ZomB: Battlegrounds
New Fix For The Game is Live
ZomB Battlegrounds Update 5.0.1 Now Live!
I know it's not August 8th yet but I had pretty much all my behind-the-scenes stuff done early so I decided to release the update early too!
I had already mentioned all the major improvements in the previous post, but for those who missed it, this update comes with lots of big additions and changes, including a new map, reworked maps and weapons, graphical improvements, and lots of bug fixes.
The full patch notes will be below. These notes will include both the 5.0.0 and 5.0.1 build's patch notes as I did make another smaller update in between finishing 5.0.0 and now:
Update 5.0.0 Patch Notes:
New Additions:
- Added new map: Castle
- Added new map: Stormy Castle
- Overhauled the Firing Range
- Overhauled the Team Deathmatch map
- Added new ADS images for the following weapons: WWII Rifle, FK-SMG, AK-47, SMG, Pistol, Shotgun, Hunting Shotgun, & Magnum
- Added new main menu music
- Bump maps added to the terrain of all maps
- Added materials properties to the terrain for the following maps: Rainy Desert, Forest, Rainy Forest, Mountains, Snowy Mountains, Rainy Zombieland.
- Added environmental detail added to Forest
- Added Motion Blur
- Introduced Baked Lighting
- Added some new reload sound effects
- Added Hitmarker sounds
- Added intro logos when you startup the game
- Added new Victory Screen background
- Added new Victory jingle for when you win a match
Improvements:
- Vastly improved fog in all Rain & Snow maps
- Removed the MSAA system and replaced it with TAA which should result in better performance compared to MSAA
- Replaced the images used for the main menu buttons with screenshots that more accurately reflect the new look of the game
- Replaced the map thumbnails in the map selection screen with screenshots that more accurately reflect the new look of the game
- Adjusted shadow render distance and tree render distance.
- Improved Ambient Occlusion
- Updated Credits
- Improved the UI used for the first time experience
- VASTLY improved the timing for movement, meaning it no longer updates at just 50hz. Players using higher refresh rate monitors should notice MUCH smoother movement as a result.
- Improved the minimap images for some maps
- Improved some UI & text elements
- Replaced the loading screen image with a screenshot that more accurately reflects the new look of the game
- Rebalanced some of the weapons including: M4, AK47, SMG, FK-SMG, FN-SCAR, & Pistol
- Improved AI bot navmeshes on Mountains
- Minor graphical improvement to the background of the main menu
- Improved material for the FK-SMG, WWII Rifle, & FN-SCAR
- Improved material for some of the barrier objects in Desert
- Improved House material
- Improved UI Scaling
- Reduced pre-match timer from 30 seconds to 15 seconds
- Improved shadows on Desert
- Improved UI layering, so things like the crosshair and HP bar shouldn't be displaying on top of most other UI elements anymore
- Fixed an issue in Zombieland where some textures were lower resolution than they were supposed to be
Other:
- (SUPPORTER EDITION ONLY) Completely remade tutorial video, including subtitles, new and extended tips, and new video footage that more accurately reflects the new look of the game.
- (SUPPORTER EDITION ONLY) Fixed an issue with the tutorial video that caused it to stretch if viewed using an aspect ratio that is different from 16:9. It will now display black bars at other aspect ratios to protect the video from stretching
- (SUPPORTER EDITION ONLY) Added two new achievements for the new maps
Update 5.0.1 Patch Notes:
Improvements:
- Improved the skybox for Team Deathmatch & Firing Range
- Improved lighting in Rainy Forest
- Fixed the interaction text for some doors
- Fixed UI button colors for some buttons
- Improved render distance for Zombieland
- Fixed some typos in the Victory and Defeat screen
- Added some extra grass in Firing Range
- (SUPPORTER EDITION ONLY) Compressed the Tutorial Video to get the file size of the game down
ZomB Battlegrounds Update 5.0.0: Royale Rumble Update Releasing August 8th!
I started work for this update back in April of this year and back then it was only intended to be a fraction of what it turned out to be. The original plan was to just finish up a map my friend and I had started work on right after Season 3 came out, while also fixing a few minor things, however my ambitions for this update started to grow and grow the further I worked on it and now it has grown to be the biggest update for this game that has ever been released, over twice as big as any previous update!
The update has been completed and will be releasing on August 8th. I know it might seem strange to not release the update right away since it is finished but there is still some logistics stuff I need to do behind the scenes before I'm able to release it.
The full patch notes won't be available until the update has released (There are over 40+ changes!) but I wanted to go over some of the biggest changes and additions to the update which I will list below:
New and Reworked Maps:
This update comes with a brand new main map called Castle, along with a Stormy variant of it. The thing that sets this map apart from the rest is the giant hill in the middle of the map with a Castle on top of it. The hill and the castle towers offer lots of new verticality and opportunities for some long range encounters.
Castle isn't the only new thing in regards to maps however, I have also completely overhauled the Firing Range and the Team Deathmatch map to not only give them a much more lively look, but I have also added a dedicated area in the Firing Range for you to practice your building skills!
