ZombVR
UPDATE! Patch/Build_10_4_2 RELEASED!
We're back online after a short outage and some annoying phone calls with the ISP! Luckily we can do a lot of stuff for the game while offline and we've made some updates.
As usual, exit and restart steam to get the update downloaded.
Most of the updates in this patch are based on player feedback.
- Zombies launch a little better when shot to death...may find some hilarious results with this right now. The difficulty here is tracking hits in virtual space and tracking the forward vector. Nonetheless, we're getting closer, just not spending a ton of time on it at the moment since it doesn't affect gameplay. However, it's still important (in our opinion), so we'll keep looking at it until it feels the right amount of satisfying/good/funny
- Optimized purchase code. No noticeable difference on the front end (hopefully)
- Added upgraded amount to melee weapons to track how much they've been upgraded on the wrist HUD (you'll find it at the bottom)
- Item purchases no longer fall to the floor. In the words of one our players: "the shopkeeper always drop the weapon i paid for on the ground! What an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!" lol. The shopkeeper is no longer an asswipe! ... he applies magical forces of gravity and compassion and allows the weapon to float in front of the purchase area for easy pickin'. If you smack the weapon instead of grabbing it.. it will float away. It's fun.. but costly =P
- Added a new interface on the Moon called the Gravitronitron (no typo). If you get bored of shooting the staggering zombies as they stagger about slowly, hit this button when they're near the cage and enjoy the new targets to shoot at =)
- Sound of magnum shot had some dead space at the front causing the main sound to play a bit later than it should. Thanks for the heads-up on this. It should be fixed now
- Katana removed until further notice. Model needs reworking
- Holding the down button on the track pad NO LONGER drops the weapon when shooting. You MUST hold the RIGHT shoulder(menu) button and fire whichever gun you want to drop in order to drop the weapon. Having the down button do this was causing people to move around when trying to drop weapons on the left. Might also change the holstering button to this shoulder button in the future
- Slightly changed weapon positions in hands to look better
- Removed SWAY animation on hands when holding weapons... the human element in VR seems to be enough sway!
- There is now some bizarro music on the moon map...which fits the mood well there... especially when using the Gravitronitron.
- Added some extra height on the restriction in the teleport movement to make it smoother when going up elevated surfaces
- We left a few sniper rifles on the ground in the moon map, they aren't finished yet but feel free to play around with them as is. The reload area is still the hand, not the CLIP at the moment and there's no animations for the Enfield yet. The Enfield will have a more bolt action single shot reload but will be super powerful (standard reload action for now). The modern sniper will have an upgrade-able capacity clip (starts at 3) and less powerful then the Enfield but still strong. It also has two zoom levels. Use the OUTSIDE (SIDE) buttons on the trackpad to toggle zoom. Only the modern rifle has two zooms!
Quick Update-
We were hoping to have a video out today showing some controls and some updates that are coming. Unfortunately we're having an Internet outage in the area here and can't get online at the moment(other than mobile).
Before the larger update of build 11 we decided we'll release another patch for build 10_4 with some smaller but significant updates. We're just finishing up fixes and testing on those. We'll list those and publish the update as soon as we can get back online.
Thanks!
-DKG
Early Sniper Rifle Testing *VIDEO* and FREE Steam key giveaway!
Snipers unite!! .... miles from each other... hidden in the shrubs. ːsteamfacepalmː
Here's some early footage of us testing the Enfield Sniper rifle. There will be a few other scope guns with adjustable zooms but the Enfield is a long time favourite and therefore gets the first deployment.
Not gonna lie... we spent a lot of time not making progress today and instead spent a lot of time just sniping Zombies on the moon... because it is SOOOO damn satisfying!
Check it out! This is coming in the NEXT update (Build 11) with an all new Sniper Defense game mode!
https://youtu.be/GlvEnZqNp4s
While you're at it, have a look at Bee getting torn to shreds EARLY in Lone Survivor yesterday!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebwvo9wYYMo
Share your thoughts in the discussion forums!
FREE Steam Key Giveaway!
