Ready or Not News

Welcome to the first of our expanded iteration of our community newsletters! Just as with the legacy editions of the community newsletters, we’ll look at a variety of mods from newsletter to newsletter, but we will also include a deeper look into community content including streamers, videos, shorts, and art!

As this is our first dive back into the greater Ready or Not community, we’ll be taking a look at a wide variety of materials. Over the years, many very talented individuals have taken an astonishing amount of high-quality content including, but not limited to screenshots, videos, and cosplays!

Since this is our first community newsletter since the official launch of Ready or Not, we have more than half a year of incredible community content to choose from. To start, we’ll be featuring the bread and butter of the Ready or Not Community, the humble screenshot.

1. Averdance – Discord

The entry team emerges out of the early morning fog in this piece by Averdance, a somber balance of orange and blue hues providing contrasting highlights alongside the clean cinematography, creating a wonderfully tense atmosphere.


2. Mxray – Steam

A great sketch-over screenshot, utilizing both subtle and not-so-subtle effects to create an image that is equally at home serving as both an album cover and as a hit piece found in a suspects den.
Going by the X’s on this officer’s eyes, they may in fact have not been ready.


3. S ❥ – Steam

A well composed team is captured by a RoN-inspired ragdoll model pose within Garry’s Mod. Effective CQB tactics reach far beyond Los Sueños― do check your muzzle awareness, though.


4. Delioth – Discord

Titled ’FIRST ATTEMPT OKAY’, Delioth composed a clean spread of officers loaded to the brim with non-lethals, show that despite their lack of deadly qualities the non-lethal primaries do cut a imposing figure in the hands of an experienced officer.


All incredible works of art, the community at large continues to show off both the absolute best and worst that Los Sueños has to offer with a stunning use of cinematography and a tasteful amount of photo editing.

Taking a brief trip back to reality, skill and in some cases sense of humor shines through their creations and re-creations.

1. Kuro - Photography Contest



Submitted by Kuro, this particular piece was one of the runners up for our Photography contest that we hosted in 2022. It showed off not only the editing skills of the submitter, but the place that the deeper lore of Ready or Not holds in the hearts of our community.

2. Royourboy - Photography Contest



Submitted by Royourboy, this incredibly clean and atmospheric piece won the hearts of both the community and the Development team, earning itself a permanent place in Ready or Not itself.

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Outside of our community newsletters, you can find more content like this either on the Steam Community page or on the games Reddit page.
Steam Community Page
Reddit

Keep your feet on the ground
VOID Interactive

Attention Officers!

We’re finally ready to fully reveal our first DLC, Home Invasion!

Taking place after the landfall of a monstrous category 5 Hurricane, this DLC will bring your team to the households of the citizens of Los Sueños, responding to the opportunistic criminal elements of the city. To counter them, your team will be deployed to extensively damaged Greenside Dormitories, the water-logged neighborhood of 213 Park St’, and the affluent community of Redwood.

With the city recovering from the destruction wrought by mother nature, it is even more important than ever to bring order to chaos. To that end the Chief has approved an expansion of your department-issued equipment to better deal with the changing conditions brought about by the Hurricane. Among the new equipment, supplied free of charge to all of our officers, is three new firearms. The 509 Pistol, FLUX MP17 PCC, and the DM4 PDW.

Home Invasion will be available on the 23rd of July for $9.99/€9.99

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hncp01oVykU

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3015760/Ready_or_Not_Home_Invasion/

Thank you for joining us for the 75th edition of our Ready or Not Development Briefing, July 5th, 2024!

Today we’re sharing our teaser trailer for the incoming Home Invasion DLC, announcing the successful efforts of the UE5.3 github community in completing our open-source modding tool bounties, announcing a new optimal 4-week schedule for newsletter communications, and laying out community-focused comms/events that we’ll be releasing with our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky!

These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.

Vol. 75 Development Briefing Summary Points:
(not a changelog)

• The teaser trailer for the incoming release of DLC 1 "Home Invasion" is now unveiled with emphasis on its story premise! (https://youtu.be/byt7k1z46QI)
• Our Unreal Engine 5.3 updated open-source modding tools bounty is now successfully completed.
  
