The Orville - Interactive Fan Experience News

Howdy folks,

since the release of the latest update yesterday, we started hearing reports about folks having issues running the game, so here's some suggestions to try and help with the most common problems :

- If you're not running on Windows 10, you must select the 'DirectX11' option when launching the game through Steam. Our newest features are taking advantage of DirectX 12 and so the game defaults to this, but you can override this when launching through Steam.

- Additionally to the above, if your graphics card isn't listed on either of these pages, launch in DirectX11 mode through Steam.

https://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/technology/dx12/supported-gpus
https://wccftech.com/nvidia-amd-directx-12-graphic-card-list-features-explained/5/

- If the above doesn't help, try launching in DirectX11 mode anyway, because this is the same DirectX version that all previous releases of the game defaulted to. If it worked for you then, it should work for you now.

- if it's still looking disastrous, perhaps give the Vulkan version a try also, but please bear in mind that you might need to get the latest drivers for your GPU from either of these pages -

https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver
https://gpuopen.com/vulkan/

- Finally, it may be that you need to install some prerequisites to run the game. You'll find the installer for these in the folder where you installed the game in Steam, in "\WindowsNoEditor\Engine\Extras\Redist\en-us". Run the file named "UE4PrereqSetup_x64.exe".

We hope the above helps, and there are a few other tips and tricks to help solve issues, so if you're still having trouble, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/messydesk and we'll try and help.

Thanks! The Messy Desk Team

In our biggest update yet, The Orville Interactive Fan Experience brings you all the cool things!

More detailed information can be found on our website update page here
https://www.orvillefangame.co.uk/v14-update/

Game Mechanics:
- Engine update and tons of optimizations to improve performance
- Added support for dynamic upscaling and Anti-Aliasing options to further improve FPS
- Initial support for RTX!
- A new ship-wide damage system, for when things get 'splody. Some systems may short out when damaged. Don't worry -- server host can reset damage in the Session menu.
- New NPCs with custom animations that are both more realistic AND easier on performance; we will be phasing out the old NPCs over time
- Added Emotes! Use middle-mouse button to properly express your happiness at this new release.
- You can now inspect items. Thanks, Adam!
- Improved System menu, including Alan's new "sorted by deck" Teleport UI. Slick!

New Spaces:
- LOTS of new corridors to explore, courtesy of tenko. To help you find your way, main stairwell is now labeled by deck, and HUD displays current Deck and room.
- Added Fritz's awesome Arboretum to E Deck. You can also check on the seedlings in the nearby Botany...lab.
- Added a shipboard gym with MartianDays' space-age equipment. Do you even lift, brah?
- Added the Cargo Bay on E Deck, for supplies, spare bits, and visiting Krill shuttles
- Welcome back to brainbox's beautiful shuttle interior!
- Added Communications Array Room, as seen on TV!
- Added Kelly's quarters, and adjusted command quarters to a more realistic location.
- Added airlocks on C Deck. Watch your step.
- Added engineering corridors and maintenance bays on F Deck

Other New Features:
- Hooked up the synthesizers on Deck C, and installed cool new lab equipment on B Deck.
- New music from the amazing Patrick, and improvements made to music management, just to set the right scene.
- Added a few righteous friends around the ship for you to play, find, and enjoy!
- Added ability for server host to activate the main viewscreen. Suitable for RP sessions and reviewing B-Roll.
- LEVIATHAN! But wait, what's wrong with her....?

We're happy to announce the release of The Orville Interactive Fan Experience version 1.0.13!

With a ton of core foundational changes (most of which you probably won't notice, but we know they're there) that will give us a lot more flexibility when adding cool new features later, and a bunch of fun stuff to check out.

IMPORTANT NOTE: VR support has been removed from the project for the time being. We're a very small team, and supporting both desktop and VR versions has been incredibly troublesome, so for the time being we're removing VR support. We have every intention of bringing this back as and when we have the capability to support it properly.

NEW FEATURES
* Added Quantum Drive! Access it from the navigation console next to the helm.
* Added forward-facing weapons systems to The Orville, controllable via the helm. Fire away!
* Changed the way shuttles launch from the bay, which should cut down on the need to re-paint. Note you cannot launch a shuttle while the ship is in Quantum Drive, and you must return to the bay before the ship can Jump.
* Shuttles are not permitted to fire directly at the Orville. Why would you want to do that?
* Asteroids in the Asteroid Belt space location now explode when hit, which is super pretty. Makes a huge mess though.
* Added a new *spooky* space location. Not for the faint of heart, although we've equipped The Orville with some temporary protections.
* Increased the ship's speed to make hugging the donkey a more loving experience.
* New music cues from the super-talented Patrick!
* Added Space Location images in for each location on the main menu.

