The next campaign level, “Old Friends” has been released, along with more bug fixes and optimizations.
Full Changelog
Added
“Old Friends” campaign level
Another pistol magazine unloading sound
Two more handgun magazine loading sounds
RPG-7 and FIM-92F Stinger side-view sprites
Hidden area on the Hot on the Trail level
Dialogue portrait sprites for characters appearing in the new campaign level
More fallen log sprite variations
Changed
Optimized sounds to reduce total file size
Garbage cans no longer block line of sight
Fixed
AI conversations set to end after the final text no longer continually loop
Camera panning no longer causes the world to “flicker”
UI notifications no longer play their sound if another notification sound is already playing. This prevents excessively loud notification sounds from playing such as when several objectives are added to the map at the same time.
Occasional null reference timing issue when markers are removed from the map no longer occurs
An issue where interactable objects couldn’t be clicked in some campaign levels has been fixed. This was due to the fading screen overlay not being detected as fading out all the way and thus keeping clicks disabled.
M1911A1
The classic M1911A1 handgun, as well as a custom story-related variant of it have been added to the game. The basic M1911A1 can be unlocked similarly to other handguns from the Loadout menu, however the custom variant will only be usable after completing the upcoming story level, which is being worked on now.
Full Changelog
Added
Alternative door unlock sound. Two door locking sounds.
Door locking and unlocking functionality via script for campaign levels
M1911A1, new gunshot sound, .45 ACP rounds
A custom M1911A1 called “Belu’s M1911A1”, belonging to a character who will be introduced in the next story level, has been added to the Loadout menu. It will be unlockable after the upcoming story level is completed.
Changed
AI groups in Contracts now determine the closest point to patrol or defend and move to it when a contract is started.
Handgun firing animation has been adjusted so the slide goes back further before transitioning into the idle animation
"Hot on the Trail" Level Fixes
Fixed a lot of issues with the checkpoints in the new campaign level, as well as some general code optimization.
Full Changelog
Changed
Optimized and refactored player code
All friendly Wolf operators in Hot on the Trail can now be seen even when not looking at them
Fixed
Hot on the Trail Fixes
Worthsfeld consistently plays the charge planting animation in the new Hot on the Trail level
No longer throws an index out of bound exception when the last AA site is destroyed
Player no longer spawns in the middle of nowhere when restarting from the third checkpoint
Worthsfeld will now always continue to walk to the AA site to plant charges rather than walking off if he gets interrupted by enemy fire
Trees that have overlapping leaves with other trees no longer have occasional clipping between their leaves
Checkpoints have been fixed
"Hot on the Trail" Campaign Level Released
It took a lot longer than I was expecting, but the next campaign level – “Hot on the Trail” is out now. This level features the all new gas mask and smoke system that was also added in this update.
Full Changelog
Added
Several sprites for AA sites which will appear in later missions
Sniper overwatch AI behavior
Gas masks
Smoke
New music
Changed
Pressing the Escape key when certain UI are open (inventory, map) now closes those UI from most recently opened before pausing the game
Opening a UI now always places it on top of all other open UIs
Ambient bush swaying animations have been simplified significantly due to their impact on performance
Fixed
Dialogue text out-of-bounds error no longer occurs when multiple characters are looking at the same target
TakeDamage() no longer does anything after a target has been destroyed/killed
Grass no longer randomly flickers on edges
Dialogue now correctly calls Display() on the first dialogue text object which fixes an issue with events not calling off of the first dialogue text object
Rock formation in the north area of the Plantation contract map and certain grass tiles no longer flicker
Known Issues
Gas mask donning and doffing animations use the default animation item, a soda can
Smoke inhalation drains the player’s stamina to 0, whereas it should significantly reduce stamina but always stay above 0
Bugfixes, Optimization, Small Additions
Bugfixes and optimization, primarily focused on the Plantation Contract map as it has been found to have performance problems on some systems. A few additions have also been made to the code and art for the next campaign level.
Full Changelog
Added
Tooltip to the “Hide Door Highlight” option in the settings menu to better explain its purpose
Bushes now play a rustle animation when you walk into them
Changed
Optimized dialogue for less memory usage, refactored, and changed event structure on dialogue for added functionality in later campaign levels
Optimized and refactored certain campaign dialogue scripts to use new dialogue events
Re-worded help article explaining XP and leveling
Optimized bush animations which additionally greatly improves performance on the Plantation contract map
Fixed
Throwing a grenade in certain maps when playing the survival objective no longer causes enemy waves to stop spawning
Fixed AI sometimes spawning out-of-bounds on Airport Survival contracts.
Fixed a corner wall in the airport to no longer allow AI and the player to walk through at specific angles
Player Skills
Unlockable skills have finally been added to the game. For the time being, there are six skills you can choose from, with many more being planned for future releases. The new skills menu can be accessed from the Main Menu > Character > Skills. Skills can be unlocked by leveling up by gaining experience points, which currently are received upon successful contract completion. In the future this will also be changed to allow for experience to also be gained from campaign missions and other modes. The next release will be going back to focusing on the main story. Additionally, future story missions will be longer than they have been in the past, so future content updates will be slower.
Full Changelog
Added
Player skills, UI, experience points
Can opening sound effect for checkpoint energy drink items
Skill unlock/level up sound effect
Changed
Optimized contract objective completion state checking. Objective now use an event subscription rather than a loop
Healing Items At Checkpoints and Bugfixes
Lots of bug fixes, but also certain checkpoints (such as in the hotel campaign level) will now give you a healing item when they’re first reached. That way if you’re low on health when you reach a checkpoint you can keep going and not feel the need to immediately restart at that checkpoint for an advantage.
