🎃👻 Get Ready for a Spooktacular Showdown in Setback's Halloween Versus Event!
Greetings Setback Champions,
It's that time of the year again, and we've got a bone-chilling treat for you in the world of Setback! Get your pumpkin-spiced weapons ready and prepare for a ghoulish showdown in our Halloween Versus Event!
🔥 What to Expect:
🌙 Dive into a haunted arena, where eerie environments and creepy deocrations await. 🕷️ New spooky skins and cosmetics to deck out your character. 🎯 Face off against other players in intense battles with a supernatural twist.
👻 Choose Your Side! 👹
In the Halloween Versus event, players have the opportunity to align with one of three unique teams: "Good," "Evil," or "Neutral." When you select your team, you'll automatically unlock your team's identity cosmetic. Wear it with pride, and let the world know where your loyalty lies.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 29th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM! Gather your courage and prepare to dive into thrilling world of Setback with the upcoming Halloween Versus event. This adrenaline-pumping event is set to be a clash between good, evil, and those who prefer to walk the line of neutrality. Throughout the Halloween Versus event teams will compete in the arena to bring points for their team. At the end of the event, the team with the highest score will be crowned the ultimate champions
🏆 Special Rewards 🎁
Following the event's results, an upgraded version of the winning team's skin will be added in the game, allowing you to celebrate your victory in style. The top 🏅5 best players from the winning team will get Setbucks based on their place in ladder. The MVPs for each team will be rewarded with 150 NOK Steam credits, giving you even more reason to strive for greatness.
Dev log: Squad Showdown, New Mechanics, & So, So Much More!
Welcome to the biggest content drop Setback has seen in forever!
Setback is still in development and far from release, but this weekend we invite you to playtest a number of new features!
Squad Showdown!
This Sunday the Squad Showdown goes down! Sign up from the Event Page in the playtest and compete for money, fame, and glory!
The tournament starts on Sunday at 18:00 CEST and lasts for 3 hours. Join our community discord for more info
Wall Running!
This mechanic has been a long time coming and we've finally gotten to the point where we can start working on it. This is still a very early version of Wall Running, and it is going to change a lot in the future, but we've had too much fun with this early version of the mechanic as is, so even if it's far from finished we just couldn't keep ourselves from adding it to the Public Playtest so you can join in on the parkour goodness.
Along with this change air resistance has been increased at very high speeds, forcing players to continuously work for their momentum, instead of just coasting.
Bring on the Hurricane!
Earlier this week our lead developer accidentally broke and destroyed the Gravity Well by accidentally flipping the gravitational force it inflicts. The result was a field that shot people into the air. The entire dev team thought this was so god damn funny that they approached me, Oliver, the master of FX, and author of this dev log, and our lead dev commanded (menacingly) "Oliver, by the end of the day you will make us a Tornado effect, a glorious Tornado the likes of which the world has ever seen, so we can use it to turn this mess of a bug into a real item". And that, dear reader, is the story of how the Tornado was born.
But what is the Tornado? The Tornado is a throw-able projectile that summons a slow moving, short lived tornado field that sends all who enter flying into the air.
New Game Mode: Flag Point!
Flag Point is an asymetrical game mode where one team attacks and the other defends!
In Flag Point the attacking team competes to guard and transport its team's flag through a series of checkpoints, scoring points as they can before the time runs out, while the defending team tries to thwart their efforts at all cost. When the time is out, or if the attacking team clears the entire course, the roles are switched, giving both teams the chance to play both roles.
The team that cleared the most checkpoints, wins!
I'm Not Losing, I'm Falling Back in Time with Style!
The First Person Effect for being setbacked has recieved a complete redesign, with a much more Setback themed style. We know that the beauty of the new effect can make it tempting to lose intentionally, but try to remember the tale of Narcissus, and stay clear of mortal harm.
Setback for Nerds (Who Like to Read)
Have you ever played Setback and felt overwhelmed? Surprised? Confused even? Well fret not, we've added an encyclopedia with info on all of Setback's items and weapons that you can read to your heart's content. In the future the encyclopedia will be expanded to include info about maps, game modes, cake recipes (maybe), and more!
