Development blog : Update 3.6 - ID papers, gym, one cards, banking app, drugs, news articles & improved new player experience

[Nervous]

  

GTAW 3.6: Development blog

With less than a month from the 3.5 development blog, the development team has worked day and night on GTA World 3.6; an update introducing new features, enhancements to existing systems, and focused on the new player experience, as well as multiple bug fixes and smaller implementations suggested by the community, with the hope to provide everyone with a more enjoyable environment.

 

Once again, this new update is made to bring way more depth to the world of Los Santos, from journalists to investigators and illegal players. We are very excited

 

The development team has worked closely with other subteams to bring player suggestions alive. However, your suggestions and bug reports also play a big role in the future of GTA World ecosystems. We are always open to hearing ideas and suggestions that could improve everyone's gameplay. Even though we may not be replying to individual topics and posts, rest assured we do iterate through all of them periodically.

 

We thank everyone who devotes their time to continuously improving the community, and hope you enjoy this update as much as we do! The update is in final testing phase and will be released once it is ready in the next days / week. Some scripts are still being finished and will be released a few days after the initial batch of scripts, especially these that needs a lot of testing due to potential abuses we have to avoid (city welcoming assistant, UCP invites for example).

 

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NEW FEATURES

 

1. ID System @Gibbz

 

One of the biggest change for GTAW with this update which will lead to major changes in how your character identity is handled and how investigations are performed by cops is a revamp of the ID system.

 

We understand the need for new and fake identities... this has been requested a lot over the years and has unfortunately been something the development team was not able to pick up on. However, it is finally time to bring them to life and provide more roleplay opportunities to both legal and illegal players.

 

ID cards are now items on your character, which if lost can be ordered at your property (or Mission Row Police Station/Senior Sheriff's Station). This will be roleplayed as delivered to you and will be in your character inventory in a matter of seconds. Upon ordering a new ID, the old card will become deprecated.

 

 

You are now a legal citizen of the State of San Andreas! The ID would normally have a picture of your person (character) attached. However, due to current limitations, it is not an actual physical photo but an in-character one. However, a check has been implemented to tell if the player holding the card matches the photo on the card.

 

 

ID cards may be stolen, duplicated (that's right), or invalidated, so make sure you secure it and report it to the local authorities in case of theft! We have made sure that this new system is as easy as possible for all players to handle, so if you're a legal roleplayer you should not have to worry about losing your ID - the game will avoid you losing it stupidly (deaths where your ID is unused won't renew it), and if you lose it you'll be explained directly how to get a new one!

 

The system has been thought very in-depth to also improve LEO roleplay investigation drastically, you can even pick up IDs from a corpse and compare the picture to see if it matches!

 

For our illegal community, we surely have not forgotten about you! Working with illegal faction management, we have designed a new Fake ID Generation system, restricted to those with permission from IFM (new request type), to allow for a whole range of roleplay opportunities. Fake IDs can easily (or.. maybe not.. guess time will tell) fool anyone who does not have MDC access to cross-reference your information, much like real life. The goal of a fake ID isn't to fool cops or law enforcement officers, but to impersonate others or gain access to things you otherwise shouldn't.

 

Ready to get a new identity? Read more about it here!

 

 

2. Gyms & Exercising @Price

 

Historically, Gyms have generated a lot of great roleplay for the community and the MMA/Boxing scene within the server. The development team decided to move forward with a new script to help promote this kind of roleplay. The gym system is a business type with subscriptions that can be purchased by any player as long as the gym is manned.  Subscriptions act like any other subscription on the server in the sense that a player would get notified if their subscription is running out, and when it's running out. Members will have the ability to renew their subscription when it runs out from the gym.

 

Gyms systems are very simple : you can move your existing mapped gym to a gym business thanks to PM or create a new gym, then players will be able to exercize in it using the X key > Exercize, and selecting the exercize they wish to work on.

 

In addition, the Gym system will integrate with specific drugs with the introduction of the Drug System v2. Gym members will notice a small increase in their melee damage which applies across the board. The percentage goes up to approximatly 20% for now (the goal is not to create a new bodybuilder meta hence why it is kept low) and a decay rate.

A character can have multiple memberships to multiple gyms which all would have their own specific membership with different prices.

