Hey everyone! BopNSwap here with a Dev Q&A -
Since announcing Spectre Divide’s first season, Flashpoint, we’ve received a number of questions about the new content and gameplay updates it’s bringing. From now through Flashpoint’s launch, we’re going to be taking some time each week to answer those questions and provide some insight into the work our team has been doing to breathe new life into Spectre.
This week we’ll be covering Sprinting, Crossplay, and Boosted Buys. Let’s get into it.
Sprinting
Let’s first cover the most common question on Flashpoint’s updated movement: “Why are you adding sprinting?”
When we first launched in September, one of the most common points of discussion was whether the game was “too slow.” Site-to-site rotations were frequently called out as a pain point for many players across our communities, as well as in Steam reviews. We tried to address this feedback by increasing forward movement speed when jogging with the knife equipped, but it still didn’t feel like a strong enough solution for the long-run.
After a lot of experimenting and playtesting, we eventually settled on sprinting. We found that it best delivered on a number of big wins that we felt were important:
- You have another strong option for navigating the map, particularly when you’re down to a single body after losing your Spectre.
- You have another tool to use in combat engagements, especially when someone is locked onto an angle.
- The game just feels faster and more responsive overall, adding more dynamism to the core gunplay.
To be clear, Spectre Divide is still, at its core, a tactical shooter. There are still going to be many situations where walking stealthily is the better approach, and we’re tuning sprinting carefully to make sure it’s performing within our targets.
While sprinting:
- You can’t shoot.
- You have to “draw” your weapon again when exiting a sprint.
- You make more sound than normal.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on sprinting with the release of Flashpoint, so make sure to let us know what you think once you’ve had a chance to try it out.
Console Crossplay
With Spectre Divide releasing on console, we’ve gotten a number of questions about our plans for crossplay. Let’s run through those now.
“What kinds of crossplay will be available when Flashpoint arrives?”
“Will there be controller support on PC?”
“Is there going to be cross-progression or cross-commerce?”
Crossplay between Xbox Series X|S and PS5 will be ready to go on Day 1. We considered this an essential feature for launch and have playtested this extensively.
With that being said, there will not be crossplay between consoles and PC initially. Implementing crossplay between consoles and PC is a more complex feature that we’re taking our time with to make sure we do it right.
We’ve also heard loud and clear that players want a clear philosophy for matchmaking when it comes to crossplay. We highly value competitive integrity and will be holding off on controller support on PC before we can cleanly solve for this.
Finally, there will not be cross-progression or cross-commerce. This is a large feature that is out of scope for console launch, but we’d love to revisit it in the future.
Boosted Buys
Lastly, many of you have asked about our plans for Casual queue: “Will ‘Boosted Buys’ be sticking around for Season 1?”
In short, no, Boosted Buys will be gone from Casual in Flashpoint.
After our PC launch, we frequently saw new players getting stuck in what the community often called the “Tier 3 Loop.” This referred to players force buying every round, resulting in them rarely ever playing with more expensive, and powerful, Tier 4 and Tier 5 weapons. While economy management is a major part of the skill curve of Spectre, it can be overwhelming for new players to learn with all the other mechanics like Sponsor abilities and Duality.
Our goal with Boosted Buys was to ease less experienced players into the core gameplay loop of a tactical shooter without needing to worry about the in-game economy. Receiving free equipment and additional income helped players experience the full breadth of the shop in each match. They were more often fighting at equal power levels with full armor, weapons and utility.
We also know that Spectre is at its most fun and strategic when players are regularly using their Sponsor abilities. Providing players with free utility every round encouraged them to experiment without feeling like they “wasted” money on a smoke or flash that could have gone towards a better pair of weapons.
While much of this was positively received by new players, this was definitely a divisive topic within our community. Based on our data, we believe Boosted Buys did help improve the onboarding experience for new players, but we also agree with the concerns players raised in regard to Boosted Buys reducing strategic decision-making in Casual and hindering new players’ ability to transition into Ranked.
We’ll be re-aligning Casual and Ranked in Season 1 and pairing it with a new buy menu that should reduce new player confusion.
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Thanks for reading and getting hyped with us! Make sure to let us know what you’d like to see covered in future weeks, and we’ll see you back for the next one.
See you all in Breakwater,