Flying Squirrel Entertainment

Developer's Corner => News & Announcements => Topic started by: Olafson on November 10, 2018, 07:17:53 pm

Title: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 10, 2018, 07:17:53 pm
Gameplay Part 2/4
The American Civil War was primarily fought with rifled muskets and saw the introduction of repeating rifles, revolvers and breech loaders. As such we have decided that it is time to program a more advanced shooting system to really showcase the main focuses of this game. In its core the system is still the same, the player aims, fires his gun and he can not move when reloading. In action though, there will be a lot more going on than simply pointing and shooting!

Shooting, Ammunition and Bullet System
With the introduction of repeating rifles and revolvers, the player now has to hold the right mouse button to aim and fire by tapping the left. Holding down the left mouse button while aiming will empty the magazine of the players revolver or repeater as quickly as possible, though of course, more careful shooting is recommended.
Reloading is initiated by pressing "R" which makes it possible for the player to aim when not loaded. Though you might be disappointed if you have not been keeping track of number of shots fired... Reloading is done in stages, so if a player cancels a reload that is half way done, he does not have to start all over again. Revolvers can be reloaded shot by shot.

Originally we intended to have the player go to "ready" before going to aim, however that made the game feel too unresponsive. As such we decided to speed up the animation by cutting out the 2nd movement of "ready". The player is now able to aim immediately after the first movement, starting to look down the barrel of their gun as they pull back the hammer. We have also added the ability to slightly shift your aim to the left or right by pressing Q and E. Often this is achieved by moving the player's upper-body from side to side, we wanted to do something a little different. We are doing a step to the right or to the left instead, this is accurate to the period and fits the historical drill manuals. It will not only make it possible to shoot around corners, but will also make it a lot easier to fire in two ranks or to oblique fire. Additionally we have added a check for collisions, so if a player is standing to close to an object, he will not be able to aim and has to move back before trying to line up another shot.

https://youtu.be/Ss3X040iQ8U

Players can choose to aim in third person or to aim down the iron sights. We have coded a reticle that is no longer in the center of the screen, but actually tracks where the player is aiming his gun. It will react to objects within a few meters distance of the player, for example it would let the player know if they are aiming at a wall in front of him. This will make it easier to identify where you are aiming in third person. The reticle will also perfectly match the iron sights, so aiming in third person and in first person is finally interchangeable and neither third nor first person aiming will have a mechanical advantage over the other. Bayonets will affect the "aiming sway" of the player, for example a gun with a bayonet fixed will sway and shake more than one without. Walking while aiming will make the gun sway even more, making accurate shots practically impossible. We plan to modify the aiming sway the more/less stamina a player has available, but more about that in a future blog...

https://youtu.be/GsOVMhWKAGc

Bullets no longer leave the gun at random angles like some horribly inaccurate laser rifle as you might have experienced in earlier games of this period. Your shot will now fly in accordance with an advanced ballistics system we have been working on, which realistically simulates real life bullet physics. Artillery and small arms will also both use the same system. In real life there is no difference between a smoothbore cannon and a smoothbore musket, they both fire a ball of lead at high speeds and are both subject to the same laws of physics, a cannon can simply haul more lead through the air at once.

Each weapon has unique settings for muzzle velocity and twist rate. A muzzle velocity deviation setting can be used to represent larger or smaller touch holes through which pressure can escape and make the gun less reliable (think flintlocks, for example). There is a random firing delay, that can be changed for each gun. Flintlocks will have a significantly longer delay than percussion rifles. Each gun also has a unique range of loadable ammo. With over 100 unique weapons currently implemented in the game, each with their own gameplay, it will take some time for the player to get known to all of them.

(https://www.fsegames.eu/images/dev31screen1.png)

In the game the player will be able to choose what ammo he wants to load and pick up different types of ammo. Ammo will be dropped in packs or in single cartridges, just like they were issued back in the day. There are ammo crates which can be used to restock ammo, these ammo crates can be transported around and will be very useful for regiments that are in longer firefights.

(https://www.fsegames.eu/images/dev31screen2.png)

In addition to that, ammo has a muzzle velocity modifier to represent quality of the ammunition. High quality ammunition does not modify the muzzle velocity, but low quality ammunition might lower it randomly and make the rifle less reliable. Each type of ammunition refers to a projectile, this is the bullet that leaves the barrel when fired. Bullets all have proper graphics and will visibly (to the more keen eyed amongst you) fly through the air in the game. Projectiles have many variables which are modeled by our ballistics system, such as drag coefficient, size and weight.

