Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.5.0 beta

21 DECEMBER 2016

A number of issues have impacted online multiplayer gameplay in the last 2-3 days, the following paragraph summarises the issues with information on what work has been done to address the issues until full solutions are tested and published summarised in the next paragraph.

The volume of player hosted servers trying to register with the master server since the server tool was approved on 23 December 2016 has been impacting the performance of the Master Server. A significant percentage of these registered servers that were shown in the server list did not have port forwarding configured (preventing them from being joined by other players).

To address these issues we have temporarily stopped player hosted servers from registering as public servers (players can still connect to player hosted servers with the Direct Connection option in the online menu).

For discussion and support for the Gang Beasts Server Tool please use the forum at http://steamcommunity.com/app/497110/discussions/

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.5.0 beta

Since the last Steam Early Access post was published at the start of December we’ve been working with Coatsink to test significant modifications and fixes to the character, costume, game mode and networking systems (the 0.5.0 build replaces the 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 Steam Early Access builds).

Servers will be intermittently unavailable for the next hour as servers are modified (the 0.5.0 build is needed to play online as pre-0.5.0 builds are not supported by the modified server scheme)

Thank you to everyone that nominated Gang Beasts for the “Better With Friends” Steam Award.

Online / Servers

Online multiplayer support in Gang Beasts has had numerous iterations since the online beta started in May and is now sufficiently stable and scalable to release in the default Early Access builds on Steam.

Currently the Gang Beasts online multiplayer supports the following server geographies:

• US East (N.Virginia)
• US West (N. California)
• EU (Ireland)
• Asia Pacific (Sydney)
• EU (Frankfurt)
• South America (São Paulo)
• Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
• Asia Pacific (Singapore)
• Asia Pacific (Seoul)
• India (Mumbai)

following the publishing of the 0.5.0 beta build we plan to add support for servers in US East (Ohio), and will then assess supporting server geographies in Canada (Montreal), China (Ningxia), China (Beijing), UK (London), and France (Paris) as and when Amazon Web Services, the server hosting solution we lease server capacity from, make these server geographies available.

For reference latency will be lower if you are can connect to servers close to your location (you can use the server filter to show proximate servers), if there are no servers in close proximity to your location please email support@boneloaf.co with information on your location. If you are playing from a location that is not close to the currently supported servers please test the dedicated server tool (published with this post) as a temporary solution until the server infrastructure is expanded to support your locality (the server tool should be available through the Steam tools section and support Windows and Linux currently, please read the readme.txt file distributed with the build for more information on the server tool).

The list of modifications and fixes made to the online and server implementation in the 0.5.0 beta build are:

• added support for modifying the camera Y axis with the single player camera (mapped to left and right D-pad and left and right cursors keys by default)
• added an lobby to invite friends to before connecting to a server
• added support for playing with multiple local players online
• added online support for the blimp, billboard, buoy, and container stages
• added PTT VoIP (Push-to-talk Voice over Internet Protocol) support *
• fixed an issue that could make input mappings fail online
• fixed an issue that made servers ignore input held at round start (held inputs now trigger on round start)
• fixed an input issue with servers modified the scheme for storing and retrieving servers in the central server and refactored some backend server systems
• overhauled the master server scheme (to improve stability and implement support for polyinstancing)

*the default mapping for PTT VoIP is right trigger on game controllers and the “C” key on keyboards Please note the 0.5.0 build will replace the current builds on both the default and unstable branches

Please note the 0.1.0 Dedicated Server Tool will only have support for Windows and Linux operating systems initially (please read the readme.txt file distributed with the tool for more information

Local

Local multiplayer support in Gang Beasts has seen a number of improvements and fixes including, an provisional support for in game camera modification (single player only), support for playing online with multiple local players, provisional support for debug spawning (we plan to expand debug spawning support to form the template for sandbox modes in later builds), and a basic version of the revised waves game mode (currently limited to the grind stage).

The list of modifications and fixes made to the local game in the 0.5.0 beta build are:

• added modified scenes and geometry for blimp, billboard, buoy, subway, vents*, and containers
• added provisional support for single player camera adjustments (with D-pad or cursor keys)
• added support for playing with multiple local players online exposed the debug spawning system in local (currently does not have support player-controlled characters and some nav meshes are missing)
• fixed an issue in local game modes (with more than 4 players) giving false server disconnection errors
• fixed an issue that could make playing a local game with more than 4 players fail
• setup the waves game mode for local games (currently only the grind stage with default grey AI is available for the waves game mode)

*the name of the fans stage has been modified to vents (the original name for the fans stage) debug spawning is disabled for online for official servers

Stages

We are still working to finish modified geometry for stages but are close to having final geometry on most stages (excluding colour grading and post effects), the list of stages modified for the 0.5.0 build are:

• blimp (optimisations, blimp geometry and colouring, beef city geometry, fog sphere)
• billboard (optimisations, billboard and scene geometry, beef city geometry, fog sphere)
• buoy (optimisations, water implementation, beef city geometry, fog sphere)
• chutes (optimisations, scene geometry, escalation geometry)
• containers (optimisations, container geometry, beef city geometry, fog sphere)
• elevators (optimisations, provisional glass break particle system)
• incinerator (optimisations, scene geometry, fire particles)
• subway (optimisations, scene geometry)
• vents (optimisations, scene geometry)

Menu / UI / messaging

We’re still working to standardise the game menus, UI, and messaging to remove annoyances and make key content more accessible, the 0.5.0 beta build fixes a number of issues with game menus and a modified score screen (with star shaped balloons for points), the key modification to menus, UI, and messaging:

• added support for saving menu and character costume settings
• added support for storing some settings (last character selection and other game settings)
• fixed an issue with the Steam overlay triggering the in-game pause menu
• fixed an issues that stoped local game modes from pausing when the pause menu is invoked
• modified input mapping screen to show keyboard and game controller mappings concurrently
• modified online menu UI to work with the new lobby system
• modified server browser to show more server entries per screen
• modified the score screen shown at the end of each round to prioritise score information (we are working on solutions to show other key information and metrics contextually in game)
• modified the temporary main menu background to improve legibility
• modified the loading and interstitial screens to only show a new stage is loading
• modified when loading and interstitial screens show should now only appear when a new level is loaded

Character

Character movement, force parameters, concussion system, and targeting hierarchies have been modified to improve game play and the character customisation system has been exposed for testing, the full list of modifications to the character and character costume systems are:

added a grab delay to the jump implementation to stop characters from targeting posterior objects and enemies when jumping added the costume customisation system **

• fixed a field of view issue that stopped elbows from triggering
• fixed a targeting issue to make characters prioritise anterior grab targets (over posterior grab targets)
• fixed an issue in the character hierarchy that triggered inconsistent leg behaviour
• fixed an issue that made characters slide vertically on walls when grip fails
• fixed an issue that made kicking forces and movement inconsistent
• fixed an issue where melee attacks would apply forces incorrectly (should be less prone to physics explosions)
• fixed an issue that limited grip parameters when climbing from a jump state
• modified and optimised character movement forces and timings
• modified colliders on character feet for stability
• modified concussion parameters (to reduce length for long concussions)
• modified damage parameters for body parts to make them take more damage to the chest, waist, hips, arms, and legs on collisions (head, stomach, crotch, hands and feet parameters have not been modified)
• modified drag forces on characters (to make lifting and throwing characters less difficult)
• modified force parameters for climbing to make climbing less difficult (some surfaces will still be difficult to climb until grab targets are fully populated to all stages)
• modified force scaling in damage calculations (to inflict more violence than other collisions)
• modified force parameters for punches, head-butts, and kicks to standardise character movement
• modified front and rear sliding to make characters elevate their legs immediately before sliding modified kick parameters to limit spamming
• modified targeting hierarchies to contextually prioritise anterior targets when jumping or falling
• modified the character breathing simulation to improve character stability
• modified the character’s vertical field of view (to reduce the frequency that characters target objects below their feet)
• modified the climbing implementation to contextually offset targeting per arm optimised the object targeting system for stability and performance restored contextual elbowing (for contexts where enemies are immediately behind the character)

** saved costume customisations could be lost or corrupted on subsequent updates while the system is in development

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the "unstable" branch on Steam right-click on the "Gang Beasts" game name on the Steam library page and select "Properties" from the window that opens, from this window select the "BETAS" tab and then the "unstable" option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled "Select the beta you would like to opt into:". To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select "NONE- Opt out of all beta programs" from the same menu.