As you know, there is MP planned for this game's future and the goal is to make that MP as epic as possible! You can't have MP without the P....ok enough of that. We want players. Lots of them to make the MP always fun and exciting to jump into. It will keep the players happy and keep us wanting to produce more cool content.
We're getting ever closer to MP public testing and we'd like to continue to boost awareness of ZombVR. The game is coming along nicely and at this momentous TWO week mark we're honouring the occasion by giving away a free Steam key to ZombVR in a draw!
All you have to do is check out the reddit post that Bee put up today and comment and upvote it! Commenters will be entered in the draw which will be done Thursday evening this week.
Click HERE to enter!
We already have over 50 comments in the first day and it's growing. That's at least 50 new people that now know about this game whether they win the draw or not! Lets get that number up. Help us out and spread the word.
Thanks guys.
Talk soon!
-DKG
Only two weeks in and we're getting closer to Multi-Player.
It's been an awesome first two weeks as of today since the official launch of ZombVR in Early Access.
Early Access to us meant getting gamers in early to help shape the development of the game and help identify bugs and shortcomings as quick as possible. We we're hoping that was what would happen with ZombVR.
Many times in life one will hope that something occurs or have an idea of how it should and rarely does it ever actually play out that way. We're happy to say that for ZombVR that wasn't the case! We've got lots of valuable feedback both here,in person and via email. So far it's only been a tiny percentage of those that actually have the game that have voiced suggestions here on the forum but nonetheless so much progress has been made just from that alone. The silent purchasers are not totally silent though, their showing of support in simply grabbing the game early on is a massive motivator for us here to continue pumping out updates and stabilizing the game.
Anyone that hasn't played the game since 1-2 days ago needs to grab the updated version and try it NOW! It looks and feels much better from the updates we've added based on community feedback so far!
That said, the next patch we're aiming to add the final foundations that will complete the SP experience. Don't confuse this with content like maps or weapons or items etc... The core foundations meaning things like Sniper Rifle and scope support, laser sights on pistols, sniper defense mode and the core foundations that we can build fun maps and gameplay on top of.
Then its onto the multiplayer stuff which will be both challenging and fun as hell to develop and test. Unfortunately at present we only have a single VIVE kit. Will has reached out to HTC to request an additional one for developing this and future VR projects and linked them to this forum to check out what we have going on here. We've yet to hear back on that request. It may be a shot in the dark but its a shot worth taking we think. In either case we'll go into more details when the time comes, we're still a few weeks away from this but just wanted to give everyone a heads up.
When the time does come we're assuming we'll still just have the one VIVE so we'll need your help to test day1 bugs. Basically its a call to arms for those with patience, understanding and bandwidth to download multiple updates a day real-time. ːsteammockingː
More details to follow in future posts, but there's a heads up from us.
Also be sure to post any suggestions/issues in the latest feedback thread in the discussion so they can be added to the list of things to "git good" before moving to the next phase!
Thanks again to everyone!
-DKG
UPDATE! Patch/Build_10_4 RELEASED!
List of updates:
- Escalators no longer have invisible blocking walls
- Implemented heftier method to block peeking through walls
- Some changes to make the corridor in Subway map more interesting
- To enhance performance, removed shadows in Raining Heads as they aren't needed
- Boss monster is a little tougher (if you're dying on them you aren't upgrading :P )
- Round 11 used to introduce a more stressful zombie round which is part of the standard rotation onward. This has been changed to round 9. Balance may be affected as weapons may or may not be upgraded enough by 9 to handle this threat... we shall see.
- Music changes and other ambient sounds added to Lone Survivor subway map
- Options were not carrying over properly between rounds...many of them. This has been fixed.
- Enemy spawn positions are no longer globally random, they are still random but smarter... more centralized to your location
- Fixed rare issue where reloading both guns being the same gun model at the exact same time would cause one gun to be stuck in "clip out" anim and not allow further reloads. Caused by both hands sharing same reload function and same "reload time" delay. First to this delay would get the reload while the other was stuck midway. Further reloads were prevented since it thought a reload was happening still. Mixed guns weren't affected since each gun model has it's own reload delay.
