Unity 5 experimental build feedback

[torcht]

As the title indicates we've released a build of Distance on the experimental branch running on Unity 5, the latest version of our engine. If you have any feedback at all about the physics, performance, load times, graphics, etc. post it here!

Read the initial announcement and changelog: http://steamcommunity.com/games/distance/announcements/detail/138832916045157630

Build 3920 - Oct. 2nd - FINAL

• Reduced the offset of the car screen glitch effect
  
• Updated the up and down vote text to use "+" and "-" respectively
  
• Optimized the level select menu by only updating the button anchors on start
  
• Fixed bug where lasers would sometimes slice the cars even though physically it didn't look like they should have (it was due to a collision mesh not scaling properly)
  
• Fixed bug where if a max players input wasn't put into the create a server menu it would create a server with max players of 1, now it makes sure the max players makes sense (2-6)
  
• Fixed car screensaver not showing up anymore
  
• Fixed the port forwarding link not being displayed properly in the online menu
  
• Fixed chat window and text not being displayed properly when paused in online play

Build 3908e - Sept. 26th

• Fixed Trackmogrify input menu so that it's in 16:10
  
• Positions of Workshop levels in the main menu are now randomized to give each a fair viewing
  
• Fixed bug where the look behind camera would trigger when menu down was triggered in online play
  
• Tweaked Steam avatar visuals in the server browser menu
  
• Fixed bug where the music in Broken Symmetry was playing the wrong interactive music track

Build 3905e - Sept. 24th

• Re-added Steam avatar info in server browser
  
• Darkened main menu ambient light
  
• Now the wallride and ceilingride calculates the distance in meters (the points are calculated as the meters * 3)
  
• Grayed out and disabled the announcer slider in the audio options for now since the announcer has temporarily been removed from the game
  
• Improved spacing for Customize and Start Game buttons in the Game Lobby
  
• Upped the resolution of the wings corrupted effect image
  
• Made it so in VR v-sync won't get set since that crashes the game currently due to a Unity bug
  
• Fixed the cubemap in Negative Space that was causing some of the buildings to be weirdly yellow
  
• Fixed the end of Adventure mode from not finishing properly
  
• Fixed overlay issue with Games By Our Friends and Back button
  
• Fixed bug where playing a non-online-capable mode before entering the Game Lobby would break the menu

Build 3900e - Sept. 23rd

• Moved Car Customization into the Main Menu (accessible from the Game Lobby and Profile settings)
  
• Improved flow of Car Customization menus
  
• Added chat window to car customization in the Game Lobby
  
• Made handling of permissions on directories and files a bit more robust, the game should be able to handle not having permission to write to a file location gracefully now
  
• Made it so the 3D hover name above players cars are using the font with capital and lower case letters
  
• Made it so the 3D hover name above players cars fades out when cars are too close or too far from the camera
  
• Improved minor visuals within the Game Lobby
  
• Server messages are now printed in yellow to help player messages to stand out
  
• Removed color tint from main menu ambient light
  
• Removed color preset "Snow Top" and renamed it to "Default"
  
• Upgraded to Oculus SDK 0.7.0
  
• Added new road pieces and misc decorations for use in the level editor
  
• Fixed bug where the DNF distance remaining wasn't synced across the network when playing Online matches of Challenge or Sprint
  
• Fixed alignment bug with Online menu header
  
• Fixed issues with the upper right version info not scaling like other UI

Build 3889e - Sept. 19th

• Fixed wandering car in main menu
  
• Fixed chat log not being properly cleared between single player and online
  
• Improved friction of the front tires when landing
  
• Changed menus to use 16:10 aspect ratio
  
• Fixed alignment issues on some menus
  
• Fixed long names breaking the Results screen
  
• The BoxCollider and SphereCollider bounds are now displayed with lines in the level editor
  
• Reduced the number of lines rendered to draw circles from 64 to 32 for a minor performance boost when selecting many lights in the level editor
  
• Trackmogrify: fixed bug where some tracks, such as "notroad" and "antiroad" would freeze the game
  
