Cinder City sets December 4th Steam closed alpha with a larger open world

NC has announced a second Closed Alpha Test for Cinder City, its upcoming cinematic sci-fi shooter from Big Fire Games, set for December 4th to 6th on Steam. The build adds an open world four times larger than before, two new squad dungeons and story content that runs into Chapter 3.

According to a release, sign-ups opened on November 12th at 6am PT and run through Monday, November 30th, via Firstlook.gg. The test covers North America, Europe and Asia. Sessions run from 5pm to 11pm PST on Friday, December 4th, then 2pm to 6pm PST on Saturday and Sunday. The game has no release date yet, and its Steam page still lists it as ‘coming soon’. A new dev video is on the game’s official YouTube channel.

What changed after the Pre-Alpha

NC says it went through nearly 3,000 pieces of player feedback from August’s Pre-Alpha Test. Players liked the world, the visuals and the gunplay. They also flagged resource shortages and early-game difficulty, and the team tackled those first.

New guide missions now teach players to craft ammo, repair guns and make gear. The overall ammo drop rate is up by more than 30% on average, per the release, and melee kills or executions on a reloading enemy yield the ammo it was carrying. Gunpowder drops more often, and new supply missions let players restock from NPCs at major hubs after running dry. The prologue’s difficulty curve was smoothed after what NC calls nearly a year of A/B testing, so creatures ramp up gradually.

The open world, by contrast, is tougher. New enemies with improved AI search the area when players hide, or find another route to flank them. Players also get a shoulder swap they had asked for, improved slides and refined melee combat with clearer attack feedback.

“During the pre-alpha test, we found that we hadn’t explained these systems well enough, and many of you struggled because of it,” said Jun-ha Lee, Lead Designer on Cinder City. “So before changing the difficulty, we started by improving how the game teaches you.”

GH Shin, Project Manager on Cinder City, said the response to the first test was “far bigger than we ever expected.” Gil-jeon Kang, Lead Programmer, added that the team wants “a game where just moving around is fun, and shooting alone feels great.”

What is new in the alpha build

Two squad dungeons join the Seolleung Sewage Control Station from the Pre-Alpha: Yeoksam Grand Building, where squads face Hydes, and Chamber Zero, where creatures await. New save points inside dungeons let squads pick up where they left off. The story continues past Chapter 2, Episode 2, ‘Someone on the Inside’, into Chapter 3, where players uncover a traitor’s identity and follow the trail of lead character Seven’s missing daughter, Joi.

The Yeoksam, Seonjeongneung and Nonhyeon areas grow the explorable map from 1.2 by 1.2 kilometers to 2.4 by 2.4, with more than three times as many side missions and a new field boss, the Rampage Mech. In the game, even the Cinderknights, a heroic military team, have disbanded. Players scavenge, craft ammo, and build and repair their guns.

NC America is the western publishing division and global base of NC, the publisher and developer behind Blade & Soul, Lineage, AION and Guild Wars. Based in Irvine, California, it handles live production and publishing for select NC titles in North America, South America, Europe and Oceania.

The following was sent as a press release to Inven Global.

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Inven Global Team

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