Greetings, Operators!
The second Development Update is here! The vertical Slice phase of the development is officially over and now we are working on the alpha build for Riot Operator. We know that we aren't posting as often, as you would like us to, but hopefully, you will like all the new elements that we are implementing in the game. Let's take a quick look at the recent changes!
Score System Overhaul
Previously, the player was obtaining or losing points based on his actions towards the main objective. Additional points were possible to get when completing side incidents. The system was fair but felt unrewarding at times. We have recently made adjustments to it, providing the player with points dynamically based on their actions. For example - now it's possible to fail a side mission, which tells us to chase away rioters from a place, but still gain points due to attending to the wounded with medic units and taking care of peoples' health.
New Mission Objectives
Every mission is going to consist of a main objective and side incidents happening all over the map. We are currently fleshing out those actions that you will have to take care of during each mission. For example, during the stage which takes place in Warsaw, Poland, the player is going to have to take care of marching protesters and protect them from aggressive rioters. Being in the move and reacting quickly is going to be the main goal of this mission. In the meantime, other stages might tell you to stop the rioters from gathering at one important point on the map, making it all more about planning and preparing.
BONUS: A quick image from a side incident, where firemen are putting out the fire.
Default units, squad duplicating
When playing the early builds of the game, we have noticed that it's quite hard to build the whole squad from the scratch at the beginning. That's why we have decided to implement two important features - default units and squad duplicating. Default units are going to be given to the player at the beginning of each mission, so we have some basic setup to rely on. Usually, it's going to be one unit of policemen, medics, and firefighters. Squad duplicating allows for quick duplication of the currently existing squad with all the attached equipment. It saves us a lot of time and allows for running adjustments in a matter of seconds.
Of course, other than that, we are adding several other new features to the game, and continue on adding new scenarios and incidents that can happen on the map. On top of it, it's very important for us to prepare a solid AI for the protesters and rioters and this element is being improved with every iteration. There's still some time before we are going to reach the Beta phase, but we expect that moment to be especially interesting to you, as closed tests are going to be conducted at that point.
Thank you for following Riot Operator!
Best regards,
Beta 2 Games Team