Flashing Lights - Police Fire EMS

[Asid]

UPDATE NOW LIVE | Optimisation and Bug Fix Update + Updated Roadmap
Fri, 11 August 2023



Our latest update is now available for everyone!

Hey all,

We have just pushed our latest update, featuring bug fixes, improvements and optimisation to the public branch. Thanks to everyone who helped test the update and offered feedback!

This update, now available for all players, focuses on improving the multiplayer experience. We have seen improvements in frame rate in multiplayer, especially in lobbies with larger player counts and especially for mid to high end PCs.

This update is part of a continued focus on improving the core game experience, and we welcome your ongoing feedback and bug reports. Do let us know how you get on with the update!


Full Patch Notes

Fixes

- Multiplayer player character, vehicle and NPC position and rotation optimizations
- Multiplayer client vehicles optimized
- Multiplayer player vehicles and characters could be randomly controlled by wrong clients
- Infinite loading at menus
- Name change in multiplayer fixed
- Corrupt save files giving unexpected results or freezing the game
- Added auto-backup for save "Stats" files, if save file gets corrupted game will check backup
- Sandbox mode "Host Only" updated to allow clients to use the menu to accept civilian invite
- Other player vehicle doors could be open while closed on their screen
- Other player vehicle wheels merging up in car body
- Various optimizations for singleplayer
- Anisotropic level adjustments for all textures to improve texture quality, especially for different view angles
- Removed radio chatter for pickup trucks except the police
- Leaving a game could hangup if the player pressed Yes/No multiple times


Updated Roadmap[/size

We're happy to announce our updated post-launch content roadmap. Take a look:



September 2023

Bug fixes and improvements

Late 2023

Mission Editor
Bug fixes and improvements

Early 2024

K9 for Police and Fire Departments
AI Backup

That's all for now! We hope you enjoy today's update.

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

[Asid]

Flashing Lights - 2023 Recap!
Mon, 18 December 2023




Plus a sneak peek at the mission editor!

Hello all,

As 2023 nears its close, we wanted to say a massive thank you to each of you and offer a sneak peek at what's next!

This year has been another busy one, which included the 1.0 launch back in May, the release of the Pickup Truck Triple Pack DLC, tons of Steam achievements, the free Visor Lights DLC, the Thunder Sport Sedan Pack and a big focus on bug fixing, optimisation and general improvements.

None of this would have been possible without you, the community. We are eternally grateful for you all playing the game, sharing your excitement, feedback, bug reports, and posting screenshots and videos! And we also want to say an extra special thank you to our team of community mods, the Flashing Lights 'CSOs' and 'MSTs', who help to keep the community welcoming, friendly and fun!




Mission Editor Available on Unstable Branch

We now have an early version of the mission editor available on the unstable branch for you to play and offer feedback if you wish to.

To access the unstable branch you can do the following:
- Load up Steam and head to your library
- Right click on Flashing Lights and then select "Properties"
- Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select "unstable_test_branch" (no password needed)
- This will then download the new update for you


What's To Come in Early 2024?

We're looking forward to an exciting 2024 for Flashing Lights! In early 2024 we plan to release the mission editor, AI fixes, AI backup, bug fixes, improvements and more. In the new year we will be revealing an updated roadmap with more information, so keep an eye out!

Mission editor - work in progress feature:




18 December 2023 Unstable Branch Patch Notes

New

- Mission Editor [Armed suspect NPC; Two crashed vehicles; One police vehicle; 11 Environment props; Fire modules]
- Added Christmas tree in central park and Christmas hats

Fixes

- EMS players in single player couldn't interact with driver patients in "Motor Vehicle Collision" [ID 3000]
- Fire calls "Structure Fire" [ID 2000] auto-completing
- Fire calls "Structure Fire with Possible Entrapment" [ID 2003] getting stuck
- NPC spawner for missions could select wrong mission or skip spawning
- Firefighters dropping carried patients with input "Hand" (1 by default), blocked the ability to interact with them to call for transport
- Player characters sometimes didn't stop burning when the affecting fire was extinguished
- FEX model wheel fixes for distanced rendering
- Added missing audio channel for spike strips, which were ignoring volume settings

Thanks again, and we hope you all have a happy holidays and a great new year!

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

[Asid]

Flashing Lights - Free Updates Roadmap Announced
Tue, 16 January 2024



Welcome to 2024!

Hello all,

2024 is here, and it's going to be an exciting one for Flashing Lights! We're glad you're here for the journey as always - let's get to it!




