Any overly disruptive costume may result in the restriction returning: don’t take this for granted.
3 Likes
#88

[2020-10-10]

Additions

  • Added VFX manager for static and tag-based object effect visualisation. This also paves the way for modifying effects based on user settings.

Improvements & Changes

  • Game information on topbar switched to use rich text.

  • ScD permissions updated to accommodate for new group rank.

  • ScD > HCZ added as a group id shortcut.

  • EC now has TSC balcony access as approved by the O5 Council (2776).

  • Enabled interpolation throttling.

Fixes

  • Fixed a potential memory leak vector in the main menu.

Removals

  • Removed text stitching in topbar elements.

  • Removed remaining PackageLinks which may cause publish issues, consistency issues (there are copies of packages across three source locations: two groups, one profile) and maintenance dependency with devSparkle.

    GunCore, SCPClass, SCPHelperOLD, Game Command Console, Interactivity, Loadout Manager, sModules, ServerConsole

  • Removed P30L from devSparkle and avrilios1302.

  • Leftover Class D shop backend fully removed.

  • Level 0 quiz removed. Remnants of backend code may remain, though for the most part it is inaccessible through normal means (4792). Reverted.

1 Like
#89

[2020-10-16]

Improvements & Changes

  • Interpolation throttling disabled.

  • Internal improvements to soundtracks.

Removals

  • Vulcan removed.

  • MP5SD removed.

* Resources will no longer be linked (as piloted in the thread above). Don’t want Area 14 update logs showing in other Developer Forum threads.

#90

[2020-10-26]

Additions

  • TSiD letter released (2020-10-06), addressing 1823.

  • Experimenting more with update logs to see what I can include here.

Improvements & Changes

  • All security may now access the isolation ward (4914), as per Council request.

  • All security may now access areas that a stolen card may also access (4725), as per Council request.

    • There are exceptions. Any door previously inaccessible to Cadets and/or Juniors remains inaccessible to those ranks, for the time being (to be specific, mostly pertains to the MCZ and HCZ). Full permission updates will be worked in the future.

    • Security command staff monitoring is advised. As this was an O5-approved request, that also means that any problems arising out of lower ranks having access to certain areas is also your responsibility to oversee and propose changes where needed.

  • Error codes are now replaced with legible messages.

  • Radio no longer processes messages for dead players.

  • Roblox chat no longer processes messages for dead players.

Fixes

  • Fixed a spelling mistake preventing ScD from accessing SCP-999’s chamber.

  • Fixed weird error where SCP-014’s name would show up as “Humanoid” (it now does not show up at all).

Removals

  • Players will no longer get kicked if they send a message a fraction of a second after the server registers them as dead: all chat-reliant features will reject processing the message.

Next Steps / Notes

  • Still don’t know why the hostile radio is broken, so I gave up. Go ask Quinn if you want it fixed.

  • Progress report for the remainder of Q4 (October-December). A full month has passed without any significant progress on the agenda, which will be corrected in the remaining two months.

  • Zone B reconstruction project has started. We are cutting down on trivial details in order to make builds more optimised, as it was outed for being a major culprit of lag. For reference: as an example, the vents (which I’m sure no one pays much attention to) had very fine details that aren’t quite visible unless you look really closely.

  • Potential layout change of Zone B incoming. The rebuild will continue, though it’s possible that the entirety of Zone B may have its layout changed for the sake of freshness and spatial awareness in creating more areas.

  • A rebuild of the MD Bay is definitely planned, from the spawn location to the current rooms it hosts. It is possible that an entire zone, though small, will be constructed solely for the practice of medicine. It will also gateway into SCP improvements and prepare up the BCZ.

New Kick Messages

Explanations have been given for the three basic entry kick messages.

  • Not whitelisted: occurs for accounts under 15 days old. Will not occur if you are Class B personnel, in MaD or IA and/or the current session is a test one.

  • Non-unique name: occurs when your username is only composed of I i or L l characters to prevent confusable usernames (harder to track down exploiters and rulebreakers to kick them).

