Ready or Not News

Thank you for joining us for the 64th edition of our biweekly development briefing, November 17th, 2023!

Today our newly overhauled SWAT AI teammates make their proper debut as an advanced and intuitive critical feature to the game.

With this development on SWAT AI we’ve made a major step towards continuing our vision for what Ready or Not can be— a quintessential tactical shooter with a central focus on PvE that’s worthy of a SWAT experience.

Let us walk you through an overview of the vast new capabilities this SWAT AI system will provide, including huge improvements and additions for formations, stacking, breaching, clearing, callouts, and securing.

Please keep in mind that the development content depicted in this briefing is a work in progress and may be subject to change in the game’s final state.

Vol.64 Development Briefing summary points: (not a changelog)
- 4 different fall-in formations for SWAT AI, including single file, double file, diamond, and wedge
- SWAT AI can adjust their formation based on the obstacles around them
- Ability to micromanage how your officers stack up, including left, right, split, and swapping positions of specific officers
- SWAT AI can automatically adjust their positioning in a stack according to the room layout or their equipment
- SWAT AI have voice callouts for open doorways, suspect actions, and more
- Vastly improved, realistic clearing tactics for SWAT AI that incorporates many techniques such as dynamic and limited penetration clearing
- Improved SWAT AI usage of less-lethal weapons against suspects
- SWAT AI automatically secures and reports civilians and suspects or DOAs
- SWAT AI automatically secures evidence and has more commands to make evidence collection much more streamlined
- SWAT AI can use the door ram and grenade launchers for breaching
- SWAT AI automatically swaps to their secondary weapon when out of primary weapon ammo, and can fire in semi-auto to conserve ammo when appropriate
- Improved grenade deployment accuracy for SWAT AI
- Teaser conclusion


[h2]Falling In [/h2]
Your SWAT AI teammates can now fall into specific formations, allowing you to fine-tune your officers' movement through a given tactical environment. These 4 fall-in formations are described as single file, double file, diamond, and wedge. When ordering your SWAT members to Hold a position they will properly maintain the formation they were in.

(Image below: The new fall in command menu)

In all of these formations your SWAT AI will strive to maintain their respective angles to create a broad scan of their surroundings with minimal redundant overlap.

Officers in the back of a formation will pull rear security to ensure your flanks are covered.

They will automatically adjust their formation in order to logically accommodate the space they’re in, for example switching from double file to single file or fluidly navigating obstacles.

(GIF below: SWAT AI automatically shifting from double file to single file formation to account for obstacles)

Single file is useful for extremely claustrophobic spaces such as a tunnel. Officers in the middle of the formation will watch left/right. Single file exposes a minimal number of officers to forward facing threats but entails less forward coverage.

(GIF below: SWAT AI in single file cover their angles while moving through a cellar)

In double file, you are positioned at the point of the two columns, with the officers on your right and left watching the front and those in the back watching the rear. Double file is particularly effective for medium width hallways that have high potential for threats in the front and rear.

(GIF below: SWAT AI clearing a hallway while in double file formation)

Diamond formation is beneficial for moving through a space with many openings where potential threats are surrounding you. In open spaces it prioritizes a 360 degrees breadth of coverage over concentrated firepower. In closed spaces it operates similar to double file but with less emphasized rear coverage.

(GIF below: SWAT AI in diamond formation clearing a parking lot)

Last but not least, wedge formation allows you to spread out over an area with a high amount of concentrated focus forward. Officers in this formation will behave similarly to double file except more spread out. Use this formation to overwhelm a specific threat or flank enemies who are using cover.


[h2]Stacking Up[/h2]
You now have the ability to micromanage your stack in careful combinations as you approach your breaches. Choose which side of the threshold (e.g. door or hallway opening) that you want your team to stack on, split the stack, or even order individual officers to swap places with one another.

(GIF below: The new stack up command menu)

Utilize this granularity of stacking styles to prevent officers from being exposed to threats based on the layout of the space and to tailor the approach of your entry into the next space.

Have an officer with a shield? Perhaps put them at the front of the stack, however they can also do this autonomously. Is an officer more injured than another? Consider sending your injured officer towards the rear of a stack.

Are you anticipating long range threats or close-range threats, is less-lethal appropriate, how claustrophobic is the next space, and what’s the risk of bullet over-penetration? No problem. Choose officers with the appropriate weapon systems and loadouts to be near the front of the stack to immediately confront these scenarios.

(GIF below: Ordering specific SWAT AI in a stack to switch places)

However, you don't need to concern yourself too much with these variables, your SWAT AI will strive to intuitively stack up in an appropriate manner for a given room; albeit they do not have nearly as much tactical planning responsibility as you do as their commander.


[h2]Breaching[/h2]
Take advantage of updated breaching styles for SWAT AI, including door rams, 40mm launchers, and leader breaches. The addition of these options for SWAT AI makes them more on par with the versatility of human players.

(Images below: The new breaching command menu, the Battering Ram and Leader breach options are now added)

Among other breaching improvements, they are now capable of busting down a door with a swift swing of a ram or narrowly peaking to pop a 40mm launcher less-lethal munition round into a room. With the tactical intuition prompted by the “leader” breach command, they can comprehend and follow up your own equipment usage (e.g. grenade throw, battering ram, C2) or your movement into the threshold to breach seamlessly with you.

(GIF below: SWAT AI following a "Clear with Leader" command, where the player deploys a flashbang before they enter)

In general, SWAT AI breaching consistency has been improved overall, with more accurate grenade throws being another inclusion.


[h2]Callouts and Clearing[/h2]
Despite such nuanced control you have over almost every tactical facet of your SWAT AI officers, you should also know that they are tactical professionals, effectively fully functional on an autonomous level as well.