• GameLobby: added scrolling to level name label if it is too big to fit
  
• Fixed "My Rating" not appearing in results screen
  
• Fixed bug where collisions partially with the underside of the car had less chance of exploding the player than intended, notable when colliding with rollers
  
• Spectating in first person no longer makes the car a convertible
  
• Cutscene for adventure mode is skipped if in VR

Build 3875e - Sept. 17th

• Improved physics bounciness (much more stable physics)
  
• Alt-tabbing should no longer pause audio
  
• Added an "experimental-vr" branch for Oculus DK2 support

Build 3873e - Sept. 16th

• Updated Wwise SDK to 2015.1.2
  
• Fixed issue with boost still being held down but not overheating if pausing in online while boosting
  
• Fixed Color Customization menu from freezing on load
  
• Fixed the sliding problem with car physics
  
• Fixed issues with alt-tab freezing the game

Build 3865e - Sept. 12th

• Added fix for dying from colliding with internal triangle edges (getting Unity'd)
  
• Lowered bounciness of car on landings.
  
• Slightly lowered car max speed (to match the pre s-hold nerf)
  
• Car's front wheels have less friction for a short time when back wheels aren't in contact(helps to stabilize when landing)
  
• Made soccer ball have less mass and be bouncier
  
• Updated Soccer Time and Momenta levels to have barriers all the way around the levels
  
• Made it so Soccer mode gives the cars infinite cooldown
  
• Updated the visuals of the soccer ball a bit
  
• Fixed the soccer blade sagging on the cars a bit (moved it up)
  
• Removed the adventure mode level from the LevelEditor openable levels
  
• Made it so if you DNF in Challenge and Sprint modes it will display the distance in meters to the end
  
• Now in Challenge mode the results placement is based on time if finished and distance to the end if DNFed
  
• Changed menus to menu constrained to 16:9, and letterbox for other aspect ratios
  
• Control Options Menu: can now click on controls to start editing, and click away to finish
  
• Updated the level editor center points to use lower polygon meshes to slightly improve performance in the level editor
  
• Added menu scaling to the level editor menus, access it in the Editor tab
  
• Now your editor settings are saved out and loaded in so when going back into the level editor in a different play through will keep your settings
  
• Fixed bugs with the SplitScreen menu when dealing with four players
  
• Fixed shadows not appearing for the car wheels
  
• Fixed some errors when closing the game with VR stuff
  
• Removed announcer from the game for now

Builds 3852/3854e - Sept. 7th

• In the level select, "Rate this level" and "Visit Workshop page" can now be clicked
  
• You can now click the arrows at the top of the results (Del on level select) screen
  
• In the level select menu, clicking a level with the mouse will select it, or, if already selected, will go to the level.
  
• Enabled scrolling the chat in game(with scroll wheel or up/down arrows
  
• Results screen now defaults to the next button again
  
• Updated skip cutscene button to work with steering wheel
  
• Updated joystick and steerwheel control schemes
  
• Unlocked the secondary menu Mapping buttons for keyboard mapping
  
• Boost is now 98% effective when using rotation jets(to counteract an exploit where the car was slightly faster when jets were out)
  
• Improved car collision bottom to be more stable
  
• Adjusted rotational damping while car's wheels are touching, to improve stability
  
• Updated the Level Editor Level Objects Tab to use a new ButtonList system to avoid having panel exceeding verticies causing many bugs with that menu
  
• Moved center of gravity on car to make it more balanced at high speeds
  
• Boost penalty only takes effect when jets are out and at least 1 wheel is touching
  
• Fixed a division by zero case in the VirusDropperDroneLogic causing bugs on some community levels with them
  
• Fxed bug which prevented car suspension from fully compressing
  
• Fxed bug where there was no back button in profiles menu when returning from color customization
  
• Fxed bug where level select menu would snap position right as it finishes scrolling
  
• Fixed visibility of blades on VirusBladeSwiper.prefab
  
• Fixed bug where Move/rotate/scale gizmo may reactivate if mouse was dragged over a menu while using the gizmo
  
