Blade & Sorcery News

Hello mates! 8.4 Beta 8 is now released, featuring the much anticipated, new and improved blood and wound decals, plus the return of the dying animations. The re-addition of dying animations is what contributed massively to the visceral and cinematic feel of combat in previous versions, versus the pure ragdoll experience as has been the case in U8 up to now. This means no more stabbing guys where they get pushed back; you can now properly skewer enemy again. Combined with some more big performance improvements, this should make the combat similar to the "U7 combat feel" that many players loved, but now with all the goodness of U8 additions, like armour and new models, etc.

With all the changes and additions, U8.4 has actually almost become it's own full update where it was supposed to be a small incremental update... ːeaglegagː But we think you guys are gonna love how the combat feels now. The end of the beta period is very near now and assuming everything looks good, this is looking like it will be the last beta and the 8.4 live version should be released soon. Then finally on to U9!

If you are unsure how to opt into the beta, instructions are here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/629730/view/2957137317359486739

And as usual, it is a good practice to clear out your mods on new beta versions in case any break. If you find your game not loading, you can follow the help here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/629730/discussions/2/2450469119947281759/

• Added the new character and weapons decal system
  
• Added new pierce, blunt, slash and burn decals on characters
  
• Improved dying animations
  
• Added tone mapping post processing option
  
• Moved the wave spawner next to the table in arena
  
• Added and reworked some weapon collision sounds and effects
  
• Piercing stuff with a weapon imbued with fire will now emit a sound and generate smoke
  
• Ragdoll materials (flesh, leather, chainmail, plate) are now correctly detected for NPC environment damage
  
• Reduced Max Alive for most waves
  
• Player wounds are now visible
  
• Drinking health potion will now heal wounds visually
  
• Holstering a weapon will clean them after some time
  
• Reworked penetration system and damage calculation
  
• Added skewer detection, now piercing through a body will do a decal and effect on the other side
  
• Added self collision debug option (for fun, not recommended for normal play)
  
• Misc performance enhancements
  
• Piercing or slashing neck will now show a bleeding effect
  
• More weapon balancing
  

• Fixed NPC dying animations
  
• Fixed head shadow missing in first person view
  
• Fixed character locked in jump animation when game is paused
  
• Fixed wood penetration with bladed weapons
  
• Fixed ungrab causing the NPC to float sometimes
  
• Fixed issues in survival mode
  
• Fixed navmesh issue on stairs in Market
  
• Fixed blood effects on Ragdoll impacts when gore is disabled
  
• Fixed Dismember via TK still occurring when dismemberment was turned off
  
• Fixed gravity ring on NPCs being flipped the wrong rotation
  
• Fixed hands being seen through the rounded shield
  
• Fixed an issue causing weapons and projectiles to unpenetrate when the NPC play some animations
  
• Fixed minimum stabbing depth in arena sand
  
• Fixed Minor Navmesh issues on Arena, Market, Ruins and Canyon
  
• Fixed orientation issue when grabbing alive NPC
  
• Fixed NPC neck issues after beheading
  
• Fixed haptic causing performance issue on Oculus
  
• Updated Unity to 2019.4.19
  

• Reworked (again) collision system to make it easier to maintain and update.
  
• Removed materialDamage and materialEffect JSON. Materials is now directly handling effects and materialDamage is replaced by damageModifier JSON.
  
• Reworked penetration damage logic, added extra damage at specific depth and/or when piercing on the other side
  
• Reworked penetration dampening, added temporary modifiers to improve piercing for thrown weapons
  
• Added filters into effects JSON to help simplify the collision system
  
• Added audio playing delay option to EffectModuleAudio
  
• ColliderGroups with the same name will no longer override each other's ImbueGeneratedMesh
  
• Fixed Custom Holsters/Quivers making them crash the game
  
• (C# plugins) The struct "CollisionStruct" is replaced by a class "CollisionInstance"
  
• Reworked effects logic, added filters and imbue filters to effects to simplify collision management
  
• Blades and crystals physic material is no longer changed when imbued with a spell
  
• Reworked potion liquid logic. Potion liquids are now moddable (derive from the "Liquid" class and override "OnLiquidReception" method), then custom liquid can be set from the Item module JSON
  
