roadtovostok

Development Update (12/01/2022)

Hi!

I've been working on the Village map extension lately and I'm happy with the progress, visually the environment has improved and the project is well on schedule.

Couple days ago, I also decided to hire a 3D-freelancer for specific time consuming task where I don't want to spend my time currently. This specific task is vehicle modelling and texturing. This freelancer started working on the first vehicle model yesterday and it might get few iterations to get the general style r...

New Radio Music

Hi!

Like most of you probably know, Road to Vostok has this in-game radio station that broadcasts weather announcements, trader related news, traditional / folk-music and so on.

The goal is to have something like Bandit radio in Stalker.

There have been already been few Finnish tracks for this radio but here's two new ones made specifically for the game.

1. Viimeinen Ruusu.
2. Kun Jalat Vielä Kantaa

Files are in the attachments.

Development Update (08/01/2023)

Hi!

I've been playing around with the expanded Village map lately. Making a fairly big map is always an iterative task, because you have to think optimization, AI-spawns, loot spawns and visuals at the same time.

This new map is currently double the size of the Public Demo 1 map. Here's some point of interests that I've recently designed and that will be in the Public Demo 1 v2 (not all implement yet):

Shore area (Dock, Rowing boat, Lookout Tower, Camper/Trailer)
Wastelan...

Updated Terrain System v2

Hi! 

A small addition to the last post related to terrain.

I enjoyed working on this system, so I decided to spend some more time refining it. On top of this, I decided to add support for screen space reflections (SSR) because I came to conclusion that it's better to add options for the user and let them decide if they want to sacrifice some frames to water reflections.

I also updated the rock models, added small pebbles and there's a new tree type Birch which fits the ...

Asset Showcase: Pontoon Dock

Here's the new asset for the Village shore area which will be in Public Demo 1 v2. In this dock you can do fishing + this will be a spawn point for the boat which is one of the transition methods for other maps.

- Antti (Developer)

Updated Water System (WIP)

Hi!

I'm currently redesigning a water system that will work nicely with the updated terrain that I mentioned yesterday. This new water system supports now underwater elements, shallow/deep calculations that will be used for footsteps or fishing for example.

I also did tons of testing with different reflection techniques and I decided that I'm not going to use raytracing/screen space reflections or anything that is heavy on the GPU. I much rather have solid performance and decent l...

Updated Terrain System

Hi!

A quick update outside of weapon/attachment things.

For months there have been unwanted behaviors with the old terrain system that have been slowing the development for the new maps. The old terrain approach was really low-poly and it didn't work well with holes/hills and other height related stuff + texturing workflow / blending wasn't ideal.

This might not be the best screenshot to showcase this, but I just updated the whole system. I created a new terrain shader and i...

Development Update (02/01/23)

Hi!

Thanks for the feedback related to new attachment system. 

I'm currently working on more skill-based recoil system which is less about randomness and more about "countering" the vertical recoil with your mouse. I have this system ready within 1-3 days and I will be uploading Attachment system v2 Dev Build here with also M4A1 + related attachments + few other improvements.

I also fixed a small bug today which was related to double appearing magazines when dropping yo...

Ambient Collection Vol.2

Here's the second files from the Road to Vostok Ambient Collection.

This Ambient Collection represents the emotional vision and atmosphere of the game. The collection is divided into three parts: Area 05, Border Zone and Vostok.

Area 05: Tension level = Low
Border Zone: Tension level = Mid
Vostok: Tension level = High

You can also listen Road to Vostok tracks now from Soundcloud: 2022-12-31 21:21:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Road to Vostok 2023

Hi!

Here's my thoughts about the upcoming year.

Development Videos 2.0

I'm always balancing between content creation and actual development. My goal next year is to find a good one-for-all video format which is kind of similar than the current WIP but a bit more cinematic and creative.

This new video format will be ~2-5min per video and each video will be "universally" named, so they are not named after specific month. Thumbnail style will also cha...

Dev Build - Attachment System

Hi!

Here's the new development build for you to test.

DOWNLOAD BUILD (571Mb .zip)

Note: When your downloading development builds, always download the whole file structure. Do not move or download individual files/folders.

Disclaimer: You can share, record and publish content from this development build, but do not share files or download links outside from Patreon.

<...

Development Update (30/12/2022)

Hi!

The Attachments System + Arm-IK + Canted Aiming is now ready to be tested. I also tweaked the camera recoil to be much more comfortable and improved the overall aiming accuracy by implementing almost pixel perfect firepoint system which is now linked to all new optics and native iron sights.

This new firepoint system basically assigns points where raycast/projectiles fire from the weapon, it won't help you aim or hit, it just makes hit registration much more reliable when ever...

Next Update Video (January)

Hi! 

A small announcement. The project currently has a really good momentum in terms of development speed. I decided that this month I will not spend time on video editing, so I can maintain this pace of progress. Basically I just want to maintain this flow-state which is kind of rare to obtain when you're developing games because you're constantly distracted by bugs or some technical details which draw the attention.

The next update video will come at the end of January.

Screenshot: AKS-74U

Here's a screenshot from the new AKS-74U with couple of attachments.

Zone: Area 05
Map: Village
Time: Day

- Antti (Developer)

Asset Showcase: Tank (Fuel)

Hi!

I did bunch of Shipyard map related modeling today. One of the assets that I finished was this Tank which are scattered different parts of Area 05, most of them are empty but some contain fuel (will be randomized in each playthrough).