- Added more impact effect to Tokarev shots
NOTE: This is the final patch for Build 10. Report any issues found in the discussions and they will be resolved in Build 11. No specific release date for build 11 yet, it will be a larger update with more functions and content. Early ETA is 5-7 days, see initial build10 announcement for more details.
UPDATE! Patch/Build_10_3 RELEASED!
Restart Steam to get the latest updated
Also there will be more details in the forums on this and whats coming in the future and far so keep checking the forums and post your experiences!
List of updates this build:
- Can set in game settings from the main menu... its the opposite side of the main menu options
- In-game settings persist per session,there may be some issues with this still, some may revert and some just the "text" of the option may revert even though the option is still set. Let me know if you hit these. Options will reset if you close and reopen the game
- When you upgrade firepower of a gun, there will be a Level indicator for that gun underneath your ammo count (only when you have a gun equipped). So you can now keep track of how many times you've upgraded what gun ...etc.
- New EFFECTS tweaking option in video settings
- Sound settings tweaked a bit more. Sounds are true to their location
- Completely reworked the Subway/Alleyway maps. Using level streaming so you may or may not find a slight hiccup when the stream happens. The map plays extremely smooth on my 960. I get a few glitchy moments when I get to the outside Alleyway area. I'm not sure if this is just my card or not, so give some feed back on how that works for you too.
What's Next?
Don't forget to vote in the Build 10's first announcement for the next Lone Survivor map! Build 11 will take a bit more time to finish but will have some good stuff in it. Sniper rifles and sniper defense mode should be coming then hopefully, some new zombie models, enemy power up drops and maybe new type of enemy.
There will be more details in the forums.
Keep checking there and posting your feedback!
Thanks!
UPDATE! Patch/Build_10 RELEASED!
Please restart Steam to download and install the new patch!
I know we keep saying this but we can't say it enough, thanks again to all that have helped and supported us so far. Every few days we make awesome progress with tightening up the gameplay. We'll be testing the MP in no time at this rate.
While you're tying out this new build, please post your feedback as always. In the meantime, a few things we want to get back to:
- Sniper rifle
- Sniper Defense mode
- Additional standard maps
- Zombowling
We'd like to have an additional Lone Survivor map for the next build or so and we're thinking it should be set somewhere in one of these locations:
- Industrial City Location
- Office Space
- The Bronx
Vote in the comments!
1. Removing procedural trash generation in Subway/Streets map to test performance. Next step will be level streaming if this doesn't help
- Removed procedural trash generation. Added some static physics trash (try picking them up!). Will add more if this helps performance. Will wait for feedback on this
2. Adding additional scaling options in menu for performance tweaking
- Can now adjust shadows, post processing, AA, texture quality, etc individually
- Doesn't carry and save through; it needs to be set again each time you start playing (working on this)
3. Updating moon Zombies movement to make it less glitchy
- Much better and less glitchy now, but still some issues (less glitchy than before, but still stutters a bit). Problem might be with the terrain on this one. Will revisit next patch
4. Adding options to change hand angles position
- Various hand positions and angles added, available in game menu
5. Starting difficulty will be Training Wheels
- Difficulty now affects bullet size, base damage, and body armor
6. First iteration of optional locomotion
- Classic FPS mode is default: left thumb to move and strafe, view direction considered "forward" direction
- Experimental: Teleport movement added in options. Press top button on circular pad, aim where you want to go, and release to teleport to that location
7. First iteration of optional climbing
- No changes this patch
8. Audio cues
- No changes this patch
9. Player death handling/animation
- When you die, you are teleported to a death scene. You must open the in-game menu to restart the game you are playing or to return to the main menu
- Will update this in the future to make it more smooth but for now it solves the issue of "floating above" which causes some people to feel uneasy
10. Zombie death animations
- Zombie death animations weren't super exciting
- Removed them and replaced with a more "blown away" kinda finish
11. Explosive canisters weren't hurting you
- Explosive canisters now hurt zombies AND you
12. Updated some text and minor code optimizations where applicable
Next Patch
- Sound cues
- Visual "Hit-From" Indicator
- Sniper Rifle(hopefully)
- Something other than weapon buys falling from the sky maybe
Next Next Patch(depending on fixes from previous)
- Sniper Defense mode and map(s)
- New Lone Survivor Map
- First Obstacle Course (pre MP training and testing)
EDIT: Releasing 10.1 tomorrow. Contains a few minor bugs found while testing build 10 like some menu glitches. As well there's now a silly mini game in the Death Room. If we sees a chance for a mini game... a mini game there shall be, no matter how mini. Also note there are two test maps on the main menu. Ignore these. They're just stripped versions of the subway level for testing purposes.
