H-Hour will be available for up to 50% off during the Steam store Winter Sale running from Dec 20, 2018 @ 9:55 am Pacific to Jan 3, 2019. As the PC game nears completion for full release, we are also planning to run a few free weekend events to help get the word out on H-Hour, improve player counts and continue to support our playing community. Our first free weekend will follow the release of our upcoming patch.
PS4 Development Update:
In the past 6 months while also maintaining our PC development, we progressed far enough into the PS4 SDK workload to have meaningful conversations with PlayStation (PS) industry professionals and Sony representatives on H-Hour: Worlds Elite. The time spent was tremendously helpful in understanding the work effort, processes and requirements for a release on that platform. It also helped us identify the best approach to use for H-Hour's development moving forward.
PS4 development is unlike Steam where a developer controls Quality Assurance (QA) standards and approvals for testing patches and actually releases them themselves. Sony has a large number of predetermined standards that must be met before we can book time for a test with their QA department. And yes, you need to book in advance as they service many development teams. Without Sony's QA level release approval, your game cannot move to the next stage of development/release and we need a minimum of two streams for this as we will have a Closed Beta for H-Hour. There is also a cost to use these services so it is wise for a developer to limit the number of times they require Sony QA.
PC development, no matter how complete, does not mean you can just push your game to the Sony DevKit and begin your work. Our Senior Developer discovered a large number of changes that were needed in the PC code before the game would work with Sony's SDK and open on the DevKit in our PSN depot. Though this slowed PC development, we feel it was time well spent. It allows for a matching of the development streams we would otherwise not have had and will enable the team to move improvements made during PS development backwards into the PC more easily post PS release.
We are now aware that advancing beyond this successful first step will require freezing our code, adapting our graphics, audio, optimizations, leaderboard, achievements (awards), DLC systems and other platform dependent services including multiplayer server processes. We will also need to upgrade our engine version to ensure the PSN SDK version in use is supported throughout the development period.
So where do we stand? The studio has decided to take the wise advice we received from the PS industry professionals we consulted and stop all PS work until we have fully released H-Hour on PC and can freeze the game code. Once that freeze is in place, we will upgrade our engine version and turn our focus fully on PSN development. For our community map makers, there will also be a need for optimization and quality standards to be met if they wish to share their content on PS. To ensure their content is ready, starting in March, we will be consulting with our community map makers to identify their wishes for the process to use and their willingness to move the best of their custom maps to the PS platform as free content.
PC Development Update:
With the full focus returning to PC development now, our team expects to be able to begin testing of its latest patch after Christmas. This patch will deal with the majority of our in game release showstoppers and allow for an enjoyable in-game experience for our players. Once you start seeing the internal test servers popping up, you will know the patch is within a week or two of public release.
Future patches that follow will lock down the remaining interface needs, complete the final passes for bug fixes, optimizations, and polish, then finish with the move to shipping builds so we can release our server files to the public. This initial Steam full release will be version 1.0 for H-Hour and as with any game, you can expect changes will follow the release as time permits after we complete our PS4 build.
Happy Holidays!
The studio and development team want to wish each and everyone of you a happy, prosperous and fun filled holiday season!
Patch 3.5.10 & Server Downtime
We are releasing a small patch this morning. Servers will be offline for a short period while we update the files on our dedicated servers.
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Patch Notes Release 3.5.10
New Features:
Audio Option: On Game Focus lost
--Audio option allowing players to set game audio volume for when removing game focus in Windows (like Alt-Tab). The default value is 65%
--With this setting, the game is no longer completely silent (muted) when players change to other windows applications. Players can set the option to 0 if they wish to keep the previous behavior.
Updated Features:
Player Spawn:
--Corrected an issue with Player Spawn location logic that allowed some players to spawn at opponent team locations.
--Special thanks to the players that participated on the Public Studio Test server over the weekend to help the team understand/correct this issue
Bug Fixes
BF(717): Melee can be performed before round officially begins
--Resolved to prevent any future instances of melee on spawn should an invalid spawn event occur
BF(718): Anchor HUD widgets to corners
--Corrected an issue with some screen resolutions and HUD elements.
--Input from players using non 16:9 resolutions helped in identifying the screen placement issues for certain setups. We have updated the screen space reference for some of the HUD elements to better accommodate these various setups. This is particularly important to PS4 platform and associated displays.
Patch 3.5.9 & Server Downtime
Servers are offline to be updated with the latest patch and will return shortly.
