Dogs Of War Vu

Sim/Strategy/War => Games Discussion => Topic started by: Asid on December 06, 2016, 09:37:43 PM

Title: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 06, 2016, 09:37:43 PM

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/header.jpg?t=1480985391)

Early Access
Official Site: Here (http://www.escapesierraleone.com/)
Official forum:
YouTube Channel:Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgXST-Tg_0w)
Steam: Here (http://store.steampowered.com/app/440450/?snr=1_620_4_1400_45)
Price: £14.99


Official trailer
https://youtu.be/KgXST-Tg_0w

About This Game

This game is currently a Beta in Early Access and may not contain all of the features listed here yet, or they may be only partially implemented as place-holders. There will be some bugs and missing content. The ending sequences are currently missing and a WIP. More features and assets will be added as development progresses! Also, this game is very challenging, and shouldn't be purchased unless you enjoy a challenge.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_b12698fb282cc39a076d595cacc63b004f59b7fd.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

Escape: Sierra Leone is a single-player exploration-based survival first-person game. Focused around complete freedom and interacting with a vibrant world, it takes place on an island chain based loosely off of the real life Banana Islands, along the coast of Sierra Leone. There are approximately 21 square kilometers of terrain to explore, fight, survive and escape from. You start with no weapons, no supplies, no idea of where to go – getting those is up to you. No magic quest arrows pointing where to go, no forced objectives or missions.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_d2e5e53eb39ee9c2b33f42510058394c266e510d.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

Set during the 1997 civil war, the main antagonists are the Revolutionary United Front, a notorious group rebelling against the government. The RUF have occupied the Banana Islands and are on a hunt for diamonds; recruiting who they can and killing, maiming, or enslaving those they can't.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_010f91fbb9ddabb3ff3b03b49ed819306b7a988a.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

You play as a civilian trying to escape the island. Throughout the game, you are forced to make a series of choices that will eventually lead to you making your escape. Everything from how to approach your attempted escape, to how you interact with other people can have an affect on how everything plays out in the end. The game is totally open and you are never given "quests" or "objectives" beyond simply escaping. You may have encounters during the game in which you are asked to help someone. These are completely open, you can fulfill their request, or simply ignore them, or even kill them, if you wish.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_3c700ba8edd090e6938c1d37e9691f95c2a29e2a.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

In the 1.0 release, there are at least four methods of escape, and a minimum of 8 different endings that are influenced by choices you make throughout the game. Both of those numbers are likely to rise as development progresses. A compact and simple inventory system will make you think about what food, ammo, guns, or items you want to carry. Combat, while not mandatory in any way, is fairly realistic and very brutal. Each bullet hit or wound causes an appropriate animation and sound effect, for both NPCs and the player.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_dcd07c60c53df971997cee177664b5037a1b0413.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

Key Features:
•   Seamlessly scavenge the entire island for supplies you need to survive, from a banana to an AK-47. No invisible walls or loading screens.
•   Engage in immersive and realistic combat... or don't, if you're the sneaky type.
•   Around 21 square kilometers of hand-painted landscape and vegetation gives you a ton of area to explore.
•   Using a simple and intuitive 12 slot inventory system, make the hard call on which items to keep and which to leave behind.
•   Realistic bullet physics that factors in gravity, wind, and speed into every individual round – all of which can effect penetration, damage dealt, and accuracy.
•   Death comes in more forms than bullets; avoid disease, dehydration, starvation, car crashes, wildlife, and falls.
•   24 hour day/night cycle with a weather system that includes rain of varying strengths, wind, and a 28-phase moon cycle.
•   Discover and protect safehouses, they are your only chance to save your game and serve as a good spot to stockpile supplies or clean weapons.
•   Find and fuel different kinds of vehicles, from a diesel powered truck to a gas powered motorboat. Walking won't get you anywhere fast!
•   Interact with the environment; from picking a lock, to opening a door, to cooking food on a campfire, to chasing a school of fish, to hunting the local wildlife, there are many ways you are involved in the dynamic world around you.
•   Get lost in the thick jungle, or stroll around the sweeping beaches.
•   Detailed weapon handling including loading and unloading loose rounds into magazines, cleaning your gun, clearing jams, and the option to "quick reload," which drops your old mag on the ground, but reloads faster.
•   Explore an unforgiving, although deceptively pretty island. Never forget how easily the island can and will kill.
•   Hand placed loot allows for a logical placement of items, instead of leaving it up to a random spawning system.
•   No hand-holding or magical GPS-like maps or arrows to push you to success, it's all you!
•   Very limited HUD and a focus on immersion and realism. The HUD is only visible when you prompt it to appear.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_31de8de1b53b2111ddab285ce1d08981da22d6d1.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_14647fe867381493f55154f617be491ce54d2968.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_3c0166df149993562b0d56c1b41dbe57e8329462.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_0ef994c06f8fbc71690a6a001d7a2cb09365a144.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/440450/ss_5e174789572671ac0ee069ae0b2fe7ceb612db95.600x338.jpg?t=1480985391)

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Longknife on December 06, 2016, 09:45:00 PM

This sounds pretty cool!

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 08, 2016, 04:41:46 PM

Day 2, Update 0.5.0.6 Is Live!
6 DECEMBER - SLAYER_2

First of all, a thank you to everyone who has purchased the game so far and helped support the project. Not only financially, but by reporting bugs in a detailed manner (and sometimes even with video footage!).

To that end, I have worked to get as many of the reported issues fixed as possible, here is the change log of what's been fixed since 0.5.0.5:
Change Log

•   Fixed the keybinding issue that would cause you to get stuck or make your menu otherwise glitch up when trying to bind a key you already had bound.
•   Made it so that picking up a two handed item with another two handed weapon in your hands will automatically drop the old one and pick up the new one. Previously you had to manually holster or drop your item in your hands, and people found this to be unintuitive.
•   Added a note to the keybinding page to let people know that mouse wheel holsters/draws the weapon in your hand.
•   Reduced the volume (33% quieter) and trigger level of the panting sfx when low on stamina from starting at 65% to starting at 50%.
•   Halved the stamina drain for jumping, you're welcome you bunny bush hoppers.
•   Fixed the use icon so it shows up more often and shows up properly. Let me know if it helps with making picking up items more doable.
•   Lowered rain volume about 30% and reclassified it as an "Ambient" sound rather than "SFX". Now your ambient volume slider should quiet it down as well.
•   Looped the loading screen 3x so you won't be looking at black if your initial load takes a while.