EDIT 2: 2016-Sep-19
Build 10_2 is now out.
Restart Steam to trigger the update!
Keep giving us your feedback and vote for the next Lone Survivor map! ːsteamhappyː
List of updates:
- Sounds are better. You should hear where they are coming from and distance matters
- Gun shots are more "impactful" and you should hear the impact of the shot on various surfaces if you're close enough to it
- Balanced the enemies/bosses a bit more, remember to upgrade those weapons early
- Added skull crunching headshot sound (go try it. its fun to hear)
- Did an optimization pass on the Train station area in Lone Survivor
- Re added the "overall video scaling" settings in case you don't want to set each setting
- Death room has a pretty (but dreary) song with a small game to play. Song is "When The World Ends (vocal version)" by for all the emptiness.
- You can now use the RIGHT "shoulder" button to drop guns. Hold it and fire the gun you want to drop
- ZOMBIE Spawning issues in Lone Survivor and Onslaught should now be resolved
Future updates for build 10 - ETA: Sept 17-19
We still haven't heard from most of the people out there that have grabbed this game. Big thanks to those that have though and big thanks to those that have come by to suggest improvements.
We're going to carry on with updates. The more opinions we get, the easier it will be to craft the game into something more people enjoy, so if you've played it, drop by the discussions and let us know your thoughts.
Added "Cha Ching" noise on purchase in build_9 for audio notification
Here is what's on the agenda for the next release, depending on time not ALL items may be stable by release date, but this is what the goals are for the near future:
1. Removing procedural trash generation in Subway/Streets map to test performance. Next step will be level streaming if this doesn't help
2. Adding additional scaling options in menu for performance tweaking
3. Updating moon Zombies movement to make it less glitchy.
- Suspect engine bug for vector based AI targets.
- Since map is such where the zombies can never reach you the constant setting of a target that can't be reached could cause twitch
- Set zombie targets to be static locations outside the cage
- Player can now climb out of the cage and engage zombies; zombies will chase you if you get close enough to them
4. Adding options to change hand angles position.
- These types of settings will be tough since different preferences and physical sizes play a part
- If you move the hands closer to you to feel more natural to your own arm length, depending on height and calibration, you may find yourself hitting the floor reaching for the guns etc. Use as an experimental feature
5. Starting difficulty will be Training Wheels
- Bullet size is larger on easier difficulties causing players shots to hit zombies hands and other features when "feeling" like they're aiming for their heads"
- Players can set this anytime in the menu
- Might change health of zombies with difficulty settings, or up the damage of guns for lower difficulty levels
6. First iteration of optional locomotion
- Classic FPS mode is default: left thumb to move and strafe, view direction considered "forward" direction
- Experimental: Button held hand wave motion
- Experimental: Teleport movement
7. First iteration of optional climbing
- Default "Launch me" mode: Grab and pull yourself up and over
- Experimental: Hold button to hang for x seconds then drop
8. Audio cues
- More true to their location to give better idea of where the sound is coming from
9. Player death handling/animation
- Engine causes the "floating above" when disconnected from player controller by default. Will set it to fading black or red before this happens to ease the transitional effect on the eyes and investigate better methods
UPDATE! Patch/Build_09 RELEASED
Build_09
Please restart Steam in order to download the latest patch.
1. "TUTORIAL" REWORKED!!