  • These updated tools benefit UE5.3 modding as a whole but also help support RoN’s transition to UE5.3, with an official SDK still being our ultimate end goal.
• Starting today, we’ll be changing the schedule and structure of our newsletter-type communications so that they run in 4-week intervals.
  
  • In addition to the existing developer briefings, we are re-launching community focused newsletters. They will release in offset 4-week intervals so that there is a new newsletter of some sort about every 2 weeks.
• Our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky, will be providing many community-focused communications and hosting events like gamenights, giveaways, and AMAs!
  

[h2]Home Invasion is on the Horizon [/h2]

(Video below: DLC 1 "Home Invasion" teaser trailer)
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

— — —

UUUS76 MLLX 2246 NMSMIX

URGENT — WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL METEROLOGICAL SERVICE LOS SUENOS 07:52 AM PST.

...CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE EXPECTED...

HURRICANE ANTONIO HAS NOW BEEN UPGRADED TO A CATEGORY 5 STORM. ANTONIO’S PATH IS BEING MONITORED, BUT IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A HURRICANE POSSESSING UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH... SURPASSING THE INTENSITY OF THE SAN DIEGO HURRICANE OF 1858.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO LARGE PARTS OF LOS SUENOS IS EXPECTED. CERTAIN AREAS ARE LIKELY TO BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE-THIRD OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES ARE EXPECTED TO SUFFER EXTENSIVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL, LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. A FURTHER THIRD OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES ARE EXPECTED TO SUFFER ROOF AND WALL FAILURES OF VARYING SEVERITIES.

[...]

ONCE HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS ONSET ... DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

[hr][/hr]
[h2]UE5.3 Modding Bounty Complete [/h2]

We’re elated to announce that our bounty to update Unreal Engine 5.3 open-source modding tools was successfully fulfilled by github contributors last week.

This is a critical step to modding UE5.3 games as a whole and is instrumental to help keep modding in shape for our Home Invasion launch, at which point Ready or Not will be using UE5.3 instead of UE4.27. Check out the Vol. 74 development briefing for more info!

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to updating these modding tools. We are in the process of rewarding bounty payments to the top contributors as we speak.

A special thank you to LongerWarrior and atenfyr for their exceptional efforts in helping reach this goal.

"UAssetAPI already had limited support for Unreal Engine 5 assets before the bounty was posted (for example, the new fields that got added to exports were already properly serialized) along with functional read/write support for "unversioned properties" (a more compact way of writing struct and class data that is used by some newer UE4 games and most UE5 games).

However, support for both of these things was full of little bugs and missing property types, and 5.3 did change a couple of small things on its own (e.g. the addition of the DataResources map). Ensuring that the software worked well on every asset in Ready or Not required more attention to detail than the software had received before, which means that a lot of long-standing bugs and missing types, including ones that also happened to affect parsing for older games too, were discovered and fixed.

Updating UAssetGUI was a much simpler process, as nearly all of the legwork is done by UAssetAPI; most of the relevant changes made were in adding new entries to the GUI, fixing bugs in the code that syncs to/from the asset data source, and fixing graphical errors, although UAssetGUI did see the addition of new features unrelated to the UE5.3 port such as .pak support."

—atenfyr

Regardless, our ideal solution for Ready or Not is still to have a dedicated official Software Development Kit (SDK) to continue to empower our modding community. We are committed to making our SDK a reality and carrying out the complex work that the project will demand.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]New Newsletter Schedule and Structure[/h2]

Starting today, we’ll be changing the schedule and structure of our newsletter-type communications so that they run in 4-week intervals. However, you can still expect to receive some form of newsletter communication every 2 weeks. This is because we will be alternating between posting development briefings and community-focused newsletters during that timeframe in offset 4-week intervals.

We’ll also be massively increasing our community-focused events and communications with our returning Community Manager, Kaminsky!

We’ve made this decision to better ensure high quality communication is available for each newsletter-type communication and align more harmoniously with our careful post-1.0 development cycle.

Generally speaking, Early Access development has an expectation of being more fluid and includes a massive scope of things to cover, but we want to be extra mindful now in the full release about avoiding situations where developers are mid-implementation or testing yet we are trying to gather info for public communication. Those scenarios can have an elevated risk of miscommunication or not being able to properly account for issues that could pop up.

