OVRLRD News

[p]This hotfix solves an issue that made certain missions impossible to complete (e.g. Point Defense) due to an issue with objectives never activating. It also adds a delay before combat can begin to give the player a chance to boot up their mech in situations where enemies are nearby at start.[/p]

[p]Thanks to Discord users for catching these bugs! This hotfix solves an issue that made campaign missions like Search & Destroy and Anti-Air unplayable, as well as softlocking the player on some career mode missions. Sorry about that.[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where 'defend structure' or 'destroy all enemies' -type objectives would instantly self-complete and softlock the player, preventing menus from opening.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where music stings would fail to play.[/p]
• [p]Reduced volume of infantry combat barks.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a small visual issue with the clipboard.[/p]

[p]Have fun![/p]

[h3]Hello, operators.[/h3][p]This update, as with every update but PARTICULARLY this one, will probably have some big bugs that I've missed. If you're lucky enough to be the first to spot one, please let me know using ingame bug reporter so I can race to push the inevitable hotfix before anyone else notices. Early Access Gaming.[/p][p]It's been a while! Yet again![/p][p]The last update back in June was a general infrastructure overhaul and mass of bugfixes. I've got my eye on a number of gameplay improvements and new content which I've been working on, but before that can happen there were two big things I really wanted to get working.[/p][p][/p][h3]The Scenario Editor[/h3][p]The first is something I've wanted for ages, and which I need for the new campaign work - a fully-featured, easy-to-use ingame scenario editor in the spirit of my favourite games from the 90s and 2000s. You can read more about the scenario editor in the last news post. Essentially, I rebuilt the old clunky 3D editor from the ground up, turning it into a 2D map-based editor which is much, much, much faster, easier to use and has fully-integrated workshop support, starting today.[/p][p]Right now. It works right now and you can and should create and upload some missions immediately.[/p][p]There's an ingame text guide to show you the ropes, but I know that's not everyone's bag so I also made a 20-minute video tutorial you can follow along here:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Here's some of the things the editor can do:[/p]

• [p]Create triggers, scripted events and logic flows to drive NPC behaviour, both allied and enemy.[/p]
• [p]Drive missions through objectives which can be interact with the logic flow to create narrative-driven scenarios.[/p]
• [p]Record, link and hook-up voice lines entirely in-editor, so you can write Ace Combat-style combat soap operas with your friends and share them with the world.[/p]

[p]It's lacking in some more complex features and the megamap itself also still needs work, but since I'll continue to use the tool myself, players will benefit from any new features as I add them.[/p][p]I hope you have fun with the editor - I suffered really enjoyed building it and I can't wait to see what you all come up with![/p][p][/p][h3]Control Binding and HOTAS[/h3][p]The second feature is probably one of the most-requested feature requests I receive. VR cockpit games usually don't support both HOTAS and motion controls, for good reason - it's a design and technical nightmare and introduces a huge amount of complexity for supporting different hardware setups. Experienced devs know that the payoff isn't worth the effort and it's better to spend your time elsewhere.[/p][p]Luckily for all you flight simulator sickos, I'm not a clever man and I spent the last month and a half rewriting the input system to support any generic device. It's not 100% perfect yet: there will be gaps and bugs while I gather wider data on the devices people are using, and it'll take time to iron out all the weird ways different joysticks, throttles and gamepads interact with the game.[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]OVRLRD now supports HOTAS, keyboard & mouse, gamepads and motion controls, all at once, both in VR and flatscreen mode. If you want, you can setup a throttle and joystick, use those for some inputs, keyboard for others and your virtual cockpit controls for everything else. You maniac.[/p][p]In-cockpit controls will scan through all their associated actions and take the most significant input from an 'active' control - so an IRL joystick can override an ingame joystick, but you can also set your throttle to 50% IRL, leave it at that, and then adjust it ingame without any of these values conflicting with each other. This is the intended (and currently observed) behaviour, so report a bug if you see anything different.[/p][p]The setup was tested with a Logitech X56 HOTAS, so if you have that or something similar then it should work pretty well out of the box. You can rebind everything in the main menu, or through a (slightly awkward) mid-game menu so it's easier to get a feel for things as you change them.[/p][p]Note: there are some known issues with this system so far - some sticks have mini-sticks attached to them, and these often send their data as separate X and Y values, so it's hard to bind them properly. I'm investigating this, and a few similar issues, and will hopefully have a fix soon.[/p][p]I cannot stress enough how beta this is - please be free and easy with your bug reports (and your patience) because I'd like to support as many HOTAS setups as I can![/p][p]And also - if anyone manages to get OVRLRD working with a Steel Battalion controller please inform me immediately.[/p][p][/p][h2]Other little bits[/h2]

