Welcome to the Battlegrounds Alpha 0.5.9.0 (Tarantula) update. We've got a lot to share with you in this update like ballistics, squads mode, and a new bug tracker to share with you.
Veterans Playtest VBG
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We decided to demo our game to a serious weapon enthusiast and a hardened veteran. For both of them it was their first time in virtual reality. It was great catching there genuine reactions. They both said it felt incredibly real and similar to the real thing. Amazing!
Squads Mode
Squads mode is the best way to play VBG in our opinion. It really pushes the tactical nature of the game to the max. We're especially excited to share with you Squads mode in this update.
Ballistics
This video is obviously an exaggerated version of our ballistics system but we wanted an easy way to visualize it for you. We simulate ballistics based on real fire arms meter per second velocity and gravity. This may need some tweaking based on user feedback this patch.
Bug Tracker
In addition to the public roadmap we've already shared with you we've also built a public bug list in hopes of better tracking down and fixing bugs that we're working on. Also we've recently added the feature of voting on these lists! So we now which features and issues to prioritize.
You can also submit new bugs you find here which we'll add to the bug list: https://forms.gle/Fkzk9hMZFTxdEeHm9
YouTube Player
Another thing we just finished that we think is really cool is a YouTube player that is directly inside of the lobby! While waiting for a match watch YouTube videos in the lobby! If you're interested in getting your VBG YouTube videos featured then reach out to the dev team on our Discord server.
Full List of Notable Changes
New Features: Added ballistics. Added squads mode. Added an in game YouTube player. Added bug reporting tool. Added credits screen.
Bug Fixes: Fixed some settings being automatically updated on game start. Fixed tutorial breaking if you do it too fast. Fixed going through walls in zipline tutorial. Fixed shooting yourself with ballistics. Fixed Vive 2.0 controller support. Fixed bots not dropping guns. Fixed elevator menu taking multiple clicks to respond. Fixed lasers not working on the network. Fixed endless vibration on Vive controllers. Fixed duplicate kill feed on bots. Fixed invisible inventory. Fixed occlusion culling issue in asylum. Fixed invisible collider on player taking hits. Fixed player votes messing up between rounds. Design Improvements: Balance recoil on several guns. Made attachments prioritize snapping and grabbing better. Attachments auto replace old ones when holding an attachment over them. Improved tutorial graphics.
Thanks for reading warriors!
We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield soon.
Sign up for the alpha! http://eepurl.com/dAL-kz Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/cyberdreamvr Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/CyberDreamVR/ Wishlist us on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/823940/Virtual_Battlegrounds/ Join our Discord Community! https://discord.gg/RXdGrgx
Virtual Battlegrounds - Alpha 0.5.8 (Lightning Bug) Live
Hello Warriors!
Welcome to the Alpha 0.5.8.0 Lightning Bug Update!
Since our last post we've had two major updates. Alpha 0.5.7.0 (Fire Ant) and now Alpha 0.5.8.0 (Lightning Bug). With those updates came a host of big and small new features and a ton of bug fixes. We won't be going over everything that's changed because the list is quite long but we'll be highlighting some of the biggest updates.
One of the biggest problems we've noticed new users have when testing Virtual Battlegrounds is figuring out how to use the basic controls. That's why we've added in this fun new tutorial that loads up the first time anyone plays the game. It features Sam the robot. An AI companion that will be featured throughout the universe of Virtual Battlegrounds that is controlled by your robot overlords corporation Erebus. He enthusiastically teach you how to play VBG. While the tutorial is not done yet, we think it's off to a good start.
Bots
We know that matches may not always be full and because of that having bots is critical to keeping a game alive in the VR space. So for this update we've added both a single player with bots option and bots mode option while in a multiplayer game.
Steam Friends Integration
Being able to play with your friends is super important, that's why we wanted to make it as easy possible. Invite your friends through a friends system that we built directly into the game that interfaces with Steam.
Squads Mode
We had planned to launch Squads mode for this update. We've tested it a bit intenrally and it's a ton of fun! Unfortunately we ran into a few problems with the mode and decided to wait to launch it in a hotfix before a future update. Look forward to that update coming soon!
