Zero Caliber VR News

Hey Everyone!

Another month, another update is approaching.
This time we’re focusing on core gameplay features like the much awaited weapon skin system, loadout save system, a new cover system for the AI, two new weapons: the BAR and Beretta with unique skins and a game soundtrack.

You can expect the new update to go live within 2 weeks.

Here’s what we’re planning to include in the update:
Disclaimer: all images, gifs and videos seen below show WiP states and don’t represent their final state!



Many of you were asking for a WW2 inspired weapon. We chose the BAR!



We’ve also added another community favourite weapon: the Beretta.



Both weapons are coming with unique, beautiful skins which can be unlocked by reaching the required rank. This brings up a new feature we’ve been working on…



Currently the only way you can obtain unique skinned weapons is if you find a hidden weapon on one of the maps and you keep it with you at all times.
That’s about to change!
We’re introducing the weapon skin system:

• you’ll be able to unlock skins by ranking up (same as with weapons and attachments)
• you’ll be able to equip any skin you previously unlocked for a particular weapon in the reworked armory before going to combat
  

This way you’ll never lose your favourite skin again!



You like switching between different loadouts depending on your current mood? We got you!
You’ll be able to save different loadouts, then equip yourself with them in an instant.





We’ve once again sent our AI back to military school. They’ve learnt how to use covers!
Expect a much smarter and more challenging AI to fight!





What is a game without a cool OST?
We’ve been composing an original soundtrack for the game, it is now time to implement it. You can listen to a short sample of it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAnGUOUQwaQ



In Co-op mode you might’ve noticed that your Co-op mate’s animations aren’t as fluid. We’ve improved it a lot by adding animations (crouching, prone etc.) so your teammate’s movement will look much better and smoother.

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These are the main features the next update will include, the detailed patchnotes will accompagny the update itself.
Are you guys as excited as we are?

Follow our Facebook page and join our Discord server if you don’t want to miss additional content about the upcoming update!
https://www.facebook.com/XREALGamesVR
https://discord.gg/R5ZUsjB

XREAL Games Team

Hey everyone!

The much awaited mid-April content update is live!
You can now experience what a stormy battlefield would feel like on our new map: No Man's Land!



Several .50 Cal heavy machine guns are waiting for you to use throughout all maps. We have reworked the player belt system based on your feedback, and the promised new AI animation and behaviour is also here.
We're very excited, can't wait to see your feedback!

Check out the full patchnotes below:

• New small mission: No Man’s Land. Fight the Tlalokii in the stormy Mongolia, near the Russian border.
  

• Reworked player belt: holstered weapons are now in a fixed position (as opposed to the previous random positions); you can slot and unslot weapons from a larger distance and weapons lerp to slots - super sleek.
  
  
  
  
• Better Oculus Touch interaction: Pressing
  (and holding) trigger only grabs ammo, pressing (and holding) grip grabs the holstered weapon (Vive Controllers has already been working by this logic). Same for sliders (trigger) and secondary grab (grip) interaction.
  Oculus Touch ‘B’ button function:
  - can turn laser attachments on/off (if a laser is the only attachment on the weapon)
  - can change the zoom value for scopes or the colour of the crosshair (if it is the only attachment on the weapon)
  - bolt catch release on various weapons
  

• When grabbing pistols, the secondary hand lerps to grabbing position.
  
• Improved animation when grabbing bolts, sliders etc. with a cool lerping effect.
  
  
  
  
• Fixed unintentional fire mode change when quickly removing attachments.
  
• Improved hand positions for all magazines
  

• Mounted .50 Cal heavy machine gun is now ready to use throughout most maps in fixed positions.
  
• Safety fire mode removed from weapons: the safety mode could be confusing at times, so we’ve decided to remove this function from all weapons.
  
• Fixed: pistol magazines can not be knocked out with other magazines anymore - can only be released with the release button.
  

• You can now change attachments on your weapon by knocking them off with another attachment. How badass is that?
  
  
  
  
• Similarly, you can now knock out mags with any other mag you find, doesn’t have to be the same type.
  

• New AI animations: enemy- and teammate AI got better animations, their movement is much more smooth and fluid. Their behaviour is also improved.
  
  
  
  
• Difficulty dependant AI accuracy: the AI is now more accurate in hard difficulty, less so in normal- and easy.
  
• More challenging enemies on normal and hard difficulties.
  
• Increased the amount of XP per level, so you can gain ranks faster.
  
