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As you can see there was a significant focus on addressing core bugs for this latest patch sadly a few key issues didn't make the cut off for this patch.
Disconnect Mid Game
An additional source of disconnecting mid game was identified and a fix implemented; however, it didn't make the cut off for this patch so will be included in the next patch.
HUD Corruption Issues- (Missing battle grid background, missing markers etc.)
We intensified our efforts to fix this bug for this patch, I'd like to speak a bit about why this bug is so hard to fix.
We're aware that the cause of this bug is corruption in the UI display list, tracking the source of this corruption though is non-trivial. The UI code traverses all manner of systems:
UI Code -> CryEngine Event System -> CryEngine Scaleform Interface -> Scaleform SDK
We continue to work to isolate this issue and while we do so we are also investigating a potential workaround if we can't get to the root of this issue soon.
We appreciate the frustration this issue causes and it remains high on our priority list, there is no lack of focus on this issue and we are not ignoring it waiting for UI 2.0 and aim to have it addressed as soon as possible.
Performance Issues
As mentioned in a prior post we are bringing online tools internally to help provide much wider test cases for FPS and we'll be working shortly to improve performance where we see it has degraded from previous builds. The critical bugs have taken priority as many users are able to lower their settings as a workaround for this issue until we can perform another client performance pass.
As always we are working rapidly to address these issues for all our users, and building tools that ensure we don't see issues like this persist further into Beta as we make our way towards launch.
We know we hear a lot of posts stating that Beta is not an excuse for bugs making it onto production. Ultimately our internal tools and processes for ensuring bugs don't make it onto production continue to mature along with all aspects of the game, part of making it from Beta to Launch is ensuring that each patch doesn't take any steps backwards and it is partly due to this ongoing process that we define ourselves as being in Beta. As we work towards Launch we also work towards a mature pipeline that delivers reliable content without introducing new issues.
Hopefully you agree the latest patch marks a number of strides in this area and we look forward to sharing additional strides with you in upcoming patches.
Topics I've Started
Gdc Update
01 April 2013 - 04:42 PM
Just returned from GDC and wanted to share my experience with the MechWarrior community. Firstly Wow what an amazing GDC and an amazing time to be part of the gaming industry.
This was the year that VR stole the show, many of you are probably already aware of the Oculus Rift if not take a moment to Google it and come back… ok, this was without doubt one of the most popular booths this year, as many people stood in line for hours for their first glimpse at this new VR experience.
The two key questions most people had were “Is it any good”? And “Is it a breakthrough or a gimmick”? I’d like to share with you my impressions as I was lucky enough to get to try the Oculus out for a few brief minutes. In answer to the first question is it any good, the simple answer is yes it’s by far the best consumer VR device I’ve ever experienced which isn’t to say that it’s perfect but most importantly (IMHO) it crosses the line of viability that all previous devices have so far failed to cross.
Nate Mitchell and Michael Abrash both gave excellent talks outlining the challenges of VR but also just as importantly conveying why VR is not just a gimmick. This summarized down to the fact that games have always been about immersion and VR represents a significant leap forward in this respect. This leap as Nate Mitchell described opens up new ‘experiences’ that we can provide players and fundamentally changes the way that games can engage the player.
To offer just one simple example imagine going on Google Earth and navigating data on the Coliseum in Rome, not particularly interesting. Now consider navigating that same data in VR and feeling like you’re actually walking around the Coliseum with your friends, the data is the same but changing your level of immersion with that data fundamentally changes the way you experience it.
More importantly once you've had those experiences you don’t want to go back to a lower level of immersion, after all why would you; it would be like going back to having only 2D games. I personally agree that this is the fundamental reason why VR is not a gimmick.
There’s also understandably a lot of skepticism whether it will truly happen this time, sitting in the VR talks this year all I can say is that, the talks were incredibly popular and sitting amongst the sheer wealth of talent that the game industry has to offer and sensing how excited the development community as a whole is to rise to and surpass the challenges of VR. I could only get the sense that Palmer Luckey has succeeded in cracking open the door to VR with a platform that, now viable, the entire gaming industry can descend on and rapidly work to unlock its full potential.
What initially drew me into the games industry was playing games like MechWarrior during the early days of 3D and seeing a window into these virtual worlds and getting excited to create more like them. I feel extremely fortunate to be doing exactly that working on MechWarrior Online.
