Ravenous Horde News

Fellow Hunters!

This past weekend we had the first public playtest! Thanks to all who joined in to try it out :)
Personally I think it was a great success, we had some known players joining and some newer ones too.

Since the latest build I now track (GDPR compliant) some stats during gameplay which will help me identify problems in the game or balancing issues that could be improved. To start I only added some basic tracking such as how many rounds does a player play and how far does the player level up?

Steam already tracks how long you have the game open per session. But that interferes when the server is not always available and it brings the average down as new invitees open the game but find that the server is not online outside of playtest hours. So I had to add my own tracking so I could accurately track how long players play when they're actually playing on a server.

[h2]The Numbers[/h2]

On both Saturday and Sunday we had about ~7 players active during the playtest times when I was online too. (from the 184 accounts who now have access) Often some people would leave and others would join. I think this is a good starting amount for the first tests, so the amount of critical bugs that can affect players is minimal.

Note: the next data is to be taken with a grain of salt due to "low" player numbers. But I still want to post these.

On Saturday the mean amount of rounds played per user was 13.57, which is quite high for some people just checking out a game. On Sunday this was a lower amount: 6.

The mean playtime on Saturday was a whopping 47 minutes and on Sunday 24 minutes. I'd also take this as a good start for a game that does not have a tremendous amount of content yet.

As for levelling, there is some drop-off from rank 2 to 9, but after that every player got to rank 16. After which there's a slow drop till rank 24, which is the highest rank someone got this weekend.


Some other cool facts:

• Most players came from Spain! Followed by Great Britain and Germany. All countries together where good for 39 people checking out the game at any given time.
  
• A total of 22 in-game errors got automatically reported which affected 8 users.
  
• Only 2 actual breaking issues where found.
  
• The test server only sent about 1gb of data throughout this whole month, and received 2.72gb of data. (moving, looking around, shooting etc. all sends out data)
  

[h2]Other feedback and improvements[/h2]

Some things cannot be measured with data, here are some feedback items and things that could be improved:

• I think the default levelling speed is too slow, but the current 4x multiplier is too much. (The multiplier was added so you could level faster since the playtests were limited in time)
  
• It is quite hard to survive a full round as a hunter. Apart from some glitch spots I don't think it's achievable at this moment.
  
• The pacing of getting rewarded felt a bit off personally. Since at this moment you only get something after levelling up you need to play more and more rounds after each level for effectively the same "reward".
  
• Currently it feels like there is about an hour of content until you have seen it all (personal feeling). The rounds end within 5-8 minutes so you'll blast through maps quickly and all their weather conditions. Although there are more guns to unlock, they are currently unlocked towards the higher ranks.
  
• The zombie AIs felt a bit dumb when they walked past you towards their intended target, even if you shot them.
  
• The end of round timer feels too long, you're just sitting there for a minute waiting.
  
  Next to this list there obviously are several bugs / glitch spots that need fixing :)
  

[h2]What's Next[/h2]

First, I've updated the roadmap!



Some features are more important to have earlier, so I shuffled some things around.
I'm going to get all the bugs fixed that were present in the playtest, and then move on onto some of the feedback points which will be improved through the features listed on the roadmap. Having the special equipment and perks will make sure you'll live longer as a Hunter (as a zombie too!). And during Phase 4 having weapon skins and challenges will grant you more rewards for not just levelling up.

[h2]Next Playtest[/h2]



I'd like to check off some things from the roadmap before I can plan a new playtest, because I'm not sure how long they'll take. Ideally the new special equipment called The Sentry should be added, along with the perk system (with some perks) and to top it off the dismemberment and gore update!

I'm estimating 3 weeks to get this done with the fixes from this playtest. I'll write up another post when I'm confident about when it'll be done.


Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions feel free to drop them here or in the Discord server :).

- Rinke

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179490/Ravenous_Horde/

Fellow Hunters!

This upcoming Saturday (27th of July) and Sunday (28th of July) Ravenous Horde will be available to play for some hours!

On both days the test server will go online at 7PM CEST and will close at 10PM CEST.


Requirements to play:
- You have to be opted in into the playtest through the Store Page and be accepted.
- As the server is based in Amsterdam, only Europe based accounts will be accepted for now.


What's available?
There are 4 maps to play on, where the maps also have different weather conditions to keep them fresh. Varying from daytime, to night, to thunderstorms and even heavy fog!