BF(060): Respawn locations do not consider nearby enemy players --Code rework to attempt to prevent spawn within 15m of nearby enemy
BF(676): Multiple Issues with weapon filtering --Work completed to prevent carry over of filtered room rules on client weapon settings/loadouts into another room or one of the servers
BF(715): Some actions randomly stop becoming available (such as bomb pickup or opening doors) --Additional work was done on the action system. Due to the randomness of this bug's appearance, it will require stress testing from the playing community to ensure all situations that might cause this to occur have been found and addressed. Please report any future issues found as a new bug and include the prior events you took to generate this lockout from the action system.
WorkshopContent
Selva:
--We were required to remove the Workshop map, Selva, as another game with a Steam Workshop filed an ownership claim to that map through DMCA. Selva's map creator informed us he used the Steam Workshop tools provided by the other game company to upload his map but did not contract or sell his content to them. Unfortunately, given the DMCA filing we must remove this map until ownership is resolved.
--We would advise any Workshop Content Creators to be careful where and how they upload their original content. H-Hour's Workshop app only accepts uploads of "pre-built" content so your source files are your own and you retain full ownership rights. If any developer's Workshop app requires your source files, be concerned. Despite the Steam Workshop Rights and Obligations document that allows user generated content on multiple workshops and allows the creator to retain the rights to the content along with the right to request removal at any time, there is risk involved. To protect your content do not publish on multiple Workshop sites and do not upload your source files using a game developer's Workshop app.
Patch 3.5.8 Notes
Servers are offline while we update them with the latest patch. Given the nature of changes, we recommend everyone verify their files after download to ensure they have all content. To do this:
Right click on H-Hour in Steam Library
Select Properties and then the Local Files tab
Click on the Verify integrity of game cache button and let it run until complete.
Feature Request (673): No blend animation when turning in lean stance
--All lean stances now have foot movement when turning
Feature Request (691): UCR – Clear Selected Rotation List
--Map Rotation screen now has a Reset button to clear previous selections
Elimination gamemode added:
Map mode created, asset adjustments to reflect game mode type and loading screens created-
--Cove
--Scorch
--Temple
--WolfRun
Updates:
Rank Limiter for Rooms:
--Rank limiting now rejects players above noted rank without leaving a "ghost" character
Dance Activation:
--Dancing on players no longer requires looking at the body to display the Dance action
Scorch:
--SOF player spawns changed to more closely mirror time to fire zone of Terrorist spawns
Claymore & PMN Plant:
--Click sound added to indicate successful plant
Log Cleanup:
--Corrections to address numerous log warning entries, reduce volume of messaging and correct crash conditions reported. We expect this will reduce the number of connection drops for players.
Polish:
--Work on camera to smooth motion on stance changes and when going in/out of FP/TP view
--Polish of character internal logic to improve animation changes, movement
--Polish of door logic to improve interaction with character
--Improved MiniMap widget tacking logic and cleanup (this is expected to resolve double star issues)
--Polish of animation framework for better animation handling
--Increased velocity needed to achieve "hard landing" animation so this will occur less frequently
--Material settings for all SOF and Terrorist characters were reviewed and adjusted to improve graphical look
--Removed hat shadow from Lucky, Jack and Stevie's faces
--Corrected texture for Serbian Woodland Camo
Bug Fixes:
BF(616): Bomb Plant Neck Twist
BF(618): Lower right side of Jack Coat needs to be reweighted
BF(641): Slide from crouch to move
BF(657): Stevie's right eye is clipping through lower eyelid
BF(659): Lean gun placement is off.
BF(665): Starting Game with FrameRate limit set to "Unlimited" caps at 60 fps
BF(661): Turn in place animations are not lined up with idle stance
BF(667): Stuttering/Barely moving when changing to stand stance after being in scope/binoculars while crouched or prone
BF(675): Crosshairs interact with dead players (turn red on dead enemies)
BF(679): Nameplates of dead teammates not fading out until looked upon
BF(681): Full available SOF maps & modes not displayed in available UCR rotation
BF(682): Red Crosshairs on dead opponent bodies
BF(683): First shot weapon twitch
BF(687): No "Arming" Sound on PMN, Claymores, or C4
BF(692): Player's Health Bar doesn't go to 0 upon death
BF(695): Dead Bodies are not "cleaned up" in Respawn rooms
BF(697): Snapping of weapon position when changing movement direction in lean stance
BF(698): Weapon not lined up with crosshair on most lean movement anim2s
BF(700): Hostage Extraction Zone (star) shows on Terrorist MiniMap
Workshop:
New:
Sandstorm
Selva
Updated:
Cryptic -
-more props and altered textures
Desert Raid -
--Collision issues on Stairs
--Collision on Sabotage plant site
--Added Jump to climb on Guest house balcony
--Changed position of Bomb plant on DEMO
--Added new light Prop for Community Support
--Fixed collision issues on rocks outside of Jail
FoxHunt -
--cleanup NULL reference assets
--extraction object much smaller (as asked)
--added blocking volumes at edges of church (comment player).
