A Stress Test will take place this Saturday, July 16th! There will be limited server capacity compared to our major playtests. This is in line with our plans of scaling up step by step, as referenced in our community update blogs. You can find the necessary playtest info and times below. Don't forget to check out our Patreon!, which comes with some cool customization rewards, not to mention a key for early access!
Server Regions: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia,
I've never played before, how do I join? - Head to our store page, and click "Request Access", it should be granted instantly! A Steam account created before 2022 is necessary to connect for playtesting.
I already have playtest access, do I need to sign up again? - Nope, welcome back!
Some of your tests use a different build, do I need a code for this? - No, the main branch is fine!
Is streaming/recording allowed? - Sure! Just keep in mind this is still in-development.
Where do I report bugs, or other issues? - We would greatly appreciate it if you'd share with us over on our Discord, but if for whatever reason that is not possible, feel free to make use of our Steam Community!
If you're unable to play in this test, don't worry, there will be more! Over time they will become more accessible in duration, eventually leading back to full day tests. We hope to see you there! Stay up-to-date and in touch with us on Discord and Twitter. If you're interested in watching live development, check out TheLiquidHorse on Twitch. If you'd like to further support the development of the game, check us out on Patreon!
Community Update on Playtest #3
Hello everyone!
In our continued effort to maintain transparency with our vastly expanding community and playerbase, this blog will cover some key areas and hopefully answer your most important questions. I've tried to provide details, but also shorter summaries in the form of TL;DR where applicable, so read along based on your preference!
As I'm sure most of you know, our third playtest launched April 8th. There was a lot of excitement, and a LOT of players, but then...the test shutdown within a few hours of being live. If you've got a feeling of deja vu, it's because something similar happened with our second test back in February. It was a rough experience and disappointing for us as a team, but also for our players that waited patiently to get some playtime in. This is exactly what the tests are for, and while we would prefer the issues weren't so critical that we have to shutdown early, it's infinitely better that we go through this now, rather than at Early Access. So let's talk about what went wrong, what's next, and what's changed.
We were testing many new and/or rewritten technical systems compared to the February playtest.
We pushed 3 hotfixes trying to solve issues.
A new concurrent peak combined with new systems seeing their first large scale stress test created a circus-like set of problems that evolved over time.
The servers and queue system had a meltdown and the test could not continue.
[/expand] Full [expand type="showmore"]Well, to be honest, a lot went wrong. Our internal tests during March were extremely stable and our new systems were performing as intended. However this is MUCH different than testing at the scale we encountered within the first hour of the test being live. Almost 30,000 players, up from our previous peak of 17,000.
The first bump in the road was at the very beginning of the test! Everyone was able to load up, and get into a server. That's great! What's not so great, is that NO ONE could spawn. Seriously, no one. Similarly to the previous test, this issue was caused by an EAC check malfunctioning, but thankfully our programmer/lead dev was able to sort this issue out very quickly!
A hotfix was pushed, and after monitoring things it seemed like we were in the clear. We could breathe just a little easier. But not for long, as players began to report timing out after a few minutes of play. Some could stick around longer and oddly enough some players experienced it only once or twice.
A second hotfix was deployed, which improved issues in some cases but not to a degree that any of us could be happy with. About an hour later, a third hotfix was sent out and drastically reduced the occurrence of timeouts in most cases, or at least allowed others to get solid game time before one would happen. Still not good enough, so we continued to investigate the issue, and sometime later the servers started to malfunction almost entirely.
We avoided bringing the test down when the earlier issues arrived, but at that point there was nothing further we could hotfix. Unfortunately, we needed to bring things to a close, so we could properly dig in, tear things apart and figure out what's going on. Something that's simply not possible with the game being publicly available.[/expand]
What's next?
TL;DR [expand type="showdetails"]
Small scale testing (quick fire tests targeted at specific problems)
Ramping up those tests into larger ones. (Longer duration + more servers)
Potential public stress test (to be determined, but it's likely as we need the data)
Playtest relaunch once we can confirm stability of the build over time
No ETA just yet, 100% aiming for this month, tests are going well so far.
[/expand] Full [expand type="showmore"]Let's talk about what we're doing to relaunch the test.