Development Timeline Update
Reminder that you can view our development timeline at any time here:
We've update our development timeline to reflect the changes we've made since our last update. The timeline is always changing!. We're considering adding in an in game Trello board that anyone can vote on, what do you think of this idea?
Full List of Notable Changes
New Features: Added a tutorial. Added bots into main game mode. Added consumable pickups. Added vegetation LOD system. Added improved graphical settings. Added Steam friends options.
Bug Fixes: Fixed weapon muzzle flashes falling behind when moving quickly. Fixed killing people in the helicopter before match starts. Fixed getting stuck in a black screen when loading into a game. Fixed odd collision on top of zipline towers. Fixed mic muting options. Fixed bot games breaking after first use. Fixed sharing attachments with your team mates not working. Fixed zipline audio not producing audio on the network. Fixed bounding sphere moving rapidly before game starts on rare occasions. Fixed not falling from zipline when dying on zipline. Fixed swimming adding velocity to character after climbing.
Design Improvements: Made it easier to grab weapons on the ground. Made it easier to drop weapons into your hip slots. Increased end game menu size by 20% to make it more legible. Increased average frame rate by 20%. Improved several key game textures. (Rocks, Vegetation)
Alpha Invite Status
We've invited an additional 250 people into our alpha. The goal right now is to ramp up stress tests as much as possible while we ramp up for release. We plan on rolling out additional incremental invites on a weekly basis. If you haven't signed up for our alpha already make sure you do so here! EVERYONE gets invited eventually
Thanks for reading warriors!
We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield soon
Back in late 2017 we promised you all that we would be building a VR Battle Royale. Well the time is almost here for us to release but we have a few key milestones we need to hit before we share the game with the rest of the world. We wanted to share with you a transparent timeline
We also want to share with you our timeline for 2020 and some information about our update 0.5.7 Fire Ant includes over 200 bug fixes, design changes and new pieces of content. It's also live on our Alpha servers now!
UPDATE 0.5.7 FIRE ANT GAMEPLAY
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DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE UPDATE
This is the timeline that we'll be following until release. We will update you periodically as we make major progress on our timeline.
Most immediately we're focused on completing several key features that will enable us to release the game into Early Access. Soon after that we'll begin working on new features and other important updates. The community will also play a huge role on what features we plan on focusing our development efforts on post release.
Because of this we've decide to make a public roadmap for all of you to see! This roadmap will be updated everytime we release a new patch.
That's right! Our private alpha servers are live and you can join us by joining our Discord. This will probably be the last time we let players into our private alpha before we enter our open Beta.
You can join us at anytime on our Discord but they are invite only. If you signed up at playvbg.com you will be receiving an invite to our public beta soon.
We have matches planned for this Saturday at 7PM EST and this Sunday at 1PM EST.
Virtual Battlegrounds Guardian Con + Private Alpha Testing Open
Hello Warriors!
Guardian Con was our first major public showing of the game and the first time we got to interact with large numbers of fans with VR, some VR enthusiasts, and others trying VR for the first time. The overall feedback seemed to be really positive, we identified a few new issues and potential design improvements but general feedback was that people really liked the direction of Virtual Battlegrounds.
We got to meet a lot of really cool fans and some new players in the VR space too. Amazed VR faces FTW.
We met a few streamers too!
We can’t wait to participate in GuardianCon next year. Hanging out with gamers and raising money for a good cause is a fun weekend that’s hard to beat.
Also, we’ve been slowly letting people into our private Alpha tests. If you’re interested in helping us improve the game by bug testing and chatting with the devs then make sure you join us on our Discord and drop a message in the channel.
https://discord.gg/TJehWqH
If you want to wait until we have a stable “ish” beta then sign up at playvbg.com.
Until next time warriors!
Virtual Battlegrounds Physics Based Weapons + Guardian Con Show
Hello Warriors!
Welcome to our first blog post update. Today we have a couple of exciting things to share with you.
After doing a few beta sessions and playing a bunch of VR gun games we realized that we could push our weapons a lot further. While we already had what we considered to be a good weapon system, we were inspired by Boneworks physics-based weapons and we decided to spend the last few weeks reworking our weapon system until we had something that felt similar.
