Weekly Report #48
[h3]Hello, stalkers![/h3]
We read your opinions, and we know what you most expect ("where is The Heist?!") and you tell us what needs to be improved and what else to work on to make life in the Zone better. As always, your insights were valuable to us, as evidenced by the following corrections that we are preparing for you.
By the way, we have found quite an interesting bug ourselves that turned out to be… somewhat spooky. Although Halloween is long behind us, we think you will like what we’ve found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUwMsc7zhpM
[h3]Sustainable Shadow[/h3]
Let's start with the changes that will include Shadow - the monster with huge paws that lurks in buildings in the Zone. There will be quite a few of these changes, but thanks to them fighting him will be… maybe not so much a "pleasure" (let's be honest, meeting Shadow who pops out of nowhere was never pleasant), but definitely more balanced.
This includes faster reaction to the attack and its involvement in the fight (Shadow will not wait for your move, but will attack right away), a significant change in range and angle of view (thanks to this, he doesn’t pass a meter from the soldiers without noticing them). Plus, we make him react to sounds and damage and get rid of a few annoying bugs (e.g. blur effect, which sometimes stayed with the Shadow permanently).
[h3]Distribution of soldiers[/h3]
Another big and quite important change concerns the spawning of soldiers on the map.
To put things simply, we wanted to generate enemy squads randomly, but for them to have similar “strength”. The spawning process had a difficult time choosing which enemy to spawn in the squads. And that changed the balance we wanted to achieve - having e.g. 3 regular soldiers + 1 stronger in a group instead of 2 regulars + 2 stronger ones.
Overall, we're working to drastically change the soldier spawning system to be more honest and random, rather than rigid, mathematical. Thanks to this, we want to avoid some weirdness related to seeing too many"crafting" on the map of soldiers of the same, weak type.
Let’s start the tech-talk now! There are spawners placed on the levels, which tell what and how many soldiers should appear in this particular place. Depending on certain variables, we choose one of the predefined levels of "difficulty" that describes the distributions of the types of soldiers. For example: when the NAR squad spawn, we want half (0.5) to be regular soldiers, one-fourth (0.25) sergeants and one-fourth (0.25) elite.
The perfect distribution is that the same group of soldiers will be spotted every time. The problem was that it did not always work as it should, so it happened that in subsequent draws, spawners "produced" only regular soldiers. Simply put, we want to improve this system to allow better, non-biased randomness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQeSlF3AAQ
Here’s a broader description of the problem:
Perfect distribution on the example of a spawner who "produces" four soldiers: two regular soldier (4 * 0.5 = 2), one sergeant (4 * 0.25 = 1) and one elite (4 * 0.25 = 1). From a mathematical point of view, everything is fine.
The problem arises when we cannot make a perfect distribution. Example: we have a spawner who has to "produce" three soldiers each time: regular soldier (3 * 0.5 = 1.5 = 1), sergeant (3 * 0.25 = 0.75 = 0), elite (3 * 0.25 = 0.75 = 0). This is a rather poor solution.
Therefore, we are ultimately working on a solution where we make a distribution based on a value that describes the probability of a given type of opponent in relation to other opponents. On the other hand, for the remaining soldiers, whom we could not replace, we use the principles of perfect distribution (i.e. a draw takes place: 50% chance for a soldier to appear, 25% for a sergeant and an elite).
In other words: every time there will be the same distribution of soldiers depending on the difficulty level. In case this is not possible, instead of spawning the weakest, we spawn them randomly by chance.
[h3]Noises (also from the underworld)[/h3]
We introduce you changes not only visible to the eye but also audible to the ear. We plan to add to the game footsteps heard when walking on very wet surfaces, such as puddles, as well as the sounds of browsing and crafting weapon upgrades. We especially care about the implementation of that second element, because that's what you deal with most often. The sounds of walking on puddles can be considered a modest addition, but it increases the realism in the game.
Similarly, we approach the issue of adding an alert to opponents when the body hits the ground. A body hitting the ground produces an appropriately loud noise that will alert enemies that something disturbing is happening around the corner.
Taking this opportunity to discuss the in-game sounds issue, we have a curiosity for you. This has to do with an interesting, yet very terrifying bug we came across. On the Red Forest map near Olga's Village, you can find wild pigs. If you shoot any of them, it will squeal before it dies ... and that squeal will still be heard even after it dies. We're correcting this bug so that pigs don't bite your conscience from the underworld. ;)
[h3]Level design[/h3]
We are also working on slight improvements to the level design. Mostly these are minor bugs that have been spotted by you (e.g. on several levels the meshes appeared too late). However, we are also working on major fixes that will improve the gameplay.
First, there will be plates with the names of the rooms in the prison for better orientation. This is a large spot where it's easy to get lost.
Secondly, in Pripyat Central, Pripyat Port and Kopachi events have been tweaked so that they don't get blocked. As you know, some places are now blocked by Chernobylite walls or locked doors which require you to use a lockpick. We had to move one of these rooms in Kopachi because there was another event in the same room that we shouldn't block in this way.
[h3]That’s all for today[/h3]
Take care, stalkers!
