Development Update: Open World Expansion, AI Combat, and Performance Improvements
Over the past 6 - 8 months, I've been focused heavily on:
• Expanding the open world level through reworking of the visual sightlines
• Improving combat by trying to produce more cinematic moments in-game, reworking various AI Behavior after playtests, introducing friendly AI into the mix for solo players and to make certain areas feel like you're part of a larger operation.
• Continuing optimization and stability work to improve performance and multiplayer reliability. (this work never ends I fear) through testing on various machines and latency environments.
I'll try and expand on all of this below but also cut out a lot of the line by line updates you guys might see in our Discord's DevTalk channel. (check it out if you're into the real line by line stuff or if you have any cool ideas, or even just to say hi)
Expanding the Open World
One of the biggest focuses has been increasing the amount of activity and discovery throughout the map.
I've spent a ton of time trying to increase the amount of points of interest across the various maps we have in development with spider holes, bunkers, riverbeds, defensive positions, traps, and more. I just don't want it to feel empty. It's important to me it feels good when you're making your way through the jungle.
I've also introduced several new encounter types.
Players may now come across dynamic ambushes while traveling through the world, stumble upon defended enemy positions, investigate distress calls that lead into sniper ambushes, or encounter environmental storytelling moments that help reinforce the atmosphere of war in Vietnam.
A significant amount of time was also spent reworking foliage, sightlines, terrain layouts, and environmental composition across large sections of the map to improve both immersion and gameplay flow as well as optimization.
Building a More Active Jungle
Combat has definitely come a long way since our last update with you guys.
Friendly AI forces can now participate in open world battles, creating firefights between American and the VC throughout the map. Reinforcement waves have also been added, allowing engagements to escalate over time rather than ending too abruptly.
To really try and create a more active jungle I've been focusing on:
• Reinforcement arrivals during active engagements
• Dynamic artillery strikes
• Battlefield flare systems
• Radio distress calls
• Improved AI combat behavior and target selection
• Post-combat regrouping behavior for friendly forces
Through playtesting I've really tried to home in on what feels the most fun and tried to double down to create really intense moments. I've also tried to make sure not to neglect those lulls between intensity, which is why I've been focused on making the jungles more active in lots of different ways.
Atmosphere and Immersion
I've spent a ton of time on trying to improve the quality of the atmosphere and overall immersion when you're out and about on patrol. To achieve that I've primarily tried to focus on:
• A better ambient audio system that is localized to each player throughout the whole map
• A reworked and better sounding soundscape for distant combat and explosions
• Helicopter/Air traffic to try and make the world feel more active
• Civilian dialogue reworked to be more focused on conversation out of combat and less random during combat
• Wildlife like birds and pigs
Enemy and civilian dialogue still needs love, but this has seen a lot of progress since our last update. It's sounding/feeling better especially during combat.
New Hazards and Support Systems
Traps have been on my mind since we started this journey and I'm excited to say they are in a way better place now.
Pungi traps have been added to the environment, hidden by foliage and if you fall into them, you can become instantly impaled. Tripwires have also been reworked and can be disarmed if you catch them before you set them off.
New friendly support systems like friendly mortar positions are still being worked on, but they've already made a really big difference.
Open world combat encounters have also received significant improvements to reliability and overall presentation, through playtesting I've tried to iron out lots and lots and lots of bugs. (they are relentless)
Progression, Extraction, and Co-op Systems
I've also been spending a ton of time on XP and progression systems.
Extraction systems now track which players successfully reach the helicopter, allowing post-mission reports to better reflect the outcome of a run.
The reinforcement, spectator, failure-state, and post-game systems have all been expanded to create a more complete mission flow from deployment to extraction.
Post-game reporting has also been improved to provide clearer breakdowns of player performance, mission results, and progression rewards. This will still need more polish before release but this is feeling much better and working well in testing so far.
Performance and Optimization
Optimization remains an ongoing priority throughout development. I'm really trying my hardest to make this game as optimized as I can.
Recent work has included improvements to AI systems, landscape materials, rendering performance, memory usage, spawning systems, dialogue systems, and environmental effects.
Extensive profiling has been used to identify and address bottlenecks related to foliage, shadows, lighting, and world simulation.
This is a battle that I will continue to try and fight day in and day out. I want it to look good. But I really want to make it run good. That's really important to me.
Looking Ahead
I'm not ready to share a release date yet... But we do have one in mind! Stay tuned for that.
There is still some serious polish I want to address before release. And lots and lots more playtesting. This game is really special to me, and I'm really proud of where it's at already, but I think we can make it something special on release.
If you want to be a part of the community, hit the discord link. 2500 Wishlists so far is unbelievable to me.
Over the next handful of months (I am trying to work this into my roadmap, but this could change depending on how long my next major audio pass takes), I will be releasing lots of new gameplay footage, new trailers, more recent screenshots. Everything will be gameplay related. I've always felt (I play a ton of games) gameplay over everything.
Thanks for being here you guys :)
-Connor (Developer)