Small scale testing resumed as of April 8th. Oki (lead developer) immediately began going through his code and player logs to identify the root causes. Many updates were pushed to dev build that same day. This process has continued consistently to great results, with the help of our community via a single 254 player server that comes online and goes offline as necessary.
This testing will scale up, step by step, as we confirm that the changes made are stable at the current relative level. So soon, instead of being up for 30 minutes to an hour, this server will be up for longer periods of time to test reliability. If all goes well, we'll scale up again with more servers concurrently. This could even result in a fully public stress for a few hours. Once we are confident that the build is ready for 24/7 availability, we will communicate the date and what to expect.
We want to get you all back in-game ASAP, but we don't want to rush and get everyone excited just for it to be taken down again. So while we still cannot give an ETA, and that may be disappointing for some, we are just being careful. I can say that we are absolutely aiming for this month. Our current testing has been going well, there's still much to do, but things look good! Below this section, you can take a peek at the work that has been done since the playtest bit the bullet.[/expand]
What's changed?
TL;DR [expand="details" type="show"]
A ton of bug fixes, including some we've had trouble with for a long time.
Various improvements to backend systems
Queue system rewrite, this was a major factor in the playtest issue.
Gameplay and performance improvements
[/expand] Full [expand="more" type="show"]
Gameplay/Server Bug Fixes
Eduardovo INF CONQ bug fix
Possible bugfix of map bugging out while restarting game.
User UI tick bugs out if user loads a new level while holding a button, fixed.
Minor audio bug fix while syncing reload sounds over network.
Server throws 1 frame exception if player dies from fall damage fixed.
Vehicles continues executing one frame after death fixed.
If user's microphone is not supported, game does not bug out anymore.
If user connects to server while someone is just about to stop climbing a rope or ladder, client bugs out, fixed. (Extreme rare case but it apparently happens lol)
When user starts climbing, the weapon tries to play undraw audio, causing unnecessary logs, fixed.
Fixed an issue where some ISP (Internet Service Providers) were being a b♥♥♥♥ and does not allow UDP packages less than 6 bytes, causing some users to not be able to receive reserved slot packages on server browser.
Fixed a bug where player client bugs out while connecting to game where if a player spawns with a side rail and somehow side rail returns null from pool and causes entire game to bug out. (An issue I have been trying to fix over a year)
Fixed a bug created while converting steam profile photos to gamma space to linear space when steam client gives access from steam client cache.
Fixed an issue where if client does not receive slot reserve request in time (if package drops), client does not dispose the old request (tiny miny memory leak 👀)
If user fails to retire ticket from steam, instead of giving error, client re-tries getting ticket from steam until received.
A rare case fixed where target animation on player models becomes empty when other thread sets it to null while game thread decides to play it.
Rare case where while player is dying, if thread job index resets first, character model throws exception fixed.
Slot reservation bug fixes.
Bug fixes on maps.
Server wasn't saving the stats of players if server was updating to new version of the game. ('F' for anyone who lost their stats because of this)
Rewrites & Improvements
Rewrite queue system
When spawning on friendly, if squadmate has space behind them, you spawn behind them instead of on top of them.
Friendly changes color on map if they are in combat. (Tried to make it with icons but looked bad)
While determining if user is in combat, down enemies are no longer considered.
Bush rendering better LOD at longer distance
Server list UI update and UI logging.
If server map changes during user loading the map, as soon as client is notified the map changed, client now loads the new map instead of returning to main menu.
Server socket multi-threaded.
A fail-safe added to pooling system in case something goes wrong, the issues get logged to log file and game continues running fine.
Additional Pooling fail-safe improvements.
MTU header size changed to 100 bytes from 80 bytes.
[/expand]
That's all for now. We hope you stick around for more. As previously stated, this is not a team of professionals. We have a programmer, a 3D modeler, and a level designer. Three friends that were making a fun game for themselves and a small community to play. Honorable mention to our awesome mod team. Change is inevitable, and growth comes with growing pains.
We'd like to thank ALL of our supporters (players/content creators/streamers), for your patience, understanding and encouragement as we do our best to evolve and adapt. We will make mistakes, but we will always try our best to improve and succeed.
