Punji VR
Feedback Survey for PunjiVR
I look forward to seeing your responses, thanks!
Link: https://forms.gle/REHMF5hCKh2kBmC59
Update 13 Patch 1
- Revised mission order on play menu
- Fixed enemy that was able to shoot you across the river on Bridge
- Moved player start closer to first set of fences on Bridge
New Graphics - First Look!
This is the first look at what Update 14's new visuals will look like in PunjiVR!
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Performance:
This is the main menu scene with medium quality settings and volumetric lighting. Volumetric lighting makes the scene's lighting look like it's actually in the scene by adding things like light beams and dust particles. It does not affect shadows or other lighting visuals, just the "fog" beams that appear in the the 3D space.
It's enabled in the screenshots because it makes everything look a lot better all around, but it does come with a heavy performance cost. I'll look into ways to mitigate this so it can be enabled on all quality settings, but it may just be left as an option for those with beefier systems and hardware. I'll share screenshots later with it off once I polish it up a bit.
Outside of that, performance hasn't really been affected at all, it actually has been slightly improved in some areas. Everything is baked (calculated in editor then drawn on) so that there are no realtime lights or shadows. The new artistic textures/materials don't take any runtime performance cost either.
One thing to note is that this update will be much bigger than previous updates, so expect a decently large file size increase. There are still a few things that I need to tweak, but I'll try to get a video of me playing and showing it off better in VR.
Notes & Other Details:
As you can see, a pastel/painted texture has been applied to all materials, lighting & shadows have been baked into the scene, models have been remade to better fit the style, and more detail was added to make the hilltop base feel less empty.
I forgot to take a screenshot of it, but the barrack interiors feel really nice. The shadows are realistically dark and it feels like you stepped in a closed space from the brighter outside world. It's hard to explain, but this makes me have really high hopes for Streets which is an urban map.
Speaking of shadows, everything is pretty dark, which is actually what I wanted. I'll tweak the AI detection with this update too, but I imagine firefights will be super intense after this update. I can picture some scenes where you're in a chaotic shootout at night and don't know where the enemies are, so you have to lookout for their silhouettes and muzzle flashes (which will illuminate the area).
It's all very exciting and I hope you all feel the same, too. Thanks for reading and make sure to let me know what you think!
PunjiVR Demo Deactivation
This means that the demo will no longer be available to download or play. There are a few reasons I chose to do this:
The main one is because, as much as I love demos, too much time and effort was required to keep the demo build up to date with the full game. On average, about two or three work days have usually been set aside after major updates just for the demo build, time that I'd much rather spend on the full game or at least to use as a short break from development.
Another downside I discovered is that the demo build sometimes gave false impressions of the full game, whether positive or negative. Maybe it was due to certain features being locked away in the demo that would've made the experience more enjoyable for the player if it was available. There might've been a bug or crash that was patched in the full game but not in the demo. The player might feel satisfied enough with the demo to not feel the need to look deeper into the full game and development, possibly missing out on features they would enjoy.
Ideally, I would add a free timed trial that gives you the full game for 90 minutes or so without needing to spend any money, but this is still a feature in development and not available for developers/publishers just yet.
Regardless, it's difficult to condense the entire game down to a size that gives users an idea what the experience is like without completely spoiling it. Now that development's ramping up again, I really want to get into Update 14, so this change has definitely removed a lot of stress and pressure on my end.
I'll work on getting a small patch out over the next week that should fix up any issues with Update 13. If you found any or have suggestions, please let me know in the comments or through one of the links below. Thanks for your understanding!
Discord
Subreddit
Update 13 - AI Overhaul
Highlights:
- Explosions are now blocked by objects & the environment
- Explosions create shrapnel that fly out at random rotations & velocities
- Explosive damage is now calculated based on the distance from the explosion's center, rather than fixed values
<*> New AI (Details Below)
<*> Ruins has been remade from the ground up
<*> Reworked Explosion System
<*> Added supply crates that drop every 10 waves in the Wave Defense gamemode (Paddies). It has random gear, ranging from ammo crates to RPGs
(DEMO ONLY, UPDATE COMING SHORTLY)
<*> Ruins has been replaced with Bridge for playable demo missions
<*> Added flight range Huey to demo as a playable mission
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Major AI Improvements:
- AI take cover
- AI move & coordinate more dynamically (flanking, encirclement, swarming, hit & runs...)
