This is the Unreal Engine 5 Update "soft" release so we can address bugs/issues before this branch is folded into the default build. You will find bugs/issues but we recommend everyone to partake in this build if they can so we can collect feedback. Our goal is to close the PB and fold it into the normal build before the Steam Summer sale.
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739
How do i opt in?
[expand type="showmore"] [/expand]
New Versioning Number system
[expand type="showmore"] We are changing the way we do version numbers to simplify them going into the future. The one will represent a "release" version and the octet following it will the title update or major patch version we are on. 1.2.1 1 = Release version 2 = Title Update (Major Update) 1 = Minior Fix/bug fixes etc [/expand]
Some Summer Art to go with the Season!
It would seem Winters cant even get a break when shes on vacation...
Guard Towers are coming soon!
We are modeling 2 guard towers initially. This Light single unit Scout tower and a mobile version that is a new Atlas configuration more details will be coming soon!
Some of the new buildable items in this patch
Some of the new Weapons in this patch
SMAW Engineer Weapon
New Maps in this patch
Patch Notes
[expand type="details"]
Two new Horde maps are now added
Added SMAW Engineer Weapon
Faction Combat has been greatly rebalanced to make it playable and much more balanced.
Fixed the Speaker System building not being repairable
Fixed Lights not properly turning on after the Unreal Engine 5 update for buildings at night
Various new build items have been added to allow players to better design their base.
Sandbags, HESCO walls and Barbed wire can be "Snapped" to segment to make it easier to build now
Buildable CERC Infection Detection Towers added
Scientist can be equipped with mobile Detection equipment to locate infected individuals
Improved construction of wall-type objects to better handle interaction points (welding locations)
Improved construction to implement an 'overlap safety'. Not perfect, but makes construction considerably safer when issuing orders to a lot of units at the same time
Added new system for recruiting civilians + added scientist logic to auto look for civilians and scan them as they walk by
Improved Skycrane cables and added CableAttachPoints to buildings that did not have them.
Added the Customizable Sign
Damage Resistance setup for the rest of the unit's
Rate of fire tweaks
Added support for the scanner to dynamically only start its loop if a scanner is equipped + will dynamically shut down when the scientist is unpossessed as well. Added Animation support for the scientist so it will use the native animation of CharacterWeaponFireArray for its scanning animation and setup the code to wait for a scan to finish before its allowed to pickout another civilian to scan dynamically from a crowd
Helipads were added with two modes (Resupply Aircraft & Civilian Evacuation Mode) Resupply Aircraft - will repair/refuel and repair any helicopter landed on the Helipad Civilian Evacuation Mode - will trigger a Chinook to fly to the Helipad and wait for you to load them up to evacuate them to an aircraft carrier off the coast.
Immediate Evacuate was added as a last minute addition to allow you to tell an evac chopper to leave immediately without a full load or waiting for the countdown.
Game now tracks how many civilians were evacuated when highlighting the "Population" bar
Added fix to player units who succumbed to infection having their UI reappear if you load a game with one of them in it
Fixed Civilian overlap issue if they are previously infected you could get the overlap widget.
Added the whiteboards so they scare/welcome or do nothing based on what you want for each one.
Riot Shield Light added as a new weapon for Assaults
Riot Shield heavy added as a new weapon for Heavys
Riot Shields will break when damaged beyond their health requiring you to buy a placement at the barracks
Added carrier blockout for Civilian evacuations
New starting location for open worlds
Teleporting feature of the starting widget removed
Speculative fix for crash when taking damage
Removable Car/Trees were switched to a more efficient Navigation system
Fixed 'unupgradeable' wall segments (like Jerseys, Hescoes, etc.) 'reverting' to sandbags when loading them from a saved game
Evacuation Count on the Population Tracker now will always appear when hovered
Updated the World Infection 'mesh' type growths to no longer have collision or affect nav
Updated the Evac Helicopter Countdown widget to have a 'depart now' button (w/ minor animation, localization string, etc.)
Updated the handling (via delegates) in the Evac Chopper to support this and make it relatively smooth to use
Various performance & pathing issues
[/expand]
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/ Don't forget to wishlist!
First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU
Swag Store
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here
New Posters up
Patch - 1.1.1 PB [Public Beta Only]
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739
This is the Unreal Engine 5 Update "soft" release so we can address bugs/issues before this branch is folded into the default build. You will find bugs/issues but we recommend everyone to partake in this build if they can so we can collect feedback.
How do i opt in?
We are changing the way we do version numbers to simplify them going into the future. The one will represent a "release" version and the octet following it will the title update or major patch version we are on.
1.2.1
1 = Release version 2 = Title Update (Major Update) 1 = Minior Fix/bug fixes etc
Cepheus Protocol Gas Towers Niagara Test VFX W.I.P
https://youtu.be/LE4S5e0T8-s
Patch Notes
[expand type="details"]
Added spawn limits to the Virtual Unit Movers (so they can't surpass Defense+Regular infected soft caps via devirtualization)
Fixed up fast rope sockets on the Sparrow
Fixed up fast rope sockets on the Merlin and Charon
Adding WIP large water splash for bridge destruction.