They don’t require constant commands or handholding. They will make callouts, move, prioritize contacts in a room in accordance with your orders, lean around corners, stay alert to openings, make arrests, check hiding places, and more based on their own astute tactical awareness.

(GIFs below: SWAT AI smoothly leaning around a wide variety of obstacles to better clear the niches in an area)

(GIF below: SWAT AI performing a special animation to check a potential hiding spot under a table)

Still, they display steadfast obedience to orders and will stop or change what they are doing when requested.

Before and during a clearing SWAT AI will verbally make note of doors/thresholds they see, if they are open, how many, and in what direction. Furthermore, upon spotting an unarmed suspect pull a weapon they will ensure you are aware, with the “Gun!” and “Knife!” voice lines for scenarios teetering on the edge.

Your officers will flow into the room with precision confidence during dynamic entries corresponding to their initial stack setup, alternating entry directions, checking corners, filling the space, calling for compliance, and prioritizing threats.

Officers can also be ordered to use limited penetration (aka ‘slice-based’) CQB clearing techniques such as ‘pieing’ a threshold. When an officer is ordered to ‘pie’ a threshold they will gradually lean and move until they can view a substantial slice of what’s past the threshold. In certain scenarios these techniques can minimize immediate harm to your officers and provide a reactive perception of what’s beyond the threshold.

These two above styles of clearing, dynamic and limited penetration, can easily be combined together when clearing.

(GIF below: SWAT AI 'pieing' a threshold before performing a dynamic entry)

While firefights are ringing out, your officer is not down when they run out ammo on their primary. They will immediately transition to their appropriate secondary weapon and continue engaging any threats as necessary, then switch back to primary when the immediate threat is dealt with. To prevent ammo from running out in the first place your officers can now switch fire modes to semi-automatic on select fire weapons.

(GIF below: SWAT AI automatically swapping between their primary and secondary weapon to engage a threat when out of primary weapon ammo)


[h2]Securing the Scene[/h2]
The increased autonomy of your SWAT AI is perhaps most convenient for how they are able to skillfully secure a scene without needing your direct input. This assistance makes your job a lot less tedious so you can focus on dealing with other tactical situations.

(GIF below: SWAT AI officers automatically securing a weapon and reporting a dead individual)

SWAT AI's enhanced ability to autonomously secure suspects also makes their usage of less lethal equipment more viable than before, wherein now they will promptly pursue securing their target in a safe manner following suspect compliance.

(GIF below: SWAT AI officers automatically securing a civilian)



With our overhauled SWAT AI teammates, playing ‘solo’ has never been a more seamless teamwork-oriented experience. We're thrilled with how the SWAT AI functions right now, and you can expect to see even more improvements such as SWAT AI animation upgrades post 1.0.

Prepare for entry, because we’re currently on track to release 1.0 before the end of the year.

Before we sign off, here’s a bit more intel:

(GIF below: An in-game replay view of our revamped Supporter Edition Exclusive FISA HRT officer outfit and its exclusive tan GPNVGs)

This concludes our 64th development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!

Thank you to Ali for his hard work and providing these fantastic GIFs of the SWAT AI system.

Are you a content creator on YouTube or Twitch looking for new games? We've got you covered; Ready or Not has partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Link up with our Lurkit campaign here. Make sure you follow Ready or Not on Steam here.
Our other links: Discord, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

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

Attention Officers,

Thank you for joining us for the 63rd edition of our biweekly development briefing, November 3rd, 2023!

Today, we want to go in-depth on what you can expect from the game's campaign mode and narrative. The main focal point of these changes is what's known as "Commander Mode," the name of our new campaign mode that brings with it countless new immersive features. In Los Sueños, how you enter the ‘fatal funnel’ of each door will seal your fate and that of those around you.

Some of the elements from Commander Mode that we will cover are the progressive mission unlocks, permadeath, roster system, behavioral traits, officer therapy, and HQ expansion/functionality.

In the second section of this briefing, we will also detail progress on our narrative techniques such as briefing messages, 'on-call' officers, interactive audio device storytelling, novel tools for storytelling such as modular vehicle license plates, and the accompaniment of auxiliary in-game organizations.

Throughout this briefing you will see media that portrays the various topics we discuss!

Please keep in mind that the development content depicted in this briefing is a work in progress and may be subject to change in the game’s final state.

Vol.63 Development Briefing summary points: (not a changelog)

• Missions for Single Player unlock one after another in order of completion
  
• Single Player playthroughs will have permadeath for each of your officers
  
• In Ironman mode, your save will be deleted if you die
  
• There will be a large amount of unique behavioral traits for the officers in your long potential roster which will each impact the gameplay style of your team
  
• Mission conduct outcome will affect the mental health of your officers, unbearable levels of stress causing them to quit or worse
  
• Over 5 new areas in the station with revamped existing areas such as the firing range and shoot house
  
• At least one unique briefing per mission that can take various formats, along with the extensive role that your tactical tablet plays for most mission information
  
• 30-40 new interactable audio narrative devices added to the game.
  
• Modular license plates on vehicles that allow us to easily customize all aspects of them during development to fit the sort of characters in each mission
  
• A description of some of the federal law enforcement organizations present in the narrative, including DETE (Drug Enforcement Tactical Element), FISA (Federal Investigation and Security Agency), the Marshals, and the Park Service.
  
• Teaser conclusion
  

[h2]Take Command [/h2]

In the boots of David “Judge” Beaumont you are the Commander of the LSPD's SWAT Team. This is by no means a figurehead role in-game for Commander Mode. It is up to you to compose your team from a long dynamic roster, pick your plans, give orders, keep your teammates (as well as yourself) alive and healthy in mind and body, and conduct your missions with integrity.

