Hey everybody! It's been a busy last few weeks/month. I've been trying to wrap my head around all this multiplayer / networking shenanigans, attempting to reduce network bandwidth usage to allow for a more playable experience on multiplayer.
I've combed over all the network code trying to figure out any optimizations I can make, mostly offloading a lot of functionality to client side, only trying to update properties server side where possible. There are a handful of complex systems behind the scenes, all of which never took multiplayer into consideration so over time I'm hoping I can start simplifying systems so they can work better with multiplayer.
After a handful of testing sessions, it's become clear to me that the multiplayer is still not stable enough to play properly. I've changed a lot under the hood and have laid the groundwork for things to improve, and this has made small improvements to the overall quality of the game, however there is still much more work to be done. I will keep making incremental improvements to the multiplayer, but I'd also like to get a content update squeezed in to help keep the singleplayer game interesting. If anything, session joining and lobby mechanics have been mostly ironed out, so hopefully there won't be issues getting into the actual game from the get go.
I also had a sneaking suspicion that the tablet specifically was causing a lot of issues as well, both for gameplay and networking. It's janky, the way I've programmed it is completely unorthodox and not optimal at all, which in turn makes it a networking nightmare. I've changed it over to a different system that will hopefully make quality of life better.
Unfortunately as a solo developer with not a lot of people to help test the multiplayer side of things, I have a hard time knowing what issues there are and just how bad the connection issues can be so I'm asking anyone who does play multiplayer to reach out to me or hop in the Discord to describe their experience for me. Any bit of information will help, including system specs, how many players you tried playing with, etc.
Also, I've been noticing every once in a while for a very few select people that the game will not start up when trying to launch it. Since this issue is so rare, I have no idea what could be causing this, but I'd like to see if I can remedy it for the few people this does happen to. Temporarily, one thing that seems to help fix the issue is validating the game files through Steam. If anybody does run into this, please let me know.
This update will be one of a few major optimization updates, the next one hopefully being done sometime shortly after the turn of the year, potentially after a small content update. I'm also still open to suggestions for gameplay additions / tweaks.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed flashlight beam replication issue.
- Fixed multiplayer lobby player names not showing properly
- Fixed an issue where any client that loads faster than the host will not have their input activated.
- Fixed some issues with multiplayer session joining sometimes bugging out. Additionally, added some info popup boxes to make more clear when session joining is happening, and when it failed.
- Fixed some sound effects for specific gameplay events firing for all players instead of just nearby players.
- Fixed the master volume slider not working in the audio settings menu.
- Fixed a bug where if you stood on top of the ghost at the beginning of a hunt before the grace period was over, the ghost was unable to do damage to you.
Gameplay
- Overhauled the tablet function.
- Previously, the tablet was a physical item that could be picked up, meaning only one player could use it at a time. Now it is built in to the UI, allowing anyone to use the map at any time.
- Previously, the tablet was its own networked item (and it didn't even work properly, only the host could see updated info and pings) which caused excess bandwidth usage and buggy behavior. The map is now client side, relying on properties already replicated in the game to populate information, reducing bandwidth and allowing the map to work for everyone properly.
- Equipment shows up as it's icon on the map.
- Numbered pings are EMF readouts and remain permanently on the map.
- "!" pings are motion sensor trips from the ghost and are temporary.
- "?" pings are ghost interactions in proximity of a camera and are temporary.
- The nexus points now show up on the map when they become available.
- Burn material count has been moved to the map screen to reduce clutter.
- Whenever a significant gameplay event has happened, a note will be added to the tablet. These notes will provide helpful tips and thoughts to assist you. (Not all notes have been implemented, just a few to start out with).
Misc:
- Updated title music! Hope you enjoy!