Day 3, Update 0.5.0.7 Is Uploaded!
7 DECEMBER - SLAYER_2

A quick thanks again guys, the support has been amazing. In return, I bring you another patch! Keep those videos and bug reports and videos coming :)

I've been busy working away at refining the controls to make them more obvious and usable. To that end, I tweaked the way items in your hands/holster are handled. If you equip a small item and have something in your hands, it'll force drop the item in your hands and equip the new item. Also if you click on the holster slot it will trigger the holster/draw mechanic, as I found many people were clicking away at the main slot to no avail. The full change log is below!
Change Log

•   Clicking on the main slot in the inventory now triggers the holster/draw action, instead of doing nothing.
•   Reduced the sprint SFX volume and trigger level even further.
•   Greatly improved molotov kill radius and detonation sound effect.
•   Trying to equip a small item from the backpack to your hands will force drop anything in your hands to complete the action.
•   Dead animals now rot away and disappear after a certain amount of time.
•   A couple extra small bug fixes and tweaks.
•   Made HARD mode even more difficult, now with more enemies.
•   Fixed a couple cliffs on the first island. Bad collision/clipping issues.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Attila on December 08, 2016, 06:58:00 PM

This looks good :)

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 08, 2016, 09:45:20 PM

The dev is 1 guy. He is very receptive to suggestions. It is early days but it is looking like something that is interesting.

The point of the game is not to make a home on the island but to leave it as soon as you can. It is a violent place!

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 09, 2016, 02:54:45 PM

Day 4, Version 0.5.1.0 Is Available!
9 December - Slayer_2

As some of you might have already noticed, build 0.5.1.0 is live. This is a big boy, warranting a change of that second number. One big new feature is the addition of Sleeping Bags when playing on Easy or Normal modes. These allow you to sleep at any safe area at any time. While the sleep won't refresh you as much, and won't give you any health, it will save your game and pass a small amount of time.

I also have a couple of other new features and of course lots of bugs that are now KIA. Check out the list below.

Change Log

•   NEW ITEM: Sleeping Bag. This allows you to sleep (and save your game) at any point, as long as there are no hostiles within the area. However, it is large and will either need to be put in your holster slot, in a vehicle's inventory, or carried in your hands. Plaing on HARD mode will remove all sleeping bags from the game.
•   To help new players get into the game faster, there is now a boat that can spawn at a dock on the first island, when playing on Easy
•   The diesel jerrycan in the first hut with the shotgunner was replaced with a gasoline jerrycan.
•   Replaced the avgas jerrycan in the boathouse on Ricketts Island with a gasoline jerrycan.
•   Added a new shack near the middle of Ricketts Island.
•   Please note that all the above item placement tweaks and additions require a new game start to appear in the world. Your old saves will still work fine, but the world will not be populated with the new items until you start a new game.
•   Slightly decreased the ability of AI to spot you hiding in bushes. Please report back on whether they are now too blind or still have too much xray vision. Also keep in mind that they can hear you if they're close enough and you're moving.
•   The compass needle is now two-toned so people can tell which way is north easier (the red end with the arrow on it).
•   Added an invert mouse option in the Key Bindings page. This will be relocated at some point.
•   The torch now plays the match light SFX instead of the flashlight SFX when lighting it.
•   I tweaked the torch position in the player's hands, it shouldn't clip with his leg when walking anymore.
•   Using a match in the inventory now lights nearby torches as well as nearby campfires. Before you had to use the L button to light a torch.
•   Reduced the pickup SFX to 60% of it's old volume.
•   Lockpicking now has a reminder at the bottom to let people know they can press E to exit the lockpick sequence.
•   Opening a door with a key now plays an unlock SFX and displays a notice to let you know the door was unlocked with a key.
•   Exiting the water while sprinting no longer plays the "sprinting with a pistol animation" and plays the appropriate "sprint unarmed anim".
•   Tried adding an unarmed jump animation to replace the rifle jump animation that always used to play. I think it's honestly worse, but we'll see what people say!
•   Entering water while crouched no longer lets you crouch walk on the water like some sort of African jesus.
•   Added on screen messages for trying to pickup an item when your backpack is full.
•   Fixed a bug where some people got stuck in the cave on the first island, there's now a ramp to get out.
•   Added on screen messages for when you burn meat at the campfire, or try to cook when you don't have any raw meat.
•   New games now start at 6:30am instead of 5:30am. People were saying it was too dark, but I still want people to have a full day to find a safehouse.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 13, 2016, 12:05:59 AM

Monday Funday, Another Patch: 0.5.1.1
12 December - Slayer_2

I've got some fun new features and a couple bug fixes. Version 0.5.1.1 should be uploaded within an hour or two of this announcement being released. There are some much-requested features and fixes in this update, so check out the change log below for the full scoop!

Change Log

•   NEW ITEM: The Ammo Case. The ammo case is your typical small green metal case. It takes a large item slot, or can be carried in your hands. It's water tight and will even float if you drop it in the ocean. This lets you retrieve it with a boat, if this should happen. It allows you six more slots, meaning a potential maximum of 24 small small slots if you have two of ammo cases. Of course, this will leave you rather defenseless and unable to swim or climb ladders, but it is good for transporting items in bulk, such as when moving your safehouse. See the pictures below.

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/26782535/d1e3cba9ea097123cd54efc045c0313b2f42df77.jpg)

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/26782535/2379caefa853b2609e28c09fe1e283457bf46a6a.jpg)

•  Please note that all new item additions require a new game start to appear in the world. Your old saves will still work fine, but the world will not be populated with the new items until you start a new game.

•  You can now pick up items in the water. Big items still can't be picked up while swimming, though, so be sure to holster your large items before going cliff diving. This change may let AI see you too easily in the water, so let me know if this is an issue.

•  There is now a "quick map" function that allows you to access a map in your inventory by pressing the M key (currently not rebindable). It lets you see the map and move around at the same time. However, to place or edit POI's, you still need to access the map by going into your inventory and using the map item the old way.

•  Added in warning messages letting people know that you cannot climb ladders or swim with items in your hands, hopefully this helps clear up confusing regarding this mechanic.

•  Fixed clipping issues where you could fall through and get stuck in a cliff at: -204369, -254192, 1125 and 303504, 314848, 1453.

•  The early access intro message should now only show once now per play session, at the very most. If you're loading a save it shouldn't show at all, this is for people who die during a new game and have to endure it after each new game restart.

•  Bumped the new game start time up even farther to 7am instead of 6:30am.

•  Lightened the grass texture up a fair bit. Keep in mind it'll still be dark if it's covered by a shadow.

•  Tweaked the drowning function so it now applies damage every 7 seconds instead of 5, also your lungs now get refilled as soon as you surface, instead of taking 20-30 seconds.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 14, 2016, 03:13:50 PM

Version 0.5.1.2 Is Live!
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

A quick little patch I put together today with some fixes for a couple glaring issues. It also includes a rework of the firemode toggle animations and sound effects. Now you can distinguish by the sound whether a gun is in fully or semi automatic mode. As usual, find the full change log below!