Fuel will be a valuable resource for some tasks / traders and it will be requirement for some specific map transitions which involve using boat or some other vehicle which consumes fuel.

This fuel thing will also require a jerry can which t...

Development Update (26/12/2022)

Hi!

The development break is now over and I just returned back to home office. I'm currently polishing the attachment system and starting to implement the modular weapon approach + attachment system to other weapon families than just AR/M4 where I started from.

I will keep you updated in few days when the dev build is ready.

Good to be back!

- Antti (Developer)

Dev Update (23/12/2022)

Hi!

I'm still working on the game today but tomorrow I will be taking a 3-4 days development break and spend some time with my family and friends.

After I come back from this break, I will be polishing some attachments systems things and then provide you that development build. On top of this, before end of the year I will be also sharing a lengthy post here were I cover some significant things about the next year (which is going to big for Road to Vostok) and in general some summ...

Attachment System (Preview)

Hi!

Here's the preview video for the new attachment system that I have been working on this month. I'm pretty happy with the current approach and I think one of the most important things that came through this system was the weapon architecture rework.

Like mentioned earlier, now every weapon in the game is no longer just a static object, they can now use modular attachments and there's all kinds of modifiers now that will be linked to the weapon handling in the future. This was r...

Dev Update (20/12/2022)

Hi!

Now the first version of the attachment system is done. I added the swapping speed variables and highlight radial color wheel to visualize that swapping speed, I think this approach is totally fine for the first version.

I will share a small preview video clip tomorrow so you can see  how the system behaves.

Thanks!

- Antti (Developer)

ps. Going live in ~45min for this interview if you're interested

2022-12-19 22:42:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Road to Vostok x The Scope

Hi!

Tomorrow I will be a guest on the FPS/gaming news show called The Scope.

This episode is about Road to Vostok and how this project is being developed.

The Scope (Live)
Dec. 19, 2022 | 5:30 PM (CT)
https://www.youtube.com/@CrashGame

Dev Update (18/12/2022)

Hi!

Just wanted to mention that I'm still taking couple of days to polish this first iteration of the attachment system, so no video preview today, related to when I mentioned that I will be posting that at the end of the week.

In terms of code, the system is pretty much done, but there's still small decisions to be made with attaching speed / cooldowns and other parameters. I basically want to add multiple variables for each attachment type, so I can easily modify those.
2022-12-18 17:34:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Material Presets Update

Hi!

Just finished Metal and Plastic material presets that will be implement to all game weapons from this point forward to get that uniform look among all guns and attachments.

I'm still working on the wood material but once that is finished, I would say almost 95% of the all weapons will be automatically textured then. The workflow is based on these filters and generators that are inside a smart material which applies the material for pre-definined weapon parts.

- Antti (De...

Attachment System + Arm-IK (WIP)

Hi!

Here's few screenshots from the updated system.

Like mentioned before this first iteration allows you to change muzzles, ammo, mags and optics. There's also now small icons next to attachment slots which highlight when swapping / removing attachment is possible.

Character arms also now behave and rotate correctly thanks to new Arm-IK implementation which rotates the bones dynamically.

I also added screenshot from the canted / angled aiming + new holographic shader....

Dev Update (15/12/2022)

Hi!

Things are going really smoothly with the new attachment system. At first, I though that this system will be just separate addition to already existing weapon system, but yesterday I made the decision to update the whole weapon architecture, because it wasn't designed to support much complexity in terms of attachments.

So, I updated the whole weapon architecture and now it supports really extensively all kinds of attachments and weapon related variations. I don't have all th...

Development Update (12/12/2022)

Hi!

Just wanted to update that the first attachment system iteration for suppressors and sights is almost done.

This first iteration is based on already existing weapon menu/inspection approach. When you press X and the weapon comes in front of you, there's now possibility swap suppressors with the key 1 and sights with key 2 if you have compatible attachments in your inventory.

You can also now inspect weapon from multiple directions. When you press X and the weapon is in f...

Asset Showcase: Well

Here's a new asset that I finished today. These wells can be found in certain rural areas and they can be used for filling up canteens or other water container.

Wells are easy way to obtain water and manage hydration but the downside for using these will be risk of getting sick if the water is contaminated.

- Antti (Developer)

Development Update (08/12/2022)

A quick development update.

This week has been super productive in terms of development.

Here's a list of some new implementations:
- Global Season System (Winter/Summer)
- Extended Village Terrain (2x Size)
- Improved Water Shader (Depth/Foam)
- Underwater Post-Prosessing
- Color corrections and optimization
- Transformer Sheds & Poles
- Military Crates
- Old well

I will continue on making new Village buildings and props, after this I will start...

Development Update (29/11/2022)

Hi!

A quick development update.

The next month is all about making progress in the Shipyard map + Village map expansion. The game basically needs game worlds the most, so next month is focused towards new areas, visuals, props and so on.

There will also be one core system and this time it will be the first iteration of the attachment system. This first version will allow you to changes scopes and supressors on the fly via weapon inspect menu. 

There will also be a...

Weapon Showcase: C1911

The pistol which was voted by Vostok Tier supporters.

I will showcase some Colt-action in the upcoming WIP-video :)

- Antti (Developer)

Road to Vostok OST (Part 2)

Hi!

Here's the second part of the Road to Vostok OST.

Listen on Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/roadtovostok
Listen on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/roadtovostok

High-quality .wav files are also attached.

- Antti (Developer)