  • IA name format: occurs when your username starts with “AGENCY_” and you are not in the IA group. This prevents false IA accounts from joining the game. Currently does not account for misspellings of the word “agency” which, at a cursory glance, may throw moderators off.

In addition, all “debug codes” have been replaced with proper kick messages to convey what you’ve done wrong. We are still expecting communication on mass amounts of false positives (we are aware, for example, of the TB-A and Prox kicks).

New messages Replaces
Illegal remote call HD-S, AE-S, DC-D, CVE-S
Illegal click SCD, “Did you really think I wouldn’t read V3[r]m?”
Illegal crash attempt Blank message for chat spam crash exploit
Illegal reposition attempt (X) TB-X
Internal security failure TB 1567, CT 1567
Flagged External game interface
Illegal infection attempt Prox_X
No authorisation for remote Net_1230
Illegal trade attempt SCP-1162 kick when moving away too quickly
Illegal escape attempt SCP-409 kick when moving away too quickly
Illegal hit attempt GN-2
1 Like
#91

[2020-11-01]

Additions

  • Added a server type permission type to allow features to be configured for private servers (Public, Private and VIP). Used as ServerType:SERVER_TYPE.

  • Added a private server id permission type to allow features to be configured for specific private servers. Used as PrivateServerId:PRIVATE_SERVER_ID. This can only be used for servers with the Private type: VIP servers will automatically fail the check.

  • Reserved private servers for SD, MTF, Joint (Combatives) CES and E&TS. Class A, EC, IA and MaD are able to ignore join permissions and can, without restriction, join all servers.

  • New CES activity webhook registered. The old one linked to the AD group remains active.

  • Added “No Badge” customisation option for TOC.

Improvements & Changes

  • Accessory limits reintroduced.

  • EaTS (E&TS) permission is being deprecated for ENG. It is not E&TS due to concerns with Unicode characters (though it is probably fine and wouldn’t matter in the context of the permission system). The former will still work, but the latter should be used for new work.

  • Server command reduced to joinserver <ALIAS> in light of server management commands being removed: aliases are not are currently case sensitive (must be all lowercase). Available servers are sd, mtf, joint (SD & MTF), ces and eng. These servers are not public by default (meaning no one except the appropriate personnel are able to join these servers).

    • The CES server is not public by default and must, like applications at the centre, be manually requested to be opened for Area 14 events. This is done under the assumption that A14 CES events are not frequent and that a developer should be around to assist CES in making the event flow better, if needed.

    • Class D should be escorted to a terminal for CES events in order to join the server until a terminal is made available to them in the TSC if not already available.

    • It is the responsibility of department heads to act on misbehaviour or determine if rules are applicable in their given server. As of right now, development does not track or manage personnel behaviour nor restrict features in private servers.

  • CES may now enter the LCZ and MCZ (carry over of AD permissions).

  • CES may now enter the TSC balcony and entrance hall.

Removals

  • Removed server management commands (create, close and closeall).

  • Discarded all created servers and removed DataStore involvement in private servers.

1 Like
#92

[2020-11-02]

Additions

  • Granted department medium command admin permissions in reserved servers.

  • Added new band-aid account integrity feature which roughly checks that the account is verified. Unverified accounts will be automatically kicked upon entering the server.

Improvements & Changes

  • Disabled teleport anti-exploit in reserved servers.

  • Disabled account integrity checks in reserved servers.

Reserved Server Admin for Department Command Staff

Department medium command now have admin in private servers. Admin permissions are as follows:

SD → Security Senior, Security Lieutenant, Brigadier (SRU), Captain (SRU)
MTF → Executive Officer, Task Force Captain
Joint → Both above
CES → Community Concierge, Community Attendant
E&TS → Engineer, Deputy Lead Engineer

The above ranks will receive moderation command permissions at their respective private servers. The key to open the panel is \ (backslash) on a standard QWERTY keyboard or equivalent on others. This is the exact same level of admin given to Level 4. It comes with the following commands:

bring, teleport, to, track, untrack, announce, kick

Moderation cannot use the following commands, which are for O5, Senior Dev. and my use only:

position, respawn, blink, thru, kill, team, time

Nothing changes from the main site. All SCPs, features and such are still active. EC, IA, MaD and Class A can join your servers by default with a global permission override. As for rules, we don’t monitor private servers. Up to your department command whether it’s worth the trouble monitoring a private server for people doing what they can’t do in a public server.