All three of major systems detailed in sections below: permadeath, officer traits, and mental health interplay to provide an additional layer of tension to your team’s success and conduct in a mission.

In Commander Mode your mission score is meaningful, and the specific conduct used to achieve the score will lead to a subsequent long-term impact on your team, positive or negative. If you arrest all suspects but kill a civilian, expect detrimental repercussions on your team’s stress levels.


[h2]High Stakes Progress [/h2]
The extreme state of systematic disrepair in Los Sueños has left everyone at risk. The dangerous nature of your encounters will spiral the further you go. Lives taken is further violence, and it's your duty to uphold what dignity you can for future prosperity by defusing hostile situations that are too far out of hand.

Unnecessarily escalating these missions makes them more unpredictable and turbulent for all involved. This escalation will often provoke suspects and civilians to resort to more drastic measures in missions.

Each successful completion of a given mission will unlock the next one in succession for Single Player. The story of Los Sueños and the trials that you will face unveil themselves to you in each mission as you come across them.

Officer permadeath for all single player playthroughs means your team members won't get a second chance. Our new SWAT AI has an exceptional increase in their survivability and tactical effectiveness, but it's up to you to make sure the specific tactics you order are sound in each unique decision in-game. If a SWAT Officer dies there will also be a negative impact on your team’s mental health.

“Ironman mode” even makes your own survival imperative or you risk the deletion of your save when you, as the commander, die.

(Image below: A save slot for Commander Mode with the Iron Man option shown)


[h2]Squad Composition [/h2]

Your roster will consist of a pool of unique SWAT Officers with varying behavioral traits, specialties, and backgrounds from across the city of Los Sueños and its surrounding counties— topped off with a broad selection of high quality studio voice acting.

The composition of behavioral traits the officers in your roster have an effect your team’s operational effectiveness for different command styles. Some work in progress types of behavior traits are explained below.

Players who orient their gameplay around more aggressive tactics may choose officers that have a higher resilience to stress, meaning the traumatic situations they encounter might not seem to affect them as much.

Alternatively, players may prioritize having a team with a high level of situational awareness, with the Veteran trait allowing them to detect traps without having to check first. The Moral Officer trait will contribute to a team’s higher level of emotional relief resulting from taking suspects alive.

Furthermore, for multiplayer COOP PvE, “[you] will be able to choose character voice lines and heads in cooperative, of which there are 13 unique voice acted characters, and a total of 18,445 lines of dialogue in different situations (quiet and loud contexts). There are also 26 unique officer head models across four general ethnic backgrounds.”
— Gruntr, Director


[h2]Value of Conscience [/h2]

How your team conducts itself in a mission and the scenarios they encounter can lead to a psychological effect on your officers that is critical to address to ensure proper effectiveness in the field. Your officers will receive check-ins with a Mental Health Unit attached to your team who relays the outcomes in their respective files.

If an officer’s mental status becomes unbearable it may even lead them to quit, or worse.

“We aim for stress to be a meta-game loop that reinforces good decision making and respect for the encounters against threats and non-threats. While you may succeed by killing every suspect in a level [to keep] your officers safe, you will not be able to do so with impunity. The toll it takes on your team to witness such brutal and aggressive tactical decision making will have run-on effects that will cripple your team composition.”
– Gruntr

(Image below: Different mental health review screens in-game following the completion of various missions, showing differing physical and mental statuses across the team along with advice from the mental health unit)


[h2]Your Home Base [/h2]

The station is more than just a place you wait before each mission, it is the central heart of your operations and the entire police department. With an overhaul of the existing station rooms, an already shown new building, and over 5 entirely new areas within the building, there’s plenty of room in your home throughout the course of the story.

(Image below: A semi-obscured blueprint of the new Station, we’ll leave most of the newer areas for you to explore, for now)

The shoot house within the station now contains a new layout and timer to count your completion time. Put your skills to the test to compete for skill and glory.

An improved shooting range with targets that have a higher level of interactivity is also included. Targets on rails are able to move forward and backwards for easy analysis of your shot grouping. Reflex training targets are also now available, with targets that fall and stand back up between shots as well as a muscle memory training target that alternates back and forth with each successive impact.

Between each of your missions head to the evidence locker to examine sorted mission-specific pieces of intricately detailed 3D-modeled evidence, accompanied with a detailed description that relates to the deeper lore of each mission you complete.

Although you may not be a detective, utilize this opportunity to get additional insights into the world of Los Sueños and to recap your team’s accomplishments.

The evidence you find here will sometimes also shine a light on the experiences of survivors, victims, and otherwise innocent people caught up in each mission’s story.

(Image below: A heart wrenching piece of evidence from Gas implores you to reflect on the experiences around you)


[hr][/hr]

[h2] Narrative Techniques [/h2]

Your environment is even fuller in storytelling than ever before. With fleshed out narratives for each mission that are accompanied by countless narrative devices, you will be fully immersed in the world of Los Sueños. However, the ‘dreams’ the name of the city alludes to are occluded by the nightmares manifesting all around it. Tread carefully as you scour these depths.

Briefing messages, 'on-call' officers, interactive audio device storytelling, modular vehicle license plates, and auxiliary in-game organizations are all elaborated upon in this section.


[h2]Your Briefing [/h2]

Each mission will have a unique briefing setup that can take various formats with at least one briefing media per mission. Excerpts from these briefings will be visible on your tactical tablet to review during the mission for any operationally relevant information.

(Image below: a placeholder example of one of these briefing excerpts, where the audio can be replayed from.)


Most of your team’s operations can be monitored and controlled within your tactical tablet as an immersive interactable menu, allowing extensive information to be available at a glance without breaking your immersion.