I and I’m sure many others are also extremely grateful to Palmer Lucky for creating a platform that now affords the possibility of really entering those worlds and sharing that same experience with a wider audience. As Michael Abrash discussed the challenges remaining on the path to truly exceptional VR are legion, but at the same time the industries passion and talent to surmount those challenges is equally formidable.
As if to illustrate this point Joe Ludwig from Valve spoke next about their work porting TF2 to the Oculus and demonstrated exactly Michael Abrash’ point, that in a very short period of time a talented member of the industry had run with the device and graciously shared with the larger community how to do the same.
Looking at the breadth of talent in the room it only further illustrated that VR now lies in the hands of the game development community and the talent now able to bear down on the challenges Michael Abrash outlined is immense just as were the problems presented.
Here you can see me getting a chance to try out the Oculus
And thanks again to Nate Mitchell and Palmer Luckey for the time they were able to spare us during what was a very busy conference for them.
Omid Kiarostami and I with Palmer Luckey (Oculus Inventor) just after the talks by Michael Abrash and Joe Ludwig
We also had a very busy and successful GDC and during the career fair talked to over 500 applicants and again seeing the amount of talent the industry has to offer and the passion for MechWarrior was just fantastic.
Russ and Bryan were also swamped by media, so look forward to lots of updates on all things Mech in the weeks ahead. As last year we return invigorated by seeing how much love there is for MechWarrior and we look forward to delivering more and more content with every patch.
It truly is a fantastic time to be a part of the gaming community, speaking of which as mentioned we are hiring so head over to our spiffy new website (thanks Kyle) to add to our applicant list if you think you have what it takes.
So will MechWarrior have Oculus support? you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.
See you on the Battlefield
This was the year that VR stole the show, many of you are probably already aware of the Oculus Rift if not take a moment to Google it and come back… ok, this was without doubt one of the most popular booths this year, as many people stood in line for hours for their first glimpse at this new VR experience.
The two key questions most people had were “Is it any good”? And “Is it a breakthrough or a gimmick”? I’d like to share with you my impressions as I was lucky enough to get to try the Oculus out for a few brief minutes. In answer to the first question is it any good, the simple answer is yes it’s by far the best consumer VR device I’ve ever experienced which isn’t to say that it’s perfect but most importantly (IMHO) it crosses the line of viability that all previous devices have so far failed to cross.
Nate Mitchell and Michael Abrash both gave excellent talks outlining the challenges of VR but also just as importantly conveying why VR is not just a gimmick. This summarized down to the fact that games have always been about immersion and VR represents a significant leap forward in this respect. This leap as Nate Mitchell described opens up new ‘experiences’ that we can provide players and fundamentally changes the way that games can engage the player.
To offer just one simple example imagine going on Google Earth and navigating data on the Coliseum in Rome, not particularly interesting. Now consider navigating that same data in VR and feeling like you’re actually walking around the Coliseum with your friends, the data is the same but changing your level of immersion with that data fundamentally changes the way you experience it.
More importantly once you've had those experiences you don’t want to go back to a lower level of immersion, after all why would you; it would be like going back to having only 2D games. I personally agree that this is the fundamental reason why VR is not a gimmick.
There’s also understandably a lot of skepticism whether it will truly happen this time, sitting in the VR talks this year all I can say is that, the talks were incredibly popular and sitting amongst the sheer wealth of talent that the game industry has to offer and sensing how excited the development community as a whole is to rise to and surpass the challenges of VR. I could only get the sense that Palmer Luckey has succeeded in cracking open the door to VR with a platform that, now viable, the entire gaming industry can descend on and rapidly work to unlock its full potential.
What initially drew me into the games industry was playing games like MechWarrior during the early days of 3D and seeing a window into these virtual worlds and getting excited to create more like them. I feel extremely fortunate to be doing exactly that working on MechWarrior Online.
I and I’m sure many others are also extremely grateful to Palmer Lucky for creating a platform that now affords the possibility of really entering those worlds and sharing that same experience with a wider audience. As Michael Abrash discussed the challenges remaining on the path to truly exceptional VR are legion, but at the same time the industries passion and talent to surmount those challenges is equally formidable.
As if to illustrate this point Joe Ludwig from Valve spoke next about their work porting TF2 to the Oculus and demonstrated exactly Michael Abrash’ point, that in a very short period of time a talented member of the industry had run with the device and graciously shared with the larger community how to do the same.
Looking at the breadth of talent in the room it only further illustrated that VR now lies in the hands of the game development community and the talent now able to bear down on the challenges Michael Abrash outlined is immense just as were the problems presented.
