The Home Invasion DLC and its accompanying base game update are now released! You can view the full changelog here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/4343242494484137727
Much of the Home Invasion DLC content is free for all players, however if you want access to the DLC exclusive cosmetics check out the Home Invasion store page here:
(If you already own the Supporter Edition, the Home Invasion DLC is included for free.)
DLC weapons: Free for all players DLC maps: Free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC DLC cosmetics: DLC purchase needed (with the exception of balaclavas and new camo options for base game cosmetics)
Below you will find the changelog for the Home Invasion DLC release and general base game update! This is a comprehensive list of key changes, bug fixes, and balance changes. At the top of the changelog we’ve included a few highlighted changes if you just want a quick glance.
The majority of the Home Invasion DLC's content is available for free in some manner and included as part of the general game update. Here's a quick outline of how it works:
(If you already own and have activated the Supporter Edition, the Home Invasion DLC is included for free.)
DLC weapons: Free for all players DLC maps: Free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC DLC cosmetics: DLC purchase needed (with the exception of balaclavas and new camo options for base game cosmetics)
Within the changelog "DLC Exclusive changes" refers to the handful of changes that will only be accessible via DLC ownership. "DLC Related changes" refers to changes that are part of the DLC, but will be accessible to everyone in some manner. Finally, "Base game update changes" refers to the general changes that will be included for everyone as part of the base game and are not related to the DLC.
Important Note: If you have mods installed, you should select the “launch in safe mode” option for Ready or Not to prevent crashes/conflicts that may occur until mod owners have updated their versions to match the game.
Changelog Highlight Summary (not a full list):
3 new maps, free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC
3 new weapons, free for everyone: 509 Pistol, DM4 PDW, FLUX Raider MP17 PDW
5 new clothing assets, 4 new tattoos, each exclusive for DLC 1 owners
Significant AI behavior improvements for suspects and civilians at the start of engagements, during them, and while surrendering
Multi-faceted substantial improvements to performance, including adding new tools such as:
FSR 3.0.4 added in addition to an upgraded DLSS 3.7
PSO pre-caching to reduce stuttering
Upgraded game to Unreal Engine 5.3
Enhanced audio immersion and quality across the game, especially through reverb improvements
Gameplay
AI
Base game update changes:
New:
Added AI Zones behavior. Suspects can have designated "zones" on levels where they prioritize certain behaviors and movement flows based on the gameplay context
Suspects will now hesitate much more consistently when their weapons are lowered even if an ally is nearby; however, aggressive actions can break them from this hesitation.
Certain actions (mainly taking hostages and hiding) are now specifically gated behind a certain stress level that is set differently for each mission
Other:
Suspects more consistently make use of "stress," a value they track which continually goes up when exposed to certain stimuli (gunfire, being yelled at, other suspects dying). Stress is what determines if a suspect has their weapon lowered or raised, along with whether they walk or run to goals when suspicious
Suspects who encounter the player before reaching their stress threshold are more likely to hesitate, especially if yelled at or with multiple SWAT in view
Suspects can now surrender while hesitating even if they are not physically stunned
Suspicious and stressed suspects now take cover or try to take an angle from the nearest doorway when they hear aggressive sounds
Fixes:
Suspects no longer investigate when they've reached a certain stress threshold. This should prevent suspects from running into rooms full of SWAT.
Suspects should more consistently choose to flee or move to try and melee the player when they're pepper sprayed
Suspects should be better about not fake surrendering or exiting their surrendered state if multiple SWAT are watching them
Suspect shotgun spread tweaked to make them much more effective
Fixed SWAT AI pulling out their sidearm despite having no secondary ammo
Fixed SWAT AI freezing when ordered to search and secure after completing a mission
Fixed SWAT AI only being able to fire grenade launchers once
Engineering:
Base game update changes:
New:
Upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.3
Started using ModularGameplay and GameplayFeatures plugins from Epic Games to make pushing builds more streamlined internally
Added Home Invasion specific Steam Achievements
Included UE5’s TSR rendering technology as a standard alternative to DLSS or FSR
Other:
Updated default launch option to DirectX 12
Fixes:
Lots of bug fixes and quality of life improvements
Fixed an issue causing players to become soft-locked when shot while trying to heal
Assorted fixes to damage calculations for both flesh and armor damage
Fixed floating zipcuffs in some contexts, especially in multiplayer
Fixed crash when Trailers pick up a suspect/civilian when clearing level
General Performance:
Base game update changes:
New:
Added PSO Pre-caching, decreasing FPS stuttering
Added object pooling to reduce number of times assets need to be spawned/de-spawned
Added component pre-caching to reduce the performance cost when new objects or effects need to suddenly appear on screen
Upgraded to FSR 3.0.4, but the setting may be mislabeled as FSR 2 due to a UI discrepancy
Fully updated to DLSS 3.7
Integrated optical multi frame generation technology for DLSS.
