Alien Dawn News

Hi All,

Version 10 had a bug in it that was causing unnecessary CPU usage, which was really a simple engine option that just needed to be turned on.

Sorry to the people who had the issue with that version, hopefully this revision solves those problems.

This update also happens to come with a few simple additions as well that are listed below.

Thank you for being patient with us and to those who reached out to let us know about the bug!

Xtian

5/25/22 (Early Access) v1.11

+ Added Microsoft Native OpenXR plugin
+ Added HP Reverb Native motion controller plugin
+ Removed some excess and unused plugins

+ Added random Explosive Barrels near Shacks

+ NPC's can now avoid each other while moving to stop overlapping of characters
+ Added Rootmotion Zombie knockback animation movement

+ Fixed Item Spawns from NPC's floating in the air
+ Fixed Mag ammo not showing on mag when still has ammo
+ Fixed tent being invisible from the inside
+ Fixed Navmesh Async performance bug causing to much CPU usage

​Hi Y'all,

Thank you for being patient as we ported our game Alien Dawn to Unreal 4.27 and the OpenXR API.

As mentioned in our last update, this was a fundamental step in creating a modern VR game.

Because of this and even though there isn't as much new content as in a usual update, this was the most time intensive but important update yet.

The plan moving forward is to continue to polish every aspect of the Escape mode, from the interactive environment, A.I. intelligence, weapon attachments, inventory management and more.

It's also been a long time since we released a DevLog, so we figured with this being such a big update it would be a great time to share all the information and our development thought process with you in a video.

Thank you so much for continuing to support us, whether it's buying and playing the game, leaving a review or donating to the development. Jes and I value every person that has been helping us along the way of creating this experience.

We will be available more on our Discord and the Steam forums now that this update is done and we look forward to hanging out with the community again soon!

X

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]










5/22/22 (Early Access) v1.10

+ Upgraded from Unreal 4.26 to Unreal 4.27
+ Moved from SteamVR to OpenXR VR Plugins
+ Installed Oodle Plugin for high quality texture compression
+ Added Foveated Rendering for RTX level GPUs

+ Added Grasping Hands (Hands now lock to Gripped World Objects)
+ Individual fingers animate based on real life hand pose (Vive & Index)
+ Fingers physically conform to Grasped World Object
+ Added recoil to Hands and Weapons when firing
+ Added Haptic Feedback to Grasping Objects and firing Weapons
+ Added new Hand models for Player
+ Improved physics framerate of Dropped Item on Client

+ Enemy NPCs no longer can attack Players immediately after Helicopter crash
+ Added flickering Light to Helicopter crash
+ Decreased Sprint Bar amount while Sprinting
+ Improved overall NPC alertness

+ Optimized all Shaders in game for better GPU performance
+ Precomputed Navmesh for NPCs for better CPU performance
+ Optimized Particle FX for better CPU performance
+ Optimized NPC Check Distance Timer for better CPU performance

+ Fixed multiple issues with Gripping on all Motion Controllers
+ Fixed Body and Hand positions when in Helicopter or Vehicles
+ Fixed Cameron’s Hair Shader Mask

Hi Everyone!

We've been looking forward to migrating Alien Dawn to the newest version of Unreal for a while and have determined now is a good time to do so.

[h2]OpenXR[/h2]

One of the main advantages to making this upgrade is the addition of a production ready version of OpenXR, which is the unified software standard that all VR manufactures have agreed on. This means far fewer compatibility issues as a VR software developer, in particular as new headsets are released.

Developing software in VR since 2015, I can say one of the biggest issues was constantly adapting to the new standards that would come out every year, and each hardware company had their own way of doing things, so this helps simplify things for developers like us.

As most VR headsets and drivers have moved to this new standard, this should also help some of the rare instances of the game not working on some people's computers.

[h2]Unreal 4.27[/h2]

Upgrading from Unreal 4.26 to 4.27 also has its own set of advantages, and is the next step in ultimately moving to Unreal 5 when that becomes production ready for VR.

The hope with upgrading to 4.27 is that you will get a higher quality and smoother experience overall in game.

We're making a preview of this new version available today, which is really meant for people who want to help us test and refine this new upgrade with us.

