Gang Beasts News

[h2]Is It a Crane? (Update 1.21.1)[/h2]



Roses are red, Violets are violet, Is It a Crane? It is a Crane! It has been ten full years of cartoon violence since the Gang Beasts 0.0.0 pre-alpha builds were published on Valentines Day 2014. For ten years the foaming masses of Beef City have slowly coagulated into gelatinous agglomerations of hostility, spreading through the grim streets of the Meatropolis.


We're profoundly thankful to have an audience and community for Boneloaf's games and toys and for the miscellaneous scenes of silliness and callous brutality demonstrated in Gang Beasts over the last decade. A glut of technical debt have made it increasingly frustrating and difficult to release frequent fixes and content in the last 2-3 years.

We've been working with Rocket Science and Unity to pass/remove these limitations for some time and expect to build to a more stable release cadence from this year.

[h3]Posts[/h3]

This post gives information on the 1.21.1 stability build (released with this post) and the other builds we expect to release in the coming months. A series of posts with more explicit information on what is being made for Gang Beasts are currently being written for gangbeasts.game. If there are subjects you want information on please send suggestions to Boneloaf on social media or to [email protected].

[h3]1.21.1 (stability)[/h3]

1.21.1 stability build is the second stability release since Rocket Science took on support for a glut of important systems (builds, online, UI, and others) in February last year. The 1.21.1 build addresses a number of stability and performance issues and also has some small cosmetic modifications and standardisations, see the key modifications and fixes section at the end of the post for information.

[h3]Other Builds[/h3]

The 1.21.1 build is the first of 4 builds expected to release in the first 3-6 months of 2024.

The next build to follow the 1.21.1 build is the Addressables Asset System build, addressables support has been implemented to optimise the testing and distribution of game content. Followed by an interactables build introducing a modified interactables system needed for the crane stage. Finishing with the crane stage which will release with some miscellaneous costumes.

[h3]Crane[/h3]



The crane stage is a ginormous shipping container crane from the mouldering Beef City Docks with cabin controls for operating the crane, and some truculent and aggressive birds.

Crane includes the first version of new dynamic AI navigation system, this system will facilitate some planned modification to character and escalation AI and potentially support escalations that minimise some stage and game mode exploits, don't upset the birds! Be warned!

Crane also introduces the first version of a new “drivable” system, this system supports players to get into the driver's seat of the crane cab and control the crane mechanism.

Stay safe, wear a hard hat!

The key modifications and fixes in patch 1.21.1 are:

• fixed an issue that made the cephalopod tentacles fail to pass the surface of the water on aquarium
  
• fixed an issue with the sand text on the fish helmet costume part
  
• fixed an issue with game cameras not blurring when pause menus are invoked
  
• fixed some issues that stall loading for some online game modes
  
• fixed an issue that stalls loading for online game modes if moving to a second account on hardware with multiple account support
  
• fixed an issue that stalls loading for online game modes if an internet connection is not available
  
• fixed an issue that triggers duplicates of the "2124-3001 Account error" message in some contexts
  
• fixed an issue that made loading a second stage longer in some game modes
  
• fixed an error that compromised the remapping of the x/y axis on game controllers
  
• fixed an error that conflated the pooling systems for the gang and football online game modes
  
• fixed an issue that made the default game menu fail to show in some contexts
  
• fixed an issue that made particle systems render erroneously on towers
  
• fixed some issues that compromise frame rate in some contexts
  
• added Rocket Science ident to the splash sequence
  
• removed the Coatsink ident from the splash sequence
  
• standardised water shaders on trawler
  
• optimised matchmaking scheme to stabilise online game modes
  

Gang Beasts patch 1.21 is releasing today for all currently supported platforms! The 1.21 patch addresses  a number of miscellaneous issues which will allow us to focus on new content in subsequent updates. The 1.21 build does not include new stages or costumes and is focused on these fixes (see below for more information). 

A new stage and new costumes will be released soon, once we’re confident it is ready and subject to it passing quality assurance.