Other:
Used object pools where necessary instead of spawning on demand
Optimized spectator HUD
Restructured code for improved performance
Reduction of unnecessary/unused code that could reduce performance
Optimized level of detail (LOD) settings for characters
Reduced the amount of complex collisions across the levels, decreasing FPS stuttering
Fixes:
Fixed lag spike that occurred when the player was killed
Fixed physics related lag when close to some characters
Visuals
Animation:
Base game update changes:
New:
Added speech system that allows characters to speak and perform lip sync animation on all game dialogue
Characters will form facial expressions depending on their state, particularly noticeable when dying and when in pain
Added eye tracking for all AI characters in game, allowing them to peer directly at the player who is closest
New animations reworked across the police station
Other:
Improved and reworked the existing system for character head movements when looking at/reacting to objects or actors in the game world
Fixes:
Fixed character turning animations creating visual pops due to different idle poses
Fixed character arms being distorted during weapon handling due to improper inverse kinematics (IK)-related animation elements
Fixed Character arms sometimes being broken during weapon handling due to improper inverse kinematics (IK)-related animation elements
Fixed IK-related animation issues during Suspect/Civilian strafing
Fixed suspects' right arm clipping through torso during a suspicious animation cycle
Fixed some post-processing elements that persisted unnecessarily in some multiplayer contexts
Fixed SWAT Officer equipped pepper spray animations pushing players too far into the ground
Fixed certain LOD character limitations causing head models to disappear on Sins mission
Corrected battle belt location, height & placement as it had a wrong placement and height
Corrected an issue where LSPD battle belt had the wrong materials assigned
Corrected texture stretching issues with LSPD/FISA belt
Fixed an issue with a Meth character missing eyeballs
Fixed high-visibility vest clipping into character textures due to cloth physics issues
Adjusted Helmet camera material to avoid blocking camera FOV when spectating
Overall improvements to character elements affected by LOD material parameters in hospital
Corrected station officers' bodies clipping with certain head types
Added missing customization icons for gloves, gas mask, goggles
Audio
DLC 1 Related:
New:
New tracks for all DLC levels
Base game update changes:
New:
Interior / Exterior reflection probes added to all levels
Reverbs inside of structures now sound '3D'
When outside, certain noises now 'reflect' off of the environment
A material property is now applied to reverbs, so rooms that are made up of concrete, wood, etc. have more suitable reverberance. This property carries over to reflection probes as well, meaning reverb that travels around a wooden room sounds duller, for example
Conversations can now trigger within the station and certain levels
5 new station tracks
Other:
Significant optimizations to reverb effects
Tweaks made to certain music timelines for improved responsiveness
Fixes:
Fixed combat music not working as intended when playing as a client
Fixed combat music sustaining unintentionally when certain conditions are met
Fixes to certain music track logic
Various fixes and improvements to the Quantum Sound Manager (QSM) system, level audio
Comprehensive fixes and improvements to character VO, including death reactions, reactions when shot at depending on distance, and idle lines to breathe more life into the AI
Weapons
DLC 1 Related:
New:
New weapons (included for free in base game):
DM4 PDW
FLUX Raider MP17 PDW (uses P320)
509 Pistol
Base game update changes:
Other:
MPX
Reworked firing animation and weapon climb to bring it in line with other SMGs
ARWC
Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
Improved camera climb when shooting
MK1
Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
Improved camera climb when shooting
SLR47
Reduced vertical recoil
Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
Improved camera climb when shooting
G36C
Reduced vertical recoil
Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
SR16
Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
Weapon inputs are now buffered, improving gunplay consistency and fluidity when firing rapidly in semi-auto. Mouse clicks made right before a weapon can be fired again will no longer be ignored; instead, the weapon will fire in response to those additional clicks as soon as it is able. This technique is essentially the same as input buffering that is used in many fighting games.
User Interface and Experience
Base game update changes:
New:
Officer cosmetic Customization Presets added
New cursor designs
Added UI Scale option to Graphics Settings
Navigation added to Mission Select for base game, DLC, and mods
Entry Point images added to Mission Select
Character preview can now be rotated in Loadout and Customization screens
Other:
Adjusted Loadout preview lighting
Fixes:
Armor coverage selection now disables options above current vest max coverage
Loadout overview's munition preview now shows each unique grenade type and will auto-scroll on hover when entries exceed width
Fixed various loadout camera bugs
Fixed loadout previews not updating reliably on tactical tablet
Fixed language change requiring game restart
Fixed various visual issues when equipping or previewing loadout and customization items
Levels
Level Design:
Note: The DLC 1 maps are not available in Commander Mode, they are instead immediately accessible to be played via Multiplayer or Practice.
DLC 1 Related:
New:
Station re-works, also done to reflect Home Invasion theming (included in multiplayer)
New maps/missions (playable for free in Multiplayer if lobby host owns the DLC):
"Dorms" (Greenside Dormitories)
"Narcos" (213 Park)
"Lawmaker" (Redwood)
Base game update changes:
New:
Manual Cover Placement objects added across multiple maps
Dialogue Volumes added across the Station in Commander Mode
Other:
Collision Blocking Volumes re-adjusted across A Lethal Obsession
Fixes:
Door C2 placement position adjusted to match interact locations
Environmental Art:
Base game update changes:
Other:
Texture additions and improvements throughout all levels
Lighting improvements and quality improvements throughout all levels
Improved vfx visual fidelity and performance
Major optimizations for performance throughout all levels
Fixes:
Bug fixes/quality improvements throughout
Collision improvements and fixes throughout game
Fixed lighting on Farm and Coyote, where incorrect volumetric lighting would be used
Agency and Sins rain performance optimization fixes
Known Issues
This is a collection of some of known issues that may appear in gameplay. More issues could emerge following release, especially because of the vast range of systems that people will be using.