[h2]On Call [/h2]

We've shown off a glimpse at some of our Rapid Response outfits in the past, but there's a further narrative purpose to being able to customize your SWAT outfit for non-uniform wear. During Commander Mode your fellow officers in missions may at times be unexpectedly needed for a mission while 'on-call,' meaning otherwise going about their normal personal life.

This results in them wearing more casual wear to the scene itself, with an extremely wide potential of possible clothing combinations between our new different gloves, vests, helmets, boots, eyewear, shirts, pants, and more.

(Image below: An example of yet another combination of clothing possible for a Rapid Response outfit in the customization screen, though your officer will probably have a helmet)


It's a good thing your officer was able to make it to the call, but now maybe you should pay a little extra attention identifying friend or foe when you encounter them during the mission.


[h2]Ear to the Ground [/h2]

The calls you’ve already been hearing in the station phoneline were just scratching the surface.

Aside from the briefings there will be between 30-40 new interactable audio narrative devices added to the game.

These new interactable audio narrative devices will be scattered around various missions, including the station.


[h2]Character Specific Licenses [/h2]

Perhaps one of our most novel narrative features, this one is parked outside of every mission you visit, framing not only the location and context but the sorts of individuals that are present in the mission before you even make entry.

An intuitive, fully customizable modular license plate system allows us to choose between occupations and organizations to suit different characters in the game when first developing a map, enhancing environmental storytelling further. Note that by "modular" these plates do not necessarily change each time you load a mission, this is more of a development workflow technique. This feature is the perfect complement to our large array of new vehicles shown off in the Vol.61 Dev Briefing.

(GIF below: a showcase of a wide variety of options in our fully customizable modular license plate system)

These plates even have have alternative styles for each variation, and the plate numbers are easilly customized as well as randomized with a click of a button to ensure every vehicle you encounter is properly unique.

For example, outside the Hospital you will see a swath of hospital staff affiliated license plates.


[h2]Auxiliary Organizations [/h2]

Your team may be elite, forged from a tough beat that is Los Sueños, but you’re not the only law enforcement group in the narrative and you’re not alone in your struggle. Federal law enforcement agencies play a large role in the narrative as well— helping to set up operations for your unit, follow leads, and separately conducting operations away from your team.

Among just a few of the law enforcement organizations operating in Los Sueños that you will encounter throughout the narrative are:

DETE (Drug Enforcement Tactical Element) who are “a specialized unit working with Los Sueños Police Department's Narcotics Division. They collaborate closely with CBP tactical teams at the border and focus on combating drug trafficking.”

FISA (Federal Investigation and Security Agency), who “acts as an investigative authority for the United States Government. It is responsible for maintaining national security, investigating federal crimes, and protecting the United States and its citizens from various threats.”

The Marshals, who are “an elite tactical unit responsible for executing high-risk warrant operations typically involving federal crimes in lower-income areas of Los Sueños, including North Hills, San Uriel, Makade, and Muerto Mesa. Trained for precision and equipped for danger, they confront adversity head-on, upholding justice.”

Last but not least in this limited list, we have the Park Service, who “is a highly trained law enforcement unit assigned to protect the National Parks in the Los Sueños area, including the Sierra Del Sueños. Tasked with combating drug traffickers, manufacturers, and other criminal enterprises that exploit these parks, the US Park Police operates with specialized tactics and equipment to ensure public safety and preserve natural resources.”




It will soon be time for you to truly take command of your team and the impact your missions have as you move through our immersive game world. There's even more parts to many of these systems that you will uncover as you progress through your playthrough.

Before we sign off...

It’s been cooking, marinating, and well-worth the wait, so here’s a quick look at just a few capabilities of our highly anticipated overhauled SWAT AI:

(GIFs below: A sneak peek at what's right outside the door for SWAT AI, courtesy of Ali)


This concludes our 63rd development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!

Thank you to Sam for tinkering with some of his Commander Mode playthroughs to get us those diverse mental health impact screenshots at the end of missions.

Are you a content creator on YouTube or Twitch looking for new games? We've got you covered; Ready or Not has partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Link up with our Lurkit campaign here. Make sure you follow Ready or Not on Steam here. Our other links: Discord, X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook

[h3]Keep your feet on the ground.
VOID Interactive [/h3]

Thank you for joining us for the 62nd edition of our biweekly development briefing, October 20th, 2023!

Today, we want to provide insight on the gameplay-oriented changes that have been made for evidence collection and across many of the existing maps in Ready or Not. The maps we’ll be focusing on are Port, Dealer, and Farm.

These improvements bring our maps further in line with our visions for the game and increase the quality of gameplay substantially. Many maps, where possible, now have more than one spawn location and generally more freedom of movement for you to approach your initial breach.

Throughout this briefing you will see various media that reflect this topic!

Please keep in mind that the development content depicted in this briefing is a work in progress and may be subject to change in the game’s final state.


[h2]Significant Evidence Collection Changes:[/h2]

We want evidence collection to remain an important element of the gameplay, however we also want it to be logical and enjoyable for you as the player rather than tedious. Our game data shows that players would often exit a mission instead of trying to collect the last bit of evidence in a map.

Weapons that suspects drop are still critical pieces of evidence that you need to secure to prevent AI from picking up and using them, this is unchanged. We did make this process more accessible by newly allowing you to enable an option to outline dropped weapons that highlights them when nearby. We hope this prevents you from having to search extensively just to grab the many weapons that drop on each level.

(Image below: A fallen weapon lying just out of reach of an incapacitated suspect, highlighted with a new in-game option)
Most notably though, map-specific developer placed objects previously referred to as evidence are now considered “reportables.” “Hard reportables” are clearly listed as mission objective evidence required for finishing the mission. “Soft reportables” are generally optional, hidden objectives for the player to discover. Reportables get their name by how you simply look at them and report them to TOC.

