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23-5-12-3-15-13-5 2-1-3-11 16-1-20-9-5-14-20
Hello survivors, and welcome to another update for R.A.I.D.! On April Fools Day, we ironically released the build to the first testing phase, and now the build has been released to all of those who have signed up for testing before January 2019. The next open testing phase will occur sometime in the next few weeks after we hammer out many of the bugs, map issues, etc.
Gameplay:
The FPP movement and procedural animation systems are complete, allowing us to animate and implement a new weapon within the span of around 6 hours. Pistols such as the Glock, P08, and M1911 animations have been completed and finalized. Included among the pistols, we have completed the AS-VAL and Mosin-Nagant animation sets. These weapons will be ready to enter the game shortly. Along with these new weapons, various backend lag compensation improvements have been made, server side improvements continue, and obviously, there has been some bug smashing!
Level Design:
After many revisions of modeling, style, concept art, and layout, we have finally completed map version 3.0 of Marshlands and have continued work on the new Frostbite map. Lighting overhauls have been made, foliage replacements are added, and various optimizations are now complete. The game has never looked better.
Final Notes:
With the build now out to testing, it means we can get feedback and fix issues in the project while also continuing our development. As of today, we can financially keep the servers up indefinitely. This means we are going to shortly enter a live testing environment where anyone can hop in, play a match, and most importantly give feedback/suggestions afterward. This will occur after our website redesign/rename which will be explained in the next devlog. I know we keep saying this, but sorry about the delayed devlog (again), we wanted to get back on track for the bi-weekly being the second and fourth week of each month. Join our Discord at https://discord.gg/KnGak6c to stay current on all things RAID! See you in 2 weeks survivors!
32319 // TRANSMISSION SUCCESS!
Hello survivors, and welcome to the R.A.I.D. Devlog for March 23, 2019. We had lost you for a moment as our communications have been quiet due to dealing with many issues internally with the build. Without further delay, lets get started.
Gameplay:
Many features have been worked on such as many fixes to our procedural animation tech, newer inventory setups, 3D main menu widgets (Division Style), and many more quality of life adjustments/improvements. We are also happy to show off our new Glock 18 that has just been finished.
Level Design:
Fair Isle is now in version 3.0, meaning that the landscape overhaul has been done, optimizations have been made, and world composition is now in play, meaning that set dressing/lighting changes will be made. We cannot wait for you guys to get the work in progress version of the map in our new 0.0.65 build. The scenes will feel not only more lived in, but have more props and are better optimized. In other news, we have brought in another Environment Artist to help work on the Frostbite map along with a few other surprises in store for you all.
So, where is the Build:
Currently, we have been in crunch time in an effort to shove as much content as humanely possible into this build as it will be where we record the main trailer for the game. As a result, we are working faster than ever getting content into the build, but also holding it from our supporters/backers a little while longer. We are happy to say we have gotten a few extra weapons in, the new map version 3.0, and much more gameplay features! The build will remain in an imminent launch state as it could go up at any moment. We will post an announcement here, and in our Discord (https://discord.gg/kYAZwDK) once it has been uploaded and is ready for testing. We hope everyone enjoys their weekend, see you in two weeks survivors.
22419 // TRANSMITTING *ERROR*
Hello survivors, and welcome to the R.A.I.D. Devlog for February 24, 2018. We have been hammering away the final features and problems for the build, but unfortunately encountered another delay caused by life unfortunately.
Gameplay:
Bliz has been hard at work dealing with college stuff and was unable to work for much of the week, yet was able to do quite a few features, some of which include the finalization of our procedural animation tech. This allows us to use one keyframe to do many animations such as running, walking, proning, jumping, etc. which will save our animators a lot of time. Another thing that has been finalized is our new main menu, which is heavily Division inspired. Finally, we
Level Design:
Th?nk has been hard at work with level design along with Frosty. The military base and city environments are in a final pass, as well as various optimizations have been made. A few new locations are now in the pipeline such as the forest encampment, and a shacktown. A few of these will make it into the new build as well as 2 small extraction zones. Scenes are now being set-dressed to make the environments feel more alive and give a better flow.
Animations:
We have begun working on melee animations as well as some of the other weapons. The M16A4 is now in the prototype animation phase, and the AS VAL is next. These animations will not be in the next patch, but should be in the game very soon.
Final Notes:
We are sorry we could not get the build out within the last 2 weeks, but it still remains imminent for posting, and will only get more features in it polished the longer it stays out of testers hands. The new trailer is around 1/4 of the way done as we cannot really film a game trailer without a game to film with. We hope the wait will be worth it for you all. Thanks for tuning in to this weeks update survivors! The build will be in your hands soon.
NO UPDATE THIS WEEK
There will be no update or week in review for this week on Desolation! Please wait till next Friday to Saturday for another update. Cheers!