There are 34 customization options to unlock and 8 additional weapons for a total of 13 weapons. You'll unlock these as you level up where the last item is currently unlocked at level 44.




Why so short of a time window and only Europe?
The short time window is related to the game being multiplayer. If the time window is a full day, the players would be spread out over the whole day, and by shortening the window you can be sure there are plenty of people who will want to play.

As for only Europe, there are some stability factors I want to see, such as server performance under heavy load. There's no reason yet to open multiple servers across the world if they all have the same potential issues. As development goes on I'll host longer playtests and multiple servers will then be available for sure.


Can I make a video / stream or create other media content with it?
Yes. You are free to create any media content and monetize it.


If you have any other questions feel free to drop them here or in the Discord server :).


Hope to see you all this weekend!
- Rinke
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179490/Ravenous_Horde/

Fellow Hunters,

A bit over 2 months ago I talked about the latest map Tropicana, weather conditions and other improvements. Today I return with some more juicy news! I'll go through all changes and updates that have been made on the game since the last post. At the end I'll let you know where I am on the roadmap.

[h2]New map: Metro[/h2]
Somewhat inspired by the books / game series, and also a map in Battlefield, I wanted a map revolving around a Metro. It provides a great aesthetic which allows for a great unique map with close quarters but also long distances which allows every weapon to have a role. Check out the progression pictures!

Once again I started with a rough block-out of what the flow should be. I had some assets ready so they were used immediately. And as always, abiding the self determined rules of what a map really needs.

The block-out of Metro

A first glimpse of something that resembles the Metro map

With lots of changes regarding the map atmosphere and feel, it was time to make sure it was playable and ready for the first lighting pass. Also decided to forcefully create outdoor spots which it didn't have by breaking open the ceiling, as if it had collapsed.

First lighting pass, a daytime weather condition of the map that didn't make it in!

I tried out various weather conditions, such as daytime, evening, low hanging sun, night time. But due to some lighting issues most didn't fit right as the map is very closed off from the sun. Night time however, fits really well.

Night time certainly is more scarier, it felt like the right theme for this map

I want to do some more environmental storytelling, but I also like funny scenes that you come across in games

The only thing left is to fix the reflections in the main hall, other than that I'm very pleased with the end result!

[h2]Game Feel[/h2]

After I finished Tropicana (and also Metro) I held a closed pre-alpha test where players could try out the map. I got some good feedback regarding game feel. When you are making your own game, you tend to forget how janky (not functioning good, poor quality) things are until someone else points out that it is infact, jank.

Based on all feedback, now you can throw things whilst running, and also reload and heal yourself whilst running. Next to that the movement is improved and the input feels quick and responsive. There's a ton more, such as weapon feedback when shooting and how the camera should shake when an explosion goes off near you. All the good stuff to make the game more immersive!

[h2]Game Changes[/h2]

Some other outcomes of the playtests resulted in how playing as a sole zombie is quite unfair if you're up against multiple hunters, you really needed to team up to get some damage done, else you keep getting killed without having done anything meaningful, and that is bad.

There is probably a decent balance somewhere when deciding how many people to pick to become a zombie when the round starts. But it would be a tedious process as it also involves balancing hp, all damage values, map layouts and whatnot. There is not a quick solution to this.

As Henry Ford (Yes, the man who made Ford) once said (allegedly) : “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Sometimes you need to look at things from another perspective, so instead of picking players at random, I have added AI controlled zombies to game which spawn throughout the round, turning it from a PvP (Player versus Player) game into PvPvE (Player versus Player versus Environment).

Now there are more benefits to this and problems that are solved when doing it this way:
- No longer are you picked at random to become a zombie. You still become one when you die, but that would completely be a skill issue.
- When being the first to become zombie, you are not alone in this fight. Team up with some AI's and you can make an impact.
- The game can now be marketed better. (explaining this would be a whole new post, so take it as it is)

AI zombies on the move, nowhere to hide

[h2]Other Improvements[/h2]

Once again this is a long list if I wrote down every change, so I'll condense it a bit so you're not reading some essay. Next to this there has been a ton of bugfixing and general improvements to game.

Since the last post:
- Removed the random picking of hunters to be zombies and added AI zombies instead.
- Improved the jank regarding input & movement, you can now do a lot of things whilst running.
- New options have been added to the settings menu! Check them out below
- A new main menu was made.
- You can now make multiple loadouts and pick one before deploying.
- The game now has a minimap.
- Weapons now have unlimited ammo, but require reloading. (To be looked at in the future: limited ammo with resupply options)
- A new map has been added!
- UI has been improved across the whole game.
- You now get a level up notification and you unlock weapons through levelling up.


