Hey everyone,
The day has come... Zero Caliber just got infinitely better! The weapon handling, the vastly improved AI, new weapons, new melee feature, dedicated servers for Co-op, built-in voice chat and a TON more - you HAVE to try it to believe it!
The GRAND update is now LIVE!
The game has changed a lot. A LOT. We strongly believe that the gameplay got 120% better, 140 smoother and 200% more fun!
We've done all this to prepare the game for the upcoming mod support update - soon anyone will be able to make single player/Co-op missions and PvP maps for our beloved shooter! (Yes, PvP is still on the table!)
Now, given how many things got changed, fixed, finetuned and added, you'll have a lot to go through and get accustomed to (including new control schemes with the added jumping and crouching features). If you've played Zero Cal before this update, we strongly recommend you to replay the whole game as you'll encounter new and smarter enemies, better combat scenarios and revamped gameplay all around!
Dedicated servers and built-in voice chat are making a debut as well. We've got quite a few reports of peeps not being able to connect to each others' games in the past - now with dedicated servers, we hope this is fixed for good. We might need to adjust server locations or their capacities as we go, so if you experience any connection issues, please let us know!
Speaking of which... FEEDBACK. We need it. Our QA team tested the hell out of this build, but with so many changes there are bound to be bugs we had missed.
To make our life easier and feedback more organized, please put ALL your feedback into this pinned thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/877200/discussions/0/3720567164487211951/
The same goes for progress - we made sure there would be no progress loss, but if there is, please let us know in the same thread!
And finally, here's the full changelog. Well, most of it anyway, if you notice anything in the game that's not in here, please let us know in the comments. o7
GRAND UPDATE CHANGELOG
WEAPONS | ATTACHMENTS
- Added 11 new weapons (Sig SG552, Beretta CX4 Storm, Famas, M249 (LMG), Barrett M82A1, M590 Shockwave, Thompson submachine gun, M1 Garand, Luger, Mp40, Ppsh-41)
- Added 7 new melee weapons (Tactical knife, Bayonet that can be equipped as attachment, Machete, Small axe, Crowbar, Baseball bat & Baton) - they're available scattered around on all maps
- Added a new melee holster where your tactical knife will hang out at all times
- Pump action shotguns can now be pumped by one hand
AI
- Improved enemy behaviour: they're more sharp and they react/switch targets much faster
- Improved cover usage: enemies can now shoot from different sides and angles when behind a cover
- Enhanced decision making - AIs now prioritize targets based on 'danger level' (weapons used, distance etc,)
- More realistic head movement: enemies now look at their target
- Improved existing- and added new NPC animations
- Enemies now get to cover much faster by sprinting
- Enemies are actively looking for targets, they patrol and move tactical in combat
- Enemies now have a melee ability (kicking and smashing), if you get too close to them
- Improved aiming (more accurate and quicker)
- Added range dependent attack modes
MULTIPLAYER
- Switched from P2P connections to dedicated servers for Co-op (better sync and perf)
- Added native voice chat with a muting option
- Fixed countless connection issues
- Vastly improved netcode and stability
GAMEPLAY | CONTROLS
- Added a melee feature (including throwing, stabbing & cutting)
- Vastly improved weapon handling and more intuitive weapon, item and interactables highlight system
- Polished body IK that can now be turned off optionally (leaving you with hands only)
- Improved climbing mechanics (it's much more polished now)
- Improved 'step up' to the top of climbable objects
- Added single handed “akimbo” reload for pistols
- Vastly improved magazine grabbing
- Added a much more intuitive weapon-, item- and interactables highlight system
- Added a height measurement system (auto calibration & sitting mode)
- Added holster position calibration
- Added controller offset calibration
- Improved weapon balance
- Improved left hand mode
- Locomotion side selection added to settings menu
CAMPAIGN MISSIONS
- Reworked and improved combat on all missions - 200% more fun!
- Overhauled gameplay all around
- New objectives on several missions
- Rebalanced difficulties
- Added more VR interactions to make the game more immersive and fun
GRAPHICS | UI
- Reworked and greatly improved environment on several maps
- Improved VFX effects
- Improved hand model - byebye balloon hands!
- Added a better, more precise self-hit indicator system
- Added a region selector popup window to make selecting the appropriate server region easier
- Replaced the world map with a new mission selector in the lobby
SOUND
- Improved bullet flyby sounds
- Improved bullet impact sounds
- Added more ambient sounds on open maps
- Improved headshot audio feedback
- Added different, satisfying sound effects for headshot hits and kills
MISC
- Fixed and improved so many things we've honestly lost count
- Vastly improved performance all around
POSSIBLE BUGS
- Index controller misalignment: if you see any peculiar behaviour, please delete the 'Options' (and only the Options!) save file in C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\ZeroCaliber\Saved\SaveGames
- Height issue: if your height is off, please recalibrate your height in the settings
- A few enemies might get stuck on the 1st Forest mission - just blast them from a distance if it happens
- POIs might be missing on the 2nd Forest mission
- Enemies might get too afraid and might not come out to play at the end of 'Lockup'
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We could've called the update 'Zero Caliber 2.0', but since we want to include mod support AND PvP before thinking about pressing the full release button (1.0) we went with 'GRAND' instead.
We hope you'll enjoy this version of ZC - we're really curious about what you think, so please don't hesitate to send your feedback our way either in the comment section below, in the dedicated feedback thread linked above or directly on Discord !
You can also stalk us on our social channels, great things are coming in 2023!
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@xrealgames
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/XREALGames
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XREALGamesVR/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xreal_games/
Thank you so much for the continuous support and for sticking around despite the scarce updates, we appretiate all of you!
See you on the battlefield,
-Dan & the whole XREAL Games Team-