World Boss News

Gladiators,

Off the back of our recent major Game Update, we have deployed a new Hotfix Update to address several gameplay issues and implement new diagnostic reporting tools.

These server side tools assist us in gaining clearer information for any errors reports we receive. As always, we want to ensure we are creating the best player experience we can, so please ensure you continue to report issues and provide feedback where you can!

Let’s go! It’s time to dominate and claim your title.


[h2]Release Notes[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where hitboxes were sometimes inaccurate for the animations.
  
• Fixed an issue with incorrect player data leading to clients not being replicated correctly in sessions.
  
• Fixed an issue where Stat Trackers being applied could cause an infinite loading screen.
  
• Removed additional backend error logs.
  

Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.

Have a bug you want to report? Head on over to our Discord server. For Player Support issues, please contact us via Zendesk.

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We hope you like gingerbread… because LazarBeam definitely does! To even things up with Fresh, we have launched the new LazarBeam Founder’s Pack. Featuring a deliciously creative gingerbread-themed skin, this bundle is perfect for getting your start in World Boss in the lead up to silly season. You can now find the LazarBeam Founder’s Pack as purchasable DLC through the Steam store.

To celebrate the launch of this amazing bundle, we caught up with one of PlaySide’s artists, Ruby Trumble, to discuss how the Concept Team lovingly-crafted LazarBeam’s holiday-inspired outfit.

[h2]Hi! What's your name and title?[/h2]
My name is Ruby Trumble and I'm an Associate Concept Artist at PlaySide!

[h2]What was it like being briefed to make a skin and weapon for LazarBeam? We all know Lannan loves his gingerbread.[/h2]
It was a fun challenge to work within the brief he provided and find ways to think outside the box! We tried a handful of different directions before going ahead with the gingerbread idea, which also leant itself to some interesting weapon ideas as well. We wanted to design something fun and light-hearted to keep in line with Lannan's persona.

Early concepts for the LazarBeam character skin

[h2]How would you refer to World Boss' visual aesthetic?[/h2]
World Boss is a futuristic casual shooter with a simple but bold aesthetic. This means we try to prioritise having a clear shape, colour and silhouette read over intricate detail, since we want players to be able to identify everything at a glance!

[h2]What considerations did you have making the skin and weapon work in the world of World Boss?[/h2]
There were a few technical limitations to consider. For gun skins, they need to look cool from both a third person view and a first person view when the player equips it, so it's important to consider the placement of certain details and balance the visibility of these elements with a clean read that doesn't distract from gameplay. Character skins need to work with the 3D rig so everything looks good when players move around. This means the character skins need to share similar proportions and anatomy.

[h2]What would Ruby's World Boss skin look like?[/h2]
I would want it to be frog themed with lots of cute and bubbly shapes!

—

If you enjoyed reading about the development of World Boss, let us know what you’d love to hear about next!

Have a bug you want to report? Head on over to our Discord server. For Player Support issues, please contact us via Zendesk.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628620/World_Boss/

Gladiators, 

A new update is here, jam packed with new and exciting features and a tonne of bug fixes and improvements to keep you firing until you become the World Boss! 

First up, we want to say a huge thank you to all of our awesome founders who have joined us on the Early Access journey. To celebrate you all, you will receive a FREE Pistol skin on login, featuring the signature World Boss blue colour, the hex pattern that you see on the dome that covers the battlefield and World Boss crown motifs in various spots. 

As we release each update, there will always be a big focus on bug fixing and quality of life changes to make sure your playing experience is as smooth as it can be. To make choosing a region even easier, the game will now auto select the region with the lowest ping for your game. We’ve also made a number of fixes surrounding issues claiming rewards, players not being able to equip skins, and various fixes to UI that were not functioning as intended.

We know that a number of you have experienced stability issues where you’ve been dropped from games back to the main menu, and know it’s not a fun experience when you’ve spent time perfecting your build. We’re working hard behind the scenes to resolve this as soon as we can! You can find some of the known issues below in the release notes but as always, please continue to report bugs to our Steam forums or in the bug reporting channel on our Discord.

It’s time to focus – are you bready? We hope you don’t crumble. See you in the arena!

[h2]Release Notes[/h2]
[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Map Update
  
  • The City has undergone a major overhaul, with central buildings more traversable and less susceptible to being exploited.
    
  • The position of each biome has been adjusted to keep things fresh.
• Thank You Skin
  
  • The “Crown Pistol” is now available to be claimed for all players as a thank you for playing World Boss during Early Access!
• Battle Points
  
  • To help speed up your Battle Pass progress, Battle Points can now be earned through in-game activities such as defeating the World Boss, Prestiging, and reaching PvP kill thresholds.

