Crunch Element News

Hello everyone! A quick hotfix update has gone out addressing the most pressing feedback after the recent update. Stay tuned for more!

Changes
- Updated two handed weapons to take first hand into account when aiming
- Increased enemy awareness of players
- Updated shield to use dedicated grab points
- Reduced weight of shield
- Updated intel spawn that was hidden on mission 8
- Updated hands on remote players to no longer lag behind a weapon they are holding
- Removed Nolt board. Please use the Discord for future feedback!

Want to be featured on Crunch Element's social media accounts? Post a gameplay clip on the Discord server for a chance to have your clip shared!

The Operations update is finally out on the default branch! Throughout the year, the experimental branch was where most of the updates went out to. This is finally changing now that the default branch has been updated! So what's new?

[h3]Operations Mode[/h3]

Operations is a new flagship mode that strings together a series of designed scenarios. Salvage loot found in levels to buy more items, health, ammo, and explosives along the way! Your progress is carried from one stage to the next until you die or complete all the missions in the Operation. Currently 3 stages are chosen from the scenario pool, but this is subject to change.

You can also play these designed scenarios individually as a challenge! Master your tactics on the 10 unique scenarios featured in the Operations mode. Mix up your approach, try new gear, and see how smoothly you can operate... New scenarios are constantly being added!

[h3]Interaction System[/h3]

In order to lay the foundation for the many exciting things on the roadmap, a new interaction system was implemented to unleash Crunch Element's potential. Everything including the player rig, items, and weapons were reworked to use this system. This results in a higher fidelity of physics interactions with the environment, new items that take advantage of this, and new quality of life features like force grabbing!

[h3]Items, Gear, and Inventory[/h3]

To bring out more from Crunch Element and pave the way future game modes, there's now a stronger emphasis on items. The introduction of the new inventory system will allow for a more in-depth management of items which will include things like weapons, individual magazines, health items, and more. For quick access, there are slots on the player's "hotbar" which is always in front of them. For longer term storage and collecting items, players can utilize the new backpack.

[h3]Attachments and Customization[/h3]

A brand new attachment and weapon modification system has also been implemented! Players can customize their weapons before heading out on operations with various types of attachments such as muzzle devices, grips, lights, optics, and more. Eventually, both weapons and attachments will be unlockable, but for now they are all available for testing purposes.

[h3]New Objectives[/h3]

• Intervention - Defuse the Scavenger explosives before they destroy Enterprise equipment.
  
• Sabotage - Players must destroy the signal relay and escape back to the vehicle.
  
• Espionage - Locate and retrieve the intel located in the compound, and return to the vehicle safely.
  
• Exterminate - Identify and eliminate all enemy targets.
  

[h2]Roadmap[/h2]

• Enhanced enemy AI
  
• Progression and unlocks
  
• Performance improvements
  
• Player rig polish
  
• New maps
  
• New items and attachments
  
• And more!
  

A new experimental build is out! This one's mainly hotfixes based on feedback, but an important one to test! Why? Because the default branch will shortly be updated along with many new players coming in to play the game for the first time. That means your testing is more important than ever in order to spot any game-breaking issues that come up. Be sure to let me hear your feedback over at in the Discord. Onward and upward!

Changes
- Fixed issue with truck canvas using the HMD as the UI pointer
- Updated starting enemies to not attack the objective if they are far away
- Fixed issue with rifle recoil heavily going to the side
- Fixed issue with multiple player listings loading when player leaves
- Implemented graceful disconnect handling from hideout
- Fixed issue with loading back into the same hideout causing voice connection issues
- Fixed issue with visual artifact appearing on red dot sight
- Reduce flicker due to bloom
- Fixed clipping of brick walls through grate floors
- Updated materials for certain props
- Fixed issue with procedural mode not generating correctly
- Fixed issue with barricades not spawning on mission 3
- Updated enemies to have their line of sight blocked by props

Hello everyone! A new update is out on the experimental branch. Going forward, please use the experimental branch for testing since the test_interaction branch will be deleted! This updated is mainly fixes based on feedback, but there are some new stages thrown into the mix as well. If any other bugs come in or you have some ideas you think would improve the game, I'd love it hear it over on the Discord! I'm looking forward to finally getting the default branch updated after a few more fixes are in place. Enjoy!