Full Changelog
Added
Checkpoint healing items in the campaign (only used in some checkpoints)
Fixed
Footsteps no longer continue to rotate with the person walking
Healing items show their correct display sprite in the inventory
Rectangular rocks can no longer be destroyed
UI notifications no longer display near the center of the screen at resolutions above 1080p
Player healing animation gun alignment corrected
Death and Mission Complete screens now scale correctly at resolutions above 1080p
Actor and unarmed AI no longer cause an error when hit
Gun animations for friendly AI have been realigned correctly in the Hotel campaign level
Survival Contract Objective and Healing Items Added
A lot of features in this newest addition to the game. Most notably is the new Survival contract objective. Survival can be started just like any other contract but instead has infinite amount of enemies, with your reward depending on how many enemies you can take down before the enemies overwhelm you.
With the new survival objective I’ve also added healing items, as survival would be too tedious without them. Healing items take time to apply, but will restore some lost health when used.
The next update will focus on adding player leveling, with unlockable skills as you play the game and get experience. Rest assured, the game won’t be transforming into an RPG. None of these unlockable skills will provide you with anything too over-the-top, and none of them will be required to play through subsequent levels. Instead, these unlockable skills will focus on allowing you to fine-tune your playstyle, such as by increasing your stamina regeneration rate, or increasing your total carry weight (which currently isn’t fully implemented but does exist in-game).
Full Changelog
Added
AI loot drop system. Currently only used in the survival mode.
Survival contract objective
Healing items
Changed
Gates have been disabled on the Wolf HQ contract map to accommodate new AI spawn locations added for the survival objective
Throwables in the inventory can now be moved to different throwable slots
Code relating to health overhauled to accommodate the new healing system.
Optimized Game Handler for quicker startup times
Refactored player animation code and removed redundant references to certain animations
Refactored AI healing animations to work with the new healing system.
Startup sequence when loading into levels has been changed. Game no longer briefly pauses and unpauses when first entering the level.
Shanty town map south border is no longer diagonal for compatibility with enemy spawning on the new survival objective mode
Merged some player and AI animations
Footsteps are now emitted using a particle system instead of game objects for better performance and old footstep code has been removed
Fixed
Game can no longer be paused while a contract is ending and showing your reward
Game no longer pauses when closing tutorial hints in story levels
AI groups no longer throw a null reference exception to the AI Patrol component when group members die or are removed
All contract maps now use a single grid navmesh to prevent issues with AI pathing between separate graphs
The correct number of slots per row in the inventory are now instantiated. Prior to this, 1 less than the intended amount were instantiated per row. This only changes the organization of the rows, the total amount of magazines and throwables remains the same.
Guns in inventory show their correct caliber again
Plantation roof collider size corrected
Removed
Deprecated player saving code
Bugfixes and Cartridge Sprite Improvements
A lot of bugfixes with a few small sprite changes to the cartridges. Some content that will be used in the upcoming survival mode has also been added in this update.
Full Changelog
Added
Dedicated tracer sprites for 5.45 x 39mm (7T3M), 5.56 x 45mm (M856), 7.62 x 39mm ( 57-N-231P)
UI sounds for the upcoming survival mode
Changed
More foliage and clutter variants in the introduction driving dialogue sequence
Cartridge tracer colors are no longer derived from their sprite renderer color
Added hyphenation to 7.62 x 39mm cartridge names (57N231P is now 57-N-231P)
5.45 x 39mm cartridge sprites now have lacquer
Bullet on the 5.56 M855 cartridge sprite now has a visible cannelure
All cartridge sprites increased in size from 128px to 512px
AI optimizer now only disables distant AI’s shooting. Movement is now always enabled on all AI present in a level.
Fixed
Fog of war size increased so the edges can’t be seen when at the furthest zoom
Grass tile size in the introduction dialogue sequence to prevent visible gaps
Wu’s dialogue no longer breaks the introduction level
Guns that are given to the player during campaign missions now take the correct position and rotation
More grass tiles added to the Shanty Town map to extend the border on the Smugglers campaign level
Increased time between the player’s gun being forced to the idle position and the player’s gun key input being disabled in campaign missions to prevent the gun from becoming stuck between the two positions
Flashlight no longer disappears when shooting
Removed
Inventory idle rummaging sound has been removed as it gets annoying over time
Map, Art Improvements, and Upcoming Features
Another smaller update focused on map improvements, making the ingame art, and animations look better.
If it seems like there hasn’t been a significant update in a while it’s because I’ve changed my workflow to focus on finishing the story script before adding more levels to the game. Previously, I would write a level’s script for dialogue, create it ingame, then repeat. At this point I’ve written the entire story and only need to flesh out the details for two of the later missions.
There’s two large new features that will be coming to Mercenary Operator: Wolves soon. One of which is a new contract mode. The other feature will be revealed at a later date, but should add a good bit of replayability. Afterwards, the main story will be focused on again.
Full Changelog
Added
Rectangular rock
AR-15 SOPMOD stock top-down sprite
Code for recoil animations when guns are fired has been added (animations haven’t been created yet)
Changed
Various sprite sizes increased
Some locations on the Obatenwe world map were renamed. Smuggler HQ was removed from the map.
Shanty town map adjustments: All ground objects were moved to their corresponding map segments for better performance and more overall detail has been added.
Airport map adjustments: Trees, grass, and bushes were added. Coffee shop floor in the airport has been lightened for easier visibility. North-South road extended
Plantation map adjustments: More trees, bushes, and grass
Wolf HQ: More trees and bushes
Grey Wolf M4 CQBR now uses the SOPMOD stock on its top-down sprite
Fixed
Orphaned sprite skin on some grasses is now used and animated correctly
Armed AI no longer attempt to shoot a null target when intersecting with a door