Weapon Reworks & Rebalancing:
I know that the sniper has been pretty much the dominant weapon in the game, which is why I've gone and rebalanced and improved a lot of the other weapons to hopefully encourage you to use all the weapons the game has to offer.
Most of the weapons have had damage, range, and fire spread adjustments to make them feel just as effective as any other weapon in the game.
I also know that the iron sights for most of the non-scoped weapons were basically useless so I have gone and completely redid all iron sights for all weapons, giving you a much more useful view when using the sights. Some weapons also now have reduced fire spread when aiming down sights as well!
Major Graphical Improvements:
If you have played the Steam exclusive beta build for this update I released back in April then you should already know most of the changes I made to the graphics.
For those who didn't see that update, I have further expanded upon the graphical improvements I made with the original Reloaded update. These improvements include new materials for some maps, new bump mapping, a new baked lighting system, and a brand new fog system for the rainy and snowy maps.
If you have played that beta update I released in April, I have still improved the way some of the materials are handled since then, as well as fixed some of the lighting bugs, so there's still improvements to look forward to when the final update releases.
Other Improvements:
Some of the other improvements I made include a brand new extended Tutorial video with new tips and English subtitles, as well as a brand new victory screen and a bunch of other UI improvements and bug fixes, too many to list out here. The full patch notes will be available when the update releases on August 8th!
New Beta Update Available On Beta Branch
The biggest change is that we have completely overhauled how materials are handled in the game. Before, objects barely had any sort of properties that made them look like they were made of any sort of material, but this update changes that and gives a lot of the objects new properties that give them the appearance of real world materials.
Beyond that, we have added new details to textures to allow them to show more depth, especially when combined with the new materials system.
We have also completely revamped the fog system used in the rainy and snowy maps. The new fog system is much more dynamic and animated, plus it just looks so much more detailed than the previous system, which just used Unity's default fog system. (Note that this new system is going to be much more demanding performance wise than the old system)
Lighting has also been completely redone. We have replaced the fully dynamic lighting system with a baked lighting system. The new lighting takes some of the load off of your system since it has already been pre calculated and baked into the textures of the maps before we export the game. Not only is this going to come with a performance increase, but the lighting that the engine calculates is much more complex and accurate than the old dynamic lighting system. The main downside to this approach is that the overall file size of the game has increased. The old version of the game was around 300MB but this new version is around 1.5GB in size. As this is still relatively small, we think this trade off is worth it.
Those are the biggest changes that have been made in this update, but there are other smaller changes that we have listed in the full patch notes below. Note that this update is a work in progress and things might change before the final release of the update. There are also some new pieces of content we have in development that will be released when the final release of the update is available, but are not currently in a playable state, hence why they are not being included in this beta update.
In order to get this update you must own the Steam version of the game and move to the beta branch to download it. To select the beta branch, right click the game in your Steam library, click properties, click the Betas tab, and then select "public-beta-test" through the drop down menu, the update should automatically download after that (If the game isn't already installed you'll have to install it)
Here are some screenshots to compare how the game looked before and after this update:
Before:
After:
We'd love to hear your feedback on these new changes. The full list of changes is listed below:
- Added materials properties to the terrain for the following maps: Rainy Desert, Forest, Rainy Forest, Mountains, Snowy Mountains, Rainy Zombieland.
- extra texture detail added to the terrain of all maps
- Vastly improved fog in all Rain & Snow maps
- Added environmental detail added to Forest
- Removed the MSAA system and replaced it with TAA which should result in better performance compared to MSAA
- Added Motion Blur
- Introduced Baked Lighting
- Improved Ambient Occlusion
Also, here is a quick teaser for the new content :)
Hotfix 4.0.1 Released!
Patch Notes:
-Removed test enemy from firing range used by me for testing purposes
-Fixed some sound effects for the FK-SMG and the FN-SCAR
-Added some extra light sources to both Zombieland and Rainy Zombieland
-Fixed an out of bounds bug on both Zombieland and Rainy Zombieland
-Introduced file compression to make the overall size of the game much smaller
Reloaded Update Now Available!!!
Hey everyone! I have released the finished version of the Reloaded update on both Steam and GameJolt!!! Along with all of the new additions mentioned in my previous news post I also fixed and added some new stuff, including a new graphics overhaul.
Yep, I did a graphics overhaul to improve the visual fidelity of the game while also fixing some graphical issues. Below is a before and after comparison of how the game looked before the overhaul and after the overhaul:
I improved the colors and added things such as ambient occlusion to add some extra depth to objects in shaded areas. However I didn't stop there, I also went in and manually remade a few assets to make them look better as well!
There are also a ton of other minor changes I made in this update which I have listed in the patch notes below. Enjoy!