• Fixed bug where clicking the workshop highlights would do nothing
  
• Fixed some issues with chat history
  
• Fixed scrolling on message panel (ex. Unsubscribed Levels Message)

Builds 3832/3833/3834e - Aug. 22nd

• Added announcer (in Adventure mode he says the literal tricks)
  
• Added a portal so cockpit view can see below
  
• Added look behind camera button (Down on d-pad, Z on keyboard)
  
• Added more over and under stepping scope bounds checks in our binary serializer making saving and loading more stable and robust
  
• Car now is less erratic when wheels are in contact
  
• Soccer blade now has collisions again fixing a bug where the blade no longer collided with anything
  
• Changed Spherical gravity planet so that the car can once again drive on it
  
• Adjusted the max rotational velocity, based on how many wheels are touching
  
• Removed "selected" text from the split-screen selection menu profile corners
  
• Dropper drones now land more consistently flush with the road, more reliable to drive through one now
  
• Made it so the CarSpawners will try to set their colors to the active profile's colors
  
• Now the split-screen selection menu saves what profiles were used so when you go back to it from a level it will be what you'd expect
  
• When you create a profile from the split-screen selection menu it randomizes the colors for you
  
• Removed possible echo from menu button SFX
  
• [General Options] Added option for menu animations
  
• [Audio Options] Track selection label to scrolls to ensure visibility of the entire track name
  
• [Audio Options] Arrows on track selection are now clickable
  
• [Audio Options] Fixed bug with custom music playing when entering the audio menu, even if custom music was disabled
  
• [Audio Options] Added announcer volume slider
  
• [Controls Options] Added "Disabled" as a Scheme to select for disabling an input device
  
• Fixed bug where creating a server after backing out of game Lobby as the server would fail
  
• Fixed bug where InterpolateToOnTrigger component was trying to serialize in a data member that wasn't stored in the file due to version mishandling fixing some levels that used objects with that component
  
• Fixed bug where load screen would say restarting when not restarting a level
  
• Fixed bug where chat window didn't display the correct text on level switch
  
• Fixed bug where speedometer on car window would sometimes stop working
  
• Fixed bug where Boom Box mode wasn't working
  
• Fixed bug where whooshes wouldn't play
  
• Fixed bug with strange timing in the cutscene
  
• Fixed bug where if you went into the Credits from the main menu after playing a different mode it wouldn't return to the main menu properly when finishing the level

Builds 3770/3775e - July 29th

• Improved menus (colossal overhaul)
  
  • Added/improved mouse support for all menus
    
  • Upgraded to the latest version of NGUI
    
  • Added "fancy" when certain menus become visible on screen
    
  • Made mouse visible by default
    
  • Removed drift on a scrolling panel when resizing it
    
  • Added option for displaying ellipsis when a label's text overflows
    
  • Changed numeric input fields to use doubles underneath for better precision with large values
    
  • You can now select linked splines from the track manipulator node in the properties tab
    
  • Color picker popup now closes when pressing escape
    
  • Added support for tabbing between fields
    
  • Current button is highlighted if no other button is found on navigation
    
  • Changed the depth of may menu items to look better in VR
    
  • Components with no inspect-able values are no longer displayed in the object properties
    
  • Clicking visual Back button now simulates pressing escape
    
  • Added "Numpad Enter" to menu confirm
    
  • Mouse is now hidden when no menus exist
    
  • Removed duplicate camera in level editor scene
• Added cockpit view to list of camera options
  
  • Added many effects to death cam, intro cam, and exit cam
    
  • Added static to the cockpit camera when cut
    
  • Disabled aberration while dying in cockpit view
• Improved the car physics so that they more closer match Unity 4 physics
  
• Made it so some camera modes can only be switched to in spectate mode
  
• Now the camera mode that you have selected is saved between levels and playtimes
  
• Checkpoints now display the proper color depending on what player's camera is looking at it in split-screen
  
