0.6 - Now Live!

Hi there everyone, welcome to the release notes for Fall Blau's alpha 0.6. This has been a monumental update for me personally, and i'll link you to an article I wrote on Fall Blau's website, which details some of the challenges of the update and how it shaped me personally.

So what's changed with 0.6?

Well, a metric ass ton:

• Gameplay 2.0 - A new iteration on Fall Blau's gameplay regarding enemy AI behavior
  • Obstacle and cover perception
  • Newly reworked detection and target acquisition systems
  • Scripted and dynamic movement systems (allows for advancing AI in both dynamic and scripted environments)
  • AI suppression system (AI will react to getting shot at, and will stay in cover if taking too much fire)
  • AI Objective system. AI will have their own objectives which they will strive to complete.
• Companion AI 2.0 - Companion AI are now far more dynamic, but with the ability to act in a scripted fashion, allowing for new gameplay possibilities)
  • Obstacle and cover perception
  • Player position understanding
  • Dynamic, 'Follow' state - AI follows and supports the player.
  • Scripted, 'Objective' state - AI has it's own, scripted objectives and works to complete them.
  • Newly structured attack and targeting system
• Regenerating Health systems
• Mosin Nagant 91-30 sniper rifle (available in levels 2 and 3) added
• Tank AI 2.0
  • Scripted + Reactive movement systems
  • Refactored IK systems for proper tank movement and orientation
  • New targeting system
  • New projectile system
  • New health systems
• Panzerfaust weapon added
• Panzerfaust weapon crates (pickup points for the Panzerfaust, can pick up one panzerfaust - then wait 45s and be 10m away for it to spawn a new one)
• New Main Menu
  • Level selection widget
  • Options menu
  • 3D sound with tabletop radio
  • dynamic camera system
  • Automatically detected graphics setting to adjust visual fidelity for best performance
• New sounds
  • Weapons (MP40, Luger, K98k)
  • NPCs (Tanks)
  • Ambient (Distant explosions, radios
• Reworked levels 
  • Baptism under fire
    • Central area completely reworked. Turned from an open field into a vast swamp with much more interesting cover locations
    • Street crossing near the end completely reworked. New farmhouse added, along with a soviet camp
  • Buying the farm
    • New introduction and railway area
    • Reworked riverside fight and waterwheel bridge
    • Entirely new farmhouse, farmhouse assault and farmhouse defense sections
    • (basically, the entire level was re-built from scratch
• New level
  • Highway to Hell
    • Set in the russian town of Karpovka, "Highway to Hell" is the final mission before Stalingrad. It's the first time the player must face a tank and includes a host of new and interesting environments to explore and fight through
• Graphical improvements
  • A bunch of new assets have been added to the game, such as photoscanned crates, new tank models, and new 3d assets
  • More will follow as the production and graphical aspects of Fall Blau ramp up progress
  • Photorealistic HDRi textures powering some of the skyboxes in the game, such as the Main Menu
  • Eventually every level will be lit by an HDRi
  • All levels switched to dynamic lighting
• Ladders added
• Various asset optimisations (took the game from 1.1gb to 800mb)
• Various other bug fixes and balance changes

It has been a truly massive update, don't hesitate to play it and let me know what you think!

Cheers, and stay safe!

Lukas