Patch notes:
Graphical Updates:
- Added color grading to make the visuals pop a bit more
- Added ambient occlusion to add depth to objects that are in shaded areas, and to improve the overall look of the game
- Remade a few assets to make them look more natural
- Re-did the water shader for the ocean on all maps that have an ocean
General:
- Added Steam Achievements (Only available in the Steam version)
- Minor Bug Fixes
- New Main Menu background
- Increased damage & range for the HK-SMG, regular SMG, and Pistol
- New main menu music
- Added a few new HUD elements to help new players understand the controls
- Fixed a few grammar issues
- Updated and visually improved credits screen
- New Splash Screen and Loading Screen Images
- Fixed a minor bug with the Ammo Crates (Fixed from the Reloaded Public Beta)
Desert:
- Added new barricades and other minor objects around the map
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
Forest:
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
- Replaced the unfinished looking white cubes with more natural looking object
- Improved render distance for trees
Rainy Forest:
- Same changes as the regular Forest map
- Adjusted the fog and lighting to look more natural
Zombieland:
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
- Improved render distance for trees
Rainy Zombieland:
- Same changes as regular Zombieland
- Adjusted the fog to be more dense
Mountains:
- Added some minor structures around the map
- Adjusted lighting to look more natural
- Removed some vegetation from places that shouldn't have it
- Improved render distance for trees
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
Mountains (Snowy):
- Same changes as regular Mountains
- Adjusted Fog, Skybox, and Lighting to look more natural
Firing Range:
- Lowered barrier to make it easier to get back on the platform after falling off
Reloaded Update Coming Soon! Steam Beta Available Now!
Hey there, I know it's been a really long time since the last update (It's been over a year lol), and I promised the Season 3 update would be the last one, but the truth is I've been working on a NEW update over the last few months, not to add new content, but solely to fix bugs, improve the visuals and performance, and improve the gameplay.
I'm calling this update the "Reloaded" Update.
This update doesn't bring much in terms of new content, but I have gone in and improved the maps, weapon balance and visuals to hopefully improve your experience!
First of all, I wanted to go over some of the map improvements. We have been going through the maps and adding new bits and pieces to not only help them look better, but also hopefully to play better as well.
Here is a bit of a teaser for the new changes to the Desert map:
We haven't finished re-doing every map, but hopefully these changes to the Desert map will be a good teaser for the changes to the other maps!
Now on to the Gameplay improvements. One thing I've noticed playing the game is how scarce ammo can be, so I wanted to improve that in this new update, so I added Ammo Crates to every map!
If you can find these Ammo crates around the map, they will refill all your ammo, which will hopefully fix the problem with ammo scarcity.
Finally, I wanted to talk about another new addition to the game, Steam Achievements!
Over the past few months I've been experimenting with Steam Achievements and I'm glad I can finally announce they are coming to the game! These achievements are mainly here to help new players use and understand all of the mechanics as well as encourage all players to experience all of the content the game has to offer.
These are the three major changes to this update, but there are TONS of small changes I've done to the game as well, and there's too many to go over in detail, so there will be a list of everything I've done so far for this update below.
I know you might be wondering, "When can I play this new update?"
I haven't fully finished the update, and I will probably try to get it finished and released in the next few weeks.
HOWEVER, you can beta test this new update RIGHT NOW!
Keep in mind this beta isn't fully finished, and there are still additions I'm making to the maps and other changes that won't be in the beta just yet, but hopefully it will give you a good idea for what's coming.
I also want to use this beta to get feedback on the new features. If you guys find any glitches with the new additions (Especially with achievements) PLEASE let me know so I can fix them before the update fully releases.
In order to access the beta on Steam, Right click on the game in your Steam library, then click properties. Once the properties window opens click on the BETAS tab, click on the drop down menu and choose "public-beta-test", then the update should begin downloading.
NOTE: If the BETAS tab doesn't show up for you, you might need to restart Steam to make it show up.
Anyways, hopefully you guys enjoy the update! Patch notes are below.
NOTE: These patch notes are not final and there will be more when the full update releases.
Reloaded Update (BETA) V3.8 Patch Notes:
General:
- Fixed water shader for the ocean on all maps that have an ocean
- Added Steam Achievements
- Minor Bug Fixes
- New Main Menu background
- Increased damage & range for the HK-SMG, regular SMG, and Pistol
Desert:
- Added new barricades and other minor objects around the map
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
Forest:
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
- Replaced the unfinished looking white cubes with more natural looking object
- Improved render distance for trees
Rainy Forest:
- Same changes as the regular Forest map
- Adjusted the fog and lighting to look more natural
Zombieland:
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
- Improved render distance for trees
Rainy Zombieland:
- Same changes as regular Zombieland
- Adjusted the fog to be more dense
Mountains:
- Added some minor structures around the map
- Adjusted lighting to look more natural
- Removed some vegetation from places that probably shouldn't have it
- Improved render distance for trees
- Added Ammo Crates around the map
Mountains (Snowy):
- Same changes as regular Mountains
- Adjusted Fog, Skybox, and Lighting to look more natural
Firing Range:
- Lowered barrier to make it easier to get back on the platform after falling off
Changes NOT in the beta, but planned for the final release:
Main menu music will be changed
Splash screen and loading screen will be changed
Most maps (Except for Desert) will be receiving more additions and changes