BEWARE - autumn info about the state of development
Added 2022-09-29 17:04:38 +0000 UTCHello everyone! First of all, I hope you're all doing good in these now seemingly never-ending challenging times. For my part, living in Germany now, I can say that the doomsday predictions are not happening. Yet. Knocking on wood.
Here's a brief description of what I've been working on during the past months.
1) First of all, although the preliminary work on adapting the driving AI code for the new car physics, and more slippery tire behavior, looked promising, I've spent a good chunk of time re-writing the code so that it behaves more predictably. I've also spent a lot of time adding a new "slow" mode, which will come handy for adjusting difficulty and a more engaging driving experience. Here's a comparison between fast and slow modes:
I've also added new code so that the pursuers will know which intersection the player is driving towards. This will make inter-goon cooperation more effective (and realistic).
2) Since the first car was a placeholder I thought it would be nice to create the final model for v012. This process took surprisingly long, over a month of work - modeling the car completely from scratch and trying out different original designs for the final look. This includes designing a new logo for all "goon" cars, custom bull bars and the roof-mounted searchlights. Fortunately, the second car is my own model so I can just add those elements to it. Anyway I'll have to figure out something to accelerate the process with the remaining cars as my overly perfectionist attitude is hindering the pace of development.
3) In the summer, I took 5 days off to check out RFactor2, which I bought on sale - and long story short, in my opinion BEWARE holds up very well. I tried some R/R cars in wet conditions and it felt almost the same, except they were harder to slide around in RF2, mostly due to the small steering lock ranges. But yeah, I felt I should test other driving games once in a while.
4) Finally, this last week, I started designing the look of the power-plant security guys a.k.a. goons, but I'm going to stop that for now and finish work on the driving A.I. so I can release v012 as soon as possible, now that the driving code is working as expected. I just have to revisit some parts like the combat/car stopping behavior and avoidance steering.
Here's a very WIP version of goon gear (Helmet + gas mask):
Looking forward to read your suggestions in the comments!
Best wishes and big thanks for your support,
Ondrej
Comments
i like the idea, but when i was playing v13 it was quite difficult to distinguish day fog and goon headlights. maybe changing the colour of the fog or making the contrast higher would work?
lvshtvlipp
2023-08-22 19:53:09 +0000 UTCIt's like that since v012 - here's my reasoning behind it: [[03.2023] I'm just testing some ideas for the light colors. I thought all enemy cars (and locations) could have cold white headlights which would be in contrast to the warmer colored headlights of friendly vehicles. To some extent it reflects my feelings of warmth when I see an old sodium vapor lamp in contrast to the cold white LED streetlamps that replace them everywhere now. Maybe two distinct light temperatures for friendly & enemy is a bit too cheesy. We'll see ] I'll add that: this also allows to recognize enemy vehicles from further distance - so you can decide to either avoid or take the risk of engaging.
Ondrej Svadlena
2023-07-20 10:10:05 +0000 UTCI do kinda miss the yellow'ish tint on the headlights from old model
TRR2014
2023-07-16 14:28:37 +0000 UTCOh! I'm so freaking stoked for this! I noticed you did a little rewrite on your rain windshield shader, too!
myth0genesis
2023-03-02 02:56:20 +0000 UTCJust curious, how optimized is v012 compared to v006 or v007?
Temporal Shade
2023-03-01 14:55:37 +0000 UTCYes I did :) It was a challenge to make it work on the final map territory - I just managed that today. So, v012 release should be online in a matter of few days.
