Unreal Engine update and bugfix release

CHANGES

> Updated the base Unreal Engine release from 5.2 to 5.4

> Fixed many big and small bugs - some old, some new...

KNOWN ISSUES

> VR: Grasping items may not work, inventory may bug out, items may disappear

> VR: Hands may lag behind movement, left hand may bend backwards under certain circumstances

> Multiplayer: items in the hand of one player can be invisible for other players until item is used or swapped

> ...and many other big & small annoying bugs :-)

Feature and bugfix release

CHANGES

> Added In-game time

> Added Timed quests - both real-time and in-game time possible. Deliver your pizza in under 10 minutes from now on or the quest fails

> Added World persistence - world state is now saved between sessions and server restarts

KNOWN ISSUES

> VR: Grasping the rifle may not work the first time. Try grabbing it "behind" the physical handle first, the next times it will work properly.

> Multiplayer: items in the hand of one player can be invisible for other players until item is used or swapped

> ...and hundreds of other big & small annoying bugs :-)

It took an enormous effort to update the game from UE4 to UE5. Scope creep happened, too. The original plan was to have many separate maps and a round-based approach to the gameplay loop. But with UE5 I can make an open world game - in VR! So many limitations do not apply anymore. However, developing an open world is a completely different task.

CHANGES

> Updated whole game to Unreal Engine 5.2

> Added open world level

> Added first iteration of mission system

> Added first iteration of dialog system with voice recognition

KNOWN ISSUES

> VR: UI interface is very blurry during movements

> VR: Holstering a weapon over the left shoulder may actually holster it on the right shoulder and vice versa

> VR: hand interactions are broken - sometimes it works, sometimes it breaks

> VR: grabbing an item with one hand may result in this hand to not be able to grab another item later

> VR: interactions with physic objects broken

> Clothes of characters are flickering in certain conditions

> Servers do not save the world state and will be reset every 24h!

> NPC feet will float in the air if you get close

> NPC animations playing too fast or too slow

> Hand and finger poses do not match objects

> Multiplayer: VR goes into reprojection in open world map (running smooth in local game)

> ...and thousands of other big & small annoying bugs :-)

HINTS

> To get a weapon start the lifeline quest

> Gonzo will charge you for the beer but he isn't programmed to actually serve you one - yet :)