I’ll keep this one short, because there isn’t a lot to unpack here. I wanted to get an update out as soon as Chaos Destruction could be showcased to you and now is that time!
Chaos Destruction
Keep in mind, this is very early in development of the destruction system using Chaos and there is a lot to tweak and optimize before it can be injected into the already established scenarios. To move towards that, I’ll need some solid feedback on its performance for everyone, so I can gauge how things need to be adjusted.
To start, I’ve set up destructible meshes to basically look good, so there are quite a lot of fractures in each mesh (more fractures, the more performance overhead, but better-looking destruction). It seems to run decently in my tests, but I need to hear how it is running for you. There are several levers I can pull to improve performance (trade off with quality typically), so I need to get a good baseline before I start tweaking stuff.
To test this, I added a small destruction map/scenario (it is found in the scenario section) that simply throws you in game with destructible objects and some AI running around; nothing to fancy. There isn’t any specific UI built for this scenario, so there isn’t any ability to respawn anything (you’ll simply need to go back to the main menu and re-enter the scenario to reset).
It is important to note that the 40mm and 105mm are the only guns that will damage objects now. The test missions run the AC-130U variant, so don’t expect anything to happen to the buildings/objects with the GAU-12U 25mm.
If you are experiencing bad FPS; you can attempt to scale down your resolution in the display options (70% scaling generally provides a good boost in performance, with very limited impact on visual quality). If this doesn’t help, let me know in a steam discussion or in the community discord.
Other things
There are a few bug fixes that got worked out, with some tweaks to weapon accuracy and impact effects.
I will also mention, some people were bent out of shape because of the gun overheating feature added in the last update. You can now find a toggle switch for this in the gunnery settings.
And that should do it. I encourage you all to reach out if you have questions or concerns about anything. Although my primary mission is to create a game I want to play, I need to hear your opinions to ensure I stay grounded (it’s easy to be in the clouds when you work on your own). I do believe your contributions since the beginning have substantially helped the game to improve, so keep it coming!
Thanks again for all the support and I’ll see you in the next update!
Change Log
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that prevented you from exiting the input menu with the escape key
- Fixed a bug that allowed you to tab through the various UI elements on screen, while in game
- Fixed a bug that prevented the gun overheating warning from removing itself appropriately
- Fixed the menu bug once again (hopefully we don't see it again)
- Fixed a bug allowing the player to fire the GAU-23A faster than the established rate of fire
- Fixed a bug that caused the material on the GAU-23A to be distorted, on the AC-130J variant
Visual Effect Updates
- Tweaked some of the impact effects to have smaller spark particles (these sparks looked abnormally large, especially when using gunships with better zoom)
Gunship Updates
- Improved the accuracy of the L60 Bofors 40mm cannon to be more reflective of real life.
- Decreased the accuracy of the GAU-2A 7.62mm, M61 Vulcan 20mm, and GAU-12U 25mm to be more accurate to real life.
- Adjusted the initial rotation of the guns to be closer to the center of the crosshair.
UI/Menu Updates
- Removed the "Developer Message" from the main menu.
- Added links to the discord, steam discussions, and steam news hub (update history) in the main menu.
Map/Scenario Updates
- Added a new basic destruction test scenario.