Hello Responders!
Earlier today, we hosted a Reddit AMA to answer some questions about our future goals and content we're working on as well as any other topics the community had. We're now here to share these Q&A responses so even those who don't visit Reddit know what we've said. As always, the best way to stay informed is joining our Discord where we chat regularly as well as host events like the ongoing cat bracket. With that out of the way, let's dive right into the info:
Question 1:
Will there be a level lock for difficulties?
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
We've been having this discussion internally since Armageddon launched as this topic came up! Back in Early Access, we tried tying difficulties to character levels which proved unpopular and prevented skilled players from power leveling if they chose to. We're continuing to think on this but currently don't plan to introduce barriers to our current difficulties.
Hell Mode will have additional barriers in place like account and character accomplishments to help preserve its endgame status!
Question 2:
Are there any plans to reintroduce any more cut content from the legacy build?
Maxx replied:
Yes, as we continue to look to develop the game further we'll continue to consider past ideas and content again if it makes sense for the modern game. We definitely won't bring everything back but continue to think about aspects of legacy builds that could work better now.
Question 3:
Will there be an airport map? ✈️
Cenelder replied:
This is one of the many settings we feel would be cool! We've got a lot of ideas that we hope to work through and this could be one that comes down the road. Not in the short-term but it's on our mind!
Question 4:
Will there be a roadmap?
Kryptek replied:
Yes! We already have a blogpost that dives into our short-term goals but we also hope to share more of the rest of the year soon. We've been taking some time to make sure we've got the right priorities before listing more to make sure what we convey is reliable!
Question 5:
Is there any chance we’ll be getting a ‘takedown’ attack when sneaking up behind zombies?
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
Cool idea, not something we're currently planning to add!
Question 6:
Will there be more clothing options or skins possibly to buy like being able to buy a full military combat fit, like what the army zombies wear or even like a hazmat type skin/outfits?
Cenelder replied:
Yes, absolutely! Both earned and DLC/purchasable.
Question 7:
Will there be a mall map like dawn of the dead?
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
We all love Dawn of the Dead. Literally all of us. 😉
Question 8:
Will there be any chance of mod support? At least for custom maps.
Maxx, Cenelder, Essbuh & Kryptek replied:
This is a conversation we've had for a long time, both internally and with our community. Currently, this is still something that isn't planned. There's a lot of reasoning behind that we may have not shared widely, so here:
The way that NMRIH2 was built over time makes its structure difficult for modding to be implemented as a feature. The journey we went through Early Access and how the game evolved means there's a lot of connected systems and dependencies that can't easily be modified.
To create those tools would take most of our technical resources upwards of 6+ months of solely working on the functionality, meaning the rest of the game's development would be heavily impacted if not stopped. That's also before considering how players would be able to interface with these tools (e.g. platforms, documentation, integration/separation from the game's progression)
We know that if we were to implement mod support, players would rightfully expect a robust toolset that actually enables the type of user-generated content they want to create. Especially with our history as a mod title, we don't want to underdeliver on something like this if we did undertake it.
TL;DR It's not something we're currently planning to work on and if that ever changes we'd let our community know! It's also worth noting that this doesn't mean we aren't looking into other ways to modify your experience (we totally are!) and will share more on those in the future.
Question 9:
Will there be any random weather effects/time of days for maps?
Maxx replied:
This is a concept we really like, but currently don't have planned. We have a larger focus on new/improved gameplay contents when it comes to maps so this isn't quite our priority right now. We may revisit in the future!
Question 10:
Will survival be receiving any new maps in the future and will there ever be more alternate game modes like survival?
Maxx & Essbuh replied:
Yes 🏕️🔪, and sortof! An alternative way to experience Survival is something we're planning to tackle, but we're not looking to add additional major game mode types.
Question 11:
Since 6.8 is only supported by the M7, I assume no other 6.8 Gun will be added but can we expect other guns that will Support .45 ?
Maxx replied:
Bold to assume we'll never add an additional 6.8 gun! That said, we are hoping to to expand our least-supported calibers to have multiple options over time.
Question 12:
When is Hell Mode coming?
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
Soon™️
EDIT: Soon, in this case, means as soon as we're confident it's ready. It's a priority for us but will take some time to be great.
Question 13:
Will we ever get to have military customization outfits? Or atleast Like CBRN or MOPP suits and gas masks?
Cenelder replied:
Yep.
Question 14:
Is there any plans to expand the melee system? Overheads, jabs etc? Anytime I play a FP melee game, I always think how much better it would be with Chivalry 2’s combat system.
Maxx & Kryptek replied:
We don't plan to expand melee in the ways that Chivalry tends to. We're a different game with a different goal for our melee system, Zombies aren't ones to respect your honorable parries. That's not to say we won't add to or adjust our melee offerings over time, with more of a focus on the tools and systems you as a player can utilize.