Verification Checks

As of this update, a verified account is now required to play Area 14. In order to pass the verification check you will need to own the 2008-2013 verification hat, Verified Sign or the 2013-present verification hat, Verified, Bonafide, Plaidafied. The former is no longer obtainable. The latter can be obtained by verifying your account. If you do not have it, try reverifying. Do not delete these hats.

The purpose of this band aid feature is to deter exploiters but not to prevent them. We are working on patching as many exploits as we can. So far, we’ve patched certain pieces of a universal teleport anti-exploit bypasser currently floating around - it’s one of the few still-active exploits on Area 14 that can cause significant damage for gameplay.

1 Like
#93

[2020-11-04]

Additions

  • Television screen with team counts and site status are now under way. They currently do not work and are only present in the medical bay for preliminary testing.

  • New soundtracks added to the OST, composed by Ertinos.

Improvements & Changes

  • Hopefully if I did it correctly, the team command should now be enabled for department medium command in private servers.

  • Team command will now fail when attempting to assign the Intelligence Agency team.

  • Menu music is now quieter by 10%.

  • Ambience themes made louder by 50%.

  • 5041 completed.

    • Taser effective range reduced from 91 → 25 studs.

    • Glock 17, Glock 18 and TEC-9 respectively buffed in damage and RoF.

    • Combative weapons slightly nerfed. None should be above 5HK anymore.

  • Class D and Class E that are not in DEA, TOC, CI or THI can no longer exit back out to the menu. There currently appears to be no valid reason for this to happen. Hoping to have this for everyone eventually so that gameplay is seamless without constantly needing the menu to change your loadout and whatnot.

  • TEC-9 ammo type changed to 9x19mm FMJ to bypass riot shields. Temporary.

  • Various undocumented changes to weapons.

  • Gameplay data sheet reopened with two new categories: vials and perks. The former is still under development while the latter is a candidate system that may or may not be finalised.

  • Level 3 personnel can now use the Site Status window in the terminal.

Removals

  • Removed Area 12 easter egg for the death screen.
1 Like
#94

[2020-11-06] Part A

Additions

  • Added a “Nothing” option for Primary and Secondary, allowing proper unequipping of weapons.

  • Added a fire cycle indicator for weapons. Super simple and requires fine tuning of UI in the future.

Improvements & Changes

  • M16A4 nerfed slightly.

  • M4 buffed slightly.

  • M4 is now available to all MTF as a standard-issue weapon. It is not restricted to Trainee Operatives any longer.

  • Skylight glass is now immune to lockdowns. It can only be toggled manually.

  • Financial staff should now be able to unequip their fedoras.

  • SCP-094 moved closer to the floor.

  • SCP-606 gate controls wall turned into a glass pane to allow observation of the inside of SCP-606’s chamber without going to the balcony or opening the chamber.

  • Invisible wall blocking drop-downs into SCP-606’s chamber removed.

  • Changed bring command group from Administration to Moderation.

Fixes

  • Fixed team command for Cmdr.

Removals

  • SCP-005 disabled.
1 Like
#95

[2020-11-06] Part B

Additions

  • Added an internally firing event for firing mode changes.

Improvements & Changes

  • Task Force Sergeants now have admin on reserved servers.

  • Trying out a new method to fix stairs clipping. SCP-999 should now be able to walk up the TSC stairs. May be some slight hovering before the stairs actually begin.

  • Webhook design changed to be more intuitive and easy on the eyes.

  • Firemode indicator now changes upon pressing V without the need to unequip the weapon.