• [p]I fixed a bunch of quite bad bugs in career mode and campaign. Sorry.[/p]
• [p]You can now rename individual OVRLRD platforms in career mode, for Nuzlocke-style trauma.[/p]
• [p]There have been changes to data serialization - this means if you experience odd issues, they may be fixed by deleting OVRLRD's appdata folder. This is located in
  [c]C:\\Users\\YOURUSERNAME\\AppData\\LocalLow\\heisenbug[/c][/p]

[p]To celebrate my enormous relief at finally being able to go back to programming gameplay improvements instead of literally wrestling with joysticks, OVRLRD is 20% off for the next 14 days.[/p][p][/p][h2]Want to help development?[/h2][p]Here's how![/p]

1. [p]Leave a review! For a solo developer, positive reviews have an immediate and significant impact on sales of the game, meaning more stability for the developer and faster, better development![/p]
2. [p]If you know a community that would really love OVRLRD, post a link there and tell them it's under active development by a deranged programmer who will never stop.[/p]
3. [p]Tell your favourite streamer that you'd like to see them give OVRLRD a try! A single stream is sometimes all it takes for a project to break out and find its audience.[/p]
4. [p]Join our discord and invite your friends! If they're nice:[/p]

[p]Join the discord[/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p][/p][p]ADDITIONS[/p][p]- Beta version of Scenario Editor.[/p][p]- Beta Scenario Editor now has workshop upload support. Please upload your missions but don't be mad if they break![/p][p]- Beta version of control rebinding with HOTAS support.[/p][p]- Individual platforms in career mode can now be renamed in a new UI for nuzlocke-style trauma.[/p][p][/p][p]CHANGES[/p][p]- EDITOR: Improved layout in a number of places.[/p][p]- First version of improved beam weapon FX.[/p][p][/p][p]FIXES[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where campaign missions would spawn you in XZY position instead of XYZ position, often catapulting you into a black hole and killing you.[/p][p]- Fixed HOTAS support with access to actual hardware. It should now correctly register input from throttles and sticks.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where mechs could get stuck in 'ragdoll recovery mode' and become incapable of motion.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where you could not command allied NPCs in career mode.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where 'destroy all enemies' objectives would miscount enemies and never complete.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue with target analysis screen text rendering.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where quitting career mode from the HQ would not save changes made since returning from a mission.[/p][p]- Fixed some missing bindings from the previous HOTAS preview support.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where freelance mode would only generate one mission.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where platforms and operators would not have persistent history for NPCs.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where entering Boot Camp would instantly kill you.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where the 'startup' objective type would display weird bunched-up status text.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue where toggles rendered incorrectly in menus.[/p][p]- Fixed an issue with grass rendering in the sky on Zaliznyy.[/p][p]- Fixed some fatal issues that were breaking campaign and skirmish loading.[/p][p]- EDITOR: Fixed a number of usability issues and bugs with the Scenario Editor.[/p][p]- EDITOR: Fixed an issue which caused certain settings on objectives, events and effectors to revert when you selected an entity from the picker.[/p][p]- EDITOR: Fixed an issue where changing the active microphone in the dialogue recording menu would break literally everything.[/p][p] [/p][p]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/p][p]- Some HOTAS mini-joysticks will only register X or Y motion at a time in the binding menu. I am working on a fix for this.[/p][p]- Sometimes the cockpit calibrator doesn't save joystick positions.[/p][p]- Rarely, you may get very bad performance on the skirmish/career map. If this happens, reducing draw distance and increasing it again may fix it.[/p][p]- Some UI elements that appear on MFDs may become 'pinked out', replaced with solid blocks of pink. Please let me know if you see this.[/p][p]- The 'Basic' graphics option may cause secondary cameras (such as the TGP weapon camera) to stop rendering.[/p][p]- Explosions and footprints may, on some maps, create snow or grass.[/p][p]- Some controllers may not track. If your controllers are not supported, notify me and send an error log and I will add them![/p][p]- If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.[/p][p]- Sometimes, very rarely, the shaders will be completely broken on startup, with invisible terrain.[/p][p] -Restarting the game fixes this.[/p][p][/p][p]Don't forget to join the discord![/p][p] OVRLRD OFFICIAL DISCORD[/p]

