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Gang Beasts Update 1.26 is releasing today for all currently supported platforms.
This update focuses on bug fixes, and has no new content.
The key modifications and fixes made in the 1.26 build are:
General
Time to get to work - our new stage, Crane releases today!
Crane is a brand new stage included in todays 1.25 update. Located on the docks of Beef City, this stage will see players attempting to not fall off a large static Crane. This stage includes the first implementation of our new driveables system, with players being able to jump into the Crane cockpit to take the controls.
Dont stay there too long though - the skies of Beef City are now filled with aggressive birds ready to take you for a quick flight. Survive long enough on Crane and these avian menaces will begin to target you with aerial divebombs to pull you into the skies. The birds are relentless too, so much so that they may even follow you over to another particular stage.
In order to celebrate the successful integration of our feathered friends into the Beef City natural ecosystem, we have also included some new bird Kigurumis as costume pieces. You will be able to dress up as pigeons, bluejays, seagulls and ravens. Weve also included some more safety costume pieces for you whilst youre at work high above the Beef City docks.
Update 1.25 also comes with numerous bug fixes and optimisations across all platforms. Please see the changelog below.
We are now continuing our work on the next stage for Gang Beasts, which we are expecting to release for all players, when it is ready. We will share more on this stage when we have more information.
Thank you for continuing to play Gang Beasts in its tenth year of release.
Boneloaf
Added content in the 1.25 build:
Gang Beasts Update 1.24 is releasing today for all currently supported platforms.
This update is primarily focussed on bug fixes, and there is no new content.
The key modification to Gang Beasts in this update is the implementation of a new Interactables System that will allow us to streamline how in-game objects are managed and interacted with in the game engine. This system improves performance by organising interactable objects into optimised lists, therefore making Gang Beasts interacting with the stages faster and more efficient. This change should fix a longstanding issue where Gang Beasts would target the air, instead of the intended target, when too many colliders were in target range.
The introduction of this improved Interactables System should help the game feel more responsive and intuitive. It has also been introduced to allow us to experiment with more interesting interactions between new and existing game mechanics, for example the upcoming Birds escalation that will be introduced in our next update.
We are now exclusively working on Update 1.25, which will introduce new costumes and a new stage to Gang Beasts - Crane.
Here is some gameplay from a recent playtest:
[previewyoutube=jFXLDDc4Opc;full][/previewyoutube]
See you soon.
The key modifications and fixes made in the 1.24 build are:
Default
Gang Beasts patch 1.23 is releasing today for all currently supported platforms.
There are a number of bug fixes in the 1.23 release but no new stages or costumes. The key modification to the game in this build is the implementation of Unitys Addressables Asset System, the adoption of this system standardises and optimises the process for testing and releasing game content.
The Addressables implementation is a significant modification to the game and we expect the 1.23 build to trigger some limited stability issues on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. The instructions for fixing this issue are:
Windows:
Gang Beasts patch 1.21 is releasing today for all currently supported platforms! The 1.21 patch addresses a number of miscellaneous issues which will allow us to focus on new content in subsequent updates. The 1.21 build does not include new stages or costumes and is focused on these fixes (see below for more information).
A new stage and new costumes will be released soon, once were confident it is ready and subject to it passing quality assurance.
The key modifications and fixes made in the 1.21 build:
Welcome, everyone!
You may notice that theres a brand new update to Gang Beasts, and we know its something youve all been waiting for, so we wont keep you in suspense.
Trawler has arrived! A brand new stage, filled with a deteriorating fishing trawler in an isolated sea and a whole shiver of sharks. Thats right, the lifeless black eyed creatures themselves will hop aboard and try to take you for a swim.
By deteriorating fishing trawler, we mean the stage will become just that. Survive long enough from either the assaults of your friends or the deadly sea swimmers, and the stage will begin to sink (quite literally). Remember to not let go for as long as you can, we all know what's awaiting in the murky depths.
On top of the deterioration of the stage, youll also have two interactive crane systems with fully functioning mechanical levers to get yourselves familiar with. On top of this, theres a large shark cage suspended from a hook which can be detached, perfect for some accidents involving your friends and the deep blue, right?
And now on to some patch notes for v1.18:
Added content:
- New stage: Trawler
- New costumes:
- Sideburns
- Lifejacket
- Beard
- Moustache
- Sailor hat and outfit
- Shark kigurumi
- Deep Sea Diver helmet and outfit
- Captain hat and outfit
- Fishing gilet and hat
- Sailor jumper and beanie
- Air Rescue helmet and outfit
Graphics update with the move to URP
Fixed costumes appearing darker
Thats all for now, but head over to our Discord or Twitter channels for more updates and information as they go live.
Thanks!
Boneloaf.
Released on 16 June and updated on 25 June, 2021
If you would like to find people to test the new Matchmaker or to just talk about Gang Beasts, join the community run Discord server here: https://discordapp.com/invite/gXh2HRH
We are aware of the issue with the M1 Macs. They are supported in a later version of Unity and we are going to upgrade our Unity version later in Q2 /Q3. We will have support available for Gang Beasts then.
Some of you may already know this but the Aquarium Update (build 1.13) has now been released! This update has a new Aquarium stage, an updated Wheel stage that works online, a series of super hero/villain costume sets, and numerous fixes for stages, online, and gameplay issues.
To access and download the beta branch, go to your Steam Library and right click on 'Gang Beasts' to select 'Properties'. From there, navigate to the 'BETAS' tab, then select 'public_testing'. You may need to restart steam before 'public_testing' will show up for you. The patch notes can be found below. General:
FAQ
What Platforms is Gang Beasts available for?