For reference switching between unstable and stable branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Please note the 0.5.0 build replaces the 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 Steam Early Access builds, moving between the default and “unstable” builds on Steam will both download the 0.5.0 build until the “unstable” build is updated to 0.5.1

Please post issues you identify with the 0.5.0 build in the comments for the pinned post at http://steamcommunity.com/app/285900/discussions/0/152392549356421433/

Information on the Gang Beasts 0.5.0 “unstable” build

3 DECEMBER 2016

Since the 0.4.4 build was published at the end of September we have been working closely with partners to iterate on the character, game mode, and networking systems for Gang Beasts and are now testing release builds for the Gang Beasts 0.5.0 beta.

We plan to publish the 0.5.0 beta when testing ends, this should be in December but we can't set a specific date in December currently (as critical issues could still be found in testing).

To force server compatibility we need to publish the 0.5.0 build concurrently with the Gang Beasts Dedicated Server tool and significant updates to servers.

Please note the 0.5.0 build will replace the 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 Steam Early Access builds and game servers will be intermittently unavailable for an hour following the release of the 0.5.0 build (as servers are modified and restarted)

Please note the Dedicated Server Tool will only support Windows operating systems initially

Other Information

Currently we're working with Coatsink and SuperGenius to fix some stability issues with character costume parts and part combinations, other work has also been done to optimise the audio system, fix missing SFX, music and other audio, and fix issues with the character system. We have also been working to standardise game menus and in game messaging.

We have also been working with Coatsink to test Steam achievements and localisations, and to make the online multiplayer more stable and accessible (including key work on server automation, polyinstancing, local and online lobbies, VoIP, and support for concurrent local and online multiplayer game sessions).

We will make a post with specific information on modifications and content in the 0.5.0 beta build (including which stages have online multiplayer support) when the build is published later this month.

Costumes

The character costume system has been populated with the 179 costume parts (109 examples are shown in the image) made for the game to date, it is still missing some older costumes that need geometry modifying to make them compatible with the new costume system.

Please note some costume parts have been made specifically for enemy AI gangs (we plan to make these parts unlock-able in AI game modes)

VR

We have setup a Steam sub-forum named Oculus Keys for Gang Beasts Early Access owners to request Oculus keys for Gang Beasts.

Support for VIVE, Oculus, and PSVR head mounted displays is planned but only Oculus Rift support has been published to date (Oculus support is at a later stage as Oculus made extensive technical and hardware support available for implementing and testing VR support).

Online Support on Steam Early Access

Online gameplay in Gang Beasts is only supported in the "unstable" alpha builds on Steam Early Access, online support will be added to the default Steam builds when the 0.5.0 build is released later this month.

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the "unstable" branch on Steam right-click on the "Gang Beasts" game name on the Steam library page and select "Properties" from the window that opens, from this window select the "BETAS" tab and then the "unstable" option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled "Select the beta you would like to opt into:". To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select "NONE- Opt out of all beta programs" from the same menu.

For reference switching between unstable and stable branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.4.4 “unstable” build

22 SEPTEMBER 2016

The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.4 "unstable" alpha build are:

• added infrastructure for VOIP to be enabled in a coming build (when initial testing on the the push to talk system has finished)
• added the framework for supporting additional multiplayer game modes (some additional work is needed before the first examples of other game modes can be made available for play testing)
• added server modifications to support cross play between Steam Early Access and Oculus Early Access builds
• added messaging to the root menu (for contexts when no connection to the central server can be established)
• fixed an issue with the quick join setting that could potentially make multiple connections to a server (making the loading / interstitial screens hang)
• modified the quick join setting to address an issue where scenes could load with missing geometry Online Support on Steam Early Access

Online gameplay in Gang Beasts is currently supported in the "unstable" alpha builds on Steam Early Access (online support will be added to the default Steam builds when the local multiplayer versions of the 'buoy' and 'fans' stages have been restored to the game).

Character Movement and Concussion Times

There are currently a number of discrepancies / issues that make the recent "unstable" builds differently with older builds, we will be working to standardise the control scheme and concussion system in the "unstable" builds soon when online support is added to the default Early Access builds.

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu.

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.4.3 “unstable” build

7 SEPTEMBER 2016

The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.3 "unstable" alpha build are:

• baked lighting in the ‘elevators’ stage
• fixed a gaze targeting issue on the character select screen
• modified Steam IDs to only show when triggered (with the input mapped to show Steam IDs)
• modified the scrolling implementation in the server browser screen
• temporarily added a round timeout to end rounds at 5 minutes (we plan to review the timeout implementation / length when stage escalations are fully implemented)
• temporarily modified the default game logic to a single win per stage (to reduce spectating), we plan to support the previous logic and modified logic concurrently in a coming build

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build release with this post, the next stable release will be published soon (when the 'buoy' and 'fans' stages have been restored to the default local game mode).

Online Support on Steam Early Access

Online gameplay in Gang Beasts is currently supported in the "unstable" alpha builds on Steam Early Access (support for online gameplay in the default Gang Beasts Early Access builds is scheduled for a later stage of development).

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu.

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.4.2 “unstable” build

25 AUGUST 2016

The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.2 "unstable" alpha build are:

• added a countdown timer to the local multiplayer character select screen to support canceling the session if other players did not submit to join the session (press the input mapped for ’duck/crawl’ to stop the countdown)
• added geography filters for new servers in Frankfurt (EU), São Paulo (South America), Tokyo (Asia Pacific), Singapore (Asia Pacific), Seoul (Asia Pacific), and Mumbai (India)
• modified geometry for 'gondola' for stage
• modified Steam ID labels to use the selected character colour
• modified the default online game mode to not despawn the characters of players that leave the server (neglected characters will idle but not decrement / increment score metrics if removed from the stage by other players)
• modified the game camera to frame the last player on stage end
• modified the input mapping screen to support the mapping of single inputs
• modified the input reference screens with revised information
• modified train tracks on ‘subway’ stage to render in front of the Steam ID labels
• removed ‘Draw’ messaging on stage end for single player local games
• removed background plane and Steam Avatars from Steam ID labels
• removed debug input for immediately loading the next stage in the current sequence (in the current default game mode)
• restored 8 player support for the current default local games mode (
• restored menu setting to enable / disable Xinput support
• restored the ‘containers’ and ‘chute’ stages for the current default local game mode
• temporarily disabled invoking the input mapping screen from the in game menu

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build release with this post, the next stable release will be published when the 'buoy' and 'fans' stages have been restored to the default local game mode.

Online Support on Steam Early Access

Online gameplay in Gang Beasts is currently supported in the "unstable" alpha builds on Steam Early Access (support for online gameplay in the default Gang Beasts Early Access builds is scheduled for a later stage of development).

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu.

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.4.1 “unstable” build

5 AUGUST 2016

• The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.1 "unstable" alpha build are:
• fixed Yogscast Charity DLC costumes
• fixed an issue with characters not spawning randomly
• fixed an issue with the placeholder loading screen not dismissing when joining a game as a spectator
• modified the default game mode to 3 round wins (to win the stage)
• modified the game architecture to improve stability
• modified the placeholder loading screen to show the keyboard input reference if mouse inputs are used to start the game
• modified the spectating system to spectate until the the current stage ends (spectating players join the game when the current stage ends)
• modified the master server to prepare support for additional server geographies (in Asia Pacific, Europe, India, and South America)

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build release with this post (the next stable release will be published when more optimisations and fixes have been made to the 0.4.x builds).

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu.

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Information on the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build and the end of the online beta

29 JULY 2016

For the last month we have been working with Coatsink to implement online support in the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build (published with this post). The information in this post summarise a number of the key differences between the 0.3.4 'unstable' and the 0.4.0 'unstable' builds.

The structure of the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build has been significantly modified from the previous 0.3.4 'unstable' alpha build to include placeholder information screens and other planned content and some content is temporarily disabled, specifically the debug spawning commands, the ‘waves’ game mode, and the 'buoy', ‘chute’, ’containers’, and ’fans’ stages (this content needs additional work before it is restored).