A decent amount of the transition has been done, but you'll definitely find some issues that were previously working that now need to be tweaked again.

We've migrated our projects to new versions of Unreal in the past and sometimes it's a relatively simple process that takes a week, and sometimes depending on the amount of changes to the Engine it can be a month.

We're excited about what this update will help us do and hope to have it out on the default branch ASAP.

[h2]Test The Update Preview[/h2]

If you would like to try it and help us test, just go to the Alien Dawn "Properties" in Steam, select "Betas" and choose "update-preview".

I'll be making a Discord channel for this topic as well as reactivating the Trello to track down bugs, ect.

Looking forward to working with anyone who wants to help out, thank you!

Christian

Hello Everyone,

We have what we think is an important update in the right direction to improve the game and expand our player base by refining the gameplay controls for VR players, as well as adding support for Xbox and Playstation controllers to the Desktop version of the game.

All of these updates are a direct result of listening to the people on the Steam forums and Discord, so very special thank you to:

LCountach, TedSan, YBDASHOOTER, Smokey3100, Muffll, Skully666, LONFL, & more.

Your excitement and help with the game continues to drive us.

[h3]Alien Dawn - v1.09 Update[/h3]

Gamepad Support:

This was a fun project to do and I'm liking the direction it is going in. I've always been more of a keyboard and mouse type of person when it comes to FPS games, but I've played a handful of console FPS too.

It was a pretty cool experience seeing the game we created going from being designed for VR with motion controllers to keyboard and mouse, and now with a gamepad that has its own strengths.

This also opens the possibilities to bring the game to consoles or even something like Steam Deck. We would love to see a future version of this game where someone in VR is playing with a person on a Desktop PC, and another on a handheld device.

VR Controls Updates:

Of all things we've heard feedback most on it's the VR Body IK, Gripping and Inventory. We've taken some of the most recent feedback and started implementing those ideas into the game. It's of course not PERFECT yet as we are in Early Access still, but I hope this starts to show improvement to the experience for VR players, in particular for people playing the game for the first time.

2/23/22 (Early Access) v1.09

+ Added Xbox & Playstation Gamepad support | Desktop
+ Added Controller option to swap Teleport Grab with Triggers and Grip Buttons | VR
+ Items can now AUTOSTORE into Vest IF Overlapping Vest when Dropped | VR
+ Moved Camera forward slightly over IK Body | VR
+ Fixed Alt Grip not letting go when releasing Grip while climbing | VR
+ Decreased size of SubV14 Weapon and Silencer
+ Decreased size of Mag attachment box on KA-47
+ Optimized Lightning Storm performance
+ Fixed Weather Kiosks in DevRoom
+ Tweaked a few menu descriptions to for better Player interpretation
+ Removed Melee Weapons breaking (temporary)

Hi Everyone,

As some of you may have seen, we released our first actual trailer just a little over a week ago and we've been really happy with the response to it.

Since then, we've shifted our primary focus to development on the game and today have a new patch with several improvements to help with VR gameplay, like an indicator to show where you were aiming if you missed teleport grabbing an item.

There are also a handful of tweaks to the game as well. The game was in need of more mags and ammo spawns, so we added a feature to the weapons where they now have a chance of spawning with a mag already attached and with a random amount of ammo.

In addition to that, we're still taking in all the suggestions everyone has had and starting to put a plan into place on how to continue to improve the base game, as well as add new content.

Finally, we're trying to stream the game several times a week, so if you would like to watch or join the game with us, we would love that!

Xtian & Jes

https://www.twitch.tv/VoyagerVR




2/1/22 (Early Access) v1.08

+ Added visual cue to Teleport Grab IF missed at missed location

+ Weapons now have chance of spawning with a Mag and random amount of Ammo

+ Infected Wolves now spawn Flying Enemy Parasite

+ Backpack now attaches correctly from teleport grip

+ Added Ladder to Radio Tower for alternative access point to Radio

+ Increased area in which Radio Tower can spawn

+ Increased VOIP audio quality

+ Voyager A.I. Camera can now be manually controlled, and server owner can talk to players in game

+ Tweaked Zombies raising from dead animation from Alien

+ Fixed Weapon reload on Vest IF Client