ROOM UPDATES
* Mooska's Restaurant is on Deck C-Upper, perfect for some relaxation and a glass of wine, or 5.
* Enlisted Crew Quarters added to Deck C. Suitable for 28 enlisted crew members. Quarters all need customising so they have unique furnishing. Currently all the same.
* Yaphit and his quarters are now available on Deck C-Upper. He'll be sleeping though, and waking him up would just be rude.
* Added a new Power Down/Up button to the bridge for the lights so you can turn the lights off completely.
* You can now toggle shuttlebay door on Session Settings.

GAME MECHANICS UPDATES
* Lighting system completely rebuilt to use dynamic LED lighting rather than baked lighting. This has a performance impact, but gives us a ton of flexibility for future interactivity.
* Improved multiplayer performance.
* Changed the way the interior of the ship interacts with the exterior, eliminating mesh poke-throughs, because no one wants that ugliness.
* All the prop lights in rooms can now be interacted with, and shot. It's the little thing.
* Player view will only now fade in when the room they spawn in has loaded. There still might be quirks in multiplayer, until the client has been assigned their character.
* Project version number now shows in bottom right during play. This is to help us match screenshots to version for bug tracking.

And much more! By more, it's mostly bug fixing, because there are always lots of bugs which keep us busy. We're always excited (well kinda) when we get new bug reports.

please join us on our Discord channel at www.discord.gg/messydesk and let us know what you find. We're very active on there and our Discord members get access to our early Beta builds, long before the final updates go live.

It's been quite some time since the last game update, and during all this time, many have talked to us or merely posted under the community forums, implying that this project was dead because of the lack of posts on Steam announcements and game updates. But here we are, releasing our first major game update. We do take more time to get things up and running than other developers, but never forget that we are a group of not many developers which are working on their free time to bring everyone a free game.

NOTE: Due to issues regarding Mac and Unreal Engine, the Mac release of v1.0.12 was delayed. Hang on tight since we are working on a way to solve the issues we are currently experiencing and an update should go live soon.

Now, time for the patch notes! Since there have been an ENORMOUS amount of changes between the two versions (v1.0.11 and the new v1.0.12), here's a list of all important new game features:

[h2]Play in Virtual Reality[/h2]

Step into the body of your favorite character! The project now supports Virtual Reality via both the Oculus SDK and SteamVR. Currently only single-player is available, but full cross-platform multiplayer support is in-progress.

[h2]NPCs[/h2]

Walking around an empty starship can feel a little lonely sometimes, so we’ve added a first iteration of our NPC crew. They’re a work-in-progress, and will be expanded over time.

[h2]New Rooms[/h2]

Several new rooms have been added to the project, including the ships Armory (on Decks A and E), 3 Brigs (on Deck G), the Chief of Security Office, with working security cameras, and an expansion to Main Engineering.

[h2]Flyable Shuttles[/h2]

What use is a shuttlebay without some flyable shuttles? Go for a joyride in local space in one of the ships shuttles, but be careful when re-entering the bay, you don’t want to scratch the paint! The shuttles fully support multiplayer so if dogfights are your jam, have at it!

[h2]Shuttlebay Redesign[/h2]

The shuttlebay itself has been completely overhauled and should be far more accurate to the show, with the Upper-level control room now available so you can sit back and watch the madness taking place in the bay below.

[h2]New Playable Characters[/h2]

You can now play as a Krill and bring glory to Avis! Or suit up in the Planetary Union EVA suit, which in future updates will be required for some Extra-vehicular antics!

[h2]New Original Music[/h2]
Many new unique musical pieces are in the project and are triggered based on various events, composed by the talented Patrick Phillips for the project.

[h2]More Space Locations[/h2]

Several new space locations are available to start your adventure in, including several Solar System planets and even an interstellar black hole! Many more to come.

[h2]General UI Redesigns[/h2]

General UI improvements all over the board! Most of the UIs in-game have been completely redesigned to be more straightforward and match the aesthetic of The Orville!

[h2]Quick Session Options[/h2]

The all-new session options will allow you to carry out quick actions in Single Player, and also if you’re hosting a multiplayer session. Is there an unruly player replicating too many bananas? Teleport them to the brig so they can think about what they’ve done.

All of this and many more bug fixes and small updates and features should be released soon for everyone!

Finally, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Messy Desk Interactive!

