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Vivat Slovakia LIVE - DEV STREAM #2

DEV STREAM LIVE SERIES! PART 2

Join us as we show off the current state of the game and answer all questions you might have!

  • Vivat Slovakia NOW ON 30% SALE!
  • Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/expZEUnK
  • Read more on: https://vivatslovakiagame.com


#openworld #openworldgames #gameplay #games #indiegame #indie #mafia #90s

Vivat Slovakia LIVE - DEV STREAM #1

DEV STREAMS LIVE SERIES!

  • Vivat Slovakia NOW ON 30% SALE!
  • Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/expZEUnK
  • Read more on: https://vivatslovakiagame.com


#openworld #openworldgames #gameplay #games #indiegame #indie #mafia #90s

Major Optimization Update - Better FPS, Better Bratislava

The latest developer diary - at least during Early Access - from the Vox Vivat series brings both the most anticipated and unexpected improvements to Vivat Slovakia. Let’s dive in!

First Things First – Thank You!

Before the Early Access release of Vivat Slovakia, we published a series called Vivat Wednesdays, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the project. We managed to release ten of these updates, giving you insights into our relentless work—modeling buildings, roads, cars, and characters in an intense workflow. These regular diaries not only kept you informed but also motivated us to always have something new to share.

The first Side-A of the game, the Early Access version, launched on April 18th on Steam, allowing players to experience years of hard work from dozens of people. It was an incredible feeling to watch streams and Let’s Plays clocking in at dozens—even hundreds—of hours. That weekend, Vivat Slovakia became the most-streamed game in our small country, Slovakia.

The biggest question—whether all these years of work were worth it—was clearly answered. Inspired by your support, we dove back into improving the Early Access version and began writing a new series of bilingual developer diaries: Vox Vivat.

This seventh edition of Vox Vivat is one of the most important, as it marks the conclusion of live presentations for our work-in-progress game. We deeply appreciate you reading this text and allowing us to share what we’ve prepared—thanks to you.

On behalf of everyone working on Vivat Slovakia, thank you so much!


[h2]Optimization[/h2]
Vivat Slovakia is CPU-bound, meaning the processor does the bulk of the work compared to the graphics card. As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link—and for many players, that weak link is the CPU due to the immense amount of background calculations in the game. Our optimization efforts focus on reducing the number of calculations (e.g., rendering only 15 buildings instead of 30 without noticeable differences) and balancing the workload between the CPU and GPU by shifting calculations to the graphics card wherever possible.



As of this Vox Vivat entry, the code for Vivat Slovakia has been adjusted over 5,000 times using the Unity Version Control tool. Recent optimizations include a more efficient vehicle and NPC rendering system, with improved despawning techniques that conserve your PC's resources without changing the city's population density.

Our programmers also fine-tuned resource allocation to ensure the game doesn't load more light sources than the player can see. Additionally, vegetation draw distances have been adjusted to be less aggressive—but if you’re running a powerhouse PC, we’ve added a setting to customize vegetation distances.

These optimizations have significantly improved FPS. In our tests, we managed to gain an incredible 20 extra frames per second (on the below listed PC). Be sure to share your results on our Steam discussions or Discord!

  • CPU: Ryzen 5600X
  • GPU: RTX 3060 12GB
  • RAM: 32GB 3600 MHz


[h3]BEFORE[/h3]


[h3]AFTER[/h3]



[h2]8 New MTBIKER Cycling Time Trials[/h2]
Cycling in digital Bratislava is expanding! We’ve refined the road bike mechanics, which you can now find parked in front of your apartment in Petržalka or the MTBIKER store in Ružinov. This update also includes new voiceovers of Milan’s panting and muttered curses during his athletic efforts.



As you unlock new routes, you’ll compete in races against trams or trains. Completing the trials will reward you with functional accessories like a dynamo, a helmet, or a cycling outfit. If you manage to complete all the new routes, a vintage mountain bike will be waiting for you at the both locations mentioned above.



[h2]New Radio Stations with Licensed Music + Streamer Mode[/h2]
We’re preparing new radio stations for the final version of the game, featuring some of Slovakia’s most iconic artists. A hip-hop station is being curated by Šajmo from Refresher, while our sound designer Ttea is crafting a retro techno station. In addition to entertaining DJ commentary and a stellar lineup of music unlike anything seen in Slovak games, we plan to introduce a Streamer Mode.

With Streamer Mode enabled, licensed tracks will be removed from the rotation, letting streamers enjoy the radio stations without fear of copyright strikes.


[h2]Hidden First-Person Mode[/h2]
Our programmers have been experimenting with a first-person view, and in many cases, it looks fantastic. While we don’t plan to overhaul reload animations or remaster vehicle interiors, we may include a hidden first-person mode as an optional cheat for adventurous players in Side-B. Let us know on Discord if this is something you’d like!




[h2]New Buildings Based on Real Locations[/h2]
The game map is based on the real city of Bratislava. While scaled down for realism, some areas are nearly indistinguishable from their real-world counterparts. Most recently, we’ve updated two locations: a building at Račianske mýto and another in Ružinov, near the old bus station.