Stay up-to-date and in touch with us on Discord and Twitter. If you're interested in watching live development, check out TheLiquidHorse on Twitch. If you'd like to monetarily support the development of the game, check us out on Patreon
April Playtest Postponed
We have made the difficult decision to postpone the playtest to a later date that remains to be determined. The current build has some major issues that will take awhile to address. We are aware all of you have waited, but sadly the current build isn't stable enough to be playable, and hotfixes aren't sufficient enough to change that.
We'll inform you all of when the next public playtest will be. We are sorry things turned out this way, and know that it will be disappointing for many of you. This is one of the struggles of game development and we are admittedly not professionals, although we will continue to work and solve these issues! Thank you for your time, attention and support.
Keep an eye here, on Twitter or on our Discord for more updates. Until next time!
April Playtest Launch + Patch Notes!
UPDATE: We are sorry to announce the playtest has been postponed. Please see this post for further info.
First, we'd like to thank you all for your support and patience since the end of the February playtest. We know that you've all been eager to play, especially those looking to try the game for the first time!
It has been an exciting yet difficult experience since the unexpected gain in popularity back in January. The downtime provided by the lack of a public test in March has allowed us the ability to work under less pressure and conduct proper internal tests for new fixes, improvements and features. It's also has served as an opportunity for us to take a breath, catch up and orient ourselves.
Let's talk about this for a bit. By now, most of you should know that our main cost is servers. Prices vary and some regions are extremely more expensive than others. Thanks to our Patrons, we have some funds available but we have to be smart and efficient with its usage, as it's still on the lower end considering the demand of a worldwide playerbase not to mention all other development costs. So for this test, we will provide the following server locations. This was the most cost effective solution we could achieve, and luckily the game is tested and optimized for high pings so your gameplay experience should not take a major hit. We hear your requests for various regions such as OCE, South America, Asia, etc. We will continue to search for the right providers.
France
Amsterdam
Singapore
Chicago (US Central)
LA (US West) - secondary function as best region for Japan
Texas - secondary function as best region for South America
We ask that you keep in mind that this is a playtest, not a demo. This game is still under development and we are testing many important features & tools. This means there's a chance that you encounter issues, instability, bugs/glitches. It is our hope that they are very MINIMAL, although we cannot make any promises, other than that we will continue to improve! Don't forget to share your best moments with us on Twitter using #BBRClips! See you on the Battlefield!
PATCH NOTES
Here's a sample of the the work we've been able to accomplish since we last met. Please do note that the following list is not exhaustive and there are many other behind the scenes changes & tweaks.
Fully functional party system and social tab. Ability to invite players to a party and ability to join them via Steam friends tab or in-game. Build your party before starting matchmaking or joining via server browser and they'll receive a notification that allows them to follow you to the match!
A squad will automatically be created for your party, and will persist between matches. Invites can be received at any time, even in Shooting Range. Access the Social Tab in the main menu simply by hovering over it, while it is accessed in-game via the Home key. This was developed in response to high volume of requests. In this first iteration we have tried to provide proper functionality, so please let us know your experience with it!
[expand type="details"][/expand]
Minor game bug fixes.
Server stability issues fixed.
Server connectivity fixed. No more 'Steam Auth' issues!
Easy Anti Cheat kicking players consistently fixed
Spawning / getting revived under map fixed.
Vehicles able to leave play zone fixed.
Spawning outside of the play zone fixed.
Unable to exit game fixed.
Getting out of the vehicle ends up player teleporting under the map fixed.
Eduardovo Remastered (full rework)
Visual upgrade for walls.
Server performance, connect and queue times improved.
Much more stable vehicles. Vehicles networking improved.
Implemented holding breath mechanics for Snipers and a glint added for snipers.
UI improvements.
Game performance improvements.
Server performance, connect and queue times improved.
Much more stable vehicles. Vehicles networking improved.
Shooting enemies while their leg is clipping from walls will no longer register as a hit.
Vaulting over obstacles detection improved to prevent sticking between walls.
--- Known Issues ----
Rarely map + game bugs outs when joining a server after 1-2 hours playing. (Restarting does fix)
Voice chat loops rarely
Unable to aim down sights and falling under the map (Haven't been able to reproduce it in the new build but it happens, please let us know)
Rarely a fast-moving vehicle may cause a person to fall under the map if hit.
