Chief Chat and New "Tsihu Fight Back" Demo Build drops this Friday 2 pm P.D.T. March 19th, 2021!

[Ronyn]

This is the demo that you've always dreamed of, we knew it from the start. You'll find the Tsi-Hu are fighting back, and they'll rip out your heart.

In the next Em-8er demo build from Crixa labs, the Tsihu will be moving, reacting, and FIRING at the players with their own firearms. The world of Em-8er has never been more dangerous. This build will be ready to download this Friday, March 19th, for all eligible backers.

We will be streaming the new build live on TWITCH https://twitch.tv/grummz_em8er at 2 pm PDT.
All Newcomer and M3 backers will be able to download it at https://my.em8er.com/!

In this build-
- The Tsi-Hu will be out in force fighting the Reaper teams with everything they've got!
- Reapers will be Scanning for resources and mining them with THMPR mining mechs!
- Don't forget to take a look at your personal inventory of resources!
- Use the glider to escape and engage or slide around in your omniframe firing with style!

What's that you say? You don't have a Newcomer pack yet? Well hop over HERE https://my.em8er.com/perks/campaign/5 and grab your pack in order to download the latest build!

Subscribers will gain access to the previous, "Tsi-Hu Grappling" build on Friday. You can join for just $7.95 USD/month HERE https://my.em8er.com/perks/campaign/7

Don't forget to join in the fun with the Dev Team and the Community in Discord, we might even raffle off some packs and skins! Join HERE <discord.gg/em-8er>

Will you help fight the Tsi-Hu? Will you team up with your fellow Gatestriders in game? The battle awaits.

For those who need it- here is the timezone Breakdown:

***DATE: Friday, March 19, 2021***
***TIME: 2:00 PM (PDT)***

***CHECK BELOW FOR THE CHIEF CHAT TIME IN OTHER TIME ZONES:***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York, USA Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm EDT
Minneapolis, USA Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 4:00 pm CDT
Salt Lake City, USA Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 3:00 pm MDT
Uruguay Time, UYT Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm UYT
London, United Kingdom Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 9:00 pm GMT
Copenhagen, Denmark Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 10:00 pm CET
Berlin, Germany Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 10:00 pm CET
Zürich, Switzerland Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 10:00 pm CET
Helsinki, Finland Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 11:00 pm EET
Moscow, Russia Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 12:00 midn MSK
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 1:00 am GST
New Delhi, India Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 2:30 am IST
Beijing, China Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 5:00 am CST
Tokyo, Japan Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 6:00 am JST
Perth, Australia Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 5:00 am AWST
Sydney, Australia Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 8:00 am AEDT
Auckland, New Zealand Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 10:00 am NZDT

 

[Valaetoshiru]

This is great news! Quite a milestone. Congrats! Will you also be removing the PvP option at login?

Edit - OMG InB4... everyone!

 

[Mahdi]

Some where in deep space I see a Star Craft Terran marine sitting in a dark cockpit slowly grabbing bullets floating around and loading his rifle. Blip of this update comes over the comlink. He glances sideways to read it through the haze of smoke from the cigar. His gaze looks at the viewer with a crooked grin saying, "Aaahhh.....finally." then punches in coordinates for launch sequence.

 

[Wyntyr]

 

[Pandagnome]

si-Hu are fighting back, and they'll rip out your heart.

They will take our hearts but never our farts ......Help!

 

[Faeryl]

This is great news! Quite a milestone. Congrats! Will you also be removing the PvP option at login?

Edit - OMG InB4... everyone!

Hello Valaetoshiru!!

UPDATE FROM FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021
(Update via Impromptu Chief Chat):

► In the next test build, the Tsi-hu are returning fire and taking cover, along with charging at you!
^ Note: In the new test build, PvP will be turned off! PvE only!

There are notes for each of the last 4 Impromptu Chief Chats with more details in the #general-updates channel on the Official Em-8ER Discord.

https://discord.gg/em-8er

 

[lkw#0593]

Harry said the DLSS help text should say if your card is not supported but with my gtx950 I have blank help text (rather than an unsupported message) and I still have an auto setting (which I'm assuming is just off).