Question 15:
Is there any plans for a map select? I'm tired of playing the same 1 or 2 over and over
Kryptek replied:
We've been discussing the feedback around map frequency and selection and while we don't have any adjustments planned soon, it's a topic we'll continue to listen on. In the meantime, playing with a pre-made/LFG squads (shoutout our Discord) is the best way to curate your experience map by map!
Question 16:
What are the plans in tackling the issues of trolls and griefers who make the important aspect of teamwork very difficult here, not to mention the reports of cheating as well?
Kryptek replied:
Reporting them is the best way to help us continue to preserve a fun & fair atmosphere! We do take action on individuals that have enough evidence of wrongdoing.
Cenelder replied:
We've made adjustments to help improve the experience for those that get griefed through early extraction now being on a timer as well as rescue beacons offering up some insurance. We'll continue to keep our eyes out for opportunities to cultivate good behavior.
Question 17:
Do you guys plan on creating a exclusive progression just for solo mode?
Cenelder, Maxx, and Essbuh replied:
This is something we hear and are investigating what it would take to make work in a way that fits our goals for the experience. It's a lot of work to adjust various systems to function on a local level and in a way that is satisfying while not hampering the core co-op identity of the game. It's going to take quite a bit of time but we'll update everyone when we have more to share!
Question 18:
Will you be adding different variations of melee weapons? (Like another weapon with the exact stats of the baseball bat). Or will the new melee weapons all be “unique”
Cenelder replied:
With the effort it takes to create new weapon models, we'd likely want those to be unique options with new statistics and effects.
Xenon replied:
We're looking to expand the current weapons suite of weapons to utilize new gameplay ingredients.
Questions 19-21:
Backpack customization? Also any chance you might divulge more details about the new difficulty being added in the future? Also any chance at an ETA on the responder retirement.
Cenelder replied:
It's something we'd like to do and we really want to do. Once our current priorities have been tackled, it's more likely to be a feature we could consider adding!
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
We can't give a ton of details yet as we're still actively ideating. What we can share is that Hell Mode will have some additional restrictions, including blocking Rescue Beacons from use. Our current goal is to make the mode extremely hard for us internally to beat, so we'll share more details down the road!
Maxx replied:
Responder retirement is a big priority for us and also a large feature for us to work on. It'll likely grow over time based on feedback from our players, but the foundation will definitely be released this year!
Question 22:
Any plans on future character customization? Beards, backpacks, etc??
Cenelder replied:
We do plan to expand cosmetic offerings over time, though in the short term it'll be in additional outfit choices as well as an upcoming new female Responder head choice. We'll continue to take in feedback about customization!
Question 23:
Are there plans to improve the vaulting/mantling system and console UI? I’ve lost Responders to simple obstacles like a knocked-over folding chair and a median wall on Power Plant. On console, the recent players list is also frequently blank, the invite menu could be much easier to access, and the reporting screen has a bug that makes reporting players difficult. Are improvements to movement and these console-specific issues being worked on?
Kryptek replied:
We continue to look to improve issues players face when it comes to navigation, both in menus and gameplay! We've got some fixes coming for both these areas in our 1.1 update, more details later this week.
Question 24:
Critical supply implementation on ravenrock and future objective maps?
Maxx replied:
We've heard reports that it's really hard (or feasibly impossible) to secure critical supplies on Raven Rock. This is not intended and we can investigate making sure that critical supplies are something players can find on our Objective maps!
Question 25:
Will there be any new content for experienced players to enjoy?
Kryptek replied:
Responder Retirement and Hell Mode are both features geared towards rewarding experience players looking for endgame goals to accomplish. These are some of our main priorities for the first set of updates we're shipping!
Question 26:
How did you decide which songs to license for the game? - and how feasible would it be to synchronise the music tracks and player voicelines across clients so that everyone hears the same tracks/lines?
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
All music featured and not made in-house are listed in our credits! Most are small artists local to Canada or creations by our own audio team.
Question 27:
Can you guys tell us what week/day the september update is coming? I've been playing a ton and would love some more variety in weapons/ maps!
Kryptek replied:
We tend to update on Tuesdays. Not this Tuesday.
Question 28:
Is there a possibility of map modifiers that would affect the whole match?
Some things that come to mind are more fog, more armored zombies due to military occupation, more runners, less health but more zombies on map.
NMRIH2 Dev Team replied:
That sounds like it'd be a Hell of a good time. 👀
Question 29:
Will the console UI be addressed, and is there any word on the gamma and FOV resetting on PlayStation?
Kryptek replied:
This should be resolved in our upcoming update, more info coming soon!
Question 30:
Any plans on buffing perks? most of them really dont do much i think everyone is just using the stamina and hp perks and all weight related perks
Maxx & Xenon replied:
Perks are going to be an area of focus in future updates, we know these have room for improvement both through adjustments to existing options as well as new additions! We're aware of the feedback that some options are underperforming.
Thanks to everyone who showed up and submitted questions! While we didn't get to all of them, many more will have answers in the coming weeks as we continue to share our plans for the rest of the year. As stated above, we'll have more to share later this week.
Stay safe out there,
NMRIH2 Dev Team