• Removed creature DamageModifier and moved variables to Ragdoll.PartData
  
• Fixed zone events
  
• ItemPhysic and ItemSpell are now merged into ItemData. Old ItemPhysic json should be still compatible but ItemSpell will need to be redone (you will have to do an ItemData and add an ItemModuleSpell)
  

Hello folks! Another beta update with a variety of bugfixes fixes is here, included the much awaited return of full body tracking. Damage values have also been rebalanced to hopefully make weapons feel a bit nicer and especially make blunt strikes finally feel meatier; let us know how it is for you. And last but perhaps most importantly, Baron's Hat is now fixed, so we can all place down the pitchforks. ːsteammockingː

The beta is drawing to an end, with the only key missing piece now being decals. The new and improved decal system is almost complete and should roll out in the next beta, and if it is successful with no issues then it is likely that the B8 beta will become the full live version of 8.4, so the finish line is in sight!

[h3]Enhancements[/h3]

- Re-added full body tracking support
- Hips move back a bit more when looking down
- Hats are now using the new character system (Skinned meshes)
- Optimized performance on Market, Ruins and Canyon maps

[h3]Damager Rework[/h3]

- Blunt weapons feel more powerful
- Damage has been altered for all weapons
- Daggers can now dismember (though it is harder than usual)
- Dismemberment is a bit harder now
- Ragdolls no longer one-shot enemies
- Bladed weapons can now pierce wood easier
- Sand is now pierce-able in the arena
- Rapiers now use their own slash damager
- The player takes less damage from arrows and fireballs
- Shield bashing should feel better to use now

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

- Fixed NPC scaling issues after a long play time (hopefully)
- Fixed item swap grabbing issue
- Fixed Baron's hat
- Fixed lightning and gravity imbue VFX on characters
- Fixed dismembering using Gravity
- Fixed missing pointer is the character selection menu
- Fixed missing pointing hand pose when targeting UI
- Fixed NPC armor debug option
- Fixed handling issue on plates
- Fixed fists collision haptic
(This should include modded spells colliding with hands on cast)
- Fixed shaman staff not able to shoot fireball or do gravity slam
- Fixed deflected fireballs going through NPC

[h3]Modding[/h3]

- Removed quantity on ContainerData.Content
- Updated to latest version of addressable: 1.16.15

Hello folks! Just another small update to the beta; a few goodies but most importantly fixing some issues like the options not saving and also reducing the number of spawned enemy back down closer to original levels. Heads up, there may be more back and forwarding throughout this beta with regards to waves as tweaking based on feedback will occur.

If anyone is having trouble with loading screens when changing versions, be sure to check the pinned help topic in troubleshooting called "if you have infinite loading" because it will have the answer you need.

And remember, the 8.4 beta is opt in, which you can learn how to do here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/629730/announcements/detail/2957137317359486740 Otherwise you are still on version 8.3.

[h3]Enhancements[/h3]

• Added "Endless (Melee Only)" waves to Gladiators, Bandits and Knights
  
• New NPC type: Berserker: (Runs same pace as rogues, Attacks way more often, duel-wields axes, does not recoil when you parry, added to Melee, does not wear helmets)
  
• Removed "Daggers" from 1h LootTable
  
• Added more lift force to head during beheading

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed some menu options not saving
  
• Fixed NPC not spawning with gender slider set to 100%
  
• Fixed non-melee NPCs spawning in Mixed Melee
  
• Fixed Battlemages spawning in Mixed Melee
  
• Max Alive has been reduced in most waves: (Wave 1 is unchanged, Wave 2 is 5 from 6, Wave 3 is 6 from 8, Endless is 6 from 8, Survive is 10 from 20, Stress Test is 50 from 100, Warzone is 8 from 7)
  
• Fixed Warzone waves to make it so you are not the prime target for both factions
  
• Made Warzone less randomised on faction spawns
  
• Removed Warzone CreatureTables
  
• Adjusted probability of all classes. You should now see more melee than archers and mages
  
• Battlemages: (No longer use Fireball and only utilise Lightning and Gravity at close range (Is currently bugged :( ), Move slower, Now utilize their own brain, Battlemage Gladiator set is now base mage set, Bandit Battlemage armor set has been reworked, Moved to "Ranged" class, Now appear in Wave 2)
  
• Rogues now move a bit faster
  
• Rogues are now in melee, meaning they spawn in the first waves, and now spawn in melee only waves
  
• Rogues attack a bit faster
  
• Mages should no longer use lightning halfway across the map
  
• Renamed Containers to be less confusing
  
• All Wave NPCs should now have hair and beards
  
• Difference between Melee and Ranged spawning has been altered
  
• Decreased overall number of enemies per wave. (this is testive, need overall figures, feedback requested)
  
• Fixed errors where "BucklerRound" was not found.
  