[h3]Gameplay Changes[/h3]

• Multiple improvements to weapon flow to improve overall feeling and usability.
  
• Head Hunter now increases head damage area.
  
• Improvements to fire rate to ensure consistency. 
  
• Visual changes made to the Electric Shock Perk and Explosive Shock Perk to help differentiate between the both.
  
• ‘F’ Keyboard input added on the defeat screen for players to select respawn.
  
• Character Banner displays when leaving a match.
  
• Battle Pass Mission progress will display in Tab scoreboard screen.
  
• Perk Progress will display in the Tab scoreboard screen.
  
• Double click to equip items in the loadout.
  
• UI notification added to unseen loadout items.

[h3]Gameplay Balancing[/h3]
General

• Reduced the number of HP packs in each of the Hexes.
  
• The amount of EXP required to Prestige has been slightly increased for 2nd and 3rd times.
  
• Health regen tick reduced from 120 frames to 60.
  
• Broken Shield regen delay dropped from 4.5 seconds to 3 seconds.
  
• Damaged Regen delay increased from 4.5 seconds to 5 seconds.

Weapons

• Decreased fire rate on Marksman Rifle.
  
• Increased hipfire spread on Marksman Rifle.
  
• Decreased damage for all rarity types on Marksman Rifle.
  
• Decreased per projectile damage for all rarity types on Marksman Rifle.
  
• Decreased fire rate on the Pistol.
  
• Decreased fire rate on Revolver. 
  
• Increased damage for all rarity types on Burst Rifle.
  
• Increased fire rate on the Shotgun. 
  
• Decreased damage per projectile on the Shotgun.
  
• Slightly decreased fire rate on Sniper Rifle.
  
• Increased damage values for RPG (every tier except Epic), with additional damage on a direct hit.

Perks

• Revised the Lifesteal HP value given to players to be based on a percentage of damage dealt for that shot.
  
• Damage Increase Perk active effect lasts for 5 seconds after kill.
  
• Fire Rate Increase Perk active effect lasts for 10 seconds after kill.
  
• Increased health per tick for HP Regen Perk.
  
• Shield Regen amount increased to 5 health per 5 frames.
  
• Jetpack fuel amount has been reduced slightly.
  
• Jetpack fuel usage has been increased slightly.

Equipment

• Fire Bomb tick rate is now the same as the Fire Shot perk.
  
• Fire Bomb damage increased per tick.
  
• All Equipment now does flat 100 impact damage when thrown.

[h3]Crashes & Soft Locks[/h3]

• Fixed some occurrences of where players could remain on the Loading Screen indefinitely.
  
• Fixed an issue where returning to the Main Menu from gameplay could cause the game to soft lock.
  
• Fixed an issue when the Mega Soaker Shotgun skin was equipped it could cause the game to soft lock.
  
• Fixed an issue where the game could soft lock when trying to join a friends game via Steam Invite.
  
• Fixed an issue where the game could soft lock when a player brings up the Item Wheel while in the Prestige menu.
  
• Fixed an issues where game could crash when using Search function in Loadout menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where the game could crash when focusing on another window as the game loads.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where on rare occasions some players would not take damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where occasionally players would be unable to respawn.
  
• Fixed an issue when if the user dies while playing with controller they couldn’t respawn.
  
• Fixed an issue where occasionally camera drones would not take damage or produce gems.
  
• Fixed an issue where jumping off the map as World Boss counts as killing the World Boss
  
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the edges of roofs. 
  
• Fixed an issue where the World Boss would rain XP Gems from the sky when dying by leaving the playspace.
  
• Fixed an issue where head shots would register as either body damage or no damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where camera relocates when selecting, equipping or changing weapons.
  
• Fixed an issue where Rocket Launcher hitbox was too large and occasionally impacting through collision.
  
• Fixed an issue where Perks were occasionally not being applied correctly to the RPG.
  
• Fixed an issue where the spread multiplier was being applied to targets who are not moving.
  
• Fixed an issue that could impact the Sniper Rifle accuracy when aiming from a distance.
  
• Fixed an issue where quickscoping while jumping would not be accurate.
  
• Fixed an issue where mantling while aimed will zoom camera before weapon is raised.
  
• Removed a stray red pixel from the Burst Rifle Scope.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Pistol skin would not update correctly when equipped. 
  
• Fixed an issue where SMG would not eject spent cartridges.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Shotgun shells are visible through the camera when reloading with the Angsty Shotgun skin equipped. 
  