Implemented visibility triggers on pod construction locations to prevent the pods from being able to be virtually constructed if a player unit can 'see' them (even if no pod has appeared yet)
Updated the Virtual Unit Mover move order loop to not spam out move order requests if in 'rewind due to lack of spawn room' mode and near their rewind position
Updated the Visibility Triggers on SpawnPodPositions to disable themselves from being in the Perception System if there's a pod for units to see
Updated the last commit of visibility triggers to also hopefully function with dynamic spawn pods (not yet implemented, but will be for early game revamp down the road)
Fixed an error with some units 'lerping out of pods' over really long distances
Updated timeout for Virtual Unit Movers to favor 'failing' if they're too far from the target (to prevent more situations of incorrect construction)
Added a 'path check' on Unit Mover timeout, if it's close enough to its target, to reject more situations where it may 'construct' something incorrectly
Vehicles will now not try to avoid infected (so ramming should hopefully work again)
Fixed an issue with gates not properly blocking navigation when shut (and not set to automatic)
Improved pod construction+registration 'order' to try to prevent situations where incomplete pods can act as enemy spawn points
Improved 'reinforce checks' from the Chelsey System to no longer look inside zones that have no pods
Updated collision profiles to make units not get 'blocked' by ragdolls
Updated units who are ragdolled to not interface with the avoidance system (and to turn it back on if they get up)
Gas tower effects improvements.
Fixed firetruck windows being left behind when removed by landscaping.
Added new biomass actors and implement some World Infection around a few Gas Towers in North TI.
Changed some focus logic to resolve an issue with units 'looking behind them' if they start running while in combat
Added logic to make units clear their seenlist when they fastrope
Fixed flares not revealing enemy units +
Adjusted flare colors
Updated the Operator vision box to 'spot' infection pods
Instant Detection Box radius doubled to help reaction time of CERC for units sneaking behind them
Sound emitted by Reloads doubled for Infection hearing
Disabled rotation animations while units are in combat (to make soldiers feel 'snappier' in dealing with things behind them)
Added a timer on move completion to restore focal point (so units who haven't moved will, after finishing shooting, turn back to their position after 2 seconds)
Formationv2 no longer utilized if you are issuing a move order to only helicopter units (since the advanced logic is only a detriment to their flying style of movement). This should fix the 'multiple helicopters selected causes move order to fail' bug.
[/expand]
W.I.P Vehicle Physics
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/ Don't forget to wishlist!
First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU
Swag Store
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here
New Posters up
Patch - 1.2 PB [Public Beta Only]
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739
This is the Unreal Engine 5 Update "soft" release so we can address bugs/issues before this branch is folded into the default build. You will find bugs/issues but we recommend everyone to partake in this build if they can so we can collect feedback.
How do i opt in?
We are changing the way we do version numbers to simplify them going into the future. The one will represent a "release" version and the octet following it will the title update or major patch version we are on.
1.2.1
1 = Release version 2 = Title Update (Major Update) 1 = Minior Fix/bug fixes etc
Change list
[expand type="details"]
Fixed Gates not opening/closing
Fixed Operator issue where possessing them while they're running will cause them to 'bob in place' as if sprinting (until the player manually presses the sprint button)
Added safety to make Operator Freelook no longer 'stick' if you were in FreeLook when you exit Operator FPS mode, then re-enter Operator mode
Operator now no longer gets stuck 'facing their old move target' if you enter FPS mode while the Operator was carrying out a move command
Operator now no longer will 'face the keyboard direction' if you enter FPS mode while the Operator was running while carrying out a move command
Fix for Vehicle stuttering physics
[/expand]
W.I.P Vehicle Physics
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/ Don't forget to wishlist!
First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU
Swag Store
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here
New Posters up
Patch - 0.7.130.16 [Public Beta Only]
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739
This is the Unreal Engine 5 Update "soft" release so we can address bugs/issues before this branch is folded into the default build. You will find bugs/issues but we recommend everyone to partake in this build if they can so we can collect feedback.
How do i opt in?
W.I.P Vehicle Physics
Change list
[expand type="details"]
New Vehicle Physic Systems implemented (See gifs)
Grenade not properly affecting targets fixed
Mortars not properly affecting targets fixed
Airstrikes not properly affecting targets fixed
Test version of Chaos bridge destruction implemented to replace the PhysX versions
Speculative crash fix for https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/705202412562022400/975882774907084890
Updated the Gas Emitter to the new AOE Marker setup to look more visually appealing
Added a box trace to clear DNA+structures on the bridge if on the destroyed segment
Units that are on a destroyed segment will now ragdoll and die instantly
Fixed a flaw in Vehicle Recoil physics.
Fixed Stryker shell ejection direction.
Performance tweaks for Virtualization
Added Move Proxy logic to Virtual Unit Movers (to allow them to better move between landmasses/across bridges, reducing chances of getting stuck even further)
Fixed the dropdown text color on the HUDRecruitPopup to white (since UE5 changed default font color to black, which didn't work with the dropdown background also being black)
Electric fences and gates should update more accurately, and their materials should no longer appear as if they're always powered
[/expand]
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/ Don't forget to wishlist!