• Added several new prefabs for use in the level editor
  
• Fixed tab header being draggable when selected
  
• Fixed Repositioning of tabs between windows
  
• Fixed crash bug when switching to a scene that doesn't exist
  
• Fixed bug where joystick device had only first letter of their name
  
• Fixed a bug where buttons would be enabled when they shouldn't be
  
• Fixed bug where colors were set incorrectly on the car's materials
  
• Fixed bug where the Quarantine loading screen looked low-resolution
  
• Fixed skybox coloring so it matches Unity 4
  
• Fixed bug where the level name was "..." when warping to a level that was just downloaded from Workshop
  
• Fixed bug with flickery windows
  
• Fixed depth offset issues in D3D9
  
• Fixed several internal bugs

Build 3705e - July 3rd

• Linux build using Unity 5 now available on the experimental branch
  
• Minor performance improvement for post process effects
  
• Toned down sunshafts to more closely match them in pre-Unity 5 builds
  
• Fixed bug where the bloom intensity was amplified by the Brightness slider value
  
• Fixed bug where Stylized Outlines was making the visuals look extremely dark
  
• Fixed bug where at the end of Adventure mode there wouldn't be a black background behind the text
  
• Fixed bug with Steam Workshop update screen not having a black background in the main menu

Build 3700e - July 2nd

• Upgraded to Unity 5 which affected nearly every aspect of the game
  
• Post process image effects use faster and more unified system
  
• Fixed issue with dynamic fonts disappearing when application gains focus
  
• Removed Very Far and Very Near from the draw distance Graphics settings
  
• Added clamp to rumble to fix issue where rumble would go on for a very very long time after taking a big impact
  
• Lightning spawner should now reset properly in multiplayer and not infinitely spawn in lightning
  
• Smaller install size on Windows due to relocating of certain assets

[vddcore]

Alright, so here are the major issues seen straight after launching:
1. Forcing DirectX 11 results in purple screen from the beginning.
2. Color/Bloom issues as shown here:
http://i.imgur.com/u3d8V6u.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TXYgdiC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qMJYE7n.jpg <- too bright in my opinion
3. Maybe it's just me, but the car material seems more reflective than before.

Running on Core i3-3110M/GF710M with driver version 352.86.

[Californ1a]

To me, it feels a lot more like NR, but that may just be the bouncy car and having to front thruster for every landing to make sure you don't bounce off. You listed the bouncy-ness in the announcement, so I'd assume that's going to be fixed/worked on already.

Why were the very far and very near draw distances removed? I can see Unity not handling "very far" well, but why very near as well? I haven't yet, but I'll have to test on my laptop later, as I could only run the game using the very near draw distance (intel integrated gfx).

With the increasing speed of generating Trackmogrify maps, maybe the keyword modifiers should be displayed differently, as you can hardly even have time to notice during the loading screen that you typed in a keyword (like if you didn't know you typed one in, accidentally, or if you didn't know about keywords).

I'd also say that the bloom and sun shafts are way too bright, but the maps themselves are much, much darker. It's actually quite hard to see now. I usually have stylized outlines enabled so it's easier to see the edges of buildings to know where to land, but in 3700 I can hardly even see the buildings to begin with. Here's an example, both using the same gfx settings (aside from 3699 using "very far" draw distance and 3700 using "far"):

3700: http://youtu.be/Dc5YyjYD0-Y
3699: http://youtu.be/uIL9zWwUsTk

I've only gotten cut twice so far, so I can't speak too much on that. The first time was going thru Monolith, got cut vertically going into the spike corridor. Nothing unusual about that time. Second time I was going thru Departure, got only the top sliced off, and the top piece just rocketed straight up - kinda funny, but definitely buggy as mentioned in the announcement.

I think my biggest issues with it currently are the bouncy car and the really dark maps.

[Tybalt the First]

Just played the campaign to see differences.
Is the ending supposed to be like this? http://i.imgur.com/uVI10za.jpg
The bouncy car physics are hard to deal with and in my opinion take away from the fluidity of the game.
Also, did you add light rays?

