We hope you guys are all wondering when and what will be the next step for Zero Caliber en route to its full release. We know we still have a long road ahead of us, but with all the great feedback and suggestions we could gather from the community already, our team is now working harder than ever to make the game just like you all want it to be!
The next update will be a major one, scheduled around 15th March.
What can you expect from this update?
Disclaimer: all footage seen below are from the testing phase and don't represent their release state.
First part of a massive AI overhaul
Our AI -both enemy and teammate- isn’t perfect. We know that. Our team has been working very hard to bring new life to AI behaviour and animations and we are eager to show you its result! Although still far from final, their behaviour will be much more lifelike: they received proper animations, be it regular movement, reloading, cover finding or aiming. That, combined with a reworked aiming system means that they will move much more smoothly, and will behave more like a human instead of their current choppy nature. We still need a lot of internal testing and bugfixing, but you can expect to fight a much more intelligent enemy starting from the next update!
Improved and fine tuned movement system to avoid possible motion sickness
Zero Caliber is one of the more intense titles out there when it comes to movement. This means that people prone to VR induced motion sickness might feel a little dizzy after longer play sessions. We’ve already implemented a so called ‘Comfort mode’ to counter this (found in the options menu), as well as started to even out the terrain to avoid frequent and sudden up and down movements. In the next update, you’ll see a few changes, namely:
Slower base speed, slower strafing, slower backward speed
Slower speed when crouching
Player can only run when not aiming (depending on weapon type)
Run can be automatically or by-input activated (can be set in the options menu)
We are hoping that this change will further help in countering motion sickness, and will also give a more realistic movement feel.
‘Timber’ rework
The game’s first campaign map, ‘Timber’ is currently very demanding performance wise. People with weaker PCs might experience FPS drops due to the huge gameplay area and all the details that can be seen at the same time. We’ve decided to change the map’s layout. The mission’s length and aesthetics will remain the same, but the overall performance will be much more optimized across all the mission.
Initial setup guide
The game has a lot of options, which can all be found in the settings menu. To make things easier for players, we’ve implemented a setup guide, which will pop at the first start of the game (and can be skipped for experienced players). This quick setup guide will help players to select the optimal graphical settings, preferred locomotion type (head or hand oriented, left or right hand, snap or smooth turn) and other important settings. All these settings can be adjusted later in the options menu, but inexperienced players will have an easier time setting up the game in order to achieve the best experience possible.
Better hand animations
We’ve also improved the player’s hand animations. Pulling the trigger and reloading the guns will feel much more natural!
Steyr AUG
Our weapon selection will be expanded with yet another community favourite: the Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle.
Based on your feedback, and the fact that we want to polish Zero Caliber as much as possible, we’ve decided to concentrate more on core mechanics and gameplay improvements for this update. This of course doesn’t mean we’ll leave you without content updates! We’re also already working on two new singleplayer/coop maps that will be released a bit later. The list of things we’re working on doesn’t stop here! Our PvP mode is in the works too, we’re expecting a beta-ready state next month! Are you guys excited? We surely are and will count on all your feedback in this stage more than ever! We’ll keep you guys posted about future updates as we progress.
If you have any questions/request/advice, feel free to contact us here on Steam, on r/xrealgames, on our Discord or our social media channels any time!
Thank you guys for your continuous support, and again, as we make the game for you it is essential to keep every feedback coming!
We've been hearing a lot from the community that Zero Caliber needs a CQB map, so we made one! Our new small mission, 'Retaliation' brings you intense Close Quarters Battles, and what is even better is that it's a night map! Grab your flashlight attachment, put it onto your favourite gun, and you're good to go! Or don't, and enjoy the darkness. It's your call. 'Retaliation' can be unlocked by replaying 'Boot Camp'.
Check out the detailed patchnotes below.
Missions
New level: Retaliation - Unlocks after replaying 'Boot Camp'
Reworked music for lobby
Player/control improvements
Better VR experience: we removed the collision from most of the small objects, so your movement will be smoother - less likely to experience heavy motion sickness
Weapons
Attachments on AI weapons: the AI is now using weapons equipped with various attachments. Check out the fallen AI's weapons and take any attachment you want!
Minor fixes on various guns
Progression system
XP, player rank and weapon-unlock system improvements [previously the player unlocked weapons at the end of levels, only once]:
Players now get *XP* points for completing levels
Better accuracy, more kills and headshots, plus more co-op buddies mean more XP!