There may be lighting issues present with specific assets on some levels which will be fixed in a rapid upcoming patch.
Players can spawn in random locations on levels in multiplayer and get stuck or fall through the level
Some characters disappearing in spectator camera
Lobby manager/tablet invite buttons don’t work
Tactical/retention reload not working when using shield
Occasionally, when a player issues the command ‘Shotgun and Clear’, SWAT AI will breach, but then remain at the room entrance and not execute the 'Clear' command.
Dead arrested suspects/civilians disappearing and reappearing for clients in multiplayer
Rare issue where the “Hold F to stop bleeding” prompt does not appear for clients in multiplayer, but players can still bandage
When a civilian has to open a door during their move to exit movement, it will be impossible for them to move through that doorway until the player interacts with it.
Sometimes civilians won’t be automatically arrested when told to move to the exit.
Ready or Not Community Creations Exhibit
Welcome to the first of our expanded iteration of our community newsletters! Just as with the legacy editions of the community newsletters, we’ll look at a variety of mods from newsletter to newsletter, but we will also include a deeper look into community content including streamers, videos, shorts, and art!
As this is our first dive back into the greater Ready or Not community, we’ll be taking a look at a wide variety of materials. Over the years, many very talented individuals have taken an astonishing amount of high-quality content including, but not limited to screenshots, videos, and cosplays!
Since this is our first community newsletter since the official launch of Ready or Not, we have more than half a year of incredible community content to choose from. To start, we’ll be featuring the bread and butter of the Ready or Not Community, the humble screenshot.
1. Averdance – Discord
The entry team emerges out of the early morning fog in this piece by Averdance, a somber balance of orange and blue hues providing contrasting highlights alongside the clean cinematography, creating a wonderfully tense atmosphere.
2. Mxray – Steam
A great sketch-over screenshot, utilizing both subtle and not-so-subtle effects to create an image that is equally at home serving as both an album cover and as a hit piece found in a suspects den. Going by the X’s on this officer’s eyes, they may in fact have not been ready.
3. S ❥ – Steam
A well composed team is captured by a RoN-inspired ragdoll model pose within Garry’s Mod. Effective CQB tactics reach far beyond Los Sueños― do check your muzzle awareness, though.
4. Delioth – Discord
Titled ’FIRST ATTEMPT OKAY’, Delioth composed a clean spread of officers loaded to the brim with non-lethals, show that despite their lack of deadly qualities the non-lethal primaries do cut a imposing figure in the hands of an experienced officer.
All incredible works of art, the community at large continues to show off both the absolute best and worst that Los Sueños has to offer with a stunning use of cinematography and a tasteful amount of photo editing.
Taking a brief trip back to reality, skill and in some cases sense of humor shines through their creations and re-creations.
1. Kuro - Photography Contest
Submitted by Kuro, this particular piece was one of the runners up for our Photography contest that we hosted in 2022. It showed off not only the editing skills of the submitter, but the place that the deeper lore of Ready or Not holds in the hearts of our community.
2. Royourboy - Photography Contest
Submitted by Royourboy, this incredibly clean and atmospheric piece won the hearts of both the community and the Development team, earning itself a permanent place in Ready or Not itself.
Outside of our community newsletters, you can find more content like this either on the Steam Community page or on the games Reddit page. Steam Community Page Reddit
Keep your feet on the ground VOID Interactive
Ready or Not | Home Invasion Trailer
Attention Officers!
We’re finally ready to fully reveal our first DLC, Home Invasion!
Taking place after the landfall of a monstrous category 5 Hurricane, this DLC will bring your team to the households of the citizens of Los Sueños, responding to the opportunistic criminal elements of the city. To counter them, your team will be deployed to extensively damaged Greenside Dormitories, the water-logged neighborhood of 213 Park St’, and the affluent community of Redwood.
With the city recovering from the destruction wrought by mother nature, it is even more important than ever to bring order to chaos. To that end the Chief has approved an expansion of your department-issued equipment to better deal with the changing conditions brought about by the Hurricane. Among the new equipment, supplied free of charge to all of our officers, is three new firearms. The 509 Pistol, FLUX MP17 PCC, and the DM4 PDW.
Home Invasion will be available on the 23rd of July for $9.99/€9.99
Thank you for joining us for the 75th edition of our Ready or Not Development Briefing, July 5th, 2024!
Today we’re sharing our teaser trailer for the incoming Home Invasion DLC, announcing the successful efforts of the UE5.3 github community in completing our open-source modding tool bounties, announcing a new optimal 4-week schedule for newsletter communications, and laying out community-focused comms/events that we’ll be releasing with our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky!
These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.
Vol. 75 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)
The teaser trailer for the incoming release of DLC 1 "Home Invasion" is now unveiled with emphasis on its story premise! (https://youtu.be/byt7k1z46QI)
Our Unreal Engine 5.3 updated open-source modding tools bounty is now successfully completed.
These updated tools benefit UE5.3 modding as a whole but also help support RoN’s transition to UE5.3, with an official SDK still being our ultimate end goal.
Starting today, we’ll be changing the schedule and structure of our newsletter-type communications so that they run in 4-week intervals.
In addition to the existing developer briefings, we are re-launching community focused newsletters. They will release in offset 4-week intervals so that there is a new newsletter of some sort about every 2 weeks.