- AI have better and more realistic detection
- AI's accuracy has been made more realistic & fair
- Major performance boost
- AI now communicate & work with nearby allies
- AI damage system is more realistic & consistent. It's now based on hitboxes with slightly randomized damage modifiers & takes advantage of PunjiVR's ballistic system
- AI models no longer despawn after death on non-wave gamemodes(their collision does, but the visible model does not)
- The melee system has been made more straightforward and less buggy (stab anywhere to kill, a hard hit to the head knocks them out)
- AI audio improvements:
-Audible AI communication is now reflective of the individual's current or future state (take cover, getting shot at, requesting backup...) rather than just playing random audio
-Vietnamese AI now say new English voice lines in addition to their regular Vietnamese lines (New American voice lines are planned for a future update!)
-Audio systems have been redesigned and are now a lot more performant and less prone to potential issues (for both voices & gunfire audio)
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Major Changes/Fixes:
- Temporarily removed allied AI
- Complete rewrite to Wave Defense gamemode
- AI have been replaced on all maps
- Lowered tall grass on Bridge
- Removed Island Camp from Operation: X-Ray due to it being too unpolished and an unnecessary addition to the campaign
- Added exterior staircase to right-side building on Streets to create a new path to the upstairs section
- Decreased normal player health from 500 to 285
- Shotgun pumps lock forward when a live round is chambered (pulling the trigger when grabbing the pump releases it)
- Gun's grab triggers are now much larger & easier to grab when the weapon isn't socketed (on the ground, laying on the table...)
- Made standing mode default
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Minor Changes/Fixes:
- Fixed errors associated with magazine sockets when they're inactive
- Allied AI now wear slightly different uniform colors from enemy AI
- Lowered green tracer opacity
- Changed tracer material
- Fixed grenade explosion effect not playing in world space
- Fixed issue where shotguns and mosins wouldn't fire sometimes
- Fixed scaling issue with the K50m's stock
- Added more props and environmental assets to Paddies
- Added mines to Paddies
- Updated explosion effect of toe popper mines
- Adjusted ballistic properties on multiple calibers
- Replaced kill triggers that stopped player from falling thru map with a script
- XM21 now has a much smaller alert radius when firing
- Increased all grenade blast radii to 15m (shrapnel is deadly up to ~30m)
- Fixed navmesh and pathfinding issues on Bridge, Elephant Grass, Streets, Paddies
- Made path clearer on Bridge
- Removed old missions from build to organize and save space
- Removed remaining traces of outdated difficulty settings
- Decreased fog intensity on Elephant Grass and Paddies
- Remade foliage on Elephant Grass
- Minor optimizations to Streets
- Fixed issue with the CAR15 not spawning with a magazine loaded
- Lowered impact sound priorities
- Increased maximum enemies to 20 on Paddies
- Increased time between waves to 30 seconds on Paddies
- Decreased spawn rate on Paddies to 2 enemies per wave
- Fixed hut collision issue on Paddies
- Made terrain smoother on Paddies
- Fixed optimization issues on Highlands
- Organized editor for Highlands, Evac
- Fixed multiple holes & other environment errors on Highlands
- Fixed multiple collision issues on Highlands
- Changed health can trigger
- Lowered spawn rate increase & raised wave duration decrease that applies every 5 waves on Paddies
- Weapon foreguard grabbing is no longer available until the main grab point is held
- Added additional enemy spawn points to Paddies
- Fixed issue where mega health can wouldn't always spawn on Combat Base
- Health cans work properly again
- Magazine/Helmet tapping works properly again
- Increased RPG & 40mm blast radius to 15m
- Minor model optimizations to temple & Ruins props
- Fixed issue where some huts would disappear on Paddies
- Decreased force required to resupply at ammo crates
- Fixed issue with Type 56 bayonet not initializing
- Fixed minor code error on Elephant Grass
- Fixed issue with flashlight on Tunnel Rats
- Removed collision on ladder that caused issues on Tunnel Rats
- Added check to AI Manager to prevent possible future crashes
- Added invisible walls to tunnel sections to prevent AI from seeing or shooting thru it
- Added additional flashlight to Tunnel Rats just in case the first one is missed
- Decreased health to 150 on Tunnel Rats
- Fixed collision obstacles on Tunnel Rats
- Fixed smoke parenting issue on Evac