Change Log

•   Weapon firemode change animations and sound effects completely reworked. Much more realistic anims and sound effects. There are different SFX for fully automatic and semi automatic (2 clicks for full auto, one for semi). On top of that, the SFX are no longer 2D and are affected by environmental attenuation.
•   Boat now reverses in the proper direction and can't turn while not moving.
•   Fixed a bug where people with VR headsets would have SteamVR start up with the game despite the fact that the project doesn't support or utilize VR in any way.
•   Added an icon for the Ammo Case in the inventory screens.
•   Added a lot more attenuation and distance to the initial village attack audio to make it sound a lot better and more realistically far away.
•   Replaced the old pickup item SFX with a 3 randomly selected SFX that sound a lot less placeholder. They also are now spawned sounds instead of 2D UI sounds, so they should be affected by attentuation and pause if you pause the game.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 16, 2016, 03:23:44 PM

Version 0.5.2.0 Is Uploaded!
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

I've been busy working away for the past few days on another big build. A couple of cool new additions, and the usual bug squashing! One quick question for everyone: do you feel there are too many updates, should I tone it down and do one big patch a week or is the current 2-3 a week okay? Anyhow, you can read below for the details on the patch.

Change Log

•   NEW ENEMY: the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV). This one is not very friendly and you'll want an RPG with a couple rockets to take it out. Aim for the rear if you can, or the sides if not. The front is well armored. As usual, you'll need to start a new save game to encounter this beauty.
(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/26782535/090486acf511f58116579a81e482e7b093aed904.jpg)
 
•   NEW FEATURE: A 3D scope effect for the sniper rifle that only zooms the sight picture in, not the entire screen. I do zoom the screen a bit still to let you focus on the scope picture, especially if you hold shift. It's a little blurry and may have some issues, but seems to work okay so far.
(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/26782535/3ab390bf265726e4a63214a527be694502a38686.jpg)
 
•   Fixed a bug where sometimes the lock picking mini-game wouldn't initiate even though the door was still locked. If you use a door it should always do something, please report if you see otherwise.
•   Made it SIGNIFICANTLY easier to shoot door handles to open doors. Higher caliber weapons are certain to destroy the handle with one hit, and mid or low caliber weapons now have roughly 3x the chance of success.
•   Disabled the AI processing for the shopkeepers at a distance, should save a couple FPS for the CPU.
•   Added warning messages when you pass out/puke/start dying from dehydration, exhaustion, lack of calories, etc.
•   Fixed a bug where RPG back-blasts would injure you if you fired while in a bush or near a similar object that shouldn't deflect the blast enough to hurt you.
•   Updated the M4A1 to the new fire mode select system.
•   Changed the M2 Browning .50 Caliber firing sound effect.
•   The game now starts in a 800x600 resolution for the first time. While most people have 1920x1080 resolution or larger, some do not and this meant certain people had to go into their Appdata folder and configure the Game.ini file manually to set the resolution. If you've played the game before and already set the resolution, this shouldn't affect you.
•   Relocated a couple diamonds to more sneaky hidden locations.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Longknife on December 16, 2016, 06:11:38 PM

So Asid whats the straight dope on this one? It looks/sounds like exactly the kinda game I would enjoy but I hesitate when I am part of the beta program.

(http://www.clipartkid.com/images/856/12-thumbs-up-thumbs-down-pic-free-cliparts-that-you-can-download-to-2CfAsa-clipart.jpeg)

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 16, 2016, 06:32:58 PM

It is early access. So early days.

It is a one man show. The dev is easy to talk to and very engaging with the community. I have given suggestions which have been implemented. The dev is trying hard and I believe this has a future.

The game is beautiful. I have a low spec pc and it runs great. The game has not been optimised yet but will be.

The game is hard. Even on normal difficulty level. The AI is aggressive.

I feel positive at this point.

I suggest you wait a little while to see how things go.

Regards

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 23, 2016, 01:52:20 AM

Merry Christmas, Build 0.5.2.1 is Live!
23 DECEMBER - SLAYER_2

First off, happy holiday wishes to everyone. The next update may release next week, but because of the holidays I may miss it or it might be smaller than usual.

Anyhow, I have a lot of fixes and a new item, the Water Catcher, which will let you harvest rainfall to help you survive. It can be crafted at a workbench and placed anywhere with an open view of the sky. The full change log is below. Thanks for all the great bug reports and feature requests guys. Have a great holiday season and keep it coming!

One last small present/feature I now have is support for Steam Trading Cards. Not my cup of tea, but I know some people really enjoy them, so I hope it adds some value to the game for those who've purchased it!

Change Log:

•   NEW CRAFTABLE ITEM: The Water Catcher. Now you can harness some of that endless tropical rain and collect clean water. The water catcher can hold up to 2 liters of clean water, enough to refill 4 bottles/canteens. Or you can drink direct from it. Be warned that the last 1L of water collected in the cone can evaporate over time.
•   The chance of weather turning rainy is now roughly halved.
•   Greatly improved the 3D scope resolution from 256 to 1024, should be a lot less blurry now. Let me know if it needs to be bumped even farther.
•   You can now "crouch sprint".
•   Increased sprint speed permanently by 10%. Also there is now a system that adds another 0-30% to your sprint speed depending on how much gear you're carrying. Hopefully this helps get rid of some of the walking simulator feeling.
•   Fixed a bug that prevented the bird chirps audio from being affected by the ambient audio slider. Now bird chirps will scale in volume with the slider, as they should. You're welcome all you Youtubers who lower the ambient SFX by large amounts.
•   Fixed a bug where stuff stored in ammo cases wouldn't be saved.
•   Adjusted sleeping drain amounts depending on difficulty. Previously the loss of hydration and calories was the same regardless of difficulty, now it is 60% on Easy and 140% on Hard.
•   Added far more banana trees and greatly increased the time it takes to respawn bananas.
•   Fixed the female shopkeeper ragdoll collisions.
•   Added a couple more gas jerrycans to the level.
•   Disabled the walk rattle SFX when you enter a vehicle while walking, particularly boats.
•   The campfire cooking SFX will now only play if the fire is actually burning, before it'd play no matter what if you added meat.
•   Fixed the puking line trace being visible when you got too sick.
•   Added air control back into the game. No not that terrible Greenlight game, the ability to move your character when jumping and standing still. While not exactly realistic, disabling it made jumping up onto some objects difficult.
•   Put the old jumping animation back in for now. The unarmed one made me sick to look at, I'd rather have his hands look like he's holding a rifle.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 27, 2016, 04:21:21 PM

Development Roadmap

For all those who are interested, here is the current roadmap for the development of Escape: Sierra Leone. Feature requests or bug reports will be added to it as they come up.

https://trello.com/b/Dplojofo/escape-sierra-leone

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on December 30, 2016, 02:29:53 AM

Build 0.5.2.2 is Live!
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

I've just uploaded the latest build. The change log is below!