Furthermore, some developments like brand cooperation partnerships (e.g. to include official gear or weapons in the game), DLC, or other long-term strategic parts of development require precise timing before we communicate them.

[h3]Community-Focused Communications and Events [/h3]

The amazing Kaminsky will be handling the community focused newsletters and many other great community related plans he has!

Here’s a quick message from Kaminsky himself:

“Hello Officers! Some of you may recognize me from my short time in the position a little over a year ago, but my name is Kaminsky and I’m the Community Manager for VOID Interactive. My hope is that, going forward, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other.”

The extensive community focused newsletters will feature mods, artwork, and more to put a spotlight on the talented members of our community. Other community related events include community question sessions with the development team similar to the AMAs we’ve done in the past.

Community game nights and giveaways are just some of the additional plans you can look forward to, so keep an eye on our official RoN Discord and community newsletters for more info!

We hope that this approach will allow us to continue to deliver our regular newsletters at a high quality as well as cover a greater breadth of topics that are valuable to all of you in our wonderful community.




With the Home Invasion release incoming, updated UE5.3 modding tools prepared, a new schedule for high quality communications, and a return of our many community events along with Kaminsky, we are looking forward to what this summer and beyond will bring.

This concludes our 75th development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!



Follow Ready or Not on Steam here.
Our other links: Discord, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

[h3]Stack up and clear out. VOID Interactive [/h3]

Thank you for joining us for the 74th edition of our Ready or Not development briefing, June 7th, 2024!

This week we'll be covering our completed transition from Unreal Engine 4.27 to the new UE5 and the delay of DLC 1. Throughout this briefing, we’ll outline what specific benefits we expect from UE5.3 as well as how the DLC release and UE5.3 modding scene is affected. Furthermore, we’ll show off some slices of content that you can expect from DLC 1.

The UE5 transition was a longtime project that was in large part diligently handled by close external partners. This extensive preparation has resulted in a relatively seamless final transition, yet there were still some related issues and additional delays that we had to recently overcome. Other general issues including one or two high-priority issues are still not fixed. Aside from that there is some extra DLC 1 work and quality assurance to be completed.

One main high-priority remaining issue is that some of the open-source tools used for modding countless Unreal Engine games, including RoN, are not yet compatible with UE5.3. In the crucial interest of our great modding community we want to avoid launching without modding support. We have several solutions to pursue including a bounty on the tools.

With the UE5 transition complete an official modding Software Development Kit (SDK) is going to happen but it will take time to do right.

Therefore, Officers, we are posting open bounties to support Unreal Engine 5 modding as a whole. Payout will be based on contributions that fix the issues at hand for each tool:

- UE4SS (https://github.com/UE4SS-RE/RE-UE4SS) (Primarily affects map modding)
- UAssetAPI (https://github.com/atenfyr/UAssetAPI) (Primarily affects equipment modding)
- UAssetGUI (https://github.com/atenfyr/UAssetGUI) (Primarily affects equipment modding)

These development briefings serve to keep you in the loop about parts of our ongoing support for Ready or Not, however the briefings do not encompass everything that we’re working on at a given moment. Please keep in mind that everything in this development briefing is work in progress and subject to change.

Vol. 74 Development Briefing Summary Points: (not a changelog)

• DLC 1 will no longer release during the Spring timeframe, though it is close to completion. It will release as soon as properly viable
  
  • We will be able to provide more info in the coming weeks with the next newsletter as progress on the situation is made

• Vast majority of DLC 1 content is completed
  • DLC 1 comes with 3 new weapons (plus effectively a 4th)
    
    • (available to all players regardless of DLC ownership)
  • 3 new maps largely completed with glimpses shown
    
    • (available to all players in multiplayer with a lobby host who owns the DLC)

• We have completed a transition for RoN from Unreal Engine 4.27 to Unreal Engine 5.3
  
  • It was important for efficiency and engine benefits that we complete the engine transition before adding new content to the game
    
    • Not every new UE5 feature will be utilized by RoN, but there is a solid list of immediately noticeable benefits that we’re confident will be included:
      
      • Better PSO integration tools, PSO precaching, DLSS 3.7, FSR 3, and new anti-aliasing methods (TSR).

