Hello Everyone!

Today we’re bringing you the second in a series of development blogs about the Multiverse update! The last blog focused on Physics in Multiplayer, how that all works and what kind of performance you can expect to get out of it.

Today's blog however, will be part 1 of 2 blogs on Besiege's new level editor. The first part will focus on how you'll be able to create an environment, using the editor, and the second part will focus on creating game modes and interactive levels using our newly created logic system!

Please keep in mind that the Multiverse update is still in active development and anything shown here may be subject to change.

Besiege levels are created using a variety of game objects which are placed into the world and can then be edited, including; structures, foliage, NPCs & environmental effects. And for those of you wondering, we are in the process of creating assets specifically to be used in custom levels & multiplayer levels.



Besiege's level assets have been divided into several different categories, making it easier for you to find what you're looking for.
To place an asset into the level, you simply select it and then click somewhere in the level to place it. Once we have the object in the level, we can use the tools along the top of the editor panel to edit it.



First we have the Translate tool, which allows you to move a selected object around the environment. Then there's; the Rotate tool for rotation, the Scale tool for altering the object's size, the Mirror tool for moving objects in relation to one another, the Eraser for removing objects and the Modify tool for editing an object's properties.



The properties tool has different options depending on the object that you're editing. For example editing a wall allows you to dictate whether the wall works in a physics way and the amount of force required to destroy it. Turning off the physics option will cause the object to become static and not to break into physics pieces when it’s destroyed.



You can also use the Properties tool to switch between several variations of certain models.



Other objects such as the AI for example, have considerably more options, allowing you to change their behaviour, stats and even make them friendly to a specific team! Allowing AI vs AI combat!



In addition to the object tools we have some more general level editor tools as well, including; a paintbrush mode for placing lots of a particular type of object, a snap to grid option and a duplicate option which has the hotkey Ctrl + D.



By clicking the green pencil on the snap to grid button, you can edit the size of the grid you wish to use:



The paintbrush tool works by holding down mouse button one and then moving your cursor around. Objects are then periodically placed along the path of your mouse, with random rotations and scales.



Levels can be saved and loaded at will by any player in the server, these level files can be shared with other players and you will be able to upload and download them from the Steam workshop as well!

You can also customize the aesthetic environment for your level in the level settings menu, we’ll be talking more about the menu in the next dev blog.

And remember, at any time you can just start simulation and test your level, easy peasy!



Unfortunately that's it for this Dev blog, but be sure to tune into the next one where we'll talk about configuring your levels to have rules and we introduce you into the editor's logic system which allows for more complex and interesting levels & game modes!

Hello Everyone!

Today we’re bringing you the second in a series of development blogs about the Multiverse update! The last blog focused on Physics in Multiplayer, how that all works and what kind of performance you can expect to get out of it.

Today's blog however, will be part 1 of 2 blogs on Besiege's new level editor. The first part will focus on how you'll be able to create an environment, using the editor, and the second part will focus on creating game modes and interactive levels using our newly created logic system!

Please keep in mind that the Multiverse update is still in active development and anything shown here may be subject to change.

Besiege levels are created using a variety of game objects which are placed into the world and can then be edited, including; structures, foliage, NPCs & environmental effects. And for those of you wondering, we are in the process of creating assets specifically to be used in custom levels & multiplayer levels.



Besiege's level assets have been divided into several different categories, making it easier for you to find what you're looking for.
To place an asset into the level, you simply select it and then click somewhere in the level to place it. Once we have the object in the level, we can use the tools along the top of the editor panel to edit it.



First we have the Translate tool, which allows you to move a selected object around the environment. Then there's; the Rotate tool for rotation, the Scale tool for altering the object's size, the Mirror tool for moving objects in relation to one another, the Eraser for removing objects and the Modify tool for editing an object's properties.



The properties tool has different options depending on the object that you're editing. For example editing a wall allows you to dictate whether the wall works in a physics way and the amount of force required to destroy it. Turning off the physics option will cause the object to become static and not to break into physics pieces when it’s destroyed.



You can also use the Properties tool to switch between several variations of certain models.



Other objects such as the AI for example, have considerably more options, allowing you to change their behaviour, stats and even make them friendly to a specific team! Allowing AI vs AI combat!