First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU
Swag Store
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here
New Posters up
Patch - 0.7.130.15 [Public Beta Only]
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3186869726433966739
This is the Unreal Engine 5 Update "soft" release so we can address bugs/issues before this branch is folded into the default build. You will find bugs/issues but we recommend everyone to partake in this build if they can so we can collect feedback.
How do i opt in?
Change list
[expand type="details"]
Updated Music System to the latest FLAC,MP3 and Wave libraries
Updated saving/loading of Pod Locations/Tower Locations in the SpawnNode to be more modular and DRY (much easier to maintain and track down bugs) =When doing this, also fixed up the PodLocations saving Landscaping data (since they no longer handle that)
Updated Node defense responses to not be reliant upon static 'spawn pod locations', so dynamically spawn pods should be able to respond and cry for help like other pods do
Fixed an error with the Mercer System 'pod querying' that could result in it always referring to a backup rather than a primary form of pod spreading intelligence
Fixed up units who enter a garrison while Parachuting to EndParachute (rather than keeping it 'floating' above the vehicle)
Spotlight will now properly toggle its visuals on and off, as well as cast shadows again.
Improved Ambient Occlusion on Units and Base Structures.
Flare Ability provides line of sight again
Fixed the Cerberus BMG's ammunition capacity being 500 lower than its starting ammo (made it look like it wouldn't receive ammunition)
Fixed Ammo Runners not thinking they're close enough to deliver ammunition to vehicles (would result in the Runners just 'running up against' vehicles instead of delivering)
Fixed up the SCAR-H starting with less ammunition than its capacity (would result in it needing a refill immediately upon being acquired)
Improved the Medic's healing logic to no longer 'block' trying to heal units if there is an enemy nearby that is outside of the Medic's range to shoot
Additionally, Medics will now immediately query for another target to heal upon finishing healing someone else (should speed up healing multiple units a little bit)
Removed (for now) the 'Are you Sure?' popup for confirming settings changes when exiting the Pause menu: the popup wasn't kept up very well, and a lot of our settings ignored its implementation (so settings would be saved regardless of hitting Yes or No)
Fixed the Comms Trailer not properly showing its Bounty popup if it was selected when the Power kicks in for it
Fixed the Hovertips at the bottom right 'showing by default' before you've actually hovered anything (resulted in some weird text being visible)
Fixed the Comms Trailer immediately closing its Bounty popup (was an error in the new mouse-click handling implementation)
Split the bottom part of the HUD scaling into 'Lower Left' and 'Lower Right' scaling, so the minimap and the command widget can be scaled separately
HUD UI default hud rescaled
Spine turrets health is now 6000
Blow up guy health increased to 850
Spitter increased to 600
Gas tower starting health is 6000
Pod structures increased to 8000
Spine turrets increased to 4000
All special infected are now more resistant to small/mid caliber rounds
No longer 'clears' the SeenList, which was useful for the old 'sight' system. On our new PerceptionSystem, this can result in units completely ignoring things that are already within sight range.
Added a fix for the 'Halt' command not fully working for units who were moving in formation
French Added
Horde Map 1 adjustments
New weapons/balance tweaks to all classes
Virtualization Infection is now live
Thermal is removed
Unit icons dynamically scale and appear at higher camera heights
Grenades now push ragdolls/dead bodies
Grenade Accuracy improved
Ragdoll/Death Animations added
Various Optimizations to AI overhead
High profile assets converted to Nanite
HLOD building improved to make grids appear a bit less janky
Adjusted the infection popup widgets on the Select Location popup (at the start of a game) to no longer blink in UE5
Added safety to properly set the PawnCameraRef in the PlayerController on first time of possessing it, so we can properly switch back 'n forth from Operator (instead of it potentially breaking if you switch to Operator in a session before anything else sets the PawnCamRef)
Added a crash fix related to TakeDamage, from https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/948777616012357662/967198635353841694
Some fixes to prevent crashes if animation blueprint is not mapped
Added a basic default threat curve' for now that all weapon+characters should use (have to switch over to performance testing, hence why there's not multiple curves or more testing here
Cleaned up some Parking Barrier instances in the old Open World Master that were using old materials
Fixed up some logic related to playing death animations to prevent crash on falling out of the world
New Weapon VictorAK
New Weapon SPAS-12
New Weapon AA12
New Weapon ACR
New Weapon M101
New Weapon MP5SD
New Weapon Vector
Lumen enabled by default
New Video Options added for Lumen/UE5
Fixed A10 starting with extended gear.
Weapon Ragdoll adjusted
Added a fix for 'close by' move orders on the new 'Move Projection' update to Formation v2 to no longer mix up the final rotation
Formation Projection (aka "Stop backing up in combat") update to Formation v2
Formation V2
Hooked up logic to make units 'exit combat mode' on entering a Garrison (vehicle, etc.) if they cannot use the weapon while stationed in said garrison
Added safety to certain kinds of degarrisoning to prevent units from getting 'stuck in the ground' (like the Civilian Holding Area, Cerberus, etc.)
