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

[Cluh]

379Felipe a écrit :

The new build is cool, but seems this object is not working correctly: http://i.imgur.com/xfiDtEo.jpg

For reference, what level is that in?

[Cluh]

leilanilad a écrit :

Cool, but when do we get a VR beta?

We are really close on this, just a couple things to iron out. Possibly in our next build, which hopefully will be following soon after PAX.

[Cluh]

benhall8800 a écrit :

build 3833 blow up static objects ball with collision and drive on it the car stops and gets stuck now in a level i made like hills anywhere on the lines you get stopped (by lines i mean the change in surface if it was in a wire frame mode where the lines meet it glitches

Strange, we actually had a very similar issue on the credits level. For some reason, in the newest versions of Unity, raycasting(which we use for our car wheels, fails to hit objects which are scaled very large. I will build a test case for this and report it to Unity, and let you know if I get a response. For now the best solution is to keep the objects smaller, and combine objects to create larger ones(annoying, I know). Can you link me the level so that I can test these issues, and see if there may be other reasons for your problems?

[Californ1a]

Cluh a écrit :

Californ1a a écrit :

It still seems like spinning with the thrusters is slightly slower than the Unity 4 build. Here's a quick comparison video between 3699 and 3833. It's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if slowing that down helps prevent thrusterboosting/thrusterabuse, but it is a bit offputting with it spinning slower, a bit more difficult to spin onto some quick landings.

Good catch, I didn't notice this difference personally, but measured it to be a 15% difference. This change was not intentional, and caused by, oddly enough, adding the cockpit camera. I haven't fixed it yet, but expect this fix to be in the next build, as it is a pretty major issue.

Odd that adding the cockpit camera would slow down the rotation rate.

Cluh a écrit :

Californ1a a écrit :

Numpad enter doesn't work for mp chat

This one works for me. I'm not sure why this doesn't work for you.

My numpad enter is detected just fine in NohBoard. I'm using a Logitech G19 - Here's a video with NohBoard overlay.

Cluh a écrit :

Californ1a a écrit :

Also, was the global fog removed on Thing About Machines? It seems to be a lot brighter overall now, and the transparency on the lightning at the end seems to be fixed.

This has to do with Fog being handled diffrently in Unity 5. We'll have to look into this one a bit more.

Ah, makes sense, hopefully that will lead to global fog with the transparency on lightning working properly together.

I also noticed just now that when you scroll down the levelselect for a bit, and then stop, it will snap one or two notches up - and vice-versa if you scroll up, then it will snap a couple notches down when you stop scrolling. I accidentally started the map above the one I scrolled down to because it snapped up a bit just before I could get the double-click.

[Eagl3]

Cluh a écrit :

379Felipe a écrit :

The new build is cool, but seems this object is not working correctly: http://i.imgur.com/xfiDtEo.jpg

For reference, what level is that in?

It's my workshop level, "Forgotten Roads", however, it seems to happen to other workshop levels, such as Damnation.

[Weyland]

Playing in cockpit view feels really slow. I assume it's the same speed as in third person, but it doesn't feel like it.

[Skirmisher]

Cluh a écrit :

Californ1a a écrit :

Numpad enter doesn't work for mp chat

This one works for me. I'm not sure why this doesn't work for you.

I think I know why: he's using a custom control scheme from before Numpad Enter was added to the Menu Enter function in the default control scheme. Unfortunately, since editing the basic menu bindings for keyboard is disabled, he'll have to delete and remake his control scheme if he wants to use Numpad Enter, unless he wants to edit the XML file or something. (Allowing the secondary bindings of those "locked" functions to be edited might be a worthwhile concession, by the way, although I can't think of any uses at the moment.) This is assuming that the Menu Enter binding is what is checked for sending chat messages, of course.

By the way, Jason, I really appreciate the responses you've been making in this thread! It's cool to get a look into your process and see everything being sorted. This back-and-forth between bug-testers and devs makes the environment feel comfier as a whole ^_^

[Californ1a]

Skirmisher a écrit :

I think I know why: he's using a custom control scheme from before Numpad Enter was added to the Menu Enter function in the default control scheme. Unfortunately, since editing the basic menu bindings for keyboard is disabled, he'll have to delete and remake his control scheme if he wants to use Numpad Enter, unless he wants to edit the XML file or something. (Allowing the secondary bindings of those "locked" functions to be edited might be a worthwhile concession, by the way, although I can't think of any uses at the moment.) This is assuming that the Menu Enter binding is what is checked for sending chat messages, of course.

Ah, nice thinking, yeah I have been using the same control scheme file for quite a while.

Skirmisher a écrit :

By the way, Jason, I really appreciate the responses you've been making in this thread! It's cool to get a look into your process and see everything being sorted. This back-and-forth between bug-testers and devs makes the environment feel comfier as a whole ^_^

Definitely agree, love getting responses instead of just posting a list and hoping it was seen + waiting until the next build to see if it got addressed :P (also nice to be able to point to these posts for anyone claiming the devs aren't responsive - haven't had any of those in a while though)

Edit (re-edited to format as list, and add a couple more):

Couple more things I noticed:

• Occasionally, whenever I am able to skip the workshop update before it connects to the steam workshop, then the workshop update seems to continue on it's own in the background while I'm playing. This makes the unsubscribed/deleted popup appear whenever it finishes, even mid-gameplay, but it also actually did the workshop update because all my ratings have appeared on the levelselect after the popup appears. This could be potentially a really good thing, aside from the popup appearing as soon as it finishes.
  
