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Vol. 76 - Ready or Not Development Briefing

Attention Officers,


Welcome to the 76th edition of our Ready or Not Development Briefing, August 2nd, 2024!

This week we want to provide a hopeful retrospective from our Game Director, Gruntr, regarding the recent release of our first DLC, Home Invasion. The message also serves as a general reflection that will help you understand our current experience as a game development studio.

Thank you for all of your feedback and continued support for the game as we look to support the game to the best of our abilities.

We’re eager to deliver you all more Ready or Not content, growing together throughout the process. Speaking of which, Patch 2 for Home Invasion is on its way shortly.
Note: 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 the content in our development briefings may still be a work in progress and subject to change.

[hr][/hr]
Hey everyone, thanks for reading this dev briefing, I'd love to share a bit of reflection and insight as the Game Director for Ready or Not:

It's been one hell of a wild ride, from RoN’s early inception and private alpha, "that" PVP event during the pandemic, releasing the game in Early Access to massive acclaim, and dropping 1.0 with a big marketing push that saw our game across billboards in downtown Los Angeles.

Underlying all of this is hundreds upon thousands of collective hours of learning how to work together as a larger team, continue to grow a game studio at a healthy pace for the product, company, and people; improve RoN, and release content on a reasonable schedule. This progression internally has allowed us to hone our skills as a team and improve Ready or Not.

While DLC 1 came with a myriad of QoL improvements, a player-friendly approach to DLC, fresh content, cosmetics, and more ― it was (reasonably) received with dismay namely due to the unintentionally poor system performance and limited access to new DLC maps, among other concerns.

Regarding the DLC maps, I want to establish that the decision was made initially to not release the DLC in Commander Mode months ago. Collectively, we didn't properly consider the ramifications of this decision, and it has become an extremely valuable lesson.

Regardless, just like any good company should, we're working on improving our processes while also creating a better line of communication with everyone who follows Ready Or Not. Patch 2 will see access to the new DLC maps through Commander Mode for those who have completed all 1.0 levels, as well as even further improvements to performance and bugfixes.

The start of this year saw our team reconvene slowly due to the sheer intensity of 2023 -- we all ended up all working extremely long hours to get the release out the door at the end of the year, and as a result we paid the price with a slow but necessary recovery from burnout in the first quarter of 2024.

However, even through all this our team managed to continue work on the DLC 1 (and DLC 2) maps, plan future content, improve the game repository (cleaning up 7-odd years of unused content within the editor), dealt with a partial leak alert, and switched to Unreal 5 so that we could continue to reap the benefits from engine upgrades well into the future.

With of this being said, thank you all for your feedback on our latest release: positive, negative, and anywhere in between.

We don't want anything to stop us from continuing to work on the game many of you have sunk hundreds of hours into, and we have big plans for DLC 2 and beyond; I'm personally super excited to get into those plans internally this coming week― we've got some cool stuff in store.

Thanks again,


[h3]Gruntr COO/Game Director [/h3]

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Conclusion


As we continue to work on fixes and improvements for the game and initiate our next phases of planning, know that we are thinking of our community and how we can best strive to meet your expectations. We’re sorry for any shortcomings that can occur, and we work to improve wherever possible.

This concludes our 76th 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]

Home Invasion Patch 1 Changelog

Attention Officers,


Welcome to Patch 1 changelog for the Home Invasion Release! Included is an introduction to the recent changes today and our next steps, with the Patch 1 changelog notes listed further below:

Following the launch of our first DLC, we have taken in the great amount of feedback provided by our community and are working to rectify as many of the most pressing issues as we can. In two patches we will address two main areas of concern along with general bugfixing and improvements: the first being performance, and the second being the lack of availability of DLC1 maps in Commander Mode.

Here in Patch 1, we are focusing on performance as the primary priority. Among the fixes, FSR3 will work as intended, resolution scaling is fixed, texture streaming issues are resolved on the new maps, and improvements have been made to several specific performance areas. More changes are of course elaborated in the changelog further below.

Patch 2 meanwhile will look to address the limited availability of the DLC 1 maps. Currently the DLC 1 Home Invasion maps are available in Multiplayer and Practice mode. In Patch 2 will be bringing those same maps into Commander Mode.