• Fixed an issue where if a player looks down after reloading a Magnum, the shell PFX will continue to fall through the floor.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bullet impacts effects would not appear when shooting through scaffolding.
  
• Fixed an issue where camera shake was extreme when players were on fire.
  
• Fixed an issue where muzzle flashes did not display differently for various Perks with the Rocket Launcher.
  
• Fixed an issue where Active Camo and Last Chance Perk effects and UI remain after leaving and rejoining.
  
• Fixed an issue where the ammo counter on the Pistol and Rocket Launcher remains visible with Active Camo.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Explosive Magazine throw animation doesn’t play when reloading the Sniper Rifle.
  
• Fixed an issue where no magazine would appear when a player manually reloads with Explosive Magazine Perk.
  
• Fixed an issue where Electric Shots were not arcing correctly between players.
  
• Fixed an issue where Supercharge Perk would display Electric Shots icon.
  
• Fixed an issue where the the Thick Skull perk was showing shield and body damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where Elemental Resist was not accurate for Fire Bomb damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where Fire Bomb displays shield damage as 0.
  
• Fixed an issue where Shield Regen effects remain visible at the end of the Last Chance state.
  
• Fixed an issue where fire PFX remained in third person view after killing a player with fire.
  
• Fixed issues where XP values were sometimes incorrect.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player would not gain any points for a kill.
  
• Fixed an issue where notifications would not appear for kills.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Prestige notification would not appear when a player reaches level 30.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Banner of the player that killed you did not appear on the Respawn screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Last Chance perk name was not displayed correctly throughout the game.
  
• Fixed an issue where text would appear green to indicate life steal when shooting Gem Generators while using Life Steal.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Last Chance timer can overlap the Health or Shield bar.
  
• Fixed an issue where Perk prompt does not display when levelling up more than once at a time.
  
• Fixed an issue where text from drones appeared in the wrong spot.
  
• Fixed an issue where player icon remains on mini map while in the Prestige screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player title text would overlap with the player name.
  
• Fixed an issue where small Health Packs do not change resolution when going from Ultra to Low resolution.
  
• Fixed an issue where World Boss screenspace effect does not display correctly in 32:9 aspect.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Back button did not function from the Join Game screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where Join Game timer could disappear when Joining a game.
  
• Fixed an issue where Chat Window would remain on the Main Menu if you are disconnected from a game.
  
• Fixed an issue where Chat Window has overlapping text after leaving a game and rejoining.
  
• Fixed an issue where not all UI elements would adjust correctly when the resolution is lowered. 
  
• Fixed an issue where the Save Setting prompt doesn't appear when the player leaves the settings via Loadout, Battle Pass or Store.
  
• Fixed an issue where Quality Settings would disappear when Screen Resolution was changed.
  
• Fixed an issue where other menus could still be selectable in the Loading Screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where other menus are still selectable while waiting for Purchase confirmation.
  
• Fixed an issue where the UI behind the First Time User Experience pop ups are interactable.
  
• Fixed an issue where Equip button required multiple clicks to work.
  
• Fixed an issue where equipping a character skin could make it disappear in the 3D view.
  
• Fixed an issue where Mission requirements could be attributed to other players. 
  
• Fixed an issue where XP boosts were not increasing XP gained from Missions.
  
• Fixed an issue where Claim All was not an available option without a Premium Pass.
  
• Fixed an issue where Claim All is still an option if users have claimed rewards individually.
  
• Fixed an issue where claimed items are locked after updating.
  
• Fixed an issue where 'unknown error' could display when repeatedly using 'skip level' in the Battle Pass.
  
• Fixed an issue where the audio settings would not carry over when exiting and reopening the game.
  
• Fixed an issue where setting audio to 0 in the settings menu and reopening the game will continue to play audio, even though the settings still at 0.
  
• Fixed an issue where the fire rate Audio was out of sync when weapon stats increased.
  
• Fixed an issue where if the sound FX are turned off in the Audio Settings, some FX could continue to play.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Jetpack boost audio loops in the Prestige screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the music will cut out when on the main menu and switching between Home and Settings.

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• Players getting kicked out of game/back to lobby.
  
• Some connection or high latency issues.
  
• Automatic region select may push players onto AU instead of the closest server - Dev note: if you find yourself with high ping we recommend manually selecting your server.
  
• Occasionally you may experience some network related issues that can look like bullets not doing damage, melee not doing damage, players holding the wrong weapon, or equipment cooldowns and windup times being inconsistent.
  
• Hang on Loading Screen. The workaround is to hard close the game, and reopen.
  
• Very low occurrence of players not taking damage.
  
• Very low occurrence of players not animating.
  