(https://www.fsegames.eu/images/dev31screen3.png)

When a projectile is fired, it spawns at the tip of the barrel and the system then calculates a trajectory, using the above settings as a base. It will also look for the local humidity, temperature, air density, gravity, wind direction and wind strength plus some other factors. Taking all of this into account, our system creates a fairly realistic bullet trajectory. The unique settings on each gun mean that all of them will perform differently, guns with a higher twist rate will be more accurate than guns with a lower twist rate. Smoothbore guns are therefore much less accurate on long ranges than rifles, but both smoothbore and rifled guns will still be deadly accurate on short distances.

(https://www.fsegames.eu/images/accuracyscreenshotscombined.png)

As you can see on the screenshots of our testing range above, accuracy of guns gets increasingly worse the further away the target is. Accurate long range shots become impossible with smoothbores, but rifles also loose a lot of their accuracy. All of the above is without any aiming sway, with that added into the mix, the player will quickly notice that accurately shooting long distances will require much more skill, experience and also a little bit of luck. Click on the image above to see a higher resolution copy of it.

Additionally, upon impact with an object, the system checks whether the bullet will get stuck in, ricochet off, or pass through the object. Should it be able to pass through or ricochet, the system will calculate its new trajectory and velocity and keep going. Passing through and ricocheting is heavily Dependant on the impact angle and force. Larger calibers will have a much easier time passing through objects than smaller ones (Assuming they are traveling with the same velocity). Damage delivered to players or objects is equal to the velocity lost upon impact, multiplied by the size and weight of the projectile.

https://youtu.be/EJS-f5SKPZI


Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Aztir on November 10, 2018, 07:23:26 pm
Keep it up !
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Mark on November 10, 2018, 07:31:02 pm
Quote
Bullets no longer leave the gun at random angles like some horribly inaccurate laser rifle as you might have experienced in earlier games of this period.
Dayummm son!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Savolainen5 on November 10, 2018, 08:52:59 pm
Looks cool! Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: GenCorcoran on November 10, 2018, 09:02:52 pm
I have one question, I've been away from this forum and game for a while,  I played "that other ACW online FPS" and wonder if BCF will be more user friendly as I'd like to call it, with lower graphical requirements so I don't have to buy a new computer, that other game was soooo slow, yes graphics were good but I'd rather play a smooth, fast and fun ACW game with not the best graphics available. If so then I'm in and will support this game.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Ted on November 10, 2018, 09:13:26 pm
Good boy, this looks really promising and actually quite polished. I like the feeling of shooting by the looks of it already, the whole movement looks smooth and the shot itself as frightening as it should be, especially with the revolver. One can really see and probably feel the power that is unleashed by pulling the trigger, much better than in many other shooters where it just doesnt get the edge. It's quite obvious that you actually know out of own experience what you're trying to achieve and I think that you're on a great way of getting to that goal. Bravo to you!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 10, 2018, 09:19:28 pm
I have one question, I've been away from this forum and game for a while,  I played "that other ACW online FPS" and wonder if BCF will be more user friendly as I'd like to call it, with lower graphical requirements so I don't have to buy a new computer, that other game was soooo slow, yes graphics were good but I'd rather play a smooth, fast and fun ACW game with not the best graphics available. If so then I'm in and will support this game.

We are trying to get the game going on older/worse machines, but tbh. we can not promise wonders. We are dealing with Unity Engine here, which is a bitch to get working right...
That being said, we have not really tested on older machines yet as our machines are usually above average-average. That's why we will need testers soon, so that we can test it more carefully. We are offering the player to change ANY settings that we can expose so hopefully that will help in getting the game both run and look as you personally like it.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Knightmare on November 10, 2018, 09:25:02 pm
tl:dr reload with r
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: yecgga on November 10, 2018, 09:26:59 pm
Make it reload with lmb pls, k thx
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: William on November 10, 2018, 09:33:40 pm
I think FSE just made a 2000% increase in their blog posts within the span of a month.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 10, 2018, 09:35:29 pm
Make it reload with lmb pls, k thx

That won't work, as in firing mode the left mouse button is reserved to firing now. Just like right mouse button is reserved to aiming. That's the reason you can now dryfire. It also makes using repeaters easier and more straightforward.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: GenCorcoran on November 10, 2018, 09:38:17 pm
I have one question, I've been away from this forum and game for a while,  I played "that other ACW online FPS" and wonder if BCF will be more user friendly as I'd like to call it, with lower graphical requirements so I don't have to buy a new computer, that other game was soooo slow, yes graphics were good but I'd rather play a smooth, fast and fun ACW game with not the best graphics available. If so then I'm in and will support this game.

We are trying to get the game going on older/worse machines, but tbh. we can not promise wonders. We are dealing with Unity Engine here, which is a bitch to get working right...
That being said, we have not really tested on older machines yet as our machines are usually above average-average. That's why we will need testers soon, so that we can test it more carefully. We are offering the player to change ANY settings that we can expose so hopefully that will help in getting the game both run and look as you personally like it.

