Ready or Not News

Hey everyone,

Welcome to our latest Dev Update!

For this edition VOID Interactive CM Guinevere has stopped by to share a first look at the updated models for Ready or Not's SWAT officers.

Enough talk, it's time to suit up...




Hi everyone,

Over the course of Ready or Not's development, we've iterated upon the look of the SWAT team several times. For a tactical police shooter, it is imperative that your teammates' appearances fit the setting, are easily distinguishable, and, honestly, are stylish. We've worked hard to bring these concepts to life, and are excited to show off what we have.

One of the benefits of the new SWAT officer models is that they're highly customizable, allowing us to easily place the kit of specific characters from your squad anywhere on the model itself. No two officers in your squad will look the same.

In the media below, you'll see a sneak preview of Ready or Not's updated SWAT models in action and in different environments.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Above: A preview of the updated heavy armor variants for SWAT officers.

Given how frequently the player will be viewing SWAT character models, it is imperative that they're held to a high standard of quality that serves to immerse the player in the game. Variations between light, heavy, or even no armor allows for more diversity between players in cooperative play and in the single player Career mode.


Conclusion

This concludes our latest biweekly briefing and the first of a series that will focus on character models and animations. I look forward to seeing you all in two weeks for more development updates regarding Ready or Not!

Keep your feet on the ground,
Guinevere

Hey everyone,

Welcome to our latest Dev Update!

In this edition, VOID Interactive's Community Manager Guinevere is here to give you the low-down on how Ready or Not's environmental audio will drive player immersion, from creating a tense atmosphere to giving crucial audio queues - you'll want to listen up to ensure a successful operation!

Over to you Guin...




In a realistic police shooter like Ready or Not, the high stakes nature of each engagement means that a lot of time has to be spent preparing and deciding how to tackle a situation. The moments spent before things get loud can be some of the most tense that you'll experience, and a big part of that comes from the environmental audio of a level. Whether it's the steady tick of a clock, sirens in the distance, or rain falling on the roof above, it all plays a part in immersing the player and telling the story of the environment.

In the below videos, you'll hear Hotel's environmental audio in action in three distinct locations, each accompanied with panning shots of the areas themselves.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Ready or Not's environmental audio is not simply supplementary to the gameplay loop, but an intrinsic part of it. Paying attention to the sounds around you will help you better understand what's happened, happening, and how that can prepare you for the situations ahead.

Conclusion

This concludes our latest biweekly briefing and the final of three with a focus on the game's audio design. I look forward to seeing you all in two weeks for more development updates regarding Ready or Not!

Keep your feet on the ground.
Guinevere, Community Manager

Hey everyone,

We're back with Community Manager Guinevere this week who's been raiding the armoury and managed to grab some video audio of some the weapons you'll be getting to grips with in Ready or Not!

Let's lock n' load shall we...


Introduction to Weapon Audio

Hey everybody,

It's time for the 18th biweekly briefing for Ready or Not, the second of a three part series stretching over several weeks covering the game's audio design. In this segment we're going to look at updated weapon audio, with a particular focus on how recognizing gun sounds are an integral part of Ready or Not's gameplay loop.


Weapon Audio Showcase - M4A1, M45A1 & Python!

Over the course of Ready or Not's development we have continued to iterate upon our weapon audio. For a realistic, tactics oriented police shooter, having gun sounds that feel authentic and keep you in the moment are crucial for the experience. As such, we've taken in a lot of feedback about our gun sounds over the course of the last few months and have been hard at work redesigning the ones we didn't feel were up to snuff.

In the below videos, you'll hear the M4A1 assault rifle, M45A1 pistol, and Python revolver in action. For each of these weapons, we recorded them in use both in an external environment (the city streets) and an internal one (in a parking garage).

Updated Audio: M4A1
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Updated Audio: M45A1
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Updated Audio: Python
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Ready or Not's guns play an intrinsic role in the information gathering necessary to prepare for dangerous and potentially deadly encounters. Being able to determine where a gun is being fired from, whether it's several rooms over, on the floor above you, or in the basement will all help you better understand the situation in a level as it develops.


Conclusion

That concludes today's biweekly briefing, the second of our three part series checking out the game's audio design. I look forward to seeing you all in two weeks for more development updates regarding Ready or Not!

Keep your feet on the ground.

Guinevere,
Community Manager

Hey everyone,

Today we’re sharing with you an update on the state of play for Ready or Not!

We know you’re all eager for information so let’s breach and clear our way through today’s news…





Having been diligently reviewing the current status of Ready or Not the team has made the decision to push back the Beta access.

What does this mean for you? Beta access for Ready or Not will still take place later in the year, but later than originally planned. We know this will be disappointing for you to read, but we will continue to be open and update you with more information as soon as we can.