XP points get *Ranks* for players
With each rank, players unlock some weapons, special magazines or attachments
Fortunately, previously unlocked and/or bought weapons, magazines or attachments are kept, not lost with this update
What is more, previously skipped weapons get unlocked automatically if current player rank allows them
Known issue: unique weapon skins are not handled yet, will be added in a future update
Gameplay
Totally reworked enemy spawning (improved and more balanced)
The enemy uses attachments on weapons too
The friendly ai will use more weapons with better attachments
Various bugfixes on every level
Gfx
Effect, texture model fixes
Optimization on multiple levels
Stuff we're currently working on
A massive AI overhaul [both animation and behaviour]
Pump acion shotguns
New maps
PvP [more info soon™, please be patient :)]
Optimization and fixes
As always, thank you guys for the continuous support and feedback, it's greatly appreciated! Keep the feedback and suggestions coming!
We’d like to share with you what you can expect from the XREAL Games Team regarding Zero Caliber VR in 2019. :)
TL;DR version:
Monthly map updates
Regular weapon updates
Massive AI overhaul, both animation- and behaviour wise
PvP with dedicated servers
Tutorial and weapon showcase videos
Reworked progression and unlock system
Complete dialogue and voice acting rework
Conclusion of the story
Soundtrack
Massive optimization improvements
Last year was a blast! Thanks to the community’s feedback, suggestions and bugreports, the game has come a long way! We’ve been working constantly on fixing, polishing the game and adding new content, and we will continue to do so in 2019! We’re still a small indie team of enthusiast developers, so your continuous support means a lot to us! :)
Please welcome our new trailer! Subscribe to Pewdi our channel for the upcoming weapon showcase- and tutorial videos!
And now on to 2019: we won’t leave you without updates!
You can expect monthly map updates, the first one coming at the end of next week. Are you afraid in the dark? We hope not! ;) It will be a smaller mission, just like ‘Dust’ and ‘Frostbite’. The flashlight attachment might come in handy!
Between the map updates, there will be regular new weapon additions. We’ve already added a community favourite, the KRISS Vector. Let us know which one should we add next!
AI
We have to talk about the dreaded AI. We know it isn’t perfect, but don’t worry! It will get a complete overhaul. New animations and behaviour updates are on the way!
PvP fans shouldn’t be let down either!
We’ve started working on the PvP mode of Zero Caliber VR. Our vision is to bring something new to the market, we’ll share the details when we get closer to testing around April. Stay tuned!
Graphics
In terms of VR, optimization is key. We have a few tricks in our bag, graphics and performance will get better and better with each update! We’ve already decreased the blurriness in our latest update and will continue to optimize the game even better!
Story and Gameplay
The dialogue, and the voice acting will get an overhaul as well. We do know it isn’t perfect either, we’re reworking it based on the community’s feedback. We’re also producing a badass soundtrack for the game, and of course the story will get a conclusion.
---
This post is long as it is, so we haven’t listed everything we’re planning to do this year (like the reworked progression and unlock system). If you have any questions, feel free to ask us here on Steam, on r/xrealgames, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail or our Discord server. We’re more than happy to answer!
If you have trouble or issues with the game and need assistance, contact us directly, we’re always there to help!
On to a very exciting and update-filled 2019! :) XREAL Games Team
In this update, we've added the most requested weapon by the community: the KRISS Vector submachine gun and its attachments. Such a unique gun! It can be unlocked by replaying 'Boot Camp'. Let us know which weapon would you like to see the most in the game!
We've also majorly decreased the blurriness some of you might've experienced. We're constantly working on optimization, so expect even more improvements in the near future!
See the detailed patchnotes below:
Weapons
KRISS Vector, Light+Heavy stock, two suppressors, a holosight and a vertical grip - replay 'Boot Camp' to unlock it
GE36 slider stays back when emptied
SMG 45 slap reload added
Fixed folding stock scales
GFX
Significant improvement on the impact effect - now different calibers make different damage to various surfaces
Force pull effect added - a laser beam that makes it a lot easier to select the object you want to pull (can be enabled/disabled in the settings)
Decreased blurriness and tons of optimizations and fixes
Gameplay
Players get XP and money at the completion of each level. It is calculated differently than before and will be changed in the near future
Improved (more accurate) colliders for various objects
Timers are shown on the objective marker
Improved AI cover finding
Maps
Fixed playzone problems on ‘Tinder’ in Co-op mode
Fixed minor playzone problem on ‘Hail’
Moved Ka5c stock unlock to the same map as the weapon unlock
Frostbite can’t be rushed through without fighting
Fences don’t block bullets on Frostbite
As always, thank you guys so much for the continuous support! Your feedback is greatly appreciated and needed, please send us suggestions, feedback, ideas or questions here on our Community Hub, on r/xrealgames or our Discord server!