Updated the Civilians to show their Interaction Widget after joining the player team (so you know that they're part of your team after accepting guardianship)
Fixed the JLTV, Cerberus, and Shawnee having 'visible' drivers despite not having transparent canopies (should save a bit of performance)
Added a crash fix for a Spawn Node potentially reassigning delegates more than once
Updated Wedge formation to 'form new wedges behind existing wedge': each wedge is 7 units wide now, and the pattern repeats for every 7 units beyond the first
Updated 'sandbag nav' to be slightly thinner, to trap units less often (doesn't solve all cases)
Hooked up the 'height downward adjustment check' logic from the Wallbuilder to the Sandbag Builder
Adjusted the 'interaction points' for constructing Barbed Wire/Sandbags to be further out (to prevent units from getting 'stuck' inside them after construction)
Also adjusted 'construction' logic for Barbed Wire/Sandbag segments so that segments that are 'smaller' (to fit the point where the mouse is at) will not have a reduced 'construction radius' (so units can still build them)
Boosted height of Sandbag Nav to hopefully stop some issues where it doesn't affect the nav enough
Added a short-range 'ShareCombat' feature (currently only enabled for player soldiers): When a unit enters combat, it will grab other allies that are very close by (a few bodylengths away) - if any of them are not in combat, they will receive the same target that this unit just saw
Fixed the Flamethrower failing to hit Spine Turrets
Additionally, adjusted Fire Particle logic to hopefully be a bit more accurate
Adjusted Fire Damage to Spine Turrets (they will take longer to burn, but take more damage from each 'tick', kinda like how pods work)
Fixed the 'HOME Key' keybind not disabling the 'TAB camera follow' logic (your camera would keep moving after jumping to CERC, as if still attached to the unit it was following)
Updated Laser Sight logic a bit: Will not show itself if there is no target on the unit, currently Distance check is now capped to the weapon's current range
Soldiers react to getting hit, but the turrets and gun-enabled units on vehicles would not react to their vehicle getting hit: now they do, so armed vehicles should be a bit more cognizant in combat
Improved Helicopter degarrison logic on death, to prevent units from 'warping around' or warping to the ground
Improved formation preview from holding CTRL while Circle Up is selected to have accurate rotation
Formation v2: units will no longer be able to break their 'combat speed' limit when in a formation move (i.e. units who are currently shooting will no longer have their speed boosted to faster-than-walk speeds)
Fixed up a minor UI error with the 'ammo divider' line on the Unit Card remaining red if a unit gets close to/runs out of ammo, then gains more ammo
Added speculative fix to DNA being able to 'spawn in the air' if a helicopter was over an infection pod when said pod was destroyed:
Updated Helicopters to no longer be in 'walking' movement state for a bit while loading a save game, which seems to fix the bug of helicopters 'starting on the ground' when loading saves
Hooked up logic to ensure the Formation move order has a minimum move speed equivalent to the lowest 'maximum move speed for current speed state' from its units (i.e. the highest speed that the slowest unit in the current move state can move: i.e. if we're walking, then we move at the fastest walk speed of the slowest walker. If it's vehicles only, then we move at the top speed of the slowest vehicle, etc.) Result: Vehicle-only move orders will actually hit the gas instead of being Sunday drivers.
Boosted the 'formation follow behind distance' for most vehicles
Updated Formation movement to not have an arbitrary 'minor' gap between vehicles (since that can cause a tiny offset in the 'convoy gap closer' part of Formation v2)
Updated Helicopter movement preview logic to properly show the 'height offset' that Helicopters have over the 'ground spot' you ordered them to move to
Implemented logic to better improve units dodging vehicles while in formation (still more room to grow here though)
Fixed and issue where units would continue to run if they receive a new formation command (that ISN'T a run command) while already running (among other things, due to the var 'SavedRun' not being reset after use)
Updated logic for the Virtual Construction to try to avoid 'backup' spawn locations like the old CapturePointPos, to drastically lower the chances of infected 'spawning' in player bases
Fixed a bug relating to video playback on the main menu
Updated Infected 'helicopter jump attack' to enable collision against vehicles during the jump attack (so Chelsey and her LTs don't 'phase through' helicopters they're trying to take down)
Added logic to make player units properly be able to hide in the Fog of War if they succumb to infection
Updated the UnitUIComponent to be better at clearing the overhead widget for player units upon player unit death/infection conversion
Updated the Pawn collision preset to block the Construction trace (so player units will now properly block buildings being 'built' upon them)
Updated movement logic for construction to no longer be 'interrupted' by Formationv2 (i.e. you can issue a construction command to a unit moving in formation and they'll properly break off to build the thing now)
Updated the LaserSight to no longer 'fix Z', which made it look like Turrets were aiming at their targets' feet
Added speculative fix in response to https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/705202412562022400/973957205399306240
All wheeled vehicles set up with wheel physics and rolling. More work needed for normal release
Fixed UI Main Menu black backgrounds from Unreal Engine 5 update
Virtual construction occurs more often, with faster rates if there is a critical mass of infected in a particular zone