Thank you for the quick reply, I don't have an old machine but I was so disappointed with "that other game", the graphical engine was so heavy everything felt like it was in slow motion even with my relatively new machine and on lower settings. Also I love that you're planning out not just one battle but many.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: John Price on November 10, 2018, 09:44:24 pm
So how frequent are these blogs going to be?

Quite honestly anyone I have spoken to agree that the last one should really have just been an add on to one like this.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 10, 2018, 09:49:07 pm
We will post a bunch more of these and after that we should have covered most of the important stuff that is in the game at the moment. We will then instead go over to posting a blog every week or every 2nd week (not yet been decided) about our most recent progress and what we have done in our twice weekly meetings/tests. Those blogs won't necessarily be long or very interesting, but they will keep everyone up to date about what is going on.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: |Viper| on November 10, 2018, 09:57:39 pm
Cool.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Duke Of LongTree on November 10, 2018, 09:57:58 pm
nice thanks for the info
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: John Price on November 10, 2018, 09:58:43 pm
Sounds good. I would say though don't overpost them. We are all eager to see what you have in store for us but I don't want it to be like Bannerlords ones where they show off a model of a fucking sword sheath for 8 paragraphs. Don't want to show all the goods straight away either!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: William on November 10, 2018, 10:02:48 pm
I'll be working on creating my first 'BCoF Trickshot Montage' where I'll showcase all my kills that I bounce off walls and the ground.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Duuring on November 10, 2018, 10:11:33 pm
The bounce shots are epic.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Lawrence on November 11, 2018, 12:02:09 am
Keep up the great work guys. Game looks beautiful.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Physic58 on November 11, 2018, 12:32:20 am
Will donators automatically get access to testing?
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Dazzer on November 11, 2018, 12:46:02 am
okay this is epic
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 11, 2018, 12:59:16 am
Will donators automatically get access to testing?

They will be considered first.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Andrew on November 11, 2018, 01:20:12 am
Looking great guys, thanks for the update!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: yecgga on November 11, 2018, 01:33:29 am
Add Ottoman Empire and I'll buy it.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Syncmaster667 on November 11, 2018, 01:50:52 am
Big fan of the little sounds you can hear when you attempt to shoot the gun without any ammo in, can just imagen myself panicking trying to find and shoot a fun with ammo and constantly hearing that sound :D Like that reloading is done it stages too, so you can quickly run then finish where you left off (always bugged me having to start from the beginning if i had to run in NW xD). This is really a step up for shooting, with the everything being taken into effect, absoulty love it. Can finally practice shooting at my trainings :D

Just some little questions :D
Keep the good work up lads :D
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: MadWolf on November 11, 2018, 01:52:59 am
Nice work! Keep it up.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 11, 2018, 03:20:50 am
Big fan of the little sounds you can hear when you attempt to shoot the gun without any ammo in, can just imagen myself panicking trying to find and shoot a fun with ammo and constantly hearing that sound :D Like that reloading is done it stages too, so you can quickly run then finish where you left off (always bugged me having to start from the beginning if i had to run in NW xD). This is really a step up for shooting, with the everything being taken into effect, absoulty love it. Can finally practice shooting at my trainings :D

Just some little questions :D
  • You said that moving while aiming or having your bayonet attached will effect your weapon sway, if you do both at the same time will this have an increased effect or will it be just the same as moving without a bayonet attached?
  • Will we be able to see the stats for each weapon at anypoint so we can decide which we would like to use when a choice is given or will we simply have to do some personal tests? (either works for me :D)
  • You said you cant move while reloading, but is there any weapons that allow you to do this?

Keep the good work up lads :D

1.) Good point, did not think about that myself. Right now moving while aiming has the same effect regardless of the bayonet, but it should be very easy to fix that. Thanks for bringing this up.
2.) Well, they use real world "stats" so if you just look up the twistrate and muzzlevelocity of the gun and the drag coef, weight and size of the projectile you can get a rough picture of how it will perform.
3.) Not right now and I personally can not think of any weapon we should allow this.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: |Viper| on November 11, 2018, 05:58:25 am
When's the release date?
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Windflower on November 11, 2018, 06:18:02 am
/sub post

nice lil half step animation
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Skyfall on November 11, 2018, 11:25:08 am
Nice graphics for a 2012 game!!!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: goodall on November 11, 2018, 03:22:26 pm
Nice graphics for a 2012 game!!!

OOF
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Furrnox on November 11, 2018, 03:53:12 pm
Cool.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Lawrence on November 11, 2018, 06:21:06 pm
Cool.
Very
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: HaroldW on November 11, 2018, 06:53:45 pm
Nice graphics for a 2012 game!!!

Banned! .
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 11, 2018, 07:33:37 pm
WHYYY FURRNOX WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY???