'Tis the season to be jolly! The Holidays are coming, and we prepared a little surprise for you. In this update, you'll find a new, snowy mission: Frostbite with a present: a tactical shield hidden somewhere on the map. It's for testing purposes, please send us feedback!
We implemented a much awaited weapon: the M14. You suggested, we made it happen! Comfort mode is also here, hopefully it will help those who suffer from motion-sickness!
We fixed and improved countless things thanks to your overwhelmingly positive feedback and suggestions. Thank you guys for all the feedback, keep them coming! Detailed patchnotes below:
Player / control improvements
Added “Comfort mode”, which you can enable via the options menu. This adds a black fade on the edges of your view if you are moving too fast. This way we hope you can avoid VR sickness.
Added “VR Center Arrow”, which you can enable via the options menu. This will indicate the center of your roomscale VR setup.
In Co-op mode now you can view your stats with the long press of the ‘option’ button.
Improved weapon pick up for oculus
Grenades can be cooked with top action button (no need to pull out pin manually)
Weapons
New M14 Rifle
Winter Camo
Red Dot with Darkened Sight designed specifically for bright levels
Improved Projectile Visuals, more variated look between the different calibers
Improved Performance on ‘Comfort’
‘Comfort’ and ‘Timber’ Environment fixes
Pixel density setting slider fixed: previously it was set to default regardless of the selected value - crispier graphics when set to high, better performance when set to low
Missions
New level: Frostbite - replay Boot Camp to get access to it
Tank, Stryker improved collisions
Gameplay
Optional respawn at checkpoint in Co-op
Rare crash on 'Comfort' fixed
Occasional crash on 'Timber' fixed
Removed collision with small items on the floor, so the VR experience is smoother
More weapon types for your friendly soldiers
Easier to survive with the Second Wind feature, you have half a sec to move to cover when you are about to die
Sacr stock unlock fixed
Shooting and Clipping through Walls on ‘Timber’ and ‘Comfort’ fixed
Audio
Music can now be turned off
Sound slider bug fixed
Once again thank you guys for all the feedback and suggestions, we couldn't be more thankful! Keep them coming!
In this update you'll find a new sniper rifle: the SVD Dragunov with the PSO scope. Auto grip/ungrip got implemented, the previously implemented snap/smooth turn can now be disabled in the control settings and FPS drops while using scope is gone. Check the detailed patchnotes below!
New weapon and attachments:
SVD Dragunov Sniper Rifle - with the PSO Scope!
RIS Adapter / PSO scope for AK47, AKM, AS Val
Player/Controls improvements:
Auto grip, auto ungrip by proximity is now available both on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive! Can be turned on/off in the settings menu.
Option to turn off snap/smooth turn is now available in the settings menu! How to snap/smooth turn? Oculus: On dominant hand (right by default) move joystick left/right and release Vive: On dominant hand (right by default) PRESS left or right quarter of the touchpad Attention! Input controls changed for HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets in the last update: - Fire mode change (auto, semi, safety): primary hand controller menu button short press - Attachment release: primary hand controller menu button press-and-hold
Gameplay improvements/changes/fixes:
Improved gun recoil on every gun (very rarely flies out of your hand, but if you wield an assault rifle one handed, it will be extremely inaccurate)
Improved gun handling, controller positions
Increased player health on higher difficulties, changed regeneration pattern
Scope optimization: default scope has better performance, also you can set lower resolution, or lower quality scopes too in the Quality Settings - no more fps drops when using scopes!
Player hit effect optimized (previously it caused huge performance drops on weaker PCs)
Suburbs’ map significant performance and lighting improvements
Minor weapon effect visual improvements
More visible projectiles: enemies are shooting slightly more visible projectiles for more readable combat
Fixed player’s right wrist’s delayed motion to the controller’s real location
WiP
Multiplayer server list: people from different regions might not find each other’s servers
Occasionally there is no sound on Oculus
AI is constantly being improved
Graphics optimization
Crash on startup with Unreal Engine error: this might be caused by software conflict. If you have ASUS sound driver installed: exit from the asus sound driver or end the process with SS2UILauncher.exe. Try to disable the asus sonic sound at startup. Nahimic, MSI sound or similar audio apps might also cause a crash.
As always, thank you for your continuous support! Share your ideas, suggestions and feedback with us either here on our community hub or on our Discord server!
Snap- and smooth turn for HTC Vive and WMR is here! See detailed patchnotes below. As always, thank you all for the continuous support! Be sure to send us feedback and suggestions either here on our community hub or Discord!