Virtual construction now has a fallback if the player is in the way of the construction, instead of merely restarting the timer
Virtual construction is now no longer 'cut', so construction should occur 'passively' more quickly
Passive 'infection' from pods will now contribute towards virtualized unit pools, resulting in more areas wanting to construct things
Added crashfix to https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/902035725858517043/973065401212731402
Speculative crash fix for report from https://discord.com/channels/469412014427602944/705202412562022400/973469986175721511
Updated several widgets to 'handle' mouse events, to prevent 'click-thru' problems that UE5 seemed to have introduced
Vehicle Turrets: Fixed the muzzle flash location acquirement
Vehicle Turrets: Fixed the vehicle turrets not 'restoring their rotation' back to the front when exiting combat mode
Vehicle Turrets: Fixed rotation not resetting when a vehicle turret no longer sees its target
Turret bugfixing: Fixed positioning of weapon point on FieldTurret1 to fix muzzle flashes
Turret bugfixing:Added a Muzzle Flash (MF) socket to the new SCAR H mesh to fix the field turrets not having particle effects in the proper location when firing (also to fix turret issue)
Turret bugfixing: Added new logic to DeployGun 'turret mode' (i.e. rotation enabled while in DeployGun) to restore initial rotation focus when exiting combat mode
Turret bugfixing: Fixed laser sight
Turret bugfixing: Fixed DeployGun state not enabling rotation properly on the turrets
Fixed Health, adjusted units spawn weapons for police faction just incase something was unmapped
Converted flamethrower FX to Niagara with minor improvements.
Fixed water flickering
Fixed Car windows being left behind when vehicles are removed by construction or the landscaping tool.
New Weapon SFX
Turned off player units from being able to walk off of ledges
Fixed a mouse-cursor issue related to repairing/constructing actors
Updated the Ammobox call-in to properly show its preview material again
And to properly overlap the 'no build zones' so you can't stack them on top of one another
Fixed a repair actor issue for the Motor Pool that prevented units from walking on it, if it was damaged
Improved handling of clicks for buildings
Updated Grenade Launcher's "distance fuse calculation" to properly calculate the relative altitude of the target (was previously 'matching altitude' in its calculations, causing targets who are too far above/below you to be 'missed' due to fuse going off early)
Grenade launcher can fire through fences/gates now
Bug fixed that was causing grenades to not explode correctly
Updated Grenades to properly hide themselves after exploding (so you can't see the grenade mesh itself just sitting there after it exploded)
Lowered regular infected health to 190
Lowered ragdoll physics timer to 3.0 (from 3.5 seconds)
Set infected to use the basic PHAT instead of the complex one when dying
Removed unneeded call to 'SimulateWeaponFire' in InstantFire() for weapons (this was causing multi-muzzle-flash for spread weapons like shotguns)
[/expand]
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power https://store.steampowered.com/app/1707120/Cepheus_Protocol_Anthology_Season_1/ Don't forget to wishlist!
First 40 Minutes of Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eWbDibGMrU
Swag Store
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: Link here
New Posters up
Letter from the Producer #6
Kept you waiting huh?
So its been a while huh? Im sure a lot of our eager fans are curious what we've been doing over the last 2 months so I'll run you through everything we have to date and explain a few things we are working on beyond.
Virtualization and New Early Game
The next update will be pushing Unreal Engine 5 at the forefront. The engine upgrade means we can start to expand the "Open World" map to include San Francisco and possibly other neighboring zones. As we've had quite a lot of issues when we did the previous Presido/Northern San Francisco update that we had to revert and later convert them into 2 new supporting Islands called Western Treasure Island and Eastern Treasure Island. (More Information here) With LWC (Large World Coordinates) we can now truly expand the current map. With this conversion we have been forced to rethink our approach that we do right now which is running AI at all times no matter how far they are away from the player. It worked on the smaller map but its not scalable in the least for this larger open world.
So what does this mean for you guys exactly? We have started to implement and will have a fully online virtualized general/army system going into next week. This means that even if you arent in that zone our virtualized system will simulate battles/infection spreading and other important gameplay progression to keep the world populated and varied when you aren't present. Each session will be different and present different problems for CERC(you) to solve. These systems will be in the next patch. Systems like these are absolutely required so we can maintain acceptable framerates as the world "grows".
This leads into my next big change coming next patch Infected will no longer spawn from a "Global Pool" in regional zones. They can only spawn from the population available to them in the current zone. If they need help they will have to request it from nearby zones.
Current Setup Old Setup that was impossible without LWC . To be clear the new fictional supporting Islands for Treasure will stay as they are we will just be adding new surrounding landmasses and expanding the start game option locations as we build/add San Francisco.
As our programmers have been figuring out LWC and World Partition our level Designs have been working on Horde maps so we can get some new content out to you folks.
