Hi everyone,
The summer is almost coming to an end, and we hope you all had a great time. After a strange couple of years, it was refreshing to have a kind of normal summer again, and we took some short time off to replenish our energy. But progress on Panther VR keeps moving on, and so it is time for a new dev blog. This time we are talking about making improvements to the game. It is fun to add new stuff (and there will be a lot in 0.1.3) but looking at what is already there is also important. We took some time during this new update to polish some content. The feeling of a game depends a lot on how things feel and work. And creating that extra layer of attention to details and feeling is essential.
That is why we are talking about improvement and polish. With an upgrade to physics and interaction, Improvements to AI and guards and adding an extra layer of love to sounds, performance increases and replayability.
Development and Future of Panther VR
With this new dev blog we want to show you that we are still working on Panther VR despite taking a bit longer for this update. We really value your support and patience. We also believe that it is for the best to tell you more about this development process and why things are taking a bit longer. That is why I'm pulling away the curtain on this process so far and what you can expect from Panther VR in the future. We want to be fully honest with you all, and we are so grateful to have such an amazing community. You can read more about it in our special Development Update.
For more insight on the new update and upcoming content, read our other devposts:
Dev Blog 13# Hacking and Interactions
Dev Blog 14# New Weapons and Thief Scan
PLEASE NOTE: The content in this blog is a preview of what is to come, and can not be found in the live version of the game just yet. It will be added when the next Progression update (0.1.3) is released.
Physics Improvements
Hand Physics
Let start with the new improvements to the physics system. Interaction with physics is important to the feel of a VR game. That is why we improved the hand physics for the player.
In the last update, you are not able yet to physically interact with the world. It was not possible to touch or move objects with holding them, and your hand would move through the wall. It made feel the world less present.
With the new physics improvements, you are now able to push and interact with objects while moving your hands. They will now also interact with walls and larger objects, giving you a more immersive experience.
Overall physics improvements
With the changes to the physics systems comes a lot of different overall improvements as well. Doors interaction, which you encounter regularly, are now massively improved. They now slide way more smooth, and feel way better as an interaction. Item and overall collision with the world is improved. The same goes for rag doll physics for the guards. They now fall more naturally and collide better with themselves and the environment.
Details
- Hands now physically interacts with items
- Hands now physically interacts with environment
- Improvements to rag doll physics
- Improvements to door physics
- Improvements to object colliders.
- Fixed several physics based bugs
AI Improvements
A good thief cannot properly do its jobs without a good security guard. They already had a massive rework in our 0.1.2 update. However, after some play testing and great feedback from the community, we made some more improvements. We tweaked their AI behavior and made some new adjustments to make them smarter and more aware.
There are some changed on how they will spot the player, and how they communicate with each other. We increased their perception, while in turn giving you a short margin or error before they start detection you. They will react better to gunfire, sounds, and movement. We fixed some pathfinding issues. We also improved their overall feeling. Polishing their voices over the radio, add more depth to takedowns with screams and extra effects.
Guardnames
With their improvements, we also wanted to make them feel more unique. That is why we added a small name tags, giving each guard their own unique identification. These names will be generated in each new mission.
This is where we want some amazing name ideas from our community. If you have a great surname you want us to put in the game, hit us up on the Panther VR discord. So that next time you play Panther VR with the 0.1.3 update, you can take down a guard with your name on it. :D
Join the Panther VR discord and submit your name for a guard. Panther VR Discord! .
Details
- Overall Improvement of AI.
- Fixed Pathfinding issues.
- Making guard more aware of each other and the player.
- Added a margin of error before they spot you.
- Polished guard take-downs and voice lines.
- Add guard name tags.
Performance improvements
Keeping a game running smooth is always important, but even more for VR. We want to keep that frame rate as high as possible throughout the game. The heists of Panther VR take place in a large open level. They are fun to explore, but also a challenge to optimize.
We have revisited our optimizations systems and made some new improvements to them.
There is a now a short loading time at the mission briefing, allowing the game to properly generate and optimize the mission. This short process is already showing some great Performance improvements during a mission.
Together with the new physics and AI fixes, the performance should be increased throughout the game.
Details
- Increased overall performance
- Added a load screen before the mission
- Fixed several issues that reduced performance
Improved randomization
New spawning system
Replayability is a big goal for Panther VR. While we currently just have one heist location (with more on their way) all locations are fully randomized and unique each time you play.
This was already the case in previous updates, but we made some great improvements to randomization, including our spawning system. We now have more and better control on where items and security spawns. This makes the level way more balanced and unique.
More replayability
We also greatly increase the items you can find, and with the new Thief scan from the last dev update, exploration feels more natural and rewarding. Security system and guard routes will now spawn in better locations and will connect more to your objectives. Some doorways and vents will now also be blocked, forcing the player to take new routes and choices to get to their objective.