[h2]New Cars: Prinz Piano[/h2]
We’re adding a luxurious new vehicle to Vivat Slovakia’s car roster: the Prinz Piano. This classic car is well-known among enthusiasts and fits beautifully into the 1990s setting. Ivan brought two versions to Bratislava—a sedan and a family-friendly station wagon.



[h2]The Second Half of the Story[/h2]
Since the Early Access launch, we’ve worked tirelessly to add new content and optimize the game. Over the next few months, we’ll enter a quieter phase to focus on preparing the launch trailer and the second half of the story missions.

You can look forward to action-packed missions with Belasý and even a trip to neighboring Austria across the border. The game will feature new mechanics and interiors, pushing gameplay to the next level. However, the story will also take a darker turn, with missions based on real events, such as the kidnapping of the president’s son.




Thank you for being part of this journey. We can’t wait to share the next chapter of Vivat Slovakia with you!


[h2]Patch notes 0.9.5b53[/h2]

New Features:
  • Added bike time trials
  • Added bike sprint support for controllers
  • Added new player outfit – Cyclist
  • Added new cars: Prinz Piano and Prinz Piano Combi


Changes:
  • Journalist’s car in the mission “Private Eyes and Dirty Lies” can’t be destroyed otherwise, the player loses
  • Car abilities now use a different default keybind than the Honk feature to prevent progress lock in missions where honking is required
  • Removed car spawnpoints/waypoint where not logical
  • Optimizations:
  • Optimized physics calculations
  • Optimized heavy scripts to be more performant
  • Optimized internal setting values
  • Optimized NPC spawning - there will be a lot less NPCs that the player wouldn’t be able to see anyway, which greatly improves performance
  • Optimized Car spawning - there will be a lot less cars that the player wouldn’t be able to see anyway, which helps to offload physics calculations and increase performance
  • Optimized vegetation distances and removed a ton of “hidden” vegetation (grass in buildings etc.)
  • Optimized lights
  • Optimized particle effects
  • Optimized lot of scripts which were allocating garbage and decreasing performance
  • Optimized terrain rendering (decreasing polycount by around 55% without compromising visual quality)


Bugfixes:
  • Fixed car glass materials
  • Fixed car horn’s sound effect sometimes getting stuck after the player exists a car
  • Fixed player inability to move camera while being a passenger
  • Fixed player inability to switch radios while being a passenger
  • Fixed car radio playing after player as a passenger exits car
  • Fixed player inability to jump or equip any weapon after entering and exiting a car while reloading
  • Fixed weapons shooting through walls
  • Fixed terrain clipping in some areas
  • Fixed player not dying underwater if on bicycle
  • Fixed horse racing reset rigged state in the “Giddy up” mission when player leaves the chunk and comes back
  • Fixed target waypoints in “The Prodigal Son” mission, occasionally preventing mission to progress
  • Fixed object flickering due to incorrect occlusion settings on some props
  • Fixed audio being registered twice when playing one shots, resulting in more frequent cleanups and performance hiccups
  • Fixed IK not working after jumping and then aiming
  • Fixed Laura not properly exiting the car in “Fares of the Unknown” and “Giddy up” missions, resulting in playing her audio reactions on crash, even when she is not in the car

A Very Joyful Holiday Update - Vox Vivat #6

Ho ho ho and welcome to Vivat Slovakia's last update of the year! And what a year it's been! Our game has gone through a lot of changes and improvements; many of those thanks to you - our awesome community! So keep up the great work and read on for the latest round of additions and fixes.

[h2]A New Side Story Arc: The House of Joy[/h2]
Milan receives a strange newspaper in his mailbox with a job ad—another chance to earn some cash and experience a new story arc outside the wild '90s. He’ll be guided by a new character, the mad scientist Radoslav.


Don’t miss the Radoslav’s House of Joy, which doubles as a home lab built on Slavic Science technologies. Our artist Dominik Lopušný modeled it based on quirky buildings like the Hotel Galéria in Bratislava and the Fairy Tale House in Banská Bystrica. Together with Radosť, we’ve prepared five fully voiced missions in both Slovak and English. Radoslav will send you on unbelievable adventures across digital Bratislava to conduct his greatest experiment yet.


Historical Tidbit
In early '90s Czechoslovakia, Škoda Shortcut, an electric car prototype, had a laughable range of 80 km. Enough of that—let's talk games! In Vivat Slovakia, the electric prototype Smola Micron was created, and Radoslav the mad scientist gave it some upgrades. It now features an electric force field ability, so if Rados ever lends it to you, driving around will take on a whole new dimension.


[h2]UI Updates[/h2]
North Icon on the Minimap
Remember when Vivat Slovakia didn’t offer much to do beyond the main story? With more players joining or returning, the map can feel overwhelming. Samuel Potisk showed us where the true north is—literally. Starting with this patch, a north icon will mark the minimap.