• Start Next Level button now resets the next mission and starts it from the beginning in single player mode.
  

• Rain effect on the new map
  
• Tons of graphical optimizations
  

• Minor sfx update
  

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The player belt change and the AI overhaul are both significant changes, please send your feedback our way here on Steam, on Discord or via e-mail!
If you encounter any bugs, please report them in the 'Bugreports' section.

As always, thank you all for your support, keep the suggestions and feedback coming!

XREAL Games Team

Hey everyone!

The day of the next update is approaching, you can expect it to hit mid-April!
It'll have new content as well as many improvements and fixes. We just had to share with you what is coming, we hope you are as excited as we are!

Please keep in mind that all the footage and images seen below are WiP, and don’t represent the final state.



We’ve been working on a stormy, really immersive small mission: No Man’s Land! Get your thunder buddy, and play through the map in Co-op!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss the map’s teaser coming this week.





Do you remember that scene in Rambo with the mounted .50 Cal turret? Yeah… You can now use it in Zero Caliber!
We’ve added a stationary, mounted .50 cal turret to the game. Are you prepared for the action?





It seems like our AI finally gave up chasing butterflies. The overhauled animation is coming! They will feel much more life-like, with smooth movement and behaviour.
Besides the animation improvements, their aiming accuracy will be tweaked as well according to the difficulty you choose. Prepare for a real challenge on ‘hard’ difficulty!



Swapping attachments on your guns is already possible. Now you can do it in a badass way! Grab another one, and knock the used one off of your gun in an instant.





We’ve improved the hand animations when grabbing different bolts, sliders etc.




We’re also working on a different weapon belt system with fixed weapon positions for easier handling, and countless other improvements and fixes. Complete patchnotes will accompany the update itself, these are just the most exciting additions of the next update that we wanted to share with you.

For more info about the PvP’s development, sneak peeks and behind the scenes, follow our social media, our subreddit or join our Discord server!
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Thank you all for your continuous support, keep the feedback coming! XREAL Games Team

Hey guys!


Since the last update, we've been working very hard on fixing core issues, and optimizing the game's performance.
We haven't forgotten about content either, another community favourite weapon got added: the Steyr AUG with new attachment and surprises!
You'll see a new, initial setup guide to help you choose the settings of your liking.


It's hard to summarize all the improvements, fixes and content, so please do read the patchnotes below.

• Player movement changes:
  - Increased top speed while running
  - Slower base speed, slower strafing, slower going backwards
  - Slower crouch and prone speed
  - Player can only run when not aiming (depending on weapon type)
  - Run can be automatically, or by-input activated (can be set in the options menu)
  
• Fixed disappearing weapon slot
• Initial Setup Menu added: it will pop up only at the first launch after this update: players are introduced to some of our most critical and useful settings
  
• Improved main hand-, and trigger pulling finger animation
  
• Player body stays on the ground after dying
  
• Force pull fixed after lever release
  
• Player weapon grab on death fixed
  

• Benchmark Feature under graphics settings: Auto-Set your game to 90 fps any time!
• Optimized weapon and attachment textures (smaller size, same quality)
  
• Lobby armory performance optimizations
  
• All scopes and crosshairs have sharper reticle now
  
• Significant Disk Size improvement of the Packaged Game (From 30 GB to 15 GB)
  
• ‘Retaliation’ lighting iteration: brightened up some dark spots of the map
  
• Fixed ‘Retaliation’ foliage lighting errors
  

• Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle with new attachments. Check the unlock requirements in the new info panel!
• New info panel added to the armory, showing the rank requirements for unlocking each weapon and attachment
  
• Improved, frame rate independent recoil
• New skins hidden on different maps (The first community skins, courtesy of Koretskyy. Thank you mate!)
  
• Weapon and skin unlock fixes
  
• Projectile spawning is synced from client to server
  
• Improved hand poses: Better primary gripping of weapons, improved mag holding poses
  
• Lasersight improvements: lit when playing on high quality. A flare indicates its position when enemy holds his weapon directly at player
  
• Scopes zoom levels changed, now all scopes can be used in Close-to-Mid range combat scenarios. Default zoom has the widest FOV.
  

