Jay Twining, Senior Game Designer (@TrendyJayT)
New enemy prototypes for Nightmare and beyond. New event proposals.
Jeffrey Bickel, Technical Level Designer (@TE_Jeff)
Working on some VERY EXCITING things that aren’t quite ready to come out into the light. Soon! Other than that, assisting our Nightmare balance changes.
Steven Collins, Level Designer (@Esorath)
Working on Nightmare balances. Reading threads and getting some solid notes on the next steps for End Game balance.
James Reid, Software Programmer (@Driscan)
I left the office on Friday after three weeks of intense balls to the wall programming with very little sleep to fly back home to good ole San Diego. I’ve pretty much been sleeping ever since. Now it’s Wednesday and I’m starting to feel a little more human.
I’ve been reading forums, watching dev streams, and all that jazz. Got some ideas on some stuffs on how to get some action items. I’ve also got some bugs I’m trying to clean up in time for the next hotfix. #LifeOfAGameDev #WouldntTradeItForTheWorld
Danny Araya, Creative Director (@DannyAraya)
Catching up on what’s been going on after having been out of the office for the past week!
Chris Flores, QA Lead (@likethatwhenigothere)
Continued work on the hotfixes, some PS4 work, and trying to squeeze in some DD1 update stuff.
Abraham Abdala, Lead Tech Animator (@Broham)
Working on new pets, skins, and weapon variety system. Lots to implement and test with the animation team, and always fixing bugs as they come.
Joshua Javaheri, Lead Technical Artist (@javahawk)
Going to begin shortly on weapon variety tasks! Are you ready for spreadshot staffs and bows? Are you ready for homing staffs? ARE YOU READY FOR DIFFERENT MELEE FIGHTING STANCES? I’m ready. I’m like Kyle Katarn in Jedi Outcast, I’m going to wreck your face with my awesome weapon variety lightsaber and stats and homing projectiles woo wooo and then I’m going to stop DRINKING COFFEE IN THE MORNING!
The views represented do not necessarily reflect the views of Trendy Entertainment. But seriously, this is shpretty shcool shtuff.
Javier Barreto, Lead Software Programmer (@javo)
After a milestone stabilizing the game during which we encountered some very interesting stuff, we are slowly getting back into feature development and/or feature tweaking. The community can be very outspoken about stuff
One of the biggest challenges of game development is that, ”Nothing is set on stone.” Both our designs and systems need to be flexible enough to accommodate for changes.
We, as a team, need to keep our ears open as changes happening now can potentially break the things I’m working on right now.
In any case … back to development. This milestone will be about (optional) gamepad support; during the last milestone we realized some of you guys are using third party applications to simulate controller support; we will try not to conflict with those of you who are using those. This means we will have another pull from our PS4 branch which could lead into new bugs or conflicts. I can’t really say we accounted for platform specific features (like different key mappings per UI basis); part of this milestone will be laying out a framework or an open communication channel for this issues; aka: meetings.
We have new programmes on the floor! A data analyst and a new engine programmer. That means: welcoming them to the team, helping them get up to speed on our systems and processes and schedule and redistribute task accordingly. That last part has been getting more challenging as more and more users join the game; the pressure raises proportionally: stability, server performance and downtime reflect directly on our costs… should we add a “donate” button?
“Your friendly developer needs a hand, please donate =)”
Ok… thats enough. I have some code to write, or some meeting to be, or some info to gather.
Jesus Diaz, World Builder (@N3oDoc)
Still working on the Social Hub level, polishing out-of-bounds areas. (Remember, it’s a work in progress, so there’s not a release date yet.)
Daniel Diaz, World Builder (@DanielKaMi)
Polishing the out-of-bounds areas of the Social Hub with new buildings and more stuff!.
Also, I would like to show you the new tavern in the social hub. (Remember, it’s a work in progress, so there’s not a release date yet).
Dani Moore, Remote QA Manager (@Dani)
Getting hands on with the latest hotfix, reviewing additional test cases for future testing, and considering expanding our RQA family in the direction of a regular community playtesting team.
Kyle Katarn is no longer Star Wars canon. =/
Josh Isom, Community Manager (@iamisom)
Before I begin, I’m so happy to see Kyle Katarn mentioned three times in this Dev Log. Dark Forces II is my favorite game ever. I spent so many hours as a kid dueling other people on Battle Ground Jedi and failing miserably to make my own levels.
That perspective is what makes this job so rewarding. It’s thinking of people, children and adults alike, spending their time playing the game you work on. Having fun. It’s important to keep sight of that and always head towards that goal. We make video games because we want to provide some creature comfort to escape from the troubles of the world -- or maybe just to escape to a place where having fun is the whole point of existing. That’s a beautiful world, and I’m happy to work on something that provides that.
I want to thank everyone in the community for your patience. I know sometimes it feels like we aren’t focusing on the things you want to see improved -- or maybe it’s making a change that feels like a step back -- but this is a process of iteration. Some things will be iterated on sooner. Improving the Fun Factor is priority number one. I know some people will read that and dismiss me. But it’s the truth. We make games to make fun. We need to feed our families, too, because the whole “starving artist” thing stops being cute when you hit your mid-20s and you have children to feed. But I see comments where people assume that a developer is focusing more on making money than making fun. People spend money on games they’re having fun with. People want to spend money as a thank you to the people who gave them joy that day, and that is the goalpost we’re working toward.