What’s up, Xandats! 👋
Two months in EA S01 and we are always grateful for your support! We got your feedback from the launch of our first dev log, and we’re so glad you are enjoying these mini updates.
This time, we wanna tell you about a feature we introduced last July that many of you may have had the pleasure of shooting – the bots!!!
The bots, also called the Alliance of Nation Recruits, are AI-controlled players that you can fight in matches, alongside actual human-controlled players. Before this feature was released, we struggled with long queue times. Plus, new players found themselves matching against experienced Xandats, and essentially got pulverized seconds after they spawn. Sooo yeah, that’s frustrating.
The bots helped ensure that you always have matches to join and enemies to fight against. They also gave new players a way to familiarize themselves with the game without the pressure of having to play against waaaay more experienced players.
So without further ado, allow us to introduce Capt. Monkey, Agent Muddy, ElbowGrease, and company!! 🤖
In their initial iteration, the bots could fill-in for games with extra slots and replace players that leave mid-match. This helped speed up queue times and so new players can enjoy the game even when they play outside PXD Nights.
As for gameplay, the bots could perform the objectives... to the best of their abilities. In the first week of their release, you might have noticed that they were a biiiit too nice. Okay, fine. They DIDN'T SHOOT. So if you happened to play that week and you managed to hoard XP, you're welcome.
Unfortunately (for you), this didn’t last very long. Our patch last August improved the bots’ POTATOS: Positional Orientation, Target Acquisition, and Tactical Objective Support. 🥔 They can now reign chaos and bring destruction to you and your allies mwahaha ☠️
We also tweaked how the bots navigated across different maps, making them more aware of their layout and their surroundings. This prevents them from running up against walls and lets them sneak up on their enemies. Finally, we adjusted how they performed in fulfilling game objectives for Corruption, Overcharge and Skirmish.
We're pretty happy with how the bots are doing in the game right now. We feel a little bit of joy when we see them sneak up on their enemies, dart across the maps, and land their shots. But we're also still continuously working on ways to make them better.
The elements that the bots can use are currently fixed per class: Shadow Agent, Lightning Marksman, and Water Juggernaut. It would be nice to add versions of bots with different skills and weapon loadouts and with better aiming capabilities. It would also be interesting to have bots actually work together as a team, coordinating as they execute objectives. This would make them more thrilling to play with – better allies and more challenging enemies.
And that’s about it for Developers Log #2. Be sure to tune in next time for more development news! 👀
Mark your calendars as we release the mid-season patch on October 5, 2022 because it’s gonna be a meaty one.
The patch will include the third batch of neutral skills, improvements to the Overcharge respawn, elemental nameplates, and –you guessed it –additional abilities for our little bot friends. 🦾
As always, thank you for your support! In the meantime, have fun, get sweaty, and we hope to catch you on our weekly PXD Nights!
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