• WiP, experimental attachments hidden as easter eggs in different maps (Magnified Holo Sight, HAMR Hybrid Scope, Canted Iron Sights Rail, Drum Kit Mag for Kriss Vector)
• 2 new laser attachments with new colors
  
• Bipod: players are now able to use it as a vertical grip
  
• Improved lasersight positions because of the new laser attachments
  
• Laser sight visual is same for teammates and allies
  

• The first story map, ‘Timber’ is divided into 2 parts with reworked layout and gameplay. Previously this map was huge, which negatively affected performance.
  

• Co-op: respawn grab fixed on client side
  
• Co-op: weapon drop from hand upon player death improved
  
• Co-op: floating weapons on player leave fix
  
• AI: reworked targeting and aiming system for more balanced fights

Unfortunately, some of our AIs decided to chase butterflies instead of shooting, so we had to delay the implementation of the new animations. We're fixing the bugs, but we need more time to sort it out. Will be included in a later update, we're sorry about it.

• Updated semi gun sounds.
  

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As you can see, we've been focusing on fixing and improving things. Bugs might still occur, if you see anything unusual, please report it in the 'Bugreports' section here on Steam, or via our Discord server.
Your help is greatly appreciated!
If you have any suggestions, ideas, contact us here, via e-mail, social media or Discord, we're all ears!

New maps, the PvP mode and further improvements are in development, stay tuned for the news about them!

XREAL Games Team

Hey all,

We hope you guys are all wondering when and what will be the next step for Zero Caliber en route to its full release.
We know we still have a long road ahead of us, but with all the great feedback and suggestions we could gather from the community already, our team is now working harder than ever to make the game just like you all want it to be!

The next update will be a major one, scheduled around 15th March.

What can you expect from this update?

Disclaimer: all footage seen below are from the testing phase and don't represent their release state.



Our AI -both enemy and teammate- isn’t perfect. We know that. Our team has been working very hard to bring new life to AI behaviour and animations and we are eager to show you its result!
Although still far from final, their behaviour will be much more lifelike: they received proper animations, be it regular movement, reloading, cover finding or aiming.
That, combined with a reworked aiming system means that they will move much more smoothly, and will behave more like a human instead of their current choppy nature.
We still need a lot of internal testing and bugfixing, but you can expect to fight a much more intelligent enemy starting from the next update!





Zero Caliber is one of the more intense titles out there when it comes to movement. This means that people prone to VR induced motion sickness might feel a little dizzy after longer play sessions.
We’ve already implemented a so called ‘Comfort mode’ to counter this (found in the options menu), as well as started to even out the terrain to avoid frequent and sudden up and down movements.
In the next update, you’ll see a few changes, namely:

• Slower base speed, slower strafing, slower backward speed
  
• Slower speed when crouching
  
• Player can only run when not aiming (depending on weapon type)
  
• Run can be automatically or by-input activated (can be set in the options menu)
  

We are hoping that this change will further help in countering motion sickness, and will also give a more realistic movement feel.



The game’s first campaign map, ‘Timber’ is currently very demanding performance wise. People with weaker PCs might experience FPS drops due to the huge gameplay area and all the details that can be seen at the same time.
We’ve decided to change the map’s layout. The mission’s length and aesthetics will remain the same, but the overall performance will be much more optimized across all the mission.



The game has a lot of options, which can all be found in the settings menu. To make things easier for players, we’ve implemented a setup guide, which will pop at the first start of the game (and can be skipped for experienced players).
This quick setup guide will help players to select the optimal graphical settings, preferred locomotion type (head or hand oriented, left or right hand, snap or smooth turn) and other important settings.
All these settings can be adjusted later in the options menu, but inexperienced players will have an easier time setting up the game in order to achieve the best experience possible.



We’ve also improved the player’s hand animations. Pulling the trigger and reloading the guns will feel much more natural!





Our weapon selection will be expanded with yet another community favourite: the Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle.




Based on your feedback, and the fact that we want to polish Zero Caliber as much as possible, we’ve decided to concentrate more on core mechanics and gameplay improvements for this update.
This of course doesn’t mean we’ll leave you without content updates! We’re also already working on two new singleplayer/coop maps that will be released a bit later.
The list of things we’re working on doesn’t stop here!
Our PvP mode is in the works too, we’re expecting a beta-ready state next month! Are you guys excited? We surely are and will count on all your feedback in this stage more than ever!
We’ll keep you guys posted about future updates as we progress.



If you have any questions/request/advice, feel free to contact us here on Steam, on r/xrealgames, on our Discord or our social media channels any time!

Thank you guys for your continuous support, and again, as we make the game for you it is essential to keep every feedback coming!

Daniel
XREAL Games Team