For some background context on the situation with Commander Mode, we initially intended for the upcoming DLCs to be part of their own cohesive experience in a separate segment of Commander Mode. However, with the release of Home Invasion, our players have made it clear that this approach restricted the experience of Commander Mode in its current state.
There will of course be a dedicated changelog for Patch 2 for when it releases, but without further ado, here's this Patch 1 changelog:


[h2]Fixes:[/h2]
  • Fixed FSR3 not working
  • Fixed some issues related to turning on DLSS
  • Fixed resolution scale not working
  • Partially fixed civilians getting stuck on doors after being ordered to move to exit. Civilians now move through unlocked doors fine, but may still get stuck on locked doors.
  • Fixed texture streaming on Narcos, Lawmaker and Dorms
  • Fixed missing UI notification when unlocking the flower polo shirt
  • Fixed reportable for dead informant not appearing on Narcos
  • Fixed certain cases of strange character head rotation
  • Fixed issues with spawn points on Valley and Ridgeline in full multiplayer lobbies
  • Fixed hands and gun disappearing when alt leaning a certain way
  • Fixed hostage takers sometimes facing away from the player
  • Fixed small collision issue on Gas
  • Fixed lobby manager and tablet friend invite buttons not working in multiplayer
  • Fixed sound occlusion issue on Sins
  • Fixed subtitles for one of the DLC Station conversations
  • Fixed various typos
  • Possible fix for various music parameters sustaining on Lawmaker and Dorms
  • Fixed certain weapons always using specific weapon draw / holster type
  • Fixed slide lock back audio inconsistency for certain weapons
  • Fixed doubled draw audio for a bunch of weapons
  • Fixed doubled select audio for certain weapons
  • Fixed instances of certain weapons not having third person draw animations assigned
  • Fixed instances of crouched draw / holster audio not having any animation assignments, resulting in no audio
  • Fixed breaching shotgun range, reduced down to ~3.5m
  • Fixed strange looking capsule shadows (by removing them), increasing performance
  • Fixed crashes if host dies will restraining an NPC
  • Fixed crashes for the host that could occur when spectating a full lobby
  • Fixed broken head tracking on arrested suspects/civilians
  • Fixed overly noisy vegetation shadows on Ridgeline
  • Possible fix for dead arrested character models phasing in and out of existence for clients in multiplayer
  • Possible fix for suspects sometimes holding invisible weapons for clients in high latency lobbies
  • Fixed a variety of crashes

[h2]Improvements:[/h2]
  • Added sliders for ambient occlusion quality and reflection quality to the graphics settings
  • Optimized performance of SWAT AI threat tracking
  • Improved UI performance
  • Misc. CPU performance improvements
  • Improved visibility of all holographic and red dot sights
  • Improved first person shading effects when Per-Object Shadows are enabled
  • Improved lighting on Dorms and Lawmaker

[h2]Known Issues:[/h2]
  • Usage of the SPC9 submachine gun may lead to crashes
  • DLSS currently only uses the ‘Quality’ preset regardless of which preset it is set to when turned on

Ready or Not's new expansion takes the tense shooter action to new heights, but the politics hit rock bottom




Ready or Not’s Home Invasion DLC feels like the expansion packs of old. There’s a wedge of new missions, a few new weapons, some cosmetics and a QOL update (free for all players) that eases a few of the game's pain points, refreshing its multiplayer lobbies while also beefing up AI and audio. Home Invasion also comes in at $9.99, making it a steal for those already invested in Void Interactive’s misanthropic cop-’em-up...
Read more.

Ready or Not: Home Invasion DLC is Now Available!

The Home Invasion DLC and its accompanying base game update are now released! You can view the full changelog here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/4343242494484137727


Much of the Home Invasion DLC content is free for all players, however if you want access to the DLC exclusive cosmetics check out the Home Invasion store page here:

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

[h3](If you already own the Supporter Edition, the Home Invasion DLC is included for free.)

DLC weapons: Free for all players
DLC maps: Free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC
DLC cosmetics: DLC purchase needed (with the exception of balaclavas and new camo options for base game cosmetics)
[/h3]

If you have any bug reports or feedback, please post them on our Discord bug report forum channel or our Discord feedback report forum channel to consolidate them most effectively.

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

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

Home Invasion Release Changelog

Attention Officers,


Below you will find the changelog for the Home Invasion DLC release and general base game update! This is a comprehensive list of key changes, bug fixes, and balance changes. At the top of the changelog we’ve included a few highlighted changes if you just want a quick glance.

The majority of the Home Invasion DLC's content is available for free in some manner and included as part of the general game update. Here's a quick outline of how it works:

(If you already own and have activated the Supporter Edition, the Home Invasion DLC is included for free.)