  
• I've also noticed some very very slight physics differences. I tried to make a comparison video for these two things, but it's really hard to notice in a video. Basically, if you jump off a ramp in the Unity 4 build, the car almost levels itself out, or at least, the nose doesn't rise on it's own, but in the Unity 5 build, jumping off the end of a ramp seems to make the nose rise up some. A nice place to test this IMO is here[i.imgur.com] on Dissolution, where you need to jump off the ramp to get onto the top track - It seems to rise the nose moreso if you're going faster, so starting at full speed going through the checkpoint rather than starting at it.
  
  
• The second slight physics difference I also notice on Dissolution is that it seems when you drive off a ledge (may be tied to holding a side rotational thruster at the same time), the nose dips down a lot more than it would in Unity 4.
  
  Both of those physics differences could just be tied to the lower downforce though, it's really hard to differentiate.
  
  
• There is one major physics issue that Ashamael brought up a couple days ago, so I figured I should put it here: Holding down any of the rotational thrusters while boosting on a straight track is faster than just boosting without holding any. This means even holding W+boost is faster than just holding boost. In Unity 4, it was only an issue with holding S, but in Unity 5 it seems to be an issue with every rotational thruster. Here's[i.imgur.com] a couple times Ashamael got on a ~45s straight track on 3699 and 3834 (where "s-boosting" means holding S+boost, same for W).
  
  
• You seem to either be slightly faster in general, or keep more speed from landings (90s/180s/any landing) - can't really tell which of the two, could be both?
  
  
• Scrolling on the Unsubscribed Levels popup breaks, and you can scroll past the text (above and below)
  
  
• Copying this one from above: I also noticed just now that when you scroll down the levelselect for a bit, and then stop, it will snap one or two notches up - and vice-versa if you scroll up, then it will snap a couple notches down when you stop scrolling. I accidentally started the map above the one I scrolled down to because it snapped up a bit just before I could get the double-click.
  
  
• Copying this one as well: One thing I noticed is that the announcer seems to lower the music volume whenever it says a phrase. IMO it shouldn't really do that since we have separate audio sliders for each of them and can manually set levels if we wanted the announcer to be slightly masked by the music or vice-versa.
  
  
• Something to note, probably for later addition, but we should really have a FOV slider. Especially with VR support and the proper cockpit camera, a FOV slider is much more needed now than it was previously (although third-person FOV should likely also be editable by the slider)

[uPunk]

I'm kinda happy with everything so far, definitely have smoother fps and the particial anti-aliasing is great. It's almost like I have full now, the road doesn't start blurring 10 meters ahead of me.
Gr8 job

[VI_fizz]

Despite all of the above stated awesomeness on Unity 5, I only have one issue. Yes I get an additional 10 fps, which is abousolutely awesome, but I'm finding it harder to record than before. I have found that on maps where I usually get 50+ fps, Im struggling to get 30 while recording with Fraps. In most of these cases, I didn't have to turn down to many settings to get a decent rec fps on U4. I have a very big hunch that this is a U5 thing, and not something that you guys can do anything about. :P

[Californ1a]

VI_fizz a écrit :

Despite all of the above stated awesomeness on Unity 5, I only have one issue. Yes I get an additional 10 fps, which is abousolutely awesome, but I'm finding it harder to record than before. I have found that on maps where I usually get 50+ fps, Im struggling to get 30 while recording with Fraps. In most of these cases, I didn't have to turn down to many settings to get a decent rec fps on U4. I have a very big hunch that this is a U5 thing, and not something that you guys can do anything about. :P

Fraps, really? Use OBS, so much more control over your actual video output quality, and you can have overlays. Fraps is known to cause fps issues in a ton of games - I've never had any fps issues while using OBS (though I do use the gpu encoder instead of the default/recommended cpu encoder).

[Cluh]

Californ1a a écrit :

Odd that adding the cockpit camera would slow down the rotation rate.

It is, and this has to do with our method of balancing the camera to simulate a head and neck. We use unity's Joint system, which seems to add some rotation damping automatically. This should disappear when we replace this with our own implementation.

Californ1a a écrit :

I also noticed just now that when you scroll down the levelselect for a bit, and then stop, it will snap one or two notches up - and vice-versa if you scroll up, then it will snap a couple notches down when you stop scrolling. I accidentally started the map above the one I scrolled down to because it snapped up a bit just before I could get the double-click.

Ok, I've seen this one too, I'll have to look into this code, it's odd because I'm not sure if this is done by the NGUI system, or is some of our own code for snapping, but it's obviously not working too well at the moment.

[Cluh]

Colossal a écrit :

Playing in cockpit view feels really slow. I assume it's the same speed as in third person, but it doesn't feel like it.

Yes, that's mostly because the field of view doesn't stretch out as it does in 3rd person.

[Cluh]

Skirmisher a écrit :

I think I know why: he's using a custom control scheme from before Numpad Enter was added to the Menu Enter function in the default control scheme....

This is my best guess too.

Skirmisher a écrit :

By the way, Jason, I really appreciate the responses you've been making in this thread! It's cool to get a look into your process and see everything being sorted. This back-and-forth between bug-testers and devs makes the environment feel comfier as a whole ^_^

I'm glad you appreciate it, and I'm making an effort to be more responsive on these threads, because I know it makes things better for both sides. I really appreciate the feedback you all have, it makes my job easier, and helps bring motivation.

[Cluh]

Skirmisher a écrit :

(Allowing the secondary bindings of those "locked" functions to be edited might be a worthwhile concession, by the way, although I can't think of any uses at the moment.)

Yeah these were disabled on mapping for keyboard just to avoid weirdness while mapping. Having mouse support available fixes this issue a bit though. As for the secondary keys being locked, I can't think of a good reason, so I should be able to fix that pretty easily

Skirmisher a écrit :

This is assuming that the Menu Enter binding is what is checked for sending chat messages, of course.

It is indeed.