 

Gym owners will have the ability to set their own gym price and will still receive the standard business bonus for opening the business. However, they're encouraged to open it more as the Memberships are tracked and if a gym business goes inactive after receiving a lot of memberships, there will be a risk that the memberships will be refunded out of the business owner's bank account.

 

 

Feeling in the mood to get buffed? Read more about how the gym & membership system work here!

 

3. One Cards Game! @St3fan[NL]

 

 

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IMPROVING EXISTING SYSTEMS

 

1. Banking Interface @nickM

 

It was finally time to move on from the old Fleeca interface that would constantly require the user to log in with every session, and would sometimes be slow to process user requests. We decided to create a new and modern user interface that matches the UI standard we aim for.

 

The new banking interface should make it easier for users to view their most recent incoming and outgoing transactions for all the accounts they can manage, as well as simplify the transfer between one account and another without much typing! To make things easier, we have also introduced a new feature, exclusive to the new in-game interface, "Favorites". 

 

 

An account (yes, each account can have its own favorites) can have up to four different favorites. Accounts added as favorites are displayed on the landing page and can ease asset transferring between accounts one often sends and receives money to/from.

 

For the sake of simplicity and a smoother user experience, the new banking interface only shows the most recent 20 transactions of the personal account. For more historical data & scheduled transactions, online banking remains the primary choice.

 

Look at the full detailed system by clicking here!

 

2. Drugs 2.0 @Gibbz

 

The drug system was not developed as a one-and-done project, with the goal that it will be iterated over and constantly improved based on player and IFM feedback. This marks the first of many updates to the system.

 

This update brings drug paraphernalia and usage methods. Drugs can now be injected, snorted, or smoked. You'll be able to use (and buy) smoking pipes and syringes. Some drugs are better used in some ways than others and will grant you better effects (at the risk of an overdose!). As of now, this part of the system remains optional to interact with, meaning you can still use drugs as you always have without worrying about any of this.

 

We're also adding a chance for experienced drug uses to be able to tell the quality of the drug they used (an experienced cocaine user will have a chance of knowing if the cocaine they just used is of good or bad quality).

 

We're also adding a few more visual drug effects that'll make things a little... interesting.

 

To read about the upgraded drug system in detail, click here!

 

3. News Articles 2.0 @Gibbz

 

Following player feedback, we've improved our news article system to reward article creators and help them understand what kind of engagement they're getting on their articles. As such:

• Articles will now have view counts!
• Players will be able to leave comments on articles (admins can still see who wrote comments, so don't go too wild!)
• Publishing a new article via the UCP will inform online players!
• Various improvements to the news article text composer.

 

We'll continue iterating on the news article system to ensure it serves its intended purpose and provides a rewarding experience for both players and content writers.

 

 

 4. Chat Changes @nickM

 

A new feature players might notice.. or rather, a change to an existing feature, will be the new changes made to the chat system. We understand the need for players to have a clear idea of what they have written and double-check the contents before sending the messages. We also understand that the old system did not really allow for this to happen, as one would only be able to see the last few characters of their message.

 

For this reason, we decided to move from the single-line chat input, to multi-lines. The arrows now allow you to freely move back and forth the text you have writte while still keeping the old features (such as getting the last chat message on display). 

 

 

This change should hopefully make it easier for those whose English is not their native language and often have to review their messages before sending them. The old chat system is not toggleable.

 

We have also introduced a new command to help those with smaller resolutions make some more free space in their display. /chatwidth (30-50) will let users make their chat larger, or smaller. The default value (as it used to & currently stand) is 40. Do not worry, we make sure to remind you of this after every change.

Spoiler

 

 

 

5. Tooltips & hints @808Masterus @million

Your chat gets overflowed with messages.. we know it. Sometimes there are many things going on and last you want is to have even more things and spam added, so we came up with a workaround. How about a window that.. is universal, has the same style and design, gives you more information, requires the user to interact to get rid of it (in some cases, not all!) and.. drumroll, does not spam your chat? Say no more!

 

 

           

 

 

More usecases:

Spoiler

  

 

 

  

 

   

 

This new system has been implemented in a set of old, existing and new systems. It does not block your movement, nor does it interrupt your valuable roleplay experience by sending multiple lines of text (yeah, too good to be true, but.. it is).