Gang Beasts is available for thePlayStation 4and Xbox One consoles, Windows,macOS and Linux operating systems and as an Oculus Early Access game for the Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S headset.
Microsoft Windows
Gang Beasts for Windows can be downloaded from the Steam, Humbleand Oculus Stores (Oculus version requires an Oculus Rift or Oculus Rift S headset).
Apple macOS and Linux
Gang Beasts for macOS and Linux can be downloaded from the Steam and HumbleStores.
Sony PlayStation 4
Gang Beasts for PlayStation 4 can be downloaded from the PlayStationStore, physical copies can be purchased from local and online retailers or from the Skybound Games shop (releases on 3 December 2019 in US and 6 December 2019 in EMEA).
Microsoft Xbox One
Gang Beasts for Xbox One can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store, physical copies can be purchased from local and online retailers or from the Skybound Games shop (releases on 3 December 2019 in US and 6 December 2019 in EMEA).
Nintendo Switch
We hope to optimise Gang Beasts for the Nintendo Switch but cant confirm if Gang Beasts will release for the Nintendo Switch or give an expected release date currently.
Does Gang Beasts offer crossplay functionality?
Gang Beasts currently does not offer crossplay functionality, but we are looking into ways of adding this feature. We will announce it when we know more.
I need technical support
Please emailsupport@boneloaf.coand send us an output log/error log, system specs and a summary of the problem and send the files attached or paste into an email it might help us identify the problem.
What controllers does Gang Beasts support?
Gang Beasts uses the Rewired framework for controller support on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, the full list of supported controllers for these platforms is maintained by the developer on the Rewired Supported Controller page.
Can I make YouTube or Twitch content from Gang Beasts gameplay?
We currently set no limitations on making monetised or non-monetised gameplay content from Gang Beasts.
This is the latest preview version of the next Gang Beasts update, which we would like to do a lot of testing with the community. This was a significant update to the engine as it is a transition from Unity 2017 to Unity 2019. Although weve managed to catch and fix most bugs so far, it is likely that there will still be some more bugs to fix as this beta is a work in progress and does not represent the final update yet. Additionally, Unity 2019 no longer supports 32-bit Linux distributions, therefore Gang Beasts now only supports 64-bit Linux distributions. This does not affect Windows or Mac users. To access and download the beta branch, go to your Steam Library and right click on 'Gang Beasts' to select 'Properties'. From there, navigate to the 'BETAS' tab, then select 'public_testing'. You may need to restart steam before 'public_testing' will show up for you. The patch notes can be found below. General:
Hey everyone! So, we wanted to let you know whats going on here at Boneloaf. We have some information regarding Double Fine and us, and when the next Gang Beasts update is coming. As some of you know, Boneloaf has been working with Double Fine Presents for some time. Theyve given us advice, theyve given us splendiferous support, and most importantly, theyve become friends and mentors to us. We love Double Fine and they have been really fantastic to us. What Tim and his company built is pretty wonderful, but with Double Fine Presents winding down due to Double Fine's acquisition by Xbox Game Studios last year, we think it is a good time for Boneloaf to stand on its own... legs and publish Gang Beasts ourselves. Anyway, thats the news about Boneloaf and Double Fine. What about Gang Beasts? Currently we're testing build 1.13, the next release. Build 1.13 is made with Unity 2019.3 and includes a modified version of the wheel stage with support for online game modes and a series of optimisations and fixes for UI, audio, costumes, gameplay, and achievements. We plan to make this build available for testing as a Steam beta next month. The 1.13 build will be released for supported platforms (Steam, Humble Bundle, PS4, Xbox One, and Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S) when testing ends. We are also working on new stages and costumes, more information coming soon. Thank you for supporting Gang Beasts, stay Safe and Keep on Truckin \\o/ Boneloaf
The 1.0.11/1.011 builds have a number of fixes that give parity between public builds for currently supported platforms and a number of gameplay, costume, UI, online, and input fixes. Please see Gang Beasts FAQ page or email support@boneloaf.co if you have specific feedback on this build or other questions about the game. The list of key modifications and fixes made in the 1.0.11/1.011 builds are:
We have been working to address a series of issues with the character costume system (the system that builds and renders character and costume geometry), the 1.0.8 build (released with this post) includes fixes for the bull mascot costume and other complex costume parts that have compromised gameplay in recent builds. The 1.0.8 build also addresses issues Russian players have had connecting to online sessions without a VPN. Please see Gang Beasts FAQ page or email support@boneloaf.co if you have specific feedback on this build or questions about the game. The list of key modifications and fixes made in the 1.0.8 build are:
We published the Gang Beasts 1.0.7 patch build in the last hour to address an issue with the Bull Mascot costume, we're also remaking our costume testing and debug processes to minimise and limit the scope for potential costume inconsistencies in subsequent builds. If there are other issues that you want to flag with Boneloaf, please email support@boneloaf.co. The only modification made in the 1.0.7 build is:
The list of key modifications and fixes made in the 1.0.6 build are:
The full list of key modifications and fixes made in the Valentines’ build are:
The full list of key modifications and fixes made in the Valentines build are:
Gang Beasts is Now Available on Steam and is 20% off!*
After a successful Early Access, Gang Beasts is now fully released! Gang Beasts is a silly multiplayer party game with surly gelatinous characters, brutal slapstick fight sequences, and absurd hazardous environments, set in the mean streets of Beef City.