[◥DaBeastKing◤]

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

[Tybalt the First]

Originally posted by DaBeastKing:

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

Ok, its just before this expiremental it went to a black screen before text showed up so I was just wondering

[Californ1a]

Originally posted by 15tybalt2:

Also, did you add light rays?

Those are "sun shafts" in the gfx options - they were in previously but as I mentioned, they are much brighter in 3700.

[Tesselode]

Like everyone else has said, the bloom is a bit much now. I think it's a post-processing effect, though, so it should be easily adjustable (although obviously I can't speak for how hard it is to program this game). I also noticed that steering seems a little easier (less friction-y), and honestly, I kind of like it! I gives you a teensy bit more control over the car, and it feels pretty nice. Other than that and the bloom, I didn't notice any changes, but I'm not as in tune with the physics as other people are.

PS: Oh yeah, the better loading times and performance are awesome! I can almost get away with full realtime reflections now! :P

PPS: Also, I think one of the loading screens is kind of wonky looking? It's all jaggedy, like it's a lower resolution version or something.

[Visceral]

I haven't tested things too extensively, so I don't have much to say yet. But I do agree with the whole color/bloom thing.

My level in 3699: https://i.imgur.com/hzKLBFI.jpg

My level in 3700: https://i.imgur.com/lGcKD0Q.jpg

This is with unchanged settings and the same car color scheme. Those blue light-ray things you see on the side of the car in 3700 are there the entire level. This should definitely be adjusted a bit.

The game is definitely much prettier than before, especially the car, and it seems to run better now. I also notice the steering is a bit different, and so far, I like it. I might not go back to 3699.

[Outblade]

The bounce I am noticing that is really affecting gameplay a lot is when landing on front wheels first, makes the car basically point straight up in an instant and makes controlling the landings much harder. This is especially true for much more jump focused levels like monolith and Thing about machines.

There also seems to be some invisible road physics killing me again. Like the infamous curb on Observer Effect.

Performance is up greatly compared to the previous build, much less frame drops.

Lastly. AMG THOSE REFLECTIONS great work.

[Yrch]

cant really say much bout physics so far (except that the car feels more loose when driving downhill wich i like).
Like other said the game is very VERY dark all of the sudden (no changes to gfx options)
the reflections and everything are great and game seems to run much smoother.
new loading times are great :D

[Skirmisher]

Originally posted by DaBeastKing:

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

What? That doesn't look right at all; that should be a black screen like it was before. I doubt it's a deliberate change, unless a dev says otherwise.

[torcht]

Originally posted by 15tybalt2:

Just played the campaign to see differences.
Is the ending supposed to be like this? http://i.imgur.com/uVI10za.jpg
The bouncy car physics are hard to deal with and in my opinion take away from the fluidity of the game.
Also, did you add light rays?

Originally posted by Skirmisher:

Originally posted by DaBeastKing:

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

What? That doesn't look right at all; that should be a black screen like it was before. I doubt it's a deliberate change, unless a dev says otherwise.

Nope, that's a bug. Luckily it's easy to fix. Thanks for the screenshot.

Thanks for all of the great feedback everyone! Looking through it all now...

[◥DaBeastKing◤]

Originally posted by Skirmisher:

Originally posted by DaBeastKing:

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

What? That doesn't look right at all; that should be a black screen like it was before. I doubt it's a deliberate change, unless a dev says otherwise.

Could've swore it looked like that for me when I replayed the story mode earlier. :P I mean, it's just the background change that's different right? EDIT torcht replied about 2 seconds before I posted this xD

[Tybalt the First]

Originally posted by Skirmisher:

Originally posted by DaBeastKing:

Yes, the ending is supposed to look like that.

What? That doesn't look right at all; that should be a black screen like it was before. I doubt it's a deliberate change, unless a dev says otherwise.

Thats what I was thinking

[Da Doom Man]

Okay my thoughts so far, so the overall physics for the car feel softer such as:
-the fight mode turning/adjusting feeling slower.
-I once hit a blue roller at high speed and I just bounced off.
-the sense of speed feels a little slower too.
-turning while on the road also has a slight softness even with boost on for some time