HAWKEN servers are up and our latest minor update is live!
Forgot Password? SUPPORT REDEEM CODE

Jump to content


Development Update: 3/10/2014

News Update Community

  • Please log in to reply
61 replies to this topic

#1 [HWK]HUGHES

[HWK]HUGHES

    the Drinker of Coffee

  • Adhesive Games
  • 804 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

Posted March 10 2014 - 05:49 PM

Posted Image



Hello Everyone!

It's been a little while since we've chatted but hopefully everyone is doing really, really well. We've see a lot happen with HAWKEN over the past few weeks and there is a lot to talk about. We also want to welcome all of those new to the game; I've seen a great mix of new and familiar faces in matches lately! HAWKEN is now in front of a much larger audience and we're quite happy with the boost in population as I'm sure you veteran players are as well.

We'll start back with more regular Development Update postings now that some of the extra work needed to get HAWKEN up and running on Steam is complete. I know there is a lot everyone would like to hear about, so we will break things up into smaller bites for now. At this moment, I'm opening my draft of this post while on the couch with the windows open, television on. It's a nice sunny and warm Sunday afternoon here in California. I'm drinking some warm coffee with just a tad of whipped cream on the top because...Sundays.

G2 MECH RELEASE

We released something new with the G2 Assault mech in a recent update and we admit there was some confusion about the intention behind it. We plan on making additional UI adjustments to provide more clarity to potential buyers, as this seemed to be the main reason for the confusion.

The G2 series of mechs is a way to expand upon mechs already existing in some fun and unique ways. They aren't necessarily intended to be competitively focused mechs and they have the potential to be more of a fun novelty for players. Contrary to some beliefs we do not have multiple mechs that we're just sitting on waiting to release. We do have a nice selection of mech models already created but it still takes time to design, engineer, animate, test and polish everything associated with a release. The G2s are a way to help fill in the voids between bigger releases since even now we are a few months away from the next major mech release.

So why not just add G2 options onto the existing mechs? Unfortunately that would contribute to balancing and technical nightmares. It makes much more sense to have them as additional options for players and add some incentives to spend time leveling up a mech already owned. We do indeed plan to continue with the G2 mech line although we don't have details available for the next one yet.

VOIP STATUS

We are very much aware of the issues plaguing VOIP at the moment and it's unfortunate we aren't able to have something working 100% for our players. It only works some of the time and we are working to address that. Voice communication is deeply integrated into our platform SDK and as there is no quick and easy fix. We are exploring solutions which include potentially ripping out what we have and replacing it with something else but that's not ideal. We have a finite amount of resources and although it's a very high priority issue for us, sometimes there is work for the platform team that takes a higher priority over VOIP fixing. Again, it's important to us and we will continue to keep you up to date on details as they develop.

TEAM BALANCING

We are actively looking into some improvements to team balancing. I don't have details to share just yet because our course of action hasn't been finalized but we wanted to let you know we aren't satisfied with how it's currently functioning. We want to roll out some adjustments sooner rather than later and we'll let you know when we have specifics for you.

DEVELOPMENT STREAMING ON TWITCH

We started something new on Friday which we will have as a weekly event in moving forward. We'll be playing the game with the public, answering questions, giving good stuff away and streaming it all over Twitch. If you missed last Friday we're sorry to hear but be sure to catch us for the show this upcoming Friday! It was fun, the response was quite positive and we want to spend even more time with the great HAWKEN community. Join us and maybe we can get to a few of your questions.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

We assembled a bit of a strike team last week to assist with the higher ticket counts and we apologize for any delay you may have had in a response. I assure you our team is working 7 days a week at all hours of the day and yet still couldn't help as fast as we'd like to. Taking care of customers is absolutely important to us so we had team members like Deuy, ZamboniChaos and Vanashinkaku all chipping in to help last week. What we ask of players is to please reserve the support ticket systems for problems you're experiencing with the game. It is not a system for providing game feedback or for reporting multiple times on one particular issue you may be having. It doesn't get us to a resolution faster and the more we can reduce tickets that don't need immediate attention the better service we can provide.

WHAT'S NEXT

Since appearing on Steam and taking more direct control of patching and deployment, we've provided minor updates (and hotfixes) at a much higher rate than ever before and hopefully that's proven to be good for the game. We're remaining agile and and can complete the process quickly and efficiently. Also, we know the patch size is not ideal for players but unfortunately it's how UE3 functions by default. Sometimes the smallest change can result in an entire package needing to being replaced. We will work on improving this system but you may not see the benefit of it immediately.