*Offer ends December 19 at 10AM Pacific Time
We have written this post to summarise current and recent development work and to give more information on launch content for the game as we are still a number of weeks from publishing the next Steam build.
We plan to start testing the next build (build 0.7.0) from next week and have scheduled support from Babel, Coatsink, and Double Fine to help with the identification, documentation, and fixing of a small number of persisting issues preventing the release of the next Steam build (and to facilitate and optimise testing cycles).
The 0.7.0 build has a glut of fixes and modifications made to optimise, standardise, and refine gameplay, menus, messaging, networking, matchmaking, menus and other UI, interstitial game screens (hint screens, loading screens, and score screens etc.), the following is a summary of key game content modifications in the coming 0.7.0 beta build with information on the work left to finish before the full launch of the game.
Online
The minimum limit for private online sessions was set at 4 players for testing when support for private online sessions was published in late September (concurrently with the move to Multiplay's server architecture), a limited number of issues surfaced with the matchmaking process during the Steam Free Weekend stress test and also in October but Coatsink have been aggressively addressing these issues and we expect to lower the minimum concurrent player limit for private sessions from a minimum of 4 to a minimum of 2 in the 0.7.0 beta build.
We expect to talk with Double Fine, Coatsink, Multiplay, and other partners later this month to make a full review of current server provision and capacity, please email support@boneloaf.co if you frequently have issues connecting to online servers in the 0.7.0 beta build (for reference support for private online sessions replaced the private server tool in September as the private server tool is not compatible with current client builds, support for the private server tool will be reviewed later this year).
Localisation
The game has been localised for 7 languages, the supported languages in the full release build are Brazilian Portuguese, English (UK), US English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, (the UK English and US English localisations share most strings) with a small number exceptions that we expect to have localisations for soon, support for other languages will be added post launch. For reference we currently expect localisation support to be the 0.7.0 beta build and we will post information on other planned localisations to the FAQ section of the gangbeasts.game site as we confirm support.
Input
We're currently working on localisations for input references (for keyboard, mouse, and officially supported game controllers) but still need to standardise the UI for input mapping sequences with the rest of the game. The lack of support for mapping mouse button inputs is a temporary issue and we current expect this to be fixed in the next 0.7.0 beta build.
For reference support for VR touch controls is planned to come with full VR support next year.
Climbing
We have made multiple passes on the climbing implementation and supporting geometry to make climbing less difficult and more immediate in recent builds in preparation for a last pass on stages to add specific support for complex structures (examples of complex structures are the small billboard structures on roof, the buoy structure on buoy, the truck body work on trucks, and the turbine on vents), for reference some section of complex will have a lower targeting priority than expected until this work is finished.
Spawning
We need to set explicit spawn patterns for game mode configurations to balance gameplay and modify patterns to fit the selected game logic, specifically we need to implement set spawn patterns, for example gangs spawn patterns need to be on opposing sides of the selected stage (in 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 4 vs 4 gang mode games).
Stages
We have finished work on the geometry for launch stages (excluding a small number of superficial modifications and props), stages identified as launch stages have had passes to optimise performance, standardise colour schemes, and address gameplay issues, the stages with significant modifications made to geometry are billboard (new billboard sign and catwalk structure), chutes (lowered catwalk and modified pipe works), grind (new meat slurry implementation, new pipework, new articulated grinder implementation, and new catwalk), subway (new scene with modified hanging lights, staircase, prop, and platform geometry) and trucks (new truck geometry and some minor cosmetic modifications).
Camera
We have transitioned to Cinemachine procedural camera framework and are currently working to improve support for user modification of the single player camera, group tracking, geometry clipping, camera bias, lerping, and dampening etc. but are seeing significant improvements over the previous camera system. We are also working to standardise the presentation of player information and the post stack implementation (specifically the default parameters for graphics setting).
For reference the issues with settings and resetting inputs, graphics, and other menu settings is being addressed and is expected to be fixed in the 0.7.0 build.
Modes
We are working on minimising the steps and time it takes to configure and start game modes and game sessions, and on exposing more support for game mode customisation, we are also experimenting with a longer window for identifying draw states. We are also working on making character, costume, and gang / team selection less confusing in the game mode configurations screens.
Costumes
We have been working on exposing more costume customisation parts and the UI and flow of the costume customisation screen, we have also been working to fix physics stability issues and gameplay exploits associated with specific costume parts. We have also exposed an additional four character colours and made multiple passes to improve colour and colour tints (and minimise clashes with the colours for non-character geometry).
Thank you
Thank you for staying with us we push to get to the full launch of the game, we're working on some fun holiday content for next month, and are excited that the full game will be out soon.
If you have questions, please comment on this post or Tweet @boneloaf. We plan to make a post with information on testing for the 0.7.0 build later this month with any additional information we can give on the next builds and full release content.
Update at 3:20 BST on Thursday 21 September
Coatsink have identified the issue as a deadlock in one of the client threads when it receives a high volume of requests; the issue has been isolated to an authentication process.
The matchmaker is available currently but it will continue to ignore some request until Coatsink can finishing patching in the morning (the time in the UK is approx. 3.20am), apologies for the interruption, this is an issue we didn't identify in internal testing or testing in the "unstable" build as we could not manufacture the volume of concurrent users.
We will post an update to this post as soon as we have an estimated time for the second stress test (we currently expect the second stress test to require downloading a new client build, Steam should prompt you to download when this build is available).
Update at 23:30 BST on Thursday 21 September
Coatsink have identified a single issue to fix before we can push the matchmaking update, we will post more information soon.