Reportables are more flexible in usage than the ‘hold f to bag’ style of gameplay that’s used for securing firearms. Reportables do not have to be a small baggable piece of evidence. They allow you to report entire rooms as a form of evidence, high amounts of objects like a row of meth on a shelf, or large objects like computer servers. This greatly opens up our development team’s opportunities for creative storytelling as you move through our maps. Certain reportables could even unlock as you progress through the level, requiring a first one to be discovered before you can connect it to another.

(Image below: A reportable in a server room)
As mentioned, mission objective evidence is also known as a hard reportable: gone are the days of googling where the location of specific hard drives or small laptops are. For gameplay purposes we will provide context clues to hint where you should look for certain mission objective evidence. An example of these implicit context clues is "Find Amos Voll's Office Computer” instead of the vague “"Find Amos Voll's laptop.” Based on this context clue about an “office computer,” you should keep an eye out for office spaces in the map.

An example of a soft reportable would be the Red Room on Valley, which your team was not aware of at the beginning of the mission. Not every map will have soft reportables and we plan to avoid scattering them around needlessly.

An example of an area where we decided not to include soft reportables is the individual piles of bodies on Club.; this new evidence system is intended to decrease tedium of evidence, not increase it. Meanwhile, it opens up many new avenues for storytelling and gameplay flow.


[h2]Port:[/h2]

“Port is receiving an entire gameplay redesign on top of a brand-new level layout and art pass. The goal of the design is to make port one of the most difficult levels within Ready or Not”
– Gruntr

In the old version of Port the focal point was on two concrete buildings that appeared thoroughly abandoned and nestled in a cluster of storage containers that make up the boundaries of the map. These concrete buildings were claustrophobic and multi-layered, with precarious staircases throughout. Although intriguing, it did not evoke the realism of a bustling port that we shifted our focus to.

The updated Port places you mostly outdoors in the middle of a massive industrial shipping district with imposing crate-carrying steel structures lumbering about. Workers that are here in shifts throughout all hours of the day just seem to be another element of the port shipping complex.

“The SWAT team will be thrown into the gauntlet with port, which features a narrow mess of old shipping containers as well as a large expanse that must be traversed before entering the main warehouse.”

(Image below: The central warehouse looms ahead)
Also in this version of Port, we’ve made substantial changes to make it feel like a cumulative experience of some earlier levels. Several of the cases you’ve been exploring in the storyline seem to converge into activities that go on here. Clearing each corner, you are illuminated by splashes of industrial light from towering lampposts above that guide you deeper in.

“...whilst there is alot of industrial lights illuminating the scene— with the nature of it being at night and in the rain, the light itself is very harsh and does not scatter around as much as daylight does, for instance. [Industrial lights] lead to darker shadows as a result, meaning night vision and flashlights might end up being your best friend going into these areas [that aren’t directly lit]."
– MR3D

(Image below: These spots of light will interrogate your every move)
“[players] should feel that wet, cold, miserable wind as they lurk through this foreboding and challenging environment”
– MR3D

Unlike our other maps, this one will throw you into particularly inclement weather conditions precipitated by the stealthy nature of its premise. You are in the middle of one of Los Sueno's worst storms it has ever seen. The torrential rainfall that results further complicates your distant engagements where gaps between shipping containers appear. As you progress through the outdoor maze of this map you will find yourself breaching a variety of smaller buildings, shipping containers, and a central warehouse.

"We still wanted the player to be able to see where they are going, as pitch-black is not friendly for navigation at all, and we don't want the players to feel punished (being at a disadvantage, sure!) for not bringing a flashlight. This is where the overall rain and wetness factor again comes into play, where we can use the reflections of the lights rather than direct illumination to pick out edges and highlights on darker objects [to assist navigation].”

(Image below: A view of the radio tower, a key landmark on the map shown from a backside of the map) (Image below: A fallen flashlight at the entry of the map shows the way forward.)
So far, the gameplay direction goal of creating one of our most difficult maps yet has come true with our playtesting almost always falling short of a complete mission clear through. However, “the level is balanced in a way where enemies aren't immediately difficult, initially only facing the player with pistols and shotguns until the later stages of the level, where high-caliber weapons become introduced.” It will test every part of your skills, from CQB cornering to faraway firefights. Make sure you kit up your squad appropriately and carefully keep your engagement priority on 'near-to-far.'


[h2]Dealer:[/h2]

“Dealer, on top of receiving a narrative, design, and art update, throws players into a tense, dark environment with a high number of suspects and civilians. Suspects blend in here, with the intent to coerce the SWAT team into gaining information before entering rooms and discerning who is a threat and who is not. There is also an undercover agent on this level, who must be apprehended but will appear as a potential threat if not listened to.”
– Gruntr

(Image below: A view of the Caesar’s Car Dealership’s parking lot on the left and front entrance on the right)
The colorful neon signs of Caesar’s Car Dealership inscribing the night sky lure you towards destructively deadly engagements among its slickly lit parked cars. Where in the previous version of the map the parking lot served as a brief entryway to the building itself, this version gives you the option to enter the lot or take the street to two other entryways. In total, you can currently approach from the parking lot, front entrance, and mechanic garage.

(Image below: A view of the mechanic garage adorned with a mural on the right, which leads into the rear of the parking lot on the left. Up this staircase where we are observing from is one of the main dealership's back entries.) (Image below: A display room in the heart of the building) "Whenever the story allows it, this is the type of map we want to create. Players have multiple ways to enter the main building, and that's always good for replayability.”
– Tiša

(Image below: Storefronts line the street with tents of homelessness occupying the sidewalk)
Empty police cars with their lights blaring already barricade this street, punctuated with fresh bullet holes from before your SWAT team arrived. Keep an eye out for any officers down and make sure a next bullet doesn’t take one of you.