Ondrej Svadlena
2023-02-28 23:41:45 +0000 UTCDid you manage to create the AI driving code as expected? Just because I recently saw a tractor model as the latest contents on your Twitter page. Anyway, it would be really nice to play with the new version. :)
Pixintendo
2023-02-21 00:38:43 +0000 UTCdon't know if it's possible but could you make a version that runs on chrome os, because i have a acer gaming chrome book and i would like to play on here.
jackson
2023-02-10 19:21:40 +0000 UTCHi. You can find my YouTube channel under the same name as my Patreon. You can find the link in the description of my last video. But remember that this mod is not like the one Roka Josh did for v007 back in the day. You won't be able to teleport or get out of the car here. This is mainly about optimization, i.e. some graphics elements can be much more customized to make the game run faster, there is also a 3rd camera mode, camera bounce, old style ambient lighting, and you can change the fog settings or even disable it completely. In the description of my latest video, you can find the dropbox link from where you can download it. Please read the description to know what you can use with which key. If you could try it anyway, then let me know how much performance increase you got in the different graphics modes. Because it has preset modes, but you can also modify things separately.
Pixintendo
2023-01-24 06:33:33 +0000 UTChey pixintendo do you know where i can find this mod?
maximus ahlheim
2023-01-24 02:59:12 +0000 UTCThanks for the update, and on the holidays, too! You're clearly working very hard. I hope you take some time to recharge during these holidays. Oh, and happy Restoration Day in advance. I hope your family is well and please send my regards.
myth0genesis
2022-12-25 05:38:20 +0000 UTCSure thing - in summary: I've read in comments that some BEWARE veterans wished for a more challenging car chase experience - so I've been adding a new extra challenging mode to the driving AI, which proved itself to be quite tricky but I pretty much nailed that down now. The other cause for some delay was porting the old stopping maneuvers (PIT, PITnPush, side ram, block) to the new car physics, where it took far more than just copy-pasting the old code, to make it perform in a comparable way (or in a better way, and you know me, so guess for which one I went ;). But that's pretty much done also. So all things considered it's looking good, I'd say. I'll be on the road during the holidays and back to work before new year. On a side note - I booted up the old v0.06 after a very long time, mainly to compare the driving side, kind of nervous to see how it feels compared to v0.11, and to my surprise it felt like crap... IMO, of course. But that made me very happy and relieved.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-12-24 11:24:17 +0000 UTCWhile we all wait for v012, I updated my previous mod. Now even more settings are possible (SSR, more detailed settings of fog, you can set the good old brownish/yellowish ambient lighting), little more performance can be achieved, and I managed to create an experimental dynamic resolution mode. At this point, I feel like I've maxed out my optimization options. I hope that Ondrej has done some optimization in the meantime, or will in the final version. I thought that if we used two different solutions, the two together could give even more performance. I noticed an interesting thing, I avoided the Refinery region for a long time during testing, but now I surprisingly found that it is one of the most optimized parts of the map, in the sense that even if I turn on the shadows, the game still runs around 30fps. This is also surprising because the buildings along the road are not simple shapes, but quite complex, yet this part of the map is well optimized for its complexity. Now I'm thinking that maybe Ondrej is manually turning on/off objects here, depending on which part of the maze we are in, maybe that's why the game runs so well. Updated: Added a new option to disable vegetation wind. This is disabled by default as soon as the car is traveling at more than 20 km/h, but I added the option to disable it even when idling. This will be really spectacular on low-budget configurations. In the video description, I updated the dll and also uploaded a small video showing how big the differences are at a lower resolution.
Pixintendo
2022-12-19 08:52:57 +0000 UTCJust giving you a nudge for an update on progress, even if it's just to say, "I'm nowhere near releasing another version yet." No pressure on a timeline or anything. Just curious about how things are going.
myth0genesis
2022-12-09 01:07:41 +0000 UTCGuys, I made a new mod for v011, which now includes some performance optimization and customized stuff (like third person camera, bouncing, short light, etc). I'd be interested to see how much performance improvement others get, and how much of a difference in graphical quality you see. I describe everything in my last video and you can download the dll file, if you want. (My channel name on YT is the same as my Patreon)
Pixintendo
2022-11-15 08:11:55 +0000 UTCYou need v11 d
James Villalovos
2022-11-15 04:44:30 +0000 UTCI cannot look around in game can someone help me?
