Soran cover
Soran screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Sport, Adventure, Indie

Soran

Goodbye "Rad Supporter Hat Pack"
I want to start by thanking everyone who bought the hat pack and has supported Soran's development in other ways. You're all awesome, and I'll forever appreciate your help on this project. I recently started a new job in the video game industry, and a part of that commitment is that I have agreed to no longer profit off of this personal passion project. Soran isn't going anywhere, and I intend to continue to invest free time in it's development and play testing it with the community.

Beta 1.15.54: A Totally Valid Update
In this update I've done some long overdue housekeeping. As a solo developer, I've been continuing to learn Unreal Engine over the 4 years I've been making Soran. And because I don't know what I'm doing, I managed to ignore a few thousand null reference errors over the years. They piled up, but generally didn't seem to break the build. Well in this update I managed to reduce that number to 2 pesky errors that I'm still working to fix. I did that by ensuring that every reference my code tries to point to is considered "Valid" before it grabs them. If you're an Unreal developer and haven't heard of validated gets, I highly recommend looking into them. They're great for helping fix a few thousand "accessed none" errors.

Also in this update I found a reproduction and fix for the worst and most elusive bug we have. This bug would occasionally cause a player to spawn without any of their weapons. This should be fixed now. Please tell me if it's not, and I'll happily return to pulling my hair out over it.

Also also I've added the vaulted maps "Horizon" and "The Bridge" back to the game and matchmaking rotation.

There are still some occasional netcode issues relating to things like ammo pick ups, swapping weapons, and CTF. Please report these if you see them! Once I fix them, Soran will finally become 1.16 updates old, and I'll begin on my next big art pass.

That's all for now, thanks for reading and playing Soran!

Beta 1.15.50
In this update I'm trying out some balance changes to address the gameplay goals of "defenestrating players off of the map should be fun" and "the player should never accidentally fall off of the map."

Here's what's new...
-New Arena "Sym2" added to Custom Matches for Testing
-Vertical knockback increased on the Defenestrator
-Melee boost slightly increased
-Wavedash boost slightly decreased
-NLL or "No Lives Lost" mechanic disabled (falling off of the arena will always grant your enemy a point)
-Air control increased from 0.1 to 0.2
-Various small bug fixes

Beta 1.15.32
That's right, I've made 22 iterations since I last wrote any patch notes. Most of the changes have been small fixes and tweaks to help 2v2 and CTF play better. This update, however, has a few pretty significant changes that help me prepare for 1.16 which will include fully operational CTF and 2v2 for customs and matchmaking.

Here's what's new in 1.15.32
-Finishing Custom Matches should now return players to the lobby
-Finishing Matchmaking Matches should now run a rematch (yup, you'll just indefinitely rematch whoever you find in matchmaking until someone backs out)
-CTF is now available for testing in Custom Matches (I actually snuck this in a few updates ago, but it works pretty well now)
-Geometry changed on Corporate to make Red Team's spawn safer, and allow for more Sun Beam
-Geometry changed on Summit to make Blue Team's spawn safer
-Overhauled Hitmarker and Kill System to be more reliable

Beta 1.15.10: Introducing the Skill Ceiling

This update introduces many new elements for testing in anticipation of the 1.16 update which will feature full 4 player matchmaking support. Here's what's new...
-New Arena, "The Skill Park" added to Custom Match Options for testing
-2v2 support added to Custom Match Options for testing
-Friendly Teammate Bot introduced for 2v2 Bot Matches
-Phlood, Fire Hose, and Sun Beam ammo increased from 36 to 60
-E.O.D.L.R. ammo decreased from 36 to 12
-E.O.D.L.R. damage increased from 25 to 35
-E.O.D.L.R. knockback multiplier increased by 50%
-Bug fixed causing auto weapons to decrement ammo twice per shot
-Bug fixed causing client weapon sounds to not replicate to the server
-Bug fixed causing client to see server with feet stuck in the floor
-Bug fixed causing players to occasionally clip through floor on "Bow" Arena
-Bug fixed preventing client's equipped weapon slot to persist into the next life

Beta 1.15.6
I didn't do any patch notes for Beta 1.15.3 through 1.15.5 because they were all small bug fixes. But there's some great new stuff in this one that I wanted to announce.