While there is currently only one heist level, it is fully ramdomized on each play. New objective locatioms, spawn locations, escape location and guards routes. With this generation system this heist already has over 500.000 unique ways to generate. This amount is even larger with unique loot, weapon, security systems, and obstacle spawning.
Things that are randomly Generated each time you play
- Mainobjective Location
- Side objective Locations
- Start Location
- Escape Location
- Guard Routes
- Locked Doors
- Obstacles [NEW in 0.1.3]
- Securty Camera Locations
- Router Locations
- LaserFence Locations
- Loot Locations
- Lockboxes Locations
- Explosives Locations [NEW in 0.1.3]
- Health and ammo station locations
- Melee weapon location
- Security Station - Cameras Location [NEW in 0.1.3]
- Security Station - Laserfence Location [NEW in 0.1.3]
- Strongboxes Locations
- Event locations - Birds [NEW in 0.1.3]
Mission Objectives
Last update we talked about the new Thief scan. By pressing a button, you can scan your surroundings. This scan also briefly show where your objectives are located. We wanted to improve the information and guidance on what you are doing and what needs to be done next. This is why we added a new message system that helps you figure out what to do.
These new messages will pop up on completing an objective. This way you can keep better track of your progress. Here is a short preview on how that looks. You can also still acces the details in your pause menu.
Details
- Added new Message system for objectives
Destruction
As a thief, you are sneaking around a lot, but when you might find yourselves a gun fight. When bullets are exchanged, stuff will be destroyed. With this new update, we added some new destruction to the game. Screens and other items will be damaged when shot, and bullet impact will react according to what they hit. Water spills from containers and gas leaks from pipes. All adds to the immersion in the world.
Details
- Added destruction for items
- Unique Hit effects for enviroments
Sound Improvements and Bug fixes
Sound and Music
During our improvement process, we also took the time to upgrade our sounds. We added some new Ambient sounds to the heist, with a clear distinction between inside and outside. Gun shots sound differently indoors, and guards sounds better over the radio. Music volume is now adjusted based on what is happening, and the world feels overall more alive.
Bug fixes
And while are working on everything listed above, we fixed a huge list of bugs and issues, making the overall feel of the game smoother and better. Here is a compiled list of fixes.
Details
- Fixed issues with security cameras not working
- Fixed Pathfinding issue
- Fixed issue where items fall through the floor
- Fixed issue where rooms are not rendered correctly
- Fixed issue where multiple routers spawn in a room
- Fixed issue where loot spawn in wrong direction
- Fixed Turning issues on Pimax
- Fixed issues with grabbing the Main objective
- Fixed backpack issues
- Fixed that guards despawn with no cause
- Fixed issue with weapon slots
- Fixed issue where you could not pick up items on high ledges
- Fixed reloading issues
Adressing input issues
I want to take this dev blog to also address some of the input issues we are experiencing. Panther VR is made for all kinds of headsets and inputs, and would run them on initial release. During the last updates and with time, it seems that there are some reoccurring input issues with some headsets, mainly with Windows mixed Reality headsets, and Virtual Desktop. All other headsets should work as expected.
We are still looking for a fix to iron out all input issues. We have an update to the input systems in our pipeline that should resolve the latest issues with certain headsets. We are sorry for those who really want to play the game but might have failed to do so due to this input issues. In the meantime, please read the following. Otherwise, keep Panther VR on your wishlist, and we will notify you on a future fix. :)
Windows mixed reality
As some of you know, this is a strange issue. It worked in the beginning, but suddenly it stopped. We already made several attempts to fix this, but since support for WMR is hard to find, it proved to be a bigger problem than we expected. Currently, WMR is not supported for Panther VR, but hopefully this issue will be fixed.
Virtual Desktop for Quest 2
Virtual desktop does actually work for Panther VR. However, there seems to be increasing more issues with input. If you are using VD and you are stuck in the main menu, then there is something wrong between VD and Panther VR.
Virtual Desktop is a third party software connection between you and the game. It is like playing a game on an emulator. We cannot provide proper support for this, but we want to resolve this issue as well. We hope that with the update to the input system, this issues will be resolved as well. But if you're encountering this issue, please check out our Virtual desktop guide for possible fix for you.
A possible fix for Virtual Desktop Issues:
VIRTUAL DESKTOP GUIDE AND FIX
Conclusion
We are really looking forward to your reactions to this new Update. While it is taking a bit longer, we truly think that it will be a great step forward to Panther VR and the stealthgame we all want to see. :D
- Jesse
Roadmap
For more information about upcoming content, updates, and the latest fixes and features, you can check out our roadmap.
Discord
If you haven't already, don't forget to join the Panther VR Discord! Share your comments and suggestion with us and the community!
Socials
For more information about current and future updates, from Panther VR and other Wolfdog Interactive games, follow our Socials!
Developer page
Check out and follow our Steam Developer page for more news on our VR Titles. Wolfdog Interactive Developer Page.
Thanks
Thanks for all the support and feedback from our amazing community. This update is made possible by you guys!