We read your opinions, and we know what you most expect ("where is The Heist?!") and you tell us what needs to be improved and what else to work on to make life in the Zone better. As always, your insights were valuable to us, as evidenced by the following corrections that we are preparing for you.
By the way, we have found quite an interesting bug ourselves that turned out to be… somewhat spooky. Although Halloween is long behind us, we think you will like what we’ve found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUwMsc7zhpM
[h3]Sustainable Shadow[/h3]
Let's start with the changes that will include Shadow - the monster with huge paws that lurks in buildings in the Zone. There will be quite a few of these changes, but thanks to them fighting him will be… maybe not so much a "pleasure" (let's be honest, meeting Shadow who pops out of nowhere was never pleasant), but definitely more balanced.
This includes faster reaction to the attack and its involvement in the fight (Shadow will not wait for your move, but will attack right away), a significant change in range and angle of view (thanks to this, he doesn’t pass a meter from the soldiers without noticing them). Plus, we make him react to sounds and damage and get rid of a few annoying bugs (e.g. blur effect, which sometimes stayed with the Shadow permanently).
[h3]Distribution of soldiers[/h3]
Another big and quite important change concerns the spawning of soldiers on the map.
To put things simply, we wanted to generate enemy squads randomly, but for them to have similar “strength”. The spawning process had a difficult time choosing which enemy to spawn in the squads. And that changed the balance we wanted to achieve - having e.g. 3 regular soldiers + 1 stronger in a group instead of 2 regulars + 2 stronger ones.
- spawner - a spot on the map where enemies are, well, spawning
- distribution - a word used to describe the process of spawning the enemies
- perfect distribution - spawning the enemies in the best way possible
- weight (of the soldiers) - “value” of a particular enemy type, which is necessary for the spawning process to decide which to spawn
Overall, we're working to drastically change the soldier spawning system to be more honest and random, rather than rigid, mathematical. Thanks to this, we want to avoid some weirdness related to seeing too many"crafting" on the map of soldiers of the same, weak type.
Let’s start the tech-talk now! There are spawners placed on the levels, which tell what and how many soldiers should appear in this particular place. Depending on certain variables, we choose one of the predefined levels of "difficulty" that describes the distributions of the types of soldiers. For example: when the NAR squad spawn, we want half (0.5) to be regular soldiers, one-fourth (0.25) sergeants and one-fourth (0.25) elite.
The perfect distribution is that the same group of soldiers will be spotted every time. The problem was that it did not always work as it should, so it happened that in subsequent draws, spawners "produced" only regular soldiers. Simply put, we want to improve this system to allow better, non-biased randomness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQeSlF3AAQ
Here’s a broader description of the problem:
Perfect distribution on the example of a spawner who "produces" four soldiers: two regular soldier (4 * 0.5 = 2), one sergeant (4 * 0.25 = 1) and one elite (4 * 0.25 = 1). From a mathematical point of view, everything is fine.
The problem arises when we cannot make a perfect distribution. Example: we have a spawner who has to "produce" three soldiers each time: regular soldier (3 * 0.5 = 1.5 = 1), sergeant (3 * 0.25 = 0.75 = 0), elite (3 * 0.25 = 0.75 = 0). This is a rather poor solution.
Therefore, we are ultimately working on a solution where we make a distribution based on a value that describes the probability of a given type of opponent in relation to other opponents. On the other hand, for the remaining soldiers, whom we could not replace, we use the principles of perfect distribution (i.e. a draw takes place: 50% chance for a soldier to appear, 25% for a sergeant and an elite).
In other words: every time there will be the same distribution of soldiers depending on the difficulty level. In case this is not possible, instead of spawning the weakest, we spawn them randomly by chance.
[h3]Noises (also from the underworld)[/h3]
We introduce you changes not only visible to the eye but also audible to the ear. We plan to add to the game footsteps heard when walking on very wet surfaces, such as puddles, as well as the sounds of browsing and crafting weapon upgrades. We especially care about the implementation of that second element, because that's what you deal with most often. The sounds of walking on puddles can be considered a modest addition, but it increases the realism in the game.
Similarly, we approach the issue of adding an alert to opponents when the body hits the ground. A body hitting the ground produces an appropriately loud noise that will alert enemies that something disturbing is happening around the corner.
Taking this opportunity to discuss the in-game sounds issue, we have a curiosity for you. This has to do with an interesting, yet very terrifying bug we came across. On the Red Forest map near Olga's Village, you can find wild pigs. If you shoot any of them, it will squeal before it dies ... and that squeal will still be heard even after it dies. We're correcting this bug so that pigs don't bite your conscience from the underworld. ;)
[h3]Level design[/h3]
We are also working on slight improvements to the level design. Mostly these are minor bugs that have been spotted by you (e.g. on several levels the meshes appeared too late). However, we are also working on major fixes that will improve the gameplay.
First, there will be plates with the names of the rooms in the prison for better orientation. This is a large spot where it's easy to get lost.
Secondly, in Pripyat Central, Pripyat Port and Kopachi events have been tweaked so that they don't get blocked. As you know, some places are now blocked by Chernobylite walls or locked doors which require you to use a lockpick. We had to move one of these rooms in Kopachi because there was another event in the same room that we shouldn't block in this way.
[h3]That’s all for today[/h3]
Take care, stalkers!