PERFORMANCE
FPS BOOST
We’ve done some work under the hood; You should see some FPS gains as a result! Both in our own internal testing and user testing, Patch 3.2 has an average FPS boost of +15% compared to the previous update (3.1.12). Obviously, the numbers will vary depending on your PC Specs as well as the scenario being played but overall, everyone should be seeing more FPS. 😀
STUTTERS
On top of bringing you some more FPS, we have also made changes to the engine that should drastically remove stuttering/hitching (in a lot of cases, completely)!
As always, we wouldn't be here without you, so please send us your feedback and ideas - find us @KovaaKs and on our Discord. Thanks for your support and more great stuff coming soon!
SANDBOX UI/UX ENHANCEMENTS
Better Organization and Presentation
- Updated font as well as adjusted text size for consistency and readability.
- Adjusted styling of icons, buttons, checkboxes, and windows.
- Moved scenario rating to the right of scenario name, to make it easier to read through the Online Scenario tab.
- Modified Challenge Endscreen’s TAB and font size, so that the information is more evenly distributed.
- Added UI sound FX, which you can adjust with the “UI SFX” volume slider.
- KovaaK’s Plus members will now display the supporter icon next to their username on leaderboards.
- Adjusted styling of HUD elements too.
Freeplay/Challenge Toggle
We have added a “FREEPLAY/CHALLENGE” toggle to the pause menu. Previously, one would have to load a scenario, click “START CHALLENGE” and then click “PLAY”. Now, fewer clicks are required, just set the toggle to “Challenge” and clicking “PLAY” will start the scenario challenge right away! The app will remember the toggle’s position between challenges and sessions.
Also, the “Session Manager” window is now only visible when the toggle is set to “FREEPLAY”, this reduces clutter, avoids confusing new players, and leaves room to, perhaps, add something else.
Playlist Window
- We have removed the up/down arrows as you can now simply drag scenarios to reorder your playlist scenarios.
- Updated “Playlist Randomizer” UI, replacing the large text + dropdown with an icon that you can click and it’ll cycle through the 4 types of playlist randomization.
Settings Menu Improvements
Main Tab
- We have moved some less-used settings out of the MAIN tab and added some of the most common settings to it, namely: Visual Themes and Crosshair.
Weapons Tab
- Per-weapons settings are more organized with collapsible menus
- Moved Zoom Sens Mult and Toggle Zoom/ADS into Collapsible Mouse options
- Default Crosshair options were removed from this menu and placed into the Main tab, but if you want to change crosshairs for specific weapons then it’s still accessible on the Weapons tab
Video Tab
- Pause on Loss of Focus moved here
Sound Tab
- Added a UI SFX slider
- Reworked multi-sound picker
- Shoot Sounds & Cooldown moved here
- Hit Sounds & Cooldown moved here
- Head Hit Sound moved here
UI Tab
- Resetting the HUD will now reset the checkboxes of which widgets are visible
- Updated style of UI tab to have a vertical divider between columns
- Health & Info Bar Scale moved here
Misc Tab
- Projectile Prediction Indicator moved here
- Floating Combat Text moved here
- Statistics Export moved here
- Death Cam Spins moved here
- Time Until Online Scenarios Refresh moved here
HIGHSCORE BAR
We have added “Highscore Bar”, a new HUD Element that will display a visual representation of your current score against your highscore and/or session best.
LEADERBOARD RANK (BENCHMARKS)
Introducing Leaderboard Ranks for Benchmarks! Benchmarks can now have a dedicated rank for a certain leaderboard range! (e.g. Top 10, Top 100, Top 500).
A Leaderboard Rank will show in all the places a regular rank shows (benchmark main screen, leaderboard, and challenge endscreen). GL with the grind!
SCENARIO EDITOR
- In the character profile’s Move tab, you can now specify the rate of deceleration when flight is enabled.
- Added Character Profile Variables for "Vertical Aerial Deceleration".
- Changed “Profile” to “Scenario” in a few spots for the Scenario Editor to be more clear.
KMC (KOVAAK’S MAP CREATOR)
- Added Stairs Brushes.
- Both the snap rotation and snap distance tools now accept user-written values.
- Improved Paint Mode’s UI.
KOVAAKS.COM
We recently launched a website that features a new way to search and follow scenarios, leaderboards, playlists, and creators, as well as a place to create your own KovaaK’s profile!
Check it out at http://kovaaks.com
MISC UPDATES
- Updated Default Local Scenarios and Favorited Scenarios (only affects new users)
- Updated Credits.html file
- Added a link to our spiffy new website to the pause menu
- Added Tooltip to 'Initial L/R' setting to help clarify functionality
- For scenarios with Movement Scoring and/or Distance Traveled Scoring, players will now get a "Move to get more points" message when they aren’t moving.
- Updated tooltip for adding a scenario to a playlist from the Scenario Browser
MISC FIXES
- Fixed an issue where a scenario uploader would show as “Unknown”.
- Fixed an issue with the benchmarks graph where it was always showing the highest rank.
- Fixed a crash that occurred when a scenario was restarted just before completion.
- Fixed bots having limited lives in freeplay.
- Fixed Diagonal Back speed multipliers to emulate Overwatch-style speed. A 0.9 multiplier backwards becomes 0.93333 diagonal back.
- Fixed an issue with the Disable Character Collision feature not working as intended.
- Fixed an issue with projectile weapon headshots not registering properly in the Trainer.
- Fixed an issue with Advanced Search in the Scenario Browser not showing a list of scenarios by Aim Type only.
- Addressed some hitches when downloading Steam scenarios.
- Fixed FTUE not firing.
- Bot characters no longer trigger the “out of ammo” sound.
- Fixed an issue where the benchmarks button was showing up at times it shouldn't, such as in the scenario editor.
- Fixed bug where scores below 0 would not be posted to Leaderboards.
- Fix progress bar showing new when at exact scenario rank threshold
KNOWN ISSUES
- "Shrink switching" scenario has different behavior.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Please note that versions of KovaaK's older than update 3.2.0 may not be compatible with maps and scenarios created or updated after 3.2.0, and will soon be unable to post to the leaderboards. As part of this update, EQU8 (our current anti-cheat software) will be going offline and a new feature will be released, which requires an update to the map format. If you have experienced any issues in the past and are playing on an old version, please patch up and report any issues you may encounter. We strongly recommend updating to the latest version of KovaaK's to ensure your ability to post and play with the latest content as we add more scenario and map creation features.