Just keep an eye out for this symbol on the main menu!
A Myriad of Item Changes!
A number of smaller changes to Items has been made as well for improved quality of life, and game balance!
- Target Items such as the Gravity Well and Orbital Strike have been reworked into projectile items that deploy where the projectile lands. This change was made to move away from the targeting system of the Target Items, as it never looked good, and often caused game breaking bugs. - The Molotime Cocktail has been nerfed drastically, reaffirming its role as an item that is supposed to lock off an area, instead of straight up being a high damage menace. - The Jelly Bomb has been buffed with an increased blast radius to make it more effective as a crowd control item. The Jelly Bomb has always been effective as a movement tool, but its crowd control prowess have always been lacking, making this a much needed buff.
Dream Hack Patch Notes 2: Versus Event!
Versus Event
A new competition has started in Setback: Versus Battle! During this event three teams will compete to decide which brew is the best: Coffee, Tea, or Water. To join the versus event download the Seteback demo and head to the events tab in the main menu where you can choose your team! Winning a game earns 3 points for your team while playing any game wins 1 point for your team!
Depending on the team you chose you will unlock a water, tea, or coffee themed t-shirt! The team that wins the overall event will have a skin made themed around that drink ☕🧋💧
Changes
Molotime Cocktail reduced from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.
Capture the flag UI changed to better communicate the status of flags
Added hover text to clarify when you can pick up the flag
Team related colors added to score board
Capture the flag (one flag) removed from rotation
Crazy zones removed from rotation
We have now added a very short immunity window and full health restore after picking up a flag.
Towers map readded into map rotation
Bug Fixes
Fixed loading into a lobby and not being assigned to a team
Fixed a bug that caused you to go back to the main menu after getting past the loading screen when in a party
Known Issues
Flag disappearing
Occasional bug that causes you to not be able to shoot or use items after attempting to use projectile item
In very specific situations the UI for Victory versus Defeat can be attributed incorrectly
Setback DreamHack Indie Showcase Patch Notes 1
In this patch we go over some bugs, bug fixes, and new content!
CRAZY ZONES
Introducing Crazy Zones! Crazy Zones is a fun alteration to the existing game mode Safe Zone. Just like safe zone you want to be inside the zone when the timer goes down but this time the zones have wacky attributes to make it extra challenging. You'll have to think on your feet and approach each zone with a different strategy if you hope to win!
Crazy Zones features the following zones:
Safe Zone: Normal zone
Gravity-Free Zone: No gravity inside the zone
Speed Zone: Speed boost inside the zone
Danger Zone: Damage inside the zone
Fake Zone: A zone you can't enter, hidden among them is one normal safe zone
Changes
Changed the height of the flag and base indicators so they don’t overlap as much
Added new game mode: Crazy Zones
Bug Fixes
Items added to a few maps missing items
Fixed Flag race not ending unless team 1 got 2 points
Fixed being able to finish the race multiple times for match points letting you win best of 3 in one round
Fixed visuals and sound prompting through checkpoints after the race ended
Fixed flag race announcement showing multiple times equal to the round number
Fixed bot names changing between rounds
Rocket being shot down but still damaging the player
Fixed a bug that chose a random winner when 2 teams reached match point
Known Issues
Investigating an issue that causes players to return to the main menu after getting past the loading screen. This seems to only happen when in a squad so the temporary fix is to que at the same time as your friends.
We're aware of a issue where you may join a lobby as a player or spectator but not be assigned to a team.
Enemy flag not respawning
Throwable items can sometimes make bots teleport beneath the floor
Setback DreamHack Beyond Summer Indie Showcase!
We’ll be participating in the DreamHack Steam event from August 18th to 27th! That's right Setback will be playable ALL WEEK LONG! 🥳
As part of the DreamHack event we’ll be using the Setback Demo on Steam instead of the Playtest! 📌 Important note: If you try to launch the Setback playtest it will not work, you must use the Setback demo throughout the DreamHack event.