In the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build there are 4 online stages playable and 12 local stages, the online stages are:

• grind
• ring
• trucks
• subway

the local stages are:

• billboards
• blimp
• elevators
• girders
• gondola
• grind
• incinerator
• ring
• subway
• towers
• trucks
• wheel

The 'buoy', ‘chute’, ’containers’, and ’fans’ stages and the ‘waves’ game mode will be restored to ‘unstable’ builds in a coming build.

Downloading 'unstable' builds The instructions for updating from 0.3.1, 0.3.2, 0.3.3, and 0.3.4 builds to the 0.4.0. 'unstable' alpha build are:

• right-click on the Gang Beasts game name on the Steam library page
• select “Properties” from the window that opens from the Properties window select the “BETAS” tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu

To revert to the default Early Access branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same dropdown menu.

The rest of this post is a series of paragraphs with current information and summaries on what progress has been made to date on content for the game.

Default game mode The default game mode in the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha has modified win logic for the default game mode (winning scenarios is currently set to 3 wins to test stage cycling) to let player play in all rounds, the old game logic will be restored in a coming build.

0.3.4 and 0.3.1 The 0.3.4 ‘unstable’ alpha build has replaced the previous default 0.3.1 alpha build, please move from the ‘unstable’ to the default branches to continue playing with the debug spawning commands, the ‘waves’ game mode, and the ‘chute’, ’containers’, and ’fans’ stages until this content can be restored to the ‘unstable’ branch.

Online Beta The signup process for the online beta ended at the start of July, the online beta itself is scheduled to end and be removed from Steam on Friday 5 August 2016 at 23:59 GMT (as support for online game modes is now included in the 0.4.0 Steam Early Access ’unstable’ alpha build).

Private Servers Support for hosting private servers will be released when the 0.4.0 build and server implementation has been tested and made stable in August.

Couch mode Support for playing online with 1-4 local players (players on the same system) has been tested internally and will be added for testing in a coming build.

Linux Support Currently there is no Linux version of the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build, we plan to make a Linux build available in August.

Servers Currently the 0.4.0 'unstable' alpha supports servers in the following geographies:

• US East (N.Virginia)
• US West (N. California)
• US West (Oregon)
• EU (Ireland)
• Asia Pacific (Sydney)

we will be working to add servers in the following geographies in August:

• EU (Frankfurt)
• South America (São Paulo)
• Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
• Asia Pacific (Singapore)
• Asia Pacific (Seoul)

Xinput

There is no setting to enable or disable Xinput support in the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build currently (this will be restored in a patch release soon). For reference the 0.4.0 build shares preference settings with the 0.3.4 build and defaults to the current XInput setting used for the 0.3.4 build and some earlier builds (a temporary solution for enabling or disabling XInput support is to switch to the 0.3.4 build and use it to enable or disable XInput then revert to the 0.4.0 build).

Information on the end of the Gang Beasts Online Multiplayer Beta and the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ build

4 JULY, 2016

For the past two months we have been working with Coatsink to iterate on the networking scheme and game content for the Gang Beasts online beta, in parallel to this work we have been collaborating with SuperGenius to scope and implement the game mode and character customisation systems for the game.

The next stage is to merge the online support and stage optimisations from the online beta with the ‘unstable’ branch and then integrate the Character Customisation, Character Colour, and Game Mode systems.

The rest of this post is a series of paragraphs with current information and summaries on what progress has been made to date on content for the game.

Online Beta

The online beta has been in testing for approx. two months and has been played or pre-loaded by ~60,000 players from 133 countries to date, the work on the network refactor has been committed to the Gang Beasts master branch and we have moved to merging the online multiplayer beta with 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ beta (for release later this month).

0.4.0 ‘unstable’

We currently expect to finish the work to merge online multiplayer support into the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha in July (for reference the current 0.3.4 ‘unstable’ alpha build will replace the current 0.3.1 default build on Steam when the 0.4.0 is published).

Online Beta Keys

We have postponed removing the Gang Beasts online beta signup page at http://beef.city/betauntil Monday 4 July 2016 at 11:59pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) to give owners of Gang Beasts on Early Access additional time to requests keys before the signup page is removed. For reference there is no selection process for participating in the online beta and participants are not expected to promote the game, stream, or record gameplay (for information and signup instructions for the online beta please see the post at http://beef.city/u_0-3-4 or the pinned thread at http://beef.city/key_info).

Key Issues

Key requests made before 1 July 2016 have been sent out, if you made a request for a key or keys before this date and have not been sent keys, please populate and submit the form at http://beef.city/key_issue with your information for support.

For reference the first batch of keys for the online beta expired recently and a second smaller batch with an incompatible release state were added to the distribute() system in error, these keys can be activated in the Steam client but the ‘Gang Beasts Online Beta’ title will not become available in the Steam Library. A number of the keys sent out on Friday evening and Saturday morning were from the second batch, if you received keys with the wrong release state please forward the email you received with the incorrect keys to support@boneloaf.co to get replacements.

Entitlement Issues

For online beta participants with the false ‘Failed. Entitlement’ issue, this issue has been patched in the 0.0.8 online beta build released last week.

Character System

Work on the character customisation and character colour systems is close to finished but we don’t currently expect to be able to include them in the 0.4.0 build but should have a version that is sufficiently stable for testing in the weeks after the 0.4.0 build is published.

Game and Gang modes

Work on the game modes system is also close to finished but can’t be fully implemented until the full Character Customisation system has been tested in game.

Stages

We have been working with Bruce Slater (a technical artist at Ruce) to build and optimise the stages for the full version of the game and expect to have some of this work in Early Access builds of the game soon.

Private Servers

Support for hosting private servers is planned but not supported in the online beta currently as we have to limit the number of server types at this stage of testing.

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.3.4 “unstable” build and participation information on the Gang Beasts Online Multiplayer Beta

29 APRIL, 2016

Information on participating in the Gang Beasts Online Multiplayer Beta

The signup process for participating in the Gang Beasts online multiplayer beta is open.

To manage the distribution of Steam keys for the online beta we are using the distribute()[dodistribute.com] build distribution service from Vlambeer[vlambeer.com], distribute()[dodistribute.com] is designed for the distribution of keys to press (please ignore Press references when submitting key requests).

Please note that the initial online multiplayer beta only supports Windows operating systems and is currently limited to three stages ('grind', 'subway', and 'trucks'), the next batch of stages that are being optimised for inclusion in the online multiplayer are 'buoy', 'gymnasium', 'ring', and 'elevators'.

The process for submitting a key requests for the Gang Beasts online multiplayer beta through distribute() has five stages, the process is:

Open the URL http://beef.city/beta in a browser

In the ‘Log in with your e-mail address:’ section (outlined with a red box in the screen capture immediately below this sentence) enter the email address you want the beta key(s) to be sent to

Check the email account you submitted for an email from noreply@dodistribute.com with the subject line “distribute() | Confirm your request” and follow the instructions for confirming the request.

To confirm the request paste the 16 character code from the last sentence of the email in to text field labelled ‘Code:’ (outlined with a red box in the screen capture immediately below this sentence) and left click on the ‘confirm request’ button or left click on the long URL on the second to last line of the email.

Please note the maximum number of keys that can be approved per request is four.

Confirming the request will open the main distribute() key request page, from this page specify the number of keys you want to request and select the ‘PC (Steam)’ setting (outlined with a red box in the screen capture below).

Ignore the 'Login with Twitch or Google (YouTube)' section unless you are a YouTube / Twitch content maker and want to associate your YouTube / Twitch account with your key submission.

In the ‘Or add your own publishing platform:’ section enter a your Steam username in ’Name:’ text field (outlined with a yellow box in the third screen capture at the end of this post) and left click the ‘request’ button to submit the request.

Please note that the online multiplayer beta keys will be sent out in batches, the first batches of keys will be sent out by email from next week with subsequent batches of keys being sent out more frequently as server capacity scales.