In addition to the object tools we have some more general level editor tools as well, including; a paintbrush mode for placing lots of a particular type of object, a snap to grid option and a duplicate option which has the hotkey Ctrl + D.



By clicking the green pencil on the snap to grid button, you can edit the size of the grid you wish to use:



The paintbrush tool works by holding down mouse button one and then moving your cursor around. Objects are then periodically placed along the path of your mouse, with random rotations and scales.



Levels can be saved and loaded at will by any player in the server, these level files can be shared with other players and you will be able to upload and download them from the Steam workshop as well!

You can also customize the aesthetic environment for your level in the level settings menu, we’ll be talking more about the menu in the next dev blog.

And remember, at any time you can just start simulation and test your level, easy peasy!



Unfortunately that's it for this Dev blog, but be sure to tune into the next one where we'll talk about configuring your levels to have rules and we introduce you into the editor's logic system which allows for more complex and interesting levels & game modes!

Hello everyone!

As I’m sure many of you are aware, last month we announced the Besiege Multiverse update, which will bring a Multiplayer game mode as well as a Multiplayer Level Editor.

Today I’m bringing you the first in a series of development blogs which will go into greater detail about the features of the Multiverse update and generally explaining how things will work!

We decided to focus on how Physics will work in Multiplayer for this first blog, as we’ve noticed it’s been a major point of query and concern amongst the community.

Anyway let’s just jump right into it.

Performance

In Besiege Multiplayer all the session’s physics is handled by the host’s computer which then communicates with the connected player’s computers telling them what is happening. This ensures a relatively smooth experience, with all war machine’s appearance & movements being synced together giving each connected player an accurate view of what's going on in the game.

Because all the physics is simulated on a single computer, you can expect to get a similar performance in multiplayer as you do in singleplayer. If your host’s computer can handle 500 blocks easily in singleplayer, then they can handle 500 blocks easily in a multiplayer session. Just to be clear, we’re talking 500 blocks total when all player’s machines are added together.
Another useful benefit of running all the game’s physics on one computer is that there is almost no performance load on the client player’s computers. This means that even if you have a low end computer, you can take part in multiplayer sessions containing as many blocks as the host can handle without experiencing poor performance!

We want to be abundantly clear here.
If the total block count of every player’s machines added together is too much for the host’s computer to handle, there will be performance drops. We have decided not to put a cap on the total allowed blocks, so it’s in the hands of the players to decide whether they want to load large elaborate machines into multiplayer.
During the course of multiplayer’s development we have tried several different ways of simulating accurate interactions between machines over a network and found the current method to be the best at balancing performance with accuracy.

Simulation

Besiege’s Multiplayer mode has two different types of physics simulation, Global and Local.

During Global simulation, all players can interact with each other's machines and the environment they’re playing in. In global simulation all the physics behind war machines and the level are run on the Host’s computer (aka the server).

Whilst Global simulation is active the level cannot be edited, but if a player is in local simulation, then the other players can continue editing the map.
Local simulation was created to allow players to test their machines without preventing other players from continuing to edit the level!

Local simulation (aka Ghost Mode) is where individual players simulate their machines independently from everyone else in the Multiplayer session. Players in Local simulation can still interact with the environment/level as it existed when they pressed the simulate button. During Local simulation all physics are simulated on the player’s computer and their machine is still visible to other players in a kind of ghostly form.



Clustering

One of the first hurdles we had to overcome when making Besiege multiplayer was the sheer volume of information that would have to be sent via networking to the host and other players.

The main way in which we overcame this problem was using an innovative clustering system which, without wanting to get too technical, allows blocks to be placed into groups in order to reduce the amount of information being sent to other players.
This system reduces lag between players and the host whilst providing an accurate view of simulated machines which is shared by all players without sync issues.

Under the in-game menu you can toggle on a visual representation of the cluster system and see how your war machine’s blocks are grouped into clusters. You can use this mode to help you design machines that are more efficient for use in multiplayer, as some methods of building work better with the cluster system than others, see below for examples.





That’s all for now but we’ll be bringing you more Dev blogs about the Multiverse update as we get closer to releasing it!

We also thought we'd include this live action reproduction of a typical Besiege multiplayer session:


EDIT: Just to remind people, we're aiming for release of the Multiverse update before the end of Q3 this year. (Around September)

Hello everyone!