New main menu, including a lot of UI/UX improvements!

New settings for performance gains

Minimap can be seen, as well as me getting murdered within the next few seconds

[h2]What's next[/h2]

As seen on the roadmap (down below), there are 3 features left for Phase 2 which the development is currently in:
- 1 new map
- Some new guns (The amount depends on how fast I can add new ones)
- Being able to unlock things through levelling up.

I am currently working on unlocking things through levelling up. And with that comes a 'End of Round Report' as you see in many other FPS games. In this is a small overview that displays your progress / stats from the round you just played and pops up when the round ends.

Whilst I was working on it I realised I needed more things to unlock, because it feels weird to level up and not get anything (yet) for it. So I decided to pull the 'Customizable Hunter Clothing' from Phase 4 to this phase. So Phase 2 might take a bit longer than expected before it's complete, but for a public test I felt this would be necessary.

The original roadmap

All things considered I'm happy where the game currently is and where it is heading!

If you came this far reading all of it, thank you for your support.

If you are interested in more in-depth info regarding the game or just want to hang out feel free to join the discord: https://discord.gg/jbx92tbMSG


And if you want to join in on the future playtest, don't forget to Wishlist and sign up!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179490/Ravenous_Horde/

Fellow Hunters,

It's been almost 3 months since the last update and today I'd like to take you through what I've been working on! Let's start off on a new map called Tropicana.

[h2]Tropicana[/h2]

Around the end of January I started working on the first actual map that is designed around the ruleset that I came up with. The current screenshots which you can see on the store are partly of the Factory map, which was designed as a map to show off graphics and gameplay in the fastest way possible, so don't think of how and why things are placed but just have it look like it could be a map.

The ruleset (or design rules) I came up with are based on looking at various other shooters out there that have good maps (and also bad ones, it's good to know what to not do!). Some of the rules I came up with are as follows:
- Every map needs a unique aesthetic, look and feel. (The unique aesthetic could be a crashed plane or a big submarine in the center of the map)
- Every map needs a variety of sightlines. (ranging from short to long, to support all types of guns that you like to use)
- Every map needs to be at least 50% outdoors. (Meaning a view of the sky, this will be needed in the future)
- Every map needs to support at least 1 alternate weather condition.

Tropicana fits the unique aesthetic as an overgrown sub-tropical swimming pool, the dense foliage in various places combined with open center pool allows for various ranges of sight.

Here are some screenshots of Tropicana!

The start of Tropicana. A rough block-out.

About a quarter into development of Tropicana, starting to grasp what it should look like

Tropicana finished! Showing off sunset & midnight fog variants.

[h2]Weather Conditions[/h2]

For the replayability of the game I looked at how to add/influence this from a map perspective. I have played plenty of FPS games in the past and often the maps became "stale" as these maps are played in the same weather. So you'd always play that one map in night time, or broad daylight for example. Now the big studios usually have quite a few maps at the launch of the game, and pump out more after that to keep it fresh by having a large rotation of maps. It takes me about a month to make 1 map, and was thinking on how I could get "more" out of said map for a little bit of extra effort. The solution to me was doing different "versions" of the map with various weather conditions. Playing a map in broad daylight is very different from a foggy midnight variant.

I wrote down various ideas of what could work and what not. Snow for example doesn't work well as models would need to be updated, so I'll leave snow-covered maps for later. Some of the ideas that do work on a lot of maps are rain / thunder and fog.

For Tropicana there's the following:
- Sunset weather condition
- Midnight fog
- Midnight thunderstorm (slight epilepsy warning)

For Factory:
- Midday clear sky
- Midnight fog (midnight fog makes the game go spooky real fast)
- Rainy cloudy midday

[h2]Other Improvements[/h2]

Now this is a long long list if I name everything, I've done 2 internal playtests so far and I am now at a point where it feels like a stable game, we've had connection issues, input breaking, players spawning in the ground and various UI not showing the correct values as an example. All of these are solved!

Last time I mentioned a list of things to do for the first playtest. (With the first playtest I mean a public one, not just with friends.)
All but one item made it in! I didn't get the time for a 3rd map unfortunately.

