Hello Everyone,
As we finish wrapping up the final changes and go through testing, we are pleased to announce that in just a few weeks we will be releasing an update to the game. The update will include some new features we have discussed in previous sitreps as well as a couple that have not yet been announced. We really pushed to make sure we address some long-standing community concerns and include features players have been looking forward to. Here are some the features that are expected to be released with patch 1.8.11:
Equipment points rebalance - We announced this last month and the majority of the community responded positively and are looking forward to the new dynamic this will bring. After several design reviews and testing with our Unit 51, we think this will bring some much needed rebalance to the game.
Gunstock Calibration - For the hardcore amongst you, gunstocks can provide better control and accuracy. Soon you’ll build on that accuracy with the ability to calibrate gunstocks to the weapons in the game.
Direct game invites to friends on the same platform - We know finding your friends amongst the many pages of lobbies in the server browser can be difficult at times. We have implemented a direct invite feature to give you the option to send invites to your friends that are on the same platform as you. As a cross-platform game, we understand it is important to connect to people on other platforms as well. Rest assured, this is just the first step to a bigger plan to help make connecting to any of your friends easier.
Movement speed exploit (jiggling) mitigation - Throughout lobbies, especially in the competitive scene, people have been finding ways to exploit how the network interprets players movement. In order to address this quickly, we have added a mitigation to help cut down use of this exploit. To avoid making major changes to our movement system and how player movement works over the network we will be continuing to work on developing a further fix for this issue. What is included in this patch is by no means the final fix.
Changed voice chat system - We are changing our voice chat system. This should bring some more stability and fix some minor bugs that were happening with the previous voice chat system.
More details will be given in the patch notes when the patch is released.
As we focus on wrapping up this patch, we continue to work on the other features we have previously talked about as well. Continue reading From the Dev’s Desks for details on other updates that are still being worked on. Also make sure to check out the Community Center for the news related to community content and events.
From the Devs’ Desks:
We continue to work on a number of features that the community has been asking about, and want to keep you in the loop on our progress. This work takes time, but we want to make sure you know where we are at with it.
Animations - We continue to make improvements in the design and functionality of these new animations. However, there has been some delay with getting the animations and IK systems to work exactly how we want them to. We want to make sure this is done correctly and fully functions well with the equipment and with the movement design for the game. Each day we get our models a little bit closer to moving in a more natural way.
Shadowmask lighting - The Shadowmask feature remains a priority for us, but other projects must be completed before we can effectively move this forward. Once some of the other major projects are wrapped up, we will be able to get this update back on track and bring focus to improving the lighting for the PC version of the game.
Intercept map - We heard your excitement over the upcoming Intercept Map loud and clear! Your passion for this map resonated so much with us that we just had to share more. As an end to the Dev’s Desk, we wanted to provide you with the first ever teaser image of the map.
*Map is still currently in development and is subject to change
Community Center:
Congratulations to the IVRL Season 1 Winning team Raptors! They won the North American bracket against Dark Matter, and went on to fight the European bracket winner, Vikings. After some intense battles they pulled through and were the IVRLs first official season winners. An additional congratulations to the IVRL for hosting their first season in Onward Esports.
Both IVRL and VRML league seasons are currently wrapped up, and new seasons are looking to start up soon. If you are interested in playing Onward on a competitive level in the Esports leagues, check out our discord and head to the League Lounge channel.
Our community custom map makers are staying hard at work and providing more new maps for you to play on. The following new custom maps are available:
Missile Silo submitted by Gargarbot
“MARSOC must infiltrate an active Volk missile silo and deactivate the systems.”
Dyno submitted by Sheldorino
“Welcome to the Dyno Climbing Gym! CQB & Verticality-focused.”
Point Exodus submitted by Gridder
“After MARSOC cleared out the surface of the snowy peaks of the Ural mountains they descended down using elevators to underground facilities uncovering something else. Once they are down there they are on their own…”
We hope everyone will enjoy all the features that the new patch has to offer and continue to look forward to the updates that come in the coming months.
Stay Frosty!