Chasers,
We're thrilled to introduce the long awaited 0.3 Major Update, featuring new core features and significant improvements. This milestone update includes a weather graphical overhaul, performance optimization, and dozens of QoL and UI enhancements. Traversing the core of the storm is more immersive than ever, and we are thrilled to see you take on this challenge.
WEATHER
Updated rain to behave dynamically & interact with environmental winds
Improved rain shaft VFX quality & behavior significantly
Improved dust cloud visuals and blending with rain
Improved lightning illumination and flash rate throughout storms
Improved lightning rendering from a distance
Improved lighting and volumetrics quality to get a much better sense of depth in the storms
Improved tornado blending with rain and volumetrics
Refactored tornado damage system to be more precise and accurate
Refactored tornado pathing to no longer be linear
Decreased thick post storm fog within a certain radius to prevent bad visual issues
Decreased visual cloud steps for the majority of cloud formations
Significantly reduced visibility in rain heavy rain to be more realistic
PERFORMANCE
Added cloud quality presets (ultra performance, performance, balanced, quality, ultra quality)
Added a check for Steam Deck to lower graphics settings by default to improve performance
Refactored weather data to improve RAM usage & stability
Refactored weather rendering to improve performance
Optimized main menu navigation & resource usage
Optimized tree loading & world textures to improve performance
Optimized the minimap to improve performance while driving
Optimized server performance by removing unnecessary server tasks
Disabled shadows on headlights to improve performance
GAMEPLAY & CUSTOMIZATTION
Added a fully immersive free-look system, allowing natural head movement
Removed the look-back action in the vehicle
Added car dashboard lighting after turning on engine
Added brand new Tripod & updated Pson Probe
Added a new light casting system to improve brightness & distance casted on headlights
Added Yuki the dog bobblehead model
Added 12 new decals (W.H.I.R.L.E.X, LucyPancakes, Syn_Fritz, Dom_in8tor, OptimusKale, AutumnicDuckie, Roll force, TheButteredDad, Skywarn, Mike2Eight, InfamousPandaaa, Dozers, ZCheyenne)
Added 20+ new scenarios to the scenario pool
Updated the passenger camera FOV to match the driving FOV setting
UI ENHANCEMENTS
Added vehicle occupancy UI indicator to display occupied seats in the vehicle
Added brand new vehicle icons to the product maps
Added indicators in text chat for when a player dies or disconnects
Added a key bind to toggle name tag visibility of vehicle passengers
Added the OZEF radar icon to the reflectivity map
Added web socket for streaming UI
Decreased car & player name tag rendering limit to prevent seeing name tags from far distances
Removed sliders for step size & down sampling
Removed F9 visibility while in settings menu
Removed outdated keyboard control loading screen
Removed background fade on loading screens
Removed spotter dot on map when riding as a passenger
Removed OZEF radar icon from advanced product maps
QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES
Added support for Spanish & German languages toggleable in settings menu
Added support to select microphone input in settings menu
Refactored controllability system to allow passengers to exit vehicle with camera or phone open, and to prevent UI from getting in a stuck state.
Enabled text chat while viewing radar maps to allow streamlined communication
Updated towing system to prevent players from being towed to gas stations under a tornado warning
Updated the enter vehicle indicator to display the vehicle owner's name prior to entering
Updated upscaling plugin to provide more quality presets for DLSS & FSR
Updated 10% multiplayer bonus to default to 0 when no positive balance is earned from chase
MAJOR FIXES
Fixed blue lines on all geography & props caused by down sampling
Fixed line appearing on ocean water plane
Fixed visual glitches and inability to see when driving through volumetric fog
Fixed sudden death issues when exiting a vehicle near gas pumps or close objects
Fixed the game appearing pixelated and low quality on high-end display screens
Fixed large misalignments in the settings menu for displays outside of 16:9
Fixed cars and destructible objects from getting stuck in the air upon impact
Fixed passengers being immune to death if a vehicle is thrown without a driver
Fixed gas station hitbox blocking tornados from being reported at some angles
Fixed S014 from crashing halfway through the chase
Fixed UI disabling when performing various actions while a photo is in progress
Fixed UI conflict with product menu and radio
Fixed text chat messages from covering the radio
MINOR FIXES
Fixed DOM3 animation not playing for local player after exiting the vehicle
Fixed start engine and turn off engine icons from overlaying the map
Fixed long player names being cut off on all maps, giving the impression of multiple users
Fixed players unable to kick passengers out of the car in rare circumstances
Fixed probes not displaying stats when leaving a match without picking up the probe
Fixed hair glowing in the dark
Fixed text chat not resetting to bottom left corner after exiting vehicle with radio open
Fixed screen flashing while toggling UI during an F9 report or with the product map open
Fixed UI conflict with product map and radio
Fixed text chat from obstructing ability to tow vehicle
Fixed shadows on bull bars preventing light to shine
Fixed upscaling settings not properly updating or saving over time
Fixed text chat being stuck open, while on game menu after losing connection to the game
Fixed advanced products missing data in a scenario
Fixed text chat messages from covering the radio
Fixed enter/exit button not deactivating with product map open
Fixed enter vehicle prompt appearing when when driving around other cars
Fixed mesonets floating after equipping mobile weather station
Fixed mesonets briefly displaying 9999 windspeeds when entering vehicle for the first time
Fixed mesonets from clipping into the Hammerhead vehicle
Fixed Eastern Falls tornado siren sounding after tornado warning expiry
Fixed S076 tornado not going through the funnel stage
Fixed car gas station icon exponentially growing when on low fuel
Fixed several clipped weather stations & lightbars on vehicles
Fixed visual bugs while toggling UI visibility with the F9 menu open
Fixed cosmetic only warning not displaying on some cosmetics in the garage
Fixed the Hammerhead driver vehicle camera being slightly off centered
Fixed main menu scene shifting to the right after exiting garage
Fixed minor background fading in splash screen
TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHT: Performance Optim
The journey to achieve better performance was no easy feat, considering no game has attempted to do what OUTBRK is achieving before with our cloud's technology. Our VFX team refactored all scenario data to improve performance and spent countless hours removing down sampling blue artifacts, to allow us to use higher down sampling for performance. Catalyst also introduced new techniques to help reduce cloud stepping artifacts on high step size to allow us to gain even more performance, without sacrificing visual quality. In the end months of research and development allowed us to provide a smoother user experience without sacrificing visuals.
What’s Next?
As always, we’re listening to your feedback. Let us know what you think about the 0.3.0 update. See you in the chase!