Outside of the minor patches, we've been working on our next update which is targeting a release this month. The deadline for content and feature lock was 10 a.m. Monday morning and we'll be spending a couple of weeks stabilizing and bug fixing. This update has a focus on some smaller improvements, bug fixes and adding some cockpit options that weren't there previously. Some new features include offering reticle choices and HUD coloring. We'll also be offering some cockpit decorations which are pretty cool to be honest and we'll share some more details shortly! Patch notes are still being drafted and won't be posted for at least another week as we continue to make fixes.

What's next after what's next? I'll work with ZamboniChaos on some ways that we can share some of what's on the horizon. We want to be able to provide some visibility on what we're working on yet still be able to account for shifts in priorities and emergent work. The last couple of months were not small and required a significant investment in effort by all team members in preparation for this past week. It doesn't always result in bullet point features to get excited about but it does impact your gameplay experience in a positive way.

WRAPPING UP

Thanks for taking the time to read this development update! If you didn't have your particular topic of interest addressed, we'll try to get to it in the next posting. The community support of the game means the world to everyone in the company and we will continue to work every single day making HAWKEN as fun as we can. Thanks everyone, we'll chat again soon and I need a bit more whipped cream for my coffee.



Click here to view the article

Jason Hughes
Producer || Adhesive Games || twitter: @digitalHUGHES


#2 ropefish

ropefish

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 4,309 posts
  • Locationfuzzybunny you, ima cat now (~o-o)~

Posted March 10 2014 - 05:52 PM

yay first
cant wait for more stuff!
"I find that there are those who will hang themselves if you give them enough rope, and that there are those who will provide their own rope. "
-VocalMagic           Croin//illal's wildlife

View PostDaPheel, on October 26 2013 - 01:05 AM, said:

You don't nuke Ropefish : ROPEFISH NUKES YOU!

#3 Silverfire

Silverfire

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,041 posts
  • LocationThe Depths of Coruscant

Posted March 10 2014 - 05:54 PM

Glad to see the Dev Updates make a return (hopefully regularly), appreciate the transparency! :D

Posted Image

Check out my new short film Prebirth: The Eternal War! Check out my e-peen!

Need to find a mech guide? Well, look here!
Intel Core i3 2120 @ 3.30 GHz |  Corsair XMS3 8GB RAM | eVGA GTX 550Ti 1GB OC | Corsair CX600 PSU


#4 Beefsweat

Beefsweat

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,845 posts
  • Locationsan diego, usa

Posted March 10 2014 - 05:56 PM

View Post[HWK]HUGHES, on March 10 2014 - 05:49 PM, said:

cockpit decorations


Posted Image

#5 Zdragow

Zdragow

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • LocationDrowning in energy drinks

Posted March 10 2014 - 05:57 PM

This. This is exactly why I love the Hawken devs. Time and time again they prove that they listen and are seriously working hardcore to make the game better. It may not be apparent at first, but all things take time.

I honestly haven't seen dev experiences like this in the fourteen years I've been gaming online.

Keep up the good work, guys. :)

#6 ZergBong

ZergBong

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 17 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:05 PM

Hey im a old player and i came back with the steam launch. What happen to customization (attack/defense/speed), it was a big part of the game.. With light mech now i die in 2 shots...

And why mmr have been removed ? thx

#7 hendman

hendman

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,901 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:11 PM

Are there any plans for scheduling the development streaming on twitch at 6am PST ( :P ) , instead of 6pm, every now and then? It would be nice if some other timezones could participate as well.

oh....almost forgot, good to see the weekly updates return :)

#8 hendman

hendman

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,901 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:13 PM

View PostZergBong, on March 10 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

Hey im a old player and i came back with the steam launch. What happen to customization (attack/defense/speed), it was a big part of the game.. With light mech now i die in 2 shots...

And why mmr have been removed ? thx

Tuning/modification got removed for balancing reasons, and MMR is still there, just not on display for the player.

#9 DM30

DM30

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 486 posts
  • LocationCanada, Eh?

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:21 PM

Glad to hear that the G2 is getting a UI adjustment to make it clearer that it's only a "just for fun" mech. Any chance we might get some developer opinions on the pricing, though? 12k HC for a "just for fun" mech with no options on weapon loadout that's locked behind an XP gateway is insane, and it's the only reason that I haven't gotten one yet. I have better uses for that HC right now.

#10 Sandcracka

Sandcracka

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 20 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:34 PM

What is MMR?

