OVRLRD News

A note: welcome to all the new OVRLRD operators who joined us during Next Fest! You can join our community on Discord to chat about OVRLRD or get some pointers if you've been having trouble piloting your mech.

OVRLRD is not out in Early Access just yet, but the demo will remain live permanently. This is kind of a preview of what the EA campaign will be like. OVRLRD is a complex game that will take a lot of tweaking to get right, and the demo will be updated alongside the main game build to field-test these tweaks and make sure it's fully operational by the time EA lands.

Early Access will be just that - a chance to help fine-tune the broader mechanics and content of the game a while ahead of release. So, tell your friends to try it out, because the demo's free and always will be!

Hello operators! I'm working hard on the next big update, but in the meantime I've decided to push up a set of important fixes aimed at improving the experience on Vive wands.

I've had a lot of useful feedback from Vive users - the lack of a thumbstick and face buttons meant that OVRLRD was a bit of a chore - and though I don't have access to a Vive myself to test, I've worked with the community to devise some changes that should make things better! Unfortunately I still can't test it myself, so please let me know if there are any issues and I'll fix them ASAP. Details below.
Also, explosions: I've changed the way AOE damage is calculated. This means that your mech will generally take more localised damage and less all-encompassing damage from explosions.

Missiles previously would inflict AOE damage on all parts within its range, tapering off with distance. This meant that being hit with a missile would either appear to do nothing, or it would instantly take every single part to critical damage levels.

Now explosions use a top-secret algorithm which more closely models how real-life armored vehicles receive this kind of damage. This means an OVRLRD is less likely to be one-shot, but is more likely to take heavy localised damage to specific components.

In practice, this means helicopters are no longer whirling cannons of instant death, and you can no longer wipe out 5 OVRLRDs with one well-placed howitzer - though you may be able to knock out all their legs at once. (Hilarious falling-over animations are in the roadmap.)

[h2]ADDITIONS[/h2]

• You can now press F12 in the main menu to anonymously submit an error log. The most critical issues are apparent in the main menu, and this feature is specifically for finding and fixing those.
  

[h2]CHANGES[/h2]

• Made tweaks to how AOE damage works. Mechs are now less likely to be instakilled by one explosion, but will take more localised damage.
  
• The recenter controller button binding is gone - now it's a pokeable VR button in the midgame menu.
  
• Vive users can now select targets by gripping the right joystick and clicking the touchpad.
  
• Vive users can now cycle weapons by gripping the right joystick and pressing the button above the touchpad.
  
• Vive users can now open the midgame menu by pressing the button above the touchpad while not gripping anything.
  
• Vive users can now recenter properly ingame by opening the midgame menu and pressing the RECENTER button.
  
• Vive users should find slewing the weapon camera using the touchpad much easier. (Please let me know if it's worse instead of better!)
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed manual not being usable for Vive players. You should now be able to tab through pages using the touchpad. Please let me know if this doesn't work - I have no Vive to test with!
  

[h2]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/h2]

• Knuckles controllers can only pinch-grip controls when the hand is otherwise fully open (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Grouped weapons must all be aimed independently before activating group-fire (this will change soon)
  
• Resupply helicopters will sometimes drop crates just out of reach of immobilised mechs, to taunt them
  
• If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.
  

[h2]CHANGES[/h2]

• Added a default loadout to the hangar so that first-time players are less likely to deploy with no weapons equipped. (This will soon lead to saveable loadout presets.)
  
• Changed the bootup flow so that emergency lighting is enabled by default, and throwing the main battery breaker lever automatically switches to normal lighting. (No more mysteriously red cockpits!)
  
• The weapons screen will now notify you if you have no weapons equipped.
  
• Made text label on 'IGNITION' button brighter to avoid first-time players missing it.
  
• Added animations and UI audio feedback in hangar scene.
  
• Swapped physical 'LAUNCH' button for a UI button in the hangar - temporary measure to prevent people accidentally launching into a mission, unarmed, while trying to recalibrate their playspace.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the 50mm AC would only inflict AOE damage but no direct-hit damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where firing a flare could cause minor instability.
  

[h2]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/h2]

• Knuckles controllers can only pinch-grip controls when the hand is otherwise fully open (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Vive wands do not have good button mapping and may struggle to control weapon cameras and switch weapons (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Grouped weapons must all be aimed independently (this will change soon)
  
• Resupply helicopters will sometimes drop crates just out of reach of immobilised mechs, to taunt them
  
• If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.
  
• Legibility of clipboard briefings may be poor on some systems.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the public-testing branch was crashing on startup for WMR users.
  

[h2]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/h2]

• Knuckles controllers can only pinch-grip controls when the hand is otherwise fully open (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Vive wands do not have good button mapping and may struggle to control weapon cameras and switch weapons (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Grouped weapons must all be aimed independently (this will change soon)
  
• Resupply helicopters will sometimes drop crates just out of reach of immobilised mechs, to taunt them
  
• If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.
  
• Legibility of clipboard briefings may be poor on some systems.
  

Answering questions, stomping tanks and piloting drones! Join the developer for a more in-depth discussion of what a mech simulator really is. Why single-player? Why Early Access? What was so great about MechWarrior anyway?

Maybe this time I'll be able to complete a mission without exploding? Strangers things HAVE happened. They won't happen here, but they have happened elsewhere. I'm trying my best.

[h2]ADDITIONS[/h2]

• Added an option to toggle-grip VR joysticks (useful for Vive wand users).
  

[h2]CHANGEs[/h2]

• Vive wands can now tab through the manual by pressing the trackpad.
  
• Vive wands can now open the midgame menu by clicking the left trackpad.
  
• Vive wands can now recenter by clicking the right trackpad.
  

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where OVRLRD would become unstable when failing Point Defense.
  
• Fixed an issue where spectator cam would be in second-person mode by default.
  
• Fixed an issue where pressing on the Vive trackpad would take a high-res screenshot and hang the game briefly.
  

[h2]KNOWN ISSUES (Working on it!)[/h2]

• Knuckles controllers can only pinch-grip controls when the hand is otherwise fully open (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Vive wands do not have good button mapping and may struggle to control weapon cameras and switch weapons (high priority - fix on the way!)
  
• Grouped weapons must all be aimed independently (this will change soon)
  
• Resupply helicopters will sometimes drop crates just out of reach of immobilised mechs, to taunt them
  
• If you die, the post-death spectator mode places your hands slightly too far away from your IRL wrists.
  
• Legibility of clipboard briefings may be poor on some systems.