Well be back soon with more updates on the game modes, maps, and more that will be present throughout Dreamhack. Make sure to follow us on the Setback Steam store page so you don't miss out!
Setback August Playtest: Flag Race
Setback is back with another playtest focused on testing improvements to capture the flag and a first time test of our new game mode: Flag Race!
Check out our youtube video to learn more about Flag Race and request access to the Setback playtest on the Setback Steam store page to try it for yourself! The Setback playtest goes live on August 4th 18:00 (CEST) and lasts until 06:00 (CEST).
Designing New Game Modes For Setback
We recently have begun rapidly developing and testing new game modes! While we have a great team of talented people we didn't want to miss this opportunity to get our players directly involved in Setback's development. In the video below I explain a bit about what to consider when creating new game modes for Setback as well as how you can pitch your ideas or leave feedback on existing game modes. We're working hard to make the FPS game we've always dreamed of but with your help its sure to be legendary!
New Public Playtest - With Tournament & Prizes!
Our bi-weekly public playtests return with a special edition playtest and a tournament!
Our normal playtest will run from June 9th 6:00 PM CEST until June 10th 6:00 AM CEST. Just download the playtest and play as much as you want!
Then on Sunday June 11th from 6:00 PM CEST to 9:00 PM CEST we will be hosting an open online tournament with prizes! You can sign up anytime before the tournament begins from the main menu in Setback. The tournament functions as a sort of mini season, where you que, play, and compete for ranks in a three hour window. Hosting tournaments while we are still far from a finished game has allowed us to continue to experiment with how best to optimize our future ranked system.
Place top 10 in the Setback tournament to win Steam credits, an exclusive skin, and in game currency! Check out the Setback Tournament event in Discord for details on rewards, and so we have a way to reach out to you if you win!
Good luck!
Dev Spotlight: Level Design
Hello there!
I’m Lasse from Riddlebit Software. As the level designer for Setback, my task is to provide players with entertaining and engaging levels to play on.
What is Level Design?
At its core, level design is the process of creating levels within a video game. From the player's perspective, there is no difference between level design and environment art. However, anything that affects the game world is level design. It's an intricate process involving art, psychology, programming, and even culture. As a level designer, I need to think about the player’s experience, the game world, and the desired outcome of a level. Level design is also about solving problems, designing challenges, and creating engaging experiences to entertain players.
Tools and Techniques
The most common tools I use are game engines like Unreal Engine and design software like Blender. I also make use of modular pieces (pieces made to fit together according to a common pattern) to work quickly, then actively apply logic to my workflow to try out what works. It’s important for a level designer to have intimate knowledge of the game and how it plays to provide a good experience. Even the most beautiful and intricate level is useless if it doesn’t fit well with the game’s objectives.
How to Approach Level Design
Pre-Planning
When we start work on a new level for our game, we begin with a series of planning and research meetings. The team gets together and brainstorms ideas about what our newest level will play like, what visual themes we want, and what experience the player will have while playing it. We add onto our initial draft with several sessions where we define more clearly what we want to have in our level until we reach a concession.
Blockout
After we have a defined plan ready for our level, we move onto the first draft, which we call the Blockout. This is commonly known as Grayboxing. During the blockout phase, we place down a bunch of blocks to roughly define the flow of the level and sort out issues like scale, cover, and balance. We didn’t have the photos on hand to show our blockout phase (whoops), so we borrowed the image above from this great blog: [https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2017/09/how-to-graybox-blockout-3d-video-game.html]. Check out the blog to see a paint over of the above blockout that is closer to the final product!
Whitebox
After the blockout has been defined and set up, the rest of the team will know what dimensions they have to work with when they are making assets for the level. We can then move onto making the design more defined and visually appealing. Here we add most of the detail into the assets, and we begin to see what the final look of the level will be like.
Polish
The rest is just polishing, fixing bugs, and creating a proper atmosphere before finally showing it to the players.
Same thing here we didn’t have this image on hand so we borrowed the images from another great blog: [https://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/interviews/pete-ellis-level-design.php]. Check it out for more information on level design!