Update at 20:25 BST on Thursday 21 September
Coatsink have temporarily taken the matchmaking server offline to patch some issues identified in the first batch of tests, will post an ETA for when they are back online soon.
Patch notes for the Gang Beasts 0.6.1 beta build and Steam Free Weekend
Since the Gang Beasts online beta in August 2016, Boneloaf have been working with a small team at Coatsink to finish the content and systems for the full game, a significant part of this work has been to transition to Multiplay’s dedicated game hosting solution and Hybrid Cloud Orchestration technology to give official Gang Beasts servers a scalable, low-latency, managed hosting platform maintained by a specialist team of game server experts.
We have published the Gang Beasts 0.6.1 Early Access beta to Steam in the last hour and have made the game temporarily free on Early Access as a Steam Free Weekend game from 10am PDT / 6pm BST on Thursday 21 September to 1pm PDT / 9pm BST on Sunday 24 September to stress test the new server architecture and networking scheme and support for private sessions on official servers.
Please see the post at beef.city/060 for information and a changlog listing the key modifications and fixes in the 0.6.0 unstable build. For more information on Multiplay please see the Press press release at beef.city/multiplay
For reference we expect to have some inconsistencies with server availability and stability in the next hours as we transition to Multiplay's servers and scale server capacity.
Since the last Gang Beasts build was published in July we have been working with Coatsink to migrate the official Gang Beasts servers to a scalable low latency hosting solution, we have also made a series of significant optimisations and modifications to progress the performance and stability of the matchmaking , UI, and character systems. We have been testing potential 0.6.0 builds with Coatsink, Double Fine, and support from a QA team at Babel since the start of September, the matchmaking system, new server architecture, networking scheme, and costume fixes are at a stage where we need to test at scale to identify issues that are difficult to find when testing in the office.
Currently we are working on standardising the optimised UI, localisations for French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese (support for other languages is planned), costume fixes, post processing, achievements, a modified implementation of the current camera system (built on Unity Cinemachine procedural camera system), and additional game modes (the 0.6.0 unstable build has the first public implementation of the local gang game mode, the gang mode is not supported online currently).
The 0.6.0 build as an unstable beta with this post for testing and patching before it can replace the current default Steam build (build 0.5.7a), to test the 0.6.0 build right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then the "unstable" option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:’).
Please note the 0.6.0 unstable build has been explicitly made for stress testing servers and only has support for the melee (local and online) and gang game modes (local only) and has some UI settings and other content disabled.
We are testing stage wins in preference to stage rounds in the 0.6.0, the implementation is similar to the previous implementation but a new stage is loaded after each stage win (currently the win parameter is set to 2 wins for public online games and limited to 1-4 wins in local and private online games.
The key modifications and fixes made in the 0.6.0 unstable Early Access beta build are:
In the hours immediately following the distribution of the 0.5.7 Gang Beasts Early Access build (publish on Thursday 29 June) we identified some performance issues on the Gang Beasts public servers, these issues escalated on over the subsequent days on populated servers triggering administration scripts to force server instances to restart and abruptly end game sessions on servers with the issue (the administration scripts are necessary to stop servers from terminally failing). On Monday 3 July at approx 8pm BST we made the decision to take down the servers to address and patch for stability issues (and some matchmaking and connection issues) and have subsequently made multiple tests with a series of client and server builds. We have publicised the 0.5.7p1 build concurrently with this post and have provisions number of public servers at for testing. Sorry for the protracted unavailability of public servers this week, together with Coatsink we have tried to maintain a high level of availability for public servers for the Early Access community by aggressively patching servers but were unfortunately not able to avoid taking public servers offline in this instance. Other Information For reference the key issue compromising the headless Linux server builds (that run on AWS architecture) was a severe memory leak that made disconnections, stage loading failures, and other stability issues more frequent until server administration scripts triggered the server to restart. We were not able to reproduce the memory leak in testing before publishing the 0.5.7 Early Access build and the associated public server builds last Monday (the issue was only identified when public servers were populated with a high volume of concurrent players). For reference the 0.5.7p1 builds is a separate branch to the coming 0.5.8 build and has no modifications from the 0.5.7 Early Access build (other than being built from Unity 0.5.6p1 not 5.6.2f1 and having online support for the incinerator stage temporarily disabled for this build).
In June we have continued working with Coatsink to address performance and stability issues and other annoyances, part of this work can be tested in the 0.5.7 Early Access build and associated server configurations (published with this post). The key patches and optimisations in the 0.5.7 build are specific fixes for the character distortion and freezing glitches introduced in the transition to Unity 5.6 (and other physics stability issues), a significant decreases in CPU use, numerous networking and matchmaking stability fixes, and reduced build sizes.
Other work included in the 0.5.7 build includes modified and optimised city geometry for the background of exterior stages (only in the blimp and girders stages currently), modified and optimised geometry for the girders, incinerator, and wheel stages, Rick and Morty character costumes and multiple new character costume parts [1], large enemy AI body types for enemy AI (in the current waves stages), an improved AI for the waves game mode (AI aggression and throwing still need additional work but can be tested in the grind and incinerator stages), and a modified colour tinting system to support more variation for costume customisations.
https://youtu.be/2T26tXGRhCY
Other work that is partially exposed in the 0.5.7 build includes the implementation of a custom atlasing system for scene optimisation (this is the last stage in the stage optimisation workflow, only the gondola and wheel stages use this system in the 0.5.7 build but the other stages are being moved to the atlas system currently), a custom buoyancy system (only exposed on the wheel stage in the 0.5.7 build for testing but will be moved to the other stages that have water or meat paste volumes when the current buoyancy parameters have been modified and standardised).