Our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky, will be providing many community-focused communications and hosting events like gamenights, giveaways, and AMAs!
URGENT — WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL METEROLOGICAL SERVICE LOS SUENOS 07:52 AM PST.
...CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE EXPECTED...
HURRICANE ANTONIO HAS NOW BEEN UPGRADED TO A CATEGORY 5 STORM. ANTONIO’S PATH IS BEING MONITORED, BUT IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A HURRICANE POSSESSING UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH... SURPASSING THE INTENSITY OF THE SAN DIEGO HURRICANE OF 1858.
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO LARGE PARTS OF LOS SUENOS IS EXPECTED. CERTAIN AREAS ARE LIKELY TO BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE-THIRD OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES ARE EXPECTED TO SUFFER EXTENSIVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL, LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. A FURTHER THIRD OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES ARE EXPECTED TO SUFFER ROOF AND WALL FAILURES OF VARYING SEVERITIES.
[...]
ONCE HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS ONSET ... DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!
UE5.3 Modding Bounty Complete
We’re elated to announce that our bounty to update Unreal Engine 5.3 open-source modding tools was successfully fulfilled by github contributors last week.
This is a critical step to modding UE5.3 games as a whole and is instrumental to help keep modding in shape for our Home Invasion launch, at which point Ready or Not will be using UE5.3 instead of UE4.27. Check out the Vol. 74 development briefing for more info!
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to updating these modding tools. We are in the process of rewarding bounty payments to the top contributors as we speak.
A special thank you to LongerWarrior and atenfyr for their exceptional efforts in helping reach this goal.
"UAssetAPI already had limited support for Unreal Engine 5 assets before the bounty was posted (for example, the new fields that got added to exports were already properly serialized) along with functional read/write support for "unversioned properties" (a more compact way of writing struct and class data that is used by some newer UE4 games and most UE5 games).
However, support for both of these things was full of little bugs and missing property types, and 5.3 did change a couple of small things on its own (e.g. the addition of the DataResources map). Ensuring that the software worked well on every asset in Ready or Not required more attention to detail than the software had received before, which means that a lot of long-standing bugs and missing types, including ones that also happened to affect parsing for older games too, were discovered and fixed.
Updating UAssetGUI was a much simpler process, as nearly all of the legwork is done by UAssetAPI; most of the relevant changes made were in adding new entries to the GUI, fixing bugs in the code that syncs to/from the asset data source, and fixing graphical errors, although UAssetGUI did see the addition of new features unrelated to the UE5.3 port such as .pak support." —atenfyr
Regardless, our ideal solution for Ready or Not is still to have a dedicated official Software Development Kit (SDK) to continue to empower our modding community. We are committed to making our SDK a reality and carrying out the complex work that the project will demand.
New Newsletter Schedule and Structure
Starting today, we’ll be changing the schedule and structure of our newsletter-type communications so that they run in 4-week intervals. However, you can still expect to receive some form of newsletter communication every 2 weeks. This is because we will be alternating between posting development briefings and community-focused newsletters during that timeframe in offset 4-week intervals.
We’ll also be massively increasing our community-focused events and communications with our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky!
We’ve made this decision to better ensure high quality communication is available for each newsletter-type communication and align more harmoniously with our careful post-1.0 development cycle.
Generally speaking, Early Access development has an expectation of being more fluid and includes a massive scope of things to cover, but we want to be extra mindful now in the full release about avoiding situations where developers are mid-implementation or testing yet we are trying to gather info for public communication. Those scenarios can have an elevated risk of miscommunication or not being able to properly account for issues that could pop up.
Furthermore, some developments like brand cooperation partnerships (e.g. to include official gear or weapons in the game), DLC, or other long-term strategic parts of development require precise timing before we communicate them.
Community-Focused Communications and Events
The amazing Kaminsky will be handling the community focused newsletters and many other great community related plans he has!
Here’s a quick message from Kaminsky himself:
“Hello Officers! Some of you may recognize me from my short time in the position a little over a year ago, but my name is Kaminsky and I’m the Community Manager for VOID Interactive. My hope is that, going forward, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other.”
The extensive community focused newsletters will feature mods, artwork, and more to put a spotlight on the talented members of our community. Other community related events include community question sessions with the development team similar to the AMAs we’ve done in the past.
Community game nights and giveaways are just some of the additional plans you can look forward to, so keep an eye on our official RoN Discord and community newsletters for more info!
We hope that this approach will allow us to continue to deliver our regular newsletters at a high quality as well as cover a greater breadth of topics that are valuable to all of you in our wonderful community.
Conclusion
With the Home Invasion release incoming, updated UE5.3 modding tools prepared, a new schedule for high quality communications, and a return of our many community events along with Kaminsky, we are looking forward to what this summer and beyond will bring.
This concludes our 75th development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!
Thank you for joining us for the 74th edition of our Ready or Not development briefing, June 7th, 2024!
This week we'll be covering our completed transition from Unreal Engine 4.27 to the new UE5 and the delay of DLC 1. Throughout this briefing, we’ll outline what specific benefits we expect from UE5.3 as well as how the DLC release and UE5.3 modding scene is affected. Furthermore, we’ll show off some slices of content that you can expect from DLC 1.