[p]Greetings, operators. This next update is taking longer than expected, so I thought it'd be good to let you all know what's going on behind the scenes. Or rather, BEYOND THE SCENES. (That's a joke about Unity's scene graph system.)[/p][p]So! The scenario editor's been missing from the game for a while now. You can still use it on the old-version beta branch, but it's clunky and missing features, and the workshop is disabled. Is it ever coming back? What's going on?[/p][p]Since the world's gaming press has VERY rudely not yet approached me for an interview about my insane steel battalion revival project, I'm going to write this as if I was being asked questions by an openly hostile interviewer, similar to that one nightmare I keep having.[/p][p](If you're a games writer and would like to talk please get in touch on bluesky.)[/p][p][/p][h3]OVRLRD'S campaign is unpolished.[/h3][p]It sure is! I'm actually surprised the game hasn't received more pushback on this. I guess expectations are low for Early Access games, and even lower for VR games. The lack of pushback has actually given me the mental space and time I needed to take a risk on this quite stupid task: building an entirely new campaign inside OVRLRD's own scenario editor.[/p][p][/p][h3]That's stupid. Why would you start over?[/h3][p]Well, it's not really starting over. I was in the middle of migrating the campaign to the new terrain and graphics system, and designing entirely new maps in Unity's scene system was taking forever. It was also bothering me that all this effort was going into new one-off environments that would only be used for one mission, instead of into iterating the megamap, Zaliznyy, which players will be spending much more time on.[/p][p]I thought it'd be better if the whole campaign took place on Zaliznyy, in the style of classic milsims, in a story that takes you from one end of the island to another, describing an evolving conflict in a setting you gradually get to know better and better. This was the original wish for the project back when I started, but I didn't know that it would eventually be possible.[/p][p]I realised then that if there was just the one map, the missions would need far less data associated with them. Then I remembered that the scenario editor still needed rebuilding to work with the graphics and terrain update.[/p][p]So the choice became: do I keep building the campaign like this, slowly and painfully, and then build the scenario editor as a separate system which works a different way? Or: do I build the best scenario editor I can, then start migrating the campaign into that, iterating and improving the editor as I go?[/p][p]To an engineer that's an easy question. To get the best tool possible, you have to use it yourself and refine it as you go (grossly, this is called 'dogfooding'). That's how all my favourite game developers do it, so I figured it made sense for me, too. That way, once I'm done, the players get access to the same tools I had, and can make campaigns just as complex and interesting as the one I ship myself. (Probably more so.)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Okay, so it's going to take a million years?[/h3][p]I understand being skeptical of this sort of thing - I've been disappointed by many projects for which the killing blow was somebody announcing "we're starting from scratch and it'll be better!" That announcement is usually the time to pack your bags and get outta there.[/p][p]This actually would have been the case if I was wrong. Fortunately I kept my stupid mouth shut until I was sure, and now the editor is basically done. I've already designed some missions using it and if I was to estimate, the process is about 10-20 times faster.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]That sounds like total BS, I don't believe you.[/h3][p]No, really. This is largely because the old way was SO SLOW. Here's me putting together a simple mission with logic flows, NPC routines and scripted events in under three minutes:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Under the old system even a simple mission like this would take 30-60 minutes.[/p][p]I've also unfortunately got better at design in the last few years, which means the old campaign missions seem kind of bad in comparison, so this way of working will result in a better final product.[/p][p][/p][h3]It's 2D? What the hell. The old one was 3D.[/h3][p]Not that you would know because, statistically, you never used it. The old editor was very unpopular even when it worked. Here's the breakdown of why I switched:[/p]

• [p]The old maps were tiny and it was no big deal to hold them in memory in 3D. Megamaps are enormous (15x15km) and vastly more detailed, which reduces the amount of overhead you can afford for editor systems.[/p]
• [p]When I were a nipper, I loved playing with the Operation Flashpoint mission editor. The flattening of the map into a 2D plane and abstraction of the units and logic into simple icons made it accessible. Approaching it as a 2D map just makes it vastly easier to comprehend spaces and design experiences within them.[/p]
• [p]Reducing the cognitive load and the time it takes to get started makes it less mentally daunting to design scenarios, and will hopefully result in more people making and sharing them.[/p]
• [p]It just kinda looks cool and I don't have a boss telling me to do it another way.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Okay, so you can place enemies and shoot them. Big deal.[/h3][p]Actually that's not all! That would be boring as hell.[/p][p]The scenario editor supports everything you need (and everything I need) to build narrative-driven operations like you'd play in classic milsims or mech games. You don't need to know any scripting languages or muck about with complicated graphs.[/p][p]You can:[/p]