Well, it's been 23 days since our last public patch, but believe me, we haven't just been sitting around playing Latchcomb!
We put out regular updates on our 'pre-release' branch here on Steam, and when the updates are as stable as we can get them, they'll make their way to the live branch, which is around the same time you see these updates!

If you want to get on some of that pre-release action, please join our Discord here and jump on the bug-splatting bandwagon!

Anyway, without further ado, here's... well... it's a super long changelog, enjoy it, in all its glory :-

• New: The Matter Synthesizers now have a working menu system which will engage as you approach them. You can now choose from an expanded variety of items instead of being at the mercy of random numbers.
  
• New: Matter Synthesizers will now detect an item placed within them, offering the player the option to de-sythesize that item.
  
• New: Added a selection of new pick-uppable items.
  
• New: Completely new ship-movement system, which now supports realtime collision and physics!
  
• New: Added cigarettes as a pick-upable object.
  
• New: Ship should now leave noticable damage on the Dockyard when it collides with it. We'll improve this over time.
  
• New: You can now pick up the bottles behind the bar, and they have working physics for the delicious liquid within. The same bottles are now also available in the synthesizer.
  
• New: Added a fun little physics toy in the classroom, which should lead to some interesting meta gameplay.
  
• New: First push of numerous VR improvements ahead of the first VR release! Sooooon.
  
• New: In-game voice chat now provided by the Vivox service.
  
• New: Added a whole bunch of prerequisite code for Flyable Shuttles and Quantum Drive travel! The complete system isn't quite ready yet, but we're 80% there.
  
• New: Rumour has it there have been reports of an intruder on the Orville.
  
• New: Added a new and much improved version of Earth. Lack of clouds is known, it's a WIP.
  
• New: Added the Moon, now watching over Earth from a distance all creepy like.
  
• New: Added the groundwork for an NPC crew. Coming in a future build.
  
• Fix: Characters should now properly spawn with the correct customisation options.
  
• Fix: Fixed some issues where panels wouldn't respond due to trace response conflicts
  
• Fix: Stopped various trigger volumes around the ship from blocking player names.
  
• Fix: The Matter Synthesizers should now properly work in Multiplayer.
  
• Fix: Character now properly lowers the camera when crouching in no-headbob mode.
  
• Fix: Made change that should prevent the ESC key from failing to work. P is also available as an alternative.
  
• Fix: Fixed some holes in Main Engineering that could only be found in Kaylon Head mode.
  
• Fix: Fixed exploit that allowed players to escape out of the ship when in Kaylon Head mode near the front window.
  
• Fix: Fixed issue where 'right stick sensitivity' in the input menu would show as 1000% by default.
  
• Fix: Fixed issue where 'music' volume would not be retained between play sessions
  
• Fix: Fixed what looked like a hole in the windows at the side of the Bridge when looking in from the outside of the ship
  
• Fix: Fixed issue where FOV settings in menu would be lost after zooming in
  
• Fix: Pistol should now work as expected when sprinting
  
• Fix: Reticle Modification widget and chat box should no longer conflict, it's one or the other, a duel of the fates.
  
• Fix: Crouched players now can't see through walls like superman.
  
• Fix: Player can now correctly use scope mode on weapons when sprinting.
  
• Fix: Fixed a mesh with no collision in the shuttle bay.
  
• Fix: You can no longer lock players outside of the Shuttle Bay, or any other location lacking a door control panel.
  
• Fix: You can no longer sit with your weapon out (fnar). It will auto holster.
  
• Fix: You can no longer carry an object and un-holster your weapon at the same time.
  
• Fix: You can no longer sit in a chair while crouching, it will make you stand up automatically.
  
• Fix: One of the pick-upable objects is no longer haunted, and has ceased floating around all creepy like.
  
• Fix: Trimmed the number of objects in the medical storage room to prevent shadow conflicts.
  
• Fix: The Lift doors should now be properly in sync, with the ghost door being only a distant memory.
  
• Fix: Players can now correctly set FOV during play session again
  
• Fix: Mess Hall tall chairs now pull out far enough to prevent clipping
  
• Fix: Interactive Props should now correctly be in the exact same location for every player.
  
• Fix: The captains desk mascot has promised to stop ribbiting around when you walk in the room now. He'll stay put.
  
• Fix: Patched up some holes in Main Engineering. The ship is now less leaky than before.
  
• Fix: Fixed a menu glitch on the matter synthesizer in Ed's Office.
  
• Fix: Fixed a bug where the weapon red dot sight would disappear in certain places
  
• Fix: Matter Synthesizers should now properly de-synthesize any number of objects crammed into their orifice, and continue to work as expected.
  