Port -
--closed the outer buildings (like CrossRoads)
--spawn SOFs and Terrys at both sides
--closed areas to make the map smaller
--bomb plants moved
Sujo –
--clean up of materials and assets to prevent player drops
Known Issue
C4 Plant Announcement Duplicate:
--Sometimes on C4 plant you get two messages instead of one. To prevent delay in releasing the patch, the team decided to wait and fix in next patch.
Patch Release 3.5.6
Servers are down as we update for release of the latest patch. This patch includes fixes to high priority bugs, map load player drops, those crash conditions on servers that were identified from the last patch and adds updates for controllers and animations.
If you have issues after loading this patch, try a file integrity check (right click game, Properties, Local Files and Verify button). If you are still having issues, rename your Saved folder under HHourGame, start H-Hour and reset your Options.
Quick Select 1 & 2 have been combined into a single controller button:
Tapping the Quick Select controller button (Left Shoulder by default)?is now used to assign the slot for Quick Select 1 when in the Radial Inventory Menu during. Tapping the button during gameplay will switch to the assigned inventory slot.
Holding the button briefly will now assign or switch to the Quick Select 2 item. This allows QS implementation to only take up a single controller button, and frees the original left trigger button for other uses.
There is now a setting under controller input options that allows players to manipulate the "hold time" between 100-500 ms (default is 250ms)
Feature Request (672): Controller - Guns Hot (no weapon fire) :
Player can activate guns hot on controller by partially activating controller analog button (IE Left/Right Trigger buttons)
Animations
Additional work was done on animations for stance polish, however, with the need to release the patch to address crashes, not all of the cleanup was completed so this is not a finish state, more will come in next patch
Updated Bolt Action Reload
Bolt action rifles animations on shot fire were polished
Feature Request (673) - No blend animations while turning in lean: We have begun adding hand keyed, turn-in-place while in lean stance animations. This work is in its preliminary phases. Currently only Rifl_Stand_Lean have been implemented. Additions to FR (673) will continue until all stances for each weapon set have been completed.
Bug Fixes:
BF(025, 422): UI Scaling issues on resolutions with different aspect ratios from 16:9
All UI elements maintain their 16:9 designed ratio, regardless of selected resolutions. This means that the elements will remain in view, but depending on the selected resolution, it may be possible to see "background" game or map rendering that would otherwise be hidden when using 16:9 resolutions.
BF(315): Random Underhand Grenade throw with rapid "full power" (left mouse click) after throwing an underhanded grenade (from right mouse click)
BF(621): Live nade ordinances are no longer dropped when killed while holding for throw
BF(658): Unable to throw repeat grenade if pressing fire button within 1 second of throwing a previous grenade (regardless of how long the fire button is held)
BF(660): Player seems too high off ground
BF(661): Turn in place animations are not lined up with idle stance
BF(662) Camera position moves at every round/match start
BF(659): Lean gun placement is off
BF(663): Players getting kicked back to main menu during map traveling due to failure to load map assets within the default set timeframe
NOTE: This can be caused by multiple reasons, we've worked to find solutions to issues identified so far where we can facilitate the map load, but some instances may continue depending on cause/map. Load times are impacted by many factors including hardware, map size and errors within workshop maps as well. Any errors found have been reported to workshop map makers for fixes.
BF(664): Identified Server crashes post 3.5.4 release
BF(668): Double Tapping action key will show bomb plant progress timer without actually planting the bomb
BF(669): Unable to assign controller "Face Button Bottom" to action mappings
Also applies to Left/Center/Right mouse buttons
Known Issues:
First Shot Weapon Twitch
On the first shot of the round your character will appear to point gun in the wrong direction. This will happen with both rifle and pistol. This only happens on first shot at round/match start so we recommend you shoot once at the beginning of the round to avoid the bug happening during a gunfight. We are investigating the cause.