Improved World Map
The world map now has a legend in all language versions. Every icon is explained, so you won’t mix up the garage with Ivan’s Cars anymore.

Detailed Item Descriptions
Certain items in garages, wardrobes, or shops needed clearer descriptions. For instance, the fishing suit now explicitly mentions that it makes fishing easier, and the Smola Micron car highlights its electric shock ability. We’ve enhanced the game’s UI to make all information immediately accessible.


Bicycle Season is Coming Soon
A new MTBIKER store has popped up near the bus station, announcing its opening soon. We can already hint that the January update will test Milan’s physical fitness—he’ll need to work off the holiday weight from all those feasts. You can try out bike riding now, though!



[h2]Better Graphics[/h2]
Vivat Slovakia is CPU-bound, meaning it relies heavily on the processor. While we work tirelessly on optimization, we’ve also improved the visuals:


Post-Processing Magic and Road Shaders Revamped
We’ve enhanced the game’s colors to feel less raw, added a subtle vignette, and refined chromatic aberration. Everything is adjustable in the settings. If you’re into videos or photography, color grading and split toning will make sense to you. The result? A more vibrant yet authentically Eastern European tone.

Roads across Bratislava are now sharper and more detailed. Older textures that stretched unnaturally have been fixed, but don’t worry—no potholes or cracks have been erased. This is Slovakia, after all!


New Trees and Grass
Believe it or not, the game used to have just one tree model 😅. Thanks to SpeedTree models, we now have various European tree species typical for the region. Grass models are also fuller but with reduced geometry, boosting performance. With a new texture, the grass looks and blends better than ever.


A Livelier City and Sky
Milan now has idle animations for when he’s not active, like stretching. Pedestrians have more varied walk animations, and some carry briefcases or bags. The sky has also been updated. A Slovak aircraft now flies over Bratislava, leaving chemtrails or contrails. After completing the new side story arc, you may spot another new object in the sky above Bratislava.


Full Release When?
If you’ve joined us on this journey in April this year, when Vivat Slovakia entered Early Access, you’ve seen how rapidly the game has evolved. Our goal is to make Vivat Slovakia shine on the international market in its current intermediate phase. Content, graphics, and optimization are priorities.
After New Year’s, we plan to release one final patch focusing on polishing the game. Quality will improve another notch. During this time, feel free to bombard us with suggestions, even during the holidays. In the new year, we’ll begin communicating the story for Side B and finally announce the release date for the full version of Vivat Slovakia.


[h2]Full Patch Notes[/h2]

New Features:
  • Added a new Side Story, comprised of 5 missions (look for a Question mark)
  • Added a new car: Smola Micron (can be unlocked via new side story)
  • Added one new hidden achievement
  • Added litter on ground to add details in most areas
  • Added 5 new tree types and removed the old one
  • Added new grass with new grass terrain texture for better blend
  • Added north icon to the minimap
  • Added legend to the world map UI
  • Added money counter to world map UI and weapon wheel UI
  • Added character idle/bored animations
  • Added various new walk animations for all NPCs
  • Added ability for NPCs to hold random items based on walk animation
  • Added ability (and some other) descriptions to respective context menus
  • Added planes with contrails to skybox


Changes:
  • Changed navmesh generation so NPCs should have more reliable paths and get stuck less often
  • Changed water color to be more realistic
  • Improved game randomization system
  • Improved road textures and shaders for an overall better look
  • Improved post processing visuals
  • Optimized car smoke effect
  • Optimized road shadow rendering
  • Optimized static objects shadow rendering
  • Optimized texture memory usage for trees
  • Optimized GPU grass rendering
  • Optimized and improved ambient occlusion


Bugfixes:
  • Fixed NPCs that could shoot while in ragdoll
  • Fixed audio problems (audio not playing after certain amount of time/number of reloads)
  • Fixed opaque windows on cars with custom skins
  • Fixed interaction prompt for CarInteract sometimes not disappearing
  • Fixed streetlamps sometimes not turning off when collided with
  • Fixed streetlamps not turning back on when respawned
  • Fixed audio on tutorial first screen
  • Fixed Ivan’s Rides context menu not resetting properly
  • Fixed inconsistent car shadow casting




As always, if you've read this far, we applaud your commitment and thank you for your endless support. We wish you a peaceful holiday time and see you in the next edition of Vox Vivat!

I no longer care about Grand Theft Auto 6, for I have the open world of Vivat Slovakia

Upon some serious soul searching following a little time with the early access build of open world game Vivat Slovakia, I have unfortunately had to admit to myself that it is probably not the GTA 6 killer I was hoping for. This upsets me slightly, because I find Rockstar’s constant self-assured bloviating to be quite irritating, even though I’m sure I’ll play their game for a billion hours. What Vivat Slovakia is, then, is a very ambitious homage to the Grand Theft Auto series that isn’t shy about it, right down to the font choices. I’m not sure if you should play it, but I do feel enriched for learning of its existence. Here’s a trailer.


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