• Very low occurrence of spawning in wrong location.
  
• Some occurrences of multiple weapons displaying on other players.

Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.

Have a bug you want to report? Head on over to our Discord server. For Player Support issues, please contact us via Zendesk.

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[h3]What is World Boss?[/h3]
Combining the quick drop-in and drop-out nature of .io games, the customisation of roguelites, and the strategy and mechanical finesse of shooters, World Boss is a familiar-yet-unique FPS for all ages.

16 players or bots duke it out in always-on lobbies as they level up, select from an evolving arsenal of weapons and game-changing perks, and climb the leaderboard. Play for as long or as little as you like. The choice is yours. How long can you hold the crown?


[h3]What do you have planned for Early Access?[/h3]
Early Access is a time for us to develop World Boss while listening to players. We’re giving ourselves room to adapt and adjust as we progress through development.

For example, from our Beta Testing survey, we found the majority of players wanted to be able to change regions, and also play on the same server as their friends. Based on that feedback, we implemented Region Select in v0.1.1, and has confirmed the social aspect of World Boss should be a major consideration for our roadmap.

The feedback we receive from the community helps inform our decisions and plans for future content. We’re constantly reading what players are saying about World Boss, and checking that it aligns with our goals. As well as receiving more casual feedback through Discord and Steam forums, we’ll be surveying the community to ensure we’re getting answers to specific questions as well. Make sure you have your say!


[h3]How often will you update the game?[/h3]
World Boss will receive regular updates that include improvements, balancing and fixes. We’ll keep you updated as to what that content looks like as we move through Early Access.


[h3]How long will the Founder’s Packs be available?[/h3]
Founder’s Packs will always be available to purchase. To ensure the purchaser is receiving the most up to date content, the packs will be updated in the future to include the most current Battle Pass*.

*If you already own that Founder’s Pack, this will not change what you have paid for and received.


[h3]How long will the Battle Pass be available?[/h3]
The Early Access Premium Battle Pass will be available to purchase until the end of Early Access. Once you’ve made the purchase, you’ll be able to make progress any time (even if the pass isn’t for sale anymore!) - it won’t expire or disappear.

Like other Battle Passes, you’re able to progress along the free track without purchasing anything. If you decide at some point you’d like to buy the Battle Pass with Boss Bucks, you’ll unlock any premium content up to the current level of your Pass.

As we gather more data over time, we’ll be keeping an eye on the rate that people are tracking through the Battle Pass and adjusting the progression rate as necessary. We received some great feedback after the launch of Early Access, and have already made some changes that have improved the Battle Pass experience in v0.1.1.


[h3]How can I support World Boss and the people behind it?[/h3]
Being a free to play game was super important to us - we wanted to make sure that if someone wanted to play World Boss, they could jump in without needing to pay anything. That’s why all monetary transactions in game are for cosmetics only, none of what you can pay for will affect gameplay. We’ve also made sure the Battle Pass has a free track, so you’ll receive new cosmetic items just by playing World Boss!

If you would like to support World Boss by purchasing something, there are a number of cosmetic options available - Founder’s Packs, the Premium Battle Pass, as well as a selection of character and weapon skins.


[h3]Will you be bringing World Boss to console or mobile?[/h3]
We’re not ruling out expanding World Boss onto other platforms in the future, but at this point in time we’re currently focusing on making the World Boss PC experience the best it can be.

We’ve read your feedback and know a lot of you want to use a controller on PC too, and can confirm that improving the controller experience is something we’re working on!


[h3]Are there bots in World Boss?[/h3]
World Boss allows you to jump into a game straight away. To make this happen, any spare places out of the 16 slots for players in an instance will be filled by one of our own bots. When another player queues up, they’ll replace a bot (but won’t keep any of the bot’s loadout!).

These bots will try to delete you just like any other player, and eliminating them will allow you to progress through levels like you would with real people. This allows us to keep that endless feel to the game, meaning players can spend as long as they want in game without feeling obligated to commit to a specific period of time.


[h3]Where are the servers located for World Boss?[/h3]
We currently have servers in the following locations:

• Australia
  
• USA (West and East)
  
• Europe
  

—

Have a bug you want to report? Head on over to our Discord server. For Player Support issues, please contact us via Zendesk.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628620/World_Boss/

Partnering with LazarBeam and Fresh to create World Boss, a lot of thought has gone into the type of game we wanted World Boss to become. We wanted to create something new, something… fresh.

To give you some insight into the game design for World Boss, we spoke with our Senior Game Designer, Sam Jensen:

[h3]OK, how would you describe World Boss?[/h3]

World Boss is a multiplayer FPS with a singular focus on jumping in and having fun. We want you to join us on the ride!