- Fixed erroneous physics layers on Evac
- Rebuilt navmesh on Evac
- Fixed collision issue on Camp section of Beach missions
- Removed bugged button on Beach Siege
- Decreased starting enemy count to from 5 to 3 on Combat Base
- Multiplied all helicopter health by 2 to account for damage system changes
- Removed sandbags from camp area on Beach Siege
- Fixed player start rotation on Combat base
- Simplified collision on multiple objects on Beach Cobra to reduce performance issues
- Major optimizations to Gun Run Huey
- Replaced M1 Carbine with M2 Carbine in Ruins
- Removed buggy clouds on Streets
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Conclusion:
Update 13 has been the most time consuming release for PunjiVR to date and I'm really glad that I'm finally able to release it to you all. Like I mentioned in the previous post, this is the first iteration of the new AI, so there will likely be issues that I couldn't catch/replicate during testing. If you find any and/or have suggestions for how to make the new AI better, please let me know in the comments of this post or thru one of the links below.
Next up, I'm planning on steering away from the technical aspects of development to finally focus on PunjiVR's visuals. I don't anticipate making any super major changes for this graphics update, but I will work towards making everything look nice to look at, at the very least. I'm still going to keep the low poly look as it's still the easiest and fastest style for making progress development-wise, but I'll try to add in some lighting, shadows, mess with the colors a bit, and update a lot of existing models to hopefully get a more refined and consistent look. I also would love to get the chance to remake/overhaul PunjiVR's inventory system with this update, but we'll see how the timeframe looks.
After the graphics update, I plan on making one last non-content update which will mainly focus on audio. When making the new AI for U13, I implemented a new audio workflow for their shouts and gunshots which saves performance and is cleaner all around, so I'd like to change the rest of the game's audio to work on this same system. Besides that, I also would like to replace the gunshot sounds with new ones that are from real gun recordings rather than digitized creations, update and add new voice lines for AI, and create a much more authentic and immersive audible experience in general. The audio is decent right now, but a tactical shooter (especially one in VR) deserves a lot better.
Once all of the necessary polishing updates are complete, I'll finally get to jump back to adding in more content. I don't want to make any promises right now, but I want to use this future update to take the gameplay to the next level, away from the smaller scale missions currently in game to a larger and more varied experience. There's still a lot to do before then, but I'm excited to see it on the horizon.
Anywho, the update cycles should go back to the normal rate now considering that the AI are mostly taken care of, so hopefully Update 14 isn't too far out. Make sure to check out the links below to join in on PunjiVR's awesome community and, as always, don't forget to check for leeches!
As you were
Discord
Subreddit
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Known Major Issues (will be fixed shortly):
- Bayonet not unfolding on Type 56
- Lighting too dark on Ruins
- Stock unfolds too easily on VZ 61
- Can't grab Type 56 magazines out of rucksack
- AI animations sometimes play a few frames longer than their movement
- AI pathfinding may still be poor in a few areas (please let me know if you find a place!)
- Hand goes invisible after opening M79 while grabbing the front end
- An enemy on Bridge can see you across the river when they're not supposed to
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How to Revert to the Last Stable Update:
- Right-Click on "PunjiVR" in your Steam library
- Select "Properties"
- In the properties tab, select "Betas"
- Click on the dropdown box, then select the option for last_stable_build
If you want to go back to the most recent update, follow the same process but click on "None" in the dropdown box.
Gameplay Showcases For New AI
Paddies
Highlands
AI & Update 13 Mini-Briefing
There was an issue with the new AI that caused the game to crash and I was stuck on it for almost two weeks without making any progress on finding a fix. A problem like this wasn't necessarily a surprise when you take into account that this was my first iteration of making the new AI, which means that a lot of things were scattered, very messy, and extremely buggy. To get out of this rut, I made the decision to put aside that version of the AI and create them again with everything I learned.