 

[Gigabear]

Trying to engage scan mode while sliding can lock your omniframe up, and you have to exit the game to fix it unless you get killed.

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Ill be adding more but for now.. The bug that makes the Demo "darker" is still there. I know its from an update to the Unreal Engine from months ago, but for peeps like me that dont have the brightest screens it makes the Demo overly dark.

 

[Pandagnome]

I am not sure if its to do with the extra chaos but saw my thumpr mek move across a distance and then just stood there doing nothing.. not sure how to replicate that but after relogging everything was ok.

Also like the sound when sliding has a metal kind of sound !

 

[SaltehBleach]

Congrats on giving the Tsi-Hu weapons! that's a huge milestone!!

Here are some bugs I found.... (Im sorry in advance Dev Team!)

-=-=controls=-=-
-Double dash feels different
~holding space and double dashing gives you that airy feeling
~in the air, double dashing, gives a sudden stop on the end of your dash
(whether this is a bug or feature, that's pretty cool! im neither for this or against it, at the moment I am neutral)

-spam opening the "c" menu, your mouse cursor flickers on your screen (noticeable if you spam C)


-=-=Tsi-Hu=-=-
-Tsi-Hu have some speed boost! (seriously, they NYOOM better than me!)

-when standing near Tsi-Hu, they will shoot you, but you dont see any bullets (up super close)

-Speaking of Tsi-Hu... where are my Armored Tsi-Hu at? i miss them :c

-Tsi-Hu are prone to getting stuck in place and do nothing after awhile, fun to mess with, lol
^along with getting stuck in place, they also are very prone to stacking and being within one another (but hey I'm not complaining! plasma gun that pile and at least one will fly!)

-=-=Other=-=-
-spawning as "x" color and switching to "y" color within player sight, flying away, and out of sight of the other play (nametag gone and out of sight further away from player) flying back to said player, your skin will still be the "y" color, while the other player will see the "x" skin on you

-Missiles aim at players still, but do no damage

-I've had a few instances where grapplers do their animation ready to throw at me... and just don't throw

-Compass gets a bit wonky when standing on the ground and shooting the ground using plasma cannon

-=-=Comments=-=-
-Tsi-Hu seem to be doing great so far! though i wish the yellow guys would do something other than just stand there waiting for you to fly up into the air c:

-I LOVE how when the *tentacles?* on the back of the Tsi-Hu turn red, THATS when they attack you!

-Voices for when T.H.M.P.R location is confirmed ("T.H.M.P.R inbound!") is not back yet, along with dying when the T.H.M.P.R lands on you ("ooops!") is not back yet *note i remember saying some difficulty getting all the sounds over a some point? i just liked hearing those voices c:

-is it possible to have first person without having to hold a gun in your hand? would love to look at fellow pilots/flowers without the gun in the way, a perfect combo to match the hide UI feature!

And as always thank you fellow reapers for keeping me company when playing in the demo

Discord tag if you need me or have any issues understanding my phrasing
SaltehBleach#6056

 

[Nizuul]

-Tsi-Hu seem to be doing great so far! though i wish the yellow guys would do something other than just stand there waiting for you to fly up into the air c:

Thx for the feedback!
We're discussing having the Grappler stealth while it waits for a victim to take flight.

 

[Wyntyr]

1st Person view needs some serious love. Right off...can't make out sheet with the ammo counter dang near dead center with the reticle...thanks!

 

[liandri]