The UE5 transition was a longtime project that was in large part diligently handled by close external partners. This extensive preparation has resulted in a relatively seamless final transition, yet there were still some related issues and additional delays that we had to recently overcome. Other general issues including one or two high-priority issues are still not fixed. Aside from that there is some extra DLC 1 work and quality assurance to be completed.
One main high-priority remaining issue is that some of the open-source tools used for modding countless Unreal Engine games, including RoN, are not yet compatible with UE5.3. In the crucial interest of our great modding community we want to avoid launching without modding support. We have several solutions to pursue including a bounty on the tools.
With the UE5 transition complete an official modding Software Development Kit (SDK) is going to happen but it will take time to do right.
Therefore, Officers, we are posting open bounties to support Unreal Engine 5 modding as a whole. Payout will be based on contributions that fix the issues at hand for each tool:
These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.
Vol. 74 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)
DLC 1 will no longer release during the Spring timeframe, though it is close to completion. It will release as soon as properly viable
We will be able to provide more info in the coming weeks with the next newsletter as progress on the situation is made
Vast majority of DLC 1 content is completed
DLC 1 comes with 3 new weapons (plus effectively a 4th)
(available to all players regardless of DLC ownership)
3 new maps largely completed with glimpses shown
(available to all players in multiplayer with a lobby host who owns the DLC)
We have completed a transition for RoN from Unreal Engine 4.27 to Unreal Engine 5.3
It was important for efficiency and engine benefits that we complete the engine transition before adding new content to the game
Not every new UE5 feature will be utilized by RoN, but there is a solid list of immediately noticeable benefits that we’re confident will be included:
Better PSO integration tools, PSO precaching, DLSS 3.7, FSR 3, and new anti-aliasing methods (TSR).
We are posting open bounties to update open-source modding tools and support Unreal Engine 5 modding as a whole (Affected tools: UE4SS, UAssetAPI, UAssetGUI)
RoN will receive official Software Development Kit modding support now that the UE5 transition is complete, but it will take time for the official SDK to be done properly and polished
DLC 1 Delay
We’re sorry to say that DLC 1 and its broader Home Invasion launch will no longer fit into the Spring timeframe.
Unfortunately, our timetables shifted more than we anticipated during our UE5 transition and development process, along with the fresh uncertainty presented by the modding tool dilemma.
The delay also represents an adjustment of our focus towards developing some more core game features and actualizing the new benefits that UE5 can offer.
The vast majority of DLC 1 is already completed. With it will come 3 new weapons (not counting a novel twist that effectively creates a 4th new weapon option). Our three new maps are looking incredible, and we have a few glimpses to share with you all.
Fortunately for the rest of the roadmap, preliminary work is already being done on DLC 2 by our level design/art teams when available, and experimentation on features for the core-game is continuing to progress. UE5 brings hope in the new efficiencies and benefits it brings to our internal development processes. However, we’ll ultimately have to assess later how this DLC 1 delay affects timing on other roadmap goals.
(Image below: [DLC 1] A battered building hangs in a state of disrepair. Its decrepit hallways echo with the murmurs of those with nowhere else to go.) (Image below: [DLC 1] A sun-drenched neighborhood crumbling close to its end.) (Image below: [DLC 1] A grand estate sits atop the valley.)
A New Engine for Future-Proofed Content
Upgrading our game engine to Unreal Engine 5 prior to launching DLC ended up being imperative to most efficiently future-proof new content and reap benefits from the updated engine. Specifically, the current version we’re on is UE5.3.
As stated earlier, our external partners handled the majority of the transition, allowing us to focus on developing 1.0 and new content until the final stage of the UE5 transition was ready.
Although Ready or Not is not positioned to use every new or flashy feature UE5 has to offer, there is a solid list of easily noticeable benefits that we’re confident we should be able to take advantage of. A few of these potential benefits are better PSO integration tools, PSO precaching, DLSS 3.7, FSR 3, and new anti-aliasing methods (TSR). We're already seeing positive results in gameplay from many of these features.
Better PSO integration tools means that we should have an easier time implementing PSO caching for each map/level in the future, which would reduces loading times and in-game stutters.
PSO Precaching is an automatic approach to PSO caching that could help cut down on load times and stutters even further. This technique contrasts with traditional PSO caching which may require you to load a level first before you can benefit.
Nvidia’s DLSS 3.7 offers improvements over the DLSS 3.5 currently in the game to enhance performance and visual fidelity simultaneously for RTX cards.
Meanwhile AMD’s FSR 3 suite offers similar features for all graphics cards, able to replace the FSR 2.1 in-game now.
TSR (Temportan Super Resolution) is a new anti-aliasing method that comes with UE5 that which improve anti-aliasing graphical quality substantially, especially during movement.
Conclusion
Even though DLC 1 is nearing completion it is not expected within the Spring timeframe anymore; we aim to release it as soon as properly viable. More info should be offered during the coming weeks with the next newsletter as progress on the situation is made.
Our completed UE5 transition will future-proof development while providing you all some useful features, but we still have some things to address including the recently outdated Unreal Engine modding tools.
Once again we recognize that an official polished SDK, which we always wanted for RoN, would be an ideal modding solution. The SDK is going to happen as a next step since the UE5 transition is complete, but getting it right will take some time. Until then we hope this solution is beneficial for the entire Unreal Engine 5 modding community. Keep an eye on the respective Github pages for more info.