  • Internal music playlist name changes.

Fixes

  • Applied a fix to player integrity checks. Monitoring for issues.

  • Fixed the way team command is processed, though it may result in an insufficient permissions warning. Will have to change the way permissions are processed.

  • Level 4 cannot be restrained by hostiles anymore until dead players automatically uncuff their targets; expecting high command follows due process when taken hostage.

Removals

  • Removed smoke in breach tunnels. The emitter was a large brick that prevented bullets (especially those from hostiles) from reaching the other side of the tunnel.
2 Likes
#96

[2020-11-17]

It’s been a while! Sorry for the long wait. This didn’t end up becoming as huge an update as expected, as we’re tackling large features (e.g. SCPs, better code, build optimisations) right now. I found it would be best to release whatever updates are done now, mostly containing bug fixes, so we can move forward and prevent stalling fixing some critical elements of gameplay.

Additions

  • Testing a new door system which uses tweens instead of physics constraints in an attempt to fix long standing door issues. They are currently implemented at the MaD spawn, the server room and the E&TS fire door. If testing goes well, we will roll this out to all doors and fix door issues once and for all. Thank you Spearritt!

  • Testing a new group data system which aims to allow scripts to fetch and work with a user’s group status. This functions independently of current code. This will allow for quick patches of issues relating to groups, such as activity loggers.

  • New death screen is now live. An SCP logo now fades in from the bottom to indicate how much time is remaining for your respawn. When the logo is fully visible, you will respawn.

  • The screen now desaturates according to remaining health.

Improvements & Changes

  • Level 4 can now reset SCPs with the reset command.

  • MaD clean room turned into a door testing area.

  • Solitary confinement cell doors are now immune to lockdowns.

  • Site Director wall updated.

  • Beta-7 and Sigma-9 access changed per Overseer request. The following changes were made:

    • B7 can now access solitary confinement cells.

    • S9 can now access the interrogation room.

    • B7 and S9 can now access AD wing. Excludes the elevator and TSiD office.

    • B7 and S9 can now access DEA cubicles. Excludes the Ambassador office.

    • B7 and S9 can now access EC offices. Excludes the Editor office.

  • Activity loggers no longer record time in private servers and do not send activity logs to channels either. Only public servers will continue to record time.

Fixes

  • Non-admins should no longer be able to open Cmdr.

  • Fixed webhooks. Issue was that the script would error because it couldn’t get the player’s ranks. Users would have to exit to the menu in order for time to record after a second check of the script.

  • Attempted a fix with cuffs not working. The sound has a definite fix, but the inability to cuff is inconclusive and will require monitoring.

Removals

  • Unused MaD break room removed.

  • Removed flashing lights in the reactor room.

  • Removed a script that respawns the player immediately upon joining, potentially causing a large amount of initial start up lag and issues for scripts. This was originally only in place as Roblox did not have a way to configure the time before respawning, but this was long since added and the code has not matched standards accordingly.

  • Screen no longer blurs on death. Probably temporary, will add it back in a future update.

2 Likes
#97

[2020-11-20]

Additions

  • Fire extinguisher boxes can now be found in Zone C and HCZ checkpoints.

  • Time to respawn on death screen is present again.

Fixes

  • Attempt to fix activity logger. (Failed)
1 Like
#98

[2020-11-27]

Additions

  • Added a high command private server.

  • Added a flag preventing global bypasses (by EC, IA and MaD) of join permissions on private servers, currently only in place for the high command server.

  • Added Chaos Insurgency graffiti in the TSC. There are five in total: four in cells and one “hidden” one. The four cell images are divided by floor and placed in only one cell.

Improvements & Changes

  • SCP-316’s brightness increased 8x.

  • Hostiles can now access the Medical Bay.

  • Low health desaturation maximum changed from 75% to 50%.

  • Gradient on the icon for the death screen now has a heavier fade bias. The fade is now much more accurate and presentable.