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.3.4 “unstable” build

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build released with this post

The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.3 "unstable" alpha build are:

• fixed a number of missing/corrupt navMeshes
• fixed an issue that could prevent front and rear sliding states from triggering
• fixed an issue that made characters stay in the ‘headbutt’ state when headbutting
• fixed an issue relating to AI not identifying a navMesh agent
• fixed an issue with spawned AI entering kill volumes
• fixed an issue with the water system that rendered water with zero polygons on specific systems modified enemy / object targeting hierarchies to prioritise objects in front of targeted characters
• modified stamina to reduce at a slower rate when characters are moving
• modified the climbing system to make climbing less difficult
• modified the colour palette on the ‘trucks’ stage
• modified the dropkick and diving states to use a minimal assistive targeting (to make targeting enemies / objects with dropkicks and diving less erratic)
• Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download the ‘unstable’ branch on Steam right-click on the ‘Gang Beasts’ game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab and then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’. To revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu.

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game forces the selected build to download to the Steam client (replacing the previously selected build).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.3.3 “unstable” build and information on the Gang Beasts Online Multiplayer Beta

17 APRIL 2016

Since the last Early Access build was published in January we have been working with Coatsink to prepare the infrastructure for a public beta of online multiplayer support for Gang Beasts and are now at a stage of development where we can make a selection of the most optimised stages available to play in an online multiplayer beta for play testing and stress testing.

The online multiplayer beta will be made available through Steam as a separate build from the current ‘stable’ and ‘unstable’ alpha builds, this is necessary to preserve access to the current ‘unstable’ and ‘stable’ alpha builds (while the stages not currently included in the online beta are optimised for online multiplayer) and to give the Early Access community a specific forum for posting online specific questions, bug reports and feedback to.

Information on the three stages that are playable in the initial online beta will be posted on Steam this month (as a Steam announcement) with specific instructions on the process for participating in the online beta and information on the next batch of stages that are currently being optimised for online multiplayer. The first batches of online beta keys will be sent out by email this month with subsequent batches of keys being sent out frequently as server capacity is scaled.

The online multiplayer beta will be merged with the ’unstable’ alpha branch at a later date (when the key work on stress testing and bug fixing the networking implementation has ended and server capacity is scaled to support the full Gang Beasts Early Access community).

Whilst testing and scaling the capacity of the online beta over the next 3-4 months we will continue to push new content, optimisations, and polish to the ‘unstable’ branch, starting with the 0.3.3 ‘unstable’ alpha build published with the post.

Please post feedback and information on game bugs on the 0.3.3 "unstable" alpha build thread if you have issues specific to this build.

Please note there is no "stable" alpha build released with this post

The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.3 "unstable" alpha build are:

• added four AI character voice sets
• added four character voice sets
• added setting to the Input menu for enabling / disabling XInput on Windows systems (the game has to be restarted before the XInput setting is executed) *
• added additional VO to current voice sets
• added additional wooden foot fall SFX on ‘wheel’ stage
• added ambience to ‘towers’ stage
• added B side music on ‘billboard’ stage
• added box burning SFX on ‘incinerator’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for doors, railings, and pipes on ‘chutes’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for girders on ‘girders’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for metal structures and railings on ‘subway’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for metal structures on ‘billboard’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for metal structures on ‘gondola’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for metal structures on ‘wheel’ stage added collision triggers and SFX for railings and doors on ‘grind’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for railings and stairs on ’towers’ stage
• added collision triggers and SFX for shutters, stairs, ducts, and railings on ‘incinerator’
• added collision triggers and SFX for stairs, floors, and railings on ‘fans’ stage
• added conveyor SFX on ‘incinerator’ stage
• added grind mechanism SFX volume modifier when characters are in close proximity to grind wheels on ‘grind’ stage
• added large fan mechanism SFX on ‘fans’ stage
• added rope SFX on ‘ring’ stage
• added script to nullify collision triggers on ropes on ‘ring’ stage
• added small fan mechanism and evacuation SFX on ‘fans’ stage
• added soft foot fall and metal foot fall SFX on ‘blimp’ stage
• added subway train SFX on ‘subway’ stage
• added wheel mechanism SFX on ‘wheel’ stage
• added wooden foot fall and wood break SFX on ‘girders’ stage
• fixed significant memory leak from the buoyancy simulation used on characters (and the buoy and ice fragments on the ‘buoy’ stage)
• fixed an issue that could stop music from playing on the ‘buoy’ stage
• fixed an issue that stopped menu items from being selectable with the cursor keys on the volume settings screen
• fixed an issue where the character system could spam errors if a navmesh is not found
• fixed an issue with volume settings not modifying the volume on the menu screens
• modified / increased cable collision SFX levels on ‘gondola’ stage
• modified / increased character concussion sound levels
• modified / lowered floor board SFX levels on ‘wheel’ stage
• modified / lowered foot fall SFX on ‘ring’ stage
• modified / lowered individual grinder wheel SFX levels
• modified / lowered warp sound levels
• modified / lowered wood SFX levels on ‘gondola’ stage
• modified ambience on ‘billboard’ stage
• modified and optimised geometry, textures, and scripts in the ‘trucks’ stage
• modified and optimised geometry, textures, and scripts in the ’subway’ stage
• modified and optimised geometry, textures, water, and buoyancy simulations in the ‘buoy’ stage
• modified debug spawning to include a larger character body and other functions
• modified enemy AI to jump obstacles in some contexts
• modified fan blade SFX on ‘fans’ stage
• modified fan particle effects on ‘fans’ stage
• modified kill volumes and fog height in ‘chutes’ stage
• modified lighting / bloom parameters in the ‘ring’ stage
• modified spatial distance of cooling tower SFX on ’towers’ stage
• modified the current ‘join’ screen to make the UI less complex
• modified the local multiplayer camera settings on the ‘wheel’ stage to track player characters more consistently
• modified triggering sequence for water splash SFX on ‘wheel’ stage
• replaced character feet scraping SFX on ‘trucks’
• replaced wood foot fall SFX with metal foot fall SFX on ‘elevators’
• restored timestep modified keys ’-‘ (deincrement timestep) and ‘=‘ (increment timestep)

for reference enabling XInput support limits the number of concurrent XInput devices (Xbox 360 controllers and other XInput compatible controllers) to four, disabling XInput forces Xbox 360 controllers and other XInput devices to use Direct or Raw input (bypassing XInput’s four device limitation (making it possible to play with 5-8 concurrent Xbox 360 / XInput controllers), for reference disabling XInput prevents both Xbox 360 controller triggers from registering concurrently on Windows systems. *for reference the key mappings are: keys 1-8 spawn objects keys 1-8 with the shift modifier key pressed spawns the default character body and binds control to the corresponding player number key 9 with the shift modifier key pressed spawns the default character as an enemy AI keys 1-8 with the control modifier key pressed spawns a larger character body and binds control to the corresponding player number key 9 with the control modifier key pressed spawns the default character as an enemy AI Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download 'unstable' alpha build of Gang Beasts right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu).

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client.

Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.x and 0.2.x builds have bugs, partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ for more information).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.3.1 "stable" and 0.3.2 "unstable" alpha builds

20 JANUARY, 2016

The modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.1 "stable" build are:

• added specific tests for removing characters forced into tunnels on the ‘subway’ stage
• modified SSAO settings for each stage
• modified specific post effects parameters on game menu (to limit the scope of post effects)
• modified Colour grading for all scenes
• modified character SFX volumes on the game menu
• modified the minimum and maximum distance parameters for the game cameras in each scene
• modified the Unity launch dialogue to not open on OS X by default
• modified trigger volume detections modified character system to remove characters that become unstable on the 'subway' stage
• modified train colliders to reduce the potential for erratic physics on the ’subway' stage
• fixed an issue that could stop character’s from exiting the grab state
• fixed an issue that could stop character’s from exiting the slump / standing states (if the character enters a concussive state when slumped)
• fixed an issue that stopped modifications to the graphics settings menu from writing / saving
• fixed an issue that made the drop kick damage modifier not apply
• fixed an issue with the AI spawning system in the ‘waves’ mode (which stopped AI enemies from spawning if the game mode is played multiple times)
• removed the Xinput menu setting (as the menu setting for enabling / disabling Xinput support needs more testing to stop the disabling Xinput process from triggering an exception)

The modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.2 "unstable" build are:

• added numerous punch SFX
• added spatialisation to character falling SFX
• modified / increased brake threshold for grab state
• modified / lowered character jump height
• modified / lowered head-butt damage
• modified / lowered the length of character concussions
• modified / replaced shaders that demonstrated conflicts with Unity 5.3 / Open GL 4.1
• modified / replaced the A side and B side music on the “ring” stage
• modified build number text to ignore image effects on menu
• modified “incinerator” scene to remove / recycle objects that fall in to fire pit
• modified character system to limit the number of wall jumps that can be executed in sequence
• modified the climbing and targeting systems to make executing the rope climbing mechanic easier
• modified the fire simulation on the “incinerator” stage to ignore collisions (to optimise game performance)
• modified the lighting in specific scenes to work with the Unity 5.3 lighting system
• fixed an issue with character idle states not triggering
• fixed numerous Unity 5.3 stability issues with the fan implementation
• fixed Unity 5.3 UI scaling issues
• updated game project to Unity 5.3 (to use OpenGL 4.1 or Metal on systems with OpenGL 4.1 or Metal support)

Please post feedback and game bugs on the 0.3.1 "stable" and 0.3.2 "unstable" alpha build threadif you see bugs in these builds.

