Welcome back to another Dev Update. The team has been incredibly busy and focused on getting this next major update out to you all. Some of the major talking points we have are on the fresh AI mechanics, fixes, gameplay tweaks, and the new map: Delta. So much has been worked on and added, as well as some brand new story elements in our first phase of story telling to the player. Our main focus however was on the new map. AI improvements have also been made thanks to our talented Lead AI Developer, Solarint. And, of course, overall engine improvements and optimization as we look to upgrade from Unreal Engine 5.4 to 5.6.
The previous Dev Update featured the Industrial Zone of Delta, and now we’re proud to present the other half of the map; Featuring dense urban residential zones, sprawling rice fields and terraces, and faction outposts in key chokepoints. We’ve heard the feedback from everyone requesting urban combat, and this area will be the first to feature this style of gameplay. You will be able to explore open interiors, set up sniper's nests from windows, flank through back alleys, and duck between suppressive fire from the IGC. On the outskirts of the town, you and your team can gain elevation and perform reconnaissance for your next mission. This region will favor snipers heavily with long sightlines, trenches, and bridges to conceal yourself within the landscape.
Over the past many months we have been working on building out the story and lore for Incursion Red River. The challenge of blending the real world with our own fictional narrative has been an exciting one to explore and one we are excited to start sharing. Most of the story is told through mission briefings and world buildings so we worked to create a story that gave the player as much actionability as possible. Mission types will ask you to get pieces of information that slowly reveal the mystery, scope out specific buildings that play major roles, and extract with important packages to unlock new capabilities. You will follow a fairly linear story and take jobs for each faction but will only truly be working for FANG. Each faction is entangled in their own motivations and goals: VLF is seeking for liberation, IGC for control and the UICS to plant a western perspective. Each is more than they seem. But, we don’t plan to hold your hand through it. It will take deduction and attentiveness to learn all that is going on under your nose. We wanted the story to have substance to it, so the length is planned to take a while and be enjoyable in co-op as well. The larger plot has been broken down into three or so smaller arcs to be released incrementally, with phase one coming out with the next major update. Currently phase one features around 24 missions that will have you asking one question: Why was I sent here?
“FANG is infamous the world over. They are spoken highly of in all the darkest corners and most secure rooms. The higher ups have connections so deep they might as well be blood ties. They have utilized those relationships to ingratiate you with each faction who trust FANG to provide confidential talent. You are that talent. Each faction has agreed to bring you on board, unbeknownst to the others of course. Assignment 12908 RR is an extended on-site residency. In other words, you’ll be here for a while. Consider it an honor to join, few get the pleasure, but know there are enough waiting in the wings to step up if you fall short. FANG was founded alongside the United States, it’s that old, and they expect a lot from all of us. They expect a lot of you.
To put it lightly, failure would be an incredible inconvenience.
You do not want to fail FANG.
And please, do not fail me.
Your first mission is to get the satellite connection going. Good luck and get out.”
Alongside the expansion of the story, we overhauled our mission systems. While we previously had Operations and Tasks as trackable missions, Operations are now In-Raid Events and tasks are now separated between “General” Tasks and Story Missions.
Tasks/Story Missions are locally tracked and can only be completed by the owning player. They can be tracked from the terminal. To support the development of our new story, we added an in engine story graph editor that enables us to set up the order of the story missions and the conditions on which it progresses. This tool will enable us to maintain the current story in its linear nature, and eventually expand it into a branching narrative with future updates.
Each map now has a set of In-Raid Events that all have a certain probability to occur given certain conditions. These events are displayed on each player's GCPS and once interacted with in the Operation Device, will be started and tracked. Similar to previous operations, these Events are shared across all team members and all members will earn the same rewards. An important note is that Boss missions no longer exist as “Operations”, but they will be tied into the story. Once key missions are completed, bosses will spawn with a certain probability on their respective map.
There are many exciting features being worked on. Just about every single aspect of the AI is getting tweaked in some way. Because of how extensive the changes are, we are preparing a separate Developer Update specifically for the AI.