Desolation Announcer Votes
Recently, we have received over 50 applications for the announcer role! I have picked out some of my favorites, but was unable to select a winner. I figured I would allow you guys to submit votes for which announcer should go into the game. Please choose wisely as this will a voice you will hear constantly throughout each playthrough. https://goo.gl/forms/pLzyyx6pLTj0Ogaj2
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Discord: https://discord.gg/F7dPzNq
Website: https://www.desolation-game.com/
Facebook: https://goo.gl/Q4oezi
Desolation Week in Review for April 1st!
Hello survivors, and welcome to another Desolation Week in Review. The team has been very busy this week with the 0.17 public test along with development.
Gameplay Changes, Animations, and New Updates:
Over the last week, the team has released several hotfixes to the 0.17 build to ensure that servers work as intended, along with the build receiving some additional improvements as an attempt to let players enjoy their testing. Within the 0.17 patch, we delayed adding in the CZ-275 Carbine, and replaced it with an AKM while you guys wait.
For the upcoming update next week, we have:
began working on a weapon and recoil system pass which should get the system to an Early Access ready state,
a first iteration of an inventory system,
a First person animation pass which will include things such as weapon movement lag, proper hip fire recoil, animation blending, and a smoother crouching system
a third person animation pass,
a VFX and Sound system pass including things such as gunfire, footsteps, and more.
These changes will hopefully surface sometime within the next week, we will be seeing another update which will include the updated level along with the updates previously stated. The animation department has also begun working on animations for the AKS-74u, which are looking great and will hopefully look fantastic when they are finished. Along with weapons, the modelling team has continued working on the bike textures and have finished a few smaller models as well, such as boxes and cones.
Level Design:
The team has continued updating and finishing the Fair Isle level, with things such as our fourth and hopefully final foliage pass on the trees and grass models. Passes have also been made on the new Sector 09 area, such as a particle and lighting pass. The team has continued Optimization on some of the smaller models, disabling lighting from longer cull distances away, which results in using less GPU power and gaining some extra performance client side. Adding on to this, the team has continued working on many of the buildings and houses to add more variety to each area within the map. Our team of Artists has also been working on replacing many of the models within the level, which eliminates many of marketplace assets once again. Smaller items will be replaced to increase quality and performance, while also giving us more freedom to modify them.
Web Development:
The network team is also beginning to work on a roadmap for all community members to see to keep up with how far we are until Early Access release. This roadmap will be available in the near future, and will showcase detailed explanations of each feature that is being worked on within the game. This new addition to the webstie will allow community members to make sure we stay on track with development of the game as we reach our Early Access date within the next couple months.
Final Notes:
Please take the time and join our Public Discord Server! When we reach 400 members, we will be giving free Beta Keys out for you all to play, regardless of a game purchase or not. https://discord.gg/F7dPzNq
New Teaser Trailer Released
A nice early morning surprise for you all! This trailer puts a few questions we have been asked to bed once and for all and was a lot of fun to make.
Answered Questions:
- Female Characters Exist
- New Character Models for Male now are working
- Melee Weapons Confirmed
- New Underground Area near completion
- New Trailer coming April 25
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From Flip creating the custom music to the animating using the powerful Unreal Sequencer, this trailer took us just 3 total days to write and finish. The development of the game has been very smooth over the past week or so as we stride to continue to complete 0.0.18 later today.
Desolation Week in Review for 3/21/18
Hello survivors! Welcome to another devlog. We are a little early this week and have been very busy this week with our upcoming Alpha test and continuation of development for Desolation, so lets get started.
Animations:
This week, we have heavily focused on our animation systems and rigging for many of our assets that we plan to add into the game within the near future. As you can see here, we are currently working on the M416 sequences. This is all thanks to our animator, Allan Zhang. We will be doing this process to every weapon, eliminating the old marketplace animations and allowing us to customize the system a bit more. Along with weapon animations, we have also began working some rigs. As can be seen here, we have started working on some vehicles, the first being the bike that is currently in the process rigged and textured.
0.0.18 Patch
Moving on from the animations and some new concepts, we have released the public playtest 0.0.17 that fully functions with another update coming this weekend.
This new update will include things such as:
Fully functioning Matchmaking and Game servers,
character movement using the actual client prediction and server authoritative system, hopefully the new CZ 275 Carbine,
bug fixes,
and new arm models.
We still need to make some changes to some of the animations and scopes to have the rifle work as intended, but this playtest will allow players to interact with others as they did in 0015, only in a different location this time.
We also have some updates to our level design. Buildings are mostly complete, and we are now working on a new cave area that will serve as another exit for Sector 09. This area is mostly in the block out stage and includes some temporary model placement and some new vent systems. At the moment, we only temporarily have the main barebones such as the walls in place and the first pass on rock formations. We are also continuing to optimize and replace some of our foliage and are also messing with our lighting and particle systems. These new additions are making the game run pretty smoothly, so we have been adding more and more to the map and drastically upping the overall quality of our lighting systems to get back to our original optimization levels that we have had previously. Losing performance may sound like a bad thing, but we are only really scratching the surface when it comes to optimization of the game and the level. This optimization will continue all the way past full release, meaning that the game will only keep improving as we keep adding to it.