DLC weapons: Free for all players
DLC maps: Free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC
DLC cosmetics: DLC purchase needed (with the exception of balaclavas and new camo options for base game cosmetics)


Within the changelog "DLC Exclusive changes" refers to the handful of changes that will only be accessible via DLC ownership. "DLC Related changes" refers to changes that are part of the DLC, but will be accessible to everyone in some manner. Finally, "Base game update changes" refers to the general changes that will be included for everyone as part of the base game and are not related to the DLC.

Important Note: If you have mods installed, you should select the “launch in safe mode” option for Ready or Not to prevent crashes/conflicts that may occur until mod owners have updated their versions to match the game.

Changelog Highlight Summary
(not a full list):
  • 3 new maps, free in multiplayer if the lobby host owns the DLC
  • 3 new weapons, free for everyone: 509 Pistol, DM4 PDW, FLUX Raider MP17 PDW
  • 5 new clothing assets, 4 new tattoos, each exclusive for DLC 1 owners
  • Significant AI behavior improvements for suspects and civilians at the start of engagements, during them, and while surrendering
  • Multi-faceted substantial improvements to performance, including adding new tools such as:
    • FSR 3.0.4 added in addition to an upgraded DLSS 3.7
    • PSO pre-caching to reduce stuttering
  • Upgraded game to Unreal Engine 5.3
  • Enhanced audio immersion and quality across the game, especially through reverb improvements


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Gameplay


[h2]AI[/h2]
[h3]Base game update changes:[/h3]

New:
  • Added AI Zones behavior. Suspects can have designated "zones" on levels where they prioritize certain behaviors and movement flows based on the gameplay context
  • Suspects will now hesitate much more consistently when their weapons are lowered even if an ally is nearby; however, aggressive actions can break them from this hesitation.
  • Certain actions (mainly taking hostages and hiding) are now specifically gated behind a certain stress level that is set differently for each mission

Other:
  • Suspects more consistently make use of "stress," a value they track which continually goes up when exposed to certain stimuli (gunfire, being yelled at, other suspects dying). Stress is what determines if a suspect has their weapon lowered or raised, along with whether they walk or run to goals when suspicious
  • Suspects who encounter the player before reaching their stress threshold are more likely to hesitate, especially if yelled at or with multiple SWAT in view
  • Suspects can now surrender while hesitating even if they are not physically stunned
  • Suspicious and stressed suspects now take cover or try to take an angle from the nearest doorway when they hear aggressive sounds

Fixes:
  • Suspects no longer investigate when they've reached a certain stress threshold. This should prevent suspects from running into rooms full of SWAT.
  • Suspects should more consistently choose to flee or move to try and melee the player when they're pepper sprayed
  • Suspects should be better about not fake surrendering or exiting their surrendered state if multiple SWAT are watching them
  • Suspect shotgun spread tweaked to make them much more effective
  • Fixed SWAT AI pulling out their sidearm despite having no secondary ammo
  • Fixed SWAT AI freezing when ordered to search and secure after completing a mission
  • Fixed SWAT AI only being able to fire grenade launchers once


[h2]Engineering:[/h2]
[h3]Base game update changes:[/h3]

New:
  • Upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.3
  • Started using ModularGameplay and GameplayFeatures plugins from Epic Games to make pushing builds more streamlined internally
  • Added Home Invasion specific Steam Achievements
  • Included UE5’s TSR rendering technology as a standard alternative to DLSS or FSR

Other:
  • Updated default launch option to DirectX 12

Fixes:
  • Lots of bug fixes and quality of life improvements
  • Fixed an issue causing players to become soft-locked when shot while trying to heal
  • Assorted fixes to damage calculations for both flesh and armor damage
  • Fixed floating zipcuffs in some contexts, especially in multiplayer
  • Fixed crash when Trailers pick up a suspect/civilian when clearing level


[h2]General Performance:[/h2]
[h3]Base game update changes:[/h3]

New:
  • Added PSO Pre-caching, decreasing FPS stuttering
  • Added object pooling to reduce number of times assets need to be spawned/de-spawned
  • Added component pre-caching to reduce the performance cost when new objects or effects need to suddenly appear on screen
  • Upgraded to FSR 3.0.4, but the setting may be mislabeled as FSR 2 due to a UI discrepancy
  • Fully updated to DLSS 3.7
  • Integrated optical multi frame generation technology for DLSS.