Touchups and Playtesting
As most of the staff here at the studio are human, we are bound to miss things. And you, the players, are usually the ones to locate any bugs we might have. This includes finding camping spots we didn’t realize, accessing areas you shouldn’t, and any number of surprises we didn’t foresee. This is why playtesting and feedback is so important for us, as we can locate these quickly and work to fix them asap.
Setback's Current Levels
At this stage of development for our game, we have several first drafts for you to play on, and they of course are not representative of the final look. We know they are blocky and look like Minecraft currently, but this is all part of the process! As we are defining how Setback will play and feel with our players through development, having a rough draft of our maps that we can tweak through player feedback is extremely useful. As indie developers, we have many tasks to deal with here at the studio, and in 2023, we hope to show you what our vision for Setback really is!
Future Dev Blogs
This was our first dev blog of many! Part of being an indie game dev is exchanging knowledge with other devs so that we can all make the best games possible. We want to share that knowledge with the world and hopefully help others learn tips and tricks to optimize their own projects! Wishlist Setback and follow our Steam Store page to stay ahead of the game 🎮. If you want to discuss something mentioned in this blog, join our Discord and ask away!
Dev Spotlight: Cloud Optimization
Cloud Optimization
There’s a ton of ways to make a proper cloudscape. Volumetric clouds, handpainted cloudscapes, or even a mix of handpainted cloud texture maps that are shaded in post. Historically Setback has used hand drawn cloud cards, on a per cloud basis, that are spawned and shaded as particles in the sky. In hindsight, this was a horrible solution 🥲
The picture above is a what our old cloud optimization solution produced. It was a visibly pleasing cloudscape that was generated live and could be tuned in several ways through extensive parameters. While the flexibility of the old solution was nice, generating the cloudscape live is not an optimal solution.
The picture above showcases the downside of the current solution. As you can see the it’s just a ton of overlapping cloud cards that are horrible for performance. Fully opaque materials allow the renderer to ignore anything behind it, but translucent materials are rendered in layers and blended onto each other until it’s finally rendered over the front most opaque material. Long story short, on the white spaces above, the game is essentially rendering 10-20 pixels per pixel! So how do we fix it?
Optimizing the Cloudscape
The individual cloud masses are made from sprite sheets that looks like this:
The R & G channel are passed through a ton of shading code to render a multitude of cloud bodies that are spawned into a sphere surrounding the world. These cloud bodies blend together live and form the live cloud sphere.
A more performance friendly solution would be to generate this cloud sphere in the engine, except with colors that align with the rules of the original sprite sheet. Then we can do a cube capture of that sphere in engine. Now we can project this single cube capture onto the skybox. With this solution we now only have a single layer with a static cloud sphere, instead of having several dynamic clouds blending live. If we run this new sphere capture through the same shader we used on our cloud body particles, it should produce a similar result.
Unless you make a single typo in the code, then it’s going to end up looking like this.
But once it’s fixed it will look like this! As you can see it is more or less indistinguishable from the old live render result.
Except compared to the old solution the performance is significantly better now with no overlapping bodies in the sky.
Always bake your clouds. It’s good for the environment and it’s good for performance.
The Cost of Optimizing Clouds
The downside of the optimized cloud solution is that the cloud sphere no longer moves and morphs in a meaningful way. The shading code still gives it a cloud like swivel, but it’s not enough, we should at the very least rotate the cube map to add some movement.
Again, don’t make any typos in the code, cause then it cloud end up looking like this 🤭
This is what the final result looks like (Cloud movement sped up 40000% for demonstration purposes)
For Setback we use a hand drawn approach on a per cloud basis, and generate a full cloud sphere. In the future we’d like to hand draw the full cloud sphere, But for now, this solution is quite effective.
Future Dev Blogs
This was our first dev blog of many! Part of being an indie game dev is exchanging knowledge with other devs so that we can all make the best games possible. We want to share that knowledge with the world and hopefully help others learn tips and tricks to optimize their own projects! Wishlist Setback and follow our Steam Store page to stay ahead of the game 🎮. If you want to discuss something mentioned in this blog, join our Discord and ask away!
