1.4 Dev 4 is now available

With 1.4 being our last major feature update, we want to make sure that we're leaving the game in the best possible state that it can be in. The user interface is an area of the game that's needed some love for a very long time, and we're now giving it the attention it needs.

We haven't finished every interface yet and will be completing them in a future development build. The interfaces we still need to update are:

• Campaign, campaign editor and precision runs.

• Multiplayer lobby.

• Multiplayer connecting popups.

• Options.

• Records, stats, achievements.

• Result screens.

• Code mods management.

• Gallery.

• HUDS (text rendering update, minor aesthetic tweaks).

• Probably some other Uis somewhere (we have a lot).

Playing on development builds

• Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties

• Go to the betas tab on the window that opens

• From the dropdown select development. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam

• Once you have opened the game, the version at the bottom right of the menu will read 1.4-d35

Notices

• UI preset locations have been changed and the game won't automatically move them. If you've been using presets for custom AI rosters or multiplayer lobbies, you'll want to move the following folders:

  • User > Config > Ini > Ai Presets, to User > Config > Presets > Ai Rosters

  • User > Confg > Ini > Lobby Presets to User > Config > Presets > Lobby Settings

Unity Tools

The Unity Tools have been updated with this release. Click here to view the changelog and download the latest package.

The New Menu

The UI element style that we debuted with the content selectors in 1.4 Dev 3 is now being rolled out across the entire game.

The main menu has been reorganized with fewer options being displayed immediately. What we consider important options are at the forefront of this new menu, then everything else that was previously available on the start page can be found a layer deeper.

We've also introduced a new style to the menus 3d rendering. When you're not in the track selector, ship selector or in a multiplayer lobby, you'll now be looking at this animation inspired by the game's cover art:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJjsFEUmAc

Navigation through all currently updated menus is now vertical only. Horizontal inputs are reserved for changing options.

Combined with menus now resetting their selection to the first option when you navigate forward into them, we hope this will help with forming more consistent muscle memory for quickly breezing through interfaces to get into the game.

Signed Distance Field Text

Every text element in the game is being updated to Unity's TextMeshPro component, which uses SDF rendering to keep fonts sharp at any resolution. This not only has a benefit for people playing at higher resolutions like 4k, but it also improves readability at really low resolutions too.

Here's a look at what this actually means. The top is using the old text renderer, the bottom is using the new text renderer.

Tournament Setup

Tournament track setup has seen some major changes. You'll now be presented with a menu where you can freely insert, move and delete tracks.

With this build we've also finally implemented a long requested feature: tournament presets! Also worth noting, custom weapon pools in custom races now have support for presets too, and we plan to add presets for the entire custom race menu.