 

If you would like to move back to the old system, you can always do so by toggling it in the /settings menu; the new interface will be enabled by default. Disabling the interface will do so for all new implementations; paychecks UI remain the only interface that is not toggleable**. 

 

Tips UI can be closed with E by default; however, it can be easily rebinded in the /settings keybind tab. Some of the tooltips remain not toggleable, such as the paychecks. We have made sure to prevent the interface from interrupting your user experience. As such, you should not face any issues with performing any regular actions on the server, nor when roleplaying or chatting.

 

Currently, the new interfaces can be found in:

 

• /examine*, /pexamine, /petexamine, /vexamine, /cexamine, /tattoos, /outfitdescription, police radar help, additional vehicle seats, payphone, bus stops, paychecks**.

 

This list is prone to changes and updates, however, we believe these could serve as a good first iteration to grab people's opinion and feedback before being put to bigger use. As always, please report and issues you may come across on the forum's Bug Report section.

 

* Due to the possible length of the optional outfit description, they have been redacted out of the tooltip interface. This is not a bug, but a limitation of using user interface for such usecases. Instead, outfit descriptions have been moved to /outfitdescription.

 

** Paychecks are not toggleable and will always be displayed in the new interface. Weekly payments and 40h starter paychecks remain in the chat.

 

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REVAMPING GTAW ACCESSIBILITY FOR NEW PLAYERS

 

1. City Welcoming Assistant Job @Price

 

New players are instantly thrown into the game world to experience it and discover it through trial and error, this will not be the case anymore as experienced players will have the ability to become city welcoming assistants (requirements of approximately 100 hours and no administrative record are required). City welcoming assistants are there to help individuals integrate into the server through in-character means while also being able to provide out-of-character help for players on the fly. Players who pick up this position are going to be held to a higher standard of both roleplay and behavior. 

 

City Welcoming Assistants are ranked by newcomers on a 1 to 5 scale which is averaged out with every training they give. There are time requirements for a training session between twenty to sixty minutes or more, longer sessions that score higher star ratings are compensated on how they're rated by the new player. Once a session is over, the new player will get an option to rate their mentor and based on it, a payment is given to the mentor. Mentors with low ratings, if they continue getting low ratings, may be barred from the job altogether by the script itself.

 

The server automatically rewards the mentor with the maximum possible rating/payment if the student disconnects or otherwise does something that causes the premature end of the session which is out of the mentor's hand. The feature is a very new concept on the server to help welcome new players on the server and get them used to the rules of the server along with learning all our concepts / content, we will be quickly iterating on it in the next weeks after release to improve it based on your feedbacks.

 

The feature comes with limitations related to who is eligible for it (only new accounts) and is balanced to pay for the time spent with new players appropriately compared to other jobs.

 

 

 

2. New players faction recommandations @nickM

Upon finishing the creation of your character and after finishing the tutorial, you'll now be prompted with faction recommendations that are welcoming new players to learn about the server, rules and our roleplay values with time. You'll be able to directly click on factions you wish to be contacted by, and these factions will contact you immediately if they're online or later.

 

This will allow new players who do not know anyone on the server to directly jump into a roleplay scene and get taught properly our RP core values. However, this functionality is also available to anyone who wishes to apply to legal factions that are open to recruiting new members, via /factions command. 

 

Once an application is sent it, online faction leadership will be informed. They will be able to access all applications and mark as handled after the applicant has been contacted. The applicant will also be able to keep track of all his recent applications and their status.

 

We hope to make it possible for new & existing players to easily reach factions, as well as make public factions more and easily reachable by the community. 

 

 

Note: The list of recommended factions is prone to changes and adjustements.

 

 

3. Updated UCP application system

In order to improve our registration process, we have reduced the amount of scenarios required to apply for GTAW and modified some questions to be more clear in our expectations for the answers new players write. Existing players with more than 300 hours without any administrative record will also now be able to invite friends to join them on GTAW without having to go through the application process, however the inviting player will be responsible in teaching the new player or may face punishments. If one of the invited players is banned within the first months of playing, the inviting player will be permanently blocked from inviting new players anymore.

 

Each invite link will also be unique and linked to one invited player, these invitations will be limited to avoid one player sending a lot of invitations during the same month.

 

Both of these new systems will be under a trial of one month to see if they're permanently kept or not, improved, or fully removed to revert back to the old systems depending of how successful they are in making our server easier to join while also improving the quality of our new players.