Player/Controls improvement
Snap turning and smooth turning is now available on HTC Vive and WMR headsets. Input controls changed for the HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets: - Fire mode change (auto, semi, safety): primary hand controller menu button short press - Attachment release: primary hand controller menu button press-and-hold - Turning: primary hand touchpad left and right
Controller haptics improved (based on distance and type)
Gun alignments fixed
Gameplay fixes
Sacr weapon unlock fix on the Comfort map
Stuck friendly AI fix on the Comfort map
Definitely no more killzones on the Comfort map in coop
Vive weapon grab improvement
AI movement improvements
Fixed some objectives and playzones on the Hail map
Graphical Fixes
Timber map has an improved lighting with more readable environment and gameplay relevant assets
Comfort map got a visually more appealing lighting scenario, similar to the one on the Menu Preview image
Hail map Improved Lighting, to make it more “war-like”
Lots of black splotch render fixes
WiP
Multiplayer server list: people from different regions might not find each other’s servers
Occasionally there is no sound on Oculus
AI is constantly being improved
Graphics optimization
Crash on startup with Unreal Engine error: this might be caused by software conflict. If you have ASUS sound driver installed: exit from the asus sound driver or end the process with SS2UILauncher.exe. Try to disable the asus sonic sound at startup. Nahimic, MSI sound or similar audio apps might also cause a crash.
In the past few days we've been working hard on fixing issues that initially came up since the release. Known issues we're working on are at the bottom.
Thank you all for supporting us, and as always, send your feedback and suggestions our way on Discord or here so we can resolve issues as fast as possible!
Gameplay fixes:
Misaligned hand position compared to real life controller position fixed for certain guns [WiP] - easier to use gunstocks
Less instant death on coop missions, improved player kill zones
Weapon unlock fixes on the maps (e.g. Python)
Hail mission computer download objective fixed
Improved AI - baddies are much tougher now
'Hail' mission with better combat areas
Fixed the bugged walls in the lobby, you can’t walk through them anymore
In Co-op, players falling behind will get teleported to the actual checkpoint instead of dying
Minor dialogue adjustments
Multiplayer level selector fixes:
Previous/next arrows fixed
Locked pictures for the host fixed
Level type filter improved
Server list listing dummy servers when switching pages fixed
Sound fixes:
Last shot sound effect for the revolver/shotguns fixed
Improved explosion sounds
Graphical improvements:
Improved lighting, no darkness inside houses and warehouses
Outside lighting fine-tuned
Improved optimization for certain hardware configurations
KNOWN ISSUES
The following issues are known and are currently being worked on:
Misaligned hand position compared to real life controller position
Multiplayer server list: people from different regions might not find each other’s servers
Now that Zero Caliber's Early Access has started, you might be wondering... What’s next?
First we issue fixes for the current maps (you might have noticed some graphical issues, random bugs).
BUGFIXES, IMPROVEMENTS:
We have received tons of feedback from you. We want to make the game as good as it can be, so we’ll spend the next month mostly on these. We also have a lot of improvements in mind for current maps, check the patchnotes and play them if they get an update. In the meantime, level designers can work on...
SMALLER MISSIONS:
10-20 minutes fights, compact area, best suited for Co-op and PVP. We want to have at least 6-8 of these by the time of full launch. When at least 3 of those are in the game...
CAMPAIGN CONCLUSION:
the planned length of the campaign is 6 missions (as long as the current ones). One of these takes about 1-1.5 months to make so it will always be presented in a major patch. While the designers are busy with these, the coders can work on...
PVP:
We'll start testing around the end of Q1 2019. We have big plans, but we have to make playable maps (see above) first, balance the guns and the game itself. Also have to expand the frameworks, currently it’s in a very rudimentary state.
OCULUS STORE RELEASE:
In a few weeks. We had to delay it to make Steam release as smooth as possible. (And it still was rocky, but we made it!)
PSVR:
Once our porting team finishes working on A-tech we’ll get to the colossal task of making this game available on PSVR.
Anything else? Yes, a lot! We've almost finished mountable turrets, heavy machine guns, they’ll be added in a few months, we have at least a dozen guns and attachments waiting to be integrated, shotguns will become pump action, and a lot more! (Night-time missions anyone?)
You guys provide valuable feedback, thank you for that! Keep it up, and we together can make this the best game ever!
Ladies and Gentlemen! We proudly announce that the Zero Caliber VR Early Access is out NOW on Steam!
Thanks for the continuous support we got in the last few months, we couldn't be happier. We hope everyone will enjoy the game and provide lots of feedback to help us make it even better.
This is just the very beginning. More missions. More weapons. More features. Tons and tons of bugfixes. Join us on this journey to make the best Military VRFPS available!