Oddities:
- Tsi-hu have pinpoint accuracy, but shoot at a constant rate of fire at where you are at that given time. The projectiles are too slow and you can effectively serpentine a dozen of them shooting at you by listing to left and right.
- Definitely noticed that they charged at you, the first one having run directly into me. For a melee strike, that would have been perfect, but I think he was just kinda embarrassed about the whole thing.
- The Tsi-hu really seem to be defending their rifts, because kiting them too far away or moving out of sight in a way that confuses their AI results in them giving up the chase an returning to their previous position. When they're returning to their position, they don't seem to engage with you in any way, even if you block their path. (linked)
- I had a Tsi-hu attack me, so I hid behind a tree to see what they would do. Very cute, they strafed to a better position every time they couldn't hit me. Unfortunately, when I walked too close to the tree and clipped partially through it, it was content to fire at the tree as though it could hit me. (linked)
- The Tsi-hu can still spawn in clumps that clip into each other and result in bad physics when attacked. Interestingly, they will still fire at you if they're launched into the air. (linked)
- Gun graveyard is still a thing.
- Deepstryke bug appears fixed-ish. You can't move, glide, use abilities or shoot while in the Deepstryke animation, effectively stopping you from doing it. On the flip side, if you DO ever Deepstryke in a weird location or you get otherwise stuck in the animation, you will be stuck and must exit the game.
- Sometimes the grapplers don't grapple you. It looks like they get up to the throwing animation and just stop.
-There's something wrong with the jumpjets if your feet touch ground after becoming airborne. (linked)
- Grapplers still rarely attempt to grapple you when you're on the ground.
- Dashing loses momentum after initial acceleration. Mechanically, I think it's a good choice. It still feels unnatural, but to go from point A to point B and almost completely stop is better that having to fight the momentum. My only issue is if you were using it to get close to something, rather than strafe. While you end up closer than you would have been, the sudden stop is jerky, instead of letting go of the controls in the previous build and allow your momentum to bring you closer.

Other things:
- I swear the Tsi-hu are stronger now.
- They're using the assault rifle? No Tsi-hu special weapon with green bolts or anything?
- The new demo took the settings from the previous demo, but the menu showed the resolution as 1024*768 instead of the 1920*1080 it was running at. Might be just a visual thing.
- No self-damage.
- I love the new sound effects, especially the slide.
- Looks like the sliding fire rate glitch is gone too. Those Tsi-hu are very lucky.

To be brutally honest, I probably wouldn't show someone this demo to get them excited to back. I'd be more comfortable showing them the GrappleDemo, Art Demo (for the Kaiju) and the concept art. The shooting isn't great, the Tsi-hu shooting is really not good, and I'd rather show someone the THMP-R mining without being harassed by slow-moving projectiles that can't hit you if you're moving. Hope combat will take center stage in the next demo for rework and polishing because it's nowhere near where it should be for the vertical slice.

Unless the next demo is the hub obviously, because those models look really good.

 

[alex11644]

FPS difference with RTX 3080 2k monitor, DLSS OFF/AUTO is 110-120/140-160

 

[Pandagnome]

Thx for the feedback!
We're discussing having the Grappler stealth while it waits for a victim to take flight.

What if they used some kind of whip action and swung the grappler but the end is retracted and used as a kind of flail. Since this npc doesn't seem to shoot it could be more of a melee focused opponent.

 

[Pandagnome]

Tried all the server's but Eu doesnt seem to work yet hmm



When sliding i see my legs go stealthy is that suppose to happen?
I'd like some little sparks when going faster, also what if you could slide and actually damage enemies or knock them away with a good slide with speed right now it doesn't do much.


Have to agree the projectiles look big, like a micro tsi-hu is inside piloting it on a mission to land on your head.

Do the tsi-hu have faster fire rate weapons but lower dmg per shot, so the armored tsi-hu guessing are more tanky and have faster rate weapon perhaps and the the usual tsi-hu with their slower blaster like weapons.

lasers

 

[Markolis]

First of all - Had alot of fun playing the demo. Great to be able to communicate with the enemy - Sooo died more than a few times, but heaped alot of Tsi-hu around me. Who says a plasma bolt to the face is not funny.

BUTs...and there are small ones :-

For some strange reason (unless im an idiot), could'nt find the call down button for THMPR, even checking in key binds.

Had trouble getting the plasma cannon to switch from rifle mode. Also plasma cannon mode gets cancelled if your are downed by grappler Tsi-hu (np...took an arrow in the knee ;-))

MiSSILE SWARM is still toooo slooooow - I can outfly them and shoot my targets first !! - Also, the explosions are a tad 'Cartooney', more street fighter than Michael bay. I think I heard Grummz also mention this during the demo.

