It has been a busy week here at the Tripwire HQ. Crashes fixed, bugs replicated, plans finalized and more. What plans have been finalized you ask? Why those "RO Classic" ones and what we are doing moving forward.
As I've previously told you in the weeks ahead we will restart the RO 2 beta for anybody who owns RO 2. We will be using this to test out the first of our upcoming maps (which I'll talk more about at a later date) and the changes we are making to the game for "RO Classic". The exact start date is a bit fluid still and what will be in it (the map or RO Classic, or perhaps even Online Campaign) first is still up in the air.
But let us talk about our initial plans for RO Classic and what we are putting into the beta for feedback. Our goal is to provide a experience more similar to that of RO 1 while retaining the improvements to RO 2. We are not trying to create an exact RO 1 copy. The reasoning behind this is both community feedback and our own take on gameplay. Many of the changes from RO 1 that went into RO 2 were because we felt they were improvements to the mechanics in RO 1, they were an addition to the realism aspect, and a mix of our own taste in gameplay here in the office.
Now as one thing became clear during the late stages of the beta and post launch, there is a group of players who disagree with some of the design choices. While we wished we had had time to address them closer to launch, we ran into the dreaded performance issues that we had to track down which prevented more people from enjoying the game. Now while that isn't quite over, we have come along way on that front since launch and now have time to focus our coding attention to this new mode and other gameplay refinements.
The list below is what we will be doing initially for the new mode and we well observe and take feedback from there as we move forward with it:
"RO Classic"
This mode will be an additional mode complimenting Normal and Realism. We have chosen to to this route as there are players who enjoy Realism as it currently exists.
The mode, while featuring no weapon or player upgrades or perks, will be ranked. So players who do enjoy receiving those upgrades and perks can play in this mode and earn them for the other modes. We feel this will allow players to experiment with the mode who might not normally play it, and feel rewarded for their play.
Loadouts and weapon availability will be more similar to what could be found in RO 1. Towards that end, the Squad Leader will be loosing his access to sub-machine guns and semi-automatic rifles to bring the ratio in line. The weapons selectable by each class will also more closely reflect that of RO 1 with PPSH w/ drum mag being the standard loadout and many of the other weapons not having access to their upgrades or limited to a specific upgrade (such as weapons with bayonets for that functionality)
This is the list we are currently looking at:
PPSH w/drum mag and select fire (Level 3)
Kar98 w/bayonet (Level 2)
Kar98 Sniper w/4X scope (Level 1)
Mosin Nagant Sniper w/3.5X scope (Level 1)
G41 Sniper w/4X Scope (Level 2)
SVT40 Sniper w/3.5X scope (Level 1)
MP40 with single 32 round mag (Level 1)
MKB42 with bayonet (no scope) (Level 1)
P38 Pistol (Level 1)
C96 w/10 round mag (Level 1)
MG34 w/50 round drum (Level 1)
MG34 Tripod (no ranking anyway)
PTRS (Level 1, no ranking on this anyway)
Pzb 784 (r) (Level 1, no ranking on this anyway)
MN 9130 w/bayonet (Level 2)
G41 (W) w/bayonet (Level 2)
SVT40 w/bayo (Level 3)
AVT40 w/bayo (Level 2)
TT33 (Level 1)
M1895 (Level 1)
DP28 (Level 1)
Maxim 1910 (no ranking anyway)
All other weapons and equipment as normally given (binocs, satchels, smoke nades, etc)
We are also looking at the inclusion of the Elite Assault role back into the game in case the creator of a map wants the MKB/AVT to be available.
But this wouldn't be a "RO Classic" mode with just weapon changes. We also have an initial list of functionality changes and removal as well. This list is designed to emulate the "feel" of RO 1 by making distance engagements a bit more of an uncertainty. You can find that list below. This is once again a look at the initial changes we are going to make for the mode and take feedback on in beta:
Removal of peripheral action indicators
Removal of spawn on Squad Leader
Removal of the bleeding system (Player will always take 100% of the damage to an area on the shot and not half then bleed the rest out like in the current system)
Players will have a movement speed penalty after being shot in the feet
Stamina will have a much greater effect on weapon sway and recoil
Stance will have an increased effect on weapon sway/recoil (with the default standing state having more sway then the current game modes)
Removal of "controlled breathing" zoom, but retaining the functionality to help steady the weapon as well as the slight iron sight zoom
Stamina will recharge at a slower rate
No AI Tank Gunnery
No Lockdown
Now these changes will also be joining a host of changes and refinements we are making on the current systems as well. Several of these are still having their designs tweaked and updated so I will hold off on going further on these til a later date.
Now some might wonder why some of the other oft requested features are not readily on this list, such as player momentum. The reason for this is the momentum system in RO 2 is the same system as RO 1 with a small tweak of player friction at the start and ending phase to make it feel more responsive. So before we go and start making changes to this we want to see how the other changes play out first in getting players the experience they want.
We look forward to play testing these changes with you in the coming weeks.
Now to those uninterested in the "RO Classic" mode as I mentioned before we continue to move forward on refinements to existing systems as well as work on bug fixing and crashes. We actually feel we've nailed down the vast majority of crashes now, but have hit a snag releasing a stand alone binary patch to address it. It looks like it will take a content update (IE: several hundred meg patch if not 3 gigs, not 18 meg binary patch) and as we don't like doing those without stuffing as much into them as possible, so it might be held off longer.
We are also digging heavily into the network issues that some players are reporting as well as issues with the server browser. You might see us once again (like we did this past week) request player help to monitor something as we work on them.
Have a great weekend everyone!
I did the first single player thing to make sure it wasn't because I didn't do it.
