Hello Drakelings!
Welcome to the fifth devblog for Operation: Harsh Doorstop. In this update, we will be reviewing the work that the team completed in the month of December to close out 2020.
The push continues to finalize our set of features for our next round of playtest sessions, and bring us closer to early access release. As usual, we do not like to provide dates, but our current tentative target for the next playtest sessions will be March, and tentative early access release on Steam will be expected in May. We will be sure to keep everyone in the loop if these date ranges shift, but given the current tasking for the development team, this is our prediction for when we will be ready to start rolling these things out.
It is also our goal to release the first version of the SDK to the modding community when the game goes live on Steam, however, realistically this will probably take more time as there is a lot of backend engineering/programming and bureaucratic work involved in order to deliver it to modders in a fully functional state and that will be usable with the game. We will of course keep everyone apprised of the status of the SDK and when we anticipate that it will become available.
On to the December recap:
Maps
Khafji
The level design team is now in full swing in detailing mode, meaning we are rounding the corner on having a first fully playable version of Khafji! We have prepared a bunch of images showcasing the first detailing passes that the team has been working on in December that we hope you enjoy:
Detailing will be an ongoing process, and will continue over the next few months—Khafji is a 4x4km map and every single building on the map is fully enterable, so building up the attention to detail will take time. All buildings will be fully enterable, and either be highly detailed to a AAA quality standard, or at the bare minimum have a basic detailing pass* (i.e. for the rooms that are less high traffic or just don’t need a high level of attention, our goal is to have them at least looking like a staged listing for a condo that is for sale, if you can imagine what that would look like).
*Disclaimer that the version you will play at the next playtest sessions and on early access release will probably not be quite as detailed as the standard I just outlined, and will require more work beyond early access release, but we want to share our personal goals as we chronicle our map making process to you all now that we have started to hit this stage.
Objects, Models, and Textures
World Props and Environment Assets
More props and objects to replace placeholder assets and help fill out/detail the world were worked on in December:
Upcoming and WIP Features
Squad System
Programming work has continued on the squad system and features that players will use to group up together while in game. We are now testing and bug fixing a first version of this in the Test Environment branch. A few words from the lead programmer that is working on this feature:
Work was performed primarily on containers for platoons, squads, and squad members that can efficiently replicate any actions performed to said containers on the server to all the relevant clients that should know about them. This enables us to have more performant, robust management of squads and platoons overall which is very important given the fact that they will be tied to just about every mechanic in the game to some extent.
Rework to Ammo and Med Bags
As we discussed in the last devblog, we are currently undergoing a rework to the way ammo bags and med bags function.
A description from the programmer that is working on these systems:
Auras are now working for bags held in your hands, and they will restore health and ammo, but there is also a generic aura that can be used for anything else (i.e. there is an "aura system", so we can use the same area-of-effect mechanic for other things should there ever be a need for it). The auras can restore infinitely or with a limit—there's a checkbox to make bags last forever or expire, you set the "capacity" how you want it. It's basically the same mechanic as with the things you drop on the ground, but now it works while holding it in your hands as well.
These changes are also now being tested and bug fixed in the Testing Environment branch.
Warfare 1944
A handful of existing world props and assets for Warfare have been retextured and cleaned up as we continue our push to facelift some of the old/placeholder visuals:
We are still working towards setting up the next playtesting events for Warfare, however, we are still waiting for the right time to push all of the changes and fixes that have been made to the main branch before we do so (right now all of this is taking place on the Test Environment branch, which has certain administrative and debug tools enabled that we don’t usually like to playtest with). A lot of the underlying systems (such as leaning/proning, the radial menu, squad systems, reworks to the rally points and med/ammo bags, and so on) that have been developed alongside the work going on with O:HD will be included in that update, so it should be a pretty big one for Warfare. Make sure that you track the Steam events for Warfare, and/or join the Discord (links below) to stay up-to-date on when these next playtest sessions will begin!
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Thanks to everyone that took the time to read the devblog! We are very excited for what’s to come in the new year, and we look forward to picking back up playtests to show everyone all of the work that has been done.
Make sure to join the O:HD Discord, and be sure to follow our Steam announcements to track updates. See you all next time!
-Goomes, Lead Community Manager