February

- Mission Editor
- Fixes & improvements
- Bank added to city
- Bank callout
- Swat van

Spring

- AI backup

First up, we have the mission editor arriving in February, which will allow you to create and share your own callouts! Thank you to all who have already played the unstable version of this update and have been sharing fantastic feedback.

Also in February, we will continue to focus on bug fixes and improvements, as well as adding a bank and an exciting new callout involving the building. We're also delighted to announce that we'll be adding a swat van, enhancing your vehicle collection.



In Spring we'll be adding AI backup which has been hugely requested to enhance single player gameplay.

We can't wait to get these updates out and continue improving the game this year! Thank you as always for your support.

Mission Editor Unstable Update Now Live

An early version of the mission editor is currently available on the unstable branch, where we have just released an update. This adds more mission types and has made EMS patients available for use in your missions! We're excited to hear what you think.

To access the unstable branch you can do the following:
- Load up Steam and head to your library
- Right click on Flashing Lights and then select "Properties"
- Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select "unstable_test_branch" (no password needed)
- This will then download the new update for you

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

[Asid]

February Update Now Live | Mission Editor, Bank + Callout, Swat Van, Fixes
Mon, 5 February 2024



Get the latest on bug fixes and new content!

Hello all,

We've just launched a big update for Flashing Lights, which includes plenty of new content as well as lots of bug fixes and improvements.

Mission Editor
Jump into the new Mission Editor, which allows you to customise your experience by using game tools to create your own callouts! Select NPC types, vehicle props, environment props, fire and more. Best of all, you can share your callouts via mod.io
for your friends and your fellow players to try. To browse and play user-created callouts, head to the 'Mods' section from the main menu and narrow your selection down by ticking 'missions'.

If you're looking to get into modding for Flashing Lights, make sure to check out the handy mod.io guides
.



Bank + Callout
West from the city's fire department building you'll find a newly added bank. There's also a brand new callout which sees you respond to a bank robbery, apprehending suspects and recusing hostages.




Swat Van and Character
We've also introduced a Swat van, with the ability for players to climb on the roof and hold onto the sides while another is driving. Adding a little more variety to the character creator, you'll find a new Swat helmet option for police as well as a new male Swat character. A female Swat character is coming soon.




Weather Cycle
This update also adds a weather cycle, meaning you'll see various weather conditions dynamically as you play. You'll now encounter clear skies, cloudy skies, fog, light rain, heavy rain and storms. By default the weather will cycle randomly every 2 - 5 minutes, but you can customise this in the sandbox menu - here you can turn the weather cycle on or off or manually select a weather state.




Bug Fixes and Improvements
As well as new content we have of course been keeping a close eye on bug reports and have been hard at work fixing issues. This update includes fixes for Structure Fire callouts auto-completing, Structure Fire with Possible Entrapment callout getting stuck, issues with interacting with driver patients in the Motor Vehicle Collision callout and lots more.




Flashing Lights + DLC Discounts Now Available


https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/excalibur-games/sale/ExcaliburGamesPublisherSale

Flashing Lights is currently available at 66% off, our biggest Steam discount to date, as part of the Excalibur Games Publisher Sale!

We've also got both the Thunder Sport Sedan Pack and Pickup Truck Triple Pack DLCs on sale at 33% off.

Make sure to check out these limited time discounts on the sale page.


Full Patch Notes

New: Mission Editor (Custom missions can be shared via mod.io)

- Armed suspect NPC
- Hostage NPC
- Ragdolled NPC (FD can carry them and EMS can interact)
- Injured NPC (for EMS players)
- 9 vehicle props (optionally set vehicle props as mission goal for police player's tow truck)
- 11 environment props
- Fire modules
- Rescue tent as hostage drop off
- Ability to change mission icon and dispatch title

New

- City Bank added (West from city FD)
- Bank robbery mission [ID: 1016]: apprehend suspects and rescue hostages (bring hostages to rescue tent)
- Swat van added, with the ability to climb on the roof or hold onto van sides
- Livery mod support for Swat van (texture mod name: FTR-SWAT)
- Swat character (male) and helmet for police
- Weather cycle (By default, a random change in weather every 2-5 minutes. Weather can be adjusted manually in the Sandbox menu>time menu)
- Added mod sorting tags for in-game Mod Assign Menu (same tags as on Mod.io)

Fixes

- EMS players in singleplayer couldn't interact with driver patients in "Motor Vehicle Collision" [ID 3000]
- Fire callout "Structure Fire" [ID 2000] auto-completing
- Fire callout "Structure Fire with Possible Entrapment" [ID 2003] getting stuck
- NPC spawner for missions could select the wrong mission or skip spawning
- Firefighters dropping carried patients with the input "Hand" (1 by default), blocked the ability to interact with them to call for transport
- Player characters sometimes didn't stop burning when fire is extinguished
- FEX model wheel fixes for long-distance rendering
- Tow mission vehicles (including custom mission wrecks)
- Thunder DLC civilian version did not spawn
- Long-distance vegetation billboards culling fixed