Tsi-hu weapon fire clips through some terrain like boulders, rocks etc. BUT not all the time!

Saw some floating 'debris' artifacts such as rifles and some armour parts - did'nt clear when i died. Server side issue ?

Some stuttering and action movement 'dead stops' - maybe lag but ping was around 190-220.

Auto targetting with missiles is slow to aquire, as Count up of multiple or single targets taking upto 5-10 seconds - perhaps fewer missiles, but more damage modes (aoe - splash, suppress-shrapnel, HE - high emplosive) and load outs.

All in All - Well done Team Em8-er. Another good demo showing the awesome_sauceness/potential of the game.

Grats to all the new staff

 

[Thorp]

The demo feels drastically different now that there are enemies fighting back. I enjoyed my solo-play time for what is currently available but struggled to enjoy 30+ player hectic combat environment.

During the new demo launch the gameplay was truly hectic. Bullets were flying in every direction and so were the players. The whole experience did feel similar to a Firefall invasion however in some ways the experience was not great. The hectic experience that transpired is not something I would replay over and over. Obviously this is the current state of the game but in the future there needs to be at least some direction for the AI and the players. The whole thing was just a turkey shoot with no goal of developing a safe zone or advancing an offensive line and no sense of teamwork. It was exciting that players were everywhere, enemies were everywhere, and nowhere was safe but to me that can be exhausting; I do not feel accomplishment when there's no end, objective, or reason for why the situation has gone bananas.

I believe the Tsi-Hu need to come across as more rooted to a central location. Grummz mentioned the possibility of phasing in terrain from the Tsi-Hu world and that would definitely provide visual representation of a central location. The current Tsi-Hu spawn style and aggression is okay and it's fine when playing solo. However the solo gameplay is a little shallow. Once the Tsi-Hu are eliminated with purely bullets the Tsi-Hu just vanish; the end result kinda feels empty when it's all done; there were no objectives like "destroy the generator" or "defeat their leader", the Tsi-Hu come across as aimless and become more of a pestilence. But as a solo player perhaps the extra objectives would be too difficult or strange without teammates?

Ultimately I believe players as a group should be aware that decisions need to be made when dealing with Tsi-Hu portals. I believe when there are multiple people around there needs to be a sense of expected difficulty, sacrifice, or valor. Simply eliminating all enemies is fine...?most of the time?...but when every scenario is solved simply by gunning everything that moves, there's no sense of pressure or need for drastic decisions. Removing Tsi-Hu portals as a group should be a more dynamic experience such as planting explosives, hacking a system, building a portal disruptor while your teammates keep you alive.

I feel the following list would be a good direction:

+Tsi-Hu portals now gradually build into miniature bases. They slowly become stronger and more built the longer they exist
+Tsi-Hu will be seen completing objectives within this miniature base such as moving power cores, ammunition, ect to erect turrets, barriers, fortifications, ect.
+Tsi-Hu will put up defenses that are too dangerous for players to fly over and therefore the players need to take cover and coordinate (bring in the big guns).
+On occasion while players are attacking these Tsi-Hu strongholds the server AI will randomly spawn reinforcements or Tsi-Hu dropships behind or on top of players. This will help recreate that bananas environment for players who enjoy that and also reduce a sense of repetition.

The current state as a solo play the game is fine. I enjoyed it for what is currently available. I hope in the future the solo play is not as shallow but not so difficult that solo play is impossible.

Other thoughts:

Current Tsi-Hu bullets are fine. It was asked if their weapons should be hit-scan or remain as projectiles. My answer is they should not be hitscan; it's cool being able to air dash dodge them. However I will say perhaps the bullets are too slow because a simple sidestep is enough to dodge the bullets.

Missile Swarm is too slow in locking onto targets. Their projectile speed is also too slow.

 

[Skube]

Hey, I've done a quick short test on DLSS performance:




Some Conclusion:
-It Works!
-DLSS More than doubles 1% and 0.1% framerate which is amazing and having all 3 bars be so close together means a much more consistent gameplay experience
-More testing will be needed