Horde Map Revamps W.I.P
We will have more updates on these maps next week. Map #1: Canals/Dock Level (Replaces current one) W.I.P Rough Layout Map #2: Coastal Mall (New Horde Map) W.I.P Rough Layout
Teaser Screenshots from a Special Operations Map (Challenge Mode)
Cepheus Protocol Anthology Season 1 is releasing on May 13, 2022
Experience the outbreak of the Pangu Virus from multiple perspectives across as the brave heroes of the Center for Epidemic Research and Control battle tirelessly to stop the spread of a cataclysmic alien virus that has mutated innocent people into monstrous creatures of unimaginable power
* Chaos Destruction * Chaos Vehicles * Nanite * And much much more for larger worlds. https://youtu.be/7ZLibi6s_ew
Unreal Engine 5 FAQ Section:
#1. World Partition: down the line, since it takes some time to set up, but their open world tool here will make HLODs a lot smoother once we can implement it. -- #2. Nanite: meshes converted to Nanite can have a lot of detail due to basically having 'unlimited LODs' (not what's actually happening but if you imagine that you're on the right track). We've had several issues implementing this - it's clearly still a beta (especially in interactions with HLODs) - but the improvements it gives seems to be worth the hassle, though, now that we're getting a handle on how to use it! -- #3. Lumen: new global lighting setup. Slightly more expensive to use, but pretty sure we can enable it as a game option so people can turn it off if needed. -- #4. Large World Coordinates: this is a big one for us, actually. Our Open World map was hitting limitations due to the Engine handling some calculations in regular 'float' math (basically using numbers with too limited memory), which started breaking down at the edges of the map (i.e. on the right and bottom islands). UE5 converted those calculations to Doubles, so the map can be a lot larger without introducing mouse accuracy problems.
Due to this we've already removed a 'workaround' function we had which 'averaged' some of the mouse-results when the mouse coordinates are 'far from world origin': that safety's no longer needed to ensure clicks remain accurate when approaching the map edge. --- #5. Niagara: this system to actually be working now (instead of the 'battle-tested' setup UE4 had which was very crash-prone), so over time we'll be implementing fancier particles. --- #6. Chaos (destruction and vehicles) - we're planning to have vehicles 'bust through' certain fences a la Company of Heroes, for example, and hopefully get some more accurate vehicle physics at some point down the road.
We started implementation and testing immediately on Nanite. Old .vs New
We did run into some instability related to Nanite and HLOD's for certain assets so we are still working with Epic Games and Co to resolve these issues and finish converting a mass of our asset over.
Rewind Session
You can catch-up on changes here from the last letter 'From the Producer" https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3102422162152822125
2 months ago we put up a poll asking our community if they felt the same way as our developers that we needed to pause the year 2 roadmap to focus more on the "Core" aspects of our game. You guys agreed so i will now update you folks on the progress we've made towards this.
Based on user feedback we are working on a more adaptive formation system/pathing 2.0 see gif for an example of the work in progress. Instead of scaling formations up in some cases we will have limits and automatically create new formations that follow behind or alongside other wedges/file/columns only when you have huge unit selections (Think Total War in terms of large group move orders line them up either horizontally or vertically in their formation positions). We will also be pushing rear guards and people assigned to alternate and look around/have more situational awareness in all formations Separate 'actor' that moves along the nav-mesh, ensuring that it doesn't get confused like regular units can be (since they can get 'jumbled up' when dodging other units or in combat) -Units that are not running can speed up to reach their position (running actors are already moving at speed, of course), rather than being stuck between run or walk speeds -Slightly slows down units that are in position to prevent 'walking jitters' -The formation command, being separate from actors, can 'slow down' if its members get too far away, to help everyone regroup New feature for Formation v2: "Position Projection" - AKA "Stop backing up in combat!" -Places the formation down at the starting location (seen as the teal sphere in this GIF) -Examines which direction we need to go to fulfill our move order -Determines how 'far ahead' units are for their respective positions along that direction (units that are 'ahead' of their position in the formation would have to backtrack to line up, which can be fatal in combat) -After finding which unit is 'farthest ahead', the entire formation moves that distance (plus about two unit-widths) towards the destination, to ensure no unit has to 'backtrack' to reach their position in the formation. Everyone should move forward, not backward. (this rule isn't followed if the move destination is close enough that units just are changing positions, of course) -As a result, nobody has to backtrack to get to their move destination! New feature for combat (currently only enabled for player soldiers): units who are not in combat who see something will reach out a few body lengths away and share what they saw with any ally who isn't in combat. If their ally is already shooting, they'll ignore this 'shared target'. Fairly useful for units in formation to cover each other from surprises!(Think of it as units sharing information over a radio) Another Formation v2 update: wall-tracing! =An 'outward trace' will occur for each move position. Even if the move position itself is technically reachable (such as on the other side of a thin fence!), the wall trace will say 'no, it's blocked off' and adjust the move position inward instead. (This will stop units trying to continue the formation on the other side of a wall thus wasting time and running out of position quite often) So far, walk commands feel quite reliable, and the movements feel good: though there's still a good amount of visual 'jitteriness' to how units adjust themselves, but they're quite able to fight Continuing to update the new Formation system: here's a new feature not in the old system: 'convoy gap closer'! -Vehicles in the move command, if they break off, will update the units 'behind' them to move up and close the gap, instead of leaving them there
While there is still path finding work to still implement for Formations V2 we feel this is a solid step forwards. As always if you run into any issues please report it on Steam/Discord with videos/gifs if your running into pathing issues you wish to report
Character Modeling
We have a new winters Model now created she will be put into the game at the same time as the other new character meshes in the future
Assault Female is almost done pair some adjustments to her Vest Strips/ Shoulder Patch/Armor/ Knife Textures and final grenade meshes on her vest
Digital Art Book/Collectors Edition
The art/lore book will be added as a Pandemic Mode Collectors edition in the future on Steam and made available for purchase separately as well. It will feature fun facts about development and the design/art process the game has gone through to make Pandemic Mode. Here are some screen grabs
Recent Gameplay Changes
We listen to our community and made it so Civilian holds can generate money based on the amount of civilians you have put inside a civilian hold. We also added custom game options so you can set it to provide money when you kill them for those Blackwatch RPer's out there. Engineers will auto repair Buildings/Fences now
Death Animations/Ragdoll overhaul
List of some of the types of animations we will be implementing over time
Are coming with the Unreal Engine 5 update. More Details soon!
