Survivor
Public Beta Announced! - v0.3.3
Schedule
Testing this weekend from Friday to Sunday for Stage 3.
Followed by a brief check and prep for release.
Currently targeting WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th for the launch of the Public Beta. I want to also emphasize that this is an estimate. Additionally not all planned features and content will be present in the first Public Beta version. Several updates and patches for the Public Beta will be released during the testing duration.
How long will the Public Beta be available for?
I am currently aiming for a two week test duration with a possible extension of the test duration by an additional two weeks. So if everything goes as planned the Public Beta will run from September 20th to October 4th. With the extension this test would instead run from September 20th and end on October 18th.
I notify the community with an announcement after the first weeks have finished if I am going to extend the test duration or close the Public Beta.
What happens after the Public Beta closes?
Once the Public Beta has closed, an official public release of v0.3.3 will follow within a few days to a week as during this time I will work on resolving issues that were discovered during the Public Beta. New content won't be added to public version after the Public Beta, only simple bug fixes and improvements and then finally release.
What happens after the public release of v0.3.3?
Due to the challenge and long period of time it took to develop multiplayer, I've decided to take a two week break after the official public release.
What will the update cadence/frequency be after you finish your break?
When I resume development after my break, I will be aiming to release a frequent content update once every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks each with 1-2 patches in between.
I would like to thank everyone for continuing to support the game and am looking forward to finally conducting a public test for multiplayer.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 - Stage 3 Testing and Stage 2 Completion
Just a quick announcement for today to confirm that Stage 2 testing is complete and now I am forward to Stage 3 group testing which will include testing networking and replication through Steam servers and international connections.
After Stage 3 is complete, Stage 4 will follow which will be a Public Beta release and the first version that the public will be able to play.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 Update
I have resolved a number of issues that I discovered and during my testing also encountered a critical network bug that I have thankfully been able to resolve.
There is still more things to finish and more things to polish before I move into Stage 3 testing. My current estimate is to ideally start Stage 3 testing by Friday and have it accomplished over the weekend with a final report on Monday next week. However this is only if things go smoothly, I want to emphasize that this is just an estimate and that the actual duration of Stage 3 testing could easily take much longer.
However I am very excited and hopeful as things have been progressing well and multiplayer is really coming along nicely.
I will provide information on Friday on whether I am ready for Stage 3 or Stage 2 needs more work before I progress.
Thank you to everyone for your support and loyalty to the game and I will see all of you on Friday.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
Development Update
I know this is a fairly short announcement but I didn't want to leave you guys in the dark and provide an explanation for what's been going on.
v0.3.3 - Stage 2 Testing
So far, things are looking good for multiplayer and I got to witness it in action over the last few days. As I delve further into testing, the release date draws closer. At the current moment I do not have a specific release date or even release window for the public release for v0.3.3, but I can provide a rough estimate for the release window of v0.3.3's Public Beta.
My current estimate is that v0.3.3's Public Beta will most likely be available from Monday, July 24th and onwards.
I would like to thank everyone again for their support and am really looking forward to the addition of multiplayer.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 Stage 1 Test - Results
In this test, I discovered several things, mainly features that need to be polished or fully completed. But the biggest problem is optimization, especially in multiplayer. Average frame-rate on my gaming pc was around 30 - 40 FPS and on a slower setup it was 5 - 8 FPS. I spent the last few days working on optimization and was able to boost FPS to around 100 on average with my gaming pc.
More testing is required and more optimization is needed. Stage 2 will most likely begin either today or tomorrow.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 - Stage 1 Testing
I am very excited to announce that Survivor's v0.3.3 has entered the first stage of testing which is in-engine by myself.
For those of you who are wondering, this is how testing new updates will work:
Stage 1
Testing the game from inside the engine by myself and involves finishing features and mechanics while also doing basic testing for critical systems.
Stage 2
Testing by myself in a packaged (out of engine) build, both off and on Steam. Slightly longer than Stage 1, and involves more testing and re-iterating tests of critical systems.
Stage 3
Testing with a group of testers on Steam for several hours and collecting information on any bugs and continuing tests on a variety of systems and features.
Stage 4
Public Beta test, this build is significantly improved from the Stage 3 build and is published to Steam for 1 week, during which the public can try out the new version and provide feedback.
Stage 5
Critical bug fixes (if needed) for the Public Beta build as well as any other minor fixes and improvements to polish the game. I expect Stage 5 to last around a couple of days to a maximum of 2 weeks.
Once Stage 5 is complete, official release of the new version on the game's public branch.
Again, I would like to thank you guys for your support and patience and am very excited to start this new journey with multiplayer. Lots of testing is needed to improve and since I failed multiplayer twice in the past, I wanted to make sure that I got a good amount of things working. I am not expecting multiplayer to be bug-free in Public Beta or even in the default public branch as this update was a huge undertaking for me.
The good news is that once this huge effort with v0.3.3 is complete, patches and updates will come much more frequently.