Other work not exposed in the 0.5.7 build includes modified and optimised geometry for the alley, grind, towers, and roof stages, optimisations to the character and prop physics implementations to significantly lower the frequency of physics calculations made per frame and stabilise collisions.
https://youtu.be/RuIpfufwZEM
14 of the 16 public stages support online in 0.5.7 build, the key priorities for July are to execute the current QA schedule, finish the last modifications and optimisations and add online support for the chutes and towers stages, finish the last modifications and optimisations for the alley and roof stages, make a last pass to standardise character, prop physics optimisations and climbing, fixes and improvements to matchmaking, game modes, UI, localisations, and post processing.
The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.5.7 Early Access beta build are:
In the last month we have been finishing work on optimising the current public stages and testing fixes for issues introduced in the transition from Unity 5.4 to Unity 5.6, we have identified a potential solution for the current character distorting / freezing and other physics stability issues and have made successful tests with a patched server configuration. We plan to patch public servers over the next hour. Please post information if you still see distorting / freezing issues or missing geometry when playing online following the server update to help us identify if the patch is not working as expected. [1] Server availability and stability will fluctuate for the next hour as servers are patched Other than work on optimising the current local and online stages (this work is necessary for improving physics stability and standardising collision detections), we have also been working on games modes, a full replacement for the current UI implementation, physics and server stability, standardisation of costume and prop parameters (for existing and new objects), configuring the Unity post processing stack, localisations, and improvements to matchmaking and networking. We expect to publish multiple builds demonstrating this work in June and July with a series of posts giving specific information on the full release content for the game and current plans for post launch content. [1] For reference there is no build published with this post; in tests we have recorded a small number of distorting / freezing issues in local games but instances were significantly less frequent than online games, we will monitor server stability and prioritise publishing modified client builds (with additional optimisations and fixes) when the solution for the distorting / freezing issue has been demonstrated as working.
For the last month we have been working with Coatsink to move Gang Beasts to Unity 5.6 [1] to exploit performance improvements and make use of the expanded NavMesh, lighting, text rendering (TextMesh Pro), particle, post, camera, and debugging tools. The work to move to Unity 5.6 is done and most stability and rendering issues associated with moving to the current Unity 5.6 release have been identified and fixed. Testing for the 0.5.6 beta build (published with this post) has ended, please flag any issues with Boneloaf support (support@boneloaf.co). The 0.5.6 Early Access beta build has online support for the elevators stage, modified and optimised geometry for the subway and elevators stages, and a series of other optimisations, fixes, and modifications to UI, networking, and character and costume stability. The 0.5.6 beta also has a modified win state for the melee game mode and a provisional scheme for removing idle players from official servers (see the changelog section of this post for information). In the last month we have also been working with partners to finish the optimisation of stage geometry and physics simulations, expand enemy AI abilities and pathfinding, setup game modes, debug new costume parts, fix camera issues, and rebuild and optimise menu and in-game UI (some of the optimisation work is exposed in the 0.5.6 beta but work on game modes, AI enemies, costume parts, menus and UI, and camera and post effects can’t be exposed for playtesting until a later build). [2]
We have finished testing on the 0.5.5 beta build (published with this post), the list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.5.5 beta build are:
The Gang Beasts 0.5.4 beta build published with this post has a number of fixes, optimisations, and other modifications including improvements to the input mapping system, the gondola and trucks stages, the SFX and the orbit camera systems. We are still working on other stability fixes and minimising in-game exploits and other annoyances and expect to have more examples of this work in coming builds. Following the 0.5.4 build Coatsink will be pushing out support for two new server geographies in Canada (Montreal) and the UK (London) with full support coming from next week. Please note the 0.5.4 beta build replaces the default 0.5.3 and ”unstable" 0.5.3 beta builds for server compatibilty (moving between the default and “unstable” builds on Steam will download the same 0.5.4 beta build)
Since the 0.5.2 build was published last month we have been working with Coatsink to patch keys issues introduced in recent builds and recent versions of Unity and are publishing the first batch of optimisations, fixes, and other modifications in the 0.5.3 beta. The 0.5.3 build has numerous bug and stability fixes but we are still working to fix issues with the multiplayer camera, vents glitches, costume exploits and conflicts, inconsistencies with lift forces and concussion times and expect to push these fixes to Steam for testing in coming builds. We have also started work on a full rebuild of the UI, localising for multiple languages, and a more standardised testing process (with additional resources working with us to identify and fix issues).
Since the 0.5.1 build was published on 30 December 2016 we have been working with Coatsink to standardise character movement, optimise and fix input issues, and to scale server capacity and stability as the Gang Beasts Early Access community has increased significantly since the 0.5.0 beta build was published (on the 23 December 2016).