What have I ever done to you :(
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Duke Of LongTree on November 11, 2018, 07:59:29 pm
lol
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Dius on November 11, 2018, 08:07:20 pm
Release date is in the part 4/4 ?  ???

Good job guys   :D
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Blue2volf on November 12, 2018, 12:38:59 am
Keep updates coming you glorious bastards !
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: 72ndPA on November 12, 2018, 02:10:36 am
I like it looks cool guys!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Erak on November 12, 2018, 01:36:02 pm
After 5 years 1 days I'm registered, I am really feeling positive about this game. Your work looks polished and worked carefully to protect what you created in the last years, your view of quality.

Thank you for your new blog and be sure to share us new news.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 12, 2018, 11:41:59 pm
Will do.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: AlekoTheGreek on November 14, 2018, 08:17:51 am
Tbh. I think a game can be aesthetically satisfying without having immensely detailed graphics.

On top of that, in my eyes at least, most modern game graphics with arguably very extreme detail falll within the  Uncanny Valley (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley) and fail to deliver an aesthetically pleasing result.

You guys Keep up the work and time will be the only judge :)
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: danangleland on November 14, 2018, 04:42:12 pm
Nice to see these new blogs, and I like what I'm seeing and hearing about the shooting mechanics.  :)
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: 72ndPA on November 14, 2018, 06:41:41 pm
Nice to see these new blogs, and I like what I'm seeing and hearing about the shooting mechanics.  :)
Yea man it looks good  8)
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Lawrence on November 15, 2018, 02:26:06 am
Nice to see these new blogs, and I like what I'm seeing and hearing about the shooting mechanics.  :)
Yea man it looks good  8)
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: shchi on November 15, 2018, 06:59:22 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9Ojzt9FU4

who made dis
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on November 15, 2018, 08:20:26 pm
Sethja 8.

Its pretty gud.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Furrnox on November 15, 2018, 09:20:30 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeimE8Wz6e4
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: mmveteran on November 16, 2018, 01:30:24 am
see fse
you killed your target audience through years of silence and your left with a few unemployed austistic morons posting unfunny youtube memes
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Lawrence on November 16, 2018, 03:51:44 am
see fse
you killed your target audience through years of silence and your left with a few unemployed austistic morons posting unfunny youtube memes
Hey there are still some non-autistic members out here  ;)
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Earth Bby on November 16, 2018, 02:46:59 pm
see fse
you killed your target audience through years of silence and your left with a few unemployed austistic morons posting unfunny youtube memes

without FSE there wouldn't even be a target audience muh Nap wars, you're on their forums complaining

Marks shilling FSE reeee

The games that came out before this that lowered the bar for what a linebattle game should be are to blame. The new "target audience" are really naive and wont branch out.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: HaroldW on November 16, 2018, 06:05:34 pm
see fse
you killed your target audience through years of silence and your left with a few unemployed austistic morons posting unfunny youtube memes

without FSE there wouldn't even be a target audience muh Nap wars, you're on their forums complaining

Marks shilling FSE reeee

The games that came out before this that lowered the bar for what a linebattle game should be are to blame. The new "target audience" are really naive and wont branch out.

^Marks pandering to the NEET market
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: SirTeabiscuits on November 17, 2018, 04:48:07 pm
Noice. Looks very nice and optimised, thanks for the blog!
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Melerion on January 12, 2019, 05:37:34 pm
Quote
Originally we intended to have the player go to "ready" before going to aim, however that made the game feel too unresponsive.

Nice to have a game that is going to feel more responsive. But wasn't it possible to do both? Holding the mouse button and you'll aim immediately and if you do one simple mouse click you'll going to "Ready". Just a curious question and idea.

I'm really excited to see more Blogs! :)

I am thinking right now about buying the Alpha.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Olafson on January 12, 2019, 08:54:33 pm
I have had the exact same idea and wanted to see it implemented, but we ran into a unity problem regarding this. Apparently there is no difference between holding a mouse button and just tapping it once. As such we would not be able to tell what the player is doing... It sucks, because I would love to see a make ready animation that you can stay in for longer than just the first movement.
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Melerion on January 12, 2019, 11:56:46 pm
I have had the exact same idea and wanted to see it implemented, but we ran into a unity problem regarding this. Apparently there is no difference between holding a mouse button and just tapping it once. As such we would not be able to tell what the player is doing... It sucks, because I would love to see a make ready animation that you can stay in for longer than just the first movement.

Don't give up! I am sure you can handle that! It hasn't to be the "top priority" but it's a must-have or just a nice feature for more authenticity. :D
Title: Re: Developer Blog 31 - Battle Cry of Freedom Part2
Post by: Aztir on January 13, 2019, 12:14:07 pm
have it play if you hold Ctrl + left click or something
when you let go of Ctrl you start pointing.