Alpha 2 Test (Dev Log)

The following is an official dev log from the BATTLEGROUNDS website.

Contents


Players,

This post will provide you with information about our second round of alpha tests starting tomorrow. I am excited for you to see what we have accomplished in the last two months. While we have done a lot of optimization since the last alpha, it is not representative of the final build of the game.

You can see the full set of patch notes below, but here is an overview of some of things we’ve added:


 * Added military base and 4 other new locations to the map (WIP)
 * Added African American/Asian male/female characters
 * Added 4 melee weapons, Molotov cocktail and crossbow
 * Added the Boost System
 * Added push-to-talk
 * Added Sedan & Speedboat
 * Added sound obstruction & positional audio (WIP)
 * Added character statistics and 2D game replays (WIP)

You will notice we have included a rewards system in this build. This system is a placeholder for the final one we intend to implement and we will have a blog post later this month explaining it in more detail. There are quite a few issues with the system in the game at the moment, but we need to test the reward points and associated systems, so we have included it in this build.

Spectator has been removed for all players, so when you die, you will have exit to the lobby to load into another game. We will be bringing the spectator system back once we have implemented the one we have planned.

For this round of testing we will be running SOLO games only. Please play fair as it will help us make a better game at the end of the day.

Since this is still a game in alpha, a lot of the systems are still very much a work in progress e.g. our animation system has not been updated with the new MoCap data we acquired in Prague last month.

Crash reports can now be sent directly to the engineering team, so just follow the instructions if your game crashes.

To further improve BATTLEGROUNDS, please report in-game bugs, misplaced map objects and other issues you find to this forum: http://forums.playbattlegrounds.com/forum/10-bug-report/ Be sure to inlcude a detailed description, and a screenshot if necessary.

Thank you so much for helping us test our game and we look forward to your feedback. Please head over to our forums to join the discussion: http://forums.playbattlegrounds.com

See you in-game,

PLAYERUNKNOWN

Known Issues

 * Your character may get stuck in trees. Switch to crouch or prone to get unstuck
 * Certain areas in the military base do not have collision
 * There are unfinished buildings located in the military base
 * Some areas of cliffs will have collision issues
 * Smoke from smoke grenades may leak through walls occasionally
 * In some situations, ghosting will occur due to an issue with Unreal Engine’s Temporal AA
 * Positional audio from gunshots will be hard to hear when driving a vehicle
 * Sounds within the game can be muted for about 0.5 seconds periodically
 * Distant gunshot and door opening sounds may play local to your character on rare occasions
 * Character statistics may not be 100% accurate
 * The trench coat will clip through the floor of vehicles
 * Footstep sounds will not work on certain ground textures
 * Switching graphics options can sometimes cause the game to crash. If this happens, restart the game and the changed option should be applied
 * When coming back to the lobby after ending the game, the lobby interface will sometimes not appear correctly. End and restart the game to fix
 * Game statistics, rankings and replays are not created right after finishing a game as it takes time for the data to be processed

World

 * Composition of north-eastern ocean-side city has changed
 * Added farms and farmlands to areas surrounding several towns (WIP)
 * Added reservoir nearby the inland city
 * Added container yards to north-eastern ocean-side city and eastern coast the small island (WIP)
 * Added factory and prison camp
 * Added military base (WIP)
 * Global lighting was adjusted

Character

 * Added African American male/female character
 * Added Asian male/female character
 * Added 1 new hairstyle

Weapons

 * Added 4 melee weapons (tapanga machete, frying pan, crowbar & sickle)
 * Added Molotov cocktail
 * Added crossbow, bolts, and 2 types of crossbow attachments

Gunplay

 * Modified aiming system
 * New aim logic was applied for scope view
 * Mouse movement in scope view is now smoother
 * Per each weapon’s characteristics, sway following WASD movement and camera rotation were added. For example, since pistols and SMGs are lighter, there is less lag in camera rotation
 * Fixed jittering in scoped view
 * Added post-process effect that blurs areas other than aiming view while aiming or scoping
 * Added gun sway based on player stance and velocity. Sway is greater when walking or standing, and sway decreases when sitting. Sway is minimal in prone
 * Added camera hit reactions (shakes slightly) when receiving damage to show realistic hit reactions. (i.e., receiving damage outside of Blue Zone)
 * Changed bullet spawn mechanic in scoped view. From now on, it won’t be centred on screen but spawned based on gun barrel’s position and tilt angle
 * If camera direction is changed while holding weapon, gun barrel direction will smoothly follow camera with inertia

Items

 * Three boost items were added (energy drinks, painkillers, adrenalin syringe)
 * When Tommy Gun is dropped at a care package, there is a high probability that a 100 round drum mag is also spawned. Drum mags for the Tommy Gun can only be acquired at care packages
 * Added trench coat
 * Added face mask
 * Added item variation for accessories and skins
 * Added 3 types of Battle Royale clothing sets as rewards

Gameplay

 * Added Boost System
 * When Boost Item is used, the blue boost gauge on the right side of HP gauge goes up
 * Character movement speed increases when boost gauge is over 50% and gun aiming accuracy increases when gauge is over 80%
 * Added proximity chat
 * Added push-to-talk
 * Added vehicle refuelling system
 * Added fuel loot items
 * Characters are now able to swim in ocean.
 * Added oxygen gauge
 * If underwater for more than 50 seconds, health will drop drastically
 * Weapons cannot be used underwater
 * WASD for movement, C to dive underwater

Vehicle

 * Added Sedan
 * Added Speedboat
 * Added destructible tires to all wheeled vehicles

Audio

 * Added bullet crack/whizz sounds depending on distance from player (close = crack, far = whizz)
 * Added sound propagation for weapons (delay with distance)
 * Added simple indoor reverb and outdoor reflection effects
 * Added sound obstruction – world objects decrease sound volume and pitch, depending on degree of obstruction (WIP)
 * Reworked most gun sounds and their attenuation ranges

UI/UX

 * Added key binding customization options
 * Grenades can be switched using the 4 key
 * Bandage usage rule was changed
 * When using Bandage twice in a row, you were unable to use second bandage, but from now on, even when first bandage is still in use, second bandage can be applied, resetting bandage casting time
 * Added ability to open doors while moving
 * UI design was updated
 * Added seat information and tire status to vehicle UI element
 * Added mouse sensitivity control and invert option

Outgame

 * Added character statistics and ranking page
 * Added 2D replay function
 * Added Rewards System
 * After a round, BG points (WIP) are rewarded. BG points can be traded for clothing crates

Performance Tuning

 * RAM usage was improved. The HIGH graphic quality option now uses under 6GB