The key modifications and fixes made in the 1.21 build:  

[h3]General [/h3]
• New languages! We now support Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified) and Chinese (traditional).
• New Menu font to improve legibility.
• Tweaked buoyancy physics across all stages that use buoyancy. 
• Improved Tentacles AI on the Aquarium stage. 
• Addressed the problem of players being randomly kicked from local games. 
• Corrected left and right grabs when interacting with objects. 
• Improved stage lighting across all stages. 
• Enhanced football physics to prevent clipping into the ground. 
• Adjusted ball deflation rates in football mode. 
• Updated joints in the stage to AutoJointV2 for improved stability. 

[h3]Costumes [/h3]
• Made various improvements to costume physics. 
• Fixed the Beanie to function properly. 
• Resolved the collider issue with the Life Vest. 
• Fixed collision problems with the Deep Sea Helmet. 

[h3]Stages [/h3]
• Enhanced escalation mechanics in the Aquarium stage. 
• Stability updates to Vents. 
• Increased stability of bricks on Girder. 
• Stability updates to Roof.
• Improved Glass Fracture on Roof. 
• Made improvements to ice breaking on Buoy. 
• Improved Stability to Fence objects on Wheel. 
• Added water to Containers. 
• Stability updates on Subway. 
• Stabilized the antenna on Buoy to reduce excessive shaking of characters and camera. 

[h3]Online[/h3] 
• Fixes to matchmaking in Gang Mode. 

[h2]Issues [/h2]
We’re sorry we didn’t publish more frequent content, fixes, or development information since we released  the Trawler stage in December 2021. A long sequence of technical issues and difficulties have limited our  capacity to publish successive updates since Gang Beasts was fully released. 
However, since the end of 2021 we’ve worked (with partners at Coatsink, Robot Teddy, SuperGenius, Unity, Rocket Science, and Lockit QA) to address technical issues, standardise processes to minimise technical debt and build a platform for more frequent content releases. The rest of this post summarises some of what is being worked on currently.  

[h2]Boneloaf [/h2]
We’ve made a number of key staff hires to supplement resources at Boneloaf and have more in-house  staff working to support Gang Beasts. These hires include a Producer, a Senior Technical Animator, multiple Senior and general Engineering staff, Marketing, Player Support, Event and Operations specialists, and an internal QA team. You can find out more about everyone over here. 

[h2]Coatsink [/h2]
Boneloaf’s agreement with key development partner Coatsink ended at the start of 2023. We want to  thank the staff and management at Coatsink for their support and friendship since 2013 and appreciate  the significant contributions Coatsink staff have made to the development and success of Gang Beasts  and Boneloaf.

[h2]Rocket Science 
[/h2]Since February 2023, Boneloaf has worked closely with Rocket Science. This team brings a glut of resources and experience working with platforms, UX/UI, technical art, tools, and services to the development of Gang Beasts. Currently, staff at Rocket Science are working on a series of important modifications to online systems (to modernise the technology), standardise our build pipelines, implement a new UI system, provide support for game modes, and other systems.

We expected transitioning to a new development partner could be a protracted and disruptive process,  especially transitioning ownership of key development work from third parties, but Rocket Science have  made this process as low friction as they could have. We’re excited to now be in a position where we can give more information on the development and future plans for Gang Beasts.  

[h2]More Beef 
[/h2]Information in this post is limited to Boneloaf, Boneloaf’s partners, and what modifications have been  made since the 1.18 build, with some information on technical issues and the next content release. To keep you more up to date, we’re working on a series of posts to give more specific information on current development and planned content which will give more context on what is being done to support Gang Beasts.  

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Stay safe, wear a hard hat and don’t carry birdseed!
Boneloaf 

The devs behind flailing fisticuffs multiplayer game Gang Beasts have revealed their hopes to resurrect its predecessor as their next major project, a decade after Boneloaf’s second wobbly wrestling hit took off and derailed their initial plans.

Read more

Boneloaf - the developer behind multiplayer brawler Gang Beasts - is looking to move onto its next game in the near future. According to marketing and communications manager Connor Clarke at Develop 2023, the studio is considering a return to its original project: Grim Beasts.