Here you can see me getting a chance to try out the Oculus
And thanks again to Nate Mitchell and Palmer Luckey for the time they were able to spare us during what was a very busy conference for them.
Omid Kiarostami and I with Palmer Luckey (Oculus Inventor) just after the talks by Michael Abrash and Joe Ludwig
We also had a very busy and successful GDC and during the career fair talked to over 500 applicants and again seeing the amount of talent the industry has to offer and the passion for MechWarrior was just fantastic.
Russ and Bryan were also swamped by media, so look forward to lots of updates on all things Mech in the weeks ahead. As last year we return invigorated by seeing how much love there is for MechWarrior and we look forward to delivering more and more content with every patch.
It truly is a fantastic time to be a part of the gaming community, speaking of which as mentioned we are hiring so head over to our spiffy new website (thanks Kyle) to add to our applicant list if you think you have what it takes.
So will MechWarrior have Oculus support? you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.
See you on the Battlefield
Re-Worked Vision Modes
07 March 2013 - 07:04 PM
Keeping in the spirit of Paul's last Command Chair post I figured I'd post my own Epic regarding some new changes to the default Night Vision and Thermal Vision Modes.
First of all why change them?
The modes as they currently stand were largely unchanged from CryTek defaults and weren't truly representing PGI's vision for how these modes should function. The community has been waiting patiently for us to make some changes and we figured they had been on the To Do list for long enough now.
Before we get into the screenshots, I'd first like to describe the creative filter through which these modes were created; there are essentially three major considerations that we will continue to follow when creating new vision modes, in priority order:
* Game-play
* Visuals
* Accuracy
First and foremost we want to ensure that the game-play experience is only positively impacted by the changes. Secondly we obviously want the effect to look great, and finally we want to ensure that the effect bears some semblance to reality. Obviously throughout all of this we listen to what the community would like to see as well.
The reason I outline this, is understandably when first viewing images of a new effect we tend to look for accuracy, please note that while this is a consideration it is a lower priority consideration. These modes are also not set in stone and we will be open to further tuning based on feedback received.
Both of the new vision modes have been tuned to work well out to a distance of 700 meters. This is intentional to re-balance the vision modes and ensure that no vision mode is vastly superior to any other, the goal is for the vision modes to be useful in different scenarios but no one mode should dominate all the time the way the current thermal vision mode has been doing.
Normal Vision (River City Night)
As expected we can’t see any Mechs in regular vision mode (maybe the Jenner at a push)
Night Vision 2.0 (River City Night)
As you can see the goal has been to remove a lot of the bloom and interlacing that was making night vision painful to use, it is now a much more effective mode to navigate with on dark maps (as you'd expect) but as you'll quickly notice it is not the best mode for highlighting Mechs.
Though we can now make out the Jenner clearly and the head of a Centurion at a push in the background.
Thermal Vision 2.0 (River City Night)
Here you can see that we have gone back to a gray-scale approach for thermal this is again intentional for a number of reasons, the color graded approach was leading to thermal being an easy vision mode to spot Mechs and devolving into instantly switching to thermal find a blue blob and start firing at it.
With the move back to gray-scale Mechs can more tactically hide in hot areas without overly sticking out and the information at a distance is not sufficient for accurate head shots. Though here we can clearly see the Jenner outline and now more clearly the top of the Centurion in the background.
Once you get to play these changes you'll see that thermal is great for finding Mechs within 700m that are hiding in foliage for example on forest colony but won't be as much use when running between buildings on a night map.
Now for all those snipers out there that are starting to hate me, hold your horses, the goal here is not to cripple snipers, though there is a definite intention to force you back into regular vision mode for some of those long range shots as you'll see below.
We will look in the future to support additional vision modes that are equipped as modules to give various tactical advantages, but will come at a trade-off. It's safe to say that the zoom module will be getting a re-work and should be a very viable choice for those snipers that want to crank up their head-shot stats.
To demonstrate here are some more shots of the new modes on Alpine Peaks:
Night Vision (Alpine Peaks)
Not much help here
Thermal Vision (Alpine Peaks)
At these distances on a cold map the thermal signatures of a Mech are negligible.
Normal Vision (Alpine Peaks)
As you can see regular vision can now be the best option in some scenarios.
Before you mention it we agree that there is still too much heat being shown from the environment for thermal; however, to do it full justice we need to do a more detailed pass with the art team at a later point calibrating the heat information the environment generates. You can expect further improvements in this area but we still felt that the changes as they stand mark a noticeable improvement and are worthy of releasing and gathering feedback for future tuning.