This concludes our 74th development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!
Thank you for joining us for the 73rd edition of our Ready or Not development briefing, May 10th, 2024!
This week we’ll be showing some work on new AI target detection systems that make engagements feel more fair in situations where the player is partially obscured from Suspect/Civilian AI line of sight.
We have two new specific types of target detection checks under development that are meant to meet this goal of improved fairness: “dynamic visibility blockers” that make thick CS gas clouds obscure your location from AI, and “AI detection cone checks” that make you less likely to be detected between small cracks or when mostly-obscured by cover at longer distances.
We also want to highlight that this is Mental Health Awareness month and contextualize the new videos on the topic that are releasing on our YouTube channel. In this newsletter you’ll find some additional development philosophy regarding the inception of our existing SWAT AI mental health system in-game for Commander Mode.
These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.
Vol. 73 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)
AI Target Detection Changes
New dynamic visibility blockers that cause thick CS gas clouds to block effective AI target acquisition
AI fires at target’s last known position
AI accuracy is now reduced per meter of CS gas thickness
New target detection “cone” checks help prevent AI from acquiring targets through unintended tiny cracks, small gaps from a distance, and acquiring peaking players from a distance or at difficult corner angles
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
New thematically relevant videos releasing on the VOID YouTube channel to help bring awareness to mental health concepts present in the game
First video is titled “PTSD”
Game design insights for the inception of the SWAT AI mental health feature in Commander Mode; simply surviving is not always enough.
AI Target Detection Changes
Both “dynamic visibility blockers” and “target detection cone checks” are WIP mechanics intended to make it more difficult for the AI to acquire the player as a target in certain challenging circumstances.
These mechanics supplement our existing static visibility blocking volumes already manually placed in maps by the Level Design team. You can can learn more about those visibility blocking volumes in our Vol. 61 Development Briefing.
The “dynamic visibility blockers” for CS gas build upon the concept of static visibility blockers, making a new form that can emerge and dissipate during active gameplay. These new dynamic visibility blockers can also penalize AI accuracy corresponding to each meter of CS gas thickness.
Meanwhile, “target detection cone checks” help static visibility blockers by preventing edge-case issues where enemies might see through tiny cracks in things like door hinges, small gaps from a distance, or odd corners.
Clouded Vision
CS Gas Dynamic Visibility Blockers
Suspect AI will no longer be able to easily see the player through a CS gas cloud once it has spread to be thick enough. This takes advantage of our gradual CS gas propagation system which requires time for gas to reach full potential area coverage.
In our current testing this means that Suspect AI will only recognize your last known position once CS gas has reached its full intensity. If they continue to engage the player they fire upon their last known position through the gas with reduced accuracy instead of actively tracking them.
In the video below you can see the green boxes indicate the gradual propagation of the gas. The yellow line between the player and suspect shows the line of sight between the two. Once the volume of gas becomes thick enough the suspect’s target detection ability becomes blocked by it, represented by the yellow line between the two turning blue.
(Video below: The blue line shows that the thick CS gas cloud is now blocking the AI’s vision) [TAG-70] (Video below: AI accuracy is reduced for every meter of CS gas that exists between them and their target)
Peek-a-Boo
Target Detection Cone Checks
Our system for target detection uses 4 trace locations on different parts of the players body that draw invisible lines to each AI on a given map. These 4 trace locations are: the top of the player’s head, the bottom of the player’s head, the lower left arm, and the lower right arm.
(Image below: 4 red lines on the debug interface indicate failed target detection traces to each of the 4 possible trace locations on a player. [Note: this image uses the new "cone" based system explained later]) These traces connect to every AI in the level. If both traces of a pair make it directly to an AI’s 'eyes' within its field of vision without hitting map geometry, or any manually placed visibility blocking volumes, then that AI is able to acquire the player as a target.
Old "Parallel" System:
In the previous target detection system, a pair of parallel traces ran from each trace location with a small offset between them. The fact that these two lines were simply parallel, with no angle deviation between them, ultimately caused issues.
The old system worked well in conjunction with visibility blocking volumes manually placed throughout the level; these static volumes prevented AI from seeing through things like tiny fence gaps or thick foliage.
Unfortunately, this system had a few key downsides in edge-cases.
Firstly, players could be acquired through small gaps in map geometry that would feel fair and logical if the AI was standing right nearby the gap, but unfair if the AI was standing a further distance away where this gap would make up a much smaller fraction of their field of view.
Secondly, there were sometimes issues where the offsets between traces could collapse to miniscule values, resulting in effectively only a single trace being required for an AI to detect a player. This meant that the AI could sometimes see through tiny gaps where visibility blocking volumes were missing, or where only a sliver of the player was visible.
New "Cone" System:
Our new system elegantly solves these problems by implementing several pairs of diverging traces that begin with an increased offset. Each pair of traces run to one of the four trace locations on the player's character, forming the edges of horizontal 2D "cones." Both lines of a cone from a given trace location must be successfully completed for an AI to consider a player visible.
(Image below: The player is not acquired as a target; only one line of the cone from the bottom head trace location is successfully completed. [Note: The debug overlay does not show both trace lines of a pair unless one was successful])
Therefore, this “cone” solution prevents enemies from being able to acquire the player through unintended tiny gaps, small gaps from a distance, and harder to acquire when peaking corners (especially at distance or at odd angles).