Other:
  • Used object pools where necessary instead of spawning on demand
  • Optimized spectator HUD
  • Restructured code for improved performance
  • Reduction of unnecessary/unused code that could reduce performance
  • Optimized level of detail (LOD) settings for characters
  • Reduced the amount of complex collisions across the levels, decreasing FPS stuttering

Fixes:
  • Fixed lag spike that occurred when the player was killed
  • Fixed physics related lag when close to some characters


[hr][/hr]

Visuals


[h2]Animation:[/h2]
[h3]Base game update changes:[/h3]

New:
  • Added speech system that allows characters to speak and perform lip sync animation on all game dialogue
  • Characters will form facial expressions depending on their state, particularly noticeable when dying and when in pain
  • Added eye tracking for all AI characters in game, allowing them to peer directly at the player who is closest
  • New animations reworked across the police station

Other:
  • Improved and reworked the existing system for character head movements when looking at/reacting to objects or actors in the game world

Fixes:
  • Fixed character turning animations creating visual pops due to different idle poses
  • Fixed character arms being distorted during weapon handling due to improper inverse kinematics (IK)-related animation elements
  • Fixed Character arms sometimes being broken during weapon handling due to improper inverse kinematics (IK)-related animation elements
  • Fixed IK-related animation issues during Suspect/Civilian strafing
  • Fixed suspects' right arm clipping through torso during a suspicious animation cycle
  • Fixed some post-processing elements that persisted unnecessarily in some multiplayer contexts
  • Fixed SWAT Officer equipped pepper spray animations pushing players too far into the ground


[h2]Character Art: [/h2]
[h3]DLC 1 Exclusive: [/h3]

New:
  • SWAT:
    • ERT Carbon Helmet Shell w/ Rail mounted Headset option, cover option, and & 4 texture variations
    • L9 Combat top w/ rolled sleeves option, 7 texture variations
    • L9 Field Top w/ rolled sleeves option, 7 texture variations
    • BST Combat Pants, 9 texture variations
    • SLY Low Visibility Vest (LVV) w/ 4 texture variations
    • Salmon C6 Low Hike Shoes
    • 4 new tattoos

[h3]Base game update changes: [/h3]

New:
  • Enabled players to select all the available officer heads in multiplayer
  • Added additional arm materials to support other skin tones and overall improve the look of the new officer heads
  • Removed battery pack from certain NVG meshes to avoid clipping with currently placed meshes on helmets
  • Added additional glove variations to items such as Ironsight Gloves
  • Added more camo variations to FISA G3 Pants

Other:
  • Added 3 new extra officer heads utilizing balaclavas, each named "Echo.” Note: currently only available in multiplayer
  • Changed standard glass material on gas masks and goggles to have a more opaque appearance
  • Included selection of new officer head options

Fixes:
  • Fixed cloth simulation issues with multiple characters causing visible LOD issues (cloth disappearance)
  • Fixed certain LOD character limitations causing head models to disappear on Sins mission
  • Corrected battle belt location, height & placement as it had a wrong placement and height
  • Corrected an issue where LSPD battle belt had the wrong materials assigned
  • Corrected texture stretching issues with LSPD/FISA belt
  • Fixed an issue with a Meth character missing eyeballs
  • Fixed high-visibility vest clipping into character textures due to cloth physics issues
  • Adjusted Helmet camera material to avoid blocking camera FOV when spectating
  • Overall improvements to character elements affected by LOD material parameters in hospital
  • Corrected station officers' bodies clipping with certain head types
  • Added missing customization icons for gloves, gas mask, goggles


[hr][/hr]

Audio


[h3]DLC 1 Related: [/h3]

New:
  • New tracks for all DLC levels

[h3]Base game update changes: [/h3]

New:
  • Interior / Exterior reflection probes added to all levels
  • Reverbs inside of structures now sound '3D'
  • When outside, certain noises now 'reflect' off of the environment
  • A material property is now applied to reverbs, so rooms that are made up of concrete, wood, etc. have more suitable reverberance. This property carries over to reflection probes as well, meaning reverb that travels around a wooden room sounds duller, for example
  • Conversations can now trigger within the station and certain levels
  • 5 new station tracks

Other:
  • Significant optimizations to reverb effects
  • Tweaks made to certain music timelines for improved responsiveness

Fixes:
  • Fixed combat music not working as intended when playing as a client
  • Fixed combat music sustaining unintentionally when certain conditions are met
  • Fixes to certain music track logic
  • Various fixes and improvements to the Quantum Sound Manager (QSM) system, level audio
  • Comprehensive fixes and improvements to character VO, including death reactions, reactions when shot at depending on distance, and idle lines to breathe more life into the AI


