Breaking Computers, Fixing Multiplayer - Devlog 04/03

I'll be giving weekly (ish) updates here on patron for early supporters, so you get a behind-the-scenes look at how development is going and the kind of things I'm working on right now

Breakables

I've been working on making more objects breakable this week, as well as making better workflows to speed up the breakable-making process

I've seen some games using fully automatic breakable generation, splitting an object into chunks at runtime when they're hit to make it look like they're falling apart, but I think the effect is a little unrealistic for some objects

I will use an automatic process to initially split most objects, like the glass bottle below, but then I'll manually alter some of them to fit better.

It looks a little weird for now because the bottle is not hollow, but that can come later. This kind of chunk-based breaking can work well for brittle objects made up of one material, like a bottle, or the ceramic bird-bath.

But for more interesting stealables, like PC towers, it would look very weird. For these kinds of items, I'll have to use a more manual process.

I've made the PC cases with glass or plastic sides shatter open when hit, while for other cases the side will just come off. Some of the components, like GPUs, RAM sticks, and power supplies will fly out once the PC is broken, and you can steal those too.

Overall it will be worth less, though, and the case is of course damaged.

Improved VR Multiplayer Experience

If you played in the previous tests (or watched any footage) you'll know that the VR multiplayer syncing was a little janky.

The stealable movement syncing works by adding an artificial delay of about half a second onto any movement, which smooths out any real lag caused by network issues. That means the stealables won't jitter and jump around due to lag.

But previously, the players were not delayed in the same way. That meant when you moved in VR, it took half a second for the hammer you're holding to catch up.

I rewrote the VR multiplayer syncing this week, so it uses the same smoother system as the stealables. I think the result is much better and more realistic when players are moving around holding items.

Anyway here's me throwing a hammer at myself

4th Playtest Prep

I've also been fixing up minor bugs and making sure everything works in time for the 4th playtest, which has now already started. It runs from 4th-8th of March, so make sure you check the announcement post to see if it's still running, and get in while you can!