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.3.0 alpha builds

17 DECEMBER, 2015

It has taken significant resources to prototype and implement the character customisation system as significant game functionality needed to be rewritten to work with configurable character parts, the 0.3.0 alpha build released with this post, has a functioning character selection screen with a set of sample character costumes for testing (including the existing Kigurumi characters, and a selection from the new Wrestler / Luchador and other miscellaneous outfits).

The 0.3.0 alpha build replaces the 0.1.5a "stable" alpha build as the default build on Steam Early Access (the 0.1.5a build is available for download through the Steam "BETAS" tab as a legacy build for the Early Access community to compare the gameplay, performance, stability, and other game content of the last Unity 4.x build with the Unity 5.x builds).

The 0.3.0 alpha build also replaces the 0.2.6c “unstable” build until the logic for the prototype “break” and “race” game modes is rewritten to work with the character customisation system (the “break”, “race”, “king of the hill”, and “capture the flag” game modes will be exposed for testing in a coming “unstable” alpha build).

The 0.3.0 alpha build also has an improved camera system, a new particle effect system (for the fire on the ‘incinerator’ stage), new post processing and colour grading effects, the first versions of the significantly revised UI and menu systems, numerous modifications to stages (a rebuilt ‘incinerator’ stage, and modified ‘buoy’, ‘girders’, and ‘fans’ stages), and new running, standing headbutt, front slide, rear slide, and sitting character moves.

For reference the full character customisation screen is disabled in the 0.3.0 “stable” alpha build as the UI does not currently protect against conflicts between costume parts, a version of the full character customisation system (with support for saving customisations) will be exposed with other prototype game stages and content in the coming “unstable” builds.

The modifications and fixes made in this build are:

• added character selection / join game screen
• added a standing headbutt move (tap the button mapped for ‘duck’ to headbutt)
• added a running move (hold the button mapped to ‘jump’ to run)
• added a front sliding move (hold the button mapped to ‘duck’ when running to front slide)
• added a rear sliding move (hold the button mapped to ‘kick’ when running to rear slide)
• added a sitting move (hold the button mapped to ‘jump’ when stationary to sit)
• added a setting for enabling / disabling Xinput (to support more than four Xinput devices to be used concurrently) - this setting has been disabled as more testing is needed
• added preset Wrestling / Luchador clothing and mask selections (for testing)
• added preset miscellaneous clothing selections (for testing)
• added post processing and colour grading to game stages
• added rebuilt ‘incinerator’ stage
• added new menu music[soundcloud.com]
• added basic Steam API support
• added setting to enable / disable exiting the game with game controllers (if enabled press the ESCAPE key to exit to the game menu when in game)
• modified climbing implementation (to make characters feet contact with surfaces when climbing)
• modified fullscreen implementation (to test support for Nvidia Game Stream service)
• modified object and enemy targeting systems
• modified character system to more accurately identify kill volumes
• modified B side music for the ’chute’ and ’girders’ stages
• modified audio levels and triggers replaced previous fire particle effect with an improved fire particle effect
• replaced the previous game manger systems with rewritten game manager systems
• replaced the prototype game camera system with an improved game camera system
• replaced music for ‘incinerator’ stage
• replaced fade transition implement with a rewritten solution (to fix the transition failure issue)
• fixed character explosion issues in some contexts
• fixed music warping transitions
• removed status bars
• removed the rear and front railings from the ‘fans’ stage
• removed stairs from platform ends on ‘subway’ stage
• temporarily replaced previous water and buoyancy system with a placeholder system (while compatibility issues with the new water and buoyancy system are fixed)
• temporarily removed the ‘cat’ kigurumi due to an issue with skinned meshes

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.2.6 “unstable” alpha build

23 SEPTEMBER, 2015

The 0.2.6 build released with this post is a content release with three new stages (‘billboard’, ‘blimp’, and ‘girders’) and four modified stages (‘buoy’, ‘fans’, ‘ring’, and ’subway’), the build also includes expanded AI behaviours that give AI enemies lifting and throwing abilities.

The modifications and fixes made in this build are:

• fixed an issue that could stop characters entering the climbing state when colliding with walls
• added the ‘billboard’ stage
• added the ‘blimp’ stage
• added the ‘girders’ stage
• modified the water shader on the ‘buoy’ stage
• modified the geometry for the ‘vents’ stage (now called ‘fans’)
• modified the geometry for the ‘ring’ stage
• modified the geometry for the ’subway’ stage
• modified climbing implementation to support climbing on grabbed surfaces (including other enemy and player characters)
• modified climbing implementation to limit / minimise stabilise the accumulation of forces when multiple characters are climbing / lifting each other
• modified grip limitations (grip will abruptly fail when hanging from the same surface / object for a protracted length of time)
• modified the force characters have on the wave simulation in the ’buoys’ stage (to limit / minimise the frequency of sudden or erratic high waves)
• modified the potential delay between AI enemy punches (to increase punch frequency)
• modified spawn points on some stages to work better with the current game camera
• modified XInput support to be disabled by default to support 5-8 players with Xbox 360 controllers and variants (XInput limits the number of concurrent Xbox 360 controllers to four, see the 'XInput Support' section of this post for more information)
• added centripetal forces to subway trains on ‘subway’ stage (trains can pull characters and objects in close proximity towards them)
• added throwing behaviour for AI enemies (specific throw actions need calibrating to be effective on complex stages)
• added grabbing behaviour for AI enemies (enemies will attempt to grab surfaces, objects, and other characters when falling)
• modified (rebuilt) AI enemy nav meshes for all stages (excluding the ‘break’ and ’race’ prototypes)
• added throw triggers to stages to support the AI enemy throwing behaviour (excluding ‘blimp’, ‘break’, ’buoy’, and ’race’)

Stages

The new and modified stages are work in progress and will continue to be polished and improved in subsequent builds. There are now 16 default stages in the current ‘unstable’ build (‘billboard’, ’blimp’, ’buoy’, ’chute’, ’containers’, ’elevators’, ’fans’, ‘girders’, ’gondola’, ‘grind’, ’incinerator’, ’ring’, ’subway’, ‘towers’, ’trucks’, and ’wheel’), we are still working to remake the ‘incinerator’ stage (the colliders are finished but the scene has not been fully assembled in editor).

We currently plan to add the modified ‘incinerator’ stage and the prototype ‘gymnasium’ and ‘TV studio’ stages to the fork that the customisation system is being merged with but if we identify that this work will delay the release of the next build we plan to move these stages to the same project that the 0.2.6 build was built with (to minimise the length of time before the next build can be published).

For reference the only fencing, railings and similar structures that are breakable are in the 0.2.6 build are in the ‘elevators’ stage, we are working to make the similar structures in the ’billboard’, ’chute’, ’fans’, ‘grind’, ’incinerator’, ’subway’, ‘towers’, and ’wheel’ stages breakable.

Customisations

We are working with SuperGenius to merge the work on the character customisation system with the current project fork, it wasn’t practical to merge this work with the 0.2.6 fork as the modified game management system (that adds support for the coming “King of the Hill” and “Capture the Flag” game modes) was implemented in a separate fork.