(Images below: A simplified debug interface view showing only the player’s top of head trace location line pair forming its 2d horizontal cone. At close range the player can be acquired as a target through a gap this size, but at long range the player is not detected as a target.) (GIF below: The Suspect AI acquires the player as a target once a pair of trace lines from player has succesfully connected to the Suspect AI’s field of view. [Note: The AI has further delays or inaccuracies for when it actually begins engaging, and it may decide not to engage at all.])
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Over the next few weeks, we’re bringing attention to Mental Health Awareness month by uploading videos which explore various concepts of mental health related to the themes present in Ready or Not.
(Video below: The first of these videos, titled “PTSD”) Mental health is an aspect of the game that we wanted included in some way for a while, eventually finding its place in Commander Mode for SWAT AI. Our intention was to highlight the traumatic events that occur within the world of Ready or Not and the toll that these sorts of scenarios take not only physically, but also mentally. In the process it is meant to help make your team members feel more human.
From a dedicated game design perspective, the goal was to explore a meta game loop that reinforced the rules of Ready or Not in a way that wasn’t overly restrictive, while also reflecting the gravity with which we wanted players to think of these scenarios.
As this SWAT team you are meant to apprehend suspects, rescue civilians, preserve lives, and ultimately defuse the situation. The scenarios presented are already traumatic enough, but if on top of that if you aren’t fulfilling those goals... your team’s purpose becomes distorted and twisted. Neglecting to care for the mental wellbeing of those involved or otherwise fulfilling your mission to properly defuse situations would eventually cause enough dissonance that valuable members would leave your squad.
Simply surviving is not always enough.
Conclusion
We are continuing to tweak the WIP AI target detection changes mentioned in this newsletter and hope to be able to expand their concepts to even more areas of the game. Each variable can be fine-tuned in order to help us find the best balance to integrate with our existing game systems.
The improvements to CS gas via dynamic visibility blockers should make your engagements feel more fair and make less lethal options more attractive to control situations and sight lines, particularly on maps with open spaces.
Target detection cone checks will supplement the visibility blockers already placed in levels to help ensure engagements occur in ways that feel fair to the player. On missions that have large amounts of props combined with vast sight lines, like Greased Palms, it should help make situations where you are shot at feel more understandable without requiring map-specific tweaks or overly neutering AI combat abilities.
Lastly, we hope you are all taking good care of yourselves and each other. Mental Health Awareness month is an appropriate reminder to learn more about yourself, others, and how to best address the challenges in your own life. Don't be afraid to call on support.
This concludes our 73rd development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!
If you've been waiting to pull the trigger and finally bring law to the lawless streets of Los Suenos, then now is your chance!
During the Steam FPS Fest, Ready or Not will available for 33% off
Get out there and do your job, officer. Protect. Serve. Survive.
Vol. 72 - Ready or Not Development Briefing
Attention Officers,
Thank you for joining us for 72nd edition of our Ready or Not development briefing, April 12th, 2024!
Today we're doing an early overview discussion of how our first piece of Downloadable Content, “Home Invasion”, will work and as well as provide a bit of initial info regarding its contents.
We want to have an accessible approach to our paid DLC, release a free game update parallel to Home Invasion to create a broader 'Home Invasion Release,' and expand upon our in-game narrative in a nuanced, impactful manner.
DLC content is just one component of our ongoing support for Ready or Not. We have many bugfixes and free content updates in the pipeline.
These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment.Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.
Vol. 72 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)
Free general game update launching parallel to the paid Home Invasion DLC, bringing forward some planned Quality of Life improvements and features
DLC maps are available to be played at full quality by everyone in multiplayer matchmaking as long as their lobby host owns the DLC
To be properly revealed at a later date for the Home Invasion DLC:
3 new maps
2 new weapons
The Home Invasion mission narrative will provide continuity with the base game, yet also provide a nuanced experience that will take you away from the stark darkness of criminal ring activity to a much broader spectrum of disturbing grey.
An Accessible Approach to DLC
A core continuous sentiment from us at VOID is how we want to avoid splitting our multiplayer playerbase across DLC content. Our DLC content should therefore be as accessible as possible, regardless of whether someone owns the DLC.
For multiplayer, this means allowing DLC maps to be played in multiplayer matchmaking at full quality by anyone regardless of DLC ownership as long as the lobby's host owns the relevant DLC. Years ago previously in one of our Frequently Asked Questions there was speculation about having the free multiplayer version be lower resolution in some respect, but we have decided against that.
As previously mentioned in our Vol.68 briefing: we will release additional bugfixes for the base game during the same timeframe that DLC content is being released. Furthermore, all our planned DLC will come with free new base game weapons, a DLC-exclusive player outfit, and new maps. Last but not least, DLC 1 is of course free for Supporter Edition owners per our original plans.
Home Invasion in particular will come with 3 new maps following a new narrative premise and 2 new weapons.
We hope that by making the DLC weapons free and allowing easy free access to DLC maps via host in multiplayer you will all still be able to enjoy the effects of each DLC launch, regardless of whether you specifically own it.
Simultaneous Free Game Update
“Home Invasion” has become more than just a DLC release, it is now going to be accompanied by a parallel free update for the base game as well.
