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Posted in: Games, Indie Games, Video Games | Tagged: Bodycam, Reissad Studio
FPS Game Bodycam Receives First Early Access Update
Hyper-realistic FPS game Bodycam has been given a new major update while the game is still being worked on in Early Access
Article Summary
- Bodycam gets its first major Early Access update with two new maps and a crossbow weapon.
- Zombie mode is overhauled, featuring smarter enemies, refined waves, and a revamped Village map.
- Game performance improves with Unreal Engine 5.5, delivering smoother, more stable gameplay.
- Audio, VFX, networking, and UI receive immersive upgrades for realism and a better multiplayer experience.
Indie game developer and publisher Reissad Studio released a new update for their FPS game Bodycam while they work on it in Early Access. The team released the EA version of the game over a year ago, originally promoting it as a hyper-realistic title, but really, it comes off more like a weird horror game these days. This update brings about a number of additional content and improvements, but gives no indication that the full title is coming out anytime soon. Youc an read more in the dev notes below.
Bodycam – Version 0.2
Players have two new environments to explore, alongside a powerful new weapon:
- New Maps: Two brand new environments are introduced: a massive CQB Power Gun map, which is the largest close-quarters environment to date and also the most realistic one thanks to intense scanning of a real location. And a new Village map designed for the enhanced Zombie mode. Finally, the interior of the existing Wornhouse map has also been completely reworked.
- New Weapon: The Crossbow enters the arsenal – a powerful, silent, and deadly weapon, which will first be featured prominently in the updated Zombie map.
- Zombie Mode Overhaul: The Zombie mode receives a rework, featuring more immersive enemy behavior, refined wave pacing, and new enemy types.
Optimization and Performance
The most critical upgrade is the migration to Unreal Engine 5.5, unlocking advanced rendering features like Lumen (dynamic global illumination) and Virtual Shadow Maps. This engine upgrade, coupled with dedicated optimization work, drastically improves the game's efficiency:
- Lighter on Hardware: All existing maps were reviewed to reduce GPU and CPU usage through optimized lighting, shaders, shadow complexities, and mesh merging.
- Faster, More Stable: The game is now quicker, significantly more stable, and more realistic, providing a lighter load on players' systems. Optimization remains a core priority for all future updates.
Stability and Internal Quality Assurance
Addressing a common source of frustration of Bodycam, this patch resolves the most frequent crash scenarios, including the major lobby crash that occurred when hosting or loading a game after a friend invitation was received.
A dedicated effort has fixed a significant number of recent reports, including spawn bugs, incorrect score displays, the misleading "Defeat" UI in GunGame, and issues with the server list and friend visibility. Furthermore, client stability has been reinforced, ensuring players always safely return to the lobby after disconnection. To maintain this new standard, the development team has implemented a new internal QA process with a dedicated team to prevent regressions and ensure consistent quality with every release.
Immersive Overhauls: Audio, VFX, UI, and Networking
To deepen the realism and competitive integrity of Bodycam, several foundational systems have been updated:
- Networking & Multiplayer: Crucial performance issues related to player updates and "full lobby" lag spikes have been eliminated. The matchmaking flow now features proper state synchronization, and a community-requested map voting system has been added to the end-of-match sequence, making multiplayer faster and simpler.
- Audio & VFX: The tactical experience is sharper with new footsteps, impact, and melee sound effects, along with the removal of ambient noise clutter like birds. Visual effects for muzzle flashes, impacts, and debris have been updated, and the blood decal system has been reworked with the return of some of the old, favored blood effects. Lighting reflections are also significantly improved.
- UI & UX: The User Interface is now more accessible and intuitive, supporting full aspect ratio scaling across all screens. The input rebinding interface has also been redesigned to align with the new Unreal Engine 5.5 framework.
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