We've simplified the way players grab, obtain, and reload weapons. The feedback that we've received is that the previous system was overly complicated, and un-intuitive. Today's update goes a long way toward making the basic combat system fun and exciting. We hope you enjoy it and let us know how you like the new system!
New Simplified Armory and Inventory
The Armory now lets you choose what internally we're calling 'generators' for each of your holsters. Grabbing a new weapon is as simple as reaching down to your belt and clicking the trigger. Once a weapon is out of ammo, it'll automatically be discarded. Reloading is as quick as reaching down and grabbing a new weapon.
Grenade system overhaul
We've added a new networking solution for throwing items and we've switched over the grenade weapon to using it. Throwing grenades is now physically accurate. Make sure those straps are on!
New Features
Brand new armory and inventory system!
Updated grenade netcode to be physically accurate.
Updated teleport graphics to be more informative.
Added more visible information text on terminals.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue where controller handiness was not being applied on startup.
Fixed several more issues with sound effects not playing properly.
Next Update
Next week's update will be a bit smaller and will focus on two things.
Voice chat solution to replace the current quick chat system
New in-game handhold menu. We'll also be adding some new options related to muting/enabling chat across teams or specific players.
Boom Boom!
The planning and work for the new content update is coming along nicely but we have some incremental improvements that are ready now. We're planning on continuing to release these small improvements on a weekly basis as we work on finishing our first big update. We've finished the design for the new Armory and inventory management system which should be ready for the next build.
New Features
New graphical effects for drones and explosions.
Damage model optimizations and improvements to bullet damage netcode.
Shield domes have been replaced with strategically located shield walls.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed issue with grenades sometimes causing double damage.
Fixed issue with bullets not registering when close to shield walls.
Fixed several sound effect problems.
New Updates!
We've been adding some incremental updates this past week and it's a good time take a quick pause to post some patch notes.
New Features
New bullet improvements!
Bullet speeds have been increased across the board.
Bullet max distance removed. Added slight scattering effect to compensate.
A few tweaks to drone AI. They will now target enemies that damage them regardless of distance.
Teammates can now overlap teleport circles.
Added close button to Armory. We're going to be reworking the armory and inventory management systems! We've received a lot of feedback that the current system is too complicated.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an edge case for switching guns between hands.
Completely rewrote the shield logic. Fixed an issue with the client-side state prediction and a few graphical improvements.
Fixed issue with reinforcement timer.
Rigidbody networking optimizations.
Fixed a bug that was preventing drones from targeting turrets.
Fixed a bug that allowed a drone to cause double damage. They should be a lot more manageable now.
Fixed a few AI path-finding issues that was causing them to get stuck on buildings.
A few teleport changes and lots of bug fixes!
Today's update brings some much requested changes to the teleport system. Many of you have requested a more 'dash' type teleport to increase immersion and we've also added a counter to the cooldown. You can now teleport 2-3 times quickly before needing to recharge. Let us know what you think!
What we've spent the most time working on the last two weeks is a very intensive rewrite of the movement and location system which gives support for local influence zones. If you've seen the latest Star Citizen demo then you'll know what this is. We can now have players on different moving objects, ships, elevators, platforms, etc. Here's a very rough demo of our dropship test scene with the new code in place. We're going to be able to do some cool stuff with this!
Added Headset indicator on the teleport request circle to show players exactly where they will teleport to.
Added ambient effects to the Station Lobby and added platforms for the future dropship boardings.
New local influence zone mechanics.
Better graphics model for the CommLink.
Updating Unity to latest version.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed an issue with long running servers that caused them to not allow players to join and showed incorrect player counts.
Fixed an issue when preloading graphics.
Teleport outer circle will show now in Arena servers.
Prevent players from throwing weapons out of the firing range.
Fixed a bug in the damage model that sometimes prevented grenade damage.
Fixed graphical bug with first frame of shooting a bullet from some weapons.