This means we’ll be adding some features and improvements aside from just bug fixes that should release as part of this broad “Home Invasion Release.” The feature list should consist primarily of Quality of Life improvements.
To provide some development context on how this is possible, our different departments are developing future releases at the same time as the Home Invasion Release— including new general content updates and DLC.
This process aims to expand our scope of active development beyond whatever immediate content is upcoming; making use of the natural development bandwidth that opens when projects are be passed from department to department. Our new Lead Producer who we’re welcoming on board will assist us greatly in coordinating these sorts of processes.
For an example in a nutshell:
Once the Level Design Team passes newly developed Home Invasion levels to the Art Team, the Level Design Team can begin partial work on other new levels in the time between any subsequent necessary Level Design-related changes to the Home Invasion levels.
Meanwhile as our Engineering Team (consisting of different programming specialties) and other departments wait for a level to reach them, they are already working on bugfixes, improvements, and additions in other areas and for future updates.
Nuanced Narrative Continuity
The criminal conspiracies in our existing mission narrative run deep and abhorrently dark. Although that is an unfortunate reality of Los Sueños, our Home Invasion narrative will take you away from the stark darkness of those criminal rings to a much broader spectrum of disturbing grey.
In this new narrative a disaster strikes, and every day people are left to pick up the pieces or use them as a weapon of opportunity. Complicated interests and self-preservation are driving forces in this liminal space with people across walks of life seeking any means to an end.
We understand the emotional impact and reflection that existing missions like Ends of the Earth evoke with our players regarding their activities within the game world. The three new maps included in the Home Invasion DLC will carry that torch forward into the labyrinthine world that is Los Sueños.
Conclusion
Our intention with paid DLC, including Home Invasion, is to provide ongoing support for RoN that can benefit everyone regardless of whether they own the relevant DLC.
With a parallel free game update for the Home Invasion Release, 2 new weapons, and easy free multiplayer access to the 3 new DLC maps via lobby hosts we are showing examples of how we want to achieve our intentions.
The disturbing grey area of our Home Invasion narrative meanwhile represents our desire to branch out and evolve on our mission content.
This concludes our 72nd development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!
Thank you for joining us for the 71st edition of our development briefing, March 29th, 2024!
This week we’ll look at our new dynamic dialogue-related systems for AI which will give us more flexibility and nuance for storytelling, as well as showcase some of the recent work on our lip sync system.
These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, although they do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.
Vol.71 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)
Dynamic Dialogue System
Allows for easily creatable dialogue strings between multiple characters
Intricate level of customization
Complements existing reaction voice line system
New dialogue being written and recorded
Lip Sync System
Video showcase of the recent early implementation of our lip sync system
Dynamic Dialogue
When you and your SWAT AI officers are moving through missions you may have noticed their penchant for verbally reacting to their environments. With a few notable exceptions, these reactions are generally single one-liner style voice lines prompted by moving through invisible spaces that we call “reaction volumes.”
What we are working on now is a supplemental new, more streamlined and nuanced dialogue system that will allow for easily creatable dynamic dialogue strings between characters on a large scale. These interactions can be triggered by invisible spaces called “dialogue volumes.”
A great beauty of this new system is the extreme ease and depth with which the dialogue parameters can be customized by any developer working on a level.
How and when dialogue is triggered, the number of participants or voice lines involved, how dialogue audio is emitted, and granular elements of dialogue content are all among the variables we can adjust.
For the dialogue volumes themselves we can tweak the trigger delay, which specific characters can trigger the volume (i.e. SWAT, the player, civilians, suspects), and which characters must be present to trigger a particular dialogue.
To avoid repetition, we can also specify whether a dialogue is supposed to be repeated as well as give certain dialogue strings or lines a random chance of occurring in the first place.
The dialogue voice line emitter can be attached to practically anything, which opens up a lot of avenues. This also means that static environmental characters like those in the Station can easily have dialogue as well.
(Image below: Examples of some static character scenes around the Station that may benefit from this system)
The content of the lines for each participant in a dialogue string can be set to play a specific voice line, or a randomized voice line that corresponds to a given situation. The given order of each voice line and which character says it are also conveniently specifiable. If a character isn’t present or required for a dialogue, then their line can be specifically left out from the dialogue string.
We have more dialogue on the way being written and recorded that should be able to plug right into this setup too.
All together, these feature configurations harmonize to create a dynamic character-rich atmosphere that complements our existing reaction voice line system.
In Sync
The lip sync animation system that was mentioned in our previous development briefing has undergone a facelift during implementation which we're ready to show off.
After plenty of tweaking to get out of the prototype phase, the lip movements generated by our system are progressing nicely and pairing with some additional facial animations.
Still, the feature is in its early stages, pending work on improved animation integration for head and eye tracking movements relative to in-game objects. In its completed state it will serve as a nice level of polish to our dialogue system and voice lines.
(Video below: SWAT officer model making callouts with the WIP lip sync system, utilizing alert and angry voice lines)
[TAG-60]
Conclusion
As you can see, our longer-term AI enhancements are not just limited to behavior but also cover improved storytelling and immersion across the game.
These new systems are potentially applicable to both current content and future content.
This concludes our 71st development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!
Special thanks to Zack for his photos and brilliant work on the new dialogue system, and to Alex and killowatt for their work and footage on this high fidelity lip sync system.
