00:00Hello everyone, and welcome to the second Bellum Devlog, Dialing in the Details.
00:04Today, we'll be talking about our first core gamemode, Occupation, as well as sharing the
00:07progress our studio has made with some new systems and art. As always, with these devlogs,
00:12please keep in mind that much of what is shown is work in progress and subject to change.
00:17Let's kick it off and dive into how our main gamemode, Occupation, will play.
00:22Occupation is designed as an asymmetrical experience, where conventional forces are
00:26seeking to solidify their control over an area, and irregular fighters are aiming to deny and
00:30disrupt that occupation. When a round begins, teams will start on opposite sides of the playable area,
00:35and a randomized area of operation, also known as the AO, is placed on the map. This AO spans
00:40hundreds of meters across, and designates the area where player actions will contribute to
00:44their team's win conditions. In order to win a round of occupation, teams must fulfill one of
00:49three victory conditions. Completely attrite the enemy forces by reducing their manpower to zero,
00:54control influence by constructing and defending your team's objectives, or by destroying those of
00:58your enemy, or push back and displace enough enemy forces out of the AO, denying them a foothold
01:04within the zone. As mentioned before, Occupation is an asymmetrical experience, meaning that some
01:09factions will have different mechanics than others. Let's share a few of those mechanics now.
01:14The regular factions are considered native guerrilla fighters of the area, and as such,
01:18are outfitted with lighter, faster equipment, and are able to establish within the zone before
01:22conventional forces arrive. These forces will construct numerous low signature hideouts to
01:26steadily generate influence while drawing on a larger amount of manpower to maintain pressure
01:30over time. By leveraging numbers, mobility, and positioning, irregular factions will aim to outflank,
01:36ambush, and draw out conventional forces. This playstyle contrasts with the slower, more methodical
01:41methods of conventional armies. As opposed to their irregular counterparts, these armies are equipped
01:46with superior but heavier weapons and equipment. These conventional armies can only construct a single,
01:51high-impact combat outpost, also known as a COP, in order to generate influence and are afforded less
01:56manpower than an irregular force. Conventional armies will attempt to establish a dominant position
02:01for their COP, supply and defend it from enemy attacks, and launch systematic patrols to seek and
02:05destroy irregular hideouts and forces. As we continue to develop Occupation and add more factions,
02:11we'll expand the depth of our win conditions and support symmetrical engagements in the future.
02:15Next, let's dive into one of my favorite new additions, the M240 and our first cruiser mechanic,
02:20Beltlinking. Cruiser machine guns are powerful weapons built to deliver sustained lethal firepower
02:25on the battlefield, and they rightfully deserve to be distinguished from other weapon systems.
02:29Beltlinking enables gunners to sustain high-volume fire, minimize reload time,
02:33and ensure continuous suppression on a target. While cruiserweapons are most effective when used
02:38with coordinated teamwork, they can still be operated solo in a pinch, though with reduced speed
02:42and overall effectiveness. As development continues, we plan to implement barrel changing
02:46and tripod placement to deepen the functionality of these systems.
02:50Now, let's get explosive. Demolition of enemy objectives will be a key task of the Occupation
02:55game mode, and as such, we wanted to deliver an authentic, explosive experience. Certain roles
03:00within Bellum will be equipped with demolition charges, and teams will need to find, clear,
03:04and destroy enemy objectives such as hideouts and combat outposts in order to deny the enemy
03:08influence. We're excited to share the first iteration of our demolition system,
03:12with more types of charges and fuses coming in the future.
03:19We've also improved our M67 frag grenade animations and effects,
03:30have added in the F1 fragmentation grenade,
03:38the RGD5 fragmentation grenade,
03:42and have introduced smoke grenades into the game, including the M18,
04:01and the unique RGDM.
04:03Beyond refreshing and adding grenade animations and effects, we've developed a custom fragmentation
04:16system from the ground up. In Bellum, each munition simulates fragmentation individually,
04:21calculating both the number of fragments spawned and their trajectory in real time.
04:26By simulating realistic fragmentation along with our medical mechanics, our system offers a more authentic
04:31grenade balance, producing more punishing wounding results over the typical instant
04:35kills of arcade shooters. Our ballistic system has also been completely overhauled with our own
04:40proprietary solution, which realistically and performantly models projectile behavior. It
04:45accounts for muzzle velocity, temperature, wind, air density, drag, including supersonic speeds,
04:50subsonic speeds, and the transition between them in flight, projectile mass and volume, and even
04:55acceleration over time for projectiles like rocket and missile motors.
04:59We've also worked very hard to model penetration. Our system takes multiple factors into account,
05:04including the ballistics of the round, the type of material being hit, that material's thickness,
05:09as well as the round's incoming angle. Here you can see the different effects M855A1 has on various surface
05:15types. And of course, no next-generation ballistic system would be complete without ricochet calculations.
05:27This graph compares Bellum's ballistic model for the M855 standard 556 round against real-world data
05:32and other games. While many games simplify or flatten projectile velocity over distance,
05:38Bellum closely matches real-world ballistic curves, reflecting accurate drop-off and aerodynamic behavior.
05:45We understand that performance is a key concern with all of these calculations,
05:49which is why we've optimized this system to outperform Unreal Engine's native projectile system,
05:53achieving significantly faster speeds even with hundreds of projectiles simultaneously in flight.
05:59Last, but certainly not least, let's talk about some of our art asset updates.
06:03Over the past few months, our level design team has dramatically improved much of the foliage to
06:07help the terrain feel even more like Africa. This system now generates biomes realistically,
06:12and mimics how real forests grow and form. This includes tree and grass updates,
06:18our initial work on rivers, and even some new building kits including our mud huts
06:27and our new commercial structures.
06:32On the weapons side, we've added some new small additions including our own lasers and sights,
06:36and have started work on our launcher systems and art.
06:40Moving forward in the next few weeks, you can expect another devlog,
06:43as well as some big announcements as we pick up tempo leading into the summer.
06:47At this time, we'd love to answer any questions you guys might have regarding the project,
06:50and we'll be adding a Q&A segment in the next video. If you'd like to leave us a question,
06:55please head over to discord.gg slash playbellum and make your way to the questions forum.
06:59But that's all for now, I hope you guys enjoyed today's update,
07:01and we look forward to sharing more with you all very soon.
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