• Removed "Shield Rearm" from Shield enemies
  
• Minor wave changes
  
• Fixed neck deformation on ragdolls
  
• Fixed physics materials on Arena gates and Home head trophy
  
• Fixed a despawn zone in the back of Ruins

[h3]Modding[/h3]

• Added sliceSeparationForce and sliceVelocityMultiplier to creature json
  

Hello mates! Work progresses on the 8.4 live version as the Warpfrog team continue to fix all the bugs and missing elements following the complete character redo. If you have opted into the 8.4 beta you should get a little beta update on Steam and Oculus. If you have not opted into the 8.4 beta you should consider giving it a look as it majorly addresses and remedies all the optimization woes of the early U8 versions. Info on the 8.4 beta and how to opt in is here. Cheers!



[h3]Enhancements[/h3]
- Added 2 male and female hairs
- Added 2 beards
- Reworked candle particle fx
- Reworked all waves
- Improved ragdoll performance
- Added game mode support

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
- Fixed saves not updating from older version
- Fixed NPC hand and feet stretching after playing for a long time
- Fixed flag floating in the arena
- Fixed blood decals growing on ground
- Fixed flying objects not damaging player
- Fixed archers aiming feet instead of chest
- Fixed NPC neck stretching too much when grabbed
- Fixed missing Dane axe
- Fixed NPC sometime not equipping their weapons correctly on spawn
- Fixed mesh particle warning spamming the console
- Fixed player arms falling and stretching abnormally
- Fixed NPC / player collision avoidance
- Fixed weapons spawning at the center of the map
- Fixed debug options resetting between maps
- Fixed archer floating after being killed while aiming
- Fixed NPC wrist twisting weirdly when picked up after being sliced
- Fixed mesh duplication after slicing sequentially hand, lower arm and upper arm
- Fixed lots of missing physics materials
- Adjusted Navmesh in arena to prevent NPC getting stuck on the wave spawner
- Fixed navmesh that caused NPCs to get stuck on a rock in Canyon
- Fixed Water rendering over the waterfall effects in Canyon
- Fixed weird lighting of doors inside the sewers of Citadel
- Fixed hole in Citadel
- Fixed rope at the scaffolding in Citadel
- Fixed misc errors and warning
- Updated to Unity 2019.4.16

[h3]Modding[/h3]
- Added loadorder support
- Moved back velocityDamageCurve from material damage to damager JSON
- Added self damage multiplier on damagers JSON
- Reworked container, loot and creature table JSON
- Moved avoidance priority from brain to creature JSON

I've waited many months to type these words so I'm gonna enjoy it... HELLO MATES, The Baron here and you know what that means... I have the pleasure of telling you that the long awaited U8.4 is now available as an opt in beta. ːpraisesunː

[h3]What is this update, and why did it take so long if it is not a full update?[/h3]
This is the critical performance patch. As many of you have experienced, U8 had some performance issues tied into how the characters spawned, causing things like lag spikes, cpu strain, poor performance, etc. Issues arose because B&S grew outgrew the original simple concept from back when the game was first conceived, but as a result KospY and team found they had reached the limit of optimization with that original character framework, meaning there was no possibility of improving performance any further unless they went and redid the whole thing. They went and redid the whole thing. ːsteamsunnyː

It took many months, but the Warpfrog team have redone the entire character system and it is now much, much better for performance.

[h3]So where is U9?[/h3]
It is underway! Work will continue on 8.X, but rest assured there are other Warpfrog team members working on U9+ and will continue to do so. The team is broken into different specialties so even if coders are rolling out 8.X patches and fixes, other team members are working simultaneously on future aspects of the game. There is lots of juicy U9 stuff to talk about, but we elected not to on the basis that it might have upset some people to hear about cool upcoming U9 stuff when they were still struggling to play U8, even though work was happening simultaneously. So we decided that when U8.4 is all squared away, then we will get into U9 news cycles. ːwftogrinː

Do note, the roadmap for U9 has changed and gotten bigger and more complex so that throws the current roadmap out of whack. The very loose, pinch of salt, don't take my word for it, non-committed ballpark is Q1 or Q2 2021. The roadmap will be updated in the near future so keep an eye out for that is now updated.