GalaticFIre
2022-11-13 05:44:24 +0000 UTCThought I'd pop back into Patreon to see how Beware was developing, as it's one of the most interesting driving games made in decades. My immediate thought was that the car lurches about like a boat and makes me feel motion sick fast using mouse/key controls. One thought... Digital (keyboard) acceleration is a bit insane for driving games to my mind. In real life no one would alternate between stamping on the accelerator to 100% power or jumping off the pedal (0% power) with nothing inbetween. The car pitches and wallows madly. Have you considered something like the Activision Enduro method? https://www.retrogames.cz/play_028-Atari2600.php?language=EN - hold the accelerator button to steadily build speed. As soon as you let go the car holds at that speed (a sort of cruise control). Hit the brake (down arrow/S) to first knock the car into low-revs/coasting speed, then either on a second press or very quickly - brake/reverse. Can be really effective and very few games use it. Might make creeping about in the car more stealthy too.
Barrie Ellis
2022-11-06 23:02:23 +0000 UTCI liked the weird flabby blurry dudes more honestly they looked like some absolute thugs, I think you're expanding the story so things can change to reflect that but the old models really made you feel like a victim
Colton
2022-11-06 22:21:38 +0000 UTCAbout the new design of goons: how about hazmat suit (bubble canopied one) filled with flesh ? The new one looks good but I know you are very good at "organic" creature design. Anyways, I hope you are doing good !
Kei Sigsegv
2022-10-28 00:23:01 +0000 UTCHello, I love your work and, to be clear, totally respect your designer choices. Here is just my own opinion on the direction you picked: To the cars design: I love those subtle details in car paint - how red lines are perfectly following lines of cars curves. But I would prefer to see them all black. The Idea of pursuit specials with search lights and tons of power, that are all black without any logo, sign, or brand is tickling my brain in the right way. Maybe just with this small logo on the roof bar a small hint? Being chased not knowing who you are dealing with produces much more eerie feelings, which I believe you were heading for. To the "goons" and their masks: Original distorted faces were much creepier and managed to stay kind of scary even when I was looking on them for longer periods of time. Longer exposure made them even a little bit scarier for me as they made this effect in my brain as when you are staring in the mirror for too long. The distortion starts to looks almost organic, or growing. If you need the "Goons" to wear masks for some practical reason, consider using masks that are little bit too small for their heads, or are kind of melting into the flesh of their faces. That I think, will preserve the "mirror distortion" effect pretty well for my brain. Hope this wasn't too logn for you and that it provided at least some inspiration for you. ;-)
Filip Kohoutek
2022-10-22 09:59:51 +0000 UTCHi Matt. First of all thanks for your time. I love your idea of electricity theft and all. It goes to show that if, given the big scenario the world currently has, there’s an immense potential for a cool storyline. We all have been conspiring and imagining all sorts of different things, and depending on how we mix those pieces, they all kinda make sense. And I think you’re right, I better just wait for the real story to come out the way the creator envisioned. I just can’t wait to try it out when the first demo releases. 🙌
Silva Debonair
2022-10-20 18:00:14 +0000 UTCI understand. If that’s how it works then it makes sense to not have a story until now. There’s just so much work behind what we see when playing and it takes time to find out what can and can’t be added, plus the challenge to make it all work out fine together. From what I’ve seen so far I know it’ll be really worth waiting. It’s a really unique project in many ways. Thanks for taking time to reply. Once again, thanks for your hard work.