 

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MODDING UPDATE

 

We've got a lot of work being prepared by the modding team, the main one being a big clothes revamp with thousands of additions for factions and all players! But the pack is not ready yet for any showcasing as we're still preparing it. We have however a few additions made by @BadassBaboon coming with 3.6, such as new trailers in the county, and new furnitures (including gym furnitures). New vehicles are also coming, but we're keeping it a surprise for at least one more week!

 

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OTHER CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

 

Additions

• Added search bar to the item preset menu. @Gibbz
• Added search bar to PCAD, easing the search through the duty roster, 911 calls and stolen vehicles. @zoephix
• Added a close button to /attributes. @Gibbz
• Added an option to the /k9 menu to spawn the last selected pet breed. @zoephix
• Added 'Park Rangers Visitor Center' map blip, with a /stationshift support. @808Masterus
• Added /chatwidth function, allowing players to restrict the length of chat text. Default value is 40; can be set to a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 50. @nickM
• Added /binoculars command, currently restricted to on-duty LEOs. @Nervous
  • This system works like classic /camera but with specific overlay and more zoom options. Also, it will show a 'static' /ame above player head while using the binoculars.
• Added /pfixweather and /pfixtime, accessible by everyone for when the property time or weather do not sync in automatically. @nickM
  • /pfixweather allows users to set their weather to the property's default, whereas /pfixtime allows users to set their time to the property's default.
• Added /vattributes alias for /vehicledetails. @808Masterus
• Added /outfitdescription [target] that will be usable only by players with tips windows enabled (which are enabled by default) to check target's outfit description that is not visible due to new /examine UI limits. @808Masterus
• Added explanation about how to trigger mouse cursor in character creator to avoid questions due to random 'bugs'. @808Masterus
• Added a search bar to pawnshop/bar UI. @Gibbz
• Added SADCR Discord log to inform prison staff whenever inmate logs on their character, and there is no prison staff on-duty. @808Masterus
• Added /armairsoft to arm one player at an Airsoft game. @Gibbz
• Added optional argument to /fonline that allows you to list the player list in the UI or on chat. Use /fonline no to list it on chat, it will be forced in the UI by default now. @808Masterus
• Added /missclick command that allows you to undo the last damage done to the last player you've hit within 30 seconds. This does NOT work when they are in the wounded or dead state. @St3fan[NL]
• Added a message button to the roster in PCAD, so you can easily contact a unit without having to navigate to the messages and manually input their callsign. @zoephix
• Added new vehicles to dealerships. @Tiddy
  • Spoiler

    
    
    
    
    

     

 

