Hello All. Sometime 2 years ago, we came together and decided to rebuild the game from scratch. Part of this was driven by bug creep and layers and layers of 'temporary fixes'. Part by the quest release. But the biggest part was that we wanted to make the game much better and feature rich, but started to hit a point where any change to the game would add significant time development and testing time inconsistent with the degree of the the change...and the list of updates we want to add is vast.
In late February, we released the game to the Oculus Store for the quest, and since then, we've been working very hard with the community to fix issues, add features, and calibrate. The plan was always to get the game to a state where it was an obvious improvement for users in the previous version. Whether it is life getting in the way, my consistent inability to accurately estimate work time, or the fact that for everyone change we add, 5 more changes come to mind - we have yet to reach this point. At the same time, another issue started appearing relatively quickly; confusion and community separation between the original version (legacy) and the new revamped version (quest default, pc beta). Even though there are sooo many things I wanted to add before , what's happening now is that users are getting hurt that are on the default version - as the online player count is draining into the revamp. As an example, at the time of writing this (9:40 pm EST), there were 21 active users in the legacy version...and 102 in the revamp. People on legacy are starting to ask questions like "is this game dead"...and it's far from that.
So, without further delay, we are flipping the switch and pushing the update to everyone. Once you download the update, it will be very obvious you are in a new game.
Things that are new:
1. unlike before, the AI actually hits the ball with a paddle object. Before, the AI was moving a paddle object that, when contacting the ball (with any part in anyway), would trigger the predetermined launch. This often lead to a result that didn't match the AI's paddle motion. Additionally, the AI now, instead of having 5 distinct skill levels, has slider with 100 positions. Also, there is a mode called "minimum mistake mode", where the AI acts more like a very very good player, who plays down to your level.
2. the physics has been significantly optimized. The overall consensus is that it's a lot closer to real life. I won't stop improving it until it matches real life completely.
3. The graphics have been optimized a lot. One user who has issues running the game at 120hz on their Index, was able to run it at 144hz without any issues.
4. The studio environment has been altered an cleaned up, the other environments have been removed. There is now a new environment called "The Chalet", and this one we are close to finishing:
https://projects.outstandly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/arena4.png
5. The multiplayer code has been significantly optimized and more robust.
6. As far as mini games: quadrants has been updated. Targets and waves have been removed. Beer pong has been added. The ball machine has been modified, and recently a big update has been pushed that allows you to make drills very easily.
7. Many preferences, such as paddle position, come in the form of preset lists - so you can save multiple positions. If you are coming from legacy and really like your saved paddle position, make sure to save your preference.json file, and contact me with it. I'll be able to convert it (until I provide an automatic tool).
8. The table positioning system has been updated with the default functionality being the press and hold room button to reset view based on where you are standing and facing (make sure to go through the tutorial).
9. The multiplayer lobby is now paginated, vs single row scroll.
10. Spectator view for pc users is a bit hidden but it's still available (menu->settings->graphics->quality presets->spectator view
11. For ranked matches, the serve rules are more strict, along with a shot clock added (visible when you open the menu during a match). No more cheating by putting the headset down and walking away. The toss height isn't ITTF standard yet, as I want to implement a proper warning system for that to help with the transition. I will also be implementing a 2-3 second delay between points, because some players things it's cool to try to serve as soon as possible while the opponent is out of position. ..this is why we can't have nice things.
12. The game offers a lot of localization options. Some are google translated, many are hand translated. More will come - just ask for one that isn't there.
13. The game supports the RiftS/Quest 3d printed adapter natively (as in, there is a built in paddle position preset for it). Soon it will support the cv1 adapter. Find out more on our discord #peripherals channel.
14. a bunch of physics bugs have been fixed - such as the ball falling through the paddle when letting it roll on it.
15. The AI is no longer frame based, so it won't have an issue hitting the ball regardless of your frame rate.
Things that are different or missing
1. lighting has changed. There are mixed opinions on this, and we will be adding options in the future to choose the one you like the most.
2. there is currently no replay functionality. It will be added soon.
3. the AI doesn't use motion capture - that will be added.
4. There is no online spectator mode available - that will be added soon.
5. The physics may feel significantly different. In many respects it's closer to reality. I have a lot of planned work to improve it further.
6. the music has changed - and we intend to add many options such as playing your own songs, or selecting from online radio sources. (we'll look into spotify, but last time i checked, they don't allow it)
7. The ball bounce sound has changed, and 100% that will be updated.
8. For Oculus home users, the AI avatar is currently locked to your own oculus avatar. For Steam users, it is currently locked to my oculus avatar. I'll be adding options to modify the AI avatar soon.
9. Some textures may have been reduced in quality while trying to optimize. We will be adding options to kick up or down texture qualities based on your pc specs. The goal is to have as many people be able to play the game as possible.
We aren't done updating it, by far.
You may have a lot of questions, some issues (hopefully not too many), some concerns, or just want to talk about the game. The discord is very active, and I spend probably too much time responding to people there - and I don't intend to stop.
me:carrotstien
discord: https : //tiny. cc / vr11 (no spaces)
email:
[email protected]PS: as far as the old (legacy) version is concerned: We will be shutting off soon after this posting (letting people finish their matches)..and as of this posting, no new users will be able to join the multiplayer there. We will be providing branch that users will be able to pick if they really want to stick to the legacy single player mode. Just look for public beta branches soon after this post. We definitely do not want to support two multiplayer communities, as it hurts both by reducing player counts.
