Crunch Element News

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that the Discord got a complete overhaul! Come drop in to participate in giveaways, give feedback, squad up with teammates or receive help on a problem! Hope to see you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/vutD5y4

Hello everyone!

It's been just over a week since the initial early access release, and I'd love to take the time to go over the changes that have been made so far. I'd also like to thank everyone who has been giving quality feedback on the feedback board. Your feedback has been instrumental in making sure the right tasks are being worked on, and I appreciate your patience as I tackle the most pressing items while still keeping things exciting and on-target in accordance with the early access roadmap. Most of the changes so far address the most common feedback which is performance, gameplay, and quality of life (settings). Performance has been significantly increased and will be constantly improving down the line.

[h2]Performance Updates[/h2]
Average CPU frame time in compounds has been reduced by 25%! This breakthrough now allows huge compounds to be made with little performance hit, making the new CPU bottleneck the number of active enemies. Comparative GPU optimizations have also been made by means of GPU instancing, static batching, and distance-activated realtime lights.

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
As stated in the roadmap devlog, intensifying the attacking/defending moments is critical to enabling exciting and memorable gameplay. This week, enemies now hold their ground on defense and spawn based on the objective's location. Most of the future updates will be dealing with further improving the enemies and their role as defenders.

[h2]Quality of life[/h2]
Quite a few QoL updates have been push out and many more are on the way! Thank you for your patience as I do my best to implement these requests in the best way possible.



[h2]Features[/h2]
- Updated recoil on all weapons!
- Replaced fence with breachable border walls
- Added randomized truck spawn
- Increased the size of compounds
- Implemented enemy crouching and more defense-oriented behavior

[h2]Quality of life/Polish[/h2]
- Added help text in sandbox next to monitors
- Added music toggle and volume control
- Removed auto eject when placing magazines in a gun that already has a mag
- Added ghost sights to PPK
- Added world boundary that teleports player back to map if they fall off
- Updated snap turning to rotate around HDM instead of play area (fixed issue with snapping through walls)
- Updated player to automatically step over debris so jumping is no longer needed to enter a breach
- Updated pose on rifles to reduce front hand angle
- Updated enemy ragdoll to be less agressive on death
- Updated enemy spawn points to be closer to objective

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
- Fixed issue with spawning in with two right hands
- Fixed issue with menu not being usable on spectate
- Fixed issue with aks spawning in corner of compound
- Fixed issue with lag spike when joining mid game
- Fixed UI issue with room listings not being masked
- Fixed issue with magazine being detached from hand if reloading too quickly
- Fixed issue with failing to spawn in procedural after playing sandbox
- Fixed issue that made the objective countdown run faster the more players there were
- Fixed issue with magazines not being able to be grabbed after holstered
- Significantly improved performance of destruction + combat
- GPU performance optimizations

Want to get more engaged with the Crunch Element community? You are more than welcome over at the Crunch Element Discord Server. See you there!

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In this video, I'll be going over the roadmap for early access in great detail. Grab some snacks and buckle up, this is a long one. Believe me, your feedback has been HEARD and I'm doing everything humanly possible to get it done. As I state in the video, the priority is on fixes + quality of life updates for the next couple weeks.

Some critical fixes have also been pushed up and are now on the default branch
- Fixed issue with occasional spawning with two bodies in proc gen
- Fixed issues with menus not working as a spectator

There are plenty more updates coming this week so stay tuned! For specific concerns regarding issues + suggestions, please create a post at https://crunchelement.nolt.io/

Crunch Element is now out on early access! An incredible milestone for the project and the start of an exciting hands-on journey with the VR community! I've been working around the clock on some of the most pressing fixes in this hotfix update.

Below are the changes in the update:
- Added help hints to the sandbox for easier instruction
- Fixed lag issue that occured when joining mid game
- Fixed issue with objects spawning when joining in-progress
- Added music toggle + volume control
- Fixed issue with room listing items being displayed

After fixing a few minor bugs, the priorities for the next few weeks will be as follows:
- Rework barricades to sync better over network and be more satisfying to destroy
- Improve enemy AI behavior + positioning
- Update interaction to be easier + more forgiving
- General optimization

I appreciate your patience as I prioritize issues and plan out the roadmap going forward. Your feedback has been critical in improving the game, so keep it up!

Please submit bug reports to https://crunchelement.nolt.io/ to keep all information centralized so other people can add to it + I can easily check what the most pressing issues are. For back and forth Discussion about the game and the perfect place to find squamates, you are welcome over at the Crunch Element Discord

Stay tuned for more updates!

There are two core initiatives in making Crunch Element the best it can be: getting quicker feedback and storing feedback in an organized way.

[h3]Live updates straight from the development server[/h3]
Squashing the iteration cycle time is critical in making a game that players enjoy in the end, and a game that "just feels right" in every respect.

The feedback iteration cycle is the process of going from code/art -> playable Steam build -> tester feedback -> code/art (based on feedback). The faster this cycle takes place, the more Crunch Element improves and the more time is spent on effective development. In the last few days, a new solution has been set up to convert this process which used to be done by hand and take a good portion of a day, to a process that requires less than 60 seconds of developer time and moves project files to a playable steam update in about 30 minutes.

This means that testers will receive a constant stream of updates from the development server if they are on the 'experimental' branch on Steam (read how to access it below). In the Discord server, Crunch Element's trusty bot Changelogger will be jotting down the latest patch notes in the #changelog channel so testers never miss an update. By the time you read it there, a new update will already be going through the Steam pipes (if you are on the experimental branch).

[h3]A centralized place for bug reports and suggestions[/h3]
There is now a centralized place for feedback and bug reports! Please direct all suggestions, bug reports, and ideas to the official Crunch Element Nolt board! You can vote on suggestions and have discussion within posts. This will allow greater visibility for in-demand features and common bugs that surface. You will also be able to easily see the status of an idea if it's ever planned and implemented!

[h2]How to get access[/h2]
To access the experimental branch, right click on Crunch Element in your Steam library (if you have testing access), go to 'properties' -> 'betas' Then select the 'experimental' branch which will then download.
The default branch will periodically update with stable versions from the experimental branch. If you would much rather prefer to play on the latest stable version rather than testing the absolute latest version, it is recommended to stay on the default branch.