Why the delay?

Moving back a date, whether it's Beta access, Early Access or ‘full launch’ is never an easy decision, but we know it’s the correct one to make.

Everyone at VOID Interactive and Team17 wants to give you an amazing, unique experience with Ready or Not, and we don’t want to compromise that vision by sharing sooner than it’s ready. We owe it to both the game and to you, our awesome community.


Let’s get on the same page, what is Beta access?

Beta access for Ready or Not is a snapshot of the core gameplay loop. In this loop, you’ll get to peek through the window and glimpse the direction we want to take Ready or Not. We know this will also spark constructive feedback from our core fans, and it’s you the community we want to hear from.

Beta access has always been exclusive to anyone that has purchased Ready or Not through the VOID Interactive site, this has not and will not change.


What happens after Beta access?

For the weeks and months following Beta access, we’ll be taking your valuable constructive feedback, analysing the data and then weaving our learnings into our future production plans. At this stage, we’ll be evaluating what needs to be done and when we’ll be able to deliver on the next stage of our journey: Steam Early Access.

It’s worth noting that there’s a lot to do in-between Beta access and Early Access. We’re aware that the Ready or Not community is more accepting of seeing rougher versions of the game. Early Access will open us up to a wider fanbase, and we must prepare to deliver to a broader audience without compromising our core fans’ expectations.


So, what can I expect when Ready or Not launches into Early Access?

Current plans are for Ready or Not to launch into Early Access with the following –

• A selection of co-op / single-player levels
  
• A range of authentic weapons and equipment
  
• A pre-planning mechanic
  
• And more…
  

Of course, that’s just the beginning. Once we’re in Early Access we’ll be regularly updating the game with more content including new levels, weapons and characters. During this process, we’ll be talking to and listening closely to you all as we proceed through the Early Access journey together.

Your feedback matters and we look forward to collaborating with you!


Every cloud…

We know today’s news may come as a bit of a disappointment to some, so we’re sharing an early look at what we’ve been working on over the past few months. In the following section, we’ll discuss how we’ve re-evaluated the design of our most publicly shown map, Hotel.

Our artists have done a stunning job of crafting Hotel into what it is today, so we’ve snuck into the designers filing cabinet and acquired some insightful design feedback screens.

Hotel Atrium Level Design Update


One of our bigger goals within Hotel is to improve navigation throughout the map. One way we can do this is by crafting natural breadcrumbs in the form of subtle signs and maps around the level. These have a compounding effect on improving the atmosphere too, and coupled with added environmental furniture like construction safety signage, the scene is brought to life by telling a story about the past of this room.

Hotel Café (Looking to Reception)

Here’s another example of just how much we can add by evaluating how to improve on level design. This has a huge impact on immersion in other ways too. We wouldn’t need to include UI markers or HUD indicators to direct players through the world. Instead, the focus becomes the world, directed by the subconscious and organic methods that we’re all already trained to do in the real world.

Hotel Gym – New Cover and Collision



We’ve also focused more on collision and cover for players. Let’s be honest, there’s always a bit of extra fun gameplay to be found in cover, whether it’s sneaking up on the suspects or getting ambushed. In Ready or Not we also take into account cover density, as we have penetration mechanics through surfaces. In this scene, you can see how much extra value we’re going to add to the level design by going through in this second pass. Lastly, we’re improving the location of suspects and civilians in creative ways so that every playthrough is its own challenge.

Hotel Floor 1 – Flow Map



Here’s a birdseye look at one of Hotel’s floor plans. Let’s break it down further, so skip over this next bit if you want to avoid spoilers...


[spoilers]

Ok good, so you'd like some spoilers... ready?

We want players to tackle challenges from different angles. That’s pretty much been the premise and core of what we want for Ready or Not. However, we’d be fools to ignore good design structure for our levels that show the experiences a player will go through as they traverse this floor.

To take a high-level approach, we’ve broken this floor into three sections. Green for safe, and yellow and purple for the two different encounter loops that are available, each with many different encounters. The encounter loops also have primary starting locations that give our art teams better direction with the steps we covered in the paragraphs above.

Encounter Layout and Overview



Here’s a glimpse of how each of the encounters within a loop is broken down. To avoid nesting spoilers in spoilers let's just enjoy the image and know that we’re working hard at improving the user experience and design on a granular level.

[spoilers over]

Oh, and for those that aren’t into level design, here’s the Krinkov SBR



Debriefing

We’ll be making the most of this extra time and will continue to keep you all in the loop with our bi-weekly community briefings.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding with today’s news. If you have any questions, feel free to pop them in the comments section and we’ll jump in for a chat.

Thanks everyone!

