Perfect Round Disc Golf News

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would give an update on what I've been working towards, as I haven't got an update out in a while.

I finally bit the bullet and started adding online multiplayer to Perfect Round. When I first put the early access page up I threw in a throwaway line about possibly adding online play in the future but really never thought I would get around to it. But my favorite games are all online and it seemed like a fun challenge so here we are.

When I first started working on the game I had been using unreal engine for less than a month. Decisions I made as a beginner as to how different parts of the game work together are miles away from how it needed to be done to work online.

So aside from the biggest addition to the game yet in adding online multiplayer, large portions of the old code needed to be reworked and modified just so I can start to add that same functionality online. The good news is these fixes will improve how the game runs in singleplayer as well.

But the fun news is the end is in sight. Just today I finished the on course changes/functionality to the game for online play, i.e you can play a round with other machines and everything works like it should. Shots fly correctly, physics aren't weird(really hard to figure out), scores update, etc.

Because I didn't want a bunch of character models hanging around the basket when they finish a hole I added free run to the game. You can even sprint/walk/jump. Why? Why not.

The next step is to finish a round and move on to the next level(I'm thinking a voting system ala Wreckfest), and then add the server browser functionality. Once those are done I will do some testing and then get that live as soon as possible. After that I have a few more things I would like to start working on in no particular order:

-More levels. I want to spend a few weeks after this update to just make like 3 levels at once.

-Achievements. I saw "steam is learning about this game" was removed, so I can add achievements and badges etc and it will show up on your profile

-Xbox port? Ive had this devkit for a while now. I think Epic Online services enables cross play, that'd be cool

-battle royale disc golf

Thanks!
Rob

-fixed the putting preview line and re enabled it
-split the project up into multiple .pak files. this should help with the long update times, as it doesnt have to rewrite the entire project files for a small update. It may be the same for this update, but in the future they will be faster

Substepped Physics.
-This is a pretty big change that will affect all of the physics in the game. before physics were adjusted for delta time, but 30 big forces will have a different effect to 120 small forces, resulting in substantially different disc flights at different framerates. now the physics is separated from the framerate, resulting in smoother flight for the majority of players
-The big effect is now everyone will see the same result for each throw, whether at 30 or 144 fps

General Changes
-swapped over to new logo + new flag on the baskets
-reduced nose down on putts, resulting in flatter flights
-some changes to make tap ins more reliable

Woohoo! cant wait for yall to try it, disc flight looks better than ever. this will also give me a good base to make further changes to the physics, with more predictable results along a range of conditions

Rob

Just a small update, while I am still working towards adding online mutliplayer.

-Updated the engine version to 4.27. I believe this is the reason the update is almost 7GB.

-Loading Screens, with tips! Looks a good bit better than the game freezing up every time it loads a level.

-Players can no longer shoot out a beam of light when it is not their turn.

-Other players discs won't block shots any more

Happy shooting!
Rob

11/11/21
Brand New Animations!
-Completely new animations for all characters, now with animated hands
-Added an new aiming animation when selecting the hyzer angle, along with a camera zoom. On all shots
-Backhands and Forehands now have hard/soft animations, depending on the percentage power selected

New Camera Angles + Controls!
-The putting camera is now randomly selected from different options, theoretically avoiding situations where the player/basket cant be seen.(might not be true for every situation) I would say more "cinimatic"
-After a drive the camera will pan to show the character from the disc and the path of the flight. can also be rotated to look at the basket
-after a putt you are able to swith away from the putting camera angle and swith to the disc view

Let me know what you think of the new changes! I think both combine to make the action feel more engaging

Rob