A number of issues have impacted online multiplayer gameplay since the 0.5.0 beta release on 21 December some of which were patched in a recent server update, the key issues were that have compromised online and physics stability are:


There servers had a significant escalation in the volume of concurrent players (peaking at ~160% or 2.6 times more players than the previous record high), to address this we have added additional server capacity and will continue to monitor contention for servers and scale capacity if the number of online players continues to escalate.




A high number of player hosted servers registered (or attempted to register) with the master server in the days immediately following the release of the Gang Beasts server tool (on 23 December 2016), this negatively impacted on the performance of the Master Server. A significant percentage of player hosted servers that successfully registered with the master server (player hosted servers that were shown in the server browser list) did not have port forwarding configured or were otherwise inaccessible stopping other players from joining them.

To address these issues we have temporarily stopped player hosted servers from registering as public servers until the implementation can be modified (remote 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/


We have been testing to identify the source of the physics inconsistencies introduced in the 0.5.0 builds and have identified the issue is with frame rate independence (making the game physics fluctuate significantly when running on different hardware specifications). We have been testing a potential fix for this issue and are publishing this as the 0.5.1 beta build concurrently with this post.

The modifications to the characters physics (which are listed in the change log in the 0.5.0 posts are not the source of the issues with physics inconsistencies), the issue is with the game physics not calculating independently of frame rate which manifests as lower (weak) forces for systems with lower frame rates and compromises character stability for systems with exceptionally high frame rates.


We are working on the Quick Join implementation to improve the management of contention for server slots with less frequent disconnections; if you have frequent issues connecting to servers with Quick Join please connect with the Server List with geographical filters (to index servers in proximate geographies) until improvements to the Quick Join implementation are published.

• fixed an issue with the character system to make the character physics work independently of frame rate
  
• fixed missing collider on subway
  
• modified amplitude of RingDing SFX to lower volume by approx. half
  
• modified amplitude of warp SFX sample to lower volume by approx. half
  
• modified the master server to manage higher CCUs (Concurrent Users)
  
• modified the master server to make the server list populate faster

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 release replaced the previous default 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 "unstable" Steam Early Access builds, moving between the default and “unstable” builds on Steam will download the 0.5.1 stable build until the “unstable” build is updated to 0.5.2

A number of issues have impacted online multiplayer gameplay since the 0.5.0 beta release on 21 December some of which were patched in a recent server update, the key issues were that have compromised online and physics stability are:


There servers had a significant escalation in the volume of concurrent players (peaking at ~160% or 2.6 times more players than the previous record high), to address this we have added additional server capacity and will continue to monitor contention for servers and scale capacity if the number of online players continues to escalate.




A high number of player hosted servers registered (or attempted to register) with the master server in the days immediately following the release of the Gang Beasts server tool (on 23 December 2016), this negatively impacted on the performance of the Master Server. A significant percentage of player hosted servers that successfully registered with the master server (player hosted servers that were shown in the server browser list) did not have port forwarding configured or were otherwise inaccessible stopping other players from joining them.

To address these issues we have temporarily stopped player hosted servers from registering as public servers until the implementation can be modified (remote 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/


We have been testing to identify the source of the physics inconsistencies introduced in the 0.5.0 builds and have identified the issue is with frame rate independence (making the game physics fluctuate significantly when running on different hardware specifications). We have been testing a potential fix for this issue and are publishing this as the 0.5.1 beta build concurrently with this post.

The modifications to the characters physics (which are listed in the change log in the 0.5.0 posts are not the source of the issues with physics inconsistencies), the issue is with the game physics not calculating independently of frame rate which manifests as lower (weak) forces for systems with lower frame rates and compromises character stability for systems with exceptionally high frame rates.


We are working on the Quick Join implementation to improve the management of contention for server slots with less frequent disconnections; if you have frequent issues connecting to servers with Quick Join please connect with the Server List with geographical filters (to index servers in proximate geographies) until improvements to the Quick Join implementation are published.

• fixed an issue with the character system to make the character physics work independently of frame rate
  
• fixed missing collider on subway
  
• modified amplitude of RingDing SFX to lower volume by approx. half
  
• modified amplitude of warp SFX sample to lower volume by approx. half
  
• modified the master server to manage higher CCUs (Concurrent Users)
  
• modified the master server to make the server list populate faster

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 release replaced the previous default 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 "unstable" Steam Early Access builds, moving between the default and “unstable” builds on Steam will download the 0.5.1 stable build until the “unstable” build is updated to 0.5.2

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/


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 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 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


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)

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 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/

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/


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 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 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


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)

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 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/

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


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.


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)


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 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.


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).

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


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.


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)


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 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.


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).

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 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).


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.


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).

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 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).


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.


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).

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 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).


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).

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 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).


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).