-Significant netcode improvement to address input lag and jitter issues
-Ammo Pickups now show their respawn timer countdown
-4 maps (Symmetrical Arena, Docks, Corporate, and Engine) now all have only 1 of each ammo type to test potential new pacing and balance
-First Person animations have been added to wall jumps

Beta 1.15.2
Some small but much needed fixes for the latest update. Thanks to everyone who tested and submitted bugs!

-Fixed issue preventing mid-air weapon swapping after a flying knee
-Fixed issue causing player to remain crouched after sliding on an incline
-Fixed issue occasionally causing self Defenestration to fail (firing the Defenestrator at your feet should now always launch you)
-Fixed issue occasionally delaying the end of a game to 11 kills
-Weapon Slot that is equipped when player health reaches zero now persists into the next life
-New sound attached to player spawn
-Defenestrator projectile velocity increased
-Defenestrator, Phlood, Fire Hose, and Sunbeam ammo lowered from 60 to 36

Soran Multiplayer Beta 1.15: Upping the Ante
Beta 1.15 is yet another game feel update, but it’s without a doubt the biggest one yet. In this update I did a fresh pass on nearly every aspect in the game. My goals were to polish the current mechanics, give the player better feedback, and generally streamline the whole experience in a way that better supports the core loop. I want any given match of Soran to tell a short memorable story, so that you can look back and say stuff like, “remember when I shot the water cooler and it caused you to slip and die in my pile of broken glass?” Updating the game feel will hopefully help create more of those stories. Here’s whats new…


Weapons
-Weapon specific reticules introduced
-Updated 3D models for the Rifle, Doob Tube, Bottler, & Sun Beam
-Procedural animations added to the Rifle, Sniper, Pistol, Doob Tube, Bottler, Crossbow
-Updated sound design for the Rifle, Sniper, Pistol, Doob Tube, Bottler, and E.O.D.L.R.
-Updated FX, Sound design, & Netcode for bullet weapons
-Doob Tube Buffed: Holding the trigger will stop Doobs from exploding, and releasing it will trigger a remote detonation
-Defenestrator Buffed: Sound projectiles now grow larger
-Various Sun Beam bugs fixed

Movement
-Landing crouched now gives the player a slight boost relative to their velocity and floor incline
-Procedural animations added to the weapon when strafing, sliding and wall jumping
-Motion lines added to high velocity players because they feel awesome
-Releasing crouch input no longer stops the player’s slide


AI
-behavior updated to slide and jump more frequently
-fixed bug causing the bot to stop firing at the player
-fixed bug causing the bot to get stuck strafing in it’s respawn area

Maps
-Bullet holes and explosion decals will now remain on the map permanently
-Broken bottles will respawn after 60 seconds
-Small geometry update on The Symmetrical Arena
-Small geometry update on Bow
-Geometry updated on Huntington Arena (fka And Another Arena)
-Bug causing players to clip through the fences on Docks fixed
-Various navigation fixes and jumps added to spots where the bots would get stuck
-The Asymmetrical Arena, Bridge, and Horizon have been removed from the game
UI (SunHat Screenshot)
-All menu UI overhauled to improve overall UX (it’s basically now 3D, and you can try on hats, build your gun composition, bind keys, and adjust settings easily from any menu/lobby screen)
-Scoreboard overhauled to show players’ names, weapon compositions, and lives remaining

Hats & DLC
Speaking of hats, I’ve added the first DLC cosmetics to Soran in the form of “The Rad Supporter Hat Pack”! You can support me in developing Soran by purchasing these three stylish hats from the Steam Store for just $4.99! Buyable hats, belts, gloves, shoes, and other accessories are my plan to fundraise for development costs, and eventually monetize the free to play multiplayer. So if you enjoy Soran and want to support it’s progress, please consider buying yourself some nice hats. (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1890090/Soran__The_Rad_Supporter_Hat_Pack/)


Also! If you did actually buy Soran back before it was free to play, as an extra thanks for your early support I want to give you exclusive access to the Samurai Hat. If you’ve beat me in matchmaking, which pretty much all of you early supporters have, the hat should still be in your save file. If you don’t have access to it and did buy the game, send me an email (soranfps@gmail.com), and I’ll get you a key for the exclusive DLC. You’ll also be getting a special pin to wear in game, but that’s an update or two away.