As I’m sure many of you are aware, last month we announced the Besiege Multiverse update, which will bring a Multiplayer game mode as well as a Multiplayer Level Editor.

Today I’m bringing you the first in a series of development blogs which will go into greater detail about the features of the Multiverse update and generally explaining how things will work!

We decided to focus on how Physics will work in Multiplayer for this first blog, as we’ve noticed it’s been a major point of query and concern amongst the community.

Anyway let’s just jump right into it.

Performance

In Besiege Multiplayer all the session’s physics is handled by the host’s computer which then communicates with the connected player’s computers telling them what is happening. This ensures a relatively smooth experience, with all war machine’s appearance & movements being synced together giving each connected player an accurate view of what's going on in the game.

Because all the physics is simulated on a single computer, you can expect to get a similar performance in multiplayer as you do in singleplayer. If your host’s computer can handle 500 blocks easily in singleplayer, then they can handle 500 blocks easily in a multiplayer session. Just to be clear, we’re talking 500 blocks total when all player’s machines are added together.
Another useful benefit of running all the game’s physics on one computer is that there is almost no performance load on the client player’s computers. This means that even if you have a low end computer, you can take part in multiplayer sessions containing as many blocks as the host can handle without experiencing poor performance!

We want to be abundantly clear here.
If the total block count of every player’s machines added together is too much for the host’s computer to handle, there will be performance drops. We have decided not to put a cap on the total allowed blocks, so it’s in the hands of the players to decide whether they want to load large elaborate machines into multiplayer.
During the course of multiplayer’s development we have tried several different ways of simulating accurate interactions between machines over a network and found the current method to be the best at balancing performance with accuracy.

Simulation

Besiege’s Multiplayer mode has two different types of physics simulation, Global and Local.

During Global simulation, all players can interact with each other's machines and the environment they’re playing in. In global simulation all the physics behind war machines and the level are run on the Host’s computer (aka the server).

Whilst Global simulation is active the level cannot be edited, but if a player is in local simulation, then the other players can continue editing the map.
Local simulation was created to allow players to test their machines without preventing other players from continuing to edit the level!

Local simulation (aka Ghost Mode) is where individual players simulate their machines independently from everyone else in the Multiplayer session. Players in Local simulation can still interact with the environment/level as it existed when they pressed the simulate button. During Local simulation all physics are simulated on the player’s computer and their machine is still visible to other players in a kind of ghostly form.



Clustering

One of the first hurdles we had to overcome when making Besiege multiplayer was the sheer volume of information that would have to be sent via networking to the host and other players.

The main way in which we overcame this problem was using an innovative clustering system which, without wanting to get too technical, allows blocks to be placed into groups in order to reduce the amount of information being sent to other players.
This system reduces lag between players and the host whilst providing an accurate view of simulated machines which is shared by all players without sync issues.

Under the in-game menu you can toggle on a visual representation of the cluster system and see how your war machine’s blocks are grouped into clusters. You can use this mode to help you design machines that are more efficient for use in multiplayer, as some methods of building work better with the cluster system than others, see below for examples.





That’s all for now but we’ll be bringing you more Dev blogs about the Multiverse update as we get closer to releasing it!

We also thought we'd include this live action reproduction of a typical Besiege multiplayer session:


EDIT: Just to remind people, we're aiming for release of the Multiverse update before the end of Q3 this year. (Around September)

Hello Everyone!

Today we’re bringing you Version 0.45 and the unveiling of an upcoming exciting new addition to the game, The Besiege Multiverse.


The Multiverse is a combination of the Besiege community’s two most requested features; Multiplayer and a Level Editor. For the past year or so we’ve been working on not only bringing these features to life but, combining them in a unique way for your enjoyment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_LXRF0myw
The Multiverse allows Besiegers to create multiplayer sessions of the game (Up to 8 Players) to build, battle and compete with their friends. Alongside this we’ve included a large set of tools, allowing players to not only create their own custom levels, game modes & objectives, but create them with their friends in real time. Furthermore, players can choose to play/simulate custom levels, while their friends are still working on them!