• We are posting open bounties to update open-source modding tools and support Unreal Engine 5 modding as a whole (Affected tools: UE4SS, UAssetAPI, UAssetGUI)
  
  • RoN will receive official Software Development Kit modding support now that the UE5 transition is complete, but it will take time for the official SDK to be done properly and polished

[hr][/hr]
[h2]DLC 1 Delay[/h2]

We’re sorry to say that DLC 1 and its broader Home Invasion launch will no longer fit into the Spring timeframe.

Unfortunately, our timetables shifted more than we anticipated during our UE5 transition and development process, along with the fresh uncertainty presented by the modding tool dilemma.

The delay also represents an adjustment of our focus towards developing some more core game features and actualizing the new benefits that UE5 can offer.

The vast majority of DLC 1 is already completed. With it will come 3 new weapons (not counting a novel twist that effectively creates a 4th new weapon option). Our three new maps are looking incredible, and we have a few glimpses to share with you all.

Fortunately for the rest of the roadmap, preliminary work is already being done on DLC 2 by our level design/art teams when available, and experimentation on features for the core-game is continuing to progress. UE5 brings hope in the new efficiencies and benefits it brings to our internal development processes. However, we’ll ultimately have to assess later how this DLC 1 delay affects timing on other roadmap goals.

(Image below: [DLC 1] A battered building hangs in a state of disrepair. Its decrepit hallways echo with the murmurs of those with nowhere else to go.) (Image below: [DLC 1] A sun-drenched neighborhood crumbling close to its end.) (Image below: [DLC 1] A grand estate sits atop the valley.)

[hr][/hr]
[h2]A New Engine for Future-Proofed Content [/h2]

Upgrading our game engine to Unreal Engine 5 prior to launching DLC ended up being imperative to most efficiently future-proof new content and reap benefits from the updated engine. Specifically, the current version we’re on is UE5.3.

As stated earlier, our external partners handled the majority of the transition, allowing us to focus on developing 1.0 and new content until the final stage of the UE5 transition was ready.

Although Ready or Not is not positioned to use every new or flashy feature UE5 has to offer, there is a solid list of easily noticeable benefits that we’re confident we should be able to take advantage of. A few of these potential benefits are better PSO integration tools, PSO precaching, DLSS 3.7, FSR 3, and new anti-aliasing methods (TSR). We're already seeing positive results in gameplay from many of these features.

Better PSO integration tools means that we should have an easier time implementing PSO caching for each map/level in the future, which would reduces loading times and in-game stutters.

PSO Precaching is an automatic approach to PSO caching that could help cut down on load times and stutters even further. This technique contrasts with traditional PSO caching which may require you to load a level first before you can benefit.

Nvidia’s DLSS 3.7 offers improvements over the DLSS 3.5 currently in the game to enhance performance and visual fidelity simultaneously for RTX cards.

Meanwhile AMD’s FSR 3 suite offers similar features for all graphics cards, able to replace the FSR 2.1 in-game now.

TSR (Temportan Super Resolution) is a new anti-aliasing method that comes with UE5 that which improve anti-aliasing graphical quality substantially, especially during movement.

[hr][/hr]


Even though DLC 1 is nearing completion it is not expected within the Spring timeframe anymore; we aim to release it as soon as properly viable. More info should be offered during the coming weeks with the next newsletter as progress on the situation is made.

Our completed UE5 transition will future-proof development while providing you all some useful features, but we still have some things to address including the recently outdated Unreal Engine modding tools.

Once again we recognize that an official polished SDK, which we always wanted for RoN, would be an ideal modding solution. The SDK is going to happen as a next step since the UE5 transition is complete, but getting it right will take some time. Until then we hope this solution is beneficial for the entire Unreal Engine 5 modding community. Keep an eye on the respective Github pages for more info.

This concludes our 74th development briefing, thank you again for joining us. Be sure to fall in next time for more development news!



Follow Ready or Not on Steam here.
Our other links: Discord, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

[h3]Stack up and clear out. VOID Interactive [/h3]