Networking & Community Playtests
With Beta 1.14 came our first community playtest. Thanks again to everyone who came out! I had an awesome time playing with and getting to meet more of you from our Discord. We’ll be doing more of those with this update so be sure to check out the Discord for updates (https://discord.gg/gbAxA5HX).

In one of our last community playtests we found a bug that had 3 players finding the same 1v1 host, and 2 getting kicked. I’ve implemented some fixes for this that worked in editor and with a QA test, but we’ll find out how that holds up against more stress in our next playtest. I have also made a few small network optimizations to the games VFX that will hopefully make for smoother online play. It’s incredible to have players from all over the world, and playing with y’all gives me an awesome chance to test and optimize my network architecture for higher ping scenarios.



Where to next?
So right now my main goal for Soran is to start testing 1.15 with all of you wonderful people. With these overhauls and optimizations, I’m sure some stuff will break. I want the 1v1 experience to consistently feel great on a variety of network conditions. Once we’ve got that down, the plan is to scale the whole thing up to include 2v2, Capture the Flag, in game Accolades, and increased customization (pins, gloves, hats, shoes, & skins). At that point the multiplayer will actually be fairly close to finished. All that will be left is to add more custom game modes and polish the whole thing. It’s pretty exciting for a release to start coming into view, but for the time being, I hope to see you in matchmaking.

-Joseph

Beta 1.14.1: Community Testing Nights
Our first community testing night starts in a half hour! I fixed a few things to help it go more smoothly.
-Various ammo pickup issues fixed
-Hiding spot on the top of "Engine" blocked with zero health volume
-Fixes to the maps "And" and "Horizon" that cause the sunbeam to not work
-Weapon Swap sound changed

Beta 1.14 New Sights and Sounds and also Community Test Nights

This update is a pretty big pass at the game feel. With the help of our small community, I've been honing in on the things that make Soran feel fun and unique, and with this update I wanted to make design decisions that emphasized those things. This update features three new maps for matchmaking, custom matches, and bot fights as well as new sounds, refined mechanics, bug fixes, and balance changes.

I'm hoping that these new more detailed maps will help create more memorable inner narratives for matches. The Defenestrator is at the core of Soran, yet until these maps there were maybe two windows in the whole multiplayer that you could use to defenestrate other players. I think it will be a lot more fun to literally push your opponent out a window or down an elevator shaft rather than just "off of that one corner on the orange map". So I hope enjoy these new opportunities to do things like grapple up a mountain, parkour up a fire escape, slide jump between rooftops, melt in hot lava, and of course defenestrate enemies through dozens of new windows.

I'm also going to start hosting weekly test nights in our Discord starting this Sunday 1/9. I hope to see y'all there!

-Joseph

Changelist:
-3 New Maps, Corporate, Summit, and Brownstone added to matchmaking, custom matches, and Bot fights
-New model for The Defenestrator
-New Model for The Sun Beam
-The Sun Beam now requires sunlight (or moonlight) to fire
-New Sound FX for the Grapple
-Grapple no longer stops falling players movement
-New sound and smoke FX added to ammo to help differentiate colors
-Ammo mounts remain on map after ammo is picked up to help remind players of ammo spawn locations
-New Sound FX added for ADS, Weapon swapping, and Bullet ricochets
-Outline Post Process Effect removed
-Player can now slide diagonally while moving forward (slide speed scales down as angle from reticule increases)
-Fixed a bug causing sounds to detach from their respective weapons
-Updated ammo placement for all maps
-Movement sounds added to all AI
-Updated in game UI
-Updated level geometry to fix small prop, texturing, and z-fighting issues
-Projectiles no longer collide with each other (i.e. glass and puddles can't spawn mid air, and grappling doob bug is gone)

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