When this work is complete we can publish a build with the character system (with a selection of old and new characters), and the other work from this fork (including support for deincrementing menu selections, a front slide move, modifications to the in-game player information, and the playable prototypes of the “King of the Hill” and “Capture the Flag” game modes).

XInput Support

Disabling XInput forces Xbox 360 XInput controllers and variants to use Direct or Raw input (bypassing the XInput four player limitation and restoring support for 5-8 concurrent Xbox 360 controllers), for reference disabling XInput prevents both Xbox 360 controller triggers from registering concurrently on Windows systems (we are working on implementing an option to support manually enabling / disabling XInput on Windows for a coming build).

Information on switching to / from "stable" and “unstable” branches

To download 'unstable' alpha build of Gang Beasts right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu).

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client.

Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.x and 0.2.x builds have bugs, partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ for more information).

Information on the next "unstable" alpha (build 0.2.6)

30th August 2015

We are close to finishing the various modifications and prototype content for the 0.2.6 "unstable" build and expect to publish this work within the next two weeks, we currently expect this to be the last "unstable" build before we can make the Unity 5 port of the game the default version of Gang Beasts on Early Access (the 0.1.5a Unity 4 alpha build will be made available for download through the Steam client "BETAS" tab as a legacy build for making comparisons of gameplay, performance, stability and content with the Unity 5 builds).

YouTube™ Video: Prototype Gang Beasts customisation screen (placeholder UI) Views: 11,050 An example of the prototype customisation screen functionality in Gang Beasts with placeholder UI. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

In the last two months we have continued to work on optimisations, new game modes, the character customisation system, character customisations, modifications to current stages, and prototypes for a number of new stages.

YouTube™ Video: Prototype Gang Beasts join screen (placeholder UI) Views: 5,625 An example of the basic join screen functionality in Gang Beasts with placeholder UI. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

Work on the character customisation system is at a stage that supports making functional examples of the UI and customisation process and the work on new characters, games modes, modified stages, and stage prototypes is now sufficient to give information on the specific functionality and content we expect to make available in the builds coming in September and October.

YouTube™ Video: Gang Beasts character customisation test Views: 11,186 A character customisation test for the prototype character customisation system in Gang Beasts. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

The information in this post will summarise the work that has been done on some of the new character customisations, the character customisation system, modified stages, and the new stage prototypes (“billboard”, “blimp”, and “girders”). Specific information about the current stages, new stage prototypes, and the planned escalations for specific stages will be posted as a series of individual threads in the Early Access forums closer to the release of the next build.

Character Customisations

For several months we have been working with SuperGenius Studios to implement the full character customisation system for the game and to make a series of new playable characters to populate and test the character system, the work on the first prototype of the customisation system is close to finished and we currently expect to make a version of this prototype available for testing in an “unstable” build later this month (see the YouTube links above for examples of a recent iteration of the character system).

The character system supports a number of slots for different accessories (hats, capes, hair, shirts, skirts etc.), the prototype version of the system has support for handling overlapping geometry, specifically when the geometry of a model or asset passes through the geometry of a second model asset the system indentifies and removes intersecting and occulded geometry where needed (for reference this functionality is not fully working in the linked video).

The current implementation of the system is functional but needs additional work and testing before it can be published in a build, we currently expect to make this functionality available in September. The full system will support the saving and sharing of preset customisations when finished.

Customisations

We have worked with SuperGenius on a number of new character sets, some sets have been made specifically to use to populate Beef City with pedestrians and AI enemies (for the Streets of Rage, Final Fight, Double Dragon influenced story mode), others have been made to give more scope for customisation (for testing the customisation system).

Game Modes

The logic for the Gang Beasts variations on “King of the Hill” and “Capture the Flag” game modes has been implemented but the specific map locations (KOTH) and flags (CTF) need to be added for each stage, we plan to make a playable prototypes of these game modes available in a coming build for testing and will make more information about the new game modes soon.

Modified Stages

We have finished work on the geometry for the modified versions of the “incinerator”, “subway” , “vents”, we are working to make these modified stages to the next build which barring significant issue should be published to Steam within the next two weeks.

Work on the modified "buoy" and "ring" stages is also close to finished.

More information on the rationale and mechanics of the modified stages will be posted in the Early Access forums when the modified stages are released in the next build.

Prototype Stages

We have prototyped a number of new stages for the game, three of these stages, “billboard”, “blimp”, “girder”, and "gymnasium" are at a stage where they can be play tested and will be included as prototypes in the next “unstable” build. The “billboard” stage prototype is a neglected roadside billboard with breakable panels and front and rear platforms (a modified version of this stage will have breakable railings, lighting, flooring, and a static ladder), the “blimp” stage is a floating dirigible passing through a series of high buildings, the “girders” stage is an aborted high-rise building development with breakable flooring and suspended girders, the "gymnasium" stage is one of a series of stages that are planned to approximate the mechanics and gameplay of the "sandbox" stage from the pre-alpha builds.

We will make information on the other stage that we are prototyping over the coming weeks. Information on the mechanics of the modified stages will be posted in the Early Access forums when the modified stages are released in the next build.

Unstable Builds

Since getting access to the Unity 5 beta in mid-September 2014 we have prioritised porting Gang Beasts to Unity 5 to exploit the significantly improved physics performance, and other graphics, lighting, audio, and engine improvements, it has been difficult and protracted process that has forced us to fully remake the procedural character animation system and modify the structures and parameters for the numerous stages that were playable in the previous 0.1.x Unity 4.5 builds.

The first prototype of the Unity 5 port of Gang Beasts was made available through Steam as a second optional “Beta” build in April, this was necessary to give access to iterations of the Unity 5 port without removing access to the older 0.1.5a "stable” alpha build (made with Unity 4.5 and PhysX 2.8.3), when the modified “incinerator”, “subway” , and “vents” stages are released in the next public alpha build (build 0.2.6) the “unstable” Unity 5 build will have content parity with the older “stable” Unity 4 build.

If no significant issues are identified with the public 0.2.6 build it will become the default version of Gang Beasts on Steam Early Accesss (replacing the 0.1.5a Unity 5 build) in September.

There are still a number of key optimisations that can be made to the Unity 5 builds but the 0.2.x Unity 5 builds are demonstrably more performant than the 0.1.x Unity 4 builds in most contexts. For information on the performance of PhysX 3.3 relative to PhysX 2.8.x see the High-performance Physics In Unity 5[blogs.unity3d.com] post on the Unity Technology blog.[blogs.unity3d.com]

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.2.5b "unstable" alpha build

3rd July 2015

The 0.2.5b build released with this post is a bug fix patch for the recent 0.2.5 "unstable" alpha build, and the audio issue introduced in the 0.2.5a build.

The list of modifications and fixes made in this build is:

• fixed an issue that made audio play +20db louder that maximum if volume was set to 100%
• fixed stability issue when objects are spawned inside or collide with the support cables on the "elevator" stage (cables now snap instead of becoming erratic)
• modified colliders on the handles of the elevator roof hatch to allow players to pass them (without stopping)
• fixed audio samples on the "buoy", "elevators", "grind", "subway", "trucks", and "wheel" stage that could play when audio is muted
• modified the doors of the "chute" stage to stop characters from passing through them

Information on switching to / from "stable" and 'unstable' branches

To download 'unstable' alpha build of Gang Beasts right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu).

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client.

Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.x and 0.2.x builds have bugs, partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ at http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq for more information).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.2.5a "unstable" alpha build

27 JUNE 2015

The 0.2.5a build released with this post is a bug fix patch for the recent 0.2.5 "unstable" alpha build, the list of modifications and fixes made in this build is:

• fixed an issue that allowed characters and objects to fall through the front of the stage on the “break” game mode prototype
• fixed an issue that failed to modify the master, interface, vocal, physics, and ambiance volumes when set in the audio menu
• fixed an issue that made the “incinerator” stage not selectable from the “versus" menu
• fixed an issue with removing characters that fall from the elevators in the “elevators" stage (manifested as a terrifying partially formed aberration materialising in space (skinned meshes and body parts randomly twitching and stretching)
• fixed an issue with the extrude meat paster fails to despawn on the "chute" stage
• fixed issues with Kigurumi characters with non-standard head constructions fail to consistently trigger head-butts
• modified AI to update search references when not spawned on a navmesh (AI should be less erratic, and can move between navmeshes is specific contexts)
• modified navmesh for the "buoy” stage to support AI movement
• modified navmesh for the "chute” stage to support AI movement
• modified navmesh for the “gondola” stage to support AI movement modified navmesh for the “towers” to support AI movement modified navmesh for the “trucks” stage to support AI movement
• modified stage selection UI to immediately disable the random mode when selected (previous selection is restored)
• modified the gondola support axels on the “wheel” stage

Information on switching to / from 'stable' and 'unstable' branches

To download 'unstable' alpha build of Gang Beasts right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu).