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A number of issues have impacted online multiplayer gameplay since the 0.5.0 beta release on 21 December some of which were patched in a recent server update, the key issues were that have compromised online and physics stability are:
Since the last Steam Early Access post was published at the start of December we’ve been working with Coatsink to test significant modifications and fixes to the character, costume, game mode and networking systems (the 0.5.0 build replaces the 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 Steam Early Access builds). Servers will be intermittently unavailable for the next hour as servers are modified (the 0.5.0 build is needed to play online as pre-0.5.0 builds are not supported by the modified server scheme)
Since the 0.4.4 build was published at the end of September we have been working closely with partners to iterate on the character, game mode, and networking systems for Gang Beasts and are now testing release builds for the Gang Beasts 0.5.0 beta. We plan to publish the 0.5.0 beta when testing ends, this should be in December but we can't set a specific date in December currently (as critical issues could still be found in testing). To force server compatibility we need to publish the 0.5.0 build concurrently with the Gang Beasts Dedicated Server tool and significant updates to servers. Please note the 0.5.0 build will replace the 0.3.4 and 0.4.4 Steam Early Access builds and game servers will be intermittently unavailable for an hour following the release of the 0.5.0 build (as servers are modified and restarted) Please note the Dedicated Server Tool will only support Windows operating systems initially
The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.4 "unstable" alpha build are:
The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.3 "unstable" alpha build are:
The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.2 "unstable" alpha build are:
The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.4.1 "unstable" alpha build are:
For the last month we have been working with Coatsink to implement online support in the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build (published with this post). The information in this post summarise a number of the key differences between the 0.3.4 'unstable' and the 0.4.0 'unstable' builds.
The structure of the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build has been significantly modified from the previous 0.3.4 'unstable' alpha build to include placeholder information screens and other planned content and some content is temporarily disabled, specifically the debug spawning commands, the ‘waves’ game mode, and the 'buoy', ‘chute’, ’containers’, and ’fans’ stages (this content needs additional work before it is restored).
In the 0.4.0 ‘unstable’ alpha build there are 4 online stages playable and 12 local stages, the online stages are:
For the past two months we have been working with Coatsink to iterate on the networking scheme and game content for the Gang Beasts online beta, in parallel to this work we have been collaborating with SuperGenius to scope and implement the game mode and character customisation systems for the game.
The next stage is to merge the online support and stage optimisations from the online beta with the ‘unstable’ branch and then integrate the Character Customisation, Character Colour, and Game Mode systems.
The rest of this post is a series of paragraphs with current information and summaries on what progress has been made to date on content for the game.
[img=http://boneloaf.co/Gang_Beasts/images/033/buoy.png][/img] Since the last Early Access build was published in January we have been working with Coatsink to prepare the infrastructure for a public beta of online multiplayer support for Gang Beasts and are now at a stage of development where we can make a selection of the most optimised stages available to play in an online multiplayer beta for play testing and stress testing. The online multiplayer beta will be made available through Steam as a separate build from the current ‘stable’ and ‘unstable’ alpha builds, this is necessary to preserve access to the current ‘unstable’ and ‘stable’ alpha builds (while the stages not currently included in the online beta are optimised for online multiplayer) and to give the Early Access community a specific forum for posting online specific questions, bug reports and feedback to. Information on the three stages that are playable in the initial online beta will be posted on Steam this month (as a Steam announcement) with specific instructions on the process for participating in the online beta and information on the next batch of stages that are currently being optimised for online multiplayer. The first batches of online beta keys will be sent out by email this month with subsequent batches of keys being sent out frequently as server capacity is scaled. The online multiplayer beta will be merged with the ’unstable’ alpha branch at a later date (when the key work on stress testing and bug fixing the networking implementation has ended and server capacity is scaled to support the full Gang Beasts Early Access community). Whilst testing and scaling the capacity of the online beta over the next 3-4 months we will continue to push new content, optimisations, and polish to the ‘unstable’ branch, starting with the 0.3.3 ‘unstable’ alpha build published with the post. Please post feedback and information on game bugs on the 0.3.3 "unstable" alpha build thread if you have issues specific to this build. Please note there is no "stable" alpha build released with this post The list of modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.3 "unstable" alpha build are:
The modifications and fixes made in the 0.3.1 "stable" build are:
[img=http://boneloaf.co/Gang_Beasts/images/wrestlers.jpg][/img] It has taken significant resources to prototype and implement the character customisation system as significant game functionality needed to be rewritten to work with configurable character parts, the 0.3.0 alpha build released with this post, has a functioning character selection screen with a set of sample character costumes for testing (including the existing Kigurumi characters, and a selection from the new Wrestler / Luchador and other miscellaneous outfits). The 0.3.0 alpha build replaces the 0.1.5a "stable" alpha build as the default build on Steam Early Access (the 0.1.5a build is available for download through the Steam "BETAS" tab as a legacy build for the Early Access community to compare the gameplay, performance, stability, and other game content of the last Unity 4.x build with the Unity 5.x builds). The 0.3.0 alpha build also replaces the 0.2.6c “unstable” build until the logic for the prototype “break” and “race” game modes is rewritten to work with the character customisation system (the “break”, “race”, “king of the hill”, and “capture the flag” game modes will be exposed for testing in a coming “unstable” alpha build). The 0.3.0 alpha build also has an improved camera system, a new particle effect system (for the fire on the ‘incinerator’ stage), new post processing and colour grading effects, the first versions of the significantly revised UI and menu systems, numerous modifications to stages (a rebuilt ‘incinerator’ stage, and modified ‘buoy’, ‘girders’, and ‘fans’ stages), and new running, standing headbutt, front slide, rear slide, and sitting character moves. For reference the full character customisation screen is disabled in the 0.3.0 “stable” alpha build as the UI does not currently protect against conflicts between costume parts, a version of the full character customisation system (with support for saving customisations) will be exposed with other prototype game stages and content in the coming “unstable” builds. The modifications and fixes made in this build are:
The 0.2.6 build released with this post is a content release with three new stages (‘billboard’, ‘blimp’, and ‘girders’) and four modified stages (‘buoy’, ‘fans’, ‘ring’, and ’subway’), the build also includes expanded AI behaviours that give AI enemies lifting and throwing abilities.