"Funnily enough, Gang Beasts was always the second game in a trilogy," states Clarke, sitting by the beach last week. "If you search back to the initial post on the Gang Beasts website back in 2013, you’ll see we were working on a game first - I won’t point it out, I’ll let you try and find out what it is - that will be basically the next thing we want to work on."

Doing exactly that won't provide blog posts on the official website, which appear to be missing as of writing. However, if you do dive into the past you will uncover results for Grim Beasts. Several gameplay demos exist - many of which will seem very familiar to Gang Beasts players. There's even an old Twitter account, long abandoned since 2015.

Read more

[h2]It's Quiet...Too Quiet[/h2]

It's been difficult to give much information on Gang Beasts in the last 8 months (since the Trawler stage came out) as we build Boneloaf's development and operations teams with support from Robot Teddy.

We’re working with Robot Teddy, Coatsink, Multiplay, and Lockit QA to hire more development, testing, and operations staff to support more frequent content and bug fixes and to build more exhaustive production and support processes. This will mean more communication from us, and to release more stable builds of the game for you.

We're currently testing modifications, fixes, and stage and costume content for the next Gang Beasts release (more information to come pretty soon) and have made this post to summarise what else we're working on and to give information on some other fun Gang Beasts stuff.

[h2]Escape from Beef City[/h2]

Some of the population of Beef City have slipped from the meaty grip of the Beef City Police Department and escaped the Beef City limits, (potentially) Coming To Stores Near You Soon!.

Boneloaf is working with Toikido (makers of the splendid Among Us merchandise) on a series of silly gelatinous and non-gelatinous Gang Beasts toys and accessories.

The first batches of Gang Beasts figures, plushies, and apparel are scheduled to be in stores from this September.

Check out a selection from the first series below. Which Gang Beast will you be bringing home?



[h2]Pretty in P-618, Schauss Pink[/h2]

To support the release of Gang Beasts merchandise in stores, we have modified the current Gang Beasts logo (with help from the wonderful Terri Vellmann) to be more legible and readable at different sizes and in different contexts. The modified logo will replace the current game logo in builds, online stores, and other contexts the current Gang Beasts logo is used in the coming months.

We feel that this new logo fits the slapstick ‘Saturday-morning-cartoon violence’ of Gang Beasts and their antics across Beef City. Hopefully you do too!



[h2]Streets of Beige[/h2]

The municipal authorities of Beef City and the nefarious Meat Co. have swollen the gristly arteries of Beef City into a sprawling “Meatropolis” of buildings, infrastructure, industry, and attractions including strip malls, car parks, a sports arena, emulsified meat treatment and processing facilities, and the Meat World amusement park.



We have been working with a number of 3D and technical artists at SuperGenius to transform the old Beef City terrain and geometry (seen in the background of exterior stages in current builds of Gang Beasts) into a colourful and sprawling toy city. The next section of this work is to merge exterior stages from the game (and other stage prototypes) with the new geometry and textures to build Beef City into a bloated “Meatropolis” with enhanced visuals, and Easter eggs on what’s coming next.



[h2]Fancy Language, Fancy Dress[/h2]

In addition to work on bug fixes, more stable network schemes, and stage and costume content, we’re also working to support crossplay modes between more platforms, a series of modifications to the costume system (to support more variation and minimise the severity of costume glitches), and more language support: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, and Korean is coming to all supported platforms in a coming release.

We’re also in the process of engaging UI and accessibility specialists to audit and replace the current game menus and other UI contexts to remove or reduce inconsistencies and annoyances.

[h2]Online Health Check Up[/h2]

We’re aware servers and online modes have been less stable recently, we have escalated these issues with the networking teams at Coatsink and Multiplay. They’re working super hard to make sure that everyone can have a stabilised online experience. Thank you for your patience.

[h2]Final Cut [/h2]

As we wrap up this post, we’d like to quickly thank all the players that have played and continue to play Gang Beasts. We receive many requests for information on what our next stage could be, and we can reveal this “corrupted” screenshot for you to investigate.



What do you think the next stage might be?

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That’s all for now, thanks for taking the time to read this post! If you’d like to reach out to us, feel free to do so over on Twitter or on our community-run Discord server. We’d love to chat.

Best of luck out there,

Everyone at Boneloaf xx