Hello Honorary Spearhead Members!

We are now reaching the end of R&D week 2. While we didn't make freakin’ spectacular gameplay improvements like we did last week, we are in the process of testing tons of abilities and powers!

Those of you who follow us on Twitch know that many of our tests were inconclusive/underwhelming/absurd. However, manipulating the gameplay gives us precious insights that allow us to progressively refine our understanding of the gameplay dynamics.

Here are some of the powers we tested:

• Stun: paralyzes an opponent for 2 seconds
• Clothesline: creates a disk-deflecting wall linking 2 characters
• Whip: creates a disk-deflecting wall that extends and retracts
• Strike: stronger push that takes more time to charge
• Teleport back to goal: self-explanatory ;-)
• Bricklayer: lays an object that can bounce the ball back
• Forcefield layer: same as the brick layer but with a force field
• Dash: propels a character in a direction
• Asymmetric movement: WASD have different speeds and accelerations linked to them
• Jetpack: faster movement that requires more skill – also mouse-based

Overall, we are progressing well and are quite confident that, in less than 10 working days, we'll have the core direction nailed for 3 or 4 unique and interesting champions.

Honestly, this part of the process is the most exciting part of a project for a game designer. If you are interested in learning more about our uniquely iterative, prototyping development methodology, come see us on Twitch at 7PM – there are only 2 weeks of prototyping left!

Community feedback and ideas

Dr_Zaius
Vex: Not liking that strike. It is too easy to predict where it goes for the other team, it's really fast and hard when it works but I found it quite easy to catch the ball knowing exactly it's path. If keeping it maybe a charging animation instead?

We are actively working on finding the right balance for this guy. The goal is to reward players who manage to get enough free space with a ''better shot,'' but it's a delicate balance to find.

TheMaicDwarf
Mathieu's Face is the most FUN to play.

Yeah, right now, there are characters that are geometric shapes with faces from people on the dev team. Don't mind them, it's an artist from the studio trolling us... they won't be part of the final product! ;-)

Have an idea on a cool power we should try? Now is the best time to propose it! :-)
Click here and be heard!

Cheers,

Team Spearhead

By the way, we really appreciate the way you take time to analyze and give your feedback on each of our tests individually! :-)