Silva Debonair
2022-10-20 17:43:01 +0000 UTCHello Silva, thank you, I'll try to address the different points you raised: 1) Yes, my ideal would be scalable difficulty but without sacrificing the believable driving A.I. behaviour. And there's a limit to that approach, before the enemies begin behaving like they're totally dumb. So the other possibility is to improve the players driving by enabling different driving aids - again, to a certain degree, before it's too much. As a third option, I have an idea for players that don't know how/want to drive at all. 2) 3rd person view would make no sense story-wise, and you'd also miss out on the behaviour and interaction of the passengers with the current situation in BEWARE's world. Personally, depending on the game, I too enjoy 3rd person view. It really depends on how well the different cameras are implemented and which resulting driving feel you get. 3) Thanks! Fog has been a big challenge all along the way and its only in the latest releases that I managed to get close to the desired feel, for example adding blur based on fog density. 4) Typically, for all my past work, I would first build the complete world in which the thing will take place, and once that is done, then I'd start fleshing out the life and resulting mechanisms taking place inside. With BEWARE, it's similar except the 2018 demo was an intermediary step and everything has evolved since then. Especially given that we now have the complete map done, so now I can finally think through everything so that it feels cohesive and logical. The masks are still early WIP and it was an idea to re-use the shape of the logo for the goggles and breather part. 5) Only the player car will be available, with RR layout. Quite possibly I will add the choice of FF or FR, based on real world prototypes from the 80's. Finally, if it works with the gameplay, there will be the possibility to upgrade your car to reach "130 LR" specs.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-10-20 16:11:07 +0000 UTCHey! Thank you for responding! Im not using a G29 or a G29 shifter. There is a version of the logitech shifter that doesnt have buttons on it and its just an H-Shifter. https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwjApb-Puu36AhXKUHIKHfN5CcAYABAIGgJxdQ&sig=AOD64_2smBpZV8g16KJagScRVQCSX9CNpA&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwi9-bOPuu36AhU1LFkFHWORDL8Q9aACKAB6BAgBEBA&adurl= heres an amazon link to one, its called the "Driving Force" shifter
Josh Kern
2022-10-19 23:32:33 +0000 UTCHello, thank you for your feedback! The masks are still very much an early work in progress. Concerning the blurriness, I'm adding some more layers to that, for example the enemy cars wet windows now distort what's inside. It's a balancing act, definitely.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-10-19 22:05:15 +0000 UTCHey there Josh, I'm not sure here as steering wheel support was the latest feature to be added and I still lack experience. Maybe you could try "Shifter DPAD-Right" or "DPAD-Right" to re-ignite the engine. In any case the button mapping should be the same as in this demo showcasing the car physics used for BEWARE: https://vehiclephysics.com/about/demos/
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-10-19 22:00:56 +0000 UTCHello, i tried the game out with a logitech G920, all the button maps work but when I set the clutch travel to 100%, the car stalls. I dont have a problem with that except for the fact that I cannot figure out how to get the car to come back on any way other than switching to keyboard mode where the car starts automatically. Is there just a button I am missing? Even without being able to map them a list of controls in game in the pause menu or something would be fantastic. Also i forgot to add that the reverse gear on the logitech external shifter does not work, though I havent tried using the g27 preset yet
Josh Kern
2022-10-18 19:00:39 +0000 UTCHello, thank you for this hard work. Personally, I prefer the blurry rendering of not only goons but also the whole environment of the game, which gave it a more uncanny and disquieting feel. The gas masks are well done but make these goons ( to me ) more mundane, a bit less scary. Maybe the ability to offer some options such as turn masks on off could cater for a wide array of players ? Just a suggestion.
therickman
2022-10-18 09:36:35 +0000 UTCYour thoughts on the story are interesting. I think everyone kind of put their own ideas on the relatively blank slate. I had a Steven King's Myst kinda of vibe, seeing the goons almost as aliens or monsters poorly mimicking humans. As the project went on it felt more like powerful inner city security services making sure electricity is not "stolen" by poor people in the outskirts of the mega city. Otherwise never quite new what to make of the rabbits :) All of this after a never ending fog rolled over the world. I think it's best not to get too attached given the story is still very much incomplete. All told though, I would love to just get a first version of a full walkthrough. Would be great to get the full experience (even if V1).
