Dev Diary - On to the 1.50 update and making choices
Overcoming Challenges in Revamping a Complex Firearm Customization System and Implementing a New Inventory in an Existing Video Game
As game developers, we constantly strive to enhance player experience by introducing innovative features and systems. Recently, our team embarked on the ambitious task of completely overhauling the firearm customization system and designing a new inventory for our existing game. While the end goal is to provide a more immersive and enjoyable experience for players, this journey is not without its significant challenges and obstacles.
Key Challenges and Obstacles:
Balancing Complexity and Usability
One of the primary challenges is ensuring that the new customization system offers depth without overwhelming the player. Striking the right balance between a complex, feature-rich system and user-friendly interface is crucial.
Legacy Code Integration:
Integrating new systems into an existing codebase can be daunting. Ensuring compatibility with legacy code while maintaining game stability and performance requires meticulous planning and execution.
Data Migration:
Transitioning player data from the old system to the new one without loss or corruption is a major hurdle. It involves careful mapping and thorough testing to ensure a seamless experience for players.
Performance Optimization:
Introducing more complex systems can strain the game’s performance. Optimizing the new features to run smoothly on various hardware configurations is essential to avoid negatively impacting the player experience.
Player Feedback and Adaptation:
Players are at the heart of any game. Adapting to their feedback and ensuring the new systems meet their expectations and preferences is vital for the success of the overhaul. This is why you should, as players and part of the community, keep your constructive feedback coming, for us to compile them and integrate them in our next development steps.
Testing and QA:
Comprehensive testing is critical to identify and fix any bugs or issues. This phase requires significant time and resources to ensure the new systems are robust and reliable.
Conclusion:
While the journey to revamp our firearm customization system and implement a new inventory is filled with challenges, it is also an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of what our game can offer. By carefully addressing each obstacle and prioritizing player experience, we aim to deliver a refreshed and engaging gameplay experience that both new and existing players will love.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make progress on this transformative project! Keep your feedback coming, let us know if you enjoyed this new format or if you have any suggestions or ideas to bring :)
Everything will change - get ready for 1.50
Greetings, Operators,
Summer is already here and a lot of you will enjoy some well deserved time off. But if there's a man that never sleeps, it's our dedicated dev, Helios. Since he's been working on the full rework of the weapon/gunsmith system, it just looks like he's nowhere near stopping.
So, as we speak, he's not only revising the whole gunsmith procedure, but also bringing a new inventory system, as we've been hearing your feedback. As we said: getting an operation ready must take time, to prepare your squad to perfectly fit the objectives, but this time should be invested in what really matters. With the changes in the inventory and the loadout, it will become intuitive and much faster.
There are still many things to do before the release of Black One Blood Brothers 1.50, and many surprises for you guys. We're so excited to show you, but we will have to be patient, as the update is planned to be released in September.
Until then, stay safe. Kane, out.
Enjoy Black One Blood Brothers at 50% off until June, 10, 2024
Greetings, Operators,
Until June 10, 2024, get your copy of Black One Blood Brothers at 50% off. Which is the perfect moment to try the game, with the release of update 1.49C.
If you don't know what Black One Blood Brothers is, here is a list of the main features:
- Unlimited replayability - the game spawns enemies and objectives in a procedural way. This replayability is tightly linked to... - Unlimited customisation - or almost. From your Operators' height to the camo of your weapons and the difficulty of the mission / campaign, you have tons of options ahead of you to create your very own game, with the settings that you like. - A fully solo adventure: here, no PVP nor co-op, which supports the complex tactical aspect of the game. Take your time, plan your actions, and give the go. - 20 missions for the campaign, dynamic campaigns that will randomize objectives and maps for x missions. - A complete map editor with tons of objects to place, that you can share on the workshop. - Make your own patch and share it as well on the Steam workshop - A complete system of tactical map and quick orders panel.
And much more.
There is still a long way before releasing the game. As always, we are more than happy to welcome your feedback on Discord or here.
Happy gaming!
Update 1.49C - TacMap & Quick Orders rework, new heights, new modes, and more!
Calling all Operators,
As previously teased and discussed during our first community stream, and paving the way for the highly anticipated update 1.50 that will be released in September, we have a freshly out of the press update for you: introducing Black One Blood Brothers 1.49C.
Main features
Operator Height
Now, you'll be able to custom your operator's height. Your enemies' height will be randomized at spawn as well.
Hardcore Mode in campaign
Are you ready to face new extreme challenges? Get ready for a mode that will push you to go big or go home. Failing critical objectives or losing all of your operators will lead you to lose the entire campaign, and you'll have to start over again.
You'll be able to completely customize your campaign. And bare with us, you'll soon learn more about the different options you have to create your own campaign.
Quick Orders and TacMap revamped
We heard you! To make the battle map and quick orders easier to use, Helios has made an entire rework of these elements: more accessible, more intuitive, it has never been that simple to use them. For the quick orders panel, the camera is now the cursor to set up the waypoints/points of interest you would like to set, to minimize the impact of the strategic quick orders on your gameplay.