Fixed Unity GUI lag on the CommLink
Introducing the Space Station public lobby!
Our new public lobby is now up and operational. A huge thank you for your support and patience in getting this update out the door. Gameplay-wise, we still have the Base Attack game-mode along with a brand new public firing range. The biggest changes are under the hood, where we're continuing to set up the foundation for the Phase 2 content update.
Current Roadmap
Planet-fall drop mechanics. We're working on a four person shuttle that will transport you and your squad to the planet down below. The plan is to make it as seam-less as possible for the server transition. We're excited to show you our take on proper sci-fi combat drop!
Planet-side missions. The bulk of the Phase 2 update will be on the planet's surface. We're still in the design phase but the goal is that a player can join at anytime, and have a fun experience whether or not there are other players online.
Better communication options. We're investigating a better solution to the quick chat panel and looking at voice chat options.
Patch Notes
New Features
New Station public lobby servers with Arena Terminals, Firing Range, and Hangar Bay.
Client-side apartment room. This replaces the previous floating platform and is where you start the game. Contains the options menu and also an Arena Terminal in case the lobby servers are unavailable.
Enabled Unity's new multi-threaded rendering. Let us know in the forums if there are any new graphical issues.
Bug Fixes:
Updated engine to latest version of Unity 5.4 release.
Fix for terminal help text.
Fix for issue when triggering Join Server very quickly.
Fix for graphical issue when an object is destroyed while a player is holding it.
Fix for graphical issue when viewing the ranked mode timer count down to zero.
Reset personal comm unit text when exiting game.
Added new preload feature to reduce cases when the game paused during play.
Fixed bug with displaying unicode characters on the Arena Champion board.
New Sniper Rifle and Armory system released!
This week's update was designed around setting a foundation for the Phase 2 update. We're hard at work on the new design focusing on creating a persistent online universe that's fun even for single players. The biggest change is a new way of loading scenes which will make it easier to do server hopping and transition effects between areas. We also finished up the Armory terminal and a new long range sniper rifle. Here are the full patch notes:
New Features
New Armory terminal. Choose weapons from 4 categories; 1-Handed, 2-Handed, Deployables, and Utility.
New Save and Load system to quickly outfit your favorite loadout from the Armory terminal.
MSR-150-A1 Sniper rifle added. Long range, highly accurate, balanced out with a low fire rate.
New two-handed weapon mechanic. The sniper rifle is our first two handed weapon which is designed to balance powerful weapons by preventing the player from holding an off-hand item.
New scene loading system.
Bug Fixes:
Starting match music plays on server join.
Fixed bug that prevented joining a server after waiting in the lobby for too long.
Teleport updates, bug fixes, and a sneak peak at our roadmap
We have a new update today to fix a few lingering issues and to implement some of the feedback we've gotten on the teleport system. We've expanded the bounds so you can teleport right up to cover and use it more effectively.
Full patch notes:
New Features
Second pass on the teleport system making it much easier to use with cover.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed bug when displaying unicode characters in Steam user names on the leaderboard.
Fixed edge case where the teleport effect would happen when a player spawned.
Drones and turrets now aim for the players head and turret damage has been reduced to compensate for the increased critical hits. Before, a player could stand behind cover in a certain way that would prevent the turret from hitting them.
Players are prevented from shooting if their body is inside objects or the environment.
Fixed visual bug on the ranked mode countdown timer.
Sneak peak at the Roadmap
This weekend we took time to work on some automation work that will help speed things up as we move into working on our first content update. Like most of you, we're also disappointed by the lack of players that are generally online and available to play with. The standard multiplayer shooter genre is only going to become more saturated and for us to succeed we'll need to adapt and offer something unique to the VR space.
We're working on creating a proper roadmap but here's a quick sneak peak of the plan for the next few weeks.
