Ready or Not News

Hi everyone,

Welcome to our latest Dev Update on Ready or Not!

This week Community Manager Guinevere is here to reveal some of the models and animations of various Suspects you'll be encountering in Ready or Not's Hotel level.

Now it's over to Guinevere for all the details on who you'll be going up against...




Hey everyone,

In Ready or Not, every encounter is defined by the presence or lack of a suspect beyond the next threshold. Is there a suspect in the next room? If so, is he armed? What weapon is he using? Does he have a hostage? Does he have friends there waiting for you? Managing your squad members and the behaviour of civilians both play a large part in the core gameplay loop, but the majority of decisions that a player makes in a level will revolve around when and where they find suspects.

In the video below, you'll be able to see a brief preview of suspect models and animations.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Because suspect interaction is vital to a police shooter like Ready or Not, the game's suspect A.I. has been crafted with immersion and variety foremost in mind. A suspect's background, experience, and motivation will determine the equipment they have as well as how likely they are to surrender or respond to force. More experienced suspects will put up a harder fight and might have gear designed to counter the tools you've come to rely on: gas masks for tear gas, welding masks or goggles for flashbangs, body armour for beanbag rounds and bullets, and more. Lower tier suspects simply staging a robbery, by contrast, will likely be far less prepared and surrender when the pressure gets to be too much.

The challenge that suspects pose is not just in their potential lethality, but in how they force the player to react and make choices. It is in the hands of the player to determine when getting a suspect to surrender is unfeasible and when lethal force is a necessity. As preservation of life is of the utmost importance, deciding how to handle potentially dangerous and volatile suspects will be a cornerstone of Ready or Not.


Conclusion

This brings an end to our latest biweekly briefing, previewing some of our suspect models and animations. Let us know what you thought about what you've seen and read today in the comments section, we all look forward to hearing what you think!

Keep your feet on the ground.
Guinevere, Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Welcome to our latest Dev Update on Ready or Not!

This week Community Manager Guinevere has stopped by with a look at how civilians make up a core part of Ready or Not's gameplay loop, and how the team are working to maximise player immersion when interacting with or playing around them.

Now it's over to Guinevere for all the details...


Introduction

Hey everyone,

It's time for our latest Dev Update for Ready or Not! This week we'll be taking a look at some of the animations for our Civilian AI as well as the process by which we're able to create them using Unreal Engine 4's MetaHuman technology.




A vital element of any police shooter is the role civilians play in it. They are what set police shooters aside from other games in the genre. Having to account for protecting, managing, and controlling civilians in a potentially hostile or dangerous environment with suspects adds another layer of complexity to each mission. Preparation becomes so much more important - breaching a room means minding your shots and acting quickly to ensure that in the chaos of a firefight innocent lives aren't lost. A suspect with a hostage requires an entirely different approach than one who's in a room alone.

Because of the importance of civilians to Ready or Not's gameplay loop, having them contribute to the player's immersion is a top priority. From their animations to their appearance to how they interact with the player, every civilian is crafted with their own background, motivations, desires, and behavior.

Civilian Preview
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

An essential tool in making sure each character is unique in their appearance has been Unreal Engine 4's MetaHuman technology, which has allowed us to greatly speed up the process of creation for every character in the game. In the images below, you'll see an example of a character that we were able to put together in just a few minutes. By utilizing MetaHuman, we can match the appearances of characters to the descriptions and histories our writing time has made for them.





Above: Examples of a character created using MetaHuman.


Conclusion

This brings an end to our latest biweekly briefing, this time focusing on civilian models and animations within the game. 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,

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