Greetings all! One of the things that makes Early Access so valuable for a small indie team like ours is the quality feedback and playtesting that would otherwise not be possible. This week I want to focus on our plans for the maps and improvements to the main game mode. While we started to implement some of these changes with v0.8.3.6 there are many more to come!
Lets start with the game mode. Conquest’s spawning system will be changed. Instead of spawning directly on your team’s Ley-line (Control point) players will spawn at various pre-determined areas surrounding the Ley-line. This will help prevent spawn camping, provide defenders with more options, increase defenders advantage, and reduce the chaotic nature of appearing directly on the point being attacked. In addition to this we will be adding various polish to the game mode like map start countdown timers,loading screens, improved minimaps, etc.
Now for the map changes. Based on community feedback and our own playtime it is clear that we need some major updates to the maps. We now have the ability to replace placeholder art and the game’s classes and spells are more refined. This opens up many more options with the level design and you will see that reflected in these map updates over the next few months.
Reworking map layouts - Grimoire’s movement system allows players to create their own paths by teleporting over buildings, through cracks in walls, and across wide gaps. This is fun and we want to keep it but it creates problems as well. One of the most frustrating things in multiplayer games is being ambushed by an enemy that you had no chance of detecting. By reducing the total number of main paths (Shortest walkable route to the next Ley-line) and removing all hidden flanking paths (Places where a player could flank enemies with little chance of being detected) we will encourage using Movement spells to create “new” paths while also focusing fighting along a few main paths for newer players.
Replacing placeholder environment art - All of the maps are still using at least some placeholder art and over the next months you will see this replaced by final art.
Performance and Optimization - We know how important having stable 60+ FPS is for multiplayer shooters and of course we want as many people to be able to play Grimoire as possible. As we get closer to release nearly every map update will see some sort of tweak to help boost performance.
Adding interesting and unique map mechanics - Running around and fighting over the same old area gets boring and so we want to add interesting mechanics to each map that give players tactical choices. We will have more details about this coming soon.
This isn’t a complete list but I hope it at least sheds some light on the direction the game is headed over the next few months. As always we very much appreciate any and all feedback so please feel free to let us know through the forums or email.
-Brent