The Do or Die Update - 22% discount

Uh oh, operators.

It really has been a while this time. I'm gonna make this quick, because the changelog is pretty monstrous. Skip down for a tl;dr.

OVRLRD started as a hobby project in evenings and weekends around my day job as a programmer. I really didn't think anyone else would care about it, but since releasing in Early Access more than 3,000 people have bought the game - some of you buying it in an extremely rough state in order to give it a chance to become something better.

With so many promising VR projects withering on the vine, it's a real vote of confidence for someone to buy a game in Early Access, especially from a solo dev.

This is why I'm locked in a kind of sinister blood pact with OVRLRD's players, and why I decided last year to make this the best game I can make, instead of dropping it as a glorified tech demo and running off to sell something new.

This was, it turns out, not the best financial decision. You might be thinking "I knew it, classic Early Access game, here's where he says he's abandoning it". Well, the joke's on you, because I'm not!

However, the joke is actually on me, because I'm getting laid off.

This has changed the development environment. JUST A BIT. The timeline has come forward, since it's now quite important that OVRLRD starts paying for itself. This week I have swapped some amount of sleep for dev time, and I've finally wrestled the latest update to the ground. My plan is:

• Finish writing this news post;

• Apply for a few more jobs;

• Hammer as hard as I can on the content anvil to get ready for 1.0, which is now absolutely, definitely, I-no-longer-have-a-choice-in-the-matter coming out this year.

This update represents the final part of an enormous rewrite and redesign of the game systems to support 1.0 - better AI, better physics, better visuals, better sound and better internal workings. It includes dozens and dozens of bugfixes, QOL changes and performance improvements, as well as a few fun new systems like dynamic fires and lightning storms.

It also brings the scenario editor out of beta, since it now supports campaigns, because I'm building the new campaign inside it.

I've been deliberately not-promoting the game for the last few months because it was in an ugly transitional state. I wanted to wait until it was really polished, but my new financial situation means it's time for OVRLRD to prove that it can fund itself; hence:

The Do or Die Update

Dropping into OVRLRD after this update, you'll notice a few things:

• CosmeticBetter performance/less stuttering, less lag, 80% faster loading.

• Improved weather and time-of-day systems: thunderstorms light up the night and mask the sound of your weapons, starting dynamic wildfires which can spread and burn out vehicles.

• Better visuals with flashing explosions, performant post-processing, searing flames and crisper, faster rendering.

• Meatier, thumpier sound across the game, from mech footsteps to whistling artillery shells.

• Stronger, deadlier and more reliable NPCs that can dome you from a mile away, hunt you down with airborne drones, actively seek high ground to draw a bead on you, and fall back in coordinated fashion when overwhelmed.

• A very cool cinematic camera so you can really appreciate how good the new NPCs are at blowing your legs off. Press F7 when playing in non-VR mode. (VR mode cinematic cam coming soon!)

• Many, many, many, many, many bugfixes.

Other work-in-progress stuff is in much more advanced state.