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client.

Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.x and 0.2.x builds have bugs, partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ at http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaqfor more information).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.2.5 "unstable" alpha build 26th June 2015

26th june 2015

The 0.2.5 build released with this post has working versions of the "buoy", "trucks", and "wheel" stages (three of the four stages that were omitted from past “unstable” builds due to significant issues relating to the stability of their custom physics parameters when ported to Unity 5 and PhysX 3.3 ) and the three prototype stages, "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" that were demonstrated at E3.

The 0.2.5 “unstable” build also has experimental implementations of two new character attack moves, head-butts and dropkicks, head butts are triggered by pressing the jump button immediately before holding the duck button, dropkicks are triggered by pressing the jump button immediately before holding the kick button (the specific forces and other parameters for the moves are currently provisional and granular modifications will need to made is subsequent builds).

The 0.2.5 build also has significantly modified music and sound content (implemented in a series of sessions with Adam “Doseone” Drucker and Robert "Dirty Bob" Larder in the week leading up to E3), the new audio with multiple new or revised music tracks for most stages, 4 additional character voice sets, and numerous additional contextual audio events (that trigger sound effects when specific situations occur).

The playable stages in the “unstable” build are still experimental but are now sufficiently performant for testing and for us to collate suggestions and feedback on gameplay and performance issues through the Early Access forums (there will be additional optimisations and modifications made in subsequent builds). To start the feedback process we plan to make a series of monitored forum posts (in the next few hours and over the coming weekend) with information on planned revisions, current issues, potential optimisations, and other identified modifications we expect to make to specific stages, game modes, and gameplay mechanics.

Specific Information re: head-butts and dropkicks will be posted as individual threads in the Early Access forums in the next few hours.

Information on the new "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" stages and the completed and planned work done on modifying (or remaking) the "buoy", "incinerator", "subway", "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages will be posted as a series of individual threads in the Early Access forums this weekend (and in the coming weeks).

List of additions, modifications, and fixes made in the 0.2.5 “unstable" build

• added basic AI behaviour to truck movement (preparation for more complex vehicle movement)
• added fade-to-black and fade-from-black transition sequences
• added modified version of the “buoy” stage
• added modified version of the “trucks” stage
• added modified version of the “wheel” stage
• added object collision sounds (floor boards, falling meat etc.)
• added new ambient tracks to numerous stages
• added new contextual voice over events and associated audio samples
• added new music tracks to multiple stages
• added prototype “chute" stage
• added prototype “elevators” stage
• added prototype “towers” stage
• fixed an issue that made end of game messaging show per round (on screen text does not erroneously name the last player in the stored player index as the game winner when a round is ended)
• fixed an issue that stopped the audible level of collision sounds (and other physical sound effects) from being set with volume adjustments
• fixed missing navmesh for “subway” stage
• fixed the Status Bar toggle functionality (setting the 'Status Bar’ to ‘off’ disables the in game status bars as expected)
• made forward dives trigger damage to other characters when colliding with head / face (head-butts)
• made reverse dives trigger damage to other characters when colliding with hips / legs (dropkicks)
• made targeting prioritise objects that can hurt the character when punching or grabbing (to increase the potential for countering dropkicks and head-butts)
• modified character eyes to slowly close as their health decreases
• modified colliders to not calculate at runtime (baked colliders) to optimise scene load times
• modified the character targeting system to ignore low targets
• modified the frequency of pseudorandom sound trigger events to be more frequent
• modified the level of different categories of audio to be more audible at distance (to make punch and other collision sounds more audible by default)
• modified the maximum volume for ambiance to a lower value
• modified the road friction to more closely approximate real vehicle and road physics (collisions with the road surface don’t automatically concuss characters)
• modified the size of the “buoy" to make it more dominant (preparation for potential seasonal non-ice “buoy” stage variant and experimental procedural ice fracture tests)
• modified truck physics to explicitly contact the road surface (preparation for experimenting with undulating road surfaces) modified “ring” stage (preparation for arena context and arena specific assets)
• removed constraints holding the trucks to the road surface
• removed lightmap from "subway” stage to temporarily improve aesthetics (until the stage modifications are finished)
• removed lightmap from “incinerator” stage to temporarily improve aesthetics

Information on switching to / from "stable" and "unstable" branches To download 'unstable' alpha build of Gang Beasts right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the last 'stable' branch select 'NONE- Opt out of all beta programs' from the same menu).

For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client.

Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.x and 0.2.x builds have bugs, partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ at http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq for more information).

Information on the next "unstable" alpha (build 0.2.6)

30 AUGUST 2015

We are close to finishing the various modifications and prototype content for the 0.2.6 "unstable" build and expect to publish this work within the next two weeks, we currently expect this to be the last "unstable" build before we can make the Unity 5 port of the game the default version of Gang Beasts on Early Access (the 0.1.5a Unity 4 alpha build will be made available for download through the Steam client "BETAS" tab as a legacy build for making comparisons of gameplay, performance, stability and content with the Unity 5 builds).

YouTube™ Video: Prototype Gang Beasts customisation screen (placeholder UI) Views: 11,050 An example of the prototype customisation screen functionality in Gang Beasts with placeholder UI. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

In the last two months we have continued to work on optimisations, new game modes, the character customisation system, character customisations, modifications to current stages, and prototypes for a number of new stages.

YouTube™ Video: Prototype Gang Beasts join screen (placeholder UI) Views: 5,625 An example of the basic join screen functionality in Gang Beasts with placeholder UI. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

Work on the character customisation system is at a stage that supports making functional examples of the UI and customisation process and the work on new characters, games modes, modified stages, and stage prototypes is now sufficient to give information on the specific functionality and content we expect to make available in the builds coming in September and October.

YouTube™ Video: Gang Beasts character customisation test Views: 11,186 A character customisation test for the prototype character customisation system in Gang Beasts. For information see http://steamcommunity.com/games/285900/announcements/

The information in this post will summarise the work that has been done on some of the new character customisations, the character customisation system, modified stages, and the new stage prototypes (“billboard”, “blimp”, and “girders”). Specific information about the current stages, new stage prototypes, and the planned escalations for specific stages will be posted as a series of individual threads in the Early Access forums closer to the release of the next build.

Character Customisations

For several months we have been working with SuperGenius Studios to implement the full character customisation system for the game and to make a series of new playable characters to populate and test the character system, the work on the first prototype of the customisation system is close to finished and we currently expect to make a version of this prototype available for testing in an “unstable” build later this month (see the YouTube links above for examples of a recent iteration of the character system).

The character system supports a number of slots for different accessories (hats, capes, hair, shirts, skirts etc.), the prototype version of the system has support for handling overlapping geometry, specifically when the geometry of a model or asset passes through the geometry of a second model asset the system indentifies and removes intersecting and occulded geometry where needed (for reference this functionality is not fully working in the linked video).

The current implementation of the system is functional but needs additional work and testing before it can be published in a build, we currently expect to make this functionality available in September. The full system will support the saving and sharing of preset customisations when finished.

Customisations

We have worked with SuperGenius on a number of new character sets, some sets have been made specifically to use to populate Beef City with pedestrians and AI enemies (for the Streets of Rage, Final Fight, Double Dragon influenced story mode), others have been made to give more scope for customisation (for testing the customisation system).

Game Modes

The logic for the Gang Beasts variations on “King of the Hill” and “Capture the Flag” game modes has been implemented but the specific map locations (KOTH) and flags (CTF) need to be added for each stage, we plan to make a playable prototypes of these game modes available in a coming build for testing and will make more information about the new game modes soon.

