It’s been a few weeks of intense work, and we’ve made significant progress on Hoverise Rebellion. Our main focus has been on creating a fast, responsive, and fun experience when handling the HoverTanks.
Today, we want to walk you through some major technical updates regarding our movement architecture and how we are building the core combat experience.
We have officially completed the migration of our movement system to Unreal Engine’s new Mover technology. This transition is vital for a multiplayer-focused game and here’s why:
Network Prediction: This allows for much smoother gameplay for players connected to a server. By predicting movement locally, the HoverTank feels instantaneous and responsive, even in high-speed maneuvers.
Server Authority: To prevent hacks and ensure a fair experience, the server now has full authority over the vehicle's position. This prevents players from "teleporting" or manipulating their coordinates to gain an unfair advantage.
To validate these systems under real-world conditions, we are actively stress-testing in a simulated online multiplayer environment with approximately 300ms of latency and packet loss on both server and clients. Even under these adverse conditions, players consistently report that their HoverTank feels immediate and responsive (and that is exactly the outcome we are aiming for). Our goal is to ensure a great experience regardless of a player's internet connection at any given moment.
Our philosophy is simple: the HoverTank should adapt to what you want to do, and not the other way around. Our guiding principle: "If the movement doesn't feel perfect, the combat can't be perfect."
We are also leveraging Unreal’s Gameplay Ability System (GAS) to handle all player actions.
Integrated Dashes & Boosts: By combining GAS with our new Mover system, we’ve created a unified framework for mobility. This allows us to handle cooldowns, energy consumption, and server-side validation.
Tactical Ordnance: We are currently testing the first offensive abilities, including Cluster Grenades for area denial.
Weapon Overheating: To add a layer of strategy to the "Basic Attack," we are refining a heat-based weapon system. Instead of just holding down the trigger, you'll need to manage your fire rate or risk a temporary overheat, forcing you to use your movement abilities while your guns cool down.
Lag Compensation: To ensure that abilities and shots feel responsive even under poor network conditions, we are implementing a lag compensation system. When you fire or trigger an ability, the server rewinds its state to the moment you acted, respects what you did from your perspective, and then validates the result — preventing inconsistencies while keeping the experience fair for everyone.
This is just the beginning of this new phase. In the coming blogs, we will be sharing more progress on:
- New Hero Abilities: Deep dives into specific class skills.
- Core Loop Showcase: A first look at a full gameplay cycle, from menus, movement and abilities to combat.
- UI Updates: A look at the new HUD and menu designs.
We have plenty more to show you soon!
— The Zeak Games Team