-NEW CRAFTABLE ITEM: Marker Flags. These can be crafted with 10 rags and 1 scrap metal. They let you mark locations in the world space. Put this together with a POI marker on your map and it will help prevent you from going in circles.

-Added a second page to the key binding settings. Now you can change the holster/draw buttons, the quick map button, and WASD. The invert mouse tickbox has also been moved there.

-Added Scrap Metal to save game code, previously it didn't get saved/loaded correctly.

-Did some spring cleaning and cut about 0.7GB of size off of the game, now about 20.9GB instead of 21.6.

-The APC will no longer fire at you forever once sighting you. It will lose track of you when you leave it's LOS.

-Fixed the position of the lower ladder in the tree fort so you can now actually use it.

-Fixed the collision on one type of the Kapok tree. Previously you could walk through it, more or less.

-Prevented the player from picking up items while aiming down the sights, this could cause a host of issues.

-Fixed the AK-47 sound, it was only playing one of five sounds with slight variance (mostly to add variety in full auto fire).

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 03, 2017, 06:49:15 PM

Possible Weapon Sound Replacement
3 JANUARY   - SLAYER_2

So I've recently gotten my hands on some audio taken from a real firing range with a gun firing 7.62x39mm rounds. I decided to try putting some of the audio into Escape: Sierra Leone to replace the AK-47 firing sound. If people like it, then I might replace all the weapon sounds with the real deal, or as a close as possible. Note that this was a poor recording and lacks editing and polish. There is also only one sound effect currently, versus the 5 the AK-47 currently has in game, which leads to a bit of repetition in fully automatic fire. Watch the video at the link below to see the before/after comparisons. Then, let me know in the comments which you prefer. Thanks!

Watch The Video

https://youtu.be/LyTcLc7gtLE

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 06, 2017, 12:33:25 PM

First Update of the New Year! Build 0.5.2.3.
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

Happy New Year everyone, here's the first of many patches in 2017! See the change log below for more information. Let me know what you think about the new AK-47 sound effect!

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: Field of View slider in the Visual Settings tab that allows you to set the player FOV from 70 to 110 degrees (default is 90).
•   Added the new real AK-47 SFX into the game. Let me know how you like it.
•   Reduced the volume of enemy weapon SFX at range. Previously it didn't start dropping off till about 60 meters, now it drops off any point past 10 meters.
•   Reduced all gun recoil amounts. Some are reduced as much as half, others around 10-40% lower.
•   Greatly reduced the range you can hear bullet impact SFX from. Was about 100 meters, not about 20 meters.
•   Now the invert mouse feature affects the cameras in the boat and humvee. Wasn't sure what to do with the camera for the heli since it's already inverted and tied to the controls.
•   Nested the weapon code and did some cleanup that should very slightly improve performance.
•   Fixed an issue where enemy AI might lose track of you, particularly in a vehicle, even if you were right in front of them.
•   Fixed a bug where you could hear a rattle sound if you walked while entering a humvee.
•   Fixed a possible issue where it may be possible to drown while in a boat, even while it's about the surface of the water.
•   Fixed a bug where you could hear a rattle sound if you walked while entering a helicopter.
•   Reduced the walk rattle volume by about 40%, hopefully it's less annoying now.
•   Fixed various tree collision assets.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 15, 2017, 01:56:49 AM

Version 0.5.2.4 Uploaded!
13 JANUARY - SLAYER_2

Hello everyone, it's been just over a month since Escape: Sierra Leone released as Early Access, and I'd like to thank everyone who got on board early and helped support the project. Your feedback has been invaluable in shaping the project into what it's becoming now. To that end, I have a shiny new update with some highly requested features and fixes. See the full log below!


Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: Upon starting a new game on Easy or Normal difficulties, you start with some supplies in your inventory.
•   NEW FEATURE: Loot crates that are washed up on the beach and will provide you with a few small loot items to help keep you alive (they will only provide these if you are in a bad way). If you're in good shape with lots of supplies, they'll be empty. They also restock after a random amount of time.
•   Greatly improved the brightness of the sniper scope. Now you can actually use it during dawn/dusk.
•   I tweaked the start values of the player stats. Depending on your difficulty setting, you'll start a new game with different levels of calories, hydration, and mental state.
•   Fixed a bug which allowed you to open the ammo case while in the inventory.
•   Added some more loot to some of the outlying islands.
•   Fixed a bug where you needed 100L of fuel to escape in a boat, instead of the 90L it should be (three quarters of a tank).
•   Fixed an illusive bug that would duplicate a picked up item. This would only happen after you'd unloaded a gun's ammo with a full inventory.
•   Fixed a bug where you could starve to death/dehydrate while in the initial main menu if you idled the game extensively, this would cause a host of issues.
•   Now if you flip a boat, the engine will stall and won't start until you get out and right it. No more submarine-ing.
•   Fixed a bug where the water level in the Water Catcher wouldn't update after drinking or refilling bottles, so it would look full despite being empty.
•   Fixed an issue where you could move the player while rebinding keys in the initial main menu. This would let you potentially drown the player, trigger the Early Access message, or other annoying bugs.
•   Changed the sounds of weapons chambered in 7.62x51mm (M40A1 sniper rifle and the G3A3 battle rifle). They are replaced with the real deal recordings.
•   Changed the SKS firing sound to the new real SKS rifle sound.
•   Added an on screen message when you right a boat that has been flipped over.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 20, 2017, 12:03:39 AM

Version 0.5.2.5 Is Live!
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

Hey everyone, happy Thursday! I have another patch for you. A couple cool new features and tweaks, most importantly are the binoculars, which will hopefully prevent people from having to use the sniper scope to scout areas.

Also, while I have everyone here, do players playing on Easy find the enemy AI too challenging, too dumb, or a happy middle that is satisfactory? If you're playing on Normal or Hard you clearly want a challenge, so this doesn't really apply to you.

