Early Access Update Tjugotvå (22)
build id: 569EAED6
Hello all! We are happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.
Aim-Assist Version 2
In response to feedback from the community we have implemented a new version of Aim-Assist. This version no longer renders threats as outlined meshes on top of the action, but rather uses HUD icons (circles) to indicate threats.
Aim-Assist is now limited to tracking targets that are within 3 grids of your position (about 6 meters), which is the same as the range of the legacy Auto-Targeting upgrade.
In addition to the range limitation, only targets within the Potentially Visible Set (PVS) of grids from your position are tracked, which means that in most cases you won't be able to track threats through walls. The PVS is really just an internal rendering optimization structure and not pixel perfect, so sometimes you will get additional threat information for something that you may not actually see. Also, within range, you will always be able to track threats that are on the other side of a closed door, as technically doors do not block POTENTIAL visibility since they can be opened.
Finally, all threats that meet the above criteria are rendered equally. There is no scaling or otherwise indications of what threats may be nearer than others. Again, 3 grids is about 6 meters and happens to be the same range as that which is used to trigger Beast stinger cues, so you can consider any Aim-Assist icon you see to be an immediate threat.
All of these things combine nicely to create a version of Aim-Assist that in our opinion feels much better. It is erratic and glitchy partly due to PVS coarseness, but still gives you an extra edge when it comes to wading through visual noise to see if you can stop firing.
This change was very much motivated by the feeling that some users expressed of the previous Aim-Assist breaking the mood / aesthetic of the game too much, and removing a lot of the fear aspect. In hindsight we wholeheartedly agree with this, and are very glad for all the candid responses to the previous update. We hope that users will find this version to be a better fit for the game.
Also, the new Aim-Assist does stack / combine with Infravision. The old version did not do this both for technical / performance reasons as well as feeling like a combo that was far too powerful, but in this new case we are interested in seeing what the combo might bring. There may well be color issues related to the various HUD colors in combination with the different Infravision palettes; if that proves to be a problem we can implement an automatic change to the HUD colors when Infravision is active.
Finally, to re-iterate, the switch from Auto-Targeting to Aim-Assist is an attempt to remove some of the "auto-pilot" feeling that could previously be experienced with the combination of Motion Tracker and Auto-Targeting. This caused the game to be played most optimally by only viewing the map / tracker, and both we as developers and some of the community felt that this was a shame.
Aim-Assist is intended to combat this by forcing the player to always aim manually in the main 3d view. It is absolutely true that Aim-Assist requires far more user attention / mindshare than Auto-Targeting, and thereby makes the game somewhat harder, but we still feel that this is the right move.
We will in the coming updates be looking into further enhancements to combat the general upwards-tending trend in difficulty that has been happening in the game lately. We want the game to be very challenging but still not feel impossible.
As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno
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