Changelist:

- Added Stage 6
- Added Stage 7
- Added Stage 8
- Added AK suppressor
- Implemented options for truck destinations after a mission is complete
- Implement joystick swap option (left hand mode)
- Updated bindings for all controllers (Oculus and Vive now have correct bindings)
- Implemented proper scene handling when a player disconnects
- Fixed issue with hands getting stuck on spawn
- Fixed issues with using items originally spawned by another player
- Implement trigger grab for weapon slides and most functionality
- Fixed issue with voice chat not working
- Fixed issue with buy panels and loadout panels popping in an out when remote players would enter the trigger zone
- Removed debug text
- Fixed issue with enemies shooting at dead bodies
- Increased grab radius for medium slots
- Fix issue with players needed to exit and reenter truck when bringing intel in as the last objective
- Made movement tighter and more precise (increased acceleration)
- Breaching charges and large items now shrink when holstered
- Removed shadows on holsters that was causing artifacts
- Fixed issue with the recycler eating weapons if the player spawned in too close to it
- Fixed issue with clients occasionally having a different time of day than the host
- Fixed issue with multiple backpacks spawning in coop games
- Fixed issue with duplicate player model spawning in the truck
- Improved operations stage selection to be random and include all stages
- Fixed issue with barrel clang noise
- Fixed issue with the join mission UI not displaying the correct stage when an operation is active
- Fixed issue with enemies occasionally not spawning in procedural
- Improved enemy performance
- Fixed issue with shelves clipping though windows in procedural mode
- Fixed issue with old building modules not being cleaned up on subsequent levels
- Polished death effects of a remote player (smoother item drop and no unholster sounds)
- Fixed issue with UI toggle settings not saving properly
- Increased playzone in procedural levels
- Increased playzone in stages
- Fixed issue with terrain clipping through procedural compounds
- Fixed issue with beams in sandbox using the wrong UVs
- Added more accurate collider on medical shelf prop
- Remove shadow on espionage objective
- Polished the grabbing of items from backpacks
- Tweaked enemy spawn points
- Removed unused "detach from distance" setting
- Added prioritization of small holsters when purchasing items

Calling all testers! The new operations mode is out on the test_interaction branch! It’s so experimental it’s not even on the experimental branch! Sit this one out if you’re not feeling so “experimental”.
(Note: Some people might have issues with bindings if they are going directly from the default branch. To fix this, use a custom Steam binding until the default branch is updated. Ask around in #testing-discussion Discord channel)

Check out a detailed discussion in the latest devlog!
https://youtu.be/sUDsj0L3CtQ

What’s the big deal?
It’s the first community testing of handmade levels, inventory persistence, multiple objectives, new attachments, economy, loot, and much more!

It’s not a matter of if something breaks, but what breaks. Breaking the build and updating the Nolt board is the only way the game gets better! Please send all testing feedback and bug reports here

For back and forth troubleshooting and general discussion of the new build, head on over to the Discord server!

High level plan
1. First, find out what breaks and fix those issues. Performance and enemies are known improvements and will be the highest priority fixes!
2. Once the major game-breaking stuff is fixed on the test_interaction branch, update the experimental branch and do even more comprehensive testing. After this, the experimental branch will be used for testing going forward.
3. Finally, update the default branch once everything is relatively stable and get back into the rhythm of frequent default branch updates!

Winter Roadmap
- Immediate fixes based on tester feedback
- Enemy performance + quality update (high priority)!
- Balancing economy based on feedback and adding difficulty parameters
- Dedicated moveable barricades
- More stages
- More attachments (and attachment balance)
- End of session stats
- Global progress (making guns, attachments, and challenge stages unlockable)
- Polish, polish, and polish!

Changelist (for the test_interaction branch)
Added Operations mode (persistence health and inventory)
Added recycler truck module for Operations mode
Added truck shop for Operations mode
Added credit system and transaction display in truck for Operations mode
Added loot spawning randomly in Operations levels
Added enemy loot drops in Operations
Added Stage 0
Added Stage 1
Added Stage 2
Added Stage 3
Added Stage 4
Added Stage 5
Added new props for Operations stages
Reimplemented procedural mode with settings for different biome selection
Added meal bar (first health item!)
Added red dot optic
Added reflex sight
Added iron sights option
Added espionage objective
Added sabotage objective
Added extermination objective
Added quick drop system for backpack (just drop items on your back)
Improved lighting performance
Added proximity voice chat with mute options and talking indicator
Added end of round screen placeholder where stats will be
Added objective complete and mission complete sounds and text effects
Added objective indicators
Added brick wall module type and paint variations
Fixed issue with AO settings not actually applying
Fixed issue with 40mm round collider, so now it reliably explodes on barricades
Fixed tile seaming issue that occurred with flashlights
Fixed issue with being able to hear many sounds when transitioning scenes
Fixed clanging sound bug with other players
Fixed rendering issue with bullet holes looking orange
Fixed issue with rare enemy muzzle flashes remaining after they have been killed
Updated remote player inventories to be visible
Updated holographic sight to be more visible
Updated wall charge to use clacker
Made props immovable (pending new moveable barricades)