[h3]LazarBeam and Fresh are two creators who a lot of people will know and love from their Battle Royale content – how does World Boss fit into what they already play?[/h3]

We never intended World Boss to compete directly with established Battle Royales, mostly because they already do such a good job in their genre.

World Boss is trying to be something new and different – an accessible FPS that takes the best part of the genre and cuts out the boring bits. Our goal was to draw upon a whole bunch of inspirations, including some of the big games out there, to create a game experience that sits outside those.

We partnered with LazarBeam and Fresh not simply because they’re huge content creators – though that obviously doesn’t hurt – but also because they help us bring current and relevant concepts from shooters. They have an excellent concept for what makes a game “fun” and “feel good”. They’ve been instrumental in shaping it into something that is its own thing entirely, not merely a replacement for something that’s already out there.

Not to mention, we of course want to present something to LazarBeam and Fresh’s audiences with something that they are at least on the surface familiar with, and discover and enjoy the differences World Boss offers when they jump in a server and start blasting away.



[h3]So World Boss is a style of game that’s not your ‘usual’ FPS. What made the team want to buck the trend of Battle Royale-esque or typical FPS games?[/h3]

In our quest to make something both new and familiar, we started with a few points of reference. We wanted to make a multiplayer FPS with high quality gunplay that empowered the player to experiment with new and crazy builds, all while making it simple to jump in and frag out.

From that point, we looked at inspirations from a range of genres.

As a smallish team as part of PlaySide, we were empowered to prototype a range of experiences that brought something new to the table. We ended up looking to never-ending, browser-based .io games for our base “Quickplay” experience as a way of fostering that emergent, always-on experience World Boss is known for.

Being an Early Access game, the design is still ongoing, and the game is ever-evolving, so we’d encourage you to jump over to our Discord to let us know what changes and improvements you’d like to see.



[h3]There’s no moment of actually ‘winning’ that most FPS games have. What makes World Boss a satisfying game to play?[/h3]

World Boss’ base Quickplay mode is unending, which is core to our drop-in/drop-out philosophy.

One of the most important design pillars, in particular for LazarBeam, was to allow the player to feel like they grow in power as they defeat other players. The perk system we designed provides players with the ability to have a new experience every time they play, due to the sheer number of choices available to them, and a chance-based system. This means it’s not just a matter of taking the same perks every single time to get the same old build every single time: players have to decide on the fly from options that are thrown at them in the thick of battle to try and create a build that best suits their playstyle, and the action going on around them. As they do, they’ll become more and more powerful until they can become the World Boss and dominate the server… for a little while!

Next time they play, they'll have a fresh new set of options laid out for them to create and experiment with whole new builds and combos.

But part of what makes World Boss satisfying is its very low barrier to entry, and the ease with which someone can just join in, start blasting away and having fun right from the outset.

You can join for as long as you want without interruption or having to create or wait for new lobbies/games/sessions - World Boss will always be going whenever you want it!



[h3]Tell us about the process of designing World Boss to be what it is today.[/h3]

The process of designing World Boss has been one of intense collaboration from everyone involved. This started with the wonderful input of our partners LazarBeam and Fresh, continuing through everyone on the dev team, and even including a bunch of input and design from the freakin’ CEO! We’re trying to build an entirely new kind of game here, and to do something like that you need as many viewpoints as you can possibly get to genuinely create something new, rather than just a rehash of something that’s already out there.

Internally, we include everyone who wants to throw in their thoughts on any aspect of the design. We take a huge amount of time going through all of the feedback we get from the players as we plan our future mechanics, features, narrative, art, and everything else that goes into this game.

With the team being FPS players themselves, we love playing World Boss. Play testing is a key aspect to our development process. The intense play sessions we get into not just with us devs, but also with LazarBeam and Fresh are where many of our best ideas come from – just ask LazarBeam which dev he hates playing against most!

Beyond that, like most games it’s simply a process of iteration: we design, implement, test and repeat as we determine what works for World Boss and what doesn’t. The great thing about releasing into Early Access is that we get to include players from even this very early stage of development of our game, and use their feedback, feelings, and just general knowledge of games and their mechanics to help inform and validate our decisions as we go along.

Right now is just the beginning!

—

If you enjoyed reading about the development of World Boss, let us know what you’d love to hear about next!

Have a bug you want to report? Head on over to our Discord server. For Player Support issues, please contact us via Zendesk.

World Boss Discord - Join our official Discord server World Boss Website - Official Website Twitter - Follow us at WorldBoss_io Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/World Boss community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628620/World_Boss/