Matt K
2022-10-17 13:46:40 +0000 UTCHi, Ondrej. Thanks for your hard work. All the features you mentioned are important. 1) The difficulty level in the chases is also quite an issue, for depending on how we're feeling on that day we may want it on the hard realistic mode or just on easy for that 15 minutes of daily fun, so having an option to change the game difficulty would be a big point, particularly for new players who are still getting to know the game. As the saying goes, the first impression sticks. I gave up playing My Sumer Car years ago because the game was very hard at the beginning, being an open world game with no tutorial. If it had any tutorial then mine was probably turned off. I'll try to play again once I have time. 2) Seeing the slow/fast comparison reminded me to ask, will we be able to change the camera for 3rd person view? I know the game is supposed to be played in 1st person, but sometimes I really wish I could play in 3rd person to be able to see the car and enjoy the light show in the taillights. (It might be silly, but are there plans to employ blinkers and assign buttons to toggle hi-low beam and front/rear fog lights individually?) 3) I love the light effects reflecting in the fog, it really adds realism, plus, fog is for some reason absent in many games, and it's a really cool feature. The roof searchlights are another cool addition to the enemy cars, because just like the mining trucks with their dozen front lights, it adds to the idea of a patrol vehicle equipped to search and chase its targets at any time anywhere. Pairing all those search lights with the night fog and its a perfect match, nothing feels out of place. 4) Now for the biggest point. As for the goons and car designs, I have to say the new characters with masks and their decorated cars look really cool, and add to the idea of the horror game and also displays your idea of that supernatural, sci-fi world, my first thought was that the goons were part of an organization like umbrella corp, given their uniform, masks and logo on the car. While that in itself is a really cool idea to develop, I can't help but feel attached to the old designs of the stock cars, the bald unmasked goons in trench coats and the idea that's been in everyone's heads so far. Until I had the impression we were in the real world with soviet secret agents chasing the player and the bio mom, who would be soviet civilians trying to escape either some curfew or some other form of repression from the Soviet era. Now I don't know which one to choose. Maybe the game could have two storylines, maybe it could be a DLC add-on or just two separate games, but the two storylines are interesting. 5) Will we be able to change cars at other points in the game? Will we be able to use the same cars as the goons, like the Dacia and the T-613? Those are really cool cars with equally cool music, so please consider keeping them in the final game. If anyone else read this far, then thank you. Would you take some more time to tell me your thoughts on all this and whether you agree with me?
Silva Debonair
2022-10-14 01:09:06 +0000 UTCForgot to mention will the second Dacia have a unique paint job and a more armored look?
Jonathon Ring
2022-10-07 20:53:54 +0000 UTCReally nice to hear from you. I tried contacting you through personal messages a few times but without luck so I got all worried. Nice to hear about all new updates. Really looking forward to v012. Can't wait.
Erik Lundgren
2022-10-06 21:44:21 +0000 UTCHello Ondrej, can you make it work for Track Ir also ?
Goulevitch
2022-10-06 18:23:09 +0000 UTCLooks very nice indeed. Can't wait to test the new driving physics in VR. :)
Hoshi82
2022-09-30 13:40:38 +0000 UTCThanks Nigel!
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-30 08:51:59 +0000 UTCDas wusste ich noch nicht. Interessant. Ich wohne im hohen Norden, in Hamburg. Ich bin jedenfalls auf die weitere Entwicklung Deines Spiels sehr gespannt. Beware hat so etwas Besonderes.
Sven
2022-09-30 07:01:48 +0000 UTClooking good man
Nigel Russell
2022-09-30 03:16:12 +0000 UTCThat lada lookin crisp
Ignat
2022-09-29 22:16:30 +0000 UTCAwesome, if you don't mind I've thought of several other questions and a few possible suggestions about v012. 1: Will v012 be a test for the cars from v007 or will the autonomous cars also be a part of this? 2: Will the pursuers and the autonomous cars have unique interactions with eachother or will they all chase you without reacting to eachother? 3: Will there be new chase music for enemies that didn't previously have chase music? 4: Can we damage the enemy cars in v012? 5: Why do the searchlights turn on and off randomly in these gifs? And my two suggestions are, 1: (If possible) I think an enemy should be able to call for backup if they've been chasing you for a long time without any success. (maybe the pursuers could call an autonomous car to help perhaps) 2: When multiple pursuer cars are chasing you they should try to box you in and trap you between their cars so they can easily stop you and kill you.