The modifications and fixes made in this build are:
We are close to finishing the various modifications and prototype content for the 0.2.6 "unstable" build and expect to publish this work within the next two weeks, we currently expect this to be the last "unstable" build before we can make the Unity 5 port of the game the default version of Gang Beasts on Early Access (the 0.1.5a Unity 4 alpha build will be made available for download through the Steam client "BETAS" tab as a legacy build for making comparisons of gameplay, performance, stability and content with the Unity 5 builds). http://youtube.com/watch?v=c8xwXkrNfEM In the last two months we have continued to work on optimisations, new game modes, the character customisation system, character customisations, modifications to current stages, and prototypes for a number of new stages. http://youtube.com/watch?v=lJ833OuAlKw Work on the character customisation system is at a stage that supports making functional examples of the UI and customisation process and the work on new characters, games modes, modified stages, and stage prototypes is now sufficient to give information on the specific functionality and content we expect to make available in the builds coming in September and October. http://youtube.com/watch?v=uSnqSTm7ecs The information in this post will summarise the work that has been done on some of the new character customisations, the character customisation system, modified stages, and the new stage prototypes (“billboard”, “blimp”, and “girders”). Specific information about the current stages, new stage prototypes, and the planned escalations for specific stages will be posted as a series of individual threads in the Early Access forums closer to the release of the next build.
The 0.2.5b build released with this post is a bug fix patch for the recent 0.2.5 "unstable" alpha build, and the audio issue introduced in the 0.2.5a build. The list of modifications and fixes made in this build is:
The 0.2.5a build released with this post is a bug fix patch for the recent 0.2.5 "unstable" alpha build, the list of modifications and fixes made in this build is:
The 0.2.5 build released with this post has working versions of the "buoy", "trucks", and "wheel" stages (three of the four stages that were omitted from past “unstable” builds due to significant issues relating to the stability of their custom physics parameters when ported to Unity 5 and PhysX 3.3 ) and the three prototype stages, "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" that were demonstrated at E3.
The 0.2.5 “unstable” build also has experimental implementations of two new character attack moves, head-butts and dropkicks, head butts are triggered by pressing the jump button immediately before holding the duck button, dropkicks are triggered by pressing the jump button immediately before holding the kick button (the specific forces and other parameters for the moves are currently provisional and granular modifications will need to made is subsequent builds).
The 0.2.5 build also has significantly modified music and sound content (implemented in a series of sessions with Adam “Doseone” Drucker and Robert "Dirty Bob" Larder in the week leading up to E3), the new audio with multiple new or revised music tracks for most stages, 4 additional character voice sets, and numerous additional contextual audio events (that trigger sound effects when specific situations occur).
The playable stages in the “unstable” build are still experimental but are now sufficiently performant for testing and for us to collate suggestions and feedback on gameplay and performance issues through the Early Access forums (there will be additional optimisations and modifications made in subsequent builds). To start the feedback process we plan to make a series of monitored forum posts (in the next few hours and over the coming weekend) with information on planned revisions, current issues, potential optimisations, and other identified modifications we expect to make to specific stages, game modes, and gameplay mechanics.
Specific Information re: head-butts and dropkicks will be posted as individual threads in the Early Access forums in the next few hours.
Information on the new "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" stages and the completed and planned work done on modifying (or remaking) the "buoy", "incinerator", "subway", "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages will be posted as a series of individual threads in the Early Access forums this weekend (and in the coming weeks).
In the last month we have been working on porting the "buoy, "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages to Unity 5, we have also been working a number of new prototype stages and a number of significant modifications to the "buoy", "subway" and "incinerator" stages for the next "unstable" alpha build.
The work is close to finished and we plan to release the 0.2.5 "unstable" build with working versions of the "buoy", "containers", "gondolas", "grind", "incinerator", "ring", "subway", "trucks", "vents", and "wheel" stages and the new "chutes", "elevators", and "towers" stages next week (the new stages coming in the 0.2.5 "unstable" build are shown in the Gang Beasts E3 trailer and in the images with this post).
The 0.2.5 "unstable" build also has significantly updated audio content and experimental implementations of head-butts and dropkicks. The head-butt and dropkick moves have been added to avoid situations where head or feet collide with an enemy or object without taking sufficient damage (head-butts and dropkicks can concuss an enemy but landing them with enough force to be concussive is sufficiently difficult in normal gameplay to not happen frequently).
We plan to make a series of specific forum threads for the new stages, the head-butt and dropkick moves, and other content to collate and discuss feedback and give tutorial information when the build is released next week (a full list of the changes and additions made in the 0.2.5 "unstable" build included with the release post).
We have made a number of significant modifications and fixes for the 0.2.4 build over the last three weeks, specifically fixing the joint instability (that made character, wire, and rope physics erratic or rigid, and stages built with configurable joints that break without the fixes to joint stability). There is still a small number of modifications that need to be made to the 'trucks', 'wheel', 'buoy', and 'vents' stages to make them playable but expect to restore some or all of the 0.1.5a stages omitted from the 0.1.5a build in the next 'unstable' build later this month (build 0.2.5). The 0.2.4 build has a new 'random' mode, restores the 'endless' mode from previous builds, and a glut of new audio and music including new music for the 'ring', 'gondola', 'incinerator', and 'subway stages. We are continuing to work on new stages and character costumes, we posted some tests on the Boneloaf and Gang Beasts Vine, Twitter, and YouTube accounts in the last hour (see Vine, Twitter, and YouTube).
