Ready or Not Devs AMA Revealed Plans For 2023

Ready or Not is a tactical, first-person shooter focused on hardcore SWAT gameplay that was released for Early Access on Steam on December 2021, and I've been a big fan ever since.

A few significant updates were released during 2022, and yesterday the team sat down to take some questions from the community and discuss the road ahead. I'll be summarizing this AMA so we can understand the future of Ready or Not, which looks promising. And, of course, we'll open with a huge question related to Tracker Network.

What's the plan for PvP?

PvP was part of the very early days of the Alpha testing, and it was taken down. So is there a plan to re-launch PvP? According to VOID, the answer is yes. They last touched PvP a little while ago, but the devs are casually testing a free for all game mode internally.

According to VOID, the old PvP felt flat and over-designed, and the levels needed to fit the gameplay style. However, they are working on getting it right in a way that is fun and makes sense to Ready of Not gameplay.

Devs did mention that they are looking to get PVP into RoN in multiple ways. The first would be part of the new police station they are working on. So we will get a station re-work in the future, with a new Killhouse that will enable players to fight each other.

Regarding voice chat in PvP, in the future, VOID is planning to process voice chat using FMOD instead of through Unreal Engine, which means that all environmental effects that we hear in the game will be pushed to the voice chat, so being in a tunnel or behind a wall will mean something and this is the kind of immersion the team is looking for.

A "larger scale PvP" is still just in the discussion phase, and most resources are tied to the PvE game mode. VOID is looking to get it right.

HRT Rework

HRT is the Supporters Edition's unique skin. A few months ago, the non-supporters skins received a significant overhaul, and HRT didn't. So the community was asking a lot about it. VOID is indeed working on the re-skin. It was supposed to be done by an outsourced team, but things have changed.

VOID has access to authentic HRT gear and looking into making that skin special. So it seems like it "shouldn't be too far off".

By the way, another piece of information given is that HRT will get unique voice lines too.

Player Customization and Gameplay Rewards

There are plans for bringing back patches from the early Alpha days. VOID wants to keep characters realistic and look into player personalization in a few ways.

Devs are internally discussing a system that will incentivize players to get a better score and work together towards a goal to win a reward, and patches will be part of that system.

VOID shared a desire to design cool embroidered patches that players will feel proud to wear and, of course, achieve, with the ability to choose where to put the patch. Additionally, for shoulder, helmet, etc., they are looking into tattoos, gloves, and other customization features that they want to implement "relatively soon."

Mod Integration & SDK

VOID is looking into developing the SDK with the help of the community. VOID recently finished working on a simplified sound SDK to help modders add custom sound and music to maps.

Mod.io and other modding infrastructure is a question raised by the community a lot, and devs are open to implementing more systems in the future, but for now, the team is looking into finishing with the SDK first and experimenting, and getting feedback. Adding Steam Workshop support is planned, but there is no information on when that will happen.

Servers

Well, that's a good one. Server hosting, a server browser, and more options for server hosts are all planned. No information was given on when, however. Based on what I heard, VOID is eager to release such support, hopefully soon.

Plans For Campaign

VOID will continue to expand the Los Suenos world. There are plans to introduce a narrative that allows the player to explore the world engagingly. VOID plans to present a "Los Suenos Commander" mode (Los Suenos is the fictional city of the game), and it would be "more of an active world that the player is managing". There is still a lot to explore, and the team is experimenting before sharing more information.

According to VOID, the "Commander" game mode will let the player manage different SWAT teams in the city, and the officers will have different personalities or contexts. For example, some of them will be part-time SWAT officers. And if something happens to one of them, you may or may not be able to use them for some missions in the future or for good, depending on what happened.

As you can see, we received a ton of new information regarding VOID's plans for the future.