The full change log is below:

Change Log

•   NEW ITEM: Binoculars. These can be found around the world (a new game start is required for them to appear). They allow you to zoom in 4-12X and scout areas from a safe distance. They also have a rangefinder built in that you can use with the Fire button. They are small enough to fit in the backpack and have a much more clear visual than the sniper scope.
•   NEW FEATURE: You can now bring up the quick map while driving a humvee or fishing boat. I didn't add this to the attack heli as it would probably prove fatally distracting most of the time.
•   There are no longer any enemy APC's when playing on Easy mode. You will need to start a new game for this to take effect.
•   Greatly reduced the amount of shots it takes to destroy door locks. Used to be somewhat random, now there is a whole health system that means the maximum it should take is 10 small caliber shots, but it could takes as little as 4. High caliber weapons like the G3A3 or .50 cal will blow the handles off with one shot.
•   Added backpack full warning messages when trying to pick up stackable items, previously these only appeared for single stack items.
•   Added a new sound for the mounted M2 browning .50 cal machineguns. Let me know how you like it. I think it could be better, but getting the real gun to record is hard, haha.
•   Increased the torch light radius by 4x, should be a lot more useful now.
•   Fixed a bug where refilling canteens from a water catcher didn't actually take any water.
•   Reduced the number of sound channels for automatic weapon fire from 16 to 8, should give slightly better FPS during sustained automatic fire.
•   Fixed a bug where certain large slot items didn't display in the workbench "Item in Hand" box.
•   Added an on-screen warning message when a player attempts to light a torch without matches in their inventory.
•   Fixed a bug where a strap for MAC-10 would sometimes appear, it shouldn't show ever.
•   Added an on-screen warning message when players attempt to use the quickmap function without a map in their inventory.
•   Tweaked the workbench model to look less like it has useable items on it, and more like a messy workbench with a variety of tools and supplies.
•   Fixed a bug where one deer was stuck and would run in place, unable to move.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 31, 2017, 12:03:06 AM

Version 0.5.3.0 Is Live!
30 JANUARY

This update, I've been working on overhauling the AI system with the focus of making them less accurate on easier difficulties and making the morale system affect their aim even more. Another big feature worth noting is the addition of a new difficulty setting "Pacifist" that removes enemy AI from the game, for those who want to explore without being shot at. Also, the lockpicking mechanic has also been simplified quite a lot on Easy mode. Read more details below.


Change Log
•   The AI system has been overhauled to tweak a few critical areas. The enemy accuracy has been drastically reduced, particularly on Easy and Normal difficulties. The AI aiming system is now based more on the enemy morale than on sheer luck, although it is still a combination of both. With the 0% morale, the enemy point of aim (POA) will be off target by up to 10 meters on Easy, 6 meters on Normal, and 4 meters on Hard. Previously these values were 8, 5, and 3 respectively. The biggest change regarding accuracy is regarding when the enemies are close to 100% morale. Previously it was a flat 0.2 meter spread for their POA (regardless of difficulty), now it's 1.2 on Easy, 0.8 on Normal and 0.5 on Hard.

•   Enemy AI now gain morale at different rates dependent on your difficulty setting. On Easy they gain half the morale per shot fired that they used to, and on Hard they gain 50% more per shot. Normal is unchanged.

•   New difficulty mode: Pacifist. This removes all enemy AI from the world, but increases the hydration and calorie drain by 50% over Normal. This is good for people who want to explore without getting shot at, or who want to get the basics of the game down in a more safe and forgiving environment.

•   When playing on Easy or Pacifist mode, lockpicking is now significantly easier (the tension side of the minigame is removed). REQUIRES A NEW GAME START TO TAKE EFFECT.

•   Fixed a bug where having a sniper rifle in your vehicle would create odd visual artifacts on the vehicle's texture.

•   Added a warning message when attempting to refill a boat with the wrong fuel, hopefully this helps reduce confusion with newer players.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on February 11, 2017, 12:01:32 AM

Version 0.5.3.1 Is Online Now!
Community Announcements

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay with this build, I was in Hawaii for a week so it took a little longer than usual. Anyhow, I'm back on my grind now, and I just uploaded the latest and greatest version. The feature I'm most proud of here is a small, but key one: gradual increases in health, calories, or hydration when using a medkit or food item. Instead of instantly applying like they used to, it now takes several minutes for the full effects of food, drink, or meds to hit your player. There are also now lanterns at every safehouse that you can craft fuel for and light with a match. Read the full change log below!

Change Log

•   NEW ITEM: The lantern. These can be found in each safehouse, they can be lit using a match and consume a small amount of fuel. You can craft the fuel at the workbench. This should help make your safehouse more useable during dark nights. A new save game is required for them to show up.
•   NEW CRAFTABLE ITEM: Lantern Fuel. This can be crafted at the workbench with 0.5L of fuel and 500mL of motor oil. One tub of fuel is good for about 24 hours of light.
•   Completely overhauled the food, drinks, and medical items. They now apply their effects over time. No more instant healing or calorie gain when using an item. It adds up slowly over time. The same applies for becoming sick from dirty food/water.
•   Some food/water/medicine values have been tweaked.
•   Added a new feature where your health will regen if it's less than full, but greater than 70%. However, you need to have at least 85% of both calories and hydration for this to happen, and it does consume quite a lot of each. This is to simulate healing from small injuries over time, without having to waste a first aid kit on it.
•   Updated a couple of the item descriptions to be more accurate and fixed some grammar issues.
•   Changed some items use sound effects from 2D to 3D environmentally effected sounds.
•   Added a lot more matches to the world, so you won't have to be so stingy with them. Note that a new save will be required to see this change.
•   Tripled the volume of the sound for using antibiotics.
•   Tweaked some HUD warning messages to be more helpful.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on February 24, 2017, 11:59:15 AM

Big News, 0.6.0.0 Now Live!
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

Hello everyone,

I've been busy working away on 0.6.0.0 over the past two weeks. I wasted nearly half that time trying to update the game engine from 4.13 to 4.14, but sadly it was crashing too much to be used. This means achievements are gonna have to wait even longer until I can figure this out.

Now the good news, there are a lot of huge changes in this version. You can check out the change log below if you want to see them all, but what I'm most excited about is laying the foundation for a fishing system that will allow the player to go fishing. Note that this is not in the 0.6.0.0 build, but it will be coming in the next patch. For now there are some pretty new schools of fish to look at. Also, from now on I'm doing all builds without packing the files, which allows for much faster update times, and also for mod support (something I'm a big supporter of). It also is one more step to me going completely DRM free, which is another goal of mine.

Now the downside of the update, it is a fair size at about 2GB. Also your old save games may not work. I recommend starting a new game to enjoy all the new features and fixes.