Once again, thanks to all backers of the game through our Kickstarter campaign that had ended a little over 2 weeks ago. We have just received the payment and you will all begin to see works in progress of skins very soon.
I would like to personally thank all of the contributors and community members who have assisted with the creation of this weeks update. We hope to have our community integrated with development a lot more in the future, and these devlogs may be one of possible ways to do that. Please give us feedback on how we are doing, things you would like to see, and more. We are always curious to see what the community wants and how they wish to help us improve the finished product. Thanks again for tuning in on this weeks devlog, we hope you have enjoyed the Week In Review and hope to see you again later next week.
eFr0st (Project Lead and Founder of Desolation)
Desolation Week in Review for 12/3/18
Hello Survivors, and welcome to another devlog! We have finally begun testing of the 0017 patch and are still continuing work on the game and features. We are a bit late this week, but we are still working hard on the game and its many features. This week we have quite a bit for you, lets take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxlO2WWzh2U
Gameplay:
For gameplay, we are now fixing bugs, doing server testing, and adding more content for the 0.0.17.3 patch. The new patch that will come a bit later in the week will include more weapons and bug fixes making the 0.0.17 patch feel more complete. This update will also include changes to the main menu and some other fixes as well. We are still continuing on releasing patches for every other week and are no longer content locking features after the 0.0.18 patch.
Pledging:
So many of you have asked for ways to pledge for the game with a PayPal option, so we now have an option on the website where you can pledge for the game and get your rewards that we have spoken of previously. You can purchase a package here at https://desolation-game.com/.
Level Design:
We also have some more updates to our level design, including an upcoming segment on . We have begun working on another map, Clearview, and will continue working on our map, Fair Isle. Optimization is still underway on Fair Isle, and we can now maintain 60fps at low to medium settings on lower tier gaming setups. We are still finishing up our second to last Official Optimization. On top of this, we have also added more areas and/or buildings and have also completed the procedural waste system that we have spoken of before.
Animations, Characters, and Sounds:
Some other stuff we have been working on is items and characters. Currently, we are in the process of adding different character models as well as working on sounds and animations for weapons as well as players. Some examples of sounds you may hear may be things such as crickets, wind, improved walking, running, and weapon foley. Along with these sounds, we also working on revamping all current gun animations within the game for the Early Access release.
Sector 09:
Sector 09 is an iconic locationFor a quick look at Sector 09, please take a look at the video devlog above.
Thanks guys for checking in with Desolation this week, we will be back again this Friday for another update!
Desolation Week in Review 3/3/18
Hello survivors, and welcome to the Desolation Devlog for March 2, 2018. This week has been the largest for the game and its backers, so lets get started.
Gameplay:
Animation system is nearly complete and we have begun focusing more heavily on the physics systems, blood particle effects, and more! The physics systems include physical bullets, a ragdoll system that will replace our previous one, and a new damage system that affects the health based on location of the bullet hit.
Level Design:
This week has been quite a stretch as we have been finalizing our map Fair Isle. We have increased performance in the ue4 editor by 20% meaning there will most likely be a much larger change within the actual build. We have reduced draw calls meaning less stress on the gpu and cpu, meaning we can push more visual boundaries as well within the game. We have also undergone more lighting changes and have implemented the first rendition of a procedural weather system. Along with these changes we have also been working a bit on furnishing buildings and creating more as most have you have seen on our livestreams.
0.0.17 Patch
Within the upcoming 0.0.17 patch, we will be adding a new weapon, the CZ752 Carbine. This bolt action sniper rifle will be a nice addition and will definitely be by far one of the strongest weapons in the game. This update will also feature a sound overhaul, bug fixes, physics updates, a particle patch, and a graphics update! This build will be content locked like the 0.0.17 patch but will be out much faster now that we have the barebones systems in place that 0.0.17 has provided. We will continue adding new content to the build, and if you wish to stay updated you can check out our Discord.
Kickstarter:
Our Kickstarter has finally ended raising just around 1900 pounds! However, around 30% of the pledges failed due to incorrect information or to denied transactions, so those few backers have had keys revoked and need to check their emails as soon as possible. The new way to pledge can be found on our website at https://desolation-game.com, the link will be in the description.
Delays:
We also have some news about the upcoming 0.0.17 and 018 patches as well! With the unfortunate delay of our 017 patch, we could not hold the game from the community any longer, so we released the 015 patch that we had finished a little over a month ago. We hope the wait was worth it and we hope to release more patches soon. The 0.0.17 patch is still on the way and contains the ragdolls and new blood spoken about before, some new animation tech, overhauled weapons, an updated map, and more.