The Multiverse update is not yet ready but we are aiming to have it released by the end of Q3 of this year. As you can imagine there’s a lot of testing that needs doing to ensure your experience of these new features is as smooth as possible.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing regular Dev Blogs, explaining the Multiverse features in greater detail and how it all works, as well as a collection of guides which will help you to get the most out of Multiplayer and the powerful new Editor Tools.

The price of Besiege will also be raised by $2 after the Multiverse update is released, inline with our early-access pricing plan. However if you already own the game you will not have to pay anything extra!

Want to find out more? Click Here!!


In addition to the exciting announcement above, we also have two new Valfross campaign levels for you to complete/mess around in and some bug fixes to the game.

The first being an abandoned mine constructed by the peoples of Valfross, ruled by the infamous Withered King, with the apparent purpose of extracting ore from the mountainside…



The second level contains one of the great fortresses of Valfross, its mighty towers surviving countless ages of ice and snow, and guarded by fearsome warriors...



In other development news the localization system is entering its final stages of testing and we’ll be hoping to release that very soon. As we previously announced, players will be able to upload custom translations to the workshop and it is our intention to implement the most used of those into the standard game. Work on the options menu is also continuing and we have some other exciting levels in the works which we’ll be talking about in the coming weeks.
Going forward it is our intention to release individual pieces of content as and when they’re ready, instead of grouping them into larger updates.

Well, that's all we have for you right now, we hope you enjoy the levels and share our excitement for the Multiverse update! Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

Cheers,

Von

PS: Please note that each time an update is released, Spaar's modloader is broken and requires updating in order for mods to function again. Please be patient while Spaar updates his modloader and download the new version when he's done. Attempting to use an outdated version of the modloader will cause problems with the game.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Hello Everyone!

Today we’re bringing you Version 0.45 and the unveiling of an upcoming exciting new addition to the game, The Besiege Multiverse.


The Multiverse is a combination of the Besiege community’s two most requested features; Multiplayer and a Level Editor. For the past year or so we’ve been working on not only bringing these features to life but, combining them in a unique way for your enjoyment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_LXRF0myw
The Multiverse allows Besiegers to create multiplayer sessions of the game (Up to 8 Players) to build, battle and compete with their friends. Alongside this we’ve included a large set of tools, allowing players to not only create their own custom levels, game modes & objectives, but create them with their friends in real time. Furthermore, players can choose to play/simulate custom levels, while their friends are still working on them!

The Multiverse update is not yet ready but we are aiming to have it released by the end of Q3 of this year. As you can imagine there’s a lot of testing that needs doing to ensure your experience of these new features is as smooth as possible.

Over the coming weeks we will be releasing regular Dev Blogs, explaining the Multiverse features in greater detail and how it all works, as well as a collection of guides which will help you to get the most out of Multiplayer and the powerful new Editor Tools.

The price of Besiege will also be raised by $2 after the Multiverse update is released, inline with our early-access pricing plan. However if you already own the game you will not have to pay anything extra!

Want to find out more? Click Here!!


In addition to the exciting announcement above, we also have two new Valfross campaign levels for you to complete/mess around in and some bug fixes to the game.

The first being an abandoned mine constructed by the peoples of Valfross, ruled by the infamous Withered King, with the apparent purpose of extracting ore from the mountainside…



The second level contains one of the great fortresses of Valfross, its mighty towers surviving countless ages of ice and snow, and guarded by fearsome warriors...



In other development news the localization system is entering its final stages of testing and we’ll be hoping to release that very soon. As we previously announced, players will be able to upload custom translations to the workshop and it is our intention to implement the most used of those into the standard game. Work on the options menu is also continuing and we have some other exciting levels in the works which we’ll be talking about in the coming weeks.
Going forward it is our intention to release individual pieces of content as and when they’re ready, instead of grouping them into larger updates.

Well, that's all we have for you right now, we hope you enjoy the levels and share our excitement for the Multiverse update! Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

Cheers,

Von

PS: Please note that each time an update is released, Spaar's modloader is broken and requires updating in order for mods to function again. Please be patient while Spaar updates his modloader and download the new version when he's done. Attempting to use an outdated version of the modloader will cause problems with the game.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Hello Everyone!

We’ve got another development post today, to bring you up to date with what we’re working on and how things are going.