Here's a short list of a few of the new and improved features:
AI utilizes suppressing fire.
AI are affected by suppressing fire.
Friendly fire checks before shooting.
Cover-finding changes.
New behavior design that prioritizes self preservation.
Flashlight detection.
AI Grouping/Squads.
Additional difficulty customizations.
This update will come compiled under engine version 5.6 (previously 5.4). This version offers a significant performance boost along with more stability. Features like Nanite and Lumen are now much closer to production ready states than in previous versions. Also, the Procedural Content Generation (PGC) tool introduced in 5.0 got a great update, and we’ll be utilizing it extensively going forward. As a quick comparison between the previous and current engine versions… Overall, we observed a 10-20% performance gain most of which coming from Lumen. In other words, performance wise, with lumen enabled in the new patch will be nearly identical to having “None” selected for Global Illumination in the previous engine build (what you’re playing now).
At long last, Extreme Weather is finally making it into the upcoming update — featuring fully dynamic rain, thunderstorms, powerful wind gusts, lightning, and ground puddles. These events can happen at any moment in-raid, so best to always be coming prepared. The sound of rain will oftentimes occlude footstep audio and decrease visibility at range, keep your senses sharp! Something we eventually want to achieve during extreme weather is how it affects nearby powered objects such as lighting, radio towers, and generators. Lastly, AI enemies will be on the same playing field as you when a storm is brewing. AI perception will be dulled depending on the current intensity of the storm. As we previously showcased the extreme weather effects on X, here is a more technical aspect of the new weather: we had to review all our foliage and redo the vertex painting to allow for more realistic bending during extreme weather conditions.
Several new weapons and attachments are coming with the new update. This time we would like to showcase the classic 9x19mm Beretta M9A3 pistol and the 7,62x51mm Knight’s Armament SR-25 DMR.
This combination should provide you with good long range punch, and mobility for sudden close quarters surprises! We hope that you find these new additions fun and enjoyable to play with and customize!
We've been hard at work continuing to capture the authentic look and feel of Vietnamese semi-urban areas for our new map, Delta. The key props we've developed are essential to bringing this environment to life, starting with the roofs that show the traces of humidity and heat.The high rainfall and tropical climate are evident on the tiled roofs, which are covered in realistic moss, lichen, and overgrowth. Alongside these are painted steel roofs, used primarily as overhangs for shade and rain protection, but occasionally as main roof structures. The new map features detailed roads and pavements. We use modular road-segments that allow us to quickly yet realistically construct the detailed network of streets you'll traverse throughout the map. The pavements follow classic Vietnamese tile patterns and feature displacement for high detail, providing an essential, realistic ground feel. Finally, the map is punctuated by other relevant environment props. The concrete water tower serves as a key landmark, but also an elevated threat — be wary, as it's a perfect spot for snipers. We are also scattering various miscellaneous streetside items across Delta to complete the immersive, lived-in feel of the entire environment.
By popular request, we’ve implemented a new interior mapping system that now works for Bunker! We felt it was best for newcoming players to be able to interact with the GCPS directly in order to avoid any issues with objectives being overly difficult to find and signage not being fully clear. Bunker’s GCPS display has several (height) levels and shows the according ‘floor’ wherever you are on the Bunker map.
Some more QoL features have been added to our GCPS/GPS system. Set pings from both you and your teammates now display on the compass. To help distinguish your pings from the rest, each player gets a dedicated color assigned. You can ping now directly mission markers on the GCPS, making the overall GCPS experience a lot smoother.
While the current state-of-things are being presented to you all, the AI and map are undergoing an accelerated level of development and will be playtest ready sooner rather than later. Should you wish to participate in playtesting when the time comes, be sure to join our Official Discord Server. Where you can assign yourself the playtester role, and give feedback over in the respective channels. We’re very excited to show you all of our story elements coming to the game. We’ll start to incorporate more story related missions, areas, and secrets that you, the player, will piece together. We’ll disclose more information regarding plot on our next Developer Stream the moment this update enters a more playable state. Until then, thank you for all of your support, and we will talk to you soon. Thank you!