Hey everyone!
Summer is over (bad for people, great for PC cooling) and we would like to share some new updates from Grassrootz Studios on how Project Wraith is shaping up.
Admittedly there has not been much communication from our side recently, if you are not in our Discord, where we (for the most part) post updates and leaks for our backers - join us HERE.
I'll now go over the more exciting stuff!
Since we released Operation Papercut for our backers we've been working on adding new features and fixing many many broken ones. Turns out developing games is hard (who knew) and things are taking a little more time than anticipated.
Over the last few weeks and months, we've been working on reworking pretty much the entire core of the game. What we showed in our Kickstarter demo wasn't really at the level we wanted it to be.
Now, as of today, I'm happy to say the rate of progress and state of Project Wraith has never been better. We have a few more hands on deck than before and it shows.
First of all, I would like to welcome two new animators that will work with us on delivering high-quality "feel good, look good" animation, as well as a new gameplay programmer who's been really showing off a bit with his dedication and skill.
#1 "You forgot to add the AK recoil values to the new build..."
To avoid issues we've had in the past and to make testing easier and more convenient for you and us, all weapon data is now stored in a database that updates your client automatically when needed. This allows us to test different things, from recoil, and attachments to damage. No more updating your client when we need to change something small.
#2 "Confusing and Clunky UI..."
In our initial video trailer, we promised no silly, clunky and unresponsive UI. Granted, we didn't get it right at first but I firmly believe we are on the right track. Here is the current state of UI.
#2 "You don't need a better gaming chair to get more frames..."
We've implemented NVIDIA Reflex and NVIDIA DLSS (RTX GPU only) to improve latency and framerates, so far based on our testing it works really well even on older RTX hardware, we look forward to hearing your feedback once our next update is out!
We are also planning to implement AMD FidelityFX in the near future, for those who are not on team green.
#3 "The weapon customization keeps resetting..."
I dare to admit, this was a feature. Before we would assign a specific loadout to your class, resulting in all weapons spawning with default weapon parts when you switch in weapon customization. Not great...
Now, you can create a preset for each weapon you have access to, so when you set up your loadout, you no longer have to redo your guns and your current weapon preset will apply to your class. We know... Groundbreaking stuff ..👀
#4 "I like shiny..."
Class character customization is up and running! You will be able to modify your clothing, equipment and (in the future) other things! To keep the Wraith vibe, you won't see any crazy shiny glowing pieces of clothing, but we aim to make a quality selection of camouflage and gear for each faction. Patches on your equipment will display your banner, you can assign one different banner to each class if you choose to. Some of the functionality is still WIP.
Weapon skins are also coming soon.
#5 "For those who stood with us from the beginning..."
It might not have three stripes but we think it's cool! We love our backers and consider each one of them a Wraith Veterans! They've been with us from the beginning, endured it all and remained positive and supportive. Here is a "Veteran" variant of an Altyn that's exclusive for all our backers.
A veteran is a person who has significant experience and expertise in a particular occupation or field.
That's the idea behind this helmet, it belongs to someone who's been through a lot. He experienced fights, ambushes, and near-death situations.. and this helmet has been with him through it all. Each scratch has a meaning, each bullet impact has a story to it. This helmet is trying to reflect that.
#6 "Can't find the vein..."
We've added a stimulant system for healing and some perks that are in the pipeline. Different stimulants may have different effects and side effects and will be tied to a selected class perk. These stimulants will be tied to the lore of the Wraiths and will allow us to ground these special abilities in Lore.
#7 "Location, Location, Location..."
We have made a complete overhaul to our existing "Volga Airbase" map, this includes lighting, optimisation, layout adjustment and more. We look forward to our backer's feedback when the next update comes out! There are more maps in the works, I'll tease one - a small area of a Bus Station in a modern version of Prague. We call it Florenc, but might as well call it "Flow-rence".. I'll show myself out.
and the other?.. let's just say Anakin would "hate it"
#8 "What's under the hood..."
In the end, even if it's all shiny it has to work under the hood. This has been our largest focus as our most important goal is to get you the PVP experience you've been waiting for. We've had issues, things were not working as intended for some time but we are almost at a "this is great!" point. The vast majority of features were fixed an updated, not only since the Backers Demo, but since Operation Papercut. We have a long bug list we are going through and ask for your patience. We will be releasing an update for our backers soon.
If you got this far, thank you for your time, and support! I'll be in touch soon!