- Check it out! After a lot of feedback, we've given the climbing option a separate path. We updated the instructions on it if you want to try again, otherwise, you can bypass it to the next section. I can scale the walls in pretty much 1 try now, as I've been practicing :P
- Need to remove bottom line text of reloading instructions
2. [BUG] When holstering/dropping or picking up GUN, clip resets to 0
=http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116431229/]http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116431229/
- Should be resolved in version ZombVR_b1_09
- For now, holstering does NOT reset your clip to 0. Working on making it so when you drop a weapon the ammo is tracked (ex: when dropping and picking up with other hand, you retain same clip). Currently, the clip number that you had in one hand stays in that one hand, no matter what gun you pick up
3. [BUG] "Onslaught" zombies sometime spawn before the countdown http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116432684/
- Might still be broken for 2nd round reset. Needs further investigating
4. [BUG] Zombies hiss at you when you walk over their dead bodies
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116428577/
- Fixed in version ZombVR_b1_09
- Still working on positional audio - where zombies are coming from in terms of sounds
5. [BUG] Game not showing up in VR Section of Steam
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595119373635/
- Fixed in version ZombVR_b1_09
6. [SUGGESTION] Reloading too slow, feels clunky, doesn't work sometimes
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/2/350541595116407992/
- BIG UPDATE. Changed the core system for reloading. No longer using unreliable overlaps which require "un-overlapping" to re-register a new overlap which can feel glitchy and sometimes not work
- Now using accurate traces to track the instant the other hand taps the clip in. Reloading is now sped up with this system (they still vary slightly depending on the gun. The magnum SHOULD take longer to reload!)
- Magnum Revolver now has penetrating bullets. Can shoot through several zombies at once. A bit powerful at the beginning, but may fall off in later stages of the game due to no clip size upgrades. Balance investigating
- The reload is still animation-based in terms of visuals, but the speed is much quicker. I'd go as far as saying too quick...
- Oh and try "It's Raining Heads" minigame in GUN mode. The previous dev score was 36... Mike(Bee) has now been able to hit 61....(BEAT THAT)
-Added CHA CHING sounds when you purchase any gun or upgrades
THINGS BEING WORKED ON
For Future
7. ADDING NEW LOCOMOTION
- From feedback, some people currently like the pad-movement, whereas others don't and have compared us to the game "Onward". In any case, we're trying out various methods and are thinking of inputting 2 MODES OF LOCOMOTION that you can select before playing. This is in the works
8. CHARACTER DEATH ANIMATION
- Some people get sick or feel nauseous after dying; the character simply goes up when dead. Will work a better death animation in
9. CHARACTER MOVEMENT TRANSITIONS
- To make the feeling of movement as natural as possible (compared to real life), we're trying to make transitions between stopping movement and starting movement as smooth and natural as possible. We're hoping that in improving this, people who are more prone to motion sickness will feel better in playing
10. Zombie animations and death fixes / [BUG] MOON SHOOTING RANGE
- Trying to fix as many visual zombie animations and glitches as possible
- Zombies in the MOON shooting practice area are still glitchy
11. Minor code optimization where applicable
12. [CHANGES] Menu buttons (shoulder buttons? top single button) on the Vive controllers now bring up the menu
- At the moment, you can use the top buttons on the circular pad to open the in-game menu, or you can simply press the actual menu/shoulder button on either controller
13. Main Menu
- Of course, the main menu and various other things will receive visual upgrades in the future. This isn't our main priority at the moment (core mechanics are!)
- Maybe highlight the current graphic setting selected, so people know which one they are currently on and can switch if preferred. At the moment, we suggest staying on the lowest settings (by default will start with low)
Stay tuned and with us while we work to bring updates and fixes! Keep giving us great feedback, because we do listen! Despite some negative reviews, we're going to keep going to get the game as polished as possible. Thanks for all your support.
Working on these updates - ETA: today
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116431229/
[BUG] Onslaught Zombies sometime spawn before the countdown
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116432684/
[BUG] Zombies hiss at you when you walk over their bodies after dead
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595116428577/
[BUG] Game not showing up in VR Section of Steam
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/1/350541595119373635/
[SUGGESTION] Reloading too slow, feels clunky
http://steamcommunity.com/app/523940/discussions/2/350541595116407992/
Look for an update on this later today. As I mentioned in my launch announcement, I'm currently traveling which wasn't planned but unavoidable and won't be back at my base until mid week. I can't personally test the changes I make until then.
So if all this stuff isn't perfect first time around, please don't shoot me right away...providing you can reload your gun of course :)