    • At around the 2-3 second mark, the logo will appear fully unfaded. Due to numbers regarding gradients (changing it further would result in a sharp reveal rather than a gradual fade in), this is intentional and not a bug and will not be changed. Rely on the counter, the icon fading in is intended to be an eye candy piece.

  • Code clean up part 1: starting line boogaloo. Making things cleaner and more accessible to pave the way for a better update workflow.

Fixes

  • Hostile radio channel fix (?) by Quinn.

  • Filled a hole in the MCZ roof near SCP-266’s containment chamber.

  • Fixed a spelling mistake causing the death screen not to count down the respawn time after the first respawn occurs, as well as resulting in a memory leak.

2 Likes
#99

[2020-11-29]

This update was worked on by Spearritt and Quinnicious.

Additions

  • O5-5 and O5-11 given their respective tags.

Improvements & Changes

  • E&TS random events frequency reduced by 75%.

  • Early public rollout of the new door system for swinging doors.

  • Beta-7 now have access to the facility exit control room and bulkhead.

  • Door movement no longer rendered for clients 100 studs away (forced performant mode).

  • Game access alts can no longer access the Administrative Department team.

  • Class A can no longer use the Community Engagement Staff team.

  • Testers can no longer use the Engineering & Technical Services team.

Bug Fixes

  • Player identifiers for O5 Council members (hopefully) now fixed.

  • Fixed elevator door issue.

  • Small gap in SCP-606 containment chamber filled.

  • Fixes to new door system regarding lockdowns.

Reversion

Area 14 was reverted to build 3307 in order to make progress with the door system upgrades. If there are any missing features or bugs arising as a result of this, make sure those get reported accordingly.

1 Like
#100

[2020-12-07]

This update was worked on by colbert2677 and Spearritt.

Additions

  • (12-06) Added a new anti-exploit system. It is currently in testing and does not cover all cases.

Improvements & Changes

  • (12-03) Teleport anti-exploit disabled on certain Class B personnel and non-entry level hostiles (now also includes TOC members).

  • Level 3 personnel can now use the joinserver command for terminals. This does not, however, grant permission to individual servers.

Fixes

  • Fixed tablet interaction with breach shelter doors.

  • (12-09) Fixed the account verification system.

  • (12-10) Fixed various issues with the anti exploit.

  • (12-14) Adjustments to SCP-407 and SCP-914 security.

Removals

  • Removed various debugging messages.
#101

[2020-12-18]

This update was worked on by Spearritt and Christbru01. It includes updates made on 2020-12-17.

Additions

  • Site status screens added to TSTA observation room and SD, MTF and FP spawns.

Improvements & Changes

  • Migrated a majority of the site’s doors to the new system (TSTA doors and gates, blast doors, double sliding doors, fire doors, containment chambers, breach shelter and checkpoints).

  • TSTA gate text changed to SurfaceGui (reduction of part count for gates).

  • Replaced MD bay doors with double swing doors (personally, I’m not sure why).

  • Lockdowns updated to account for new door system.

  • Updated terminal commands to account for new door system.

  • Global Lockdown power reduced to fire doors, checkpoints, TSTA doors, containment zone entrance gates, double sliding doors and the breach shelter gate. A majority of doors now remain open for navigation during lockdowns.

  • Granted EC access to SD’s spawn, SRU’s spawn and the majority of the medical bay.

  • Body camera view tablets can no longer be dropped.

  • Site status television screens are now functional.

Fixes

  • Patched card swiping exploit.

  • Fixed door HID issues (SCP-173, SCP-606, SCP-002 and MTF spawn).

  • Auto close delays fixed.

  • Fixed an issue where a lockdown command could cause server crashes.

Removals

  • SCP-106 chamber removed (again).
#102

[2020-12-19]

This update was worked on by Spearritt and Christbru01.

Improvements & Changes

  • Solitary confinement doors migrated to new door system.

  • Door rendering performance is now camera-based.

Fixes

  • CBRS system fixes.

  • Corrected a spelling mistake in info watermark identifying the wrong menu key.

  • More door interaction device position fixes.

2 Likes