Modified Stages

We have finished work on the geometry for the modified versions of the “incinerator”, “subway” , “vents”, we are working to make these modified stages to the next build which barring significant issue should be published to Steam within the next two weeks.

Work on the modified "buoy" and "ring" stages is also close to finished.

More information on the rationale and mechanics of the modified stages will be posted in the Early Access forums when the modified stages are released in the next build.

Prototype Stages

We have prototyped a number of new stages for the game, three of these stages, “billboard”, “blimp”, “girder”, and "gymnasium" are at a stage where they can be play tested and will be included as prototypes in the next “unstable” build. The “billboard” stage prototype is a neglected roadside billboard with breakable panels and front and rear platforms (a modified version of this stage will have breakable railings, lighting, flooring, and a static ladder), the “blimp” stage is a floating dirigible passing through a series of high buildings, the “girders” stage is an aborted high-rise building development with breakable flooring and suspended girders, the "gymnasium" stage is one of a series of stages that are planned to approximate the mechanics and gameplay of the "sandbox" stage from the pre-alpha builds.

We will make information on the other stage that we are prototyping over the coming weeks. Information on the mechanics of the modified stages will be posted in the Early Access forums when the modified stages are released in the next build.

Unstable Builds

Since getting access to the Unity 5 beta in mid-September 2014 we have prioritised porting Gang Beasts to Unity 5 to exploit the significantly improved physics performance, and other graphics, lighting, audio, and engine improvements, it has been difficult and protracted process that has forced us to fully remake the procedural character animation system and modify the structures and parameters for the numerous stages that were playable in the previous 0.1.x Unity 4.5 builds.

The first prototype of the Unity 5 port of Gang Beasts was made available through Steam as a second optional “Beta” build in April, this was necessary to give access to iterations of the Unity 5 port without removing access to the older 0.1.5a "stable” alpha build (made with Unity 4.5 and PhysX 2.8.3), when the modified “incinerator”, “subway” , and “vents” stages are released in the next public alpha build (build 0.2.6) the “unstable” Unity 5 build will have content parity with the older “stable” Unity 4 build.

If no significant issues are identified with the public 0.2.6 build it will become the default version of Gang Beasts on Steam Early Accesss (replacing the 0.1.5a Unity 5 build) in September.

There are still a number of key optimisations that can be made to the Unity 5 builds but the 0.2.x Unity 5 builds are demonstrably more performant than the 0.1.x Unity 4 builds in most contexts. For information on the performance of PhysX 3.3 relative to PhysX 2.8.x see the High-performance Physics In Unity 5[blogs.unity3d.com] post on the Unity Technology blog.[blogs.unity3d.com]

Information about the next "unstable" alpha (build 0.2.5)

16th June 2015

In the last month we have been working on porting the "buoy, "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages to Unity 5, we have also been working a number of new prototype stages and a number of significant modifications to the "buoy", "subway" and "incinerator" stages for the next "unstable" alpha build.

The work is close to finished and we plan to release the 0.2.5 "unstable" build with working versions of the "buoy", "containers", "gondolas", "grind", "incinerator", "ring", "subway", "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages and the new "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" stages next week (the new stages coming in the 0.2.5 "unstable" build are shown in the Gang Beasts E3 trailer and in the images with this post).

The 0.2.5 "unstable" build also has significantly updated audio content and experimental implementations of head-butts and dropkicks. The head-butt and dropkick moves have been added to avoid situations where head or feet collide with an enemy or object without taking sufficient damage (head-butts and dropkicks can concuss an enemy but landing them with enough force to be concussive is sufficiently difficult in normal gameplay to not happen frequently).

We plan to make a series of specific forum threads for the new stages, the head-butt and dropkick moves, and other content to collate and discuss feedback and give tutorial information when the build is released next week (a full list of the changes and additions made in the 0.2.5 "unstable" build included with the release post).

Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.2.4 'unstable' alpha build

8th May 2015

We have made a number of significant modifications and fixes for the 0.2.4 build over the last three weeks, specifically fixing the joint instability (that made character, wire, and rope physics erratic or rigid, and stages built with configurable joints that break without the fixes to joint stability). There is still a small number of modifications that need to be made to the 'trucks', 'wheel', 'buoy', and 'vents' stages to make them playable but expect to restore some or all of the 0.1.5a stages omitted from the 0.1.5a build in the next 'unstable' build later this month (build 0.2.5).

The 0.2.4 build has a new 'random' mode, restores the 'endless' mode from previous builds, and a glut of new audio and music including new music for the 'ring', 'gondola', 'incinerator', and 'subway stages.

We are continuing to work on new stages and character costumes, we posted some tests on the Boneloaf and Gang Beasts Vine, Twitter, and YouTube accounts in the last hour (see Vine[vine.co], Twitter, and YouTube).

List of additions, modifications, and fixes made in the 0.2.4 'unstable' build.

• added an 'endless' mode to the 'versus' game mode
• added a 'random' stage selection mode to the 'versus' game mode (stages can now be set to load in random sequence)
• added audio samples that trigger when characters lose i.e. characters vocalise their malcontent when removed from the mêlée
• added laughter audio sample sets that trigger when a character (or characters) are expelled from the mêlée
• added a basic animation to make characters jiggle when laughing
• added contextual concussion audio sample sets (that trigger when a character is concussed)
• added a contextual impact sound (that triggers when a character takes a concussive blow)
• added contextual object and rope breaking sound sets
• added contextual character vocalisations (that trigger when characters are in close proximity to breaking objects)
• added individual volume settings for 'music', 'interface', 'vocals', 'physics', 'ambience', and the 'master' volume level (removed the music on/off setting from the settings menu)
• added per character footfall audio sample sets
• added a Cat Kigurumi costume
• modified head and body samples to make them more impactful
• modified the music playback system to transitions music tracks when a character (or characters) are removed from the mêlée (currently only implemented for the 'containers','subway' and 'incinerator' stages)
• modified the 'prototype' prefix in the 'prototypes' menu to explicitly reference the specific prototype category (e.g. 'game mode', 'stage' etc.) in preparation for adding new game modes, stages, and game mechanics
• modified the wires in the 'gondola' stage to make them breakable and more supple
• modified the wires on the 'containers' stage joint type to make them more stable
• modified the the tie and fez character assets to make them less erratic
• modified the forces acting on characters to make specific character movement less rigid modified the thresholds for damage and concussions to make immediate concussions less frequent
• fixed an issue that triggered playback of incorrect collision sounds for specific body parts (for example a characters head colliding with an object or surface could trigger sets of sound recordings made for body part collisions)
• fixed an issue that incorrectly played 3D sounds in 2D space
• fixed an issue that triggered cascades of infectious laughter between characters
• fixed an issue with joint axes that could make character ropes and physics simulations erratic
• fixed a series of issues that could stop game modes from processing stage transitions
• fixed an issue that could make set costumes to have the invalid colour sets

General

geometry and pitch of grab targets (used to assist with climbing) need to be standardised general UV and baking issues need to be fixed for multiple scenes

Ring

rope implementation needs modifying to remove / minimise breaks in rope surface

Gondola

gondola platforms need to be set to a position further from the building

Grind

railing geometry needs need modifing and made breakable collider geometry for grind wheels need modifying

Incinerator

railing geometry need modifying and made breakable conveyor implementation need modifying glass panes need to be made breakable colours need modifying (to approximate previous versions of the stage) scene needs populating with shelving and small physics objects (as per previous versions of the stage)

Subway

elevators need to be made functional escalator models need adding and configuring widths of train tracks need to be narrowed (and sleeper geometry needs adding)

Trucks

stage needs adding to 'versus' mode scene needs populating with stable versions of trucks

Wheel

stage needs adding to 'versus' mode

Buoy

stage needs adding to 'versus' mode buoyancy needs making less erratic

Vents

stage needs adding to 'versus' mode railing geometry needs modified

Race

modified course with scaled apparatus and modified weights needs adding modified ropes implementation needs adding (to make ropes more supple) 'sound stage' scene and associated assets needs adding ball pit needs adding win scenario needs modifying to wait for all competitor to finish before ending start positions need standardising

Break

joint implementation for car structure needs modifying (to make specific joints break when specific car body parts have sufficient levels of damage) other breakable objects