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: I changed the build settings for the game. Now the files are unpacked, which I think should allow modding/user content. Note there is no workshop support for this yet, but it will be coming eventually. Another big upside is that updates will now be far quicker, as before they took forever because the .pak file had to be edited.
•   NEW FEATURE: you can now pour gas from one canister to another by looking at them and holding left mouse button.
•   NEW FEATURE: when you get too sick you start coughing, which creates noise and can give away your position.
•   NEW FEATURE: added a bunch of fish to the ocean and more coral and rocks underwater. I also laid the foundation for a fishing system that will allow you to craft a rod and go fishing. That will be coming in the next update.
•   NEW FEATURE: you can now boil dirty water at camp fires to turn it into purified water.
•   Added some more points of interest to the world, including a sunken submarine and WW2 airplane. Both have some good loot near them.
•   Finally found an unarmed jump animation that looks half decent, I think we can finally tick this one off the list!
•   Made the gas pouring sound 3D and affected by game pauses.
•   Tweaked and improved the placement of various bits of loot at several points of interest.
•   Fixed up some collision boxes for a few buildings to be more accurate and to let you shoot between some gaps in the wood planks.
•   Fixed a bug where several enemy AI units were still present in pacifist mode, unfortunately a new game start will be required to fix this.
•   Removed the delay for when the Early Access intro message appears when you start a new game. Timing this with interacting with other UI could cause potential issues.
•   Added a branch to the use function after initial line trace, to confirm a hit happens, and to stop the trace if not.
•   Removed some placeholder code that would injure you if you pressed J.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on March 13, 2017, 12:08:38 AM

Version 0.6.1.0 Is Live!
Community Announcements

I've been busy working away on fixing a bunch of bugs reported by my awesome community. This update is mostly bug fixes, although a few new things have been added. The biggest item of note is multitude of new pathways through the jungle. This should make navigating the islands a lot easier, and make the location of several key areas more obvious. Check out the full list below!

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: I added a lot of new paths between various points of interest/the beaches. Hopefully this helps people find more hidden areas. It also didn't make much sense to me how so many places weren't connected in any way to the outside world.
•   Fixed a bug where enemies could drop an AK-47 with negative ammo counts.
•   I updated the STANAG magazine to specify which guns accept it (M4A1 and AK-5C).
•   Fixed a bug where fatal falls wouldn't actually kill you on Easy mode (due to the damage reduction).
•   I made the bullet impact/flyby sound effects all in the SFX category, previously half were master and half were weapons. This meant the bullet whizz SFX would be very loud if you'd turned all your other SFX sliders down except the master one.
•   Updated item descriptions referencing exact calorie counts, replacing them with more general terms. Your player isn't a calorie counter.
•   Renamed 7.62x51mm to .308 FMJ, several people were getting confused about the difference between 7.62x39mm and 7.62x51mm, so now it should be easy to tell them apart, especailly with the different colored boxes.
•   Added a few more landmines to the hilltop base.
•   A couple lanterns in the world started on, so they'd burn all their fuel before you even got there. I turned them off.
•   You can no longer save while in a boat or on a beach, you need to find somewhere more secluded and safe to sleep.
•   Updated the Game Guide on lockpicking on easy mode and campfires.
•   Greatly increased the size of the door handle hitbox, I found a lot of people were shooting the lock instead of the handle, so now either will work.
•   Attempted a fix for a bug where the lockpicking minigame sometimes didn't work for certain players. Due to the fact I could never reproduce it on my machine, I'm not sure if this is fixed or not.
•   Increased time that camp fires set by the AI last.
•   There was a landmine floating several feet in the air, I put it back in the ground where it belongs.
•   Deleted a bunch of prototype and garbage levels that took up a bit of space.
•   Deleted an M4A1 and a Glock 17 pickup that was placed for testing purposes and I forgot to remove it.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on March 15, 2017, 09:40:25 AM

Version 0.6.2.0 is Uploaded!
Community Announcements

Since the last update was kind of light on features, I felt bad and got this baby ready for you guys. The most important new feature is the fishing system which allows you to craft or find a fishing rod and catch fish from the reefs around the islands. Another big change is you can now swim or climb ladders with small items in your hand like pistols or binocs. Full change log below!


Change Log

•   NEW CRAFTABLE ITEM: Fishing rod. If you start a new game, there are a couple of these in the world. You can also craft this at a workbench. To use the rod, hold the fire button with it equipped to wind up your cast, release and you'll launch a lure. Watch the lure, a fish will approach if it is cast in an area with fish. When a fish is nibbling at the lure, press fire again to reel it in. If there is a big splash, you successfully caught the fish and it will appear in your inventory.
•   NEW FEATURE: You now only drop large items when swimming or climbing a ladder. Small items like binocs, pistols, etc. should stay in your hand. Note that this may cause some funny clipping issues when swimming.
•   Fixed a bug where exiting the vehicles while their inventory screen was open would leave the player unable to look around or move, and with the mouse cursor stuck on the screen.
•   Added more sharks into the world! Yay!
•   Optimized the fish system a bit, this should net a 2-4 FPS gain depending on your system.
•   Increased the village attack audio volume by 2 times.
•   Added a couple more scrap cloth items into the world since more crafting items require them.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on March 24, 2017, 01:53:06 PM

Version 0.6.3.0 is Uploaded!
24 MARCH

Hi all,

This patch is mostly bug fixes, but we have a new feature as well. Check the change log for all the updates. Thank you for all the feedback!

Change Log
•   NEW FEATURE: On Easy or Normal modes enemy gunfire makes a much brighter (if rather unrealistic) muzzleflash that will give away their position quite well. This should help newer players find targets when fighting in the bush.
•   Added an icon for the fishing rod, so you now actually know what is in your inventory. Handy!
•   Applied CCD to the fishing lure so it should have more accurate physics collisions now.
•   Lowered the inventory full rattle sound volume by 60%.
•   Further decreased AI accuracy, especially when they're suppressed.
•   Shotgun spread was increased by about 20%, and pellet speed loss over distance was doubled, this should reduce their lethality at long range a bit, while still keeping it realistic.
•   The "Crouch" keybinding was renamed to "Crouch/Swim Down".
•   Added a "KMPH" designation to the Humvee speedometer, some people assumed it was in miles per hour!
•   Added Epic Games to the credit page, they more than deserve the nod for their amazing work with Unreal Engine 4.
•   The "Sprint" keybinding was renamed to "Spring/Focus Sights"
•   Drinking cola now gives a small amount of calories.
•   Added some legalese to the Credits page.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on March 31, 2017, 01:17:45 AM

Version 0.6.4.0 is Live
Community Announcements - Slayer_2

Hello all,

Got another hot and fresh patch for everyone. This one has some fun new features and the framework for a new crafting system item in the next patch. You'll finally be able to siphon fuel from vehicles! For now though, check out the features that made it into this update:

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: End of game stats will now actually work properly. Note that you will need to start a new game to see accurate stats at the end of the round.

•   NEW FEATURE: Redneck fishing. You can now use explosives in areas with lots of fish to try and kill a few and force them to the surface where you can collect them.

•   NEW ITEM: Surgical Tubing. You can use this to craft various items at the workbench. A new craftable item will be in the next patch, a fuel siphon.