Hello everyone! Just wanted to give a reminder that our next playtest will start in two days. If you have already received access to previous tests, you won't need to request again. Not to mention that anyone who hasn't, can gain access immediately upon request via the Steam page.
We are still hard at work on implementing more fixes, optimizations and other improvements for the user experience, gameplay, servers and our backend tools. Remember, the best way to stay up-to-date is via our Discord and Twitter. We hope to see you all in-game this weekend, thank you for your continued support!
Find your local time below!
*click times to open website that will display your local time*
Prepare For Battle: Next Playtest Begins April 8th
Hello everyone!
First of all, we would like to thank everyone who has joined our January and February playtests. Over 700,000 of you have participated and even more of you await the chance to play for the first time!
We can't say enough how grateful we are for your support. As a development team of 3(1 programmer, 1 modeler, 1 level designer), the transition from being relatively unknown & developing quietly, to such massive attention has been quite the task. We appreciate your patience and understanding of this journey for us all!
Through the playtests, albeit short in length, we have managed to obtain a lot of feedback and important data from our players. These tests have been instrumental in improving development of the game. We are currently hard at work adding highly requested features while smashing those pesky bugs that some players encountered during their gameplay. Not to mention various quality of life additions, further server improvements and weapon balancing.
Our next public playtest will start on APRIL 8th and will be live until APRIL 10th. In the meantime, we are not restricting access to the playtest build, so even though you are not able to play in online servers, you can still load into the single-player shooting range and test out the weapons and customized attachments. So feel free to request access right now and jump in to get a feel for the game.
Find your local time below!
*click times to open website that will display your local time*
This is yet another step in our journey into paid Early Access later this year. If you would like to be in the loop for real-time news about game updates, as well as the overall status of playtests, we recommend you to join our Discord server by clicking here or follow us on Twitter. Request playtest access via Steam here, and be sure to check out our Patreon if you'd like to further support development and receive unique rewards!
Stay tuned for future communications, we'll have more to share closer the start date! - The BattleBit Remastered Team
Check out these videos to learn more about the game. Credit: undercoverdudes, jackfrags, yolocat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD1Sys1u9eU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldY81nlNBc8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrrqtbG5Xw
FAQ and Second Public Playtest
Hello everyone!
First of all, we would like to thank everyone who has joined our playtest a couple of weeks ago. Albeit short, we managed to obtain a lot of feedback from our players. We are currently hard at work adding some of the requested features while smashing those pesky bugs that some players encountered during their gameplay.
Our next public playtest will start on February 20th. Until then, we are not restricting access to the playtest, so even though you are not able to play in servers, you can still hop on to the single-player shooting range and test out the weapons and customized attachments.
If you would like to be in the loop for real-time updates about new updates as well as the overall status of playtest, I would like to recommend you to join our Discord server by clicking here.
There have been quite a lot of messages asking questions about some of the important stuff as our player base spiked in numbers in the last few weeks. So I'll try to address some of them here.
Is this game going to be Free-To-Play?
The answer to this question is, no. We're planning to release the game into early access with a 14.99 USD price tag, however, in countries where Valve (Steam) supports regional pricing, we'll do our best to accommodate them.
How many people are developing this game?
We only have three developers;
- MrOkiDoki - Lead Developer and Programmer - Vilaskis - Level Designer, Level 3D Artist - TheLiquidHorse - Weapon, Vehicle and Armor 3D Artist
Is there a singleplayer campaign/bots planned?
No.
Is there going to be any microtransactions in the game?
No. However, in the future way after Early Access, we'll look into possibilities of DLCs and Supporter Packs.
Will we be able to host our own community servers?
Yes, we are hoping to give the ability to host servers to our players sometime in the Early Access period.
Will there be modding tools? How about Steam Workshop?
Hopefully, it will be an eventuality. We would like to see players create their own mods and content for the game in the future. We're hoping to add this feature sometime at the beginning of the full release.
Steam Playtest!
[previewyoutube="0XhRMeb3GoA;full"]
2ND WEEKLY PLAYTEST
Hello folks.
We got so much positive feedback from the 1st weekly test. We decided to do one more weekly test.
The event will start at January 03 - 18:00 pm (GMT+3) and end at January 08 - 18:00 pm (GMT+3).
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