• [p]Create objectives from a list of types, and have them activate at the start of a mission or when something specific happens.[/p]
• [p]Place trigger areas that respond to units or the player entering them, or which detect special events like "a specific hostile was detected by the player", or "someone fired a weapon for the first time".[/p]
• [p]Define scripted events which listen out for triggers and then set off 'effectors', which can activate new NPCs, pop up messages in the HUD, or give orders to friendly or hostile NPCs.[/p]
• [p]Most crucially, you can easily and quickly record voiced dialogue inside the editor itself, assign it to ingame units and structure it as conversations between NPCs, with subtitles![/p]

[p][/p][p]It took a long time to really make these systems work together, but the results are super fun. For example, you can have an objective that triggers different events on success or failure, which can then trigger different conversations based on whether you let that convoy get stomped or not.[/p][p]As I continue iterating on the campaign, if I need to add a new objective type or a new trigger input, I can just write the code and add it to the list, so players will be able to use that same stuff in their own scenarios.[/p][p][/p][h3]So we have to wait for the campaign before we can use it? You jerk?[/h3][p]WRONG AGAIN. I'll be releasing it on a beta branch for testing as soon as I can. Interested users can check in on the discord for access, and together we'll refine the editor as much as possible before it drops publicly.[/p][p][/p][h3]So again, what's the point of all this?[/h3][p]I really want OVRLRD to be a fun, expansive single-player experience for a long time. I don't like battle passes and live-service games, really, and I miss spending weekends downloading weird maps for my single-player games and playing them over and over.[/p][p]If you have a strong map-making community and good tools to support them, you don't need to run an endless live-service nightmare to keep people playing your game. If people want to play more of it than exists, they can make more of it, and I just think that's nice.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]You scope-creeped yourself into a corner again, didn't you?[/h3][p]Yes. It will keep happening until I am stopped by force.[/p][p][/p][h3]When are you going to get back to the fun stuff?[/h3][p]Immediately once this is out. I'm tired and I miss adding explosions and lasers and stuff.[/p][p][/p][h3]Okay, and when is the editor actually dropping in beta?[/h3][p]I don't know, but it's definitely a matter of weeks rather than months. Keep an eye on the Discord if you want more granular updates.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]That's about all there is to discuss right now. Once I'm done with the mission editor I think it's time for the big AI and combat update we've been waiting for - I've been working on that quietly in the background, and I hope to include more weaponry, more ways of fighting, and more interesting squad-level NPC behaviours. More to come on that soon![/p][p]Right, I need to get back to work. Don't forget to head over to the discord to discuss the game or get any specific questions answered.[/p][p][/p][p]As always, thank you for your patience and support of what has turned out to be a real megaproject. Keep stompin'.[/p][p]-nige[/p]

[p]Thanks to everyone who's been playing and submitting feedback and bug reports! The playercount and amount of feedback appear to have increased significantly in the last couple of weeks, which is really helping me to close in on some higher-level design problems now that a lot of the core mechanics are in a better place.[/p][p]I'm pushing out this patch to fix a number of critical issues (whoopsie) and integrate a couple cool new features people have been enjoying on the test branch. The next thing I'm working on is a big overhaul to the campaign. I've finally got the tools and frameworks to build out the narrative-style campaign I've always envisioned for OVRLRD, and now it's time to get the thing moving.[/p][p]No promises since things always change, but I'm aiming to replace the current campaign with a new one of a similar length (6-8 missions with a strong narrative drive) that serves as a proper introduction to the game.[/p][p]In the near future, once OVRLRD is out of Early Access, if the game continues to grow at a self-sustaining rate, then I'd really love to expand it with additional campaigns of the same or greater depth.[/p][p]In the meantime, I want to get something really nice and polished out there before while I'm still in EA, and after that it's time to crack on with the next two big updates, focused on tactical NPC behaviours, followed by (TOP SECRET UPDATE REDACTED).[/p][p][/p][p]ADDITIONS[/p]