•   You now need surgical tubing to make fishing rods now. Also it only takes 12 rags instead of 15.

•   New real weapon firing sound for all 9mm weapons (Glock 17 and MP5).

•   New real weapon firing sound for all .45 weapons (M1911 and MAC-10).

•   Added the difficulty played and first aid kits used to the end of game stats.

•   Fixed shark AI, they hopefully won't get stuck anymore. Let me know if you see anymore getting stuck.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on April 06, 2017, 11:33:54 PM

Version 0.7.0.0 Is Up!
Community Announcements

Hello everyone,

Today is a big day and there are some big changes. Particularly in how falling in the water is handled when you have a large item in hand. Now it no longer forces you to drop your weapon, but will instead make you swim slower and drain 3 times more stamina. This will cause you to drown quite quickly if you try to go for a long swim, but prevents "losing" your weapon to the ocean. Check out the change log for the full list, as this is but one of many changes.

Change Log
•   NEW FEATURE: Swimming with a large item in hand no longer drops the weapon in hand, instead it slows you down and increases stamina burn significantly until you drop the weapon or holster it.
•   NEW CRAFTABLE ITEM: Fuel Siphon. This does pretty much what you'd expect. Use it with a jerrycan in hand to fill that jerrycan with fuel from a nearby vehicle. Make sure you have the right type of jerrycan in hand or else it won't work.
•   NEW FEATURE: You can now climb ladders with a large item in your hand. However, it will slow you down so you can't sprint up ladders with your hands full.
•   NEW FEATURE: By request there is now a "Mouse Sensitivity" slider in page 2 of the keybindings page.
•   The "Mental State" stat is now "Fatigue". This is inverted, so it behaves the same way as sickness (less is better). People were often confused as to what Mental State entailed, so hopefully this makes it more clear.
•   Fixed a rather illusive bug where people who bound their Interact/Use button to E would be unable to pick locks. Shout out to Dulakaba for reporting this issue, I've been hunting it forever and never thought to try that.
•   Added more surgical tubing pickups throughout the world (requires a new game start to see these).
•   Added another fishing rod to the game.
•   Added more scrap cloth pickups to the game.
•   Added another sleeping bag pickup to the world.
•   Lowered the amount of oil you need to craft a fishing rod to 500mL from 1000mL.
•   Fixed a small bug with the end game stats screen where it would say N/A for the last two stats as well as the numbers.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on April 16, 2017, 12:23:46 AM

Version 0.7.1.0 Is Live! Big News!
14 APRIL

We've got some exciting updates this time around. The main attraction is I've opened up the "Operation Freetown" map to everyone. It's extremely work in progress, but will eventually be a more shooter FPS-type close quarters level that will let you play with all the fun weapons in E:SL without having to worry about losing all your progress or wasting precious rounds (there are tons of ammo and guns). A great place to experiment with fun things like RPG's, bullet penetration, and grenades, without affecting your progress in the actual game. You play as an ECOMOG soldier and are given a nice array of some fine hardware. including a G3A3 rifle and the M1911. The save file is separate so don't worry about it messing with your main game progress. OpFreetown will be developed in my spare time along the actual game, it may end up being a finale of some sort for the main game, or just might remain a "Free DLC" spinoff that will serve to let people try out the combat risk free. The full changelog for the rest of the patch can be found below!

Change Log

•   Bullet hole decals are now far more visible and look less transparent.
•   Fixed a bug where decals such as blood splatters could appear very faint in shadowed areas.
•   Increased the darkness of blood splatters, before it was very paint-colored red.
•   Fixed a bug where you could get stuck at the top of the ladder in the temple.
•   Changed the timing of the death groan, previously it was a bit delayed.
•   Fixed a bug where the muzzleflash effect could play once on the death on an enemy.
•   Added a Check for Valid branch to the shrapnel BP.
  15  Rate up

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on May 09, 2017, 03:02:11 AM

Build 0.7.3.0 Is Uploaded
9 MAY - SLAYER_2

It's a lovely Monday, and what can make a Monday better than a patch? I spent a good chunk of time refining the Operation Freetown expansion. I tried working on the AI and improving it to suit urban operations more. Also I created a "new" item that will have people excited for sure. There are now scripted AI spawn areas where enemies will spawn and assault your position. These come in handy to keep the action going in Freetown, but also have been placed in a couple locations in the standalone game. Let me know how you like them! The full change log is below.

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: AI Spawn zones. Okay, so it's not the most revolutionary feature. But it does add some more excitement to the game. In both the regular game an Op Freetown, some enemy forces can now respawn and attack the player's position. Right now this is not fully implemented, and more will be added as I see fit while maintaining balance in later patches.
•   Fixed the physics collision asset for the ECOMOG soldier you play as, so when you get ragdolled/die you don't spaz out and fly around the level.
•   You can now exit the lockpicking minigame properly, you used to have to use the E key no matter what your use key was bound to.
•   Added a delay when you die in Op Freetown so the menu doesn't just instantly appear.
•   Added a loading screen for switching between op freetown and E:SL.
•   Did a lot of work on the main menu UI Op Freetown.
•   Added a stats screen to Op Freetown, this can be found in the main menu pause screen when playing.
•   Halved the time impact smoke/dust lingers, it was a little excessive before.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on June 02, 2017, 03:49:34 PM

Optimization Test Build Live Now
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Hey everyone,

There is an optimization test build live now that I want people to test. Let me know if it gives you better performance in any noticeable way. I get about 2-5 FPS better, but I think it looks quite a bit worse. Let me know your opinion. Thanks guys!

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on June 14, 2017, 04:59:44 PM

Build 0.8.0.0 Released And 6 Month Post-Mortem
14 JUNE - SLAYER_2

Hey everyone!

So some big news. June 5th marked the 6 month date since Escape: Sierra Leone hit Steam as an Early Access title. So far I'm more or less on target for a Q4 2017 full release later this year. The next update is gonna be a big one, but could easily take over a month. 0.9.0.0 is going to introduce a lot more non-hostile NPC's, more story elements, and another method of escape or two. I may have an interim update in there as well, if serious bugs are encountered, or I have pressing new features I want to push out ASAP. Thanks everyone for all the support so far, I'd like to think I've had good progress for someone working solo with two other jobs, and the feedback I've been getting has been a big part of that. At some point soon I'll be holding a contest where you can win Steam wallet cash and/or free Steam keys to give to friends in return for your feedback on a survey. Thanks again, check out the change log for the new build below.