(Below: A police car evaded gunfire but encountered a light pole)
It’s your call whether you take on the fleet of parked vehicles first, or risk potential suspects and panicked civilians flanking you as you clear the rest of the dealership building itself. Set at store closing time, armed suspects blend in with the front workers at this largely family business. Practice precise tactics to preserve life and apprehend the suspects connected to this operation’s darker dealings.


[h2]Farm:[/h2]

“Farm contains many secrets and is an onslaught of combat and high-stakes decision making for the LSPD SWAT team. The level primarily consists of tight, CQB-oriented combat arenas with lots of cover and concealment for both the player and threats. We have reintroduced sentry points within this level, making some exterior areas incredibly high risk, but high reward for those looking to quickly dominate [key movement routes] for AI within the map.”
– Gruntr

Many of the new scenes of Farm, without giving away spoilers, are presented already within the previous Vol.61 briefing– so be sure to check out those for reference too.

The previous version of Farm was dominated by a tunnel system that your team could use to make entry into the main compound. Twisting and turning throughout the hillside, you ran into enemies in hallways lined with wine barrels.

(Image below: A scene from the new Farm entry point spawn)
Our updated version of Farm, while still containing a tunnel system, puts more of an emphasis on the above ground nature of the map. You no longer need to enter a tunnel system in order to begin clearing the compound and many of the photos in Vol.61 alluded to this fact. The new rendition of the tunnel system serves instead as a cellar space that you can use to traverse different areas of the map. Be careful, for enemies can also use it to flank you as well.

(Image below: One of the many entryways into the tunnel system) (Image below: Clearing some of the farm's property)
As mentioned in the quote at the top of this section, the tunnels can be a key part of your team’s strategy to avoid suspects who are posted in lookout positions. While the map is abundant in visual concealment from the climbing vines and garden spaces it is relatively sparse in solid cover that could shield you enemy gunfire. Placement of evidence reportables will lead you to foray through the vegetation and dusty buildings.

(Image below: The slats in the fences may allow you an occasional glimpse of a suspect) (Image below: A suspect wields a firearm while barely visible through a window)




Our new evidence collection system and updates to pre-existing maps should make your playthroughs more enjoyable and enhance replayability.

These opportunities deliver you a cohesive gameplay experience which interfaces seamlessly with our storyline, all coming together for our anticipated 1.0 release towards the end of this year!

Before we sign off, a little planning:

(Image below: WIP planning on the tactical tablet screen— wait a second... looks like a special entrance... might just be worthy of an award show)
This concludes our 62nd development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!

Thank you to Zack for helping take those wonderful photos, and for everyone who provided their insights on these maps.

Are you a content creator on YouTube or Twitch looking for new games? We've got you covered; Ready or Not has partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Link up with our Lurkit campaign here.
Make sure you follow Ready or Not on Steam here.

[h3]Keep your feet on the ground. VOID Interactive [/h3]

Thank you for joining us for the 61st edition of our biweekly development briefing, October 6, 2023!

Today, we have a Situation Report via a variety of subtopics that provide a wide view of the game’s current development. Included in this format we hope to show you some of the more nitty gritty details of our development process.

This briefing's subtopics include police “trailer” units, Quality of Life (QOL) improvements to less lethal equipment, level blocking volumes, level overhauls on Farm, and VFX improvements/optimizations.

Furthermore, we are excited to say that we are on track for an expected 1.0 release towards the end of this year based on the incredible pace of our team’s development throughout these past months!

Thank you for all of your continued patience, along with your considerate reception of our recent PSA in Vol.60, regarding still ongoing technical limitations presented by incremental public build updates at this stage. Quality takes time, and we’re fortunate to have had the opportunity and support to continue to use our time efficiently over these months.

Please keep in mind that the development content depicted in this briefing is a work in progress and may be subject to change in the game’s final state.

In this briefing you will also see media that illustrates several of these areas of development below!


[h2]Police "Trailer" Units[/h2] "This is Entry Team to TOC. Suspect secure."

"TOC to Entry Team. Roger that, proceed with caution, trailers incoming."


These above in-game radio communications finally come to life with the new addition of a physical police "trailer" AI unit that's intended to increase immersion at the end of a mission.

The name “trailer” refers to the fact that these units safely ‘trail’ behind the actions of the tactical team, avoiding tactical interference while providing auxiliary support. Reminiscent of real SWAT procedures, our police trailer units arrive to physically extract secured civilians and suspects to safety after you clear a level, removing them from the scene.

Although in previous testing we had trailers extract subjects during the active scene, it resulted in some rare but awkward occasions where active suspects would incidentally encounter trailer units.

Therefore, in the current state once all civilians/suspects are detained and/or tragically deceased, trailers come in and manage "the level after your SWAT team's actions, [carrying] detained/deceased civilians/suspects and collecting bagged evidence to take back to the bearcat [vehicle].” As a result, “you can actually see them doing their job and walking back to the bearcat, rather than being something that happens off-screen.”

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Less Lethal QOL Improvements[/h2]

We have made numerous quality of life improvements for less lethal equipment by realistically rationalizing the unique niches they fill and the in-game tactics they’re involved in. This is particularly emphasized by our more nuanced approach to the usage of CS gas, the VKS pepperball launcher, and pepper spray to make them more distinct and realistic.

CS Gas from a technical perspective used to perform similarly to flashbangs, statically stunning individuals within its area of effect for a period of time. However, we have changed them to operate more appropriately as area denial equipment.