• Fix: The doors should now auto-fix themselves when opening and closing if they lose sync due to network lag or level hitching. Any further improvements to the Door AI could lead to a singularity event and bring about the destruction of mankind, so we'll try and leave them alone now.
  
• Fix: Fixed an issue when trying to shoot at the bar in the Mess Hall, YEEHAW!
  
• Fix: Small physics items will either never fall through the floor at all, or they sometimes might, or the fix is broken, and they still will. Only one way to find out!
  
• Fix: Fixed multiple issues where name tags were getting blocked from view in multiplayer.
  
• Fix: Adjusted the name tag display distance from 8m to 30m. That's approximately from the Bridge to the Classroom.
  
• Fix: Prevented the player from crouching when seated, which makes him crouch the moment he gets out of the chair, which has all sorts of scary side effects.
  
• Fix: Just to be on the safe side, also prevented the character from responding to the jump command while seated. He wouldn't jump anyway, but it might have been causing other bugs. Safety first people!
  
• Fix: Fixed a bug where weapons would become increasingly less accurate the further you were away from the Bridge.
  
• Fix: Pull-outable chairs should now correctly be in their open state when a player joins the server
  
• Fix: Game should no longer pause for clients when multiplayer host goes into the menu.
  
• Fix: The third person camera should no longer go through the lift wall.
  
• Fix: Players should no longer experience significant graphical 'hitching' when new areas are loading.
  
• Fix: Mouse movement speed is no longer tied to game FPS.
  
• Fix: The lift music now plays more reliably in 3D.
  
• Fix: Added an extra collision plane to the lift floor to stop people falling through sometimes.
  
• Fix: The Kaylon have returned to the Character Customization screen. They were busy plotting the demise of all biologicals.
  
• Fix: May have fixed a bug where weapons stick around after the user has left the session or died.
  
• Fix: Possibly fixed an issue where ship movement would randomly break for clients in multiplayer
  
• Fix: If a player falls out of the ship while ragdolling, they will now re-spawn correctly.
  
• Fix: There is no longer a crazy hole in the floor in Sickbay. No more sickbay golf, sorry :(
  
• Fix: Fixed issue where pressing interact really quickly on chairs when getting into and out of chairs would cause space madness.
  
• Fix: Fixed camera collision on the door meshes. Door meshes should now block everything, because that's what doors are for.
  
• Fix: Fixed the replicator wall mesh in Ed's Office as it wasn't blocking the third person camera. It's now behaving like a wall should.
  
• Fix: Set the doors to fully hide dynamic objects in rooms upon closing, to stop the horrible black hole bug.
  
• Fix: Added a fix to the chairs, so that pull-outable ones with dynamic shadows don't flash a big black shadow upon spawning.
  
• Fix: Added a fix to the pickuppable objects, so that they won't flash a big black shadow upon spawning.
  
• Fix: Audio occlusion should now work without letting the player camera see through doors.
  
• Fix: Kaylon mode can now trigger music changes
  
• Fix: Potentially fixed the sun showing up in MP for a laugh.
  
• Fix: Removed the LOD from the Engineering ceiling meshes to stop them from vanishing. Temp fix.
  
• Fix: Sorted out the physics on the tiny little round things in Isaac's lab.
  
• Fix: Changed the door label on one of the Engineering level bulkhead doors because it said "Coming Soon" in error.
  
• Fix: Fixed more issues where weapons can hang around after player death/disconnect/despawn.
  
• Fix: Disabled Quantum Drive button on helm, as it's not currently usable.
  
• Fix: Fixed some issues with nametags disappearing, but not all issues
  
• Fix: Fixed Player List and Voice Chat not showing proper player images
  
• Fix: Adjusted the external ship cameras so that the internal rooms can't been seen poking through the hull anymore. Can't do anything about the plants. #potplantsinspace
  
• Fix: Adjusted the Bridge beeps and blips audio sphere so it only covers the Bridge.
  
• Fix: Adjusted the small screen in the Mess Hall so that its beeps and blips can only be heard when you are near it.
  
• Fix: Added missing smoke detector to the Bridge.
  
• Fix: Removed collision from the spring arm on the external ship cam. Stops the random space corridor weirdness.
  
• Fix: The lights on the main stairwell stairs are now alert-aware.
  
• Fix: You can no longer mash 0 repeatedly to duplicate yourself. How was that ever a thing?!
  
• Fix: A number of start-up errors have been resolved.
  
• Fix: You can now pick up objects when you've got a weapon holstered.
  
• Fix: Stopped the player from being able to zoom their 3rd person camera out of the shuttlebay past the forcefield.
  