I touched upon this in the last Dev post but I’d like to start off by talking about the options menu re-work that we’ve been carrying out. It’s still very much work in progress and some of the options may not appear in the initial release but it’s coming along nicely.



As you can see above we’ve added an extensive list of video and audio options and we’re working on system to allow the remapping of base game controls such as; the camera, simulation start hotkey, etc.
The options menu will launch with some basic control customization, such as rebinding the camera hotkeys, with more being added as time goes on.
To the right of the options you can see a sample of game’s visuals which updates in real time as you alter the video settings. Please note that this is all still very work in progress, things are likely to change and much of it still needs a good layer of polish added to it.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to give you a sneak peek at some of the things we’ve been working on that will feature in new upcoming campaign levels.



The next level update will feature the first fortress of Valfross and for the construction of this fortress we’ve re-designed the Tolbrynd physics brick system, giving it a new aesthetic to suit the island's frozen wastelands. Pictured below is a small section of the fortress and its new brickwork system.


Please keep in mind that all of the above is still very much work in progress and at this point we’re not sure exactly which things will make it into the next update and which ones might come later, but we wanted to try taking a more open approach with you guys and talking about what we’re working on sooner than we normally would like.

We're going to be trying a different approach to releasing content for Besiege, in the past we've tried to assemble various features into a single update and have a specific focus for that update (Levels for example), but going forward we're going to try releasing individual items when we feel they're ready.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those of you that participated in the “Favorite Levels” poll that I posted in the last article, we had a really great response and it was interesting to see which levels you all enjoyed the most!

The top five most voted for levels were as follows:
1st. The Duke’s Plea (Zone 16)
2nd. The Duke’s Dear Freighters (Zone 20)
3rd. The Martyr Knights (Zone 38)
4th. The Frozen Path (Zone 35)
5th. Aras' Refuge (Zone 34)
Honorable mentions include; The Queen’s Fodder, Scouts of Tolbrynd, Wynnfrith’s Keep & Argus’ Grounds.

We hope that this has helped wet your appetite a little and we hope to be bringing you these new features very soon.

Cheers,

Von

Hello Everyone!

We’ve got another development post today, to bring you up to date with what we’re working on and how things are going.

I touched upon this in the last Dev post but I’d like to start off by talking about the options menu re-work that we’ve been carrying out. It’s still very much work in progress and some of the options may not appear in the initial release but it’s coming along nicely.



As you can see above we’ve added an extensive list of video and audio options and we’re working on system to allow the remapping of base game controls such as; the camera, simulation start hotkey, etc.
The options menu will launch with some basic control customization, such as rebinding the camera hotkeys, with more being added as time goes on.
To the right of the options you can see a sample of game’s visuals which updates in real time as you alter the video settings. Please note that this is all still very work in progress, things are likely to change and much of it still needs a good layer of polish added to it.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to give you a sneak peek at some of the things we’ve been working on that will feature in new upcoming campaign levels.



The next level update will feature the first fortress of Valfross and for the construction of this fortress we’ve re-designed the Tolbrynd physics brick system, giving it a new aesthetic to suit the island's frozen wastelands. Pictured below is a small section of the fortress and its new brickwork system.


Please keep in mind that all of the above is still very much work in progress and at this point we’re not sure exactly which things will make it into the next update and which ones might come later, but we wanted to try taking a more open approach with you guys and talking about what we’re working on sooner than we normally would like.

We're going to be trying a different approach to releasing content for Besiege, in the past we've tried to assemble various features into a single update and have a specific focus for that update (Levels for example), but going forward we're going to try releasing individual items when we feel they're ready.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those of you that participated in the “Favorite Levels” poll that I posted in the last article, we had a really great response and it was interesting to see which levels you all enjoyed the most!

The top five most voted for levels were as follows:
1st. The Duke’s Plea (Zone 16)
2nd. The Duke’s Dear Freighters (Zone 20)
3rd. The Martyr Knights (Zone 38)
4th. The Frozen Path (Zone 35)
5th. Aras' Refuge (Zone 34)
Honorable mentions include; The Queen’s Fodder, Scouts of Tolbrynd, Wynnfrith’s Keep & Argus’ Grounds.

We hope that this has helped wet your appetite a little and we hope to be bringing you these new features very soon.

Cheers,

Von