We are sorry for not meeting the 31st GMT (UTC+00:00) estimate for publishing the 0.2.0 build of Gang Beasts to Steam yesterday (there were a number of significant version control merging issues that forced us to have to repeat some of the work collating game scenes made in different branches of the project) but we have now published the first playable build of the Unity 5 version of Gang Beasts to Steam. We also want to apologise to those expecting the 0.2.0 Unity 5 alpha build to be a feature complete updated version of the previous 0.1.5a Unity 4.x alpha build as the 0.2.0 build still has numerous issues that need a series of bug fixes, and gameplay modifications over the coming weeks before the Unity 5 build will pass the gameplay content and aesthetic of previous builds. This confusion is our mistake for not explicitly sharing information about the complexity of porting Gang Beasts to Unity 5 and the current development status of the game in recent months. For reference the 0.2.0 Early Access alpha build is the first public version of the Unity 5 build of Gang Beasts, we have published the 0.2.0 build to Steam as an unstable opt-in 'Beta' for play testing and taking feedback (on the new character animation system and game mode prototypes). For the next 4-6 weeks the previous 0.1.5a alpha build will continue to be downloadable on Steam until Unity 5 builds have full parity (of content and features) with previous Unity 4.x builds. How to download the 0.2.0 alpha build on Steam To download the 0.2.0 alpha build right-click on the game name on the Steam library page and select 'Properties' from the dialogue window that opens, from this window select the 'BETAS' tab then select the 'unstable' option from the dropdown menu (the menu labelled 'Select the beta you would like to opt into:' (to revert back to the 'stable' 0.1.5a Unity 4.x build select 'stable' from the same menu). For reference switching between 'unstable' and 'stable' branches of the game can force the selected build to download to the Steam client (the size of the 0.1.5a 'stable' alpha is approximately 100MB / 50MB compressed, the 0.2.0 'unstable' alpha build is 500MB / 260MB compressed). Gang Beasts is an Early Access game that is currently in uninterrupted development, the 0.1.5a build and the 0.2.0 builds have bugs and partially implemented gameplay content and mechanics. (please see the Steam Early Access FAQ at http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq for more information). 0.2.0 Issues Porting the Gang Beasts character and rope physics to the Unity 5 implementation of PhysX 3.3 has triggered a number of open issues (information on currently identified issue in the 0.2.0 build is listed at the end of this post) that compromise specific categories of stage hazards, these issues are associated with the modified collision tolerances and higher level of exactness of PhysX 3.3 simulations. The immediately priority for development is to fix this list of current issues, the full list of issues (sorted by stage name is: Game no game launch sequence fade to / from black transition sequence (for stage transitions) is missing inputs mapped to SLUMP / CRAWL do not currently work for de-incrementing menu item selection scene cameras script need modifying to adapt to aspect ratios menu attract mode is missing score UI scales incorrect on large resolution screens endless playlist mod is currently disabled random playlist mode is currently disabled Ring meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to be illuminated as expected) ring out sound is missing Grind meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to be illuminated as expected) configurable joints on railings need modifying to make breakable Gondola meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to be illuminated as expected) current priority of rope targets is set too high configurable joints on cables need modifying to make breakable Trucks (excluded from 0.2.0 build) meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to illuminate as expected) truck model needs configurable joints and weights modifying to make stable Incinerator meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to illuminate as expected) configurable joints on railings need modifying to make breakable glass model need configuring to make breakable Wheel (excluded from 0.2.0 build) meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to illuminate as expected) pier model needs configurable joints and weights modifying to make stable Subway meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to illuminate as expected) elevators are disabled escalators are missing from scene Vents (excluded from 0.2.0 build) meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for scene to illuminate as expected) circular gravity simulation is not current compatible with Unity 5 (simulation needs replacing or updating to work with Unity 5) Containers configurable joints on cables need modifying to make breakable Race mode prototype weights for apparatus need modifying to be heavier session fails to end when competitor falls from apparatus contextual win condition information not shown in text overlay Waves mode prototype stairs enclosure needs grab targets stairs enclosure needs enemy spawn behaviour when players enter Break mode prototype win scenario not currently implemented weights and configurable joints need modifying to make stable contextual win condition information not shown in text overlay car colliders need remaking to approximate car geometry Race protype meshes need UVs modifying to remove light baking artefacts (for the Incinerator scene to be illuminated as expected) contextual win condition information not shown in text overlay weights and configurable joints need modifying to make stable
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[img=http://gangbeasts.com/posts/gb_montage.jpg] It has taken several months and a significant amount of work to finish porting Gang Beasts to Unity 5 with PhysX 3.3 but we are now in a position to announce 31st March as the release date for the public build of the Unity 5 version of Gang Beasts (for reference the build number will be 0.2.0). The 0.2.0 build has fully rebuilt character animation (see 1,2,3 and 4 for some short video examples), game audio, and game management systems with a number of Unity 5 specific implementations including Global Illumination, Physically Based Shading, procedural Audio Mixing, multithreaded physics simulations, High Dynamic Range Skyboxes and Reflection Probes. The 0.2.0 build also replaces the current game input framework with the Rewired framework (an advanced input system for Unity) with improved support for keyboard and game controllers (see the Supported Controller page for a platform specific list of currently supported controllers). We will make additional posts with more specific information about the new game modes, stages, character moves, and other improvements coming in the 0.2.0 build before the March 31st release date. The summary of key improvements coming in 0.2.0 build are:
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