To achieve this CS gas clouds last longer (~30–45 seconds), no longer emit audio that alerts suspects, and serve to primarily flush out subjects from dangerous areas. The previous form of CS gas also used a tick-based damage system which was unoptimized, where this new system avoids that issue. Lastly, our improved gas logic system allows CS gas to work through 'rat holes' in walls and around corners to a certain extent. This is done by drawing a path from the grenade to the target and then determining whether the target is in range.

With the VKS pepperball launcher you can expect a major change to its ammunition function and a tactical usage change to indirect fire instead of direct fire. The updated OC-balls, referring to oleoresin capsicum (pepper resin) inside of them, are less effective upon direct impact but instead leave small OC powder clouds that last for ~20–25 seconds at an impact. NPCs and players that walk through these clouds are affected by them, allowing you to lay down less lethal suppressive fire or flush out AI in a precise manner.

We found that pepper spray was sometimes too powerful for use against armed suspects in combat contexts. Now, instead of a full stun, suspects who are affected with pepper spray will cover their eyes, experience an accuracy reduction, and have a morale drop. In this blinded state they are still capable of shooting the player up close.

The player’s response to any chemical agents is now less extreme under current changes:

“Instead of turning the screen red and taking player control by making the camera sway all over, it only makes the screen red/blurs the screen as if with tear filled eyes, and the player character makes audible coughing sounds” that alerts suspects as an aggressive noise.

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Blocking Volumes[/h2]

The usage of "volumes" is an invisible yet crucial element of ensuring quality gameplay on a given game level. These volumes come in a variety of forms, including “blocking” volumes which optimize player/AI movement and “vision” volumes which help facilitate fair engagements with AI.

Blocking volumes are used to optimize movement through a level by guiding the player and AI around obstacles, enhancing immersion by providing smooth navigation around them.

Note: The “player capsule” refers to the collision boundaries of a player’s movement that interact with the game world.

(GIF below: [Before:] A pillar without blocking volumes around it, causing the player capsule to get stuck on the pillar’s edge)

(GIF below: [After:] A simple blocking volume like this will allow the player capsule to automatically slide out of this corner in close quarters, which is more natural for general movement.)


“Other than movement optimization, blocking volumes are also used to keep players and AI away from climbing certain props that would in most cases get them stuck.”

(Images below: [Before] “The navigation in this area is very uneven and bumpy which would result in AI getting stuck on these trash bags.”)

(Image below): [After] Volume blocking optimized for terrain, so we can solve both collision and AI navigation issues.)


Visibility volumes are used in areas where the AI is able to see the player, yet it is excessively difficult for the player to spot the AI. These areas are often darkly lit with plenty of visual concealment that gives an AI aiming system too much of an advantage compared with a player.

(Image below: “In this example, in Coyote we have some wood planks that have some tiny physical gaps in them, which are blocked with visibility volumes”)

(Image below: A view of completed level volumes on the level, Dealer)

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Farm Level Overhauls[/h2]
Farm is one of our many pre-existing levels that have undergone significant improvements to better suit our story and widespread gameplay intentions, both of which we will discuss more in the future. For now, you can see a variety of these changes subtly manifested within the construction of this eerily beautiful compound, where detail creeps in every distant crevice.

(Image below: The main garden of the compound is inhabited by humanoid hedges and quiet picnic tables) (Image below: Portraits are placed amongst the leaves) (Image below: Greenhouses for self-growth) (Image below: Sunlight spills around a garage’s parked white van) (Image below: The depths of the corridors provide further refuge)

[hr][/hr]
[h2]VFX Improvements/Optimization[/h2]

At the same time while we’re making improvements to the fidelity of visual effects, we are also optimizing our related systems so that they run as efficiently as possible. Among just a few the VFX improvements we’ve worked on are muzzle flare, explosive effects (including increased performance for C2 breaching), new vehicles, and increased granularity of our existing vehicle destruction plus optimization.

For optimization we are generally trying to reduce the number of "draw-calls." Draw-calls are what occurs when your computer performs instructions to render (draw) a given graphical element and how to render it.

(Video below: Updated effects for muzzle flare, [new] oxygen tank explosion, optimized C2 explosion, and the updated CS Gas effect which has improved performance as well)
Keep in mind that due to in-engine performance demand of development tools overhead this footage capture is at a decreased resolution, and that development build performance is generally worse than in a shipping (meaning eventually intended for public) build.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

(GIF below: Showcasing many of environmental art's new vehicles that have been added to the game, destructible, customizable by color, and more)

(Video below: The upgraded and optimized vehicle destruction system, with the added ability to destroy all review mirrors, gradually shatter windows, lights [with improved alarms], and even doors.)
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Lastly, improper scaling of vehicle size has been fixed and we’ve optimized static “vista” vehicles to avoid draw-call drain. Vista vehicles are those that are outside of the playable space, which now use just one material type, rather than non-vista destructible vehicles that have texture meshes specific for each door, etc.
[hr][/hr]



We hope you enjoyed this broad look into these various aspects of RoN's development progress as we near our expected 1.0 release towards the end of this year. This briefing is by no means an exhaustive list of the changes being made to the game, and in the coming months we can't wait to share even more of what our immensely talented development departments have done.

Speaking of which, reporting an APB that we're officially now in the season to double check your corners and watch your team's six during this particularly spooky month. Stack up and stick together, officers! We might just have some small after-shift treats for you and your teammates, on us.




In fact— here’s a sort of treat now, before we sign off.

(Image below: Cosmetic options to choose from such as a version of a SWAT officer's impromptu Rapid Response 'uniform,' next to the "BDRTAC" uniform, a U.S. Special Operations unit intended to conduct high-stakes operations in scenarios similar to Coyote.)

This concludes our 61st development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!

Thank you Zack for the gorgeous photos of Farm, Tiša for providing the level/vehicle media, Vman for much of the VFX media, and to all of our many developers who contributed pieces of their hard work and knowledge to this briefing!