Thank you very much.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
Survivor v0.3.3 - Public Beta Release Window Announcement
You might wonder why I decided on a public beta, and that's because testing multiplayer especially on a larger scale is tricky on my current setup and it will be very helpful to me to have those who can play and test while also getting the community involved.
Some Changes
A few changes have been made to v0.3.3. The level and ranking system have been removed due to problems with their development, levels will be implemented in the next update and the rank system has been moved to a future update, TBC.
What I am working on
Currently, I am polishing the game and finishing off a few final stuff. I am expecting a few more days needed for development.
When is the release window for the public beta?
The release window will open on Wednesday June 21st and close on Monday June 26th.
During this time, the Public Beta will be released alongside key information such as access codes and how long the Public Beta will be available for.
Thank you to everyone for continuing to support the game and I am very excited to begin this new multiplayer journey with the player base and community.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 - Development Blog #5
I am happy to say that the new update is roughly around 75 to 80 percent complete and my new release estimate is roughly two weeks from now.
Now let's take a look at what I've been working on:
- All weapons have their respective attachments and logic associated with each attachment (such as recoil reductions and whatnot) have been implemented.
- Improvements to the IK system that forces the third person character to maintain their hand on the barrel of the rifle during animations will make the system much smoother.
- Replicated AI spawning and movement logic. AI enemies will select the closest player and update to their location correctly. Additionally AI enemies have a buffer time in between selecting players, if one player gets closer than the selected one, there is brief delay before the enemy switches targets.
- Implemented user interface (UI) functionality for correctly updating health for each client.
- Shop functionality has been implemented, player can view their inventory and the shop. Shop panels provide 3D models of each weapon and the inventory shows weapon slots as well what weapons are contained in the inventory. Additionally, attachments now appear and can be interacted with from the inventory (Weapons can have attachments removed etc.)
- Reworked options menu that is much cleaner and provides new options to tinker with as well as video memory usage screen that shows the impact on performance different settings will have.
- Made some improvements to the main menu and lobby screens.
- Added the level transition when going from lobby to in-game for all clients. Added the logic for determining how many players should be connected before starting game.
- Added a controls page that shows which keys perform what actions. (Future update will bring the ability to change key bindings in the controls page).
- Implemented logic to go with options menu with a saving and loading system for options.
- Created basic setup for in-game options menu alongside pause functionality in single player mode.
- Added search filter to server browser and the ability to search by ping as well as region.
- Added new camera animations for shooting, walking and reloading and reworked camera anims for running.
- Added walk sway while ADS (So the weapon doesn't stay completely still when moving).
Now that I've revealed what I've been working on and finished here's what's next for me to work on:
Replicating More AI Functionality
- Currently player damage is replicated but not the animations and attacks of enemies. This is my next big step and should be finished within a few days.
- Also only one AI enemy (the minion or the walking zombie) has been replicated, however the groundwork has been laid and replicating other enemies is very straightforward and simple.
- A replication bug with the zombies' clothes and variations not correctly updating for the clients. I am looking into this issue, especially as I add more clothing and skin variants to the zombies both in this update and future ones.
Creating and Replicating Player Elimination/Respawning
- Currently players do not respawn and do not have a death functionality. I aim to improve from the previous versions by added new effects and camera animations when a player dies.
User Interface Stuff
- A scoreboard that tracks player's stats like kills, assists, deaths, headshot and average accuracy as well as ping has yet to be implemented.
- An XP indicator when a zombie is killed and post-match results have also yet to be implemented.
Good progress has been made in all areas of the game and as stated at the beginning of the post, my new estimate on release for v0.3.3 is roughly 2 weeks from now.
Thank you for reading and the next dev blog will come out on Thursday.
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
KolaCape
v0.3.3 - Dev Blog #4
Will post the fifth chapter on Friday, where there will be more info.
Let's look at what I've worked on
Damage Rework
- I discovered a bug with a damage/range calculation which determines how much damage the player should do based on the distance the projectile travelled before hitting its target. In the current version, the lower the Range Factor of a weapon, the faster the damage should falloff, however in the current version a mistake I made means that once the Range Factor goes below a certain value there is no damage falloff at all. This mistake has been fixed.
Bullet Spread Rework
- A rework of the bullet spread for each weapon which previously wasn't working correctly when the player was moving. This is now fixed and the player has a penalty to their accuracy when hip firing and moving.
Implementation of shotguns and shotgun spread
- All shotguns have been implemented into the game with their separate bullet spread logic.
Weapon Tracers
- Tracers for bullets for both the first person perspective as well for other clients.
Weapon Attachments Logic
- Functionality for weapon attachments so that they provide the specific bonuses and benefits when attached, for example, the holographic sight reduces recoil when aiming down sight (ADS).
Shop Menu
- Shop functionality with 3D weapon models as well improved user interface (UI) alongside the addition of an inventory system as well.
I will go into more details on Friday about what I've been working as I have recently been preoccupied with coding and personal stuff. In addition to extra details, I will also talk about what I will develop next on Friday as well.
Thank you to everyone for helping to support the game!
Kind Regards,
KolaCape