This 8.4 patch was a huge, huge hurdle for KospY and team, as without the redo performance issues would have plagued the game indefinitely, making future things like the Dungeons Expansion unenjoyable if not downright impossible. So it surely took a while, but hopefully you all agree this was worth the time and effort in the big picture.

[h3]What to expect from this beta[/h3]
BUGS. As mentioned, the entire character system was rebuilt from scratch, meaning literally everything related to the characters had to be redone, from adding back in kick and dismemberment to configuring animations. As such, damn near everything is a bug risk and you will surely find a bug which you can report on the discord if you wanna help out. You will also likely roll across missing content that is in the process of being re-added.

This patch was all coding changes (other than a few goodies KospY threw in), so on the player side you will mostly see nothing different; but you should feel the difference.

So since this is not the full release, only the beta, the question for you is: Should I opt into the beta?

[h3]You should not opt into the beta if[/h3]
- Bugs make you stressed or sad.
- You wanna keep using mods (8.4 will break mods until modders have a chance to update).
- It annoys you to have missing features (blood decals need to be re-added, character customization is incomplete, etc, etc).
- You don't care about performance issues in U8.

[h3]You should opt into the beta if[/h3]
- You don't mind WIP things and are just curious to see how it's going.
- You wanna help the Warpfrog team by finding and logging bugs.
- You wanna help by testing performance on your system and then giving a performance log (discord is best for submitting).

To opt into the beta on Steam, go to the game properties > beta and type the code Upd84betaPlease. Update: No code is needed anymore! It is even easier now, you will see the beta in the dropdown that 8.4 beta is an option and when you select it the game will update. REMOVE YOUR MODS! Your mods won't work, and I also recommend you clean your save file so your game is fresh by deleting the folder located at Documents/mygames/BladeAndSorcery. (100% do this if your game wont load) I'm bracing myself for the floods of 'cant get the beta working' threads because of mods. ːsteammockingː



Oculus users, you can access the beta through the menu Version and Release Notes on the Oculus Store page, not the game in your library. (counter-intuitive, I know)



The beta will end when all components of the character system are re-added and all bugs are found and squashed, at which point 8.4 will be live as an actual automatic update. And just to note - this is not the end of optimization. Further performance tweaks and optimization will always keep going for maps, etc, and that will not end until v1.0+.

Here are the patch notes - do take careful note of all the things missing. As mentioned, everything is being re-added, and there is a lot to do:

[h2]Update 8.4 (beta)[/h2]

[h3]Enhancements[/h3]

- Added new hairs and beards for male and female characters
- Added new whoosh sounds for different weapons
- Added a new control panel for the monitor view
- Added a new spectator mode that automatically follow player across levels
- Added infinite imbue debug option
- Added console search field
- Added spell wheel open/close animations
- Added an option to disable blood
- Improved feet placement while climbing
- Improved armor detection precision
- Hitting the arm while grabbing it will disarm the NPC
- Added new hit sound when the head collide
- Integrated ragdoll joints values from Ragdoll Physics Overhaul mod. Big thanks to Sketchcritic for allowing us to use his work :)
- Misc options changes

[h3]Performance optimizations[/h3]

- New optimized character & creature system (no spawn lag anymore, improved performance, LOD...)
- Optimized ragdoll performance
- Improved memory management
- Reworked and optimized dismemberment system
- Reworked and optimized armor hit detection
- Added an option to reduce physic accuracy
- Added an option to reduce texture quality

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

- Fixed mage hood visible from first person view
- Fixed an issue causing character to broke when customizing a character with specific weapons
- Fixed player head probe lightning issue
- Reduced player character idle movements
- Updated Unity to 2019.4.12 LTS

[h3]Modding[/h3]

- Assets bundle management is now using addressable
- Enum are now serialized as string in JSON files
- Simplified serialization of quaternion, vector2Int, vector3Int and layer mask in JSON files
- Misc JSON changes