Onward 01

Play date: 8/1/2020
Version: 2019.3.11.61229
Play length: 3 hours

+ Click to view technical specifications

Headset: Oculus Rift S
Processor: Intel i5 9600K @ 3.70GHz
RAM: 16GB
Board: ASRock B360M Xtreme
OS: Windows 10 (Version 1909, Build 18363.959)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

Bugs

• Occasionally and without warning, some players will suddenly become "stuck". They appear "dead" to other players, but can still fire their guns and kill other players. Affected users cannot be killed and cannot move. (VIDEO)
• Geometry collisions sometimes bug out, preventing players from moving through doors and walking up to windows. (VIDEO)
• The game triggers what I believe is a Steam VR glitch, causing audio to suddenly fail; this requires enabling and then disabling audio enhancements. I have a bug opened with SteamVR (link)
• The scopes appear to use culling that is at a different level than the player, meaning that objects can obscure the player's vision in the scope but not in their normal sight. (VIDEO)
• Bazaar (Day) has some occlusion issues when you walk down the alleys at certain angles. (VIDEO)
• AI can sometimes see through objects that the player cannot. (VIDEO)

User Experience Suggestions

These are matters which make the gameplay experience more accessible, comfortable, or generally playable, from the perspective of standard user behavior, the lack of which causes frustration or creates an obstacle which detracts from the game experience.

UI

• Need the ability to modify settings while in-game or even just in the lobby. In-game menu is an absolute necessity, particularly when a player gets stuck
• Need the ability to see comrades' names, as it is very difficult to give orders, particularly over radio, without being able to address others. Lack of names also makes being fireteam leader useless, since no one on your team knows. (I know that there is opposition to floating names. However: perhaps having the name on the player model ("stitched" on the player's back across their shoulder blades, and then smaller on the front, for example) would be a big improvement.)
• Need the ability to mute your own mic in the Tent.
• Pre-recorded radio commands/responses would be useful for users without a mic.
• Need a kill notification popup (a kill cam is ideal but much harder to implement, I know)

Physical experience

• Need snap turning.
• Need ability to virtual crouch/prone. (Someone told me there is an option for this but I couldn't find it)

Gameplay

• User experience stalls (from a gameplay standpoint) when your team is out of reinforcements and there is still time on the clock; having something the player can interact with (other than spectating) would be beneficial.
• Need ability to stop the upload; as it is, if a player starts the upload the match is basically over.
• Need ability to rest bipod on more surfaces. Too many times I found a great vantage point only to realize the bipod wouldn't "stick".
• There should be better measures to prevent accidentally dropping the tablet, as doing so can easily be missed until the player gets to the upload point and discovers the tablet is gone.
• Need a better way to differentiate friend from foe at long distances.
• General note: While I know this game tries to be realistic when possible, it is worth noting that while some realistic things are very disorienting in real life (like bullet echoes), the disorientation they give the player provides more frustration than immersion. Balancing these two things is incredibly important.