Also we will be masking out the Mechs cockpit from the effects at a later date.
We look forward to expanding on the base vision modes in the future and catering to different play styles, we really hope you enjoy these changes and the intended balancing effect behind them.
As stated earlier we are always open to feedback and please know that we read and were guided by a lot of your feedback for this revamp so we hope you enjoy these changes.
*Sorry for the blocking artifacts in the first image imgur wasn't playing nice.
These changes are currently scheduled for the April 2nd Patch.
Thanks and see you on the Battlefield
PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK HERE!
First of all why change them?
The modes as they currently stand were largely unchanged from CryTek defaults and weren't truly representing PGI's vision for how these modes should function. The community has been waiting patiently for us to make some changes and we figured they had been on the To Do list for long enough now.
Before we get into the screenshots, I'd first like to describe the creative filter through which these modes were created; there are essentially three major considerations that we will continue to follow when creating new vision modes, in priority order:
* Game-play
* Visuals
* Accuracy
First and foremost we want to ensure that the game-play experience is only positively impacted by the changes. Secondly we obviously want the effect to look great, and finally we want to ensure that the effect bears some semblance to reality. Obviously throughout all of this we listen to what the community would like to see as well.
The reason I outline this, is understandably when first viewing images of a new effect we tend to look for accuracy, please note that while this is a consideration it is a lower priority consideration. These modes are also not set in stone and we will be open to further tuning based on feedback received.
Both of the new vision modes have been tuned to work well out to a distance of 700 meters. This is intentional to re-balance the vision modes and ensure that no vision mode is vastly superior to any other, the goal is for the vision modes to be useful in different scenarios but no one mode should dominate all the time the way the current thermal vision mode has been doing.
Normal Vision (River City Night)
As expected we can’t see any Mechs in regular vision mode (maybe the Jenner at a push)
Night Vision 2.0 (River City Night)
As you can see the goal has been to remove a lot of the bloom and interlacing that was making night vision painful to use, it is now a much more effective mode to navigate with on dark maps (as you'd expect) but as you'll quickly notice it is not the best mode for highlighting Mechs.
Though we can now make out the Jenner clearly and the head of a Centurion at a push in the background.
Thermal Vision 2.0 (River City Night)
Here you can see that we have gone back to a gray-scale approach for thermal this is again intentional for a number of reasons, the color graded approach was leading to thermal being an easy vision mode to spot Mechs and devolving into instantly switching to thermal find a blue blob and start firing at it.
With the move back to gray-scale Mechs can more tactically hide in hot areas without overly sticking out and the information at a distance is not sufficient for accurate head shots. Though here we can clearly see the Jenner outline and now more clearly the top of the Centurion in the background.
Once you get to play these changes you'll see that thermal is great for finding Mechs within 700m that are hiding in foliage for example on forest colony but won't be as much use when running between buildings on a night map.
Now for all those snipers out there that are starting to hate me, hold your horses, the goal here is not to cripple snipers, though there is a definite intention to force you back into regular vision mode for some of those long range shots as you'll see below.
We will look in the future to support additional vision modes that are equipped as modules to give various tactical advantages, but will come at a trade-off. It's safe to say that the zoom module will be getting a re-work and should be a very viable choice for those snipers that want to crank up their head-shot stats.
To demonstrate here are some more shots of the new modes on Alpine Peaks:
Night Vision (Alpine Peaks)
Not much help here
Thermal Vision (Alpine Peaks)
At these distances on a cold map the thermal signatures of a Mech are negligible.
Normal Vision (Alpine Peaks)
As you can see regular vision can now be the best option in some scenarios.
Before you mention it we agree that there is still too much heat being shown from the environment for thermal; however, to do it full justice we need to do a more detailed pass with the art team at a later point calibrating the heat information the environment generates. You can expect further improvements in this area but we still felt that the changes as they stand mark a noticeable improvement and are worthy of releasing and gathering feedback for future tuning.
Also we will be masking out the Mechs cockpit from the effects at a later date.
We look forward to expanding on the base vision modes in the future and catering to different play styles, we really hope you enjoy these changes and the intended balancing effect behind them.
As stated earlier we are always open to feedback and please know that we read and were guided by a lot of your feedback for this revamp so we hope you enjoy these changes.
*Sorry for the blocking artifacts in the first image imgur wasn't playing nice.
These changes are currently scheduled for the April 2nd Patch.
Thanks and see you on the Battlefield
PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK HERE!