#11 Akrium

Akrium

    Mean Kitty

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,217 posts
  • LocationUSA

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:35 PM

Posted Image

Is all I read... =D

#12 ONX05

ONX05

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 31 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:37 PM

ZergBong, on March 10 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

Hey im a old player and i came back with the steam launch. What happen to customization (attack/defense/speed), it was a big part of the game.. With light mech now i die in 2 shots...

And why mmr have been removed ? thx


I might be able to answer some of these, I apologize if I mischaracterize something, and I'm not sure how long you were gone for so excuse me if I talk about a bunch of things you already knew. But, the bottom line is, Hawken is still being developed. There has been a lot of experimentation with the gameplay and mechanics, and this is where we're currently at. Some features might stay, some might change.

For a while the customization was actually ramped up further with the tuning points system, but: 1, it created a balancing nightmare for the devs, who had to make sure a tuning point was equally valuable no matter where it was spent, and then ensure that all possible tuning builds were balanced across all mechs; 2, it allowed people to partially ignore the role of their actual choice of mech in favor of their choice in stat adjustments, and; 3, it shifted a large amount of strategic focus to fiddling around in the garage, finding optimal stats, instead of just playing the game and shooting folks. I mean, none of those are necessarily even bad, but, like you said, customization was a big part of the game, and it seems the devs decided they wanted a greater focus on actual mech combat.

As for light mechs dying fast, that's part of a separate but related tweak to mech base armour, which has been reduced across the board. This means that 1-on-1 duels end faster and there isn't as much time for fancy CQC footwork, but it also lends favor to strategic positioning and surprise attacks as important tactics instead of it all coming down to dueling skill. Plus, now A-classes don't have such a huge advantage over other classes, they present an actual trade-off. If you want old-style A-class gameplay, I suggest you take up a modern B-class.

And finally, MMR isn't totally gone, but it is effectively invisible, and the player sorting algorithms have gotten more complex. MMR was briefly replaced entirely by pilot rank (total XP gained), but that didn't work out too well. The way players are ranked and how teams are balanced isn't very transparent right now, there's still a lot of tweaking being done and a lot of controversy in the player base.

I hope that was helpful, I'd suggest you go to the forums if you have more questions like these in the future.
Oh, and, welcome back.

#13 WarlordZ

WarlordZ

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 933 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:41 PM

ZergBong, on March 10 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

Hey im a old player and i came back with the steam launch. What happen to customization (attack/defense/speed), it was a big part of the game.. With light mech now i die in 2 shots...

And why mmr have been removed ? thx
Customization, when it became useful, led to sometimes overpowered builds and a lot of non-choices, since usually only one or two builds were actually effective.  They switched to just making each mech good at a certain playstyle instead, and I'm pretty happy with it myself.  The game is certainly more balanced.

MMR is still around, they just don't show it anymore because people try to game the system, either for easy matches or to artificially increase their MMR due to their ego.

Anyway, about the news:
I'm looking forward to hearing some news again.  I just hope you're smart enough not to try and sell new crosshairs for MC, the community would be furious.  The current one isn't exactly popular, and there would be immediate accusations of you creating a bad crosshair intentionally to try and make players spend money on a decent one.

#14 Beefsweat

Beefsweat

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,845 posts
  • Locationsan diego, usa

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:50 PM

View PostWarlordZ, on March 10 2014 - 06:41 PM, said:

Anyway, about the news:
I'm looking forward to hearing some news again.  I just hope you're smart enough not to try and sell new crosshairs for MC, the community would be furious.  The current one isn't exactly popular, and there would be immediate accusations of you creating a bad crosshair intentionally to try and make players spend money on a decent one.

I'm not sure if you heard The Cockpit podcast where vana talked about the custom crosshairs, but unfortunately that is the case - they will be sold for MC. I'm really hoping this will change, as a colorblind player who's always had trouble with the aiming reticle (especially after ascension's nigh-invisible one) releasing custom reticles for real-money-only feels like a total slap in the face.
Posted Image

#15 Wi2P

Wi2P

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 677 posts
  • Location.. Recalculating ..

Posted March 10 2014 - 06:53 PM

Thank you abundantly for writing and subsequently posting this!

The clarity, prospects and transparency and much appreciated.

And cockpit decorations and HUD coloring? 0_0 I'd gladly give more "financial support" for such wonderful trinkets as this idea promises to produce. ^_^

(Though, HC "payment" in some respects would be nice, as others have mentioned as well ;) )

Edited by Wi2P, March 10 2014 - 07:23 PM.


#16 Weezl3

Weezl3

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 425 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 07:08 PM

I love these development updates. Thanks for all you do for us, hughes. You and the rest of the team are awesome!