Changes

• Changed shared vehicle keys to be character-based rather than player-based. Shared vehicles can now only be used by the character it is shared to, and no longer by all the characters owned by the player it is shared to. @zoephix
• Changed few info/error messages style/text related to pet system. @808Masterus
• /cookdrugs will now place the drugs in the property inventory (even if you crash). @Gibbz
• /cookdrugs is now limited to 100g at a time. @Gibbz
• /labtestdrug will now work on any drug. @Gibbz
• Drug /ex will last longer than before. @Gibbz
• "Call has been hangup" message will now also be sent in the chat for smartphone users to prevent the necessity of having the UI open all the time. @nickM
• Fixed a bug with the phone randomly hanging up in some instances of client/server lag & double input. @Gibbz @nickM
• Fixed a bug with frequency scanners not working properly. @nickM
• Changed placeholder data in the HUB dashboard to prevent confusion. @808Masterus
• Characters can now access their partner's /pinv regardless of the property's tenant setting. @Gibbz
• Moved HUB images to be stored locally to prevent latencies & broken sources. @Azelat
• Fixed duplicated command hints on the chat. @808Masterus
  • Due to regeneration of the entire file, some hints that were added as a command alias manually instead of main command might be missing. If you believe it was an important hint to keep, make a bug report/suggestion on the forums.
• Departure time will now be marked in red if the bus is late, only in tips UI. @GameBurrow
• /weather will automatically trigger for you whenever you select the character, so players will be aware all the time about current temperature for RP purposes. @808Masterus
• Blocked putting bodies to vehicle without proper vehicle data (server script job vehicles, trucking rental and etc.) @808Masterus
• Blocked /vpark while there are bodies stored in the trunk. @808Masterus
  • This change is experimental and can lead to some issues, so if anything will happen, report it as soon as possible.
• Removed assets limitations upon finishing a scripted job. @Nervous
• Factions with /impound access and 'LAW' flag (LSPD, LSSD, etc.) will be able to impound vehicles away from the impound now, if their rank has permissions to do so. @808Masterus
  • By default, the required rank is set to 5, which can be changed via UCP or in-game faction manager (/fmenu) by faction leadership.
  • Any potential abuse of this feature will lead to OOC punishments, as it is clearly an OOC feature to improve workflow of several factions due to NPC scenarios, or other possible (but unlikely) script bugs.
  • /policetow will now be linked to the same permission, instead of supervisor perms.
• /impound and /policetow will now be MDC logged to prevent abuse related to changes of these two commands. @808Masterus
• Slightly increased amount of garbage loot generated for dumpsters. @808Masterus
• Dumpsters inventories will now be cleared once a week (every saturday, with server start) by the script itself, for 'IC purposes'. @808Masterus
• Punishment messages (like bans or/and admin-jails) will now show unmasked and masked name of the player. @808Masterus
• Changed coyotes to be less aggressive, and boars to be more aggressive. @Gibbz
• Blocked placing brewery equipment on dimension 0. @Gibbz
• Removed 50% price requirement for test drive in server dealerships. @808Masterus
• Added access to /vrestream to business employees, faction members and vehicle owner partner, instead of it being just faction/ownership based. @808Masterus
• Blocked /vrestream if the vehicle is moving. @808Masterus
• Update alarm payments for properties owned by a faction or business to use the property owner's bank if the faction or business bank lacks funds. @zoephix
• Modified some chat messages in /vrestream. @808Masterus
• /nof (faction chat toggle state) will now save between server restarts. @808Masterus
• Experimental recode of the backend of character selection screen, which will allow people with multiple properties to show all of them. @808Masterus
  • As stated above, this change is experimental and could lead to some issues; if so, report them as soon and possible and it will be reverted to previous state.
• Changed max length of tattoo description to 7 lines and 1000 characters, previously 9 lines and 800 characters. @808Masterus
• Removed some stuff related to NPC garage after your vehicle got chopped because they no longer destroys your vehicle. @808Masterus
• When entering the property through smart-tp or main entrance and interior fall detection will be triggered, you will now spawn back with your previous health state. @St3fan[NL]

 

Fixes

• Fixed /petmanager interface crashing after changing specific value in the LEO tab. @million
• Fixed an issue with crack cocaine cooking timer being double the normal. @Gibbz
• Fixed issue with incorrect enter key tip for new door entrance UI after changing default keybind and not reconnecting - now it will refresh dynamically. @808Masterus
• Fixed a [General] message appearing twice in /vstats. @808Masterus
• Fixed an issue with /mcallsign status not persisting if joining a partnered unit. @Gibbz
• Fixed an issue with alarm subscriptions never expiring. @zoephix
• Fixed automatic alarm renewal reminder notification. @zoephix
• Fixed a bug with permanent /factioninformationmarker not being permanent and getting deleted after server restart. @808Masterus
  • It is recommended to delete existing markers created using /factioninformationmarker and create them again, even if they do happen to work properly.
• Fixed issue where pump action weapons incorrectly allowed automatic and burst firing modes, restricted them to the single fire mode. @zoephix
• Fixed old, non-lore phones not being supported by custom phones objects for specific model. From now, they will be supported, but the object will be shown as lore-friendly one. @808Masterus
• Fixed a bug that occasionally caused drug labs to show doubled output, visual only. @Gibbz
• Fixed /policebroadcast audio streams. @Everett
• Fixed newlines not working for /vexamine causing the entire description to show as one, long line of text. @808Masterus
• Fixed vehicle description being cut-off after ~500 characters after server restart due to failed database save. @808Masterus

 

[nickM]

Well done, everyone 🙂

[808Masterus]

let us cook...

[million]

let us cook!!! :flag_pl:

[Thekillergreece]

!!!

[bonedead]

COOKIN

[ngsWizzy]

szacun (eng. respect)

[Peak.]

Where tf do these updates come from!? 

 

Excellent work everyone you guys are amazing

[Selena]

Fire!!!

[vinar]

good work, keep it up