49 replies to this topic

[[HWK]HUGHES]

Hello Everyone

Welcome to another Development Update and we hope that everyone had a great weekend! Now, I suppose I could go on and on with additional pleasantries but I have a feeling that everyone would just like us to dive into the details.

INTRODUCTIONS
We are completing the work needed for the next patch and we've been working for a little over 2 weeks primarily on the fixes and polishing needed for that update. Originally we planned to have patch notes available for you before the weekend and we were going to announce a Tuesday release but we made the decision to push the release date back to a targeted Thursday of this week instead. We need a little more time testing our release candidate and we need more passes on some team balancing fixes we're including.

In this update we'll cover a quick high level view of the week and touch on some current hot topics before we close this out!

MARCH UPDATE
Everyone is always really eager to see what's coming up for HAWKEN but you’ll have to wait just a little longer to read all the details in the patch notes. They're still getting some final touches as fixes make their way into the build but here is a high level view of what's coming:

• Team Balancing Improvements: Sorting logic was revised and we've implemented other related changes which should help improve leveling out the team player count and skill levels
  
• Cockpit Customization: Alternate reticle choices, HUD color options and a few cockpit decorative items (sorry, no fuzzy dice yet)
  
• Mechs: Run speed and boost speed for most mechs was increased by 2m/s, unless otherwise mentioned in the patch notes
  
• Game Balance: Tweaks and balance changes made to a handful of weapons, items and abilities
  
• Change in XP Overflow: Excess XP is now automatically transferred to a universal pool and XP earned from test drive mechs will be stored as well
  
• Co-Op Challenges: Players can vote to enable one of 3 challenges to complete in co-op which add different conditions to the match and provide rewards
  
• Bug Fixes / Improvements: Many fixes are coming…

HOT TOPICS
Many threads can get started on the same hot topics and we don’t have the ability to reply to each and every one of them. What we’d like to encourage from you, the community is to direct players when possible to our updates if someone has questions relating to something we've covered.

So let's talk about a few of those recent hot topics:

• Spam: We saw our poor HAWKEN forums get assaulted by spam over the past week and it got nasty fast. We were able to roll out some changes today that should help the situation so you should see a greatly reduced number (ideally zero) but we'll continue to keep our eyes open and make more adjustments if needed. If more spam does happen to show up, there's no need to create a post about it, just flag as you would normally and we'll take a look. You've been patient as we addressed the problem and we thank you for that.
  
• Team Balancing: We are aware of the problems that exist with team balancing and as mentioned above we'll be releasing some changes this week that should help. What we're releasing is not a perfect nor even ideal solution and we don't pretend that it will be but adjustments will continue to be made over the coming weeks for a targeted April update. There are multiple factors contributing to what you're experiencing, it isn't just one thing and we're looking forward to seeing the data generated after this update releases to compare. It's a multilayered onion when it comes to such systems and we can't take anything for granted when investigating.
  
• #increasethespeeds: Done.

AND FINALLY...
Some have asked when the Early Access banner is being removed for the game and we don’t have a specific date to share at this time. Keep in mind that we consider HAWKEN much like a service, a game always in development so you can expect continued updates and hotfixes as we continue along our path. We still want to work out a few bugs and timing with Valve is key before we remove the banner but what you are essentially playing right now is the core experience of HAWKEN. Once the banner is removed, there won't be something different sitting in front of you. There will be no drastic changes coming to game design (such as the return of tuning points) so players can now expect our continued efforts to be focused on balance tweaks, bug fixes, new content and new features to enhance what we have available!

I was originally intending to share an immediate roadmap of sorts but ZamboniChaos has been out of the office for a little bit so I'm going to wait for his return to figure out the best way we can share some of this information in a clear and accurate way. For now, I have a ton of things I still need to get done tonight so we'll go ahead and wrap this up. Thanks for tuning in for another Development Update and we're glad to have you with us.

EDIT: Yes a few spam posts are still slipping through, we're investigating.

[Anichkov3]

And why news is not represented in the news section_ But what about the new A-Class G2_ And how nerf Berserker (The burden abilities 6.5 seconds when the average lifetime of equal to Mech with your own words - 3 ... 4 seconds)_

Edited by Anichkov3, March 24 2014 - 09:13 PM.

[Silverfire]

Glad to hear you're all working hard, appreciate the transparency as usual. Hope the weekly dev updates make a return, even if it's as brief as, "Hey Hawken community, we're still alive over here!"

[TheVulong]

[HWK]HUGHES, on March 24 2014 - 07:44 PM, said:

#increasethespeeds

: Done.

Praise the sun.

P.S. That forum engine is freaking awful.

Edited by TheVulong, March 24 2014 - 07:57 PM.

[Xacius]

[HWK]HUGHES, on March 24 2014 - 07:44 PM, said:

So let's talk about a few of those recent hot topics:

#increasethespeeds: Done.

  

The battle may have been won, but the war for speed is still ongoing.  

#AlphaSpeeds
#neverforget

Edited by Xacius, March 24 2014 - 08:17 PM.

[Krellus]

sweet update, looking foward to the notes, reticles and customizations. cheers devs!

[Call_Me_Ishmael]

#freetheraider

[bacon_avenger]

#bringbackthetunnel

Edited by bacon_avenger, March 24 2014 - 08:04 PM.

[TheVulong]

Xacius, on March 24 2014 - 08:00 PM, said:

[HWK]HUGHES, on March 24 2014 - 07:44 PM, said:

So let's talk about a few of those recent hot topics:

#increasethespeeds: Done.

  

The battle may have been won, but the war for speed is still ongoing.  

Keep that attitude and the first mechs will achieve light speed in the year 2034.

[Krellus]

#fasterhellfiredumbfire

[KejiGoto]

[HWK]HUGHES, on March 24 2014 - 07:44 PM, said:

• Cockpit Customization: Alternate reticle choices, HUD color options and a few cockpit decorative items (sorry, no fuzzy dice yet)

[EM1O]

oboyoboy "...no fuzzy dice yet." key word: yet.
Don't forget the Hula Girl!
(This would be Choice, as I can't seem to get Mumble to cooperate with either one's placement...Fuzzy Dice crosshairs_)

You Devs Rock!

[EliteShooter]

#MakeFightClubMode

[Kryjeck]

So no fuzzy dice, but can we get a fuzzy bunny_

[Coboxite]

Glad to hear it. Hope you guys stay awesome.

[plons]

no new mech

[Trych]

I was most excited by the change in XP. Guess I'm the more boring one around here.

[RavWielki]

Xacius, on March 24 2014 - 08:00 PM, said:

[HWK]HUGHES, on March 24 2014 - 07:44 PM, said:

So let's talk about a few of those recent hot topics:

#increasethespeeds: Done.

  

The battle may have been won, but the war for speed is still ongoing.  

#AlphaSpeeds
#neverforget

I heard many good things about alpha, what was the speed in alpha _

[Aregon]

So, any chance for a rocketjumping mech yet_

[Ker4u]

Co-Op Challenges: Players can vote to enable one of 3 challenges to complete in co-op which add different conditions to the match and provide rewards
_
maybe also add "enable all challenges " option_