- Joined
- May 3, 2023
- Messages
- 773
- Reputation
- 445
- Location
- Pegasi 51
Gianni Liebhart
- Faction
- Terran Defense Corps
- Staff
- #1
Hello,
We've been hard at work overhauling the weapon systems. Recently, we transitioned the weapon particle effects to Niagara, phasing out the old particle system entirely. We've also incorporated weapon audio using Unreal Engine 5's new Metasounds feature. We adapted Lyra's intricate metasounds for weapons to better fit our game's requirements. The entire framework for weapon effects, including particles and sounds, has been revamped, making it far more straightforward and efficient to manage. We've also added extra adjustable parameters for further customization. In addition, we've made enhancements in other weapon-related areas, simplifying the process of reintroducing different types of weapons.
The network performance related to weapons was another critical area that required an overhaul. The old approach was resource-intensive, both in terms of bandwidth and CPU usage. When multiple players fired their weapons simultaneously, it led to significant server lag due to the old system's reliance on multicasts to disseminate weapon effects and the transmission of large data packets to the server—a system that was outdated, dating back to 2017. We've significantly optimized how the client communicates hit data to the server and how the server then relays those hits to other clients, all without delving too deeply into the technical specifics. Suffice it to say, the new system is much more efficient and lightweight.
If you take a look at the work-in-progress video below, you'll notice in the lower right corner that the network's upload/download metrics, as well as packet and bandwidth usage, remain relatively stable while firing weapons. This is a marked improvement over the previous system.