Keep your feet on the ground.
VOID Interactive & Team17

Hey everyone,

Welcome to this week's Dev Update from VOID Interactive's Community Manager Guinevere!

This week Guin's been chatting to Ready or Not's composer, Zack Bower, about what goes into the creation of a soundtrack for a game like ours.

On top of that we've got two previews from in-progress tracks to give you a feel for what's coming!

Much like when playing Ready or Not, you'll want to listen closely to this post...




A game's soundtrack is vital to its identity. The tension it builds, the action it intensifies, the moments it brings to new heights. Each song has to be crafted not only to stand on its own, but to compliment the game's setting, tone, and experience. With this goal in mind, Ready or Not's soundtrack is being made to be as 'vertical' as possible, allowing us to add or remove layers during key moments in gameplay.

For example, the drums on a combat track may kick in when the player engages a suspect, and as the firefight goes on for more time or if more suspects are involved, the track will have more layers of music added in. By contrast, non-combat tracks are made to be unintrusive so as not to distract from the player's ability to gather information from other audio cues: you'll still be able to hear distant footsteps and voices through walls, but you'll have that underlying tension accompanying your actions.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Above: Click the lick above to hear a snippet of one of Ready or Not's in-progress tracks, 'Broken Clock'.


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Above: Click the image above to hear a snippet of one of Ready or Not's in-progress tracks, 'No More Lights'.

Both of the above tracks are small slices of Ready or Not’s soundscape.




Here to talk more about Ready or Not's soundtrack is our composer, Zack Bower, who recently joined our team and has proven himself to be incredibly hard working.

How did you end up joining VOID Interactive?

Believe it or not, two ingredients - A lot of luck, and a ton of persistence in the face of that internal voice going ‘don’t upload, this ain’t it’. I moonlight as a composer when I’m not at the day job, and if I’m not working away on a smaller project, I like putting time into remix tracks where I ask myself “how would I write this piece?” With that in mind, I took a sliver of Ready or Not’s main theme composed by the extremely talented Dan Liston and expanded on it, slowing it down and giving it a darker coat of paint. After a few days of hovering over the upload button and chewing my fingernails off, I finally decided to pull the trigger and post it around. 2 weeks later, I see a message from our Community Manager (the amazing Gwynn) asking if I’m up for a chat with our Creative Lead. The rest is history. I still lose sleep thinking about how exciting the whole thing is. Moral of the story - push against that ‘block’ as hard as you can.

What's your overall vision for Ready or Not's soundtrack?

I love Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory’s plunderphonics style. I think Amon Tobin nailed the atmosphere with this crazy cacophony of sound that perfectly matches the game. Being able to grab some of that style, mix it up with more orchestral music, and spread it out a bit more (a la ambient Eric Brosius) to give players as much situational awareness as possible is the #1 priority. Gritty, dark, hard hitting when it needs to be, these are some of the goals when working through the music for Ready or Not.

How do you tackle creating music for a game where environmental awareness and audio cues are so important? How does the soundtrack serve to enhance the experience?

The tactical shooter genre is tricky with music - how much do you pull back before you don’t have any music at all? In this case, we’re balancing it out through FMOD using a few parameters to mix things up. Busting a door down but not in combat? Let’s turn the ambient intensity up. Have a few suspects ganging up on you? Let’s turn the combat intensity up. Today’s tech lets us take full advantage of crafting a really immersive and intense soundscape, with a lot of expanded nuance. What’s really exciting is that line between ‘this is combat music’ and ‘this is ambient music’ can be blended to a point where there is no line - it’s music catered to how you’re experiencing the game.

What would you say are your greatest musical influences?

When it comes to sound textures and sheer experimentation, Amon Tobin is definitely my main go-to. Again, his work on Splinter Cell was so raw and visceral that it stuck with me long after release. He really nailed down the atmosphere just based on whatever textures he was exploring. On a more melodic note, Jonny Greenwood steals it. He dabbles in a lot of experimental stuff too, but his orchestral work on Phantom Thread is out of this world. Anyone with a command of emotion like that in the orchestrator’s chair gets a gold star from me.

What has been the most difficult, but most rewarding, part of working on Ready or Not's soundtrack so far?

It’s terrifying sitting on a track that’s about to go public - you really wanna please as many folks as possible, while maintaining that personal overall vision that encompasses everything. At the same time, that fear totally washes away working on some new tracks and being pumped to finally show ‘em off. It’s a game of balance that keeps my blood pressure in a good spot.


Conclusion

This concludes today's biweekly briefing, the first of three which will focus on elements of the game's audio design. A big thank you to our composer Zack Bower for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to us a bit about his work. I hope to see you all next time for more development news!

P.S. -- This briefing's banner is a fan made render, courtesy of Natjvin. Check out the whole image here.

Keep your feet on the ground.
Guinevere