AI Fixes

- Suspects now shoot at the player when they see you, rather than constantly blasting walls
- Adjusted shooting and running ratio for suspects unrelated to mission editor
- Patients and ragdolls could spawn underground

General Fixes

- Optimized weapon shots, had a memory leak
- Optimized game size (around 2.5gb)
- Optimized vehicles and buildings shadow settings - shadow bleeding (gaps) fixed
- Mac shader errors at Beach Town, glowing white areas resolved
- Added missing audio channel for spike strips, which was ignoring volume settings
- Game world gravity now resets to default when returning to main menu
- Pressing Esc while in Controls menu could break menu navigation
- Fixed Beach Town levitating props at departments

[Asid]

Beast Swat Truck DLC + Small Bug Fix Update Now Available
Thu, 14 March 2024



Strengthen your police department forces with the Beast Swat Truck!



Hello all,

We're excited to reveal the Beast Swat Truck DLC, which is now available to purchase for $2.99/£2.99/€2.99.

Flashing Lights: Beast Swat Truck DLC
Flashing Lights: Beast Swat Truck DLC
PhysicsSimulationShooterCrimeRealistic
14 Mar 2024
Add to Cart
New
£2.99
Flashing Lights: Beast Swat Truck DLC

Strengthen your police department forces with the Beast Swat Truck DLC! The Beast is a massive armoured personnel carrier, providing outstanding protection for your police department in times of crisis.

Quickly jump on for a ride with the side rails or even get a better view of the situation from the roof hatch.



Alongside this DLC release we have also launched a small update to the base game in order to support the DLC and fix a few issues.


Fixes

- Improvements for vehicle menu loading (possible crash fix)
- Axe and chainsaw functions broke after breaking down a house door with halligan
- Revive menu got stuck after requesting NPC EMS
- Small optimizations for multiplayer client vehicles
- In game opening Settings>Graphics the resolution's confirm window popped up
- Weapon wheel breaking on larger resolutions
- Ocean water shader fix to render behind fog/volumetric light
- First person view in vehicle mirrors didn't render props


What's Next?

Following last month's big mission editor, bank and swat van update, and the following update, we are hard at work on delivering AI backup later this Spring, as a free update to the game.


Flashing Lights + DLC Discounts Now Available



Flashing Lights is currently available at 66% off as part of Steam's Spring Sale!

We've also got both the Thunder Sport Sedan Pack and Pickup Truck Triple Pack DLCs on sale at 33% off.

Make sure to check out these limited time discounts on the sale page

[Asid]

AI Update Part 1: AI Partners - OUT NOW
Thu, 18 July 2024



AI Partners are here!

Hello all,

We're excited to announce that AI Update Part 1: AI Partners is OUT NOW on the default branch, meaning it's available for everyone! A huge thanks to all of you who helped test this update when it was on the unstable branch <3

Get out there and save the city - now with AI partners! At the police station, fire station or hospital, select your AI partner by interacting with the relevant marker and head out!




AI Update Part 1 - AI Partners

Police Partners
The police partners will be able to frisk and arrest suspects, shoot back if being shot at, and chase down suspects. They can also ride in your vehicles and be told to wait at locations or in a vehicle.

Firefighter Partners
These partners can help put out fires using extinguishers, use hydraulic spreaders to rescue persons trapped in vehicles. They can also ride in your vehicles and be told to wait at locations or in a vehicle.



EMS Partners
EMS partners can prepare patients for transport for you by working through the treatment checklist, before you either transport the patient yourself or call for AI transport. You can also set your EMS partners to wait for your command before running to a patient, meaning you can command them to attend one patient while you take care of another.

Nils is now working on AI Update Part 2 - AI Backup! This update will allow you to call for backup when out on callouts, arriving and then leaving the scene when the situation is dealt with.

Watch out for news!