We really hope that you will enjoy these intermediate patch notes and rendez-vous early September for a ground breaking update. As usual, you are more than welcome to give us feedback on Discord and social media!
See the complete patch notes here:
FEATURED
Addition: Operator height
Addition: Hardcore mode in campaign game mode
Addition: Customized difficulty in campaign game mode
Overhaul: Battle mode design
Overhaul: Quick Orders design
CONTENT
Addition: Map Template - Abandoned Mines
Addition: New camo on firearm - Tac Desert
Addition: New camo on firearm - Brazilian Forest
Addition: New camo on firearm - Snow
Addition: New camo on firearm - Tac Forest
Addition: New camo on firearm - Desert Marpat
Addition: New award - Finish 'Serpent's Whisper: Part 1' HARDCORE (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Serpent's Whisper: Part 2' HARDCORE (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Serpent's Whisper: Complete' HARDCORE (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Cover operations' HARDCORE (very short) (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Cover operations' HARDCORE (short) (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Cover operations' HARDCORE (medium) (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Cover operations' HARDCORE (long) (6 difficulties)
Addition: New award - Finish 'Cover operations' HARDCORE (very long) (6 difficulties)
GAMEPLAY
Addition: New gameplay option - Mouse sensitivity when aiming
Addition: New gameplay option - Recoil strength
Addition: Tutorial on using ballistic shields
Addition: Enemies have a chance of being left-handed
Addition: The enemies all have different heights
Addition: New control mode in quick orders
Addition: Shortcut to change the object to throw or place in "Quick Orders" mode
Addition: Items in the inventory are categorized as "tools" and "stored items"
Addition: Magazines are automatically added and removed from the inventory based on the weapons used by the operator
Addition: Attachments are automatically removed from the inventory based on the weapons used by the operator
Addition: Auto-save in map editor
Improvement: Enemy spawns are disabled around an objective that has just been completed (whether successfully or unsuccessfully)
Improvement: "Ambient Music" option has been moved to the "Extras" menu.
Improvement: Many texts from the various tutorials
Improvement: 3D position of characters considered as objectives (hostage, enemy leader...)
Fix: The weapon position on a female operator was too high in first-person view
Fix: Frame rate drops when selecting the game mode in the mission menu
Fix: Player's current speed was not always correct after using the battle plan mode
Fix: Many errors in operator positioning when interacting with doors in "Mall of Eden"
Fix: Location of some bridges in "Jin-Shu Temple" map
Fix: A map played in "Dynamic Campaign" mode could load an undesired weather
AI
Improvement: Operators enter primarily from the sides during a "Breach and Clear" action
Fix: An operator could fail to follow their squad leader after a team change
RENDERING
Fix: Decal errors on some helmets
UI
Overhaul: HUD design
Overhaul: New input icons
Addition: Special input icons for AZERTY keyboard
Improvement: Many titles and texts in English
Improvement: Many titles and texts in French
Improvement: Briefing design
Improvement: Position of the windows for operator customization
Improvement: "Screen Space Fog Scattering" is enabled by default
Fix: List of grenades was not updating correctly when changing operators in the "battle plan" mode
Fix: Interface display error when returning from weapon customization
Fix: Some icons in the inventory may not have been displayed in the correct ratio
Fix: Some french texts
Preview - 1.50 - Guns Overhaul
Attention, Operators, we have some news for you!
First things first, a huge thank you for our players and fans who made it to our very first stream. It was a bit chaotic, but we had a blast connecting with you live. If you missed it, fear not, there will be more in the future.
As said above, we have a good news and a less good news. Let's start with the less good news, so that we can move on very quickly: the next big update and milestone, Black One Blood Brothers 1.50, is delayed until early September.
But trust us, there are very good reasons for this delay. Because we heard you, and Helios is working really hard to bring to the game what you are looking for. And we are talking about...
A brand new weapon system
Most of the feedback about Black One Blood Brothers fireguns was asking for more weapons, in particular more models from well-known manufacturers. For some legal reasons, it is not possible for us to use real models and real brands. However, we didn't want you to think that your voice didn't matter to us. So instead of a catalogue of weapons, we're bringing you the ultimate gunsmith feature.
Let's say you have a base of weapon - a rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, and so on - and that you could plug 150 accessories on it, to create the weapon that will fit your gameplay. Sky is the limit.
But that's not all, with this brand new system, you'll enjoy some new breathtaking animations in the handling and reloading of your weapons, just like below:
We will have many things to show you in the near future about Black One Blood Brothers 1.50, as we want to make sure that this update will mark the history of the game and the early access.
So, do you forgive us?
But wait, there's more: because we know that between now and September, there's quite a gap, we are happy to bring you an intermediate patchnote, update 1.49C.
In this update, coming early June, you will enjoy some new features such as height customization and a revamped quick order / tacmap and loadout manager. Stay tuned for more informations about this update!
