Hi there, fighters!
Today we’ve released an update 0.56.2 in which Unreal Engine was updated. In this version, we’ve added new options for graphical settings, made optimizations and improvements, and fixed some bugs.
Updated Unreal Engine
In this patch, we’ve updated Unreal Engine to version 4.26. In this patch, we’ve updated Unreal Engine to version 4.26. That's why the update size is large enough to download.
Despite the fact that the version of Unreal Engine 4.27 was just recently announced, at the moment we have updated the Unreal Engine in our game to version 4.26, because, in our experience, the most recent version of the engine may not be the most stable.
DirectX 12 и Vulkan
Thankful updated Unreal Engine, we have added experimental support of DirectX 12 and Vulkan. DirectX 11 still can be chosen in the game settings and is the main render mode.
DirectX 11 will stay as the main render mode and will be available in the game settings.
At the moment, we didn’t make any conclusions about which API is better: everything depends on the scene, locations, and daytime. In some scenarios, DirectX 11 can be the fastest, in others be slower than Vulkan or DirectX 12. Also, we’ve noticed, that some versions of VGA drivers may cause graphical glitches, so updating of VGA drivers is recommended.
One way or another, the choice of API will be available to you so that each player can choose the most convenient API for his rig.
Volumetric clouds, new visual effects, and light
Many anomalies now use Niagara - this is an Unreal Engine tool for VFX. Also, campfires in locations, use Niagara too.
In the graphics settings, in addition to DirectX 12 and Vulkan, it is now possible to enable "Volumetric clouds". This is an updated sky, thanks to which the picture and lighting, in general, are noticeably improved in the game.
Thankful to volumetric clouds, clouds became more realistic. What about the performance, as they say, “Beauty requires sacrifice”, and new light and clouds require more powerful hardware. Those users, whose hardware doesn’t have enough computing power can always switch to the previous version of the light and clouds in the game settings. Moreover, we’ve made additional optimizations.
There is an interesting fact, that DirectX 12 sometimes can show better performance with volumetric clouds and skies, than DirectX 11. But it depends on the hardware and VGA drivers.
In any case, all players have the ability to switch between new skies and old ones, as well as switch between DirectX 11, DirectX 12, and Vulkan modes. Everyone is able to find the optimal settings for themselves! Experiment!
Optimization
In addition to updating the game engine, in version 0.56.2 we paid attention to optimizations.
In the screenshot above, you can see 84 FPS in the “Korovie” location from version 0.56.1. After the optimization, in DirectX 11 mode, and with old clouds it became 108 FPS, with the same graphics parameters, time of day, and weather conditions:
This kind of optimization has been done in many places in the game. Of course, work in this direction will continue in the future, without reducing the quality of the graphics.
Faction ranking
In version 0.56.2, the rating system of the faction players has been improved. Now, you can see the statistics of the best players for the CURRENT week, month, quarter, and year.
The first time, these statistics will be empty, since statistics from the previous version of the game are not taken into account. This is a great chance for those who want to prove themselves even on old servers.
Other fixes and improvements
- For your convenience, the “Sent Items” tab has appeared in the mailbox interface, which displays a list of the last 10 parcels you sent;
- Fixed inaccuracies in Mavrukhin's notes, which can be found in the bunker. Duplicates removed, missing text and one new note added;
- Improved the quest "Barman's Information";
- Simplified the quest "Inspect the crash site of the helicopter";
- Added missing anomalies "Radio" at the Confederate entry points in the "Testing Grounds" location;
- Fixed an issue that resulted in Goliah and the Annihilator not attacking players without a faction;
- In the location "Arena of drones" now it is impossible to activate the event in the adjacent section, and now it is impossible to conduct a firefight between the sections of this location;
- Players without a faction are now kicked out of the "Arena of Drones" location;
- Fixed animation of NPCs in the bar;
- Corrected the description of "Pharmacist-K";
- Improved painting of the Hi-tech helmet;
- Fixed problems in animations of brass knuckles for female characters;
- Improved notification about the removal of "Premium Stash";
- It is now possible to leave the PVP arena only through the guide;
- Fixed a bug due to which the aggressor flag was reset when a character sits on a moped;
- Fixed a bug due to which the chance of falling out of spare parts for weapon modification was calculated incorrectly;
- Fixed a bug when using cans with glossy paint, due to which the necessary resources were not consumed;
- The demining grenade now affects the mines of players without a faction in PVE mode;
- Ammo loaded into the weapon is no longer removed when disassembling the weapon;
- Improved campfire cooking. Now, if there are enough ingredients for several recipes at the same time, they can be cooked at the same time. Previously, this did not always work correctly;
- Fixed sight glare issue;
- Various materials and particles have been improved;
- Removed irrelevant notifications from the game;
- A huge number of minor fixes and improvements have been made.