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

Full Patch Notes

New

AI Partners
- Locate Partners icon in departments (limited AI character to choose from for now)
- Press TAB to toggle mouse cursor to select AI's commands in upper right corner
- By default partners will follow player and get in/out player vehicle

Police Commands
- Frisk
- Arrest
- Wait
- Sit in car
- Go to location
- Follow player
- Toggle if they should chase escaping (on foot) suspects automatically

Firefighter Commands
- Use fire extinguishers or ignore fire
- Toggle use of spreaders
- Wait
- Sit in car
- Go to location
- Follow player

Medic Commands
- Toggle if partner should go to patient automatically
- Prepare patients for transportation (Player then has to take them or call for pick up)
- Wait
- Sit in car
- Go to location
- Follow player

Updated

- "INTERCEPTOR" DLC mod support (Tag Name: INT)
- Vehicle menu now show available seat count for each vehicle (trunk and Van's cage not counted as seats)
- Fix for partners icon showing up at Cod Town police station in multiplayer game

Fixes for Interceptor DLC

- Visor lights mirrored on the passenger side
- Trunk lights updated
- Police radio chatter sound removed for FD, EMS and Civ versions

[Asid]

(Unstable Version) AI Update Part 2: AI Backup - Now Available for Testing!
Wed, 23 October 2024



Now available on the unstable branch!


Hello all,

I'm happy to announce that an early version of AI Update Part 2: AI Backup is now available for testing on the unstable branch! This update expands and improves on the recently introduced AI backup system by introducing the ability to use a walkie talkie to call for backup while you are out and about in the open world.



This update also lets you call for backup from police, fire or EMS departments, regardless of the department you're playing at the time.

We look forward to hearing what you think of this early version of the update, and will be reading all of your posts on this announcement, the Steam forums and our Discord.




How to Access the Unstable Branch and Play The Update

To access the unstable branch you can do the following:
- Load up Steam and head to your library
- Right click on Flashing Lights and then select "Properties"
- Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select "unstable_test_branch" (no password needed)
- This will then download the new update for you


Full Patch Notes - 23/10/2024 Unstable Build

AI Backup (Singleplayer Only)

- Use radio to call for backup (Default key "Tab" where you choose to control partners or call for backup)
- Texture mods for backup vehicles and characters (Using Slot 1 in Assign Menu for each model)
- Command backup AI characters while they are out of car
- Police backup (Police Car, Sheriff SUV, Swat Van)
- Firefighters backup (Engine Truck, Fire SUV)
- EMS Backup (Ambulance, First Responder SUV)

New

- Light patterns on Mod.io (Add prefix Lights_ to exported file, example: Lights_My Mod Name.txt and upload as .zip (no folders))
- Dispatch now give calls around players (1300m radius), the range limit is ignored when using next mission command [/nm_]
- Sheriff partner character
- More props for pedestrian crossings in City East, Cod Town, Beach Town and City Marina
- Partners and backup units now show on minimap and full map UI

Traffic Spawner Improvements

- New waypoint finder around player (might improve multiplayer lag with 6+ players)
- Using optimized waypoint finder the spawner will try to use free spots to spawn more traffic
- Distanced traffic optimization (based on distance it will turn off AI driver character or wheel animations)
- Pedestrian waypoints added in City East, Port and Beach Town Pier

Pedestrian and Traffic Fixes

- NPC loading improved to fix loading hickups at game start and when loading missions (The NPC pool now has 60 pedestrians which should be enough for default pedestrian count and missions, if for custom missions need more, it may load more pedestrians but could cause some hickups)
- NPC pedestrian pooling was broken and during gameplay new pedestrians were created for each spawn causing memory increase over time and possible crashes or lag on multiplayer
- NPC in missions now despawn when player cancel the mission and leave area
- NPC pedestrians no longer stop spawning after a while
- When loading a game, now only the host creates NPC pedestrians and traffic, solving an issue with clients loading duplicate NPCs and traffic unnecessarily, causing lag for all players and memory increase
- Sorting and fixes for multiplayer entity ID mismatch causing random sync issues and lag while Photon tried to fix it with destroying NPC clones and creating new instances
- Pedestrians no longer spawn partially in the ground while loading before they start walking
- Pedestrians no longer walk around with a gun floating in front of their head
- Function for missing traffic lights in City East and Beach Town

Fixes

- Multiplayer car seat rotation sync fix for players
- In multiplayer sometimes pedestrians stopped walking
- Toggle auto-off sirens setting now saves when you get out of your vehicle
- On each game load and each vehicle menu launch, customized siren slots previously got messed up
- Beach Town pier poles rendering fix
- Hovering parked cars aligned with ground in Beach Town and Cod Town
- Parked cars are now using optimized traffic car models
- Changed default setting for parked cars from Low to Medium when creating a game
- Changed default vehicles for new players (SUV for police and Engine for firefighters)
- Map buildings and roads were previously loaded duplicate on CPU

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

[Asid]

AI Update Part 2: AI Backup + New Light Bar DLC Out Now
Thu, 31 October 2024





Emergency Response Lightbar Collection available now

Hello all,

I'm happy to announce that the AI Update Part 2: AI Backup is out now! This update expands and improves on the recently introduced AI backup system by introducing the ability to use a walkie talkie to call for backup while you are out and about in the open world.