• [p]Added manual sight zeroing buttons to TGP MFD screen. Zero up or down to adjust shots at range.[/p]
• [p]Your target tagger aims out from your weapon barrel, so if your TGP is zeroed, you will no longer tag hostiles with the crosshair.[/p]
• [p]Added short warning note to campaign menu until the campaign gets properly fixed.[/p]
• [p]Added a box in the mech outfitting menu that shows details of the currently-equipped module on your selected hardpoint.[/p]

[p]CHANGES[/p]

• [p]Weapons no longer have their own cameras. All weapons are controlled from one targeting pod mounted on the front of your mech.[/p]
• [p]This means your weapons will no longer fire from the center of the TGP feed. You will notice them firing from the sides or top.[/p]
• [p]Grouped weapons will all aim at the same point.[/p]
• [p]This is an experimental change, but it improves performance while being more realistic and challenging, so it's likely to stay.[/p]
• [p]Reduced heat buildup of HMG50.[/p]
• [p]Some iteration to Zaliznyy terrain.[/p]
• [p]Reduced cost of ammo in career mode.[/p]
• [p]Improved throttle responsiveness and increased size of hitbox in non-VR mode.[/p]
• [p]Replaced UI sprites on HQ PC with original (bad) pixel art.[/p]
• [p]Enemies in 'holdout' skirmish missions will be automatically tagged by AWACS when they arrive.[/p]
• [p]Custom posters can be rotated by twisting the VR controller.[/p]
• [p]Resized elevator to not clip into shaft walls.[/p]
• [p]Changed non-VR control hint panel to only show on first startup. Pressing 'enter' will re-summon it.[/p]

[p]FIXES[/p]

• [p]Fixed a critical issue where reloading a previous career would break more or less everything, getting worse over time.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a critical issue where you could never earn money in career mode (whoops).[/p]
• [p]Fixed a horrible issue where the player would move and turn while trying to use scrolling views in the hangar (sorry).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where if you double-clicked the 'debrief' button after a mission, it would break things.[/p]
• [p]Fixed several achievements not being granted (BRRRRT and Remember Be Nice in particular).[/p]
• [p]Fixed head-tracked aiming not working in Goyangi and Albatross platforms, or if you leant back too far.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where missing localization files would softlock the game, preventing non-English locales from playing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed skirmish menu items becoming mislabelled by localization system.[/p]
• [p]Fixed skirmish mission types not applying properly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed thermals not rendering properly on holographic TGP projection.[/p]
• [p]Fixed holoHUD elements drawing on top of the holographic TGP projection.[/p]
• [p]Fixed UI layout issues with target analysis screen.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some tree types not responding correctly to gunfire or physical impacts.[/p]
• [p]Fixed odd flickering and delay when knocking a tree over.[/p]
• [p]Fixed eject lever not being clickable in non-VR mode.[/p]
• [p]Fixed sliders moving off edge of control in non-VR mode.[/p]
• [p]Fixed tutorial UI hints not positioning correctly in non-VR mode.[/p]

[p]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/p]

• [p]The campaign is generally buggy at the moment. This is a top-priority set of fixes and I'm working on it as you read this.[/p]
• [p]Sometimes the cockpit calibrator doesn't save joystick positions. I'm investigating this as a priority.[/p]
• [p]Rarely, you may get very bad performance on the skirmish/career map. If this happens, reducing draw distance and increasing it again may fix it.[/p]
• [p]Some UI elements that appear on MFDs may become 'pinked out', replaced with solid blocks of pink. Please let me know if you see this.[/p]
• [p]The 'Basic' graphics option may cause secondary cameras (such as the TGP weapon camera) to stop rendering.[/p]
• [p]Explosions and footprints may, on some maps, create snow or grass.[/p]
• [p]Some explosion, smoke and dust effects may flicker when overlapping each other.[/p]
• [p]Some controllers may not track. If your controllers are not supported, notify me and send an error log and I will add them![/p]
• [p]Having a gamepad plugged in may suppress VR controller input. Unplug your gamepad if you get stuck in the menus![/p]
• [p]If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.[/p]
• [p]Sometimes, very rarely, the shaders will be completely broken on startup, with invisible terrain.[/p]
• [p]Restarting the game fixes this.[/p]