Since the last time:
- Vastly improved movement.
- Hunters can now throw grenades.
- You can now make a loadout, picking from 9 weapons in total.
- You can now adjust various settings regarding video quality / audio.
- You can rebind keys!
- You can now score points and level up!
- The UI has been updated.
- Zombie and Hunter sounds have been added and all sounds are networked, so keep quiet when near the enemy!

Audio settings Key rebinding Improved UI


[h2]What's next[/h2]

Here's the roadmap! Currently wrapping up Phase 1 this week and then on to Phase 2.
Before I'd do a public playtest I'd like to add some more things, these are noted down under Phase 2.



If you came this far reading all of it, thank you for your support!

If you are interested in more in-depth info regarding the game or just want to hang out feel free to join the discord: https://discord.gg/jbx92tbMSG

And if you want to join in on the future playtest, don't forget to wishlist and sign up!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179490/Ravenous_Horde/

Fellow Hunters,

Today I'd like to talk a bit about what I have been working on 2023. And what's to come in 2024!

[h2]2023[/h2]
As some might know, the development fully started this year after Marble World (my other game) got released last year and was successful enough to let me work on the next game. I initially started with a purchased single player template. Because making a FPS (regardless of multiplayer) is a huge task, there are so many systems that need to be made and these systems are not that unique or difficult, just taking up a lot of time. So having that bypassed was a good choice.

I converted the template into multiplayer, adding 3rd person models for other clients to see and having all of your actions be verified on the server. Also set up a 'zombified' model with different animations for when you are a zombie. And to top it off added the 4 skills to the zombie character you can play: scratching, throwing body parts, puking and even explode yourself to deal some area of effect damage to nearby hunters.

Next to this, there's also a lot of things that need to be present in a FPS that you wouldn't initially think of, like a scoreboard, names above heads, and important behind the scenes features like lag compensation! But also gameplay features like the first zombie(s) and the last hunter. (The player at the end of the round with the highest score will return as a hunter one time for some chaotic gameplay.)

(Note: this is all placeholder, the UI will be themed to the game accordingly)


Now I don't like hackers in a multiplayer game, and playing against a hacker can be infuriating. So one of the main goals is to make sure to keep hackers out. I know no game is hack proof, looking at the big studios like Dice / Activision you probably know that no matter the budget or the experience you have, hackers will be there.

In Ravenous Horde, all your actions are 'server authorative', meaning the server will check everything you do to make sure you are not differentiating from the normal values. Like movement for example, if you managed to walk twice as fast by hacking the game, the server will rubberband you back to where you are supposed to be on the server side!

Another counteract to hackers is to have admins on a server that can kick or ban players that are exploiting the game, and in Ravenous Horde you can set up your own server! And set players to be admins to keep hackers in line, creating your own safe community server :)

(bonus picture of me adding in the double barrelled shotgun, but it bugged out the shotgun and not the shells)

[h2]Playtest - 2024[/h2]

The goal is to do a playtest around the end of Q1 2024. There are some things that must be present in the game before this can happen, so I'll try my best to get it all ready. In this first test I'll gather info on how the match went, on both the client and server side so I can make performance and balance optimizations where needed.

Some things that are left to do for the first playtest:
- Add the ability to throw grenades as a hunter
- Add 2 more maps for a total of 3
- Add the ability to make loadouts
- Add a settings menu
- Add a basic scoring system
- Update the UI to be themed
- Balance the values of HP / gun & zombie damage
And I probably will face some other minor things that need to be done.



After the first playtest, the work begins on more content. here's a list of things that are going to be added after the first playtest has taken place (in no particular order):
- Levelling system using XP to unlock rewards
- Add more maps (perhaps 10 at launch? Perhaps I'll dedicate a whole post to maps as each map has variants of itself in different weather conditions)
- Killstreaks / death streaks
- The perk system (50+ perks!)
- Updated gore system
- More weapons and weapon attachments
- Reward tracks (this is the monetization model I'll be using as the game itself is free)

The goal is to have more frequent playtests in the future with each introducing a new feature and balancing to test out as I complete the game more and more towards a release.

For now, thank you for reading. Enjoy the holidays and take care! :)

If you are interested in more in-depth info regarding the game or just want to hang out feel free to join the discord: https://discord.gg/jbx92tbMSG

And if you want to join in on the future playtest, don't forget to wishlist and sign up!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2179490/Ravenous_Horde/