This update also lets you call for backup from police, fire or EMS departments, regardless of the department you're playing at the time.




Emergency Response Lightbar Collection available now

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2649420/Flashing_Lights_Emergency_Response_Lightbar_Collection/

We are also happy to announce the Emergency Response Lightbar Collection is out now.
This comes with 10 new highly requested lightbars. Each can be used with all departments and most vehicles.


Full Patch Notes - 29/10/2024 Unstable Build

AI Backup (Singleplayer Only)

- Use radio to call for backup (Default key "Tab" where you choose to control partners or call for backup)
- Texture mods for backup vehicles and characters (Using Slot 1 in Assign Menu for each model)
- Command backup AI characters while they are out of car
- Police backup (Police Car, Sheriff SUV, Swat Van)
- Firefighters backup (Engine Truck, Fire SUV)
- EMS Backup (Ambulance, First Responder SUV)

New

- Light patterns on Mod.io (Add prefix Lights_ to exported file, example: Lights_My Mod Name.txt and upload as .zip (no folders))
- Dispatch now give calls around players (1300m radius), the range limit is ignored when using next mission command [/nm_]
- Sheriff partner character
- More props for pedestrian crossings in City East, Cod Town, Beach Town and City Marina
- Partners and backup units now show on minimap and full map UI

Traffic Spawner Improvements

- New waypoint finder around player (might improve multiplayer lag with 6+ players)
- Using optimized waypoint finder the spawner will try to use free spots to spawn more traffic
- Distanced traffic optimization (based on distance it will turn off AI driver character or wheel animations)
- Pedestrian waypoints added in City East, Port and Beach Town Pier

Pedestrian and Traffic Fixes

- NPC loading improved to fix loading hickups at game start and when loading missions (The NPC pool now has 60 pedestrians which should be enough for default pedestrian count and missions, if for custom missions need more, it may load more pedestrians but could cause some hickups)
- NPC pedestrian pooling was broken and during gameplay new pedestrians were created for each spawn causing memory increase over time and possible crashes or lag on multiplayer
- NPC in missions now despawn when player cancel the mission and leave area
- NPC pedestrians no longer stop spawning after a while
- When loading a game, now only the host creates NPC pedestrians and traffic, solving an issue with clients loading duplicate NPCs and traffic unnecessarily, causing lag for all players and memory increase
- Sorting and fixes for multiplayer entity ID mismatch causing random sync issues and lag while Photon tried to fix it with destroying NPC clones and creating new instances
- Pedestrians no longer spawn partially in the ground while loading before they start walking
- Pedestrians no longer walk around with a gun floating in front of their head
- Function for missing traffic lights in City East and Beach Town

Fixes

- Multiplayer car seat rotation sync fix for players
- In multiplayer sometimes pedestrians stopped walking
- Toggle auto-off sirens setting now saves when you get out of your vehicle
- On each game load and each vehicle menu launch, customized siren slots previously got messed up
- Beach Town pier poles rendering fix
- Hovering parked cars aligned with ground in Beach Town and Cod Town
- Parked cars are now using optimized traffic car models
- Changed default setting for parked cars from Low to Medium when creating a game
- Changed default vehicles for new players (SUV for police and Engine for firefighters)
- Map buildings and roads were previously loaded duplicate on CPU
- NPC vehicles have correct lights when at night
- Fixed an issue that caused the UI to freeze if double clicking on done in character menu
- Minimap water texture fixed

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team

[Asid]

Status Report: Here's What We're Working on!
Wed, 27 November 2024



We're focused on bug fixes, game improvements and optimisation for the coming months.

Hello all,

As we've now released AI updates part 1 & part 2, we know a lot of you are wondering what's next for Flashing Lights!



This Winter, rather than adding new content, we're focusing on bug fixes, optimisation and general game improvements. While we certainly still plan to add further exciting content to the game down the line, we're hitting pause on that for the Winter, and are instead taking a step back and dedicating time to improving the current game experience.

Community feedback and thoughts have been crucial to the development of Flashing Lights since day one, and that's just as true today. We hear you, and this focus for the Winter is of course informed by your feedback across the Steam forums, our Discord and social media channels, so do keep sharing your thoughts and experience with the game as always!

We'll continue to share news as we have it, so keep an eye out!

Thanks,
The Flashing Lights Team