Temporal Shade
2022-09-29 21:54:00 +0000 UTCThank you :) Yes I will have to make new 3D models of those two - as they are just placeholders now.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 21:15:24 +0000 UTCThank you Petr! I mostly do research and try different original designs that would be reminiscent of the era, but often it does not really fit. Keep in mind the game takes place in an alternate timeline - so ideally it would be CSSR designs, but futuristic.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 21:13:04 +0000 UTCThank you :)
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 21:03:30 +0000 UTCYes it will :) I'll also be using a different approach for their animation + ragdoll. Weapons-wise I'm thinking of giving them a telescopic baton.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 21:02:58 +0000 UTCThe main thread missions will stay. Probably somewhat altered in pacing based on what I gathered from all the different playthroughs I saw online. So, for example babka's encounter and house location will be closer to each other so that following her does not take that long. And after activating the first power plant switch Babka will direct the player to the spider girl's location. Rabbits will remain yes :). Not sure about Biomom's bigger role yet.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 21:00:38 +0000 UTCI hear you :) It's not decided yet and will depend on the whole story as it crystallises into a coherent feel.
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 20:54:15 +0000 UTCThank you, good to hear you can relate. It can be a burden and hard to define limits sometimes. As for giving up, that's just not an option - and hasn't been for years as too much was invested, having started in 2010 (!)
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 20:50:10 +0000 UTCThank you, happy to hear that! It's also a bit dangerous in my case because, with my newly acquired knowledge, I'm tempted to go back and make the older stuff, which used to look good years ago, look better. Hard to resist sometimes :)
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 20:45:30 +0000 UTCDanke dir Sven! Hab hier 1991-96 gelebt und dann wieder seit 2011 (Berlin, Braunschweig, Muenchen und jetzt auf 'm land in sued B-W) :D
Ondrej Svadlena
2022-09-29 20:39:44 +0000 UTCThanks for the update. Looks good. Welcome to Germany! (Herzlich willkommen!) You are in my country now, that's cool.
Sven
2022-09-29 20:25:39 +0000 UTCEvery update looks better and better. Excited for more, can't wait for the next version!
Behind The Nine Ball
2022-09-29 19:26:21 +0000 UTCI'm glad you're doing well, and I can really relate to the perfectionist speed bumps you say you've hit lately. Totally understand. And I'm stoked to hear you haven't given up on the project yet! Brimming with excitement at the possibility of playing the next version soon!
myth0genesis
2022-09-29 18:56:41 +0000 UTCThanks for the update! Will the true faces of the goons never be seen again? Or will it depend on which enemy car they are in? I understand if you decided that way, but they were my favorite characters, their real faces made the game much unique and scarier. :D
Pixintendo
2022-09-29 18:07:32 +0000 UTCThanks for the update ! Hope things in Germany are good. Are all the existing missions expected to be present? Or is there an expected reshuffling. I.e do we still have rabbit puzzles?
Matt K
2022-09-29 17:55:37 +0000 UTCwill the animations of the pursuers getting in and out of their cars come back? and will they carry weapons again?
Temporal Shade
2022-09-29 17:33:31 +0000 UTCI'm so excited for what's coming I rewatched all of igp playlist of beware on YouTube and I love all of it . This place , you have created leaves us in mystery and fear . ❤️❤️
Andria medina
2022-09-29 17:24:56 +0000 UTCThank you very much for such a detailed update. The gifs look fantastic. For some reason I expected the designs to reflect "real" Czechoslovak designs, but the new direction is very interesting as well. Cannot wait to try the new driving model. Thank you!
Petr Schreiber
2022-09-29 17:20:47 +0000 UTCThe new version of the lada and Dacia and the updated pursuers with masks on look nice will the tatra 613 and the aro get a updated model as well?
Jonathon Ring
2022-09-29 17:09:25 +0000 UTC