Short term:
New sniper long range weapon
New ground based drone
Revamp of the Armory mechanics (spawn weapons as needed, save and retrieve favorite loadouts, organize weapons categories).
We're excited about the new Armory mechanic as it'll let us expand beyond 4 types of weapons and it'll work with the new resource economy system we're designing.
Long Term:
We're starting work on Orbital Strike Phase 2 development. The goal for this phase is to ensure the game is fun and entirely playable even if you happen to be the only person online at the time. We'll do this by bringing in the VR elements that people love to use; interacting with your environment, being creative, sharing those creations and, blowing them up (we are still out to be the best VR multiplayer shooter on the Vive). We're still early in the design process but things like building your own persistent base, resource economy, crafting system, territories, are all on the table. Having only dedicated servers and a persistent backend, we can do a lot of cool stuff. We'll have more updates soon and, now that the fundamentals are looking solid, we'll be able to move quickly to bring this content out to you.
Introducing New Leaderboards and Ranked Mode!
Hello everyone! After a couple days hard work, we're ready to release our new Ranked Mode feature and global leaderboards. This was designed and implemented to help with what is our current biggest challenge, getting players online at the same time. Orbital Strike is much more fun with other players so we want to help you all get together and have some fun matches.
We currently have 12 rank mode time periods (every 90 minutes) throughout the day. By playing during these time periods, you'll gain daily rank points which will count toward determining our Arena Champion.
We'll be keeping an eye on player counts and will change the ranked mode timings to ensure we get consistent full games throughout the day. As always we'd love to see you join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/nPWTcrW where we're having discussions on what we're building next!
New Features
Ranked mode and leaderboards!
Bug Fixes:
Fixed hit effect not showing for the Headquarters building.
Some bug fixes as we head into the weekend.
Small update for you all tonight. Our highest priorities for this weekend are server optimizations and ensuring that there are players online for you to play with. We're working on a new feature that will incentivize players to log on during certain time blocks so we can ensure we'll have some good games throughout the day.
We were able to finish knocking out a few bugs so we have a small update to get these fixes out to you. Here are the patch notes:
Balancing
Increased charge time of the shield module to 6 seconds. The recharge time for a destroyed shield is now 12 seconds.
Bug Fixes:
Drones and turrets will now search for the players helmet rather than body. They should properly target you now if you poke your head out of cover.
Fixed drone path-finding so they don't get stuck on turrets in the enemy base.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused grenades to damage players through a base shield wall. The expected behavior is shield walls block damage from grenades.
Note* The personal shield will not block grenade damage making it great counter to static shield players.
Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed grenades and thrown objects from going through the walls of the environment. You should no longer be able to lob grenades over the walls and into the enemy base.
Grenade Fixes and Bug Hunting
Tonight the priority was fixing the grenade weapons. We got a good first pass done and they are much easier to use, far more deadly, and should be a great counter to the shield module. To use the grenades, simply hold down the trigger and a short arc aim assist will appear. Releasing the trigger throws the grenade where you're aiming. If you want to cancel the throw, just hit the grip buttons. We also hit a ton of bug fixes and made a few more improvements to server optimizations. Full details below.
New Features:
Grenade damage model and throw mechanics completely rewritten.
Changed the way we detect shield wall detection to disable weapons. Before we did a naive box check. We now do a proper intersection between the muzzle of your weapons and your body. It should only now be disabled if you actually try to poke your gun through.
Teleport arc now changes color to show when the teleport is charged and ready.
Balancing
Increased blaster damage by 50%. Player heath had been increased to make Drones more manageable but other player weapons had not been scaled with it. We'll be keeping a close eye on how this effects the gameplay.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a bug that was preventing server updates from propagating for slow moving objects. This fixes the -Can't pick up grenades and weapons- bug and the few cases of objects not appearing to spawn.
Knocking yourself out with a grenade no longer counts as a kill.
Added some dampeners to the Hit effect. Getting hit by turrets should look a lot less sparkly now.