[hr][/hr]

Weapons


[h3]DLC 1 Related: [/h3]

New:
  • New weapons (included for free in base game):
    • DM4 PDW
    • FLUX Raider MP17 PDW (uses P320)
    • 509 Pistol

[h3]Base game update changes: [/h3]
Other:
  • MPX
    • Reworked firing animation and weapon climb to bring it in line with other SMGs
  • ARWC
    • Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
    • Improved camera climb when shooting
  • MK1
    • Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
    • Improved camera climb when shooting
  • SLR47
    • Reduced vertical recoil
    • Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
    • Improved camera climb when shooting
  • G36C
    • Reduced vertical recoil
    • Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
  • SR16
    • Replaced fire animation when aiming weapon and shooting
  • Modified recoil return values on: HK416, M4A1, MK18, MP7, MPX, P90, ARWC, SR-16, UMP9, 870CQB, MK1

Fixes:
  • Weapon inputs are now buffered, improving gunplay consistency and fluidity when firing rapidly in semi-auto. Mouse clicks made right before a weapon can be fired again will no longer be ignored; instead, the weapon will fire in response to those additional clicks as soon as it is able. This technique is essentially the same as input buffering that is used in many fighting games.


[hr][/hr]

User Interface and Experience


[h3]Base game update changes: [/h3]

New:
  • Officer cosmetic Customization Presets added
  • New cursor designs
  • Added UI Scale option to Graphics Settings
  • Navigation added to Mission Select for base game, DLC, and mods
  • Entry Point images added to Mission Select
  • Character preview can now be rotated in Loadout and Customization screens

Other:
  • Adjusted Loadout preview lighting

Fixes:
  • Armor coverage selection now disables options above current vest max coverage
  • Loadout overview's munition preview now shows each unique grenade type and will auto-scroll on hover when entries exceed width
  • Fixed various loadout camera bugs
  • Fixed loadout previews not updating reliably on tactical tablet
  • Fixed language change requiring game restart
  • Fixed various visual issues when equipping or previewing loadout and customization items


[hr][/hr]

Levels


[h2]Level Design: [/h2]
Note: The DLC 1 maps are not available in Commander Mode, they are instead immediately accessible to be played via Multiplayer or Practice.
[h3]DLC 1 Related: [/h3]

New:
  • Station re-works, also done to reflect Home Invasion theming (included in multiplayer)
  • New maps/missions (playable for free in Multiplayer if lobby host owns the DLC):
    • "Dorms" (Greenside Dormitories)
    • "Narcos" (213 Park)
    • "Lawmaker" (Redwood)

[h3]Base game update changes: [/h3]

New:
  • Manual Cover Placement objects added across multiple maps
  • Dialogue Volumes added across the Station in Commander Mode

Other:
  • Collision Blocking Volumes re-adjusted across A Lethal Obsession

Fixes:
  • Door C2 placement position adjusted to match interact locations

[h2]Environmental Art:[/h2]
[h3]Base game update changes:[/h3]

Other:
  • Texture additions and improvements throughout all levels
  • Lighting improvements and quality improvements throughout all levels
  • Improved vfx visual fidelity and performance
  • Major optimizations for performance throughout all levels

Fixes:
  • Bug fixes/quality improvements throughout
  • Collision improvements and fixes throughout game
  • Fixed lighting on Farm and Coyote, where incorrect volumetric lighting would be used
  • Agency and Sins rain performance optimization fixes


[hr][/hr]

Known Issues


This is a collection of some of known issues that may appear in gameplay. More issues could emerge following release, especially because of the vast range of systems that people will be using.
  • There may be lighting issues present with specific assets on some levels which will be fixed in a rapid upcoming patch.
  • Players can spawn in random locations on levels in multiplayer and get stuck or fall through the level
  • Some characters disappearing in spectator camera
  • Lobby manager/tablet invite buttons don’t work
  • Tactical/retention reload not working when using shield
  • Occasionally, when a player issues the command ‘Shotgun and Clear’, SWAT AI will breach, but then remain at the room entrance and not execute the 'Clear' command.
  • Dead arrested suspects/civilians disappearing and reappearing for clients in multiplayer
  • Rare issue where the “Hold F to stop bleeding” prompt does not appear for clients in multiplayer, but players can still bandage
  • When a civilian has to open a door during their move to exit movement, it will be impossible for them to move through that doorway until the player interacts with it.
  • Sometimes civilians won’t be automatically arrested when told to move to the exit.