Hey Everyone,
Last month we showed a few previews of what we are now calling dow_cathedral.
We finished the map a couple weeks back, and wanted to show some previews of the final map
While it has been ready for testing for a few weeks now, we have held off conducting a test until we could do a few other things like upgrading to UE 4.16. We are using our tests of new maps to also test other underlying engine changes, fixes, and features, which means we will not always be testing new maps the minute they are ready.
In the past month we’ve also begun work on a new map, experimented with some new lighting methods, done top to bottom art optimization passes on Carentan and Kaysersberg, and made some progress on some major features that will be detailed more below.
As we mentioned last month, we are working towards a big update where we plan to release a batch of new maps, new features and polish. (Amalfi and Cathedral are maps 1 and 2)
As we work towards the next big milestone things will be a little quieter, so in this update we also wanted to reiterate what we are working towards.
A few months back we really locked in what we needed to do with the game. This was based on everything we learned from our Kickstarter thru several months of Early Access, both player feedback and our own experience experimenting with and playing our own game.
Originally we had a fairly loose vision for Days of War, and we simply could not continue down that path of straddling so many lines, we had to make decisions on what to focus on, what to cut, and what to change.
Some results from that:
[olist]
[*]No more bigger open maps. Sticking to traditional close quarters lane based maps designed for no more than 32 players.
[*]A focus on more traditional skill based gameplay. To us, this means high recoil, no ADS, high damage, relatively quick movement, and the map design mentioned in #1. If you absolutely need ADS to have fun, we recommend checking out pretty much any other game out there.
[*]A focus on the 5 flag capture game mode. This one was more painful, as there is so much we want to do here but keeping multiple game modes (and map types) as we build out the game was simply too difficult.
[/olist]
Now we admit that this effectively narrows the scope of the game, at least in the near term. We want to be clear that this does not mean we have abandoned some of our ideas and experiments completely, but we have reprioritized to make sure we first hit the mark on whats laid out above.
Last month we mentioned we had a big announcement coming. Part of the reason this update is coming so late this month is we were waiting for the green light to go ahead. The announcement is still coming, but we regret to say that due to some developments we cannot make it this month. This announcement is going to be primarily for the players who are dissatisfied with the direction of DoW as laid out above. Some of you were our earliest and biggest supporters, and we have not forgotten about you.
We also admit that our refocusing efforts have extended our timeline a fair amount. We’d rather take longer and deliver something quality than deliver a half-assed attempt sooner.
Our main bottleneck is still maps and content, but we have a few things cooking right now in the meantime...
