Update 0.51.538

Greetings, dear friends, and happy new year!

This update is much more important for us than even for those who follow the project very closely. So before the patch note we will tell you what is the value of this report.

The way the studio managed to solve financial difficulties (described in Report No. 37), allowed to recruit the team in 4Q 2020 to the level exceeding even the most glorious days of Atlant Games, and we will continue to increase the staff this year.

Well, from the middle of November, the newly hired team began to work on Reign of Guilds.

Despite the new team which chemistry still far from perfect, difficult tasks were set among the first:

creation of a completely new game world;
fixing more than 14 thousand errors and warnings on the server that cause excessive load and instability;
updating versions of the game engine and minimizing the number of custom solutions (i.e. replacing them with the introduced functionality of Epic Games).

This update is a confirmation of the successful completion of the assigned tasks, as well as the acceleration of development.

About reports

We have radically changed our approach to development, so the consequence will be the rejection of reports, since they often included content not yet added to the game, which was accumulating on the shelves, and updates were released extremely rarely.

Now, updates to the game on Steam will occur every 15 days, or earlier if necessary.

We will only talk about the progress in development that has already been added to the game, and that each of you will be able to see.

What to expect from this update?

We would like to warn you against high expectations.

Of course, during these 1.5 months we did not manage to make a new game or even fill the new world with content. Now it will be added gradually, but steadily.

Most importantly, ROG has become more optimized both on the client and on the server, devoid of the initial flaws that were incorporated into the architecture of the world and is regularly updated.

Well, let’s ROG’oms up, friends, and move on to the patch note!

Change list 0.51.538 from 01/07/2021

1 | Code:

1.1 General:

Engine version update from UE4.22 to 4.23;
(Added) Dynamic level in main menu;
(Changed) System of server time and clock on the client;
(Changed) Lighting system (no TrueSky);
(Optimized) Server operation, fixed bugs leading to memory leaks;
(Optimized) Hitreact and ragdoll now only on the client;
(Fixed) Falling and receiving damage when spawning on the map;
(Fixed) Loss of control when appearing on the map;
(Fixed) Checking the existence of physical material,their sounds and FX.

1.2 | Combat system (on a way to 2.5 version)

(Added) System of inflicting damage by spherical casts, depending on the direction of impact (now the direction of spherical casts repeats animations);
(Added) Different degrees of recoil when hitting and interrupting attacks when hitting objects, as well as the types of these objects;
(Added) Stance with 2P powder;
(Added) Powder types for use in 1 or 2 hands,and for use in 2 hands only;
(Added) Forbiddance on jumping / sprint while aiming a crossbow, and forbiddance on aiming while jumping / sprinting;
(Changed) After performing an alternative attack (RMB) with a 1P/ 2P weapon, while holding down RMB,the alternative attack is repeated;
(Fixed) Possibility to change the crossbow to another weapon at any time when reloading the weapon;
(Fixed) Interrupting crossbow reloading during sprint / jump / bounce.

1.3 | Player’s character mechanics:

Hotbar and Weapon sockets (version 2.0)
- (Added) On the character’s back there is 4 sockets (places) for weapons, for 1P weapons, 2P weapons, a shield and a crossbow;
- (Added) Weapon behind the back now is displayed depending on the order in which the player has it on the hotbar;
- (Added) Duration of equipping / unequipping / swap items in hands now depends on the type of item;
- (Changed) When dying / entering the game, the selected weapon is unequipping;
- (Changed) Increased time for equip / unequip / swap weapons;
- (Fixed) Quick first weapon equipping after enterring the game, no animations timer;
- (Fixed) 1P/ 2P axe weapon socket.

(Added) Impossibility of throwing items out of inventory upon death;
(Changed) Sprinting is allowed until 8% of the total energy remains, after that its prohibited until energy is restored to 15%;
(Added) Inability to press A and D keys while sprinting;
(Fixed) Dropping (visual) weapons and shields from hands on death;
(Added) Landing sounds for falling / jumping and bouncing;
(Added) In the upper right corner of the screen there is a teleport button (T) from anywhere;
(Added) A new system of HP and MP regeneration depending on the physical and magical level of the character and a variable recovery rate;
(Fixed) Fix the shadow of the crossbow at the beginning of the game;
(Fixed) AI spawner system, removed big lag at the time of AI spawning.

1.4 | AI:

(Added) The behavior of the guards depending on the weapon being carried (1P / 2P / Crossbow);
(Added) Mechanic - strafe around the target (movement around the target in the block and without);
(Added) Guards use same weapons and shields as the character;
(Added) Procedural hitreact and ragdoll (left only on the client);
(Added) Optimized HP / MP regeneration system;
(Added) Smooth playback of start and end animations;
(Added) Ability to use and alternate animations of simple animations that control movement;
(Optimized) AI characteristics structure;
(Optimized) Loot drop;
(Optimized) Spawner system;
(Fixed) HP trigger.

1.5 | Trade with vendor:

(Added) Information about the maximum transaction amount;
(Added) Notifications about the impossibility of making a sale / purchase and the item that caused this excess;
(Changed) Trade window increased;
(Changed) The need to re-click on the checkmark to confirm the selection;
(Fixed) When moving away from the vendor, the trade window is closing.

2 | Models and Animations:

2.1 | Environment:

(Added) New terrain material;
(Added) New trees,vegetation,stones etc;
(Added) New houses (open type) for villages;
(Changed) LODs material and textures for palisades and wooden towers.

2.2 | Character:

(Added) Animations for the “Two-handed powder” stance.

2.3 | NPC:

(Added) Guards (light armor) and animations for them;
(Added) Lepers and animations for them.

3 | Level Design:

3.1 | New Locations:

New world (continent) one common in 4 parts of the world.
Harbour Village (starting location);
Abandoned castle with 2 forts;
Settlement of the Lepers (west of Harbour in the forest across the lake)

3.2 | Filing and updating locations:

(Harbour) Guards,vendor,rodents;
(Settlement of Lepers) NPC.

3.3 | World optimization:

LODs for landscape;
New LOD method for vegetation.

4 | UI:

(Added) Guild window;
(Added) Stack crushing window;
(Added) New window underlays;
(Added) Radial menu icons;
(Changed) Trade window.