Are you a content creator on YouTube or Twitch looking for new games? We've got you covered; Ready or Not has partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Link up with our Lurkit campaign here.

Make sure you follow Ready or Not on Steam here.

[h3]Keep your feet on the ground. VOID Interactive [/h3]

Thank you for joining us for the 60th edition of our biweekly development briefing, September 22, 2023!

Today, we have some important details to cover in the form of a Public Service Announcement regarding the game's ongoing development process, and technical reasons for a lack of public build updates as our many departments work effectively towards delivering you all the 1.0 version of the game. In this process we will describe avoiding development crunch, maintaining efficiency, and a technical perspective that represents the challenges our currently rapid and all-enveloping development progress presents for releasing incremental public updates.

It's all about forward momentum rather than perpetual Early Access, and we will see this project through to meet you all at its many future successes and a mature, complete stage. We are incredibly pleased with the progress we’ve made so far, and although we're sorry about the absence of recent incremental public build updates, we appreciate you all continuing to stick with us so that these exciting game changes can be released together once 1.0 eventually arrives.

(Note: The term “incremental update” refers to a public build that is released as an update in-between major milestone development versions of the game. These public builds contrast with development builds of the game, which are not yet released)

As we discuss examples that illustrate this development topic, you will also find substantial new work-in-progress content throughout this briefing!

[h2]All-Enveloping Development Progress and You[/h2]

Ideally, we'd love to provide you, our playerbase, with as many public builds to play as possible. However, due to our current progress there are currently interconnected and inseparable challenges with doing this based on our status of a rapid, all-enveloping game development focus over this period in preparation for the 1.0 release.

Examples of some such interconnected challenges that result from this progress are outlined in the section below; the main point is that we are in extremely rapid development of many different interdependent systems across the game, and to ship an incremental update would require effectively halting, reverting, and synchronizing fragments of our forward progress at a critical moment winding up to the larger 1.0 release.


[h2]An All-Enveloping Example[/h2]

In this hypothetical example, let's say we plan to release a public build as an incremental update that contains the new level, Coyote, for you all to play.

As previously mentioned, we've been working on every single aspect of the game— from revamped SWAT AI (to be showcased at a later date!) to extensive UI/UX overhauls/additions. They're not compartmentalized into any "group" where we can just cleanly export them to a public build in isolation from the rest of the development build features.

This means that at this stage of development from a technical perspective, adding the new Coyote level would require us to also add all these other features in some form:

- First of all, we need to provide you with our new AI spawn system and AI improvements. This means a lot of polishing, subsequently taking time away from our current pre-content 'lock' focus and therefore delaying full release. This sort of content-lock roadblock taking away from our current development priorities is a trend for all the remaining bullet points below.
- ("Pre-Content lock” refers to a point in time where we solidify existing features, stop adding new ones, and polish them for a new release).

(Image below: A slice of Coyote’s current WIP version)

(Image below: Some of Coyote’s WIP AI points of interest)

- We would need to provide you with all our new Coyote level characters, most of which are still pending character rigging, and one or two are still being developed in the art stage.
- If we don’t do this, we would have to use generic models as placeholders, which would create a dull experience without the desired character variety.
(Image link below: WIP new character models for various levels)
https://imgur.com/a/S24iKZC


- We also need to provide you the new Quantum Sound System, without it, audio would not work properly in the public build

- We need to provide the new level select system.
(Image below: a WIP example of the new level select system)


- We'd need to provide you with the new customization system, weapon select system, Station Lobby, audio tracks, and items that are tied to each system. Many of these are still in the later stages of development, yet they are by no means ready for a public build.
(Image below: views of just a couple areas of the new Police Station)


- Furthermore, we’d need to provide the briefing menu, interactive tablet, briefs for each level with voice acting, maps, and media details.
(Image below: tablet view of a new map)

- Next, we'd need to revert all other changes specific to this development build, and then fix any issues related to linking old systems with new systems (e.g., all the new UI code gets reverted, but code that has already been written in for that purpose in other areas also has to be rewritten and fixed).

- Lastly, we would need to then spend at least several weeks ensuring a solid Quality Assurance pass has occurred, testing an adhoc game build that will be almost entirely different from its intended proper state in 1.0.

- - -

[h2]Further Meaning and Forward Momentum[/h2]

Metaphorically, releasing incremental updates during this phase of the development cycle is like tearing down a house, rebuilding it halfway with improvised parts, furnishing it, and then tearing most of it down again to rebuild the ‘final’, largely different house that we are working towards.

Releasing updates when this massive, interdependent development is going on creates an unsustainable strain on the team, effectively causing us to crunch and redo old work just to release an update.

Our goal is to release a strong product that we can continue to update post 1.0. Making sure our team is working effectively, love what they are doing, and love what they are working towards is something we see as critical to our process.

That's important, and we’re doing it with the technical limitations for public builds and momentum in mind. Our ultimate goal is providing you all with a complete experience that will enhance the game’s quality, replayability, and will naturally keep you coming back for more as we push new updates post 1.0.




We have tons of great content and fixes in store for you all, but we hope this briefing paints a better picture of the technical limitations for why we cannot release it in incremental public builds while we work spanning every area of the game towards the 1.0 release— to the end of Early Access.

Before we go for now, here's a glimpse at a new level with the image below: a beachfront home where the events that may take place contrast the pleasing, cosmetic view of a distant pier and rolling waves.

This concludes our 60th development briefing. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news!

Are you a content creator on Youtube or Twitch looking for new games? We've got you covered; Ready or Not has partnered with Lurkit to elevate gameplay! Link up with our Lurkit campaign here.

Make sure you follow Ready or Not on Steam here.

[h3]Keep your feet on the ground. VOID Interactive [/h3]