Patch Release 3.5.4
Servers are offline being updated with our latest patch.
This patch includes updates to our menu system to allow for full controller use. Internal testing indicates those with a 4K Monitor or TV who both use scaling for fonts/apps AND run H-Hour in Fullscreen mode, may need to change this to Windowed Fullscreen to avoid scaling issues. To fix, temporary set your scaling to 100%, access the Graphics menu and change to Windowed FullScreen. Exit the game and you should now be able to restore your display scaling to your preferred selection. Our apologies for any inconvenience.
New Features
Gamepad controlled cursor (temporary)
Players now have a built-in cursor that they can control with either their mouse, or the left analog stick on their controllers.
This allows controller users full interaction with the existing UI system while we update the interface to be more controller native in design.
Reloads
New rifle reload animations have been added
Updated Features
Animation Updates:
Ragdoll – Ragdoll has been updated to better reflect proper joint motion and strength
Updated all animations with key frame based improvements for the entire pistol and rifle animation sets. ~297 animations were updated in this process
Updated ladder slide animation.
Updated Armory Fidget Animations.
Hit Registry/Weapons:
Tuning of hit registry process to add improvements
Work was done on sniper rifle performance/settings based on community feedback
Scorch Map:
Change debris on corner by large garbage can to prevent players getting stuck.
Fix garbage bag hollow showing.
Hostages:
Workshop mappers can now select from all 4 hostages to set which 3 they want to appear in their maps. Now available - Bill, James, Tina and Stevie.
Fix for Stevie hostage eyes glowing
Bug Fixes
BF(640): Grenade Arc can remain visible for UCR host when holding for throw and switching to a different weapon
BF(643): Game Crash when enabling HDR from Options menu (HDR now auto-sets if monitor supports, requires community feedback to fully be considered resolved)
BF(645): Character randomly stuttering/vibrating when put in to knock back from shotgun damage
BF(646): Inventory equipment inventory selection keys (3-5) are out of order compared to the clockwise orientation of the Radial Loadout Menu
BF(654): At Round start-unable to rotate character
BF(655): Left hand not attaching to gun in armory.
BF(656): ik_foot_l firing errors in log
BF(644): No bullet spread issue was worked on
Workshop Maps
NEW Maps:
Desert Raid by SelflessOne
Fallout by Poison Cobra
Kazbah by Poison Cobra
Luceria by MikeC
NightStalker by Hyp3
Sub_Rosa by SelflessOne
Sujo by newybond
Updated Maps:
ArchWay - ladder added to lower level & blocking volumes on bus chairs
Catacombs - removed broken door on Terry plant side
Forgotten - optimization
FoxHunt - lower bldg, chgs for fog/water issues, made middle mountain higher, add a chokepoint on Terry side, chg ladder position on church slightly
Reaper - add blocking volume to prevent players getting outside of map
Servers Down for Maintenance
Sorry all, Servers down for maintenance. Watch for a further announcement once complete.
UPDATE:
Unfortunately found a corrupt file is the update so we are in process of reverting servers to the old build. If you already downloaded the update, make sure your restart Steam or Verify your files.
Workshop Map Patch Released
We released a patch this morning to get new and updated Workshop content in your hands.
Make sure you receive the game DLC download for the maps by restarting Steam. If you have issues on the new maps or see travel errors, do a file verification.
Right click on H-Hour in Properties
Select Local Files tab
Click on the Verify integrity of game cache button and let it run until complete
New and Updated Workshop Maps Released
Patch Release for Workshop Maps this morning.
NEW
Offshore, and
Blood Lake
Updated
Catacombs,
Cordova,
Forgotten,
Kadesh,
Port, and
RainForest
Kudos to our hard working community mappers!! Make sure you get latest and if any issues, do a verify of your files.
Right click on H-Hour in Library
Select Properties.
Click on Local Files tab.
Click on Verify integrity of game cache and let it run.
UE4 4.19 Goes Public - Server Downtime
Servers are down as we are migrating over the beta to public and releasing the 10 workshop maps that have been converted to 4.19 and are ready for community feedback. This downtime may take awhile as all configs need to be changed.
Make sure you restart Steam to grab the latest!
The team sends a big thank you to all who tested the beta and provided feedback and bug reports :)
