Zero Hour's Operation Meghna consists of a lot of overhauls, 2 new maps, several new features and bug fixes. With this update, we are focusing on the quality of sound and gameplay.
Part Of So Many Lives
Hello everyone! We really want to thank the community and appreciate all the love and support you keep giving us. We understand we are a part of a lot of people's lives and we appreciate that more than anything and nevertheless, plan to keep delivering. Zero Hour has recently reached above 2,000 players after our last update and for that, we are so grateful. Thank you for being supportive in our direction for the game. We have more content on the way and we want to make the next update even bigger.
Once again, we really appreciate the love and support we’re getting from Zero Hour and we certainly can’t thank the community enough. The community has brought us so much joy in developing the game further, so we will always be motivated to bring Zero Hour to the level where everyone will be able to undergo an ultimate SWAT experience.
- Zero Hour Dev Team
Two New Maps:
We are working on two new maps to bring with Operation Meghna; Ferry Launch & Abandoned Hospital. Both maps will be available as PvP & Co-op experiences.
1.) Ferry Launch
Please note, the picture shown is conceptual and will not be the final product of the map.
Launch visual planning.
A Ferry Launch is a mode of water transport popularly used in Bangladesh. The Ferry Launch by the name of "M.V Meghna" has been rigged with a bomb by the terrorist organization wreaking havoc. While the vessel was on it's way to Ochinpur ( ~ Location ) someone reported the Ferry Launch has been hijacked. As there was no other approach, the MS - Unit was instructed to take on the operation in the middle of the river , Meghna.
2.) Abandoned Hospital
Please note, the picture shown is conceptual and will not be the final product of the map.
A viral video released by the terrorist group shook the nation on July 3rd. Where it showed the terrorists had the ambassador of the Asian Embassy abducted 2 days ago. The terrorists wanted their philosophical leader, Ahmed Al Zoori ( ~ Captured in Paradise City ), to be released from jail in exchange of the ambassadors life. The intelligence unit used the IP address associated with the video and tracked down the location to be an abandoned hospital near Tangail. The MS Unit was instructed to take on the operation. A lot was at stake as the demise of the ambassador may change the geopolitical scene of the region for good. When the MS Unit went in, the prime minister along with her national security team were in a situation room, receiving live updates from Operation Night Owl.
Four New Weapons:
A lot of content is to be expected with the Operation Meghna update specially in regards to weapons. To improve our pool of weapons and their accuracy to real life usage we are working to add 4 new weapons; Sawed Off ( T-Side ), AS Val ( T-Side ), PP-19 Bizon ( T-Side ) & Five Seven ( CT-Side ). We will also be switching the MP7 to the CT side and Uzi to be available exclusively on the T side while Glock will be available in both sides.
Progress on AS Val model so far by one of our weapon artists
1.) More Attachments
We have plans to increase the range of attachments available for every weapon. We have recently just added Pressure pad options in the Internal testing build (as shown in the GIF) with which players can assign auto toggle for IR/laser sights and flashlights. We plan to soon add grips & stocks as available options for some of the weapons.
2.) Correcting Realism Aspects
We are reworking some of the things to further help bring the realistic aspects to the attachments. The closest thing to note will be being able to see the IR sight point with out NVGs equipped. This will no longer be available with Operation Meghna and you will only be able to see IR laser when NVGs are equipped. However, there will also be options to use normal laser sights to be able to see without NVGs equipped.
Sounds Overhaul & Finalization:
We are aware that sound is one of the aspects of the game we fall weak with Zero Hour. This time with Operation Meghna we are focusing on overhauling the weapon sounds and how they work. Having different states of shooting SFXs and having them work together to compose the sound based on location ( Single fire, Multiple fire, Tail fire ~ Note the current live version only has 1 single fire(+Above, + Below) SFX per weapon, that plays with each bullets fired ). Apart from adding those states we are also adding distance variation and indoor/outdoor variations to further enhance the way each weapon sounds based on the surrounding. We also have plans to add material based footsteps with this update.
This time around we are working together with professionals to add further quality improvements to each SFX. More information on this will be revealed with later dev log
Co-op Cutscenes & voices:
We plan to make co-op experience more premium and exciting and so with the help of cutscenes we aim to bring the players closer to the situations in hand. The cutscenes will help further explain the objectives and will work as a briefing to make players understand what's at stake. We also plan on retaking all voice lines in the game by professionals and also adding voice commands in game for people without mics.
The cutscenes will play while you are loading the map with a short narration accompanying it and players will be able to skip it if they want to
The Removal of Kill feed:
We plan to remove kill feed and make it more interactive similar to the swat games where you had to press a button after getting close to the affected suspect to report to TOC. After doing so your team will be notified about you killing someone. This should probably make combat more intense and not knowing if the suspect is dead adds on to that experience.
The Ability to Shootout lights:
This is a highly requested feature and we finally have plans to have it in the game. Shooting out lights will play a big impact in how the game is played and will add a whole new dynamic to each playthrough. To keep things balanced, shooting out lights will not be made as effective as a power cut-out meaning if all the lights in a room were shot out it will be dark however it wont be as dark as it could have been with full power out.
The feature is still work in progress and more will be announced in later dev logs
Addition of an Inventory System:
Taking weapons from other players at the moment is a pretty basic system and only allows you to pick up the primary weapon from another player. With the addition of a whole new inventory system we are trying to give the players the control over how they want to deal with situations as such; Letting you take either of the primary or secondary weapons along with possible utilities. This also has the possibility to change the dynamics of the round depending on how well equipped you remain. This will also fix the involuntary weapon pick ups when interacting with other objects such as doors. The inventory system will also have the feature to transfer ammo from one magazine to another compatible magazine, allowing you to refill unfinished mags.
The following is still a conceptual look and may change before the Operation Meghna update
Limiting Weapons & Utilities in Both Sides
Resource Management is also getting a rework and will be made that both Weapons and Utilities are limited resources for both sides in order to balance the upcoming weapons and utilities.
AI Improvements & More:
There are a lot of features still missing from the suspect AIs in terms of their behaviors and reactions. Along with already promised features such as planning on table or interacting with environment still not in yet, we have plans to add and improve even further with the animations. Our character artist is working with the hostage models and civilian models ( for future civilian AIs roaming the map ). Along with the hostages getting their own unique models we are also working on making animations for them individually to add to their various personalities.
Work in progress clips from the third person animators
The planned release date for this update is in August 2021. We have more news and updates for Operation Meghna which we will provide in details soon in part 2 so stay tuned. We really appreciate and thank the community for the unconditional support and love for the game.
Thank you for your patience, please make sure to report Toxicity, feedback & suggestions in our Discord server using the following links.
Discord Global Community : Zero Hour Official
Discord French Community : Zero Hour France