Until then, stay safe, Operators 🫡
Kane, out
Save the date and join our first Community Stream!
Attention, Operators.
Save the date and mark the calendar for our very first Community Stream. Our community manager, Kane, will host the event, on Helios Studio's Twitch channel. Don't miss out on the opportunity to connect with her, ask any questions - she will answer most of them !-, discover some of the upcoming new features from Black One Blood Brothers 1.49C - we might also explain why this is called 1.49C and not 1.50 -, and overall... Let's share a great moment together.
Please note that the Stream will be in English, and will be French friendly.
Save the date: Friday, May 24, at around 6.30PM, on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/helios_studio
Until then, stay safe and hydrated 🫡
Community Features - New TacMap
Creating a video game, a whole universe to explore, and an overall great experience for our players, is something that is challenging, exciting, sometimes stressing. But at Helios Studio, we're working very hard to bring you Black One Blood Brothers as a brand new tactical FPS to enjoy. We are bringing new features that will support Helios' vision, we are learning from our mistakes to push forward, but more than anything else, we know that our community has our back. And at the end of the day, if we are working so hard, it is for you, our players and our fantastic community. More than your support everyday, we can also count on you to take a step back and bring a new perspective on our work.
And this is why we're bringing the community features: those features have been developed around your feedback and ideas. Because your voice and opinion matter to us, we wanted to thank you.
So to start with, here is something that you will be able to enjoy in the upcoming 1.50 update of Black One Blood Brothers: an entire rework of the Tac Map. We made it clearer, we tidied it a little bit. Now, the options to control the map have their own sections and it's easier to distribute the orders to your squad.
Let us know in the comment what you think!
Leave your - constructive - feedback of the game here: https://discord.gg/8tbZPeGugr
Kane, out
Dev Talks #1
During the Steam FPS Fest, we took the opportunity to have a quick discussion with Helios about the game and its - bright - future. For now, this video is in French, but we will try to bring more English to our dev talks format.
We are also considering a Q&A session at the end of the dev talks, so if you have any questions about the game, we will be glad to answer them, whether it would be on our social media, our Discord, or in videos.
Don't forget that you can get your copy of Black One Blood Brothers at 50% off during the Steam FPS Fest. The sale runs until April 22nd, so don't miss out and share the news.
Until then, stay safe.
Join us on Discord and start the conversation: https://discord.gg/3QrgZckQXW
Steam FPS Fest – Enjoy a 50% discount on Black One Blood Brothers
Attention, Operators! The Steam FPS Fest is here, presenting the perfect opportunity to explore Black One Blood Brothers.
If you're seeking a stealthy solo FPS experience, look no further. Enlist with the tight-knit brotherhood of Black One, comprised of elite spec ops from across the globe. Take point with your squad and navigate through a variety of clandestine missions - from silent target takedowns to high-stakes hostage extractions and vital intel retrievals. Traverse diverse terrain, from the stark expanse of sun-scorched deserts to bustling urban centers and secured airports. The crucible of covert operations awaits. The question is: Are you prepared to rise to the challenge as one?
Black One Blood Brothers offers extensive customization options, allowing you to tailor every aspect of your squad's dynamic. From honing the skills of your ten operators to carefully crafting their loadouts, attire, and insignias, you have significant control over your team's composition. Adjust the difficulty settings to match your tactical finesse, creating an experience that resonates with your brotherhood's ethos.
Will you orchestrate your maneuvers from the shadows, meticulously planning each move on the tactical map? Or will you lead from the frontline, issuing swift and decisive commands through the quick order panel? Whether you favor the silent approach, slipping through enemy lines with surgical precision and stealth, or opt for a display of calculated force, asserting dominance over all who dare oppose you, Black One Blood Brothers places you squarely at the forefront of your comrades' trust.
While the game is currently available in Early Access, rest assured that we are listening to your feedback and suggestions. Join our Discord server to stay informed and engage in discussions with fellow brothers in arms. Regular updates are continuously deployed, and the Steam FPS Fest marks the arrival of the latest 1.49 update. Immerse yourself in two new theaters of operation, utilize the Photo & Video mode to capture your triumphs, and revel in a host of quality-of-life enhancements, including an all-new soundtrack.
Bear in mind that Black One Blood Brothers is still under development, and the current iteration is doesn’t reflect the final quality of the game.. Prepare yourselves, Operators, to put your strategic mind, skills, and comradery, to the test.
Join us on Discord and start the conversation: https://discord.gg/3QrgZckQXW
Update 1.49b: Improvements et hotfix
- Addition: New option - None marker -> Completely renders both allied and enemy 3D markers invisible and silent. - Improvement: Ambient outdoor sounds according to the time of day - Improvement: Sound indicating an enemy spotted by the player disabled if the "None marker" option is activated - Improvement: "No main HUD" automatically activates the "No ammo" option - Fix: Dead operator could disappear from the game without reason