Discord Polls
We decided to add Faction Vehicles that are recruitable items if your in good graces with Pierce/Natalie after we put up this poll. So we will be taking this into consideration for the future. Recruitable Faction Vehicles
Horde Map Objective Question: Please vote here! What kind of objectives do you guys like in a horde map? https://strawpoll.com/polls/PbZqoX940nN
Patch - 0.7.130.8
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3102422162152822125
Winters got a model update from the last letter to the producer check it out! Not live yet
We have a podcast coming up check out the date details below! You can hop in and talk to the developers we will be taking questions live towards the end! https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3095664226117850397
The old build has been archived for those looking to finish their games on the old smaller Treasure Island map but we dont recommend carrying over saves into this build.
Looking for more feedback from our userbase on what we plan on doing with civilians
Improved UI scaling to fix issues where Translations would tread off the UI buttons
Added Portuguese - Brazil & Spanish - Spain
Updated collision presets for the SpawnNode and Landscaping Collision Meshes, so they no longer will intercept long-range mouse clicks (Was messing w/ double clicks)
Updated SeenList logic to properly 'eject' targets that share the same Faction Manager Initial test indicates that this works very well even when trying to 'place' a pod right next to a building.
Added a fix for the 'Halt' command not fully working for units who were moving in formation
Overhauled clicking+double clicking:No longer relies on UE4's double-click implementation
Avoids the 'CurrentclickablePrimitive' logic which seems unreliable at long range (sometimes 'missing' the ground, for example)
Uses a new 'just double-clicked' timer to prevent 'over-clicking' resulting in a canceled double-click Result: Double clicks feel massively more reliable in-engine.
Updated 'SetTarget' logic: No longer 'clears' the SeenList, which was useful for the old 'sight' system. On our new PerceptionSystem, this can result in units completely ignoring things that are already within sight range. Rather, it simply increases the threat level of the target if it is already in the SeenList: if it's not, then it's added with a high threat.
Additionally, SetTarget now properly will leave 'NoStructures' fire mode alone if you're not telling something to shoot at a Structure, instead of forcing the FireMode to 'OpenFire' no matter what.
Finally, if the unit's Current Target has more threat than SetTarget would normally give, then the New Target receives the Current Target's threat on top of the boost
Improved the 'dynamic pod trace' logic from yesterday:
Now can filter out actor classes and maintain an 'ignore list', as well, to reduce number of 're-traces' on hitting invalid classes
Created a new C++ class parent for the Car landscape actors, just for filtering's sake
Dynamic pod traces (for the upcoming Chelsey early game revamp) now allow for pod construction where they'd clear out trees/cars like the pre-placed pods can
Blow up guy health increased to 850
Spitter increased to 600
Gas tower starting health is 6000
Spine turrets increased to 4000
All special infected are now more resistant to small/mid caliber rounds
Spine turrets health is now 6000
Pod structures increased to 8000
[/expand]
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile:
https://halcyon-winds-store.creator-spring.com/
Patch - 0.7.130.7
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3102422162152822125
Winters got a model update from the last letter to the producer check it out! Not live yet
We have a podcast coming up check out the date details below! You can hop in and talk to the developers we will be taking questions live towards the end! https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3095664226117850397
The old build has been archived for those looking to finish their games on the old smaller Treasure Island map but we dont recommend carrying over saves into this build.
Looking for more feedback from our userbase on what we plan on doing with civilians
Added Russian language (Some layout changes will be coming in the next 24-48 hours to better support this language)
Updated Helicopter movement traces: Helicopters should path better around buildings
Fixed a spawn position being on top of a building in Alcatraz
Loosened up 'refill supplies' logic for the Atlas, so it can have its supplies refilled at a Motor Pool without having to deploy to do so
Added Civilian Income: each civilian sheltered in a Civilian Holding Area will now increase your Income Tick by 5.