#17 Silverfire

Silverfire

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,041 posts
  • LocationThe Depths of Coruscant

Posted March 10 2014 - 07:09 PM

View PostBeefsweat, on March 10 2014 - 06:50 PM, said:

View PostWarlordZ, on March 10 2014 - 06:41 PM, said:

Anyway, about the news:
I'm looking forward to hearing some news again.  I just hope you're smart enough not to try and sell new crosshairs for MC, the community would be furious.  The current one isn't exactly popular, and there would be immediate accusations of you creating a bad crosshair intentionally to try and make players spend money on a decent one.

I'm not sure if you heard The Cockpit podcast where vana talked about the custom crosshairs, but unfortunately that is the case - they will be sold for MC. I'm really hoping this will change, as a colorblind player who's always had trouble with the aiming reticle (especially after ascension's nigh-invisible one) releasing custom reticles for real-money-only feels like a total slap in the face.

What I'm truly worried about is the possible P2W backlash of MC only crosshairs.  I have some MC lying around so I'll pick one up if it catches my fancy, but for those who don't have MC, they might be at a disadvantage if a particular crosshair proves to be advantageous over the default one. It does slap colorblind people in the face metaphorically speaking, but still, if one crosshair proves to be inherently better than the default, P2W accusations will be valid, and arguably true.

Posted Image

Check out my new short film Prebirth: The Eternal War! Check out my e-peen!

Need to find a mech guide? Well, look here!
Intel Core i3 2120 @ 3.30 GHz |  Corsair XMS3 8GB RAM | eVGA GTX 550Ti 1GB OC | Corsair CX600 PSU


#18 Gunmoku

Gunmoku

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 551 posts
  • LocationThe mystical, magical land of Right Over There

Posted March 10 2014 - 07:32 PM

View Post[HWK]HUGHES, on March 10 2014 - 05:49 PM, said:



This update has a focus on some smaller improvements, bug fixes and adding some cockpit options that weren't there previously. Some new features include offering reticle choices and HUD coloring. We'll also be offering some cockpit decorations which are pretty cool to be honest and we'll share some more details shortly! Patch notes are still being drafted and won't be posted for at least another week as we continue to make fixes.



Posted Image


Good to hear you're wrangling in the problems and directly addressing what needs addressed.  Can't wait to see what's in the new update and I await with bated breath what the "On the horizon" post will contain.


View PostBeefsweat, on March 10 2014 - 06:50 PM, said:

I'm not sure if you heard The Cockpit podcast where vana talked about the custom crosshairs, but unfortunately that is the case - they will be sold for MC. I'm really hoping this will change, as a colorblind player who's always had trouble with the aiming reticle (especially after ascension's nigh-invisible one) releasing custom reticles for real-money-only feels like a total slap in the face.

It could be not communicated that the stock reticule may (or may not) be getting updated as well.  We shall see come update day.  However, I do feel this is a bit of a slap in the face in regards to customization of a crucial chunk of the game.  A weapon is only as good as the guy aiming it.  And hiding a possibly important change to how that user aims behind a pay-wall is kind of a jerk move.  No offense, Hughes, but it's the truth.

Edited by Gunmoku, March 10 2014 - 07:35 PM.

View PostRED_FIVE, on September 04 2013 - 08:20 PM, said:

YER A RAIDER, HARRY.

#19 PlagueDoctor

PlagueDoctor

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 389 posts

Posted March 10 2014 - 07:36 PM

Question? Can we get a list of bugs/issues you know about that you're working on? It'd be nice to know what I should be complaining about.


I think it is 1000's of money. IT IS 1000,s OF MONEY!!!.


#20 Beefsweat

Beefsweat

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 2,845 posts
  • Locationsan diego, usa

Posted March 10 2014 - 07:46 PM

View PostGunmoku, on March 10 2014 - 07:32 PM, said:

It could be not communicated that the stock reticule may (or may not) be getting updated as well.  We shall see come update day.  However, I do feel this is a bit of a slap in the face in regards to customization of a crucial chunk of the game.  A weapon is only as good as the guy aiming it.  And hiding a possibly important change to how that user aims behind a pay-wall is kind of a jerk move.  No offense, Hughes, but it's the truth.

According to what was thrown around during the show the ability to change color and contrast of the reticle(s) is coming as well but the degree of customization you can apply remains to be seen/discussed and it's a possibility that it may not be enough to get the default reticle to a working state for those who have problems with it. Personally I can't see that simply changing the color and contrast of the reticle would work as the reticle itself is extremely small/thin and very easily lost in average gameplay, but of course I can't speak for everyone and mine is a specialty case.
Posted Image





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: News, Update, Community

1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users