• Fix: Gun now won't fire if equipped whilst scrolling for cigarettes at the synthesizer in Bortus's quarters. This game is so weird sometimes.
  
• Fix: Ship will now correctly cast shadows on the Station and other space objects.
  
• Fix: Softened the shadows on some distance field props to not make them do crazy things. It's an ongoing battle.
  
• Fix: Players can no longer activate Kaylon Head mode when dead.
  
• Fix: HUD should be removed and auto-regenerate when switching characters during play.
  
• Improvement: Signifcant overhall of gun aiming system. This is a work in progress and is still being optimised.
  
• Improvement: All of the chairs on the ship can now be sat in, including the All-Improved Pull-Outable Chairs(tm)
  
• Improvement: Adjusted sit position for all chairs so it looks correct
  
• Improvement: Lowered the overall number of chairs in the Mess Hall to allow for better player movement.
  
• Improvement: All of the items in the medical storage room can now be picked up.
  
• Improvement: Door code and logic has been condensed and optimised.
  
• Improvement: The no-headbob mode has been adjusted to work more like a classic FPS game.
  
• Improvement: Removed a number of redundant scripts which were just hanging around making the place look untidy.
  
• Improvement: Many small tweaks too numerous to mention.
  
• Improvement: The Matter Sythnesis FX have been improved.
  
• Improvement: Double the maximum Pitch/Roll/Yaw speeds for the Orville. Hugging the donkey has never been easier!
  
• Improvement: When piloting the ship and viewing in external mode, the camera can no longer go through the ship.
  
• Improvement: Some minor performance tweaks for the Shuttle Bay.
  
• Improvement: Pick-upable items should now be where you left them when you leave and return to a room. Yes, you can now fill a room with bananas.
  
• Improvement: The external ship camera now has several new modes, which you can cycle with the 'Home' key.
  
• Improvement: Matter Sythnesizers are now location specific, so for example you can only synthesize Food & Drink in the Mess Hall and Tobacco products are limited to Bortus's quarters only.
  
• Improvement: Voice chat has been re-enabled and should now be working properly.
  
• Improvement: A number of further code optimisations.
  
• Improvement: Accuracy - All ship display panels will now be blue when in 'emergency lighting' mode. They will only be red during Red Alert, as per the show.
  
• Improvement: Players now can't steal things out of each others hands and run away like a sneaky Klyden.
  
• Improvement: Implemented an improved method of syncing objects in multiplayer, to improve performance and reliability.
  
• Improvement: When flying the ship, both Keyboard and Control Panel inputs now share a common interface, which makes the whole system less prone to issues.
  
• Improvement: Helm console will now show total velocity and angular velocity regardless of orientation.
  
• Improvement: The ship engine sounds should now work better. In Flight Assist mode, it'll respond to the speed of the ship. In Newtonian mode, it'll only respond to new inputs into the movement of the ship.
  
• Improvement: Big clean-up and general optimisation of the character system, which should result in smoother visuals and more accurate gun aiming.
  
• Improvement: Red dot on the guns removed, we don't need it any more now that weapons are aiming where they should! This will have the happy side effect of fixing the reticle disappearing/appearing at the wrong times.
  
• Improvement: Weapon no longer locks to head in 'no head bob' mode, because again, it's not needed any more.
  
• Improvement: Doors should now remember their state for the duration of a play session.
  
• Improvement: Chairs and some other objects now have more detailed collision to allow for better interaction with physics objects.
  
• Improvement: All music will now pick up where it left off when it fades between tracks.
  
• Improvement: Occlusion attenuation added to doors, various console sounds, weapons and player footstep and voice sounds. This should prevent you hearing stuff you can't see.
  
• Improvement: Optimised some logic in the helm system to try and prevent sporadic issues where multiplayer clients can't control ship. Any failures in this system will output error messages that we can diagnose.
  
• Improvement: HUD will now disappear completely when in exterior view mode
  
• Improvement: Double Super Jump should no longer be possible. We're all a bit sad, but it's for the best.
  
• Improvement: Restored full-auto fire on the Rifle and set the Pistol to single shot.
  
• Improvement: Set the Pistol to an average 3-shot kill depending on RNG, and 5 shots for the Rifle because it's full auto.
  
• Improvement: Added a distance culling volume to reduce GPU load when occluding objects on the ship.
  
• Improvement: A fair number of blueprint optimisations.
  
• Improvement: Added Distance Culling to all world objects to improve GPU performance.
  
• Improvement: All non-quarters doors now default to auto-open.
  
• Workaround: Disabled door persistance temporarily because it was causing doors to freak out in Multiplayer