While we don’t think we are quite there yet we have built something we’re pretty proud of and should make for a lot of fun in a battle royale setting!
Also, we are excited to announce that we will be headed to Guardian Con! This will be our first major public showing of Virtual Battlegrounds.
If you’re planning on attending we’d love to meet with you there. We will have 6-8 VR stations on site and will be hosting a series of matches and handing out some prizes.
Until next time warriors!
Virtual Battlegrounds release date is TBD.
Hello Warriors!
First off we want to thank you all for being patient with us. We realize that we keep pushing the game back month after month and that this is probably frustrating for some of you. We’re sorry and honestly, no one wants to release this game more then we do. But it’s more important to us that we have a great experience on launch then meet a specific date.
With that being said we have opened up a few waves of beta testers and we’ve been getting some great feedback. We’d love to have you join in our beta tests. Make sure you sign up at www.playvbg.com if you haven’t already or join us on our discord and talk with the dev team.
As for our release date, it’s currently TBD. We’re anticipating late summer right now but we don’t want to commit to a specific date until we’re 100% certain we’re ready to launch. We’ve already made the mistake of announcing too early. You’re probably asking yourself how did you go from March to late summer? Well, it’s a few factors. Partially our game wasn’t ready and we needed to bug fix and polish more. But also we’re really serious about creating the best VR battle royale that we can and that includes a major re-inspection of many of our games features. After looking at our competition and playing their games a bit we felt that we could do more to help our game stand out. Honestly, we’d rather spend another year working on the game and deliver something absolutely amazing then launch now with something mediocre. Fortunately, though it shouldn’t take that long.
Additionally, we realize that we have had a major lack of communication with our community. That is something we aim to correct going forward. Believe it or not, we have been building this game for almost 2 years now but you probably have not heard a lot from us about it. Every week we are planning something new or developing something new for the game. From here on out we want to share with you our project roadmap along with bi-weekly development posts to keep you guys in the loop and hopefully even get you a little bit excited.
Until next time Warriors.
Virtual Battlegrounds is set to release on March 15th! + Gameplay Footage
Hello warriors and welcome to the launch of the ultimate VR Battle Royale.
We have noticed some of you have questions about gameplay. We decided to share with you some insight into our gameplay along with some gameplay footage.
Gunplay: Gunplay has been critically important to us since the start of development. We wanted something that both felt real but also felt good. After a number of really good shooters released last year like Contractors and Zero Caliber we took inspiration from what things we liked and what things we didn't.
Gunplay Footage Rifles | Physics | Pistols| Scopes
Locomotion: Locomotion has been one of the most challenging things to tackle well in VR and frankly we're still not happy with the majority of the solutions people are using for VR games now. Physicality has been a major driving motivator for a lot of our design decisions in regards to locomotion, we want people playing the game while standing and doing it as naturally as they do in real life. This game isn't meant to be played sitting down. Be prepared to sprint with your arms, swim, jump in real life, and climb with your arms. I'm biased but we think all of this makes for a much more fun and immersive experience.
The World: When we first made our announcement we promised a 4 KM square map. Well, we made one and holy crap it was ginormous in VR. Like wa**aaay too big. Well now it's 2 square KM and it's still massive but not so big that it requires a workout every time you want to go somewhere. The large map size is part of why we added in so many fun ways to zip around the world to help counter balance the scale.
Map Footage | The World | Maetland | Ostenbirk | Zipline Towers | The Church | The Aslyum |
The Lobby: Waiting for a match should be fun, and because of the low player counts in VR sometimes this can take a while. This is why we have added in a ton of fun things to do when matchmaking.
Lobby Footage | JukeBox | Real Settings Menus | Basketball | Gun Range | Skins
Game Modes: We're currently supporting FFA and 4 person squads. We may add more stuff depending on what you guys want. We have also talked a bit about adding a game mode like infection from halo and cod zombies.
Vehicles: You use both your arms to control vehicles naturally. No joystick locomotion.
Bots: We have them, they aren't geniuses but they do the things and can help fill up a lobby.
Number of Players: 24 currently. If this game is popular enough we are considering changing up our server architecture to support up to 100 or more, but for now 24 should be stable with the size of the VR market.
