Alright, Outlaws! First, a big thanks to each of you who've shared feedback with us during this first month of Early Access. Please keep it coming! We're determined to make this the definitive physics-based arena combat game.
We've been retooling some of the key systems based on those insights. Today, we're happy to share an updated build designed to make the game more fun and less chaotic. The changes revolve around three key themes: pacing, camera, and weapons.
Pacing:
We've heard from several that the game is intensely chaotic, especially to new players just getting their bearings. While intense action is fundamental to our vision for the game, we believe we've overshot the mark a bit. We've taken the first steps to address this by modestly reducing clip sizes, firing rates, and bullet velocities across most weapons. We've also slightly slowed most chasses flight and boost speeds. Our hope is to preserve the intensity of the matches while increasing the opportunity for strategy and reducing bullet clouds.
There's work to be done still! We're exploring a slight expansion to the map sizes while continuing to refine the balance and profiles of each of the weapons. In the meanwhile, if you see something that can be improved, please say so in Discord!
The Camera:
Previously, our camera centered on your tank with a bias in the direction of your aim. This made it easy to know who you are in splitscreen, but it limited your view of the action, often leaving enemy tanks just on the periphery of your view. Further, we heard from a few that the limited visibility in 4-player split screen made it hard to anticipate dangers or pull off great shots. At times, it was downright claustrophobic.
In response, we've made the camera smarter. It now attempts to contain all four tanks in a single view, dynamically zooming, pulling back, and re-centering as the action evolves. Now it's easy to take aim at an opponent on the opposite side of the solar system and lob shots till you score the perfect hit. There are upper limits to the zoom factor beyond which the tanks are too small to be practical, so the camera will bias toward your tank's position to avoid losing you from view.
The Weapons
Players come in all shapes and sizes, each favoring a different style of play. We're working towards three gear archetypes that cater specifically to three playstyles:
- Assualt: The assault mindset is simple - seek and destroy the nearest enemy. No retreat, no surrender. Assaults expect to deal damage and they expect to take it. Thus, assault weapons focus on high DPS with relatively low overall clip size, while assault chasses favor speed and high shielding so they can recover after a kill.
- Artillery: Artillery players don't move around much, preferring instead to stay firmly planted on planets and deal damage from downtown. They use planets as cover and take advantage of line-of-sight opportunities. In addition to lobbed shots, artillery weapons can be charged to fire fast and straight for a quick kill. Artillery chasses favor higher driving speed to use planets as cover, but they're slow while airborne.
- Tactical: Tactical players are flexible, adapting their playstyles to the current situation. They pursue their advantage or they flee to fight another day as the occasion calls for. Tactical weapons are optimal at medium range and perform well while in flight. Tactical chasses focus on amplifying super abilities while providing great maneuverability for evasion and to take greater advantage of power-ups.
In this build, you'll see our first steps towards this vision. A charge mechanic has been added to the artillery weapons (i.e. the Cannon) so you can both lob and fire a direct shot at exposed enemies all from the right trigger. Meanwhile, the assault weapons have been optimized for high damage output and low clip size (i.e. the hailstorm). There's more work to do on tactical.