Luckily, it only took about a week or so to do this revision and the resulting AI are so much cleaner and nicer to play against and for me to work with (and later expand, too). I made sure to retain the same aspects that made the last AI great such as cover, teamwork, and performance, but I also changed a few things. Unfortunately, I needed to temporarily scrap grenades because I have better plans for an AI grenade system that would take more time than I have to work on it right now.
The other major change is that the revised AI are now more aggressive. I enhanced their flanking and team coordination to make them more likely to move up to the player's position, suppress, corner, surround, and/or flush you out of your hiding position. I made this choice because I want to make each faction feel different to fight against, so considering that most of the current missions have you face off against the Viet Cong, I want to emphasize their real life guerilla tactics that set them apart from regular armies. In the future, I'll design US, PAVN, ANZAC... AI as more defensive and have them focus on working as a larger group rather than independently or small teams.
While this is all very exciting and I am working hard to make the AI as awesome as they can be, please keep in mind that PunjiVR is still in early access and active development. There will very likely be many bugs and issues that I couldn't catch or wasn't aware of before launch and a lot of planned features can't make it in right away, so I really appreciate all of your feedback, bug reports, and patience. There is still a lot to do before Update 13 is ready for release, but I feel confident that this update will be the first big step in taking PunjiVR to the next level and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
If you want to follow the game closer and be a part of the community, feel free to join any of PunjiVR's official social media places below. Thanks for reading and don't forget to check for leeches!
As you were
Discord
Subreddit
New AI Showcase #3
Hey everyone!
The third AI showcase is finally here and it brings a lot of great new features and improvements with it.
Listed below are some of the most impactful changes
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+ AI can now hear
-They can hear footsteps (which are also new in this update), gunshots, reloading sounds, dry fire sounds, and AI-to-AI communication.
+ AI now communicate amongst each other
-They can share information such as the enemy's location or if there's a grenade nearby with allies in yelling distance. In addition to that, they now coordinate with close teammates to move and attack as a group.
+ AI can now throw and react to grenades
-As you can see in the video, AI sometimes throw grenades to flush enemies out. AI that are near grenades and are aware of them will try to either dive, sprint away, or take cover from the blast. AI will react this way every time they are close to a live grenade, so make note of this if you are fighting any dug-in enemies! (To make sure that the player is aware of enemy grenades without breaking immersion, I decided to make them a bright red material. In game, they should look similar to machine gun barrels when they overheat.)
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* There is still a lot to do for this update and I'm anticipating (possibly) another month of development time. The good news is that the hardest and most time consuming part is mostly done! The new AI are about 75% complete and I'm really happy with how they're turning out and I hope that you're all pretty excited too. Stay tuned for the net showcase video coming in the next couple of weeks!
Back in Action!
I didn't anticipate the delay to be as long as it was, but I'm excited to get back to work on the AI. Expect the next AI showcase soon!
Thanks for your patience, as you were.
Mini-Briefing On New AI
I will be away from my main computer for a few days around this time next week and won't be able to spend as much development time on the new AI for that brief period. I'll still have my phone to access discord, the subreddit, forums, and so on, so I will still be able to chat and take note of any bug reports that you may have. After I get my desktop set back up again, it shouldn't be too much longer before the third AI showcase releases (it's a big one!).
Since the last showcase, I went back and remade some core parts of the AI including hit reactions, ragdolls, and eyesight. While this caused a small delay in the timeframe, the AI are a lot more performant and stable because of it. I should be finishing up with the revisions today or tomorrow and will continue to work on their new features afterwards. I don't want to spoil too much or raise any expectations, but the new AI are turning out to be really exciting. I still haven't fought against them in VR, but just watching how they fight and coordinate from an overhead view is pretty interesting and I imagine it will make a really great experience being on the battlefield with them.
I'll end this off before I start spoiling the new mechanics, so thanks for taking the time to read this and make sure to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
As you were
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