The community asked more questions, and to those, we have some answers:

• "Will be original paintball pepper gun see a light of day again?" - No plans to add that back for now. But as you know, you can always mod it.
• "Plans for additional tactical items? Breaking and accessibility tools, drones, ladders, etc." - Probably not going to have curated kind of 'Call of Duty' levels that involve drones. A ladders system is also missing from the plans for now, but more tactical items will be introduced in the future.
• "Different game modes that are map specific?" - More so only for the 'Hostage Rescue' game mode for the time being.
• DLCs are planned for the future and will introduce new levels and characters, maybe even special features and game modes, but we didn't get more information on that.
• "Pre-mission planning" - It's being worked on by the team. "it's coming along pretty well" and will be accessible in the lobby and during the mission. VOID shared that we can pick entry points and draw on the map. It was supposed to be released with the recent "Adam" update but got postponed. There are plans to change the "Tab" menu to have more access to new features, map planning, objectives, etc.
• SWAT AI is being worked on, with improvements coming up. Will be shared in the next few months.
• Hearing footsteps from two floors up is getting fixed, with more detailed sound improvements and upgrades on the technical side.
• VOID shared that they are pushing the boundaries with upcoming new maps regarding environment and storytelling.
• "Lobby overhaul" will be introduced in the future.
• The Biltmore Hotel level is being worked on, and many changes are coming soon.
• Different suspects with less "evil" mentality in their storytelling are planned.
• "Additional flexibility to loadouts" - "Yes, this is planned". No big secrets have been revealed on what that means yet, but one example is that VOID is planning to move the taser to the tactical slot so you can carry both a pistol and a taser.
• "Cutting power on maps" - According to VOID, it's technically challenging with how the core systems are built. Not an impossible mission, but currently, the answer if yes or no is based on limitations. Maybe with Unreal Engine 5, but not in the near future.
• "Day/night versions of maps" - Not planned at the moment. Also, based on technical limitations with the engine. There is also another point raised unrelated to technical matters that is more about the storytelling aspect, to keep each map unique and within the story's context and look and feel.

• Full Soundtrack - Under discussion. It is planned but close to the final release.
• Merch - Also planned, has been researched for the past few months on how to do this right. VOID is looking to release high-quality merch soon. That includes mugs and patches.
• "Scenarios where the player is being hostile are not planned."
• More Steam achievements will be released with the game's final version after the early access ends.
• Randomized level layouts will not be fully auto-generated, but maybe in the future, there are plans to add different barricades that will be located in other places or use more open or closed doors, but that will be it in terms of "randomized levels."
• "Maps that require multiple squads" - The answer is unknown at the moment. VOID didn't say if yes or no, but performance will be the top priority if that will be researched further.
• "Any plans for very small maps?" - VOID is testing different kinds of maps, and we should expect different types in size, including very small ones.
• Plans for voice recognition - "It is in the internal roadmap." There is yet to be any information as to when that will happen, but it is under discussion from time to time. "It will be an intense task requiring many people from different teams."

• "Variable zoom scopes are planned for the future."
• Shoulder tap mechanic? Seems so! "Non-verbal communication options" are being tested by VOID, but there is no further information on when or how that system will look. VOID did share some thoughts in the AMA on ideas, such as seeing your character leaning to the side when tapped or hearing a tapping sound in one ear. A hand signals system is also under discussion.
• "Commands for compliant suspects" - after surrendering, being able to tell a civilian to come closer or give different commands are planned, "and it might be packaged with the further SWAT AI upgrade".
• No immediate plans to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, according to VOID.
• Additional world-building content - interacting with things within the maps, such as radios, TVs, and other utilities that help the immersion systems. Even text on a newspaper, or graffiti, will all be designed in a way that shapes the story of Los Suenos, for players to explore and investigate. VOID is working to fill the current and future levels with more of these elements.
• Sniper teams - could be entertained, but no plans or further thoughts at this point from the team.

That is it for the AMA. Hope you enjoyed the summary. Feel free to follow us at @trackernetwork for more news and special pieces about the games we love.