Change Log

•   Worked more on Operation Freetown, added new items, buildings, vegetation, etc.
•   Various performance tweaks and upgrades to hopefully increase the FPS.
•   Attempted a fix where lockpicking pins wouldn't sit correctly on re-entering the lockpicking minigame.
•   Changed the weapon sound attenuation curve from Logmarithic to natural. Also reduced the max range from 600M to 500M, this should make distant shots sound more realistic.
•   Added a loading screen for going from Op Freetown to the main game again. Now it won't just look like your game froze.
•   Reduced the cull distance on underwater vegetation.
•   Fixed a few minor grammar issues in the main menu.
•   Attempted a fix for a large section of cliffs that would LOD out weirdly near the north end of the island.
•   Added Marcin Mazurski to the credits for his help with optimization work.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on August 02, 2017, 01:55:34 AM

Build 0.8.1.0 Is Uploaded!
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Hello everyone,

It's been a crazy last month and a half. I've been working 60 hour weeks at my day job and I also suffered a hard drive failure. Thankfully I keep backups, although admittedly not very neatly. It was not a fun 2 weeks or so to figure that all out and get my computer back up and running. Damn bad sectors. Anyhow, enough complaining, here is your build, just in time for my birthday! Happy birthday to me, and any other August 1st-ers out there. See the change log below!

Change Log:

•   I've added a basic dialogue system in and it seems to be working now. I have one test wounded civilian character for it near the starting beach.
•   Removed Simplygon, it was causing more issues than it was worth versus doing LOD's manually. Also it was causing issues with my builds.
•   Added more points of interest and secret areas.
•   Did more work on adding more objects and buildings into Operation Freetown.
•   Added a note to the initial loading screen to let people know it's gonna take a while to load initially, but also to let them know that once the initial load is done, subsequent loads are very quick.
•   Added over 16 new journals with more backstory and clues to secrets in the world.
•   Added more enemy ambush spawn zone setups (particularly to simulate attacks on certain safehouses). Hopefully this helps keep people on their toes!
•   Improved performance further with more aggressive LOD's and billboards.
•   Doubled grass LOD range, so it diappears in a less jarring manner.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on September 21, 2017, 03:14:22 PM

Patch 0.8.1.5 Is Live!
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Hello everyone!

I've uploaded a patch to hotfix some glaring issues users have been having. Least of which is enemy reinforcements spawning on pacifist game modes. I also did backend work on the dialogue and quest system. In other news, I've been looking at applying for the Canadian Media Fund, which could hopefully pan out into getting some good funding to speed up development. Anyhow, I'll keep you all updated on any news there. For now, check out the fixes below:

Change Log

•   Fixed enemy ambush spawns still triggering in passive mode, they should now only trigger the events if you're playing on a combat mode. I will need people to test this in a custom game and let me know how it works out.
•   Fixed a bug where the player difficulty setting always was displayed as "Hard" when playing a custom mode, even if the player opted to disable all enemy AI.
•   Tweaked various collision hulls to be more accurate to their models.
•   Did backend work regarding dialogue and quest systems

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on November 24, 2017, 03:36:10 PM

Build 0.8.2.0 is Uploaded!
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Sorry for the wait on this one guys, I've been rather busy working away on new features and fixes. I'm hoping to wrap up adding new features and content by the end of the year so I can focus on bug fixing and improving performance, before sliding into a full release. Thank you to everyone who's purchased this far for all your support! Check out the full change log below:

Change Log

•   NEW METHOD OF ESCAPE: You can now buy your way off the island, I won't give away too many details on how this is done, and it's somewhat placeholder for now, but functional. Let me know how it works for you guys :)
•   NEW FEATURE: You can now sell items in the gun store. Most weapons will require a certain condition, and ammo count in the magazine to be accepted for sale. I'll need some extensive testing on this, so please buy and sell as much as you can at the gun store to test it. This feature to follow soon for the general store as well. Currently items sell and buy for the same price, how charitable!
•   Reduced vertical recoil for most firearms by about a third. Horizontal kick is the same.
•   Reworked the sniper AI, now they take more aimed deliberate shots instead of just dumping off rounds as fast as they can. They also will zero in on you much quicker if you don't keep their heads down with suppressing fire.
•   Worked a bit more on Operation Freetown.
•   Added more scenes and points of interest into the world, particularly on the first island, to help with getting people into the action right away.
•   Added a sound effect for acquiring diamonds.
•   By request, I inceased the blood splatter sizes caused by bullets by about 20-45%.
•   Increased the SKS magazine size from 10 + 1 to a flat 20. Like the real SKS with a tapco magazine, you can have 20 rounds, but dropping the mag is impossible with the bolt closed, making an extra round in the chamber impossible.
•   Made it more obvious that banana trees can be harvested for bananas, as well as put more of them around the first island. I also put a little hint in the form of a note to hopefully point new players to this mechanic.
•   Fixed various typo's and small issues in UI elements.
•   Increased the SKS shell ejection force to about 3x it's old strength, and made the ejection straight up and about 20 degrees forward, like the real gun.
•   Fixed a handful of small programming errors and minor issues.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on January 28, 2018, 03:53:54 PM

Build 0.8.3.0 is Live!
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Hello everyone! Hope everyone had a great holiday and new year season. I've been working away at E:SL as time allows while I balance two full time jobs. I'm looking for feature requests and to see what the community wants to see fixed next. For what's new in the latest, check out the change log below!

Change Log

•   NEW FEATURE: You can now sell items at the general store, please test this extensively and report bugs if possible!
•   Updated the Remington 870 pump action shotgun reloading to be more realistic. No more will reloading affect the cocked status of the shotgun. It also now only has an 8 round tube magazine, with the possibility of one in the chamber.
•   Tweaked a couple areas on the world map and added more points of interest.
•   Fixed a bug where if you save with binocs in your hand or on your back, you'd have floating binocs in front of you when you reloaded a save.
•   The sound for picking up diamonds should now always play.
•   Fixed a bug with buying a Kbar from the general store, when it should dispense an MRE.
•   Worked a little more on Op Freetown.

Title: Re: Escape: Sierra Leone
Post by: Asid on June 12, 2018, 07:40:12 PM

Build 0.8.4.0 is Live!
Escape: Sierra Leone - Slayer_2

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay on this build. I've been pulling 60-70 hour work weeks at the other job, and I took a month off everything to go tour around Europe. In my spare time, I got this patch ready for everyone. Check out the change log below, and happy hunting:

Change Log

•   Added a bunch of new areas and enemies to Op Freetown, it's even more hectic now!
•   Added more points of interest and encounters to the main map.
•   Did more work on the dialogue system back-end.
•   Added over 7 new journals with more backstory and clues to secrets in the main level.
•   Added more enemy ambush spawn zone areas and encounters.
•   Attempted to fix the "low" and "medium" graphics settings not actually improving performance.
•   Attempted to improved performance further with more LOD's, and further optimizations to materials and other renders.