Update to Civilian Sheltering with some UI:
New Income Tally tracker will appear if you highlight your Income next to your cash total, highlighting how much you're getting as a bonus from sheltering civilians
Updated the hovertip or the Zone Income
Updated the hovertip for the Civilian Holding Area
Made the Civilian Holding Area 'list' widget also contain an Income Bonus display
Added a difficulty adjuster setting for the Civilian Sheltering value
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile:
https://halcyon-winds-store.creator-spring.com/
Patch - 0.7.130.6
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3102422162152822125
Winters got a model update from the last letter to the producer check it out! Not live yet
We have a podcast coming up check out the date details below! You can hop in and talk to the developers we will be taking questions live towards the end! https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3095664226117850397
The old build has been archived for those looking to finish their games on the old smaller Treasure Island map but we dont recommend carrying over saves into this build.
Looking for more feedback from our userbase on what we plan on doing with civilians
Adjusted Materials for TV station, which was turning pink in HLODs
Altered CrowdManager settings, resetting the 'max agents/walls' settings to 6/8 (from 12/16) and increasing max agents up to 1000 (to prevent possible situation where units get 'crowded out' and stop moving)
Also, updated ClearDefenseSpawns checks for Nodes to properly run at all times, instead of only if the node is still in a Defense state
Adjusted soft cap for infected and civilian maximums to be 20% less. Regular infected have 20% more health to compensate.
Added logic to save a unit's 'CreationTime', so Defense Units that are allowed to despawn only after being around long enough won't 'reset' their lifespan on load
Fixed Spine Turrets being targeted by Chelsey and her Lieutenants
Fixed Lieutanant's capsule radius making them ignore the navigation mesh (resulted in them 'standing still' at all times) Result: Chelsey and her LTs should be much more reliable. Performance should be better. Defense spawns should clear out more reliably when loading a save, and more reliably in general.
Civilians triggering mass hordes have been tweaked this to make Infection pods not try to send defense waves after civilians, since we can now filter out those targets as not being that big a deal so they can focus mostly on CERC and active armed threats
Improved the Build Location Meshes to act as a way for an Infection Zone to tell how many player units are in a zone (rather than just relying on the overlap sphere that the Spawn Nodes have) Used this to greatly improve Spawn Node defense responses that previously would trickle away due to the player not technically being near an arbitrary sphere
Fixed a loading issue that resulted in Pods or Towers loading back into the game with potentially less health than they were saved with
Adjusted interaction point logic for construction of walls/barbed wire to be safer, so units shouldn't get stuck in them anymore
Fixed a float-conversion issue that caused some Circle Up formation movement commands to 'converge' onto a single point
Restored custom collisions for the large jobsite structure
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile:
https://halcyon-winds-store.creator-spring.com/
Patch - 0.7.130.5
Last Letter to the producer can be read here on current priorities https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3102422162152822125
Winters got a model update from the last letter to the producer check it out! Not live yet
We have a podcast on Friday at noon drop in and talk to the developers we will be taking questions live towards the end! https://steamcommunity.com/games/979640/announcements/detail/3095664226117850397
The old build has been archived for those looking to finish their games on the old smaller Treasure Island map but we dont recommend carrying over saves into this build.
This patch includes 3 patch fixes over the last 48 hours of updates. Expect a patch every few days this week as we work to get everything ship worthy so we can move onto civilian management ASAP!
Change list
Circle formation issue resolved
Added DirectX 12 launch option again should be functional and improve performance on newer GPU's
Resolved an issue with some 'utility' characters still registering for the Crowd Manager to improve performance
Added some 'BeginDestroy' safety to the CPCrowdAgentComponent to ensure that it properly is cleared from the CrowdManager (to avoid a crash)
Removed the old 'FreshlyLoaded'-fix for the CrowdManager, replaced it with a more reliable AIController OnPossess check (that will fix infected, too) Result: Crowd manager crash should be fixed, and units should no longer become unable to move regardless of team affiliation
Rebuilt proxy collision+nav in the master to respect Efrain's update on the Stadium in Presidio (should prevent units from trying to 'walk through' the stadium walls)
Cleaned up a HideUI bug that caused unselected units to show their overhead UI even if not selected
Further cleanup for HideUI response to not show unit interaction widgets for units that are garrisoned in any way (regardless of GameInstance setting for hiding unselected unit widgets)
More Operators adjustments will be forth coming as we work to polish it amongst the RTS aspects to get back on civilian management. We expect to wrap up polish and be back on civilian management very soon
Please note the following going forward (Restart your game/steam to get the update if needed
Cepheus Protocol Anthology
We will be launching a new weekly series that will see several chapters added every Friday after release and will cover the chapters of the Novelization with 5 chapters added to expand upon the story and give more value to those itching for more lore/story information. It will delve into and show more about a secret new faction that will become the Anti-CERC in the Cepheus Protocol universe.
The Halcyon Winds Store is now live to support development and profits go towards expanding the team. This is in response to several requests I've gotten quite a few times about those that don't want to do patreon but want to support via merch.(Posters, Jackets etc) Check it out we'll add more over the next few weeks-months! :WinterSmile: